Of fcrving God, with neft you know is alway.s part of the Bargain: So God to aOb re us that he h in ear~e~ when he promt~eth .~eaven and Glory [O us, hath already F_iven us part of ~t m the G~aces .of hlS Sptnt. Grace and Glory are one and the fame thing in a di.fferent Prm_t, ID a fmallcr and a greater .Le~ter; here we have Heaven in ~emtnallnchoauon, hereaft~r we fhall have It m confummate PerfcC\:ion; Glory he~ couc~ed and compaCted In Grace, a~ the. beauty of a Flower lies couched and e~llpfed In the S~ed; the.refore the Palmift fatth, Pf~t!. 97• That Light is forrm }or rht R.1g.hteous; t~at n,. the Ltght of Joy and of a fut~re Life are in the Graces of God's Chtldren as m thelf Seed, and they !hall certamly bud and fprout forth into per· fee\ Happinefs. · Fairhrtl~ (2.) Secondly, We have a Kingdom of Glory, becaufo Fai.th realiz..eth tbings future litethir. and gives an e.xiftence and bei11g to things that are not. This is that Grace to which nothing is paft nor n?thing f~ture ; it co~trafls all things into prcfent time, and makes all ac.tually extftent; 1t draws Thmgs that are at a great diftance from it near to it fclf; and thus the Gal~t.rians Faith reprefented the death of Chrift fo vi· fibly to them, tho~t the .Apoflle told them, He was cruelfied am•ttg them, Gal. 3· r. It dives do":n into the g,ulf of future tin:es, and fetcheth up things that as yet are not. It IS much at one to a ftrong Fatth to have Heaven or to believe it; this Grace makes Heaven aii really prefent as' if it were already in Poffeffion and there... fo~e it is called i~ f!eb. t I . t. TJu evide!1ce D[ things not fien, ~rtd the' fubftance of rhmgs hoped for; It IS the very bemg of thmgs hoped for, the bemg of thofe thing$ that as yet have no being. Hopen~~~ (3.) Thirdly, We hlf'Ve a. KirtgdGm M in the view of Faith, fo alfo irt the embraces of brunlit. Hope. And therefore Hope LS Cl \led, 'The Anchor of the Soul thAt entretb into that within tht V ail, Heb. 6. 19. that is, into Heaven; it lays hold on all that Glory that is there laid up and kept in reverfion for us. Hope" is in it fclf a folid and [ubftantial Poifeffion, for it ftirs up the fame Affeaions, it excites the fame Joy, Delight and Complacency as Fruition it felf dot h. It is the Tafter of all our Comforts, and if they be but temporal, it not only tafrs them, but fometimes quite devours them and leaves us in fufpencc whether it be not better to be Expetlants than Enjoyers~ Heavenly Hope gives the fame real contentment and fatisfac.tion that antedates our Glory and puts us into the Polfcffion of our Inheritance whilfr we are yet in our Nonage, only it doth not fpend and devour its ObjeC\ before-hand as earthly Hope doth. Godl'fl (4.) Fou~t~ly, We h.cve a Kingdom. of Glory, becaufe God.ha~h aj[ured to"' the 1oiJrjfi· ~JJurrd. on ~f it by hu rmmut.abl.e word of P:omife• . And therefor,e lt lS c~lled, Etemal L{e, them of it whsch God that c~.mnot ltt bath promifed, T1t. !· 2· Gods \Vord JS as good Secunty bJ. Pro· as aCtual Poffeffion. It is this Word that gtves us Right and Title to it, and this mije. Right we may well call ours. Hence we have it, and it is obfervable, Mark 16. t6. He that beliewrhjhaO be f~~.-'Ued. Here is alfurance of Salvation for the future: But in 1ohn 3· t8. there it is, He that btlievtth not, U condemned already. He that believeth !hall be fand, he that believeth not is condemned already; why Unbe· lievers are no more aaually condemned than Believers are atl:ually faved; only what God promifcth, er what God threatneth, it is all one whether he faid it is done or it ihall be done ; for Damnation is as fure to the one, and Salvation as certain to the other, as if they were already in their final Eftate. So then we ha11e" Kingdom, that is God, who cannot lie, bath promifed it, and his Promife is as much as aC\ual Poffeffion it felf- 'f'NSA.int, It follows, in the Text this K;in_gdom i~ difcribe~ to us to be immovMble, we h1111t .fjng4om a Kingtl.om that cannot be movtd; 111s not hke the Kmgdoms of the Earth, that are is irnmove· all fubjed: to Earth-quakes and Cornmotions, bul we have tt Kingdom that cannot be dJe, ,..,,J, And if we underftand this of the K;ngdom of Gr<~&e in the Hearts of Be· lievers, then the fenfe is, it can never be fo moved as to be utterly removed; though it be fhaken and batter'd, yet the Foundation of GodftartdtthJure, having this Seal on it, the Lord knoweth IPho ~re hW, as the Apoflle fpeaks, 2 7'im. 2. 19. Iadeed as all Earth-quakes are caufed by fome Vapours included in the Bowels of the Earth, fo is there enough in us tocaufe Sbakings and Earth~quakcs, there are thofc corrupt and finful fteams of Lufts that are ftill working and heaving in our Breafts; that were not God's Truth, Wifdom and Power all engaged to keep and preferve us, we lhould be foon moved from our StaRding, and over~thrown. If we underfraud by it the K;•gdom of Glory, that is <ertainly immoveable, "' ' h••• • K;ng~h=
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