--but to hold them fast, that none can be able to cut them off.

SECT. 11.-3. The growth and spreading abroad the "the branches of the church, is from him, whose name is

Branch "." Unto him are all the ends of the earth given for a possession, and "all the kingdoms of the world are to be the Lord's, and his Christ's." In regard of his dispensation towards Israel, God's first-born, so the land of Canaan is peculiarly called 'Emmanuel's land. But in regard of his latter dispensation, when he sent the "rod of his strength out of Sion," and went forth "conquering and to conquer," and gave commission to preach the gospel unto every creature; so the whole world is now, under the gospel, become Emmanuel's land, and he is " King of all the earth;" "King of kings, and Lord of lords "." Gentiles come into the light of his church, and kings to the brightness of her rising, and "the nation and kingdom that will not serve her, shall perish," &c. Now every country is Canaan; and every Christian church the Israel of God; and every regenerate person born in Sion; and every spiritual worshipper, the circumcision: now Christ is crucified in Galatia, and a passover eaten in Corinth, and manna fed on in Pergamus, and an altar set up in Egypt, and Gentiles sacrificed, and stones made children unto Abraham, and temples unto God". In Christ's former dispensation, the church was only national amongst the Jews; but in his latter dispensation, it is œcumenical and universal, over all the world ;a spreading tree, under the shadow of the branches whereof shall dwell "the fowl of every wing"."

SECT. 12.-4. The graces of the Holy Spirit wherewith the church is anointed, are from him. He is the olive-tree which emptieth the golden oil' out of himself". "Of his fulness we all receive, grace for grace." With the same

John x. 28, 29.

u Rev. xix. 16.

r Isai. xi. 11. Zach. iii. 8.
* Isai. lx. 3, 12.
Isai. xliv. 5. xiv. 1.

3.

Col. ii. 11. Gal.

s Isai. viii. 8.

y See John

Zach. viii. 23. iii, 1. 1 Cor.

Psalm xlvii. 7. iv. 21. Mal. i. 11. Zeph. ii. 11. Gal. vi. 16. Rom. ii. 29. Psalm lxxxvii. 4, 5. Phil. iii. v. 7, 8. Rev. ii. 17. Isai. xix. 19, 21, 23. Rom. xv. 16. Luke iii. 8. Ephes. ii. 11. Ezek. xvii. 23. a Origo fontium et fluminum mare; virtutum et scientiarum Christus. Si quis callet ingenio, si quis nitet eloquio, si quis moribus b Zach. iv. 12. placet; inde est. Bern. in Cant. Ser. 1.

c John i. 16.

Spirit are we anointed; animated by the same life; regenerated to the same nature; renewed unto the same image; reserved unto the same inheritance; dignified, in some respect, with the same offices; made priests to offer spiritual sacrifices, and kings to subdue spiritual enemies, and prophets to receive teaching from God, and to have a duplicate of his law written in our hearts d.

5. The sweet perfume and scent or smell of Lebanon,' which ariseth out of holy duties, the grace which droppeth from the lips of the people, the spiritual incense which ariseth out of their prayers, the sweet savour of the gospel which spreadeth itself abroad in the ministry of his Word, and in the lives of his servants, they have all their original in him, and from his heavenly dew. Of ourselves, without him, as we are "altogether stinking and unclean," so we defile every holy thing which we meddle with ". Insomuch, that God is said, as it were, to stop his nose that he may not smell themi:' they are all of them, as they came from us, "gall and wormwood, and bitter clusters." But when the Spirit of Christ bloweth upon us, and his grace is poured into our hearts and lips, then the spices flow out': then prayer goes up like incense and sweet odours m; then, instead of corrupt, rotten, contagious communication, our discourses tend to edifying, and minister grace to the hearers", then the savour of the knowledge of Christ' manifesteth itself in the mouths and lives of his servants in every place where they come o.

SECT. 13.-6. The shadow and refreshment, the refuge and shelter of the church against storm and tempest, against rain and heat, against all trouble and persecution,—is from him alone. He is the only 'defence and covering' that is over the assemblies and glory of Sion P.? The name of the Lord is a strong tower,' unto which the righteous fly and are safe. So the Lord promiseth, when his people should

d 2 Cor. i. 21. John xiv. 19. 1 Cor. xv. 48, 49. Rom. viii. 17. 1 Pet. i. 5. Rev. i. 6. John vi. 45. Jer. xxxi. 33. e Folio-Edition, p, 567. f Tür προσαγόντων πονήρια, τὸ θυμίαμα εύωδες εἰς βδέλυγμα ὀσφραν θῆναι παρεσκεύασε. Chrys. Ser. 27. in Gen.—Vid. Lud. Capell. Spicileg. p. 97, 98.-Weems. Exercit. Cerem. 1. 1. p. 62, 63. g Psalm xiv. 1. Prov. xiii. 5.

Prov.xxviii. 9. Isai. i. 11, 15.

I Cant. iv. 16.

P Isai. iv. 5.

h Hag. ii. 13, 14. i Amos v. 21. k Deut. xxix. 18, 32, 33. o 2 Cor. xii. 4.

m Revel. v. 8.

n Ephes. iv. 29.

9 Prov. xviii. 10.

be exiles from his temple, and scattered out of their own land, that he would himself be a little sanctuary unto them in the countries, where they should come'. He is a dwellingplace unto his church in all conditions; a strength to the needy, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, a hiding place from the wind, a covert from the tempest, a chamber wherein to retire when indignation is kindled ". Every history of God's power, every promise of his love, every observation and experience of his providence, every comfort in his Word,-the knowledge which we have of his name by faith, and the knowledge which we have of it by experience, are so many arguments to trust in him, and so many hiding places to fly unto him, against any trouble. "What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee."_" Why art thou cast down, O my soul? still trust in God.”—“He hath delivered, he doth deliver, he will deliver." Many times the children of God are reduced to such extremities, that they have nothing to encourage themselves withal but their interest in him; nothing to fly unto for hope but his great name, made known unto them by faith in his promises, and by experience of his goodness, power, and providence. This was David's case at Ziklag; and Israel's, at the Red Sea ; and Jonah's, in the belly of the fish; and Paul's, in the ship

God is never so much glorified by the faith of his servants, as when they can hold up their trust in him against sight and sense; and when reason saith, Thou art undone, for all helps fail thee,'-can answer in faith, I am not undone, for he said, I will never fail thee, nor forsake thee.'

7. The power which the church hath to rise up above her pressures, to outgrow her troubles, to revive after lopping and harrowing, to make use of affliction as a means to flourish again,—all this is from him. That in trouble we are not overwhelmed, but can say with the apostle, "As dying, and

Ezek. xi. 16.

s De domo suâ nemo extrahi debet aut in jus vocari, quia domus tutissimum cuique refugium atque receptaculum.—De in jus vocan

d Acts xxvii. 20, 25. • Medicamenta quædam prius affligunt, ut sanent; et ipsa collyria, nisi sensum videndi prius claudant, prodesse non possunt: Aug. qa. in Matth. qu. 14.-Quo terreri deberet, illo ipso recreatur:contumeliam tenet curationis pignus, &c. Scult. cap. 42.-Observat. in Matth. de mulicre Syrophonissa. Plures efficimur, quoties metimur: Tertul. Apol. cap. ult.

behold we live'; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things;" like the corn which dies, and is quickened again; like the vine that is lopped, and spreads again;-all this is from him who is the resurrection and the life ; who was that grain of wheat which, dying, and being cast into the ground, did bring forth much fruit"; the branch which grew out of the roots of Jesse, when that goodly family was sunk so low as from David the king, unto Joseph the carpenter.

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SECT. 14. Lastly, As God is the author of all these blessings unto his people, so when he bestows them, he doth it in perfection: the fruits which this dew produceth, are the fruits of Lebanon, the choicest and most excellent of any other. If he plant a vineyard, it shall be in a very fruitful hill,' and with the choicest plants ;'' a noble vine, a right seed *.' When, in any kind of straits, we have recourse to the creature for supply,—either we find it, like our Saviour's figtree, without fruit,-or, like our prophet's vine, as good as empty, the fruits thereof not worth the gathering, Hos. x. 1. Grapes of gall and bitter clusters;" full of vanity, windiness, vexation, disappointment. Friends fail either in their love, or in their power. People cry Hosanna' to-day, and 'Crucify' to-morrow. Men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree a lie. Counsels clash, or are puzzled with intricacies, and unhappy obstacles, like the wheels in Ezekiel's vision, that seem hampered in one another. Armies, like Reuben, unstable as waters, that flow now, and anon ebb, and sink away again. Treasures, like the mountains out of which they were first digged, barren and fruitless; better fuel to feed our sins, than water to quench our flames; matter of prey to the wicked, more than of help to the miserable. In one word, take any creature-helps in the world, and there will be something, nay very much of defect in them. All being, but by God's, is mixed with not being. And as every man, so every creature else which is nothing

† Ολίγοι καὶ πολλῶν δυνατώτεροι, αἰχμάλωτοι καὶ τοῦ βασιλέως ἰσχυρότεροι, ἀπολέσαντες πατρίδα καὶ πίστιν μὴ ἀπολέσαντες, γυμνοὶ καὶ ἐνδεδυμένοι, πτωχοὶ καὶ εὔποροι, καὶ ἐλευθέρων ἀμείνους, &c. Chrys. de Tribus Pueris, Ser. 2. in Psalm 50. g John xi. 25. h John xii. 24. 1 Folio-Edition, p. 568.

v. 1, 2.

k Jer. ii. 21.

i Isai.

but creature, is a liar,' like Job's brook, or friendship which he compareth thereunto, --that vanisheth into nothing when there is most need of it;-a liar, either by way of perfidiousness, which promiseth and then deceives,—or by way of impotency, which undertaketh and then miscarries. But whenever God promiseth and undertaketh to bless any man or any people, he carrieth on his work to perfection: his blessings are all milk and honey, dew and fatness, wine and oil, the fruits of Lebanon, full of sweetness and maturity.'He perfects that which he begins' concerning his servants", There doth not one thing fail of all the good he speaks concerning his people; "they all come to pass, and not one faileth." The riches which are gotten by human lusts and sinful resolutions, do come along with many and piercing sorrows P: but when God blesseth a man with riches, he takes away all the sorrow from it 9. The gifts of God are all of them like his works, "very good "," and bring after a sabbath, a rest, and peace into the soul with them.

SECT. 15. Thirdly, We should from hence learn to show forth the fruits of this heavenly dew, in those several expressions, which the prophet here useth, drawn from the consideration of a "garden, forest, fruitful field," heavenly paradise; which is a similitude frequently used by the holy Spirit, to note the beauty, sweetness, fruit, comfort, shelter, protection, which the church of Christ affordeth to the members of it; as, on the other side, the wicked are compared unto "a dry desert, and barren wilderness." For these things as they are promises in regard of God, and so matter of comfort,-so are they duties in regard of us, and so matter of obedience.

First, He promiseth, That his people shall "grow as the lily," which is the most beautiful" of all flowers. That they shall be "gloriously clothed," like a king's daughter, with the garments of praise,' and the Spirit of holiness, set forth by various metaphors of 'broidered work,' and 'fine

m Job vi. 17, 21.

P1 Tim. vi. 10.

n Psalm cxxxviii. 8. Phil. i. 6.
q Prov. x. 22.
r Gen. i. 31.

Iviii. 11. Cant. iv. 12. vi. 16.

• Josh. xxiii. 14. s Isai. xxxv. 1, 2. t Isai. xxxv. 6, 7. xli. 18. Jer. xvii. 6.

Tanta est floris lilii dignitas, ut Homerus omnes flores vocaverit Aeípia ;

Jal. Pollux.-Vid. Plin. lib. 21. chap. 1.

* Matth. vi. 28, 29.

y Isai.

Ixii. 3.