The Excellmcy of Heavenly Treafu rer, ever elfe he may polfefs, yet thcfc are his Treafure. See how A vrabam ftings :v. ~es with a fad Item of what he. made h~s T~eafure .on Earth, in !-uke 16. 25. Srm, fays he, remember that riJou m thy Ltfc- ttme recewedfl thy good thmgs : But did uot .Abraham himfel f in hls Life-time r eceive good things alfo? Might not Dives ha ve l'Ctorted back again? Wert thou not, Father Abraham, .rkiT and potent on Earth? Hadft not thou great Po\;Ver, and great PoJTellions m the Wm!d? Ai,d rnuft I be tormented and t hou glorified, when thou hadlt a grea ter Ponioll of them than my fclf? No, the emphajis curs off this exception, 'TfJou in thy Life-time received.,fl thy good things. I received good t hinr,s, but not my good things, not the chiefeft that I valued; Comforts they were, but not Trea fnrcs; and while 1 po!feffed thefe good things, I fm1ght after bet ter; and therefore I now poffcfs and enjoy them alfo. So holy A(aph views this Trcafure that here he had go t in a Divine Rapture in Pj~tl . 73· 2). Whom have l in Heaven but thee? .And rhe1e is mmc on Earth that I can deJire befides thee. He was fo far from defiring any thing above God, that he defi.res nothing befides God. What is there on E:uth rhar J can defire befides thee? See St. Pdul alfo in I Corinth. 6. 2. I determined tq know ·mthing arnong y ou, but c::;e[u1 Chrijl, and him Crucified : But efpecially in Phil. 3 . 8. DoMbtle[s, fays he, I cqunt aU things but lofs for t he exal/ency of the knowledge of Chrifl Je[us my Lord , for whom"! fujfer the lofs t~f all things, and do count them but dung, that I "flMJ win Chrift. Obferve how the Apoftle cloth there contemn all that the World counts its Treafure, he reckons it but D_ung, in which a Man may rake long e~ nough before he find~ any true Treafure :Nay, not only Dung,but Lo[s,in comparifon t~J Cbrift; and, what tell you me of lofing al1 things for him? It is true, 1 have done fo, but i.n doing fo I have but loft a Lofs, I am ~ut rid of a _Damage; I count all thtngs but Lofs, and I fuffer the lofs of all thmgs for Chnft. fhis is the low and vilifying account that a Child of God makes of every thing that is not his Treafurc; God and Chrift, and the things of Eternity, are his chief and choice Good, and whatever he hath befides it, is but Dung, but L ofs, but a Damage. In the Heart of a carnal Man all things lye in a confufcd order, Heaven below, and Earth atop; Earth feems to him to be vaft and infinite, but Heaven a little inconfiderable fpot: But now in the Heart of a Child of God every things keeps its natural pofture; there Earth finks, as being the dregs of his Thoughts and Cares, but Heaven that fhines above very bright and Glorious; Earth to him feems to be but a little fpot, as indeed it is, which is feldom feen or noted by him ; but Heaven is as an infinite boundlefs Sea of Mercy, which he is fiilllooking into and admiring of. Thus things keep their natura l pofture in the Heart of a Child of God, but they are all cl ifordered in the Heart of a wicked Man. But now, to profecute this farther, I fuall endeavour to open to you the Riches of this H eavenly Treafure, that it may appear how rationally the Children of God aa: in valuing this above all things, and in making it their choice Good and chiefeft Treafurc. And, 1. It is an evident demonftration of the precioufnefs of this Treafure, in that it makes thofe precious alfo, that are b11t converfant about it, and therefore certainly it is mighty precious it felf; it beftows a luftre, excellency, and beauty upon every thing that lycs near it, or that·hath any relation to it. I will menti~ on but two things. ( 1.) The Deeds of Conveyance, whereby this Treafure is made over to us, and becomes ours, are therefore precious, beca11fe they convey fuch a Tmtfure : And what are they but the Promifes? Every Promife is a Ticket, given us by God, to take up Manfions of Treafure in Heaven ; it is vocal Glory; ir: is Bap~ pinefs in words and fyllables; it is Eternity couched in a fentence; and theretore no wonder that the .Apoftle fpeaks fa Magnificently of them, WherthJ, fays he, Arc gi".ltn unto us e.'>;ceeding great and precious Promifes. Tell me therefore, 0 Soul! Didft thou ever fee the Glory and Riches that there is in a Promife? Wert thou ever ravilhed with that infinite fweetnefs and delicioufnefs that thou fuckeft from them ? Didft thou ever fit down amazed at the free and boundlefs Love of God in them that fpake good to thy Soul, for a great while to come, a~ Da~ 'IJid fpeaks? Didft thou ever find the excellency and precioufnefs of thefc [/Jmgs? Thinlc then how precious that Glory it felf is that fills t hefe Prom1fcs If a Star be fo bright and fparkling. that fuines only in a borrowed brJghwcfs, ho~v
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