poor Sinners be wise while you may and know assuredly it is best going to him now for a pardon and grace and acceptance before you go to him to receive your final Sentence If you will not now go to him as humble Penitents with Confessions and Supplications that your Sins may be blotted out you shall come to him as Criminals in order to execution and if you desire to know aforehand what your punishment will be you may read it in 2 Thess. 1. 8. Everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power Secondly We may from hence learn what our life in the world should be It is a matter of very high and near concernment for men and women to understand themselves well in this particular to know what they should be and do and how they should live that they may be approved and truly our life should be a coming to God and a walking with him In the first Conversion there is a facing about a turning of the mind and heart to God Christ sent Paul to the Gentiles to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God And after the first turn is made there should be a further returning all the actions of the life should be so many steps back to God This was the great design and end of our Lord Iesus in his dying not only that he might bring pardon and peace to men but also that he might bring men to God bring them into favour with God yea and into obedience and conformity to him and into a communion and conversation with him 1 Pet. 3. 18. He suffered the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God Now since that was the gracious design of Christ the blessed and noble end he had in his eye and was willing to be at so much cost for the accomplishment of shall not we comply with him therein shall it not be in our heart as well as in his And since we have so great an excellent Person to take us by the hand and introduce us and bring us in and present us to the Father let us go let us not draw back let us not stand questioning and disputing and saying Shall I shall I this is a meer loss of time let us go presently the sooner the better You have heard that you must go at last yes you must there is no possibility of avoiding it and therefore let us all be persuaded and heartily willing to go now To day if you will hear his voice harden not your hearts Go now to God in your Mind and Thoughts in your Hearts and Affections before you go in your Persons Get as much of Heaven as you can before-hand The Psalmist said Psalm 73. ult It was good for him to draw night to God And without peradventure it is full out as good now as it was then as good for us as it was for him It is both a pleasant good and a profitable one Let us therefore do it yea and be drawing nearer and nearer to him every day never thinking our selves near enough so long as we are in a far Country and till we come to be with him in Heaven And yet again let us not think it enough to to be making frequent approaches to him in Holy Duties and in Gospel Ordinances which are as a Iacob's Ladder upon which the holy Soul ascends and makes its spiritual advances but keep up a daily Walk with God as Enoch and Noah did in their Generations maintain an intimate and constant Communion with him that you may be able to say with Paul Our Conversation is in Heaven And with Iohn Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son the Lord Iesus Christ. Oh how Noble is it to converse with God! it meliorates and raiseth and spiritualizeth the Soul it never is with him but it comes away better from him and how sweet is it God being pleasant for delights for certain you will find and judge it so when you do once come by experience to know what it is you will then say as Peter did upon the Mount of Transfiguration It is good Lord to be here Thirdly We may from hence learn that It is very much our Interest and therefore our wisdom to bid God heartily welcome whensoever he is geaciously pleased so far to condescend as to come to us You have heard and I hope you believe that it is appointed for all Men once to dye and when we do dye let it be in what way it will and by what stroke it will and let us be in what State and Frame we will we must all of us go to God all appear before the Judgment-Seat of Christ. And let us think with our selves what Entertainment we would have then how we would have Christ carry toward us Do not we desire that he should receive us graciously and bid us welcome as some of his old Friends and Acquaintance Would we not be glad to hear him owning us before his Father and the Holy Angels and saying to us Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the kingdom prepared for you I do not in the least question but you would Then I counsel you that in order thereunto you would now carry kindly toward God and receive him as it becomes an infinite Great Holy and Glorious Majesty to be received Know this such is his Goodness that he often comes to you Frequently in his word therein he discovers and reveals his Mind and Will concerning you opens to you the Mysteries of his Kingdom that were kept hid from Ages and Generations from the Wise and Prudent of the World Bid him welcome and his Word welcome say with Hezâ—kiah Good is the word of the Lord yea those Precepts of it that are most contrary to corrupt Nature and those threatnings of it that are most tremendous and startling Receive it into your Hearts as well as into your Heads and let it dwell richly in you Do not imprison any word of God as Asa did one of the Messengers that brought it do not rebel against the Light do not hold any truth in unrighteousness Sometimes he comes to you by his Spirit in such and such an holy Motion awakening you out of your Sleep and Sloth reducing you from such a wandering calling you to such a Word and Duty Now do not you resist him but submit and comply do not you quench him but bring fewel rather do not grieve him but labour to be his Delight and Joy Carefully listen to his Voice and make speed to follow his Ducture as Paul did immediately not consulting with Flesh and Blood when God had once revealed his Son in him The Spouse was guilty of vile Ingratitude and sinn'd grievously in lying lazily and asking her self a company of simple questions I have put off my coat how shall I put it on I have washed my feet how shall I defile them Which
to eternity 1 Thess. 4. 16 17. The dead in Christ shall rise first then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air so shall we ever be with the Lord. After that meeting there shall not be a parting any more Secondly When holy Souls go to God they shall he heartily welcome and find as loving and gracious a Reception as they can desire When a Sinner doth here in this life by a sincere Repentance break off from his Sins and returns to God there is rejoycing above Luke 15. â— and 10. There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth Where upon Bernard said The Tears of a Sinner are the Wine of Angels At such a time indeed and upon such an account Hell is in an uproar and the Devils fret and rage they cannot endure to think that they should lose any of their Prey and that one of their Vassals should be brought into the liberty of the Sons of God But in Heaven there are Triumphs and singing of Allelujahs This our Lord sets out in the Parable of the Prodigal Son upon whose return to his Father and his Duty there were Kisses and Embraces Feasting and making Merry The good old Man forgot his Age and found his Legs ran to meet him and the Family following so good an example was in a transport Just so there is in Heaven upon a gracious Soul's arrival there after its dissolution The great God doth welcome it even the whole Trinity the Father who elected it the Son who redeemed it the Holy Ghost who sanctified it It s old Relations and godly Friends do welcome it for they will not then be Strangers to one another but both know and be known It shall be welcom'd by an innumerable company of Angels who are now ministring Spirits unto the Heirs of Salvation and by the general Assembly and Church of the First-born by all the Spirits of just Men made perfect in Heaven Whatever weeping and mourning bitter sighs and lamentations there are here for being deprived of a faithful Friend a comfortable Yokefellow a pleasant and hopeful Child a learned orthodox and painful Minister an useful warm and exemplary Church-member that did adorn Religion and credit his holy Profession there are Triumphs above for the addition of another Star that will for ever gloriously shine in that celestial Orb. Then indeed is that fulfilled which is written in Psal. 45. 14 15. Those thrice-happy Souls are brought unto the King in rayment of needle-work a curiously embroidered garment a spotless beautiful robe of righteousness wrought for them by the hand of Christ himself with gladness and rejoicing are they brought they do enter into the King's Palace So shall they be received with the highest demonstrations of affection Christ hath most graciously and faithfully promised that when Sinners do now come unto him he will in no wise cast them out And when Saints do at death come to him he will in no wise shut them out but an abundant entrance shall be ministred to them into the glorious Kingdom of their God and Saviour Yea and when the Lord Jesus shall have delivered up his Mediatorial Kingdom to the Father they shall still keep the Mansions prepared for them in their Father's house and God himself shall be all in all to them Thirdly These holy Souls shall not only meet with an hearty welcome from God and all the blessed Inhabitants of that Region of Light and Love but also they shall find a most splendid and glorious entertainment such as will evidently shew forth the Love and Greatness and Glory of God himself and not only issue in their full satisfaction but likewise excite and keep up in them eternal Admirings There are many Mansions and a place provided for every one of them in which they shall have room enough and whatsoever will be pleasant to them for Delights A Throne a Robe of Glory a Crown of Righteousness hidden Manna the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God and to render their happiness complete those bodies of theirs which are now bodies of vileness when they come to be raised out of their Bed of dust by the Divine Power and reunited to their Souls shall be made like unto Christ's own most glorious body Philip. 3. 21. What shall I say Had I the Tongues of men and Angels I could not speak more than is the largest descriptions will fall unspeakably short when you come there you will say not one half was told you I may say this in general in Heaven you will meet with that which will far more than defray all the Charges you were put to here that which will abundantly compensate and make amends for all the hardships you endured here Those that have been the greatest Sufferers in this world when they come into the next will thankfully and chearfully acknowledge they are no Losers They shall receive that which shall richly reward all their pains so that instead of complaining their labour is lost they shall wonder such sorry services should be so recompenced and cry Grace Grace to it They shall have the accomplishment of all their hopes their former askings and thoughts being outdone That which is laid up for them and shall be given out to them will transcend their highest expectations be a full and complete answer to all their Prayers satisfy silence and put an everlasting period to all their desires for their enjoyments will be so great and their capacities so fill'd that there will be no room left for more God will then make good all his Promises which are exceeding great and precious so that not one tittle of them shall fail and by this means all tears shall be wiped from their eyes sorrow and sighing shall flee away never more to return and they shall enjoy an endless Sabbath an everlasting Triumph being fill'd with joy unspeakable and full of glory In short there is that which mortal eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor hath it entred into the heart of man and though the holy and blessed Angels which kept their standing and continue to be Heaven's Courtiers do both see and enjoy it yet they are not able to express it there is all that which our dearest Lord Jesus did purchase at the inestimable price of his own heart-blood Now from all this which hath been spoken there is abundant reason to conclude Lastly That those holy and truly happy Souls are better with God in Heaven than they were while here or could ever possibly have been True love is free and liberal to its endeared object it studieth to be so and takes singular pleasure in it Those that are kind and affectionate Husbands and live up to the Law of their Relation do and will make it their business and endeavour to make the Lives of their Yokefellows not only easy to them
and long to be Father I come as soon as ever I have drunk off that Cup which thou hast given me to drink of I come and how am I straitned till that be accomplished and glad I am at my very heart that thereupon I come to thee Now I come it will be but a little while first and the sooner the better I am willing to leave all for thee to leave the World for thee yea to leave my dear Disciples for thee tho they be my Friends the Men of my Choice the Purchase of ray Blood the Members of my Mystical Body yet do I freely leave them for thee Only Father I consider where I leave them in a World that hates me and will be sure to hate them for my sake and therefore while I leave them for thee I would leave them with thee I put them into thy hand let that uphold and defend them I shelter them under thy Wing let that secure and comfort them I have kept them while I was with them when I shall be gone do thou undertake and be Surety for them for good that they may be safe in the midst of Enemies and stedfast in the midst of Temptations and Assaults yea and chearful too in the midst of Sufferings and Troubles having my Joy fulfilled in themselves And now come I to thee The Doctrine which from hence I shall observe and speak to in the following Discourse is this Doct. An Holy Soul is and very well may be willing yea heartily glad to leave the world because when it doth so it will go to God I look upon the words of the Text as the Words of one rejoycing the Language of one whose heart did even leap within him of one whose Soul was upon the wing of holy Desires longing to be at its home Now come I to thee and when I once am with thee I shall be where I would be and with whom I would be in the best place and with the best Company what suits me most and therefore must needs please me best Now I come to thee whom I like abve all being infinite in all Perfections and whom therefore I love and prefer before all Now I come to thee who art mine Eternal Father and wilt be my Eternal Satisfaction Our Saviour had before told his Disciples in John 14. 28. That if they loved him they would rejoice because he said I go to my Father because that his departure would be glorious to himself and advantagious to them but whether they through want of a judicious Love would rejoyce in it or no he himself would perfectly understanding how things were and would be Now come I to thee Once I came from thee to do thy will and that was pleasing to me I delight to do thy Will O my God thy Law is within my heart Now I come to thee to enjoy thy Presence and that will be to me incomparably inexpressibly sweet Thus it was with our dearest Lord and Saviour this was the frame these the actings of his Spirit and thus likewise it ought to be with all his People who were predestinated to be conformed to his Image and who ought to have the same mind in them that was in him for he acted and suffer'd he liv'd and died leaving us an Example that we should tread in his Steps In the Doctrine which I have laid down there are three things which we ought to take notice of First That Gracious and Holy Souls must leave this World The World to come will be their Eternal Habitation but in this present evil World they will have but a short stay Those that have the largest share of its good things those that are most useful in it and live to the best purpose serving their Generations according to the Will of God must leave it Their loving Father never intended this for the place for their constant Residence nor the Comforts and Enjoyments here for their Portion The highest Heaven in his Throne the Habitation of his Holiness and Glory and he was always resolved to have his Children about him there This World is but your School to learn in during your Minority your House to work in till you have finished what was given you to do your Tyring-room to dress in that you may be ready for the Marriage of the Lamb a Stage to act your Part upon see that you so quit your selves as to be at last found to Praise and Honour but it is not to be your rest because it is polluted God hath too much of the heart of a Father and loves his Children too well to keep them always in a Vale of Tears where they shall be frequently Suffering and Sighing Complaining and Groaning always in a Wilderness that is over-run with Briars and Thorns and an innumerable company of Beasts of Prey the wicked of the World are their irreconcilable Enemies and implacably hate them therefore they shall not always have them to wreak their Malice and Rage upon They will for ever envy and gnash their Teeth at them because of their happiness in Heaven but they shall not for ever exercise their Patience and disturb their Peace upon Earth Often O Saints repeat in your thoughts that this World is but the House of your Pilgrimage therefore let not any of you love it too well but while you live in it be you weaned from it remembring there is a better place prepared and taken up for you whither the forerunner even Jesus is entred an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens whose builder and maker is God Secondly Whensoever Gracious and Holy Persons leave this World they go to God The decayed and crazy Body doth no sooner cease to be any longer capable of housing so noble and excellent a Guest as the Soul and the Soul doth no sooner dislodge and leave that once-beloved Structure but that it doth immediately take its flight and mount up with a swift and speedy Motion and a direct tendency without the least and shortest Digression to its great Creator even to him who alone is the Father of Spirits It cares not for any further Converse with things below being intirely set for Communion with him by and for whom it was made and on this side of whom it is and cannot but be resiless and unquiet Gen. 5. 24. Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him i. e. he took him home he took him to himself into the presence of his Glory into the bosom of his Love And thus it hath been is and will be with all those who walk as Enoch did who tread in the same Steps and keep up the same Communion tho indeed they do not all go the same Way yet they go to the same Place and to the same God Enoch was translated that he might not see death Hebr. 11. 5. He was presently carried up to Heaven having his Soul purified and his Body freed from Corruption He was soon