over all flcfh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou haft given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jelus Chrift whom thou haft 'fent.' Rev. vii. ult. The Lamb which is in

the midst of the throne, fhall feed them, and 'fhall lead them unto living fountains of waters.' Chap. xxi. 23. And the city had no need of the

fun, neither of the moon to fhine in it: for 'the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is 'the light thereof.' But they will enjoy him without the Intervention of outward Means, I Cor. xiii. 12. forecited. And that their "full and immediate Enjoyment of God will laft to all Eternity: 1 Theff. iv. 17. And fo fhall we ever 'be with the Lord.' Pfal. xvi. ult. forecited. The End for which the

Saints fhall be made compleatly happy, in full enjoying of God, is God's Glory: Prov. xvi. 4. The Lord hath made all things for himfelf.' Rom. xi. ult. For of

him, and through him, and to him are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.' And they being made perfectly bleffed, or compleatly happy, in full enjoying of God to all Eternity, will · anfwer that End, in glorifying God, by loving, praifing, and ferving him, perfectly, to all Eternity: Pfal. lxxxvi. 12. 13. I will praife thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. For great is

thy mercy toward me: and thou haft delivered my foul from the loweft hell.' Rev. vii. 9. 10. 'After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed P

' with

with white robes, and palms in their hands; ' and cried with a loud voice, faying, Salva<tion to our God which fitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. verf. 15. There i 'fore are they before the throne of God, and ferve him day and night in his temple: and he that fitteth on the throne fhall dwell among 'them.' Chap. xxii. 3. And there fhall be no more curfe but the throne of God and of the 'Lamb fhall be in it; and his fervants shall serve him.'

::

The End of the Explication of the Shorter Catechifm.

The

The peculiar Advantage and Bufinefs of Life opened up, and applied.

Several SERMONS, preached at Ettrick, in the Year 1727. .

IS A I A■ XXxviii. 19.

The living, the living, he shall praife thee, as I do this day the father to the children shall 'make known thy truth.

I

Tis much to be defired, that men would confider the great business of their life: but few do it, till it is just going or gone out of their hands. Hezekiah had been at the brink of the grave, and learned thofe juft thoughts of life, which he gives us with much concern in the text. Wherein we have,

1. The mercy of life: The living, the living, he fhall praife thee, &c. Verf. 18. he had been fpeaking of the dead, the inhabitants of the gloomy manfions of the grave; and in oppofition to thele he here fpeaks of the living, and in a triumphant manner propofeth to speak of them, as fecing the mercy of life. A ferious view of death is the way to get just thoughts of the mercy of life.

2. Wherein the mercy of life, the peculiar mercy of it, confifts. And the decifion of this is

in a vein of thought peculiar to the spiritual man, in a fpiritual frame.

ft, Afk the carnal man, where lies the mercy of life? And,

(1.) If he is in profperity, with health and wealth, he reckons the mercy of life lies, in that the living man may enjoy the pleasures of fenfe, mirth, and jollity, and may lay up wealth for him and his; all which ftern death robs a man of. But there is not one word of this here.

(2.) If he is in adverfity, poverty, and fore ficknefs, he either cannot fee the mercy of life at all, but thinks they are well that are away, that are out of poverty and pain, and lie at eafe in the duft. So croffes make him wish to be away. At beft, he reckons it the mercy of life, that he is not there where it may be he would be worse, viz. in hell. But there is not a word of all this neither in the text.

2dly, Afk the renewed man in an ill frame of fpirit, where lies the mercy of life? If he is in outward profperity, he will be ready to reckon it lies in the comforts of this life. If he is in adverfity, the troubles of life are fo great, that the mercy of it is fmall in his view; only heaven bulks in his eyes, and that as a place of reft from trouble. But there is nothing of this neither in the text.

The decifion is, The mercy of life lies in the bufinefs of life, to wit, being ferviceable for God in the world: The living, the living, he shall praise thee, &c. Hezekiah counts that the great mercy of life, to have access to be useful for God in the world. Which speaks (1.) A high efteem of God and his fervice, as men count it a favour to be allowed to ferve their prince. (2.) An ardent love

to

to him, as men delight to ferve the interefts of thofe they dearly love. This will be to a spiritual man in a fpiritual frame the most desirable thing in life; Philip. i. 20. 21. According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I fhall be afhamed, but that with all boldness, as always, fo now alfo Chrift fhall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. For to me to live is Chrift, and to die is gain. This is a juft endearment of life. Now, the bufinefs of life for which it is defirable, is twofold.

:

1. To praise or glorify God in the world; to fpeak of the perfections of his nature, and fhew forth the praises of him who hath called us, among men, to the advancement of his kingdom here under the fun to ftrike up beams of his glory in a dark world, and commend him and his way before and to others. Now, here confider, ift, Whofe is this privilege: The living, the living; i. e. the living all along in a fucceffion of generations to the end of the world. That is the import of the doubling of this word. This accefs to the praifing of God in the world, peculiar to the living. And,

is

(1.) It is not those that are now dead, but thofe that are now living, that have access to fhew forth his praife and glorify him, in a world where he is fo much difhonoured; to fide with him, and take his part against his enemies. It is true, the fouls of dead faints are praising God in heaven in the loftieft ftrains: but what the better is the world of these praises? No more than they that are fitting in the dark room down ftairs, are the better of a glorious lamp fhining in the upper room. there ever a poor finner brought acquainted and

Is