Heaven upon earth, or, The best friend in the worst of times. Delivered in…

First, By virtue of the Relation wherein God stands towards them. An intimate Relation to those that are persons of Dignity, & Worth, doth communicate Worth and Dignity to those who are so related to them. As the son of a mean man ⟨p. 41⟩is not so highly valued and esteemed as the son of a prince. David reckoned it to be a great thing to be Son-in-law to a King, 1 Sam. 18.18. Who am I, and what is my life, or my fathers family in Israel, that I should be son in-law to the king? Thus are we to reckon it our Dignity and Excellency to be in nigh relation to God, to be sons of God, to be heirs of God, and to be the friends of God, what greater honour then this to be in such a nigh relation to the God of Glory? Now the Excellency that we have from this Relation, ariseth from the excellency of that Act which is the Foundation of this Relation, and that is our being born of God, as we are Sons, Joh. 1.12, 13. God marrying us to himself as he is our husband. Jer. 3. Turn, O back sliding children, saith the Lord, for I am married unto you. God takes us into fellowship, & communion, and acquaintance with himself, as he makes us his friends, and his acquaintance. This act of God doth instamp a Worth and Excellency upon man, as the impression of the Kings Seal upon Wax, and makes it of value, Rev. 22.4. It is here spoken as the glory of the servants of God, Those that follow the Lamb, they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads; that is, God hath chosen, and, as it were, marked them out for his own: and this marking them, and owing them, it sets a high Dignity upon them, such as secures them from the Curse that is to be upon all besides, as Revel. 9.4. They are commanded to hurt none but those who have not the seal of God on their foreheads. This Relation of the soul to God, gives the soul an excellency, as it doth interest the soul in the glory and excellency of God himself; they are Gods, and Gods is theirs, 2 Cor. 6.16. I