(4.) Again, where this desire of union and joining is, there is a desire even of death itself, that there may he a fuller union, and a desire of the con- summation of all thinr/s. Therefore so far as we are afraid of death, and tremble at it, so far we want love. When the contract is once made between Christ and the soul of a Christian, for him to fear the making up of the marriage, when we are now absent from the Lord, to fear the sweet eternal communion we shall have in heaven, where we shall have all things in greater excellency and abundance, it is from want of faith and love. Therefore we should be ashamed of ourselves when we find such thoughts rising in our hearts, as they will naturally, to be basely and distrustfully afraid of death. St Paul saith, ' I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ;' that is good, nay, it is much better for mo, Philip, i. 23. Nay, it is best of all to be with Christ. Therefore, you see, it stirred up his desire : ' I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ.' ' Come, Lord Jesus ; come quickly,' saith the church. Rev. xxii. 20. And the Spirit in the spouse stirs up this desire likewise : ' Come ; the Spirit and the spouse say. Come,' Rev. xxii. 17. And we should rejoice to think there are happier times to come, wherein there will be an eternal meeting together that nothing shall dissolve, as the apostle saith, 1 Thes. iv. 17, ' when we shall be for ever with the Lord.' Oh those times cheer up the heart of a Christian beforehand !
Now where these things possess not the soul, how can we say that we love God ? In Cant. i. 1 the church begins, ' Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.' She desires a familiar communion with Christ in his word and ordinances, ' Let him kiss me,' &c. Let him speak by his Spirit to my heart. In this world Chiist kisseth his church with the kisses of his mouth. But in the latter end of the Canticles, * Make haste, my beloved,' viii. 14, she desires his second coming, thinks it not enough to have the kisses of his mouth; ' Make haste, my beloved, and be as the young roes upon the mountains of spices ; ' that is, come hastily from heaven, the mountain of spices, and let us meet together, my beloved. These things be somewhat strange to our carnal dispositions, but if we hope ever to attain to the comfort of what I say, we must labour that our hearts may be brought to this excellent condition, to desire the presence of Christ. That is the second property of love.
The third is to rest j^leased and contented in the thing u-hen ive are joined with it; so far as we are joined with it to place our contentment in it. And it is in the nature of that affection to place contentment in the thing we desire to have, when we have it once.
Now we may know this our contentment whether we rest in God or no by the inward quiet and peace of the soul in all conditions, when whatso- ever our condition be in this world, yet we know we have the light of God's countenance, and can rest and be content in it more than worldly men in their corn and wine and oil, as David saith, Ps. iv. 7, ' I rejoice more in the light of thy countenance, than when they have their corn and wine and oil ;' when we can joy and solace ourselves with the assurance of God's favour and love in Jesus Christ. ' Being justified by faith, we have peace with God,' and rejoice in God, as it is Rom. v. 1 ; we rejoice in God as ours. ' Therefore those that go to outward contentments, that run out to them
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as if there were not enough in God and divine things to content their souls, but they must be beholding to the devil and to the flesh, this is not to rest in God. He is over-covetous whom God cannot content. If we be in covenant with him, he is able to fill our soul, and all the corners of it ; he is able to satisfy all the delights and desires of it ; he is a gracious Father in Christ. Whither should we go from him for contentment ? Why should we go out of religion to content ourselves in vain recreations and pleasures of sin for a season, when we have abundance in God ?
And where there is contentment, there will be trusting in him and relying upon him. A man will not rely upon riches, or friends, or anything ; for where we place our contentment, we place our trust. So far as we love God, so far we repose affiance and trust in him ; he will be our rock and castle and strength. Wouldst thou know whether thou restest in him or no ? In the time of danger, whither doth thy soul run ? To thy purse if thou be a rich man ? or to thy friends if thou be a worldly-minded man ? Every man hath his castle to fly to. But ' the name of the Lord is a strong tower,' Ps. Ixi. 3. He that is a child of God flieth thither for refuge, and there he covereth himself, and is safe. He enters into those cham- bers of divine providence and goodness, and there he rests in all troubles.