(4.) Fourthly, As the Lord is an all-sufficient portion, so the Lord is a most absolute, needful, and necessary jpoiiion. The want of an earthly portion may trouble me, but the want of God for my portion will damn me. It is not absolutely necessary that I should have a por- tion in gold, or silver, or jewels, or goods, or lands ; but it is absolutely necessary that I should have God for my portion. I may have union and communion with God, though, with the apostles, I have neither gold nor silver in my purse, Acts iii. 6 ; I may be holy and happy, though, with Lazaru.s, Luke xvi. 20, 21, I have never a rag to hang on my back, nor never a dry crust to put into my belly ; I may to heaven at last, and I may be glorious in another world, though, with Job, I should be stripped of all my worldly glory, and set upon a dunghill in this world. Job i., &c. ; but I can never be happy here, nor blessed here- after, except God be my portion. Though I could truly say that all the world were mine, yet if I could not truly say that the Lord is my portion, I should be but miserable under all my worldly enjoyments. To have God for my portion is absolutely necessary, for without it I am for ever and ever undone, Eph. ii. 12. In this verse you have several withouts, and it is very observable that they that were without God in the world, they were without Christ, without the church, with- out the covenant, without the promise, and without hope in the world ; and therefore, such persons must needs be in a most sad and deplorable condition, &c.
[1.] First, In relation to the soul, and in relation to salvation, God is the most absolute necessary portion. If God be not ray portion, my soul can never enjoy communion with him in this world ; if God be not my portion, my soul can never be saved by him in the other world. But,
[2.J Secondly, When sinners are under terrors and horrors of con- science, when their consciences are awakened and convinced of the vile- ness of their natures, of the unspeakable evil that is in sin, yea, in the least sin, and of their lost, undone, and miserable estate out of Christ, Oh then ! what would they not give to have God for their portion?' Oh, then they would give all the gold and silver they have in the world to have God for their portion ; oh, then they would give, Micah vi. 6, 7, * thousands of rams, and ten thousands of rivers of oil ; yea, they would give their first-born, they would give the very fruit of their bodies, that they might have God to be the portion of their souls ; oh, then they would say, as Mephibosheth said unto the king, ' Let Ziba take all, for- asmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house,' 2 Sam. xix. 29, 30. Under distress of conscience, poor sinners will cry out, Oh ! let who will take all our honours, and all our manors, and all our treasures, and all our stores, and all our lands, and all our lordships, and all our bags, so we may have God for our portion. Oh ! let us but have God for our portion, and we care not a straw who takes all. Now, what doth this speak out, but that, of all portions, God is the most ab- solute necessary portion ? But,
[3.] Thirdly, Upon a dying bed, an awakened sinner sets the highest price, value, and esteem upon such as have God for their portion. Now ' Una gultula maloe conscientice totum mare mundani gaudii absorbet. — Luther.
18 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LaM. Ill 24.
he esteems a saint in rags that hath God for his portion above a wicked emperor in his royal robes, who hath only the world for his portion. What though wicked men, when they are in the height of their worldly prosperity, felicity, and glory, do slight the saints, and revile and scorn the saints, and contemn and undervalue the saints, Lam. ii. 14, 15; Zeph. ii. 8-10, &c. ; yet, when death knocks at their doors, and when their consciences are startled, and when hell fire flashes in their faces, and when the worm within begins to gnaw, oh now, if all the world were a lump of gold, and in their hands to dispose of, they would give it all, so they might have that honour and happiness to change conditions with those who have God for their portion : Num. xxiii. 10, ' Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his.' Though men who have their portion in this life do not love to live the life of the righteous, yet, when they come to die, they are often desirous that they might die the death of the righteous. And this many hundred ministers and Christians can witness from their own experience. Lazarus having God for his portion, when he died he went to heaven without a rag on his back, or a penny in his purse ; whereas Dives, who had not God for his portion when he died, went tumbling down to hell in all his riches, bravery, and glory.^ Oh ! it is infinitely better to go to heaven a beggar than to go to hell an emperor ; and this the sinner understands when his conscience comes to be enlightened upon a dying bed, and therefore he cries out, Oh send for such a minister, and send for such and such a Christian, and let them pray with me, and counsel me, and, if it be possible, give out some drops of comfort to me. Oh that I had never derided nor reviled them ! Oh that I had never opposed and persecuted them ! Oh that I had lived at such a rate of holiness and exactness as they have done ! Oh that I had walked with God as they have walked ! Oh that I had laid out my time, my strength, my treasure, my parts, my all for God, as they have done ! Oh that my estate was as good, as safe, and as happy as theirs is ! Oh that I could as truly say that the Lord is my portion, as they can say that the Lord is their por- tion ! And what doth all this speak out, but that high esteem and value that they set upon those that have God for their portion ? So that upon this threefold account, we may safely conclude that God is a most absolute, needful, and necessary portion. But,