* 1 John i. 1-4 ; 2 Cor. 13, 14. Man's summum bonum stands in his communion with God, as Scripture and experience evidences, Ps. cxliv. 15. My God and I am good com- pany, said famous Dr Sibbes.
Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 81
Regius, having one day's converse with Luther, said,' It was one of the sweetest days that ever he had in all his life. But if one day's com- munion with Luther was so sweet, oh how sweet must one day's com- munion with God be. And therefore, as ever you would have high, and full, and sweet communion with God, keep up a clear sight, a blessed sense of your interest and propriety in God. But,
[6.] Sixthly, A clear personal evidence that God is a man's portion, is a ffian's all in all. O sirs ! this is the life of your lives, and the life of your prayers, and the life of your praises, and the life of your confidences, and the life of your mercies, and the life of your comforts, and the life of your hopes, &c. A clear sight of your propriety in God is the very- life of promises, the life of ordinances, the life of providences, the life of experiences, and the life of your gracious evidences. It is a pearl of price ; it is your paradise ; it is manna in a wilderness, it is water out of a rock, it is a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night ; it is Jacob's ladder ; it is a salve for every sore, it is physic for every disease, it is a remedy against every malady ; it is an anchor at sea, and a shield on shore ; it is a star to guide you, a staff to support you, a sword to defend you, a pavilion to hide you, a fire to warm you, a banquet to refresh you, a city of refuge to secure you, and a cordial to cheer you; and what would you have more ? But,
[7.] Seventhly, and lastly, A clear personal evidence that God is a man's portion will exceedingly sweeten the thoughts of death, and all the approaches of death, and all the warnings and forerunners of death unto him. It will make a man look upon his last day as his best day, Eccles. vii. 1 ; it will make a man look upon the king of terrors as the king of desires. Job xviii. 14 ; it will make a man laugh at the shaking of the sjiear, at the sounding of the trumpet, at the confused noise of the battle, at garments roUed in blood, at the . sighs and groans of the wounded, and at the heaps of the slain. It was the martyrs' clear sight of their interest and propriety in God that made them compliment with lions, and dare their persecutors, and to kiss the stake, and to sing and clap their hands in the midst of the flames, and to tread upon hot burning coals as upon beds of roses, and divinely to triumph over their tormentors. It was this that made the primitive Christians ambitious of martyrdom, and that made them willingly and cheerfully lay down their lives, that they might. Elijah- like, mount to heaven in fiery chariots. A man that sees his propriety in God, knows that death shall be the funeral of all his sins, sorrows, afflictions, temptations, desertions, oppositions, vexations, oppressions, and persecutions; and he knows that death shall be the resurrection of his hopes, joys, delights, comforts, and contentments, and that it shall bring him to a more clear, full, perfect, and constant enjoyment of God : and this makes him sweetly and triumphantly to sing it out, O death! where is thy sting? O grave! where is thy victory?' 1 Cor. xv. 35-37. And oh that these seven considerations might prevail with all your souls to be restless, till you have in your own bosoms clear and full satisfaction that God is your portion. Now this last inference leads me by the hand to an use of trial and examination. O sirs! if God be the saint's
^ ^ A dam in vit. Begii, p. 78.
82 AN AEK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [Lam. III. 24.
portion, the believer's portion, how highly doth it concern every one that looks upon himself as a saint or as a believer, to search, try, and examine whether God be his portion or no ?
Quest. But you will say, How shall we know whether God be our portion or no ? Oh ! were all the world a lump of gold, and in our hands to dis- pose of, we would give it to know that God is our portion ! Oh ! the knowledge of this would be as life from the dead ; it would create an heaven in our hearts on this side heaven ; it would presently put us into a paradise of pleasure and delight ; but still the question is, How shall we know it 1 It is an easy thing to say that God is our portion ; but how shall we come infallibly to know that God is our portion ?
Now, to give clear and full satisfaction to this great and weighty question, I shall give in these following answers, by which you may certainly and undoubtedly know, whether God be your portion or no :
[1.] First, If God be thy portion, then thou hast very sweet, pi'ecious, high, and honourable thoughts of God ; then thy thoughts will still be running out after God, and thy meditations of him will be sweet.* A man that hath God for his portion, is always best when his thoughts and meditations are running out most after God : Ps. civ. 34, ' My medi- tations of him shall be sweet ; I will be glad in the Lord ;' Ps. Ixiii. 5, 6, * My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness ; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips ; when I remember thee upon my bed (or beds, as the Hebrew hath it; David never bedded at home nor abroad, here nor there, but still his thoughts were running out to God), and meditate on thee in the night watches;' Ps. cxxxix. 17, 18, 'How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God ! how great is the sum of them ! if I should count them, they are more in number than the sand : when I awake, I am still with thee.' The psalmist had very frequent, high, precious, and honourable thoughts of God; he valued nothing at so high a rate as sweet and noble thoughts of God, and of his power, wisdom, goodness, faithfulness, and graciousness, &c. David had such precious thoughts of God, and such great and glorious thoughts of God, and such infinite and innumerable thoughts of God, that he was as well able to number the sands of the sea, as he was able to number them up : ' And when I awake I was still with thee.' He was still a-contemplating upon God ; he did fall asleep with precious thoughts of God, and he did awake with precious thoughts of God ; he did rise up with precious thoughts of God, and he did lie down with precious thoughts of God ; he did go forth with. precious thoughts of God, and he did return home with pre- cious thoughts of God. Take a Christian when he is himself, when he is neither under sad desertions, nor black temptations, nor great afflic- tions, and he can as soon forget his own and his father's house, the wife of his bosom, the fruit of his loins, yea, he can as soon forget to eat his bread, as he can forget his God.