end. They are a people redeemed, not only by the price of the mediator's blood, but alfo by the power of his fpirit: by his power he hath begun to plague their enemies, and to drown them in the red-fea of his blood; for they overcame by the blood of the Lamb. 3. The true Ifrael of God are a people acquainted with travelling in the wilderness, from Sinai to Zion, as Ifrael was; I mean, from the law to the gospel, from the covenant of works to the covenant of grace. As Ifrael at Sinai was amazed at the fight of God appearing in his terrible majefty, and afterwards were brought into covenant with him; fo the true Ifrael of God are a people that have been humbled with the views of God's holiness and infinite justice in the command and threatning of the law, and been made to flee for refuge to the hope fet before them in the gofpel covenant; they have come from Sinai to Zion, to Jefus the mediator of the new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling. 4. The true Ifrael of God are a people acquainted with the conduct of the pillar of cloud and of fire, as Ifrael was; I mean, they have gotten the spirit of Christ to be their guide in the way to Canaan: If any man have not the fpirit of Chrift, he is none of his; and if any man have the spirit of Chrift, he is guided thereby, and led into all truth, and out of all the paths of damnable error. There is a leading of the fpirit by a fecret invifible hand, and by the means of the word, that all the Ifrael of God are partakers of even a voice behind them, faying, this is the way, and that is not the way; and all his sheep know his voice. 5. The true Ifrael of God are a people fed with Manna from heaven in a spiritual fenfe, as Ifrael was was in another fenfe: They are a people that eat the bidden manna; they have bread to eat, the world knows not of, even the bread of life that came down from heaven: They live by faith in the Son of God; Chrift is the Alpha and Omega of their life, the food and medicine of their life, the restorer and preferver of their life; they cannot live without him. The worldling lives upon his riches, the carnal man lives upon his lufts, hypocrites live upon their profeffion, legalists live upon their duties; but the true Ifrael of God live in the way of duty, upon Chrift himfelf, as their wisdom, righteoufnefs, fanctification and redemption. If I have any wisdom, Chrift is my wifdom; if any righteoufnefs, Chrift is my righteousness; If any holiness, Chrift is my fanctification: Chrift is my ALL, my life, my ftrength, my treasure, &c. 6. The true Ifrael of God are people acquainted with wrestling with God for the bleffing, as Jacob was, who thereupon obtained the name of Ifrael; and all believers are thereupon called the feed of Jacob that fhall not feek his face in vain. They are a people whofe life of faith is acted much upon their knees, or in a way of praying in the name of Chrift, and in the spirit of Chrift; Praying in the Holy Ghoft; This is the generation of them that feek thee, that feek thy face, O Jacob's God. They are always wanters, and that makes them always feekers and beggars. SECOND HEAD. Second thing was to speak a little of the heavenly Canaan that they will be brought to the poffeffion of. I would hold it forth in these four particulars, namely in its types, epithets, parts and properties. (1.) In (1.) In its types. The types of the heavenly Canaan were manifold. I fhall name a few of them. 1. The earthly Canaan was a type of the heavenly and celeftial Canaan. How magnificently does the Lord fpeak of Canaan! It is called a goodly land, a boly land, a land flowing with milk and honey; yet this land was but a type and shadow of the heavenly. 2. Paradife was a type of this heavenly Canaan. Tho' all the pleasant orchards and comely things in the world were united in one, they could not come that length as to compete with the earthly paradise, for pleasure and comeliness, when God placed our first parents there in their innocent ftate. Yet what was it but a faint resemblance of the heavenly paradife? nothing but a fhadow of it. 3. The fabbath was a type of this heavenly, happy, and eternal fabbath of reft. Indeed it is but a restless rest the Lord's people have here; when they reft in the Lord at any time, their reft is foon difturbed : even tho' they can fay at times, Return to thy rest, O my foul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee; How foon does the devil and the ill heart, and the world, difquiet them again? But there remains a reft, a fabbatifm, for the people of God, when they shall reft from their labour, rest from fin and forrow. 4. The tabernacle was a type of the heavenly Canaan; the Lord's prefence filled the tabernacle: O how does his glorious prefence fill heaven, and fill all the hearts of the heavenly inhabitants! Glorious things are spoken of the earthly Zion; how much more glorious things, may be fpoken of the new Jerufalem above! But then, (2.) We may confider this heavenly Canaan in its epithets; as, 1. It is called a house, John xiv. 2. A manfion houfe, a prepared place. In my father's boufe boufe are many manfions; I go to prepare a place for you. O what a noble houfe is it, where glory dwells! What a brave houfe will it be, when the Father of the family will be in the midst of the house, and all his children about him, all his elect gathered together from all corners of the earth; where the God and Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift, Chrift himself the elder brother, and all the younger brethren will dwell together! 2. It is called the joy of the Lord. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Joy here enters into the believer, but there the believer enters into joy; he enters as it were into an ocean of joy, and it is the joy of his Lord Jefus. How great is the joy that our Lord entered into, as the reward of his obedience unto death? Of which it is faid, Heb. xii. 2. that, for the joy, that was fet before him, be endured the cross, &c. That fame joy the faints are to enter into; In thy prefence there is fulness of joy, &c. 3. It is called life, eternal life, Rom. vi. laft. The gift of God is eternal life through Fefus Christ our Lord. Life is fweet; and the more excellent the life is, the more fweet. A living flie is more happy, by reafon of life, than the glorious fun in the firmament. The rational life is yet more fweet; the life of grace is yet sweeter than any of thefe: But the life of glory is sweetest of all, and this life is eternal, it is life for evermore. 4. It is called a kingdom, a heavenly kingdom, 2 Tim. iv. 18. The Lord fhall preferve me to his heavenly kingdom. Yea, fuch a kingdom, that here all the fubjects are kings. One faid of Rome once, that it was Refpublica Regum, a commonwealth of kings; it is true of heaven, it is a commonwealth of kings, they are all kings and priests unto their God: And there all the kings have their crowns, a crown of glory, glory, righteousness and joy: They will have their thrones; To him that overcomes will I give to fit with me on my throne, &c. They will have their royal robes, their robes of glory and palms of victory. But again, (3.) We may confider this heavenly Canaan in its parts. There are especially these four parts of heaven and glory mentioned in fcripture, namely, vifion, likeness, love, fatisfaction. The first part of it, is the vifion of God, 1 Cor. xiii. 12. Now we fee through a glafs darkly, but then face to face. Father, I will that thefe whom thou haft given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory. New cabinets of rich treasure will be opened up to them every moment to eternity. 2d part of it is likeness, which follows upon the former, 1 John iii. 2. We shall be like bim, for we shall fee him as he is. This is the native fruit of beholding Chrift, to be thereby brought to conformity to him, 2 Cor. iii. laft. 3d part of it is love. This follows upon the former. Likeness breeds love, even upon earth; then will the faints be made perfect in love, 1 John iv. 18. O what flames of love will burn in heaven! Every faint will be a flame. 4th part of it is fatisfaction, which proceeds from the reft, Pfal. xvii. laft. I will behold thy face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be fatisfied with thy likeness. All this is begun on earth in the heirs of glory. The brighter view a believer gets of Chrift, the more likeness; the more likeness, the more love; and the more love, the more fatisfaction. But when there fhall be perfect feeing, there will be perfect likeness; when perfect likeness, perfect love; and when perfect love, perfect fatisfaction and joy: Then the ranfomed of the |