The works of the Rev. Isaac Watts, D. D. in nine volumes (volume 1 of 9)Watts, Isaac
Religion
The works of the Rev. Isaac Watts, D. D. in nine volumes (volume 1 of 9)
Watts, Isaac
Dissenters, Religious -- England; Sermons, English -- 18th century; Theology -- Early works to 1800; Theology -- History -- 18th century
There is a zeal for God enters into the soul at such a season, and the
soul is more desirous to lay out itself for the glory of God at such a
time. Moses had drawn near to God in the mount, and had been with him
forty days; when he came down from the mount, he beheld the people
filled with idolatry, and he brake the tables of stone in an impatience
of zeal; his zeal for God was so great, he hardly knew what he did, his
zeal for God was kindled high, because he had been so near to God, and
just conversing with him. So, Isaiah vi. 8. when that great saint had
been near to God, and had seen him in the glories of his holiness, and
had some courage and confidence in his love, “Now I will go, says he,
upon any difficult message; Here am I, send me, though it be to fulfil
the hardest service.” There will be generally all these attendants of
great nearness to God, _viz._ power against temptation, strength against
sin, zeal for the glory of God in the world; and ability to perform
difficult duties.
V. There will be a spiritual frame introduced into the heart and a
distance from all carnal things. “Stand by, saith the soul to all this
world, whilst I go to seek my God; but when I have found him, then the
world of itself, as to all the temporal concerns of it, vanishes and
goes out of sight. When I get so near to heaven, this earth is so small
a point, that it cannot be seen, and those comforts among the creatures,
that were fair as the moon, or bright as the larger stars, are vanished
and lost, and disappear under the brighter light of this Sun.” Created
beauties, with all their little glimmerings, tempt the soul toward them,
when God is absent; as a twinkling candle entices the silly fly at
midnight to hover about the rays of it; but the candle faints under the
broad beams of rising day-light; it has no power to attract those little
buzzing animals in the morning, and it is quite invisible at noon. So
the very approach of God makes creatures appear more contemptible and
worthless in the esteem of a devout christian; a God near at hand will
drive the creatures afar off; and a present God will command the world
to utter absence. None of the tempting vanities of life come in sight,
and sometimes not the most important concerns of it remain before the
eye of the saint, when God appears and fills the view and prospect of
his spirit. The soul is taken up with spiritual things, therefore carnal
ones vanish; it is entertained and filled with the majesty of God, the
riches of grace, redeeming grace; with the glory of Christ Jesus, the
beauty of his person, the honour of his characters, his various
excellencies, and the super-eminence of his offices, both in the
constitution and discharge of them; the soul is then warmed with a
zealous concern for the church of Christ, and big with the designs of
the honour of God, while it forgets the world.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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