1. To choose end and means together : Mat. vii. 13, 14, ' Enter ye
400 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SeU. XCIV.
in at tlie strait gate ; for wide is the gate and broad is tlie way that ieadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that Ieadeth to Ufe, and few there be that find it.' They must be coupled ; both quicken each other, the intention of the end quickens to a diligent pursuit and an earnest use of means ; and the use of means will sooner give you to understand what your condition will be than a bare reflection upon the end.
2. Do not confound principal and subordinate means, so as one should jostle out the other. The primaiy means of going to the Father is Christ : John xiv. 6, ' Jesus saith unto liim, I am the way, and the truth, and the life : no man cometh to the Fathef but by me.' The secondary means is holiness : Heb. xii. 14, ' Without holi- ness no man shall see the Lord.'
Direct. 3. Be resolvedly true to your end, which is the enjoyment of God, and that will quicken you the more, and direct you ; for the end is both our measure and our motive. In short, do all things from eternal principles to eternal ends. The eternal principle is the grace of the Spirit ; the eternal end is the pleasing, glorifying, and enjoy- ing of God : Phil. i. 11, ' Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ unto the praise and glory of God.' Actions carried on from eternal principles, according to an eternal rule, for an eternal end, cannot miscarry.
SERMON XCIV.
Thy loonl is seilled in heaven. — Ver. 89.
This will bear two senses — (1.) Eclating to God's decree, made in heaven ; (2.) An emblem of its constancy, is in heaven.
1. It may be referred to God's decree, ' Thy word is settled in heaven,' in thy mind and will. The words of temporal kings are on earth, and therefore their laws and edicts are subject to many changes, and are often revoked and altered, either by themselves or by their successors ; but the word of God is above all changes and alterations, as being decreed in heaven. It is pi'eached on earth, believed on earth, fulfilled on earth ; but decreed in heaven, fixed and settled there by God's unalterable purpose and will.
2. That in heaven there is an emblem of it. It is usual in scrip- ture to set forth the stability and constancy of God's word by this simi- litude; as Ps. Ixxxix. 2, ' Mercy shall be built up for ever, thy faithful- ness hast thou established in the very heavens.' So when it is compared with the covenant of day and night: Jer. xsxiii. 20, 21, 'Thus saith the Lord, If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, that there should not be day and night in their seasons ; then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant.' So Jer. xxxi. 35-37. This sense I incline to, because in the next verse it is compared with the stability of the earth. Well, then, his word is settled in heaven, partly because the heavens stand fast by the
YeR. 89.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 401
same word by wliicli they were first made : Gen. i. 3, 6, ' And God said, Let there be light, and there was light ; Let there be a firma- ment in the midst of the waters, and divide the waters from the waters ; and it was so.' So Midrash Tillim. And partly because the being and order of heaven showeth the settledness of God's word, as the heavens were created and settled in a course, which they con- stantly observe in their motions ; and this duration and equability in the motion is so exact, that men can foresee eclipses long before they liappen ; therefore the Psalmist saith, Ps. cxiv. 19, 'The sun knoweth his going down ;' that is, ' keepeth so to the just points of his compass as if he were an intelligent agent, and knew the exact time when to set and rise. Now when we lift up our eyes to heaven, and see how punctually and exactly the order is observed which was once settled by God's will ; even from the beginning of tlTe world to this day no re- markable change hath been observed ; the heavenly bodies keep their tenor and course, and by their constant motions distribute their light and influence to the world, and this from their first creation, and all because he hath said, It shall be so ; in the strength of his word they abide. This continuance of the heavens showeth the permanency of his word.
Doct. That God's word is of an eternal truth and immutable con- stancy.
By his word is principally meant the gospel covenant. It is said by the prophet Isaiah, chap xl. 8, ' The grass withereth, and the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand for ever.' And the apostle Peter, quoting and im})roving the same place, saith, ' The word of God is the gospel preached unto you,' 1 Peter i. 24, 25. And more especially the promise of eternal life ; for that is opposite to the fading glory of the present life, and is the eternal effect of the word of God abiding in our hearts. When all other things fade and decay, this blessed estate, offered in and conveyed by the gospel, will not fail us.