rei)rove in others. Plutarch's servant uj> braided him, " It is not as my master Phi- tarch saith ; lie hath written a book against wrath, anger, et ipse mihi irascitur, — yet he falls into a passion of anger with me :" So this minister preacheth against drunk- enness,— yet he will be drunk ; he preach- eth against swearing, — yet he will swear ; this reproacheth God, and makes the olTor- ing of the Lord to be abhorred. 3. Mas- ters of families, do ye glorify God, season your children and servants with the know- ledge of the Lord ; your houses should be little churches! Gen. x^nn. 19., " I know that Abraham will command his children that they may keep the way of tlie Lord." You that are masters, know you have a charge of souls under you ; for want of the bridle of family-discipline, youth runs wild. Well, let me lay down some motives to glorify God.
1. Alot. It will be a great comfort in a dying hour to think we have glorified God in our lives. It was Christ's comfort be- fore his death : John xvii. 4., " I have glori- fied thee on the earth." At the hour of death, all your earthly comforts will va- nish. If you think how rich you have been, — what pleasures you have had on earth, — this will be so far from comforting you, that it will but torment you the more. What is one the better for an estate that is spent ? But now, to have conscience tell- ing you that you have glorified God on earth, what sweet comfort and peace will this let in to your sovil ! How will this make you long for death ! Tbe servant that hath been all day working in the vine- yard, longs till evening comes w^\en he shall receive his pay. They who liave lived, and brought no glory to God, how can they think of dying with comfort ? They can- not expect an harvest, — tbey never sowed any seed. How can they expect gloiy from God, that never brought any glory to him ? O in what horror will they be at death ! the worm of conscience will gnaw tlieir souls, before the worms are gnawing their bodies.
2. Mot. If we glorify God, he will glo- rify our souls for ever ; by raising God's glory, we increase our own ; by glorifying God, we come at last to the blessed enjoy-
ing of him. And that brings me to the 2d. ' The enjoying of God.'
II. Man's chief end is to enjoy God for ever, Ps. Ixxiii. 2.5., " Whom have I in lieaA'cn but thee ?" that is, WHiat is there in heaven I desire to enjoy, but thee ? There is twofold fruition or enjoving of God ; the one is in this life, the other in the life to come.
1st. An enjoying of God here in this life : The enjoying of God's presence ; it is a great matter to enjoy God's ordinances (a mercy that some do envy us), but to en- joy God's presence in the ordinances, is that which a gracious heart aspires after, Ps. Ixiii. 2., " To see thy glory so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary." This sweet enjoying of God, is, when we feel his Spirit co-operating ^Wth the ordinance, and distilling gi-ace upon our hearts : 1. ^^^len in the word the Spirit doth quicken and raise the affections, Luke xxiv. 32., ' Did not our hearts burn within us ?' 2. Wlien the Spirit doth transform the heart, leaving an impress of holiness upon it, 2 Cor. iii. 18., " We are changed into the same image, from glory to glory." When the Spirit doth revive the heart vriih com- fort, it comes not only with its anointing, but its seal ; it sheds God's love abroad in the heart, Rom. v. 5. This is to enjoy God in an ordinance, 1 John i. 3., " Our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." In the word, we hear God's voice, and in the sacrament we have his kiss'; this is enjopng of God, and what infinite content doth a gracious soul find in this ! The heart being wJirmed and in- flamed in a duty, this is God's answer- ing by fire. When a Christian hath the sweet illapses of God's Spirit, these are the first-fruits of glory, when God comes down to the soul in an ordinance ; now, Christ hath pulled off his vail, and showed his smiling face ; now, he hath led a believer into the banqueting-house, and given him of the ' spiced wine' of his love to drink ; he hath put in his finger at the hole of the door ; he hath touched the heart, and made it leap for joy. O how sweet is it thus to enjoy God ! The godly have, in the use of the ordinances, had such divine raptures of joy, and soul-transfigurations, that they
MAN'S CHIEF END IS TO GLORIFY GOD.
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have been carried above the world, and have despised all things here below.