Use. Therefore, we should labour to clear this eye of the soul, that we may behold the glory of God in the glass of the gospel.
Qui'st. How shall we have the eye of our souls fit to behold the glory of God?
Aus. 1. We must fix the eye of the soul ; fix our meditation upon the glory of God and the excellency of Christ. A moving, rolling eye seeth nothing. Therefore we must set some time apart, to fix our meditations upon these excellent things in the gospel.
A)is 2. Then again, we must labour to have the hindrances removed, both within and without.
(1.) Sight within is hindered by some inward suffusion. We must labour that the soul be cleansed and purged from all carnal passions and desires and base humours, that we may clearly behold this spiritual object. Unless the soul be spiritual, it can never behold spiritual things. The bodily eye cannot apprehend rational things, nor the rational eye behold not spiritual things. Therefore there must be a spiritual eye. The soul must be purged and sanctified by the Spirit. There must be some proportion between the soul and spiritual things, before the soul can behold them. Therefore, as the soul must be fixed upon this meditation, so the Spirit of God must sanctify and purge the soul.
(2.) Outward hindrances of sight, as dust in the eyes, and clouds, &c., they hinder sight. Satan labours to hinder the sight of the soul from beholding the glory of God shining in the gospel, with the dust of the world, as the apostle saith in the next chapter, ' The god of this world blinds the eyes of men,' 2 Cor. iv. 4, that they behold not the glory of God shining in the gospel. Therefore, if the gospel be hid, it is hid to them that perish, that are lost, in whom the god of this world hath blinded their minds, that they believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine upon them, 2 Cor. iv. 4. Therefore, take heed of too much worldly things, of fixing our souls upon the dust of the world, upon things here below. The sight of Christ, and of God in Christ, it is not gotten by looking below, by fixing the soul upon base things below. Let us look, therefore, that our souls be inwardly cleansed, and fixed upon spiritual things ; and then we shall the better behold the glory of God shining in the gospel.
And we should preserve this sight of faith by hearing. Hearing begets
252 EXCELLENCY OF THE GOSPEL
seeing in rolij^'ion. Poath came in Ly the car at the first. Adam hearing the serpent, that ho sliould not have heard, death came in hy the ear. So life comes in hy the ear. We hear, and then we see : ' As we have heard, so have we seen,' say they in the psahn, Pk. xlviii. 8. It is true in rchgion, most of our sight comes by hearing, whicli is the sense of learning. God will have it so. Therefore we should maintain all we can this beholding of the glory of the Lord in the glass of the word ; and for that end hear much.
You will ask me, What is the best glass of all to see and know Christ in ?
If you ask a papist, he will shew you crucifixes, and such kind of things. Oh but to behold Christ in the glass of the word, with a spirit of faith, that is the best picture and representation that can be ! It is scarce worth spending so much time, as to confute that foolery, to have any grace wrought in the heart by such abominable means as that is, as they use it. Take it at the best, it is but a bastardly help, and bastardly means breed a bastardly devotion. For will God work grace in the heart by means of man's devis- ing ? If pictures be any teachers, they are ' teachers of lies,' saith the prophet, Isa. ix. 15 ; and in the church of God, till pastors and teachers became idols, idols never became teachers. Then came the doctrine of idols teaching of simple people, when idols became teachers a thousand years after Christ. So that the best picture to see Christ in, is the word and sacraments ; and the best eye to see him with, is the eye of faith in the w'ord and sacraments. Keep that clear, and we need no crucifixes, no such bastardly helps of bastardly devotion, devised by proud men that would not be beholden to God for his ordinances. But a touch is almost too much for such things, that are so clear to men that have spiritual eyes. In Gal. iii. 1, see what St Paul saith his judgment was: ' Oh foolish Galatians, be- fore whom Christ hath been painted and crucified !'(/() How was he painted ? Nothing but by the preaching of Christ crucified in the gospel, and the riches of Christ in the gospel ; and in the sacraments laid open. Do you think there were any other crucifixes in the world then ?
* With open face.'
The manner of this beholding is ' with open face.' There must be a double veil taken away before we can behold the glory of God : the veil of obscurity, and the veil of slavery ; the veil of ignorance and infidelity within, and the veil of the things themselves. These two veils are both taken away before we can with open face behold the glory of the Lord. The inward veil is taken away by the Spirit of God illuminating our understandings, and giving us a spirit of faith. The outward veil of the obscui'ity of the things is taken away by the teaching and ministry of the gospel, having that help to know the meaning of the Scriptures ; so that now in these glorious times of the gospel, both the veils are taken away, that we may behold without hindrance the glory of God shining in the gospel. For now we enjoy the ministry of the Spirit. The Spirit is efi'ectual to shine in our hearts. And then we have the gifts of men, outward gifts, whereby the veil of ignorance is taken away in regard of the things themselves, the things are unfolded.