I have read of Cynaegii-us,' an Athenian captain, who, in the Persian wars, pursuing his enemy's ship, which was laden with the rich spoils of his country, and ready to set sail, how he first held it with his right hand till that was cut off, and then with his left hand till that was cut off, and then with his stumps till his arms were cut off, and then he held it with his teeth tiU his head was cut off; as long as he had any life or strength left in him, he would not let go his hold. So a man that hath God for his portion will rather die at the foot of God than he will let go his hold of God : Job xiii. 15, ' Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.' But,
[4.] Fourthly, If God be thy portion, then thou livest upon God as upon thy portion. Look, as the men of the world do live upon their earthly portions, so a man that hath God for his portion lives upon his God, as you may plainly see by comparing the scriptures in the margin together.^ Look, how the poor man lives upon his labours, the covetous man upon his bags, the ambitious man upon his honours, the voluptuous man upon his pleasures, &c., so doth a Christian live upon his God. In all his duties he lives upon God, and in all his mercies he lives upon God, and in all his wants he lives upon God, and in all his straits and trials he lives upon God, and in all his contentments and enjoyments he still lives upon God for his justification : Rom. viii. 33, ' It is God that justifieth,' and he still lives upon God for the perfecting of his sanctification ; Philip, i. 6, * Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of
1 Rather Cynsegeirus. Brooks here translates Justin ii. 9. — G.
» 1 §am. XXX. tJ ; Hab. iii. 17, 18 ; Ps. Ixxiii. 26 ; Rom. xiv. 7, 8 ; Gal. ii. 20 ; Phil, i, 21.
90 AN ARK FOR ALL QOD'S NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.
Jesus Christ ;' and he lives upon God for the maintaining and increas- ing of his consolation, 2 Cor. i. 3-5. When he is under the frowns of the world, then he lives upon the smiles of God ; when he is under the hatred of the world, then he lives upon the loves of God ; and when he is under the reproaches of the world, then he lives \ipon his credit with God ; when he is under the threatenings of the world, then he lives upon the protection of God ; and when he is under the designs and plottings of the world, then he lives upon the wisdom and counsel of God ; when he is under the sligh tings and neglects of the world, then he lives upon the care of God; and when he is under the crosses and losses of the world, then he lives upon the fulness and goodness of God, &c. Alexander told his soldiers, I wake that ye may sleep. Most sure I am, that he that is the saint's portion never slumbers nor sleeps, Ps. cxxi. 3, 4. God is always watchful and wakeful to do his people good ; he never wants skill or will to help them, he never wants a purse, a hand, or a heart to supply them, &c.
O sirs ! Every man singles out something to live upon. Some single out one thing, some another. Saith the wife, I must live upon my husband ; says the child, I must live upon my father ; says the servant, I must live upon my master; says the old, We must live upon the labours of the young; says the poor. We must live upon the charity of the rich ; and why then shall not a Christian live upon his God ? A. Christian that hath God for his portion may say, when he is at worst, ^Well, though I have not this nor that nor the other outward comfort to live upon, yet I have the power of a God to live on, and I have the pro- vidence of a God to live on, and I have the promise of a God to live on, and I have the oath of a God to live on, and I have the love of a God to live on, and I have the bounty of a God to live on, and I have the fulness of a God to live on, and I have the care of a God to live on ; and what can I desire more? John of Alexandria, surnamed the Almoner, did use yearly to make even his revenues, and when he had distributed all to the poor, he thanked God that he had now nothing left him to live upon but his Lord and Master Jesus Christ.^ When all is gone, yet a Christian hath his God to live upon as his portion, and that is enough to answer to all other things, and to make up the want of all other things. Look, as he hath nothing that hath not God for his portion, so he wants nothing that hath God for his portion. It was a weighty saying of one [Cajetan], 'The spiritual good of a man consists in this, that a man hath friendship with God, and consequently that he lives for him, to him, with him, in him; that he lives for him by consent, to him by conversation, with him by cohabitation, and in him by contentation. Old godly Similes said, that he had been in the •world sixty years, but had lived but seven, counting his life not from his first birth, but from his new birth. A man lives no longer than he lives upon God as his portion : when a man begins to live upon God as his portion, then he begins to live indeed, and not till then. But,
[5.] Fifthly, If God be thy portion, then he carries thy heart from all other things, Ps. xlil 12. The portion always carries the heart with it* Mat vi. 20, 21, * But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
^ Surius de vitis. 8S.
^ Bernard well observes, that a wise man's heart is with the Lord*
Lam. III. 24.] AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. 91