552 The Excellency of Heavenly Treaforcs. your own Shadows, as fill up the vaft and boundlefs Delircs of your Souls with thefe _Earthly things, that have fcarc~ any _proof of their Reality, befidcs tbe Vex;ltlon and Torment that they bnng wtth them. Thefe things are eo the Soul but as Wind to the Stomach , gripe it they may , but they can never fill nor fatisfie it. Thofe that pleafe themfelves with fuch Delufions as thefe are, will tell us, That a round World will not fill up a Triangular Heart frill there will be found fame corner empty. It is true indeed, you will find 'E[au in Gm. 13. 9· Seemingly fatisficd with his prefent Condition, when he tell~ 'Jacob, I have mough my BrQther: But this was rather becaufe he was alhamed to acknowledge his Want, by receiving from a Fugitive, than any teal SatisfaCl:ion that drew this Speech from him. No, there is fuch a Paradox in an Earthly Mind that makes it true, that though oftentimes they have too much, yet they never think they have enough :But now, Heavenly Trcafures they arc filling and fatisfying Treafures; though the World cannot fill up a three-cornered Heari: yet the Trinity can :Though Rich<;s are empty, thot1gh Honours and Dignities ar~ flatulent and windy, and Crowns are lined with Troubles, and Scepters are made mafi"y with Cares fet on them; yet Hea'l..lcnly Riches are fubftantial, the Crown of Glory and Immortality is lined throughout with the Down of Eternal Contentment and SatisfaCtion. Now thefe Heawnly Treafures are [atis[afJory in two refpcEls. Fidt, They art [ati.sfaUory in them{tl'l..les. And, Secondly, They put fatisfaUorinefs into Earrhly Enjoyment!. So that the Soul that poffeffeth Heawnly Tre~fure finds Contentment and Satisfattion in every Condition. 1 • Heavenly Trea{ures they are {atisfaEtory iu themftlves: He that enjoys them needs look out no where clfe for Happinefs and Contentment. Andfirft, The Treafures of Grace arc thus fatis[aflory, where there is the light and ev.idence of Alfurance, to tell the Soul how Rich it is. Grace indeed is this Treafure, that may fometimes lye deep hid in the Heart: Wben the Soul is in the dark, under fome gloomy Fears, or in a frate of Defertion, it doth not then know that it bath fuch a Treafure, and therefore it cannot receive Contentment aud Satisfaction from it. But when the Spirit of God darts in a Beam of evidencing Light into the Dark Vaul4 this Rich Treafure difcovers it felf by its own lhining. Now this lhine of Heavenly Treafure is AII'urance, and when the Spirit darts in a Beam of Light to difcover il in the Heart, when it fees how Rich it is in Love, in Faith, in Hope, and in all other Precious Graces of the Spirit, it cannot fufficiently prize and.value its own Eftate. It's true indeed, a Gracious Heart never thinks it ha~h enough, (till it is craving and labouring after more ; !till it complains, that its Graces are too weak, and thofe weak ones too few : But yet this holy Covetoufnefs carries no Tormenting, Perplexing Anxiety and Vexation with it, while it complains of the Poverty of its Graces, yet it prizeth them above all the World, and thinks its Eftate to be infinitely ble£red and happy, if it hath but any degree of A£rurance; and though he be but poor and defpicable in the WorlO,yet ask him whether he would change Conditions wirh the greatefl: and the richeft Sinner on Earth, he will tell you no; he values his prcfent Efrate above Ten thoufand Worlds; nay, he would not lofe the leaft degree, nor the leaft filling of his Graces, for whatever Enjoyments a poor World can proffer him. Such SatisfaCtorinefs there is in the TreafureJ of Grace ; and well may it be fo, for Grace with Affurance is no lefs than Heaven let down into the Soul: And therefore it is Remarkable in Heb. 10. 34· Knowing in your felvn, faith the Apoftle~ that in Heavm you have a better, and a more enduring fubftance; fo our Tranflation rfnders it, but in the Original it is, Know, that in your j'elvn ye ha'l..le a better an_d more enduring fubftance in Hflt'l..len, Thofe that are affured of the Truth of their own. Graces, have a Heaven in themfelves, a better and a more enduring fubftance in themfelves; thofe Difcoveries of God, that fweet Peace and Tranquility of Soul, thofe overflowing Joys of the Holy Ghoft, that 1-[tAven it felf is never able to beftow other kind of Happinefs than this is, though there they lhall have it in fuller degrees and meafure. 2.. The Treafures of Glory are infinitely fatis[aEfory : If there be fo mu~h i.n Grace, that is, but [he Earnefl: Penny, how much more abundant fatisfaChon IS there in Glory, that is the Inheritance it felf? In !'fat. 1 7· 1 >· Whm I awa]h,t
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=