The Glory of the Gojpel, Examine your felvestherefore; You gocp and down in the World here and you view daily the riches of it, and the pleafures of it, the beauty tl·e c:edit the glory of it. And from viewing.thefe things, you often come' he~e to th~ Word, which a~ a Glafs that the Sun lhines in,reveals Ch.ri!t to you, the necellity, t~e wonh of htsSpm~, Rtghteoufnefs and Graces, wluch are laid open to your Vtewdatly. Now fenoully tell me, or rather thy own heart, In which of thefe dolt thou fee mofi glory,by which art thou mo!t intimately allured? Shall I tell thee, If ever.thou.had!l favingly feen the glory of the things of the Gofpel, all the Excellenctes ot the.WoriC! would feem no e~cdlencies. When thou goe!l from the Church agam tnto the World, the Devtl's varnilh would melt off as Women• paint dotll again(\ the Sun. And as Candles burn dim and wan, whe~ fet agam!l the Sun; (o thefe. The things thou didft account mo!t glorious, before thy eyes were opened would feem to have no Glory in comparifon of this Glory, as the Apo(\Je Jpeak; of the Law, ~Cor, ~· 1 o. of this Cllory that fo excelleth , Exert/ens jfnji61te tftf/rultjfnfum. It would put out the Carnal Eye quite and clean. This you ma~ fee I[a1.40.5,6. where the Holy. Gho!l fpeaks exprdly of the Preaching the G01pel by John the Baptijl, whom tn the thtrd Verfe he calls, the Voice of a Critr; and "l'tttrappliestheplacetothePreaching of the Gofpel, 1 Ptt, 1, 2 ) . Now (fays he, v. 5·) the Glor:t of thr Lord Chrifl (j>outd thereby6r rwra!td and fo revealed, that at/ f/t{b jhould Ju it, that is, many Believers b?th of .7,,;, and Gmttks, for fo att Flefbts taken alfo Pf~>l.65.2. See 1t namely m this Mir– rourand Glafs, 2 Cor. 3• 18, and what is the effttl: of it? Why, .Aft Flr/b;. graft, and the goodlinefs or glory thereof, as Prtrr calls it, 114 thr jlowtr of thr field. And in their eyes now, that have feen thefuprrtxcet!mt Glory, it withers and fad< s; all the glory of the World appears like withered flowers, for the Spirit of tht Lord, which reveab this glory in the Gofpel, bla!ts, blows upon them all, fo as they lofe their glofs· and efteem in mens hearts; they can never dote on them again as before. What is LeaJ!ling thinks the poor Soul,. in comparifon of Grace? What is all the World to the Righteoufnefs of Chn!t! And then all the Glow-worm Righteoufnef{of aman's felf, which civil men glory in, fo vanilheth, which once lhined in the dark fo, when this Sun arifeth. So it did with Paul, Plril. 3· Then, however a man thought of himfelf before, as thinking he had many ex– cellencies in him, yet having feen this glory, he falls down, as I[aiahdid in like cafe, Tjat.6-)o I am ttndont, I am undtan; a vile wretch, that defervcs un· doing and ddlruCl:ion. ' Secondly, If it be thus glorious, Su if thou art ablt to !Jthold •lht Glory of t'l, comforf<J6/y a11djo.Jful!y, w11hout winlting. This is another ConfeCl:ary, may be had out of this 2 C•r. 1 ~· 18. where the Apo!lle brings all Believers to the fame trial, that the Eaglt doth her young ones; for as lhe brings them to the Sun, and if they be able to behold it without dazling, or winking, the~ lhe ac– counts them of a right breed. Now, fo doth the Apo!lle brmg all Behevers to theGlory of tht L ord, lhinin& in the Mirrourof the Gofpel, (.Andw_r all, fays he, with opmjact ~rholdthe Glory of ~he Lord,) to look full upo~ tt. And fa indeed ur.toEaglts are they compared m Matthtw; for why the1r hearts are changed into the fa~e image, fo as there is a fuitablcnefs betwfen .them and it. The !triCl:efl Preachtng that reveals the glory and beauty of Grace mas flnCl:e!l and mail Sp,ritual hue, a good heart can look full upon it and love it. That Mi– ni!lry that darrs in the cleare(\ and hotte!l beams, is the mo!l welcome, and hath the mo!t comforrablt inlluence into their hearts. In the 4th of Malachy, where the Prophet (peaks of the preaching of the Gofpel by lefus Chrifi, u api'e~rs by t~e rth verfe, where he fpeaks of .7ohn Bapti(/ berore the day of Chn!t soppearmg ; VntoY.ou that {tar my Name foa!t tbt SW1of Righttoufnrfsarijf wtth hea!mg in hu Wmgs, mid yt jhalt go forth M Calvts of the Stalt; that is, Jr[tts Chrift, who then arifeth in men' hearts 1 when by the Gofpel, God gives the Light of the knowledge of the &lory of God in the face of Chrift Je(us as 2. Cor.4.6. 2. Pet, 1.1 9· Now thofe prec1ous Truths, and the Beams thereof 'he compares to Winzs, bccaufe the beams of the Sun ' arc
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