you may do the Devils work as long as you can and that then God should reward you with Salvation no such matter You may more rationally expect that God should for your sake pull the Sun out of the Firmament than that he should remove holiness out of Heaven and bring Hell in its place If wicked Men will please themselves with their own Delusions and look for Glory still they must thank themselves when they see how infinitely they are disappointed but I leave these as despairing to convince them of their folly till Judgment and Flames make them to understand it 2. All that live upon the goodness of God here are not like to be blessed after Death There is a vast difference between common and special mercies many partake richly of God's common bounty that have not the least interesâ— in his love God gives this World often times to his greatest Enemies he gives Glory in an other World to none but his Friends and Children Nay let me speak it freely I am sure I have Christ and Scripture to warrant what I say That they which gain this World with their neglect of Heaven shall at their Death lose both Many receive temporal mercies that shall never enjoy Eternal Job 21.9 Luk. 16.25 O how greatly are they mistaken who think that Earl Lord Knight c. are words of any significancy after Death that hope that their honours here will procure them any real respect hereafter that reckon Gold and Silver will go currant in that Country Many that would be counted Persons of some depth and wisdome make a World of stir about trifles that drive a great Trade for that which is next to nothing and that lay in no better Provisions than Gravel Clay or Dung when they are bound for Eternity and yet how do they bless themselves and say I am rich and increased in Goods and have need of nothing Soul take thine ease eat drink and be merry They think they make a very wise bargain when they sell their Conscience God and Heaven for a little of that which some call Riches not considering that a few Hours experience may make them know though it may be not cure this mistake O that I could but bring my hearers out of this Delusion O that their apprehensions were but rectified and that they might know the real worth of things and Persons O that I could but bring down the price of sublunary things and raise the things of that other World to their true worth Consider that that holiness as meanly as you think of it is the most excellent thing that that is the greatest Riches and Man's highest dignity God knows no difference between a Lord and a Beggar a Prince and a Subject He is no respecter of Persons If there be any difference it lies here that God hath more wrath in store for them that had greater ingagements and better advantages to serve him than other had I pitty the poor Lords of the World and I am confident he that knows the worth of Christ and the nature of his own Soul can't much envy them they swell like Bladders upon Water for a Moment and God blowes and where are they Now indeed they reckon themselves very secure and their houses are free from fear neither is the Rod of God upon them they take the Timbrel and Harp and rejoyce at the sound of the Organ Job 21. They think them Fools that can spare their Riches and want their greatness so they may but have an estate in invisibles and secure an Inheritance that will last for ever These are the Men that hate seriousness and holiness which is the beauty of Earth and Heaven too is undervalued by them And how can they expect sanctity should be delightful to them hereafter when it is abhorred now how can they look for Heaven when they dye when they thought it not worth their minding while they lived No no verily they have their reward they have now their good things and much good may they do them O let me rather gain Christ at Death though I loose all besides than possess Ten Worlds here and after all lose my Soul Could the mighty ones of the World have but one Hours discourse with one of their Brethren in Hell I believe their Judgments would be hugely altered and they would soon tell them that Riches and Honours and whatsoever else most Men do pursue let it be what it will below Christ will yield them but little happiness and comfort in another world Riches profit not in the Day of wrath Do but read Luk. 16.19 25. I am the larger that if possible I might prevent mistakes in matters of Eternal consequence Thirdly There are Thousands that seem to have a far better title to this blessedness that will fall short of it and they are Professors that call themselves by the Name of the Lord. Not all that are called yea and esteemed Christians are like to have any great benefit by Death To be Christned and to be Christians are two things not every one that weareth Christ's Livery shall have his Wages O how many Millions are there that have no better shelter than a meer Name to themselves from the wrath of God! Is it not more than possible to hear read pray and to be esteemed a Saint and yet to miscarry everlastingly How many seeming Saints shall gain nothing at Death but a thorow knowledge of their own folly And if to know what God's anger is be an advantage when there is no escaping of it and if to have their hearts wounded when there is no Cure to be had be any profit and if to be quite freed of Conscience searching Ministers be a happiness when they are out of the reach of their help or pitty then such may be esteemed blessed but if all this will but make the Flame hotter then I leave any serious Person to judg whether it doth not concern Men and Women to look after better security than this amounts to Did you ever well study Mat. 7.21 I hope you will believe Christ though you will not me read that Scripture and what saith Christ O consider seriously that to be an Heir of Glory is no such light matter as most judge it to be To be born to a Crown and a Kingdome and to have a good title to it is a dignity indeed but a Mad-man in Chains and Rags may say he is a King or a Lord. O please not your selves with fansies Sickness and Death is coming and then you will know better whether I had not some reason to be earnest with you in this matter I am most afraid of the confident Pharisee that trusts in his poor sorry Prayers and his own righteousness O that I could but shake him and his hopes before Death and Judgment doth it O that I could but perswade him to maintain a jealousie over himself and to search and try his Heart and to bring himself to the
Heaven and Hell to their view and to perswade them to a wise and speedy choice that when these Houses of Clay shall be laid in the dust they may be secured of an Habitation not made with hands that is Eternal with God in the Heavens The Apostle in this Chapter doth both in the 10. Verse he tells us what a Draught is prepared for the implacable Enemies of Christ they shall drink off the Wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the Cup of his Indignation and they shall be tormented with Fire and Brimstone in the presence of the Holy Angels and in the presence of the Lamb. The wicked may drink roar and swagger they may persecute the Members of Christ because they dare not so madly venture upon the Eternal displeasure of God as they do and sell their precious Souls for a moments joy and make light of damnation but let them know that for all these things God will bring them to Judgment an Eternity of intolerable sorrowes must pay for their short pleasures And hence it is the serious Christian that makes it his business to avoid this dreadful misery is satisfied that he doth not act irrationally and madly if the scorn and contempt of the wicked World doth not frighten him upon this account he patiently submits to any punishment rather than he will hazard the loss of his Soul and be miserable for ever that word for ever sticks much in his mind let the wicked laugh and be merry let them please themselves in his sorrows he knows 't is but a little while and all will be mended and their minds changed he is willing to stay for his happiness and joyes till he comes to another World and he doth not envy the wicked what they do enjoy let them make the best of it as long as they can and boast of their pleasures when they see themselves wrapt up in Flames The unseen world which most forget is always in the Saints eye and if he may but live happily there he passeth not if he run thorow reproaches injuries and a thousand Deaths to that glorious and endless life Here is the reason of the Saints patience this makes him judge it no folly to keep the Commandements of God and the faith of Jesus In the 13. Verse the Apostle comes to speak a word of encouragement not only to the suffering Saints of that Age but for the support of all that should be honoured with such service as to seal the truths of Christ with their blood And I heard a Voice from Heaven saying unto me write blâ—ssed are the dead which dye in the Lord from hâ—nceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works follow them In the words you may take notice of two parts 1. A Proposition 2. The Confirmation of that Proposition 1. The Proposition in which we may observe 1. The Predicate blessed 2. The Subject the dead 3. The restriction and limitation of the Subject which dye in the Lord. 2. The Confirmation of this Proposition 1. They rest from their labours 2. Their works follow them 3. The Person affirming this the Spirit which is further cleared 1. By the manner of this Delaration it was by a voice from Heaven 2. By the specification of the Person to whom it was spoken saying unto me 3. By the particular note of Observation Write The Doctrine which I shall take notice of from these words is this Doct. That whatever miseries a Saint may meet with in this Life at Death he shall be happy or in the words of the Text That they are blessed which dye in the Lord. In the Prosecution of this Observation I shall 1. Enquire what it is to dye in the Lord. 2. I shall prove that such are blessed 3. I shall shew wherein their happiness doth consist 4. I shall make some Application 1. I shall enquire what it is to dye in the Lord. 1. Neg. They which make it their business to do what they can against God while they live are not like to be blessed when they dye They which live like Devils are not like to dye like Saints Are there not a Generation in the World who act for the Devil with all their might and count all that time lost which is not spent in his service which make a jest of Damning and are as merry within a step of these devouring flames as if Hell and a Tavern were alike Do they not carry themselves as if they could not make hast enough to misery and make sure enough of Damnation How do they wound and stab their own Souls and let flye against the Almighty How contemptible a thing is Heaven and how ridiculous is the very name of Holiness to them They are of the same mind of those which Job speaks of Job 21.14 They say unto God depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways And who is the Lord that I should hearken to him And if a compassionate Minister of Christ beseech them with all the tendernesse that he can for his Soul to bethink themselves a little what these things may end in at last and to consider what a dreadful thing it is to fall into the hands of a living God how are his perswasions rejected with contempt and his pitty recompensed with scorn And may I not say of most wicked Men they do flye in the Faces of them that would tell them of their danger and do what they can to deliver them from it And yet for all this how well are they contented with their own condition and laugh at the godly as if it were a dangerous and mad thing to strive to go to Heaven and the truest happiness to be miserable for ever O who would imagine that any living should be thus lamentably besotted Tell them of Hell 't is as much as their life is worth they had rather hazard the feeling of it hereafter than bear the hearing of it here They fear a little disgrace among Men more than the contempt of God They choose rather to be under the weight of God's wrath than the least affront from a Man Talk to them of Glory Heaven and a Kingdom they are light and trivial things with them they had rather hear of a Whore a Tavern or Play and yet these Monsters must be Sainted and do more confidently expect a blessed Eternity after a life of wickedness than some of the dear Children of God do but if such as these ever come to Heaven without Repentance then the Word of God is false Doth not that say That the wicked shall be turned into Hell Tribulation and anguish upon every one that doth evil and there is no peace saith my God to the wicked The Devil himself may as well expect to shake off his Chains and be restored to his lost Glory as they O be not deceived as you Sow so you must Reap do not hope that
wherein God did dwell they are not therefore to be buried in forgetfulness but shall be reserved as Jewels in a Cabinet and at the Resurrection they shall be furbushed and set in Glory the very Dust of the Saints is precious and those very Members that were assistant to the Soul in the Worship of God shall partake of its Glory and upon this account the People of God dye in faith that their Bodies and Souls shall have a blessed Meeting upon this account believers weep not at the Interment of their Christian brethren as those which have no hope but the thoughts of a future meeting swallows up the grief of present parting they understand that it would be a piece of unkindness to be grieved at their happiness and that it speaks too much self-love and too great a disbelief of their unseen glory and too much desire that our wills should be done before God's What a deal of sorrow would the sound belief of the reality of invisibles prevent With what chearfulness might the dear Children of God part when they think how certainly and speedily they shall see one another again never to part more If the Doctrine of the Resurrection were but better understood if the Grave were but looked upon as a Chamber to rest in and if faith could but take Death to be but an undressing to put on better Raiment how contentedly then should we be unclothed that we might be clothed with immortality And why seems it a thing incredible that the Body should rise again Is it a thing incredible that he which made a World out of nothing should raise up our â—â—â—feless Dust and scattered Bones Is any thing too hard for the Almighty Was he put to it when he made Man out of a lump oâ— Clay Is it beyond his power to raise Children to Abraham out of the very Stones Can nothing be acted by an Omnipotent Agent but it must first be forged in our brains Shall God indeed come and bow to us and wisdome ask counsel of folly how he should manage his affairs Doth not God every Day do as great wonders as this and hath not he given our â—aith very considerable helps in this matter Doth not his Yearly providences preach the truth of this Doctrine What Farmer thinks his Seed lost when it 's buried under the Clods when the Winter hath disrobed the Medowes and covered them with a white Mantle will you therefore conclude they shall never be dressed again with their Greens and decked with their Flowers but it all this signify nothing what do you think of what God hath done already was Lazarus his Resurrection a cheat and were the Evangelists mistaken which tell us of the rising of many of the Saints and that they went into the holy City Is Christ still in the Grave and if these things be otherwise why should not that which hath been be again What hath God let power than he bad Is his Arm weaker than it was Is the Grave too strong for him And are the Doors of it so fast locked that his Key can't open them Did Christ promise more than he could make good when he said I will raise them up at the last Day O unbelief how dost thou spoyl my comforts and daunt my courage truth can't lye the Almighty can't be weak God is still like himself And if the case be so what a good condition is the dead Saint in his life is â—nd with Christ and when Christ who is his life shall appear he also shall appear with him in Glory And what kind of Body will this be when it shall be lâ—kâ— the glorious Body of Christ perfect active unmortal Look up to the Sky do you see how bright that Body is which lighten the whole World how hastily that Champion runs to finish his appointed course vvhy that cold and dead Body shall ere long be as glorious as the Sun in its strength and as lively in its motions How castly will it mount into the Aire to meet the Lord in the Clouds how actively will it pass from one side of the Heavens to another with as much expedition as it shall desire how readily will it run at the command of its great Master and keep pace with those winged Messengers the Angels they shall be no longer such heavy dull pieces of Clay and bundles of Diseases but when they are called out of their Bed they shall be refreshed abundantly and with joy meet their Souls and be acted by them O methinks what kind of greeting will these two old Companions have when they see one another in an other World what strange salutations will they give each other Will not the Soul say â—o the Body where hadst thou O my friend â—hat glorious splendor who clothed thee in so â—ovely a dress how camest thou by that Majesty â—nd beauty Art thou that Body which wert â—â—ont to bear me company to the House of God â—re those the Eyes that wept so oft Are those the Feet which travelled so many miles to hear the World O excellent alteration well now you see that your pains was not altogether lost and as for me I have beheld the glory of our royal Bridegroom I have viewed his Chambers and have lodged in his bosom ever since you and I parted and I have found that he hath made good all his promises to a tittle I had no sooner parted from thee but he sent his Angels for me and they brought me with joy into his Pavilian and there did I see him composed with millions of such Courtiers and all our old friends I saw there and O such joy happiness and pleasure is unspeakable but what sound is that which I hear Is it not the Voice of the Arch Angel we are commanded away Who is that do you think that rides in such state with so great a Train after him who sits upon that Throne hark hark he calls you make haste make haste away Come you blessed of my Father enter now into your Masters joy Dwell in the Mansions that I have prepared possess thâ— Inheritance that I have given you You arâ— mine and I am yours I have betrothed you to my self long since and now the marriagâ— Day is come and I take you to be my Spouâ—â— for ever Before my Father and these mâ— Servants I take you to be my wedded Wifâ— for ever and I do now for ever acquit you from all offences they shall never be remembred any more I invest you with the samâ— glory that I possess I indow you with all thâ— Riches of my Kingdome I will remove whatsoever may offend you look how your Enemies tremble I have already vindicated you from all those false imputations which their malice did cast upon you I have silenced your accusers and for ever stopped the Mouths of their great adversaries and they shall immediately be removed out of their sight and pay dearly for all their abuses Justice call those Prisoners