IV. Near Approaches to God, in Devotions and Communions, full of Intimacy with Him, will give a man, if not the Face, •et the Heart of an Angel. When was it, that the Face of Moses, had an Angelical, and an Extraordinary Lustre upon it? It was, when he had been with God, in the Mount. We read, in Exod. 34.29. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the Two Tables of Testimony, the Skin of his Face shone. They that are very much with God, in those Exercises, wherein the Power of Godliness, does mainly consist, will contract a Lustre therefrom, and be somewhat like the Angels, made Partakers of the Divine Nature. To be often in Secret Prayers, and Secret Praises, with Raised Strains of Heavenly Zeal before the Lord, This is to be as it were, of the Angelical Fraternity! Yea, 'Tis a Golden Passage of Chrysostom, That the very Angels themselves, cannot but Honour the man, whom they see Familiarly and Frequently, Admitted unto the Audience, and as it were Discourse with the Divine Majesty. Truly, whether the Angels may Reverence these men or no, these men do Resemble the Angels. It becomes more ⟨p. 21⟩Notably thus, when men do often set apart whole Days, for their Prayers, and their Praises, and are With God in the Mount, for whole Days together. Great Things did the Angels do for Moses, Great Things for Elijah, who often spent whole Days alone with the Lord; And what said an Angel unto Daniel, when he had been spending whole Days at such a rate, Thou art a man of Desires, and an Angel thinks not much to fly down from Heaven unto thy Conversation! Such Days, do leave an Angelical Savour upon the Souls of men; they Leave our Souls, for many Days afterward, under such a Gracious, and Generous, and Serious, & Watchful, and Useful Bias, as has the Face of an Angel thereupon. And therefore, the Lords Days; Let us keep them with a peculiar Solicitude, a singular Elevation, of Sanctity. It was the privilege of John, in Rev. 1.10. To be in the Spirit on the Lords Day. Sirs, If we are so, we shall be with the Angels on the Lords Day; And if with them, then like them. To be wholly under the Confinement, [I mistook the word, I should say, Liberty!] of Religious Applications, throughout our whole Christian Sabbath, Let us not count it, as a Ceremonious person once called it, A being on the Rack a whole Day together.
IV. Near Approaches to God, in Devotions and Communions, full of Intimacy with Him, will give a man, if not the Face, •et the Heart of an Angel. When was it, that the Face of Moses, had an Angelical, and an Extraordinary Lustre upon it? It was, when he had been with God, in the Mount. We read, in Exod. 34.29. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the Two Tables of Testimony, the Skin of his Face shone. They that are very much with God, in those Exercises, wherein the Power of Godliness, does mainly consist, will contract a Lustre therefrom, and be somewhat like the Angels, made Partakers of the Divine Nature. To be often in Secret Prayers, and Secret Praises, with Raised Strains of Heavenly Zeal before the Lord, This is to be as it were, of the Angelical Fraternity! Yea, 'Tis a Golden Passage of Chrysostome, That the very Angels themselves, cannot but Honour the man, whom they see Familiarly and Frequently, Admitted unto the Audience, and as it were Discourse with the Divine Majesty. Truly, whether the Angels may Reverence these men or no, these men do Resemble the Angels. It becomes more ⟨p. 21⟩Notably thus, when men do often set apart whole Dayes, for their Prayers, and their Praises, and are With God in the Mount, for whole Dayes together. Great Things did the Angels do for Moses, Great Things for Elias, who often spent whole Dayes alone with the Lord; And what said an Angel unto Daniel, when he had been spending whole Days at such a rate, Thou art a man of Desires, and an Angel thinks not much to fly down from Heaven unto thy Conversation! Such Dayes, do leave an Angelical Savour upon the Souls of men; they Leave our Souls, for many Dayes afterward, under such a Gracious, and Generous, and Serious, & Watchful, and Useful Biass, as has the Face of an Angel thereupon. And therefore, the Lords Dayes; Let us keep them with a peculiar Sollicitude, a singular Elevation, of Sanctity. It was the priviledge of John, in Rev. 1.10. To be in the Spirit on the Lords Day. Syrs, If we are so, we shall be with the Angels on the Lords Day; And if with them, then like them. To be wholly under the Confinement, [I mistook the word, I should say, Liberty!] of Religious Applications, throughout our whole Christian Sabbath, Let us not count it, as a Ceremonious person once call'd it, A being on the Rack a whole Day together.
