Fourth Whether he had not Observed the Ecclipses He answered the King No I have so much to do upon Earth that I have no leisure to look up to Heaven Thus the Generality of Men have so much to do upon Earth and are so deeply engaged in their Secular Affairs that they have no leisure to spend their Thoughts upon Heaven and it's Glory Lactantius * Hinc utique Graeci 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 appellarunt quod sursum spectet Ipsi ergo sibi renunciant seque Hominum Nomine abdicant qui non Sursum aspiciunt sed deorsum Lact. lib. 2. Instit Cap. 1. p. 140. will have those guilty of Degrading themselves into the Shapes of Brutes and unworthy the Names of Men who lye Grovelling here below never fixing their Thoughts on Eternal Concernments nor setting their Affections on Things above And yet how are Multitudes every where Grovelling in the Dust of Earthly Vanities never sending up a Look a Desire a Thought no nor so much as one Hearty Groan after Heaven Natural Bodies they follow the tendency of that Element which is Predominant in them a Stone moves down-ward it would be at the Center Thus those in whom the Love of the World is Predominant they cannot but move Downward the Earth is their Center and that they will make towards let come of Heaven and Glory what will come Possibly whilst Religion is in Credit and the way to Heaven lyes through the Fortunate Islands the Arabia Foelix or through the Golden Streams of the Lydian Pactolus these Men may have their Faces that way and seem to Steer their Course Heaven-ward But if once Religion be under Hatches in the World if once a Life of serious Scripture Holiness be counted Faction and all things are at such a pass that there is no getting to Canaan but through a Barren Wilderness no coming at the fair Havens of True Happiness but through the Straits of Poverty Reproach and Affliction they have Wit enough such as it is to set Sails for another Wind and will think Heaven it self for a Golden-Mine a very easy Morgage Many there be who whilst Religion walks in Stately Equipage will be Reteiners to her But if at any time the Watch-men Wound her and the Keepers of the Walls take away her Veil you may presently see them very Shy of if not Ashamed to wear so much as her Livery What * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clemens saith of a certain Friend That he was not his but his Riches Kinsman This is true of many Professors who if Religion had not Riches in her Left-hand would never pretend neither Kindness or Kin to her Such Men who thus design their own Profit Honour and Promotion in the World by that pitiful Religion which they have they are just like the Lapis Chelidonius which say Naturalists will retain it's Virtue no longer than whilst you keep it inclos'd in Gold The Upper Springs of Grace and Glory which God always gives in Dowry with his Daughter Achsah True Godliness cannot make a Worldly Heart fall in Love with Her unless God will give him the Nether Springs also such as Riches Honours and earthly Possessions he will never be brought to Match with her nor is the Match ever made so sure upon this Account but if at any time God dry up these Nether Springs now the Stream of this Muck Worm's Affections will wholly fail such a Nabal will God's own Daughter Religion I mean find him that he will be sure to turn her upon her Father not forbearing so much as one Night to thrust her out of Doors When the Ark came into the House of Obed-Edom and they saw that it brought a Blessing upon him and his whole House then every one no doubt could think it worth their Entertainment But when Judgments attended the Ark of God almost every Man thought it a Burden and by all means would turn it off so that in such a time the Ark of God finds no Rest they send it from Gath to Ekron from Ekron to Askalon 1 Sam. 5. counting him the Happy Man that could well rid his hands of it Thus every Man will own Religion Prospering a Blessing Ark But where is he that will own Religion under Worldly Disadvantages that will entertain the Ark of God when Persecuted when Banished when Dangerous and Un-doing to those that meddle with it However the Love of the World do thus eat out the Heart of Religion with those who have their Portion in this World yet certainly it becomes not you Christians whose Treasure is in Heaven thus to have the Wayes of God in Admiration for Advantage sake Thus to Morgage your eternal Inheritance to keep the poor Cottage of an earthly Estate wherein you are but Tenants at Will Their Condition of all Mens is most Miserable who go from Heaven to Hell From the Heaven I mean of Wordly Prosperity to the Hell of Endless Destruction in the World to come The very Life of every Worldling is wrapt up in the Bundle of his outward Enjoyments And therefore not having made sure of Heaven they must needs as it was once said to a great Lord be great Losers when they Dye AND shall such miserable Caitives as these Christians be the Men to Tread out the Way for your Feet to Walk in when every Step alas that they take sinks as low as Hell Have you no other Copy to Write after but that which is Written in Blood Will no other Path serve the turn but that of Men Selling the Riches of Heaven and Glory for a little thick Clay which inevitably leads to Destruction Such an Errour ¶ Versatque nos praecipitat Traditus per manus Error alienisque perimus exemplis Sen. de vit Beat. Cap. 1 pag. mihi 628. though Received by Tradition is enough to throw you head-long into Tophet nor can you chuse but Perish Eternally if you will make the Examples of such Misers the Rule of your Living Why cannot you as †{inverted †}†Sinite sapientes hujus saeculi alia sapientes et terram lingentes sapienter descendere in Infernum Bernard de vit solit Bernard hath it suffer the Wise Men of this World who like the Serpent lick the Dust of the Earth to go Wisely down to Hell Is it not better as a Divine of ours wittily that we choose to Arrive at Heaven with Tatter'd Sails than to Ruffle towards Hell with Cleopatra's Silken Tacklings Let others Admire the Gaudy Tulip which closeth with every approaching Night and cold Blast that comes yet Christians they should be like the Herb Semper-vivum retaining their Verdure and Greeness in the hardest Winter What thô others will not have the Golden Apples of Glory if not placed in the Silver Pictures of Worldly Contentments will you therefore Throw away those Apples of Gold because the Silver Pictures of your Secular Enjoyments may get a Crack and are Broken in pieces Heaven it self is a
sufficient Portion though you had not so much as the Crumbs with poor Lazarus which fall from the Rich Man's Table how much more when you are sure of the Barrel of Meal and that Cruse of Oyl for your Viaticum which will never fail till the Famine be over and you come to eat Bread even the Bread of Life in the Kingdom of God Remember Christians you are to ‖ Quaeramus quid optime factum sit non quid usitatissimum Et quid nos in possessione Foelicitatis Aeternae constituat non quid vulgo veritatis pessimo interpreti probatum sit Sen de vit Beat. cap. 2. Seek what most may corduce to the bringing of you to Heaven not what is the common usage of Earthly Minds you must look what may best fit you for your Eternal Inheritance not what is most approved by those who have neither Part nor Lot therein 'T is Storied of Charles the V. That when the Duke of Venice had shewed him his sumptuous Palace and earthly Paradice instead of Admiring it he only gave him this Serious and Christian Memento Haec sunt quae faciunt invitos Mori These are the things that make us so Desirous to Live in the World and so Unwilling to Dye The Lord sees good to break his People in their Estates with Breach upon Breach that they may be more willing and ready to leave the World to get out of their earthly Tabernacles and to be Cloathed upon with their House which is from Heaven They shall have nothing but Hunger and Thirst and fiery Serpents in the Wilderness of this World that they may never take up their Rest till they come to the heavenly Canaan nor be Satisfied till they come to sit down to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb where they shall have a full Meal of Glory So that though it be no Comfort to be Broken in our Estates yet there is much Comfort comes in by Broken Estates Though Lazarus had no Advantage from his Poverty because that brought him to the Rich Man's Gate yet he had great and everlasting Advantage accrewing to him into the sweet Repose of Abraham's Bosome God puts the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost ad Pop. Antioch Hom. Gall and Wormwood of Vanity and Vexation of Trouble and Disappointment upon the Brests of all our Injoyments here that we may not have a Delight to be always Sucking at them He makes them a Broken Reed that fearing to be Pierced by them we may not Lean upon them He sets them on Fire now and then like as Absalom did by Joab's Corn Fields that we may not dare to lye out any longer but may gladly repair to him as our Absalom as the alone Author of Peace Rest and Happiness to our Souls And certainly when we find so much Bitterness in all our Injoyments we yet think it so good to stay here did we find nothing but Delight and Sweetness in them we should never think it good to go hence They that have Feathered their Nests in the World have no mind as One well Observes to be upon the Wing to Fly out of it With you Christians it must not be so Your Emblem should be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if Clemens hit right a Ship moving towards Heaven that must no where put in for Harbour till at the Shoar of Blessed Eternity If others will Flag and Flutter here below and be Intangled with the Bird-lime of Wordly Cares let them But be sure that you Soar a-loft getting above the Cares of the World and Flying as with Wings like a Dove to the Windows of the Temple of God in the heavenly Sion It becomes not you that are the Off-spring of Heaven to lye Grovelling upon the Earth You that are the Seed of the Woman it becomes not you to Content yourselves with the Serpent's Food The Heart of every Christian is the place where God and Christ and serious Thoughts of Heaven should lodge Let not therefore the World Usurp upon them set not your Hearts upon those things which God would have you always to keep under your Feet Remember Sirs many might have come into the Harbour of Eternal Rest with full Sails with Top and Top-Gallant of Divine Plerophory had they not run the precious Vessel of their Souls on Ground had they not split themselves upon the Rock of Worldly Cares So hard it is to cut our way through an importunate Croud of Earthly Incumbrances into the Kingdom of God Whenever therefore Christians the World appears to you in a Garment made of Love suspect it for a * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Mart. Dalilah hired to Betray you into the hands of your Mortal Enemies the cruel Philistines The Champions could not wring an Apple out of Milos's Hand by all their Strength but a Fair Maid by Fair Means got it presently Thus the Beauty and Smile of the World it may Foil us sooner than the Strength of the World this if we look not to ourselves may easily Steal from us all the sweet delicious Fruits of Heaven and Glory Earth-seeking is usually Heaven-losing They that Trade most for the World do seldom Purchase that One Pearl of great Price Sicily is so full of sweet Flowers if Diodorus Siculus may be Credited that Dogs cannot Hunt there Sure I am the sweet Injoyments of this World may easily make us lose the Scent of Heaven How well Satisfied then should we be to be without these things striving to live above them when we find them so often like a strong Remora hindring us in our Course to the Fair Haven of Eternal Happiness Of some Mountains Geographers Write That their Tops are above the middle Region of the Air and out of the reach of Storms Thus Christians they should leave this lower Region of the World and live above would they not be Storm driven in their Voyage towards the Holy-Land ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sic Laert. in ejus vita Anaxagoras being Accus'd as One that Studied not Politicks for his Country's Good I have cry'd he a great Care of my Country pointing at Heaven Let the World Christians Accuse you how it will besure that you Study Heaven that you Meditate Glory that you seek with all Care and Diligence the Kingdom of God OF so great Consequence is a due Respect to Heaven and Glory that * Est enim Deus qui solus potest honorare virtutem cujus merces immortalitas sola est quam qui non appetunt nec Religionem tenent cui aeterna subjacet vita profecto neque virtutis vim sciunt cujus praemium ignorant Lact. Instit Lib. 3. Cap. 27. p. 332. Lactantius denies those to be of the True Religion who seek them not as their Happiness and Reward Nor will he grant That any Man knows the Power of Virtue who remains Ignorant of not desiring that Eternal Recompence wherewith the Lord at length will Crown it However you may Learn
Eternal Reward that God sets before us Heart Purity with a Life of practical Godliness that 's the Regia Via the King of Heaven's High-way which leads to Glory So that whoever hath a due respect to heavenly Glory desiring that as the Reward of all his Labours can no more make liâ—ht Performances than a Man who desires Life can sâ—t Light by Food and Raiment with such like Comforts that are as Oyl to feed that Lamp ¶ Scientia id praestat ut quomodo et quo perveniendum sit noverimus virtus ut perveniamus Alterum sine altero nihil valet ex scientia enim virtus ex virtuâ—e Summum Bonum nascitur Lact. Instit lib. 3. câ—p 12. p. 271. As there is no possibility of arriving at Heaven without Knowledge of the way So neither is it possible that we should ever come to Heaven the way being known without walking therein 'T is not the Jacob's Staff of Speculation but the Jacob's Ladder of a Godly Conversation by which we must Climb the Tree of Life The School-men have large Disputes pro and con about the Nature of Divinity Whether it consist more in Speculation or in Practise Aquinas makes Theologiam Speculativam and Scotus will have it Practicam but indeed 't is the Complication of both these that makes a good Christian whose Gospel Light must be Animated with a Gospel Life and all whose Knowledge must Expatiate into Obedience These things if you know saith the Lord of Life happy are ye if you do them John 13.17 Knowledge may be our Pilot to guide us in our course but Practise is the Ship in which we must Sail to the Shore of eternal Soul-satisfying Happiness Hence the Apostle James 1.25 pronounces the Practical Hearer Blessed though not for his Deed yet in his Deed clearly making Practise the Evidence thô not the Ground of our Happiness the Way that leads to a Crown of Life though not the Price whereby we should think to purchase it As God is a plentiful Rewarder of those that diligently seek him so he will be sought before ever the reward of eternal Glory can be had Having therefore our Eyes upon the Star of True Happiness let us keep our Hands to the Helm of Practical Holiness [†] Qui vult sapiens ac beatus esse audiat Dei vocem discat justitiam humana contemnat divina suscipiat ut Summum illud Bonum ad quod natus est possit adipisci Lact. He that would be Blessed desiring to be Wise to Salvation let him hear the Voice of God let him work Righteousness let him despise humane Vanities let him enterprize divine Offices that he may come at length to the full Enjoyment of that Chiefest Good for which he came into the World We must quit ourselves like Men on Earth or never look to be made glorious like the Angels in Heaven True Happiness is a rich Jewel Lockt up in the Cabinet of Heaven in the Kingdom of God Holiness must turn the Key or the Door of Blessedness the Gates of the Heavenly Jerusalem will never open to us Keep we therefore our Eyes upon Heaven's Glory and then forbear we to do the Work of God upon Earth if we can It 's hope of Gain that makes the diligent Tradesman be up so early and so patient to endure hardship How much more should the Hope of gaining not Earth but Heaven not those Riches which perish in the using but the Riches of eternal Glory make us labour to be Holy Oh let Carking for this World be expelled with our Care for Heaven Let this eat up our Hearts with desire to have the Injoyment of that glorious Inheritance 'T is Fabled of Leobis and Biton that their Father having been imploring the greatest Blessing from the Gods upon these his Two Sons the next morning they were found both Dead in their Beds The greatest Blessing that can befall a Child of God is to dye in the Lord bidding Adieu to this vale of Tears and so entring upon his Master's Joy The Happiness of God's People doth indeed dawn in this Life in the Beauties of Holiness from the womb of the Morning but the Noon-tide of their Happiness the Meridian Light of Glory doth never shine forth upon them till they come to Heaven Most of a Christian's Drink in this Life is Oxymel Heaven alone puts that pure Cup of Consolation into his hand wherein there is no sour Ingredients True Blessedness grows indeed upon the Tree of Godliness which hath indeed some Bloomings and Buds of Comfort here but it comes not to it 's full growth till another Life This World is too Cold a Climate to bring it to Ripeness it must first be transplanted into the heavenly Canaan and have the Sun of Righteousness shining upon it in full strength before the blessed Fruit of this Tree will ever be brought to it's full Maturity So that a Christian doth not Wither when plucked up of Death as it were by the Roots but he changes the place of his growth leaving the Wilderness to be Planted in Canaan where the Fruit of Holiness is now Crowned with Life everlasting COME ¶ Veniant qui esuriunt ut coelesti cibo saturati sempiternam famem ponant Veniant qui sitiunt ut aquam salutarem de perenni Coelestique Fonte plenissimis faucibus trahant Hoc cibatu atque potu Dei et coeci videbunt et surdi audient muti Loquentur claudi ambulabunt stulti sapient aegroti valebunt mortui revivescent Lact. de vit Beat cap. 27. pag. 732. Edit Gal. then come all ye that Hunger that being satisfy'd with this heavenly Food ye may lay aside your Hunger for ever This Meat and Drink which God hath provided in Heaven is of that Sovereign Virtue that it both makes the Blind to See and the Deaf to Hear and the Lame to Leap for Joy and the Foolish to know Understanding and the Sick it restores to Health and the Dead it makes to Live a life of endless Glory Tully would have a Prince fed with Honour and drawn to Heroick Atchievements by the desire of Glory and Renown And I â—â—kewise would have God's People to live upon the Glory to come as that which will draw them to walk worthy of God who hath called them out of Darkness into the Kingdom of his dear Son Can any Man that sees Heaven and knows what it is to be with the Lord for ever go on in a course of sensual brutish living not regarding to prepare himself for the Glory to be revealed in him So sweet is the Pleasure of that eternal Light that if we should enjoy the same no more than one short hour yet for this one hour's Happiness we ought and that deservedly to despise all the Delights and Pleasures that the universal confluence of Worldly enjoyments could afford us TELL me then if God's People be not well advised to study Holiness Tell me
bear the holy Presence of God to see him face to face and to look fully upon the Brightness of his Glory in the heavenly Paradice where they shall not have the least Fig-leaf to hide the shame of their nakedness Believe it Sinners unless your sore-eyes be healed and your Natures Sanctified you may find as much comfort in Hell as you could in beholding the Face of God in Heaven That Heaven which is a Paradice of all delights to a gracious Soul you that are not Sanctified and made New Creatures you would find it a very Tophet a place of all hellish and intollerable Torments should you enter into it In Ireland they say is a Fountain whose Waters kill all those Beasts that drink of them but is pleasant to the People not hurting them though they usually drink of it Thus though that pure River of Water in the New Jerusalem proceeding out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb Rev. 22.1 be more pleasant than life it self to all God's People yet should any brutish Sinner be suffered to drink of those Waters he would find them more bitter than the stroke of death For the Soul must first be made a prepared subject for Heaven and the Joys thereof or Heaven it self would be an Hell to it and the Joys of Heaven they would fill it with the greatest and most exquisite Torments And truly would Ungodly Sinners but set Reason a-work they might easily satisfy themselves of their own unfitness for Heaven and what an hell it would be to them should they come there They that count it a weariness to serve the Lord a few hours together on Earth how can they think themselves fit for Heaven where they must serve him day and night without ceasing to all Eternity If they find it so tedious to be restrained from Vanity by the presence of a faithful Minister or a serious Christian for a little scantling of time How can they think themselves able to bear the presence of an infinitely holy God restraining them from all their Sins and pleasurable Vanities for ever When they cannot endure to spend a short Sabbath with seriousness in the worship of God but are presently tired out longing that the Sabbath were over What fitness have they to spend an Everlasting Sabbath in worshiping the God of Heaven which will never be over Grace dawning in God's People is now their burden their sore eyes cannot look upon the brightness of it Oh then How unable will they be to bear it when all it's imperfections being done away it shall break forth into a bright Sun-shine of eternal dazling glory Oh be convinced that you must first be made holy or you can never be made happy you must first be sanctified or you can never be saved you must first be cleansed from all unrighteousness and made New Creatures or you will never be fit to inhabit the New Jerusalem Esther might not come into the Kings Presence till first she was washed and purified So till first we be throughly washed in the Laver of Regeneration and purified thereby from all Filthiness of Flesh and Spirit we can never enjoy God's Presence in a state of Glory Holiness is that which becomes God's House and therefore except you follow after Holiness and pursue it you must never look to come to Heaven the place of God's holy habitation 'T is fabled of Hercules in the Flames of Oeta that he left the Garment sent him by Deianira which could not be got off without tearing his Flesh and so became Immortal If you have not already prevented me in the accommodation the Moral of the Apologue is this You must put off the Rags of your own Filthiness laying aside every weight Heb. 12.1 and the Sin which doth tenaciously cleave to you would you ever enter upon a state of blessed and glorious Immortality As the rising Sun must needs go before the perfect day So sanctifying Grace must needs go before and is that alone which can fit us for eternal Salvation God hath told you in his holy Word that nothing which defileth shall ever enter into the New Jerusalem And whomsoever the voice of God speaking in the Scriptures shuts out of Heaven in this Life they shall undoubtedly be shut out of Heaven in the Life to come So that in vain shall you look for happiness in the World to come if here you give not diligence to be holy walking in all dutiful Obedience before the God of Heaven Pharnaces being up in Arms against Caesar sent him a Crown thinking by such a Present to appease his Wrath but Caesar sending it back again returned him this answer Faceret imperata prius let him first lay down his Arms and return to his Obedience and then his Crown should be accepted of by way of Recognizance Thus as Caesar would not accept of a Crown so to be sure God will never give a Crown of Glory to those by way of Recompence whom he sees to be up in Rebellion against him not labouring to become holy and to walk in Obedience before him The Kingdom of Heaven is a place prepared for Children and not for Strangers for Friends and not for Enemies for such as are pure and undefiled in their way and not for the wicked and unrighteous 1 Cor. 6.9 who must never continuing such inherit the Kingdom of God The Ark of Noah was a Receptacle for Beasts that were unclean as well as for those that were clean But into Heaven there shall in no wise enter as was said any thing that defileth and is unclean Let then I beseech you the consideration of all this make you careful to seek after Heaven and Glory in a way of Grace and Holiness (x) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justin Martyr Holiness is the Perspective through which we must see God 'T is as possible to see the Sun without Eyes as to see God and be saved without Holiness For without Holiness no Man can see the Lord Heb. 12.14 There is an (y) Negat quenquam posse deum videre sine Sanctimonia quoniam non aâ—ijs oculis videbimus deum quam qui reformati sunt ad ejus imaginem Calvin Inheritance laid up for Saints in light but in case you walk in darkness not labouring to make yourselves meet for it you must never look to enâ—oy it Colos 1.12 Oh that you would therefore be daily Mortifying your (z) Mutari nos oporet et novas creaturas effici priusquam participes esse possumus coelestium beneficiorum Nam in nobis nihil est aliud quam summa ineptitudo ad bonum spirituale sive intelligendum sive faciendum sive denique capiendum Davenant in Locum Corruptions breaking off your Sins by Repentance perfecting Holiness in the fear of God and so preparing your selves for Heaven that you may be counted meet to be partakers of that glorious Inheritance He that Soweth not his Field hath no hope to Reap it he that
runneth not the Race hath no hope of the Garland he that Fighteth not the Battel hath no hope to obtain the Crown Why thus my Friends if you sit down satisfied without Grace not labouring to become pure and holy and unblameable before God in love you can never have any good hope to enjoy the Harvest the Garland the Crown of Eternal Life Ephes 2.12 PROMISE yourselves what happiness you please and be as confident of your own good condition as you will Yet believe it Sirs unless now with the Wise Virgins you get Oyl in your Lamps and Grace in your Souls you must never sit down with Christ in the Kingdom of God to the Marriage-Supper For to presume of Life and Happiness without (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyril Grace and Holiness is the next way to lose them both and to plunge yourselves deeper in Eternal Misery Presumption being still the Preface to Damnation And are you grown so secure indeed that you can sit down satisfied without that which alone can make you meet for Heaven and Eternal Glory Oh methinks that unmarcescible Crown of Life that far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory whereof you must everlastingly fall short if you keep it not in the way of serious Practical Holiness should make you give all diligence to get Grace into your hearts and to become holy Is it nothing do you think to miss of Eternal Glory to be eternally shut out of God's heavenly Kingdom and for ever to lose that Crown of Righteousness that fulness of Joy and those Pleasures which are at God's Right Hand for evermore Oh what everlasting hellish horrour will fill your Souls at Death and Judgment should you spend your lives in Vanity not striving to perfect holiness in the fear of God! Oh that you would look upon a graceless condition and negligence in the ways of God now as you will look upon it when for want of grace and diligence in Heaven's way the Lord shall throw you down for ever into hellish Torments the Lord shall punish you with everlasting destruction from his own blessed Presence and bid you depart accursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels Oh the unspeakable horrour Oh the everlasting dreadful confusion that will then fall upon you Oh what Worlds would you not give to be saved when for want of sanctifying grace you must of necessity be damned for ever Oh what would you not now do to come to Heaven when for want of Holiness you are sure to be thrown down into hellish Torments and there shut up amongst damned Spirits in everlasting Chains under darkness In the fear of God Sirs and out of tender compassion to your own Immortal Souls do not rest a moment longer in a graceless condition but as ever you desire to be saved now labour to be throughly sanctified and as ever you would see the face of God in Glory now labour to walk before him in all holy Conversation and Godliness Never think to be Mercenarij if you will not be Operarij You can never receive the Reward of Eternal Glory when you dye if you work not hard in God's Vineyard so long as you live The Lord will give you both the upper and the nether Springs both Grace and Glory But on this condition that you espouse Achsah his Daughter that you devote yourselves to the practice of Piety endeavouring to perfect holiness in the fear of God Heb. 12.28 There is a Kingdom that cannot be moved there is a (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Crown of Life more glorious than the (c) 1 Cor. 9.25 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sun in it's Noon day Brightness there is fulness of Joy in God's Presence together with Soul-satisfying (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Words signify such Pleasures as shall never end but will run Parallel with Eternity it self Pleasures at his Right Hand for evermore and all this you may have for your Portion and to make you everlastingly happy but then you must seek it in God's own way by patient continuance in (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyrill Hier. Cateches 1. Pag. 2. Well-doing and by a life of Serious Practical Holiness He that would have a good Harvest must diligently Till and Sow his Ground So you must break up the fallow Ground of your Hearts endeavouring to Sow to the Spirit would you ever obtain a blessed Harvest in which you may reap a full Crop of Eternal Joy God hath tyed Grace and Glory Holiness and Happiness together So that no Grace no Glory no Holiness here no Happiness hereafter Whosoever leads a lewd unsanctified life on Earth shall never lead a blessed and glorified life in Heaven As no Man might be in the Wedding-house not having on a Wedding-garment Mat. 22.11 12. So whoever is not found cloathed with the garments of Righteousness he shall never enter into a Mansion of glory into an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens 2 Thes 2.13 The Image of God must first be renewed upon you in the Beauties of Holiness before ever you can be capable of seeing the face of God in Sion or be counted meet to be Inhabitants of the New Jerusalem Look at Heaven and Glory as much as you will and let your eye be still fixed upon the Recompence of the Reward Yet if you seek it not by patient continuance in well doing endeavouring to cleanse yourselves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit you are never like to be Crowned with it In vain do we look at Heaven and Eternal Glory so long as we live in Sin never striving to be holy which is nothing but to walk in the way that leads to Hell and everlasting Misery For then only have we due respect to the Recompence of the Reward when we seek it in a way of Obedience endeavouring to be changed into the likeness purity and holiness of that God who hath promised that so doing he will Crown us with it CHAP. V. The Doctrin Proved evincing the lawfulness of having a Respect to the Recompence of the Reward in Twelve Particulars III. HAVING thus shewed you What it is to have Respect to the Recompence of the Reward and how you may do so we are in the next place to evince it for your better satisfaction by some Scriptural Demonstrations That you are allowed of God to have respect to the Recompence of the Reward and may lawfully do so in all your Obedience 1. WE may lawfully have Respect in our Obedience to the Recompence of the Reward because God himself hath commanded us that we should do so Had not the Lord by his own Authority enjoyning us by Patient continuance in Well-doing to seek after Heaven and Glory made it our duty to do so we might well have questioned the Legality of such a practise But now there is not the least ground of Hesitancy nor any colour of Reason why we should question Whether
remain ungrateful under such transcendently great and glorious discoveries Doth God allow you to walk at all times with Heaven in your Eye and will you not strive to make melody to the Lord in your Hearts Shall your heavenly Father shew you his back parts and cause all his Glory to pass before you and yet can you be unthankful not endeavouring to glorifie his great Name The God of all Consolation Christians is no niggard of his Cordials to us And shall we then shew our selves niggards in our retribution of thanks to him Shall God's Hand be opened and ours shut Is his Heart enlarged and shall we be straitned in our Bowels Can we make so light of Heaven and Eternal Glory as to think the Lord unworthy our Praises for allowing us a full prospect of them If the Disciples were in such an extasy of admiration when taken up into the Mount with Christ and beholding some obscure glimpses of heavenly Glory How much more cause have we to stand as in an extasy admiring the Goodness of God whom he allows to live every Day upon the mount of transfiguration shewing us all the Beauty and causing us to anticipate the Pleasures Glory and Happiness of the World to come God might have left us under a necessity of obedience without any hope of an Eternal reward in Heaven and yet even in that case all thankful acknowledgments had been done to him How much more when our Work is sweetned with the assured Hope of an Eternal reward so that now going on in the way we may look at Heaven and Glory as that which will be the end of every Duty Oh let us all with enlarged and ravished affections with the utmost vigour and activity of enflamed Hearts recount the wonderful condescention and stupendious love of God in vouchsafing us for our encouragement a prospect of the Land of Promise in the Way thither To admire the Riches of free Grace and to warble out the Praises of God will be a great part of our Work when we come to Heaven (a) Artem nunc aliquam laudandi Dominum addiscamus quam oporteat aliquando infinitis seculis exercere Arrow Tact. Sacr. lib. 3. Sect. 15. pag. 361. let us now therefore begin the employment of Heaven whilst we live on Earth adoring the Lord 's remunerative Goodness whereby we have so great encouragement no less than a Crown of Glory to all Holy Self-denying and upright walking before him When God shews us Heaven and Glory as in a mirrour that by the bright reflections of it our Hearts may be rejoiced 't is but equal that we should strive to become the Monument of his Praise at all times blessing the Lord in our Hearts and with our Mouths speaking good of his Name The Glory of Heaven is so transcendently great that we may sooner lose our selves in the admiration of it than ever return thanks to God proportionate to the least glimpse that proceeds from it Oh be not any longer unwilling to be much in thanksgiving and praise to him who sowillingly allows you the encouragement of so transcendently blessed and glorious a reward in all your obedience What can you bless God for giving you a Crum and not for shewing you a Crown of Life as the certain reward of all holy performances If liberty to use the good things of this World be matter of thankfulness to God how much more shall we thank the Lord admiring his Goodness for the Liberty which in all our obedience he allows us to have respect to all the Good things of Heaven and Glory and the World to come If enjoying the Meat that perisheth we are bound to bless the Lord and speak good of his Name for such a temporal fruition how much more should we adore the Lord whilst eying the Meat that will endure to Life everlasting though but yet in expectation The Queen of Sheba having obtained a sight of Solomon's Glory was so strangely transported that she had almost lost her Soul in an extasy of admiration In what an extasy of admiration should it then put us causing us with all thankfulness to adore the divine remunerative Goodness when the Lord gives us a sight of his own Glory every Day making us to behold in our prospect here on Earth all the Royalties Immunities and Soul-entrancing delights of the heavenly Jerusalem Had God Christians given you the Kingdoms of the World with all the Glory of them they had not been worth so much as the least glimpse of that Glory to which the Lord allows you to have an Eye in all your endeavours Be therefore no longer unthankful to God but admire him rather (b) Psal 63.3 Because thy loving kindness saith the Psalmist is better than Life my lips shall praise thee So my Brethren because the Lord allows you that respect to the recompence of reward that sight of Heaven that prospect of Eternal Glory which is better than Life it self why therefore let your Lips yea and your Lives too praise him The sight of Heavenly Glory puts Life into the Soul and so makes it go on with delight in ways of obedience Oh therefore let that God who thus makes your Hearts chearful be sure to find them thankful and your Mouths running over with his Praises in every condition For remember it he that is not truly thankful to God for Glory in expectation shall never have Heaven and eternal Glory in their full fruition You must now admire the goodness of God in the hope of Eternal Life or you can never taste how good the Lord is in the bestowance of Eternal Life upon you 2 Walk uprightly doing all that you do in the Ways of God not for vain-glory nor from any ambitious desire of popular applause but purely from a principle of love to that God who in all your obedience hath allowed you the strong and everlasting encouragement of having an Eye to the recompence of the reward You need not Christians to look asquint in your obedience nor do any thing that you do to be seen of Men so long as the Lord sets before you the reward of Eternal Glory allowing you to look on that as a Feast wherewith to refresh you as Robes of Righteousness wherewith to adorn you as a consort of Celestial Musick wherewith to delight you and as a Royal Diadem wherewith to crown you after all your labours when once you come to Heaven (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Macar Hom. 19. Let not therefore vain-glory nor any such low and sordid principles act you in the Ways of God but let the Love of God who allows you by way of encouragement a respect to the recompence of Eternal Life be the spring of all holy motions in your Souls Look you may at the recompence of the reward but shall never receive it if in all your obedience you have not God and Eternal Glory but the praise of Man and vain-glory for your end Be
enough we have Heaven in our eye and a Crown of Life lies before us What though you have but little in hand yet so long as you have Heaven in hope and a clear prospect of Eternal Glory in your eye why should you not be content and sit down satisfied Whatever Christians your conditions be in this present Life yet you may say with holy David considering that glorious recompence of Reward which God allows you to have an eye to in Heaven's way the lines are fallen to me in pleasant places yea I have a goodly Inheritance If as Solomon saith it be such a pleasant thing for the eyes to behold the Sun and that which would give them content if with any thing they could be satisfied how much more should you count it pleasant to behold by the Eye of Faith the Sun of Righteousness to behold an eternal Reward of Glory giving diligence to sit down satisfied with so blessed a sight The poor weather beaten Sea-man how well satisfied is he though yet tossed with Storms and impetuous Tempests when once he discovers Land and comes within â—en of the Harbour And will not you Christians labour to be content when whatever Troubles abide you whatever pelting Storms you are tossed with upon the boysterous Sea of this ungrateful World yet still you may discover the Land of Promise and are always within ken of Heaven that wished Harbour of eternally blessed and glorious Rest That which learned St. Paul the great mystery of contentation enabling him to sit down as well satisfied in every condition was his stedfast fixed beholding of eternal Glory Paul though sadly troubled and perplexed and always delivered unto Death for Jesus sake yet he murmures not but is well content with all this as having fixed the Eye of his Faith not upon Earth but Heaven * 2 Cor. 4.17 not upon things that are seen but upon an eternal weight of unseen Glory And why is it that we having the same Reward set before us and the same Crown of eternal Glory to fix our eyes upon cannot learn of that blessed Man in every condition therewith to be content Oh take heed Christians that you murmure no longer against Heaven but strive that having stedfastly fixed your eye upon heavenly Glory you may well be satisfied in every condition not only when God gives but also when he taketh not only when we receive good from the Hand of the Lord but also when we receive evil not only when you abound with Blessings but with Crosses too not only when you enjoy all things but when you are stript of all Oh Christians how welcome should every thing be where nothing is deserved If we look at our own deserts we may wonder rather at what we have than repine against God for what we want If we want something 't is a Mercy that we want not all If we lie in a Prison 't is a favour that we are not shut up in Hell amongst damned Spirits If we have not so much in hand as many yet here is a miracle of Mercy to satisfie us that we have as much in hope as heart can wish This consideration then Christians like Hagar's Well may make us refrain our weeping and sit down content when our Bottles are empty Though here we should be stript naked yet hereafter we shall be cloathed with the Garments of Salvation Though here we should wander up and down in hunger seeking our Bread from desolate Places yet hereafter we shall feed with delight upon the Tree of Life in the Paradise of God Though here we sit in Darkness and have no Light yet this should make us content in every such disconsolate condition that hereafter we shall partake of the Inheritance of Saints in Light where we shall have a bright Sun-shine of eternal Glory 4 Walk humbly acknowledging your own unworthiness that ever God should give you the encouragement of so glorious a reward When the Lord for your better encouragement to all holy Self-denying and upright walking before himself allows you to look up to Heaven you have then cause if ever to walk humbly and be abased as low as Earth Where the guilt is great and the receiver as in this case altogether unworthy the most sutable return that can be is Humility and self-abasement God's People should never lie lower in Humility than when he raiseth them highest in their Hopes and full assurance of Eternal Glory (a) 2 Sam. 7.18 Thus holy David when God had spoken of establishing his Throne and Kingdom for ever he now as admiring the wonderful condescention of God in his preferment confesseth his own unworthiness saying who am I oh Lord God and what is my House that thou hast brought me hitherto Well! The Lord hath spoken to us of an everlasting Kingdom assuring us of that in the end as the reward of all our labours and shall not this teach us all humility causing every one to acknowledg his own unworthiness of so great Mercy (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plut. Praecept Coning The Moon doth never shine less than in her nearest approaches to the Sun from whom she borrows her light Thus Christians we should never think our selves to shine less than when God causeth us to approach nearest to himself in the tenders of Heaven and Glory which his Goodness affords us They that know not these Treasures of Love and Sweetness may admire themselves and have big-swelling thoughts of their own Worthiness But let those amongst you that are come to have a prospect of Heavenly Glory fixing their Eye upon an object of the first magnitude be vile in their own apprehensions losing themselves in the fulness of God's free Grace and remunerative Goodness There is nothing that should more humble us than to think how highly the great God is about to exalt us Nor any thing that should more debase us than to consider how Glorious the Lord promises at length to make us We should see our own Poverty in the Riches of God's Bounty to us And be ashamed of our own drop when he makes us thus lanch forth in the fathomless Ocean of his own remunerative Goodness The Stars vanish when the Sun appears and so the small Candle of our own worth should presently disappear and be put out under an everlasting extinguisher when once the Glory of Heaven ariseth in our thoughts (c) 1 King 19.13 Elijah wrapt his face in a Mantle when the Glory of the Lord passed before him Thus when God gives us a prospect of Heaven causing all his Glory for our better encouragement in a way of Duty to pass before us 't is time that we should now wrap our selves in the Mantle of true Humility The greatness of God's Mercy in giving us a sight of Heavenly Glory should make us if any thing can to be little in our own Eyes 'T is then most easy to see our own pollution and vileness when God takes us up
have Heaven with all the Glory and royalties thereof continually in our Eye before us Can any Man having fixed his Eyes upon and expecting an Eternal reward of Glory in Heaven indulge himself in the dead and powerless performance of holy duties not â—â—bouring to be carried on in the Work of the Lord with a mighty violence and holy activity of Spirit That Man is certainly unworthy the Glory of Heaven who thinks it not well worth his utmost diligence and labour of Love on Earth (a) Non enim dormientibus provenit regnum coelorum sed in Dei mandatis laborantibus Leo Serm. 2. de Epiphan pag. 25. The Kingdom of Heaven is prepared not for loyterers but for labourers Not for those that stand idle all the Day in Gods Vineyard but for those that make hast to run the Way of his Commandments * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. This Kingdom though not meritable by the endeavours of any mortal but the free gift of God yet is never to be taken but by an holy Storm Nor must any Man ever think to come there that is not willing to gain it in the sweat of his brows How then should this fill our Hearts with great thoughts and our Hands with all opportunities sending us forth to meet all advantages and engaging us to use all possible diligence in Heavens way And can you be content to lose Heaven rather than Labour for it To be shut our of the Paradise of God for ever rather than force your selves into it by an holy violence through the strait Gate Can you do too much for a Crown of Glory or expend more strength in the service of God than what the recompence of reward will make amends for Oh believe it Christians you can never put your time your strength your diligence to better usury than by laying forth all in the service of God! There is not a prayer not a sigh not a tear not the least struggle of the Spirit against the Flesh herein that shall ever be lost (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat. Epist ad Polyc. But as your diligence for Christ doth abound in the work of the Lord so the reward of Eternal Life by Christ shall much more abound unto you Your weak â—â—â—eavours shall be crowned with strong consolationâ— For your temporal obedience on earth you shall receive the recompence of Eternal Glory in Heaven And for your labour of love here you shall rest for ever hereafter in the sweet and delicious embraces of your best beloved the dear Lord Jesus whom to see without end will be endless happiness Oh then what diligence in the service of God what labour in the work of the Lord what exactness in all our Duties can be sufficient for that God who hath prepared such transcendently glorious and Soul-raping felicity for those that faithfully serve him Hast thou Christian such a Crown and yet run no faster Hast thou such an eternal Triumph and yet fight the Battels of the Lord with no more courage and activity Hast thou such a blessed and transcendently glorious Reward and yet no more diligent zealous and abounding in the Work of the Lord Oh take a prospect by the Eye of Faith of the Land of Promise view the Glory observe the royalties take notice of the many choyce immunities of that Heavenly Canaan let the recompence of Eternal Life be always in your Eye and then forbear to be fervent in spirit when serving the Lord if you can Their labour their Zeal their diligence for God should never be small to whom he vouchsafes a prospect of so transcendently great and glorious a Reward The endeavours of a Christian for God should always bear some proportion with what encouragements he receives from God Having therefore so clear a sight of what God hath layd up for us with himself in Heaven we should never think we can do enough for God on earth So long as God holds out a Crown of Glory we should never withhold our labour our pains our diligence in a way of duty Thou art unworthy Christian the least glympse of Heavens happiness if such a sight do not presently transform thee into 〈◊〉 incarnate Seraphim making thee burn with Heavenly Zeal in the service of God like Coles of Juniper as willing to undergo the greatest labour for so glorious a recompence Let us therefore with all intention of mind with all vigour of Soul with all due preparation of Heart run the way of God's Commandments remembring it is all for the life of our own Souls and that the recompence of Eternal Glory is still before us as the reward of all our Christian endeavours 7 WALK Heavenly-mindedly not loving the World nor the things of the World but wholy setting your Hearts upon things above In this case if any where your Eye should affect your Hearts so that the sight which God affords you of an eternal Reward in Heaven may attract and draw up your affections thither wholly divorcing them from the Love of all Creature-enjoyments The Lapwing is made an Emblem of infelicity by some because having a little Coronet upon her head she yet feeds upon the worst of excrements Well you that have a Crown of Glory though not already upon your head yet in your Eye take heed that you be not such Enemies to your own Happiness as to feed with delight upon the sordid enjoyments of this present World Themistocles that gallant Athenian Captain bid his Friend take up those Bracelets which he espied on the ground for saith he thou art not †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plut. Themist Themistocles implying that it was below a Person of his Place and Renown to be affected with such Vanities So Christians let the Worlds Friends stoop down and embrace her Profits Honours and outward Accomodations it 's below you that have Heaven in your Eye to be taken with them 'T is a thing unbecoming all you whose Reward is laid up in the highest Heavens to stoop so far below your selves as to lay out your affections upon Earth and earthly enjoyments If Alexander would not exercise at the Olympicks as thinking such Pedantick recreations too far below him (i) Nos contemnere malumus quà m continere opes innocentiam magis cupimus magis patientiam flagitamus malumus nos bonos esse quà m prodigos Min. Foel Oct. 118. how much more should a Christian scorn having Heaven and Glory in his Eye to be found like one of the base Fellows eagerly pursuing the lying Vanities of a dunghil World 'T is storiâ—â—â—â—â—one Tigranes that coming to redeem his Father and Friends with his Wife who were all taken Prisoners by Cyrus he was asked in particular what ransom he would give for his Wife To which he readily answered that he would purchase her Liberty with his own Life But prevailing upon easier terms as they returned every one commended Cyrus for a goodly Person and Tigranes would needs know
of his Wife what she thought of him truly said she I cannot tell for I did not so much as look on him whom then said he wondring did you then look upon On whom should I replied she but on him that would have redeemed my Life with his own Liberty Thus Christians you should so much be taken up with Love to Christ and the delightful contemplation of that Happiness and glorious Liberty which he by his own preciouâ— Blood hath purchased for you as not to think the whole World with all the Glory thereof worth the looking after much less to spend your Thoughts your Time your Affections your Strength upon it The Reward which God sets before you it 's an heavenly Reward and therefore do not like Men under the curse of the Serpent lie crawling-upon the Ground and licking the dust of the Earth but let all your Thoughts your Desires your insatiate breathings of Soul be continually running Heaven-ward 'T is enough for Heathens who know not God never had any glimpse of his Glory nor any tenders of an eternal Reward made to them to consult of their own Profit Pleasure and Honour in the World suffering all their affections to run out that way But for you that have seen the Back-part of Jehovah that have been upon the Mount with Christ that have Heaven with all its Royalties and Glory lying before you as thâ—â—â—â—ard of all your obedience for you to be Earthly-minded seeking great things in the World for your selves is the most dreadful miscarriage that can be What is Earth to Heaven What are the Riches of the World to the Riches of Glory What is the Mammon of Unrighteousness to that immarcessible Crown of Righteousness which the Lord sets before you for your better encouragement to all holy Self-denying and upright walking before him (c) Confundere igitur quod ita abutaris desideriis tuis adhaerendo foetidis mundi stercoribus cum possis recreari odoriferis rosis coelestibus Stella de contemnendis mundi vanitatibus lib. 1. cap. 31. Oh methinks Christians you should even blush and be ashamed to let the World get possession of your Hearts having no less than an Eternity of Life and heavenly Glory in your Eye 'T is said of the Loadstone that it cannot draw Iron so long as the Diamond is in presence And shall earthly Vanities draw out your affections after them when a Crown of Life all set with sparkling Diamonds of Glory is in presence Are you cloathed with the Sun as with a garmeâ—â— and cannot you now trample the Moon with all the Sublunaries under your Feet Have you Heaven in hope and will not that content you unless you may have the Earth with the fulness thereoâ— in your Hand Do you not know what * Fortunae malè creditur magno viatico breve vitae iter non instruitur sed oneratur Minut. Foel Oct. 122. Enemy the World is to the progress in Heavens way denying Men if once they go about to court it a quiet passage through its Territories as the King of Edom did the Israelites to the promised Canaan Esau by hunting too long after Venison he lost his Fathers Blessing Thus whilst hunting after Honours Riches and Promotions in the World you will lose with out a speedy return the Blessing of an Eternal Life A Man with a Mote in his Eye cannot see clearly nor with any delight behold the Sun Thus if you suffer your Eyes to be filled with the dust of the World you can never clearly see much less look upon with delight that glorious Reward which God sets before you (e) Dulces sunt divitae amantibus sed mors in olla cum et enim reddant hominem insolentem superbum trahunt secum ad mortem aeternam Idem lib. 1. cap. 18. Luke 10.41 The Riches Honours Glory and all the accomodations of his World are but sugared Poysons that will then most certainly destroy us when we delight to be feeding upon them Impossible it is for Men inordinately affecting the World not to be mortally infected by it Whilst Martha was much cumbred about many things she forgot to look after the one thing necessary And so whilst Men are troubled in the World pursuing with eagerness the enjoyments thereof they do easily forget to look after the Reward of Eternal Glory 'T is a rare thing for Men not to lose in Spirituals when they gain much in Temporals not to be impoverished in Grace by their Riches not to starve their Souls when their Bodies prosper and not to fall in their desires after God and Heaven and Glory when raised a few steps higher in this present World Crates Thâ—â—anus was a huge despiser of all worldly enjoyments as judging them prejudicial to the serious study of Philosophy and shall we then drown our selves in worldly cares who pretend to be studying Heaven and Eternal Glory (f) Igitur ut qui viam terit eò felicior quo levior incedit ita beatior in hoc intinere vivendi qui paupertate se sublevat quanòn sub divitiarum onere suspirat Minut. Foel Oct. 118. Qui plus habet minori gaudet libertate nec tam facilè eor suum attollere potest ad Dominum Idem lib. 1. cap. 12. Non potes vel per terram iter facere ferens onus adhuc speras te iturum ad coelum cum sis onustus Idem ibidem Believe it Christians the more you love the World the less Liberty you enjoy for Heaven Neither can you so easily meditate Eternal Glory and lift up your Hearts to God when burdened with the cares of this present Life How many wither in Spirit whilst they flourish in the Flesh growing the more cold in their devotion the more warm they find themselves in their worldly possessions The better some feather their Nests the more unfit they are to soar aloft and fly to God upon the wing of Divine Meditation And to tell you the truth what an holy Divine of our own once thought many might have gotten well to Heaven had not the World gon so well on their side as to make them believe there was no better Heaven to be found Consult then if you love your Souls their Eternal Welfare and do not go about to undo your selves for ever by your Earthly-mindedness Where the Carcase is there let the Eagles be gathered together Your Reward your Treasure your Happiness they are all laid up in Heaven let therefore your Heart and your Affections be there also 'T is not for such Eagles as you to stoop at Flies for those whose Eye should be fixed upon an Eternally glorious Reward in Heaven to be always moving towards the Earth as their proper Center Doth God take you up into the Mount giving you a prospect thence of Heavenly Glory and cannot you think it good to be there but you must be going down in Worldly-mindedness to your earthly Comforts Will you still like
the Prodigal be feeding upon Husks when there is Bread enough to spare in your Fathers House Will you still be building Tabernacles for your selves on Earth when the Lord shews you such Mansions of Glory prepared in Heaven Foolish Children When such an eternally glorious Reward is held out to you by the Hand of your heavenly Father how can you with any patience behold the World or think it worthy that you should spend so much as one thought upon it You should live Christians in the highest Region of an heavenly Conversation leaving those to scramble for the World that have nothing else to live upon (g) Sua sibi habeant regna reges suas divitias divites suam verò prudentiam prudentes relinquant nobis stultitiam nostram Lact. de Just lib. 5. cap. 12. pag. 493. That of Lactantius was a brave heroick Spirit which if throughly imbibed would make you all say with him let the Kings of the Earth have their Kindoms let â—â—e Rich Men have their Riches and the Prudent of this World let them have their Prudence to themselves so that they will only leave us the folly of seeking by patient continuance in well-doing Glory and Honour and Immortality and Eternal Life Get your Hearts fixed upon your Treasure in Heaven and I dare say it will never grudge you to see the Lord filling the Bellies of the Wicked with his hidden Treasure on Earth It matters not much what they have in hand so long as God allows you to have always an immarcessible Crown of Glory in you to Eye Oh this is the Happiness of Gods People even in this present World that having gotten their Hearts once weaned from earthly Comforts they live in the suburbs of the heavenly Jerusalem When once they leave off to feed with delight upon the Garlick and Onions of Aegypt they shall then sit down under the shadow of Gods dearest Love in Canaan and there find his Fruit sweet to their tast When once they turn away their Eyes from beholding worldly Vanities they may behold with delight the promised reward and have their Eyes continually feasted with the bright entrancing beams of Heavenly Glory (h) Quis non illius vitae desiderio praesentem vitum despierat Quis non illius abundantiae delectamento divitias temporis labentis exhorreat Quis non illius regni dilectione omnia terrena Regna contemnat Fulgent ad Theodor. epist 6. pag. 551. Who then for the desire of such a Life would not despise this present World Who for the delight of that abundance would not even fear the Riches of gliding time Who for the Love of that glorious Kingdom would not contemn as things of no value all earthly Kingdoms Oh believe it Christians you will have Meat to eat which the World knows not of living Heavenly-minded The World can never feast her greatest Favourites with those redundancies of Joy and Comfort which you may expect getting weaned affections to things below and living above Let therefore the Price of earthly Commodities fall and the price of heavenly Commodities rise in your thoughts And tho you be absent from your Treasure in Body yet see that you be always present therewith in Spirit In vain doth God afford you a prospect of Glory on Earth if it prove not a spiritual Load-stone to attract and draw up your Hearts as high as Heaven 8 WALK patiently as well satisfied to suffer and bear the worst of Afflictions that at length you may come to Heaven the best of Rewards Their Hearts may well be established with divine Patience in every condition whose Eyes God allows to be fixed in every Duty upon heavenly Glory And truly the condition of God's People in this present World doth evince the great necessity of Divine Patience to all that will live Godly in Christ Jesus Luther makes it the very definition of a Christian to be a Crucian who denying himself must take up his Cross and follow Christ The Lord Jesus hath two Crowns the one of Thorns the other of Glory They that would enjoy the latter and be crowned with Glory they must first undergo the former and be crowned with Thorns What the Holy Ghost said of Christ that it behoved him to suffer and so to enter into his Glory the very same holds true of all his People (i) Acts. 14.22 who through many afflictions must enter into the Kingdom of God The stones in Solomon's Temple were first hewen and polished and then set up into a stately Building So God's People first they must be hewen and carved by sufferings before they can be fit to build the Temple of God in the heavenly Jerusalem To all the People of God this World is a Wilderness not a Canaan an Egypt not a Paradise a troublesome Sea not an Harbour of Rest The day that is without clouds the light that is without Darkness the Joy that hath no sorrow is reserved for Heaven So then the misery of our present condition may well let us see the necessity of Christian Patience to suffer and wait upon God in it Without Patience every burden will seem too heavy every Cup that our heavenly Father puts into our Hand too bitter and every affliction too long But get Patience and that will lighten every burden have Patience and that will sweeten the bitterest potion lengthen Patience and that will make the time of all your afflictions seem short There is â— passive obedience required of all Christians that they may quietly suffer and 't is patience must help them If we bring evil upon our selves then we should afflict our Souls with Godly Sorrow but if the Lord bring evil upon us then we must exercise Patience both quietly hoping (k) Lam 3.26 and waiting for his salvation Christian Patience is not only a comely Grace making misery it self by a pious deportment under it seem amiable but 't is also a necessary Grace making the very worst of Miseries seem tolerable by framing a Mans mind to his present condition when his condition is not to his mind There are many Men professing the Christian Faith who if deliverance come not at their own Time they presently grow impatient of waiting God's time resolving to trade for it in their own way But were their Hearts established with divine Patience they would never thus precipitate their Mercies nor think that deliverance worth the having which only springs up out of the ruines of Faith and a good Conscience 'T is the nature of Christian Patience to make a Man tenacious of his integrity working in him a strong resolution not to purchase the greatest good with the commission of any the least evil This makes a Man the same in Prison as at Liberty the same in Poverty as when abounding with Riches the same when under reproach persecution and sorest calamities in the World as when the Sun of outward prosperity shone bright upon him Let what Storms will bluster abroad in the
World he enjoys his mind at home by Patience he holds possession of himself (l) Luke 21.19 Possessio imporrat quietum dominium ideo per patientiam dicitur homo suam animam possidere in quantum radicitus evellit passiones adversitatum quibus anima inquietatur Aquinas 22. p 36. 23. of his Wisdom of his Faith of his Integrity Meekness Humility and every other Grace and of these all the Power and Policy of Hell it self can never dispossess him Such is the force of Christian Patience that it derives a kind of invincibility into the Soul giving every Man that hath it the strongest security against all dangers Impoverish him you may but can never undo him Persecute him you may but can never ruin him (m) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Socrat. Kill him you may but can never conquer him nor take his Crown from him For as Patience keeps us in present possession of our selves and all saving Graces So it will infallibly put us in full possession of Life Happiness and all future Glory Be patient therefore and stablish your Hearts in a quiet dependance upon God under all your sufferings not doubting but after a sorrowful night will come a morning of Joy after a wet seed-time will come a plentiful harvest after a weary Week will come an Eternal Sabbath of rest in the heavenly Canaan n The Vision is for an appointed time but at the end it will speak and not lie Though it tarry wait for it for it will surely come and will not tarry We are apt to antedate the Visions of God and to make them speak deliverance before their appointed time but we must learn by Faith and Patience to wait upon God for their seasonable accomplishment assuring our selves that though they may tarry beyond our Time yet they will never tarry beyond God's time When we are prepared for a Mercy and that Mercy ripened for us then the Vision of Mercy of Comfort of deliverance will be sure to come and will not tarry The Lord usually makes the pressures of his People the prefaces of his Mercy to them taking occasion from their low condition to compass them about with Songs of deliverance When the Morning is at the darkest then comes the gladsome Day So when the condition of God's People is most dark and sad and gloomy then the Day of deliverance will dawn upon them When â—he Sea is at the lowest ebb then in comes the tide So when God's People are in the lowest condition then a tide of all sutable Mercies will come flowing in upon them When in a Word the Wine at the Marriage solemnized at Cana in Galilee was all spent and the Water-pots filled up to the brim with Water then did our Blessed Lord turn that Water into Wine So when the provisions of God's People are all spent and their Souls filled up to the brim with the bitter Waters of Marah then will the Lord turn those Waters into the Wine of Eternal Consolation Be patient therefore Brethren holding fast your integrity and let no Reproach no Persecution no evil entertainment that (m) Habbak 2.3 you meet from the World (o) Defendenda enim religio est non occidendo sed moriendo non saevitiâ sed patientiâ non scelere sed fide Lactant de Justit lib. 5. cap. 19. pag. 520. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Martyr Apol. 2. pag. 49. make any of you grow disloyal and antimagistratical But remember with divine Lactantius your Religion must be defended not by killing but by dying not by inhuman cruelty but by Christian Patience not by the perpetration of any Wickedness but by holding fast the mistery of Faith in a pure conscience 'T is the most unseemly thing that can be for a Christian having assurance that the Rod of the Wicked shall not always rest upon his lot to put our his hand through impatience to any iniquity We dishonour the God of Heaven when we act so far below our selves our engagements our hopes on Earth What should not the hope of a joyful Harvest make you patiently endure the sorrow of a wet Seed-time Should not the expectation of an Eternal Reward make you patiently endure all present sufferings And a prospect of Heavenly Glory should not that make you with all Patience endure whatever Reproaches whatever Afflictions whatever Bonds Persecutions and Imprisonments you shall meet with on Earth Oh remember it Christians therefore doth the Lord allow you to have regard in all your obedience to Heaven and Glory that so you might not regard any suffering Persecution or fiery Tryal that may possibly attend you in a way of obedience but with Patience undergo them all The Lord hath fixed Heaven at the end of Duty that we may learn with more Patience to break through the difficulties of the Way And that we may not give over our diligence for God nor grow impatient through our present Miseries he gives us leave in all that we do and suffer to have an Eye upon our (†) Heb. 10.36 future Happiness And certainly Christians you had need of Patience as the Apostle saith that after you have done the Will of God ye may receive the Promise Without Patience after we have done God's Will there is usually no receiving of the Reward for doing his Will Through Patience the Will of God is fulfilled in us and the Promises inherited Go on therefore suffering his Will and waiting with Patience for the promised Inheritance of eternal Life that will follow after Oh be not impatient of that Sorrow which will end in Joy be not impatient of that Cross which leads to a Crown be not impatient of that Cloud of Disgrace which anon shall be changed into the bright Sun-shine of eternal Glory be not in a word impatient of those Afflictions through which you will shortly enter into the Kingdom of God! Oh labour having Heaven in your Eye with Patience to wade through the big-swelling Waters of all earthly Afflictions 9 WALK fiducially endeavouring that at all times your hearts may be established with a well grounded assurance of your interest in that glorious reward which the Lord hath set before you Let it not suffice that you have Heaven in your Eye but labour also to have the assurance thereof in your own Hearts 'T is good to have a sight of Glory but it is much better to know that we have a right to Glory To have an Interest in eternal Life is the strongest ground of Comfort but till there be some Assurance and Knowledg of our Interest we usually have small sense of Comfort For the fear of coming short of Heaven makes the Soul to live continually in a temporal Hell depriving it of all that Comfort which an Interest in heavenly Glory if known and improved would otherwise have filled it with Hagar's (a) Gen. 21.19 Well did not comfort her though close by her till the Lord opened her Eyes to see it
and with a great deal of Confidence they may speak out such fine Repugnances as if the sparklings of the white Stone would beget a Stone in the Heart of God's Children and the reading of their new Name written therein would make them act contrary to their new Nature But get a well-grounded assurance â—f heavenly Glory labour to have the hope of eternal Life abiding within your selves and you shall easily find by your own Experience what a strong Engagement this will be to all Holy Upright and Circumspect walking before the Lord making you a thousand times more willing than ever to spend and be spent in his Service Dwell therefore no longer in Generals lose not your Comforts in a heap of meer Conjectures and Uncertainties But give diligence now to bottom your Souls upon a sure Foundation labour to read your own Names (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Caryl Hier. Cateches 1. pag. 2. written in the Book of life Eternal and let it not suffice you to have a Prospect of Heaven and Glory but be sure to get good Evidence for them Is it not better to lie safe at Anchor than to be left every moment to the Pleasure of a Wave Oh let Faith no longer be put to silence when endeavouring to speak in its own proper Dialect But let your Right be made so clear to the Kingdom of God to Heaven and eternal Glory that you may say this Heaven is my Heaven and this Glory is my Glory and this Kingdom is prepared of God for me as the place of my eternal Abode Oh this will be the strongest Cordial when you come to die to know that your Names are written in the Book of Life and shall never be blotted out Oh how comfortably may you leave the Wilderness of this World when you know you are now going to take Possession of the heavenly Canaan Oh 't is good having an Eye to the Recompâ—nce of eternal Life when we know we shall shortly be Crowned with that glorious Reward A well-grounded Assurance of Heaven this is the Suburbs of the new Jerusalem and oh with what comfort may we live there a while when we know that the Gates thereof shall never be shut against us but we shall have an abundant entrance into that everlasting Kingdom 10 WALK comfortably not desponding under any affliction but rejoycing in the assured hope and expectation of that reward which is set before you They should never allow themselves to go without Joy in their Hearts whom the Lord allows to walk continually with Heaven in their Eye though forest Afflictions should wait upon you though sharpest Persecutions should overtake you whether the days of your Pilgrimage be cloudy or clear shining with Prosperity or lowring with Adversity yet so long as you have before you an immarcescible Crown of Life that can never wither why should you suffer your Comforts to wither and fade and die within you What shall every Northern Blast nip Glory in the Bud Shall the Wilderness of worldly Afflictions which is not so thick set with any Difficulties but by Faith you may see through them all make you hang down your Heads like a Bull-rush and go disconsolate when all the good of the heavenly Canaan lies before you Must the Recompence of eternal Life lose its Power to Comfort when ever the World gets a Power to Afflict you Cannot Heaven it self Minister Sweetness if at any time your earthly Enjoyments should be imbittered to you How is it that you are not ashamed to let the Malice of a few envious Philistines stop up all those fresh Springs of Comfort which God hath opened in Heaven to refresh and make glad your Souls The Sun once appearing in our Hemisphere the Clouds are presently scattered and all the dark Shadows of the Night they fly away Thus when the Lord gives us a sight of Heaven and makes the Reward of eternal Life in all its Royalties and Glory to appear before us all Clouds of Disconsolatenes should then be scattered and all the dark Shadows of worldly Sorrow they should for ever take Wings and fly away (e) Habakkuk 3.17 18. So we find it I am sure with good Habakkuk who having fixed his Eye upon God as one that would Crown him at length with eternal Salvation he resolves come what will come to Feast his Soul continually with the Joy of the Lord he purposes to live and die with his Mouth or rather with his Heart full of hidden Manna he gets him up into the Mount of Transfiguration resolving that whatever Storms are abroad in the World he will never be driven thence And what is it I would fain know that makes you who have the same Encouragement with this holy Prophet to eat all your Comforts with bitter Herbs Why is it that your Hearts are filled with Bitterness and your Mouths running over continually with the Gall of sad Complaints How comes it to pass Christians if one may know that you walk all the day long in the Valley of Tears never labouring to get your selves up into the Mount with God nor to solace your dejected (g) Tristetur et defleat si sibi male sit in seculo cui non potest bene esse post seculum Cypr. contra Demettiam Souls by taking a Prospect of the heavenly Canaan Though such may well hence out of heart as are still without Hope in the World Yet certainly its below the Hopes of God's own People to be daily swallowed up of those worldly (h) John 16.20 Sorrows which will shortly be turned into Joy unspeakable and full of Glory Understand then ye blessed of the Father where your Comfort lies and see that fixing your Eye upon the Recompence of eternal Life you live continually (i) Rom. 5.2 rejoycing in hope of the Glory of God! The Wicked they go rejoycing all the day long though their Portion be only in this present Life And will not you much more walk comfortably to whom belongs the Reversion of eternal Life and whose Reward shall be so great in Heaven The (k) Mat. 5.12 Eyes of ungodly Men are continually beholding Vanity and yet even hence you may find them taking a great deal of sensual Joy and carnal Contentment And is there no Joy to be found in beholding the Glory of Heaven no Comfort flowing in upon your Souls from a prospect of eternal Happiness What are the Waters of Abana and Parphar so much better than the Waters of Jordan Shall a small glance of worldly Felicity afford more Matter of Joy and Gladness than an Eye beholding with open view the Kingdom of Heaven with all its Royalties and surpassing Glory Oh who should walk comfortable and rejoyce on Earth if not the People of God whose Eyes are continually feasted with bright Visions of Happiness and eternal Glory from Heaven Awake then oh sluggish Christian and go forth chearfully to the Work of the Lord There is no such Lyon in the
way as thou dreamest of or if there be why yet in that very Lyon thou mayst find Hony The way to Heaven is not so dark and gloomy as most imagine though indeed it be strait and tedious to Flesh and Blood yet there stands a bright Crown of eternal Glory at the end which makes it comfortable Be ashamed then having such encouragement to walk disconsolate in Heavens way There are not so many Thorns to prick you as Roses to refresh you Nor half so much cause of Sorrow â—s there is of Comfort and rejoycing of Spirit Christians walking in Heaven's Way they may meet I confess with a fiery Tryal but then there is some Light for their Comfort as well as Heat to Torment them And let me tell you the more your Hearts are melted and softned in such a Flame the deeper will be the Impression of divine Love Consolation and Sweetness upon them A sight of Glory from Heaven is then most Cordial when we can see nothing but Bonds and Imprisonments and forest Afflictions to abide us on Earth (a) Acts 7.55 How sweetly did Stephen that blessed Proto-martyr fall asleep under a Shower of Stones as if he had gone to Heaven in a Bed of Down The Reason of all was this he saw Heaven open and Jesus standing at the right Hand of God ready to turn every Stone that was thrown at him into an orient Pearl and to Crown him so soon as ever he had passed the Straits of Death with eternal Life Thiâ— made him forget his Sorrow and walk on with Comfort through the Valley of Death that at length he might come to that Glory in Heaven which he found such a Cordial to his Soul when ready to leave her earthly Tabernacle And why is it that we having the same Recompence of Reward set before us cannot endure the like Hardships with the same Comfort Must there be so much ado to make us live upon those Cordials which Heaven it self hath provided for us Are the Consolations of God grown small with us that we resolve thus to walk with sorrowful Hearts whilst he shews us Heaven as in a Glass and sets Glory in our Eye Shall every light Affliction eat â—ut the Heart of our Comfort when we see there lies before us a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory Either Christian let thy Heart feel more or thy Eye see less of Heaven And do not go to bring up an ill Report upon the celestial Canaan by walking disconsolate in the way thither For you that have Heaven before you to come weeping after for you that have Glory in your Eye to be filled with Sorrow for you that may hope to live with God for ever in the Mount to go mourning from day to day like Doves of the Valley how unseemly were this If the World be bitter yet sweet is Paradise If the Earth cast you out yet Heaven will receive you If here you be tossed with Storms like a Ship at Sea yet arriving at the wished Shoar of Eternity you will find rest If in this (b) Mat. World Men Revile you and Persecute you saying all manner of Evil of you falsly for Christ's sake yet still you should walk rejoycing and be exceeding glad because great is your Reward in Heaven And what so great Matters are all our Afflictions on Earth that they should be able to imbitter Heaven Pray you (c) 2 Cor. 4.16 what is Affliction to Glory What is light Affliction to a weight of Glory What is a short momentary Affliction that like a little Cloud will soon be blown over to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory beyond all possible Hyperbole that will never be over That Man sure never looked by Faith so far as Heaven whom any Affliction on earth can make to go weeping â—ike Rachel refusing to be Comforted 11 WALK purely endeavouring to cleanse your selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit and to mortifie every Lust â—hat would spoyl you of your Reward It becomes not those that have the Recompence of eternal Life before them to love the Wages of Unrighteousness Nor those that have Glory in their Eye to make themselves by the Polâ—utions that are in the World through Lust like one of the base Fellows The Inheritance of the Saints in Light â—ts a pure and an undefiled Inheritance And therefore beholding it we must labour to be changed into the â—ame undefiled Purity and Holiness with it would we ever come to the full Enjoyment of it The Lord alows us a sight of Heaven in all our Obedience that beholding from day to day we might at length receive a Tincture of Purity and unspotted Holiness from it He gives us a prospect of our future Happiness that be (d) 2 Cor. 3.18 holding with open face the Glory of the Lord we might be changed into the same Image from Glory to Glory The difference betwixt Grace and Glory is not as some observe from these words specifical but gradual They differ not in Kind but only in Degree Grace is Glory inchoate and Glory is Grace consummate Grace is Glory Militant and Glory is Grace Triumphant Grace is Glory dawning and Glory is Grace shining forth in its noon-dayâ— brightness And I know no better way to ripen Grace into Glory than for Grace to behold and continually sun it self in the warm Beams of eternal Glory The Hope of future Happiness is the strongest Inducement to present Holiness Every Man (e) 1 John 3.3 that hath this Hope in him purifieth himself as he is pure Hope to be like Christ hereafter Glorious as he is Glorious and Blessed as he is Blessed will work in us a desire to be as like him as we can here Pure as he is Pure and Holy as he is Holy He that hath most hope of being saved will give most diligence of all others to be sanctified We never cleanse our Hands so much as when we have Glory in Hope Nor do we ever Purify our Hearts so throughly as when we have Heaven in our Eye When Moses had been with God upon the Mount he came down with his Face shining Thus if at any time God calls us up into the Mount with himself giving us a sight of that Glory which shall shortly be revealed in us we should be sure to come down having not only our Faces but our Hearts likewise shining with unspotted Purity It were the most unbecoming thing in the World for those to Dâ—file themselves with any Unrighteousness who have their Eye continually fixed upon an undefiled Inheritance expecting as the full Reward of all their Labours a Crown of Righteousness What shall not Heaven's Brightness expel the Darkness of Hell Shall not the Hope of eternal Happiness promote in our Hearts and Lives the Work of Holiness Is there a Crown of Glory at the end of our Christian Course and shall not that make us walk Pure
you could never obtain you might well in such case make light of it But when thus you have a Crown a Kingdom an eternal Wâ—â—ght of Glory set before you together with this Encouragement that in seeking you shall be sure to find them how inexcusable must you needs be if still you should go on in the careless neglect of them Because the Recompence of eternal Life is possible to be obtained therefore impossible will it be for those that seek it not that ever they should escape the Vengeance of eternal Death 3 CONSIDER how unable all your Creature-enjoyments will be to afford you any solid Comfort at Death and Judgment not having an Interest in the Recompence of eternal Life What the Holy Ghost saith of Riches may truly be affirmed of all Creature-enjoyments and worldly Accommodations they profit not in a Day of Wrath. The Night approaching we lose the benefit of the Sun for a time and can no longer we enjoy the Light of his beauteous Beams So the darksom Night of Death and Judgment approaching you can now no longer enjoy the Comfort of Riches Honours and the like worldly Accommodations but must lose them for ever You may cry Brethren to your Riches and cry to your Honours and cry to your Friends and cry bitterly to your dearest Relations but not having an Interest in the Recompence of Reward all these will then answer you as the King of Israel (e) Kings 6.26.27 sometime answered the poor Woman of Samaria if God do not help you whence shall we help you The good things of this Life they are only calculated for the Meridian of Time and do only shine with a borrowed light So that when Death shall seize upon you and Judgment overtake you they will then be gone and like a Shadow disappear for ever And will you not labour all this considered that you may not be comfortless when all your Creature-comforts fail you not without good ground of rejoycing when all your Enjoyments will avail you nothing Oh that you were but wise to consider this that you would but remember your latter end Will your Health and your Strength and your Life endure for ever or have you any thing in this present World that can deliver you from Death and the Jaws of Hell Boast you may for a while of your worldly Enjoyments without an Interest in heavenly Glory but when you come Sirs to look pale Death in the Face and must hold up thy Hand to be judged at the Bar of Christ the Righteous Judge of all the World though now you had the very Quintessence and most refined Spirits of all Creatures mingled in one Cup for your Comfort yet assuredly you would find them but a cold Cordial Though Sirs you were Cloathed in Scarlet faring deliciously every day though you were all bespangled with the Pearls of Heaven enjoying the whole Empire of the World as your own Yet what alas were all this against the fatal Stroak of impartial Death or against the Judgment of the great God now Sentencing your Soul and Body to the Vengeance of eternal Fire Never think that your Riches Honours and the like earthly Comforts will avail you any thing against the Thunder and Fire of Heaven in such a day An Interest in heavenly Glory this indeed will be able to comfort you But have all the Riches Honours and Pleasures that the World can afford and yet without this your condition is equally helpless with the Damned in Hell And shall not all this constrain you to seek the Kingdom of God endeavouring to get an Interest in eternal Glory Since Earth cannot relieve you why will you not resolve to look after Heaven 4 CONSIDER how small the number is of such as shall ever obtain the reward of Eternal Life and let that make you labour the more for an interest in it The Lord hath indeed prepared a Kingdom yet not for the reception of all promiscuously whatever good or bad (a) Luke 12.31 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But only for the housing of that twice little diminutive Flock for whose sake the good Shepherd hath laid down his Life This glorious recompence of the reward will be given but to very few because so many refuse to work in God's Vineyard for it Of those many that are called (b) Matth. 20.16 there are but few that are chosen to obtain Salvation by Jesus Christ And yet how few are all those that are called in comparison of such as never yet had any call from Christ in the Gospel If the learned Brerewood compute right who divideth the whole World into thirty parts assigning nineteen of those thirty to idolatrous Pagans six to Mahumetans and but five to Christians within how narrow a compass will salvation be confined Salvation to be sure is no plant of India nor is it any commodity to be found in Turkey Such Goats and Swine as inhabit there whether Idolaters worshipping false Gods or Infidels worshipping the true God out of Christ they must never think to enter into Paradise nor to gather fruit from the Tree of Life So that if any where Salvation may be found 't is only amongst those that are Christians And yet even here such is the number of seduced erroneous Papists on the one hand and of profane formal Protestants on the other that undoubtedly there are not many of them that shall ever be saved (c) Luke 8. Of the four sorts of grounds that we read of in the Parable of the Sower there is not three good and one only bad nor two good and two bad but only one good and all the rest bad to teach us how small the number is of sincere Christians who receive the blessing of Eternal Life in comparison of those impenitent fruitless and ungodly Christians who are nigh unto cursing (d) Heb. 6.8 and whose end is to be burned Amongst all the inhabitants of the Earth there are but few to be found that will ever find the right way to Heaven and Glory (e) Matth. 7.14 For strait is the gate saith Christ and narrow is the way which leadeth unto Life and few there be that find it Though all Men desire and many seek yet few they be that find the Way to true Blessedness This is the mark that all Men aim at but so many take their aim amiss that but few hit it This is that wished Harbour for which all Men are bound but so many sail by a false Compass that small is the number of those who steer a right course thither There are multitudes of Men and Women that perish in the Broad Way which leadeth to Destruction But few that walk in the narrow Way which leadeth unto Happiness and blessed immortality in the Kingdom of God And what will make you cast off Presumption and offer violence to the Kingdom of Heaven if not this consideration that there is but a very few who have either part or lot in
never failing to crown the weakest endeavours when sincere with a glorious Reward But remember those that only make conscience to do the Will of God in part and not wholly they have neither part nor lot in his heavenly Kingdom but must wholly end for ever fall short of Glory 9 TAKE heed that you build not your Hopes for Heaven upon a negative Righteousness but give diligence to live in the constant and faithful practice of all positive Duties (l) 2 Tim. 2.21 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Vessel of Honour is distinguished from the Vessel of Dishonour not so much because cleansed from what is Evil as because sanctified and prepared for every good Word and Work There are multitudes in the World that think themselves no small Saints because not the worst and most prodigeously Wicked amongst Sinners And many there be who count themselves in a good preparedness for Heaven because they have not the very Botches and Plague-sores of Hell visibly running upon them (m) Luke 18 11. God I thank thee said that proud Pharisee that I am not as other Men are Extortioners Unjust Adulterers or even as this Publican As if so be that because he had not his Hands full of Bribes and Oppression and the like Pollutions he must needs go to Heaven and be crowned with Glory Thus many glory because they are no Drunkards no Lyars no Swearers no Sabbath-breakers no unclean Persons embracing the Bosom of a strange Lover and oh that all our People had so much Righteousness as this to glory of But verily Sirs the fair Way of negative Righteousness leads to Hell and eternal Destruction as well as the foul pochy way of notorious Profaness Did you never hear of a Man dying for hunger as well as by eating Poyson Did you never see a Runner lose the Garland as well for leaving off to run as by catching a fall Did you never observe a Lamp going out as well for want of Oyl as by means of an Extinguisher So may you hear of thousands that die Eternally as well for want of doing good which is the Food of the Soul as by feeding upon the Poyson of their own Hearts Lusts So may you see Men daily losing the Garland of Eternal Glory for leaving off to run the Way of God's Commandments as by falling into wicked Practices So may you observe the Lamp of many professing Christians going out in the unsavoury snuff of sulphureous hellish Misery for want of thâ— Oyl of gracious Performances as well as by the fatal Extinguisher of open Ungodliness Do but look into the Process of Judgment which Christ will be sure to keep to in that great Day and you will find upon due observation made that the dreadful damnatory Sentence then to be pronounced against all the Ungodly it runs most upon Negatives commanding Men therefore to depart accursed into Everlasting Fire not so much for the Commission of Sins forbidden as for the neglect and omission of Duty enjoined (n) Matth. 25.42 43. Ye have not cloathed ye have not fed ye have not visited my poor Brethren saith Christ and therefore go ye cursed 'T is not said ye have robbed ye have reviled ye have persecuted them but their neglect of the forementioned Duties is that which now undoeth them this is that which sinks them to Hell and there works their Everlasting Destruction (o) Isa 1.16 17. What then will be the end of all Prayerless Meditationless Faithless and Irreligious Persons who though they â—â—ase to do Evil yet never learn to do well The Question will shortly be not so much whether you have oppressed as whether you have relieved the Poor not so much whether you have profaned as whether you have sanctified God's holy Sabbath not so much whether you have blasphemed as whether you have called upon the name of God with an upright Heart And this know the allowed total omission of any such Duty will as infallibly damn you as to live in the practise of the most gross and scandalous enormities So that to escape the pollutions that are in the World through Lust will at the best but procure you a cooler place in Hell so long as you walk not in the daily practise of those Duties which lead to Heaven Thou then that art a Man standing much upon thy negative Righteousness boasting thyself to be no covetous no unclean no debauched Person where iâ— thy Faith thy Wisdom thy reason still to go on in the careless neglect of Prayer of Self-examination of Repentance of meditating in God's Word and the like holy Exercises without which thou canst never be saved It is good indeed not to do Evil but yet it is withal a Soul-damning Evil not to do good ¶ Judg. 5.23 Wherefore was Meroz so bitterly cursed Was it because making a Confederacy with the Enemy they fought against God's People Oh no but because they came not out to the help of Israel against the Mighty Wherefore was that unprofitable Servant bound and cast into utter Darkness Was it for embezelling his Lords Talent or for wasting it upon Harlots Oh no but because he had not improved it to his Lords advantage Wherefore do we find that rich Man tormented in Hell Was it because he had taken any thing from poor Lazarus or pulled the Meat from his Mouth Oh no But because he did not cloath and feed him He finds Judgment without Mercy because he had neglected to shew Mercy And because he denyed Lazarus a crumb of Bread to satisfie his hunger now Heaven and Earth will not afford him one drop of Water to cool his Tongue So certainly will the neglect of Duty expose to an eternity of Wrath and unpreventable fiery Torments †Matth. 3.10 For not only the corrupt Tree but the barren Tree also is intended for the Fire not only the Tree which bears ill Fruit but also the Tree which bears no good Fruit must be fuel for the Wrath of God to burn upon without quenching for ever Give diligence then would you ever escape Wrath and obtain Glory not only to forbear the doing of that which is evil but also to be working the thing which is good Leave thâ— Duties of that place wherein God hath set you undone and your Souls are undone for ever But if carefully performing them you shall strive to abound with the Fruits of Righteousness 't is not long but you will have a blessed Transplantation from Earth to Heaven from the Wilderness of this World into the Celestial Canaan Only let every profane ungody Person stand aloof as those for whom the blackness of darkness is reserved for ever If a negative Righteousness will carry no Man to Heaven to be sure then those who allow themselves in a course of all unrighteous practices must fall irrecoverably into Hell and eternal Destruction If the slothful Servant were so punished who only hid his Lords Talent in a Napkin restoring it as good
then by his Grace excite it that the Sinner may actually believe and repent to the saving of his Soul No Man did ever yet believe repent or come to God for Mercy but in the strength of God Nor did any ever yet obtain the Reward of Eternal Life but through the Grace of God effectually enabling to work in the Lord's Vineyard and making him faithful unto the Death Go then to God in Prayer you that love your Immortal Souls for Grace for Purity for Holiness but be sure that you pray fervently remembring you can never arrive at the Haven of true Happiness without the gentle gales of God's own Spirit to speed you thither By nature you are dead in Trespasses and Sins and if therefore God quicken you not you are lost for ever By nature you are mortally wounded and this your wound is uncurable you must die of it if God heal it not for you By nature you are a Reprobate to every good Word and Work unless therefore God work in you both to will and to do of his own good pleasure you can never work out your own Salvation By nature you are dreadfully polluted all over unclean as a Vessel in which there is no pleasure so that if you beg not the Spirit of God to cleanse you from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit you can never be Vessels of Honour sit for the Masters use Holy Jacob being in danger of his Brother Esau's Fury he wrestled with God all Night resolving not to let him go without a Blessing and his two Arms he used in this holy Wrestle (a) Hos 12.4 they were Prayers and Tears Thus Sirs you are in danger not of Man's Fury but of indignation of Wrath and Hell from the great God and will you not wrestle for a Blessing closing in with God by the Arms of Prayer and Tears Oh seek the Lord while he may be found and see that you call upon him whilst yet he is near Do not oh do not trifle away that Time about the Meat that perisheth which should be spent in labouring for the Meat which will endure to eternal Life What is it to gain Earth and lose Heaven to gain the World and lose your Souls What alass to fare deliciously every Day and at Death to be found despairing to be found dropping into Wrath into Tophet into Hell irrecoverably Oh how much better is it that now you should pray and mourn and weep bitterly before the Lord every Day to get prepared for Heaven for Glory for a Crown of Righteousness for the recompence of eternal Life than that you should then weep and howl without Hope for the Misery the Wrath the unsufferable Hellish Flames that must now seize upon you and burn you for ever torment you for ever Well that you may never forget seeking the Lord nor cease praying before him remember where your Strength where your Hope where all your Comfort lies 'T is the Lord alone that hath the Word of Eternal Life and therefore go to him resolving that you will pray and never give over praying that you will wrestle and never give over wrestling that you will weep and sigh and groan and never give over till you have the Blessing The same God who gives us the Crown when we have overcome he must give us strength whereby to overcome He that will cloath us upon with the Garments of Salvation when we come to Heaven he alone it is that must now give us Grace cloathing us first with the Garments of Righteousness that we may be fit for that glorious Inheritance CHAP. XIII The Doctrin improved by way of strong Consolation to God's People exhorting them to live upon a due respect to this eternal Reward as upon hidden Manna IV AND lastly though we have for a little while been leading you as through the Wilderness yet now we begin to draw nigh to the heavenly Canaan My Text is a Tree of Life and I would not willingly come from it till I have shaken some apples of Love some of its sweet and precious Fruit into your Bosoms 'T is the Mount of Transfiguration and I would not willingly come down till your Faces shine with the Oyl of Gladness 'T is a spiritual Eden a Garden full of all pleasant Flowers and I would not willingly come out of it till I have cropt here and there one and gathered you an heavenly Nosegay to revive and refresh with its Divine Fragancy your Spirits in a fainting Hour You have been with us a little upon the Ocean under all those Storms and rageful Tempests which will beat upon such for ever as have no right to the recompence of the Reward But supposing your claim to this Reward good your right unquestionable and evidences without flaw I shall now endeavour to lodge you in the peaceful and wished Harbour of Divine Consolation And truly here is a River the streams whereof if any thing will make glad the City of our God The Well I confess is deep but yet through the Comforters assistance you lending the Bucket of your Faith I doubt not but we may draw Water Water of Life nay the Wine of Eternal Consolation to refresh you to enliven and comfort your Hearts in every Condition What Wilderness need terrify thee having Canaan so plain before thee What Storms can disturb thy peace being come within Ken of thy Eternal Harbour Oh think with thy self dear Christian what Afflictions need discourage thee having always in thy Eye such a far more exceeding and Eternal weight of Glory This Doctrine drops Balm for the healing of wounded Souls 't is as so much spiritual Manna for God's People to feed upon in the Wilderness of this World till they are come to Canaan a Land that floweth with Milk and Hony Deny not then your selves the Comfort of that Reward which God sets before you The Lord for your better encouragement sets Heaven with all the Happiness and Glory thereof in your Eye and therefore let not your Eye upon a pretence of I know not what Modesty or Self-denial be turned away from the stedfast beholding it Oh see Christians that you dwell much in your thoughts in your serious Musings in your Divine Contemplations upon this Theam endeavouring with Moses in all that you do in all that you suffer for God to have a due respect to the recompence of the Reward Oh let the glimpses of Heavens Glory close up your Eyes when you go to Bed at Night and let the Light the bright irradiations and Heart-warming Sun-shine of the same Glory be sure to feast your Eyes when first you awake every Morning Whilst you live live in the Hope of Heaven and when you die oh strive that you may die in the full assurance of Heaven Get like Moses a prospect of Canaan before you leave this Wilderness and whether you pray whether you wrestle with Temptations whether you resist unto Blood striving against Sin or whatever you
Hearts and make us walk with a lightsome Countenance in the saddest Condition Whilst Israel marched through the Wilderness their brightest Day had a Pillar of Cloud and their darkest Night a Pillar of Fire So in this Life things never go so ill with God's People but they have some Light nor so well but they have daily occasion of Sorrow and go groaning under some Affliction However an Eye fixed upon future Glory will be sure to mitigate the sense of our present Troubles What need he much be cast down for any loss whose Eye is fixed upon that heavenly Treasure which can never be lost What in all the World need fill his Heart with over-much Sorrow who sees fulness of Joy and Pleasures for evermore laid up in Heaven for him This eternal Reward Christians did you carefully eye it like the Tree thrown into the Waters of Marah would sweeten all your Afflictions it would make a Prison sweet and Pain easie it will turn a Wilderness into a Paradise give light in darkness and make the Heart merry amidst all worldly Troubles 'T is dogmatized by Naturalists that if a Man were above the second Region of the Air he would then be above all Storms This is true of those blessed Souls who live in Heaven by divine Contemplation they have rest from the day of Trouble no Storm can move them their Hearts are at ease in God let them suffer what they will in the World Let Friends and Goods and Life and all forsake us yet having an Eye to the Reward of eternal Glory that will be sweeter than either Goods or Friends or Life to us 4 A due respect had to this glorious Reward will work in your Hearts a blessed contempt of this present World enabling you to trample with an holy Scorn upon all its Pomps and lying Vanities The World frowning is more terrible but the World smiling is more deadly If Adversity kills its thousand to be sure Prosperity hath killed its ten thousands (a) 2 Sam. 1.19 21. In montibus Gilboae mortui sunt Nobiles Israel sic in honoribus prosperitatibus hujus seculi multi amittunt â—itam Stella Upon the Mountains of Gilboa did the Nobles of Israel fall Thus upon the high towering Mountains of worldly Prosperity do many catch a fall into eternal Misery But now an Eye stedfastly fixed upon the recompence of the Reward that prevents all this Danger enabling a Man to count all things but as loss and dung for the excellency that he sees by Faith to be in Heavens Glory Such is the force of Faith when vigourously exercised about this glorious Reward that it can put bitterness into all that the World counts most sweet and draw a veil of contempt over all the Pageantry of secular enjoyments disgracing them with every believing Soul into Vanity A Man long gazing upon the Sun hath his Eyes so dazled with the Splendour and brightness of it that he cannot discern the Beauty of inferior objects (b) Affectanti caelestia terrena non sapiunt aternis inhianti fastidio sunt transitoria Bern. Thus a Man eying by Faith the Glory and Royalties of this Eternal Reward will afterward find no Form or Comliness or Beauty in any of this World's enjoyments that he should desire them The Earth with all its Jingles must needs be low in our Thoughts when once we look as high as Heaven fixing the Eye of our Faith upon that undefiled Inheritance If God's Kingdom and the Glory thereof be once precious in our Sight and with delight looked after farewell all the Kingdoms of the World and the Glory of them though now they were all transubstantiated into massy Gold yet the Soul is out of Love with them all looking upon them as no better than the serious Trifles of poor carnal Men whose unhappiness it is to have them their Portion in this present Life Excellently to this purpose we find Galeacius the renowned Marquess of Vâ—co bidding defiance to all worldly enjoyments who when offered a vast Sum of Gold upon condition of his Return to Popery makes scorn of that sordid motion saying their Mony perish with them that think all the Gold in the World worth ones Days communion with a precious Christ whom surely he saw by Faith like Stephen standing on the right Hand of God in Glory But I need not go far from my Text for an Instance of this kind we having it given in as the Fruit of Moses his eying the Recompence of the Reward that he esteemed the reproach of Christ Riches greater Riches than the Treasures in Egypt So easily could this holy Man trample upon all the World's Honours Riches Pleasures as nothing worth not worth so much as the reproach of Christ when fixing his Eye upon the Glory to be revealed in him If then Christians you would not love the World get above the World and by Faith live in Heaven (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys Hom. 15. â—d pop Antioch Could a Man take a Station in Heaven whatsoever is here below would appear but small in his sight by reason of its distance Thus betwixt heavenly Glory and all earthly enjoyments there is that vast distance that the World 's greatest Comforts will seem but small and almost dwindle away into nothing could you but six the station of your Thoughts upon the pavement of the heavenly Jerusalem Men admire the World's Glory because they never saw a greater as one who had never seen the Sun might well admire a Star But those that by Faith can look within the Vail and take a prospect of Heaven's Glory can never be much taken with the small glimmering Stars of Creature-enjoyments The best way here to avoid stumbling Stones is to look down upon the Earth But if we would not have the World prove a stumbling Stone to us throwing us headlong into destruction we must always walk with our Faces as high as Heaven He that walks continually with Glory in his Eye will be sure to keep the World under his Feet not suffering any worldly enjoyments through his inordinate Love of them to block up his Way to Heaven 5 A due respect had to this glorious Reward will be Life in Duty making you chearful spontaneous always abounding in the work of the Lord. Those may well be out of Heart in Duty who are out of all hope to receive the Reward of Duty But Faith eying the Reward of Eternal Glory must needs be like Wings to the Bird like Oyl to the Chariot wheels of the Soul making a Man diligent and lively in all holy exercises A Prospect of Sion's Glory it 's the whetstone of endeavour it 's an holy bribe put into the Souls Hand to make her serve the Lord with chearfulness delighting greatly in his Commandments (d) Psal 112.1 God's People are never more light-hearted in his service than when that far more exceeding and Eternal Weight of Glory is in their Eye There
Job 28.13 14. So if the like Enquiry be made after True Happiness both Sea and Land both the Riches of the Earth and the hidden Treasures of the Deep must needs say It is not in them A Man having Crowns and Scepters and Bags of Gold under his Feet may seem to stand upon a little higher Ground than his Neighbours But for all that if God in Christ be not his Portion he is not one Cubit higher in the Stature of true Blessedness The Truth is we are all ready as Samuel in the case of David to mistake the Blessed Man and to set the Crown of Happiness upon their Heads for whom God never intended it as Samuel over look'd little David and would fain have Anointed Eliab King because so goodly a Personage But we must not Measure Happiness by Worldly Things nor pronounce them Heirs of Heaven and Glory who have the fairest Portion of Earth and Earthly Enjoyments The Pen-Men of Holy Scripture when-ever they go about to Decipher a Blessed Man they never do it by his Outward Condition but by his Inward Qualification not by his Large Purchases but by his Holy Practices not by what he hath in Possession for this Life but by what he hath in Reversion after Death Hence it is that you shall never hear any such Words fall from their Mouthes as to say Blessed are they that are Rich. Blessed are they that are Mighty Blessed are they that are Honoured before Men. Blessed are they that have Gorgeous Apparel and Fare Deliciously every day But Blessed are they whose Sins are Forgiven them Psal 31.1 2. Blessed are they that Walk in the Law of the Lord. Blessed are they that Mourn Mat. 5.3 11. Blessed are they that Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness Sake Blessed are the Pure in Heart for they shall see God A Man may have many Blessings and yet not be Bless'd And again he may lye under many Miseries and yet not be Miserable Have all the Blessings in the World yet without God thy Condition is Miserable Have all the Miseries that the World can inflict yet still if God be thy Portion thou art perfectly Blessed 'T is not what Men have but what they are not what is their Present and Temporal but what shall be their Future and their Eternal Condition that speaks them to be either compleatly Miserable or truly Blessed THIS Ensuing Treatise have I therefore Composed on purpose to beget both in my own and others Hearts more serious fixed Thoughts of our Eternal Condition And as you will find that in it which may be as a flaming fiery Sword turning every way to keep Men from having any thing to do with the Forbidden Fruit of Sin So it may be for a Jacob's Ladder to the Righteous whereby Scaling the Walls of the New Jerusalem as in an Holy Storm they may come to eat at length of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God Durst I compare this Treatise with the Ark of the Covenant I might tell you there is laid up in it both an Aaron's Rod and a Pot of Mannah There is something of Hell's Horrour discover'd to Affright Men out of their Ungodly Courses and a Glimpse of Heaven's Glory such as it is to Decoy them into a Life of serious practical Holiness Every Man is either of God by Regeneration living a Life of Faith and going to Heaven Or of Satan by Corruption living a life of Sense and running on in a swift Career to Hell This Discourse have I suited to both Conditions endeavouring to shew you according to the small Talent wherewith the Lord hath entrusted me That if there be any Fire in Hell the Wicked shall Everlastingly be Tormented in it and if there be any Glory in Heaven God's People shall for Ever be Crowned with it When Zuinglius at any time like a Boanerges a Son of Thunder was Rattling proud and hard-hearted Sinners he would often like a Barnabas a Son of Consolation let fall some Beam of Comfort upon the poor trembling Soul Bone Christiane haec nihil ad te Whatever Terrour is here spoken will fall heavy upon none but the Wicked who walk according to their own Hearts Lusts There is a Vein of Comfort laid in to Refresh God's People the whole Discourse is a River of Life sendâ—ng out thô through an Earthen Pipe those Streams which may well make Glad every Gracious Heart Hell I have herein Deciphered to deter from Sin when Men shall fear the Vengeance of Eternal Fire which will follow after Heaven I have also in some measure Described to work Joy in Well doing when God's People shall fix their Eyes upon that far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory to which it leads He that by patient continuance in Well-doing â—eeks for Glory Honour and Immortality may turn and read of Heaven how Blessed he is like to be when God shall Crown him with Life Everlasting He that hardens his Heart in a Course of Ungodliness let him turn and read of Hell how dreadfully Miserable he is sure to be when he shall be Punished both Soul and Body from the Presence of the Lord and from the Glory of his Power THE * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epigrammatist would have the Silver Axe of Justice carried before the Magistrate to Proclaim If thou be an Offender let not the Silver Flatter thee but if an Innocent let not the Axe Fright thee I testify the same to every one that shall Read the Words of this Book if thou be an Impenitent Ungodly Sinner let not the Glory discoursed of Flatter thee since Wrath and Hell are thy Portion But if thou be a Child of God let not the Flames and Misery that abide Ungodly Men Affright thee for there is a Crown of Righteousness there is a Kingdom of Eternal Glory that will after all present Troubles fall to thy share Truth is what ever Discourses we can make of this kind have neither Thunder enough in them to Awaken us nor yet Glory enough to Attract our Eyes to the due Beholding of those Eternal Concernments which God hath set before us Men are generally as Careless in Religious Affairs as if Hell were but a Melancholick Dream and Heaven a Devout Fancy as if there were no Horrour in the one to Affright them nor any Glory in the other to Engage their Thoughts and Attract their Desires Most Men are so Infatuated with the Painted Beauty of this Earthly Jezabel the World that they can let out their Affections upon nothing else They set up their Rest here building Tabernacles below never caring for that Building which is of God Eternal in the Heavens How many Thousands doth the World carry Captives at her Wheels so strangely Tyranizing over fond Mortals Affections that they can neither Spirare nor Sperare Coelestia no more Hope for than Breath after Eternal Enjoyments 'T is Storied of the Duke of Alva That being ask'd by Henry the
by this Treatise that it is of wonderful great Concern to a Christian in all his Obedience and therefore no such Forbidden Fruit as some would have it be but a Tree of Life planted by Heaven for all God's People to Feed upon Some I know have Applauded Un-bribed Obedience without eying the Reward by the Emblem of a Lady with a Water-pot in the one Hand and a Fire brand in the other Resolving to Serve the Lord though Hell-fire were Quenched with the Water and there were no Torments to Punish her for Sin though Paradise were Burnt up with the Fire and there were no Reward no Heaven no Glory to Crown her for Well-doing How far such Hyperbolical Abstractions are Commendable I have shewed else-where And must here only say That though the New Nature would Act like it self let God deal with it how he please yet it 's dangerous to Perplex poor trembling Consciences with those Suppositions wherein we have not the Spirit of God going before us This were just â—s if you should set a Man to Shoot and then take away the Mark Or as if you should bid a Man go Work in your Field and allow him no Wages for his â—ncouragement Sure I am that as the Gospel deâ—erreth us from Sin by Arguments formed out of Hell â—nd eternal Damnation So it incourageth us to wait â—pon God in a way of Duty by Arguments made out of Heaven and Glory *âŽ* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Hom. 6. ad Pop. Antioch There is nothing more usual with the Holy Ghost calling poor Sinners to Repentance than to interweave Mercies and Judgments Promises of Heaven that we may not Despair and Threatnings of Hell that we may not be Secure and Presume True it is God must first be Loved and Served for Himself And so he may be and yet be Loved for Heaven too so long as we seek no other Heaven but what stands in the Full Injoyment of Himself There is no such a vast Hiatus such a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such a great Gulf betwixt God's Glorâ— and man's Salvation as some do Fancy The Sacred Oracles do no where speak of such an implacable Enmity betwixt them nor any where teach them to stand upon Terms of Opposition so that he who beholds the one should not be capable of casting an Eye upon the other also ¶ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. Paedag. Lib. 1. Cap. 13. Pag. 101. Clemens Alexandrinus will have the great end of all Religion and true Piety to be the Acquisition of an eternal Rest in the Downy Bosome of God's Love To be sure it doth not Illegitimate any Man's Piety nor Impeach the Truth of his Religion to make this his End in serving God that he may arrive at length to the full Fruition of God in Glory The Lord by a Miracle of Condescending Love doth allow us in Glorifying him to seek our own Glory And in Serving Him he gives us leave to eye the Saving of our own Souls Should I tell you that in all his Commands the Lord seeks not Himself but you not that he may reap any Accessions of Happiness and Glory by your Obedience but that you may carry away the whole Crop there is a Truth in it for which both Lactantius and Clemens Alexandrinus will be my Vouchees * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. Admonit ad Gent. p. 42. The great work which God hath been contriving from all Eternity and still hath upon the Wheel in the World is to save his People from their sins and to bring them to a state of endless Happiness So saith Clement ‖ Propterea igitur coli se Deus expetit et honorari ab homine tanquam Pater ut virtutem ac sapientiam teneat quae sola immortalitatem parit Nam qui Deam honoraverit hoc afficietur praemio ut sit aeternum beatus sit que apud Deum et cum Deo semper Lact. de vit beat cap. 5. pag. 666. Therefore God wills his People to worship and do Homage to him as a Father that keeping on in the pleasant Paths of Virtue and divine heavenly Wisdom they may come at length to Life and blessed Immortality with Himself So Lactantius The Lord sets us to Work in his Vine-yard that he may give us the Reward of eternal Glory not that any Revenues of further Felicity may be brought â—nto the Exchequer of Heaven for him by our workâ—ngs The Lord knows how Dead we are Naturally to the things which concern our eternal Peace And therefore doth he tempt our desires as it were with the tenders of Glory Honour and Immortality that he may bring us to chuse the way of Life AND O how Serious should this make us in the study of Holiness how willing to spend and be spent â—n the Work of the Lord when so sure that all the Lines of Obedience which we draw shall center in Happiness †{inverted †} Licet ipsa vitium sit ambitio frequentur tamen causa virtutum est Quint. Institut Orat. Lib. 1. c. 2. p. mihi 14. Quintilian is of Opinion That though â—n it self Ambition be a Foul Vice yet it begets as the Off-spring thereof many a Beautiful and Amiable Virâ—ue Sure I am there is an holy Ambition a Desire to be Great in the Kingdom of God to sit High in Glory that if deeply rooted in our Hearts would bring forth a most virtuous Off-spring in our Lives making us Men of brave Resolutions of high Majestick Spirits We should then think it as much below ourselves to be dabling like Children in the Mire of Worldly Drudgery and filling our Laps with the Dirt of Earthly Injoyments as Alexander thought it below his Princely Grandeur to be found exercising â—t the Olympick Games When Hormisdas that Noâ—le Persian could not be drawn by a sordid Office in * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. Admon ad Gent. pag. 45. the Stable to Revolt from Jesus Christ yet the King thought by some greater Preferment to overcome him and therefore promoting him in his Palace Jam nega Fabri Filium said he Now deny the Capenter's Son speaking Reproachfully of Christ But such Principles of Heroicalness such a Spirit of Gallantry did a due respect had to the Recompence of Reward put into him that he can Trample with an holy Scorn upon all those Honours when coming to Bribe him out of his Interest in Christ and Glory Thus it would make us Scorn the World and let go all worldly Injoyments rather than Deny Christ or do any thing unworthy our Christian Profession did we but ponder upon the Crown prepared for us He that hath this Hope purifies himself saith the Apostle 1 John 3.3 speaking of the Hope of Glory at Christ's Appearance as he is pure If any thing there be which can beget in us a care to walk before God in all holy Conversation and Godliness 't is certainly the due Consideration of that
length you may attain to the full injoyment of God in Glory Here also I confess the Truth meets with some Adversaries who do tell us That to make Heaven the end of our Duties seeking in all our Obedience our own Happiness our own Glory our own Salvation is Mercenary and utterly inconsistent with the free Spirit of a Christian But the truth is if we consult holy Scripture we shall find this Practice so far from being Mercenary and inconsistent with the free Spirit of a Christian that he is unworthy the Name of a Christian who in all his Obedience and Performances is not found so doing For if Christ himself hath Commanded us That we should seek the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof in the first place That we should lay up for our selves a Treasure in Heaven not labouring for the Meats that Perish but for the Meat which shall endure to eternal Life How can we then count that Man a Christian who despising the Authority of Christ cares for none of these things but carelesly goes on in a way of Duty as if Heaven and Glory were not worth the looking after YOU may Believe it Sirs the main Errand upon which God sent you into the World was to work out not only his Glory but your own Salvation with fear and trembling And let me tell you so inseparably is the Glory of God and your own Salvation joined together that you never Dishonour God more than when Salvation-work is neglected by you and you begin to be unmindful of your own Happiness GOD's Glory I must confess must be the Ultimate and Highest End of all our Obedience as will farther be shewed you But yet this hinders not but that in all our Obedience we may design our own Happiness making the eternal Salvation of our immortal Souls the great End next unto God's Glory of our Lives For Subordinata non Pugnant is a sure Maxim We do never Oppose God's Glory when we only make Heaven our End and seek the Salvation of our own Souls with a due Respect had unto his Glory THERE is indeed a Two-fold End Fine Operis Finis Operantis the End of the Work and the End of him that Worketh And though in some cases they are diverse if not contrary to one another yet in the Case now spoken of they are co incident and both of them materially the same thing (l) Nam quis alius noster est finis nisi pervenire ad regnum cujus nullus est finis August de Civit. Dei lib. 22. cap. 70. For not only doth the Scripture make Salvation the end of Faith and Obedience but also of Christians themselves Believing and Obeying the Lord when it teaches them to work out their own Salvation with fear and trembling 1. Pet. 1.9 Phil. 2.12 BE not therefore such enemies to your own Souls as to neglect that Happiness which God in all your Obedience would have you to look after but now see that you make Heaven and eternal Glory the great end of your Life Whilst others are designing to make themselves Rich and Great and Honourable in the World Oh! let it be the grand design of your Souls to surprize Heaven and to take by an Holy Violence the Kingdom of God Mat. 11.12 IF Christians you would make again of Godliness be sure then that by all holy and godly Conversation you gain for yourselves in Heaven a Crown of Life Rest not satisfied with the low and beggarly injoyments of this World but now see that you set your Affections on things above endeavouring to lay hold on eternal Life Your present life is a flitting shadow a vanishing bubble a day which though never so pleasant must yet have the dark Curtains of death drawn over it and cannot be long but the life which is to come is a leaf never fading a light ever shining and such a day as shall know no evening Tell me then which is most rational to seek after that life and those Pleasures which are lost almost as soon as found or after that Life and those unfadable Pleasures which being once found can never be lost nor taken away from us Luke 10.42 (k) Praeferantur vera falsis aeterna brevibus utilia jucundis Lactant. de vero Cult c. 21. p. 123. LEARN now to prefer true Happiness before deceitful Riches eternal Comforts before short injoyments and those things that will prove everlastingly advantageous to your Souls before the Pleasures of Sin which are but for a Season God doth not grudge that you would seek your selves in his Service only he would have you to seek after your selves not in the Meat that perisheth but in the Meat which shall endure to eternal Life John 6.27 There is a kind of holy Ambition which our Blessed Lord hath not only allowed but also exhorted us to and that is that we should aim at and seek after a Kingdom Not an earthly Kingdom from which we may soon fall but an Heavenly Kingdom which connot be shaken wherein we shall reign with Christ for ever and ever Revel 22.5 Here then is a whet-stone to diligence and matter for our ambitious thoughts with warrant to be working upon Earthly Princes if under pretence of serving them you seek to possess your selves of their Crowns and Kingdoms will deal with you as Traytors but the King of eternal Glory he is never better pleased with you than when in serving him you aim at a Crown of Life indeavouring to get Possession of the Kingdom of Heaven For then you have respect indeed to the Recompence of the Reward when by patient continuance in well-doing you seek for Glory Honour and Immortality and therefore you need not to doubt but God will shortly render unto you eternal Life Rom. 2. (l) Nullus labor durus nullum tempus longum quo aeternitatis gloria comparatur THINK we therefore no Labour too much no time too long for the gaining of eternal Glory in the Kingdom of Heaven If upon uncertain hopes of a fading Kingdom whose foundation is in the dust Men will take such pains laying all at stake and hazarding not only Liberty but Life it self What should we do then but contemn the World run the hazard of greatest Sufferings and move chearfully forward in all the ways of Obedience towards the Crown of eternal Life towards a Kingdom that cannot be moved towards a City that hath foundations whose builder and maker is God For (m) Quisquis corruptelas terrae virtute calcaverit arbiter iâ—â—o summus et verax ad lucem vitam quae perpetuam suscitabet Lact. de vit Beat. ad finem who ever contemning the corruptible Enjoyments of this Life shall aspire in the ways of Obedience after Heavenly Glory why God the Righteous Judge of all the World will make such an one meet to be a partaker of the Inheritance of Saints in light and will honour him at length with a Crown of Eternal
they will never be able to reach the Price thereof Besides Christians whatever we do or suffer for God Luke 17.10 it 's no more than what we are obliged unto and surely in doing our duty we can never lay the (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost ad Rom. Homil. 7. Foundation of Merit for Eternal Glory Nor may we think to make a Purchase of the New Jerusalem by paying an old Score WOULD we ever Merit Heaven and Eternal Glory of God we must present him with some acceptable (d) Debemus enim deo et nos ipsos et nostra omnia Cha. n. Tom. 3. lib 14. cap. 20. pag. 497. Services which we owe him not but how shall we give him any thing wherein he hath not already a full propriety when there is nothing that we are or have there is nothing that we can do or suffer in a way of Obedience but is due unto God from us by every kind of Right Had we any thing of our own wherewith to come before the Lord there might then be some ground of pretence for the Merit of good Works (e) Ex gratia enim datur non solum justificatis vita bona sed etiam glorificatis vita aeterna Fulgent ad Monim l. 1. p. 18. But since all that we have is due to God because it came from him and bears his Image and Superscription upon it we cannot rationally think it possible for us to Merit any thing thereby of God unless we can think it rational that God should be obliged in point of Justice by giving us one Mercy to give us another by giving us Grace to put us at length in Possession of Eternal Glory That whereby Christians you differ from others from the vilest of Sinners from the Damned themselves that are now roaring out in Hell is not of Merit but of Grace not of Debt but a free Donative 't is nothing in your selves but the free distinguishing love of God dropping the Pearl of Grace into your hearts whilst others are left to perish in their Sins that hath made the difference And surely by those graces which you freely receive from God you may not think to Merit Life and Eternity of Glory at the hands of God For certainly whatever grace you have it obligeth you to Duty so that your Graces and your Obligations of Obedience to God they grow up together and the more grace you receive from God the more deeply do you stand engaged to abound in the fruits of Righteousness towards God How then can you once have a thought that that Grace and Holiness which God hath freely wrought in you and whereby he hath laid you under the strongest engagements to all holy and upright walking before him should make God your Debtor obliging him in point of Justice to render you the Reward of eternal Glory Indeed to whomsoever the Lord gives Grace he will also give Glory and whomsoever he now makes Holy he will Crown them at length with Eternal Happiness But this you must know not an act of Justice founded upon Man's Merit but an act of free Grace bottomed upon the Remunerative goodness of God in the Blood of Christ Rom. 6.23 (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost 'T is an act of Justice in God to punish Sin which is wholly our own and purely Evil and therefore Death is here called the Wages of Sin But to Reward the good Works of Believers which are neither their own nor purely good is an act of free Grace and therefore we find the Apostle to exclude all opinion of Merit calling Life Eternal in this place the gift of God (g) Non dixit similiter stipendia justitiae quia non est antequam remuneratur in nobis non enim nostro labore quaesita est Jerom. So that we see though it be of Justice that the Wicked are Punished yet it is of Grace that the Righteous are Crowned (h) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost And if it be of Grace then not of any Merit in our own good Works otherwise grace were no more grace if not every way free and gratuitous Rom. 4.4 For how can we count it a point of grace to give a Man his due Or what need he sue for Mercy who requireth no more than his own at the hands of God Admit but of Merit and you leave no place of entrance for the grace of God (i) Non est quo gratia intret ubi jam meritum occuparit Bernard Cant. 67. So likewise the grace of God in Christ it leaves no place for the Merit of our good Works For Grace and Merit are altogether inconsistent and mutually destructive one of another Rom. 11.6 So that if you pull down the Merit of good Works you set up Grace and if you go about to establish Merit you do utterly destroy the Grace of God and make it of none effect Let us not then Christians look in our Obedience to have that of Debt which God hath decreed to be of Grace nor go about to seek Heaven and Glory by way of Purchase which the Lord hath intended to be a Donative and of free Gift Whilst others trust to the Merit of their own good Works let us wholly rely upon the free Grace of God in Christ Jesus looking for the Recompence of Eternal Life not from the Justice of a Judge but from the Mercy of a Father not from the worth and dignity of our own Performances but from the free Bounty and Remunerative Goodness of the Lord our Redeemer You may do good Works and walk in ways of Obedience with an Eye to the Recompence of the Reward But yet none of these things must be done with respect to the Meriting of Eternal Life by them For though as (k) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Tom. 8. Serm. 15. Chrysostome sweetly saith we had done ten thousand good deeds yet it is of Grace that we must look to be saved and of Loving-kindness not of any desert in ourselves that we must seek to obtain Eternal Glory (l) Totis licet animae et corporis laboribus desudemus totis licet obedientiae viribus exerceamur nihil tamen condignum merito pro coelestibus bonis compensare et offerre valebimus Euseb Emissen homil 3. ad Monarch We stand so infinitely indebted to the God of Heaven that though we should with all the strength of Body and Mind exercise ourselves in Obedience to God all our Life long though with bitterness and anguish of Spirit we should bewail our own Sins mourn in some Wilderness till Doom's-day and dissolve our Souls with weeping into (m) Flaccescant licet membra vigilijs pallescant licet ora jejunijs non erunt tamen condignae passiones hujus temporis ad futuram gloriam Idem Rivers of Tears though we should live like Angels of Light shine like the Sun in it's Noon-day Brightness and exercise ourselves unto Godliness continually with all
from the one and the Injoyment of the other they fancy in a way suitable to their own Carnal Minds and so they can desire to come to Heaven Oh but Remember Christians it 's not an Heaven of our own Fancying but of God's Preparing that in all our Obedience we are to look after 'T is not Egypt but Canaan 't is not an Idol's Temple but the Temple of the living God 't is not a wicked Sidon but the holy hill of Sion the place of God's royal Residence where we are to expect the Reward of all our Labours Though then you may have Respect in your Obedience to the Recompence of the Reward yet take heed that you turn it not into the Wages of Unrighteousness And though you may look at Heaven as the Reward of all your Labours yet besure that you do not turn it into a Turkish Paradice 'T is not so much Sensual Pleasures as a perfect Freedom from all inordinate Desires after them that shall be our Reward Nor so much deliverance from Hellish Torments as the full injoyment of God himself in a State of Holiness that shall be our Heavven There is no other Glory in Heaven than what springs out of the Seed of Grace grown up into a Flower Nor is there any other Heaven that can make us compleatly happy but full and everlasting Communion with the God of Heaven 'T is true indeed the Recompence of the Reward doth admit of many glorious Ingredients which do all of them concur to make up the Soul reviving Cordial of compleat Happiness But yet that which is the Elixir of heavenly Glory the Quint-essence of all our Happiness and the very Bosome of the Coelestial Paradice why 't is an heart made perfect in Holiness and so fully enjoying Communion with God himself For as the Moon and Stars though glorious Creatures cannot make day in the World but must leave that to the Sun from whom they borrow their Light So thô there be many rich Jewels shining like so many glorious Stars in the Firmament of heaven yet all of them cannot satisfy the Soul nor make a day of perfect happiness to dawn upon it but must leave it for that to perfection in Grace and to the full enjoyment of God over all blessed for ever So then the Recompence of Reward whereunto we may have a respect in all our Obedience it 's nothing but Grace grown up into Glory together with an Heaven of Rest in the Bosome of God's eternal Love Whilst therefore we have Respect to the Recompence of the Reward let us be sure that we look upon it not Carnally but Spiritually not with an Eye of Sense but with an Eye of Faith not through the False Glass of our own carnal Hearts but through the Pure Glass of God's holy Word and as therein for our Incouragement we find it represented to us and curiously drawn out by the Finger of God himself in it's most pure angelical and heavenly Complexion Do not look with that grand Sensualist Epicurus for such an Happiness when you come to Heaven as is wholly immersed in carnal Delights in the Flatteries of Lust in the Blandishments of Sense and the like Brutish Pleasures But remember the Happiness which abides you in God's heavenly Kingdom 't is a bright Constellation of Graces Crowned with the Quint-essence of perfect Holiness and all of them ripened into so many Flowers of Glory 't is the Facial Presence of a propitious Deity accepting of and blessing the Soul with eternal Rejoycing 't is the very Smile of infinite Purity and the pleasant Beams of divine Love shining forth upon the Soul in their Noon-day brightness In a Word the Happiness which abides you in the Kingdom of Heaven 't is nothing else but Grace grown up to it's highest Stature and Perfection in Glory together with the full Acquiessency of the Soul in God himself as the only Center of Rest and everlasting Satisfaction Let an Epicurus please himself with the Ticklings of Fancy the Inticings of Luxury the Elegancies of Musick the Imbraces of Venus and the Delights of Corporeal Objects Steeping all his Pleasure in Sense and making the Body the only proper Center of Happiness Yet see Christians that you look after an Happiness of an higher and more noble Extraction after those Pleasures which are of a more generous and spiritful Nature that come bubling out from the Fountain of all Goodness and make all to Rejoyce that drink of them with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory SUCH is the Froth of some vain Imaginations Such is the Scum of some Obscene Fancies Such is Folly bound up in some Carnal Hearts that they dare go about to Create an Epicurean Happiness and to warrant a Turkish Heaven conformable to their own Lusts and vile Affections as if nothing could make us Happy but what will gratify our Senses But judge in yourselves Is such an Happiness becoming a Rational Creature and can such an Heaven be fit for an immortal Soul to dwell in as the Center of it's eternal Rest Believe it Christians the truly Sensual thô feigned Heaven of a Mahomet would prove a real Hell to an Angel or a glorified Saint They cannot live in Elysian Fields the very Air is infectious They cannot Delight themselves with the fading Flowers of Sensual Injoyments which Wither away in our hands and are so quickly Blaâ—â—ed The arrival of glorified Saints at a state of perfect Holiness is their greatest Happiness and that which is the very Heaven of Heaven to them is the full soul-satisfying and everlasting Communion that they have with the God of Heaven After such a Reward as this let us look in all our Obedience expecting no greater happiness than to come to Perfection in Grace and Holiness Nor let us look for any better Heaven than to have fulness of Communion with God resting our Souls for ever in the Bosome of his eternal Good-will This you shall find was the Happiness which holy Paul looked after who being about to epitomize his desires and to give us the Sum of them all in one Word tells us That they were all carried out after and did meet in the full enjoyment of Christ as their proper Center I have a desire to depart saith he and be with Christ which is far better He doth not say he had a desire to be in Heaven ¶ Apostolus non simpliciter dixit multo melius sed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 multo magis melius videlicet comparativum duplicans ut vehementem excessum significaret q. d. multo longeque melius aut infinitis partibus melius quam permanere in carne ut hoc illius respectu ne desiderandum quidem sit Estius in loc and to sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God though that also were a Truth But to be with Christ enjoying fulness of Communion with God in him as that which was infinitely and beyond
that Practise may be lawful and currant amongst Christians which hath God's own Image and Superscription written upon it The Lord commands us that we should seek the Kingdom of God Mat. 6.33 as our end and his Righteousness as the only adequate means leading thereto he hath bid us lay up for our selves a Treasure in Heaven he requires of us all that we should work out our own Salvation with fear and trembling Phil. 2.12 he hath willed us the seeking of those things that are above Col. 3.1 2. enjoyning us to lay hold upon Eternal Life 1 Tim. 6.12 And shall we still question the lawfulness of that Practice for which we have a Mandamus sent forth of God and therein an unquestionable Warrant sealed and subscribed by the unerring hand of Heaven it self From God's Oportet which is wrapt up in every one of his Commandments that are all of them holy and just and good Rom. 7.12 we may doubtless concludingly infer the Christians Practical Licet without seeming in the least to patrocinate or give countenance to any Unchristian Disingenuous and Mercenary Performance If God say we must the inference will be undeniable that Christians by patient continuance in Well-doing may lawfully here on Earth seek for Glory and Honour for Immortality and Eternal Life in the Kingdom of Heaven Form the Argument in what mode and figure you please sure I am That wherever the Will and Command of God are made the Premises the least that you can put in the Conclusion without reflecting dishonour upon God himself must be the Legality and Holiness of the practise inferred from them For since the Will of God is the only adequate rule and measure of all Holiness How can we but acknowledge that to be lawful and holy which doth harmoniously accord with it and in every way proportionate thereto so far as we find it to be transcribed into Holy Writ The Holiness of Man doth consist in his (f) Summa puritas consistit in adhaesione cum deo nam deus est ratio objectiva et mensura sanctitatis Less de Perfect divin lib. 8. c. 1. Anological resemblance of and conformity with God who is alone the sure Standard the grand Exemplar and the objective cause of all Purity and Holiness in the Creature Every action of Man is holy or unholy according to it's conformity with or contrariety to the Will of God Holiness is nothing else but a pure derivation from God himself the Spring and Fountain of all Purity And therefore whatever is conveyed into the Heart and Lives of Men from this pure Fountain through the Golden Pipes of God's Commandments it must needs be holy and just and good For to be sure conformity with the rule of Holiness can never make a Man unholy no more than walking in the light can produce darkness Did our Holiness consist in a conformity with some else besides God's holy Will in a conformity with the Decrees of Counsels with the uncertain Records of Antiquity with the Judgment of Fathers with Ecclesiastick Constitutions with Enthusiastick Impulses or with the dictates of an Erronious Conscience embracing many times the shadow of Holiness and engaging Men to the strict observation of that for the doing whereof God never gave his Fiat we might then indeed come under censure and be impeached of unholiness for conforming our selves to the Will of God endeavouring to transcribe his Commandments into our Lives and Conversations But to set up all these or any of these for a Rule making them the standard of Holiness were to usurp God's Sovereign Authority and to set the Crown of his Glory upon the head of a poor obscure non-entity or something worse just as if a Man should go about to make a small Drop the Spring and Mother of the vast Ocean or as if he should make that little Ray of Brightness which dissembles itself in a dark Glow-worm the Fountain of Light to the glorious Sun Doubtless as God is the sole Author of our Being so he must be the only Rule of all our Operations We can no more be independent in these than we are in that For since we live in God and have our Being from him there is nothing in all the World that can denominate us truly Holy but a care to act and move according to his Righteous Will Every Impression supposes a Seal from whence it came every Stream will lead you to the Spring-head out of which it issued and came bubbling forth every Beam of Light doth put you in mind of the Sun out of which it shines and upon which it doth necessarily depend So whatever you see that is Good that is Pure and shining forth with a native Lustre and commanding Beauty in the Lives of Men it may well bring to your Remembrance the God of Heaven who is the Fountain of all Goodness the Chrystalline Spring out of which all Moral Purity by a Blessed Emanation issues and the glorious Sun of Righteousness by whom our Lives are irradiated with most clarified Beams of Holiness and without whose uninterrupted Irradiations like refracted Beams they would presently cease to shine and become a dark Chaos of all confusions For as Light in the Air is nothing but a derivation from the Sun that Fountain of Light So Holiness in us is nothing but a Pure Emanation of Goodness and a noble progeny of Moral Rectitudes springing from and born not of Blood nor of the will of the Flesh nor of the will of Man but of the will of God himself John 1.13 whose Image and Superscription they bear Indeed some things are intrinsically good they have a native Beauty they are essentially Pure and therefore God wills them whereas other things are only Amiable and holy and good because God wills them so that they have no moral Entity and Goodness but what they receive from the Signature of God's Will and Command upon them However whether we seek of things that are Intrinsically Good or of things that are Meerly Good from the Command of God injoyning them yet surely their Goâ—dness is not Independant and the measure of it self but doth wholly consist in that beautiful Resemblance and harmomious Analogy which they have with God's holy Will For all Created Excellency it shineth with a borrowed light whatever Goodness is in the Creature it is only by way of Participation from God pre-supposing (g) Omnis Sanctitas participata supponit Sanctitatem per essentiam the same transcendently treasured up in him even as the Impression presupposes the Seal that made it So that there is no form nor comeliness nor beauty in any thing that we should desire it any further than we find either the bright Stamp of divine Sovereignty or the plain Superscription of his Holiness in legible Characters written upon it (h) Nihil est bonitatis creatae in toto entis ambitu quin a deo producta a deo exemplata a deo conservata et in
deum ordinata est For God himself is the Centre of all Good and Holiness from which the Lines of all Moral Rectitudes and Divine Virtues are drawn according to which they are regulated in which they are conserved and into which returning they must ultimately resolve themselves SINCE Holiness then is nothing else but an harmonious Conformity with and a Transcript of his righteous Will concerning us Why should we count our having a Respect to eternal Glory any Forfeiture of our Holiness ¶ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyril Catech. Mystag 5. pag. 244. or go about to censure that Practice as Unlawful for which we have God's own Fiat Were not this to make more Sins than God ever made and to go about by a kind of Interpretative Blasphemy to impeach the infinitely Holy God of giving not only his Imprimator but his Fiat also to unholy Practises commanding Men to seek after Heaven and Glory from the beholding whereof they should according to what some †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyril Hier. Cat. 6. p. 55. â— Dogmatize turn away their eyes as the greatest Vanity But dare we say That Mens walking in the Light of the Sun is Darkness to them Or That Conformity with God's Righteous Will is the cause of any unrighteous Practise Sirs to question the Legality and Holiness of Duties commanded is to question his Holiness and the Lawfulness of his Authority who commanded them How dare we then say that is Bitter in the Fruit which we know to be Sweet in the Root How can we count that Impure in the Streams which we dare not but confess to be Pure in the Fountain How dare we traduce that as Sinful in the Practise which we know to be Holy and Just and Good in the Precept How dare we to be short look upon Christians as Disingenuous and Transgressing in that which they purely Act in Obedience to God's Commands If God Christian bid thee by patient continuance in well-doing seâ—k for Heaven and Glory do not doubt but his Command will sufficiently secure thee from the Censure of a Legalist or Mercenary in so doing before Men and Angels For Who shall lay any thing to the Charge of God's Elect in those Precepts which are justified by the Holy Precepts and Commandments of God himself injoyning them Rom. 8.33 2. WE may lawfully have Respect in our Obedience to the Recompence of the Reward because the most Eminent of God's faithful Servants have done so before us We have not only Precept but President to warrant our Practise in this case there being none of the People of God but by striving to enter in at the strait Gate by laying up for themselves a Treasure in Heaven by Suffering with Christ that they might be Glorified together with him have clearly Commented and Paraphrased upon those and the like Portions of Holy Scripture that we knowing thus the mind of God therein may go and do likewise Thus David a Man after God's own Heart Psalm 119.112 and therefore surely no Mercenary he inclin'd his Heart to perform God's holy Statutes alway as expecting in the end the Reward of eternal Glory In the Original it is even to the end 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fructus praemium eò quod fructus postremum et finis laboris est and so our own Translation renders it But yet the same Word doth also signify a Reward which is not usually given before the end of our Works clearly implying That David having an Eye to the Recompence of the Reward did more Cheerfully run the way of God's Commandments David was willing to take pains in God's Vineyard spontaneously inclining his Heart to perform God's holy Statutes all his dayes as expecting at the evening of his Death to receive the Penny of eternal Life and Glory in God's heavenly Kingdom This also we find to be the Practice of holy Paul a man so Ambitiously desirous to promote God's Glory that through an holy Transport of Love thereto he once wished himself suspended and put apart from the Comforts of Christ in the Jews stead that God might but be glorified thereby Rom. 9.3 And yet he hath an Eye in all his Obedience to the Recompence of the Reward putting forth himself with the greatest Intenseness of Zeal and Diligence imaginable for the Price of his High-calling 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Graece quod magnam habet Emphasim significat enim manus totumque Corpus protendere ad scopum ut eum apprehendas ante quam pedibus eum attigeris A lapide in locum He did not grudge to Spend and be Spent in the Service of but stretching forward and extending himself usque ad extremum virium he pursues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to the Aim which he had taken the Reward set before him so the Original Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth as impatiently desiring to be seized of God's Kingdom and Glory to which he was called And though he was a man daily exposed to Reproach Persecutions and greatest Dificulties in Heaven's way for the cause of Christ 2 Cor. 4.18 yet whilst he looked at the things which are not seen making Heaven and Glory the scope and end of his Life as the Original may well import he was incouraged thereby with cheerfulness and alacrity of Spirit to encounter them all not thinking his Life dear if by any means he might win the Crown and be landed safe at the Haven of eternal Rest So that the Respect which this holy Apostle had to the Recompence of Reward it was instead of a Cordial to comfort him amidst all his Afflictions it was a strong Incentive with him to Obedience putting Life and Vigour into all his Endeavours and from this he took Incouragement most gladly to Spend and be Spent in the Service of God Heb. 10.32 The like we may say of those Primitive Christians mentioned in the Epistle to the Hebrews who though they were encountred with a whole Army of Afflictions though they were spoiled in their Goods by wicked men as so many Harpies preying upon them at their pleasure though they were Theatriz'd and brought forth upon the Stage not only as Spectacles of Scorn and Reproach but also as Objects of Persecution for wicked men to exercise their Malice and Cruelty upon from whom they received not only bitter Words but also hard Blows Yet they joyfully underwent it all enduring the Cross and despising the Shame as Christ their Redeemer had done before them and all this because they had an Eye to the Recompence of Reward believing themseves to have in Heaven an induring Substance a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory that would abundantly make amends for all their Sufferings So that the grand Reason inducing these Primitive Christians to indure Afflictions and take joyfully the spoyling of their Goods on Earth was their Hope of a better and more induring Substance when they came to Heaven Besides these many pregnant Instances might be given
are only for our Imitation Christ bid us not to Redeem the World to raise the Dead nor to walk upon the Sea But in the Works of Piety and Holiness he saith to us as Gideon to his Souldiers Look upon me and do likewise Judg. 7.17 We are always to look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our Faith Heb. 7.26 giving diligence to be holy as he was holy to be pure as he was pure Mark 14.36 to be self-denying as he was self-denying to be upright and without guile as he was without guile 1 Pet. 2.22 to be humble and lowly of Spirit as he was humble Mat. 11.28 to be zealous for God's Glory as he was zealous Joh. 16.17 And by the Joy which is set before us we may lawfully be incouraged to indure the Cross despising the shame as He also was For to be sure Christians in following Christ the only authentick Rule of Righteousness you can never do any unrighteous Action In imitating Christ the Holy One of God looking in all your Obedience at Heaven and Glory as he did before you you can never become unholy The Life of Christ is a fair Copy without any Blot or uneven Letter in it So that indeavouring to Write after him you can never come under the Blot of being Disingenuous and Mercenary in the Service of God Let Christ be the Rule by which you draw the Lines of all your Actions and then they will never prove crooked or uneven Let him be the Glass by which you adorn and dress yourselves and then you will never appear in any other Attire but what will be most Graceful Decent and Amiable in the sight of God Let him in a word be the Primum Mobile turning about by the sweet impulse of his own most holy Self regulated Example both the superior and inferior Orbs of your Souls and then though you seek your own Happiness longing to Feed upon that heavenly Ambrosia in the Hesperian Vales though you fix your eyes never so wishly upon the Recompence of the Reward Steering a right Course towards the Tartesian Shore of eternal Rest yet your motion can never be excentrical nor irregular * Christiani a Christo nomen acceperunt et operae pretium est ut sunt haeredes nominis ita sint imitatoris sanctitatis Bern. Sent. p. 496. For there is nothing more becoming Christians than to make their Lives a Transcript of that fair Copy which Christ by the hand of his own holy Example hath set them Nor is there any thing more intrinsick and essential to Christianity than for the Professors thereof to walk as Christ himself walked 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The very name of a Christian is so apposite and significant that it doth fully interpret and clearly comment upon his Essence teaching us that the Epitome of Religion the Abridgment of true Piety the Quint-essence of real Holiness the Compendium of all Virtues and the whole Substance of a Christian is to have the Signature of Christ's Holiness upon his Soul indeavouring to express in his Life the Virtues of the Lord Jesus And certainly since our Christianity doth mainly stand in Conformity with Christ we can never make a Forfeiture of it nor be Impeached of Mercinariness in looking at heavenly Glory as He did whilst we walk in Obedience before God on Earth 4. WE may lawfully have Respect in our Obedience to the Recompence of Reward because the Lord doth frequently incourage his People by the consideration of eternal Glory to all Dutiful and Vpright walking before himself As God affords his people Happiness at the end so he allows them Comfort in the way of Duty sweetning all his Commandments with Promises and incouraging to all upright and holy walking before himself by giving his People the Assurance of an everlastingly glorious Reward God doth not exact Obedience from his People upon terms of absolute Sovereignty but upon terms of Bounty and remunerative Goodness He doth not appoint them their Work and hide from them the Reward But to make them go through with it the more Cheerfully he often tells them of the Reward wherewith having finished their Course they shall eternally be Crowned As God gives the best Wages to those who are his Servants so He likewise holds out the best Incouragements to draw us into his Service and to make us willing to Spend and be Spent therein Man is a Rational Creature and of such a Sequacious Temper that fetching your Arguments out of the Topicks of Profit and Pleasure you may carry him whither you will And therefore the Lord who knows our frame he leads us on in ways of Obedience by Rational Comforts and Human Incouragements assuring us that in keeping his Commandments there is great Reward Psal 19.11 God knows that Blessedness is the Alpha and Omega of every man the Centre wherein all our Desires meet and that no man can wittingly make light of much less give the Repulse to his own Happiness He therefore stands like a faithful Guide to give Aim to all those amongst us that would fain bend their Course to the safe Harbour of Happiness and like an auspicious Herald proclaiming upon Mount Gerizim the Mount of Blessings with Wisdom in the Proverbs Hearken unto me O ye Children for Blessed are they that keep my wayes Prov. 8.32 The Lord knows we have many tall Anakims to encounter before we can take possession of the heavenly Canaan and therefore he incourageth us as Caleb did him that should smite Kirjath-Sepher Josh 15.16 whom he promised his Daughter Achsah to Wife So in case we shall quit ourselves like Men induring Hardship as good Soldiers of Jesus Christ he will give us his Daughter Achsah to Wife he will give us the Ornament as that name may signify of eternal Glory he will give us to eat of the Tree of Life Rev. 2.7 in the Paradice of God 'T is Storied by the Hebrews of Joseph That when he had gathered much Corn in Egypt he threw the Chaff into the River Nilus that so floating down to the neighbouring Cities and Nations they might know what Plenty there was in Aegypt and be provoked thereby to seek thither So God to make us know what Glory is in Heaven and the more to incourage us to seek thither he hath thrown some Husks to us here that so tasting the Sweetness of Heavenly Glory in the Husk of a Promise we might aspire after it Be ye stedfast saith St. Paul 1 Cor. 15.5 8. be ye unmoveable be ye always abounding in the work of the Lord. And why so Stedfast why so Unmoveable why such care to abound in the Work of the Lord but because saith he you know that your Labour shall not be in vain in the Lord God doth not deal with us as Crater the Philosopher did with a certain Virgin that was in Love with him and would needs Marry him He did what in him lay to discourage her shewing her his Crooked Back
'T is fictioned by the Poets in their Mythology of Prometheus that he did work and fashion the Bodies of Men out of Clay but he was fain to steal Fire from Heaven for the informing and quickning of them with living Souls (a) Psal 139.1 When the Body is curiously formed and admirably organized in the lower Parts of the Earth yet still it would remain a lifeless and unspirited piece of Clay did not God animate and quicken it with a living Soul with a celestial Spark lighted by his own Breath from Heaven THE Body of Man is but a Flower springing out of the Earth that will quickly wither and return to its Dust but his Soul hath Immortality written upon it it s a Bud of Eternity that can never be blasted nor wither away into nothing The Body indeed is nothing but a Compound of Death and Mortality it will quickly crumble away into dust and rottenness but the Soul having no Principles of Death and Corruption bound up in it will run a Line parallel to aâ—l Eternity it can never be confined by time but will for ever be launching forth in the boundless Ocean of an endless Duration †Matth. 10.28 The Body is obnoxious to the stroke of Death and by the Hand of Violence may before its time be matriculated amongst those that sleep in the Dust but the Soul being an immaterial Substance is above that fatal blow and hath from the spirituality of its own Nature everlasting impregnable security against every Hand of Violence written upon it so that Death itself is not able to touch the Life of the Soul THE Soul therefore being thus Divine in its Original and Eternal in its Being and Duration there is no Man unless he will renounce his own Understanding and apostatize from his own essence but must acknowledge it a point of the most important and masculine reason in all the World to consult the Salvation of our Immortal Souls providing above all things for their Eternal Welfare Should we prefer the Casket before the Jewel a frail Mansion of Mortality before an heavenly Inhabitant or the dark Lanthorn of the Body before the Soul that Divine Lamp which if fed by the Oyl of Grace would always shine forth with most radiant dazling beams of Brightness The excellency of our Souls is so transcendently Great and Glorious that it justly lays claim to our principal care and because they will never be raked up with our Bodies in the cold Embers of Death why therefore hath the Lord made it the great end of our Lives to work out Salvation for them giving diligence to make them meet through Grace for everlasting Mansions of Glory in the Kingdom of Heaven But how can we thus take care of them or design their Eternal Happiness as the great end of our Lives in case we may not have respect to the recompence of the reward seeking Life and Eternal Glory by patient continuance in well-doing to Crown them withal Can the Salvation of our Souls be the object of our principal care next to Gods own Glory when out of a pretended Zeal for that we would seem altogether careless and unsolicitous about the saving of our own Souls How can we say we make salvation the great end of our lives endeavouring that our Souls may be happy when we hold it unlawful to bend and level all our desires for the hitting of that fair mark Believe it Christians they that would perswade you 't is unlawful to have respect in our obedience to Heaven and Glory do in effect go about to argue your Souls into the careless neglect of their own everlasting welfare But can you be regardless of your own Salvation Can you sleight the great end of your lives and turn your back upon your own happiness Can you indeed neglect your immortal Souls that must either be happy or miserable either imparadised Souls in Heaven or damned Spirits in Hell to all eternity Do you know what Salvation is how everlastingly blessed those Souls will be that may approach the presence of their God that may see his Face that may rest in his eternal embraces that may enter into the joy of their Lord and drink freely of those Rivers of pleasure which are at his right hand for evermore Oh then make not light of so great Salvation but give all diligence to get an interest therein for your immortal Souls To make sure of eternal happiness was the great errand upon which God sent us into the World oh therefore take heed that you do not leave it upon uncertainties seeking after the Kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof as if you were loth to find it 10 WE may lawfully have respect in our obedience to the recompence of the reward because the very nature and proper genius of true Grace is to make a blessed divorce betwixt the world and the heart wherein it is resident and so to carry out the heart in strong desires and unsatisfiable breathings after Heaven and Glory True Grace is an Heaven-born Spark and therefore it doth naturally ascend upward aspiring after Heaven and Glory as its proper region As all the Lines meet in the Center and as all the Rivers do run into the Sea uniting themselves in the vast Ocean so all the desires of a gracious Soul they meet in Heaven uniting all their forces in one continued and insatiate anhâ—lation after fulness of Communion with God in Glory The Sun though seen in the Water yet hath his Tabernacle fixed in Heaven (a) Phil. 3.20 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Macar Hom. 17. so though a Christian hath his commoration upon Earth yet his Conversation his Trade his Commerce is daily in Heaven the place of his Eternal Abode The Men of this World are ever inveloping themselves in thick Clay they are not soaring Eagles but crawling Muck-worms but now all those that are truly gracious they are Men of another Spirit they live in the highest Region and are compared to Eagles in regard of their Heavenly-mindedness (b) Isa 40.31 Life enables Men to lift up their Body from the Earth and to tread upon it with their Feet (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Macar Homil. 16. Thus whoever have the Life of Grace begun in them they tread upon all earthly Enjoyments and are carried upon the Wing of desire quite above all sublunary Comforts into Heaven itself The heart that is seasoned with saving Grace is restless till it come to be fixed in a sure State of Glory and Happiness just like the Needle that is touched with a Load-stone upon which there is nothing but unquiet agitations and tremblings till it be firmly fixed and settle immovably in the North Point We read of Noah's Dove that she found no place whereupon to rest the sole of her Foot but only in the Ark so the People of God they find no place but in Heaven whereupon to rest themselves and therefore all their breathings
saving of our (f) 1 Pet. 1.18 19. Acts 20.28 Souls but yet they were never said to give their Souls a ransom for their Brethren which is said of Christ nor to purchase the Church of God with their own Blood which is plainly affirmed of Christ to let us know that in his suffering and dying for his people there was something peculiar unto him that could not possibly be communicated to any other (g) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Martyr Epist ad Diogenet pag. 386. Behold than a miracle of transcendent love Oh sweet exchange oh unsearchable artifice oh benefits surpassing all expectation that the iniquity of many should be hidden in one righteous person and that the obedience of one Christ should make many unjust persons righteous Oh what manner of love was this where the unjust sins and the just is punished the guilty transgresseth and the guiltless is beaten the impious offend and the pious is condemned what the evil deserves the good suffers what the servant perpetrates the Lord payeth and what Man commits the Son of God himself undergoes for our sakes All the Glory of the godly it wholly springs out of the shame of theit Lords sufferings and passion All the Rest of the godly it lies in the wounds of their Saviour by whose * Peccat iniquus punitur justus delinquit reus vapulat innocens offendit impius damnatur pius quod meretur malus patitur bonus quod perpetrat servus exolvit dominus quod committit homo sustinet Deus Aust Medit. 67. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Martyr ubi suprà stripes they are healed Jesus Christ was in a bitter agony sweating clods of Blood that a cold sweat in the agony of Death may not seize upon us He would wrestle with the Powers of Death that in our last conflict with Death our Faith might not fail us He would undergo most grievous anguish and have his Soul exceeding sorrowful unto Death that our Hearts might be filled in Heaven with joy unspeakable and full of Glory He would begin his Passion in the Garden that he might expiate Sin which was first committed in the Garden of Paradise He would be unjustly condemned on Earth that we being absolved in Heaven may at length have admittance into the glorious liberty of the Children of God He would have his Face covered that the Veil of Sin which hinders us from the beatifical Vision of God in Glory might be taken away He walked in heaviness towards Mount Calvary bearing the weight of his Cross that he might remove the burden of Eternal Punishment not suffering us to lie under the stroke of God's heavy displeasure for ever He cryed out in the bitterness of (a) Omnis piorum gloria est in Dominicae passionis ignominia Omnis piorum requies est in vulneribus salvatoris nostri Gerhard Medit. 6. Christus pro nobis sargâ—â—â—neum sudorem fudit ne frigidissimus in mortis agone sudor nos opprimeret Luctari voluit cum morte ne in agone mortis deficeremus Anxieâ—atem gravissimam tristitiam usque ad mortem sustinere voluit ut aeternae laetitiae in Caelis participes redderemur In horto fieri voluit passionis initium ut expiaret peccatum quod in horto Paradisi habuerat principium Condemnatus est in terris ut nos absolveremur in Coelis Facies ipsius tegitur ut a nobis removeret velum peccati quod in nobis aspectum Dei impedit damnabilem ignorantiam inducit Crucis pondus portavit ut onus aeternae poenae à nobis submoveret A Deo se derelictum clamavit ut aeternam Dei cohabitationem nobis pararet Sitivit in cruce ut rorem divinae gratiae nobis promereretur ac ne aeterna sitâ— perire cogeremur Lacrymas profudit ut nostras abstergeret lacrymas Coronâ spineâ coronatus est ut coelestem coronam nobis promereretur Gerhard Medit. 7. his Soul as forsaken of God that we might never be forsaken of God but have eternal Communion with him in Heaven He thirsted upon the Cross and would have Gall to drink that having merited for us the enlivening nectareous Dew of Divine Grace we might not pine with perpetual thirst but be satisfied with the sweet Wine of Eternal Consolation He would often weep and be filled with sorrow that coming to Sion with Songs and everlasting Joy upon our Heads we might obtain Joy and Gladness and have all tears wiped from our Eyes so that sorrow and sighing shall fly away He in a word would be crowned with Thorns that having laid aside the Rags of Mortality we at length might be crowned with Life and Eternal Glory in God's heavenly Kingdom Since then Christ was thus afflicted that we might be comforted since he drank of the Brook in the way that we might lift up our Heads with everlasting Joy since his Soul was sorrowful unto Death that we might receive the reward of Eternal Life since he came into the World for our sakes enduring the Cross and despising the Shame for this very end that we at length might be crowned with eternity of heavenly Glory what incongruity can you think it to have respect in our obedience to the recompence of the reward Had Christ our Redeemer a respect in all that he did and suffered to the meriting of Eternal Glory for us and may not we have respect in our obedience to the enjoyment of that Happiness and Glory which Christ hath so merited Did the beloved Son of God come down from the Bosom of the Father live such a miserable Life and die so painful execrable and ignominious a Death to purchase such a reward as a Christian cannot look at in his obedience but it will make him forfeit his ingenuity and transform him presently into a mercenary Indeed to fall in love with the Gift and forget the Giver highly to prize Redemption and to undervalue our Redeemer to have our Hearts more set upon Heaven and Glory than upon Christ himself who hath purchased it for us with his own Blood this were monstrously sordid and disingenuous but yet the respect which Christ had to the purchasing of Heaven and Glory for us in his Death and Sufferings doth sufficiently evince that we also in our obedience may have some respect thereunto I read of a certain Young Gallant that having received a Wound in the Wars whereof he came halt home his Mother told him Son this Wound will make you remember Virtue every step that you take To be sure Christian since Christ was wounded for our transgressions purchasing Life and Eternal Glory for us by the Price of his own Blood this may well make us think of Heaven every step that we take in the way of Gods Commandments Not frequently to make glad our Hearts with the sweet Meditation of Eternal Life not often to dwell upon it in our Thoughts taking encouragement therefrom to all holy and self-denying and
which I shall now in the practical improvement of it endeavour so to shake that unloading all its precious Fruits into your own bosoms it may feed and enrich your Souls to eternal life The Lord having planted a Garden Eastward in Eden for our first Parents he caused a River to go out of Eden to water †Gen. 2.10 the Garden from whence it parted itself and became into four heads Holding resemblance herewith if your Souls be the Garden of God my Doctrine is a River of life proceeding from the Eden of the Text from whence also to Water your Souls and make them fruitful as the Garden of God it divideth it self into four Heads in the use of it yeilding us matter of Information Reprehension Exhortation and Consolation 1 THEN by way of Information since that it is thus lawful for us to have respect in all our obedience to the recompence of the reward this may well satisfy us concerning the truth of these ensuing Corollaries As 1 THIS may give us to understand that it s no argument of insincerity nor any just forfeiture of a Christians uprightness and ingenuity for him to have an eye in his obedience to the recompence of the reward A Christian in seeking after Heaven and Glory in all his obedience he doth nothing but what is holy and just and good which doubtless can never make him unholy nor be any just forfeiture of his uprightness and integrity in the sight of God You may as well extract dross out of the purest Gold and dregs out the most refined Spirits as a Christian may become disingenuous and contract upon himself the guilt of hypocrisy by having an eye in his obedience to the recompence of the reward Indeed I Read of many in holy Writ * 2 Tim. 4.10 censured as mercenaries and stigmatized for gross hypocrites because they were wholly acted in God's service by sinister ends and worldly considerations serving the Lord not for love but for loaves for esteem of Men secular Advantages Honours Preferments earthly Emoluments together with the like external accommodations But that a Man should be impeached of insincerity and branded for a Mercenary a Legalist an Hypocrite because acted in the ways of God by a desire after the full enjoyment of God in Glory seeking Heaven and Happiness seeking Life Immortality and eternal salvation by patient continuance in welldoing this never could I find recorded in God's sacred Oracles Live not then Christian any longer upon self-created Racks let not thy Countenance be sad from day to day suffer not any groundless sorrow to have Dominion over thee as if thou delightest in nothing but to make thy Soul a map of misery neither let thy Heart any longer be filled with fears and jealousies and perplexing thoughts about thy own sincerity censuring thy self for that wherein God did never yet condemn but always justifie thee To be labouring in all our obedience not (b) Joh. 6.27 Mat. 6.20 Luke 12.33 Psal 4.6 2 Cor. 4.18 for the Meat that perisheth but for the Meat which will endure to Eternal Life not for Earth but Heaven not for the favour of Men but for the smiles of God in the Face of Jesus Christ not for things Temporal which are seen but for things Eternal which are not seen not for a Portion in this World (c) Luke 10.42 but for that better part which shall never be taken from us not for the Honour which comes from Men (d) Joh. 5.44 but for the Glory the Felicity and that Eternal Soul-raping Happiness which comes of God only this argues not Hypocrisie and Mercenariness but an Heart that is truly Upright and Sincere in the Sight of God! There is a certain Fish with one Eye called Uranoscopus which they (a) Zach. 7.5 Joh. 6.26 Joh. 5.44 say is always gaâ—ing upwards towards Heaven Thus every true Christian hath his Eye still fixed upon Heaven he looks within the Veil and would always by his good will be on the top of Mount Nebo thence taking for his better encouragement to all holy self-denying and upright walking before the Lord a prospect of the Celestial Canaan Make not that then Christian any sign of Hypocrisie which doth clearly argue thee to be a true Nathaniel (a) Joh. 1.47 an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile Had the Lord by prohibition or otherwise made it unlawful for us to have respect in our obedience to the recompence of the reward and yet still thou wouldst allow thy self in that practise this indeed might have forfeited thy Integrity but since the Lord himself doth approve of it both commanding and commending it as praise-worthy in Holy Writ let not Christian thy Heart reproach thee and smite thee for an Hypocrite whilst by patient continuance in well-doing thou seekest after Glory and Honour and Immortality in the Life to come 'T is of dangerous consequence for a Christian as to make those things evidences of Sincerity so to make those things signs of Hypocrisie which God never intended to be such If the Lord have any where made it the distinctive Character of an Hypocrite to have an Eye in his obedience to Heaven and Glory then indeed you might well make sad inferences against and pass hard censures upon your selves But if otherwise you find the Lord commanding you to do so and have the practice of the most eminently Holy and Upright of all God's People plainly paraphrasing upon that Commandment for your better satisfaction oh then take heed that you be not rash to conclude hard things against your selves because you cannot but have an Eye in all your obedience to the recompence of Eternal Life lest you be found reflecting dishonour thereby upon God himself and blaspheming against the Generation of his Children What shall a Christian bring in an action of disingenuity against himself and conclude himself an Hypocrite for that which all along hath been the laudable practice of Gods true Nathaniels who have received Letters testimonial subscribed by the Hand of Heaven itself that they were Israelites indeed in whom there was no guile What think you Christians of Moses of David and of Paul the Apostle Were â—hey not all of them Men according to God's own Heart Men upright in their lives and conversations and far enough from being mercenaries in the service of God And yet all this notwithstanding they lived upon the Mount of transfiguration their Faces were still Sion-ward they had always an eye to the recompence of the reward seeking always for themselves by patient continuance in well-doing no less than eternity of Life and Glory in God's Heavenly Kingdom If then Christians upon this account you dare not censure them take heed that upon the same account you do not censure your selves as persons that are altogether disingenuous hypocritical and mercenary in the service of God! There is nothing unlawful but what is holy and good in obeying the Lord with respect to
neutrality indifferency and insipid formality in the ways of God censuring all those that will not be formal outsided and negligent like themselves as persons of furious Spirits perverse Zealots and humoursome Fanaticks as if they were afraid of too much Holiness Believe it Sirs these and the like Scripture Injunctions do concludingly evince that Christianity is no idle speculation but a business of greatest activity requiring the quintessence and vigour of the Spirit the very strength and sinews of the Soul together with the greatest intensness of all the affections There is such an attractive magnetique virtue in that eternally glorious reward which Religion proposeth to all them that do cordially embrace it that their Hearts are so inflamed with desire after it that it turns all difficulties into fuel for their Zeal to feed upon Impossible it is for such as are truly gracious to be remiss and negligent in Heavens way as being transformed by a prospect of Heavenly Glory into so many incarnate Seraphims whose proper nature it is to have their affections boyled up to the highest consistency of uncurbed Zeal for Gods Glory (c) Rom. 12.11 making them fervent in Spirit serving the Lord. Would you therefore approve your selves to be true Nathaniels Israelites indeed in whom there is no guile Then see that ye willingly spend and be spent in the service of God contending with an holy Violence that you may enter through the strait Gate into the Kingdom of Heaven 'T is no heartless wish nor languishing endeavour no still-born Prayer nor abortive resolution which will argue your Souls to be sound and of the right Complexion Many there are amongst us who taking up the form and denying the Power of Godliness are all for a moderation in Goodness So that with them lukewarmness though it speak the Soul in the saddest temper shall be graced with the name of Discretion and Christian Prudence The truth is as that holy Man now with God whom before I quoted saith all unregenerate Men in a manner do usually cast unto themselves in the mould of their own worldly Wisdom a religious Mediocrity and they pitch with resolution and security upon a degree of Zeal compatible with their own secular concernments and this must be a competent sufficiency of Holiness for Heaven and serve their turn for Salvation This glorious formality if God's People out of a consciousness of their duty and from the strength of desire which they have to the recompence of Eternal Life transgress why now the Wicked to prevent the estuations of a troubled Conscience and the dreadful pre-occupations of Eternal Flames which would otherwise seize upon them they are forced to censure God's People as guilty of too much preciseness circumspection and affected singularity For should they not fancy an easier way to Heaven than that of striving and running contending and wrestling wherein God's People walk they must needs cast away the confidence I say not of their Hope but of their groundless presumption and sit down in despair as Persons for whom it is impossible that they should come to Heaven or ever escape the damnation of Hell But believe it Christians whatever short Cut carnal Gospellers fancy to Heaven you must resolve to serve the Lord with fervency of Spirit excellency of Zeal and enflamed affections together with a supernatural singularity above all ordinary and moral perfections would you ever come there Fair and softly saith the Proverb goes fair But as one wittily observes it never goes so far as Heaven (a) Non dormientibus provenit regnum coelorum nec otio desidia torpentibus beatitudo aeternitatis ingeritur Prosp Omnis qui ad Paradisum redire desiderat oportet transire per ignem Aust God prepared a Wife for Adam in Paradise sleeping But there are no preparations of Happiness Life and Eternal Glory made for sleepers in the Paradise of God Our first Parents sinning were cast out of Paradise and therefore we can never return thither to feed upon the Tree of Life unless we return with undaunted resolution upon the Cherubims flaming Sword We must not only take up the form but also embrace the power of Godliness we must not be almost (b) Acts 26.28 but altogether Christians would we ever receive the Crown of Eternal Glory For to be sure they that have only an appearance of Holiness shall go to a real Hell and they that are but almost Christians shall but almost be saved which indeed will be the emphasis of Damnation to have been within a step of Heaven and Eternal Glory Let then Christians the blind World entertain you with what malicious invectives and approbrious Sarcasms it will censuring you for Phanticks perverse Zealots and dissembling Hypocrites Yet see that you abate not one scruple of your former Zeal either taking up with a slothful oscitancy in the ways of God or leaving your selves at a profane liberty to comply in any sinful practices but having always an Eye to the recompence of the reward give diligence to be still as precise circumspect and accurate in all your walkings as ever Remember when ever the Men of the World ask you what need you be so strict and accurate so precise and circumspect not contenting your selves to do as others do Why it is in plain language and to paraphrase a little upon those profane Queries as if they should ask you what need you make matter of Heaven and Glory what need you so much to regard Life and Eternal Salvation in the Kingdom of God not contenting your selves to go to Hell and be damned for ever as the Wicked must And can you indeed make light of Heaven and Eternal Glory can you Christians be willing to fall short of Gods beatifical presence in Heaven and for ever to lie under his frowns in Hell that such ungodly questionings as these should make you ashamed to own Christianity in the Life eminency and power of it As they Christians have little reason to censure you for your Diligence Zeal and circumspection in Heavens way So little reason have you to be ashamed thereof being come within ken of your Rest already and may with Moses from Mount Nebo take a clear Prospect of the Holy Land of the Celestial Canaan CHAP. VII The Doctrine improved by way of Reprehension reproving all such as do inordinately love and pursue the World and discovering the vanity of all Secular Enjoyments in Six Particulars 1 BY way of reprehension this Doctrine affords just matter of Reproof against and may smite as with a mighty Scourge two sors of Persons 1 Since God allows us to seek Glory Honour and Immortality for our selves by patient continuance in well-doing (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost in Mat. 22. how justly are all those reproved who making light of these eternal concernments do wholly spend their time and exhaust their strength in pursuit of the profits Emoluments and comforts of this present World The Lord makes
volens nos amorem non habere nisi vitae aeternae in istis velut innocentibus delectationibus miscet amaritudines ut in his patiamur tribulationes Docetur amare meliora per amaritudinem inferiorum ne viator tendens ad putriam stabulum amet pro domo suâ Aust in Psal 40. 45. For doubtlesâ— Sirs as Manna in the Wilderness when the people distrusting God's daily provision would needs hoard it up bred Worms and stank So when Men inordinately loving the World will needs accumulate Riches they do but store up Worms to gnaw upon their Consciences that will daily vex and disquiet them If therefore you would not multiply your own â—orrows be not too much in love with your worldly enjoyments striving beyond measure to multiply them Therefore hath the Lord rubbed gall and wormwood upon the breasts of all our Creature-comforts thâ—â— we may learn to get weaned affections to them Evâ—â—y Rose hath its Thorn in this present life that we may not to much be delighted with its sweetness 3 Consider all Creature-enjoyments they are uncertain and changable The Riches Honours and enjoyments of this present Life they are called Bona Fortunae the Goods of Fortune Not so much because they are the Largess of that fictitious Goddess as because they are like her inconstant and always obnoxious to variety of changes a As the fashions in the World alter and change every day so doth the fashion of the World with all its enjoyments What we usually call substance is indeed but a glining shadow that hath nothing but mutability written upon it Men may fancy what assurance they will in their earthly enjoyments But indeed they are always like the Moon in her last quarter ever upon the change (b) Ostenduntur istae res non possidentur dum placent transcunt Sen. Our Creature-comforts they are not so properly possessions as Pageants * 1 Cor. 7.31 which whilst they please us in a moment they pass away from us (c) 1 Tim. 6.17 Divitiae hujus seculi incertae sunt quia transitoriae sunt quoniam plerumque amittet illus homo ante mortem ex toto autem in ipsâ morte Haymo in loc Hence Riches have the epithet of uncertain given them by divine Inspiration as most proper for them Because we know not how soon God may sequester us from them or them from us and so leave us to survive our own Happiness The World usually deals with its greatest Favourites those that serve it with most devotion as 〈◊〉 dealt with Jacob his near Kinsman who changed his Wages ten times Day unto day makes report and every Man 's own experieâ—ce may read him a sufficient lectâ—â—â— concerning the manifold sâ—d changes aâ—d various â—â—â—â—â—tions to which we are every Day liâ—ble in our Creatâ—â—â—â—njoymentâ— How many of the Worlds greatest Favourites have we seen honourable and dishonoured in one and the same Day (d) Subito enim laetitia à tristitia absorbetur gaudium in dolorem vertitur sanitas infirmitate laeditur prosperitas adversitate prosternitur juventus ad senectutem vita currit ad mortem Haymo Homil. in Dom. 5. post Pascha pag. mihi 134. In fullnâ—ss of Creature-comforts and yet emptied of them all in a moment Abounding with Riches and yet soon reduced to wants and with Job becoming poor even to a Proverb Compassed about with Friends and Relations in the Morning and yet deserted of them all before the Evening as persons left alone to outlive the choicest of comforts You then that have heard and seen the Providence of God thus ringing the changes of Creature-enjoyments all the World over why will you still proceed in your Love to them and commit Idolatry with them Do you not consider that your Beauty your Riches your Honours your Pleasures and all your Creature-comforts are no better than inconstant fading Vanities that are daily obnoxious to variety of changes What is all your pleasure but as a bitter Pill wrapt up in Sugar which however it be hony in the mouth yet is gall in the stomack What is all your Beauty but as a fading flower which at the first breaking forth of the Sun of Afflictions may be scorched and wither away into the ghastliness of a dead Carcass What are all your Honours but as a blast of idle wind which can neither be kept by all your care nor reduced by all your policy when once gon past you What in a word are all your Riches but as a golden ray from Heaven's Sun-shine which in a moment may be intercepted by every discontented cloud that comes lined with nothing but want and poverty For shame then let the great uncertainty of your Creature-enjoyments and that mutability which you see to be written upon them make you labour no longer for them but rather strive for those better comforts which are above uncertainty and can never change Worldly Prudence when speaking in its proper dialect will bid us hold fast that which is certain (e) Tene certum dimitte incertum and let go that which is uncertain Behold then I set before you Earth and Heaven And which of these two will you now make your choice Will you choose an uncertain Earth before a certain Heaven Will you choose those Earthly enjoyments that are daily subject to variety of changes before those Heavenly Mansions of Glory that are above mutability and can never change Or that the manifold changes to which all our Wordly comforts are daily obnoxious may cause us to change our thoughts of them and no longer to pursue them with a doting observance In all the changes to which our Creature-enjoyments are daily liable (f) 1 John this is the great end which God aims at that we may not love the World nor the things of the World When therefore you find your health changed into sickness your Riches changed into Poverty your Honours changed into Reproaches and all your Creature-enjoyments into so many pregnant instances of the Worlds uncertainty oh see that hereby you be instructed what little reason you have to let out your affections upon them or to fall in love with them Are things of such a changeable nature so much to be prized Shall an uncertain perishing World be preferred before Heaven and Glory which are not obnoxious to any uncertainty but have security against all changes written upon them Here Sirs you can enjoy none of your Creature-comforts with security but whether you have Riches or Honours or Pleasures or any other worldly accomodations you hold all upon the greatest uncertainty and are sure of nothing But now making choice of Heaven and Glory for your portion you will find them to be beyond the reach of change and indeed like the Laws of the Medes and Persians that knew no alteration Why then will you rather choose to be Tenants at will in your Worldly enjoyments than to purchase the Fee-simple of Heaven and unchangable glorious
Carrion of bestial Delights you will thus renounce the Communion of Heavenly Joys Is this your Wisdom your Prudence to make Sin the object of your Joy the Theatre of your Delight the Centre of your Desires and the Element wherein you would continually chuse to live when God by a Miracle of rich Grace calls upon you to seek after Glory and Honour after Immortality and Eternal Life in the Kingdom of Heaven Can you think to maintain the comfort of your Life by Sin which is nothing but the fuel of Death and Misery Will you make that the sole object of your Joy which alone is the inlet to an ocean of Sorrow and perplexing disquietments The truth is we have many amongst us who wear Christ's Livery and are called Christians but yet they live as Persons resolved to chuse Epicurus that grand Sensualist for the Master oâ— their licentious Faction making Pleasure with him the Alpha and Omega of all their Happiness Seneca though an Heathen had a far more noble â—â—d heroick Spirit than such esteeming it the greatest Pleasure to contemn all carnal Pleasures whilst these reckon it for the highest accent of â—â—licity to live in them Such voluptuous Wantons walk directly antipodes to the end of their own being living in nothing but carnal Delights as if God sent them into the World to be therein like the Leviathan sporting themselves and feasting their Souls in an Ocean of sensual Pleasures They begin to anticipate here that Paradise of swinish Delights which Mahomet promised his own naâ—â—y Herd at leastwise to take an earnest of it continually soaking themselves in their own intemperance and brutish luxury They look after no other Heaven than only to go singing to Hell and though you give them the greatest variety of delightful objects yet they cannot be Merry unless they may have Treason against Heaven it self for the game and the Devil for their playfellow But be ashamed oh carnal Gospellers thus to give up the strength of your Souls in the service of sensual Pleasures making light in the mean time of Heaven and Glory together with those unsullied Paradisical Pleasures which are at God's right Hand for evermore Oh let not that be matter of Pleasure and Delight to you which lay so heavy upon the Soul of your blessed Redeemer Did Christ bleed and groan and die to save you from your Sins and yet will you live with delight in the Pleasures of Sin How ever can you have a good thought of Sin when you look upon it as that which brought down the Son of God from Heaven and that murthered the Lord of Life and Glory Must the beloved Son of God undergo the curse due to your Sins and must he also humble himself unto Death to purchase for you the reward of Life everlasting that after all this you should undervalue his Love and make light of so great Salvation preferring the Pleasures of Sin which are but for a season before it Will you see I beseech you your folly in the glass of these ensuing considerations 1 CONSIDER thus to delight in carnal Pleasures it argues your Souls to be utterly void of Grace and dead in sin Where ever Grace comes with power it mortifies all vile affections and quite alienates the Heart from all sinful delights so that whoever delights in the Pleasures of Sin to be sure he is yet in a state of Nature and was never brought under the Power of converting Grace (a) Quâ—madmodum impossibile est ut ignis flammam concipiat in aquâ ita 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est voluptates mundi cum poenitentia Christiana manere Otho Casman A voluptuous Man cannot be a gracious Man Nor is it possible for the Dove of true Piety to find any place whereon to rest the sole of her foot in a deluge of carnal Pleasures Our first Parents by eating of the forbidden fruit they lost their right to the Tree of Life and were shut out of Paradise (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ait Xenophon By feeding with delight upon the forbidden fruit of Sin Men forfeit their right to all saving Grace and must need be shut out of Gods presence which is better than life it self as that alone which can quicken and revive a dead Soul T is the dead Fish only and not the living that are carried away with the stream Thus when Men are carried away with a deluge of Sin and swim willingly down the stream of carnal delights it s a sign they were never alive unto God but that still they are dead in trespasses and Sins Hence the Widow who indulges a sensual appetite living in Pleasure (c) 1 Tim. 5.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alexand Paedag. lib. 3. cap. 7. pag. 172. is said to be dead whilst she lives Who ever hath Pleasure in unrighteousness delighting in that as his proper element he hath no principle of Life and Grace abiding in him but is spiritually dead whilst he lives in the Body When Wickedness is sweet to our taste and we delight our selves in it here is the reigning power of Sin separating betwixt us and the God of Heaven and that indeed is not only the Death but the Hell of every graceless Soul A Life of sensuality speaks that Man to be spiritually dead who in such a manner lives after the Flesh (d) Rom. 8.13 For if you live after the Flesh saith St. Paul ye shall die When Men give their full consent to sinful desires not only committing iniquity but having Pleasure therein Not only esteeming a sinful Life to be happy but also counting it their Wisdom with profane Esau to sell their Eternal Birth-right for one mess of such pottage why this now is to live after the Flesh and whoever thus lives he is dead whilst he lives Doth then thy fancy run in a way of Sinful objects with delight taking thought for the Flesh to fulfil it in the lusts thereof Dost thou make thy self the standard and thy sensual appetite the rule of all thy actions Hast thou an Heart carried out continually after sinful objects if absent desiring and grieving for them but if present rejoicing and delighting in them How dreadful oh brutish Sinner is thy present condition If thus to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin be the Life of thy Soul it s estranged from the Life of God and thou art dead though thou livest (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo. Leg. Alleg. lib. There is a Death saith Philo of the Man and there is a Death of the Soul The first which he calls the Death of the Man that 's the separation of the Soul from the Body the second which he calls the Death of the Soul that stands in the want of Grace and the presence of Sin Tho then thy Soul be not separated from thy Body yet what will all this avail so long as thou livest in Sin which is the most dreadful Death and wantest the Grace of God
a Man walking in communion with God to leave off that holy practise for those pleasures of sin which are but for a season You that are acquainted with God know the sweetness of it and having had a tast cannot but desire more (g) Gen. 28.17 And I tell you Sirs communion with God this is none other but the House of God and this is the very gate of Heaven to use Jacob's words And yet out of this for a little wanton dalliance for a little sensual delights and sugared poyson do all wicked and ungodly Men exclude themselves Whilst we walk in communion with God we get some glimpses of his Glory and though we cannot get up into Heaven yet we find Heaven itself many times let down into our Souls But then this is the childrens bread which those that have pleasure in unrighteousness must not think to feed upon their portion is with Nebuchadnezzar to go a grazing amongst the Beasts of the field and though they count their carnal delights to be an Heaven upon Earth yet indeed they are entred already within the Suburbs of Hell For whoever is shut out from communion with God hath already begun his (h) 2 Thess 1.9 Hell The greatest emphasis of Hell and damnation mainly consisting in the sinners Eternal separation from the God of Heaven Oh then if any thing will make you break off your sins by repentance and abandon all the pleasures of sin which are but for a season let the fear let the misery of losing the happiness of communion with God prevail with you to do it Hast thou sinner any lust that will be instead of communion with an infinitely holy God to thy Soul Or is there any such pleasure in sin as can fully make amends for the loss of Divine favour and the sight of God's blisful countenance to all eternity From thy face shall I be hid so Cain that first-born of Parricides cried out unto God in an agony of black despair But wo and alas from the light of God's countenance in this World shall I be excluded and from Eternal communion with God in the World to come so may every ungodly sinner who hath pleasure in unrighteousness cry out despairing both night and day continually Libertines cannot walk with God and see his smiles who have pleasure in sin never fearing his frowns 3 CONSIDER Men delighting in the pleasures of sin they do walk direstly Antipodes to the Grace of God and turn it into wantonness (i) Titus 2.12 The Grace of God that teacheth us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts But such as have pleasure in unrighteousness they deny the grace of God for their worldly lusts and carnal contentments Their profession is Christianity which obligeth them to be holy But their practise is sensual and brutish as if they were ashamed of being suspected for too much holiness They pretend a Freedom from the guilt and imputation of sin But that they abuse for an encouragement to wallow in the Filth and pollution of sin They will confidently lay claim to Christs legal righteousness without them But they chuse to live without his Gospel-righteousness within them It s enough for them to be justified they never seek to be sanctified but let loose the Reins to all licentiousness as if there were not due preparation for Eternal life by inherent righteousness as well as of a Title to eternal life and salvation by imputed righteousness The Lord Jesus as they presume is become their Redeemer and therefore these profuse riotous Sinners they will run in God's debt committing sin with delight and living in it without remorse because Christ hath paid all the score He hath redeemed his people from the curse of the law and therefore these practical Antinomians they resolve to lead really accursed lawless lives as if an open trade in Hells commodities were licenced and sealed by the Blood of Christ The Grace of God in the Gospel hath no other improvement amongst such wicked sensualists but to make them the more ungracious And all the use they make of it is to strengthen their Hands in wickedness that they may sin securely Thus Men of corrupt minds and reprobate concerning the faith they will therefore take liberty to sin that Grace may abound So that as Zuinglius well said if they were called Satanists in stead of Christians there were no need of other manners O calamity never enough to be deplored (k) Nobile illud vere preciosum Christi nomen tantâ cum infamiâ conspuimu◠perinde ac si instar Mercurii usurae furti omnisque petulantiae Deus ac Patronus sit Zuing. de intemer Virg. pag. 349. We do with such infamy disgrace the noble and truly precious name of Christ as if like Mercury he were the God and Patron of usury theft and all licentiousness But why do you flatter yourselves with the Christian name when this most sacred name instead of expiating doth but aggravate your guilt Can you think that Christianity will be a Sanctuary from the wrath of God to those who by their unmortified lusts and unchristian lives are daily eclipsing his Glory (k) Nobile illud vere preciosum Christi nomen tantâ cum infamiâ conspuimu◠perinde ac si instar Mercurii usurae furti omnisque petulantiae Deus ac Patronus sit Zuing. de intemer Virg. pag. 349. Will it profit you to be called Christians when for blaspheming that holy name you are like to sink deeper in Hell than the worst of Heathens What tho the Gospel be full of Grace and peace and all spiritual Cordials for Heart-broken Sinners so long as you turn that Grace into wantonness not accepting of terms of peace but as carnal delighting to go on in the constant violation of God's holy Commandments Can you think that the willful abusers of Grace will be suffered to hide themselves under the Skirt of free Grace Shall those have the peace of God for their portion who by their brutish lusts make war against Heaven and bid defiance to God himself Will the Lord ever comfort those with Gospel Cordials whose only comfort it is to lead ungospel lives taking pleasure in sin Be no longer deceived neither God nor his Gospel will be mocked by you The Sweetest Wine degenerates into the sharpest Vinegar So the Grace of God in Christ when abused for an occasion to sin doth mingle the Wine of astonishment with most flaming ingredients for all those who thus turn it into wantonness For Men under Gospel-light to have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness is a God-provoking sin We never so much displease the (l) Rom. 2.24 Lord as when we most indulge ourselves in carnal pleasures Then is the Grace of God most egregiously abused when Men take encouragement from it to go on in making provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof Such cross the great end of God's Grace and walk diametrically opposite to the
and Undefiled in the way thither With what Face Christian canst thou look upon the Recompence of eternal Life and yet study to gratify thy own brutish Appetite defiling thy self every day with the Pollutions superstitious Observances ungodly Practices and sinful Compliances of a wicked World Believe it Sirs the very Mire in the Streets shall sooner be transubstantiated into massy Gold than a Man thus weltring in the Filth and Mire and Vomit of his Sins shall ever be suffered to enter into the Kingdom of God Sin blocks up the way to Heaven nor must any Man ever think he shall come to Glory there if he enter not in through the Suburbs of Grace (f) Psal 24.4 The Prophet David hath resolved the Case long ago telling us that he who is of clean Hands (g) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cor mundum scelerisque purum politum omnique immunditiâ vacuum prorsus defaecatum haec denotat phrascologia and of a choice pure polisht Heart as the original imports shall ascend into the Hill of the Lord and shall stand in his holy Place Without Holiness we cannot serve the Lord in a way of Duty ¶ Jos 24 19 Heb. 12.14 much less are we fit without Holiness to enjoy the Lord in a State of Glory A Man living in fleshly Lusts hath the very Plague-sores of Hell running upon him And shall such an one ever think to stand before an holy God in Heavenly Places To be sure the inheritance of Saints in light it was never prepared for those that have any fellowship with Works of Darkness And do you love your Lusts better than your lives or will those Pleasures of Sin which are but for a season countervail the loss of Heaven and Eternal Glory Oh foolish and unwise Sinners who for a draught of Wine for a brutish lust for a moment of carnal Pleasure will let go whatever Joy whatever Happiness the Lord hath provided in Heaven for those that fear him (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyril Hieros Cateches 2. pag. 5. Why is it that you see not the danger of Sin how sadly it provokes the Lord against you how it emasculates and disinews your Souls how it blocks up your way to Heaven how it robs you of your present Comfort how it forfeits your future Crown and Happiness exposing you in the World to come to Eternal unpreventable misery And will you still be defiling your selves with this mortal pollution And that when Heaven and Glory lie before you as a bait to all Purity Uprightness and holy walking before God will you thus provoke the Lord with Manna in your Mouths Shall not the ripe Fruits of Canaan make you nauseat these wild Grapes and for ever to dâ—srelish these clusters of Sodom When the Glory of Heaven is in your Eye will you have upon your Hands the pitch and in your Hearts the very plague of Hell itself Oh why is it that you will thus render your selves uncapable of Heavens Glory by your own sinful Soul-defiling and unrighteous conversation Is not the recompence of Eternal Life which God sets before you attractive enough to draw you out of the mire of all your fleshly Lusts and ungodly Practices You have stronger engagements to purity of Life and holiness of conversation than others upon you You may daily see the Beauties antedate the Pleasures behold the Glory of the Heavenly Jerusalem and yet will you strive to be no more holy no more pure no more undefiled than others 'T is your duty to be every whit as good as others are bad every whit as holy as others are profane every whit as pure as others are polluted and whilst others are running into all excess of riot you must labour the more to cleanse your selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit (b) 2 Cor. 7.1 endeavouring to perfect Holiness in the fear of God What if others profane the Sabbath (c) Jer. 17.22 You must sanctify it What if others drink till they be drunk (d) Ephes 5.18 You must study to be sober What if others defile themselves with the pollutions that are in the World through lust You must labour to keep your selves unspotted of the World What if others cast in their lot and strike hands with the workers of iniquity (e) Ephes 5.11 You must have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of Darkness ¶ 2 Tim. 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyril Hieros Praefat. 'T is only the Self-purifying Soul that is capable of Heaven such an one and none else is a vessel of Honour fit as for the Masters use here so to be filled with the new Wine of Eternal Consolation hereafter Oh therefore do not go to exclude your selves out of Heaven by your sinful compliances nor to make your selves unfit for the Kingdom of God by your self-pollutions What in all the World will encourage to Purity and Holiness if not to live daily upon the mount of Transfiguration thence taking a prospect of Heaven and Eternal Glory God allows you to have a respect to the recompence of the Reward setting Heaven continually before you and let that make you to walk before him in all holy conversation and Godliness You never deserve to see the least glimpse of Heavenly Glory any more if having such a pure undefiled reward in your Eye you keep not your Hearts pure and your lives undefiled in the World 12 AND lastly walk perseveringly never growing weary of well-doing but labouring to be faithful to the death that then you may receive that Crown of Life that transcendently glorious reward which God now sets before you (f) Non quaeruntur in Christianis initia sed finis Paulus male caepit sed bene finivit Judae laudantur exordia sed finis proditione damnatur Hier. epist 16. ad Furiam Christians must not think it is enough to set out for God at the first but they must know 't is their Duty also to hold on in their obedience with God to the last They that have begun to do the Work of God in the Morning of their youth they must continue working in God's Vineyard till the evening of Death would they ever receive their penny of Eternal Glory Be thâ—u faithful unto death (g) Rev. 2.10 and I will give thee sai h Christ speaking to those of the Church in Smyrna a Crown of Life The Lord Jesus will never yield that those shall be crowned after Death who have not been faithful and constant in obedience to him all their Life We must continue stedfast in well-doing to the end would we ever be blessed of God with Eternal Salvation in the end (h) Mat. 24.13 Amongst all those that are hired to work in Gods Vineyard not he that begins first but he that holds on to the last and he alone shall receive the Reward of Eternal Life (i) Rom. 9.22 As God condemneth no Man before through final impenitency persisting
be the Hell the Misery the eternal Heart-rending Reflexions of all Apostates who notwithstanding all their groundless hopes are now like to be swallowed up of black Despair They thought themselves once in an happy condition but now distress and anguish takes hold upon them They promised themselves to drink for ever of the River of God's Pleasures but now whole Vollies of Brimstone and all the Vials of God's Wrath come thundering down upon them They expected to sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom †Ascendens ad montem Loth retrò reliquit Sodomit and flagitia quae autem reflexit retrò non potuit ad superiora evadere Ambros Epist 11. ad Irenaeum ¶ 2 Pet. 2.21 of God but now they are shut up irrecoverably amongst damned Spirits in everlasting Chains under Darkness They presumed themselves to be in the ready way to Heaven but now they are inevitably dropping into Hell the rageful Flames of which Infernal Lake are now ready to seize upon them and burn them without quenching for ever And can there possibly be a greater emphasis of Misery than such everlasting dreadful disappointment Look to it then all you that have taken up the practise of Piety and take heed that you never draw back to your own destruction O labour to hold fast your Integrity be not weary of well-doing but look well to your selves †2 John 8. that you lose not the things which you have wrought that you lose not your Prayers your religious performances and all your sufferings but that you may receive a full Reward You have not only Hells horrour behind you to keep you from drawing back but you have also Heaven's Glory before you to keep you stedfast and unmovable always persevering in the work of the Lord. (a) Non taedeat incipere magna nec fastidiat tenere inchoata scientes quod perseverantia remunerat currentem coronat pugnantem ducit ad brabium conducit cunctos ad portum Aug. Serm. 8. ad fratres in eremo And why will you ever have thoughts to leave that way which leads to Glory or grow weary of that Work which will shortly be crowned with an Eternal Reward If Jacob thought not his fourteen years hard service tedious having Rachel a beautiful indeed but yet a fading Flower in his Eye Why then should you look upon the service of God as tedious or ever grow weary of it having Heaven itself in your Eye where you may gather not only Beautiful but unfadable Flowers of Happiness and Joy and Glory for ever What greater reproach can you bring upon your selves than to fall from your own stedfastness making shipwrack of Faith and a good conscience when the Glory of Heaven lies before you as an encouragement to all patient continuance in well-doing Columbus having sailed long without making any discovery his company at last began to grow weary of the Voyage till at length they espied Land and then they went on chearfully Thus though you be all weather-beaten and tossed as with Storms upon the troublesome Sea of this World yet having the Land of Promise the Heavenly Canaan in your Eye you should never grow weary in well-doing but hold on chearfully It 's but a while Christians and in case we hold fast our integrity we shall have done wrestling and weeping and praying and then reap the fruit of all our labours It s but a while and holding Faith and a good Conscience we shall have done suffering and bleeding and dying for the cause of Christ and so be crowned with Life Everlasting It 's but a while and continuing patient in well-doing we shall come amongst all the redeemed of Christ to Sion with * Isa 35.10 Songs and everlasting Joy upon our Heads we shall obtain Joy and Gladness and sorrow and sighing shall fly away Let not therefore your hearts grow faint nor your hands be weakned through any Afflictions Tryals or Difficulties that you meet with in Heavens way but having such everlasting consolation and good hope through Christ let all your Righteousness be like the Morning-light never declining but still shining more and more to the perfect day They should never backslide nor grow weary of serving God on Earth whom the Lord allows for their encouragement to all holy self-denying and upright walking before him a clear prospect of Heavens Glory In vain doth God shew us the reward of Eternal Life if the sight of it makes us not faithful unto the Death CHAP. X. The Doctrine improved by way of Exhortation to poor ungodly Sinners advising them to give all diligence for an Interest in this glorious reward and pressing the necessity thereof upon them by Five weighty Considerations II BY way of exhortation to you that have no interest in this glorious Reward which God sets before us give all diligence that it may be yours What will Heaven and Glory and Eternal Life avail you if you can not look upon Heaven as your Heaven upon Glory as your Glory and upon the recompence of Life Eternal as that which shall be your portion for ever Wealth in the Mine doth no good at all till actually severed and set apart for persons and uses Water in the Fountain is of no service to a Man till conveyed thence into his own cistern So though the recompence of Reward be as a Mine full of excellent and unsearchable Riches as a Fountain overflowing with living Waters yet till it be actually made our own that we come to dig in this Mine and to draw Water with Comfort out of this Fountain of Life we remain as Poor and Miserable as if this recompence of Eternal Life had never been set before us 'T is not a prospect of Heaven but an interest in Heaven not the tender of Eternal Life but the having of Eternal Life that will make us Happy Moses himself had a sight of Canaan and yet died in the Wilderness Thus God may give you a sight of Heavenly Glory in the tenders of the Gospel yet not embracing it by Faith you may die in your Sins fall short of the celestial Canaan and be damned for ever Sit not down therefore satisfied in hearing of this Eternally Glorious Reward but give diligence now to get an interest in it and to make it your own Oh lose not your precious Souls lose not Heaven and Eternal Glory for want of looking after them 1 CONSIDER if you get not an Interest in the Recompence of the Reward which God sets before us you are like to have all your Portion in this present Life You may possibly promise your selves great things hereafter because your Barns are full and your Cup overflows here But in vain shall you look for Glory when you come to die if you seek it not by patient continuance in well-doing all your Life 'T is no good Argument that your Hearts are filled with saving Grace because your
Bags and Coffers are stored with Gold Because the World dandles you upon her Lap 't is no sure sign that you shall rest for ever in Abraham's bosom You may not think to be Heirs of Heaven because you are the Possessours of the Earth For not getting an Interest in the Recompence of the Reward now you are sure to go without it to all Eternity The good things of this present World you may love but the good things of Heaven and Glory you shall never have You may have a large Portion of earthly Enjoyments But shall never enjoy the Inheritance of Saints in Light †Psal 17.14 'T is no new thing for God to fill their Bellies with his hidden Treasures with the choicest of all earthly Comforts who never take any care to lay up for themselves a Treasure in Heaven But what alas will it profit you to have Earth in Hand if you have not Heaven in hope What though Riches and Honour are the Lot of your Inheritance amongst those whose Lot is Happiness and eternal Glory What relish think you hath Dives now left him of all his Delicacies or Esau of his dear-bought Pottage What pleasure hath the Rich Fool of his full Barns or that young Man of his large Possessions What delight hath Jezabel in her Paint or Ahab in Naboth's Vineyard What comfort can a Man have in the choicest Quintessence of any or in the greatest Confluence of all earthly Enjoyments who must receive them as his Portion and can never expect any other Happiness any other Portion or Reward in God's heavenly Kingdom It may be for the present thy Mony is thy Idol and thou art held in Thraldom under thy own Possessions but what will remain of thy Silver and Gold to carry thy Soul through the Storm of Death save only the (b) Jam. 5.3 rust thereof to joyn in Judgment against thee and torment thee eating thy Flesh like Fire for ever It may be thou art acted now by vain Glory and Desires of popular Applause but what will it then avail thee to be admired by thy fellow Prisoners and condemned by thy Judge It may be thou servest thy own Lust and another's Beauty but what Pleasure will there be in all this when the Fire of Lust shall be turned into the Fire of Hell It may be thy worldly Comforts and Accommodations are now looked upon by thee as thy greatest Happiness but what miserable Comforters will these be when peeping out of thy Grave thou shalt see Heaven and Earth all on a fire and Christ coming in the Flames thereof to take Vengeance upon thee There is a blessed God that could comfort in such an hour but thou must never see him There is a Crown of Glory that fadeth not away there is a Kingdom that cannot be moved there is all fulness of Joy and Soul-satisfying Pleasure but having thy Portion in this present World thou shalt never have these to comfort thee in the World to come Make the best of your Portion here of your Riches Honours and Pleasures on Earth for you must never receive any Portion hereafter you must never look to be Crowned with Life and Eternity of Glory in Heaven Oh then how unhappy are all those who neglect to get an Interest in the Recompence of the Reward have no Heaven but Earth no Glory but what will end in everlasting Shame and perpetual Contempt no Pleasures but what must shortly be changed into Hellish Intolerable and remediless Torments If you love your immortal Souls come away from all worldly Vanities and be sure to get an Interest in this glorious Reward that your Lives and your Happiness your Rejoycing and all your Comfort may not end together The greatest Portion in this Life will afford you but small Comfort of upon good Grounds you cannot look for a better Portion after Death 2 CONSIDER the Recompence of the Reward which God sets before us it 's a thing feasable and that which you may obtain if you will but seek it The Riches Kingdom and Glory of this World may be sought and yet never found But whoever by patient continuance in well-doing shall seek for Glory and Honour * Rom. 2.7 and blessed Immortality God will certainly Crown them with Life everlasting The Lord is willing to bestow Heaven the best of Rewards upon the worst of Sinners will they but embrace it This eternal Recompence of Reward 't is a thing indeed difficult to be obtained that none may despise it But yet it 's possible to be obtained that so none may sit down discouraged as despairing of it This Exhortation would be out of season to the Damned in Hell betwixt whom and eternal Glory there is a great Gulf fixed so that they are now no longer within the Possibilities of Life and Salvation But for you there is still Balm in Gilead to heal all your Wounds there is an all-sufficiency of Merit in Christ to expiate your Sins and there is still a most merciful Propensity of Will in God to Crown all those that diligently seek him with a glorious Reward And why then since Life is before you will you die the Death Why will you choose to be miserable under Tenders of Glory and eternal Happiness Why will you expose your selves to hellish Torments when the Lord himself doth so earnestly invite you to accept of Heaven Shall God be willing to give and yet you so unwilling to receive the Reward of eternal Life Oh why will you be such Enemies to your own Happiness making light of that great Salvation which though difficult is yet possible to be obtained Can you be content to fall short of eternal Glory and for ever to (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alexand. Admonit ad Gentes pag. mihi 6. a. be shut out of Heaven where is fulness of Joy Shall God hold out the Golden Scepter of his Grace and will you not so much as touch it to save your own Lives Must he follow you with daily Importunities of Love intreating you to accept of this glorious Reward to make you happy and will you still with Disdain turn your backs upon him as if the Favour of God in Christ as if Heaven and eternal Glory were not worth the having (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyril Hier. Praef Cateches pag. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Idem Cateches 1. pag. 3. The Lord is Bountiful and willing to give But yet he expects that you should be so dutiful as to receive with all thankfulness what he gives The bestowance of this glorious Reward doth indeed belong to God as his part But then the seeking and acceptance thereof doth belong to every one of you as your necessary indispensable Duty Give diligence then since God so freely offers with all thankfulness to embrace the Reward of eternal Life Were the Matter of this Exhortation an Impossibility exciting you to seek for what you could never find and to labour for what
thereof to rage and burn so furiously that all Rhetoricians in the Word have not Expressions comprehensive enough to set forth the Horror of it Think often therefore of the Hell of Sin and by that means through the Grace of God thou wilt save thy self from the Hell of Punishment 6 AND lastly consider the Eternity of Hell Torments which inevitably will seize upon you in case you fall short of Heaven and Glory and let that prevail with you to make sure of them Now God sets before you the recompence of Eternal Life But in case you make light of that to be sure Eternal Death and Misery will be your portion You cannot refuse an Eternal Weight of Glory but you must needs expose your selves to an Eternal Weight of Wrath. Whoever turn their Backs upon Heaven falling short of that they fall into Hell irrecoverably (a) Mark 9.44 where the Worm dieth not and the Fire is never quenched As the Fire of Hell is unquenchable so the Worm of Conscience is unendable Neither can the Fire of Hell be quenched that it should not for ever burn you nor yet the Worm of Conscience that Bosom Fury by any means be finished that it should not Everlastingly torment you 'T is storied of Caius Caligula that having condemned a Malefactor he would give order to the Executioner so to strike that the party might feel himself dying and suffer the pains of a lingring Death Thus poor self-destroying Sinner will it with thee in case thou make not sure of Heavenly Glory (b) Revel 9.6 Constat quod sicut finis non est gaudio bonorum ita nec tormento malorum Greg. Dial. Thou must ever be dying but never dead ever seeking Death but never find it Thou shalt follow after it but it will ever fly from thee As the Righteous shall be blessed with an Eternal Sun-shine of Love and Glory So the wicked they shall all be inveloped in an Everlasting Night of Horrour Wrath and extremest Anguish Whilst the Righteous are called up into Heaven there to be with the Lord for ever (c) 2 Thess 1.9 The Wicked these are the Men these are the Women that must then be punished with Everlasting Destruction from the presence of God and from the Glory of his Power In Hell the damned shall never be able with Agag to say the bitterness of Death is over But when for millions of Ages they have lain broyling upon the Grid-iron of God's sorest displeasure still they will find bitterness to come Wrath to come Torment to come Fire and Brimstone to come that will burn them without quenching for ever As the People of God shall rest with him in Glory for ever So the Wicked must be kept for ever upon the Rack of God's fierce indignation As the Saints Heaven so the Sinners Hell hath Eternity written upon it There is no fear of falling from Heavens Happiness nor any hope of ever escaping the Torments of Hell The Saints Joys and the Sinners Groans will run parallel with all Eternity And look as the Pleasures of the one shall never have any period so the Pains of the other shall never have any end The Wicked in Hell they can neither cease to be miserable Though now they will infinitely desire it yet there is no possibility of returning to that dark Abyss of nothing whence first they were taken or of hiding themselves for ever according to the Socinian dotage in the most abhorred State of Annihilation Nor yet according to Origen's wild Opinion any hope of a Goal-delivery out of that infernal Prison as if the Mercy of God hyperbolizing into a Solescisme of foolish Pity towards the damned in Hell the very conceit whereof borders nigh upon the Confines of Blasphemy would at last after some few Centuries of Years rescue both Men and Devils out of the sure Hands of Divine avenging Justice (d) Cum peccatores peccent contra Deum qui aeternus est conveniens est ut poena aeterna eis ex divina justitia inferatur Aq. Sup. 3. part q. 99. a. i. o. The infinitely Glorious Majesty of God by their Sins was offended which must needs derive an infinite guilt and demerit upon them binding them over to suffer an infinite punishment But because no punishment can be intensively infinite in the degrees and greatness of it as being a thing impossible that a finite Vessel should hold an infinite Wrath (e) Cum non possit esse infinita poena per intenticuem quia creatura non est capax alicujus qualitatis infinitae requiritur quod sit saltem duratione infinita Aquin. ibid. that the back of a Poor finite Creature should bear an infinit Stroak why therefore it must be extensively infinite what is abated in greatness must be made up in the Everlasting Duration of the suffering and so the whole penalty will always be suffering but never suffered always will the Sinner be burning but never burnt nor ever come to any end of his Torments The Sinner he despised an Eternal Happiness making light of the greatest Salvation (f) Factus est malo dignus aeterno qui hoc in se peremit bonum quod esse posset aeternum August de Civit. Dei l. 21. cap. 12. and therefore how justly doth he now fall under an Eternal Misery whilst everlasting Wrath and Damnation take hold upon him Who more deservedly shut up in Everlasting Chains under Darkness than such as willfully go on to neglect Eternal Mansions of Glory Such is the desperate madness of wicked Men (g) Peccator punitur poenâ aeternâ quia peccavit suo aeterno id est sine fine Pic. Mirandula Apolog. quaest 2. that all their Life long Heaven and Glory are neglected and nothing but the Pleasures of Sin delighted in So that wicked Men thus Sinning in their Eternity no wonder though they be punished in Gods Eternity they sinning so long as they had a life to live how justly doth God retâ—liate punishing all their Wickedness and Sins upon them so long as he lives Because the Righteous God lives for ever therefore the Wicked and the Ungodly they must die for ever be damned for ever be tormented for ever (h) Ad magnam justitiam judicantis pertinet ut nunquam careant supplicio qui in hac vita nunquam voluerunt carere peccato Gregor lib. 34. mor. cap. 2. Iniqui ideo cum fine deliquerunt quia cum fine vixerunt voluissent quippe sine fine vivere ut sine fine potuissent in suis iniquitatibus permanere Nam magis appetunt peccare quam vivere Greg. Dialog 4. c. 44. Their desires of sinning were infinite had they lived for ever they would have sinned for ever And how Righteous a thing is this with God that they should have punishment without end who had he not stopped them in the swiftest career of their carnal Pleasures by the unwelcome arrest of Death would neâ—â—r have put any end to their
with the Terrours of Mount Sinai before he refresheth (b) Isaiah 61.3 them with Mount Sion's Comforts first he brings them to mourn bitterly for Sin before he pours out upon them Oyl of Gladness first in a word he puts into them the Spirit of Heaviness before ever he will Cloath them with the Garments of eternal Salvation So that here we must mourn and humble our Souls for Sin would we ever come safe to Heaven rejoycing with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory And truly whatever some say to the contrary we may as well expect a Crop without Seed as to reap the Reward of eternal Glory without Sowing in Tears There must first a Shower of penitential Tears fall from our Eyes before ever the Sun-shine of true Happiness in the Kingdom of Heaven will break forth upon us Repentance is so necessary a Duty (c) Luke 13.3 5. that no Man could ever yet get to Heaven nor escape Hell without it Sin must and will have Sorrow either on Earth or in Hell either in this World to your Comfort or in the next to your Shame and eternal Confusion If therefore you love your Souls labour by Sorrow to prevent Sorrow by godly Sorrow for Sin here to prevent despairing Sorrow for Sin in Hell What is it not better that we should break off our Sins by Repentance than that wanting Repentance we should be broken in pieces like a Potter's Vessel with the Lion-rod of God's heavy Displeasure Is it not much better that we should fill God's Bottle with our Tears than that for want of such Tears he should empty all the Vials of his Wrath (d) Ezek. 18.32 upon us (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Martyr Apol. 2. pag. 48. 25. The Lord tells you plainly he hath no pleasure in your Death But yet he is resolved that you shall liâ—e upon no other condition than that of breaking off your Sins by Godly Sorrow And who would not rather live Repenting (f) An melius est damnatum latere quam palam absolvi Tertull. de Poenitent cap. 10. pag. 169. than be damned and die despairing Did Esau seek his Father's Blessing with Tears and will not you much more seek the Blessing of eternal Life at the Hands of God with Sorrow in your Hearts and Tears in your Eyes that you ever offended him Oh little do you know the unspeakable â—enefit accrewing to a poor Soul by Godly Sorrow wâ—at Comfort it fills him with here and what Glory at will Crown him with hereafter There are none that live so comfortable on Earth nor any that go more surely to Heaven when they come to die than those whose Life hath been spent in bewailing their Sins (g) Magnum est poenitentiae auxilium magnum solatium Illa est vulnerum peccatorumque sanatio illa spes illa porta salutis Lactant. Epitom cap. 8. pag. mihi 750. Great as Lactantius sweetly saith is the help and great the Comfort of true Repentance This like Balm is for the healing of our Sin-wounded Souls this is the Foundation of our Hope and this is the Gate of Salvation through which we may enter into the Kingdom of God When Hannah had wept before the Lord she went away and her Countenance was no more sad Go you likewise and weep bitterly before the Lord for all your Sins would you ever have your Hearts to be filled with Comfort and your Faces to shine with the Oyl of eternal Gladness They that would build high must lay the Foundation very low Thus godly Sorrow for Sin is that sure Foundation Stone upon which God lays the Superstructure of eternal Happiness Holy Mourning is the Seed out of which the (h) Mat. 5.4 Flower of eternal Glory Springs As the Harvest naturally follows the Seed Sown So if now you shall carefully Sow in Tears do not doubt but the (i) Psal 126.5 Harvest of everlasting Joy will follow after Let not then your Souls be by any means prejudiced against godly Sorrow which though bitter in the Root yet will be sweet in the Fruit working for your Repentance to Salvation (k) 2 Cor. 7.10 never to be Repented of The Pleasures Mirth and carnal Jollity of wicked Men will have a sorrowful end there is never a drop of Honey in Sin but will shortly be turned into a Sea of Gall and as the Pleasures of ungodly Men have abounded in this Life so their Torments in Hell shall much more abound But as for the Tears that drop from the Eye of godly Sorrow they will never grieve you nor give you any just occasion to Repent of them as being sure to end in Joy and be Crowned with an Eternity of heavenly Glory Repentance I confess is a Bochim a place of Weepers and therefore displeasing to a carnal Heart that would always dwell in the House of Mirth But (l) Haec te peccatorum flactibus mersum prolevabit in portum divinae clementiae protelabit Tertul. de Paenitent cap. 4. pag. mihi 166. through this Valley of Tears you will come at length to the Paradise of God where instead of the bitter Waters of Marah your Souls shall be satisfied with the new Wine of eternal Consolation when the Cloud that hid the Sun from us is once dissolved into a Shower then it shines out gloriously Thus when the Cloud of your Sins that now hides from you the Light of God's Countenance dissolves kindly into a Shower of Tears then will you find the Sun of Righteousness shining out upon you with the brightest beams of Love and Glory Shall I then prevail with you to become God's spiritual Seeds-men (m) Gal. 6.8 now sowing in Tears to the Spirit that of the Spirit you may reap Life everlasting Oh neglect not I beseech you this great Salvation deprive not your selves through the hardness and impenitency of your own Hearts of that fulness of Joy and eternal Happiness which the Lord hath provided for all that are Mourners in Sion What though godly Sorrow be displeasing to Flesh and Blood and Repentance bitter (n) Psal 16.11 Yet who for that fulness of Joy and those Pleasures that are at God's right Hand for evermore would not gladly undergo it Possibly you think its a tedious thing to afflict your Souls for Sin turning your Laughter into Mourning and your Joy into Heaviness Oh but remember that Crown that Kingdom that eternal weight of Glory to which your Repentance leads will abundantly make amends for all your Sorrow By a few-hearty Sighs and Groans and Tears you may get to Heaven And oh how sad would it be if for want of these you should fall into Hell irrecoverably and be tormented for ever A (o) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Martyr Dial. câ—m Tryphon pag 207. Man breaking off his Sins by true Repentance is looked upon and Crowned with eternal Glory as if he had never sinned But the least Sin Unrepented of will be sure to
plunge the Soul in remediless intolerable Misery 2 Be sure that you quit your own Righteousness giving diligence to see the Insufficiency of it to Life and Salvation Such is the Corruption of our Nature that though the Covenant of Works be violated and the Condition thereof unperformable to Man lapsed Yet still we would Trade for Heaven in a way of working building our Hope for eternaâ— Life upon the sandy Foundation of a Self-opiniative Righteousness If at any time Men are startled by the powerful Impressions of a Soul-searching Ministry and begin to feel the Sting of Sin in their Consciences you may presently see them have recourse not to Christ but to Moses not to the Righteousness which is of God by Faith but to the Righteousness which is of the Law placing their whole Affiance in the supposed Worth and Merit of their own good Works as if these could save them But know you must that those who put Confidence in their own Righteousness will as surely fall short of Heaven and Glory as those who make no Conscience of Righteousness at all Good Works when rested in and made the Matter of our justification before God are as infallibly Damning as evil Works when never Repented of (p) Gal. 3.10 For as many as be of the Works of the Law trusting in and expecting Salvation by them are under the Curse The Law at first was an easie way to Righteousness and from thence to Salvation But now every step thereof sinks as low as Hell It 's written within and without with Curses which way soever a Man stirs he finds nothing but Death before him One Man's way by the Civility of his Education the Ingenuity of his Disposition the Engagement of other ends or Relations may seem more smooth and plausible than anothers but by Nature they all run into Hell as all Rivers though never so different in other Circumstances run into the Sea And the Reason of all this the Apostle hath subjoyned in the following words taken from that everlasting Inability that we lie under to fulfil all Righteousness which the Law in its utmost rigour and latitude doth require at our Hands as pronouncing all those Accursed that continue not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law (q) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 M. Eremita to do them So then though Sin and Death go together as Work and Wageâ— yet eternal Life must never be expected as the Purchase of our own good Works but as the free Gift of God in Christ Jesus The Ways of Sin (r) Rom. 6.23 is Death saith the Apostle But the Gift of God saith he purposely changing the manner of his Speech is eternal Life Say therefore the Papists what they will of their Merit of Condignity proportionate in worth and excellency to eternal Glory Yet would you not for ever be shut out of Heaven and fall short of Glory you must Renounce all Opinion of your own Merit laying hold on eternal Life as the free Gift of God For can we rationally think that our imperfect Obedience should justly deserve with God the Reward of eternal Glory Do we fail coming short in every Duty and shall we yet look for Heaven and not of Debt and not of Mercy If the (s) Rom. 8.18 Sufferings of this present Life are not worthy to be compared with the (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oecum in loc Glory that shall be revealed in us what little reason can we have to think by any inferior act of Obedience to merit such a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost in Philip. Homil. 11. The Reward of eternal Life is the gift of God and therefore not to be sought by Works of Righteousness as infinitely exceeding in Worth and Dignity all our performances how glorious soever Misinterpret me not as if I were declaiming against the necessity of inherent Righteousness when indeed the meritoriousness and condignity thereof proportionate to eternal Life is all that we here deny We do not cry down Obedience and good Works as they stand in subordination to â—â—ace and are the genuine Fruits of Sanctification as they of the Romish Faction have maliciously traduced the Reformation But only as they stand in opposition to the free Grace of God in our Justification and are made by Pharisaical self-justitiaries the Foundation whereupon to bottom their hopes for eternal Life We of the Church of England do maintain the necessity of good Works pressing earnestly to the practise of them as antecedaneous to Life Eternal without which no Man can be saved But that wherein we dissent from the Church of Rome is about the causality of good Words with whom we dare not affirm (a) Si propriè appellentur ea quae decimus nostra merita Spei quidem Seminaria sunt charitatis Incentiva occultae praedestinationis Judicia futurae foelicitatis Praesagia Via regni non causa regnandi Bern. lib. de Grat. liber Arbitr but deny them to be meritorious of Eternal Life as if a Man should be saved for them We do allow them with Bernard to be the preservatives of Hope the Incentives of Charity the marks of hidden Predestination the Presages of future Happiness the Way that leads to the Kingdom of Heaven but not the meritorious causes of our reigning with Christ there Take heed then that you think not of your own Righteousness above what you ought to think 'T is your duty to fulfil all Righteousness but will certainly be your undoing if you trust in any Beware therefore oh Man of this sugared Poyson within thee let there be no depending upon thy good Heart thy good Life thy good Performances But remember the proud Pharisee who stands upon his own bottom as well as ungodâ—â— Sinners whose lives are notoriously infamous for all manner of abominable impieties will fall short of Heaven Whoever thinks to find Life in his own Righteousness and Glory in his own Graces will be sunk through such carnal Confidence to lose Life and Eternal Glory for ever Oh then let not any Man be found cloathed in his own Righteousness that would ever be cloathed upon with the Garments of Salvation For Men to despair in themselves counting all their Righteousness but loss for the excellency of Heaven This is the best way to obtain the reward of Eternal Glory in the Kingdom of Heaven He that here cries out as a Man lost and undone in himself will hereafter be found in Christ to the saving of his Soul Never did any Man yet get to Heaven by trusting in his own Righteousness Nor shall any Man fall short of Heaven who renouncing his own Righteousness trusteth wholly to the Mercy of God in Christ Jesus 3 GET renewed Natures making sure of a principle of Grace within (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Macar Hom. 30. A Wicked Man in his unregeneracy is no more capable of an
hath set you in the right way he will take you by the Hand and lead you over into Canaan if he hath been the Authour of Grace in your Souls he is now concerned in point of Honour to finish it and to perfect your Grace at length into Glory I might tell you of the sweet Concatenation and inviolable Connexion that is between the several Causes of our Salvation which are so linked together that they necessarily follow (f) Rom. 8.30 from the first to the last Whomsoever God did predestinate them he also called and whom he called them he also justified and whom he justified them he also (g) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Macar Hom. 17. p. 248. glorified 'T is not said those he will glorify but but those he hath glorified To let us know that such as are praedestinated called and justified are as sure to be saved as if they were in Heaven already But waving these things let me only tell you of those first Fruits of Grace in your own Souls which the Lord hath given you as the hansel and sure earnest of Eternal Glory Whereever God gives Grace he will also give Glory his purpose in sanctifying you it is to save you and in making you Holy to fit you for eternal Happiness So that Holiness is not only a means fitting us for but it 's also an earnest to assure us of eternal Life For Grace in the Heart hath a twofold use not only to make us meet for the Inheritance of Saints in light but also to be an earnest of it to shew us how sure it is as being nothing but the beginning of Heaven and as a few clusters of those Grapes or Bunches of those Figs the full Vintage whereof is reserved for the heavenly Canaan * Enim verò cum gratia sit diluculum gloriae gloria meridies gratiae cum embryo gloriae gratia sit adulta gratia transeat in gloriam quisquis impraesentiarum certus est se in gratia constitutum esse nae ille nec facilè nec diu ambiget utrum ipse glorificandus sit Arrows Tact. Sacr. lib. 2. sect 5. pag. 199. The Truth is Grace is Glory in it's infancy and Glory is Grace adult Grace is Glory dawning and Glory is Grace in it's Noonday brightness And therefore as the light once breaking in our Hemisphere never ceaseth but shineth more and more to the perfect Day so the light of Grace in your Souls it shall never be â—â—tally eclipsed but daily growing brighter till it break forth into a Sun-shine of Eternal Glory For betwixt the sanctifying Graces of God's Spirit and Eternal Salvation the connexion is most sure and can never be broken God hath tied as with Chains of Adamant the Work of his People and their reward the Seed-time of Grace and the Harvest of Eternal Glory together So that whoever is truly sanctified must undoubtedly be saved and whoever is gracious in this World must needs be crowned with Glory in the World to come Oh then what infinite Ground of Comfort may this be to every poor trembling Soul that is afraid every Day he shall die in the Wilderness and never reach his desired Canaan Thy Reward Christian is sure thy Happiness infallibly certain and thy Crown shall no Man take from thee 5 THE Reward whereunto God allows his People a respect in all their obedience it 's an incomparably great and glorious Reward (a) Gen. 15.1 The Reward of every Christian it is God himself and surely the great God cannot give us a greater Reward than himself I am thy shield saith the Lord to Abraham and thy exceeding great Reward We want Words to express what a little diminutive thing the Creature is But God the Creator he is so incomprehensibly great and hath such an exceeding Muchness of Reward in him bâ—yond all degrees of comparison to speak the very Heart of the Original that we want capacities to conceive of him The Lord Jehovah he is a being infinitely great and good there is none that can compare with him As is a small drop to the vast Ocean or a crumb of Dust to the whole Earth such is the universal compage of all things to the great God and yet every Christian hath this glorious God for his Reward (b) Psal 73.26 to be the strength of his Heart and his portion for ever (c) Mat. 5.12 This made our Blessed Lord call upon his Disciples to rejoice and be exceeding glad because great saith he is your Reward in Heaven So great indeed that it passeth the expression of the most fluent Oratory and the utmost reach of the sublimest fancy in so much that let the one speak and the other contemplate yet neither can that tell nor this conceive how incomparably great and glorious this Reward is Such is the transcendent excellency and Glorious greatness of this Reward that all the Crowns Scepters Kingdoms and most noble enjoyments of this World if compared with it are no more than a dark Glow-worm to the Sun in it's Noon-day brightness Compared with this Reward all worldly Honours are but badges of Shame all earthly Glories are but blots of Disgrace all sumptuous Palaces are but beggarly Cottages all creature Comforts are but lying Vanities and whatever Riches Preferments or Inheritances the World can bestow upon it's Bosom Minions they are no more in comparison of this Reward than a Straw or a Pebble Stone to a Mountain of Gold (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dionys Areopagit Hierarch Eccles cap. 2. For what as Dionysius hath it can be compared with a sorrowless and bright shining immortality Though we have given us of God exceeding great and precious Promises such as do far transcend the utmost comprehension of all humane understandings albeit that they are accommodated as much as can be to â—â—r present capacity yet the Words in which these Promises are wrapt up they do infinitely come short of â—â—ssing to the Life that fulness of Divine Blessing Hâ—pâ—â—â—â—ss and glorious Reward which the Promises â—roâ—â—â—g with (e) Cum hoc enim bono amoris nempe favoris Dei nullae opes mundanae nulla gloria celebritas excellentia temporalis conferri aut comparari potest Deus enim solus cuivi◠〈◊〉 summum bonum existit Pant. Calid Orat. p. 33. 2 Pet. 14. Men talk of great matters in the World â—nd are apt to judge none less Happy than the truly Gracious But let them contribute to each other what Beams of Glory they can let them knit and unite all their Riches Honours and worldly felicities together yet they shall never be able to make up the least shadow of that glorious Reward which abides God's People in Heaven much less to compare with it Indeed as Abraham sent away the Sons of his Concubines with Gifts still keeping the Inheritance for Isaac So God doth vouchsafe many temporal enjoyments to wicked Men in this Life but the Reward of
And oh what a sumptuous Feast what glorious a Kingdom what a blessed Reward must that needs be upon which the infinitely wise God was spending from Eternity his Thoughts and providing for you If the Temple were thought so Glorious and Magnificent because as the Jews told Christ it was forty and six Years a building How glorious then how surpassingly Rich and Magnificent must the heavenly Jerusalem be the Temple of God in Zion that City whose Foundation was laid before Eternity in God's electing Love which was a framing from everlasting and whose builder and maker in time was God over all Blessed for ever Though this stately Building were reared up in time yet it was a Framing before all time yea from all Eternity This Tree of Life thought it only Bud and Blossom and bring forth Fruit in time yet it was planted from all Eternity in the Paradise of God's everlasting good Will towards his People And do not think that the great God would spend his Thoughts from Eternity upon Trifles or the Framing a poor pitiful Cottage from everlasting No you will find it answerable to the Preparations made for it such a City such a Feast such a glorious Reward as the great God will not be ashamed to own for the Fruit as well of his infinite Wisdom as of his eternal Love 11 THE Reward whereunto God allows his People a Respect in all their Obedience it 's a continued and an uninterruptible Reward In this present Life we have nothing constant no Comfort no Enjoyment no Priviledge whereof we can always have the actual Fruition and wherewith we can sensibly delight our selves every day But in the Reward of eternal Life there is no such Inconstancy whatever Glory whatever Joy whatever Comfort Happiness and Soul-satisfying Pleasures that carrieth in it we shall have the actual Perception the sweet tast and the sensible lively Fruition of it every moment without any the least intermission As the damned in Hell have fulness of Misery without one moments Respite one comfortable Divertisement from those hellish Torments under which they lie or one half Minutes ease to all Eternity So the Saints of God in Heaven they have fulness of Joy without any the least moments intermission of it without any interim of Disturbance without any unhappy Divertisement to suspend hinder or discontinue their Joy their Happiness their actual delight in God so much as one moment for ever Our Comforts in this Life are like the Sea that have their Fluxes and Refluxes their Ebbings and Flowings if this hour we have a full Tide yet the next it 's low Water and our Comforts are withdrawn But in Heaven it 's always high Water with God's People they have Rivers of purest Pleasures that will never pass away from them here they have a full spring Tide of Joy and sweetest Comforts that will never be over What the holy Ghost affirms of the four living Creatures praising God which is (f) Rev. 4.8 that they rest not day and night will hold true of all the Saints when they come to Heaven where they shall not rest day and night nor one moment of either rejoycing in God and warbling out his Praises for ever Nor doth this at all incommodate the Nature of the Saints Happiness which is (g) Heb. 4.9 said to be a Rest remaining for them Not yet evacuate that other Scripture where such as die in the Lord are pronounced Blessed (h) Rev. 14.13 because then they rest from their Labours For 't is not from the Exercise of such Graces as a State of Happiness will comport with that God's People rest in Heaven But from that Difficulty and those Weaknesses which attending our Graces here on Earth do keep us that we cannot always be in the actual exercise of them From enjoying God from delighting in him and from glorifying of him they rest not in Heaven But it is from enjoying him from delighting in him and glorifying of him with Perfection Deadness Heart-wounding Distractions and Weariness as now they do that they rest in Heaven For though Happiness be defined to be a perfect State of a reasonable Creature wherein it enjoys all Good that is due to it Yet you must (i) Cum beatitutio consâ—â—at in ultimo hominis actu necesse est ipsam esse aliquam hominis operationem Aq. 1. 2. q. 3. â— 2. not think this throws a Man into a dull unactive Lethargy obstructing like some mortal Apoplexy the Souls Operations Though the Happiness of God s People be called a Rest which is said to be the Perfection of Motion yet sure I am this Rest will never put an end to all Motion nor hinder the Soul from delighting in God from loving and praising him so much as one moment to all Eternity The Truth is the Rest which remains for the Saints in Heaven that eternal Sabbatism of Happiness it lies (k) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mainly in this that they shall never rest nor be taken off night nor day from beholding and loving from loving and praising from praising and enjoying God for ever without all weariness Whilst here we live in the croud of worldly Business and have our Souls clogged with a Body of Death why alas there are a thousand things step in to divert our Thoughts to damp our Devotion to interrupt our sweet Communion Fellowship and Peace with God But this Reward will no more endure any such Divertisements nor admit of such Soul-sadning Interruptions than the Sun in its noonday Brightness will endure the presence of a darksom Night Though here Christians your Condition be often cloudy and your Joy that shone bright yesterday is eclipsed to day Yet in Heaven your Joy your Comfort your Fellowship with God shall not be thus inconstant but there you shall have an uninterrupted Sun-shine of Glory and Happiness OH then Christians think what is the excellency exceeding greatness and Glory of your Reward in Heaven where you shall have the quick and accurate sense of all fulness of Joy where you shall not meet with any thing to distract you to divert your Thoughts to take you off no not for the least moment from your God your Redeemer your Comforter your Happiness to all Eternity Here you find God like a way-faring Man that turns into your Souls but for a Night and is gone in the Morning But in Heaven he will make his constant abode with you he will ever be letting out of his Love of his Goodness to you and will cause you not now and then but every moment to be drinking of the River of his Pleasures Like the sight of a Star through an Optick Glass when held by a Palsie-hand such is our sight of God and Heaven and Glory in this Life we are long ere we can fix the Eye of our Faith upon them and though the sight be very pleasant yet we soon lose it our Thoughts wavering through our Minds Weakness Sometime from
Goodness Not but that I think as one Star differs from another in Glory So one Saint may differ from another in the Measure of his Joy (k) 2 Cor. 9.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyril Hier. Cateches 1. Quanto plus aliquis hic Deo obediens fuerit tanto ampliorem ab eo mercedem sibi recipiet quantoque amplius Deum amabit tanto propius videbit quam ceruere cupit Bern. Med. cap. 14. They shall all of them be thrown as Vessels of Honour into the same River of God's Pleasures But shall not all have the same bore nor be all of the same size though every one of them according to their capacity shall be filled up to the brim Proportionate to our improvements of Grace in this Life shall be our enjoyments of Glory in the next He that makes the best use of his Talent God will give him the best use for his Talent l So that the more we lay out ourselves for God here the more Joy God will lay up for our Souls against hereafter m He that now sows to the Spirit with the most liberal Hand shall then reap of the Spirit the most plentiful crop of Life and Eternal Happiness He that is now most careful and diligent in trimming his Lamp shall shine most brightly in the heavenly Orb. And according to what any Mans preparations of Grace are whilst now militant such shall be his Mansions of Glory when once triumphant Nor is there any just Ground hereby given to the Romanists whereupon to build there Doctrine of condign Merit Neither have they any advantage hence offered them to assert any such thing as a redundancy of Merit in Doctors Virgins and Martyrs intitling them each one to an additional Coronet Mat. 25.14 23. Luke 19.16 19. or surplusage of Glory For the Ground of all this we make to be the remunerative Goodness of God in Christ so that both Glory and the measure of Glory both Joy and the degrees of heavenly Joy must wholly be resolved into the free Grace of God from which they spring And if Gods rewarding his People Secundum opera according to the Works for the kind of them do nothing advantage the Doctrin of Merits why should his rewarding them Secundum opera according to their Works for the degree and eminency of them be thought to do for it If God where Grace may also give Glory without any Merit on the Souls part What reason can be given why where he gives more Grace he may not also give more Glory with the same freeness If any Man be made to sit down upon a more glorious Throne of Happiness in Heaven we do wholly ascribe it to the redundancy of God's Love to such a Soul putting him up into an higher Form of Grace here on Earth and so preparing him as it were for a more honorable Seat when he shall come to sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets to the Marriage-supper of the Lamb. However it go there shall be that fulness of Joy and Glory in Heaven that none shall be able to complain of want nor to desire the least degree of Happiness and contentment imaginable more than what he hath (l) Atque id etiam beata civitas illa magnum in se bonum videbit quòd nulli superiori ullus inferior in videbit Aug. de civit Dei lib. 22. cap. 30. pag. 738. Nor shall any amongst the Saints envy the Happiness of each other when they shall every one participate of anothers Joy and count themselves so much the more happy by how much God communicates more of heavenly Glory to any of them So that whether we be Stars of the first or of the Second magnitude we shall all shine bright in the Firmament of heavenly Glory Whether the Vessels of our Souls be little or great they shall all of them if Vessels of Honour be full fraught with the rich Merchandise of Comfort Joy and everlasting delights Let your Hearts be never so sad for the present yet the Reward of Eternal Glory will comfort them Let them now be never so disconsolate and sorrowful yet this Reward will scatter all Clouds of Sorrow turning your Hearts into highest raptures of Joy Delight and everlasting Triumph 13 THE Reward whereunto God allows his People a respect n all their obedience it 's an unfading Reward and such as will never end in loathing and sariety This Reward is a glorious Sun that always shines with the same unspotted brightness 'T is a Tree of Life that always yields Fruit of the same delicious relish and sweetness so that though it satisfie you yet it will never fade you and though it will infinitely delight you yet it will never glut you nor make you weary of it The Manna which God gave his People in the Wilderness though at first they admired it yet afterward they grew to loath it But this heavenly Manna you will as much admire it and be as far from loathing of it after you shall have been feeding upon it for Millions and Millions of Ages as when first you gathered it with extasies of Joy and Delight passing all understanding in the Kingdom of God! What the Philosopher saith of the matter of Caelestial Bodies is nothing but what may be accomodated to the present Truth Though matter in Sublunary things be always burning with lustful appetite like a second Messalina after variety of new shapes yet such is the actuality and perfection of the form in heavenly Bodies that the matter thereof can desire no new form So likewise it is with the Saints of Heaven though whilst on Earth they were easily cloyed and tired out with their Creature-enjoyments yet now they have that fulness of Joy that perfection of Glory that surpassing delight and Soul-ravishing contentment of which they can never be weary and beyond which they can desire no greater Happiness Perpetuity neither takes off from the bitterness of Hell nor the sweetness of Heaven But as that will most exquisitely torment so this will infinitely delight for ever without any abatement The Sinners restless groans shall no less furiously tear his Woful Heart nor the Saints triumphant Hallelujahs any less sweetly rejoice his Soul after infinite Ages than what they did the first moment Long accustomedness whether to Heavens Joys or to Hells Torments will neither make the one less grievous and Wearisome nor the other less pleasant and delightful As the damned must expect the same Wrath the same Flames the same weeping hideous schrieching and gnashing of Teeth through the extremity of their Torments for ever without any mitigation So let the People of God expect when they come to Heaven the same fulness of Joy the same highest degree of Blessedness the same Paradise of sweetest delights Divine contentments and surpassing matchless Pleasures to all Eternity without any the least diminution (m) Qui satietati occurrit satietatem incurrit 'T is not
the Lord for ever and shall have the Light of his Countenance as an Eternal Sun-shine that shall never be eclipsed nor go down any more for ever CHAP. XV. The whole Discourse concluded and taking further Improvement of the Doctrine for the Comfort of God's People and shewing what everlasting glorious advantage will accrew to them by a due respect had to the recompence of reward in 12 Particulars 2 HITHERTO I have been drawing for you a Map of Heaven and giving you as from the top of Mount Nebo a Prospect of the Celestial Canaan The next thing wherewith I shall close this use and shut up my whole discourse upon this Subject is to let you know what a due respect had to the recompence of the Reward will do for you what precious Fruit you may gather by the Hand of Faith from this Tree of Life 1 A due Respect had to the Recompence of the Reward will derive much strength into your Souls furnishing them with all suitable Abilities for every Duty God's People though weak in themselves yet they are never without strength in God But when by Faith they look within the Vail observing what Riches es of Grace and Glory are laid up for them there then they are strengthned more than ever then they are assisted more powerfully than ever then they have Ability for the Work of the Lord more than ever St. Paul though a weak Vessel not having Ability as he sadly complains for any Duty in himself Yet having his Eye fixed continually upon Heaven the Grace of God is so mightily with him that now he can go through every Duty labouring more abundantly than all the rest Through Faith it was that those Worthies mentioned by our Apostle (a) Heb. 11.34 were made strong To be sure Faith eying the Reward of eternal Life will put strength into you There is nothing that can facilitate your Duty on Earth but an Eye to Heaven nor can any thing make you able for the Work of the Lord but the serious Meditation of that Reward which you shall have from the Lord. Dost thou complain sweet Babe in Christ of thy own weakness Is it thy daily Affliction that thy Soul is so dull so indisposed so unable for the Work of God Art thou daily troubled to think what a Child thou art at every holy Exercise how unable to Pray to Meditate to work out thy own Salvation Fix thy Thoughts upon Heaven eye stedfastly the Reward of eternal Glory Not doubting but that will shed such an enlivening Dew of Grace upon thy Soul as will effectually lift up the Hands that hang down (b) Heb. 12.12 and strengthen the Knees of thy Soul how weak and feeble soever Understand then ye Blessed of the Lord where your strength lies and how easily you may be furnished with strength for every holy Undertaking A Man eying the Prize set before him through an ambitious desire of it gathers strength to run the Race Thus Christians eying this glorious Reward will be sure to gather spiritual Strength to run the way of God's Commandments O Christians had you but more serious fixed Thoughts of heavenly Glory how would this rally together all the Powers of your Souls in Duty how would this enliven your Hearts renew your Strength and make you mount up with Wings as Eagles make you run and not be weary make you walk (c) Isaiah 40.31 and never grow faint through Weakness in the Work of the Lord Oh what greater Encouragement can any Man have to strengthen his Heart and Hands in every Duty than to think having fixed his Eye upon this glorious Reward yonder is the Crown the Kingdom the Glory prepared for me Sampson being ready to faint through Drought the Lord clave a place in the Jaw causing Water (d) Judges 15.19 to come out of which when Sampson had drunk his Spirit his Strength came again and the Man revived So Christians if at any time through Weakness you be ready to faint be sure that you go to this Fountain of Life drink in something of Heaven this will be a spiritual En-hakkore to you cause a Spirit of Might of Strength to come upon you You complain you cannot pray you cannot perform Duty you have no Life no Power no Hearts in any holy Undertaking But how much is the Fault your own Did you stedfastly look up to Heaven you could not always like Children be troubled with such Weakness When ever therefore you find Indisposition Weakness Inability lying heavy upon you so that you cannot do the things that you would I 'le tell you if indeed you do desire to be eased of this Burden what you shall do Sit down for a little moment and steep your Thoughts in this River of Life remember in every Duty it is to Heaven that you are walking 't is to the ever blessed God to a precious Christ to all fulness of Joy to a Crown of Life that shall never be taken from you 2 A due Respect had to the Recompence of the Reward will make you to esteem of all worldly Reproach that you suffer for Righteousness sake as a light matter Though no Child of God dare glory in his Shame yet every Child of God having respect to this eternal Reward can glory in that which the World counts his Shame Though there be nothing that lies more heavy upon an ingenuous Spirit than the Reproaches reviling Language opprobrious Nick-names put upon God's People by the scurrilous multitude yet the weight of Glory when seriously eyed will make all this light and easie to be born Though God's People would not for all the World give any just occasion to those without to speak evil of their holy Profession yet if all the World should revile them maliciously traduce them and say all manner of evil of them falsly for the sake of Christ (e) Mat. 5.10 11 12. in this they could not but rejoyce and be exceeding glad knowing how transcendently great and glorious their Reward is in Heaven Heaven is so glorious an Inheritance that whoever beholds it with an Eye of Faith cannot choose but glory in all those Reproaches as Matter of greatest Honour and highest Dignity which he suffers for Christ Hence Moses he esteems the Reproach of Christ greater Riches than the Treasures of Egypt as having an Eye to this glorious Reward which he knew would follow after Observe it Moses did not only endure with patience these Reproaches but he glories in them counting them matter of Honour to him (f) Acts 5.40 So the Primitive Christians they go away from before the Council when ignominiously scourged rejoyce that they were so far honoured of God as to be counted worthy to suffer Dishonour for the Name of Christ How happy did Cyprian Judge the Church of God in his Days when under Reproach and Persecution that it was made glorious through the sprinkling of the Martyrs Blood 'T was saith he formerly cloathed in
are none that walk so chearfully in Heaven's Way as those who have thus seen and tasted that the Lord is Gracious (e) Psal 110.3 In the Day of God's Power the Soul must needs be willing devoting herself to him as a Free-will offering And doubtless greater power did God never shew than when opening the Eyes of a poor lost Sinner and giving him a clear prospect of heavenly Glory Oh now the Soul can mount up with Wings as an Eagle now she can run and not be weary now she can walk on with delight in Heaven's Way and never grow faint when thus beholding as with open Face the Glory that is set before her Holy Duties to a Man eying by Faith the Reward of them are accompanied with such Manna and spiritual Nectar with such fulness of delight and heavenly contentment that now he can willingly spend and be spent in them With a carnal heart who neither sees nor hopes for this glorious Reward all holy exercises are but as Songs to a sorrowful Heart or as good food to a dead Man or as the Red-sea to Pharoah's Chariots wherein he drives on heavily finds no Pleasure can take no delight But it 's far otherwise with those who like Moses have respect to this Eternal Recompence their Meat and Drink is to do God's Will this is that heavenly Manna whereupon they would always be feeding this is that Mount of Transfiguration upon which they could always delight to dwell Oh! there is never such chearful obedience such diligence and vigour of Spirit in holy Duties as when the Soul from the highest Pisgah of Faith can behold the Glory prepared for it that heavenly Canaan towards which every Duty every Sigh every Groan every penitential Tear is an happy Step. The Fire doth not more easily dissolve Ice nor the Sun in its Noon-day brightness expel Darkness than a glimpse of heavenly Glory doth expel Sloth and make a Man delight in the Beauties of Holiness Who would not be quickned by such a Glory shining upon him What Heart would not be warmed and freed from its natural coldness in the Ways of God before such a Flame What Vigour and Liveliness what holy Activity for God in every Duty may the sight of this Eternal Reward put into us You complain Christians of your Dead-heartedness your Formality your indisposition and great aversness to Duty but would you steep your Hearts in the serious Thoughts of this Eternal Reward that would cure you of all your Distempers that would warm your cold Hearts that would quicken your dull Spirits that would make you to serve the Lord with a willing Mind counting every Duty as an heavenly Gale sent on purpose to wast you over to the wished shore of blessed Immortality Oh then if whilst others count Duty their Burden you would count it your Delight your Priviledge if whilst others stand idle in God's Vineyard counting it a weariness to serve the Lord you would willingly have Hearts lively and chearful Hearts prepared for every good word and work be sure that you look within the Veil endeavouring to perswade your Hearts of the Glory that is set before you This Eternal Weight of Glory if well considered will be sure to make the Yoke of obedience seem light and easy You shall not long need to cry out of your own drowsiness negligence and unwillingness in Duty will you but carefully fix your Eye before you go about the work of Duty upon that eternally glorious Reward that follows after Oh what will be able to revive you to fill you with Spirits of delight activity and chearfulness in the work of the Lord if not a clear prospect of that heavenly Canaan towards which you are going Whenever Christian thy Spirit begins to grow flat and thy Heart to fall in Duty Oh then look up by Faith to this glorious Reward not doubting but like Aqua vitae it will revive thee enabling thee to serve the Lord with a willing Mind 6 A due respect had to this glorious Reward will much ease you of all worldly Thoughts and Heart-dividing Cares He cannot be much distracted about earthly goods whose Heart is holy united to meditate Heaven which is best of all When the Eye is once fixed upon things above it begets in the Soul an holy carelesness about all things here below let them go how they will her Treasure is laid up in Heaven and with this she can sit down satisfied Oh little would you think what a Writ of ease what a Sabbath of Rest from all carking cares and distracting Thoughts it would give you had you but a due respect with Mosâ—s to this recompence of Reward The grand reason why most Men look so much after Earth and spend their Thoughts so much about the Meat that perisheth is indeed because they look so little after Heaven and spend their Thoughts so seldom about the Meat which will endure to Eternal Life (f) Mat. 6.33 Hence our blessed Lord observing the Hearts and Minds the Cares and Thoughts of most Men to be carried out with much anxiousness after the things of this World he endeavours to cure them of this dangerous Distemper by diverting the stream of them another way advising them to seek the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof as the most sure expedient to supersede their Heart-rending Cares and to ease them of all their worldly distractions And doubtless would God's People when almost distracted with Cares about what they shall eat and drink and wherewith in necessitous Times they shall be cloathed turn their Thoughts Heaven-ward taking care to make sure of that to prepare for a Crown of Glory to be made meet for the inheritance of Saints in Light this would prove a very Sovereign Remedy against all their distractions What need he much take Thought for the Meat that perisheth who sees the Table spread in his Father's House where sitting down he shall feed upon the Meat that will endure to life everlasting What need he much trouble himself for Drink who sees a River of purest Pleasures running by the right Hand of God for evermore whereof he shall drink deep to all Eternity What need he distract himself for Cloaths who sees the Ward-robe of Heaven all hung with the Garments of Salvation to make him at last more beautiful than Solomon in all his Glory What need he in a word be much careful about earthly Possessions who knows himself provided before-hand of an Inheritance incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for him Oh Sirs the Dagon of worldly Thoughts and distracting Cares could never stand had you but such an Ark as a prospect of Heavens Glory to set up against it If then Christians you would get from off the Rack of carking Cares and be able to trust God with your Bodies give diligence to get your Hearts to meditate on Heaven endeavoring to provide for your Souls everlasting Mansions of Glory If
delight in Sin or take pleasure in it 10 A due respect had to this glorious Reward it will comfort your Hearts in all your Afflictions and make you greatly rejoice under them how many and grievous soever An Eye stedfastly fixed upon heavenly Glory this will bring down Heaven inro your Souls causing your consolations to abound by Christ (c) 2 Cor. 1. when ever your sufferings abound for him A bright prospect of the celestial Canaan as it bears up the Spirits of God's People with invincible patience under all their Pressures and Calamities which befal them in the Wilderness of this present World So it anoynts their Head with Oyl causeth their Cup to overflow with Gladness and makes their Hearts to rejoice with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory (d) 2 Cor. 7.4 Thus we find Paul professing of himself I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I do overflow saith he with Joy I have more than Heart can hold (e) Acts. 16.25 Nor is this profession of his any hyperbolical strain but an experimented Truth whereof we have full assurance from Paul and Silas his Prison vouches when in bonds together then brim full of Joy so full that their Hearts could not hold it from breaking out and running over at their Mouths into Psalms of Praise Like the Tree cast into the bitter Waters of Marah Faith eying the recompence of the Reward it sweetens all Afflictions enabling the Soul not only to stand it out in a fiery tryal but to glory for Gladness of Heart under the Cross at the Stake in the Flames of Martyrdom The Soul that can rejoice in hope of the Glory of God will easily glory in all the tribulations that it suffers for God (f) Rom. 5.3 So saith the Apostle we glory in tribulation also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that word implieth the triumphant act of Joy a Joy expressed with holy Boasting and exultation of Spirit such a Joy as the Soul is not ashamed to own and make her boast of let Earth and Hell let the Devil and wicked Men do their worst This Truth I might give you subscribed by all the holy Martyrs and confessors of Christ who thought Famine dainty fare for Christ that complemented wild Beasts to devour them that snatcht at Torments as if they had been rich Treasures that laid down their Bodies as a Man would lay off an old Garment to put on a new that went as gladly to their Flames as a labouring Man to his Bed and embraced the most cruel Martyrdom as an holy stratagem to escape the stroak of Death (g) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to pass from Life to Life as Basil hath it (h) Euseb Eccles Hist lib. 5. cap. 1. Hence when Juliâ—n the Apostate had caused Marcus Bishop of Arethusa to be tormented one of his Nobles admiring that holy Man's Joy cries out we are ashamed oh Emperour the Christians laught at your Cruelty growing more resolute thereby so that these things are more fearful to the Tormentors than to the sufferers (i) Acts and Mon. vol. 3. pag. 177. Were it needful I might tell you of Dr. Tayler Martyr in the Marian persecution who drawing nigh to the place of Execution leapt for Joy as Men do in dancing professing himself never better in all his Life for now I know saith he I am almost at home I have but two Stiles to go over and then I am at my Father's House With like holy Joy was Cicely Ormes Martress filled (k) Acts and Mon. vol. 3. pag. 853. who when brought to the Stake came and kissed it saying Welcome the sweet Cross of Christ and when now the Flames were kindled upon her my Soul quoth she doth magnifie the Lord and my Spirit rejoiceth in God my Saviour (l) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil Orat. in 40. Martyr After the same manner we find certain Martyrs that were cast out naked in a Winters night and to suffer the next Day comforting one another from this Recompence of Reward in these Words sharp is the Cold but sweet is Paradise troublesome is the way but pleasant will be the end of our Journey let us endure cold a little and the Patriarchs Bosom shall refresh us for ever Nor is the story of Theodoret unworthy our remembrance who found so much sweetness in this even when he was upon the Rack in the midst of his grievous Torments that he found not the least anguish in his torture but a great deal of Pleasure Insomuch that when they took him off from the Rack he complained that they had done him much wrong in ceasing to torment him For said he all the while I was tortured upon the Rack me thought there was a young Man in white an Angel from the Lord stood by me who wiped off the sweat wherein I found much sweetness which now I have lost In these and many the like instances which might be given we see how an Eye fixed upon Heaven's Glory in our sufferings brings down much of that Glory into them making the cruel Tortures of God's People infinitely more sweet than their ease and more desirable to them Let Faith but reallize the Glory of Heaven behold the Reward of Eternal Life and observe the infinite Pleasures which are at God's right Hand for evermore and then the Soul cannot choose but rejoice taking Pleasure in Reproaches in Persecutions in Exile in Imprisonments in Death itself for the sake of Christ This good Mr. Glover found true who going to the stake though before he were a Man of Sorrows yet now he is a Man of Joys and so filled with divine Consolations that he can no longer contain but crieth out speaking of the Comforter making his Heart to rejoice in hope of this glorious Reward he is come he is come Oh little can you now conceive what Comfort what Gladness of Soul what Joy in the Holy Ghost God's People have in their sufferings when stedfastly eying the Glory that shall be revealed in them NOW they find an Hony-comb in the Lyon's Carcass they suck sweetness out of the bitterness of Herbs now they gather Grapes of Thorns and Figs of Thistles now they have a warm Sunshine of Comfort from God to make glad their Hearts Would you therefore have Comfort Christians and be able to smile when the World frowns upon you Would you have your Prison be turned into a Paradise Would you if banished into a strange Land find a spiritual Eden a Garden of all heavenly delights in every howling Wilderness through which you may wander When reproached when fawn asunder when cruelly scourged tormented and dying in the hottest Flames of Martyrdom would you then triumph rejoicing with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory Oh see then see that you look within the veil fixing your Eye upon that Crown of Life which is set before you This will turn your Sorrow into Joy this will give you the Oyl of
nuper amissa mundo transeunte jam veniunt jam terrenis caelestia magna parvis caducis aeterna succedunt Cyp. de mortal pag. 341. of it to a godly Man is nothing but a blessed removal from a Land of Darkness to a Land that flows with Milk and Hony from hard Labour to sweetest Rest from a Tempestuous Sea to a peaceful Harbour from a place of wrestling weeping groaning and fiery Tryals to that heavenly Kingdom where the Soul is crowned with a glorious Triumph Let me therefore charge you in this case as Moses the Man of God once charged Israel at the Red Sea when so violently pursued by Pharoah and his Host Fear not but stand ye still and see the Salvation of God The time of your great change when you must pass through the Red Sea of Death will ere long be at Hand But then the Enemies which you now see the sorrows you now feel the many pressing Troubles which now you undergo you shall see them feel them groan under them no more for ever (e) Quid est enim mors nisi sepulâ—uâ—a vitiorum virtutum â—â—â—â—â—â—tatio Amb. ubi suprà Go forth then oh blessed Soul out of the Prison of a vile Body not fearing but Death will be the Funeral of all thy Corruptions and turn all thy Graces into fulness and everlasting perfection Be it so that Death will break in pieces the Casket of a frail Body yet thy Soul Christian which is the Jewel thy better part shall be kept safe for ever in Abraham's Bosom Many a goodly Ship hath miscarried and been dashed in pieces whilst her Steers-man with greatest diligence and curiosity hath been eying the Stars But never did any precious Soul miscarry whose Eye was duly fixed upon the Pole-star the Cinosure of heavenly Glory but was landed safe at the wished Shoar of true Happiness That Faith which now brings down Heaven into thy Soul will be sure to carry thy Soul at length Christian up into the sweet Paradise of God The Lord may give a Man a Prospect of the earthly Canaan and yet suffer him with Moses to die in the Wilderness Bâ—t if ever he take the Soul up into the Mount of Transfiguration giving her such a clear sight of the heavenly Canaan as to make her think it best of all to be there he will never shut her out of that good Land he will never deny her a Portion in that heavenly Country God would never give the Soul such Visions of Glory did he not intend to bring her at length to the beatifical Fruition of himself in Glory When the Heart and Eye are both set upon Heaven it 's a sure sign that God hath laid up a Treasure for the Soul in Heaven which shall never be taken from her Christ when he went to Heaven he went thither as our fore-runner that we might have everlasting Consolation and good hope through him to be there also Thus when the Heart is set upon heaven's Glory and the Eye continually looking that way like Christ our fore-runner it gives the strongest ground of Hope assuring us that our Souls shall not be long out of Heaven nor long absent from the Lord. When once the Stone is let fall it never stoops till it comes to the Center Thus if once we let fall an Eye upon this glorious Reward our Souls they will never be stopped but be still in continual vigorous Motion till they come to rest in the Centre of perfect Blessedness Glorification in Heaven doth (z) Perseverantiam in terris immediatè sequitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in coelis quo fruuntur omnes qui semel credunt Parker de Traduct hom peccat ad vit pag. 34. infallibly follow Perseverance in Grace on Earth which all those are sure to enjoy for ever who do once fix aâ— Eye of true Faith upon that Crown of Life whâ—ch God sets before us Walk on in the strength of this divine Consolation waiting longing and breathing for that glorious time when Faith will be turned into a clear Vision of Glory and Hope shall be swallowed up in Fruition and your morning Light commence into a glorious Sun-shine and those smaller drops of heavenly Joy which you have to refresh you in this parched Wilderness shall become a River of Life sending out full Streams of purest Pleasures to delight and make glad your Hearts for ever O let every gracious Soul with most sublimate raised Affections keep an Eye fixed upon the Recompence of the Reward And o'erlong thou that art now a beholding (a) In patria plenissimè quiescit affectus in Deo appetitus inhiantis fit amor fruentis Aug. de Trin. l. ult shalt be an enjoying Christian thou that doest now look upon Heaven's Glory with unfeigned desire to it shall shortly be put with Joy unspeakable in full Possession of it If the hope of Glory be once rooted in thy Heart the Crown of Glory will not long be kept from thy Head As sure as thy Lord's Joy now enters into thee so sure shalt thou enter at length into the Joy of thy Lord. He can never lose his Reward nor fall short of Glory who is careful in all his Works to look as high as Heaven not seeking the Praise of Man but that Praise that Honour that Glory which comes from God Our earthly Enjoyments may deceive us making themselves Wings to fly away But an Eye of Faith fixed on this heavenly Reward it will never deceive us but will infallibly carry our Souls as on Eagles Wings into eternal heavenly Mansions of Glory Why then dear Christians will you be so formal so dead-hearted so disconsolate in a way of Duty not striving to serve the Lord with a willing chearful Frame of Soul Seemeth it a small thing to you that God hath given you the earnest of Glory the first Fruits of Heaven as a sure Pledge that a full Crop of Happiness shall follow after Must you shortly be transplanted our of this barren Wilderness into the Caelestial Canaan the Paradise of God the heavenly Jerusalem and shall not this make you steadfast unmovable always rejoycing in the Work of the Lord Oh Christians remember that you who are now reproached for God shall anon be advanced to greatest Honour You that are now weeping shall anon come to Zion with Songs and everlasting Joy upon your Heads That Glory which is now revealed to you by an Eye of Faith shall shortly be revealed in you if keeping your Eye stedfastly fixed upon it you go on still to seek it by patient continuance in well-doing The good Thief upon the Cross having the Kingdom and Glory of Christ in his Eye hath the promise to be that very day with Christ in Paradise Though now Christians you be upon the Cross and sorely distressed yet if your Eye be fixed upon heaven's Glory it cannot be much above one days journey betwixt your Souls and the Paradise of God where
thoughts and care in God still centre To cleave to God is the best venture Would you for ever live above In raptures and transports of Love God's Word believe love Christ hate Sin Have Grace in Life have Truth within Be holy harmless fly from Vice This is the way to Paradise My Blessing I amongst you part See you serve God with all your heart That you may be with me possest Of endless Joy and happy rest And Hallelujahs ever sing With Christ our Lord and Heavenly King A Morning Soliloquy The Eye-lids of the beauteous Morn Which from the rising Sun are Born Open themselves and shed down light That Men may see God's Glory bright This Glory courts thy love my Soul Let not Nights Charms such Bliss controul The Morning is of every day The Maiden-head give 't not away Keep that for God wouldst thou be chast Let not thy Virgin Thoughts lie wast Awake embrace the Bridegroom royal That Love is early which is Loyal Hark how the soaring Lark doth sing And of the day glad tidings bring Prevent her Lyrick Harmonies When first the Light breaks in the Skies Let sleep give place to wakeful praise When Heaven calls on thee to rise Aurora with her blushing Face Doth seem to suffer much disgrace Where Men unmindful of their Duty Regard not Heaven in her Beauty Do not this Virgin Queen Disdain Who rise with her great Glory gain The World now shines with early Beams Heaven pours down light in vital Streams Be gone dull sleep do nor confine My Mind in Darkness Grace doth shine Arise my Soul arise and move Love him who feels no charms but Love All Praises to thy glorious King With heart indite when day doth spring What Chains of Darkness can thee bind When Life from God embalms thy mind Anthems Divine and Hymns most sweet To Christ are due when he doth greet Then wake my Soul thy thoughts sublime Court not Night Shades those Dregs of time To God thy Life through Christ aspire Feed still on his celestial Fire Dwell in the Light put on the Sun Of Grace for Glory thou must run Awake awake hug not fond Dreams Bright Phoebus sheds abroad his Beams Such golden day can never number Whose minds do rust with sleep and slumber Frail mortal Flesh how much I lose When for thy ease my eyes I close Most pure delights and thoughts Divine Waking with God are always mine If in dull sleep I must me hide Yet let my Soul with God abide How irksom is that sleeping space Which spoils me of such glorious Grace Sacred to Muses is the Morn The Graces then do Souls adorn They visit Mortals with great Bliss When night and day part in a Kiss Resist not Soul their powerful Charms But throw thy self into their Arms. Day breaking from a Throne of Gold Chides all whose Love to Christ is cold His Light comes to sue out Divorce Betwixt those lids which Night did force The Lord is jealous nor will he With Dreams and Shades still rival'd be The Worlds great Lamp doth guild the Plain And calls my Soul to entertain Thy Saviours Love and vital dew Which will thy Life and Strength renew Wast not in drowsie Dreams and Sleep Christ for thy Morning Love doth weep Ungrateful Soul break as the Light Through all the Clouds of Hell and Night With Christ each Day end and begin His Love controuls the charms of Sin When Heart and Soul in God still center No Lust can live no Vice can enter See how great Sol circuits our Sphere Diffusing Light now here now there With him for God set out and run Till Joys Immortal thou hast won Though Storms from Hell obstruct thy way Yet Heaven will make eternal day An Evening Soliloquy My Soul what shall I do for thee Approaching Night sings Lullabie Betake thee to thy Saviours Arms Hee 'l save from sin Hells mortal charms Night turns to Day when he his face Vnveils and doth with Love embrace Dark shades invite to take thy rest But first in God wouldst thou be blest Repose thy self his favour crave Sleep is the emblem of thy Grave From Sleep and Death he will restore That thou his goodness mayst adore He is thy Life and resting Place We sleep most sweetly in his Grace When God a Bed of Love doth make For us we 're well asleep or wake Night past the Day will shine and then The dead in Christ shall live again When Lord my Thoughts are full of thee And Heaven in smiles comes down to me How gastly is each look of Night What fatal Shades eclipse my Light Methinks I have no time to live When Sleep suspends what God doth give Night Opium through each sense diffused My active Soul hath oft abused And ravisht by his drowsie charms My Saviour from my feeble Arms Propitious Lord my Heart enlarge And let my Powers resume their Charge Divine sensations fall asleep While Night in Leatheâ— doth me sleep My Soul of Heaven all sight doth lose When Morpheus coâ—â—s my Eyes to close Come joyful Day let shadows fly Till blest I wake Eternally No envious sleep shall then surprize My ravish'd Heart or Amorous Eyes While fill'd with Glory from Christs face Shall nought but Joys of Love embrace Out of that sleep which next I take 'T were Life into this Life to wake O blessed Sleep thus to expire Were not to die but to live higher Above dull Nights and empty Dreams In Heavens great Lights and crystal Streams Where dwells no Sleep to wast our Time But Joys immortal and sublime FINIS
ΜΙΣΘΟΣΚΟΠΙΑ A PROSPECT OF Heavenly GLORY For the Comfort of Sion 's MOURNERS By Joseph Cooper Minister of the Gospel Author of the Domus Mosaicae Clavis For our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen For the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal 2 Cor. 4.17 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyril Hier. Catech. 18. p. 210. Legant priùs posteà despiciant ne videantur non ex judicio sed ex odii praesumptione ignorata damnare Hieron 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. 290. London Printed by W. Redmayne and to be Sold by John Cooper Apothecary at the Half-moon and Seven Stars in White-chappel and Joseph Cooper Toyman at the Corner of Hungerford-market in the Strand 1700. TO THE Honourable the LADY Elizabeth Barnadiston AT the Desire of the Authors Relations I prefix your Ladyships Name to a Treatise by himself prepared for the Press and committed to my purusal at the motion of Dr. Bates who among the brightest Luminaries now shines in his expected and desired Firmament The ensuing Picture drawn by his impartial Intimate will revive your remembrance of the Blessed Mr. Cooper who was so highly esteemed by your Honourable Mother and among many other ejected Ministers no small sharer in the effects of her Beneficence which she exerted there not as a Boon to oblige the Needy but for a Testimony to that cause for which he suffered and a just return to his occasional Labours whence greater Blessings were designed to herself and Family But seeing the Subject treated of viz. The Glory of the Saints Reward is that under the Power whereof you determine your Choice bear your Afflictions and direct your Actings it would be vain to labour at a further Apology for this Dedication The Design pursued by the high displays of Glory in this Book respect both Sinners and Saints Sinners are concernedly perswaded to enter into the way of Heaven from a Conviction that the good there received infinitely exceeds in Pleasure Honour and Advantage whatever can be found in a sinful course This part is so warmly and wisely managed that the obstinate Reader must ascribe his ruin to his own perverseness for this motive from eternal Rewards is enforced with that account of the vanity and vileness of a temporal Bliss as must put any considering Person to the blush who sets up Earth as a Rival with Heaven or takes up with a Portion in it yea though endless Misery were not the Wages of that Madness Yet assured this last will be found true and that God governeth us by fear as well as hope the prudent Author describes Hell in a manner fit to terrifie the most secure from persisting in ungodliness to their neglect of Christ and forfeiture of this great Salvation The mind impressed with the prospect of these two extremely different States he leaves neither under despair of recovery nor yet under darkness what means he should apply himself to And therefore he prescribes the method to be used by the unconverted yet still in a dependance on the Grace of Christ from the demonstrated impotency of meer nature and total want of human merit and encourageth a compliance with the said method by full assurances that a disappointment cannot arise from our fallen State as irrecoverable But least the mistaken Presumption of the Hypocrite should fix his danger by a claim to Saintship he faithfully states the infallible sign of the Heirs of this heavenly Kingdom and warns against a conceit of safety before these be evident The other part of his design is to fix the Eyes of Saints so upon this certain and glorious Crown of Life as thence to derive relief and strength against those endangering Snares worldly Allurements afflictive Sufferings and tiresome Labours which will attend them in their Pilgrimage this he treats of as a Man first forced on this Subject for a divine composedness under his own exercise and then from the experimented fixing transporting power thereof commends the same to Zion's Mourners as effectual to make them happier even under Sufferings than without them It may be less proper in an Epistle to your Ladyship to mention the doctrinal points wherein this divinely heated Soul discovers much Light and Judgment How accurately and strongly doth he prove against the Antimonians the lawfulness of a Saints respect to the recompence of reward the rectoral connexion between Gospel Duties and Benefits the necessity of Repentance in order to forgiveness c. which I hope will be the more regarded from him because his opinion about Predetermination and the object of Reprobation is more pleasing to them than that of others of us be Madam a Book of which these are the Contents must be acceptable to one in whom such Truths had an early regenerating Power and can entail on Posterity a great stock of Prayers sent up by the Author and his Brethren at the request of the Lady Wimbleton whose Death invites you to an imitation of her exemplary Life Her Ladyship with the Reverend Author are now beholding and enjoying that Glory in its fullness the darker glimpses whereof sufficed to raise them above this World and reconcile them to Death yet were their present Station capable of a blush reflections on their low Apprehensions remiss Labours scanty layings out and faint longings for that Glory would compel it It s but a few moments and our State is decided for Eternity and the unseen World shall be felt in its greatness as well as reality beyond our comprehension Oh what a change will the very Borders of it make in our Thoughts advancing cleansing and improving such as are most sublime and best whilst all others perish which are carnal false or foolish That you may dayly proceed in a meetness for Heaven by further evidence of title and agreeableness of temper that none of your Off-spring may come short thereof by degenerating from their eminently pious Ancestors And that these uncontroverted Truths which deserved an earlier Publication as well as larger Auditories than the time of Preaching them would admit may be of saving use to them and many others shall be the fervent Prayer of Madam Your Ladyship 's Most Humble Servant Daniel Williams THE EPISTLE Some Memorials of the holy Life of that Learned Person Mr. Joseph Cooper the Author of the ensuing Treatise SEeing some Readers are better pleas'd with a Book when they know who and what manner of Person he was that wrote it tho' it be excellent in itself it is thâ—â—ght fit to prefix something of the Characters of this Great and Good Man both which Titles the Reader shall find made good to him before he hath gone over many Pages Great for his Learning and acquired Abilities Good for his extraordinary Piety Modesty Sobriety Contentment
though possibly it might have proved a Preludium to Royal Dignity intitling him to the Crown and Government of all Egypt so great was his Ambition to be found in the number that he might have a Right to all the Priviledges of God's Children ver 24. WHEREAS he might have lived a Courtier enjoying what Heart could wish faring deliciously every day and glutting himself with all carnal Pleasures that either variety of melodious Sounds and exquisite Harmony or gorgeous Apparel or extremity of Luxury could possibly afford Yet we find him bidding adieu to all these and rather chusing to suffer undeserved Scorn Reproach and Persecution with the People of God than to enjoy those and the like Pleasures of Sin for a season v. 25. WHEREAS in a word the whole Land of Egypt was before him and likely for ought I know to entertain him with the sway of a Royal Scepter with the Government of the whole Kingdom and with an universal Confluence of all the Happiness that either Riches or Honours or the whole Treasury of Egypt could suppeditate Yet in the preceding part of this Verse wherein my Text lyes the Holy Ghost there testifies of him that he preferred the reproach of Christ before all this the very worst and that which is most bitter in Christ before the choicest Treasures before the very best the most sweet and delightful Enjoyments in all the Land of Egypt esteeming it his greatest Honour to be dishonoured in the World for the sake of the Lord Jesus and the reason of all this you have subjoyned in the Words of my Text even because he had a Respect to the Recompence of the Reward THUS I have in short given you the Dependance of the Words and thereby also given you to understand that they are brought in as one grand reason of Moses his Obedience and Self-denyal letting us plainly know why Moses should thus refuse the great dignity of being called the Son of Pharaoh's daughter why he should rather choose to suffer Affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin for a season Why he should esteem so highly of Reproach for Christ as to count it greater Riches than the choicest Treasures in all the Land of Egypt and the reason of all this was because he had Respect to the Recompence of the Reward which if seriously consider'd of why it will make him take up his Cross chearfully it will make him follow hard after Christ as well in Adversity as in Prosperity it will make him do and suffer and willing to become any thing if by any means he may attain such a transcendently glorious Reward a Reward that is nothing less than the full enjoyment of God over all blessed for ever in whose Presence there is fulness of Joy and at whose Right-hand there are Pleasures for evermore Psal 16.11 BUT waving the Relative Consideration of the Words we purpose to insist upon them as Absolutely Considered and as they are an intire Proposition of themselves and so they will present us with these Two Considerables following I. A Gracious Act exerted by Moses the Man of God and that we have expressed in these Words For he had Respect II. A Glorious Object about which that Act of Moses was exercised and that we have expressed in these Words To the Recompence of the Reward THESE are the parts of the Text the Genuine sense whereof I shall give you in the explication of the Terms labouring now to break the Shell that so you may come to that sweet Kernel of Gospel-truth which is wrapt up and enclosed therein FOR he had respect In this Phrase is implyed that gracious Act of Moses whereby he had respect to stedfastly fixing his eye upon the recompence of the Reward as matter of singular incouragement to deny himself for the Lord's sake in all those Riches Honours and variety of carnal Pleasures which by dissembling Conscience and continuing a Courtier he might probably have enjoyed at least for a Season The Original word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is metaphorical signifying in this place to look from one thing to another not with the eye of the Body by any corporeal sight but with the eye of the Soul by a spiritual sight And so truly it doth most emphatically set forth the power of Moses his Faith enabling him to look from the things that are seen to the things that are not seen from things Teâ—poral to things Eternal by which means he was wonderfully encouraged to let go all worldly Advantages and to suffer Affliction chearfully with the people of God Moses had the whole Land of Egypt together with all the Riches Glory and Pleasures thereof before him which a Carnal heart would think might have made him content to live and die a Courtier But such was the power of Faith within him fixing his heart and mind upon things above upon the Land of Promise the Coelestial Canaan the Heavenly Jerusalem together with the Beatifical Vision of God in Eternal Glory that for these he can chearfully renounce whatever Riches whatever Honours whatever Pleasures the Land of Aegypt could possibly afford him TO the Recompence of the Reward That glorious Object upon which Moses fixing his eye did so chearfully deny himself in all his worldly enjoyments you have here expressed by one word in the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying such a Reward whereby a Man is Recompenced This Recompense is diversly taken according to the Persons to whom and work for which it is given When to a wicked Person for an evil work it intendeth a fearful Revenge comprizing under it Indignation and Wrath Tribulation and Anguish as that which is due to Sinners upon the commission of any the least Transgression But when to a Righteous Person accepted of God through Christ as here in my Text for a work approved by him then indeed it doth not import any merit or desert on Man's part but abundance of Mercy and Grace on God's part who though we are unprofitable Servants and can merit nothing at his hands yet will not suffer us to do or endure any thing for his sake without a most transcendently great and glorious Recompence WHAT that recompence of reward was upon which Moses so stedfastly fixed his eye is not here I confess distinctly set down but yet we may easily collect from the carriage of Moses that it was some higher Honour some better Pleasure some more excollent and durable Treasure than the Land of Aegypt could ever afford him otherwise making choice of these why is it that we find him renouncing those unless we should think him to have changed for the worse when yet we find the Spirit of God in the words of my Text commending his choice 'T WAS not then any Temporal Reward but an Eternal Reward that Moses had in his eye 'T was not Earth but Heaven 't was not the Meat that perisheth but the Meat which will indure to Everlasting Life
't was not any Momentary Pleasure lasting only for a Season but it was Fulness of Joy in God's presence it was perfect freedom from Sin it was Grace glorified it was the Beatifical Vision of God in Heaven together with those Soul-satisfying Pleasures that are at his right hand for evermore to which in all his obedience we find Moses so stedfastly looking SO then from the practise of Moses the Man of God thus fixing his eye in all his obedience upon the recompence of Reward and encouraging himself therewith chearfully to bear the Cross of Christ to Mortification Self-denyal and the like wholsome severities of Religion you may observe with me this point of DOCTRINE That God's People for their better encouragement to all holy self-denying and obediential walking before him they may lawfully have Respect to the Recompence of the Reward WHILST we are denying our selves running the way of God's Commandments and doing the work which he hath given us to finish here on Earth 't is no Soloecism at all in Christianity for us to have our eye stedfastly fixed upon that eternally glorious Reward which the Lord hath laid up with himself for us in the Kingdom of Heaven We may lawfully walking with God all our life be encouraged against whatever Difficulties and Persecutions we meet with in Heaven's way to think how incorruptible the Crown is how glorious the Kingdom how unspeakable the Joy how secure the Rest how endless the Pleasures how undefiled the Inheritance how full uninterruptible and everlastingly satisfying the Communion with God over all blessed for ever is whereof we shall take Possession in the hour of death HOLY Daniel when praying in the Land of his Captivity he opened his Window and set his face towards Jerusalem Thus when Praying when Repenting when Suffering and Dying for Christ we may lawfully open the Eye of Faith and set our faces towards the heavenly Jerusalem towards the promised Canaan towards the Temple of God in Zion the place of our eternally blessed and glorious Rest 'T IS a bold attempt for Men to make restrictions where God himself hath made none for Men to say we must not when God himself saith we may in all our obedience have an eye to the recompense of Reward to the full enjoyment of him in Glory THE example of Moses in this place doth evince beyond all exception that some respect may lawfully be had to the recompence of the Reward at least by way of motive and encouragement to stir us up and to quicken us both in doing and suffering for the God of Heaven For this you see is given in as one special reason Why he refused to be called the Son of Pharaoh's Daughter Why he chose rather to suffer affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season And why he esteemed the Reproach of Christ greater Riches than the Treasures of Aegypt even because he had a respect to the Recompence of the Reward esteeming of all the Riches Honours Pleasures and Enjoyments of this World as not worthy to be compared with the Glory that was to be revealed in him AND if Moses might thus incourage himself to indure hardship as a good Souldier of Jesus Christ by having an eye fixed upon the recompence of Reward upon Glory Honour and Immortality why should it not be lawful for Christians to do the same How can that be unlawful in Christians which the Holy Ghost hath left upon eternal record as a matter of high commendation in him Let us not think that the Lord will condemn us for looking at that in our Obedience for which he hath so highly commended his Servant Moses That which was imputed to him for a Virtue will never be imputed to us for a Crime But we also as well as he may for our better encouragement in all the ways of obedience have respect to the recompence of reward to that far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory The Husbandman can cheerfully undergo the Labour and Charges of Seed-time though many times very great when his eye is fixed upon the Harvest Thus to make us chearful in sowing to the Spirit we may lawfully have an eye to the great Harvest when every one that now soweth Righteousness shall be sure to Reap a full Crop of Eternal Glory Gal. 6.8.9 CHAP. II. The Method laid down with two introductory Propositions for the better understanding of the Doctrin IN the prosecution of this Heavenly Truth having first premised something by way of Introduction I purpose annuente Deo to observe this Method I. I shall shew you What it is to have respect to the Recompence of the Reward II. I shall endeavour to let you understand How you are to have Respect to the Recompence of Reward III. I shall give you Some Scripture Reasons proving that you may have respect to the recompence of reward IV. AND lastly I shall help you to improve this Truth by way of Use and Application that so it may not be Unprofitable but every way Advantageous to your Souls BEFORE I come to these things you must give me leave to premise something as was hinted by way of introduction which I shall wholly comprize in these two particulars 1. THAT we are bound to serve the Lord and to walk in all dutiful obedience before him though there were no Heaven no Glory nor reward of Eternal Life to be expected from him The obligation of our obedience to the Lord Jehovah ariseth not so much from the promise of Eternal Life annexed to the Commandment as from the authority of God's Commanding INDEED when-ever God sweetens his Precepts with Promises crowning our Temporal Obedience with an Eternally Glorious Recompence this lays us under a stronger engagement But yet if you separate betwixt the Precept and the Promise if you take away the Reward of Eternal Life yet all this will not dissolve nor nullify that obligation of Obedience to God that lies upon us For impossible it is and utterly repugnant to the quality of Rational Creatures as we are not to be subject to the will of our Creator and indebted in all possible Obedience to him that made us SUCH is the transcendent Excellency of God that in himself he is infinitely worthy of all our Services and such is the Sovereignty of God over us that though we should serve him ten thousand years together in the most holy seraphick and heavenly manner that ever Saint or Angel did yet after all this he might annihilate us and yet do us no wrong WHATSOEVER we are whatsoever we have whatsoever we are able to do in this world the Lord hath more interest in it than we have our selves and therefore we owe our selves we owe our enjoyments and services to him so that he may justly require them at our hands upon any terms and we are bound to surrender them though he should never vouchsafe us the least recompence of Reward for so doing
patient waiting upon God in all the ways of Obedience that whatsoever the Lord shall call us out to do or suffer we may with chearfulness undergo it all This is that I confess which some will not endure telling us that as we are to give looking for nothing again so we are to walk in all dutiful Obedience before God doing and suffering Whatever he calls us out to without taking any incouragement at all thereto from the Recompence of Reward But certainly the Holy Ghost hath given us in Holy Writ such abundant satisfaction concerning the lawfulness of taking incouragement from the Recompence of Reward to follow hard after God in all the ways of Obedience that no Christian need perplex himself upon that account (g) Justitiae operanti dabitur Corona Ne qui justitiam operatur segnescens oneri laboris succumbat For is not this the great design of God in making Promises of Life Happiness and Eternal Glory to those that obey him thereby to incourage us to all dutiful and obedient walking before him God hath tyed our Work and our Wages together that expecting to receive from him at death the Wages of Eternal Glory we might work the more chearfully for him all our life And that we may not look upon the way of Duty as tedious nor count his Commandments grievous he hath set up a Crown of Life at the end of Duty and assured us That in keeping his Commandments there is great Reward Psal 19.11 GOD is not so austere a Task-master as to envy his People their Comforts in a way of Duty nor will he ever impute it to them as their ruin that in keeping his Commandments they had an eye for their own incouragement to the Recompence of the Reward And truly if to be incouraged in a way of Obedience by the Recompence of Reward may be construed a just forfeiture of a Mans ingenuity as some would bear us in hand I see not for my part how we shall be able to excuse any of God's dearest Children no nor our Blessed Lord himself but must confess them to have been acted by a slavish and servile Spirit which yet to do were the first-born of all horrid Blasphemies For though it should have been written in Capital Letters with a Pen pluckt from the wing of a glorious Seraphim yet it could not have been more plain and legible than the Holy Ghost hath already expressed it that the most holy of all God's Children our Blessed Redeemer himself not accepted had an eye for their incouragement in all the ways of Obedience to the Recompence of the Reward WHAT else did holy Moses but incourage himself to suffer Affliction with God's People by the consideration of Life and eternal Glory in Heaven prepared of God from Eternity for all that Love him Was not this also the Paradice of those Primitive Martyrs who took joyfully the spoiling of their Goods having this as their great Incouragement thereto that they knew themselves to have in Heaven a better and more enduring Substance Heb. 10.34 THE like we may say of those other Worthies who scorned all earthly Injoyments that their Persecutors could offer as Allurements to insnare them not accepting Deliverance from them upon any base and unrighteous Terms but were endued with such a Gallantry and Christian Resolution that rather than dishonour God in the least rather than cast a little Incense upon the Altar in honour of the Idol for the saving of their Lives they would dye the Death they would be Slain with the Edge of the Sword they would be Stoned they would be Burned and Sawn asunder having this strong and everlasting Consolation incouraging them with Patience to undergo all this barbarous and inhumane Cruelty that they hoped to obtain a better Resurrection even a Resurrection to Life and eternal Glory in the Kingdom of Heaven Heb. 11. BUT waving these and the like Instances I shall give you an Instance against which none can except but those whose proud Spirits would make them seem more Holy than Holiness it self and that is of Our blessed Redeemer concerning whom it is thus Written That for the Joy which was set before him he endured the Cross despising the Shame Heb. 12.2 I shall not hence take occasion to determine whether the Sorrow the Cross and the Humiliation of Christ were the Meritorious Cause or only the Antecedent of his Joy his Crown and his Exaltation at the Right Hand of God in Glory as being wholly Excentrick to my present Design But let the decision of that famous Controversy from this Text be what it will yet I think the Apostle's words do concludingly Evince thus much That Christ having an eye to his Mediatory Glory and Exaltation at God's Right Hand in Heaven was incouraged thereby with Patience to undergo that most execrable painful and ignominious Death of the Cross for our Sakes DO not then Question the Lawfulness of this holy Practice any longer but having an Eye stedfastly fixed upon the Recompence of the Reward be incouraged thereby to all diligent and upright walking before God in wayes of Obedience whatever it cost you IF the Men of the World for your Integrity Frown upon you and hate you let this incourage you to hold it fast that God himself will Smile upon you and afford you his Loving-kindness which is better than Life (h) Affecit te aliquis ignominia Quiu tu ad eam suspice gloriam quae reposita est in coelis Jactura rerum tuarum adijsti Oculos imprime fixius coelestibus divitijs Patrione solo exclusus es At patriam habes coelestem Hierusalem If because you cannot comply with the Men of the World in their sinful and ungodly Practises they should cast you into Prison yet let this incourage you still to keep close with God that he will shortly knock off your Fetters and take you up into Mansions of eternal Glory If you meet with any Cross in Heaven's way let this incourage you with Patience to undergo it that e'er long you shall receive from Christ a Crown of Righteousness If in a word any subtil Persecutors should promise you injoyment of Life and Liberty on condition that you will but comply with them and do as they do why let the Hopes of obtaining a better Resurrection that is to say a Resurrection to eternal Life and Glory in the Kingdom of God let this incourage you to scorn the motion not accepting Deliverance from them upon any such dishonourable and unrighteous Terms For when for the Joy which is set before us we can do any thing part with any thing and suffer any thing with Patience that God calls us to chosing rather to indure the most exquisite Torments than in the least to Dishonour our God why then we have an Eye indeed to the Recompence of the Reward 6. TO design in all your Obedience the Salvation of your own Souls making this the great end of your Lives that at
fear of God's Wrath and Hell to be unbecoming a Gospel Spirit and a thing wholly Inconsistent with the Love of God (f) Deuâ— autem qui unus est quoniam utramque personam sustinet patris Domini amare eum debemus quia filij sumus timere quia servi Lactant. Divinar Institut Lib. 4. cap. 4. pag. 356. Mal. 1.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justin Martyr Respons ad Orthodox 98. pag. 251. For God is so his Children's Father as that he is their Lord also So that though the name Father speaks Love and Boldness yet the name Lord speaks Fear and Reverence And though the love and hatred of God are inconsistent Yet the fear and the love of God not only may but must dwell together in every gracious Soul FOR as the Consideration of God's Goodness should beget in our hearts towards him Love and Boldness so the greatness of God should beget in us Fear and Reverence As we love God for his Grace and Mercy because he hath out of the abundant Riches of his Goodness prepared Heaven So we are to fear God for his Justice and Almighty Power trembling continually before him because he is able to destroy both Body and Soul in Hell God hath not only the tender Indulgence of a Father but he hath also the dreadful Countenance of a Judge And as that doth keep us from despairing so this should keep us from Presuming as the thoughts of God's Fatherly Indulgence should work in us an intire Love and Affection to him so the thoughts of his just displeasure against all Unrighteousness must breed in us all Reverence and due Devotion to work out our own Salvation with fear and trembling Phil. 2.12 Only you must know there is a two-fold fear the one sinful and the other holy the one servile and slavish proceeding from a root of Enmity and Hatred in the Heart against God the other filial and child-like proceeding from a Principle of Love to God and his Glory Slavish Fear is disingenuous making him that is acted by it more afraid of Wrath and Hell and Eternal Burnings than he is of displeasing the God of Heaven and therefore not becoming a Child of God But now Filial Fear it is wonderful Ingenuous filling the Soul whenever it draws nigh to God with all Reverent and Awful Thoughts of him and causing it to be more afraid of displeasing God and coming under his Frowns than of Hell it self with all the Torments thereof and this is the Fear wherewith the Lord must be Feared and by which we may lawfully be acted in all the ways of our Obedience For though Perfect Love casteth out that Slavish Fear which proceeds from the hatred of God 1 John 4.18 yet it doth not cast out but is the ground of Filial Fear and reverence towards God Though it casteth out Tormenting Fear yet it doth not cast out Obeying Fear Though it cast out the Son of the (g) Timor serviliae est cum per timorem Gehennae continet se homo á peccato quo praesentiam judicis et poenas metuit et timore facit quicquid boni facit non timore amittendi aeternum bonum quod amat sed timore patiendi malum quod formidat Non timet ne peroat amplexus pulcherrimi sponsi sed timet ne mittatur in Gehennam Lombard ex August lib. 3. distinct 34. d. Bond Woman which is nothing but a Servile Affection that makes a Man turn the back many times upon his beloved Corruptions and do something in a way of Obedience not so much for fear of losing the Smiles and Favour of God as for fear of suffering the Vengeance of Eternal Fire Yet doth it never cast out the Son of the (h) Timor castus sive amicabilis est quo timemus ne sponsus tardet ne discedat ne offendamus ne eo cardamus Ibid. Free-Woman which is an Holy Affection of Soul making all that have it Shun Sin and walk in Obedience before God more for fear of displeasing him and losing his Smiles than for fear of Everlastng Burnings in Hell it self So that the Fear of God when not Servile but Filial doth contribute as much to the ingenuity of our Obedience as Love it self making us look in all our Performances not so much at Heaven and Hell as at God himself that he may be pleased with us and smile upon us And therefore though God must be served in Love yet he loves no Service which hath not this Sovereign Ingredient of Filial Fear Heb. 12.28 as well knowing that such fear is nothing else but the Fire of Love breaking forth into a pure flame of Holy Jealousy lest God should be robbed of his Glory whilst looking more in our Obedience to the Recompence of the Reward than to God himself we take the Crown from him and set it upon the head of our own Happiness God is pleased indeed at first to set before us Heaven and Hell the one in all it's (i) Vult dominus ut a malis per suppliciorum formidinem recedamus et de timore servorum ad gratiam filiorum transeamus Hieron ad Mal cap. 1. Glory and the other in all it's Torments that by the Fear of Hell he may drive us out of Sin and draw us by the Love of Heaven into ways of Holiness But when once we have tasted that the Lord is gracious and found one days Communion with him better than a Thousand elsewhere when once we have been on the top of Pisgah getting a Prospect of that Heavenly Canaan which God hath prepared for us when once we have been taken up into the Mount of Transfiguration with God beholding his matchless Beauty and transcendent Glory why now the Lord will have us acted in all our Obedience not so â—uch by the thoughts of Heaven and Hell as by love to himself doing all that we do in the Service of God for his own sake As the Samaritans said Now we believe not because thou hast said it but because we have heard him our selves and know that this is indeed the Christ the Saviour of the World John 4.42 So must we say having tasted the goodness of God in ways of Obedience now we serve thee not slavishly as Persons that are meerly acted by a mercenary Spirit by the fear of Hell and the hope of Heaven but ingenuously and out of a Principle of love to the Lord as counting it our Meat and Drink our chiefest Delight our center of Rest our Heaven upon Earth to glorify the God of Heaven and enjoy Communion with him in the Beauties of Holiness Lycurgus would have Virgins to be Married without any Portion that so their Husbands might take them purely for Love and not for any Sordid and By respects Thus (k) Non sine praemio diligitur deus quamvis sine intuitu praemij sit diligendus Bernard Christians though we cannot love nor serve God without a Reward
indeavouring above all things in the world to Gâ—ther them The Happiness of a Christian 't is Grace glorified 't is Holiness arrived at it's highest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and pitch of heavenly Perfection Heb. 12.14 which surely we are all of us bound to follow after pursuing it with all our might as that without which we can never see the Lord. ¶ Gen. 15.1 Ipse Deus est merces promissa fidelibus ergo dum aeternam mercedem expectant et intuentur non aliud a Deo intuentur Dav. in Coloss cap. 1. ver 5. Praemium virtutis erit ipse qui virtutem dedit et qui seipsum quo melius et majus nihil possit esse promisit August de Civit. Dei lib. 22. cap. 30. pag. 738. And as for the Reward of a Christian it is God himself 't is to be with the Lord for ever to see his Face and enjoy his Favour for ever which surely we are also bound to seek after giving all diligence to make God our Portion and the strength of our Heart for ever Psal 73.26 And shall we say that a Christian Sins or is Disingenuous for Obeying with an eye to Holiness and with respect to the God of Heaven who alone is the fixed Centre of Rest and Happiness Or Dare we say That Christians are not to regard Holiness on Earth but to live as they list nor to long for the full injoyment of God in Heaven but to be the centre of their own Happiness Surely God never intended that we should sit down satisfied without Him and be Happy by reflexion upon our own Excellencies as if Life and Happiness could be found where nothing but remorseless Death and Misery keep their walk As God never rested till he had made Man in his own Likeness leaving a Tincture of his own Purity and Holiness upon him so he hath put Emptiness and Dissatisfaction into all our Creature Enjoyments Psalm 17.15 that we may never rest till returning to God that made us we shall behold his Face in Righteousness and be satisfied with his Likeness Whatever Grace whatever Holiness God's people have it 's wholly derivative from him So that whatever Felicity whatever Happiness they may look to enjoy it stands wholly in reduction to God himself as the Original and Fountain-Cause The motion of every gracious Soul it 's like that of Coelestial Bodies purely Circular so that it can never rest but will still be rolling and breathing and panting after God unsatiably till returning back unto him it hath fixed it self in the Sabbatical centre of everlasting Communion with him Such a Soul is touched with the true Loadstone of Grace so that now it sees such an attractive magnetical Beauty in a Deity that it cannot possibly settle upon any thing below God himself That 's the language of every gracious Soul and the proper Idiom of its more sublime and clarified Affections wherein we find the Sweet Singer of Israel make expression of his Love to God saying Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee Psal 73.25 As the Moon and Stars those glorious Lamps of heaven are not able to supply the absence of the Sun nor will their united Light amount to so much as to make up one Day or one Moment of a Day though they should knit and concentricate all their Beams So David he knew full well that thô in Heaven there be the Moon-light of glorious Angels and the Star-light of those imparadised Souls the Spirits of â—ust men made Perfect yet without the bright Irradiations of a Deity and the Light of God's Countenance tâ—ey could never make up the least shadow of Glory the least Ray of Soul â—atisfying Happiness which makes him look beyond them all desiring neither Saints nor Angels nor Heaven it self with all its Glory Royalties and Paradisical Pleasures in comparison of the God of Heaven Thus also it is with every one of God's People they look upon him as their Happiness so that Heaven it self would not be Heaven to them this Goshen would prove an Egypt this Canaan would be turned into a Wilderness if the Lord should withdraw his glorious Presence The presence of the King is that we say which makes the Court and as it was told Commodus Ibi Roma ubi Augustus that where the Emperor is there was Rome So that which God's People do count their Heaven that which they look upon as a Garden of Flowry Pleasures as a Paradice of all Delights and spiritual Contentments is the full and immediate Injoyment of God himself 'T is not so much the Society of Saints and Angels in Heaven as the Beatifical Vision as the Downey Bosome of a Deity as eternal Communion with the God of Heaven that they desire and make their Happiness All other Lines meet in this Centre all other Stars borrow their Light from this glorious Sun and all other Comforts do empty themselves into this vast Ocean wherein Rivers of purest Pleasures do meet and everlastingly concentricate themselves to make glad the City of God Et ipsa est beata vita gaudere ad te de te propter te ipsa est et non est altera August Conf. The injoyment of God in Glory this is the Apogaeuâ— of heavenly Joy this is the highest Zenith of true Blessedness this is the coâ—pleat Volumn of perfect Felicity wherein all the Particulars of Happiness are not Epitomized but so amplified inlarged and paraphrased upon that the Heart of Man cannot possibly desire any more For whatever can be desired to mâ—ke one Happy is richly treasured up in God as the indeficient and over-flowing Fountain of all Goodness So that all the Glory and Happiness whereof God's people look to be made partakers when they come to Heaven is reductively and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 summed up in this that they shall be with the Lord for ever 1 Thess 4.17 If then Holiness may be desired or God himself loved by us and sought after why then doubtless we may lawfully have Respect in our Obedience to the Recompence of Reward as being co-incident therewith and nothing else He may well have Respect in his Obedience to the Recompence of Reward and fix his eye upon heavenly Glory who makes God his Portion and his exceeding great Reward desiring no other Heaven than for ever to be with the Lord beholding his Face in Righteousness loving him without loathing and praising him without ever being weary Deus finis erit desideriorum nostrorum qui sine fine videbitur sine fastidio amabitur sine defatigatione laudabitur Ubi supra 6. WE may lawfully have Respect in our Obedience to the Recompence of the Reward because to such and to such only is the promise of eternal Life made Thô the Promise of eternal Life were conceived in the Womb of Free Grace and brought forth by the auspicious Midwifery of God's riâ—â— Mercy in Christ Jesus and so is eveâ—y
desires and longings are carried out that way The Child doth not more naturally breath nor the Fire more naturally contend upward than the Children of Grace do affect those things that are above (a) 2 Cor. 5.2 desiring to be cloathed upon with their House which is from Heaven Oh this is the pure Fountain after whose (b) Psal 42.1 Waters they insatiably thirst and pant like the chased Hind this is the only Centre of rest towards which they are constantly bending their motion this is their choicest Treasure and therefore no wonder if their Hearts be set upon it The Soul that is truly gracious like the several Elements hath a proper principle of motion within it self so that it can never rest below but is still aspiring after things above 'T is Glory and Honour 't is Immortality and Life everlasting in the kingdom of Heaven which true Grace fixeth the heart upon and makes it long after Who ever is truly gracious he hath Heaven in his eye and the World under his feet not labouring for the meat that perisheth but for the meat which will endure to eternal Life An hyprocrite may indeed be possessed with a kind of inefficacious lazy desires after Heaven and Glory there may be some velleities unactive wishings and wouldings in a graceless Soul after eternal Life and Happiness which are broken by the pre-apprehensions of difficulties and so produce no suitable endeavours Desires fly from such a mans Heart like Sparks from a Furnace which though they break forth in heaps yet they suddenly die and so presently quench the Spirit which gave them motion But now a gracious Soul his Hands they second his Heart his inward Affection 't is followed with eager prosecution so that he doth not only desire Glory and Honour and Immortality but he likewise by patient continuance in well doing seeks after them and will not leave off his pursuit of Heaven whatever difficulties may occur in the way His desires are turned heavenward and therefore he digs for heavenly Treasure this is the mark at which he aims this is the prize for which he runs this is the crown for which he so earnestly contends Give him Riches give him Honours give him worldly pleasures give him the very Flower and Quintessence of the whole creation nay give him the universal confluence and aggregation of all creature-injoyments and yet in vain shall you think to satisfy him his Heart is set upon Heaven upon Life and eternal Glory so that you may as well stop the Sun in his course as prevail upon such a man to sit down satisfied with any thing here below As the Sun exhales and draws up the vapours from the earth so true Grace it hath a magnetick virtue in it whereby it draws up the heart from earth in a continued anhelation after Heaven and Glory (a) Luke 9.51 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Obfirmavit faciem Hoc est omnem metum ac honorem mortis deposuit animo suo constituit hanc mortem esse ferendam Leigh Crit. 'T was said of Christ that he set he obfirmed he hardned his Face as the original sounds to go to Jerusalem thus all that are living members of Christ's mystical Body they set their Faces heaven-ward continually directing their course and urging their passage through all difficulties towards the heavenly Jerusalem Such are bound for the Holy Land and therefore they will never put in any where for harbour till they come to appear before their God in Sion (b) Col. 3.1 They are risen with Christ and must needs therefore by virtue of this their spiritual resurrection seek the things which are above where Christ sits on the right hand of God They have layd up for themselves a Treasure in Heaven and therefore a stone doth not more naturally move towards its proper Center than their hearts upon that account do move heavenward For as where the Carcass is there will the Eagles be gathered together so where-ever a Mans Treasure is there will his Heart be also IF then the proper Genius of Grace be thus to make a divorce betwixt the World and the Heart and to carry out the Soul in strong uncontroled and invincible desires after Heaven and Glory how can we once think it unlawful to have respect in our obedience to the recompence of the reward What may not true Grace be allowed to act like it Self and to carry back the Heart to Heaven from whence it came True Grace is a Bird of Paradise and will nothing serve the turn unless we clip her Wings that she may Soar no more aloft in uncurbed desires and panting anhelations after Heaven and Glory There is a native beauty and amiableness in all actions agreeing with and proportionate to the dictates of right reason and shall we then judge it unbecoming a Christian to act suitably to the dictates of true Grace in having respect to Heaven and Glory in his obedience to the seeking whereof Grace so strongly inclines May the Fire contend upward and every Element according to that Principle of motion which it hath within be carried to its proper Center and may not Grace Is the Grace of God shed abroad in the Heart a Creature so badly principled that we may not suffer it to act us according to its proper Genius without forfeiting our ingenuity and becoming mercenary Can we not hold fast our integrity and be filial in all our obedience unless the Grace of God whereby we are become his Children must be banished from its own essence renounce its proper inclination and move excentrical to that heavenly Orb wherein God hath placed it Doubtless the Fire doth not more naturally burn nor the Sparks fly upward than Grace doth carry forth the Soul upon the swift wing of desire after Life and eternal Happiness To be sure then whilst according to the law of Grace you seek after Heaven and Glory in all your obedience you can never be counted ungracious nor do any thing unbeseeming a gracious Soul 11 WE may lawfully have respect in our obedience to the recompence of the reward because otherwise we should undervalue the purchase of Christ's precious Blood ungratefully turning our backs upon that which the Lord Jesus in all that he did and suffered for us did next unto Gods glory aim at The Socinians who are only Christians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and as Salvian said of some in his days in contumeliam Christi they I confess cannot endure to hear that Christ by his Death and Sufferings designed any such thing as the purchasing of life and salvation for us They will allow him to be the Prince of life and a constituted God after his Resurrection but his Blood and Sufferings they will in no case acknowledge them to be the price of our Life and the meritorious cause of our Redemption from the wrath to come That he died for our good leaving us an example that we should follow his steps they
us with his Love arrest us by the gentler hand of his Mercy inveagle us by the sweet insinuations of his own Spirit subdue us to the obedience of his Righteous will by an irresistible over-powering Work of free Grace and after aâ—l this allure us to be Happy leading us on in wayes of holiness by the Divine Suada by the powerful Rhetorique by the unsullied captivating glances by the magnetique prospect of Heaven and Eternal Glory God might have measured us out a full Cup of Divine Fury without any ingredients of Love he might have writ the Sins we stand Guilty of and his wrath against us for them in our own Blood he might have raised up a Monument of Glory to himself out of our Eternal Ruins he might have made every one of us even in this present Life a Magor-missabib filling us with the trembling of Cain the madness of Achitophel the despair of Judas and the dreadful astonishment of Belshazzer thro' the heart-rending proccupations of Hell and Eternal Damnation When therefore in stead of all this Terrour we find the Lord willing to glorifie the Riches of his Mercy in our Happiness and Salvation not only wooing us to receive Mercy beseeching us to be Happy and entreating us to accept of Heaven and Glory but also setting open the Wells of Salvation feasting us with Heavenly Manna giving us many sweet prelibations and fore-tasts of Eternal Glory taking us up every Day to the top of Mount Pisgah and thence raising us for our encouragement in well-doing to see the Beauties and to antedate the Pleasures of the Celestial Canaan of the Heavenly Jerusalem how can we choose but stand adoring as Men filled with Extasies and Trances of Admiration the Lords wonderful Condescention and matchless Goodness towards us Was it ever known amongst the Kings Potentares and Monarchs of the World that they could ever do any thing worthy to make so much as an Emblem of Gods remunerative Goodness when in their chiefest Goodness they set their Wits a-work how to gratify their greatest Favourites and what to do for the Man whom they delighted to honour They have cloathed their Favourites in Purple and Royal Apparel they have incircled their Heads with a princely Diadem they have intrusted them with universal negotiations of State they have mounted them upon their own Steeds with Proclamations before them of their special Favour But yet all this superadding thereto all that Splendour which attracts the desires of the most noble Heroes all that Glory which feeds the Admiration of the most ambitious Princes all that Beauty which captivates the Hearts of the most passionate Lovers all those Thrones Empires and Triumphs which the World so much adores I say all this will be no more than the small drop of a Bucket to the whole Ocean than the light of a Star to the glorious Sun if compared with that Crown that Kingdom that eternal Reward which through a Miracle of condescending Love and matchless Goodness the Lord promises and makes proposal of for the encouragement of his own People For what is finite compared with that which is infinite What is Earth compared with Heaven What is a temporal Reward if compared with the recompense of Eternal Life What in a word is the confluence of all secular enjoyments if compared with the vast and boundless Ocean of Gods (a) Psal 17.15 fulness wherewith his People have a sure promise to be satisfied for evermore Oh that all you who do yet continue the Vassals of Satan and are still Slaves to your own usurping Lusts would now consider your folly your madness in refusing to walk in obedience before so bountiful a Master and in entertaining unreasonable prejudices against the ways of God as if there were no profit nor advantage to be found in them Consider it poor foolish Sinners can the World the Flesh and the Devil do that for your Souls that the God of Heaven both can and hath promised to do will you but submit to the Scepter of his Kingdom endeavouring to walk in all dutifull obedience before him God offers you a Crown of Life together with many exceeding precious promises which as so many Death-bed Cordials will antidote your Hearts against the Terrors of the Grave and can the World the Flesh and the Devil make you any such Tenders and make them good when they have done that hearkning unto them you should ungratefully turn your backs upon the God of Heaven making light of the Tenders of his Love and Grace But must the Lord have such a stir to make you Happy Must he follow you with daily Importunities alluring you by Rewards to provide for your own everlasting Welfare and will you yet go on in the careless neglect of him and his wages as if Heaven and Eternal Glory were not worth the looking after Is the Lord such a plentiful rewarder of those that diligently seek allowing them for their encouragement in all Holy and Upright walking before himself the full prospect of such an Heavenly Kingdom such an unfadable Crown of Life such an incorruptible undefiled and glorious inheritance and will you still go on to undervalue his Love and Goodness refusing the right ways of obedience as unprofitable and fruitless which do all of them center in Eternal Blessedness Then blame not the God of Heaven the Riches of whose (b) Rom. 2.4 Grace and Goodness you have thus despised if for bringing up an evil report of him and his wayes he cause you with those unbelieving Jews to die in the Wilderness and for ever exclude you out of the Celestial Canaan You must not always think to live upon the Expences of free Grace But if still you go on to turn it into wantonness being thus abused it will shortly turn to fury The Divine remunerative Goodness of God so richly expressed in the frequent tenders of Heaven it should have dropt Oyl into the Wheels of your Souls making them more like the Chariots of Aminadab (c) Cant. 6.12 Si 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 notationem spectes populum voluntarium beneficum animo liberali praeditum sonat Rom. 2.5 like a bounteous sweet-hearted and willing People as that Word may import in all the Ways of Obedience with a Noble Spontaneity But if still you shall retain your unreasonable prejudices against and wonted averseness to the right way of God's Commandments esteeming of the Lord as an hard Task-master and looking upon his Service as a cruel Bondage assure your selves that the very Goodness of God will accumulate Wrath against you and plunge you a Thousand Times deeper in remediless unpreventable misery than if you had never sitten under the tenders the solicitations the gracious Importunities of it (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. Admon ad Gent. p. 40. Oh inconsiderate ungrateful Sinners of what a crimson tincture is your giving the repulse to Gods merciful condescentions when waiting upon you with tenders of Grace and Glory
Oh Sirs do you well consider how by such sordid refusals of Mercy you turn that into a favour of Death which breaths out nothing but Life and Happiness you provoke the Lord to rain down Vollies of Wrath and Fury yea Hell it self as the Father said of Sodom's destruction out of Heaven upon you necessitating him to vindicate the reputation of his holiness in your Eternal Misery and Damnation What to blaspheme against the Goodness of God when pursuing you as unwilling to let you without a Blessing To turn your backs upon the gracious condescentions of God when following you with strong importunities of Love and intreating you to provide for your Happiness To make light in a word of Heaven and Glory when offered by the Hand of free Grace upon no harder terms than only that you should cordially accept of them and by patient continuance in well-doing seek after them Oh Sirs such prodigious Ingratitude as this it will destroy you with a double destruction This will heat the Furnace of God's Indignation against you seven times hotter This will set an accent of greatest horrour upon Hell and be the greatest emphasis of your Misery and Eternal Damnation in that place of Torments 3 THIS may give us to understand what a pleasant thing it is to serve the Lord and how unjustly the ways of God are traduced by Men of corrupt minds as if there were no Joy no Comfort no solid grounds of Consolation nor any Cordials to make glad the Heart to be found in them God's People in all the ways of obedience are never suffered to go without the hope of Eternal Life in their Hearts and a fair prospect of Heaven and Glory in their Eye how should they go disconsolate or want matter of delight and comfort to make them rejoice with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory If as Solomon tells us it be such a pleasant thing for a †Prov. 3.17 Mortal Eye to behold the Sun how pleasant then are the wayes of Wisdom wherein the Soul having fixed its Eye upon the reward of Eternal Life is always irradiated with most clarified Beams of Joy and reflexions of Glory from the Sun of Righteousness Goodness is true Naomi that will be turned into a Marah into bitterness as she was but is always a pleasant object as that name sounds yeilding matter of delight and spiritual pleasure to all that embrace her The ways of God are like green Fields full of vernal Flowers the Beauty whereof doth exhilerate the Mind making a Man forget his weariness and so come to his Journeys end before he is well aware God deals with all his People as with Moses in the Wilderness to whom he granted for his comfort and satisfaction a prospect of Canaan though he suffered him not to enter therein so though his People cannot enter into the Heavenly Canaan whilst traveling through the Wilderness of their Earthly Pilgrimage yet he brings them down Heaven upon Earth he brings the Harbor into Sea the Rest into their labour the Glory into their trouble and something of the future * Psal 19.11 reward into their present work allowing them for their comfort a â—rospect of the Heavenly Canaan which doth wonderfully rejoyce and make glad their Hearts Men of carnal Hearts are apt indeed to look upon Religion as a sullen and austere exercise that comes to plunder them of all their Comforts as if embracing that they would never have a merry hour nor see one Summers day of joy after As Christ cast out of the Minstrels when he †Mat. 9.23 25. raised up the Rulers Daughter from Death to Life So Christianity they think banisheth all Joy necessitating them to take their longum vale of all delight and to bid farewell to it for ever A Life of serious practical Holiness transforms Men as they imagin into mopish Monks possessing them with unsociable melancholy and causing them like Rachel weeping for her children to refuse all comfort as persons ambitiously desirous to make themselves perfect emblems of sorrow and discontent But surely that encouragement which God allows his People in a way of Duty setting before them a Kingdom of Eternal Glory a Triumphant Crown of Righteousness together with the reward of Eternal Life as the recompense of all their labours may well satisfie us that all those are intolerably abusive and calumnious bringing a most false Report upon a Christian Conversation who do thus shamefully traduce it as a thing destructive of and wholly inconsistent with all Joy If Abraham could rejoice foreseeing by an Eye of Faith the day of Christs incarnation when he only came to purchase Heaven and Glory for his People How much more may the Children of Abraham lift up their Heads with Joy and everlasting consolation foreseeing by an Eye of Faith that Happy day when Christ should be * 2 Thess 1.10 glorified in his Saints and admired in all those that do believe as coming to put them in full possession of that glorious inheritance which is †1 Pet. 1.4 uncorruptible undefiled and which fadeth not away but is reserved sure in the Heavens for them That Christians which the Bernadine Monks fondly conceited that the Sun shone only in their Cell it holds true of you with reference to the Sun of Righteousness he irradiates none with the pure Beams of comfort he lifts up the light of hâ—s Countenance upon none but such as walk close in Communion with him The outward Sun that shines with promiscuous undistinguishable Beams both upon the Good and upon the Bad both upon Frâ—ends and Enemies but the Light of the Knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ the Sun of Righteousness that shines upon none that communicates its heart-entrancing heavenly influences of joy and gladness to none but those whom God loves with his special dearest and eternal Love (a) Numb 17.8 Amongst all the Rods of the Princes of Israel the Rod of Aaron the high Priest alone brought forth Buds and bloomed Blossoms and yeilded Almonds Thus amongst all the Children of Men they alone that are made spiritual Priests unto God have their Souls like an Aaron's Rod bringing forth the Buds Blooming the Blossoms and yielding the delicious Fruit of inward comfort to make glad their Hearts God will never pour the new Wine of consolation into the old Bottles of ungracious carnal (b) Deus non infundit oleum misericordiae nisi in nos nutritum Est enim gaudium quod non datur impiis sed iis qui te gratis colunt quorum gaudium tu ipse es August Confes lib. 10. cap. 22. Revel 2.17 Hearts Till therefore the Heart be spiritualized it can never relish the Sweetness of God and his ways nor ever meet with any solid comfort to feed upon The people of God are not left comfortless in the World only they feed upon hidden Manna which a carnal Heart is not able to relish they live upon the
them tenders of a Crown of Life But they chose to deck themselves with Rose-buds preferring Earth before Heaven and troubling themselves about many things (c) Luke 10.42 whilst that better part is neglected which if chosen should never be taken from them Like Esau they sell their Birth-right for a mess of Pottage Like Judas they betray the Lord of Life who would save their Souls for thirty pieces of Silver Or like our first Parents to get the forbidden Fruit they let go their Happiness in Paradise preferring one deadly Apple from the Tree of Knowledge before all the delicious Apples on the Tree of Life What pains do we see Men take What hazards do they daily run to satisfie their unsatiate desires after Creature-enjoyments whilst Heaven with all the Glory and Royalties of it are neglected as the pleasing fictions of some devout Fancies rather than matters of reality With what wracking of Brain with what strength of endeavour with what Conflicts of Passions with what vehemency of desire and remorse of Consciences do Men resolving to be rich pursue their Earth-born vanities making that pitiful Religion they have serve turn and Christianity it self become Handmaid to wait upon their gain and secular advantage (d) Boni quippe ad hoc utuntur mundo ut fruantur Deo mali autem contra ut fruantur mundo uti volunt Deo Aug. de Civit. Dei lib. 15. cap. 7. Whereas the truly gracious do improve their Earthly Treasures for high and Heavenly ends using them in a subserviency to their Christian devotion that they more freely enjoy God Why on the contrary carnal Hearts they subordinate every thing to their own sordid ends using God his Name his Worship his Ordinances that they may more plausibly prosecute and enjoy the World Doth not daily sad experience let us see how Men will hazard their own lives in desperate undertakings make themselves perpetual Drudges to the Times comply with every prevailing Faction throw away their own Mercies make shipwrack of Faith dissemble conscience and exchange their salvation together with all Hopes of Heaven and Glory for Earth and Earthly enjoyments Oh that I could but speak to the Heart of such amongst you who thus inordinately pursue the World grasping continually with adulterous embraces Was this the end of your being in the World to Idolize the Creature loving prizing and serving that above God your Creator Have you not things of greater consequence and that more nearly concern you to look after than the profits emoluments and perishable comforts of this present Life Is it not an immortal Soul more worthy your care than a sinful Body the Riches of Heaven and Glory than your Earthly Treasure and the recompence of Eternal Life is not that more worthy your care than the confluence of all Creature-enjoyments Your approaching Death your Eternal Judgment before Gods Tribunal your everlasting condition in the world to come should not these things be seriously minded and much rather regarded of you than the husky enjoyments of a dying Life What alass Poor brutish Muck-worm will thy full Garners thy Bags of Gold thy sumptuous Buildings thy long Leases thy gorgeous Apparel or thy dainty Dishes and sweet Morsels avail thee when the great God calls to Judgment when Death as God's inexorable Serjeant shall arrest thee and thou must now breath out thy Life and thy Hope together Will your Deeds and Leases be evidences for Heaven Will your Riches Honours and Pleasurable enjoyments be able to comfort your Hearts when now breaking through the bitter pangs and dying groans that will shortly take hold of you Will your Coffers or your Bags of Gold be accepted as a ransom for your lost Souls or can they purchase your pardon when now tryed for your Lives for your everlasting unchangable State before the righteous Judge of all the World To bring you off from the over eager pursuit of these perishable enjoyments and to beget in your cheeks an holy blush that ever you should neglect Heaven to seek them dwell a little on these things 1 (a) Vacuum quodcunque est si nullam nobis affert utilitatem CONSIDER all Creature-enjoyments they are vain and unprofitable The very choycest of your Worldly comforts they have nothing in them but that which is unprofitable and good for nothing There is always most vanity where there is the least profit And where there is no profit at all there is nothing at all but vanity And yet this is the Character which Solomon hath given us of all our Creature-enjoyments Every Creature in his Diary hath vanity written upon it and (b) Eccles 1.2 therefore since the whole cannot exceed the particulars when added together he gives us in this as the total Sum of all sublunary comforts Vanity of vanities all is vanity Add a thousand Cyphers together and yet without a figure they signify just nothing So though a Man had the whole confluence and universal aggregation of all Creature-comforts yet such is the vanity bound up in them that without the figure of Divine favour they are altogether insignificant and stand for just nothing in the Register of true profit And therefore (c) Prov. 23.5 Solomon endeavouring to call off Men from the too eager pursuit of Riches will not vouchsafe them any station amongst things really existing but thrusting them down into the bottomless Abyss of a non-entity he thus queries with the insatiate Mammonist Wilt thou set thine Eyes upon that which is not and make them to flie as 't is in the original upon a meer nothing The generality of Men they idolize Riches and look upon them as some great matters But the comfort the benefit the profit accrewing to us by them is so small that if you count them any thing at all you do quite over-prize them and do count them a great deal more than what they are ever like to amount unto We can hardly form up a conception of our Creature-enjoyments so diminutive and small as indeed they are Nor can we be able to reach so low in our thoughts as the bottom of that vanity and unprofitableness which is written upon them Most Men look upon their Riches Honours and Worldly accommodations through a Multiplying-glass which doth swell them up far above the proportion of their own magnitude and quite stretcheth them beyond the line of their proper dimensions But would they look upon these things as they are in themselves how would their tall gigantine stature shrink up into a Pygmey-dwarfishness and what a line of unprofitableness and vanity would they find stretched out upon them all * Psal 4.2 How long then ye Sons of Men will ye love vanity and go on to set your Hearts upon that which is not Oh turn not aside from seeking after Glory and Honour after Immortality and Eternal Life (d) 1 Sam. 12.20 21. For why as Samuel said in another case should you go after vain things after
Hearts upon that which deceiving your Hopes will expose you to the Misery of Eternal disappointment in the mean time neglecting that Glory which will so far exceed our Hopes as to leave us for ever in a blessed extasy of admiration 5 Consider all Creature-enjoyments they are empty and unsatisfying Your Creature-enjoyments they are not commensurate to the desires of an immortal Soul And are therefore no more able to satisfy you than a Star of the least magnitude is able to make day in the World The Souls appetite is too vast for any creature in the World to fill up the measure of its capacity And to be sure that which cannot fill the Souls appetite will for ever leave it empty and unsatisfied The Soul is a spiritual Being whereas all our worldly â—njoyments are of the Earth earthly And how should such earthly enjoyments be able to satisfy an Heaven born Soul (k) Eccles 5.10 Major pecunia fauces avaritiae non claudit sed extendit non irrigat sed accendit Aug. Instar Hydropici semper patieris sitim nec unquam satiabis appetitum tuum quantumvis affatim bibas ex aquâ honoris vanitatis hujus mundi Stella de contemnendis Mundi vanitatibus lib. 3. cap. 1. Mundana ista sunt instar liquoris acerbi qui non satiat sed incitat appetitum ad sumendum plus tibi Idem ibid. Quanto plus rerum mundanarum hauseris tantò major in te fitis plura habendi excitabitur Idem ibid. Inexplebilis est sola avaritia divitum semper rapit nunquam satiatur quomodo ergo sunt divitiae quibus crescentibus crescit inopia quae amatoribus suis quanto fuerint ampliores non afferunt satietatem sed inflammant cupiditatem Aug. Solomon tells us plainly that he who loveth Silver shall not be satisfied with Silver It may promise to ease us of our cares But it always multiplyes them Like Drink to a dropsical Man such are all our Creature-enjoyments So far from slaking that they enflame the Thirst They will promise to fill the Souls appetite But they only enlarge it They are not so much Food as fuel to our desires They de not allay our appetite as Bread doth when received but they rather encrease our appetite as Oyl doth the flame when cast into it And how is it possible that that desire should ever be satisfied which groweth and receiveth strength by the fruition of the thing desired The whole Confluence of all Creature-enjoyments can reach no further than the outward Services of the body For the desires of the Soul being boundless and capable of more happiness than the World can afford them they must needs remain empty still and be unsatisfied A Man may quickly have enough to load his Body to overcharge his memory and to fill his Barns though enlarged to the same measure of spaciousness with the rich Mans in the (l) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theog 359. 227. Gospel But to answer the cravings of his own Heart to quiet the enlarged appetite of his immortal Soul and to fill up with satisfaction the immense capacity of all his desires he can never have enough though he had the whole World changed into one Paradise for such an end When a thing is out of the place of its own rest it will never leave moving naturally till it come thither Thus since nothing below the Bosom of God himself and fulness of communion with him can be the proper place of rest to an immortal Soul no wonder though amidst all Creature-enjoyments it be still unsatisfied and in perpetual restless motion Men are apt to promise themselves I know what imaginary happiness and satisfaction from their Creature-enjoyments But to be sure Happiness is a real thing and no figment of a minting fancy neither is it indeed for satisfaction to come in at the door of imagination For as the Creature is unable to make us happy and give satisfaction So we are to make up an happiness for our selves out of the Creature or to take satisfaction from it When the whole Creation hath done its best and we have used our utmost skill torturing Nature to extract the most exquisite Spirits and the purest quintessence which the variety of Creatures can afford Yet after all this our Hearts will be filled with nothing but endless rovings and unquiet agitations and still our Souls will be crying like the Horse leeches Daughters Give give as unable to find any thing in the universal aggregation of all sublunary comforts proportionate to its own unlimited and boundless desires For certain it is my Brethren there is nothing that can make us happy but the God who made us (m) Matth. 11.28 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Macar Homil. 45. Nor is there any thing that can give satisfaction to our Souls but Christ who gave satisfaction for them God would not rest from his works of creation till Man was formed Nor can any Man rest from his longing desâ—â—es of want and indigence till God in Christ be enjoyed What though the whole world were an earthly Paradise the Rivers running with Nectar the Fields bringing forth Ambrosia the Trees yielding Fruit like the Tree of life the Clouds showering down precious Pearls and every Creature were an Orpheus or Amphion with Musiques harmonious charm to chase away the evil Spirit of discontent and to entertain us in World with all variety of melodious sounds and carnal delights Yet I can assure you from the Word of life and truth that our Souls would be still restless and would find such an earthly Paradise come as far short of giving satisfaction as the light of a little Star doth come short of the Sun in its noon-day brightness There is no rest nor satisfaction to be had for our Souls till we return to God or God turn his face towards us and cause the light of his Countenance to shine upon us Why then will you spend your Mony for that which is not Bread and your labour for that which cannot satisfy Will you still be seeking the living amongst the dead the Tree of life in an Earthly Paradise and satisfaction from that which is nothing but Vanity and vexation of spirit You may kock at every Creatures door but you will find there is nothing within to entertain you save only the heir-long of emptiness and disappointment Vanity is the very quintessence of the Creature and all that can possibly be extracted out of it is nothing but vexation of spirit And can that which is Vanity think you satisfy or vexation give your Souls contentment Can you think to gather Grapes of Thorns or Figs of Thistles What a gross mistake is this that you should think to find any filling entertainment for your Souls in that which is all emptiness That you should think to find satisfaction in that which breeds nothing but discontent perplexing the Soul with a thousand cares (a) Vitam beatam quaerunt in regione
489. which their Star-light condemns as better becoming irrational Brutes than immortal Souls What Man would not rather die saith Tully as cited by that Christian Cicero Lactantius than to be turned into the form of a Beast though still he should retain the mind of a Man But oh how much more miserable is it for one to be in the form of a Man and yet of a brutish Mind delighting in the same sensual Pleasures with the â—ery Beasts that perish Remember O Man how miserable the Crown falls from thy Head how thou turnest thy Glory into Shame how thou degradest thy self into the nastiness of a very Bruit and exposest thy self to the scorn of the whole creation when wallowing in the mire of thy sensual Pleasures 4 CONSIDER Men delighting in the Pleasures of Sin they can never enter into the Kingdom of God nor ever come into the place of his holy habitation Such as feed with delight upon these Onions and Flesh-pots of Aegypt they must never think to tast any ripe Clusters of Canaan nor to feed upon the Tree of Life in the Paradise of God The Kingdom of Heaven it 's a peculiar place prepared for a peculiar People Not for such as turn the Grace of God into wantonness defiling themselves with every impure lust but for those who through the Grace of God are clothed with the Robes of Holiness endeavouring to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit k Heaven my Brethren it 's a pure Mansion it 's an inheritance incorruptible undefiled and therefore whatsoever defileth or is unclean can never enter into it T is not enough that Heaven is prepared for us but we also must be prepared for Heaven would we ever enjoy it (m) Coloss 1.22 Those only may look for the inheritance of Saints in light who through the mortification of their vile affections are made meet for it having no fellowship with the unfruitful Works of Darkness A Man having the Leprosie upon him was shut out of the camp and might not come among God's People in the Earthly Tabernacle Thus he that hath a Leprosy of Sin upon him polluting himself with carnal Pleasures will undoubtedly be shut out of the Camp of glorified Souls and must never think to come within the Heavenly Tabernacle (n) Constituit Deus Adamum in Paradiso innocentâ—â— expulâ— eum reum Sal. de Gub. Dei lib. 1. pag. 20. When once our first Parents had sinned they were driven out of Paradise and kept off from the Tree of Life by the Cherubims flaming sword Thus Sirs whatever Sin you take Pleasure in it will drive you out of Heaven and may well be likened to the Cherubims flaming Sword to keep you from ever feeding upon the Tree of Life And is it nothing do (l) 1 Pet 1. Revel 21.27 you think to miss of Eternal Life and for ever to fall short of Heavens Glory Or still taking delight in the Pleasures of Sin will you promise your selves those Pleasures which are at God's right hand for evermore Can you ever imagine that Goats and Swine must enter into the new Jerusalâ—m Shall corruption inherit incoruption and those that suffer their vile affections to run riot counting fellowship with the unfruitful works of Darkness their chiefest deâ—ight must they look to shine like bright Stars in the Firmament of heavenly Glory (o) 1 Cor 6.9 10. Know you not saith the Apostle that the Unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived for neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers nor Effeminate nor abusers of themselves with Mankind nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Revilers nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God Believe it Sinners whatever good thoughts you may have of your carnal Pleasures yet will you find them a Jacob taking from you the Birth right of Heaven and deceiving you of the Blessing of Eternal Glory How dare you then live one moment longer in the Pleasures of Sin when you know they will rob you of your Crown and for ever shut your Souls out of Heavenly Glory Oh Sinners what prodigious folly are you guilty of thus to sell your Birth-right for a mess of Pottage and let go Heaven for a little carnal contentment Do you know what you do when thus you let run riot inventing prodigious ways of sinning to satisfie your brutish appetite Have you any lust that will countervail the loss of Heaven or any of your carnal Pleasures that can make amends for the loss of Eternal Glory What are the cups of Bacâ—hus to the Cup of Salvation whose ingredients are nothing but Love and Eternal sweetness What are the dainties of a Dives to the Marriage-supper of the great King to which the People of God shall all sit down with a fulness of Delight What are the smiles of Venus to the light of God's countenance when shining upon us in its noon-day brightness What in a word are all the unchast arms of a lascivious Lais to the delicious chast embraces of Christ our Redeemer in the downy bosom of whose Love all believers shall rest themselves and therein take up with satisfaction their Eternal repose Who then but a Man distracted would deprive himself of Eternal heavenly Pleasures for the Pleasures of Sin which are but for a season To see God as he is to behold the King in his Glory to be made glad with the light of his Countenance to feed for ever upon hidden Manna and to drink of the River of his Pleasure so that we shall never hunger any more nor thirst any more nor be the least moment without any fulness of Joy and Comfort to all Eternity how glorious were such a priviledge and what a prodigy of madness would it be to purchase a little carnal Pleasure with the loss of such a far more exceeding and Eternal weight of Glory T is true whilst we are in this World living by sense little do we know what it is to have the full enjoyment of God in Heaven nor can we indeed so prize it as we ought to do Oh but what thoughts will Men have of Heaven and Glory when all their carnal Pleasures leaving them they must now stand trembling at the Bar of divine Justice there to receive from God their everlasting doom What will all your Pleasures and carnal contentments avail you when God shall bid you depart accursed as everlastingly unfit to enjoy communion with himself in Glory Though Sinner thou shouldst live like an Epicure and hadst the universal confluence of all Flesh-pleasing vanities yet they were no more worthy to be compared with the least moments enjoyment of God in Glory than the small dust of a ballance with all the World 6 AND lastly consider the pleasures of sin though sweet for the present to an unsanctified carnal Heart yet they will end in Eternal endleâ—s misery (a) Prov. 23.31 32. What Solomon saith concerning the Wine of drunkenness it holds true of
into the Mount of Transfiguration and causeth the light of the Glory of Heaven to shine round about us The Sun indeed having dazled our Eyes we see nothing well But yet we discern our selves and see our own unworthiness best of all when our Eyes are most dazl'd with the brightness of that Glory which God sets before us As therefore with one Eye we behold the good that is done by us so to keep us humble let us stedfastly look with the other upon the good that is laid up in Heaven for us What is all our Work to so glorious a reward What is the Wilderness of our barren obedience to that fruitful Canaan a Land that flows with Milk and Hony What in a word are all our weary Weeks of Labour and Travail to that Eternal Sabbath of Rest that will follow after Do but consider Christians the transcendent worth and excellency of that reward which God sets before us and then be proud if you can of your own worth and religious performances how excellent soever (d) 2 Cor. 4.17 That far more exceeding and Eternal Weight of Glory may well keep you humble and cause whatever you can do or suffer for it to seem lighter than vanity it self We that did not deserve the least glimpse of heavenly Glory what doth the Lord afford us a full Sun-shine We that could not expect the smallest tast of his Goodness what doth he give us a whole Cluster of Canaan We that have deserved nothing but to be filled with the fear of Wrath the foretasts of Hell the dreadful preoccupations of Eternal Burnings doth the Lord allow us for our encouragement the hope of Glory the first fruits of Heaven and the joyful prelibations of an Eternal recompence of reward there Oh then let us all fall down and adore his matchless Goodness endeavouring to be as low in Humility as the Lord hath made us to be high in our priviledges We that have risen thus in God's thoughts should fall in our own striving most to humble our selves when most assured of a Blessed Exaltation to Life and Eternal Glory (e) Non potes intrare per portam aliquam angustam nisi te humilies nisi te humiliaveris non intrabis in regnum Dei Stella de contemnendis Mundi vanitatibus lib. 2. Remember Sirs you must stoop low in Humility would you ever enter in thro' the strait Gate into the Kingdom of God Man by Nature is full with the emptiness of Self-admiration and till this be removed out of the Way he can never be filled as a vessel of Honour with the new Wine of eternal Consolation We lay up the richest Wine in the lowest Cellars So doth God the Riches of heavenly Glory in the humble and lowly Hearts (f) Prov. 18.12 Whom ever God intends to exalt he first humbles them Giving none the blessing of Eternal Life till first he have brought them upon their knees (g) Ama esse parvus humilis ut mereà ris à Deo exaltari in alto throno gloria Stella de Cont. Mundi vanitat ubi suprà Be little therefore in your own Eyes that you may be great in God's heavenly Kingdom And if ever you would sit high in Glory be sure to live low in self-abasement Men that neither desire Glory nor consider the worth of it may well be proud standing much upon their own worth But you that would come to Glory at last as having seen the excellency of it must count it your greatest worth to be sensible of your own unworthiness resolving to creep to Heaven upon the bended knees of true humility And truly there is nothing that will lay Men so low in themselves as to think seriously how high for their encouragement God raiseth them in promising and how much higher God will raise them in bestowing Eternal Life upon them If any thing can empty us of Self-admiring thoughts and can keep us humble 't is duly to consider how richly God will fill us erelong with Eternal Soul-ravishing Comforts Then if ever will the Soul lie at the feet of God when her Eye is stedfastly fixed upon those entrancing Pleasures which are at God's right Hand for evermore He that thinks to rise in Glory cannot choose but be humble lying down in his own shame 5 Walk resolvedly going on in the way of your Duty with what difficulties soever it may be attended Most Men are apt to measure duty by their own safety are unwilling to engage in the wayes of Christ till all difficulties are removed by a secular arm and if once the Times frown upon any religious exercise their faces are no longer towards that Duty as formerly nor can you possibly prevail with them to lanch forth any further for Christ than if at any time a storm should arise they may get safe to the Shore again But judge in your selves is it seemly for those to make shy of Duty because of seeming dangers attending it to whom God allows the hope of an Eternal reward for their encouragement the way of Duty Shall they leave themselves at a loose indifferency performing or omitting Duty at their own choice to evade the Cross who shall erelong have their Heads incircled with an immarcessible Crown of Glory Did Noah thus Did Abraham thus Did the three Jewish Worthies thus though threatned with the scorchings of an hot fiery Furnace Did Daniel thus who notwithstanding the Royal Edict to the contrary upon pain of being made a Prey to the ravine of furious Lyons was yet frequent in the invocation of holy Prayer calling upon God and giving thanks to him as he did afore-time (h) Dan. 6.10 Oh methinks Christians it should shame us to decline Duty not persevering in the faithful and constant performance thereof how dangerous and difficult soever having allowed us for our encouragement a prospect of Heaven as a bright glimpse of future Glory and in all our religious undertakings a respect unto the recompence of reward Do you not observe Christians how the Merchant-venturer puts to Sea running many a desperate hazzard amidst Storms and Tempests in hope of a gainful return And with what undaunted courage doth the valiant Souldier take his Life in his hand encountring the fiercest adversary upon the hope of an uncertain victory Why then should we decline our Duty for fear of any Storm who are always within ken of the Harbour where once being landed we are sure to enjoy an everlasting calm * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost hom 16. ad pop Antioch Rom. 8.37 Why should not we valiantly fight the Lord's Battels who fight not as uncetain but are sure of the Day before we enter the Field and may sound a triumph before the Victory as knowing that through Christ we shall be more than Conquerors Oh why should we be afraid to grapple with any Goliah-afflictions to encounter a whole host of crosses or to suffer any fiery tryal in a way of
veris modis etiam spiritus incorporeus posse paena corporalis ignis affiigi Aug. de Civit. lib. 21. cap. 10. of my shallow Understanding I cannot comprehend as always thinking better to suspend our Judgment in things that are Occult than Uncharitably to litigate about Uncertainties Whether then the Fire of Hell be Corporeal or only Metaphorical is of no great Consequence as affording no hope of any the least Ease or mitigation of the Damned torments which way ever the Decision of the Controversy goeth For if it be taken properly for a corporeal Fire yet there are in it those Ingredients of fiery Rage and Impetuosity which make it as far surpass in Degrees of Heat and fierceness of Burning our most furious ordinary Fire as that exceedeth the Fire Painted upon the Wall Our common culinary Fire is easily quenched But the Fire of Hell is Unextinguishable so that though the Damned in Hell should weep a whole Ocean of Tears yet they could never quench the least spark thereof Our Fire consumes the Body upon which it seizeth causing Life to evaporate with its own Smoak But the Fire of Hell though it burn the Reprobate there yet it never befriends them so far as to consume them though it dreadfully torments them yet it will never Annihilate them Our Fire with its burning Power can only burn Corporeals and make impression upon bodily Substances But such is the Penetrativeness of Hell Fire that its able to torment a spiritual Being so that here the very Soul of a Man for (i) Anima per culpam se corpori subjicit per pravam concupiscentiam ergo justum est ut in poenam rei corporeae subjiciatur per passionem Aq. Sup. 3. part q. 70. a. 3. Subjecting it self willingly to a brutish Sensuality shall be unwillingly Subjected to a sensual Pain beyond all that the Heart of Men and Angels can conceive of But in case the Fire of Hell be Metaphorical yet this argues not the Punishment of the Damned to be one thought the less dreadful and terrible because whatever terrible things the Holy Ghost makes use of whereby to represent unto us the Pains of the Damned they do as far come short of that which is indeed the Torment of the Damned in Hell as the Sting of a little Bee comes short of the Sting of a Scorpion if not infinitely more For betwixt a Finite and an Infinite a Temporal and an eternal Punishment a Punishment Inflicted by a weak Man and a Punishment prepared by the utmost reach of God's Wisdom with all fiery torturing Ingredients and so set home upon every Faculty of Soul and Member of Body by the Almighty Power of his omnipotent revengeful Arm there is no Comparison So that (k) Cogita homo quoslibet mundi cruciatus quasque seculi poenas intende animo quosque tormentorum dolores quascunque dolorum acerbitatés compara hoc totum Gehennae leve Isid though by our general Citation you should call in all those prodigeous unheard of Ways and Methods of Cruelty invented by the deepest reach of Policy and most exquisite Malice of implacable Devils in Hell and executed upon the Faithful Servants of God by the most bloody and merciless Tyrants such as Nebuchadnezzar's fiery Furnace the Prophet Isaiah's grating Saw Lawrence's Grid-iron the Impaling used for the Torturing of Christians amongst the unpitying Turks together with the many execrable ways of Torture Inspired by Hell it self into the most Inhuman Blood-thirsty Managers of the Spanish Inquisition Yet in them all could they pour out the very Dregs and Poison of their torturing Power into one Cup you would not be able to find any such Gall and Bitterness such Horrour and Exquisiteness of Torment as were worthy to make so much as an Emblem or dark Shadow of the least gripe of Conscience wherewith the Soul or the least spark wherewith the Body of the Damned in Hell must be tortured for ever Be therefore the Fire of Hell material or only Metaphorical yet you see it will be infinitely dreadful and tormenting beyond all the Terror and Extremity of unsufferable Anguish which heart can meditate Leaving off therefore all needless Disputes about the Nature of Hell Fire how should we all give diligence to set the Blood of Christ as a Skreen betwixt our selves and the Flames thereof endeavouring to quench it by the Shield of Faith that by woful Experience we may never come to know what manner of Fire it is It were a dreadful uncomfortable thing for a Man to lie naked upon the hard Ribs of a Grid-iron But oh how much more dreadful and intollerable for a poor naked Sinner to lie boiling upon the fiery Grid-iron of God's Wrath night and day with ceasing for ever If the disjoynting of one only Member doth afflict us with more Pain than with Patience we are able to undergo Oh then how unsufferable a thing will it be when the whole Soul shall be Tormented and the whole Body plunged in a Lake of Fire and Brimstone There was dreadful howling and hideous outcries no doubt in Sâ—dom and the Cities round about when first they felt a Tempest of fiery Wrath and Brimstone Rained down from God out of Heaven upon them How think you did the poor scalded Creatures run up and down in that Deluge of Brimstone skreeking and roaring for the Misery that was come upon them Oh but what will be the Gnawings of the never dying Worm what the furious Heart-rendring Reflexions of guilty Consciences upon mis-spent Time what bloody Agonies of Soul what wringing of Hands and gnashing of Teeth in Hell beyond all possibility of Belief or Imagination to the most frightful-working Fancy when a fiery Stream of Wrath shall go out from the Throne of God and poor damned Creatures shall wallow hither and thither in the hot Fiery Lake of Tophet without all hope of End Ease or the least mitigation of their Torments Oh then if you have any Reason as Men any Faith and Wisdom of Christians any Bowels of Compassion to pity your own Souls give diligence now to lay up for your selves a Treasure in Heaven and so sly from Wrath to come that you may never come into this place of Torments the Pains whereof for the Extremity of them are endless and past Imagination Oh let not all these Warnings be in vain that tell you of an approaching Storm to drive you out of the Sodom of your sinful Life that so Fire and Brimstone in Hell may never be your Portion Oh let not the seeming Pleasures of Sin still bewitch thy Heart when so sure to end in intollerable hellish Torments Remember Sirs Sin is the Flint out of which the Fire of Hell is strucken 't is the Fuel whereby the Flames of Hell are everlastingly fed and nourished 't is the Womb wherein all the Miseries of poor damned Creatures are conceived yea 't is Sin that is the very Sting and Emphasis of Hell making the Fire
interest in this Glorious Reward than a dead Man is capable of being made the Monarch of the whole Universe The Tree must first take root and be filled with sap before any precious Fruit can grow upon it So you must first have the Root of the matter within you and be filled with the Sap of Sanctifying Grace before ever you can be Trees of Righteousness bearing Fruit to Eternal Life A Man must first be born into the World before he can have any Dignities Honour on Preferment conferred upon him in the World Thus a Man also must first be born again from Heaven by the Holy Ghost before ever he can be preferred to the full enjoyment of Life and Eternal Glory in the Kingdom of God (c) John 3.3 For except a Man be born again from above saith Christ he cannot see the Kingdom of God d A Man must first be a Member of the Church militant on Earth by Sanctification before he can possibly be made a Member of the Church triumphant in Heaven by eternal glorification (e) Rom. 5.21 The Grace of God in Christ Jesus is that alone which must Crown us with Glory if ever we have it And yet know you must that the Grace of God itself will never reign but through Righteousness unto Eternal Life The grand Reward of a Christian is the beatifical Vision of God in Glory But because he is an infinitely pure and holy God (f) Heb. 12.14 why therefore without Holiness you must never look to see him as your Happiness and Reward What should they do with an Holy God who are not themselves sanctified Or how can they behold with Comfort the Holy one of Israel who have not a pure Eye but are all over polluted and stained with Sin Never think to be a Vessel of Glory if first thou be not seasoned throughout in Body Soul and Spirit with renewing Grace But oh how long shall these things be Paradoxes and hidden Mysteries amongst you Where is the Man in our Congregations that knows by his (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. own experience what it is to be made a new Creature to be born of the Spirit from above to have his Heart washed in the Laver of Regeneration from all uncleaness and in a Word to be â—aised by the Almighty irresistable power of God from the Death of Sin to the Life of Grace Are not most Men pleasing themselves with external performances making their Prayers their Alms their good Works a fufficient Qualification for Heaven whilst they never think of getting sanctified Hearts and renewed Natures (g) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Macar Hom. 30. Oh that all such amongst you would now consider how impossible it is for any Man to obtain the Reward of Eternal Glory not being first born again from above and made a new Creature Poor self destroying Sinners if here you become not Men of a pure Heart you must never see the Face of God in the Kingdom of Heaven but the Furnace of Hell is heating for you and a Night of Eternal Darkness abides you in the World to come And is it nothing do you think to be shut out of Heaven and to fall into Hell irrecoverably Is it nothing to miss of Eternal Life and for ever to lose the Reward of Eternal Glory that you can live and die so well satisfied in a carnal unregenerate Condition True it is while we are in this World living by sense little do we conceive what it is to be saved to sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God what it is to have full and Everlasting Communion with God in Glory nor can we so prize these things now as we ought to do Oh but we shall come to breath out our Souls into Eternity and must stand trembling at God's Tribunal to receive our everlasting doom then to be sure Life Happiness and Eternal Glory will be in request Oh then that in such a Day when all the World cannot comfort you Life may be yours and Salvation yours and the full enjoyment â—f God in Heaven yours give diligence now to have the Truth and Life of Grace in your inward Parts endeavouring to find a through sanctifying Change wrought upon you Remember if you die in a carnal Condition you are undone for ever damned for ever But if sanctified through the Spirit and made new Creatures the Reward of Eternal Glory shall be your Portion 4 Lay hold upon Jesus Christ by a lively Faith above all things labouring to get an interest in him Christ hath purchased by his own Death the reward of Eternal Life But it s not for all promiscuously whether good or bad but only for those that by Faith receive him making him their Saviour Though Christ were as universal a cause of Salvation as the Arminians dogmatize Yet till by Faith you embrace him as willing to receive him in all his Offices as a Prophet to instruct and teach you as a Priest to intercede and die for you as a King to command sanctifie and govern you to be sure he will never profit you to Life and Salvation * John 5.12 He that hath the Son hath Life but he that hath not the Son hath no Life Both the Life of Grace and the Life of Glory come in by Christ he alone is the Tree from whence you may gather this Fruit of Paradise And therefore of necessity you must close with Christ would you either have the Life of Grace to make you holy or the Life of eternal Glory to make you happy Salvation for lost Sinners could no otherwise be purchased but by the precious Blood of the Lord Jesus And though now the purchase be thus made yet the Blood of Christ cannot save you unless you receive him to dwell in your Hearts by Faith Communion is never to be found but where first some kind of union went before to usher it in So that though Christ came into the World to repair our lost condition to cleanse us from all unrighteousness to deliver our Souls from the Wrath to come and to make us meet by â—his Spirit working in us for the full enjoyment of God in Glory Yet if first we be not united to Christ we can never have the Happiness of Communion with him in these and the like glorious Priviledges but notwithstanding the Blood the Death the Sufferings of Christ must for ever fall short of Eternal Glory How dreadful then is the condition of every Christless Sinner There is an All-sufficiency of Merit in Christ but it shall never procure their Pardon There is a redundancy of Grace in Christ But it shall never sanctify nor make them holy There is a Soveraignity in the Blood of Christ but it shall never cleanse their Souls from Sin a There is an indeficient Fountain of Life in Christ But refusing him they must inevitably die the Death and suffer the
their delight is present but momentany their pain is future but Eternal some do here by the Spirit mortify their beloved corruptions their present Work is difficult but short their Reward is future but Eternal and Glorious Oh therefore above all things see to it that every Lust every Sin every vile Affection in your Souls be subdued mortified and abstained from with the most religious Solicitude If with Jehu you will still have your Calves at Dan and Bethel notwithstanding your pretended Zeal for the Lord if with Herod you must still keep your Herodias notwithstanding your readiness to hear John Baptist to be sure you will lose your Souls and fall short of Glory But if making it your great care to mortify through the Spirit the deeds of the Body you shall keep your selves from your own iniquity hewing in pieces your delicate Agag and giving an Eternal Divorce to every Delilah that pleaseth you then doubt not but Heaven shall bâ—â—our home and the God of Heaven himself your â—â—fe your Portion your exceeding great Reward For a Life of Mortification on Earth is the sure way to a state of Glorification in Heaven 8 BE careful that you have an impartial respect to the whole Law of God endeavouring with Zachary and Elizabeth (a) Luke 1.6 to walk in all the Commandments and ordinances of God blameless A partial respect to Gods Commandments will be sure to expose you to a fatal Destruction from God's blissful Presence But an universal Love and Obedience to Gods holy Will this will set you above the reach of Hell and Misery crowning your Souls with an universal Confluence of all Joy and Happiness and purest Pleasures in the Kingdom of God (b) Psal 119.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Verbum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Piel ubi geminata litera intendit significationem respondet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Graecorum quod actum quasi fixis oculis exacto intuitu aliquid contemplantis denotat Then saith Holy David that spiritual Orpheus shall I never be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy Commandments When our Obedience is not universal but partial it will end in shame and â—ause us to lie down in Eternal Confusion But when with all Religious Exactness and Godly curiosity as the original Word implies we have a respect to the whole Will of God endeavouring that all our Obedience may be adequate thereto now Glory Honour and Life Everlasting will be your Portion See therefore that you go not about to indent and capitulate with God in matters of Obedience as if the universal Respect of all his Commands were not a Duty incumbent upon you (c) Acts 14.16 But give Diligence now to have a Conscience universally void of offence both towards God and towards Men (d) Heb. 13.18 in all things willing to live honestly Like Moses would you ever enter into the heavenly Canaan you must have both your Handâ—â—â—d with the two Tables of the Law respecting both 〈◊〉 and Man God in each Duty of Piety walking purely before him and Man in each Duty of Equity deporting your selves Righteously towards him To make conscience of one Duty and not of another is indeed to make Conscience neither of one nor other Every Command of the Decalogue hath the same Image the same Superscription the same Divine Authority stamped upon it (e) Jam. 2.10 So that a Man allowing himself in the disobservation of any one quoad vinculum formale doth violate all reflecting contempt upon the Authority of the whole Law though he do not actually violate it in every part And yet how many are there who answer the Lord with an half-obedience just like the Eccho which makes not a Perfect respondence of the Voice but of some part thereof (f) Mark 10.21.22 We read of a certain young Gentleman who came in a sad and serious manner to learn of Christ the Way to Heaven But yet one thing was lacking his desires of Heaven and Glory they were bounded with secret Reservations Proviso's and Conditions of his own upon the discovery whereof by Christ he went away discouraged as not able to accept of Glory upon Terms of universal obedience Thus frequently a deceitful Heart turns Men aside entring Caveats against an universal devotedness to Christ and causing them to stand upon abatements with him in the bargain of Salvation not considering that a due respect to all the Commandments of God is necessary in those that shall be saved albeit that the Covenant of Grace never intended to make the perfect Observation of God's Commandments any Condition of our obtaining Salvation So then if you would not fall short of Glory be sure that the Obedience of your Heart and Life be of equal extent and latitude with the whole Law of God (g) Quando enim servus ex domini jussis ea facit tantummodo quae vult facere jam non dominicam voluntatem implet sed suam Sal. He that stands upon abatements with God keeping only such Commandments as will stand with his carnal Interest his Worldly credit his Safety and his secular Projects doth not serve the Will of God but his own choice The Will of God revealed that 's the grand motive to obedience So that because the whole Law is but a Transcript of Gods holy Will there is the same reason why you should perform obedience to all as to any one of his Commandments (h) Jam. 2.11 Neque enim justa causatio est cur praeferantur aliqua ubi facienda sunt omnia Salvian de Gub. Dei lib. 3. pag. 80. Shame therefore your selves into the universal Obedience of God's Commandments when ever you find your Hearts to make shy of any Duty with this pressing Consideration that he who commanded one hath commanded all Every Christian he must be a through-paced Conformist to the Will of God not speaking both Hebrew and Ashdod not swearing by God and Malchom not taking one step straight and another crooked not keeping a covetous Heart for the World nor a proud Heart for Hell nor a sensual Heart for the Flesh But endeavouring to observe all things whatsoever Christ hath commanded us giving Diligence to walk before the Lord in all holy Conversation and Godliness (i) Numb 32.12 That for which we find Caleb and Joshua so highly renowned was because they fulfilled it after the Lord Thus would you ever have the highest Renown of heavenly Glory you must follow the Lord fully resolving that though you cannot fulfil all Righteousness yet you will neglect none Thy failing in every Duty shall never keep thee out of Heaven if there be no Duty in the careless neglect whereof thou allowest thyâ—elf Where the Eye of a Christian is upon the whole Law of God and his Heart open to do it (k) 2 Cor. 8.12 there the Goodness of God will accept the Desire for the Deed of the Purpose for the Performance and of the Will for the Work
do do all with respect to this Glorious Reward and in the strong Consolation of that Eternal Rest toward which you are moving This is not to be feeding upon any forbidden Fruit but indeed to be gathering Apples from that Tree of Life which God himself hath planted for you This is not to be Mercenaries but to be moving like so many living Stones towards God as the alone quietative Centre of all your Wishes Desires and heavenly Anhelations This is not to be carrying a Portion for your selves Christians nor to be conveighing any stoln Waters into your own Cisterns but it is to live upon your Fathers own allowance and to be drinking of that pure Fountain of Life of Divine Joy and Comfort which the God of Israel himself hath opened for you (a) Isa 55.1 and invites you to They do grosly mistake themselves and injure God's Goodness who looks upon the eying of Heaven and Glory in our obedience as a poysonous Corrosive to eat out the Heart of Sincerity For if you rightly conceive of it it 's a most precious Sovereign Cordial made up by the Hand of Heaven to revive the Heart of a Christian when desponding and to keep his Faith his Patience his Hope his Uprightness and all other Graces alive Truth is take away Heaven from a Christian and you strike him with all his Graces dead at a blow For a Christian both here and hereafter both Militant and Triumphant he lives upon Heaven Here by Faith and hereafter by sight here by Hope and hereafter by the full enjoyment of it now he lives militant in expectation of Heaven and then he lives Triumphant in the everlasting glorious Possession of Heaven (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alexand. Paedagog lib. 2. cap. 6. pag. 74. See then oh Christian that thou let not out the Life Blood of thy Soul of thy Faith and of all thy Graces by neglecting to have a respect in all thy obedience to the recompence of Reward Oh pour not out upon the Ground that sweet nectarious Wine that full Cup of Divine Consolation which thy heavenly Father himself hath mingled wherewith to make glad thy Heart to enliven thy Soul and refresh thy Spirit when labouring in God's Vineyard 'T is not Humility but the Pride and Vanity of a fleshly Mind 't is not Uprightness but Hypocrisy when Men will not suffer themselves to be encouraged by God's own Arguments nor to be acted by the Lord 's own Motives nor to live upon those spiritual Morsels those provisions of Heaven and Glory which the Lord himself hath made for them Fear not then poor trembling Christian thy own Sincerity because Heaven is so much in thy Eye so much upon thy Heart and so much in thy Thoughts this is nothing but that Banquet of Love that the Lord would have thee always to live upon Come then oh Believer for the Master himself calleth thee Come and drink of this Water of Life come with me and let us gather some Clusters of Canaan let us take a prospect to refresh us of that holy Land Oh where should a Christian delight to be but upon the top of this Pisgah this Nebo this Mount Abarim beholding with Gladness the Celestial Canaan What Pleasure canst thou have in an Aegypt in a Babylon in the black Tents of Kodar when God calls thee to walk with him in the Galleries of his Love to dwell with him in the Suburbs of the new Jerusalem to live daily in the warm Sun-shine in the bright Reflexions of Heaven and Glory Oh remember Christian when working in God's Vineyard for thy better encouragement that golden Penny of Glory which the Sun-set of thy Life will bring with it Remember whilst fighting the Lord's Battels against the (c) Revel 2.7 World the Flesh and the Devil how certainly having overcome thou shalt feed upon the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God! Oh think often with thy self whilst thy Hand is at God's Plough and thou art sowing in Tears what an eternal glorious Reward will follow after The Mariner sailing in the darksome Night under Storms and Tempests hath his Eye upon the Star Thus whilst sailing in the Ship of sincere Obedience under Storms and Tempests you must have the Eye Christians of your Faith always fixed upon the Pole-star of Glory would you ever come safe to the Harbour of your eternal Rest Like the Uranoscope your Eye must always be turned upward viewing the Beauties telling the Towers marking well the Bul-warks considering the stately Palaces and with all holy curiosity observing the Royalties of the supernatural Jerusalem So long therefore as God keeps you at work here below oh see Christians that you live with comfort upon his allowance solacing your Souls every Day with due respect to Heaven above and by serious fixed thoughts about the Reward of eternal Life which abides you there Now that your Joy may be full and your Cup overflow give me leave to shew you the Strength and Soveraignity of this Divine Cordial by acquainting you with these two ensuing particulars Viz. 1 WHAT manner of Reward it is whereunto God allows you a respect in all your obedience 2 WHAT a due respect had unto this Reward will do for you with what Marrow and Fatness of Comfort it may Fill you in every condition 1 I am to let you know what manner of Reward it is whereunto God allows you a respect in your obedience And here had I the Tongue of Men and Angels had I the whole Monopoly of finest Elegancies were the Words that I shall uter first formed for me in the Mouth of the most Seraphique Cherubim yet so transcendently Glorious is that Recompence of Reward which God sets before you that my expressions though filled up with greatest emphasis and cloathed upon with the most full and comprehensive significancy would as much come short of making an adequate discovery a full representation thereof to your understandings as the light of a little Glow-worm comes short of the Sun in all its Glory Hyperbolize to be sure I shall in speaking of this glorious Reward but it will be by Way of Miôsis and diminution rather than by way of Auxesis and aggravation For whoever will undertake to discourse of Heavens Glory whilst he dwells himself in an Earthly Tabernacle he will be no more able to express it fully and to the Life than that talkative Bird which can so neatly dissemble the Voice of a Man will be able with all her borrowed Notes to tell you what is the utmost Splendour Glory and Magnificence of all the World The Land of Canaan as one wittily observes notwithstanding all the helps we have is still for the most part a Terra incognita an unknown Land So that to give a full description of it in all its Riches of Glory it 's golden Mines it 's fruitful Trees it 's pleasant Fountains is no more possible for the stammering
no Thunder nor Storms To be sure all our Thunder-claps do proceed from our own malignant Vapours nor should we be troubled with any Storm of affliction were it not for these Sins and Corruptions that abide in us (l) Cum à nobis amota fuerit omnis iniquitas nulla remanebit infirmitas Fulgent ad Trasimund lib. 3. pag. 370. For when once we are perfectly freed from all the Reliques of indwelling Corruption we shall hear no more of any Affliction But shall quite be past and out of the reach of all suffering so soon as ever we are past a possibility of sinning Rejoice then and lift up your Heads all you that have found Sin an heavy Burden like a Gravel in your Bowels like Fire in your Bones and like Poyson drinking up your Spirits the reward of Eternal Life will infallibly Prove the death of all your Sins There is a fourfol◠state of Man which respecting the point in Hand is vastly different A state of innocency before the Fall a state of Nature in the Fall a state of Grace after the Fall a state of Glory above the Fall In the State of Innocency Man might but would not abstain from Sin in the State of Nature Man neither can nor will forbear sinning in the state of Grace Man would but cannot be wholly free from Sin but in the state of Glory Man neither will nor can have any the least Sin abiding in him And if any thing I am sure this is welcome news to you that know the bitterness of Sin that find whenever you would be good Evil is present with you that groan continually under that Body of Death which you carry about you that complain every Day of Sin as that which hinders your Communion with a precious Christ disturbs the quiet of your minds makes Duty a weariness to you cools the heat damps the vigour and blasteth the Comfort of all your Devotions turning your poor distressed Hearts into a very Dunghil of all unclean and noysom Lusts Sin in the Heart is like the Leprosy in the House that would not out till the House was pulled down Thus though Sin may cleave to you for the whole time of this Life when once your earthly Tabernacles are dissolved now Christ comes to reward you to set the Crown upon your Heads to receive you into Eternal Mansions of Glory so that Sin and your Souls shall be parted never to meet again to all Eternity (m) Jam. 3.2 Here in many things we offend all But in Heaven we shall none of us offend in any thing at all (n) 1 John 1.8 10. Here if we say we have no Sin we deceive our selves if with any Sin we enter into Heaven we must deceive the infinitely wise God who never admits of us there till perfectly cleansed from all our Sins (o) 1 King 8.46 On Earth there is no Man that sinneth not (p) Eccles 7.20 in Heaven there is no Man that either doth or can sin (q) 1 Chron. 6.36 That Sin which is now only so far mortified that it cannot reign over you Shall then be totally abolished that it may not remain in you God's People are now like the Moon-light in the Lord but yet as the Moon so they have their spots and blemishes But then they shall be as the Sun in its Noon-day brightness (r) Ephes 5.27 wholly light and unchangeably Glorious not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing Grace indeed doth weaken Sin in the Soul enabling it to resist the Temptations of Satan But the recompence of Eternal Glory will wholly abolish the former and deliver from the latter (a) Joshua 10.24.25 As Joshua took the five Kings and shut them up in the Cave at Makkedah till the Battel was over (b) Absorptâ ergo morte in victoriâ nulla erit animae carnisve corruptio Fulgent de pass pag. 370. So God restrains and shuts up Sin in the Cave of our Body till our Warfare be finished but then he will utterly destroy them all That Crown of Righteousness which shall now be set upon your Heads it will perfectly ease you of every weight and the Sin that doth so easily beset you dividing like Moses's Rod the Waters of indwelling Corruption and so making a free passage for you into the heavenly Canaan So that having got this Crown upon thy Head now thou shalt never more Christian have cause to complain oh my Pride oh my Hypocrisy oh my outsidedness oh my vile affections oh my carnal earthly deceitful Heart but standing upon the Shore of Blessed Eternity thou shalt see all these Egyptians lie dead on the red Sea of Christ's Blood never any more to perplex thee nor any more to trouble thee nor any more to grieve thy Heart and wound thy Spirit to all Eternity Oh this is the blessed time wherein the Garden of thy Soul shall no more be incumbred with any such noysom Weeds (c) Genus illud peccati quod toties conturbat nos concupiscentias loquor desideria mala reprimi quidem debet potest per gratiam Dei ut non regnet in nobis sed non ejicitur nisi in morte Bern. ser 6. de advent Dom. This is the Funeral of all thy Sins and therefore must needs be to thy Soul the Birth-day of Joy unspeakable and full of Glory What is it Christian that is now thy greatest Sorrow thy daily Burden thy continual Trouble but only the remainders of Sin and indwelling Corruption Well rejoyce Christian and be exceeding glad the time is at hand when all these Achans that trouble thy Peace shall be stoned to death all these Jonah's which cause so many Storms in thy Soul shall be thrown over-board And all those Egyptian Lusts that daily pursue thee as unwilling to let thee go free they shall all of them be drowned and everlastingly overwhelmed as Pharaoh and his Host in the Red-sea One touch of this glorious Reward it will quite dry up every bloody Issue of Sin in thy Soul and as perfectly cleanse thee from all Filthiness and Pollution as thy Heart can desire to be 3 THE Reward whereunto God allows his People a respect in all their Obedience it 's a suitable Reward This Reward doth so punctually hit the Condition of an immortal Soul the Miseries the Wants the Desires of it as nothing in the World besides can do Be your present Troubles never so many your Necessities never so urgent your Desires never so enlarged Yet the Recompence of eternal Glory it affords a proper supply to them all answering every Trouble with a suitable Comfort every Necessity with a suitable Mercy every Desire with a suitable Good to fill up and satisfie it Here is Bread of Life to feed the hungry and sincere Milk to nourish the Weak (a) Isa 55.1 and the Wine of divine Consolation to comfort the Disconsolate and white Robes to adorn the naked and Rivers of living
Eternal Glory which is infinitely to be preferred that Inheritance which is incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away this God hath reserved for his own People Eternal in the Heavens Oh then what infinite cause have God's People to stand admiring their own Happiness Which though they may as Austin saith obtain it yet they can never to it 's worth value and esteem of it There are thousands in the World that have nothing for their Portion but some perishing creature-enjoyment But now the Lord Jehovah he is your portion he is your shield and your exceeding great Reward who is God 〈◊〉 all blessed for ever And doubtless God shews us â—â—re Love in giving us himself for our Reward than if h◠〈◊〉 crowned us with Royal State and sovereign commaâ—◠〈◊〉 â—â—all the Kingdoms in the World God may giâ—◠〈◊〉 Riches and Houses and Lands and yet hate theâ—â—e may cloath them in scarlet Robes here and yet throw them hereafter into scarlet Flames he may advance them to Honour in this World and yet cover them with shame and everlasting confusion in the World to come he may put a golden Scepter into Mens hands now and yet break them in pieces hereafter like a potters Vessel But in giving us himself for our Reward in making over himself to us by a federal transaction as the strength of our Hearts and our Portion for ever now he bestoweth the highest pledge of his special distinguishing Love upon us For to be sure the Lord Jehovah he is the most transcendently great and glorious Reward that the wisdom of God could devise that the Love of God could give or that the Heart 〈◊〉 Man can desire God is Bonum in quo omnia bona a bâ—ing compleatly replenished with whatever is good and desirable a Sun that always shines with a like brightness and is never eclipsed â—â—â—s as an essence that hath all excellencies and divine perfections bound up in himself as in one infinite volume he is a boundless Ocean without either banks or bottom into which all the Rivers of Wisdom Blessing and Goodness do empty â—hemselves (f) Liquet igitur beatitudinem esse statum bonorum omnium congregaâ—â— perfectum Boeth de cons phil lib. 3. pros 2. pag. â—â— So that if blessedness as Boetius defines 〈◊〉 do consist in the enjoyment of all good things then all that are truly Gracious they are blessed and they shall be blessed as having that God for their Portion and Reward in whom whatsoever things are good whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are desirable to make one happy do meet as in the only Center of Life and Blessedness What then is the folly of worldly Men blessing themselves in their havings not having the Lord Jehovah to be their shield and their exceeding great Reward Poor brutish Sinner is thy Rock like a Christian's Rock or thy Reward to compare with a Christians Reward thou thy self being Judge Be it so that thou have Riches Honours and worldly Enjoyments Yet what are these but as Wells without any Water as Trees without Fruit or as Stars without the Sun that may glimmer a little but can never make a Day of Happiness 〈◊〉 thy Soul (g) Qui Deâ—â—â—â—abet omni bono abundat qui verò Deum non habet pauperâ—◠〈◊〉 Extra Deum omnis delectatiâ—â—sta omnis laetitia est vana omnis rerum abundantia est 〈◊〉 indigentia Stella de Cont. mundi lib. 3. cap. 〈…〉 248. He that hath God hath all in point 〈◊〉 â—rue Happiness but he that hath not God for his Râ—â—ard is most wretched and hath nothing at all Have all the Riches in the World without God thou art poor Have all the Honours in the World without God thou art a vile Person Have all the Pleasures in the World wherein to bath thy self like an Epicure every Day yet without God thy condition is miserable there being nothing but fiery Wrath and Indighation that abides thy Soul in the World to come Be ashamed then any longer to count the Creature any thing in comparison of God who is the sure Reward of every believing Soul (h) 1 King 5.12 Do not talk with Naaman as if Abana and Pharpar Rivers of Damascus were better than all the Waters in Israel Do not think thy broken Cisterns to be better than the Fountain of Living Waters What shall Earth compare with Heaven Shall Pebbles compare with this one Pearl of great price Shall a small twinkling Star that uniting all its Beams hath scarce light enough to render itself visible compare with the glorious Sun usurp his Chariot and take upon it to give light to all the World Shall Creature enjoyments that have nothing but Vanity and vexation of Spirit for their very quintessence be compared with a Christian's Reward whose Portion is God over all blessed and blessing him for ever Oh learn to put a difference betwixt Portion and Portion betwixt earthly enjoyments and the Reward of Eternal Life in Heaven The difference is not so great between a Pins-head and the whole Body of the Earth as between all worldly Riches and heavenly Glory (i) Rom. 8.18 For as the sufferings are not so neither are the Comforts of this present time worthy to be compared with the Glory which shall be revealed in us 6 THE Reward whereunto God allows his People a respect in all their obedience it 's a full and satisfactory Reward Every Creature is short and defective a very compound of Vanity Emptiness and guilded Deceit That albeit the Soul should knock as one well observes at every Creatures Door yet she can find no filling entertainment within no Creature can bid her welcome it would quite exhaust Natures Store-house and indeed bankrupts the whole Creation to feast such a Guest as the Soul to her full content and satisfaction But now the Lord Jehovah he being the Reward of his People there is that fulness of all Good in him that they need no more God hath provided such a sumptuous Feast for them that when they come to sit down at his Table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of Heaven (k) Psal 63.5 now their Souls shall be filled as with marrow and fatness now their spiritual appetite shall be so fully satisfied that they shall hunger no more neither shall they thirst any more for ever The Appetite of an immortal is too vast and boundless for any nay for all Creatures in the World to satisfy but in the recompence of Eternal Glory there is that which will answer all her cravings that she shall now have no further to seek but rest fully satisfied This present Life is full of nothing but emptiness and dissatisfaction even in the highest Zenith of all its blessedness the Soul of Man hath a kind of infinite appetite desiring this good thing and that good thing and yet having obtained them like an hydropick Body 't is as thirsty as
a Man eye the Reward of Eternal Glory that his Face is towards the heavenly Jerusalem if that be the great design of his Life and he makes it his principal Care to win the Crown of Life this will certainly set him above all carking Cares he will not stoop to those sordid enjoyments that others do he hath higher Thoughts his mind is not set on the World but upon God upon Glory upon life eternal And what need he trouble himself with the Cares of the World who hath placed all his Happiness in Heaven and knows he can never come to the full enjoyment of it till he leave the World So then to have Heaven and Glory in our Eye is the best Way to get the World and all worldly Cares out of our Hearts 7 A due respect had to this glorious Reward it will put much holy Courage and spiritual Fortitude into you quite setting you above all slavish Fears Undauntedly will all that have Heaven in their Eye look the worst of earthly dangers in the Face So that come Life or come Death let the Clouds gather let the Winds blow let what Storms will overtake them yet looking forward to their Harbour of Eternal Rest no distracting servile Fears can take hold upon them 'T is storied by Naturalists of Bees that when out in a storm they gather up to themselves little Stones wherewith they being poysed they escape blowing away and come home safely This far more exceeding and Eternal weight of Glory is that (g) Psal 125.1 Tutelary-stone whereby God's People stand unshaken amidst all Storms and become like Mount Sion which cannot be removed but abideth for ever Though Houses might be overthrown by impetuous Storms and shaken out of their Places yet Mount Sion stood immoveable keeping its place let what Storms and Tempests would be abroad in the World Thus albeit that such as have only built upon the Sands of a temporary Faith may fall and be frighted by Storms of persecution out of their Religion yet the true Christian who hath cast anchor within the Veil fixing his Eye upon future Glory he stands unshaken no Storm of Reproach Persecution or trouble in the World can fright him out of Heaven's Way (h) Psal 112.7 Such an one will not be afraid of evil tidings His Heart is fixed trusting in the Lord. Let the blind world say what it will let it threaten God's People with exile spoiling of goods with a fiery tryal Yet none of these things move them but they stand unshaken and can laugh like the Leviathan with a holy scorn at the shaking of the spear of every threatned danger of every denounced cruelty This redoubted Chivalry and invincible courage the holy Ghost gives us exemplified in those three (i) Dan. 3.16 17 18. Jewish Worthies With what unbended constancy and undaunted gallantry of Spirit do they answer the great Nebuchadnezzar when urging them to idolatry by arguments taken from the dreadful Topicks of kingly Fury and a fiery Furnace heated seven times hotter than usual O Nebuchadnezzar we are not careful to answer thee in this matter If it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery Furnace and he will deliver us out of thy Hand O King But if not be it known unto thee O King we will not serve thy Gods nor worship the golden Image which thou hast set up Moses in the words preceeding my Text and those that follow is a pregnant instance of the like holy boldness and Christian prowess who could suffer afflictions with the People of God not fearing the fierce Wrath of an heard-hearted Pharaoh but endured as seeing him that was invisible Nor was holy Paul of any worse metal but as a Man furnished with adamantine hardiness he tramples most bravely upon all discouragements resolving rather to die (k) Acts 21.13 than to dissemble Conscience and balk his Duty What do you tell a Man saith he of Bonds and Fetters who is ready not only to be bound but to die at Jerusalem for the name of Jesus (l) Pueri mulierculae nostrae cruces tormenta feras omnes suppliciorum terriculas inspiratâ patientiâ doloris illudunt Mint Fael Octavius 121. Should I borrow light to this Truth from Ecclesiastick History telling you the invincible Courage of all the holy Martyrs who having respect to the recompence of the Reward tired out the cruelties derided the menaces and overcame the enraged malice of their proudest Persecutors the time would indeed fail me and this one particular Branch swell out into a large volume Luther was a Man of such an hardy robustious Spirit that he resolves to do his work though there were as many Devils to oppose him in it as Tiles upon the Houses at Worms knowing well that his Reward would be great in Heaven Of no less holy resolution and undaunted Courage was Polycarp Bishop of Smyrna and Simeon Bishop of Jerusalem and Chrysostome Bishop of Constantinople nothing fearing the Pride and Persecution of the Empress Eudoxia (m) Hostes veritatis jam non tantum non per horescimus sed provocamus inimicos Dei jam hoc ipso quod non cessimus vicimus Epist 26. pag. 60. And Cyprian the holy Bishop of Carthage to whom thus bravely we find some Confessors expressing themselves We are so far from fearing the Enemies of the Truth that we provoke them rather overcoming their Malice whilst we yield not to their ungodly Practices (n) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat. ad Rom. epist pag. 86. Blessed Ignatius was a Man of the same heroick Spirit whom we find also professing himself fearless of all manner of Dangers and Torments whilst fixing his Eye upon Christ as his Portion and exceeding great Reward O saith he that I were with the wild Beasts made ready to devour me I could wish they may prove a compendium a quick dispatch to me I would allure them speedily to eat me up and not as with others be terrified so as not to touch them and if they should delay I would provoke them Pardon me I know what is most expedient for me I now begin to be a Disciple of Christ neither regarding things visible nor invisible so I may win Jesus Christ Let Fire Cross and the concourse of wild Beasts the cutting separating and breaking of my Bones the rending of my Members the destruction of my whole Body and the most exquisite Torments that Hell itself can devise come upon me so I may obtain the full enjoyment of Christ in Glory (o) Steterunt torti torquentibus fortiores pulsantes ac laniantes ungulas pulsata ac laniata membra vicerunt Inexpugnabilem fidem superare non potuit saeviens diu plaga repetita quamvis rupta compage viscerum torquerentur in servis Dei jam nòn membra sed vulnera Fluebat sanguis qui incendium persecutionis extingueret qui flammas ignes gehennae glorioso
Fruit. Do you not see multitudes every where forfeiting by Sin their Right to this blessed Reward Mortgaging Paradise for an Apple selling Christ together with all the Riches of this Kingdom and Glory for thirty pieces of Silver Oh 't is a Miracle of discriminating Grace to you that ever you saw so much of Heaven as to make you prize it at an higher rate Well if still you would keep at a distance from all appearance of Evil daily purifying your selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit let the hope of this eternal Reward be abiding in you Oh let your Eye be always upon this Crown and remember if you would not Sin that the least Sin is enough to rob you of it Look within the Veil observe this heavenly Kingdom and the Glory of it and remember that the least Sin is enough to shut you our of it for ever For saith Christ (b) Matth. 5.19 whoever shall break the least of these Commandments and shall teach Men so he shall be called least in the Kingdom of God He that thinks to rhetoricate Sin into current Coyn amongst the Citizens of the new Jerusalem may well please a carnal Heart that loves to bow in the House of Rimmon cum privilegio but will doubtless prove himself if our blessed Lord may be judge such reprobate Silver as without the Philosopher's Stone of true Grace to change him by a spiritual Transmetallation into pure Gold shall never be Treasured up in the Exchequer of Heaven To talk of small Sins that a Man for his own safety may venture upon and not prejudice his Salvation some little Zoar that a Man may live in and his Soul not die is the most damnable Solecism in Christianity that can be There is that Treason against the God of Heaven in the least Sin which none but a Child of Hell and Wrath dare be found in 'T is no less treasonable and Death-worthy to Coyn Pence than to Coyn twenty Shilling-pieces because the Royal (c) Quia Deo nos totos omnia nostra debemus certè in infinitam ejus majestatem injurii sunt aeternam mortem merentur qui vel in mimina re sanctissimam ejus voluntatem transgrediuntur Authority is as much violated by the one as by the other Thus how little soever your Sins be though but as Pence and Farthings yet because committed against the great God they are damnable and such as may for ever deprive you of this glorious Reward It was but one Wedge of Gold that destroyed Achan cleaving him from amongst God's People So if thou suffer thy self to be drawn away by any one Sin it may undo thee to Eternity The Sin which in its own Nature is little may yet be made great by thy Allowance The Money for which Judas sold the Lord of Glory was not much but yet being the Wages of Unrighteousness it quickly kindled in his Conscience the Fire of Hell throwing him down headlong into that place of Torments O then be not found fingering any of Satan's Coyn whether little or great whether more or less For be your Sins never so small in themselves yet when lived in with allowance they are nothing but the earnest of Hell whereby you make sale of all your Interest in Heaven and Glory And who but a Mad-man would sell this one Pearl of great Price for such reprobate Silver Do not think Sirs by falling the Rate and Valuation of your Sins that you shall ever the more escape an Arrest◠from divine Justice which will certainly Commence a Suit against you for the least allowed Iniquity and cast you Prisoners into Hell (d) Mat. 5.26 out of which you shall never come till you have paid the last Farthing Oh then what a dreadful thing were it for any Man to forfeit Heaven and drop into Hell irrecoverably through indulgence to himself in any the least Iniquity Should a Prince sell his Crown and Dignity for a draught of cold Water as Lysimachus did it were a most happy Bargain in comparison of what they make who let go their Right to this glorious Reward for a little sensual Pleasure What for Sin to throw thee out of Heaven to keep thee for ever entring into the Joy of thy Lord to take away thy Crown hiding from thee the Light of God's Countenance that thou shalt never see it more nor be comforted any more with it for ever oh think of this my Soul and think often what a woful bargain is made where thy God thy Portion thy Life thy dearest Lord thy heavenly Treasure are all made away for a Lust that ere-long will be turned into the Fire of Hell Oh would you Christians but observe what a glorious Kingdom what fulness of Joy what Rivers of Pleasure Sin comes to rob you of this would sour all the Pleasures of Sin this would break in pieces the Dagon of every Lust this would make you as fearful to meddle with any Temptation as to burn and lie scorching in Hell for ever The allurements of Hell can never ensnare us where our Hearts are fixed upon Heaven's Glory When therefore you feel Christians Corruption stirring in your Hearts be sure to get Glory in your Eye such motions can never hurt us when struggling against the Temptation we keep our Mind fixed upon the Crown that will follow after (a) Ad portam voluntatis in qua solent manere carnalia desideria statuatur Ostarius qui vocatur recordatio calestis patriae hic enim potest pravum desiderium quasi cuneus cuneum pellere Bernard Let the mindful Sense of our heavenly Country stand as Door-keeper at the Door of the Will wherein carnal Desires are wont to dwell and as one wedge drives out another so this will drive out all carnal and brutish desires If ever we desire to thrust evil Desires out of our Hearts we must plant spiritual ones in their stead (b) Si carnales concupiscentias è cordibus nostris desideramus extrudere spirituales earum locis plantemus voluntates ut his noster animus semper in nixus habeat quibus illecebras carnalium respuat gaudiorum Cassian that our minds being fixed upon them may always dwell upon them and so refuse the Snares of present and sensual delights Keep Heaven Christians still in your Eye steep your Hearts at all Times in the sweet contemplations of heavenly Bliss and then if Temptations come if the Pleasures of Sin be offered as a bait to ensnare you you will certainly shun them with the like abhorrency and godly trembling as you would shun Hell Those allurements of Sin come too late and will never be able to fasten upon the Soul which never assault her till got upon the Mount of Transfiguration and looking by Faith into the heavenly Canaan A sight of God in Heaven makes it impossible for the Saints to sin and a sight of Heaven on Earth this makes it impossible for the Saints to
a Land all whose Rivers run heavenly Nectar and all whose Trees are ever laden with the sweet delicious Grapes of Paradise (o) Si tanta nobis tribuis in careere quid dabis in patria Aug. de civit Dei If here in the Land of your Pilgrimage so much of Heavens Glory be revealed to you what Tongue of Man or Angel can tell the Happiness the Glory to be revealed in you when at home in your own Country The Crown of Life if now so bright and orient to an Eye of Faith beholding it Oh then what a far more excâ—â—ding and Eternal Weight os Glory will be found in it when a glorious Christ shall set it upon your Head with his own remunerative Hands 12 AND lastly a due respect had to this glorious Reward will bring you safe to it never leaving you till your Souls be crowned with fulness of Glory The Loadstone will draw Iron to itself when intra Spheram activitatis suae within the reach of its own attractive influence Thus the Reward of Eternal Life as an heavenly Loadstone hath that magnetick Virtue in it that if you put yourselves by a due respect had thereto under it it will draw you home to itself The wise Men keeping their Eye upon the Star which went before them were at length brought to Christ Thus keeping your Eye Christians upon this Eternal Reward as a glorious Star it will bring you at length to Christ in Glory whom fully to enjoy is our Life our Comfort our Happiness yea the Heaven of Heavens 'T is true Christians we must be uncloathed of this Body of Death before we can enter into the Joy of our Lord and be cloathed upon with the white Robes of Blessed Immortality Death must break down the Prison Walls of a Mortal Body before our Souls can ever come to the glorious Liberty of God's Children (a) 2 Cor. 5.1 Till our earthly Tabernacle be dissolved there is no having of a Building of God an House not made with Hands Eternal in the Heavens And why should we not be willing that God should pull down these Cottages of Clay who hath promised to raise us up a more glorious Temple The Loadstone cannot draw Iron as some say whilst the Diamond is in Presence Doubtless were it not for a Body of Death that is still present with us an Eye fixed upon Heaven's Glory would immediately draw us into Heaven For besides the interposition of an earthly gross Body together with those corruptions whose Foundation is in that Dust there is nothing as one well observes that hinders a Christian from the full enjoyment of God in Glory So that Death's peculiar Office is to break down this Wall of separation that the Soul may the better come to her God her beloved Redeemer her Eternal Habitation in the Kingdom of Heaven The Soul when once loosed from this dying Body then she hath the Crown of Life set upon her Head then she sees God no longer through a Glass darkly but Face to Face then she is ravished with the unconceivable sweetness of the beatifical Vision (b) Mori plane timeat sed qui ex aqua spiritu non renatus Gehennae ignibus mancipatur mori timeat qui non Christi cruce passione censetur mori timeat qui ad secundam mortem de hac morte transibit quem de seculo recedentem perennibus poenis aeterna torquebit flamma Cyp. de Mortalit pag. 344. Let those therefore tremble at the knocking and approaches of Death who know not what will become of their immortal Souls who not being born again from above are every moment liable to infernal Flames who have no interest in the Glory purchased by Christ who must pass from Death to Death from short momentany Pleasures to everlasting hellish Torments Death to the Wicked is the Trap-door that opening lets them fall down irrecoverably into the dark vault of Eternal Misery But to the Gracious Soul there is no cause of Terrour in Death no Fear in the Grave no Sting to perplex in a bodily dissolution as that which only ushers in her everlastingly Blessed and Glorious Coronation Death comes to a Man dying the recompence of Reward like Moses to the Israelites to deliver him as the Angel to Peter in Prison to set him free as God's fiery Chariot to carry him like Elias into heavenly Glory And are you Christians afraid of entring upon your own Blessedness are you afraid to be cloathed upon with your House from Heaven Get a right notion of Death which as Bernard calls it is nothing but the Gate of Life the Portal of eternal security Though Death look upon thee with a grim Countenance yet it comes upon a good errand to God's People to fetch them out of their Wilderness-condition and to bring them to an everlasting estate of Happiness By Death we go from Earth to Heaven from conversing with Sinful Men to converse with Millions of glorious Angels and what makes us so loath to remove Who would not leave a Cottage to gain a Kingdom Who would not leave an Egypt to inherit Canaan Who would not leave gladly an oppressive Babylon to be made a Citizen of Sion of the heavenly Jerusalem OUR greatest Misery lies not in Death but in Life 'T is the Veil of Flesh that keeps us from entring into the holiest of all c Death gives us a pasport from corruptible Joys to an incorruptible Crown from a Mortal Life to a Life of blessed Immortality from a troublesome condition to a State of perfect tranquillity So that the name of Death should not offend us But the Happiness and Glory to which it leads should delight us The Moon never comes to the full til after her change Thus through the change of Death a Christian comes to all fulness of Joy and hath the white Robes of Glory given him Now the Bridegroom comes to meet the Soul in Happiness now all Tears are wiped away and Heaven Gates are set wide open to give her everlasting glorious entertainment Now the Reward of life everlasting now the Joy of Eternal Salvation now the full possession of the heavenly Paradise comes Now heavenly Mansions instead of earthly Tabernacles now greatest Glory instead of small and Eternal Happiness instead of poor temporal enjoyments are bestowed upon every Child of God What Man that is well in his Wits woâ—ld not part with Life and bid Death welcome upon terms of such everlasting blessed and glorious advantage (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost ad pop Ant. hom 7. Death in the true notion (c) Mors haec transitus universorum est transitur à corruptione ad incorruptionem à mortalitate ad immortalitatem à perturbatione ad tranquillitatem Non igitur nomen mortis te offendat sed boni transitûs beneficia delectent Ambros lib. de Bono mort cap. 4. Proemium vitae gaudium salutis aeternae perpetua laetitia possessio Paradisi
fearing the Shame and not knowing well how to spare so much Mony as was needful in the case To all other Duties he finds mighty impulsions to close with any opportunity for them and against every Temptation to sin strong aversations and reluctances so that he feels the Law of the Spirit of Life within his own Bowels though too often alass too often he is disobedient to it 3 He measures all Persons Places Employments by their subserviency to the Divine Life in his Soul and still comes off with Shame and great Heaviness where he spends one Hour without some spritual advantage 4 He hath a real compassion for all Men making it his Heart's Desire to God that they may be saved but his delight lies in those that have most of the Image and likeness of God upon them those that are begotten by the same immortal seed formed into the same divine Nature acted and fed by the same Almighty Spirit of Life with himself these are his Beu'ah's his Hepthsibahs he thinks â—he could not live in the World without â—hem 5 This notwithstanding he still finds himself out of his Proper Center he is daily under powerful tendencies and restless desires after the full enjoyment of and the nearest conjunction with the blessed God in Christ Jesus which desires are mightily strengthned by a deep Sense of his present misery under hard bondage the impetuousness of in-dwelling Corruption and violent Temptations which make every Day of his Life a bloody Warfare so that his Soul almost chooseth Strangling and Death rather than Life he loaths it he would not live always at such distance from the blessed God in such incessant and dangerous conflicts with World Flesh and Devil for a thousand Worlds so far as he is willing under the Tears and tediousness the Conflicts and Dangers of this Mortal Life by way of pure Compliance with the Will of God he really judgeth the greatest act of Self-denial that he is capable of performing 6 To sweeten a Life so much in the Gall of Bitterness and Bonds of Iniquity he makes it his Business to be much with God through an Almighty Redeemer and much in the Fellowship of the Holy-Ghost and this not only at the stated times of publick private and secret Duties but especially of secret Duties where he sets himself no bounds but takes all opportunities which he finds his Heart fit to comply with many times in company and employment of another Nature he is weary of forbearing and his Heart restless till he find room for such retirement for he hath found that Life and Power that divine solace and sweetness in it with which all the Delights of Sense are no more worthy to be compared than a Dunghil with the Sun And oh when Heaven hath thus come down in Smiles to him and filled him with Righteousness Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost how often hath he been afraid to make an end of the Duty How often when rising off his Knees hath he fallen down again not willing to leave his sweetness and his Fatness so and so doubled the Time of his Duty Thus was his whole Sheet of Paper filled whether there was any thing more written of this kind we cannot find The preservation of this Sheet seems to be an intimation of Divine Providence that he shou'd be shewed to the World in those colours that he had lay'd on himself He lived till the Non-conformists had a little Smile from the Court after a Decad of Severity and Frowns And now having got a little Liberty by the Licences the King granted to those of his Station he took the Gale of Opportunity to be more abundant in the work of the Lord. And that in the Age of his full Vigour and Strength Yet even now see he is at leisure to think of Death and being Poetically given composed this Dialogue betwixt a Person dying and Death Thus prefacing it Oppress'd with Pain I groan'd as one unwise Death's horrid Aspect did my Soul surprize This frightful Picture ghastly to behold Did all his Terror on my Thoughts unfold At first confounded all amaz'd I stand But gaining confidence thus I demand Moriens or Person Dying Are you that King of Terrors which they say Doth conquer Empires and great Kings dismay Death The very same Sir Death both name and thing My Looks kill some all die that feel my Sting Person Dying Poor Death your looks speak not your strength but fear You cannot live I guess self-judg'd you are Death And would it not torment the greatest Powers My Empire large as Nature Grace devours Person Dynig What that 's the reason of your hollow Eyes Of all the paleness on your Cheeks that lies You have some secret Wound if I guess right Your vital Blood is gone you look so white Death My vital Blood was Poyson and my Sting Did give me Power and create me King Person Dying Your Poyson who destroy'd Christ on the Cross Your Sting great Jesus dying caus'd this loss How came this Palsie in your trembling Hand For fear of losing Scepter and Command Scepter Poor Death it is a Spade I judge No sign of Majesty but of a Drudge Go dig my Grave I would repose in Dust Death you must help to scower off my Rust This Mortal Life will kill me Welcome Grave My hidden Life in Christ is all I have Death do your Office Heaven calls away Dissolve my Bonds my Soul shall win the Day I cannot live indeed unless I die Such is Death's Triumph such his Victory Neither did he forget to think on Heaven upon which he hath bestowed a larger Poem as also others upon Faith Hope Repentance c. which shew the way thither Which possibly the Reader may find in some other place For he delighted to fetter his Thoughts in Verse And though he hath not such high flights as some may expect yet there is in his Poems the devout Breathings of a Divine Poet he wrote not for the Stage nor a King Arthur But that which speaks his Heart most to have been in Heaven is not a Poem but what his serious Reflections and Meditations wrote in Prose in the Treatise following God is pleased to exercise many of his Servants with thoughts of Heaven as it were to prepare them for it immediately before he call them to it Thus Mr. Bolton was writing de quatuor novissimis particularly of Heaven when he dyed Thus the late Reverend Dr. Bates had finished his last Treatise of spiritual Perfection not long before he had expired the last words of which Book are Enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord. Many more might be named But our own Author must not be forgotten who had taken much pains to transcribe what he had preached and fitted for the Press his Meditations upon this Subject It may be there are few Subjects more cultivated and none on which more is to be said God and Heaven fall under no Hyperbole A late Doctor
wrote at the end of his Friend's Book upon part of the same Subject What this to know as we are known shou'd be The Author could not tell he 's gon to see We have seen him in his Life let us now see him at his Death in and under the Gripes of his last Sickness which for want â—f the Pen of a ready writer remain only in a few short and broken Sentences but they are of that Weight that if Reader thou hast any Sense of Eternity thou wilt covet to die like him Take a few of them When shall I be unburdened of this Body of Corruption Oh Happy Day and â—onged for Oh when Oh when Methinks it is very grievous to think of being turned back again and put into the Hands of the World again Again Oh lift me up meaning by Prayer to my longed for Rest Again crying May not I pray for dissolution I find no hurt in it good old Simeon cries out Let thy Servant depart in peace Another time being in Pain I could fill my Mouth with Complaints but I will be dumb because thou hast done it Again standing by him desiring him to take something frequently that he might gather strength he replies Away away I look not for it God is able to raise me up but I know my Days are at an end and my Time is accomplished I only wait for my Lord. Oh why linger I so long Come my Dear Lord Come quickly and take me up to thy self Again Oh when will the Day of Redemption come When shall I have past all these wearisome Nights and Days Again When he had been under much Faintings and Sinking he cries out with Eyes lift up to Heaven Oh where are thy wanted loving-kindnesses are thy Bowels shut up One standing by him asked him if he spake it as to his Souls concern He answered Oh no I bless God its state is settled Another time having some ease and refreshment he said This is not Heaven One standing by replies I hope you will be willing to tarry with us Oh yes if God have any more Work for me to do I shall thankfully take the Mercy There were multitudes of these sweet Passages lost by his observing one transcribe them after which he was much silent We have seen him die twice over once morally and now naturally let us accompany him to his Grave and there hear what Character a conforming Minister gave of him one that knew him well and intimately and therefore the rather to be believed His whole Life was a curious delineation of Religion and Learning so Virtuous and Spotless that Malice itself might be angry but had no cause to be so with him His Reputation as invulnerable as the Air his unexampled Goodness might justly stile him a Match for Antiquity in its greatest Purity and Severity I 'll pass by his natural Constitution his solid Judgment his Affections and the Faithful Treasury of his Memory I 'll say nothing of his Quick and Happy Fancy the fruitful Store-house of hallowed and sublime Notions Yet I can't but make mention of his Gravity which was always constant and genuine He did nâ—t deserve this Character that Suidas gave Salust the Philsopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Somtime acting the grave Lecturer sometimes playing the ridiculous Child He was not in the Desk or Pulpit demure and mighty devout and elsewhere Light Vain Frothy and Dissolute But always composed Serious and Reverend beyond his Age. His Presence struck a reverential Awe into the Persons he conversed with and his Deportment was so Graceful and Majestick that I well remember Time was when these words Here comes Mr. Cooper would charm a rude Society into civil order and compose lead Persons into an handsome decorum his Affability was Candid and Generous his Language Free and Eloquent his Charity open-handed and if I may not say he was liberal beyond his measure of the good things of this Life I am sure of the things of another Life he was often liberal beyond his strength his Humility had taught him to speak evil of no Man and his Loyalty to enjoin Subjects to obedience and to hush into Silence whatever did detract from or tend to the defaming of Dignity the contempt of the World was very conspicuous in this holy Man Agar's Prayer found sweet entertainment in his Soul desiring to be a Stranger on the Earth like the kingly Prophet and as a refined Saint always accounted himself to be in a State of Banishment while in a state of Mortality his Studies and Learning were unwearied and venerable and I dare challenge the World to give me the Lye while I assert him to be a general accomplisht Scholar no common Linguist a smart Disputant a judicious Philosopher and an experienced godly Divine If I say nothing his printed Sermons his Legis septimentum his noble attempts in three Works that must now be buried in the same Womb that conceived them and his constant generous designs for the publick good speak more in silence than I can utter with the highest pitch of my invention his singular Piety did disperse its Rays to all that beheld him being like sacred Fire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 warming refreshing quickening all about it and kindling in others the like Zeal for God and Goodness he had in himself Witness this Legacy he left to me Study God says he and study your self closely and pursue Holiness more than Learning though both together make an happy Constitution And when I was a Boy be sure whatever Precepts dropt from his sacred Lips I had this for one Disce Christum aut nihil learn Christ or nothing of whom I must needs tell the World that if ever I behold the blissful Face of God in Glory next to the sacred Trinity I think I may say I owe it to his Godly Councel and Society Should I tell you his compassion to Souls his Heroick Spirit his Trust in Providence his Delight in Meditation and Thanksgiving and of all his heavenly endowments I should raise a work to trouble Fame and astonish Praise For his ministerial Labours I appeal to this People how earnest how importunate how instant in season and out of Season he hath been with them to convert them to a state of Grace and to bring them to a saving Knowledge of Jesus Christ Let your Consciences speak what great things he hath done for your Souls You alone my Friends of this place have the greatest loss your Watchman's gone your Glory 's departed How well now may you be termed Desolation Come come with me here paint the Characters of Woe Here pay your Tribute to the dead Here make return of those Sighs and Tears your holy Passion hath abundantly laid out for you Engrave his Doctrin upon your Hearts and though he 's gone be still intimate with his Godly Counsels and hearty Advice and while you have Childrens Children to perpetuate his Memory let not his Name his precious Name be