Page images
PDF
EPUB

66

us thou also reignest. Let every knee, therefore, bow unto thee, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, Phil. ii. 10. O blessed be thy name for ever and ever. "Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head over all," 1 Chron. xxix. 11. And now, O Saviour, what a superabundant amends is made to thy glorified humanity, for all thy bitter sufferings upon earth! Thine agony was extreme, but thy glory is infinite; thy cross was heavy, but thy crown transcendently glorious. Thy pains were inconceivably grievous, but short; thy glory everlasting. If thou wert scorned by men, thou art now adored by angels; thou who didst stand before the judgment-seat of a Pilate, shalt come in all heavenly magnificence, to judge both the quick and the dead. In short, thou who wouldst stoop to be a servant upon earth, rulest and reignest for ever in heaven, as the King of eternal glory.

O then, my soul, seeing thy Saviour is received up into this infinite glory, with what attention and fervour of spirit shouldst thou fix thine eyes upon that heaven where he lives and reigns! How canst thou be but wholly taken up with the sight and thought of the place of blessedness? How canst thou abide to grovel any longer on this base earth, where is nothing but vanity and vexation; and refrain to mind the things above, where is all felicity and glory? With what longings and holy ambition shouldst thou desire to aspire to that place of eternal rest and beatitude, into which thy

Saviour is ascended; and with him to partake of that glory and happiness which he hath provided for all that love him! O Saviour, it is this clog of wretched infidelity and earthliness that hangs heavy on my soul, and keeps me from mounting up into thy presence, and from a comfortable fruition of thee. O do thou take off this sinful weight from me, and raise up my affections and conversations unto thee; enable me constantly to enjoy thee by a lively faith here, till by thy mercy I shall be received into glory.

[blocks in formation]
[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

CHRIST MYSTICAL;

OR THE

BLESSED UNION OF CHRIST AND HIS MEMBERS.

SECT. I.

our

How to be happy in the apprehending of Christ. THERE is not so much need of learning as of grace, to apprehend those things which concern everlasting peace; neither is it our brain that must be set on work here, but our heart; for true happiness doth not consist in a mere speculation, but a fruition of good: however, therefore, there is excellent use of scholarship in all the sacred employments of divinity, yet in the main act, which imports salvation, skill must give place to affection. Happy is the soul that is possessed of Christ, how poor soever in all inferior endowments! Ye are wide, O ye great wits, while you spend yourselves in curious questions, and learned extravagances; ye shall find one touch of Christ more worth to your souls, than all your deep and laboursome disquisitions; one drachm of faith, more precious than a pound of knowledge: in vain shall ye seek for this in your books, if you miss it your bosoms; if you know all things, and cannot truly say, "I know whom I have believed,"

in

« PreviousContinue »