So it is with Christians sometimes ; when there is a great strength of faith, yet it may be there is not so much light. A weak Christian may have more light, but ho hath a weaker eye, and he in that respect sees better than a stronger. To a stronger, God doth not discover to him so much outwardly sometimes, suitable to his inward. God's dispensations are diverse in this kind.
Now to help our sight to heaven, this sight of faith, that we may every day ascend with the eye of our souls with this blessed sight.
1. Let us take heed of the god of this world, Satan, that be do not with the dust of the world dim our sight. What is the reason that many cannot see the glorious things of God ? ' The god of this world,' saith the apostle, ' hath blinded their eyes.' He casts dust in their eyes. They are covetous, they are blind in their afiections, they have dark souls. The
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soul when it is led by affections and lusts, when the affections will not suffer it to see, it covers the eyes of it. And then the outward things of the world, they are cast into the eyes. We must take heed of these inward and outward lets ; take heed of Satan, that he do not with outward objects bewitch us. For as it is in prospective glasses, you know such glasses, some are of that nature they represent to a man things that are afar off as if they were near ; so faith it is a kind of prospective glass, it presents to the soul by reason of this supernatural light, things that are far off as if they were near. Now, as God hath his prospective glasses to see afar off, so the devil hath prospective glasses that when things are near he makes them seem afar off, — as such glasses there are too. When death, and danger, and damnation are near ; when a man carries the sentence of damnation in his bosom, when he carries a stained, defiled conscience, the devil with his prospective glass makes him see death and destruction as afar off. I may live so many years and enjoy my pleasure aud my will. Now this is but a false glass, the devil abuseth them ; for your life is but a death, and when we begin to live we begin to die. Why should we account therefore of the time to come ? Death and life go in equal pace one with another. Every day we live, so much is taken from our life, and then the cutting off of all is uncertain. Ljt us take heed that Satan blind us not.
2. And withal desire God to open our eyes every day, to take the scales from the eye of our souls, that we may see the promises, that we may see Christ, that we may see God shining on us in Christ; that he would take away the veil from the things by exposition, that he would open the truth to us by his ministers, and that he would take away the veil from our hearts, that our hearts may join with the things ; that when by ministerial means the things are clear, that there may not be a veil of infidelity on our hearts, but that our hearts may sweetly join with them. Let us beg daily that God would take away the things that hinder, inward and out- ward, that we may see the things afar off; that we may not be, as Peter saith, mop-eyed {b), that we cannot see afar off; but that we may set heaven before our eyes, and the judgment and the happiness to come, that we may see, and view, and eye those things by faith, and that we may square our lives answerable.
3. Then, again, to help our sight of Christ and happiness, let us get a fresk sight of our corruption and sin every day; let us every day look on
that terrifying object of our corruption of nature, hang it in the eye of our souls as an odious object, to humble us. Let us see every day what a corrupt heart we carry about us ; see how odious these things are to Go^, how it offends him; see how it exposes us to the wrath of God, if he should take us in the midst of our sins and corruptions. Let us have these things fresh in our eyes every day, and that will clear our sight. Men are loath to look in the book of their consciences, because they are loath to be disturbed from their pleasures.
Let us see what need we stand in of Christ. The view of our corrup- tions will make us glad to see a better object. It will make us turn our eyes to Christ, to the promises, aud all things that we have by Christ; we shall be glad to look to him. What is the reason we have no more delight to see the glorious things afar off? We see not the dimensions of our corruptions, for then we would be glad to see all the dimensions of God's love in Christ ; the height, and breadth, and depth and all. So much for that.