The Exccllmcy of Heaven& Treafum. } 1 ow Tranfcendently bright then is the Sun, that lends fa much light to it? It;! the Conduit~ pipe be ready to burft through the abundance of Streams that ftmv from it ha\~ inex"hauftible is the Fountain and Sprin~-head, that fupplies this Treafn;e? lf the Gleanings be fo Rich and full, what will the Yintage be. ? The: Glory and Happincfs of Heaven is fo _great and boun~lefs, that tt overflows ancJ. ' fpiils it felf abroad i_n Promi{es ; and Jf the overf\owm.g Drops be fa fwcct, what then will the Ocean lt fclf be? What fays the Al?oftle tn 1 Pc;. 2. 7· Vnto you th4t bclie'l.ie, Chrift is Precious. How is he now Precious un~o Believers? .but as he is held forth in a Promife? That is all the way that he becomes PreciOus to us now. And will he not be far more Precious to us when we fuallno more ftand at the diftance of a Prornife from him, when we fua\1 no more need the Hand of Faith, but fhall clafp and clillg about him in the immediate fruition of him? . Will he not be more Precious to us, when all our Hopes fha\1 be made good to us m aCtual prefem: poJfeffion? And therefore if the Prom1[es be fo exceeding great and precious, it argues certainlj', T~at that Treafiwe that makes thefe Promi{es to be fo, is wonderfully and infinitely glonous and precious. ( 2.) As the Deeds of Conveyance, fo the very Eye that fees and views this Trea{ure, is made Precious by the fight of it: And what is that Eye but the Eye of Faith? And though it b.c but weak, yet it is that that by the help of a Promife, as by a Profpeftivc·glafs, we look into Heaven it felf, there to fee that mafs and heaps of Tre~furc laid up for the Soul , the Eye of Faith fees them, the Hand of Faith tells them out: And therefore St. Puer calls it Precious Faith, 2 P(t 1. 1 • To them that have obtainuJ like Precious F~Pth with tu. You may look upon Earthly Treafure till your Eyes be daze11ed, yea, poffibly till they be weakened and wearied by it, but never will they be made more Rich and Precious by it: But now, by' looking upon this Heawnly Treafure, the Eye that fees it becomes a Jewel it feif; More Preci~us, faith the fame Apoftle, than the Gold that Perijlmh, 1 Pet. 1. 7· And that's the firft Excellency ot this Heavenly Treafure: It is Precious Treafure in that it makes thofe things Precious that are but converfant about !t, Precious Faith, and Preciou.s Promifis. 2. Heavenly Treafure -is Soul Treafurt , fuited to the .Soul , and therefore He<~.ven~· look how much more noble an~ excellent the Soul is than the Body, fo much Tr eJfi1,_e ;1 more excellent is Hea"'..enly Treafure than Earthly Trcafurc. What ferve thefe So~l7Te4.· things on Earth, but to cloath and feed the Body, and yet for all this the Soul Jure, ma_y be naked, and miferable, and hunger-ftarved, and want fuitable Provifion. Truly, we may lament the condition at the Richeft Sinners on Earth, and fay oyer them in compa~on, 0 poor Soufs, what Husks and Swines·meat do you gtve your Souls, while you fet the whole World before them! For all in the World is no better; there is is nothing in it that you can pick out fuitable Nourifhment for them : And therefore Chrift jufrly brands the Rich Man in the Gofpel for an arrant Fool, who when he had ftopt the Barns with Corn, faid to his Soul, Soul, thou hafl goods laid up for ma'!Y Ycal"s, fiat, Drink, anil be Merry. A Fool indeed, to reckon his Soul's Goods by Barns full! He might as wifely have boafted, that he had provided Barns full of Thoughts for his Body, aS Barns full of Corn for his Soul: And yet fuch is the Provifion that rrioft Men ~ake for their Precious Souls. Tell me, Sirs, do you really believe, that this: IS fuch Provifion as your Souls can live upon ? Or do you think your Souls need no Provifion? What muft your Bodies, that at firft were kneaded out of the Duft, and muft e'er long be c~umbled jnto Duft again? Muft thcfe Bodies engrofs all your Care how to provide for them, and to pleafe them, and fhall your fi)iritua\ and everlafting Souls be wholly neglefred by you? It is not long hence before your Bodies fhall never more know a difference between Trcafure and Poverty, between Fulncfs and Hunger, and then what ferve thefe thin os tor that ~"''ith fo much Pains and Induftry you have laid up? Truly it is a long Jour~ ney Into the other World, and Gold, and Sil'Vtr, and Earthly Treafurc, are too hea\'Y a Portage to be carried with you thither: Thofe that now make Shipwr_ack of Faith and a good Confcience to get them, will e'er it be long make Sh1pwrack of them alfo; when you come to launch out "into Eternity, you lhall c?rry nothing with you of your Earthly Treafure into the other World , unler! It be the ruft of it to witncfs againft you; nothing of your Gold, unlefs 1,t be the guilt of it to condemn you. Thefe are unfit things therefore to be laid
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