* Luke xii. 32, Isaiah i. 9, Canticles iv. 12, Judges viii. 2, and Jeremiah iii. 14.— G. 6 When Fulgentius saw the nobility of Rome sit mounted in their bravery, it mounted
his meditations to the heavenly Jerusalom.
2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 83
day, oh ! how will the great and the rich, the learned and the noble, wish that they had lived and spent their days with these few poor con- temptible creatures in the service of the Lord ! Oh ! how will this wicked world curse the day that ever they had such base thoughts of the poor mean saints, and that their poverty became a stumbling-block to keep them off from the ways of sanctity.1
I have read of Ingo, an ancient king of the Draves, who, making a stately feast, appointed his nobles, at that time pagans, to sit in the hall below, and commanded certain poor Christians to be brought up into his presence-chamber, to sit with him at his table, to eat and drink of his kingly cheer ; at which many wondering, he said, ' He accounted Christians, though never so poor, a greater ornament to his table, and more worthy of his company, than the greatest peers unconverted to the Christian faith ; for when these might be thrust down to hell, those might be his consorts and fellow-princes in heaven.' You know how to apply it. Although you see the stars sometimes by their re- flections in a puddle, or in the bottom of a well, ay, in a stinking- ditch, yet the stars have their situation in heaven. So, though you see a godly man in a poor, miserable, low, despised condition for the things of this world, yet he is fixed in heaven, in the region of heaven : ' Who hath raised us up,' saith the apostle, • and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.' Oh ! therefore, say to your own souls, when they begin to decline the ways of Sion because of the poverty and paucity of those that walk in them, The day is at hand when those few, poor, despised saints shall shine in glory, when they shall judge this world, and when all the wicked of this world will wish that they were in their condition, and would give ten thousand worlds, were it in their power, that they might but have the honour and hap- piness to wait upon those whom for their poverty and paucity they have neglected and despised in this world.
Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That there will come a time, even in this life, in this world, when the reproach and contempt that is now cast upon the ways of God, by reason of the poverty and paucity of those that walk in those ways, shall be quite taken away, by his making them the head that have days without number been the tail, and by his raising them up to much outward riches, prosperity, and glory, who have been as the outcast because of their poverty and paucity.2 John,
1 Mr Fox being once asked whether he knew a certain poor man who had received succour of him in time of trouble, he answered, I remember him well. 1 tell you I forget lords and ladies to remember such. So will God deal by his poor saints. He will forget the great and mighty ones of the world to remember his few poor despised ones. Though John the Baptist was poor in the world, yet the Holy Ghost calls him the greatest that was born of woman. Ah, poor saints, men that know not your worth, cannot have such low thoughts of you, but the Lord will have as high.
* These following scriptures do abundantly confirm this truth: Jer. xxxi. 12; Isa. xxx. 23, lxii. 8, 9 ; Joel ii. 23, 24 ; Micah iv. 6 ; Amos ix. 13, 14 ; Zech. viii. 12 ; Isa. xli. 18, 19, lv. 13, lxvi. 6, 7, lxv. 21, 22, lxi. 4, lx. 10 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 10. Only take these two cautions: 1. That in these times the saints' chiefest comforts, delights, and con- tents will consist in their more clear, full, and constant enjoyment of God. 2. That they shall have such abundant measure of the Spirit poured out upon them, that their riches and outward glory shall not be snares unto them, but golden steps to a richer living in God.
84 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11.
speaking of the glory of the church, the new Jerusalem that came down from heaven, Rev. xxi. 24, tells us, 'That the nations of- them which are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory into it.' So the prophet Isaiah, ' They shall bring their sons from far, and their silver and their gold with them. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron,' chap. lx. 17. And so the prophet Zechariah speaks: chap. xiv. 14, 'And the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.' The Lord hath promised that ' the meek shall inherit the earth,' Mat. v. 5 ; and ' heaven and earth shall pass away, before one jot or one tittle of his word shall pass unfulfilled,' ver. 18. Ah, poor saints ! now some thrust sore at you, others look a-squint upon you, others shut the door against you, others turn their backs upon you, aud most of men (except it be a few that live much in God, and are filled with the riches of Christ) do either neglect you or despise you because of your poverty ; but the day is coming when you shall be lifted up above the dunghill, when you shall change poverty for riches, your rags for robes, your reproach for a crown of honour, your infamy for glory, even in this world.
And this is not all, but God will also mightily increase the number of his chosen ones, multitudes shall be converted to him : ' Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day ? or shall a nation be born at once ? for as soon as Sion travailed, she brought forth children. And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord, out of all nations, upon horses, and in chariots, in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord ; as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord,' Isa. lxvi. 8, 19, 20. Doth not the Scripture say, that ' the kingdoms of this world must become the kingdoms of our Lord'? Rev. xi. 15. Hath not God given to Christ 'the heathen, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession'? Ps. ii. 8. Hath not the Lord said, that in ' the last days the mountain of the Lord's house shall be lifted up above the hills, and shall be established in the top of the mountains, and all nations shall flow unto it,' Isa. ii. 2 and liv. 14 and lxi. 9. Pray, read, and meditate upon Isa. lx. and lxvi. and ii. 1-5, and there you shall find the multitudes that shall be converted to Christ. And oh ! that you would be mighty in believing ; and, in wrestling with God, that he would hasten the day of his glory, that the reproach that is now upon his people and wa}rs may cease !
The sixth device that Satan hath to keep souls off from religious services is,