* In my former treatise I have spoken very largely about the use of holy means, especially in my last on ' Holiness,' and therefore a touch here must suffice. [The refer- ' ence is to his ' Crown of Holiness,' Brooks's largest work, which forms Vol. iv. of our edition. — G.]
Lam. III. 24] an aek for all god's noahs. 119
God for their portion, to accept of God for their portion, and to own God for their portion. If this question should be put to all the saints in heaven, viz.. How God came to be their portion ? they would all answer. By waiting upon him in the use of all those holy ways and means that he had appointed for that purpose ; and if the same ques- tion were put to all the saints on earth that have God for their portion, they would all give the same answer. 0 sirs ! as ever you would have God for your portion, it highly concerns you to wait patiently upon him in the use of all holy means. He that is in the use of holy means is in the way of obtaining God for his portion. But he that casts off the use of the means, he says in effect, I wiU not have God for my portion, J care not to have God for my portion ; let me but have the world for my portion, and let who will take God for their portion.
To prevent mistakes, before I close up this direction, remember that by the use of holy means, I only mean such means that God himself hath appointed, commanded, instituted, and ordained. As for those means that are of men's inventing, devising, prescribing, commanding, and ordaining, a man may wait till doomsday in the use of them, before ever he will gain God for his portion ; and therefore they are rather to be declined, yea, detested and abhorred, than any way to be owned, minded, or used by any that would have God for their portion. Look, as all the worshippers of Baal got nothing by all their wailing and cry- ing out from morning to night, ' 0 Baal, hear us ! 0 Baal, hear us !' 1 Kings xviii., so they that wait upon God in invented and devised worship will never get anything by aU their waiting ; no, though they should wait from morning to evening, and from evening to morning, and cut and lance themselves till the blood gush out, as those foolish wor- shippers of Baal did. And therefore, as ever you would have God for your portion, be sure that you wait upon him only in his own ways, and in the use of his own means. And thus I have done with the use and application of the point.
So that I have now nothing to do but these two things :
First, To answer a few objections that poor sinners are apt to make against their own souls, and against their enjoying of God for their portion ; and,
Secondly, To lay down a few positions that may be of singular use to all such that have God for their portion. I shall begin with the objections.
Obj. 1. Methinks I hear some poor sinners ready to object and say, 0 sir ! you have pressed us by many motives to get God for our por- tion, and we stand convinced in some measure by whM you have said, that God is a most excellent, transcendent, glorious portion ; but we very much question whether ever God will bestow himself as a por- tion upon such great, such grievous^ such notoHovs, and such m-^ famous sinners as we are.
Now to this objection, I shall return these answers.
[1.] First, God is a free agent, and therefore he may give himself as a poHion to whom he pleases. Men may do with their own as they please, and so may God do with himself as he pleases. Look, as men may give earthly portions to whom they please, so God may give him- self as a portion to what sinners he pleases. God is as free to bestow.
120 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.
himself upon the greatest of sinners, as he is to bestow himself upon the least of sinners. But,
[2.] Secondly, I answer, That the Lord hath bestowed himself as a portion upon as great and as grievous sinners as you are, Pa. Ixviii. 18. Adam, you know, fell from the highest pinnacle of glory into the greatest gulf of misery, and yet God bestowed himself as a portion upon him. Gen. iii. 15. And Manasseh was a sinner of the greatest magnitude, 2 Kings xxi., his sins were of a scarlet dye, they reached as high as heaven, and they made his soul as black as hell ; for witchcraft, sorcery, cruelty, idolatry, and blood, he was a nonsuch, 2 Chron. xxxiii. ; he sold himself to work all manner of wickedness with greediness ; he did more wickedly than the very heathen, whom the Lord abhorred ; in all his actings he seemed to be the first-born of Satan's strength ; and yet the Lord freely bestowed himself as a portion upon him : and so, Ezek. xvi. 6, 8, 'When I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood. Live ; yea, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, Live. Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was a time of love ; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness : yea, I swore unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becaraest mine.' And so, Isa. xlvi. 12, 13, 'Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness : I bring near my righteousness ; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry : and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my gloiy.' Solomon, Mary Magdalene, Matthew, Zaccheus, the jailor, and the murderers of Christ, were all very great and grievous sinners, and yet the Lord bestowed himself as a portion upon them ; and so God bestowed himself as a portion upon those monstrous and prodigious sinners that are mentioned in 1 Cor. vi. 9-11, whose souls were red with guilt, and as black as hell with filth. God hath been very good to those that have been very bad ; and therefore do not de- spair, O sinner, though thy sins are very great.
I have read a story concerning a great rebel,^ that had made a great party against one of the Roman emperors, and proclamation being sent abroad, that whosoever could bring in the rebel, dead or alive, he should have a great sum of money for his reward ; the rebel hearing of it, comes, and presenting himself before the emperor, demands the sum of money proposed : the emperor, bethinking himself, concludes, that if he should put him to death, all the world would be ready to say that he did it to save his money ; and so he freely pardoned the rebel, and gave him the money. Here now was light in a dark lantern, here was rare mercy and pity in a very heathen. And shall an heathen do thus, and shall not the great God, who is made up of all loves, of all mercies, of all compassions, of all goodnesses, and of all sweetnesses, do much more ? Certainly he will. If the greatest rebels, if the greatest sinners will but come in whilst the white flag of grace and mercy is held forth, they shall find a marvellous readiness and forwardness in God, not only to pardon them, but also to bestow, not only money, but himself as a portion upon them. The greatest sinners should do well