Ans. We must desire God to open our eyes, that as the light hath shined, as the apostle saith, Titus ii. 11, ' the grace of God hath shined ;' as there is a lightsomeness in the mysteries, so there may be in our eye. There is a double light required to all things in nature, — the lightsomeness in the medium, and in the sight ; so here, though the mysteries be now revealed by preaching and books and other helps, yet to see this mystery and make a right use of it, there is required a spiritual light to join with this outward light. And hence comes a necessity of depending upon God's Spirit in con- versing in this mystery. There must be an using of all helps and means, or else we tempt God. We must read and hear, and, above all, we must pray, as you see David in Ps. cxix. 18, ' Open mine eyes. Lord, that I may see wonders in thy law.' There are wonders in thy law, but my eyes must be opened to see them. He had sight before, but he desires still a further and clearer sight ; and as the poor man in the gospel that cried after Christ, when he was asked, ' What wouldst thou have ? Lord, that mine eyes might be opened,' Mat. xx. 33, so should every one of us, — con- sidering it is such a ravishing mystery, — cry after God and Christ, ' Lord, that my eyes might be opened, that I may see wonders in thy law ;' that I may see the wonders in thy gospel, ' the unsearchable riches of Christ,' Eph. iii. 8. Therefore it is that St Paul, in Eph. i. 17 and Eph. iii. 3, he prays for ' the Spirit of revelation,' that God would vouchsafe that Spirit to take away the veil of ignorance and unbelief from our souls that we may see ; and as it is Eph. iii. 18, ' that we may comprehend the height, and * That is, ' wisdom.' — G.
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breadth, and length, and depth,' and all the dimensions of God's love in Christ. This must be done by the Spirit of God, for as St Paul divinely reasons in 1 Cor. ii. 11, ' Who knows the things of God, but the Spirit of God ?' Therefore we must plough with God's heifer. If we would know the things of the Spirit, we must have the same Spirit.
Now the Spirit doth not only teach the truths of the gospel, but the application of those truths, that they are ours. This truth of the gospel is mine, the sacrament seals it to me. The preaching of the word takes away the veil from the things, and the Spirit takes away the veil from our souls. It is the office of the Spirit to take the veil oil' the heart, and to lighten our understandings ; and likewise to be a Spirit of application to us in parti- cular. It is to no purpose to know that these things are mysteries, unless they be for us and for our good, that we know Christ is ours, and that God is reconciled to us. Therefore, saith the apostle, * he hath given us the Spirit, to know the things that are given us of God ' in particular, Rom. V. 5. So the Spirit doth not only bring a blessed light to the Scrip- tures and shew us the meaning in general, but it is a Spirit of application, to bring home those gracious promises to every one in particular, to tell us the things that are given us of God ; not only the things that are given to the church, but to us in particular. For the Spirit of God will tell us what is in the breast of God, his secret good-will to the church ; he loves the church and he loves thee, saith the Spirit : therefore he is called an ' earnest' and a 'seal' in our hearts, because he discovers not only the truth at large, but he discovers the truth of God's affection in all the pri- vileges of the gospel, — that they belong to us. What a blessed discovery is this, that not only reveals divine truths to us, but reveals them so to us, that we have our share and interest in them !
1. Therefore, whensoever we take the Book of God into our hands, when we come to hear the word, herf of God the Spirit : ' My house,' saith God, ' shall be called the house of prayer,' Isa. Ivi. 7 ; not only the house of hearing of divine truths, but the house of prayer. In the use of means, we must look up to God and Christ. It is impudency and presumption to come to these things without lifting up our souls to God. Therefore there is so little profit under these glorious mysteries, because there is so little prayer and lifting up the heart to God. We should go to Christ, that ' opens, and no man shuts ; and shuts, and no man opens,' Rev. iii. 7. He hath the key of David. Go to him, therefore, that he would both open the mysteries and open our hearts, that they may close with them.