Carrion of bestial Delights you will thus renounce the Communion of Heavenly Joys Is this your Wisdom your Prudence to make Sin the object of your Joy the Theatre of your Delight the Centre of your Desires and the Element wherein you would continually chuse to live when God by a Miracle of rich Grace calls upon you to seek after Glory and Honour after Immortality and Eternal Life in the Kingdom of Heaven Can you think to maintain the comfort of your Life by Sin which is nothing but the fuel of Death and Misery Will you make that the sole object of your Joy which alone is the inlet to an ocean of Sorrow and perplexing disquietments The truth is we have many amongst us who wear Christ's Livery and are called Christians but yet they live as Persons resolved to chuse Epicurus that grand Sensualist for the Master oâ— their licentious Faction making Pleasure with him the Alpha and Omega of all their Happiness Seneca though an Heathen had a far more noble â—â—d heroick Spirit than such esteeming it the greatest Pleasure to contemn all carnal Pleasures whilst these reckon it for the highest accent of â—â—licity to live in them Such voluptuous Wantons walk directly antipodes to the end of their own being living in nothing but carnal Delights as if God sent them into the World to be therein like the Leviathan sporting themselves and feasting their Souls in an Ocean of sensual Pleasures They begin to anticipate here that Paradise of swinish Delights which Mahomet promised his own naâ—â—y Herd at leastwise to take an earnest of it continually soaking themselves in their own intemperance and brutish luxury They look after no other Heaven than only to go singing to Hell and though you give them the greatest variety of delightful objects yet they cannot be Merry unless they may have Treason against Heaven it self for the game and the Devil for their playfellow But be ashamed oh carnal Gospellers thus to give up the strength of your Souls in the service of sensual Pleasures making light in the mean time of Heaven and Glory together with those unsullied Paradisical Pleasures which are at God's right Hand for evermore Oh let not that be matter of Pleasure and Delight to you which lay so heavy upon the Soul of your blessed Redeemer Did Christ bleed and groan and die to save you from your Sins and yet will you live with delight in the Pleasures of Sin How ever can you have a good thought of Sin when you look upon it as that which brought down the Son of God from Heaven and that murthered the Lord of Life and Glory Must the beloved Son of God undergo the curse due to your Sins and must he also humble himself unto Death to purchase for you the reward of Life everlasting that after all this you should undervalue his Love and make light of so great Salvation preferring the Pleasures of Sin which are but for a season before it Will you see I beseech you your folly in the glass of these ensuing considerations 1 CONSIDER thus to delight in carnal Pleasures it argues your Souls to be utterly void of Grace and dead in sin Where ever Grace comes with power it mortifies all vile affections and quite alienates the Heart from all sinful delights so that whoever delights in the Pleasures of Sin to be sure he is yet in a state of Nature and was never brought under the Power of converting Grace (a) Quâ—madmodum impossibile est ut ignis flammam concipiat in aquâ ita 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est voluptates mundi cum poenitentia Christiana manere Otho Casman A voluptuous Man cannot be a gracious Man Nor is it possible for the Dove of true Piety to find any place whereon to rest the sole of her foot in a deluge of carnal Pleasures Our first Parents by eating of the forbidden fruit they lost their right to the Tree of Life and were shut out of Paradise (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ait Xenophon By feeding with delight upon the forbidden fruit of Sin Men forfeit their right to all saving Grace and must need be shut out of Gods presence which is better than life it self as that alone which can quicken and revive a dead Soul T is the dead Fish only and not the living that are carried away with the stream Thus when Men are carried away with a deluge of Sin and swim willingly down the stream of carnal delights it s a sign they were never alive unto God but that still they are dead in trespasses and Sins Hence the Widow who indulges a sensual appetite living in Pleasure (c) 1 Tim. 5.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alexand Paedag. lib. 3. cap. 7. pag. 172. is said to be dead whilst she lives Who ever hath Pleasure in unrighteousness delighting in that as his proper element he hath no principle of Life and Grace abiding in him but is spiritually dead whilst he lives in the Body When Wickedness is sweet to our taste and we delight our selves in it here is the reigning power of Sin separating betwixt us and the God of Heaven and that indeed is not only the Death but the Hell of every graceless Soul A Life of sensuality speaks that Man to be spiritually dead who in such a manner lives after the Flesh (d) Rom. 8.13 For if you live after the Flesh saith St. Paul ye shall die When Men give their full consent to sinful desires not only committing iniquity but having Pleasure therein Not only esteeming a sinful Life to be happy but also counting it their Wisdom with profane Esau to sell their Eternal Birth-right for one mess of such pottage why this now is to live after the Flesh and whoever thus lives he is dead whilst he lives Doth then thy fancy run in a way of Sinful objects with delight taking thought for the Flesh to fulfil it in the lusts thereof Dost thou make thy self the standard and thy sensual appetite the rule of all thy actions Hast thou an Heart carried out continually after sinful objects if absent desiring and grieving for them but if present rejoicing and delighting in them How dreadful oh brutish Sinner is thy present condition If thus to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin be the Life of thy Soul it s estranged from the Life of God and thou art dead though thou livest (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo. Leg. Alleg. lib. There is a Death saith Philo of the Man and there is a Death of the Soul The first which he calls the Death of the Man that 's the separation of the Soul from the Body the second which he calls the Death of the Soul that stands in the want of Grace and the presence of Sin Tho then thy Soul be not separated from thy Body yet what will all this avail so long as thou livest in Sin which is the most dreadful Death and wantest the Grace of God
which indeed is the Life of thy Soul Did the Body of thy dearest Relation lie dead upon the floor what a woful Spectacle would it be and how bitterly wouldst thou weep over it But O Sinner thy Immortal Soul which should be more preciously dâ—ar in thy sight than all thy Relations in the World that lies dead in Sin it 's estranged from God the Fountain of Life it hath no interest in Christ the Prince of Life it hath no Portion in the Holy Ghost the Spirit of Life it hath neither Part nor Lot in Eternal Glory the Crown of Life and is not this a far more sad and woful Spectacle such as may well turn thy Head into Water and thy Eyes into a Fountain of Tears Oh what should fill thy Heart with Groans thy Eyes with Tears and thy Mouth with doleful Complaints if not this to see thy Soul without Life without God and Christ and without all hope of Eternal Glory in the World Canst thou weep bitterly for a dead Relation and yet canst thou not weep for thy self hast thou no Tears to shed over a dead Soul For a Man to be killed by Sin and yet to live to Sin taking pleasure therein what a woful condition is this If yet Sinner thou hast pleasure in unrighteousness to be sure the Tokens of Death are upon thee thou hast neither Life nor yet any hope of Eternal Life abiding in thee A Soul taking delight in the pleasures of Sin it 's a dead Soul * John 3.36 and a Dead Soul it shall never see Life but the Wrath of God abides upon it 2 CONSIDER so long as you take delight in the pleasures of sin you remain uncapable of and can never enjoy communion with God If conformity be that which capacitates for a mutual communion then doubtless an unholy sinner that hath pleasure in unrighteousness is altogether unfit for communion with an holy God †Heb. 1.13 whose Eyes are so infinitely pure that he cannot behold the least iniquity (a) Fit nostra societas cum Deo per similitudinem Ferrar. There can be no fellowship where first there is not some similitude What fellowship can there then be betwixt the great God who is all light and profane ungodly sinners delighting themselves in the unfruitful works of darkness You may say there is fellowship betwixt you and the God of Heaven (b) 1 John 1.6 But then if you walk in darkness making sin your delight you lie saith the Apostle and do not the truth 'T is an exempt priviledge and that which is peculiar to the pure in Heart that they shall see God and have communion with him (c) 2 Cor. 6.14 15. Hence St. Paul puts the question intending thereby a more vehement negation what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness and what communion hath light with darkness and what concord hath Christ with Belial We see by experience the darkness cometh not till the light be gone and when the light cometh the darkness vanisheth they cannot dwell together it being the nature of things contrary mutually to take away each other Thus the infinitely holy God and a voluptuous sordid Sinner who hath pleasure in unrighteousness they are of such contrary natures that they can no more have fellowship together than the clearest Light and the thickest darkness Amongst all the creature there are none that can have communion with any that live not the same life with themselves as a Plant whose life is only vegetative can have no communion with a beast whose life is sensitive neither can a beast have communion with Men because they live a rational (d) Ephes 4.18 life Thus all sensual wicked Men they are estranged from the life of God they live a life of sensuality delighting in sin as their proper Element and therefore can have no communion at all with God whose life is a life of unchangably blessed and spotless Holiness Oh then how miserable is the condition of all voluptuous sensualists who render themselves uncapable through their brutish lusts of communion with an holy God! Michael and the Dragon could not agree in one Heaven nor the Ark and Dagon in one House no more can a wicked Man and an holy God agree to have communion together Your carnal pleasures they shut out from communion with God as the Plague of leprosy shut out of the Camp debarring a Man from all society with such as were clean (e) In his rebus quae inter se pugnant ita ut neutra ferat alterius consortium quotiens hanc amplectimur illam abdicavimus quotiens unam rejioimus alteram agnoscimus Cyprian de dupl Martyr pag. 600. And had you rather with the Prodigal be feeding upon Husks amongst Swine than to feed with delight upon this bread of life in your fathers House Will you still go on to preferr these Onyons and Garlick of Egypt your carnal delights and pleasurable vanities before all the delicious Clusters of Canaan before the hidden Manna of Sweet communion and fellowship of an holy God Poor brutish sinners did you but know by experience what it is to walk in the light of God's countenance what it is to enjoy his favour what it is to be under his smiles in the face of Christ to receive daily the fresh communications of his love and for ever to have the sweet influences of these heavenly Pleiades falling down like a Golden showr into your own bosoms oh how quickly would you nauseate all carnal delights how quickly would you come off with shame and self-abhorrency from your pleasurable vanities making choice of Communion with God as the only Paradise of true delight and Soul-satisfying pleasures in all the World (f) Psal 34.8 Oh therefore do but tast and see how good the Lord is and what fulness of joy you may have in communion with him You have long been sucking the Breast of carnal delights and tasting how good the pleasures of sin are though but for a season Come now in like manner and draw the sincere milk of comfort from the breasts of Divine promises lay your mouths to the Hony-Comb of Heavenly communion sit you down a little under the shadow of the most High ascend with God into the Mount of transfiguration take a turn or two with him in the Galleries of love and if you find not a day thus spent to be better more laden with Fruits of Paradise to refresh and make glad your Souls than a thousand else where then turn aside again to your carnal pleasures renounce this Heavenly Canaan as a barren Wilderness and go back to the flesh-pots of your sensual delights in Egypt and spare not But oh the fulness of joy and divine satisfaction of a Man walking close in communion with God! You may as well perswade the most pompous Monarch faring deliciously every day to lay aside his princely Robes to desert his Throne and go feed upon husks with the Prodigal as
a fiery Chariot Thus Holy Meditation it would carry us above the Clouds it would give us Possession of Heaven before we come there and set us in the midst of all the Glory and Royalties of Eternal Life as if they were already present Heavenly thoughts are as so many steps towards our Eternal Rest When by these therefore we Travel every day to the City of God and delightfully walk therein when every day we take as it were a turn or two in Paradise seriously Meditating Heaven together with the glory that shall shortly be revealed in us then we have Respect indeed to the Recompence of the Reward 4. EARNESTLY to desire and long for it When we see so much of the Excellency Worth and Glory of the World to come that we groan within ourselves desiring with all our hearts to get out of these Houses of Clay and to be cloathed upon with our House which is from Heaven then we have respect to the Recompence of the Reward 2. Cor. 5.2 When Paul had once been wrapt up into the Third Heaven and seen the Paradise of God his Note was ever after I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Thus the Soul that hath a respect to the Recompence of the Reward he hath been in the Heavenly Paradise he hath tasted some Clusters of Canaan and therefore he cannot but long for more he can never be soon enough with Christ he can never soon enough get above the World and Sin and Temptations he can never be soon enough with God in Glory Oh! when shall it be They that have the first Fruits of the Spirit cannot chuse but have their eyes always fixed upon the Recompence of the Reward earnestly desiring the time of Harvest when they shall Reap a full Crop of Eternal Happiness and Glory in the Heavenly Canaan AS Noah's Dove was restless finding no place whereupon to set the sole of her foot till she came into the Ark so Christians if your eyes are rightly fixed upon the Recompence of the Reward you will find your selves carried out after Heaven and Glory in a restless manner and will never sit down satisfyed till you come to rest in the Bosome of God's Eternal Love Never Christians did Rachel more long for Children nor David for the Waters of Bethlehem nor Absalom to see the King's Face than your Souls will long for the glorious Liberty of the Children of God to be drinking the Waters of Life in the Heavenly Paradise and to come to the Beatifical Vision of God in Glory where you shall see him Face to Face in case you have an eye rightly fixed upon the Recompence of the Reward THE Language of every Soul whose eye is rightly fixed upon Heaven and Glory it is like unto that of Job speaking forth his desires after God Oh that I knew where to find him that I might come even to his seat Job 23.3 Such a Soul is impregnated with holy desires and longings after God in Glory and with these the Soul travels all the day long crying out with the Church in the Revelations as in pain to be delivered from under the bondage of Sin and Corruption into Heavenly Glory GIVE the Soul Riches give it Honours give it all the Pleasures that can be thought of to ravish the heart of a Carnal Man yet having an eye rightly fixed upon the Recompence of Reward in vain shall you seek by these to bribe it out of its holy desires and longings after God in Glory For scorning and trampling upon them all as unworthy to come in competition with God it even breaketh through desire after him and can truly say of God with holy David Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee Psal 73.25 'T IS just with the Soul as with some Women in the time of their Impregnature who if they see any thing when they are with Child that they have a mind to they must have it or else they will long and dye for it Thus the Soul that by Faith hath got a sight of Heavenly Enjoyments now the heart of such a Soul it is set upon Heaven and he must have Heaven upon a Crown of Life and he must have a Crown of Life upon God and Christ and Eternal Glory and he must have them all together or else give him what you can he will long and die unsatisfied THERE is so much of the Beauty Loveliness and Glory of Christ revealed to the Soul in looking upon the Recompence of Reward that now it grows impatient of living any longer without him crying out as she did in another case Why are his Chariots so long in coming and Why tarry the wheels of his Chariots When will my beloved make haste and be like a young Roe upon the Mountains of Spices When will the day break and the shadows fly away that I may see my beloved in his Glory When will he come to put an end to these days of Sin and Sorrow that I may rest for ever in the Bosome of his Eternal Love When will he take me by the hand and lead me out of the Wilderness of this World into the Heavenly Canaan When will he rebuke the Winds and the Seas that will give me no rest in this Troublesome World and set me safe on the Shoar of Eternal Happiness When will he deliver me from this Body of Death and gather my Soul to the Spirits of Just Men made perfect When will he take from me these Rags of Mortality and cause me to be cloathed upon with an House not made with hands Eternal in the Heavens When will he make me return and come to Sion with Songs and everlasting Joy upon my head When will he cause me to obtain fulness of Joy and Gladness with him in Eternal Mansions of Glory that Sorrow and Sin and Sighing being done away I may be with the Lord for ever Oh when shall I once see that blessed day NOW What is it I beseech you after which your hearts do thus strongly breathe thus insatiably thirst thus impatiently long If Riches will not satisfy but you must have a Treasure in Heaven if Worldly Honour will not satisfy but you must have a Crown of Righteousness from Christ himself if Carnal Pleasures will not satisfy but you must have that fulness of Joy which is in God's Presence and those Pleasures which are at his Right Hand for evermore if in a word the Life that now is will not satisfy but you must though you dye for it go live for ever with Christ in Glory why then there is no doubt Christians but with Moses you have an eye to the Recompence of Reward For then our eye is rightly fixed upon the Recompence of Reward when our Souls are carried out in strong desires after God and Christ and Eternal Glory as our only Happiness 5. TO be by the consideration of it exceedingly encouraged to diligence and
our might though we should give our Bodies to be burnt die ten thousand deaths and lye frying as Firebrands in Hell upon the Grid-iron of God's displeasure so many Millions of Imaginary Ages as there be Stars in the Firmament of Heaven Yet by all this we could not possibly oblige the God of Heaven to render us the Reward of Eternal Life nor bring forth any thing that by way of condign Merit could purchase that Crown of Righteousness that Kingdom of Eternal Glory that fulness of Joy and everlasting Happiness which abides us in the World to come So then though we may look at Heaven in our Obedience yet it 's utterly in vain to think of Meriting Heaven by our Obedience Though the Reward of Eternal Life may encourage us to Well-doing yet in vain shall we look to Purchase that glorious Reward by our well-doing Though we may assure ourselves of the Blessing of Eternal Life and Glory from God in keeping his Commandments Psal 19.11 yet if for keeping his Commandments we expect that God should bless us with so glorious a Reward we are sure everlastingly to fall short of it For if you think to Merit with God expecting upon Terms of Justice the Reward of Eternal Glory from him do but cast up your Reckonings aright and you will find that there is nothing but an Eternal (n) Quanto labore digna est requies quae non hâ—bet finem Si verum vis computare et verum judicare aeterna requies aeterno labore emituor Aug. in Ps 93. Travail which can Merit an Eternal Rest nothing but an everlasting Conflict that can deserve to be Crowned with an everlasting Triumph nothing but Infinite Labour that can Purchase that Infinitely Glorious and Soul-satisfying Reward which the Lord for our encouragement hath set before us Why then should we put ourselves upon such a Prince as we shall never be able to discharge seeking Glory Honour Immortality and Eternal Life by the Merit of our own scanty and imperfect Obedience when we know that the Glory Honour and comfort of Eternal Life can only be obtained through the Riches of God's free Grace and divine Indulgence LOOK you may Christians having fought the good fight having finished your course and kept the Faith to receive from Christ the Righteous Judge and Immarcessible Crown of Glory 2 Tim. 8. But take heed that you never think by your Fighting for God Running the Race he hath set before you and Believing him in all his Promises to Purchase that glorious Crown which is not the Wages of an hiâ—â—ling but an Inheritance prepared of God for all his Children If you think Christians to spin Salvation out of the Bowels of your own good Works and to raise up the Seed of Eternal Life to yourselves out of the dead and barren Womb of your own Righteousness why let me tell you then all your Hope 't is but as a Spider's Web which will quite be swept down by the Besome of Death You never think to live and Purchase Eternal Glory by your own Righteousness but you forfeit that Crown of Righteousness which Christ hath laid up with himself for all that love his appearance Col. 3.3.4 Whilst therefore you look at the Recompence of Eternal Life remember 't is the free gift of God and not the Purchase of your own Obedience (o) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Marcus Heremita For to be sure their life was never hid with Christ in God who think to find Life and Happiness amongst the rubbish of their own ruinous Performances Nor shall they ever appear with Christ in Glory who make a Christ of their own good Works thereby thinking to Merit at God's hands the Reward of Eternal Happiness For to put confidence in our Holiness will as certainly shut us out of God's Heavenly Kingdom as if we were altogether unholy 4. WE are to have respect in our Obedience to the Recompence of Reward not carnally looking for a Sensual Happiness but Spiritually as longing for an Happiness that shall consist in the adequate Perfection of all our Graces together with the full enjoyment of God in Glory We are not to look for a Turkish Paradise to gratify the Flesh but for a Sinless state of Holiness where Grace shall be perfected into Glory We may not think of bathing our Souls in Worldly Delights and Carnal Pleasures but of coming to the full injoyment of God himself whom to see without end love without loathing and praise without ever being weary is the only complement of all our Happiness There are multitudes of Men and Women in the world who having imbibed some gross Conceits and carnal Notions of Heaven would be glad when they can live no longer here to take up there as conceiting it to be a place accomodate to the desires of their own carnal Hearts But we never have any due respect to the recompence of the Reward till we look upon Heaven as a place where Sin shall be wholly abolished Grace perfectly glorified the World trampled upon and God over all blessed for ever enjoy'd as the Center of perfect Rest and everlasting Satisfaction As Balaam desired to dye the death of the righteous which he knew would be Crowned with Peace but had no care at all to conform himself to the life of the righteous so many there be who desire Heaven as a place of Happiness but not as a place of perfect Holiness Such is the Malignity of a carnal Heart that it will assimulate whatever it meets with and turn it into the likeness of it's own brutish Lusts So that whenever a carnal heart desires Heaven it 's not an Heaven of God's preparing but an Heaven of it's own fancying not an Heaven to make it perfectly Holy but an Heaven that will make it sensually Happy As a little Leaven turns the whole Lump into it's own Sourness or as the Salt Sea turns the Fresh Rivers and the Sweet Showers of Heaven into Salt Waters So the Heart which is Unsanctified it turns Bethel into Bethaven the holy City of Sion into a filthy Sodom and the heavenly Jerusalem it self into Babylon looking only for the Wages of Unrighteousness and for Heaven as a place of Sensual Pleasure but not as a place of Spiritual Injoyments As some Jews Acts 1.6 had carnal Notions of Christ and his Kingdom looking for a carnal Messiah who should come in Worldly Pomp and Splendour to restore the Kingdom to Israel So many that profess themselves to be Christians they have carnal Notions about the Recompence of the Reward looking after a Turkish Paradice after an Heaven that is wholly Carnal like their own hearts abounding with nothing but Fleshly Delights and Sensual Contentments They conceive indeed of Heaven as a place where there is Freedom from all Misery and as a place wherein all Fulness of Joy of Delights and everlasting Pleasures dwells But yet both these the Misery removed and the Pleasures indulged both Freedom
Riches and secular accommodations which cannot profit Grant Sirs that you do not see the vanity of these things in a Calm yet what will you do in a Storm when distress and anguish takes hold upon you In the day Sirs that Satan shall accuse you that Conscience shall torment you that Heaven shall frown upon you and that Hell beneath shall enlarge itself to devour you what then will your Houses and Lands your Riches and your Honours avail you What though Man thy Barns be full and thy Cup overflows What though thou hast Mines of Gold and Rivers of Oyl What though thou number thy Oxen by thousands and thy Sheep by ten thousands What though thou be arrayed in Royal Apparel with Solomon and farest deliciously every day like the Rich Glutton Yet what will all this abundance profit thee in a day of wrath Will these things quiet the estuations of an accusing Conscience in the day that God shall awaken it and amaze thee with the sight of thy own iniquities Will they profit and afford thee comforts when breathing out thy poor Soul into Eternity thou must now be convented before the righteous Judge of all the World Oh let not your Eyes commit Adultery with the fair-faced nothings of this World whilest you live that through the vanity of them can afford you no profit when you come to die and to make your appearance before God's dreadful Tribunal 2 CONSIDER all Crâ—â—ture-enjoyments they are disquieting and vexatious There is not only * Eccles 1.14 vanity in all worldly accommodations rendring them unprofitable but there is also vexation of spirit in them which makes them a second Achan to such as enjoy them so disturbing their Rest that they live continually upon the Rack of discontent The love of this preseâ—â— World is a passion but yet it is very active upon us at once eating up and torâ—â—nting our Spirits within us Many Men think if they had but such an accession to their livelyhood if they could but compass such an estate if they might but attain to such preferment they should then be at ease in their minds and sit down satisfyed But alas when these desires are fully accomplished and they have possibly gone beyond the very modesty of their former wishes in their worldly acquirements how often do they find their ease and comfort going out by the same door at which their Riches Honours and secular emoluments entred in (e) Aurum ampliùs cruciat apud quem largius fuerit amanti nihil de possessione suâ permittit Such is the vexation of all Earthly accommodations that whoever enjoys most of them is most sadly afflicted by them Neither will they suffer him to enjoy any thing with a quiet mind of his possessions who pursues them with an inordinate love and affection Our Creature-comforts they are not only vanity in regard of their uselesness as being unable to profit us in the day of adversity but they are likewise vexation in their enjoyment not forbearing to molest and disquiet our Hearts even in the day of Prosperity Men think in getting Riches to crown themselves as with Rose-buds and to find them sweet to their Tast But are not all their Riches when procured like a Crown (f) 1 Tim. 6.9 10. of Thorns upon their Heads piercing them through with many cares and do they not find them to be mingled with gall and bitterness Oh how happy doth many a Man think he should be and live in the World could he but enlarge his Barns and accumulate Riches as others do But doth he not find them as the wise Man sâ—eaks making all his dayes (g) Eccles 2.22 23 Sorrow and his travail grief not so much as suffering his Heart to take rest in the night False joy â—ike the crackling of thorns a Man may possibly find now and then in the abundance of worldly accommodations But still there is some Flie in the oyntment some Death in the pot somâ—â—hief in the Candle which utterly marreth all leaving such an one under nothing but sadness and vexation of Spirit You know how it was with Ahab King of (h) 1 Kings 21.4 Israel upon whom the want of one poor vineyard of Naboth brought such heaviness of Heart and sadness of spirit that amidst all the happiness which either Riches or Honours or extremity of luxury could afford him the Man lays himself down upon his Bed turns away his Face refusing to take his necessary Food as one resolved to die of the Sullens out of Hand The like vexation of Spirit do we find that wicked Haman the Son of Amedatha the Agagite amidst all his court-preferments fretting under (i) Esther 3.5 Never Subject was more highly advanced and honoured by his Sovereign than this wicked Haman and yet the denyal of one poor Mordecai's Knee how doth it make him hang down the Head vexing all his mirth and carnal jollity into self-tormenting envy and discontent We do never pursue with eagerness the riches honours and emoluments of this life but we find a sting in them to vex and torment us And as Fire under Water the hotter it burns the sooner it is extinguished by the over-running of the Water So earthly things when too eagerly pursued they raise up such tumultuary perplexing thoughts in the minds of Men as do at last quite extinguish all the heat and comfort which was expected from them Oh then that every Worldling would consider what an enemy he is to his own Happiness whilst thy Heart is inoâ—dinately carried out after and transported with idolatrous love to any Creature-enjoyments no quiet can be in thy mind no rest in thy Soul And why will you thus be the authours of your 〈◊〉 misery in seeking for rest where is nothing but trouble for comfort where is nothing but disquietment and for pleasure where 〈◊〉 â—othing but vanity and vexation of Spirit What are all your Riches and Honours and worldly accommodations when eagerly pursued after but like the Whoredom of painted Jezabel to trouble your peace and to fill you with Heart perplexing thoughts The Sun and Stars in the lower regions by reason of their nearness to the Earth they frequently * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Macar Homil. 45. pag. mihi 496. exhale those Fogs and Meteors that do often break forth into Storms and impetuous Tempests Thus likewise in earthly minds the sun-shine of Creature-enjoyments why it raiseth up those Cares and Heart-dividing thoughts that a Man can have no rest but is full of unquiet agitations burning like Aetna with an embowel'd sulphurious Fire which doth often break forth into a sullen Tempest of discontent Labour we therefore to be content (h) Heb. 13.5 with such things as we have not neglecting Heaven and Glory where is fulness of joy for the comforts and emoluments of this World which are not only vain and unable to profit us but also vexation to molest and disquiet us (i) Deus
you could never obtain you might well in such case make light of it But when thus you have a Crown a Kingdom an eternal Wâ—â—ght of Glory set before you together with this Encouragement that in seeking you shall be sure to find them how inexcusable must you needs be if still you should go on in the careless neglect of them Because the Recompence of eternal Life is possible to be obtained therefore impossible will it be for those that seek it not that ever they should escape the Vengeance of eternal Death 3 CONSIDER how unable all your Creature-enjoyments will be to afford you any solid Comfort at Death and Judgment not having an Interest in the Recompence of eternal Life What the Holy Ghost saith of Riches may truly be affirmed of all Creature-enjoyments and worldly Accommodations they profit not in a Day of Wrath. The Night approaching we lose the benefit of the Sun for a time and can no longer we enjoy the Light of his beauteous Beams So the darksom Night of Death and Judgment approaching you can now no longer enjoy the Comfort of Riches Honours and the like worldly Accommodations but must lose them for ever You may cry Brethren to your Riches and cry to your Honours and cry to your Friends and cry bitterly to your dearest Relations but not having an Interest in the Recompence of Reward all these will then answer you as the King of Israel (e) Kings 6.26.27 sometime answered the poor Woman of Samaria if God do not help you whence shall we help you The good things of this Life they are only calculated for the Meridian of Time and do only shine with a borrowed light So that when Death shall seize upon you and Judgment overtake you they will then be gone and like a Shadow disappear for ever And will you not labour all this considered that you may not be comfortless when all your Creature-comforts fail you not without good ground of rejoycing when all your Enjoyments will avail you nothing Oh that you were but wise to consider this that you would but remember your latter end Will your Health and your Strength and your Life endure for ever or have you any thing in this present World that can deliver you from Death and the Jaws of Hell Boast you may for a while of your worldly Enjoyments without an Interest in heavenly Glory but when you come Sirs to look pale Death in the Face and must hold up thy Hand to be judged at the Bar of Christ the Righteous Judge of all the World though now you had the very Quintessence and most refined Spirits of all Creatures mingled in one Cup for your Comfort yet assuredly you would find them but a cold Cordial Though Sirs you were Cloathed in Scarlet faring deliciously every day though you were all bespangled with the Pearls of Heaven enjoying the whole Empire of the World as your own Yet what alas were all this against the fatal Stroak of impartial Death or against the Judgment of the great God now Sentencing your Soul and Body to the Vengeance of eternal Fire Never think that your Riches Honours and the like earthly Comforts will avail you any thing against the Thunder and Fire of Heaven in such a day An Interest in heavenly Glory this indeed will be able to comfort you But have all the Riches Honours and Pleasures that the World can afford and yet without this your condition is equally helpless with the Damned in Hell And shall not all this constrain you to seek the Kingdom of God endeavouring to get an Interest in eternal Glory Since Earth cannot relieve you why will you not resolve to look after Heaven 4 CONSIDER how small the number is of such as shall ever obtain the reward of Eternal Life and let that make you labour the more for an interest in it The Lord hath indeed prepared a Kingdom yet not for the reception of all promiscuously whatever good or bad (a) Luke 12.31 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But only for the housing of that twice little diminutive Flock for whose sake the good Shepherd hath laid down his Life This glorious recompence of the reward will be given but to very few because so many refuse to work in God's Vineyard for it Of those many that are called (b) Matth. 20.16 there are but few that are chosen to obtain Salvation by Jesus Christ And yet how few are all those that are called in comparison of such as never yet had any call from Christ in the Gospel If the learned Brerewood compute right who divideth the whole World into thirty parts assigning nineteen of those thirty to idolatrous Pagans six to Mahumetans and but five to Christians within how narrow a compass will salvation be confined Salvation to be sure is no plant of India nor is it any commodity to be found in Turkey Such Goats and Swine as inhabit there whether Idolaters worshipping false Gods or Infidels worshipping the true God out of Christ they must never think to enter into Paradise nor to gather fruit from the Tree of Life So that if any where Salvation may be found 't is only amongst those that are Christians And yet even here such is the number of seduced erroneous Papists on the one hand and of profane formal Protestants on the other that undoubtedly there are not many of them that shall ever be saved (c) Luke 8. Of the four sorts of grounds that we read of in the Parable of the Sower there is not three good and one only bad nor two good and two bad but only one good and all the rest bad to teach us how small the number is of sincere Christians who receive the blessing of Eternal Life in comparison of those impenitent fruitless and ungodly Christians who are nigh unto cursing (d) Heb. 6.8 and whose end is to be burned Amongst all the inhabitants of the Earth there are but few to be found that will ever find the right way to Heaven and Glory (e) Matth. 7.14 For strait is the gate saith Christ and narrow is the way which leadeth unto Life and few there be that find it Though all Men desire and many seek yet few they be that find the Way to true Blessedness This is the mark that all Men aim at but so many take their aim amiss that but few hit it This is that wished Harbour for which all Men are bound but so many sail by a false Compass that small is the number of those who steer a right course thither There are multitudes of Men and Women that perish in the Broad Way which leadeth to Destruction But few that walk in the narrow Way which leadeth unto Happiness and blessed immortality in the Kingdom of God And what will make you cast off Presumption and offer violence to the Kingdom of Heaven if not this consideration that there is but a very few who have either part or lot in
thereof to rage and burn so furiously that all Rhetoricians in the Word have not Expressions comprehensive enough to set forth the Horror of it Think often therefore of the Hell of Sin and by that means through the Grace of God thou wilt save thy self from the Hell of Punishment 6 AND lastly consider the Eternity of Hell Torments which inevitably will seize upon you in case you fall short of Heaven and Glory and let that prevail with you to make sure of them Now God sets before you the recompence of Eternal Life But in case you make light of that to be sure Eternal Death and Misery will be your portion You cannot refuse an Eternal Weight of Glory but you must needs expose your selves to an Eternal Weight of Wrath. Whoever turn their Backs upon Heaven falling short of that they fall into Hell irrecoverably (a) Mark 9.44 where the Worm dieth not and the Fire is never quenched As the Fire of Hell is unquenchable so the Worm of Conscience is unendable Neither can the Fire of Hell be quenched that it should not for ever burn you nor yet the Worm of Conscience that Bosom Fury by any means be finished that it should not Everlastingly torment you 'T is storied of Caius Caligula that having condemned a Malefactor he would give order to the Executioner so to strike that the party might feel himself dying and suffer the pains of a lingring Death Thus poor self-destroying Sinner will it with thee in case thou make not sure of Heavenly Glory (b) Revel 9.6 Constat quod sicut finis non est gaudio bonorum ita nec tormento malorum Greg. Dial. Thou must ever be dying but never dead ever seeking Death but never find it Thou shalt follow after it but it will ever fly from thee As the Righteous shall be blessed with an Eternal Sun-shine of Love and Glory So the wicked they shall all be inveloped in an Everlasting Night of Horrour Wrath and extremest Anguish Whilst the Righteous are called up into Heaven there to be with the Lord for ever (c) 2 Thess 1.9 The Wicked these are the Men these are the Women that must then be punished with Everlasting Destruction from the presence of God and from the Glory of his Power In Hell the damned shall never be able with Agag to say the bitterness of Death is over But when for millions of Ages they have lain broyling upon the Grid-iron of God's sorest displeasure still they will find bitterness to come Wrath to come Torment to come Fire and Brimstone to come that will burn them without quenching for ever As the People of God shall rest with him in Glory for ever So the Wicked must be kept for ever upon the Rack of God's fierce indignation As the Saints Heaven so the Sinners Hell hath Eternity written upon it There is no fear of falling from Heavens Happiness nor any hope of ever escaping the Torments of Hell The Saints Joys and the Sinners Groans will run parallel with all Eternity And look as the Pleasures of the one shall never have any period so the Pains of the other shall never have any end The Wicked in Hell they can neither cease to be miserable Though now they will infinitely desire it yet there is no possibility of returning to that dark Abyss of nothing whence first they were taken or of hiding themselves for ever according to the Socinian dotage in the most abhorred State of Annihilation Nor yet according to Origen's wild Opinion any hope of a Goal-delivery out of that infernal Prison as if the Mercy of God hyperbolizing into a Solescisme of foolish Pity towards the damned in Hell the very conceit whereof borders nigh upon the Confines of Blasphemy would at last after some few Centuries of Years rescue both Men and Devils out of the sure Hands of Divine avenging Justice (d) Cum peccatores peccent contra Deum qui aeternus est conveniens est ut poena aeterna eis ex divina justitia inferatur Aq. Sup. 3. part q. 99. a. i. o. The infinitely Glorious Majesty of God by their Sins was offended which must needs derive an infinite guilt and demerit upon them binding them over to suffer an infinite punishment But because no punishment can be intensively infinite in the degrees and greatness of it as being a thing impossible that a finite Vessel should hold an infinite Wrath (e) Cum non possit esse infinita poena per intenticuem quia creatura non est capax alicujus qualitatis infinitae requiritur quod sit saltem duratione infinita Aquin. ibid. that the back of a Poor finite Creature should bear an infinit Stroak why therefore it must be extensively infinite what is abated in greatness must be made up in the Everlasting Duration of the suffering and so the whole penalty will always be suffering but never suffered always will the Sinner be burning but never burnt nor ever come to any end of his Torments The Sinner he despised an Eternal Happiness making light of the greatest Salvation (f) Factus est malo dignus aeterno qui hoc in se peremit bonum quod esse posset aeternum August de Civit. Dei l. 21. cap. 12. and therefore how justly doth he now fall under an Eternal Misery whilst everlasting Wrath and Damnation take hold upon him Who more deservedly shut up in Everlasting Chains under Darkness than such as willfully go on to neglect Eternal Mansions of Glory Such is the desperate madness of wicked Men (g) Peccator punitur poenâ aeternâ quia peccavit suo aeterno id est sine fine Pic. Mirandula Apolog. quaest 2. that all their Life long Heaven and Glory are neglected and nothing but the Pleasures of Sin delighted in So that wicked Men thus Sinning in their Eternity no wonder though they be punished in Gods Eternity they sinning so long as they had a life to live how justly doth God retâ—liate punishing all their Wickedness and Sins upon them so long as he lives Because the Righteous God lives for ever therefore the Wicked and the Ungodly they must die for ever be damned for ever be tormented for ever (h) Ad magnam justitiam judicantis pertinet ut nunquam careant supplicio qui in hac vita nunquam voluerunt carere peccato Gregor lib. 34. mor. cap. 2. Iniqui ideo cum fine deliquerunt quia cum fine vixerunt voluissent quippe sine fine vivere ut sine fine potuissent in suis iniquitatibus permanere Nam magis appetunt peccare quam vivere Greg. Dialog 4. c. 44. Their desires of sinning were infinite had they lived for ever they would have sinned for ever And how Righteous a thing is this with God that they should have punishment without end who had he not stopped them in the swiftest career of their carnal Pleasures by the unwelcome arrest of Death would neâ—â—r have put any end to their
then by his Grace excite it that the Sinner may actually believe and repent to the saving of his Soul No Man did ever yet believe repent or come to God for Mercy but in the strength of God Nor did any ever yet obtain the Reward of Eternal Life but through the Grace of God effectually enabling to work in the Lord's Vineyard and making him faithful unto the Death Go then to God in Prayer you that love your Immortal Souls for Grace for Purity for Holiness but be sure that you pray fervently remembring you can never arrive at the Haven of true Happiness without the gentle gales of God's own Spirit to speed you thither By nature you are dead in Trespasses and Sins and if therefore God quicken you not you are lost for ever By nature you are mortally wounded and this your wound is uncurable you must die of it if God heal it not for you By nature you are a Reprobate to every good Word and Work unless therefore God work in you both to will and to do of his own good pleasure you can never work out your own Salvation By nature you are dreadfully polluted all over unclean as a Vessel in which there is no pleasure so that if you beg not the Spirit of God to cleanse you from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit you can never be Vessels of Honour sit for the Masters use Holy Jacob being in danger of his Brother Esau's Fury he wrestled with God all Night resolving not to let him go without a Blessing and his two Arms he used in this holy Wrestle (a) Hos 12.4 they were Prayers and Tears Thus Sirs you are in danger not of Man's Fury but of indignation of Wrath and Hell from the great God and will you not wrestle for a Blessing closing in with God by the Arms of Prayer and Tears Oh seek the Lord while he may be found and see that you call upon him whilst yet he is near Do not oh do not trifle away that Time about the Meat that perisheth which should be spent in labouring for the Meat which will endure to eternal Life What is it to gain Earth and lose Heaven to gain the World and lose your Souls What alass to fare deliciously every Day and at Death to be found despairing to be found dropping into Wrath into Tophet into Hell irrecoverably Oh how much better is it that now you should pray and mourn and weep bitterly before the Lord every Day to get prepared for Heaven for Glory for a Crown of Righteousness for the recompence of eternal Life than that you should then weep and howl without Hope for the Misery the Wrath the unsufferable Hellish Flames that must now seize upon you and burn you for ever torment you for ever Well that you may never forget seeking the Lord nor cease praying before him remember where your Strength where your Hope where all your Comfort lies 'T is the Lord alone that hath the Word of Eternal Life and therefore go to him resolving that you will pray and never give over praying that you will wrestle and never give over wrestling that you will weep and sigh and groan and never give over till you have the Blessing The same God who gives us the Crown when we have overcome he must give us strength whereby to overcome He that will cloath us upon with the Garments of Salvation when we come to Heaven he alone it is that must now give us Grace cloathing us first with the Garments of Righteousness that we may be fit for that glorious Inheritance CHAP. XIII The Doctrin improved by way of strong Consolation to God's People exhorting them to live upon a due respect to this eternal Reward as upon hidden Manna IV AND lastly though we have for a little while been leading you as through the Wilderness yet now we begin to draw nigh to the heavenly Canaan My Text is a Tree of Life and I would not willingly come from it till I have shaken some apples of Love some of its sweet and precious Fruit into your Bosoms 'T is the Mount of Transfiguration and I would not willingly come down till your Faces shine with the Oyl of Gladness 'T is a spiritual Eden a Garden full of all pleasant Flowers and I would not willingly come out of it till I have cropt here and there one and gathered you an heavenly Nosegay to revive and refresh with its Divine Fragancy your Spirits in a fainting Hour You have been with us a little upon the Ocean under all those Storms and rageful Tempests which will beat upon such for ever as have no right to the recompence of the Reward But supposing your claim to this Reward good your right unquestionable and evidences without flaw I shall now endeavour to lodge you in the peaceful and wished Harbour of Divine Consolation And truly here is a River the streams whereof if any thing will make glad the City of our God The Well I confess is deep but yet through the Comforters assistance you lending the Bucket of your Faith I doubt not but we may draw Water Water of Life nay the Wine of Eternal Consolation to refresh you to enliven and comfort your Hearts in every Condition What Wilderness need terrify thee having Canaan so plain before thee What Storms can disturb thy peace being come within Ken of thy Eternal Harbour Oh think with thy self dear Christian what Afflictions need discourage thee having always in thy Eye such a far more exceeding and Eternal weight of Glory This Doctrine drops Balm for the healing of wounded Souls 't is as so much spiritual Manna for God's People to feed upon in the Wilderness of this World till they are come to Canaan a Land that floweth with Milk and Hony Deny not then your selves the Comfort of that Reward which God sets before you The Lord for your better encouragement sets Heaven with all the Happiness and Glory thereof in your Eye and therefore let not your Eye upon a pretence of I know not what Modesty or Self-denial be turned away from the stedfast beholding it Oh see Christians that you dwell much in your thoughts in your serious Musings in your Divine Contemplations upon this Theam endeavouring with Moses in all that you do in all that you suffer for God to have a due respect to the recompence of the Reward Oh let the glimpses of Heavens Glory close up your Eyes when you go to Bed at Night and let the Light the bright irradiations and Heart-warming Sun-shine of the same Glory be sure to feast your Eyes when first you awake every Morning Whilst you live live in the Hope of Heaven and when you die oh strive that you may die in the full assurance of Heaven Get like Moses a prospect of Canaan before you leave this Wilderness and whether you pray whether you wrestle with Temptations whether you resist unto Blood striving against Sin or whatever you
Reward of those who having finished their Coursâ— are now gathered to the Spirits of just Men made perfect As God is light and in him there is no darkness at all So the Inheritance of (e) Col. 1.12 God's People is light and in that there is no darkness no night of Sorrow no Trouble at all There is all Joy and nothing but Joy all Comfort and nothing but Comfort all Glory and nothing but Glory there is all fulness of Pleasure a Cup of divine Consolation brimful and not any the least distastful Ingredient to imbitter it Here indeed Job hath his Botches and Hezekiah his Boyl David hath his ulcering Wound and Lazarus his noisom Sores this Man spends his Days in Pain and that Man in Sorrow in this Man the Keepers of the House tremble by reason of a Palsie and in that Man those that look out at the Windows are Darkness by reason of Blindness in one Man the Daughters of Musick are brought low through deafness and in every Man here Sin reigneth unto Death But the rewarded of God in Heaven they feel none of these things they groan under none of these Burdens no Sickness no Sorrow no Viper of Reproach of Persecution of stinging Grief and Heart-rending Vexation can fasten upon them As the upper Region of the Air hath no Meteors no Storms nor Tempests engendred in it So God's People dwelling in the highest Region of heavenly Glory they are quite above the reach of every Storm no Wind of Persecution Trouble or of any the â—east Grief shall ever blow upon them to disturb their rest When Christians you come to (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Macar Hom. 26. pag. 349. Heaven then look you may for solace without sighing for Comfort without Grief for Ease without any Pain for rest without ever being weary and for all fulness of Joy and Glory without any Devil to tempt you any Enemy to â—rouble you or any the least Disappointment to afflict and make sad your Spirits to all Eternity 2 The Reward whereunto God allows his People a respect in â—ll their Obedience it 's a sinless Reward cleansing them perfectly from all the reliquâ—s of indwelling Corruption When â—his Sun riseth all the Clouds of Sin will be scattered â—nd dissipated for ever When once you get this Crown upon your Heads you shall feel no more strugling of Sin and Corruption in your Hearts for ever And (g) Non erit concupiscentia in membris non ultrà ulla exâ—rget rebellio carnis sed totus hominis status pudicus â—acificus sana ex integro natura sine omni maculâ â—uga permanebit Cyprian de Ascent Christi §. 9. pag. mihi 526. b. is not â—his Christians a blessed Reward that brings with it a State of simple Perfection so that being once possessed of â—t now you shall never have cause to complain more of â— Body h of Death of an unbelieving Heart of an earthly Mind of a drowsy Spirit of a Law in your (i) Rom. 7.23 Members warring against the Law of your Mind of the Flesh lusting against the Spirit so that you cannot do the things that you would nor of an importunate croud of vain sinful and worldly Thoughts breaking in upon you to damp your Devotion to disquiet your Souls and to interrupt your Peace your Fellowship your sweetest Communion with God over all blessed for ever Here the best of God's People are troubled with Sin dogging them wherever they go and disturbing them in every Duty But in Heaven the whole Body of Corruption shall wholly be laid aside and their Sins never trouble them more Even in this Life God's People have the strength of indwelling Corruption broken that it cannot have any plenary and total Dominion over them But yet till they loose from the Shoar of Time and are landed safe at the Harbour of blessed Eternity like a combersome Inmate it will abide with them (k) Aliud est habere peccatum aliud non obedire desideriis ejus Aug. de Nat. grat c. 62. Habitat sed non regnat manet sed non dominatur aut praevalet evulsum quodammodo necdum tamen expulsum dejectum sed non prorsus ejectum tamen Bern. Is 90. Ser. 10. Yet one thing you must know it is to have Sin abiding in us and another thing not to obey it in the Lust thereof Sin cannot Reign over any of God's People But it will remain in them for the whole time of this mortal Life It is mortally wounded in the weakest yet not wholly slain in the strongest 'T is dejected and thrown down from the Throne of its Regency in the least Babe of Grace But yet not ejected or wholly cast out from the strong hold of its Inherency in those that have most Grace 'T is subdued in all yet not wholly abolished in any of God's People whilst cloathed with Mortality The whitest Swan hath her black feet the fairest Summers-day (l) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. lib 2. Const cap. 18. hath some misty Clouds the purest Gold its Grains of Allowance the clearest Fire its smoaky Vapours So the holiest Saint hath the Reliques (m) Nemo esse sine delicto potest quamdiu indumento carnis oneratus est cujus infirmitas triplici modo subjacet dominio peccati factis dictis cogitationibus Lactant. lib. 6. cap. 13. 593. of Sin and indwelling Corruption during the whole interim of this mortal Life The Lord hath left these Canaanites and Perizites the Remainders I mean of Sin and indwelling Corruption in us to be as Thorns in our Sides and Pricks in our Eyes to keep us low that we may not be exalted above measure Hereby the Lord hides Pride from our Eyes and so keeps us humble in the sense of our own Vileness The Reliques of Indwelling Corruption are those stinging Corrosives which eat down that Pride of Heart and Self-admiration to which the best of God's People are here Obnoxious Our black Feet those are left that we may not be proud of our fair Feathers For as that holy Father well saith (n) Multum autem nobis in hac carne tribueremus nisi usque ad ejus de positionem sub vâ—niâ viverâ—mus Aug. de Civit. Dei lib. 10. cap. 11. p. 604. we should be apt to grow high ascribing overmuch to our selves whilst cloathed upon with this mortal Flesh did we not daily live under and accordingly stâ—nd in need of pardoning Mercy like the very time that this earthly Tabernacle shall be dissolved As therefore Gravel and Dirt is good to ballast a Ship making it go steadily and keeping it from being blown over with every Wind So the remainders of Sin and indwelling Corruption these keep the People of God from being overthrown through Pride and high towring Thoughts of themselves (o) 2 Sam. 24. David's miscarriage in the Matter of Uriah did more deeply abase him than all the Persecutions that ever he met
cruore sopiret Cyprian epist 9. pag. 26. The like wonderful expressions of unshrinking constancy in the Martyrs of his Days dote St. Cyprian in a certain place afford us The tormented saith he stood stronger than the Tormentors The beaten and butchered Members overcame the Hands they did beat and butcher them Cruel Stripes oft repeated long continued could not vanquish their impregnable Faith no not although their Bowels were torn out and not so much the Members as the Wounds of God's dear Servants were tormented Their Blood gushed out which even quenched the Fire of Persecution yea extinguished the Flames of Hell with a (a) Nostri autem ut de viris traceam pueri mulierculae tortores suos taciti vincunt exprimere illis gemitum nec ignis potest Ecce sexus infirmus fragilis aetas dilacerari se toto corpore urique perpetitur non necessitate quia licet vitare si vellent sed voluntate quia confidunt Deo Lactant. Instit lib. 5. cap. 13. pag. 496. glorious Stream Lactantius also makes boast against the Heathen Philosophers of Boys and Women who through invincible silence under Sufferings overcame their Tormentors when by the violence of Fire they saw themselves unable to extort so much as a Groan from them Behold saith he Women though the weaker Vessels and Boys though of tender age do yet suffer themselves through the whole Body to be mangled and tortured in fiery Flames nor of necessity for would they but defile themselves with Idols they might escape all this but willingly because they hope in God that he will Crown them at length with a glorious Reward So that by these few Instances you may see what an Antidote a Respect duly had to the Recompence of Reward is against all slavish Fears and how it steals the Soul against all Hardships enabling it with holy Scorn to Confront the proudest Adversary Would you have Christians the like heroique Spirits never fearing any of those things that may befal you in Heaven's Way be sure (b) Rev. 2.10 to have your Eye Heaven-ward remembring that if faithful unto the Death God will then bestow upon you a Crown of Life Glory in the Eye will be sure to establish the Heart with undaunted Resolution So that a Man expecting a Crown of Life will not fear for the sake of Christ to die the Death From such an one you may take his Liberty his Estate his Life for Christ But his Courage and undaunted Resolution to endure all Hardships for Christ you can never take from him so long as he knows that the hottest Flames which ever Martyrs were burnt in for Christ's sake are but like Eliah's fiery Chariot wherein they ride in Triumph unto Heaven What is the Fowler 's snare to a Bird soaring a loft or a Storm though never so great to a Ship lying fafe at Harbour So what are all Dangers and Storms of Persecution to God's People soaring aloft and by Faith hiding themselves in the sure Harbour of blessed Immortality that they should tremble at them Doubtless if well considered the everlasting Peace and glorious Rest of such an Haven of Blessedness may well quiet our Spirits and Steel our Hearts with Courage under every Storm that befalls us in our Passage thither What need he fear a Prison a Dungeon a fiery Tryal or the Face of a Man that must die who sees Heaven open and a Crown of Life ready to be set upon his Head This is the way to get free from a trembling Heart from unruly Passions from all slavish Fears to have the Hope of eternal Life abiding in us and an Eye continually fixed upon Heaven's Gloy This will make a Man bold as a Lyon this will command a glorious Calm out of every Storm this will give the Soul a Sabbath of Rest from all frightful Thoughts this like a strong (c) Isaiah 16.3 Man Armed will keep the (d) Quid enim gloriosius quidve faelicius ulli hominum poterit ex divinâ dignatione contingere quà m inter ipsos carnifices interritum confiteri Dominum Deum quà m ipsam quae ab omnibus metuatur moriendo mortem subegisse quà m per ipsam mortem immortalitatem consecutum fuisse quà m omnibus saevitiae instrumentis excarnificatum extortum ipsis tormentis tormenta superasse quà m omnibus dilaniati corporis doloribus roboâ—e amâ—ni reluctatum fuisse quám sanguinem suum proflaentem non horruisse Cyprian epist 26. pag. 59. Heart quiet and in perfect Peace And as thoso noble Confessours have it what greater Glory or Happiness can God vouchsafe any Man than to stand amongst our Tormentours confessing the Lord God without any fear What greater Happiness than by dying to vanquish Death it self that King of Terrors to all the Ungodly What greater Glory than by dying the Death to arrive at the peaceful Harbour of Life and blessed Immortality What greater Renown than for God's People when Tortured and Butchered by all Instruments of Cruelty that Hell it self can devise when beholding their Blood and their Lives gushing out together not to have the least Terror upon their Spirits but to ascend triumphing to Glory and wonderously to go up into Heaven like Manaoh's Angel in a Flame of Fire Oh little would you think what a sovereign Cordial against all slavish and distracting Fears a due respect had to the Recompence of Reward would be to you (e) Isaiah 35.4 Say to those saith the Lord that are of a fearful Heart be strong fear not behold your God will come with a Recompence he will come and save you Come what Reproaches Persecutions and fiery Tryals will yet to think of the Lord coming with a glorious Reward and saving us with an everlasting Salvation this may well make us bold as a Lyon If therefore Christians you would not daily be perplexing your selves with slavish Heart-killing Fears about that Reproach that Imprisonment those many tall Anakim's which may possibly fall heavy upon you before you get to Canaan be sure that by Faith you take a Prospect every day of that good Land a Land wherein you shall reign for ever in all fulness of Joy with Salem's glorious King This sweet Work you must inure your selves to every day would you not do every thing with a trembling Heart and walk continually for the Fear and Horror that will be upon you as in the Subburbs of Hell We cannot serve God with any chearfulness any longer than our Eye is fixed upon Heaven's Glory but are almost distracted in times of Persecution thinking what if I should lose my Liberty what if my Estate what if my Life should go for this Duty Oh 't is a miserable Life which is nothing else but a Meditation of Terror and continually tossed with Storms like a Ship under Winds This makes our Hearts sad our Lives sad our Duties sad this makes us go trembling every day If then Christians you desire Comfort that you may