under fears and doubts, sighing and mourning; that have run from minister to minister, and from one duty to another, &c., and yet could never be persuaded of the love of Christ to their poor souls ; but still their fears and doubts have followed them, till they have waited upon the Lord in this glorious ordinance, by which the Lord hath assured them of the remission of their sins, and the salvation of their souls. In this ordinance God hath given them manna to eat, and a white stone, and new name, which no man knoweth but he that receiveth it. Rev. ii. 17. Tell me, ye precious, believing souls, whether you have not found God in this ordinance often whispering of you in the ear, saying, ' Sons and daughters, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you' ? Mat. ix. 2. I know you have.
Those scriptures that do expressly require saints to be abundant and constant in rejoicing and in praising of God, to have always harps in their hands, and hallelujahs in their mouths, do clearly evidence that believers may attain to a well-grounded assurance in this life.^ How can they rejoice and glory in God, that do not know whether he will be an ever- lasting friend or an everlasting enemy to them, whether he will always breathe out love or wrath upon them ? How can they but hang their harps on the willows, that do not know but that they may live in a strange land, Ps. cxxxvii. 2 ; yea, in a land of darkness all their days ? How can they be cheerful or thankful, that do not know but that they may at last hear that heart-breaking, that conscience-wounding, that soul- slaying word, ' Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels,' Mat. xxv. 41. Now, there is no duty in the whole book of God that is more frequently and abundantly pressed upon believers than this of joy and rejoicing, of praise and thanksgiving, as all know that know anything of the Scripture: 1 Thes. v. 16, 'Rejoice evermore.' God would not have his children always a-putting finger in the eye. Ah, Christians ! remember what Christ hath done for you, and what he is still a-doing for you in heaven, and what he will do for you to all eternity, and spend your days in whining and mourning if you can.2 Ps. xxxii. 11, 'Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous; and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.' Ps. xxxiii. 1, 'Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous ; for praise is comely for the upright.'^ Christians, are not your mercies greater than your miseries? Yes. Are your greatest sufferings comparable to the least spark of grace or beam of glory revealed in you or to you ? No. Will not one hour's being in the bosom of Christ recompense you for aU your trouble and travail ? Yes. Why, then, do you spend more time in sigliing than in rejoicing; and why do you, by your not rejoicing, sad those precious hearts that God would not have sadded, and glad those graceless hearts that God would not have gladded ?*
1 Nulla verior miseria quam falsa Uetitia, there is no truer misery than false joys.
* It would even be an endless business to cite every scripture wherein this duty is en- joined. It is a duty that is much pressed in both Testaments, and as little practised by all whimpering Christians.
3 The word noteth a fair and comely grace, for which a thing is to be liked and desired. — Ainsworlh. [Henry Ainsworth, ' Annotations on the Bible,' 2 vols, folio, 1627. He died 1 622.— G.]
* jEtema erit exultatio qtuz bono Icetatur OBtemo, their joy lasts for ever whose object remains for ever.
328 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.
A beautiful face is at all times pleasiug to the eye, but then espe- cially when there is joy manifested in the countenance. Joy in the face puts a new beauty, and makes that which before was beautiful to be exceediug beautiful. It puts a lustre and glory upon beauty ; so does joy in the face, heart, and life of a Christian, cast a general splen- dour and glory upon him, and the ways of God wherein he walks. The joy of the Lord is not only the strength, but also the beauty and glory of Christians, Neh. viii. 10.
Joy and rejoicing is a consequent and effect of assurance, as many believers by experience find ; and therefore, without all peradventure, believers may attain unto a well-grounded assurance of their everlasting happiness, else it is impossible that they should ' rejoice evermore ;' so that by this argument, as by the former, it clearly appears that be- lievers may in this life be assured of their eternal well being. ^
Tenthly, The tenth and last argument, to prove that believers may in this life attain to a well-grounded assurance, is this, ThatGod would never have made such a broad difference in the Scripture betiveen the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, between the righteous and the wicked, between saints and sinners, between sons and slaves, slieep and goats, between lions and lambs, betiveen wheat and chaff, light and dark- ness, &c., if it were impossible for men to knoiv which of these two estates they are in.'^ Therefore they may know whether they are in a state of life or in a state of death, in a state of misery or in a state of felicity, in a state of wrath or in a state of love. Mat. xiii. 1, seq. Oh ! it is much below the grace of God, it is repugnant to the wisdom of God, to make such a wide difference between his own children and Satan's, John viii. 44, if it were not possible for every child to know his own father. ' Thou shalt call me my father.' Isa. Ixiii. 1 6, ' Doubtless thou art my Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge Us not : thou, O Lord, art our Father and Redeemer ; thy name is from everlasting.'' The weakest saint can say, * Abba, Father,' Rom. viii. 15 ; the Lord will not leave his children comfortless, or as orphans, and fatherless chil- dren, as it is in the Greek.* Though the salvation of believers do not depend upon their knowledge of God to be their father, yet their con- solation does ; therefore the Lord will not be only a father to Israel, but he will make Israel know that he is his father : Jer. iii. 4, * Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me. My Father, thou art the guide of my youth ?'*
By these ten arguments it doth evidently appear, that believers may in this life attain unto a well-grounded assurance of their everla.sting happiness and blessedness. I shall apply this a little, and then close up this chapter.
Use. This precious truth thus proved, looks sourly and wishl}?* upon
* Mrs Kath. Brettergh, under the power of assurance, cries out, Oh the joys, the joys, the inconceivable joys my heart is fiUed with. [See Index under Brettergh, for former note on. — G.]
» Gen. iii. 15; Ezek. xviii. 19, seq. ; Mat. xxv. 1, teq. ; Mat. iii. 12; 2 Cor. vi. 14. ' The saints' motto is, Tarn pint nemo, tarn pater nemo, No father is like our Father.
* John xiv. 18, i^(pateus. God hath no child so young, but can more or less call him Father.