it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body Now Heaven is a very good place to be in Earth in its greatest beauty is a dunghil if compared to it Take briefly some account of it First Heaven is an high place Gods promise runs thus Psal. 91. 14. I will set him on high because he hath known my name And when he brings his people to Heaven this Promise hath its full accomplishment Hell is an horrible pit those miserable â—…ouls that for supine neglect and God-daring provocations are condemned thither go down indeed into the deep yea into the depths of sorrow They are cast so low that they are quite out of the reach of comfort The Divine hand will not reach them any succour or relief and none other can But Heaven is a lofty place they that go thither are upon the rising hand It is mans preferment and advance Christ is set down on the right hand of the Majesty on high Nay he is said to be far above all Heavens that is far above those Heavens which are visible and within our present view He is above the Airy Heaven and above the Starry Heaven in the highest the Heaven of Heavens where is the Throne and the most Glorious Presence of God which is invisible to us in this lower world Oh that you who are high-minded would be heavenly minded you do debase your selves and act unworthy of your extract and original till you soar this pitch that is the highest place there is the highest Glory All things else are sordid and base dung and dogs-meat if compared with Heaven and the blessed enjoyments there Secondly Heaven is a spacious and large place Earth is narrow and scanty men have not room enough in it nor comforts enough they can hardly â—…ive one by another their vast desires and shortcommons cause great discontents and very frequently mad work hence proceeds such shouldering and scrambling and quarreling as we too often see But in Heaven there is room enough and Crowns enough happiness and glory enough There is indeed but one God and there needs no more because he is alsufficient The glorified Spirits there do altogether as fully enjoy God and as intirely as if but one enjoyed him He will be as much thine as if he were solely thine One God is so the happiness and satisfaction of all the Saints as that all God an whole God is the portion of every Saint So that in Heaven there is perfect peace among the co-heirs no mutual enviâ—…s and animosities no disturbances created to one another Do but make out your title and labour for a meetness and then you shall find both entrance and entertainment get but an heart in a due frame fit for the company glory and business there and you need not fear admission None shall be excluded from thence because Heaven is not capable of receiving them but because they are not in a fit case to be received they want their oil and their wedding-garment and such as these would as ill beseem that holy hill as filthy swine would a Princes Court Indeed the glory there would as ill become them for Honour is not seemly for a fool Our Saviour hath told us That in his Fathers house are many Mansions Joh. 1. 4. 2. Locus est pluribus umbris Calvin observes he doth not say Varias dispares he doth not tell us of disparity that is in them but the multitude of them pluribus sufficient sufficient for the company as many mansions as there are to be inhabitants In youâ—… Fathers house O Saints there is bread and lodginâ—… enough and to spare you shall there dwell at easâ—… In that bottomless boundless ocean of happiness yoâ—… shall bathe and sport your selves with unspeakablâ—… and eternal delight Thirdly Heaven is a secure and safe place therâ—… you shall be out of gun shot upon this account it iâ—… far better and more desirable than this world Bâ—… your estate here never so large your advancemenâ—… never so high your comforts never so many they arâ—… uâ—…certain at the best Asaph was offended at thâ—… prosperity of wicked men whom pride compasseth 〈◊〉 a châ—…in and violence covereth as a garment but hâ—… saith they are set in slippery places from whence they may soon tumble Nay not only bad men but the besâ—… are liable to assaults and troubles and both afflictinâ—… and amazing alterations Job had his changes Daviâ—… his castings down as well as his liftings up No placâ—… is to be found here in which a man may be perfectly free from the fear of evil Here are dangers froâ—… within the corruption and sin which dwelleth in usâ—… dangers from without wicked ungodly and unreaâ—… reasonable men who are desperate enemies to thâ—… power of godliness and to the exercises of that Religion which is pure and undefiled before God and the Father and do encompass the little flock 〈◊〉 Christ like a company of ravenous wolves Anâ—… there is danger from beneath Satan the Prince oâ—… Darkness a politick potent and unwearied adversary who will send forth his messengers to buffet and cast his fiery darts to wound and use his wileâ—… to deceive and intrap He hath his variety of engines â—…nd methods and it is well if we be not ignorant of â—…hem We are not safe in our assemblies nor in our â—…amilies no nor in our closets and greatest retireâ—…ents when we have sequestred our selves from all â—…ompany we shall have a treacherous heart within â—…o hinder and at our right hand a Devil to resist us â—…ut in Heaven there is nothing to affright nor to ofâ—…end There is no possibility of sinning against God â—…o fear of losing our happiness no danger of falling â—…rom that height of holiness and glory unto which we shall be advanced There will be no sin within to defile no Devil without to seduce no enemy nor wicked men to Inform persecute or disturb Lastly Heaven is a most sweet and pleasant place â—…here is fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore that is the mountain of spices where there is absence and scarcity of nothing that would afford contentment and highest satisfaction to the most raised enamoured and enlarged soul. Christ called it Paradise when he told the converted Thief This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise He meant Heaven The earthly Paradise was a lovely and delicious place a garden of pleasure that was a type of Heaven but that Terrestrial Paradise did fall as far short of Heaven as the brazen Serpent did of Christ the Lord of glory It is most certain were Heaven no other kind of thing than what besotted wretches and vain worldlings in their idle dreams fancy to themselves it would be a pitiful contemptible thing no better than the Heathen Poets Elysian fields uncapable of filling up the capacity of the immortal high-born soul and unspeakably short of the hopes and expectations of the followers of the Lamb who now cheerfully wade through so many
this and stick at that but comply with all my wills and do whatever I bid This David knew full well and therefore said Psal 119. 6. Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respecâ—… to all thy commandments Whereas half-obedience wilâ—… certainly cause blushing and confusion at the last To follow the Lord fully was Caleb's commendation 2. Those that are Christs servants have chosen him for their Lord and Master There are a great many in the world who do some of Christs work after a fashion and would be upon that score reckoned among Christians and of the houshold of Faith who yet never made Christ their choice Nay they rise up in most desperate opposition to him and to his government both in their hearts and in the world We reaâ—… Luk. 19. 14. of some that say We will not have thiâ—… man reign over us No no any one rather than him But now every true servant of Christ chuseth him anâ—… doth most freely give up himself to him and is noâ—… only willing but also earnestly desirous that Chrisâ—… should bore his ear in token of his everlasting Dominion over him Alas poor soul he finds a comfortable alteration he hath served others and knowâ—… what a vast difference there is between Christ anâ—… them he hath now better work and kinder usage and greater hopes and more noble expectations anâ—… so is fully of the Churches mind Isa. 26. 13. O Lorâ—… our God other Lords beside thee have had dominioâ—… over us but by thee only will we make mention of thâ—… name We will own no other none to Christ none to Christ. Thirdly Those that are the servants of Christ have their hearts engaged in his work and not only their hands or their outward man Such indeed are spoken of Isa. 29. 13. Who drew near unto God with their mouths and with their lips did honour him but they had removed their hearts far from him and their fear toward him was taught by the precepts of men Those mens services God doth not accept and their persons he will not own Though they claim a relation to him and cry Lord Lord and can tell stories of their prophecying in his name and casting out Devils and doing many wondrous works yet he will profess unto them that he never knew them and command them to depart and be gone from him And what is the reason of this because he knew them to be a company of base hypocrites who were a meer complement and gave him no more than the shell and outside If you be Christs servants you rest in nothing external you will not take up in any thing unto which an hypocrite can attain Your hearts are sound in Gods statutes and do accompany all your acts of duty When you profess his name and keep his Sabbaths and seek his face and hear his Word and sit down at his Table and plead his cause your hearts are in all when you confess sin it is with a mourning heart when you beg his grace it is with a longing heart when you speak his praise it is with an enlarged heart Psal. 84. 2. My soul longeth yea even fainteth for the courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God Lastly Those that are Christs servants do in all their work and duties sincerely aim at the honour and glory of Christ as the word and will of Christ is their only rule so the honour of Christ is their great and principal design and so that be accomplished they are well pleased however other things go The Apostle Paul in Rom. 16. 17 18. speaks of those which cause divisions and offences contrary to the Doctrine of the Gospel He doth not there speak against all that are offended and do divide for in some cases that is a duty and according to the Doctrine which we have received Our Reformers did no more than what they ought to do when they were offended at the Idolatries and Superstitions of Rome and divided from them And though they make a great clamour and noise about Schisms they themselves are the greatest and most notorious Schismaticks but he speaks there against those that cause divisions and offences and he commands the Romans and in them all Christians to mark them and avoid them And he gives this reason for it they serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly that which they aimed at was their private gain and advantage that they might grow rich and live splendidly and fare deliciously Now these men do not serve Christ if the belly be a mans end Christ is not his Master the same holy Apostle assures us Phil. 3. 18 19. They are enemies to the cross of Christ and if to his Cross then to his Crown whose god is their belly and who mind earthly things A real servant of Christ then is one that makes Christ his end He serves the interest of Christ and he seeks the glory of Christ and makes it his great desire study and endeavour to exalt the name and enlarge the Kingdom of Christ in the world this spirit acted Paul this was it he aimed at Phil. 1. 21. To me to live is Christ. He had his life from him and he improved and laid out his life for him And the same we find in John Baptist witness those passages of his Joh. 3. 29 30. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom but the friend of the bridegroom which standeâ—…h and heareth him rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegrooms voice This my joy therefore is fulfilled he must increase but I must decrease Now let us put all these things together He is a true servant of our dear Lord Jesus who hath chosen him for his Lord and Master doth make Christs work the business of his life and applieth to it with his whole heart sincerely aiming at his glory Having thus seen who is the Servant our next work will be to enquire concerning his preferment and in order to our better understanding of that we must consider what place that is where Christ doth reside I shall tell you in a word it is Heaven the habitation of Gods Holiness the place where his Honour dwelleth thither he took his joyful flight when he left this world which lieth in wickedness Act. 1. 11. This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven And there he now is in Glory and Majesty 1 Pet. 3. 22. Who is gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God Angels and Authorities and Powers being made subject unto him And there he is to continue Act. 3. 21. Whom the Heavens must receive until the times of the restitution of all things And it is from thence his people do joyfully expect him Phil. 3. 20. Our conversation is in heaven from whence also we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile body that
his death hath conquer'd it and pull'd out its sting and by the purchase of this blessed priviledg hath put sweetness into it So that though it hath a pale ghastly and frightful countenance yet it comes upon a good errand to believers and doth them a most remarkable kindness It is a dark passage to a glorious palace It closeth the eye that it may see no more trouble and when that eye is again opened it shall behold matchless glory It separates between nearest and dearest relations the Husband and Wife Parents and Children Pastor and People Soul and Body it breaks up families and turns the Body into putrefaction and a stink but it sends the Soul to Heaven Snatcheth it from friends on earth that it may go to a God above turns it out of a crazie cottage that it may dwell in a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens 2 Cor. 5. 1. In a word it strips it of flesh that it may be clothed with Immortality And then in the last place 4. This may comfort us under the departure I do not call it loss of our dearest Friends and Relations and in particular under this late dispensation which hath so much of wormwood and gall in it upon the account thereof many of you are pained and grieved at the very heart There is indeed a great and dismal breach made upon you and give me leave to say he that is not affected and afflicted is too too stupid and I would wish him when he is at home seriously to consider and examine what kind of spirit he is of But as for you whose hearts do even bleed within you my advice is that you would set your Pastors gain against your own loss And let this set just bounds to your sorrow that where Christ is there is his Servant also fully satisfied with his love and likeness IT may now be rationally expected that I should expatiate in the Commendations of your deceased Pastor but I shall be short and sparing not because there is want of matter for the subject is copious but because of my Relation to him which will render me in the thoughts of some an incompetent Judge and his Encomiums in my mouth suspected And the truth is I am no great friend to Panegyricks or Funeral Orations They do not deserve to have flowers strowed upon them whose names will stink and rot when their friends havâ—… done their best and they do not need them whosâ—… Works praise them in the Gate and will do so when their Adversaries have done their worst What therefore I shall say you may take thus in short He was as I am verily perswaded a truly godly man I do not say a perfect man omnibus numeris absolutus one free from spot mistake or failing Light up candles walk thorough the world search narrowly and find me out such a person if you can But after Thirty-five years knowledge of him I dare say he was an Israelite indeed He did not mock God nor in his profession cheat man he did not personate the Saint but was one He was excellently furnished for the work of the Ministry having choice natural parts and great acquired abilities God had given him both the head and tongue of the learned He was well stored and having a door of utterance could readily bring out of his treasury good things both new and old He was a Workman that needed not to be ashamed Wheresoever he came and laboured solid and judicious Christians rejoyced in his light He was industrious and diligent in his Masters business not a loiterer but a labourer in the Vineyard one that would dig for knowledge and then sweat in scattering spiritual riches He did not think much to spend and be spent for God and his People He had so large a soul that he once craz'd his head and if he had had two bodies it would have worn them out through an earnest desire of getting and doing good He was really set for the spiritual advantage and eternal salvation of precious souls He sought the advancement of Gods Honour the enlargment of Christs Kingdom the deliverance of captivated Sinners out of the Devils clutches it was his joy to see any subjected to the Truth and walking in it His work is now finished and his race run He will Pray for you no more Preach to you no more Administer Sacraments among you no more he will advise instruct exhort reprove you no more he will mourn over you be troubled for you and grieved by you no more he will delight and rejoyce in you no more unless it be at the last day when those that were wrought upon by his Ministry shall be his joy and glory and crown of rejoycing He is now at perfect rest where Christ iâ—… and where he finds his labour was not in và in Whatever unkindnesses he met with in this world he meets with nothing but love and loveliness in that world I shall have done when I have made three Requests to you whom he hath left behind 1. Live the Sermons he preached among you let not what he preached be lost now he is dead he hath sown precious seed Oh let it root in your hearts and bring forth much fruit in your conversations It is not the Gospel heard but the Gospel believ'd and liv'd that will save you 2. Beware of all unbrotherly breaches and divisions let this breach which God hath made upon you prosper to the healing of all other breaches Keep together and walk in love and manage all things according to Scripture-rule 3. Look out for a supply Seek earnestly to God and advise with good men Labour for one sound in the faith of a gracious prudent spirit and of an exemplary life one that may happily build upon the foundation already laid and be an instrument in the hand of God to make you meet for an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in Christ. FINIS