Germany all his days ; he knew what was done in heaven by that which God had done in his own heart, and accordingly it fell out. The martyr that was burnt last in Smithfield, told the people that they should be of good comfort, for he was fully persuaded that he was the last that should suffer under Queen Mary, and so he was. Thus you see that men of greatest holiness have had the clearest and choicest manifestations and discoveries of God, and of his mind, made known to them. Suitable to that choice promise that you have in that Jer. xxxiii. 3, ' Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty' — or hidden — ' things,^ which thou knowest not.' God will make known to his holy ones the most hidden and abstruse things; and the more holy they are, the more they shall know of the most secret and mysterious things of God : John vii. 17, * If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.' Christ will be most open to them that are most obedient to him ; they shall know most of the doctrine of Christ who are most complying with the will of Christ. David was a man of great holiness, as is evident by that glorious testimony that God has given of him in that Acts xiii. 22, ' And when he had removed him,' that is, Saul, ver. 21, 'he raised up unto them David to be their king ; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will ' — OeXrjfiara — * all my wills ; ' to note the eminency, transcendency, universality, and sincerity of his obedience. Now if you will but look into that 2 Sam. vii. 27, there you shall see how the Lord declares and makes known himself and his intentions towards him ; ' For thou, 0 Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house.' But the Hebrew is more full and excellent ; in the original 2 it runs thus, ' Lord, thou hast revealed this to the ear of thy servant." Now the emphasis lies in those words, ' to the ear of thy servant.' When God makes known himself and his intentions to such as are eminent in holiness, he does it in their ear. God tells David in his ear, that ' he will build him an house,' that is, that he would continue his kingdom to him, and to his posterity after him. This was blessed news, and this God tells in his ear. Such as are special friends and favourites, we often whisper them in the ear. When we would acquaint them with our most secret and weighty purposes, intentions, and resolutions, we give them a whisper in the ear. Such persons that are eminent in holiness, are the great favourites of heaven, and God tells them in the ear of many a rare secret, which all others are kept ignorant of. Well, sirs, for a close, remember this, that there are no persons on earth that are so prepared and fitted for the clearest, fuUest, and highest manifestations of God, as those that are eminent in holiness ; nor none that set so high a price upon the discoveries of God, as men that are eminent in holiness; nor none that are so able to bear the revelations of his will, as men that are eminent in holiness ; nor none that will make such a humble, faithful, constant, and through improvement of all that God shall make known to them, * JmiS^V Hidden, as bunches of grapes are hidden under the leaves of the vines.
HeB. XII. 14.] AND BEAUTY OF HOLINESS. 357
as men that are famous for holiness; and therefore, as ever you would have God in an eminent way to manifest and discover him- self and his mind unto you, oh, labour after a greater measure of holiness 1 But,
(8.) Eighthly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holiness, consider that the more holy a man is, the more singular de- light and pleasure God will take in all his religious duties and ser- vices.^ Holiness puts a divine savour upon all a man's services. There are no duties so sweet as those that have most holiness in them : Mai. iii. 3,4,' And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver ; and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then shall the ofiering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.' After the Lord Jesus Christ hath been to his people as a refiner's fire, and as fuller's soap, that is, after he hath refined, scoured, and purged his people from their drossi- ness, filthine^s, earthliness, selfishness, and sensualness, &c., then ' their offerings shall be pleasant to the Lord.' Look, as light makes all things pleasant and delightful to man, so holiness makes all a man's duties and services pleasant and delightful to the Lord : Zech. xiii. 9, * And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried : they shall call on my name, and I will hear them : I will say. It is my people ; and they shall say. The Lord is my God.' When God has refined his people as silver is refined, then he will bow his ear, and open his hand, and grant them the desires of their hearts. Oh the plea- sure and delight that God takes in the prayers, tears, hearings, read- ings, meltings, mournings, and repentings of such who are eminently purged and sanctified ! The more holiness any man has, the less of the flesh, pollution, and corruption there is in all his duties and ser- vices ; and the less there is of the old man in all our holy ofierings, the more they are the delight of God. The more holiness any man has, the less there will be of man, and the more there will be of Christ and the Spirit in all his duties and services ; and doubtless, the less there is of man, and the more there is of Christ in duties, the more pleasant and delightful they will be unto the Lord. The more holy any man is, the more there will be of his heart in his duties, and the more a man's heart is in his duties, the more pleasant and delightful they will be to God. God is a Spirit, John iv. 23, 24, and he is only taken with those duties wherein the spirit of a man is. The heart is camera omnipotentis Regis, the presence-chamber of the King of heaven, it is his bed of spices, it is his royal throne, on which he de- lights to sit and rule. A sanctified heart in duties shall carry it with God for crowns, when a silver tongue shall not carry it with God for crumbs. The more holy any man is, the more delight and pleasure he will take in religious duties and services. The more a man's natural strength is, the more easily he walks, and the more delightfully he works. The fuller the wings are of feathers, with the more ease and pleasure the bird flies ; so the fuller the soul is of holiness, the more
* Generally it was the custom of the Eastern countries to wash before worship. The very heathen gods would be served in white, the verj- emblem of purity.