362 SERMONS upt* Sett-n.42. to fee his Face ? Pfal. 27. 4. One thing have I defred of the Lard, that will .1 feek after, that I may dwell in the Haufe of the Lors all the days of my Life, to behold the Beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his Temple. It is David'sVnicum, Molar Ravi(hment, when he Caw God's back Parts : Exod. 34. 9. If now I have found Grace in thy fight, 0 Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go amangfl us. That is one effea of the fight of God, a Man would not be without his Company ; I pray thee go amongfl us. As Il f tom Paid, 2 Sam. 14.32. Come hither; that I may fendthee to the King, to fay, Wherefore am I come from Gefhur ? It had been good for me to have been there fill ; now therefore let me fie the King's Face ; and if there be any iniquity in me, let him AN me ; as if he (hould fay, let him kill me, rather than deny me the King's Face. Prize this above all the World : Pfal. 4. 6, 7. Lord, lift thou up the Light of thy Countenance upon us. Thou haft put Glad- net; in my Heart, more than in the time that their Corn and their Wine increafed. Pfal. 80. 3. Cafe thy Face to fsine, and we Pall be faved. 2. It is Transforming. a Cor. 3. 18. We all with open Face, beholding at in a Glafr the Glory of the Lord, are changed into the fame Image from Glory to Glory, even as by the Spi- rit of the Lord. Light and Grace do always go together. It is fuch a looking upon Chrift, as Laban's Sheep looked upon the peeled Rods in the Gutter; it maketh us more like Chrift. Sight worketh upon the Imagination in Brute Bea(ls 5- Shall not the Eye of Faith be more Itrong to change, than Natural Imagination ? A bare empty Contemplation will do you no good ; thole that find themfelves to be the Old Man frill, let them have never fo much Knowledg, it is no fign of Grace, nor of an Intereft in Glory. Vfe 3. Let the forefight of this glorious Efate wean thee from all inordinate M- fedions to Humane and Earthly Glory. There is the Luft of the Eyes, 1 John 2.16. By the Eyes we fire our Hearts. Doth a (lately glorious Houle allure thee ? What is this to Heaven, the Palace of God, and the Manfion of Bleffed Spirits ? Do glorious Garments and Apparel bewitch thee ? What is this to our Robes of Righteoufnefs, and thole Garments of Salvation, wherewith the Saints Ihall be cloathed in the Day of the Manifeftation of the Sons of God ? Doth the Face of Earthly Majefty a(lonifh thee ? What will it be to behold the Lord Jefus in all his Majefy and Glory ? As the Sun puts out the Candle; fo thould the forethought of thefe Excellencies extinguifh in us car- nal Deere, and diffolve the Inchantment, that would otherwile bewitch our Souls, and make us impatient under the Croft. Beware of the Vanity of the Eye, if it be con - fecrated to behold Chri(l's Glory. Fifthly; The next thing is, the Reafon of all this, the Father's Eternal Love to Chrift, and in Chrift to us : For thou haft loved me before the Foundation of the World, that is, from all Eternity, as the Phrale is often ufed in this fenfe in Scripture. But how was Chrift loved from all Eternity ? I Anfwer; Partly, as the Eternal Son of God Prov. 8. from 21, to verfe 30. before the Mountains were fetled, before the Hills were brought forth. Partly as Mediator, defigned from all. Eternity, and fo loved before the Foundation of the World, as he was fain before the Foundation of the World, Rev. 13. 8. Chrift was our Mediator from all Eternity ; not only before we were born, but before ever he came in the Flefh. To the Eyes of God all things are prefent, nothing is paff, nothing is to come. But why is this made a Reafon ? I Anfwer ; It is a Reafon, a. Of *the Taft Claufe; the Glory given to Chrift, is a. Fruit and Evidence of Grid's Eternal Love to himas Mediator ; for fo he is confidered here ; for what-ever was given to Chrill, was given to him as Mediator, for to the Divine Nature nothing can he given; tho the Father be the Fountain of the Godhead, yet he is not fo proper- ly laid to give Glory to Chrift as God, becaufe he loved him. 2. Of the whole Verle, and fo you may conceive it either thus, that he improved his.whole Inrcrell in the Father, conjuring him by his Infinite and Eternal Love, or rather from Love to himfelf, inferreth Love to us ; thou haft loved me, and them in me ; for we alai are loved before the Foundation of the World. Mat. 25. 34. Come ye bled of my Father, inherit a Kingdom prepared for you before the Foundation of the World. The Point to be difcuffed is, The Eternity of God's Love to Chrift, and in Chr to us. 1. The Eternity of God's Love to Chrift, as God, as his Son; the Love of Parents to Children is but a fhadow of it. We are Finite, fo are our Affeaions. As his Image, Heb. 5. 3. Who is the Brightnefr of his Glory, and the exprefr Image of his Perfin. Like- nefs
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