and drink

But it is

shall be filled. There, you shall, in the most exalted sense of the words, have beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. There, you shall have immediate access to God, your exceeding joy, abundantly of the rivers of his pleasure. impossible fully to say what you shall see, sess, and enjoy, when that which is perfect is come, and that which is in part shall be done away; for has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man to conceive, what God has prepared for them that love him,

eye

and pos

If God then is the portion of his people, we, in the first place, infer, that they are richer, and happier than the world supposes them to be.

They are often looked upon with pity and contempt; and as they pass by, men are ready to point at them, and say, "God, I thank thee, that I am not so miserable as they." Yet, as I said, they are the richest and happiest people in the world, "Happy is that people whose God is the Lord." The ground of this mistake is, men's looking only to the outward, and not to the inward, condition of the saints; to their possessions, and not to their expectations. Their outward state, indeed, is often wretched enough. They have frequently few comforts, many troubles; tears for their meat, night and day: they are treated by men as the offscouring of all things; and, as if that were not bad enough, are stricken of God, and afflicted. Many of them you will see, who have hardly bread to eat, or a friend that they can depend on even for an occasional supply; and yet,

under all these disadvantages, they possess a treasure which the wealth of the Indies cannot purchase: The Lord is their portion, and therefore, as Christ says of himself, "They have meat to eat which the world knows not of." They have "hidden manna" to support them; and they are adorned with a garment, with which the robes of a prince on his coronation-day are not worthy to be compared. I have observed, that the world is misled in their judgment about the peopłe of God, by looking to their present condition, and not to their future; to what they have now, and not to what they shall hereafter possess. Now, like heirs to a large estate in their minority, they may have but a small allowance, and may be reduced to great and numerous difficulties. But they have, notwithstanding, a glorious inheritance in reversion. "O how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, which thou hast wrought out for them that trust in thee, before the sons of men!" It is laid up for them, and will most assuredly be be stowed upon them: they have the promise of it in their hands, and the earnest of it in their hearts; and Christ has long ago entered into the actual possession of it as their faithful forerunner. So that though their present condition be obscure, they shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. They shall be made kings and priests to God; and behold, and partake of, all the glories and felicities of heaven. Yet these are the persons whom the world despise and dislike, But if they knew them aright, they would rather look up to them with veneration and envy, as the friends and favourites of the King of kings, as the children of God, and joint-heirs with

Christ Jesus; and as persons who, notwithstanding their present obscurity, will make a most illustrious appearance among the courtiers of heaven.

Secondly, Is God the only satisfying portion? then the men of the world are not so happy as they appear. Not so happy!-Alas! they are in the most miserable condition. The smallest part of your portion is ten thousand times better than all which they possess. Only consider what they have, what they want, and what they look for, and you will soon regard them with pity,

Consider what they have. They have houses, and lands, and goods laid up for many years: they are clothed in purple and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day. But what is all this? Poor, low things at best; of the earth, earthy; which have no excellencies in themselves, and perish in the using. It is a portion that gratifies the body, but leaves the soul altogether unsatisfied. It is like the grass, which the Psalmist speaks of," wherewith the mower filleth not his hand, nor he that bindeth sheaves, his bosom:" or, like the man to whom Job alludes, "in the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits." There is, always some "dead fly in their ointment." Some circumstance or other, many times to appearance very trifling, shall embitter the whole, and make the world's greatest favourites miserable. Their portion is also uncertain; they are but tenants at will; they may be ejected at a moment's warning; and though they have all, and abound to day, may be beggars to-morrow. Nay, those apparently good things may be real evils, at least great occasions of evil. God gives them; but he may bestow them in anger, that

the prosperity of fools may destroy them: as when the Israelites tempted God in the wilderness, he granted their request, but he sent leanness into their souls. "When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity flourish, it is that they shall bed estroyed for ever." "What is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul? Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon him?" "No," says God; "this shall he have at my hand, he shall lie down in sorrow." As this then is the portion of a wicked man from God, should we envy those who have it as the only happy people?

Again, consider what they want. They are destitute of a true enjoyment of themselves: they sometimes affect a merry countenance, to conceal the anguish of their hearts. Many of them cannot bear to be alone, and start at the shadow of their own guilty thoughts. They go into company to avoid consci ence, and make themselves fools to drown serious reflection. They want an interest in God's confidential care. Let what will happen, they have no refuge to flee to; no assurance, alas! no prospect, of being sheltered from the threatening storm. Or, if worldly comforts should be continued and increased, as they are destitute of a sense of God's love, what good can they derive from all their enjoyments? Without God, they want all.

Again, consider what is before them. They must look for a time when they shall be stripped of all that they possess, and be turned destitute and friendless into the invisible world. They must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, to give an account of

the improvement which they have made of their health and wealth, and other advantages: and if they have wasted their Lord's talents, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest, will be the portion of their cup: Now all these things being considered, are the men of the world in so good a condition as they would have us suppose? They may say to their souls, "Soul, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry." But they have little cause for their merriment, as their present possessions may be followed with everlasting poverty; and their pleasures end in weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. Let who will, then, say to gold, Thou art my hope, and to fine gold, Thou art my confidence; The Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I hope in him. But I will endeavour to speak more closely, and therefore,

In the third place, let us seriously inquire whether the Lord be our portion or not.

This is an important and necessary inquiry. He is not the portion of every bold pretender. Many will talk of their interest in God, with all the assurance imaginable, to whom he will say, "Depart from me, I know you not, whence you are.' "Stand off, ye fornicators, and idolaters, and adulterers, and thieves, and covetous, and drunkards, and extortioners, and all liars; ye have no part nor lot in this matter for none who allow themselves in any known sin, can en joy the favour of God. This shuts out,-O how many does this short sentence shut out from any pretensions to this divine portion! To those who are not ex. cluded by that, the following queries are addressed. Are you the Lord's portion? Has he chosen you out of the world, and called and sanctified you by his

: