540 7#R cnntsTIAÑ'S TIfEAJC1tj all things in the second Adam; is ,far more secure than it was itt the first. This rich and extensive treasure is put into the hands of Christ our Mediator, our Head; and our Surety for us, that wemay not abuse our possession by sin to our own ruin ; and that we may not forfeit our inheritance the second time; and so lose it -for ever. Third liseThis doctrine yields sweet Consolation to a poor afflicted saint, who is taught to make a right improvement of it. The gospel should teach a christian in these circumstan- ces, such divine language as this : " Am I poor and despised by thegreat and rich in this world ? yet I trust I ammade a child of God by his renewing grace, and the promise gives me aright to all things. God my Father has engaged that all things shall work together for my good. IIe has made use a joint-heir with his best-beloved Son Jesus, and has 'given me a fair and large inheritance. I shall be possessor of every comfort among the creatures that is necessary to my supreme interest, and my final happiness, and God himself ismy eternal portion. " What if Icannot read myname and my title tolands and houses, to green fields and palaces, in large conveyances and writings under the seal of men ? but I can read my name as a- christian in the covenant of grace, under the seal of God, and the blood of his Son, and there I find that all things are mine. While I survey the gardens of a rich sinner, every herb and, flower there gives me more sweetness than he can find in them all : For I can converse with God my Maker, and my Father, in every herb, and every flower. While I walk amongst the trees of my neighbour's fields, they yield me their refreshing shade, and compose my thoughts to divine meditation. I can lift up my eyes to the stately building where my neighbour dwells, and raise my thoughts thence to themansions of glory : Then I rejoice to thinkhow much-my inheritance andmymansion there exceeds the most magnificent structure on earth. Thus his fields, and his gardens, and his stately dwelling, afford a di- vine light to me, which perhaps the earthly possessor of them knows nothing of And though I have almost nothing that I can call my ownon earthy yet, in this sense, I possess all things. My God hath given me so much of thregood things of this world, as he saw needful and proper for my real interest: and surely if I might have had all things within my immediate reach, andunder my sovereignty, I would not lay hold of more of them (if Iwere truly wise) than would promote my welfare. as 'Do I sit at the footstool of the rich in the house of God or am I but a door-keeper in the sanctuary, yet I can there hear Paul declare the sublime mysteries of the gospel, and while he reveals the wonders of God's eternal love, my heart within me
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