the Affections to raise what is drooping and suppress what is rebellious For they are like the People of whom the Historian speaks qui nec totam servitutem pati possunt nec totam libertatem How many Enemies of our Salvation are lodg'd in our own bosoms The Falls of the Saints give sad evidence of this If the Body were unspotted from the World as in the Creation of Man there might be a just Plea of our unwillingness to part with it but since it is the incentive and instrument of Sin we should desire to be dissolved that we might be perfectly holy Death is the final Remedy of all the temporal and spiritual Evils to which we are liable here And the Love of Christ should make us willing to part with all the Endearments of this Life nay desirous to enter into the Celestial Paradise though we must pass under the Angels Sword the stroke of Death to come into his Presence He infinitely deserves our Love for we owe our Salvation and Eternal Glory to the merit of his Humiliation and the power of his Exaltation With what earnest affections did St. Paul desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Love gave Wings of Fire to his Soul ardent desires mounting to Heaven How valiant were the Martyrs in expressing acts of Love to Christ How boldly did they encounter Death that interpos'd between them and the sight of his Glory Their Love was hotter than the Flames that consumed them They as willingly left their Bodies as Elias let fall his Mantle to ascend to Heaven And how does it upbraid the coldness of our Love that we are so contented to be here absent from our Saviour That the Moles of the Earth who never saw the Light of the Sun and feed on bitter Roots are pleas'd in their dark Receptacles is no wonder but if Birds that are refresh'd with his chearful Beams and feed on sweet Fruits should willingly be consin'd in Caverns of the Earth it were unnaturally strange Thus for Pagans and those who are so in Heart though different in Profession that are so short-sighted and depraved that they only perceive and affect present sensible things for them to be unwilling to die is no wonder for then all that is valuable and delightful to them is lost for ever but for those who are inlightned by the Revelation of God so clearly concerning the state of Glory and have tasted the Goodness of the Lord and know the incomparable difference between the mean and frail Felicity here and the inestimable immutable Felicity hereafter for them to be unwilling to leave this World for that which is infinitely better is astonishing Such was the Love of our Saviour that his personal Glory in Heaven did not fully content him without the Saints partaking of it with him Father I will that those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory If our Hearts do not answer his 't is a sad indication that we have not an Interest in him for the application of his Merits is always join'd with the imitation of his Vertues and the reflection of his Love The Lovers of Christ will join with the inflamed Spouse Draw us and we will run after thee O loosen our Affections from this World that we may readily ascend to thee they will renew the Sighs of holy David in his Banishment O when shall we come and appear before God! Lastly To die with Thanksgiving and Joy 'T is usual to compare this Life to a Voyage The Scripture is the Chart that describes the Coasts we must pass and the Rocks we must avoid Faith is the Compass that directs the Course we must steer Love is the Rudder that governs the Motion of the Ship Hope fills the Sails Now what Passenger does not rejoice at the discovery of his Country where his Estate and Heart is and more at the near approach to the Port where he is to land Is not Heaven the Country of the Saints Is not their Birth from above and their tendency to their Original And is not the blessed Bosom of Christ their Port O what joyful Thanksgivings are due to God when by his Spirit and Providence they have happily finish'd their Voyage through such dangerous Seas and are coming into the Land of the Living How joyful was to Noah the coming of the Dove with an Olive-Branch to shew him the Deluge was asswaged and the Time was come of his freedom from the troublesom company of Animals and from the straitness and darkness of the Ark to go forth and possess the World How joyful should Death be to a Saint that comes like the Dove in the evening to assure him the Deluge of Misery is ceas'd and the time is come of his enlargement from the Body his deliverance from the wretched sinful Society here and his possessing the Divine World Holy Souls are immediately transported by the Angels to Christ and by him presented to his Father without spot or wrinkle compleat in Holiness and prepared for Communion with him in Glory How joyfully are they received into Heaven by our Saviour and the blessed Spirits they are the reward of his Sufferings the precious and dear purchase of his Blood The Angels that rejoice at the Conversion of a Sinner do much more at the Glorification of a Saint and the Church of the First-born who have before us enter'd into Glory have a new accession of Joy when their younger Brethren arrive to the undefiled immortal Inheritance And is it not very becoming Believers joyfully to ascend to the Seat of Blessedness to the happy Society that inspires mutual Joys for ever For our encouragement there are numerous Instances of Believers that have with Peace and Joy though in various degrees past through the dark Valley to the Inheritance of Light Some have died with more Joy than they lived and triumph'd over the last Enemy with the vocal Praises of God others with silent Affections have quietly commended their Spirits into his Hand Some have inward Refreshings and Support others exuberant Joys and Ravishments as if the Light of Glory shined into them or the Vail of Flesh were drawn and their Spirits were present with the invisible World Some of the Martyrs in their cruellest Sufferings felt such impressions of Confidence and Alacrity that as in the House of Lamech there was accorded at the same time two discordant Callings by the two Brothers Jubal the Inventer of the Harp and Organ and Tubal-Cain the first Artificer in Brass and Iron the one practised on Instruments of Musick breathing harmonious Sounds and Melodies the other used Hammers and Anvils making noise and tumult So in some Persons whilst the heaviest Strokes fell on their Bodies their Souls were ravish'd with the sweetest Joy and Exultation Indeed 't is not thus always with the Saints for though Sin be pardoned yet the apprehensions of Guilt may remain When a
place with execration Thus the death of the Saints is precious in the sight of the Lord their Bodies are kept in the bosom of the Earth to be raised in Glory and the death of the Wicked is accurs'd In short as the Wood that Moses cast into the Waters of Marah by a miraculous virtue sweetned them so the Cross of Christ has taken away the malignity and bitterness of Death 2. Death is a blessed Advantage and enriching Gain to a Believer it brings him to the possession of that Good that incomparably exceeds the Evil that remains in it For the Death of a Saint is not total but as in the Ceremony of Purification from Leprosy one Bird was killed and the other let fly in the open Air the mysterious shadow of the Lepers being restored to a state of Liberty Thus when the Body dies and returns to the Earth the Spirit returns to God the Father of Spirits and Fountain of Life Our Saviour told the Jews I am the living Bread that came down from Heaven if any Man eat of this Bread he shall live for ever and the Bread that I will give is my Flesh that I will give for the Life of the World The Heavenly Divine Life that is communicated by the Spirit of Christ to Believers remains entire when the sensitive Life is lost The natural Order is There is a time to be born and a time to die the supernatural is there is a time to die and a time to be born The Death of a Saint is a new Birth the pains of the dying Body are as Throws whereby the ripen'd Soul is delivered into the Land of the Living The happiness of a Saint after Death more particularly will appear by considering 1. The freedom he obtains from all afflicting Evils that are numberless here and from Sin the worst in its nature and the cause of all the rest The present World is a Labyrinth of Thorns in every state we meet with something to vex us You may as well count the Waves of the Sea when inraged by a Tempest as the Troubles to which in this mortal open state we are expos'd Man that is born of a Woman is of few days and full of Trouble A short Life and many Miseries O our unhappy Capacity the Body is liable to as many Diseases as there are Members and the Soul to as many Perplexities as Passions How often are the Scenes and Habits chang'd in the time of one Man He that lives in Pleasures must act the Mourner's part Our sweetest Comforts have hidden Stings and whatever is most pleasing may occasion bitter grief And usually holy Men have a greater portion of Afflictions here sometimes by the malignity and violence of the Wicked as under the Law the Lamb and the Dove were Sacrifices the Emblems of Innocence and Purity and Meekness whilst the Vulture and the Lion the greedy Devourers escaped This the Apostle declares of the Elect They are predestinated to be conformed to the Image of God's Son who trac'd out the Way to Heaven in his own Blood and by the Cross ascended to the Throne Sometimes more immediately Divine Providence afflicts them to preserve their Spirits from the tainted Pleasures of the World and for other holy Ends but there is a Rest for the People of God in Heaven Besides there are Relicks of Sin in the best of the Saints here Indeed Sin is depos'd from Sovereignty and Rule the imperious Lusts are crucified but not quite expir'd As those that were nail'd to the Cross in their Hands and Feet the parts least vital and most sensible died a painful lingring Death Still the Flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh. As there is a complexion of Humours in humane Bodies always jarring when they are in the soundest Health and where there is not this active contrariety either the Body is without a Soul a meer Carcass or a glorified Body in Heaven So where there is not this internal Combat between Grace and Sin either the Man is wholly carnal dead in Sins and Trespasses or wholly spiritual reigning in Heaven And there is nothing more works on the tender Affections of a Saint than to find in himself what is displeasing to God that still he is under a sad necessity of sinning What is said concerning an old Man wasted and decayed in his drooping Years that the Grashopper is a burden to him is true of the new Man in a Christian the Sins that are counted light in the valuation of the World are a heavy weight to him Vain Thoughts idle Words irregular Passions unprofitable Actions are motives of heart-breaking Sorrow Now Death is to a Believer an universal Remedy against all the Evils of this Life it frees him from all Injuries and Sufferings and from Sin in all its degrees from all inclinations and temptations to it He that is dead ceaseth from Sin Death is the Passage from this Wilderness to the true Canaan the Rest above that flows with better Milk and Hony with Innocence and Happiness for ever There nothing can disturb the Peace or corrupt the Purity of the Blessed 3. Besides the privative advantage the freedom from all the Effects of God's Displeasure and the resentments of it there is the highest positive Good obtained by Death The Spirits of just Men are made perfect in Heaven The Soul is the Glory of Man and Grace is the Glory of the Soul and both are then in their Exaltation All the Faculties of the Soul are rais'd to the highest degrees of Natural and Divine Perfection In this Life Grace renews the Faculties but does not elevate them to their highest pitch it does not make a mean Understanding pregnant nor a frail Memory strong nor a slow Tongue eloquent but sanctifies them as they are But when the Soul is releas'd from this dark Body of Earth the Understanding is clear and quick the Memory firm the Will and Affections ardent and vigorous And they are enrich'd with Divine Light and Love and Power that makes them fit for the most noble and heavenly Operations The Lineaments of God's Image on the Soul are first drawn here but then it receives his last Hand All the Celestial Colours are added to give the utmost life and lustre to it Here we are advancing but by Death we arrive at Perfection We shall in Heaven be join'd to the Assembly of Saints and Angels our best Friends Love is the Law of that Kingdom and perfectly obeyed there Now how charming is the Conversation of one that is wise and holy especially if the sweetness of Affability be in his Temper How pleasantly does Time slide away in the company of our beloved Friends We are not sensible of its flight But what dear satisfaction is it to be united to that chosen consecrated Society Above who love one another as themselves Though the Angels and Saints have different degrees of Glory yet every one is
perfectly happy and pleased As the strings of an Instrument differ in the size and sound some are sharp and high some grave and deep others a mean and from that variety results the Harmony and Musick so that if every string had Judgment and Election it would chuse to be what it is so from the different degrees of Glory in Heaven the most amiable and equal Order of the Divine Wisdom appears that satisfies every one We shall be in the glorious Presence of God and Christ where is fulness of Joy and infinite Pleasures for ever 'T is said of Abraham he rejoic'd to see the Day of Christ two thousand Years before his coming When by Faith he saw the Incarnation of the Son of God in order to the redemption of Men it put him into an exstasy Yet then our Saviour was born to Sorrows and Miseries But how ravishing is the sight of our Redeemer set down on the right Hand of the Majesty on high having purged our Sins by himself and accomplish'd our Salvation Now we are absent from God yet in believing his infallible Promises we rejoice with a Joy unspeakable and glorious But how much more joyful is the fruition of them Here the Divine Goodness is derived to us through secondary means that weaken its efficacy but in Heaven the Consolations of the Creator are most purely dispensed and his immediate Excellencies are made known This Blessedness exceeds all our Thoughts and explicite Desires and requires the eloquence and experience of an Angel to set it forth The bright Sum of it is this We shall see God in his Glory face to face in the most perfect manner the sight of his Glory shall transform us into his Likeness we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is This shall produce in us the most pure and ardent Love and Love shall be attended with inexpressible joy and that with the highest Praises of the blessed God whose influxive Presence is the Heaven of Heaven And that which crowns all is that the Life above is Eternal This satisfies all our Desires and excludes all our Fears for Unchangeableness is an inseparable Attribute of perfect Felicity The Blessed are in full Communion with God the Fountain of Life and Christ the Prince of Life Because I live saith our Saviour ye shall live also What can interrupt much less put an end to the Happiness of the Saints The Love of God is immutably fix'd upon them and their Love upon him Here their Love is subject to decays and gradual alienations as the Needle in the Compass though it always has a tendency to the North-Pole yet sometimes it declines and has its variations But in Heaven the Love of the Saints is directly and constantly set upon God The Light of his Countenance governs all their Affections 'T is as impossible to divert their Desires from him as to cause one that is inflam'd with Thirst to leave a clear flowing Spring for a noisom Puddle In short Heaven is filled with eternal Hallelujahs for there is no appearance of Sin no shadow of Death there all Miseries are vanish'd and all that is desirable is possess'd by the Saints the Circle of their Employment is to enjoy and praise the Divine Goodness for ever Now is not the blessed Exchange a Christian makes of the present Life for that which is infinitely better sufficient to make Death not fearful nay desirable to him The regular well-grounded hope of this will compose the Thoughts in the nearest Approach and Apprehension of Death No other Principles or Resolutions are able to vanquish the Terrors of our last Enemy And this Happiness was purchas'd for us by the everlasting Treasure of our Saviour's Blood The Satisfaction of his Sufferings was meritorious as the Merits of his active Obedience was satisfying Before I proceed to the third Head I shall resolve a Question How it comes to pass since Believers are freed from the Sting of Death that they die and remain in the State of Death for a time For this there are several Reasons 1. By this means all the sinful Frailties that cleave to the Sains in this Life are abolish'd The Body is dead because of Sin And what is more becoming the wise and Holy Providence of God than that as by Sin Man was at first made subject to Death so by Death Sin dies entirely for ever Thus as in Sampson's Riddle Out of the Devourer comes Meat and our worst Enemy is conquer'd by his own Weapons 2. Death is continued to the Saints for the more eminent Exercise and Illustration of their Graces for the Glory of God and in order to their future Reward Faith and Love and Patience are declared in their most powerful Operations in our Encounter with Death If every Saint were visibly and entirely translated to Heaven after a short course of Holy Obedience if the Wicked did visibly drop down quick into Hell Faith would be resigned to Sight here This would confound the Militant State of the Church with the Triumphant Therefore now Death happens to the Good as well as to the Wicked In the next State they shall be separated by a vast Gulph and an amazing Difference Now Faith whatever the kind of Death be that a Christian suffers sees through the thickest Clouds of Disgrace and Misery the glorious Issue As the illustrious Confessor who was crucified with our Saviour proclaim'd his Eternal Kingdom in the midst of insulting Infidels And our Love to God then appears in its Radiancy and Vigour when we are ready for the Testimony of his Truth and advancing his Glory to suffer a violent Death or when it comes in a gentler manner for 't is even then terrible to Nature we are willingly subject to Dissolution that we may be united to God in Heaven And our Patience has never its perfect Work and is truly victorious till this last Enemy be subdued Death is the Seal of our Constancy and Perseverance Now the righteous Rewarder will crown none but those that strive lawfully and are compleat Conquerors And how wise and sweet is the Oeconomy of the Divine Providence in this that the Frailty of our Nature should afford us a means of glorifying God and of entitling our selves by his most gracious Promises to a blessed Reward 3. Our Saviour by his unvaluable Obedience and Sufferings has procur'd for Believers a Celestial Divine Life of which the natural Body is not capable The Apostle saith Flesh and Blood cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven The exigencies and decays of the sensitive Nature require a continual Relief by Food and Sleep and other material Supplies but the Life above is wholly spiritual and equal to that of the Angels Therefore till this earthly Animal Body be reformed and purified 't is not capable of the Glory reserv'd in Heaven This is so absolutely requisite that those Believers who are sound alive at the last Day shall in the
that buy as though they possessed not and they that use the World as not abusing it for the fashion of the World passeth away To a wise and pondering Observer what comparison is there between Shadows and Dreams and substantial everlasting Blessedness If Men had the same opinion of this World whilst they live as they will have when they are to die they would not inordinately seek it They who have magnified temporal Honours and Riches and lived in Pleasures without Remorse yet in their dying Hours when Men speak with most Feeling and least Affectation how have they vilified those empty Appearances of Happiness with what moving Expressions declared the Vanity and Brevity of worldly things As when the Israelites were to go through the River Jordan that opened it self to make a free and dry Passage for them the lower part of its Waters ran into the Dead Sea and utterly fail'd but the Waters that came from above rose up and appear'd like a Mountain Thus when Men come to the universal Passage from this to the next Life inferiour things absolutely fail and are lost in the dead Sea but the things above that are eternal then appear in their true Greatness exceeding all humane Comprehension from hence is the change of Mind and Language concerning the one and other 5. Solemn affectionate and frequent Converse with God in religious Duties will render Death not fearful to us The whole Life of a Christian as such is a continual Communion with the Father and with Jesus Christ. For he performs all good Works by Divine Grace communicated from above and refers all to the Divine Honour As in a pair of Compasses one Foot is fix'd in the Center while the other moves in the Circumference so the Heart of a Christian is in Heaven his aims are for God whilst he is active here in the World His Natural and Civil Actions are heightened to a supernatural End And thus his Conversation is in Heaven But this was spoken of before and that which is now specified is the more immediate Service of God in Holy Meditation Prayer and the Ordinances of the Gospel which is the noblest part of the spiritual Life Our blessed Saviour who was a Comprehensor upon Earth always saw the Face of God and invariably sought his Glory in all things yet had his special times of Prayer and Heavenly Communion with God and the most glorious Testimonies of his Favour in those times Our Communion with God here is as true as in Heaven but the Influence and Fruition is different according to our Capacity When the Soul feels the vigorous Exercise of the Thoughts and Affections upon God and the raised Operations of Grace in Holy Duties 't is as certain a Sign of God's Favour and Acceptance as when Fire descended from Heaven to consume the Sacrifice And often our affectionate Duties are rewarded with sensible Consolations and holy Souls are dismiss'd from the Throne of Grace as they shall be received at the Throne of Glory with the reviving Testimonies of God's Approbation Now the Assurance of God's Love conquers the Fear of Death This Communion must be frequent As Love and Respects between Friends are maintained by constant Visits and Letters and mutual Confidence arises from Acquaintance so by the interchange of holy Duties and divine Favours we preserve a lively Sense of God's Love and an humble Familiarity with his Majesty that his Presence is not a Terror to us A Christian that walks with God here when he leaves the World to use the Words of a dying Saint changes his Room but not his Company God was always with him on Earth and he shall be ever with God in Heaven But cold and seldom Converse begets Strangeness and that makes us shy of God When religious Duties are performed as a complemental Visit without zealous Affections or used only in times of Affliction and Exigency as Cordial Waters in swooning Fits the Divine Presence is uncomfortable to us They who prefer carnal Sweets before Acquaintance with God cannot with Peace and Joy think of appearing before him O how unwelcome is Death to such for then the Spirit returns to God that gave it 6. Let us strengthen our Belief of the blessed State after Death Divine Truths lose their Influence and Efficacy when they are not stedfastly believed Faith is the substance of things not seen and the Evidence or Conviction of things hoped for The Spirit confirms our Faith not by a pure Physical Act but by convincing Reasons of the Truth of the Gospel The Life of Christ so glorious in Holiness his Doctrine so becoming the Wisdom and other excellent Attributes of the Deity his Miracles so great numerous open and beneficial not meerly to surprize the Spectators with Astonishment but to touch their Hearts his Death foretold by the Prophets and exactly agreeing in all the Circumstances of the Predictions his Resurrection the most noble Operation of the Divine Power are the strongest Proofs that what he has reveal'd as the Counsel of God for our Redemption and the Preparations of Glory for the Saints in Heaven are divine Truths And the Efficacy of the Spirit of Christ in sanctifying his Disciples in all Ages is a continual and as satisfying an Argument that the Gospel is derived from God the Fountain of Truth as extraordinary Miracles For Holiness is as inseparable a property of the Divine Nature as Omnipotence and the Sanctification of the Soul as divine an Effect as the Resurrection of the Body Now in the Gospel God enters into Covenant with obedient Believers to be their God a Title and Relation that supposing them the most happy here all the Enjoyments of this World cannot fulfil This Covenant is not dissolv'd by Death for he uses this Stile after the Death of his faithful Servants and from hence it follows they are Partakers of his Glory and Joys in the next Life For the Honour of his Veracity is most dear to him The Psalmist declares that he has magnified his Word above all his Name No Perfections of his Nature are more sacred and inviolable than his Truth The Foundations of Nature shall be overturn'd and the most solid parts of the Creation destroyed but his Promises shall be compleatly accomplish'd We are assured by his infallible Authority that there remains a Rest for the People of God And he that receives this Testimony sets to his Seal that God is true honours the Truth of God's Word and binds himself more firmly to his Service and is encouraged to leave this sensible World for that which is infinitely better Our Confidence and Patience in well-doing and in suffering the utmost Evil to Nature is from the pregnant Apprehensions of the Reality of eternal things We know saith the Apostle if our earthly Tabernacle be dissolved we have a Building not made with Hands eternal in the Heavens This fortified him against the Terrors of Death When Stephen saw the Heavens open
and the Son of God ready to receive him with what Courage and Constancy did he encounter the bloody Rage of his Murderers Faith supplies the want of Vision it pierces the Clouds opens a Window in Heaven sees the Crowns of Righteousness prepared for the Saints and sweetens the bitterest Passage to it But if our Faith be weak and wavering our Courage will decline in the needful Hour 'T is with Christians in their last Passage from Earth to Heaven as with Saint Peter walking upon the Waters to Christ whilst his Faith was firm in Christ he went upon the Waves as on the firm Land but upon the rising of a Storm his Faith sunk into Fear and he sunk in the Waters till our Saviour upon his earnest Prayer Lord save me took hold of him and rais'd him with that compassionate Reproof O thou of little Faith wherefore didst thou doubt The last Use is to excite the Saints to die with that Courage and Chearfulness as becomes the Gospel of Christ. The Encouragement of Joshua to the Israelites against the Giants that terrified them from entring into the Land of Canaan the Type of Heaven Be not afraid of them they are Bread for us we shall obtain an easy Conquest over them is applicable to this purpose Do not fear Death the Enemy that interposes between us and the true Canaan for our Conflict shall be the means of our Victory and triumphant Possession of the holy and blessed Land above This is very honourable to our Redeemer and recommends Godliness to the Judgment Affections and Practice of others St. Basil tells of a Custom to annoint the tops of Doves Wings with some fragrant Liquor that mixing in company with other Doves they might by the Sent allure them to follow to the Dove-houses Thus when holy Persons live and die with peaceful Joy those that converse with them are drawn by that Fragrance of Paradise to apply themselves to serious Religion 'T is the Apostle's consolatory Advice to Believers Not to be sorrowful for those that sleep in JESVS as those that are without hope When Jacob saw his beloved Son's Coat rent and stain'd with Blood he abandoned himself to desperate Sorrow and continued mourning for his Death when Joseph was advanc'd in Authority and Dignity next to Pharaoh in the Kingdom of Egypt Thus when we see the Garment of Mortality rent by Diseases we mourn for departed Saints as if Death had absolutely destroyed them when their Souls are reigning in Glory This immoderate Sorrow is an Heathenish Passion suitable to their ignorance of the future happy State but very unbecoming the plenary Assurance the Gospel affords us of it Indeed for the Wicked to die with fears and palpitations of heart to be surrounded with impendent horrours when such a precipice and depth of Misery is before them is very just and reasonable but for the Saints to die uncomfortably under inordinate Fears is a disparagement to the Blessed Hope establish'd upon the Revelation of Life and Immortality by the Gospel Now in three things I shall propound the Duty of dying Christians 1. To submit to the Divine Pleasure with resigned Spirits as to the Means the Manner and Time of Death God has a Sovereign Right and Dominion over us The present Life is his most free Favour and he may justly resume it when he pleases His Will should be the first and last Rule of ours Whether he gently untwines the Band of Life or violently breaks it we must placidly without reluctation yield up our selves By what Means soever Death comes all second Causes are moved by an impression from above in what Age of Life soever all our Times are appointed by the divine Counsel and a Saint ought with that readiness and meek submission receive it as if he heard an express Voice from Heaven calling him to God and say in his heart with Samuel Here I am thou didst call me This is the last act of our Obedience and very pleasing to God We read of the marvellous Consent of Abraham and his Son Isaac the Father to offer up his Son and the Son his Life that were both the Gifts of God in compliance with the divine Command and from Heaven he declared his high approbation of it This is to make a Vertue of Necessity and turn Nature into Grace But discontent and reluctancy as if our Lives were our own and taken from us unjustly or unseasonably is Rebellious Unthankfulness unbecoming a Creature much more a true Christian who exchanges a perishing Life for that which is eternal 2. To receive Death not only with Patience but earnest desires to be with Christ. I know Death is naturally unwelcome Our Saviour tells St. Peter When thou art old another shall bind thee and lead thee where thou wouldest not signifying his Martyrdom The Circumstance when thou art old is remarkable and intimates the natural unwillingness to die when there was little time to live But his rational sanctified Will was superiour and prevalent The universal desire of the Saints is to be happy in the Presence of God for the divine Nature communicated to them is intelligent and inclining towards its chief Good and if the obtaining it were not by being unclothed but clothed upon by an immediate Translation to Heaven how willingly would they leave this World But there is a bitterness in Death that makes it unpleasant and many holy Souls that desire the Glorious Liberty in Heaven yet are loth to leave their Prison Now there are so many Arguments to make the Saints desirous of dying that methinks since Life is chiefly valued and dear to them as it is the way to Heaven when they are come to that blessed end it should not be longer desirable What is this lower World that chains us so fast 'T is the Devil's Circuit wherein he ranges seeking whom he may devour 'T is the Theater of Contentions The Low aspire to rise the Exalted fear to fall The Poor envy the Rich and the Rich despise the Poor 'T is a foreign Country to the Saints and as Pilgrims and Strangers they are liable to Reproaches Injuries and hard Dealings from the Wicked the Natives of the Earth What is the present momentany Life that so enamours us 'T is surrounded with Temptations oppress'd with Fears ardent with irregular Desires and continually spent in Vanity or Vexation In Adversity 't is depress'd and melancholy in Prosperity foolish and proud 'T is a real Infelicity under the deceitful appearance of Felicity But above all other Motives the evil of Sin from which we cannot be clearly exempted here should render Death desirable The best suffer internal Divisions between the Law of the Flesh and the Law of the Mind as Rebecca felt the Twins Esau and Jacob repugnant in her Womb. How hard is it to be continually watching the Heart that Corruptions do not break out and the Senses that Temptations do not break in How difficult to order
dispersed Rays are conspicuously united in him the Sun of Righteousness and as in a curious Piece of Mosaick Work each Stone according to its natural Vein and Colour is so exactly disposed and with that proportion join'd to another that the lively Figure of the Humane Body results from the Composure so by variety of Types the intire Image of our Saviour's Life is represented from his first appearing on Earth to his ascending to Heaven Now the due comparing and observing the harmonious Agreement between the Prophesies and Types of the Old Testament and the History of the New is a powerful means to produce and establish a true lively Faith in the blessed Jesus as the promised Messiah For it is an infallible Argument of the Divine Providence in disposing Times and Things so as the Oracle should be verified in the Event and the mysterious Figures substantially exhibited in the manifestation of the Son of God 'T is true his Miracles raised Admiration and argued the concurrence of Power truly Divine For the exercise of an absolute Dominion over the Order of Nature is a Royalty reserved to God but that his miraculous Operations were foretold added more Authority to his Person and Efficacy to his Doctrine Therefore our Saviour himself in answer to the publick Question sent from John the Baptist whether he were the expected Saviour of the World commanded the Messengers to tell him what they heard and said The Blind receive their Sight and the Lame walk the Lepers are cleansed the Deaf hear and the Dead are raised up Which healing Miracles were foretold by the Prophet Esay as the clear and distinguishing Characters of the Messiah from all Seducers when he should come The fulfilling God's Word by the Works of Christ of which there was sensible evidence was an irrefutable testimony that his Miracles were true and performed for the confirmation of the Truth Now of all the chosen Saints that foretold the coming of Christ the new Law of Grace and the new Kingdom of Glory that he should reveal and establish Of all that represented him in various Particularities concerning his Person and Offices there was not a more illustrious Type than David that by prophetical Words and by prophetical Actions did so clearly describe him In this Psalm composed by him there is a mixture of History and Prophecy Some things in the literal and immediate sense referring to David I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved Our being at God's right Hand implies the highest Honour his being at our right Hand implies present and sure protection and defence And of this David had the infallible Promise of God to secure his Hope notwithstanding all his unrighteous and implacable Enemies But the following Verses are applicable to David but in a lower sense and by a remote Metaphor and have their literal and principal Accomplishment in our Saviour Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell that is in the State of the Dead nor suffer thy holy One to see Corruption that is the Body of our Saviour should be exempted from the corrupting Power of the Grave and restored the third Day to Life In this propriety and perfection of sense the Prophecy is applyed by St. Peter to our Saviour's alone for David died and saw Corruption and his Body still remains under the Dominion of Death And this last Verse Thou wilt shew me the Path of Life in thy Presente is fulness of Joy at thy right Hand are Pleasures for evermore is applied by the Apostle to Christ his Resurrection Ascension to Heaven and sitting at the right Hand of the Majesty on high Thou wilt shew me the Path of Life that is introduce him into the Kingdom of Glory and by experimental Fruition make him partaker of it In thy Presence is fulness of Joy at thy right Hand are Pleasures for evermore In these words the Causes and Excellencies of the Heavenly Life are express'd The Causes are the glorious Presence of God and the intimate application of his Presence and discovery of his peculiar Love to the Saints This our blessed Saviour had respect to as the compleat Reward of his Sufferings Thou shalt make me full of Joy with thy Countenance And his right Hand implies his Bounty that dispenses and his Power that secures our Happiness The Excellencies of it are fulness of Joy and Pleasures for evermore From the words I shall observe one Proposition The enjoyment of the Divine Presence in Heaven is the supream and everlasting Felicity of the Saints In the discoursing of this Point I will consider First The Place wherein the Divine Presence is gloriously reveal'd Secondly Shew that the enjoyment of the Divine Presence is the supream Felicity of the Saints Thirdly Prove that the Felicity shall be Everlasting First The Place wherein the Divine Presence is revealed 'T is consistent with the Divine Immensity to be differently present in some places The essential Presence of God is the same every where the influxive declarative Presence of God is special and wise in one place than another He is more excellently present in the living Temples his Saints on Earth by the gracious and eminent Operations of his Spirit than he is in the rest of the World He is most excellently present in Heaven by the clearest Manifestation and the express Characters and Effects of the Divine Perfections This inferior World is fram'd with exquisite Order The Earth is full of the Glory of the Lord yet 't is but the Sediment of the Creation the Habitation of Birds and Beasts nay of rebellious Sinners And by this we may raise our Thoughts to conceive something of the glorious Sanctuary of Life and Blessedness above 'T is called the Heaven of Heavens which is the highest Comparison to instruct and astonish us with the Amplitude and Glory of the Place 'T is a Place becoming the Majesty of God the Image of his Immensity Our Saviour assures us In his Father's House are many Mansions to receive the innumerable company of glorified Saints 'T is called the Excellent Glory 2 Pet. 1.17 The shining Firmament with all the Luminaries that adorn it are but the Frontispiece to the highest Heaven All the Lustre of Diamonds the Fire of Carbuncles and Rubies the Brightness of Pearls are dead in comparison of its Glory 'T is the Throne of the God of Glory wherein his Majesty is reveal'd in the most illustrious manner For Pleasantness 't is call'd Paradise in allusion to the delightful Garden planted by the Hands of God himself for Adam his Favourite whilst innocent There is the Tree of Life There are Rivers of Pleasure springing from the Divine Presence 'T is call'd the Inheritance of the Saints in Light to signify the Glory and Joy of the Place for Light has splendour and conciliates chearfulness and is a fit Emblem of both As on the contrary Hell is described by the blackness
counsel and resolution of the Spirit but perform'd by the ministry of the Flesh. Every Grace expresses it self in visible Actions by the Body In the Sorrows of Repentance it supplies Tears in religious Fasts its Appetites are restrain'd in Thanksgivings the Tongue breaks forth into the joyful Praises of God All our Victories over sensible Pleasure and Pain are obtain'd by the Soul in conjunction with the Body Now 't is most becoming the Divine Goodness not to deal so differently that the Soul should be everlastingly happy and the Body lost in forgetfulness the one glorified in Heaven the other remain in the Dust. From their first setting out in the World to the Grave they ran the same race and shall enjoy the same Reward Here the Body is the Consort of the Soul in Obedience and Sufferings hereafter in Fruition When the Crown of Purity or Palm of Martyrdom shall be given by the great Judg in the view of all they shall both partake in the Honour The Apostle assures us the Bodies of the Saints shall be revived and refin'd to a spiritual and glorious Perfection Flesh and Blood the Body with its terrene Qualities is mutable and mortal and cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven it cannot breath in so pure an Air. God tells Moses No Man can see my Face and live The sight of the Divine Glory is not consistent with such temper'd frail Tabernacles of Flesh. Nay the Body must be freed from the innocent Infirmities that were inseparable from Adam in Paradise for he was made a living Soul i. e. the Soul united to the Body was the Fountain of the natural sensitive Life which was in a perpetual Flux the vital Heat wasting the radical Moisture from whence there was a necessity of Food and Sleep to repair the Substance and Spirits and preserve his Life in vigour but in the Divine World the Body shall be spiritual in its Qualities and the Principle of its Liâ—e it shall be supported by the supernatural Power of the Spirit without the supplies of outward nourishment and exempted from all the low Operations of Nature therefore our Saviour tells us the Children of the Resurrection shall be equal to the Angels prepar'd for the employment and Enjoyments of those blessed Spirits And a substantial unfading Glory will shine in them infinitely above the perishing Pride of this World and the Glory of the Flesh that is but an appearance like the false Colours painted on the Feathers of a Dove by the reflection of the Light which presently vanishes when the Posture is chang'd or the Light withdrawn Of this we have a sure Pledg in the glorified Body of Christ who is the first Fruits of them that sleep He shall change our vile Bodies that they may be fashion'd like to his glorious Body according to the working of his Power whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself What can be more glorious than to be conform'd to the humanity of the Son of God This Conformity shall be the Work of his own Hands and when Omnipotence interposes nothing is difficult The raising the Body to an immortal state of Glory is as easy to the Divine Power as the forming it first in the Womb. As the Sun labours no more in the Mines in the forming Gold and Silver the most precious and durable Metals than in the production of a short-liv'd Flower 2. The supream happiness of Man is in the Soul's Communion with God This will appear by considering the principal Ingredients of Happiness they are the excellence of the Object and the vigour of the Actings upon it The Life and Blessedness of God is to know and love himself according to his infinite Perfections And 't is the highest happiness of the reasonable Creature to know and love God For he is a spiritual infinite unchangeable Good and can fully communicate all that is requisite to intire Blessedness Supply all the Wants and satisfy all the Wishes of the immortal Soul The Understanding and Will are our most comprehensive Faculties the principles of our most eminent Operations To know and to love are essential to the reasonable Soul and in directing those Acts upon God the Rectitude the Perfection and Felicity of Man consists As the intellectual Creature by setting its Mind and Heart upon earthly things is degraded into a lower order the thoughts and desires that are spiritual with respect to the principle from whence they proceed are sensual and perishing with respect to their Objects So when our noble faculties are exercis'd in their most lively and vigorous perceptions upon the supream Good Man is advanc'd to an equality of Joy and Perfection with the Angels Now in Heaven God by his most evident and effectual presence excites and draws forth all the active Powers of the Soul in their highest degrees and such is the immensity of his Perfections fills their utmost Capacity from whence a Divine pleasure a perpetual Satifaction springs a Joy that is as unspeakable as 't is eternal To unfold this more particularly 1. The Understanding shall clearly see the most excellent Objects Now we know but in part The naked Beauty of divine Things is vail'd and of impossible discovery and by natural or accidental weakness the Mind is not proportionable to sustain that dazling brightness But when that which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away In that inlightned the State manifestation of the Objects shall abundantly exceed the clearest revealing of them here And the Understanding shall be prepar'd in proportion to take a full view of them Therefore the Apostle compares the several Periods of the Church in respect of the degrees of Knowledg to the several Ages of humane Life When I was a Child I spoke as a Child I understood as a Child I thought as a Child but when I became a Man I put away Childish things In Children the Organs either from the excess of moisture or their smalness are indispos'd for the vigorous exercise of the Mind some strictures of Reason appear a presaging sign what will be but mix'd with much obscurity But when the Organs are come to their just proportion and temperament the Soul displays its strength and activity To explicate this it is requisite to consider the expressions in Scripture that signify the eminent degrees of Knowledg in the Blessed Our Saviour assures us that the Pure in Heart shall see God Sight is the most noble extensive and affective Sense and therefore fit to notify the clear sweet and satisfying intuition of God in Heaven 'T is true the Deity is spiritual and invisible to the Eye of the Body infinite and incomprehensible to the Eye of the Soul but the glorified Saints so clearly understand the Divine Perfections that our present knowledg of God compar'd to that Vision is but as the seeing of a dark Shadow in a Glass to the immediate view of the living Substance and Person The discovery
and measure as is proportionable to its Excellency and the Difficulties of obtaining it There may be a naked estimation and some desires of Eternal Happiness simply considered yet the Will remains incompleat and undetermined in its choice for the End in conjunction with the Means is propounded to us and the carnal Man will not consent to the Means He dislikes the Holiness of Religion and will rather forfeit Heaven than submit to such strict terms Though with Balaam in a fit of Devotion he says O that I might die the death of the Righteous and that my last End might be like his yet from Indulgence to his sensual Inclinations he will not live as the Righteous All his Wishes of true Happiness are soon strangled by the predominant love of some Vanity 'T is said of the Israelites they despised the pleasant Land not absolutely in it self for it was the Glory of all Lands abounding with things for the support and delight of Man but considering its distance a Wilderness waste and wild interposing and the Enemies to be encountred they did not think it worthy of undergoing such Hazards and Difficulties The Land of Canaan was a Type of Heaven both with respect to its pleasantness and the manner of the Israelites obtaining it Their Title to it was derived from the rich Bounty of God therefore 't is called the Land of Promise but it was to be possess'd by Conquest Thus the Celestial Canaan is the pure Gift of God but the actual enjoyment of it is obtained by victorious resistance against the Enemies of our Salvation And Carnal Men despise this pleasant Land the Promise being inseparably joined with Precepts of Duty and Obedience from which they are averse But he that chuses sincerely is joyful and vigorous in the use of means for acquiring his most desired Good Ardent Affections like Elijah's Chariot of Fire ravish the Soul above this sensible World to the place where God dwells in Glory Zeal animates his Endeavours as the Motion of the Heart diffuses the Spirits into the Arteries to convey Life to all parts of the Body One thing saith the inflamed Psalmist have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the Beauty of the Lord and to enquire into his Temple The sensual Man is ranging abroad for satisfaction and shoots all the Game that crosses his Eye but the Soul that has a discovering Light and feeling heat of the divine Beauty unites all its desires in God and with affection to an Extasy longs for the enjoyment of him and the endeavours are in some proportion to the desires Our Saviour tells us That from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force Some previous Rays of the Sun of Righteousness appeared in his Ministry and produc'd such a holy Ardency in those Converts that with all resolution diligence and earnestness they sought to be partakers of the Blessedness revealed Lazy Desires easy Prosecutions sluggish Attempts discover that the Heart is not throughly engaged for the spiritual Eternal Good When the End is truly designed it will give Law to the Actions This is visible in Men who are wholly led by Sense how sagacious how sollicitous are they to accomplish their Ends and base Designs They try all ways either by fine dissimulation or toilsome industry to obtain their Desires No time is too much in their gainful Affairs or voluptuous Enjoyments They transform the Night to lengthen out the Day for their Profit they vail the Day to lengthen out the Night for their Ease and Pleasure But alas Heaven is only regarded by the By as if the intellectual Soul were only given to dwell with the Body on Earth the place of its Banishment and direct Affairs here below and not to lead in the way to Heaven the place of its Nativity and prepare for another World The Work of Salvation is followed with that remiss degree of Affection as if it were a slight matter whether performed or neglected These Persons carry their Conviction in their Bosoms for they are ardent and active to obtain inferior and infinitely less concerning Ends but with that cold application mind the superior nobler End of Man that it is wholly frustrate which plainly shews it was never seriously intended by them The sight of Worldly Men so active and vigilant to prosecute their low Designs should quicken us to seek with greater diligence and alacrity the Kingdom of Heaven and the Righteousness thereof A Carnal Wretch urged by the sting of a brutish Desire with what impatience doth he pursue the Pleasures of Sin that are but for a season An ambitious Person with what an intemperate height of Passion does he chase a Feather A covetous Man how greedily does he pursue the Advantages of the present World that passes away and the Lusts thereof Ah! how do they upbraid our indifferent Desires our dull Delays and cold Endeavours when such a high Prize is set before us Who is able to conceive the ravishing Pleasure of the Soul when it first enters through the beautiful Gate of the Celestial Temple and sees the Glory of the Place and hears a Voice from the Throne Enter into thy Master's Joy to be happy with him for ever The serious belief of this will draw forth all our active Powers in the Service of God 3. The sincerity of our Heavenly Choice declares it self in the temper and frame of our Hearts with respect to all temporal Things in this World For our main and happy End being established that it consists not in secular Riches and Honours and the Pleasures of Sense but in the clear Vision of God the blessedness of the Spirit it follows that all present things are in our use so far Good or Evil and to be desired or not as they are profitable or prejudicial to our obtaining Salvation as they conduct or divert us from Heaven A wise Christian looks on temporal things not through the Glass of disordered Passions that are impetuous and impatient for what is grateful to them but with reference to his future Happiness He considers the train of Temptations that attend an exalted Condition and desires such a portion of these things as may redound to the Glory of the Giver and be improved for his own Salvation This Purity of Affections our Saviour teaches us For in his Divine Form of Prayer the true Directory of our Desires are set down in an admirable order all things we are to pray for And they respect the End or the Means The End is the primary Object of our Desires accordingly the two first Petitions concern our blessed End as it respects God and our selves We pray Hallowed be thy Name that is by the reverence and adoration of all his Subjects and Thy Kingdom come that is for the manifestation of his Eternal
THE Four Last Things Viz. DEATH JUDGMENT HEAVEN HELL Practically considered and applied In Several DISCOURSES By William Bates D. D. Recommended as proper to be given at Funerals LONDON Printed for Brabazon Aylmer at the Three Pigeons against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1691. To the Right Honourable RACHEL Lady RVSSEL MADAM OF all Affairs for the compassing whereof Men are so diligent and sollicitous there is none of that absolute necessity and high importance as the Preparation for Death and Judgment and the immediate Consequences of them Heaven and Hell to obtain the one and escape the other This requires the whole Man in his best vigour and should be the Work of the Day but 't is usually delayed till the melancholy Evening of Age or the twilight of Death The Trifles of this World divert them from that main business to which all other things should be subordinate It equally deserves Wonder and Compassion that Death which is so constantly in Mens view should be so seldom the matter of their application when all are of the same Glass made of the same frail natural Principles and no Argument is more frequently pathetically urged upon them 'T is not strange that deep Truths that by the strength and exercise of the mind are drawn like Gold out of the Mines have no efficacy upon those that are not capable of understanding them but the Doctrines of Death and Judgment Heaven and Hell are plain Truths by Na-Natural Moral and Divine Evidence known to all yet no more affect Men than a Paradox of incredible Novelty If the Doctrine of Eternal Judgment were but a probable Opinion controverted with equal Arguments yet 't is a matter of such vast concernment that Reason requires all our possible diligence to avoid an eternal evil that may be the loss of Celestial Glory and the Torments of Hell But since 't is an infallible Truth as certain as the Word of God 't is a Miracle to astonish Heaven and Earth that Men live as carelesly as if they should never die and die as securely as if they should not live in the next state to receive the just punishment of their Sins They are fearless whilst Death is far off in their thoughts and when Age has snowed upon their heads that no Marks of decaying Nature should appear make their own Winter to flourish with anothers Spring But 't is in vain for Death knows them under their disguise and will not stay beyond the appointed time And in that decisive hour Infidelity or Presumption hardens Men to pass as quietly and boldly in appearance into another world as unfeigned Faith and a regular lively Hope in the Promises of the Gospel But as deceitful Physick stops the Fit for the present that will return more violently and fatally afterwards So a counterfeit short Peace transmits them to everlasting Sorrows The design of the following DISCOURSE is to awaken Men that they may be wise and consider their latter end to secure an interest in our Redeemer who has disarmed Death of its Sting and made that Enemy our Friend and to practise dying every day by withdrawing their hearts from the vanities of this transient World that have such a pernicious influence to excite the carnal Appetites and stupify the Conscience which are the true causes of their sin and Misery And what can be more powerful to render them temperate and sober in the use of present things vigilant and serious in their preparations for their great and final Change than the remembrance that Death is immediately attended with Judgment and Judgment with Blessedness or Misery for ever I know this Argument is naturally displeasing but the usefulness should recommend it to our most solemn and composed thoughts before all the vain entertainments of the Fancy and sensual Affections As Herbs of Medicinal virtue that are not pleasing to the sight or smell yet are valued by the Skilful as treasures of Health and preferr'd before the fairest Flowers that are perfum'd and painted by Nature so as to excel the richest lustre of Solomon's Glory The Body is in a continual Consumption and no Art can long preserve it but whilst the outward Man is irrecoverably declining and wasting if the Inward Man be ascending and renewing to perfection the advantage is incomparable O how comfortable is it to a holy Believer in the parting hour to commit his Spirit into the hands of his Heavenly Father for thus he is authorized and encouraged by our Saviour's Example and lay down the Flesh to rest in Hope for Christ is the Guardian of the Grave has the Keys of Death and will revive the Bodies of his Saints incorruptible and immortal the Copies of his own glorious Body The immediate Recompences of Eternal Judgment Heaven and Hell are worthy of our most attentive and applicative Thoughts that we obtain the one and escape the other Heaven is the true Happiness of the reasonable Creature and is the first and last in the order of things desireable the first for its attractive Excellence the last in its consummate Fruition This may be certainly and perpetually enjoyed by all who sincerely and diligently seek it If in the very different States of Life here there were any uncapable of Eternal Life or that have another Object for their last End there might be some reason why they should be coldly affected towards Celestial Happiness and to justify their sole pretentions to the Things of Time wherein their Interests are confin'd but the offer of Heaven regards all that upon God's Terms will accept of it The most sensible inequality that Riches Dignity or any temporal Accident makes between Men here is so true a Nothing in comparison of Eternal Glory that it makes no difference of one from another as to the obtaining it For this Reason it most nearly concerns every Person First to seek the Kingdom of Heaven and the Righteousness thereof as the only way to ascend to it The serious consideration of the everlasting Hell prepared for unreformed Sinners is most necessary and useful tho carnal Men are extreamly averse from thinking on that terrible Object For this is the first Motive that turns Men from Sin to Holiness The Joys of Heaven being Spiritual and Divine have no attractive influence upon the carnal Affections would never convert and reform any but the Torment of Fire being most evident and vehement to Sense is strongly represented by the Imagination and moves the Affections How many by solemn and believing Thoughts of the unquenchable Fire have felt the Miracle upon the three Children in the Furnace renewed in themselves their strong Cords the obstinate Habits of Sin burnt asunder and their Powers restor'd to the freedom of Duty the blessed Liberty of Obedience In this respect the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom that directs us in the Way to Blessedness Madam I shall not attempt the celebrating your Ladiship 's Vertues that render you a bright Ornament of
Death and Judgment sting them by fits and make them uneasy The flashes of Conscience like moments of Lightning startle them but they relapse into their habitual stupidity And the account of it will be clear by considering the following Particulars 1. Men are apt to flatter themselves with the hopes of long Life and look upon Death at a great distance Tho there be a dying disposition in the youngest and strongest Persons though we live in a World of Casualties and Death lie in ambush to surprize us every day yet we are secure because Evils affect us according to their apprehended nearness A petty Constable that is troublesom and vexatious is more fear'd by his Neighbours than the Grand Signior with all his Executioners As remote Objects though of vast bigness are lessen'd to our sight so through the supposed interval of many years Death is look'd on with a diminution of its Terror But when Death presents it self before Men ready to dispatch them how formidable is its appearance Saul though renowned for his Valour yet when he understood by Revelation that to morrow he and his Sons should be in the state of the Dead there was no strength in him but he fell straitway all along on the Earth struck through with fear before he was wounded by the Arrows of the Philistines Belshazzar in the midst of his luxury and jolity attended with a thousand Lords and his Herd of Concubines inflam'd with Wine and therefore less capable of fear yet upon the sight of the fatal Hand writing on the Wall a few unknown Characters which his guilty Conscience before the Prophet Daniel came interpreted to be the Sentence of present Death how fearfully was his Countenance changed pale as a Carcass How suddenly did his Blood congeal and his warmest quickest Spirits die in his Heart His whole Body was seized by such a vehement trembling that his Joints were loosed and his knees smote one against another This is a representation of those who bid defiance to Death at a distance but when the fatal Hour is come and they hear the Sentence decreed against them God has numbred thy days and finish'd them thou art weighed in the ballance all thy Words and Actions thy Thoughts and Affections and art found wanting and thy Soul shall be divided from thy Body the one sent to Hell to suffer the undying Worm of Conscience the other to the Grave to be a Prey to the Worms of Corruption how are they overcome with horror 2. The continual succession of the Pleasures and Business of the World divert the Mind from the attentive strong contemplation of Death and the Consequences of it Pensive Thoughts are unwelcome and we studiously endeavour to cancel the memory of such things as afflict us 'T is said of the Wicked that God is not in all their Thoughts The consideration of the holy Inspector and Judg of their Actions is tormenting therefore they fill their Minds with earthly Imaginations to exclude the Divine Presence We read of those who to put far away the evil Day chaunted to the sound of the Viol and drank Wine in Bowls They are rock'd asleep with the motion of phantastick Vanities And Sleep takes away Fear but gives no safety 'T is recorded of Marius that after his Overthrow by Sylla he was always in consternation as if he heard the sound of the Trumpets and the noise of the victorious Army pursuing him And his Fears were no longer quiet than whilst charm'd with Wine and Sleep he therefore was continually drunk that he might forget himself his Enemy and his Danger Thus Men make a pitiful shift to forget their latter End and whilst they are following either secular Affairs or sensual Pleasures are unconcerned for what is to be hereafter But this Diversion will shortly be at an end for in their languishing hours when the wasted Body fails the carnal Mind and sensual Desires fail the Man then Conscience that spoke with a low Voice before is loud and terrible and like the rigid Exactor in the Parable that took his Debtor by the throat requires them to pay what they owe. 3. Some are so hardned in Infidelity that the Powers of the World to come make no Impression on their Hearts They mind but little and are less affected with invisible things They fortify themselves with gross Thoughts that the Spirit of Man vanishes with his Breath that Death is the end of this Life and not the beginning of another and feed without Fear Place one in the midst of destructive Evils but unseen or not believed and he is as fearless as a blind Person walking on the brink of a deep Pit Indeed there are none less disturbed with the Terrors of Death than the eminently Good or the extremely Bad for the one sort have a blessed Hope that Death will be to them an entrance into Life and live like the Angels with a Joy unspeakable and glorious The others are as sensual and secure as the Beasts that perish having extinguish'd the fear of eternal future Evils which is the proper passion of Reason The Apostle declares That knowing the Terror of the Lord we perswade Men to be reconcil'd to him before the Season of Mercy be expired But those who have suppress'd the natural Notions of Eternal Judgment as they think it beneath their Wisdom to be perswaded by the Promises of Heaven so beneath their Courage to be terrified with the Threatnings of Hell and triumph over the Ruines of Conscience But though wicked Infidels slight the Threatnings they shall not escape the Vengeance of God We read of Noah That being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear he prepared an Ark for the saving of his House His Fear was the native issue of his Faith But the profane World in whom Sense was predominant that despised the Oracle and trembled at no Judgments but what were acting on the visible Stage they ate and drank married and were given in marriage till swept away by the unfeared Inundation We read that Lot being certified by an embassy of Angels that a Deluge of Fire would in a few hours pour down from Heaven upon Sodom he most earnestly sollicited his Sons-in-Law Arise depart out of this Place for the Lord will destroy this City but they entertained his compassionate Advice with derision he seemed to them as one that mocked and were surprised by those fearful Flames that dispatch'd them from a Temporal Hell to that which is Eternal Thus 't was prophesied That in the last days there shall come Scoffers walking after their own Lusts and saying Where is the Promise of his coming But let them blaspheme and scorn the most sacred and terrible Truths let them perpetuate their excess of Riot and wild Mirth while they live Death will come and Judgment as sure as Death III. I now come to shew how the Death of Christ frees us from the tormenting fear of Death
twinkling of an Eye be changed that they may be qualified for it Now herein the Wisdom of God is wonderful that Death which by the Covenant of Works was the deserved Penalty of Sin by the Covenant of Grace should be the Instrument of Immortality That as Joseph by a surprising Circuit was brought from the Prison to the Principality so a Believer by the Grave ascends to Heaven This the Apostle in his Divine Disputation against Infidels proves in a most convincing manner Thou Fool that which thou sowest is not quickned except it die As the rotting of the Corn in the Earth is necessary to the reviving and springing of it up so we must die and the Image of the Earthly Adam be abolish'd that we may be transformed into the Image of the Heavenly One And to the other part of the Question Why the Saints remain in the state of Death for a time there is a clear Answer The Resurrection of the Saints is delayed till Christ's coming to Judgment partly for the Glory of his Appearance For what an admirable Sight will it be that the Saints of all Ages shall at once arise glorified and immortalized to attend upon our Saviour in the last Act of his Regal Office and then to make a triumphant Entry with him into Heaven And partly that the establish'd order of Providence may not be disturbed for the changing of our Nature into Glory in a suddain and inexplicable manner cannot be without miraculous Power and if every Believer presently after Death were in his glorified Body translated to Heaven the World would be always filled with Miracles which were to cease after the sufficient Confirmation of the Gospel by them But how long soever the Interval be to the Resurrection it shall be with them that sleep in Jesus as 't is with those that awake out of a quiet natural Sleep to whom the longest Night seems but as a Moment so when the Saints first awake from Death in the great Morning of the World a thousand Years will seem no more to them than to God himself but as one day I now come to prove the third thing That our Saviour will abolish the Dominion of Death over the Saints Whilst the Bodies of the Saints remain in the Grave they seem to be absolutely under the Power of Death The World is a Golgotha fill'd with the Monuments of its Victories And it may be said to this our last Enemy in the Words of the Prophet to the bloody King Hast thou killed and taken Possession But we are assur'd by an infallible Word that the Power of Death shall be abolish'd and the Bodies of the Saints be reviv'd incorruptible and immortal The Resurrection is a Terra incognita to the wisest Heathens a Doctrine peculiar to the Gospel some Glimmerings they had of the Soul's Immortality without which all Vertue had been extinguish'd in the World but no conjecture of the reviving of the Body But Reason assists Faith in this point both as to the Will of God and his Power for the performing it I will glance upon the natural Reasons that induce the considering Mind to receive this Doctrine and more largely shew how the Resurrection of the Just is assured by our Redeemer 1. The Divine Laws are the Rule of Duty to the entire Man and not to the Soul only and they are obeyed or violated by the Soul and Body in Conjunction Therefore there must be a Resurrection of the Body that the entire Person may be capable of Recompences in Judgment The Soul designs the Body executes the Senses are the open Ports to admit Temptations Carnal Affections deprave the Soul corrupt the Mind and mislead it The Love of Sin is founded in bono jucundo in sensible Pleasures and the Members are the Servants of Iniquity The Heart is the Fountain of Prophaneness and the Tongue expresses it And the Body is obsequious to the Holy Soul in doing or suffering for God and denies its sensual Appetites and Satisfactions in Compliance with Reason and Grace The Members are the Instruments of Righteousness It follows then there will be an universal Resurrection that the rewarding Goodness of God may appear in making the Bodies of his Servants gloriously happy with their Souls and their Souls compleatly happy in Union with their Bodies to which they have a natural Inclination and his revenging Justice be manifest in punishing the Bodies of the Wicked with eternal Torments answerable to their Guilt And of the Possibility of the Resurrection the circular and continual Production of things in the World is a clear Demonstration of the Power of God for that effect There is a pregnant Instance that our Saviour and the Apostle made use of as an Image of the Resurrection A Grain of Corn sowed in the Earth corrupts and dies and after springs up entire its Death is a disposition to Life The Essays of God's Power in the Works of returning Nature Flowers and Fruits in their season instruct us how easily he can make those that are in the Dust to awake to Life If the Art of Man whose Power and Skill are very narrow and limited can refine Gold and Silver to such a Luster as if their matter were not Earth digged out of the Mines If from black Cinders it can form Chrystal Glasses so clear and shining how much more can Omnipotency recompact our Dust and reanimate it with a glorious Life Death that dissolves our vital Frame does not abolish the matter of our Bodies and though 't is corrupted and changed by a thousand accidents yet 't is unperishing and under whatsoever Colours and Figures it appears God perfectly discerns and will separate it for its proper use More particularly I will shew how the Resurrection of Christ is an assurance of the Resurrection of Believers to Glory As our Surety he was under the arrest of Death it becoming the holy Majesty of God and conducing to the ends of his Government not to derogate from the dignity of his Law but to lay the penalty upon his Son who interposed for us Now having finish'd the Work of our Redemption by his Sufferings his Resurrection was the just consequent of his Passion And 't is observable that his Resurrection tho one entire Act is ascribed as to himself so to his Father by whose consent and concurrence he rose again Therefore 't is said Whom God raised up having loosed the Pains of Death since it was impossible he should be holden by it 'T was naturally impossible upon the account of the Divine Power inherent in his Person and legally impossible because Divine Justice required that he should be raised to Life partly to vindicate his Innocence for he was reputed and suffered as a Malefactor and principally because he had fully satisfied God Accordingly the Apostle declares he died for our Sins and rose again for our Justification Having paid our Debt he was releas'd from the Grave and the Discharge was
that seals up the Damnation of Sinners is Impenitence Now he that delays the returning to his Duty shall have more cause to repent hereafter but less Will and Power for Sin repeated makes him more uncapable of Repentance and that which is Indisposition will become Averseness and Obstinacy The Heart with Difficulty changes its last End Actions may be suddenly chang'd when there is a Disability to perform them but the inward Inclinations to Sin without supernatural renewing Grace remain 'T is therefore the Subtilty of the old Serpent to make the Entrance of Sin easy for he knows that Custom is a second Nature and has a mighty Power in us Can an Ethiopian change his Skin or the Leopard change his Spots then may you who are accustomed to do Evil do good If Sin in its Infancy can make such Resistance that the Spirit of Grace is foil'd in his Motions to rescue the Soul from its Bondage how much more when 't is grown into a confirm'd Habit Therefore the Apostle urges so zealously To Day if you will hear his Voice harden not your Hearts lest any be hardned through the Deceitfulness of Sin 3. How uncertain is it whether God will accept the Addresses of such at last We are commanded Seek the Lord while he may be found call upon him while he is near The Limitation implies if the Season be neglected he will hide his Face for ever Now in cases of great Moment and Hazard what Diligence what Caution should be used 1 st Consider how derogatory it is to his Majesty to offer to him the Dregs of our Age the Reliques of a licentious careless Life spent in the Works of Vanity Is this to give Glory to God Contempt provokes Superiours as much as actual Injuries How vilifying is it of his excellent Greatness that Men lavishly waste the best of their Time and Strength upon their Lusts and when through Weakness of Age or the Violence of a Disease they can no more do the Acts of Sin nor relish the Pleasures of Sin to presume that God will upon their Prayers forgive their Sins so long indulg'd and of such violent Provocations and receive them into his Kingdom as if he could not be happy without them and it were his Interest to receive them God has laid his Exceptions against such Addresses He may justly stand upon his Greatness and Honour If ye offer the Blind for a Sacrifice is it not evil And if ye offer the Lame and Sick is it not evil Offer it now to thy Governour will he be pleased with it to accept thy Person saith the Lord of Hosts As the Lord upbraids the Jews for their black Ingratitude in barginning for thirty pieces of Silver to have him betrayed to their Malice a goodly Price that I was prized at of them So when there is an universal Prostration of all the Powers and Faculties when the Spirits are damp'd the vital Heat is check'd and the function of the senses is obstructed then to seek to God for Mercy and to make fair Promises of Obedience he may justly reproach the Presumer a goodly time you have alotted for me Your Youth and Strength the Golden Age of Life has been wasted on your Lusts and in the Business of the World and the wretched remains you think worthy of my Acceptance 2 dly Consider what Sincerity or moral Value is in Religion that meerly proceeds from bitter Constraint 'T is a Rule in Law Falsum est eam peperisse cui mortuae filius extractus est 'T is not a natural Birth when the Child is extracted from the dead Mother 'T is not genuine Piety that is extorted by the rack whilst the Heart full of Reluctancy does not truly consent Pure Religion flows uncompell'd from Love to God 't is the Dregs that come forth with pressing 'T is observ'd of the Israelites that when God slew them they sought him and returned and enquired early after God But 't is added Nevertheless they did flatter him with their Mouths and they lied to him with their Tongues for their Hearts were not right with him neither were they stedfast in his Covenant How often does Experience convince us of the Inefficacy of a Sickbed-Repentance How many that were very devout and mournful with one Foot as it were in the Grave and another in Hell and were as a Brand pluck'd out of the Fire yet when the Fear of Death is removed all the Terrors of Conscience the religious Affections that were felt and express'd by them vanish as the Morning-Dew Now converting Grace is distinguish'd by its radication and efficacy not only from the mere Pretences of those who know their own Insincerity but from the real Workings of Conscience and the imperfect Dispositions to Good that are in the Unrenewed And those Persons who with the return of Health have returned to their Sins if they had died with their religious Resolutions would have presum'd that their Repentance was unto Life and of their Interest in the Divine Mercy The Heart is deceitful above all things and above all things deceitful to it self Besides when Sinners are plunged in deep Distress when the shadow of Death sits upon their Eye-lids they may with plentiful effusions of Tears desire God to receive them to Heaven not to see and praise his adorable Excellencies not to please and glorify him for ever but as a Sanctuary from revenging Justice a Refuge from Hell And will such Prayers prevail What swells the Confidence of Sinners but unworthy Notions of God as if a forc'd and formal Confession of their Sins could deceive his all-discerning Eye and Desires merely terminated on themselves were sufficient to reconcile his offended Majesty 3. There is nothing renders Men more unworthy of Mercy than continuance in Sin upon presumption of an easy Pardon at last This is the most provoking Abuse of his Goodness and Long-suffering that should lead them unto Repentance He can in the twinkling of an eye in the beating of a Pulse cut off the Sinner 't is as easy to his Power as to will it And there is no Consideration should be so melting and moving as his Clemency We read of David that he had more than once in his power Saul his unjust and cruel Enemy yet spared him the effect of it was that Saul was softened and under such compunction of Spirit that he wept confess'd his Guilt and persecuted him no more overcome by that unexampled Love If a Man find his Enemy will he let him go Yet Men take advantage from the Goodness of God securely to despise his Laws The habitual Sinner thinks that God is so gracious such a Lover of Souls so easy to be intreated that upon his dying Prayer Lord remember me in thy Kingdom the Answer will be To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise This is the deceitful Principle upon which Men usually build their Hopes as their Actions that bear the Image of their
stinging Reproach of his perfidious Villany Thus it appears how dangerous it is to delay Repentance and Reconciliation with God till Sickness and a Death-bed when the remembrance or forgetfulness of Sin the sense or security of Conscience may be equally destructive The Sum of what has been amplified in this Part is this A vain hope of living long and being reconcil'd to God when Men please is the fatal Foundation of their Sins and Misery They apply the Word of God against the Mind of God and securely provoke him as if they could take Heaven by Violence in contradiction to the Gospel But they usually dispose of that time they shall never enjoy and presume upon that Mercy and Grace they shall never obtain We are commanded to seek the Lord while he may be found a sad Intimation that 't is not in our power to find him to our Comfort when we please He spares long but abused Patience will deliver Sinners to revenging Justice Sampson was three times in the Chamber of his Lust expos'd to Treachery and escap'd but the fourth time he said I will arise but was surprized by his Enemies and lost his Strength and Sight and Liberty How justly will the wilful neglect of Salvation so long and so compassionately offer'd to Sinners render the Divine Mercy inexorable to their Prayers and Tears at last When a Roman Gentleman that was wont to revel in the night and sleep in the day had wasted a great Estate by Luxury he petitioned the Emperor Tiberius to relieve his Poverty and was dismiss'd with this upbraiding Answer Serò experrectus es you are risen too late He never open'd his Eyes to see his Condition till it was past Remedy This is the sad Case of many that waste the Seasons of Grace and are careless of their Duty till upon the point of perishing and then address themselves to God for his Favour and Pardon but are justly rejected with the reproaches of their obstinate neglect of Salvation in the time of their Lives I doubt not that some are wonderfully converted and saved at last but these special Mercies are like our Saviour's miraculous healing the two blind Persons as he was passing in the way when great numbers of the Blind remain'd uncur'd We read a prodigious Story in the Book of Kings that a Captain and his fifty Men commanded Elias to come to the King and immediately a Tempest of Lightning destroyed them Now who would think that another Captain with his fifty should be so desperate that having the Ashes and Relicks of those miserable Carcasses before their Eyes as to make the same Citation to the Prophet yet they did and provok'd the Justice of Heaven to consume them And this Madness is exemplified in thousands every day for notwithstanding they see Sinners like themselves cut off in their evil Ways they continue unreformed as if they were fearless of Hell as if resolved to secure their own Damnation I would not from what has been represented in this Matter so universally useful discourage any that have lived in a course of Sin from earnest seeking to God in their last Hours For even then they are not utterly destitute of Hope The Gospel sets forth the Mercy of God to returning Sinners in various Representations and Expressions of admirable Tenderness When the lost Sheep was recovered there was Joy as if a Treasure had been found The Prodigal had wasted his Estate in Lasciviousness and Luxury and by a harsh reduction came to himself reflected with shame upon his Folly and Rebellion and the sense of his Misery not a more ingenuous or noble Principle at first compell'd him to go to his Father to try what his Affection would do And it was not a vain presumption for he found the effects of fatherly and compassionate Love When he was a great way off his Father saw him and had Compassion and ran and fell on his Neck and kissed him And the Son said Father I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy Son But the Father said to his Servants Bring out the best Robes and put a Ring on his Finger and Shoes on his Feet and bring hither the fatted Calf and kill it let us eat and be merry for this my Son was dead and is alive again was lost and is found The Design of Christ was to represent his Heavenly Father in that Parable and to wounded Spirits that feel the intolerable weight of Sin the Mercy and Mildness of the Gospel is to be exhibited God is rich in Mercy to all that call upon him in Truth But to tell Sinners who securely proceed in their sinful Ways that they may be saved at last and notwithstanding their presumptuous Repulses of God's Calls to his Service yet think they may come into the Vineyard at the eleventh hour and be rewarded is to give countenance and protection to Sin and to harden them to Destruction Poison is not cured by giving Food but Antidotes that put Nature into a Passion till it be expelled The Terrors of the Lord can only prove medicinal to such depraved Souls To conclude this Argument let us seriously consider the Revelation God has afforded of himself in the Gospel He is a Father and a Judg Justice and Holiness as well as Mercy are essential to his Nature that our Affections may be accordingly moved towards him If ye call on the Father who without respect of Persons judgeth according to every Man's Work pass the time of your sojourning here in fear Presumption and Despair are very dishonourable to God and pernicious to the Soul the one destroys the Fear the other the Love of God But Hope contemper'd with Fear has an excellent Influence in the Christian Life As the Ballast and the Wind are both necessary that the Ship may sail safely without the Wind the Ship can make no way and without Ballast 't is in danger of oversetting by every Gust Thus Hope and Fear are necessary to bring us safely to Heaven Fear without Hope chills and stupifies the Vigour and Alacrity of the Soul that it cannot come to God and Hope without Fear makes it vain and careless of its Duty and liable to be overthrown by every pleasing Temptation Briefly let us rightly understand the Tenor of the Evangelical Promises of Pardon and Grace they are conditional and applicable only to penitent Believers And unfeigned Faith purifies the Heart works by Love and is the living Principle of universal Obedience And Repentance unto Life is productive of all good Fruits in their Season Without Faith and Repentance we can neither be justified in this World nor glorified in the next Be not deceived God is not mocked as a Man sows so shall he reap He that sows to the Flesh shall of the Flesh reap Corruption he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap Life everlasting 2. The careful preserving our selves from wilful presumptuous Sins
is an happy means to render Death comfortable to us Sins of Ignorance and Infirmity of sudden Surreption and Surprize the best Men are not freed from in the present State and being the daily motive of our Grief and serious circumspection to prevent them are consistent with the regular Peace of Conscience and the Friendship and Favour of God But great Sins in their matter being so contrary to natural Conscience and supernatural Grace or Sins presumptuous in the manner of their commission such as proceed from the choice of the perverse Will against the inlightned Mind whatever the matter or kind of them be are direct Rebellion against God a despising of his Command and provoke his pure Eyes and make the aspect of Death fearful The Spirit seals our Pardon and Title to Heaven as the holy Spirit his Testimony that we are the Children of God and Heirs of Glory is concurrent with the renewed Conscience and distinguish'd from the ignorant Presumptions blind Conjectures and carnal Security of the Unholy As the sanctifying Spirit he distinguishes true Christians from the lost World appropriates them to God confirms their present Interest in the Promises of the Gospel and their future Hopes Briefly Grace is the most sensible effect and sign of God's special Favour the fruit of Election and the earnest of Glory and the Truth of Grace is most clearly and certainly made evident by the continual Efficacy of it in the Conversation The observation of our Hearts to suppress unholy Affections and of our Senses to prevent them a constant course of Holiness in our Lives though many Frailties will cleave to the best is usually rewarded with great Peace here God has establish'd a connexion between our Obedience and his Comforts Those that keep themselves pure from the Defilements of the World have the white Stone promised the bright Jewel of assurance of God's pardoning and rewarding Mercy We read of Enoch that he walk'd with God was a Star shining in a corrupt Age the tenour of his Life was holy and he was translated to Heaven without seeing Death Though this was an extraordinary Dispensation yet there is a peculiar Reward analogical to it for those who walk circumspectly they shall not see Death with its Terrors but usually have a holy Chearfulness a peaceful Joy in their passage through the dark Valley to Heaven But presumptuous Sins against external and internal Restraints the convincing Law of God and the Directions of Conscience to which even the Saints of God are liable here as appears by David's earnest Prayer to be preserved from them such Sins grieve the holy Spirit and wound our Spirits and if continued sequester us from the comfortable Priviledges of the Gospel and render us unfit for the Kingdom of Heaven And when they are retracted by Repentance yet there often remains a bitter Remembrance of them as deep Wounds though cur'd yet are felt in change of Weather And sometimes a Spring-tide of Doubts and Fears breaks into humble penitent Souls in the last Hours though Death brings them safely yet not comfortably to Heaven 3. The zealous Discharge of the Duties of our Place and Calling the Conjunction of our Resolutions and Endeavours to glorify God and do good according to our Abilities and Opportunities of Service sweetens the Thoughts of Death to us For the true End and Perfection of Life is the Glory of God and when with Fidelity it is employed in order to it Death brings us to the blessed Rest from our Labours Our Saviour when he was to leave the World address'd himself to his Father I have glorified thee on Earth I have finish'd the Work thou gavest me to do And now Father glorify me with thy self with the Glory which I had with thee before the World was A Christian that imitates and honours Christ and with Diligence perseveres in well-doing may with an humble Confidence in the Divine Mercy expect the promised Reward The Reflection upon a well-spent Life is joyn'd with a joyful Prospect of God's Favour and Acceptance above But to the careless and remiss to those who are wilfully negligent of their Duty how fearful is Death that summons them to give an account of their Talents to the Righteous Lord 4. A holy Indifference of Affection to present things makes it easy to part with them and Death less fearful to us David though a King declares he was a Stranger on Earth not only with respect to his transient Condition but his inward Disposition and that he was as a weaned Child from the admired Vanities of the World Chrysostom in a Letter to Ciriacus who was tenderly sensible of his Banishment wrote to him You now begin to lament my Banishment but I have done so for a long time for since I knew that Heaven was my Country I have esteemed the whole Earth a place of Exilement Constantinople from whence I am expell'd is as distant from Paradise as the Desert to which they send me But when our Affections are set upon external things and we are irregular in our Aims intemperate in our Use and immoderate in our Delights how sensible and cutting is the Division from them How bitter is Death that deprives a carnal Wretch of all the Materials of his frail Felicity What a Storm of Passions is raised to lose all his good things at once for 't is a Rule in Nature What is possess'd with transporting Joy is lost with excessive Sorrow As the Ivy that twines so closely about the Tree and is intimately fastned by so many Roots as there are Branches cannot be pluck'd away without rending the Bark with it so when the World that was as it were incarnated with the Heart is taken away the Heart it self is grievously rent by the violent Separation And the Infelicity of carnal and worldly Persons is heavily aggravated in that the Guilt in procuring or abusing those Treasures and Delights that they leave here with so great Sorrow will cleave to them and give Testimony against them before their Judg. But when the Affections are loose to the World and set upon Heaven our leaving the Earth is no Loss but Gain and our Separation from the Body of Flesh is with that Alacrity as the putting off a vile Garment to be clothed with a Royal Robe 'T was the wise Counsel of Tertullian to the Women of the first Ages of the Church not to value and love the Jewels and Ornaments of Gold that they might be more ready and resolved to obtain by Death Martyrdom and by Martyrdom Eternal Glory And that we may disentangle our Souls from those voluntary Bands that fasten us to present things we must have a sincere uncorrupted Judgment of their Meanness The Apostle exhorts Christians to Moderation in their Temper and Conversation with respect to the Business and Enjoyments here that they who have Wives be as though they had none that those that rejoice be as though they rejoiced not and they
which ungodly Sinners have spoken against him And all the good Works of the Saints shall then be remembred even to the least work of Piety the giving of two Mites to the Treasury of the Temple and the least work of Charity the giving a Cup of cold Water to a Disciple upon the account of his relation unto Christ. All their secret Graces and Duties shall then be rewarded The manner of this Judicial Evidence is set forth to us in Scripture by the opening the Books congruously to proceedings in humane Judgement wherein the Information and Charge is produc'd from Writings for the conviction of the Accused Thus it was represented to St. John in a Vision I saw the Dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened and the Dead were judged out of the things that were written in the Books according to their Works 1. The Books of the Law and Gospel shall then be open'd in all the Injunctions and Prohibitions and our Lives compar'd with them Our Saviour told the Jews Do not think that I will accuse you to my Father there is one that accuseth you even Moses in whom you trust not the Person but the Law of Moses And he denounced against those that reject the Gospel the Word that I have spoken the same shall judg them in the last Day The Law is the exact Transcript of God's Sacred Will the natural and immutable Rule of Righteousness 't is pure forbids all Sin and enjoins universal Holiness 't is spiritual requires not only a conformity in Words and Actions but inward Sanctity in Mind and Heart for the Soul is the principal part of Man entirely open to God's Eye the Maker and Judg of it And the most enlightned Saints have but an imperfect knowledg of it here This made holy David after his meditation upon its Purity and Perfection to cry out in an Agony Who can understand his Errors cleanse thou me from secret Sins This when opened in its spiritual and comprehensive Nature by a wise and zealous Preacher darts a Light into the Conscience and discovers many secret Sins that like so many Serpents were still and quiet in the dark but upon the sudden breaking in of the Light fly upon the Sinner and torment him with their mortal Stings But when the Law-giver himself shall expound the Law in its full extent and perfection with respect to all the Duties it commands and Sins it forbids how guilty will Men appear how unable to answer one Article of a thousand charg'd upon them 2. The Omniscience of God will give most convincing Evidence of all our Works All things are naked and open to his Eyes with whom we have to do in Judgment The Psalmist declares the infinite perspicacity of his sight The Darkness hides not from thee but the Night shines as the Day As his Light and transcendent Brightness is invisible to us so our thickest Darkness is visible to him We cannot see things in the Night because it hinders the reception of the Rays that insinuate into the Eye and causes sight but the Eyes of our Judg are like a flame of Fire dispelling all Darkness From his Throne in Heaven his piercing Eye sees thro' all the concealments of Mens Sins Thou hast set our Iniquities before thee and our secret Sins in the Light of thy Countenance He discovered the Sacriledg of Achan the Lie of Gehazi the Deceit of Ananias Saul's Disobedience in sparing the Amalekites devoted to Destruction had the colourable pretence of Piety and as a Sacrifice was laid on the Altar And David's Murder of Vriah was imputed to the chance of War as a sufficient excuse But though they might have deceiv'd others they could not deceive God He is intimately present with the Souls of Men that are unsearchable to the most discerning Angels of Light and knows all their most secret Designs and Desires the deepest Seeds of their Actions He alone has exact Scales to weigh the Spirits of Men all the Principles Aims and Affections that are inseparable from their Works The Pharisees in whom Pride was the first Property and Hypocrisy a second Nature could not with all their Saintly shews impose on our Saviour for he knew what was in Man He discovered their Alms to be not the effect of Charity but Ostentation and their specious Acts of Devotion to be a train to surprize some rich Prey And this Divine knowledg of Men and their Actions is in order to Judgment Thus the wise King declares Doth not he that ponders the Heart consider it and he that keepeth thy Soul doth not he know it And shall not he render to every Man according to his Works And God himself testifies I the Lord search the Heart even to give to every Man according to his Works For this reason he is said to keep a Register of Mens Sins Thus he speaks of the impure Idolatries of the Jews Behold it is written before me to signify his exact and actual knowledg I will not keep silence but will recompense even recompense into their Bosoms And at the Day of Judgment he will declare his Knowledg of their Sins before all and the most secret shall be made evident as if written in their Foreheads in the most plain and legible Characters And all the Goodness of the Saints shall then be revealed by the Judg. Their greatest Excellencies are invisible to the Eyes of Men the Sanctity of their Aims and Affections which gives Life and Value to all the Acts of Obedience their secret Duties wherein the sincerity and ardency of their Souls is most express'd are only known to God And such is the excellent humility of the Saints that the more they are enrich'd and abound with the gracious Influences of the Spirit the less they discover to the World as the Celestial Bodies when in nearest conjunction with the Sun and most fill'd with his Light are least in appearance to the Inhabitants of the Earth But there is a Book of Remembrance before him for them that feared the Lord and thought upon his Name And they shall be mine saith the Lord of Hosts in the Day when I make up my Jewels and I will spare them as a Man spares his Son that serves him 3. The Conscience of every Man shall then be open'd and give an accusing or excusing Testimony of all things for these Acts of Conscience in the present Life have a final respect to God's Tribunal And though the Accounts are so vast there shall be an exact Agreement between the Books of God's Omniscience and of Conscience in the Day of Judgment Now indeed the Conscience of Man though never so inquisitive and diligent in examining and revising his Ways is unable to take a just account of his Sins As one that would tell the first appearing Stars in the Evening before he can reckon
in these Talents because they are usually abused to the dishonour of the Donor If the slothful Servant that hid his single Talent in a Napkin and returned it without advantage to his Lord was cast into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth a fearful Image of what will befal all unprofitable Persons how severe will their Accounts be who lavish out their numerous Talents to gratify their carnal Appetites and betray the Blessings of God to his Enemy the Devil Only the wise and good Servant that with prudent Contrivance and zealous Endeavours improves his Talents shall from the gracious Lord in whom are all Attractives and Remuneratives of our Service receive an excellent Reward Fifthly Another Rule of our Acceptance at the last Day is That we must with Courage and Zeal maintain in our rank and places the Cause of Christ. For thus he declares expresly Whosoever shall confess me before Men him also will I confess before my Father which is in Heaven But whosoever shall deny me before Men him also will I deny before my Father which is in Heaven When the Truth Purity and Power of Religion in Doctrine Worship and Practice is discountenanc'd and overborn our Saviour commands and will reward our undiscouraged visible Constancy in it He will not only reign in our Hearts but be honoured with our Lips and in our Conversations We usurp the Title of Christians unless we adhere to our Duty in despite of all opposition The Temptations that usually withdraw Men from confessing and glorifying Christ are such as work upon the Passions of Fear and Shame And the consideration of the last Judgment will fortify us against both 1. Sometimes Religion exposes the Professors of it to the loss of all temporal Enjoyments and of Life it self And when the Honour of our Saviour requires such a Service of us when that Confirmation is necessary to recommend Divine Truth to the Belief and Affections of others when our chearful and couragious Example in suffering would animate those that are fearful to Constancy and Confession then from Cowardise to withdraw our Testimony is to betray him again When our Duty is attended with extream Dangers then the sincerity and perfection of our Love to Christ is brought to the strictest trial As true Carbuncles are discovered in the Night for the Darkness redoubles their Splendor so the fidelity of Christians is evident in Persecutions that enflame and excite their Zeal to magnify the Name of Christ in the sight of the World There is no Fear in Love but perfect Love casts out Fear But Fearfulness hinders the expressing acts of Love to Christ and betrays to Apostacy For as every Passion is a Perturbation so especially Carnal Fear that blinds and disturbs the Mind and hinders the serious consideration of the Reasons of our Duty and those Motives to persevere in it that are the Fountains of our Strength From hence the timerous are often treacherous and Faith lies buried under the cold pale Ashes of Fear Now the irregularity of this Passion is best cured by directing it to the most powerful Object As the Rod of Moses swallowed up the Rods of the Magicians so a stronger Fear will subdue that which is in a weaker degree Our Saviour therefore threatens those that for the fear of Men who can but kill the Body dare not own and defend his Truth and Cause that he will renounce them before his Father in the great Day the immediate consequence of which will be the destruction of Body and Soul in Hell If Earthly Potentates had a Jurisdiction over Heaven if Men were to be tried by their Laws at the last Day if their Power extended to Eternity they might exact unlimited Obedience to their Wills but Conscience is a more desirable Friend and terrible Enemy than Caesar and all temporal Tribunals are subordinate and accountable to the Supream and Eternal there is one Lawgiver and Judg who is able to save and to destroy for ever It is the worst Perdition to secure our selves by the neglect of our Duty when we ought to perish for the Glory of our Saviour He that saves his Life shall lose it 2. Shame wounds deeper the Breasts of some than Violence Zedekiah would rather expose his Kingdom and Life to the Fury of the Chaldean Armies than be himself exposed as an Object of Derision by surrendring it And Satan who understands the temper of Mens Spirits suits his Temptations accordingly The Purity and Holiness of Religion exprest in the Actions of the Saints is by the seurrilous Reflections and bitter Sarcasms of prophane Persons made contemptible This is as foolish and malicious as if a Slave should reproach the Son of a King that he was like his Father in his Countenance and Actions for by how much the resemblance of God's Holiness appears with more evidence and eminence in their Lives their Divine Relation is more certainly and justly to be acknowledged Yet how many are ashamed of this Glory And Zeal to vindicate the Honour of Religion is traduc'd and vilified either as the Effect of designing Faction or of the Indiscretion and Rashness of a weak Judgment and strong Passions In every Age the faithful Servants of God are by scornful Titles despised We are accounted saith the Apostle the Off-scouring of the World But a generous Christian looks upon disgrace for the sake of Christ as his Honour The Apostles rejoiced that they were accounted worthy to suffer shame for his Name 'T is said of the Baptist He was not that Light but came to bear Witness to that Light intimating as if that were the next degree of Dignity to it And our Saviour speaking of the Proofs of his Divine Mission reckons up the Witnesses of such Dignity that 't is not possible for Sacred Ambition to aspire to higher Honour than to be in Conjunction with them they are John the Baptist his Miracles his Father and the Scriptures Let us appeal then from the light depraved Fancies of carnal Men to the wise and faithful Judgment and Authority of the Son of God He will at the last Day in the presence of his Father and all the Court of Heaven give an incomparable Crown to all that have despised Shame for his sake But those vile Spirits whose Courage of Straw is quell'd by vain Opinion and the Reproaches of Fools and have deserted the Cause of Christ shall then be clothed with Confusion for this we are assured by our Judg That whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful Generation of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the Glory of his Father with the Holy Angels If the unnatural Brothers were astonish'd when the Governor of Egypt told them I am Joseph whom ye sold how much more will false Christians when the Lord of Glory shall tell them I am Jesus whom for base shame ye
denied How will it confound those abject Wretches to be a spectacle of Abhorrence and Scorn before that Universal Glorious Confluence They would chuse rather to be covered under the Ruins of the World If we value and desire the Approbation of the King of Angels if we fear a final rejection from him to obtain the one and avoid the other we must entirely adhere to his Interest without any respect to the eyes and esteem of the perverse deceived World Sixthly A cordial beneficent Love to the Saints is a requisite Qualification of our Acceptance in the Day of Judgment Then shall the King say to them on his right hand Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World For I was an hungry and ye gave me meat I was thirsty and ye gave me drink I was a stranger and ye took me in naked and ye clothed me I was sick and ye visited me I was in Prison and ye came unto me The Union and Endearments betwixt Christ and his People are mutual and reflexive as they are extreamly tender of his Glory so he is concern'd in all that is done to them And though the Perfection of Love consists more in the Affection of the Heart than in outward Offices yet our Saviour most congruously produces in Judgment the conspicuous Effects of Love to them the supplying their Wants allaying their Sorrows owning them when obscured and deprest by Afflictions and injuriously treated by others This love of Service that is directed and exercised towards the Saints for the Image of God shining in them because they are the Children of God and Members of Christ and therefore extended to all in whom the reason of that Love appears shall be gloriously rewarded for he interprets what is done upon his Account to those who are his own by so many dear Titles as done to himself And what is more becoming his excellent Goodness than to reward the Works of Mercy with saving Mercy But those who when Christ presents himself to them in his poor distressed Members and sollicits their assistance to protect them from Injuries to refresh their Sorrows to support them in their Exigencies those that have Ability but want Affection to do them good and incompassionately neglect the suffering Saints shall be sentenc'd to be tormented with the Apostate Angels for ever What Indignity is it to the Son of God that those for whom he shed his most precious Blood should be in less value and regard with many than the Dogs and Horses maintained for their pleasure And if those on the left hand shall be condemned to eternal Fire for the coldness of their Love how terrible will the Judgment be of those that from the heat of their Enmity outragiously persecute the Servants of Christ for his sake in their Persons Estates Reputations that with a worse than barbarous inhumanity seek their ruin Is there any Sin of a more mortal Guilt The infernal Furnace is seven-fold heated for the punishing such Wickedness To conclude this Argument let us observe the Command of our Saviour To watch and pray always that we may be counted worthy to stand before the Son of Man These are Duties of universal Influence into our Lives the one prevents Carelesness the other vain Confidence in our selves and the consideration of Judgment to come is the greatest Motive to them and the first Principle of Holiness This should work more powerful in us considering the Day of Death is equivalent to the Day of Judgment to every Person for then a particular Sentence decisive and irrevocable passes that shall be publish'd at the last Day Methinks the Terrors of the Lord should engage our Souls and Senses to a continual preparation for his Coming 'T is represented so as to affect the Eye and keep it vigilant Behold the Lord comes with ten thousand of his Saints to execute Judgment upon all Behold he comes in the Clouds and every Eye shall see him And to call the Ear and make it attentive The Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with the Voice of the Arch-Angel and with the Trump of God How circumspect should we be in all our Ways since every Action shall be reviewed by our Judg St. Peter strongly infers from the dissolution of the World as a most cogent Argument that we should be exactly and universally Holy Seeing then all these things shall be dissolved what manner of Persons ought we to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness But the consideration of the eternal Judgment immediately succeeding the destruction of the World O how powerful should it be upon Conscience and the Affections to regulate the whole course of our Lives with a final respect to God's Tribunal In short That which we read of the success of the Apostle's preaching to the Athenians upon the present Subject the Immortality of the Soul comprised in the Resurrection of the Body and the future Judgment is the same in all times and places And when they heard of the Resurrection of the Dead some mocked and others said We will hear thee again of this matter and others believed There are three Differences of the Hearers of this Doctrine of so great importance some deride it as an extravagant Fancy some believe it and yield up themselves entirely in obedience to it others do not absolutely reject it as the first nor accept it as the second but have a Conjecture or slight superficial Opinion of it or a speculative Assent as to a history of things that do not concern them and defer the serious consideration and applying of it to themselves And of this third sort O Grief are the most of those who are Christians in Name They delay till Death the solemn reflecting upon the final Judgment and the inevitable Consequence of it a blessed or miserable Estate for ever And whereas the Apostle who had infallible assurance of God's Love did with an holy severity and self-denial abstain from all carnal Complacencies that might hazard the never-fading Crown I keep under my Body and bring it into subjection lest by any means when I have preached to others I should be a Cast-away Yet the most live and die in a secure state without preparation to appear before the Presence of his Glory FINIS OF HEAVEN BY WILLIAM BATES D.D. LONDON Printed by J. D. for Brabazon Aylmer at the Three Pigeons against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1691. OF HEAVEN Psalm 16.11 Thou wilt shew me the Path of Life in thy Presence is fulness of Joy at thy right Hand there are Pleasures for evermore THE Divine Wisdom and Goodness was pleased before and during the legal Dispensation by various Predictions and Types to delineate the Person of our Redeemer and the Work of Redemption to prepare the Minds of Men for his Reception at his coming into the World All the Evangelical Prophecies recorded in the Old Testament as
of darkness for ever to signify the sadness and despair of the Damned and because in that centre of Misery a perpetual Night and invincible Darkness increases the horror of lost Souls Heaven for stability is called a City that has Foundations whose Builder and Maker is God The present World is like a Tent or Tabernacle set up for a time whilst the Church is passing through the Wilderness but Heaven is the City of the Living God the Place of his happy Residence the Seat of his eternal Empire The visible World with all its perishing Idols shall shortly fall this Beautiful Scene shall be abolish'd but the supreme Heaven is above this Sphere of mutability wherein all Bodies compounded of the jarring Elements are continually changing and dissolving 't is truly call'd a Kingdom that cannot be shaken Briefly the wise Maker has fram'd it correspondently to the end for which it was designed 't is the Seat of his Majesty his Sacred Temple wherein he diffuses the richest Beams of his Goodness and Glory and his chosen Servants see and praise his adorable Excellencies for ever Secondly I will endeavour to shew that the enjoyment of the Divine Presence in Heaven is the supreme Felicity of the Saints To make this supernatural Blessedness more easy and intelligible to us the Scripture describes it by sensible Representations For while the Soul is clothed with Flesh Fancy has such a dominion that we conceive of nothing but by Comparisons and Images taken from material things 'T is therefore set forth by a Marriage-Feast to signify the Joy and Glory of the Saints above But to prevent all gross Conceits we are instructed that the Bodies of the Saints shall be spiritual not capable of Hunger or Thirst nor consequently of any Refreshment that is caused by the satisfaction of those Appetites The Objects of the most noble Senses Seeing and Hearing the pleasure of which is mixed with Reason and not common to the Brutes are more frequently made use of to reconcile the blessed and Heavenly State to the proportion of our Minds Thus sometimes the Saints above are represented on Thrones and with Crowns on their Heads Sometimes clothed in White with Palms in their Hands sometimes singing Songs of Triumph to him that sits on the Throne But the real Felicity of the Saints infinitely exceeds all those faint Metaphors The Apostle to whom the admirable Revelation was exhibited of the Sufferings of the Church and the victorious issue out of them in the successive Ages of the World tells us it does not appear what the Saints shall be in Heaven The things that God has prepared for those that love him are far more above the highest ascent of our Thoughts than the Marriage-Feast of a King exceeds in splendor and Magnificence the Imagination of one that has always lived in an obscure Village and never saw any Ornaments of State nor tasted Wine in his Life We can think of those things but according to the Poverty of our Understandings But so much we know as is able to sweeten all the Bitterness and render insipid all the Sweetness of this World This will appear by considering whatever is requisite to constitute the compleat Blessedness of Man is fully enjoyed in the Divine Presence 1. An exemption from all Evils is the first condition of perfect Blessedness The Sentence of the wise Solon is true Dicique beatus Ante obitum nemo supremaque funera debet No Man can be call'd happy whilst in this Valley of Tears There are so many natural Calamities so many casual which no humane Mind can foresee or prevent that one may be less miserable than another but none perfectly happy here But upon the entrance into Heaven all those Evils that by their number variety or weight disquiet and oppress us here are at an end Sin of all Evils the worst and most hateful shall be abolish'd and all Temptations that surround us and endanger our Innocence shall cease Here the best Men lament the Weakness of the Flesh and sometimes the violent Assaults of Spiritual Enemies St. Paul himself breaks forth into a mournful Complaint O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from this Body of Death And when harrass'd by the buffets of Satan renews his most earnest Addresses to God to be freed from them Here our Purity is not absolute we must be always cleansing our selves from the Reliques of that deep Defilement that cleaves to our Nature Here our Peace is preserv'd with the Sword in our Hand by a continual warfare against Satan and the World But in Heaven no Ignorance darkens the Mind no Passions rebel against the sanctified Will no Inherent Pollution remains The Church is without Spot or Wrinkle or any such thing And all Temptations shall then cease The Temper was cast out of Heaven and none of his poison'd Arrows can reach that purified Company Glorious Liberty here ardently desir'd but fully enjoyed by the Saints above And as Sin so all the penal Consequences of it are quite taken away The present Life is a continual disease and sometimes attended with that sharp sense that Death is desir'd as a remedy and accepted as a Benefit And though the Saints have reviving Cordials yet their Joys are mix'd with Sorrows nay caused 〈◊〉 Sorrows The tears of Repentance are their sweetest refreshment Here the living Stones are cut and wounded and made fit by sufferings for a Temple unto God in the new Jerusalem But as in building of Solomon's Temple the noise of a Hammer was not heard for all the parts were fram'd before with that exact design and correspondence that they firmly combin'd together They were hewen in another place and nothing remain'd but the putting them one upon another and then as Sacred they became inviolable So God the wise Architect having prepar'd the Saints here by many cutting Afflictions places them in the eternal Building where no Voice of Sorrow is heard Of the innumerable Assembly above is there any Eye that weeps any Breast that sighs any Tongue that complains or any appearance of Grief The Heavenly State is called Life as only worthy of that Title There is no infirmity of Body no Poverty no Disgrace no Treachery of Friends no persecution of Enemies There is no more Death nor Sorrow nor shall there be any more Pain for former things are past away God will wipe away all Tears from the Eyes of his People There Salvation is compleat in all degrees Pure Joy is the Priviledge of Heaven unmixed Sorrows the Punishment of Hell 2. A concurrence of all positive Excellencies is requisite to Blessedness And these are to be considered with respect to the entire Man 1. The Body shall be awak'd out of its dead Sleep and quicken'd into a glorious immortal Life The Soul and Body are the essential parts of Man and though the inequality be great in their holy Operations yet their concourse is necessary Good Actions are design'd by the
of the Deity to us in the present state is by his Works and Word and both are imperfect and far inferiour to the manifestation in Heaven The absolute fulness of Perfection that is inseparable from the Godhead is inimitable by any Creature for the Perfection of any Creature is limited in its kind as well as degrees Therefore God was pleased by variety of effects and resemblances to express and represent his Attributes that our Minds might ascend by those steps to contemplate those Perfections that are in him eminently and beyond all comparison The Light of Heaven in all its purity and lustre is but a shadow of his unapproachable Brightness all the Excellencies of visible things are but a weak representation of the Glory of his Atrributes like the describing with a Coal the beautiful Colours of the Morning and compar'd with the immensity of his Perfections are like the describing in a sheet of Paper the vast Celestial Spheres In his Word there is a more clear and full discovery of his Nature and Will but according to our capacity of receiving The Divine Attributes in Scripture are mask'd and shadowed under sensible Comparisons for no Light shines into our Minds here but through the Windows of Sense The intellectual Powers depend as to the first notices of things upon the lower Faculties and Senses therefore as Elisha in reviving the Shunamite's Child contracted himself to the proportion of the Child and put his Mouth upon his Mouth and his Eyes upon his Eyes and his Hands upon his Hands so God is pleased to condescend to our Capacity and to adapt the Expressions of his Majesty to the narrowness of our Imaginations But in Heaven the Revelation of the Deity is much more glorious and the Mind is clarified from those terrene Images that flow through the gross Channels of the Senses In this present state our purest Conceptions of God are mix'd with Dross and very imperfect but there the Gold shall be separated from the Dross and our Conceptions be more proper and becoming the Simplicity and Purity of God Here the Objects of Glory are humbled to the perception of Sense Hereafter the sensible Faculties shall be raised and refin'd and made the Subjects of Glory Now when Divine Light shines with direct Beams and the thick Curtain of Flesh is spiritualiz'd and transparent the Soul enjoys the clearest Vision of God The Light of Nature was so defective as to the discovery of God's Compassionate Counsels to save the lost World and the Minds of Men were so darkned from the Fumes of their Lusts that that Light was but the Hemisphere of the Night in comparison of the Revelation of the Gospel as St. Peter expresses the happy Priviledg of Christians and their consequent Duty that they should shew forth the Praises of him who hath called them out of Darkness into his marvellous Light And the Glorious Gospel compar'd to the Revelation of God in Heaven is but as the Twilight of the Morning wherein the Light of the Day is checker'd with the Shadows of the Night to the Sun in its full Lustre In Heaven we shall see God Face to Face which signifies the clearest manifestation of his Glory and of his Favour to the Blessed for the Face is the Throne of Majesty and Beauty and the Chrystal wherein the Affections are conspicuous Accordingly when Moses prayed I beseech thee shew me thy Glory God answered him it was impossible for no Man could see his Face and live And the form of Divine Blessing to the People of Israel was The Lord make his Face to shine upon thee and be gracious to thee Whether the immediate Essence of God can be seen by the intellectual Creature is a question but we are sure in the Heaven of Presence God exhibits himself to the Blessed in a most glorious manner for according to the degrees of Excellency in the Work such are the Impressions and Discoveries of the Cause Now all gross material things in the low order of Nature are but weak resultances from his Perfections in comparison of their glorious Effects in the Divine World The Glories of the Place and of the Inhabitants the Angels and Saints are the most noble Effects and Expressions of the Divine Attributes But in a transcendent manner God exhibits himself in the glorified Mediator He is stiled the Brightness of his Father's Glory and the express Image of his Person to signify that God in the Person of the incarnate Mediator is so fully represented to us that in him we have a view of God's unchangeable Perfections This appears by the following words that having purged us from our Sins he sat down on the Majesty on high for they respect the Son of God as united to the Humane Nature in which he performed the Office of the Priesthood and took possession of his Kingdom During his humble State tho darken'd with many afflicting Circumstances the Divine Vertues Wisdom Goodness Holiness Power were so visible in his Life Revelations and miraculous Works that when Philip with that ardency of Affection desir'd the sight of the Father the only consummate Blessedness shew us the Father and it suffices He told him He that hath seen me hath seen the Father But how brightly do they appear in his Exaltation We shall see him as he is in the Majesty and Glory of the Son of God The Apostle says We shall know as we are known This we are not to understand according to the exactness of the Expression for the Sun may be as well included in a spark of Fire as God may be comprehended by our finite Faculties Beyond the fullest discoveries we can receive of the Deity there remains an intire infinity of Perfections not to be known by the most intelligent Spirits but as we are known is a note of Similitude not of Equality The Light of a Candle as truly shines as the Light of the Sun but not with that extent and splendor We shall have such a perfect knowledg of God as our Minds can receive and our Hearts desire We shall then see what we now believe concerning the glorious Nature of God his Decrees and Counsels his Providence and Dispensations The sublimest Doctrine of the Christian Religion above the disquisition and reach of Reason is that of the Sacred Trinity upon which the whole Oeconomy of the Gospel depends In assenting to this Faith bows the Head and adores But such is the pride of the Carnal Mind that it disdains to stoop to Divine Revelation and the seeming wise Philosophers despised the Primitive Christians as Captives of a blind Belief But this foul Reproach was as unjust as many others wherewith they designed to disgrace Christianity for the humility of Faith does not extinguish or darken the Light of Reason but revives and increases it what is more suitable to uncorrupt Reason than to believe the Revelation God affords of his own Nature who cannot deceive us In the State above where reason is
rectified and inlarged we shall understand that from Eternity God was sole existing but not solitary that the Godhead is not confus'd in Unity nor divided in number that there is a priority of Order but no superiority among the Sacred Persons but they are all equally possess'd of the same Divine Excellencies and the same Divine Empire and are the Object of the same Divine Adoration Our Saviour tells his Disciples In that Day ye shall know that I am in the Father that is by unity of Essence and as naturally and necessarily God as the Father This Promise immediately refers to the time of pouring forth the Holy Ghost upon them after the Resurrection of our Saviour but shall be fully accomplish'd in Heaven All things of a supernatural Order shall be reveal'd The great Mystery of Godliness God manifest in the Flesh the union of the high Perfections of the Divine Nature with the innocent Imperfections of the Humane Nature the contrivance of our Redemption wherein there is an harmonious concurrence and concord of the principal Attributes of the Deity that seem'd irreconcileable that product of the Divine Wisdom that is so ador'd by the Angels that astonishes and saves us shall be unfolded The Divine Counsels in governing the World the Designs the Ways the Orders and Operations of God's Providence shall be conspicuous In some Dispensations of God we discern the Eye in the top of his Scepter the Wisdom the Rectitude the equity of his Providence is so visible in the defence of the Innocent and his Justice and Power in the punishment of the Guilty that it may convince the Atheists who deny a Providence and causes all sincere Believers to admire and reverence it But there are other Dispensations the immediate Reasons of which are so conceal'd in the Bosom of God that only the Lamb with whose Blood the Elect to Glory are written in the Book of Life can reveal Why the Light of the Gospel was never visible to so many Kingdoms why many are called and few chosen the unsearchable Ways and incomprehensible Judgments of God which St. Paul in an extasy admires which 't is not lawful to inquire in here we shall then understand in such a manner that Light it self is not more clear How often are the People of God here in miserable Perplexities and say with the Prophets Verily thou art a God that hidest thy self O God of Israel the Saviour 'T is true a stedfast Faith in the Providence of God that all that he does and all that he permits and disposes is best will quiet their Passions and change the tempestuous Ocean into the pacifick-Sea but when they are admitted into the Council of State above and see the immediate Reasons of his Decrees what a heavenly Wonder what an exquisite Pleasure will fill their Minds when the original Fountains of Wisdom as clear as deep shall be open'd what sweet Satisfaction will be shed abroad in their Spirits They will see the Beauty of Providence in disposing temporal Evils in order to their eternal Felicity that as in a curious Picture the darkest Tinctures are so dispos'd as to give Life and Grace to the orient Colours So all the Afflictions of this State were but shadows or foiles to make their Faith and Love and Patience more resplendent and their Reward more excellent What our Saviour said to Peter is applicable to the impenetrable dispensations of Providence to us in our mortal State What I do thou knowest not now but shall know hereafter then the Arcana Imperii the Secrets of his Counsels shall be unsealed and we shall be able to expound the perplexing Riddle how out of the Eater came Meat and out of the Strong came Sweetness we shall understand that his over-ruling Providence is most eminently glorified in extracting Good out of Evil for we shall know as we are known 2. I will consider the blessed Effects of the Vision of God in Heaven upon the Saints Our Saviour tells us This is Life eternal to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent The beginning and introduction of our Felicity is by a lively Faith here the consummation of it is by present sight in Heaven From the Vision of his Glory there will be a resultance of his likeness imprest on us We shall be like him for we shall see him as he is All the Perfection and Happiness of the Saints is comprised in that Promise The Sun when the Sky is clear and serene forms its Image on a Cloud temper'd to receive it with that orient brightness that the Eye cannot distinguish between the Copy and the Original Thus the uncreated Sun by powerful emanations transforms the Soul into its likeness in that divine Degree of Holiness and Felicity as gloriously resembles God Moses by conversing with God in the Mount and seeing his back-parts return'd to the Israelites with such a radiancy in his Face that they could not look on it without a Vail What an impression of Glory is in the Saints who see his Perfections in their infinite lustre 'T is the priviledge of Christians in this Life above the Church under the Law They behold in the Gospel as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord and are chang'd into the same Image from Glory to Glory they become more Holy and Heavenly more purified and adorn'd with his Vertues and Graces Now if the Vision of Christ here in a Glass an eclipsing Medium be so influxive upon Believers what an illustrious and infallible efficacy has the immediate clear and permanent view of his Glory upon the Saints in Heaven That sight is productive and conservative of his Image in its purity and perfection for ever The Divine Presence affects the Saints with the most humble reverence and solemn veneration of God This is an eternal respect due from the intellectual Creature to the Creatour upon the account of his infinite and incommunicable Excellencies He is distinguish'd not only from Idols but from Creatures of the highest Order by his essential supreme and singular Name I AM. Every kind of Being every spark of Life every degree of Perfection is from his Efficiency and depends entirely upon his supporting Power The most eminent Qualities of the Creatures are but in show and appearance compar'd with the reality and stability of his glorious Nature In the Scripture Wisdom Holiness Goodness Power Truth Immortality are attributed to God with the exclusion of all Creatures from those Prerogatives they being his essential infinite and wise incomparable Perfections They are separable Qualities in the Creatures like the gilding and enamaling of baser Metal but in the Deity they are like substantial massy Gold There is a vast distance between created Beings but the Distance between a Fly or a Worm and an Angel is nothing to the distance between an Arch-angel and God there being no comparison between finite and infinite All Creatures equally vanish and disappear as nothing compar'd to
the glorious Creatour As if one from the Region of the Stars should look down upon the Earth the Mountains and Hills with the Vallies would appear one flat Surface an equal Plain the height and the lowness of the several parts being indiscernible at that immense distance Now in Heaven the Divine Majesty is most visible and most awful and adorable The sublimest Spirits cover their Faces before his glorious Brightness The Prophet Isaiah had a representation of Heaven I saw the Lord sitting upon a Throne high and lifted up and his Train filled the Temple Above it stood the Seraphims each one had six Wings With twain he cover'd his Face with twain he cover'd his Feet with twain he did fly And one cried to another and said Holy holy holy Lord of Hosts the whole Earth is full of his Glory They highly honour him by the reflection of his separate and peerless Excellencies his Almighty Power his Infinite Supremacy and Eternal Empire in their consert of Praises This is the principal Duty of Angels and Men to the blessed Creator for his admirable Perfections and his excellent Benefits The Evidence of it is so entire that the reasonable Mind cannot suspend its Assent for Goodness and Beauty the Fruit and the Flower of amiable Things do so recommend them to the Understanding and Will that they powerfully allure and engage the Affections Now these are in God in unspeakable degrees of Eminence The Prophet breaks out in a rapture How great is his Goodness how great is his Beauty 'T was a Precept of the Ceremonial Law that the Firstlings of the Flock and the first and best Fruits of the Earth should be offer'd to God not as if the first that open'd the Belly was more valuable in his Account than the last or the most early Fruits in the Spring more pleasing to him than the later in the Autumn but 't was instructive that our Love the first born of the Soul and the beginning of its strength should be consecrated to God 2. In Heaven the Saints as perfectly love God as they know him The Love of God is the Essential Character of a Saint that distinguishes him from the Unregenerate Indeed it is strange that God who is infinitely lovely and infinitely liberal and benificent should not prevail on the Hearts of all Men but if we consider the degeneracy of Mankind how their Minds are depraved and deceived and their Affections are vitiated the Wonder will cease Carnal Men have not due Conceptions of God and will not attentively observe his amiable Perfections St. John tells us He that loveth not doth not know God Knowledg is the leading Principle in the Operations of the Soul There must be a heavenly Eye to discover the heavenly Beauty before there can be love of it Now Men are in ignorant darkness and are defiled in Flesh and Spirit and therefore cannot love God who is glorious in Holiness Without resemblance there can be no affectionate Union which is the Essence of Love The contrariety of Dispositions infers a contrariety of Affections The Scripture expresses this in dreadful Colours The carnal Mind is enmity against God the Friendship of the World is enmity with God that is Pride and Covetousness and Sensuality which are the Lusts of the Carnal Mind and are terminated upon worldly Things are inconsistent with the Love of God The Justice of God is terrible to the Consciences and his Holiness odious to the Affections of the Unrenewed 'Till by Divine Grace the Understanding is enlightned and purified to have right apprehensions of God till the Will and Affections are cleansed and changed till there be a resemblance of God's holy Nature and a conformity to his holy Laws they are not capable of delightful adhering to him which is the internal essential Property of Love But those who are partakers of the Divine Nature the holy and heavenly taste and see how good the Lord is and according to the Illustrations of the Mind such are the Impressions upon the Heart the Love of God in their Breasts here is like smoaking Flax but in Heaven 't is a triumphant Flame God is the first Fair the Original of all amiable Excellencies in whom they shine in their unstained Lustre and Perfection when he fully reveals himself and displays the richest Beams of his Love and Glory how transporting and endearing is that Sight Our Affections that are now scatter'd on many things wherein some faint Reflections of his Goodness appear shall then be united in one full Current to him who is all in all In Heaven the immense Treasures of his Grace are reveal'd That when Man for his rebellious Sin was justly expell'd from Paradise and under the Sentence of Eternal Death God should not only pardon but prefer us to the dignity of his Children and prepare such a Glory for us and us for such a Glory This will inspire the Saints with such ardent Affections that will make them equal to the Angels those pure and everlasting Flames of Love to God In Heaven we shall be with Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant who is seated at the right Hand of God And how admirable will he appear to the Sense and Soul of every glorified Saint for we shall see the King in his Beauty When our Saviour was upon the Holy Mount and one vanishing Beam of Glory appear'd in his Transfiguration Peter was so transported at the sight that he forgot the World and himself How ravishing then will the sight of him in his Triumphant Majesty be when we shall be transfigur'd our selves Now while Believers are in the shadows of the earthly State they love their unseen Saviour with such intense degrees of affection as deface all the washy Colours all the vain loves of things in this World but when they are admitted into his shining Presence and see him in the day of Celestial Glory with what an extasy of Affection will they be transported We shall then feel the endearing Obligations our Saviour has laid upon us who ransom'd us with so rich a Price and purchas'd for us such an unvaluable Inheritance For in proportion as we shall understand his Greatness in himself we shall his Goodness to us The Eternal Son of God descended from the Heaven of Heavens to our lowly Earth and which is more from the Majesty wherein he there reign'd and was visible to the Angels he became Man that he might die to redeem us from the most woful Captivity from Death and the sting of Death Sin and the strength of Sin the Law and obtain a blessed Life and Immortality for us O unexampled Love Greater Love hath no Man than this to lay down his Life for his Friend And what is the Life of a sinful Man a vanishing Vapour a Life mix'd with Troubles and Vexation and to lay down this for a Friend deservedly dear is the highest expression of humane Love But for the Son of God to lay down his Life
considered as an Affection of Friendship is always attended with two Desires to be assured of Reciprocal Love and to enjoy the Conversation of the Person beloved the testimony of his Esteem and Good-will This kind of Affection seems to be inconsistent with that infinite distance that is between God and the Creature But tho 't is disproportionable to the Divine Majesty 't is proportionable to his Goodness Accordingly our Saviour promises He that loves me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and manifest my self unto him And to confirm our belief of this astonishing Condescention repeats it If a Man love me my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our abode with him In the present state the signs of God's special Favour are exhibited to his Friends Now he bestows on them the honour of being his Sons the Graces and Comforts of his Spirit the precious Earnests of his Love and Seal of their Redemption But in eminency of degrees the Emanations of his Love and the Effects of his Beneficence are incomparably more glorious in Heaven Here the Saints are adopted there crown'd There he opens all the bright Treasures of his Wisdom the Riches of his Goodness the Beauties of his Holiness the Glories of his Power and by the intimate application of his Presence makes his Love most sensible to them Infinite Goodness excites and draws forth all the Powers of the Soul and fills the utmost Capacity and Expansion of the Spirit From hence perpetual Pleasure and Satisfaction springs O the pure Delights between God and glorified Souls God looks on them with an engaged Eye as his own by many dear Titles and is ravish'd with the Reflex of his own Excellencies shining in them As the Bridegroom rejoices over the Bride 't is the Language of Divine Love so their God rejoices over them The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty he will save he will rejoice over thee with joy he will rest in his love he will rejoice over thee with singing He is infinitely delighted in the communication of his Goodness to them And what a blessed Rest do they find in the compleat fruition of his Goodness All their Desires quietly expire in his Bosom What triumphs of Joy follow Can we frame a fuller Conception of Happiness than to be perfectly loved by the best and most blessed Being and perfectly to love him and to partake of the richest Emanations of his Loving-kindness that is far more valuable and desireable than Life it self How precious and joyful will the Presence of Christ be to the Saints 'T was his Prayer on Earth Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory When the Saints are received into the Everlasting Kingdom the first Object that draws their admiring regards is Christ on the Throne Inestimable Felicity whether we consider him as the Son of God in whose conspicuous Countenance all the Glory of his Father shines or as the Saviour of Men and the Head of the Elect upon a double account partly that he that loved us and wash'd us from our Sins in his Blood after suffering all Indignities and Cruelties for our sake has received the Reward of his meritorious Sufferings the triumph of his Victory being glorified with the Father with the Glory he had before the World was and partly because every Member shall be conform'd to him in Glory The sight of the Face of Moses when radiant had no transforming Efficacy for the Light of it was not in him as its Spring but by derivation But the Son of God is Light essentially and the sight of his Glory will transform us into his Likeness And how dear and joyful is the presence of the Saints to Christ He then sees of the travel of his Soul the fruit of his sharp Sufferings and bleeding Love and is satisfied How delightful is it to him to see all his Spiritual Progeny safely brought to Heaven and made partakers of his Glory and Joy in his everlasting Kingdom For according to the extent of the Object and dearness of the Affection Joy rises He will then present them to his Father with infinite complacency Behold here am I and the Children whom thou hast given me The dearest Affections of Christ and the Saints in Heaven are mutual and reflexive In the Sacred Song the expressions of Love Desire and Joy borrowed from the espousals of Solomon and his beloved Wife are as it were Characters in the Bark to be understood in a spiritual Sense of the Mystical Marriage of Christ and the Church What endearing entercourse is there between the most perfect Lover and his Spouse inspir'd with the same pure Flam Here amiable Perfections attract his Eye and Heart Thou art all fair my Love there is no spot in thee His propriety in the Church is his unvaluable Treasure My Vineyard which is mine is ever before me He repeats the word Mine in the sweetest and most tender manner And the Church with the same harmonious Affections speaks of Christ. She contemplates in a soft extasy his ever-satisfying Beauty My Beloved is the chiefest of ten thousand he is altogether lovely She breaks forth in triumph My Beloved is mine and I am his By all their expressions of joyful Love and Union we may ascend in our Thoughts what are the Joys of Heaven where the Communion of Christ and the Church is entire and uninterrupted for ever If Faith and Love of our unseen Saviour produce a Joy unspeakable and glorious as if Believers were wrap'd up to Paradise or Paradise descended into them what will the sight and fruition of him There is as great a difference in degrees between the Joy that flows from the assurance and application of Faith and the Joy from Vision and full Possession as between the impression of Joy the Forerunner of Christ felt when he sprang in the Womb at the coming of our Saviour and his ravishing Joy when he saw Christ and pointed him out to his Disciples Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the Sins of the World 3. The supream Joy of the Saints is for the Felicity and Glory of God himself For as the holy Soul feels no more powerful motive to love God than because he is most worthy of it as he is God a Being of infinite Excellencies and therefore to be loved above the dearest Persons and Things even it self so the highest Joy it partakes of is from this consideration that God is infinitely blessed and glorious For in this the supream desire of Love is accomplish'd that the most beloved Object is perfectly honour'd and pleased In Heaven the Love of the Saints to God is in its highest Perfection and they see his Glory in the most perfect manner which causes a transcendent Joy to them And this is one reason why the Saints tho shining with unequal degrees of
rejoice and triumph in the Happiness of one another With what an unimaginable tenderness do they embrace What Reciprocations of Endearments are between them O their ravishing Conversation and sweet Entercourse for their Presence together in Heaven is not a silent Show In the Transfiguration Moses and Elias talk'd with Christ We may understand a little of it by the sensible complacence that is among sincere Friends here In pure Amity there is a threefold Union a Union of Resemblance that is the principle of it likeness causes Love a Union of Affection that is its Essence 't is said of Jonathan that incomparable Friend his Soul was knit with the Soul of David and he loved him as his own Soul the Union of Conversation that is requisite to the satisfaction of Love What an entertainment of Love and Joy is there in the presence and discourses of dear Friends their mutual Aspects like a Chain compos'd of Spirits luminous and active draw and fasten their Souls to one another The Felicity of Love consists in their Conversation Now in Heaven whatever is pleasant in Friendship is in Perfection and whatever is distastful by Mens Folly and Weakness is abolish'd With what excellent Discourses do they entertain one another If David felt such inward Pleasure from the sense of God's Favours that he could not restrain the expression of it but invites the Saints Come and hear all ye that fear the Lord and I will tell you what he has done for my Soul Certainly in Heaven the Blessed with overflowing Affections recount the Divine Benefits the admirable Methods whereby the Life of Grace was begun preserv'd and carried on in the midst of Temptations the continual Succession of Mercies in the time of their Hopes and the Consummation of all in the time of their enjoyment How joyfully do they concur in their Thanksgivings to God for the Goodness of Creation in making them reasonable Creatures capable to know love and enjoy him when they might have been of the lowest Order in the whole Sphere of Beings for his compassionate Care and Providence over them in this World but especially for his sovereign and singular Mercy in electing them to be Vessels of Honour for his powerful Grace in rescuing them from the cruel and ignominious Bondage of Sin for his most free Love that justified them from all their Guilt by the Death of his only Son and glorified them with himself They are never weary in this delightful Exercise but continually bless him for his Mercy that endures for ever We may judg by the Saints here when they are in a fit disposition to praise God what Fervors they feel in their united Praises of him in Heaven The Psalmist in an Extasy calls to all the parts of the World to join with him The Lord reigns let the Heavens rejoice and the Earth be glad let the Sea roar let the Fields be joyful and all that dwell therein He desires that Nature should be elevated above it self that the dead parts be inspired with Life the insensible feel motions of Joy and those that want a Voice break forth in Praises to adorn the Divine Triumph With what Life and Alacrity will the Saints in their blessed Communion celebrate the Object of their Love and Praises The Seraphims about the Throne cried to one another to express their Zeal and Joy in celebrating his Eternal Purity and Power and the Glory of his Goodness O the unspeakable Pleasure of this Concert when every Soul is harmonious and contributes his part to the full Musick of Heaven O could we hear but some Eccho of those Songs wherewith the Heaven of Heavens resounds some remains of those Voices wherewith the Saints above triumph in the Praises in the solemn Adoration of the King of Spirits how would it inflame our Desires to be join'd with them Blessed are those that are in thy House they always praise thee 3. The fulness of Joy in Heaven is everlasting without defect and without end 1. 'T is undecaying the productive Causes are conservative of it being always equal Those are the beatifick Object and the continual fruition of it Whilst we are here below the Sun of Righteousness as to our perception and sense has Ascensions and Declinations Accesses and Recesses And our Earth is not so purified but some Vapours arise that intercept his chearful refreshing Light From hence there are alternate successions of Spiritual Comforts and Sorrows of Doubts and filial Confidence in the Saints 'T is a rare Favour of Heaven when an humble Believer in his whole course is so circumspect as not to provoke God to appear displeased against him When a Christian as those tutelar Angels spoken of in the Gospel always beholds the Face of his Heavenly Father and converses with him with an holy Liberty And what a torment the hiding of God's Face is to a deserted Soul only they know who feel it External troubles are many times attended with more Consolations to the Spirit than Afflictions to Sense but to love God with a transcendent Affection and to fear he is our Enemy no Punishment exceeds or is equal to it As his Loving-kindness in their esteem is better than Life so his Displeasure is worse than Death How do they wrestle with God by Prayers and Tears and offer as it were a holy Violence to the King of Heaven to recover their first serenity of Mind the lost Peace of Heart How passionately do they cry out with Job in the Book of his Patience O that I were as in months past as in the days when God preserved me when his Candle shin'd upon my head and when by his Light I walk'd through darkness As I was in the days of my youth when the Secret of God was upon my Tabernacle And sometimes God delays the revealing himself even to his dearest Children not that he does not see their Necessities and hears their Prayers or is so hard that till their Extremities he is not moved with Compassion but for wise and holy Reasons Either that they may not return to folly if by any presumptuous Sin they forfeited their Peace or if they have been careful to please him yet he may deprive them of Spiritual Comforts for a time to keep them humble and that with an obedient resignation to his Sovereign Pleasure they may wait for his reviving Presence And then Joy returns greater than before For thus God usually renders with interest what he suspended only for trial But the Saints above are for ever enlightned with the vital splendor and dear regards of his Countenance always enjoy his beamy smiles A continual effusion of Glory illustrates Heaven and all its blessed Inhabitants And their Contemplation of God is fixed If the Object though extraordinary glorious were transient or the Eye so weak that it could only see it but by glances the height of Joy would not be perpetual But the mind is prepar'd with supernatural vigour to see the brightness
of God's Face and by the most attentive application always converses with that blessed Object so that the Joy of Heaven is never intermitted for a moment They always see and love and rejoice and praise him 'T is possible a carnal suspicion may arise in some as if the uniform perpetual vision of the same Glory might lose its perfect delightfulness For those who seek for happiness in the vanity of the Creatures are always desirous of change and have their Judgments so corrupted that while they languish with a secret desire after an unchangeable Good yet they conceive no Good as desireable that is not changed But to correct this gross errour of Fancy let us a little enquire into the causes of Dissatisfaction that make the constant fruition of the same thing here to be tedious Sensible things are of such a limited Goodness that not any of them can supply all our present wants so that 't is necessary to leave one for another And the most of them are Remedies of our diseased Appetites and if not temperately used are destructive Evils Eating and Drinking are to extinguish Hunger and Thirst but continued beyond just measure become nauseous Besides the Insufficiency of their Objects the Senses themselves cannot be satisfied all at once The Ear cannot attend to delightful Sounds and the Eye be intent on beautiful Colours at the same time The Satisfaction of one Sense defeats another of enjoying its proper good therefore the same Object is not constantly pleasant but the Heart is distemper'd from as many Causes as there are desires unaccomplish'd Add farther all things under the Sun afford only a superficial delight and miserably deceive the Expectations raised of them and many times there is a mixture of some evil in them that is more offensive than the good is delightful The Honey is attended with a Sting so that often those very things we sigh after through vehement desire when they are obtain'd we sigh for grief Now all these Causes of dissatisfaction cease in Heaven for there is an infinite variety in God and whatever is truly desirable is eminently enjoyed in him And in his Presence all the Powers of the Soul are drawn out in their most pleasant exercise and always enjoy their entire happiness The fruition of him exceeds our most raised hopes as much as he is more glorious in Himself than in any borrowed Representations God will be to us incomparably above what we can ask or think The compass of our thoughts the depth of our desires are imperfect measures of his Perfections And as he is a Pure Good in Himself so he is prevalent over all Evil. 'T is evident therefore that nothing can allay the Joys of Saints when they are in God's presence 2. Novelty is not requisite to ingratiate every Good and make it perfectly delightful God is infinitely happy to whom no Good was ever new 'T is indeed the Sauce that gives a delicious taste to inferior things For Men relish only what is eminent and the good things of this World are so truly mean that they are feign to borrow a shew of Greatness by comparison with a worse estate preceding But an infinite Good produces always the same pure equal compleat Joy because it arises from its intrinsick perfection that wants no Foil to commend it The Psalmist breaks forth Whom have I in Heaven but Thee This is no vanishing Rapture but a constant joyful height of Affection God the essential Happiness of the Saints is always perfectly lovely and delightful to them 3. The glorified Saints in every Period of their happy state have as lively a perception of it as in the beginning To make this evident we must consider that the pleasure of Novelty springs from a quick sense of the opposite terms between our condition in the want of some desired Good and after our obtaining it Now the Mind is more intense on the advantage and more strongly affected at first One newly freed from the torments of a sharp disease feels a greater pleasure than from a constant tenour of health Those who are rais'd from a low state to eminent Dignity are transported with their first change but in tract of time the remembrance of their mean condition is so weakned and spent that 't is like the shadow of a Dream and proportionably their Joy is lessened Honours like Perfumes by custom are less sensible to those that carry them But the Saints above always consider and feel the excellent difference between their suffering and triumphant state They never lose that ravishing part of felicity the vivid sense of past evils Their reflections are always as strong on the Misery from whence they were rais'd to the pitch of Happiness as in their first glorious Translation In what an Extasy of wonder and pleasure will they be from the fresh memory of what they were and the joyful sense of what they are I was says the admiring Soul poor blind and naked but O miraculous and happy Alteration I am full of Light enrich'd with the Treasures of Heaven adorn'd with Divine Glory I was under the tyrannous power of Satan but he is bruised under my feet I was sentenc'd to an everlasting separation from the Presence of God my only Life and Joy but now am possest of my supream Good O how transporting is the comparison of these wide and contrary extreams How beautiful and pleasant is the Day of Eternity after such a dark tempestuous Night How does the remembrance of such Evils produce a more lively and feeling fruition of such Happiness How strangely and mightily does Salvation with Eternal Glory affect the Soul This gives a spritely accent to their everlasting Hallelujahs This preserves an affectionate Heat in their Thanksgivings to their Victorious Deliverer And thus their Happiness is always the same and always new Their Pleasure is continued in its Perfection The number of Possessors cannot lessen their Felicity The Divine Presence is an unwasted Spring of Pleasure equally full and open to all and abundantly sufficient to satisfy the immensity of their Desires Envy reigns in this World because earthly things are so imperfect in their Nature and so peculiar in their Possession that they cannot suffice nor be enjoyed by all But in Heaven none is touch'd with that base low Passion for God contains all that is precious and desirable in the highest degrees of Perfection and all partake of his Universal Goodness without intercepting one another In the Kingdom of Heaven there is no cause for the Elder Brother to repine at the Father's Bounty to the Younger nor for the Younger to supplant the Elder to obtain the Birth-right The Heirs of God are all rais'd to Sovereign Glory and every one enjoys him as entirely and fully as if solely his Felicity God is a Good as indivisible as infinite and not diminished by the most liberal communications of Himself We may illustrate this by comparing the Price of our Redemption
partaker of the Divine Nature and elevates him above himself This holy Change is wrought by Divine Power Our Saviour tells Nicodemus Except a Man be born of Water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God The Analogy of a new Birth signifies that 't is entirely the Work of the sanctifying Spirit that conveys a Principle of Life in order to the Functions of it 'T is the living Impression of God the sole Efficient and Exemplar of it the Fruit and Image of the Divine Vertues 'T is exprest by the new Creature The production of it is attributed to God's Power displaying it self in a peculiar excellent way even in that precise manner as in making the World For as in the first Creation all things were made originally of nothing so in the second the Habit of Grace is infused into the Soul that was utterly void of it and in which there was as little preparation for true Holiness as of Nothing to produce this great and regular World And altho there is not only an absolute privation of Grace but a fierce resistance against it yet creating invincible Power does as infallibly and certainly produce its Effect in forming the new Creature as in making the World From hence it appears that preventing renewing Grace is so intirely the Work of God as his forming the humane Body from the Dust of Earth at first But with this difference the first Creation was done without any sense in the Subject of the efficiency of the Divine Power in producing it but in the new Creation Man feels the vital Influence of the Spirit applying it self to all his Faculties reforming and enabling them to act according to the quality of their Nature And by the way we may observe the admirable Grace shewed to Man in the renovation of his corrupted Nature In the composition of his Being are united a Spirit like the Angels and a Body like terrestrial Animals by which he partakes of the spiritual and natural Life but he has peculiar Favours conferred upon him For whereas his Soul sinn'd with the Angels and his Body dies with the Beasts yet God is pleased to restore them by his glorious Power An Angel after Sin never repents and is therefore incapable of Pardon and irrecoverably disinherited of Heaven a Beast after Death never revives but though Man sins and dies yet his Soul may be renewed by Divine Grace and his Body shall be raised in an incorruptible Glory Now the indispensable necessity of this holy Change is evident from the Words of our Saviour for he speaks universally Except a Man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God He does not simply declare that an unregenerate Man shall not but with the greatest Emphasis cannot to signify an absolute impossibility of it The Jews highly presumed of the priviledg of their carnal Birth they sprang from the pure and noble Blood of Abraham God's Friend they had the Seal of the Holy Covenant mark'd in their Flesh and hence it was proverbial amongst them that every Israelite should have a part in the World to come But our Saviour overthrows this vain conceit and tells them that the supernatural Birth entitles to the supernatural Inheritance Circumcision then and Baptism now without real Grace is an ineffectual sign of no avail to Salvation In the quality of Sons we are Heirs of God's Kingdom And that honourable Relation we have upon a double account by Adoption and Regeneration Divine Adoption is not a meer change of our state a naked Declaration that one shall be dignified with the Title of God's Son but a holy Nature is always infused into the Person whereby he is made like to God in his Excellencies In this it differs from humane Adoption that gives the Name and Arms the Honour and Estate of the Adopter to a Person without conveying any of his intellectual or moral Endowments Whom God adopts he begets to a Divine Life Besides our Saviour purchased this high Priviledg for us God sent his Son made of a Woman under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the Adoption of Sons By Union with him we receive the investiture of this Dignity Now whoever is in Christ is a new Creature For the quickning Spirit that is to the Soul what the Soul is to the Body the principle of Life and Strength of Beauty and Motion and an active purifying Faith that is influential upon all other Graces are the Band of that vital Union So that as all in Adam are universally corrupt by the first Birth all that are in Christ are made holy by a new Birth But of this I shall speak in the next Chapter more fully under a distinct Head Briefly the Spirit of Grace that sanctifies is the Spirit of Adoption that seals our Right to that Kingdom Now the Reasons why this Change must be in order to our obtaining of Heaven are these 1. There is an exquisite Wisdom shines in all God's Works in disposing them for the ends to which they are appointed and is it not monstrously absurd to imagin he will admit into his Presence and Kingdom those that are absolutely unqualified for its Blessedness and opposite to its Purity 2. His invariable Justice excludes for ever all unholy Persons from Heaven For in the last Judgment God will be glorified as a Governour in the distribution of Rewards with respect to the Obedience and Disobedience of Men. 'T is worthy of observation that the Actions of God on the reasonable Creatures are of two sorts Some proceed from his soveraign good Pleasure of which there is no motive or reason in the Subjects on which they are terminated Thus by a free and insuperable Decree when all Mankind laps'd and miserable was in his view he chose some to be Vessels of Mercy and by priviledg separated them from the rest that finally perish Now what induc'd him to place a singular Love on the Elect There was nothing in them to incline his Compassion being equally guilty and depraved with the rest of the Progeny of Adam This difference therefore is to be resolved into his unaccountable and adorable Will as the sole cause of it Thus God declares it to be his glorious Prerogative I will have Mercy on whom I will have Mercy and I will have Compassion on whom I will have Compassion And this is no unjust acceptance of Persons For as a Benefactor he may dispense his own Favours as he pleases A Gift from meer and arbitrary Bounty may be bestowed on some and not on others without injustice But there are other Actions of God for which there is an evident reason in Men on whom they are terminated Thus as the supreme Judg without respect of Persons he will judg and reward every Man according to his Works The Evangelical Law as was toucht on before is the rule of eternal Judgment and gives a right from the gracious
Life by the Promises of the Gospel 2. We must chuse Heaven as our supream Happiness and regard it as the main end of our Lives Man fell from his Duty and Felicity by preferring sensual Pleasure before the Favour of God and became guilty of the greatest Disobedience and Dishonour to his Maker and is restored by the holy change of his Will the setting his Affections on a pure Spiritual Blessedness This subliming the Will and turning its Love and Choice from the Creatures to God is the effect of Divine Grace and wrought in a rational way For Man is not moved as artificial Engines by force nor as Brutes from necessity their Faculties being determined by the outward application of Objects he is not drawn up to Heaven by such a natural impression as Steel by the Load-stone nor forc'd by a violent motion as a Stone ascends but as an understanding free Agent by the direction of the enlightned Mind and the consent of the Will an elective unconstrained Faculty And herein the Wisdom Goodness and Equity of God's Transactions with Man appears His Wisdom in that as he has ordered in the whole sphere of Nature that the active Powers of every Creature be drawn forth into exercise for their preservation and accordingly he is pleased to work in and by them so the Understanding and Will the Principles of Operation in Man are to deliberate and choose in order to his Happiness Otherwise the rational Faculties would be in vain His Goodness and Equity in that he sets before them Eternal Life as the Reward of Obedience God will be glorified by him as a Law-giver and a Benefactor and has ordained in the Gospel that all who chuse and diligently seek the Kingdom of Heaven shall infallibly obtain it and none be deprived of it but for their neglect The Decree of a final state of Misery though not in time yet is consequent in the order of causes to the obstinate reluctancy of Sinners against restoring Grace and the wilful forsaking their own Mercies Therefore God vindicates the Equity of his Proceedings with Men by their own Principles and with tender pity expostulates Why will ye die The corrupt Will declining from God and adhering to the Creature as its Happiness is the true cause of Man's ruin This will infinitely clear the Wisdom and Justice the Purity and Goodness of God from all Imputation The choice of Heaven for our Felicity is primarily to be determined for 't is from the prospect of it that all holy Counsels derive their Life and Vigour As in drawing the Picture of a Man the first work is to delineate the Head not only as the part that in dignity and eminence is above the rest but as it regulates the drawing of the other parts and gives a just proportion and correspondence between them without which the whole Figure becomes disordered and monstrous Thus in the moral consideration of Man that which is primarily to be considered is the Soul and its final Felicity as incomparably more excellent than the Body and its Pleasures for this will have a powerful influence upon the whole Life directing to avoid what is inconsistent and impertinent and to do what is conducive to it Now this being a matter of unspeakable importance I will First Shew what the regular Choice of Heaven includes as to its Qualities and Effects Secondly Direct how to make this Choice Thirdly Present some powerful Motives to excite us to it The Qualities of this Choice are three 1. It must be sincere and cordial 2. Early in our first and best Days 3. Firm and constant 1. It must be sincere and cordial The most essential and active Desire in humane Nature is to Happiness but there being two kinds of good Things presented to the Will that solicit the Affections the Pleasures of Sense and spiritual Joys from hence it is that that which makes Men happy is the Object of Election And although there is nothing more uniform and inviolable than the natural inclination to Happiness yet the great distinction of Mankind arises from this source the regular or perverse use of this Inclination the wise or mistaking choice of Happiness Now the sincerity of our Choice is discovered when 't is clear and entire arising from a transcendent esteem of the Favour and Enjoyment of God as our chief Good and absolutely requisite for us And from hence it is evident that the Choice of true Happiness necessarily includes the despising and rejecting of the false Happiness that stands in competition with it There cannot be two reigning Principles in the Soul for it cannot vigorously apply it self to two Objects at the same time Our Saviour has decided it No Man can serve two Masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or hold to the one and despise the other ye cannot serve God and Mammon The Masters are irreconcileable and their Commands are directly opposite It was as possible to place upon the same Altar the Ark of God and the Idol of the Philistins as that Heaven and the World should compound and take equal shares in our Affections Indeed if the Conceptions in the Mind are but faint and floating of the universal satisfying Goodness of the Object proposed to make us happy the Will remains in suspence but when 't is clearly and strongly represented the Heart is drawn entirely to embrace it Divine Grace by the illumination of the Understanding purifies and changes the depraved Will and heals the distempered Affections The wise Merchant that had a discerning Eye saw reason enough to part with all that he might gain the Pearl of Price the Grace and Glory of the Kingdom of Heaven The Apostle declares his resolute contempt of the concurrence of all the Prerogatives either the Law or the World could afford him that he might have an Interest in Christ the Reconciler and Restorer of Man to the Favour and Fellowship of God But what things were gain to me those I counted loss for Christ yea doubtless I count all things but loss for the Excellency of the Knowledg of Jesus Christ my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I might win Christ. The glorious Gospel is the brightest and most pleasant Light that ever shone upon the World a Revelation of the deepest Wisdom and most admirable Love wherein the Combination of God's holy and wonderful Counsels for our Salvation is unfolded and accordingly St. Paul with the greatest Life of Affection sets forth his value of it and by full and most vilifying Expressions rejects all things in comparison of it 2. The Sincerity of the Heavenly Choice is discovered by a zealous observance of the Means requisite in order to it Inanimate things incline to rest in their Centre the Rational intend and pursue it The blessed End when valued and respected according to its worth excites and directs the Affections and Endeavours in that order
they are ever totally deserted by the Holy Spirit and left under the reigning Power of Sin The Threatnings are intended to awaken their Care and are Preservatives of them from Ruin and have a singular Influence on their Perseverance A vigilant and cautious Fear establishes the certainty of their Hope Indeed from the Reliques of weakness and corruption in the Saints they sometimes actually fall into presumptuous Sins and by rebellious relapses wound Conscience and let out much of the vital Spirits their Graces and Comforts But though the divine Nature in them is miserably wasted by such Sins yet 't is not abolish'd As after the Creation of Light there was never pure and total Darkness in the World Grace does not consist in a Point but is capable of Degrees The new Creature may decline in Beauty and Strength yet Life remain Between a lively and a dead Faith there may be a fainting Faith as in St. Peter for certainly our Saviour was heard in his Prayer for him that his Faith should not fail in his dreadful Temptation The Saints do not by a particular fall extinguish the first living Principles of Obedience Faith and Love nor change their last end by an entire turning from God to the World In short a single act of Wickedness does not reduce them into a state of Unregeneracy for 't is not the matter of the Sin singly considered but the disposition of the Sinner that denominates him If Grace in the Saints should utterly perish as some boldly assert their recovery would be impossible For the Apostle tells us that if those who were enlightned and had tasted of the Heavenly Gift that had been under some common Workings and lower Operations of the Spirit if such fall away universally and live in a course of Sin opposite to their former illuminations and resolutions it is impossible to renew them by Repentance how much more then if those who were truly sanctified by the holy Spirit should intirely lose all those gracious habits planted in them in their Regeneration But David though guilty of Adultery and Murder Sins of so foul a Nature as would dishonour Paganism it self and made the Enemies of God to blaspheme was restored by Repentance The Gospel propounds a remedy not only for Sins committed before Conversion but after it If any Man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous God does not revoke the Adoption nor reverse the Justification of a Believer but upon scandalous disorders the effects of Justification are suspended with respect to the new contracted guilt till there be sincere and actual Repentance He is not disinherited but his right to the Kingdom of Heaven is eclipsed as to the comfortable sense of it nay suspended till by renovation he is qualified and made fit for the enjoyment of that pure Inheritance For those Sins which are a just cause of excommunicating an Offender from the Church on Earth would exclude him from the Kingdom of Heaven without Repentance Our Saviour tells us what is bound on Earth is ratified in Heaven And the Apostle expresly declares of those kinds of Sin for which Professors must be removed from the Communion of Saints here that they are an exclusive bar from the Kingdom of Heaven But I have written to you not to keep Company if any that is called a Brother be a Fornicator or Covetous or an Idolater or a Railer or a Drunkard or an Extortioner with such a one no not to eat And know ye not that the Vnrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers nor Effeminate nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Revilers nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God If one that is truly a Child of God fall into any of these Sins till by an extraordinary Repentance he is prepared for Pardon he cannot obtain it nor have a comfortable hope of entring into Heaven For only those who are justified are glorified Indeed it is not imaginable where the Seed of God remains the vital Principle of Grace as it does in all that are born of God but that notorious Sins that cannot be concealed from the view of Conscience will cause stings and sorrows proportionable to their malignity and consequently a hatred and forsaking of them Now Perseverance principally respects the End of our Course There may be Interruptions in the way for a time but if with renewed Zeal and Diligence we prosecute our blessed End we shall not fall short of it Secondly I come now to consider the second thing propounded The Reason why Perseverance is requisite in all that will obtain Eternal Life and 't is this That their Sincerity may be discovered by constancy in Obedience under all Trials Blessed is the Man that endures Temptation for when he is tried he shall receive the Crown of Life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him The Law required unsinning Obedience as the Condition of Life the Gospel accepts of Sincerity but if that be wanting there is no Promise that gives right to the Reward Now Sincerity implies such an entire Love of God as makes a Person submit to all Duties commanded in his Law and all Trials appointed by his Providence A high Example we have of this in Abraham when he was commanded to offer up his only Son Isaac and by his own Hands for a Burnt-Offering This was to kill a double Sacrifice at one Blow for the Life of Abraham was bound up in Isaac he lived in him more dearly than in himself all his Joy all his Posterity by Sarah had died in Isaac What resentments what resistance of Nature did he suffer yet presently he address'd himself to perform his Duty Whoever saw a more glorious Victory over all the tender and powerful Passions of humane Nature O unexampled Obedience being an Original without any Precedent to imitate and without a Copy to succeed it After this clear infallible Testimony of his Sincerity the Angel declar'd from Heaven Now I know that thou fearest God seeing thou hast not withheld thy Son thine only Son from me And 't is said concerning the followers of the Lamb that they loved not their Lives unto the Death The Love of Christ that animated them in all their Sufferings was sweeter than Life and stronger than Death Indeed there was a wonderful difference in the behaviour of the Martyrs under Sufferings but in all the same Persevering Grace was evident though working variously Some in the most beautiful Flower of their Age encounter'd Fire and Sword Tormentors and Torments with that sensible Joy with those Songs of Praise to Christ as if they saw the Heavens open with St. Stephen and their Saviour ready to receive and crown them But many others as Chrysostom testifies went to the Tribunals to the Theatres to Death with many appearances of Fear Upon hearing the wild Beasts roar they were struck with horror at the sight of
the Executioners and the Instruments of Torment they were pale and trembling The Flesh seem'd to cry out O let this Cup pass from me yet weak and faint it followed the Spirit that corrected the natural desire with not my Will but thine be done As the Moon in Eclipse though obscure yet goes on in a regular course as when 't is full of Light by the reflection of the Sun So those desolate Martyrs though as it were forsaken and deprived of the bright Beams of Comfort yet persever'd in their Profession of the Truth When one Word to renounce Christianity would have saved them no Torments could force it from them but they patiently endured all Now in these the Combat of Nature was visible and the admirable Power of Grace They first overcame their own Fears the reluctancy of the carnal part their Affection to whatever is desirable in the World which is the noblest Victory and then the Cruelty of their Persecutors In them was verified the Testimony of the Spirit Here is the patience of the Saints Here are they that keep the Command of God and the Faith of Jesus But how many appear faithful while their Faith is not to be shewed by difficult Works and proved by Sufferings The Seed that fell on the stony Ground sprang up as hopeful as the Seed in the good Ground at first but when Tribulation came it wither'd away wanting the Root of Sincerity And that which was sown among Thorns was choak'd by the Cares and Pleasures of the World Some Lust in the Heart interweaves with the Affections and causes Apostacy How many from glorious Beginnings have made a lamentable End not only Mercenaries in Religion whose Zeal is a foreign Complexion not springing from an inward Principle of Life and Health relinquish even the profession of Godliness when their Gain ceases but some who have thought themselves sincere yet in times of danger their Resolutions like the morning Dew have suddenly vanish'd As the foolish Builder that computed not the Charges of his designed Work began to raise a magnificent Structure but unable to finish it laid the Foundation in his own Shame They repented their Choice of Heaven when they saw what it must cost them and would save the World with the loss of their Souls Others that began in the Spirit and with raised Affections set out in the ways of Godliness yet by the allurements of sensual Lusts and Temptations and therefore with greater Guilt leave their first Love and end in the Flesh. They fall from high Professions but received by soft Pleasures feel not the Fall These were never sincere and never had a Right to Heaven They took up sudden Resolutions not grounded in serious and deep Thoughts and for a Flash were hot and active but with great levity return to their former Lusts. The Apostle tells us of such it had been better for them they had not known the Way of Righteousness than to turn back and voluntarily to forsake it 'T is observed that boiling Water taken off from the Fire congeals more strongly than that which was never heated because the subtile Parts being evaporated by the Fire the more terrestrial Parts remaining are more capable of Cold. So those who have felt the Power of the Word in their Affections and afterwards lose that holy heat become more harden'd in their Sins God justly withdraws his Grace and the evil Spirit that was expell'd for a time returns with seven worse and aggravates his Tyranny To conclude Since the certainty of Salvation is conditional if we persevere in a holy State let us beware of a corrupt Confidence and a vicious Dejection of Spirit the trusting in our selves or distrusting God To prevent the trusting in our selves consider 1. The most excellent Creatures are by the instability of Nature liable to defection subject to a corruptive change Of this the fallen Angels are a dreadful Example who of their own motion untempted sinned in Heaven 2. The Danger is greater of falling away when they are urged and solicited by a violent or grateful Temptation Thus our first Parents fell and lost more Grace in an Hour than can be recovered by their Posterity in all Ages to the end of the World 3. When there is supervenient Corruption in the Creature that inclines them with earnest propensity to forbidden Things and takes Flame from every Spark the Danger is extream Like a besieged City that is in great hazard of taking by Assaults from without and Conspiracies from within Let us therefore be very watchful over our Hearts and Senses and keep as much as is possible at a safe distance from Temptations And be very diligent in the use of all holy Means to confirm and fortify our Resolutions for Heaven God promised to Hezekiah 15 Years but not to preserve his Life by Miracle he was obliged to repair the wastings of Nature by daily Food and to abstain from what was noxious and destructive to his Body The Apostle excites Christians to work out their own Salvation with fear and trembling for it is God that works in them to will and to do of his good Pleasure Let him that stands take heed lest he fall None are a more easy Conquest to the Tempter than those who presume upon their own Strength We should be always jealous of our selves from the sad Examples of Apostacy in every Age. St. Ambrose testifies from his own knowledg that many after the couragious enduring of cruel Torments for Religion the tearing open their Sides that their Bowels appeared and the burning of some parts of their Bodies yet when led forth to finish the Victory of Faith to be a triumphant Spectacle to Angels and Men when the blessed Rewarder was ready to put the Martyrs Crown on their Heads at the sight of their mourning Wives and Children in the way were overcome by Pity the weakest Affection and fail'd in the last act of Christian Fortitude We must pray to be strengthned with all Might according to his glorious Power unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness For some may vigorously resist one sort of Temptation and render themselves to others And if finally vanquish'd by one of those Enemies we lose our Victory and Crown And as Presumption betrays the Soul into the Devil's Snares so a vicious dejection of Spirit from a distrust of Relief from God in our Difficulties and his assistance with our unfeigned endeavours for Salvation is very pernicious For this damps Industry and causes either a total neglect or uncomfortable use of Means for that End Many Christians considering their Graces are weak their Nature fickle and apt to revolt are ready as David said One day I shall perish by the Hand of Saul to conclude sadly of the Issue of their Condition To encourage such let them consider that Perseverance is not only a Condition but a Privilege of the Covenant of Grace For that assures us of supply of spiritual Strength to the
about worldly Things is unprepar'd for such a clear calm and sedate Work A Carnal Person can taste no sweetness feel no relish in the Meditation of Heaven nor any Spiritual Duty 'T is as if one should take some delicious Fruit into his Mouth a Peach or the like without breaking the Skin it would be rather a trouble than pleasant Nay the Gospel expresly declaring That without Holiness no Man shall see God those who by vicious Affections are ingaged in any sinful way being conscious of their Guilt and unpreparedness and that while such they are under a peremptory exclusion from celestial Glory cannot endure the thoughts of Heaven The Divine Presence is their Torment and the serious consideration of it is to bring them before God's holy and just Tribunal to accuse and condemn them I shall now take a particular view of those Objects from whence Consideration derives Vigour for the inclining of the Will to a right Choice and for regulating the Life 1. Consider the End for which Man was designed in his Creation why endued with rational and noble Powers of Soul and plac'd by the Soveraign Maker in the highest rank of so numerous and various Natures that fill the Universe Is it to raise an Estate to shine in Pomp to enjoy sensual Pleasures for a little while and after the fatal term to be no more for ever Was he sent into the World upon as mean a Business as that of the foolish Emperor who employed an Army furnish'd with all Military Preparations to gather Shells upon the Sea-shore This were according to the passionate expostulation of the Psalmist to charge God that he had made all Men in vain Reason and Scripture tells us the End of Man is to glorify and enjoy God the obtaining whereof makes him perfectly happy and the missing of it perfectly miserable This is a fundamental Truth upon which the whole Fabrick of Man's Duty and Felicity is built Without this Foundation our Faith presently sinks If the clearness of this principle be obscur'd we shall wander from the way of Eternal Life and not only lose the way but the remembrance and desire of it Thinking is the property of the reasonable Soul and the just order of Consideration is that the Mind primarily regards this supream directive Truth that is to govern all our Actions 'T was prudent Counsel that one of the Antients gave for composing a Book that the Author frequently reflect upon the Title that it may correspond in all the parts with his original Design Thus it becomes a Man often to consider the End of his Being that the course of his Life may have a direct tendency to it and the more excellent our End is the more constraining is the necessity to prosecute it 'T is of great Efficacy to reflect upon our selves Whither do my Thoughts and Desires tend For what do I spend my Strength and consume my Days Will it be my last Account how much by my Prudence and Diligence I have exceeded others in temporal Acquisitions If a General were at play while the Armies are engaging would it be a noble Exploit for him to win the Game whiles his Army for want of conduct loses the Victory Will it be profitable for a Man to gain the World and lose his Soul Let Conscience answer in Truth 'T is observable what is reported of a noble Forreigner that on his Birth-day reflecting upon the Age of his Life he was surpriz'd with grief and struck with Astonishment that without a due Sense of the proper Business and End of Life he was arrived to that Age when our Days begin to decline In an instant all things seem'd to change appearance in his view Then first says he I perceived I was a Man for before I had not resolved for what I should employ my Life The issue was his serious Resolution unfeignedly to honour God sincerely to confess Christ to place his Felicity in Holiness of Life and most zealously to follow it Let any one that is not of a reprobate Mind and an incorrigibly depraved Heart duly consider the sublime and supernatural End of Man O what a marvellous change will it make in him of Carnal into Spiritual nay it would be a kind of Miracle if he continued in his sinful State How will it transform him into another Man with new Valuations new Affections and Resolutions as if he were born again with a new Soul How will it amaze him that his whole course has been a contradiction to the wise and gracious design of God that all his Industry has been a race out of the way a perpetual diversion from his main Business that his Life has been fruitless and dead to the true End of it How will he be confounded at his former Folly Then alone we act with Understanding when mov'd by our blessed End and our Actions by a strict tendency without variation issue into it 2. Consider attentively the Objects that stand in competition for our Choice the present World and Heaven to make a judicious comparison between them in their Quality and Duration First in their Quality The things of the World according to the judgment of God himself who is only Wise and Good and has the highest Authority to decide in the case are but fallacious appearances of Happiness meer Vanity And certainly the Creator knows the true worth of all things and would not disparage his own Works but would undeceive Men that are apt to judge and choose by the Eye of Sense The Apostle tells us That an Idol is nothing in the World although the matter of it may be of Gold or Marble or Wood yet it has no divine Perfection which the Idolater attributes to it So all worldly things in which Men place their chief Care and Confidence and Joy though they have some degrees of Goodness and are a transient relief to us in our passage to Eternity yet they are nothing as to perfect Felicity 'T is meerly Opinion and Conceit that makes them so valued and pleasing like a rich Dye to a slight Stuff from whence its Price arises Reason is either obscur'd or not obeyed when the World is the Object of our Choice Now what are these Appearances of Beauty and Pleasure compar'd with a Blessedness that is truly infinite Carnal Joy smiles in the Countenance flatters the Fancy touches the Sense but cannot fill the Heart but the Favour of God satisfies the Soul Thou hast put Gladness into my Heart more than when their Corn and Wine increased Carnal Joy in its highest elevation in the time of the Harvest and Vintage is incomparably less than Spiritual Joy that springs from the Light of God's Countenance The World cannot fill the narrow capacity of our Senses but divine Joys exceed our most inlarged comprehensive Faculties The Eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the Ear with hearing but the Peace of God passes all Vnderstanding The Things of the World are of
a limited Goodness Wisdom is not Strength nor Learning Riches nor Beauty Fruitfulness But God is a Vniversal Good in whom are all Attractives to raise and satisfy our Desires If Men did consider they would distinguish and despise in comparison all that is named Felicity here with the Favour of God To seek for satisfaction in the Creature and forsake him is as if one desirous to see the Light should withdraw from the presence of the Sun to borrow it from a weak Ray reflected by some obscure Matter Now if there be so vast a difference in their Nature as between a painted Vapour and the solid glorious Good between Finite and Infinite why is there not a difference accordingly in our Esteem Affections and Respects to them How unreasonable is it that a Soul capable of God should cleave to the Dust It would be most egregious folly to hang a Weight that is able to turn a great Engine upon a small Clock 't is incomparably more foolish when the love of Happiness the weight of Humane Nature which applied aright will turn our Desires to Heaven is only used to give vigorous motion to our Endeavours about earthly Things 2. Consider their Duration The Apostle tells us that the main scope of his Actions was Things invisible and gives the reason of it For the things that are seen are Temporal but the things that are not seen are Eternal To insist upon the vast difference between Temporal and Eternal may seem needless for the first Notions of things are of such uncontroulable clearness that an attempt to prove them is to light a Candle to discover the Sun Yet this Principle drawing after it such powerful Consequences for the government of our Hearts and Lives and Conscience being so remiss and the sensual Affections so rebellious 't is needful to consider this seriously that what is really assented to in Speculation may not be contradicted in Practice Now who can unfold the infinite Volume of Ages in Eternity The Understanding of an Angel can no more comprehend what is incomprehensible than the Mind of a Man A Snail will pass over an immense space as soon as an Eagle for though one dispatches more way than the other yet both are equally distant from arriving to the end of what is endless But that the Conception of Eternity may be more distinct and affecting it is useful to represent it under some temporal Resemblances that sensibly though not fully express it Suppose that the vast Ocean were distilled drop by drop but so slowly that a thousand Years should pass between every drop how many millions of Years were required to empty it Suppose this great World in its full compass from one Pole to another and from the top of the Firmament to the bottom were to be fill'd with the smallest Sand but so slowly that every thousand Years only a single Grain should be added how many Millions would pass away before it were filled If the immense Superficies of the Heavens wherein are innumerable Stars the least of which equals the magnitude of the Earth were filled with Figures of Numbers without the least vacant space and every Figure signified a Million what created Mind could tell their Number much less their Value Having these Thoughts I reply The Sea will be emptied drop by drop the Universe fill'd grain by grain the Numbers written in the Heavens will come to an end and how much of Eternity is then spent Nothing for still infinitely more remains In short what-ever is Temporal extend the continuance of it to the utmost possibility of Conception is infinitely short of Eternity A Day an Hour a Minute has some proportion with a thousand Years for that duration is determined by a certain number of Days and Hours and Minutes but Millions of Ages have no proportion to Eternity because 't is an indeterminable Duration The Mind is soon tir'd and lost in searching after Numbers to represent it 't is confounded and struck with amazing Horror and can only direct the Eye upward or downward to the two Habitations of Eternity the glorious and the miserable Heaven and Hell Now let us compare the Things of the present World with those of the future State The first are measur'd by flying Time the other remain in an unmoveable Eternity The Comforts that spring from the Earth suddenly wither and fall to it the Tree of Life flourishes only above Frequent changes from Prosperity to Adversity are the Properties of this mortal State As those who are in Voyages at Sea sometimes are in a calm and presently suffer a storm and are forc'd to alter their Course by the changing of the Winds so 't is with us in our passage here But upon the first entrance into another World all the variations of this are at an end Verily every Man at his best estate is altogether Vanity Surely every Man walks in a vain shew surely they are disquieted in vain The visible Felicity of Man is of no continuance We may frequently observe in the Evening a Cloud by the reflection of the Sun invested with so bright a Lustre and adorn'd with such a pleasant variety of Colours that in the judgment of our Eyes if an Angel were to assume a Body correspondent to his Glory it were a fit matter for it But in walking a few steps the Sun is descended beneath the Horizon and the Light withdrawn and of all that splendid flaming appearance nothing remains but a dark Vapour that falls down in a Showre Thus vanishing is the shew of Felicity here In this Sense assists Faith for the experience of every day verifies what the Scripture declares that the Fashion of this World passes away And therefore the guilty Folly of Men is aggravated to set their Eyes and Hearts upon that which is not To see one passionately dote on a Face ruin'd and deform'd with Age to be inchanted without a Charm raises wonder and exposes to contempt Yet such is the stupidity of Men to embrace with their most entire Affections the wither'd Vanities of the World that are hastening to their Period 'T was a stinging reproach to Idolaters from God None considers in his Heart neither is their Knowledg nor Vnderstanding to say I have burnt part of it in the Fire yea I have also baked Bread upon the Coals thereof I have roasted Flesh and eaten it and shall I make the residue an Abomination shall I fall down to the stock of a Tree And are not sensual Men equally guilty of such monstrous Folly for though universal Experience convince them that all things under the Sun are fading and that many times their dearest Comforts are snatch'd away from their Embraces yet who does advisedly consider and say to himself Shall I give my Heart to transient Shadows Shall I cherish vain Hopes vain Aims and Desires of obtaining Happiness in a perishing World Altho the worshipping a Stock be Idolatry of grosser Infamy yet 't is as foolish
and as destructive to set our chief Love and Joy that is only due to God upon the Creature And what follows in the Prophet is justly applicable to such Persons He feedeth on Ashes that not only afford no nourishment but is very hurtful to the Body a deceived Heart has turn'd him aside that he cannot deliver his Soul nor say Is there not a Lie in my right Hand Thus Carnal Men are so blinded with their Affections to these short-liv'd Pleasures that they cannot take the true liberty of judging and reflecting that they are deceived and delighted with empty Shadows that will suddenly end in disappointment and sorrow Briefly these glittering Fictions and false Joys cannot please without an Error in the Mind that shall last but a little while And if you saw a distracted Person sing and dance with a conceit that he is a Prince would you be willing to lose sober Reason for his phantastick Pleasure especially if you knew that his chearful Fit should suddenly change into a mournful or raging Madness for ever But the Blessedness above is unchangeable as God the Author and Object of it Eternal as the Soul that enjoys it And shall the World that passes away with the Lusts thereof turn our Affections from the undefiled immortal Inheritance Shall the vanishing appearance the fleeting Figure of Happiness be preferred before what is substantial and durable If a spark of true Reason of sincere Love to our Souls be left we shall count all things but dross and dung that we may gain the Kingdom of Glory Thus Eternity inlightens thus it counsels us To encourage us to seek the Kingdom of Heaven I shall propound other Motives to Consideration 1. God is very willing that Men should be saved and partake of his Glory For this end he has brought Life and Immortality to light in the Gospel The Lord Jesus the Sun of Righteousness has dispel'd the darkness of the Gentiles and the shadows of the Jews and rendred the blessed and eternal State so clear and so visible that every Eye may see it Our assurance of it is upon infallible Principles And though the excellent Glory of it is inexpressible yet 't is represented under variety of fair and lovely Types to invite our Affections Besides God makes an earnest offer of Life to us in his Word he Commands Counsels Excites Urges nay Intreats and Beseeches with infinite Tenderness that Men will accept of it Thus the Apostle declares Now then wa are Embassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christ's stead be reconciled to God Is it not evident then beyond the most jealous suspicion God is desirous of our Happiness Can we imagine any design any insincerity in his Words Why should Heaven court a Worm 'T is his love to Souls that expresses it self in that condescending compassionate manner to melt and overcome the perverse and hardned in Sin And as his Words so his Works are a convincing Argument of his Will His most gracious sustaining and supporting of sinful Men his innumerable Benefits conferr'd upon them in the provision of Good and preservation from Evil are for this End that by the conduct of his merciful Providence they may be led to Repentance and received into his Favour And the temporal Judgments inflicted on Sinners are medicinal in their Nature and in his design to bring them to a sight and abhorrence of Sin to prevent their final ruin if they prove mortal to any 't is from their obstinate Corruption The time allowed to those who are obnoxious to his Justice every hour is not a meer reprieve from Torment but a space of Repentance to sue out a Pardon They are spared in order to Salvation The Lord is long-suffering to usward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance But above all his other Works the giving of his Son to be a Sacrifice for Sin is an incomparable demonstration how much he delights in the Salvation of Men. Since God has been at such cost to put them into a capacity of obtaining the Kingdom of unchangeable Glory far transcending the earthly Paradise that was forfeited by Sin we have the strongest assurance that he desires their Felicity And how guilty and miserable will those Sinners be that when Christ has opened Heaven to us by his Blood refuse to enter into it When Brutus the most noble Roman propounded to a Philosopher his design to restore Rome to Liberty he replied That the action would be glorious indeed but that so many servile Spirits that tamely stoopt under Tyranny were not worthy that a Man of Vertue and Courage should hazard himself to recover that for them which they did so lightly esteem The Redemption of Mankind is without controversy the Master-piece of God's works wherein his principal Attributes appear in their excellent Glory But how astonishing is the unworthiness of Men who wretchedly neglect Salvation which the Son of God purchased by a Life full of Sorrows and a Death of infinite Sufferings Blessed Redeemer may it be spoken with the humble affectionate and thankful sense of thy dying Love why didst thou give thy self a ransom for those who are charm'd with their Misery and with the most foul Ingratitude disvalue so precious a Redemption How justly shall they be for ever deprived of it Behold ye despisers and wonder and perish 2. Consider this glorious Blessedness shall be the Portion of all that unfeignedly choose it and earnestly seek it This motive was inclosed in the first but deserves a separate Consideration And of this we have infallible assurance from the Word of God who cannot lie Godliness has the Promise of the Life to come This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation The hope of a Christian is so certain that 't is compar'd to an Anchor fastned in Heaven And besides the Fidelity of his Word God has given us Security of the Reward the Life of his Son This methinks should turn the Current of our Desires and Endeavours to Heaven For notwithstanding all our toil and sweat the labour of the Day and the watchings of the Night for the obtaining earthly things yet we many times fall short of our aims and hopes 'T was the observation of the wisest Man I returned and saw under the Sun that the Race is not to the Swift nor the Battel to the Strong neither yet Bread to the Wise nor yet Riches to Men of Vnderstanding nor yet Favour to Men of Skill but Time and Chance happeneth to all Indeed such is the order of Divine Providence in the World there must be different conditions of Men here some Rich others Poor some Noble others Mean some in Command others in Subjection And from hence it is also evident that neither Dignity nor Riches nor Pleasures are the Happiness of Man For 't is not becoming the Wisdom and Goodness of God to make that the last end of the
Passions like Solomon's brazen Sea unmoveable by any Winds of Temptations Are they entirely exempted from the impression of Objects and the lower Affections No they are alive and sensible of those things that ravish the Affections of carnal Men but by the power of Grace despise and overcome them And this Grace is offered in the Gospel to all that sincerely desire it so that 't is a vain wretched pretence that Religion binds to hard Service To the other part of the Objection that sometimes Religion exposes the Professors of it to heavy Sufferings I answer Indeed the Gospel is plain and peremptory in this if we will reign with Christ we must suffer with him when we are called forth to give a noble testimony to his Truth 'T is no extraordinary Elevation no point of Perfection but the duty of every Christian to be always ready in the disposition and resolution of his Mind to sacrifice his Life when the honour of Christ requires it But 't is no hard condition to suffer transient Afflictions for the obtaining a Happy Immortality to be conformable to the Image of our suffering Redeemer that we may be crowned with his Glory How many Christians esteemed themselves honoured in the Disgrace and blessed in the Injuries they suffered for Christ and with an invincible Patience and astonishing Joy endured the most cruel Persecutions though yet the human Nature in them was as tender and sensible of Pains as in others but the natural aversion and repugnance to suffering was overruled by the determination of the rational Will upon the account of their Duty and the Reward attending it They gave a most convincing sensible Testimony how much more valuable Heaven is than this present World willingly exposing themselves to all Evil here and rejoicing in hope of a glorious issue In short the Reward of Obedience is a triumphal Crown and where there is no Victory there can be no Triumph and where no Combat no Victory and where no Enemy no Combat Therefore we are commanded to fight against our internal Enemies our corrupt Affections to kill the Lusts of the Flesh and to encounter and overcome by Humility and meek Submissions the Cruelty of malicious Enemies without us in order to obtain the Crown of Life And a Believer that has Heaven in taste and expectation will easily renounce the most pleasant and willingly endure the sharpest Temptations for the blessed Reward of his Obedience Lastly Fervent and constant Prayer is requisite for the Grace of God that we may fix our Aims aright upon eternal Happiness and use those sure Means that with divine Advantage are propos'd in the Scriptures that can make us wise to Salvation such is the depravation of Man since his Fall the Mind is diverted by vain Thoughts and the Heart prepossess'd with sensual Desires that 'till the Spirit of his Mind be renewed and his original Affections to the Supream Good be revived and restored by Divine Grace he is regardless of it and only applies himself to what is pleasing to Sense There may be some transient Glances and volatile Wishes of Heaven in Carnal Men but they are miserably weak and ineffectual Therefore a most necessary Duty incumbent upon us is by humble and fervent Prayer to address our selves to God for his Spirit to enlighten our Minds that we may believe the Reality and Greatness of the Eternal Reward and to reform our Wills that we may feel its attractive Force Both these Acts of the Spirit are requisite that the Love of God as our chief Felicity may be the regent Principle of our Hearts and Lives 1. For this end the Holy Spirit convinces Men thorowly of the Reality and Greatness of an invisible Happiness In the Light of the Gospel how many of eminent intellectual Faculties are stupid as to their great Interest and spend themselves about Trifles and are equally tractable to Eternal Ruin as the Ox to the Slaughter He that is destitute of the illuminating Grace of the Spirit is blind and cannot see afar off Now by the Analogy between the corporal and intellectual Faculties we may understand in some measure how the Mind is illuminated by the Spirit of God For as to the Act of Seeing two things are requisite 1. External Light in the Air without which the Colours Figures and Beauties of Objects are not visible to the sharpest Eye but lie obscur'd under impenetrable Darkness 2. Internal Light in the Eye in which the visive Power consists if this be extinguish'd the clearest Light of Heaven is of no use for the discovery of Things Thus the Understanding is enabled to see Spiritual things 1. By the Revelation of the Object In this respect Life and Immortality are brought to Light by the Gospel Till that bright Discovery was made of Eternal Blessedness it was above the desires and hopes of sinful Man Coelum homo nec optare poterat ex ignorantia nec sperare ex propriae miseriae conscientia 2. By the inward inlightning from the Spirit of Wisdom that removes the Ignorance Prejudice and Inadvertency of the Mind which as Scales darkned its Sight and disposes it to perceive the Verity and Excellency of spiritual and future Things tho not with comprehensive Evidence yet with that assurance that no doubtfulness or suspence remains concerning them 'T is observable that Faith is exprest in Scripture by Prudence Wisdom and Knowledg whereby a Man knows the Grounds and Motives of his Judgment and Actions And Sin is called Folly For as when the understanding Faculty either from the indisposedness of the Organs as in Idiots or from the disorder of Fancy by inflammation of the Humours as in distracted Persons cannot weigh and compare and therefore makes a perverse judgment of things so the carnal Mind by not due measuring and pondering judges falsly of spiritual Things If something no bigger than the Hand were put before the Eye it would intercept the sight of the Heavens and he that not considering the Properties of things near and distant should conclude that Piece to be bigger than the Heavens were justly reputed a Fool. And the folly of carnal Men is more gross who prefer things present to Sense before what is future and of everlasting consequence to the Soul But there are some Actions which if done by a Natural would be counted Folly yet being done by those who in the reputation of the World are Wise are esteemed Prudent but they are the most deplorable Folly Now as the restoring the Laesum principium the broken Mind to its sound state whereby 't is able to consider discern and conclude of things according to their Nature such is the action of God's Spirit upon the corrupt Mind clarifying and enlightning it so that it receives full conviction by the clearest Marks of divine Authority shining in the Gospel of the Truth of all the great and precious Promises therein contained and causing it by a steady application of the Thoughts to see the vast
Perfection and Satisfaction of the immortal Soul The Felicity resulting from it is as entire and eternal as God is Great and True who has so often promis'd it in Scripture Now the Damned are for ever excluded from the reviving Presence of God 'T is often seen how tenderly and impatiently the humane Spirit resents the loss of a dear Relation Jacob for the supposed death of Joseph was so overcome with Grief that when all his Sons and Daughters rose up to comfort him he refused to be comforted and said I will go down mourning to the Grave Indeed this overwhelming Sorrow is both a Sin and a Punishment 'T is ordain'd by the righteous and unchangeable Decree of God that every inordinate Affection in Man should be his own Tormentor But if the loss of a poor frail Creature for a short time be so afflicting how insupportable will the Sorrow be for the loss of the Blessed God for ever Who can fully conceive the Extent and Degrees of that Evil For an Evil rises in proportion to the Good of which it deprives us It must therefore follow that Celestial Blessedness being an infinite eternal Good the exclusion from it is proportionably Evil. And as the Felicity of the Saints results from the Fruition of God in Heaven and from comparison with the contrary State So the Misery of the Damned arises both from the thoughts of lost Happiness and from the lasting Pain that torments them It may be replied If this be the utmost Evil that is consequent to Sin the Threatning of it is likely to deter but few from the pleasing their corrupt Appetites for carnal Men have such gross and vitiated Affections that are careless of spiritual Happiness They cannot taste and see how good the Lord is To this a clear Answer may be given In the next State where the Wicked shall be for ever without those Carnal Objects that here deceive and delight them when deprived of all things that pleases their voluptuous Senses their Apprehensions will be changed they shall understand what a Happiness it is to enjoy God and what a Misery to be expell'd from the Celestial Paradise Our Saviour tells the Jews There shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth when ye shall see Abraham Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God and you your selves thrust out How will they pine with envy at the sight of that triumphant Felicity of which they shall never be Partakers To see that blessed Company entring into the sacred Mansions of Light will make the loss of Heaven infinitely more discernable and terrible to the Wicked who shall be cast into outer Darkness and for ever be deprived of Communion with God and his Saints Depart from me will be as dreadful a part of the Judgment as Eternal Fire With the loss of the most excellent Good the suffering of the most afflicting painful Evil is join'd The Sentence is Depart ye Cursed into Everlasting Fire God's Justice is not satisfied in depriving them of Heaven but inflicts the most heavy Punishment upon Sense and Conscience in the Damned for as the Soul and Body in their state of union in this Life were both guilty the one as a Guide the other as the Instrument of Sin and if an imaginarry Sorrow conceived in the Mind without a real external Cause as in Melancholly Persons when gross Vapours darken and corrupt the brightness and purity of the Spirits that are requisite for its chearful Operations is often so oppressing that Nature sinks under it How insupportable will the Sorrow of condemned Sinners be under the impression and sense of God's Almighty and avenging Hand when it shall fully appear how pure and holy he is in his Anger for Sin how just and dreadful in punishing Sinners It may be the indulgent Sinner may lessen his fear of Hell by fancying the number of Sufferers will asswage the sense of their Misery But this is a foolish Mistake For the number of Sufferers shall be so far from affording any relief that the Misery is aggravated by the Company and Communication of the Miserable Every one is surrounded with Sorrows and by the sights of Wo about him feels the universal Grief The weeping and wailing the cries and dolorous expressions of all the Damned increases the torment and vexation of every one As when the Wind conspires with the Flame 't is more fierce and spreading 3. The Concomitant of Sorrow will be Fury and Rage against themselves as the true causes of their Misery For God will make such a discovery of his righteous Judgment that not only the Saints shall glorify his Justice in the condemnation of the Wicked but they shall be so convinc'd of it as not to be able to charge their Judg with any defect of Mercy or excess of Rigour in his proceedings against them As the Man in the Parable of the Marriage-Feast when taxt for his presumptuous intrusion without a Wedding-Garment How camest thou in hither was speechless so they will find no plea for their Justification and Defence but must receive the eternal Doom with Silence and Confusion Then Conscience shall revive the bitter remembrance of all the methods of divine Mercy for their Salvation that were ineffectual by their Contempt and Obstinacy All the compassionate Calls by his Word with the holy Motions of the Spirit were like the sowing of Seed in the Stony Ground that took no root and never came to perfection All his terrible Threatnings were but as Thunder to the Deaf or Lightning to the Blind that little affects them the bounty of his Providence design'd to lead them to Repentance had the same effect as the Showers of Heaven upon Briars and Thorns that makes them grow the faster And that a Mercy so ready to pardon did not produce in them a correspondent affection of grateful obedient Love but by the most unworthy provocations they pluck'd down the Vengeance due to obstinate Rebels will so enrage the Damned against themselves that they will be less miserable by the Misery they suffer than by the conviction of their torn Minds that they were the sole Causes of it What Repentings will be kindled within them for the stupid neglect of the great Salvation so dearly purchased and earnestly offered to them What a fiery addition to their Torment that when God was so willing to save them they were so wilful to be Damned They will never forgive themselves that for the short and mean Pleasures of Sense which if enjoyed a thousand years cannot recompence the loss of Heaven nor requite the pains of Hell for an Hour they must be deprived of the one and suffer the other for ever 4. The Sorrow and Rage will be increased by Despair for when the wretched Sinner sees the Evil is peremptory and no Outlet of Hope he abandons himself to the violence of Sorrow and by cruel Thoughts wounds the Heart more than the fiercest Furies in Hell can This
in their full force upon the obstinate Offenders withal considering the inflicting of them is so far from working any ingenuous Change in those Rebels that thereby they become more fierce and obdurate Lastly the immense Guilt that adheres to Sin requires a proportion in the Punishment 'T is a rule in all Courts of Judicature that the degrees of an Offence arise according to the degrees of Dignity of the Person offended Now the Majesty of God is truly infinite against whom Sin is committed and consequently the Guilt of Sin exceeds our boundless Thoughts This is the reason of the Sentence Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them The Curse threatned includes the first and the second Death What a dishonour is it to the God of Glory that proud Dust should fly in his Face and controul his Authority What a provocation that the reasonable Creature that is naturally and necessarily a Subject should despise the Divine Law and Lawgiver Though carnal Minds elevate the Guilt of Sin yet weighed in the Scales of the Sanctuary 't is found so heavy that no Punishment inflicted on Sinners exceeds either in the degrees or duration the desert of Sin God's Justice is not satisfied in depriving them of Heaven but inflicts the most heavy Punishment upon Sense and Conscience in the Damned For as the Soul and Body in their State of Union in this Life were both guilty the one as the Guide the other as the Instrument of Sin so 't is equal when reunited they should feel the penal Effects of it Sinners shall then be tormented wherein they were most delighted they shall be invested with those Objects that will cause the most dolorous perceptions in their sensitive Faculties The Lake of Fire and Brimstone the blackness of darkness for ever are words of a terrible signification But no words can fully express the terrible Ingredients of their Misery The Punishment will be in proportion to the Glory of God's Majesty that is provoked and the extent of his Power And as the Soul was the principal and the Body but an Accessary in the Works of Sin so it s capacious Faculties shall be far more tormented than the limited Faculties of the outward Senses The fiery Attributes of God shall be transmitted through the Glass of Conscience and concenter'd upon damned Spirits The Fire without is not so tormenting as the Fire within them How will the tormenting Passions be inflam'd What Rancour Reluctance and Rage against the just Power that sentenc'd them to Hell What impatience and indignation against themselves for their wilful Sins the just cause of it How will they curse their Creation and wish their utter extinction as the final Remedy of their Misery But all their ardent Wishes are in vain for the Guilt of Sin will never be expiated nor God so far reconcil'd as to annihilate them As long as there is Justice in Heaven or Fire in Hell as long as God and Eternity shall continue they must suffer those Torments which the strength and patience of an Angel cannot bear one hour I shall now draw some practical Inferences and conclude this Subject 1. From the Revelation in Scripture of the dreadful Punishment prepared for unreformed Sinners in the next State we may understand the tender Mercies of God to Men how willing he is they should be saved who are so wilful to be damned Hell is represented to them by the most violent Figures to terrify their Imaginations and strongly affect their Minds that they may flee from the Wrath to come God counsels commands intreats urges Sinners to be wise to foresee and prevent the Evil that every Hour is approaching to them and with Compassion and Indignation laments their Misery and reproaches their Folly in bringing it upon themselves The Divine Mercy is as eminently and apparently declar'd to Men in the present corrupt State in threatning Hell to excite their Fear as in promising Heaven to allure their Hopes For if carnal indulgent Sinners are not roused by a quick apprehension of Hell they will securely enjoy their pernicious Pleasures and despise the blessed Reward and Heaven would be as empty of humane Souls as 't is full of Glory 1. Because they are more capable to conceive of the Torments of Hell than the Joys of Heaven Storms and Darkness are more easily drawn by a Pencil than a clear calm Day Fire mix'd with Brimstone is very painful to Sense and the Fancy strongly represents its Vehemence in tormenting the Body And what Misery the uncessant remorse of the guilty Conscience will cause in the Damned hereafter is in part understood by the secret Accusations and Twinges of Conscience in self-condemning Sinners here But they are absolutely strangers to the Joys of the Holy Ghost to the Delights of the Soul in communion with God and to Peace of Conscience in his favour They cannot without experience know how good the Lord is no more than see a taste To discourse to them of spiritual Pleasures that flow from the Divine Presence of the Happiness of the Saints that are before the Throne of God and serve him in his Temple is to speak with the Tongue of an Angel unintelligible things Their Minds and Language are confin'd to sensible things The natural Man receives not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discern'd There may be in the carnal Mind a conception of Heaven as a Sanctuary wherein they may be secured from the Wrath of God and some smothering confused thoughts of its Felicity as the Idea of Light and Colours in one blind from his Birth but only the pure in Heart can see God as in the perfect Vision of Glory hereafter so in the imperfect reflection of it here 2. Carnal Men are more disposed to be wrought upon by representing the Torments of Hell than the Joys of Heaven For we cannot love but what is known nor enjoy but what is loved And as the purification of the Heart from vicious Affections is an excellent means to clear the Mind so the illustration of the Mind is very influential to warm the Heart The true conception of Heaven in its amiable Excellencies would powerfully and sweetly ravish the Affections and of this prepared Souls are only capable But those who are sensual are without relish of spiritual Happiness and are allur'd or terrified only with what is pleasant or painful to Flesh. 'T is recorded as the unparallel'd Folly of Nero that when he was ready to cut his own Throat to avoid the Fury of the multitude he broke forth into great Expressions of Sorrow what an excellent Artist he died 'T was not the loss of the Roman Empire that so much troubled him as that so much skill in Musick died with him He valued himself more as a Fidler than an Emperor Thus carnal Men with