I beseech you therefore, let us discern of our spirits what they are ; whether God hath established us with a free spirit or not. The kingdom of heaven is begun upon earth ; the door whereby we must enter m is here. Those graces must be begun here which must fit us for happiness hereafter. As the ' stones of the temple,' 1 Kings ^d. 7, were first hewn and then laid upon the temple, so we must be hewn and fashioned here, ere we can come thither. Those that are not fitted and squared now, must never think to be used of God as living stones of his temple then. A word now of Paul's use of all, and so I conclude :
' To whom be glonjfor ever and ever.'
When he had mentioned the heavenly kingdom, and set himself by faith, as it were, in possession of it, he presently begins the employment of heaven, ' to praise and gloi'ify God,' even whilst he was on earth. For faith stirs us up to do that which we shall do, when we obtain the thing believed. It is called ' the evidence of things not seen,' Heb. xi. 1 ; and makes them, as it were, present to the soul. Because when we are in heaven indeed, we shall do nothing else but praise God. Faith apprehends it, as if he were now there, for all is sm-e to faith, God ha\'ing said it, who will do it ; and sets the soul upon that employment here, which it shaU have eternaUy with God hereafter.
It is therefore Christian wisdom, to fix our souls on good meditations, to have them wedded to good thoughts, to have those pradaras cofiitationes, be- fitting Christians, that may lead us comfortably in our way to heaven. Let a man think of God's deliverances past, and that will strengthen his faith for the futiu'e dehverances. Let him think of future deliverances, and that will lead him to a kingdom, to praise God ; and this praising of God will stretch his soul, for ever and for ever ; as if there were no time sufficient to glorify God, that is so excellent and glorious. What a blessed condition is this, to have God's Spirit warming our souls and peifuming our spirits with holy ejaculations, continually putting us upon the emplo}Tnent of heaven, till at length it hath safely brought us thither.
Here then is the use of all uses. What is the fonner use which Paul tnakes of the experience of God's deliverance ? The Lord hath dehvered me, and therefore he will deliver me. But what use doth he make of this, iiat God will deliver him ? To glorify God. Here is the end of all ends, ,0 praise God. Happy we when God's end and om- end meet together. He lath made all for his own gloiy ; and when we, with a single eye, can aim at •ihat too, what a sweet hannony is there !
1. To direct us in this duty in praising God, let us with Paul, for I go no further than the text leads me, seriously meditate on God's mercies, both past and to come. Nothing moves thankfulness more than this. A Christian when he looks backward hath comfort, and when he looks forward he sees
830 THE saint's safety in evil times.
comfort still : for preservation, and kingdoms, and crowns abide for him. If a man would praise God, therefore, let him consider how graciously God hath dealt with him. He hath delivered me already by Jesus Christ, from sin and eternal wrath; and he will deliver me from every evil work to come, that may endanger my salvation. Think of these things, and see whether your hearts can be cold and dead or no ; see if your spirits can be strait- ened. Certainly both heart and mouth will be full. Thou canst not but say, in the apprehension of God's mercies, 'To him be glory for ever.'
2. Consider the kinds of favours tliou receivest. They are either positive or privative, spiritual or temporal. Positive — the Lord will preserve me ; privative — the Lord will deliver me from every evil work. Temporal — the Lord in this life will keep me ; spiritual — he will deliver me from the power of sin. Eternal — he will preserve me to his heavenly kingdom. Think forward or backward, outward or inward, spiritual or temporal : wherever you look, tell me if you can do otherwise than break out with the holy apostle in the praises of so good a God.
And 8. Think of the greatness of all these: the greatness of the deliverance from sin and damnation. The apostle, to make himself the more thankful, saith he was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. He had large appre- hensions of God's goodness. So should we, beloved, consider the great- ness of the misery we are in by nature, being slaves of Satan, in danger to slip into hell every moment ; and when God hath secured us from this, think of the greatness of the benefit, a ' heavenly kingdom.' When we think, not only of the benefits, but of the greatness of them, it is a wondrous en- couragement to be thankful. Labour then to have a due and high esteem of every mercy. God hath brought us out of darkness into marvellous light, saith the apostle, 1 Pet. ii. 9 ; great is the mystery of godliness, 1 Tim. iii. 16 ; and the unsearchahle riches of his grace, Eph. iii. 8. He had not words big enough to express God's goodness. * Oh, the height, and breadth, and depth, and length of his love,' Eph. ii. 18. When we consider these dimensions, our thankialness must be answerable.