Fourthly God by his Word begets those that are by his appointment and nomination the Heirs of this Eternal Salvation God by his Word begets them again to a lively hope of this Glory 1 Pet. 1.3 4. Blessed be God who hath begotten us again to a lively hope to an Inheritance incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved for us in the highest Heavens And that this begetting again is by the Word of God see afterwards ver 23. Being born again not of corruptible seed but incorruptible by the Word of God Fifthly God by his Word doth not only beget his People to a lively Hope of this Inheritance but he prepares and fits them for the possession of it and makes us meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light Col. 1.12 Now this that God gives the Inheritance of Heaven by the Word this in the use of it still bespeaks our greatest affections for our highest esteem of our constant conscientious attendance upon the Word of God as that which is Patris nostri Testamentum Haereditatis nostrae Syngrapha Instrumentum The Will of our Heavenly Father the Deed of Gift and Instrument whereby he conveyeth over unto us our Heavenly Inheritance How Sacred and Inviolable do men count their Father's Will and Testament what honour do they put upon it what trust and confidence do they repose in it Such and infinitly more than such should be our honour for and our trust in the Word of God How precious do men count the Writings and Evidences whereby they hold their Inheritances So and infinitly more than so precious ought the Word of God to be unto us It being that Instrument whereby Heaven it self is passed over to us for our Inheritance Which is able to build you up and give you an Inheritance among all them that are sanctified In which words you have the proper and distinguishing Character of those to whom this Inheritance belongs and they are the Saints or Sanctified ones It is an Inheritance among ALL THEM that are Sanctified Where mark 1. The Restriction of this Inheritance it is limited only to them that are Sanctified 2dly The Extent of it it is in common to ALL THEM that are sanctified An Inhertance among all them that are sanctified I shall for the better dispatch put both these Particulars into one Doctrine namely That Heaven is the Inheritance of all Saints and only of Saints Or Heaven is only for them that are Sanctified and for all them Or thus No unsanctified person shall ever enter into Heaven Nor no Sanctified Person shall ever misse of Heaven The Negative That No unsanctified person shall ever enter into Heaven This is proved by clear and express Scripture 1 Cor. 6.9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterors nor Theeves nor Covetous nor Drunkards c. shall ever inherit the Kingdom of God Rev. 21.27 It is said of the heavenly Jerusalem there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth Heb. 12.14 Without holiness no man shall see the Lord therefore no unsanctified person shall ever enter into Heaven And for the second Branch which is Affimative That every Sanctified Person shall inherit Heaven That no Sanctified Person shall miss of Heaven This is as clear in Scripture Therefore it is called the Inheritance of the Saints Col. 1.12 because all and every of the Saints the least as well as the greatest have an equal share in this Inheritance And indeed Sanctification is but the earnest the first fruits the infancy of Glory and can no wayes be separated from it and it is as impossible that any one that is truly Sanctified should miss of Heaven as it is impossible for any unsanctified person to enter into Heaven For First Sanctification and Glorification Holiness and Heaven are joyned together in the Appointment and Decree of God Whom God hath predestinated to Heaven he hath predestinated to Holiness and whom he hath predestinated to Holiness He hath predestinated to Heaven Ephes 1.4 5. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundations of the world that we should be holy without blame before him in love Having predestinated us to the Adoption of Children by Jesus Christ unto himself c. Mark whom God hath predestinated to be Children and so Heirs of Heaven he hath chosen to Holiness Heaven and Holiness are joyned together in God's Decree of Predestination Secondly Heaven and Holiness are joyned together in the Purchase Look how many Christ hath purchased Heaven for so many he hath purchased Holiness for Heb. 13.12 Jesus that he might sanctifie the People with his own blood suffered without the gate Mark Jesus Christ shed his blood not only that he might Save his People but that he might Sanctifie his People and not one Person more will be saved by the blood of Jesus than are sanctified by the blood of Jesus Heaven and Holiness are joyned together in the Purchase of the Son as well as in the Purpose of the Father Thirdly As Heaven and Holiness are joyned together in the Purpose of the Father and in the Purchase of the Son so they are joyned together in the Work of the Spirit None are called effectually by the holy Ghost to the participation of Heaven and Glory but such as are first called by the same Spirit unto Sanctification and Holiness nor none are effectually called by the Spirit unto Sanctification and Holiness but are called at the same instant unto Heaven and Glory 2 Thess 2.13 We are bound to give thanks alwayes to God for you Brethren beloved of the Lord because God hath from the beginning chosen you to Salvation through the Sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the Truth whereunto He hath called you by our Gospel to the obtaining of the Glory of the Lord Jesus Christ Mark whom God calleth by the Gospel to Glory he calls by the same Gospel to belief of the Truth and Sanctification of the Spirit So that you see Heaven and Holiness are joyned together in the Purpose of the Father in the Purchase of the Son in the Operation of the Spirit And therefore it is not possible that ever any that are not holy should obtain Heaven and as impossible that ever any that are truly holy should miss of the Heavenly Inheritance Now this that no unsanctified person shall ever enter into Heaven nor no Sanctified Person shall ever miss of Heaven this in the use of it may be as terrible to all unsanctified ones as comfortable to all the Saints First This may be a sound of Fears in the ears and hearts of all unsanctified ones Is it impossible that ever any unsanctified one should enter into Heaven as you see it is O then think O then think of this and tremble you that despise Holiness you that mock and jeer at Holiness think of this you all you who
their Edification so far we are bound to please them and no further So that Edification you see here is the rule and scope and boundary of all our compliance with and complacency to in other men And so it is of all the actions of our lives 2 Cor. 12.19 We do all things for your edifying Yea this ought to be the scope and end of all our words as well as actions Eph. 4.29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying Not a word should come out of a Christians mouth but what is good for Edification Now would God think you thus enjoyn upon Christians the care of edifying one another would the Lord Jesus Christ make Edification the end and scope of all Church-Ordinances and Administrations would the Holy Ghost teach us to propound it and make it the scope and end of all our sayings and doings next to God's Glory would these things be if God who is infinitely wise did not know that the Saints while they are in this life have need of building up more and more Now the Reasons why true Believers those that are in a state of Grace have yet further need to be built up and edified are First Because God hath appointed a certain measure and proportion and heighth of Grace which all his Elect shall arrive at before they be taken up into Glory As a wise Builder who when he is about to build a house he resolves beforehand how many foot high he will raise it to such a measure to such a heighth and then he will cease So God from all eternity hath decreed concerning every particular Believer to such or such a degree of Grace he shall attain and be built up before he come to Heaven this the Apostle calls a Perfect man and the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ Eph. 4.13 Secondly God doth ordinarily promove and carry on his People to this measure and degree whereunto he hath appointed them gradatim by little and little He doth not in the first instant and moment of their Conversion and Regeneration make them perfect in their measure and fit for Heaven Indeed here and there one God to shew his Power is pleased to convert and fit for Heaven in one and the same moment of time as the Thief upon the Cross but ordinarily it is not so I have read of some Children that have been born with hair upon their head and beard as if they had arrived at their virilis aetas as soon as born but these are inter rariora anomala Naturae Here Nature steps out of her ordinary course ordinarily it is not so So it is here Sometimes it falls out that a man is converted upon his Death-bed or upon the Gallows as the Thief was upon the Cross here now Grace is wrought and perfected all at once but this is inter rariora Graciae I will not say it is anomalous for Grace is free and bound to no rules but this rarely comes to pass except in elect Infants dying in their infancy but ordinarily God doth carry on the work of his Grace in his People to its appointed measure by degrees Hence it is compared to Leaven that diffuseth it self through the Lump by degrees Matth. 13.33 to Light that diffuseth it self through the Air by degrees Prov. 4.18 to Corn that is first the green blade then the ear then the ripe Corn Mark 4.28 to a Building here to which a man is every day adding something and carrying on more and more to Perfection The Use of this shall be First To reprove those that dream of a Perfection they have attained already that boast themselves they are perfect and free from sin and consumate in Grace and Holiness as perfect as ever they shall be as perfect as the Saints in glory yea as perfect as Christ as God himself Would these men content themselves to say they are as perfect as ever they shall be that were bold and bad enough though possibly it might prove too sadly true of some of them but to say they are as perfect as the Saints in glory as perfect as Christ as God himself this is to open their mouth against the Heavens and to blaspheme not only the Saints of the most High but the most High himself How far was the wisdom and humility of Paul from this Philip. 3.12 13. Not as though I had already attained or were already perfect but I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus Brethren I count not my self to have apprehended but this one thing I do forgetting those things that are behind and reaching forward to those things that are before I press towards the Mark for the price of the high Calling in Christ Jesus Blessed Paul that had been wrapt up into the third Heavens and had heard things unutterable yet he doth not count himself perfect nor reckons that he had attained all that Grace which he must attain before he comes to make his eternal abode in Heaven therefore he forgets overlooks what he hath and considers what he wants forgetting that which is behind and reaching forth to that which is before he presseth forward Had some of those self-conceited self-deluded poor souls that dream so much of their own perfection and talk of it as some men do in their dreams had they I say been wrapt up with Paul into the third Heavens they might have had some shadow of Reason to boast of their own perfection but alas poor creatures they carry their own confutation about with them in their crazie bodies and distempred spirits O Brethren take heed of this delusion take heed of saying you have enough you are perfect I never read nor heard of any that said I am rich and increased in goods and lack nothing but Christ answered them on the contrary Thou art poor and blind and naked and miserable He that saith he hath Grace enough before he come in Heaven it is to be feared he hath none at all nor will never come there In the Second Place therefore be exhorted Seeing that true Beleivers have need of further building up O be exhorted to make it the great business of your lives to build up your selves and one another towards perfection more and more You have heard this is that the Holy-Ghost enjoyns Edifie your selves and edifie one another And let this I beseech you as you love your souls be the main business of your lives do not make it a business of the By as many do whose main design and business they drive is for the world and the things of the world as for edifying themselves and one another that is laid by for spare hours when they have nothing else to do but O my Brethren make the edifying of your selves and one another the main design and intendment of your lives make it your daily task and work
thoughts and watch our selves lest we should sin and transgress the Commandments but in reference to this Heavenly Inheritance we may let our thoughts and desires run to the utmost bounds and extent of their capacities Many sin in thinking of Heaven too little or desiring Heaven too little few if any sin in minding and desiring Heaven too much that therefore is the first duty this should teach us To set our minds upon Heaven as upon a rich Inheritance 2. This should teach us to labour to get Evidences that Heaven is our Inheritance and when we have got them to keep them You know among men if a man lay claim to an Inheritance and hath nothing to shew for it he doth but befool himself in it or if a man hath a right and title to an Inheritance yet if he hath not good and sufficient Evidence to shew for it he will have but little quiet and peace in the enjoyment of it Any wrangling litigious fellow may shake his freehold and create to him a great deal of trouble and molestation if not put him quite out of possession So here A man doth but befool himself in laying claim to Heaven if he hath no Evidence to produce for that claim of his And this is the commonest and greatest folly in the World Men can deride the folly of those that do thus in reference to earthly and temporal Inheritances and yet themselves do the same things in reference to this glorious Inheritance reserved in the highest Heavens claim it and have nothing at all to shew for it O take heed of this get Evidence to shew for this Heavenly Inheritance else never lay claim to it If a man hath a true right and title to Heaven yet if he hath no Evidence to shew for that Title of his he will have little quiet and peace in his Claim Every Christian hath to do with a most subtil and quarelsome adversary the Devil who will be continually shaking thy Free-hold and though he cannot dispossess thee nor rend away thine Inheritance yet he will continually vex and molest thee and no way to stop his mouth but by getting good Evidence that this Inheritance is thine Now there are three grand Scripture-Evidences of our Right to this Inheritance which we find in the Rolls and Record of Sacred Writ The first is The In-being of Christ in the soul Col. 1.27 Christ in you the hope of Glory The second is Our Adoption or being the Children of God Rom. 8.17 If Children then Heirs The third is Our Sanctification Here in the Text An Inheritance among them that are sanctified Now it is true these three are inseparable he that hath any one of them hath all of them Though possibly one may be more evident than another shall yet where one is they all are Labour therefore to get evidence of these either the Evidence of the Inbeing of Christ in you or the Evidence of your Adoption or the evidence of your Sanctification Never leave taking pains with your hearts till you have got these Evidences And when you have once obtained them prize them keep them as you would keep the Apple of your eye as you would keep your Life your Soul You know how careful men are to keep their Deeds and Evidences In time of War and Plunder they will let twenty things be seized plundered and carried away rather than their Evidences In times of Calamity and Fire let all they have be lost and burnt rather than their Writings and Evidences So my Brethren should it be with us in reference to our Evidences for Heaven we should keep them with exactest care and diligence whatever Satan plunder us of never let us suffer him to plunder our Evidences for Heaven never suffer him to steal or rend away the Evidences of Christ's inbeing in us of our being the Sons and Daughters of God of our Sanctification labour to hold and maintain these to the utmost Thirdly This should teach us to improve our right to this Inheritance to make that Use of it and get that Benefit by it that we ought As namely First To conclude from thence that being an Heir an Heir of Heaven thou canst not but be well provided for in the mean time till thou comest to the actual and full possession of thine Inheritance We see how great Heirs are well and honourably maintained even in their minority their Fathers being rich and kind will not suffer them to want any thing that is needful and fit for them If thou canst upon good Evidence conclude thy self an Heir of God thou mayest from thence conclude thou shalt want nothing that is for thy good And therefore Secondly In the want of any thing thou mayest thou oughtest with boldness to go to God and make thy wants and requests known to him with full assurance that thou shalt speed in thy request which he seeth fit for thee God will be so far from denying thee that it will be the joy and rejoycing of his heart to see that thou canst discern what is needful and convenient for thee and it will be a prevailing motive with God O this is my Heir I may not deny him that which is good for him now that he asketh it of me Thirdly In the evidence and assurance of this Inheritance comfort thy self in all other losses and wants whatsoever whatever thou losest thou canst not lose thine Inheritance thou maiest lose thy Liberty thy Living thy Friends thy Ministers God's Ordinances thy Life yea the sweet and comfortable sence of God's Love which is better than Life but comfort thy self in this thine Inheritance thou canst not lose that is reserved for thee in the highest Heavens thou maiest sooner cease to be a Man than to be an Heir this was that caused the Saints of God formerly to take joyfully the spoyling of their goods In Heb. 11.34 Knowing that they had in Heaven a better and a more enduring Substance Fourthly Under sharpest dispensations of Divine Providence still comfort thy self with this thou art a Child thou art an Heir still thy Father may frown upon thee chide thee buffet scourge thee turn thee out of doors for a few nights all this is sad but He will never disinherit thee Other fathers indeed sometimes out of their passion and displeasure and sometimes upon the misdemeanours of their sons disinherit them but God cannot will not do thus to any of His Children For the Lord will not cast off for ever but though he cause grief yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his Mercies Lam. 3.31 32. and John 8.35 The Servant abides not in the House for ever but the Son abideth for ever A mercinary may be turned off for ever but a Son never shall Psal 89.32 33. I will visit their transgressions with a Rod and their iniquities with Stripes nevertheless my Loving-kindness will I not take from them nor suffer my Faithfulness to fail Fifthly From the consideration
of this that thou art an Heir of Heaven arm thy self against the sears of Death let Death be terrible to those whose portion is solely and wholly in this life whom Death separates from all the good they have and hope for As for thee who art a Child of God an Heir of Heaven why shouldst thou fear Death that doth but put thee into the actual possession of thy Inheritance Ejus est mortem timere qui ad Christum nolit ire ejus est ad Christum nolle ire qui se non credit cum Christo incipere regnare saith Cyprian Let him fear Death that is unwilling to go to Christ let him be unwilling to go to Christ that doth not believe he is a Joynt-Heir with Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven The same Cyprian speaks of a man that when he lay a dying with some unwillingness and lothness to dye had a Vision of one like the Son of Man appearing by him saying to him with some kind of indignation Pati timetis exire non vultis quid faciam pro vobis You are afraid to suffer you are not willing to depart what shall I do for you O think what a shame it is for those who when they do hope for this Inheritance to be so unwilling and loth to die as that Jesus Christ should have occasion thus to speak unto them A fourth Duty we should learn from hence is To walk worthy of this Inheritance And so First Far be it from those who profess and believe themselves to be Heirs of Heaven to be eager and covetous and greedy of earth and earthly things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. If a King saith Chrysostom should take a Beggar from the Dunghil and make him the Heir of his Crown and be after this should go up and down a begging from door to door and be as solicitous about his raggs and patched clothes as he was before he was adopted to that Inheritance would not this be a disgrace to himself and to the King that had adopted him and would not all the World condemn him as a man of a base and dunghil spirit unworthy of that Honour and that Inheritance that was cast upon him For thee that art a Christian whom God hath taken from the Dunghil and made an Heir of Heaven for thee to be as greedy of the world as gripple of a half-peny or a peny as if thou wert one of the Worlds beggars still this is a base ignoble thing unworthy of such an Heir as thou dost pretend thy self to be Therefore abhor it away with it Secondly If thou be an Heir of Heaven labour to be content with thy present condition whatever it be in expectation and assurance of that Inheritance thou hopest for There is many a great Heir when he is in his minority lives in a pretty mean condition and makes nothing of it bears it all with patience he knows it will be better with him one day when he comes to Age there is a fair Estate coming to him and in the thoughts of that he comforts himself in his present condition So thou that art an Heir of Heaven though at the present thou livest barely and goest near the wind yet content and comfort thy self with this Thou hast a rich and glorious Inheritance reserved for thee in the highest Heavens when once thou comest to the enjoyment of that thou shalt be full and want nothing This was it which made the Patriarchs Abraham Isaac and Jacob content with a poor pilgrim life and condition a wandring state and condition because they looked for a better Country and when this took up their hearts then they could chearfully sit down in their Tents they could dwell in strange Countries they could go on in obedience to God what way soever he called them readily and so should we Thirdly Never fret nor repine at the happiness and prosperity of the Wicked When we see them swimming and bathing in all that affluence of good things which Job or David expresseth Job 21. and Psalm 73. They have Corn and Wine and Oyl and Gold and Silver and House and Lands and Children to inherit them Thou poor thou hast none of these things but hast thou Heaven though but in reversion never trouble thy self thy portion is an hundred thousand times better than theirs Was it any grief of heart think ye to Isaac to see the sons of Keturah have great gifts bestowed upon them by Abraham one of them it may be so many thousand Yoak of Oxen another so many thousand Sheep and Camels a third so many Talents of Gold and Silver as long as Isaac had the Inheritance this was no grief of heart to him Much good may it do them thinks he as long as the Inheritance is mine So say thou Much good may it do the World with all their Wealth and Riches as long as Heaven is mine I envy them not Thus much for the two first things Heaven is an Inheritance This Inheritance is a Gift I come now to the third and that is this That God gives the Inheritance of Heaven to his Children by his Word Therefore the Gift of this Inheritance is in part ascribed to the Word Which is able to build you up and give you an Inheritance A Father gives such or such an Inheritance to his Child by Testament or by Instrument in writing The Word of God it is Testamentum it is Instrumentum whereby God conveyeth the Inheritance of Heaven to his Saints and Children First God reveals by his Word that there is such an Inheritance reserved in the Heavens which were it not that God had revealed it in his Word the weak heart of sinful and fallen man could have no true notions or conceptions of For eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither can it enter into the heart of man to conceive the things which God hath prepared for them that love him The poor Heathens did stumble upon the Notion of Eternal rewards and punishments but alas fell as far short of the true Notion of those rewards and punishments as Earth is of Heaven But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit 1 Cor. 2.10 that is by his Spirit in his Word Secondly As God reveals this Inheritance to us by his Word so secondly God makes offer of this Inheritance to us in his Word and invites and calls us to the participation of it 2 Thess 2.13 14. God hath from the beginning chosen you to Salvution whereunto he called you by our Gospel to the obtaining of the Glory of the Lord Jesus Christ Thirdly As God revealeth this Inheritance and calls and invites to the participation of it so God in his Word specifies who and what manner of persons they are upon whom he will bestow it Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven which the righteous Judge shall give and not to me only but to all that love his appearing 2 Tim. 4.8
ever you be that are unholy though you have not yet arrived at that height of Diabolism as to mock and jeer and hate Holiness yet you do not love it nor regard it nor care to be Holy but are content to continue in your sinful and unsanctified estate In the fear of God I beseech you consider with your selves you know you must not live in this world alwayes you see many dye before you old and young and it is impossible but you should think though few of you consider it yet it is impossible but you should think that you your selves must die and you do not know how soon Now think of it in the fear of God I beseech you when-ever you die be it sooner or later whenever you die if you be unsanctified think what will become of you Whither shall ye go when you go from hence think you Do you think to go to Heaven to receive this Inheritance in Life and Glory Alas poor creature it is impossible how ever thou hast flattered thy self it may be this many a year with hopes of going to Heaven when thou diest it is impossible unless it be possible for God the Father to alter his purpose and decree And whereas he once decreed that none should be saved but those that were first sanctified now to make a contrary Decree for the saving of those that never were nor would be Saints It is impossible for thee that art unsanctified to go Heaven unless it be possible for the Son of God to become incarnate and suffer Death again to purchase Heaven for those whom he never sanctified nor never intended to sanctifie by his Blood it is impossible for thee to go to Heaven unless it be possible for God the Holy-Ghost to alter his method and separate those things in his working which God hath joyned together in his Word Therefore flatter not thy self deceive not thy self with hopes of Heaven but know that Heaven is everlastingly shut against thee whatever thou be if thou beest not sanctified and holy though thou hast carried thy self never so justly and squarely though thou give much Alms to the Poor though thou be baptized and profess to believe in Christ though thou reade the Scriptures and pray in thy Family though thou come to the Church and hear the Word and receive the Sacrament yea though thou hast some fits of sorrow for thy sin yea though thou confessest and leavest thy sin and beest sorward and frequent in Christian Society and in the Duties of Religion yet if thou beest not sanctified throughout there is an utter impossibility of thy ever entering into Heaven Heaven is a most holy place and it is impossible for any but those that are truly and really holy to find entrance and abode there And if it were possible for any unsanctified wretch to creep and steal into Heaven Heaven would either spue him out again and deliver it self of such an unsavory burden or break in pieces under him and let him sink down to Hell his own place for ever There is they say such a repugnancy in some kind of Glass and Earth as your Venice-Glass and Porcellane or China Dishes that if a Spider or a Toad or any such venemous creature be put into them they would break in pieces presently Truly so would Heaven if an unsanctified sinner should enter there There is such a Repugnancy between Heaven the most holy place and the most unholy heart of every unsanctified sinner that Heaven would even rent and break in pieces if such a creature should appear there yea if an unsanctified sinner should get into Heaven he would be weary of Heaven as well as Heaven would be weary of him he would even wish himself out again the Place is no wayes fit for him the Persons that are there no company for him the Actions that are done there no imployment for him God will never admit any into Heaven that shall be a burden to Heaven and to whom Heaven also shall be a burden Heaven would be to the unsanctified sinner but as the dry land is to the Fish therefore no unsanctified person shall ever enter into Heaven Think therefore O thou that art unsanctified think whither thou art going if thou die this night as for any thing thou knowest thou mayest die this night think what will become of thee whither thou shalt go to Heaven thou canst not it is impossible whither then whither must thou then go O mightst thou die as doth the Ox and the Ass whose soul perish whith their body and as it is educed è potentiâ materiae so it perisheth with the matter and substance of the body if thy soul might do so too O how happy shouldst thou be in comparison of what thou shalt be if thou die in an unsanctified condition but alas poor creature thy soul is immortal thy soul must have a being for ever therefore there must be some place some ubi in which thy soul must be for ever And what is that This Inheritance among the Saints in Light Ah! No No there is another place and another inheritance appointed for thee Reade thy portion in Revel 28.1 But the Fearful and Unbelieving and Abominable and Murderers and Whoremongers and Sorcerers and Idolaters and all Liars shall have their part in the Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone which is the Second death thy portion is everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels Thy portion hath been with the Devil and his angels in sinning here thou hast cast in thy lot with them in sin here and thou must whether thou wilt or no receive thy portion and take thy lot with them in suffering hereafter But In the second place This is as comfortable to them that are Sanctified as it is terrible to the Unsanctified For as it is impossible that any Unsanctified person should enter into Heaven so it is as impossible that any Sanctified one truly sanctified should miss of Heaven Thou that art a Saint how mean and poor soever how weak soever thy Grace be how imperfect soever thy Sanctification be yet if thou beest one that is truly sanctified though thou beest never so little and low in thine own eyes though with Paul thou look upon thy self as one that is less than the least of all Saints as the least in all thy Father's Family yet I assure thee from the Lord thou shalt surely go to Heaven yea thou shalt not only go to Heaven and have some little corner of Heaven for thine though O what cause of joy and triumph would that be to some poor soul if they might but be sure of the least corner in Heaven but I tell thee whole Heaven shall be thine for thou art an Heir the Inheritance belongs to thee as much as to Abraham or Isaac or David or Peter or Paul or any the most glorious of Saints that ever was upon the Earth or that is in Heaven For this know in
the first place That though men de not make all their children Heirs yet God doth Men usually settle the Inheritance upon the first-born or eldest and turn all the rest off with small portions But God doth not so all his Children Sons and Daughters both they are all Heirs not only Abraham Isaac and Jacob and the Patriarchs who were as I may say God's eldest Sons not only they are his Heirs nor only the Lord Jesus Christ who is the first-born of every creature not only He is an Heir but even thou who ever thou beest though the poorest weakest Saint thou art an Heir of God and Joynt-heir with Christ Secondly As thou art an Heir so the whole Inheritance is thine If a man had ten or twenty Sons and were resolved to make them all his Heirs he could not give the whole Inheritance to every one of them but must divide it into so many parts as he had Sons and give to every one but his piece of the whole Inheritance But now thou that art a Saint thou art an Heir and the whole Inheritance is thine All the Glory of God all the good things of God are thine intirely thine as if thou hadst them to thy self alone and there were none to share in them besides thy self Haec Haereditas non imminuitur copiâ possessorum nec fit angustior Haeredum Numerositate sed tanta est multis quanta paucis tanta singulis quanta omnibus saith Augustine this Inheritance is not lessened by the Multitude of those that possess it nor made narrower for the Numerousness of Heirs but it is as great to many as if they were few as large to every single person as it is to all This is very significantly expressed by the Apostle Paul Col. 1.12 where he calls it an Inheritance among the Saints in Light You know Light is a thing of that nature that it cannot be divided If there be twenty or an hundred men in a Room and there be but one light among them that light is not parted into twenty or an hundred peices but every man enjoyeth the benefit of the light as fully and wholly to himself as if there were none but he in the Room Or as it is with the light of the Sun or the Heavens all the men in the world that have eyes in their heads to see they have all a like share in and a like benefit by the light of the Sun and they do as fully enjoy it as if every man had it to himself alone So it is with the Inheritance of Heaven all that are in Heaven do possess it every one fully and entirely it is wholly the enjoyment of every one in Heaven even as the light of the Sun is the enjoyment of every one upon Earth Thirdly Thou that art a Saint how mean and weak soever as thou art an Heir and the Inheritance is wholly thine so thirdly this Inheritance is certain to thee thou canst no wayes miss it Indeed Inheritances that are left or given men many times prove great uncertainties Many an Heir is cozened or baffled of his fair Estate and many a young Prodigal quickly squanders away that Inheritance which his Father with a great deal of toil and care had got for him But this Inheritance is subject to no such mischance the Devil himself cannot cozen thee of this Inheritance he cannot wrest it from thee neither by force nor fraud not canst thou mortgage or forfeit or any other wayes imbezel thine Inheritance It is an Inheritance reserved for you in the highest Heavens and as this Inheritance is reserved for you so you are and shall be reserved unto it as it follows in the very next words Who are kept by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation 1 Pet. 1.5 Fourthly As thou art an Heir and as the Inheritance is thine and wholly thine and surely thine so in the fourth place This Inheritance is a most rich and glorious Inheritance If a man were an Heir and had the whole Inheritance to himself and were sure that he could not lose it yet after all this it may be but a poor and slender Inheritance far from any sufficiency for a livelihood But now this Inheritance it is a sufficiency and not only a bare sufficiency but amplius something more Therefore the Apostle speaking of it calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Riches of the Glory of this Inheritance Mark the Apostle speaking of this Inheritance speaks not onely of the Riches of this Inheritance nor only of the Glory of this Inheritance but of the Riches and Glory yea of the Riches of the Glory of this Inheritance to shew that it is indeed an Inheritance most rich and glorious This Inheritance is so rich so glorious that Eye hath not seen ear hath not heard neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive of it Now thou that art a Saint this Inheritance this rich and glorious Inheritance it is thine wholly thine surely thine O then what cause hast thou to be comforted and rejoyce in this thy portion to sing David's Song of Praise Psal 16.6 The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places I have a goodly Heritage In the third place Is it so that not one that is unsanctified shall ever enter into Heaven nor no one that is sanctified shall ever miss of Heaven Then all you that desire Heaven that hope for Heaven labour to be holy for without Holiness you hope for Heaven in vain For though Holiness be not Causa Coeli yet it is Via ad Coelum though it be not the moving or meriting cause for which God gives Heaven and Happiness to us yet it is causa sine qua non as is clear in that Text Without Holiness none can see the Lord. And the truth is Holiness is that life and state begun upon Earth which is perfected and perpetuated in Heaven to all Eternity And that man never is nor shall be a glorious Saint in Heaven that is not first a gracious Saint upon Earth A man must be an Infant before he be a Man Grace is the Infancy of Glory O therefore every one of you desire Holiness seek Holiness pray for Holiness strive labour after Holiness as you would desire seek pray for strive labour after Heaven it self Holiness being that intrinsecal qualification which though it do not make you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet it makes you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though it do not make you worthy of Heaven yet it makes you meet and fit to be partakers of that Inheritance which is amongst the Saints in Light Now the God of Peace sanctifie you throughout and I pray God your whole spirit soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ I Am now by the Providence of God upon the point of leaving not only you but the Land and I know not whether ever I shall see the face of this Assemblie any more and