' One of the kings of Englanrl in his straits cried out, ' A kinpdom for a horse ! a kingdom for a horse!' [Kicliard III., qs before. — G.] So do awakened consciences cry out, A kingdom for a Christ ! a kingdom for a Clirist, or a little grace !
* Lycurgus, saitli Musculus, amongst all his laws, made none against the ungrateful ; because that was thought a thing so prodigious, as not to be committed by man.
EpH. III. 8.] RICHES OF CHRIST. 77
to that God, tliat Christ, and all those spiritual bles.sings in heavenly- places, with which thou art blest in Christ Jesus,' Eph. i. 4.
Secondly, Consider this, That all your wants and miseries are de- served and 'procured by your sins. Jer. iv. 18, ' Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee : this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thy heart.' And chap. 1. 25, ' Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.' But now all your mercies are un- merited and undeserved ; they all flow in upon you from the free love and favour of God ; and therefore there is more need of praises than of prayers. And oh ! that the high praises of God were more in your mouths, upon this very account ! And oh that, with David, you would summon all the faculties of your souls to praise the Lord, who hath filled you, and foUoAved you with the riches of mercy all your days,^ Ps. cxlix. 2, and ciii. 1-5, But,
[2.] Secondly, Consider this, Thankfulness is a surer and a better evidence of our sincerity, and spiritual ingenuity, than praying or heaHng, or such like services, are.
Thanksgiving is a self-denying grace ; it is an uncrowning ourselves and the creatures, to set the crown upon the head of our Creator ; it is the making ourselves a footstool, that God may be lifted up upon his throne, and ride in a holy triumph over all ; it is a grace that gives God the supremacy in all our hearts, thoughts, desires, words, and works. Self-love, flesh and blood, and many low and carnal considerations, may carry men to pray, and hear, and talk, &c. The whip ma}^ work a shame' to beg, but thankfulness is the free-will offering of a child. There is nothing that so clearly and so fully speaks out your sincerity and spiritual ingenuity, as thankfulness doth. Therefore, weak saints, if you would have a substantial evidence of your sincerity and spiritual ingenuity, be thankful for a little grace. The little birds do not sip one drop of water, but they look up, as if they meant to give thanks, to shew us what we should do for every drop of grace, &c.*
The third and last consideration to set this home is this :
[3.] A thankful soul holds consort ivith tJie music of heaven.
By thankfulness thou boldest a correspondency with the angels, who are still a-singing hallelujahs to him that sits upon tlie throne, and is blessed for ever. Rev. iv. 6-9, and v. 12-14. In heaven there is no prayers, but all praises. I am apt to think, that there cannot be a clearer nor a greater argument of a man's right to heaven, and ripeness for heaven, than this, being much in the work of heaven here on eartli. There is no grace but love, nor no duty but thankfulness, that goes with us to heaven.^
Ay, but weak saints may say. Sir ! we judge that there is weight in what you say, to provoke us to thankfulness ; but did we know that we had
1 God's favours and mercies seldom or never ceme single ; there is a series or concate- nation of them, and every former draws on a future.
- God and Christ are the sole fountain from whence all these streams of living waters flow. 3 Qu. ' slave ' ?— Ed.
* It is much to be feared that that man is Christless and graceless, tliat is earnest in craving mercies, but slow and dull in returning praises. It is a sign that the dumb devil hath possessed such a man.
* Epictetus wished he were a nightingale, to be ever singing. Aud what then should a saint wish ? &c.
78 THE UNSEARCHABLE [EPH. III. 8.
true orace, though it were never so little, though it were but as the o-rain of mustard seed, we would be thankful. But this is our con- dition, we live between fears and hopes ; one day hoping we shall to heaven, and be happy for ever, another day we are fearing that we shall to hell, and miscarry for ever ; and thus we are up and down, backward and forward. Sometimes we believe we have grace, and at other times we doubt we have none ; sometimes we have a little light, and suddenly our sun is clouded ; one day we are ready to say with David, ' The Lord is our portion,' and the next day we are ready to complain with Jonah, that we are ' cast out' from the presence of the Lord.
Methinks I hear a weak saint saying thus to me, Sir, I would fain have an end put to this controversy that hath been so long in my soul, viz., whether I have grace or no, and if you please, I will tell you what I find, and so humbly desire your judgment and opinion upon the whole.
Well, speak on, poor soul, and let me hear what thou hast found in thine own soul.
Why, sir, then thus :
[1.] I find, first, a holy restlessness in my soul, till with old Simeon I have gotten Christ in my arms, yea, till I have gotten Christ in my heart, Luke ii. 25-33. I go from duty to duty, and from ordinance to ordinance, and yet I cannot rest, because ' 1 cannot find him whom my soul loves,' Cant. v. 10. I am like Noah's dove, that could not rest imtil he had gotten into the ark. Oh I cannot be quiet till I know that I am housed in Christ. My soul is like a ship in a storm, that is tossed hither and thither, oh ! where shall I find him ? Oh ! how shall I obtain him who is the chiefest of ten thousand ? What Absalom said in another case, I can say in this, saith the poor soul ; in his banish- ment he could sa}^ 'What is all this to me, so long as I cannot see the king's face ?' And truly the language of my soul is this, What is honour to me ? and riches to me ? and the favour of creatures to me ? so long as I o-o mourning without my Christ, so long as I see not my interest in my Christ.'
Well, have you anything else to say, 0 weak Christian ?
Yes sir, I have one thing more to say.
[2.1 I can truly say, that tJie poorest, the most distressed and affl,icted man in the ivorld, is not fuller of desires, nor stronger in his desires than I am. The poor man desires bread to feed him, and the wounded man desires a plaster to heal him, and the sick man desires cordials to strengthen him, &c. But these are not fuller of desires after those thino-s that are suitable to them, than I am of holy and lieaverdy desires.* Oh that I had more of God ! oh that I were filled with Christ ! oh that I had his righteousness to cover me, his grace to pardon me, his power to support me, his wisdom to counsel me, his loving-kindness to refresh mo, and his happiness to crown me, &c.
Well, is tliis all, O weak saint ?
No, sir, I have one thing more to tell you.