of God from heaven, let them leave much of God in your hearts. When vision is glorious, the soul should be in a trance: when the speaker is in heaven, the hearer should be there too. The Lord spake in glory, in shining light, to Saul; he cast the beauty which he uses above, upon his words; and these wrought indeed, and made Saul cry out, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?" Methinks this expression in the text, is, as if there were such another heaven opening, and such another shining word to some Saul here, to some bloody, malicious sinner. Sinner, sinner, why dost thou shut thine eyes and thine ears, against glorious words of Christ? Some glorious meteors make the heavens appear to us as if they did gloriously open; heaven, methinks, opens in this expression, "glorious power." How can any heart keep out of heaven, when heaven opens to it? How can any heart but be taken with that which is full of nothing but taking lustre ? What man can pass over such an expression, without laying his hand on his heart with such a query, What is that power which the Holy Ghost admires? Surely there is glory indeed, in that which he calls gloriO that my soul could see this glory! Where Christ sets a hand in the margin, pointing to the observation of any thing of his, that surely is very remarkable, there the soul should stand still, sit down and dwell. ous; The very accents and aspirations of truth must have their place in the heart of man. The heart is to hold all; not a tittle of truth must fall to the ground, our hearts must catch it, and keep it from falling and dying. Power, and love, and wisdom, they are accented and aspirated; "glorious power, infinite wisdom, love, passing knowledge," &c. These titles and aspirations, this dust of gold must not be thrown away, but add to the impression of truth; for it is God setting his strength, to thrust things into the heart. The goodness of the heart is, as the words of God make impression upon it. It is the best heart in which God can best read all that he hath said, to a tittle; and find glorious impressions, suitable to the glorious words in which he delivered himself. How you judge of your hearts I know not, God judges of them, as your breath turns into his; as your spirits admire, adore, rise, and ascend into heaven with his. That heart which can read and hear glorious words of Christ, and not be answerably affected, will never be a glorious christian. Christ makes the place of his feet glorious; as he treads in the heart so he makes it glorious; as his word makes impression, so is sarctification, and no otherwise they that hear and let go divine words of the most moving form and force, will certainly die loose souls. Men go to reading and hearing the word with a careless spirit, it is most men's sin; all that such get is judgment; they eat and drink judgment, saith the apostle, respecting another ordinance. So these hear and read judgment to their souls, that is, heart-hardening, and not heart-raising. The handling of such a glorious expression as this, though by a weak servant of Christ, must needs have set your hearts something more heaven-ward, had ye heard with such preparation as becomes you. A man finds God in his word, as he seeks him in prayer and no otherwise. Wax receives impression as it is prepared. Esther must fast and pray, and come with her life in her hand to the king, to have a glo rious sceptre stretched out unto her. So must we come into the presence of the King of kings, with much seeking of God and self-judging; with our lives temporal and eternal in our hands, to find glorious words work gloriously; to have a glorious sceptre stretched out from heaven to us; a glorious power, working in us, in the hearing of glorious things. He that minds little about what he is going, finds little but the fruit of his sin; he goes away from divine ordinances worse than he came to them; he goes away with a sop; with a heart more poisoned in malice; more hard, dead, and cold; condemned and executed. I conclude this point with a note of admiration. That God will put a gloss upon necessary commodities, such as we cannot be without, and do well to set them off, is wonderful. Ye do not use to put varnish upon bread; that is such a generally necessary dish, that its double and main use to the state of man, sets it off well enough without any bythings about the dish. Such is the word of God; it is as bread to our souls, of supreme use; this, one would think, should be enough to set it off with us; and yet because it is not so, God paints bread, gilds loaves, and sets them upon the table to us. That God will put heaven into his words, to put heaven into our hearts, let us wonder! That Christ will let fall his mantle when he ascends, that we may ascend too; make his raised Spirit break forth into glorious raised words, to raise our spirits too! Let his love and humility be ever before you! It is our great work, christians, it is our great work to admire God in his words and works, in his speaking and doing, how he does shape all to a gaining and saving end of lost man. "Glorious F power," how full of heaven are these words! what a transcendent shape have they to save! In what a little can God wrap up much! In what a little, all! In a word, heaven! In a word, the heaven of heavens! In a word, he wraps up glory, infinite glory, "according to his glorious power." How smilingly doth heaven look upon us in this expression! Can ye see so much of the world to come, and in this world, and not admire? SERMON VII. COLOSSIANS I. 11. -ACCORDING TO HIS GLORIOUS POWER, &c. ALL stars are glorious, but some are double in magnitude and glory, and as a sun in comparison of other stars. All dispensations of grace are glorious, but some exceed in glory; so full of Christ and glory, that they give a great resemblance in the heart, of his triumphant state in glory, and set the soul as in the borders of heaven, when the body is in the belly of hell. This is here called "glorious power," as appears by the expressions following: "Unto all patience, and long-suffering with joyfulness." He speaks of such an assisting power, as is superior to all opposing power, and makes itself to the soul whatsoever the creature could, and much more. According to his glorious power. We are now come to the sight of the holy land: there are glimpses of heaven upon earth; power 66 works glitteringly and gloriously here. Christ hatlı a glorious dominion in dying man. Strengthened with all might according to his" loving "glorious power," &c. 66 Things which give being, give beauty and being, glory and being. Nature hath a power to put forth, and a power to shape unto beauty and glory. The earth gives virtue and glory, life and beauty; which makes the earth such a glorious foot-stool under us; so do the heavens give influence and glory, thus doth the Sun of righteousness give glory and virtue. We are called to glory and virtue. According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us-to glory and virtue," 2 Pet. i. 3. Divine power makes virtue, glory and virtue. That is grace unto a glorious and very heavenly height, grace unto tranquillity and triumph, let disadvantages in the world be what they will. He spake this to sufferers; they might think their calling to be nothing but misery, or at least to be nothing but naked godliness and gospel-profession, which exposes to much hardship. No, saith he, Ye are called to more than naked virtue, than mere conscience according to such gospel principles; ye are called to glory and virtue, to the participation of such virtue, as will work gloriously, and never leave working so, let what opposition soever be made, until it rise above all opposition unto all glory. Divine power works in order to truth. The promise to us Gentiles who stand not in the first and prime relation, not in the highest sphere of love, is rest, yea, glorious rest. Dispensations so rich as to rise unto glory, joy, and triumph, as their rest |
