Himself And then how Christ will come ãâã shall come in power and great glory Matth. ãâã 30. And secondly He will come suddenââ even as a thief in the night First he shââ come in power irresistible power against sââners I beseech you sinners consider you ãâã not be able to stand when He appears for as ãâã is all powerfull in himself so will He come atââded with an innumerable company of gloriââ Saints and Angels Behold saith Jude ãâã Lord commeth with ten thousand of His Saiââ to execute judgement upon all and to conviââ all 1 Thes 1.7 8 9. The Lord Jesus shall ãâã revealed from heaven with his mighty Angles ãâã flamming fire taking vengeance on them thââ know not God and obey not the Gospel of our Loââ Jesus Christ who shall be punished with everlaââing destruction from the presence of the Lord aââ from the glory of His power Though God bââ long suffering towards sinners yet will he noââ always suffer sinners to go unpunished The Soââ of man shall come in His glory all the holy Angels with him Mat. 25.31 And second lie he shal âome suddenlie and swiftlie Swiftlie even as the ââightning And suddenlie as a thief in the night ãâã Pet. 3. Those scoffers there mocked and scofââed at the doctrine of Christs comming to judgement But saith the Apostle in the ninth verse Though the Lord be long suffering yet he is not ââack concerning his promise But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night Though sinners may think Christ long yet they shall find him sure The comming of Christ will be sudden to sinners in two respects Sudden in regard of their expectation He will come before they look for Him and sudden in regard of their unpreparednesse Christ will come to sinners before they are ready for Him they will be then to seek for Oyl in their Lamps Christ as one saith though he hath leaden feet yet he hath iron hands though God be long ere he does strike yet when He doth strike He will be sure ââo strike home Yet a little while and He that ââsh all come will come and will not tarry Now the use which I shall make of this point shall be onely this Will Christ come again and receive Believers then let me exhore you all to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ Would you be received by Christ into glory then I beseech you labour to receive Christ ânto your souls by believing If Christ do not live in you by faith here you shall never ãâã with Christ in glory hereafter It is unbeââ that is the soul-damning sin He that believe not is condemned already Iohn 3.18 He that ââlieveth shall he saved but he that believeth ãâã shall be damned Mark 16.16 He that believââ on the Son hath everlasting life But he tââ believeth not the Son shall not see life but ãâã wrath of God abideth on him John 3. 36. Another Use which I must make of this poiââ might be this To comfort and encourage ãâã people of God in all their sufferings and lossââ Art thou in poverty Doth the world frown ãâã thee Are thy afflictions and losses many aââ great Let not your hearts be troubled Châââ is gone to prepare a place for you and Chââ will come again and receive you Therefore ãâã not discouraged What though you meet wââ many rubs and stops in your way Yet you mââ be sure to get to glory at the last Consider thâ through many tribulations we must enter iââ the Kingdom of Heaven The fourth and last Observation which I oââ served was this That those Mansions of Gloââ prepared by Christ for Believers in Heaven wââ abundantly recompense and make good all thâ Losses and all the Crosses which Believers mââ here meet withall in the world Let not yoââ hearts be troubled in my Fathers house are mââ âây mansions Sell all saith our Saviour and follow me thou shalt have treasure in heaven For further prosecution of this usefull Point I shall proceed to handle it first doctrinallie and then Applicatorilie And for the Doctrinal part I shall endeavour to shew you first what those Mansions of glorie are which are laid up for Believers And secondlie what those losses are which Believers may here meet withall And ââhen lastly how those Mansions of glorie do make good the losses and crosses which Believers meet with in the world And to begin with the first what those Mansions of glorie are which are âaid up for Believers in heaven And all that ââan be said of this will be but as it were the lighting of a Candle to the Sun For it comes infiââtelie short of the skill either of men or Angels ââo expresse as the Apostle saith Eyes hath not ââeen ear hath not heard neither hath it entred inââ the heart of man to conceive the things which God hath prepared for them that love him 1 Cor. ãâã 9. The glorie of the glorified Saints in heaââen is so exceeding glorious that it is not posââble for all the tongues of men or Angels to exââess it But by the way to give you some glimpââs of this most excellent glorie consider a little ââhese following particulars First in heaven we shall have the everlasting âârefence of God Himself there we shall see God as He is not by faith but by sight cleaââ and fullie I shall see him saith holy Jâââ with these eyes Now we see as it were througââ glasse darkly but there we shall see God facââ face We shall see Him as we are seen Thââ and there we shall be ever with the Lord as ãâã Apostle hath it 1 Thess 4.17 We shall enjoy Gââ in heaven freely and fully without let or inââruption Though the Saints may possiblie mâââ with many and great impediments and him rances in the way unto Heaven yet in Heaâ there shall be nothing to hinder or interââ their joy It is possible that a Child of Gâââ may have his skin pulled over his ears as soââ of the Apostles had in their way unto Heaââ yet being gotten into Heaven nothing shall ãâã lest or trouble them at all What an unspeââable inconceiveable comfort will it be Chriââans to have and enjoy the presence of ãâã God who is all and hath all and will be eââlastinglie all in all to His people for ever Whââ having not seen saith the Apostle we sire to love In whom believing we rejoice wââ joy unspeakable and full of glory And if ãâã fight of Gods presence by faith be so gloriâ what then will be full fruition and enjââment of God Himself be O! unspeakables ãâã full of glorie A second thing which I would speak to ãâã indeed I must but speak to it is the perfection of grace that shall be enjoyed in heaven O Christians when ye come to heaven then ye come to full age in heaven The spirits of just men shal be made perfect and the bodies of the Saints shal be made glorious even
in it And Death and Hell that is the grave delivered up the dead which were in them And they were judged every man according to their works And whosoever was not found written in the Lambs book of life was cast into the lake of fire There 's the event of this judgement to the wicked But what successe the Righteous shall there have he sets down in Chap 21. Verse 3. Behold saith he the Tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God And God shall wipe all tears from their eyes And there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor cursing neither shall there be any more pain He that overcometh shall inherit all thingâ⦠and I will be his God and he shall be ãâã ââ¦on A blessed priviledge indeed but what remains for the wicked See what follows in the eight Verse The fearfull and unbelieving the abominable and murtherers whoremongers sorcerers and idolaters and all lyars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone A most dreadfull Scripture the Lord awaken every secure sinner and give them hearts to consider these things before it be too late For as the Prophet Malachy faith Mal. 4.1 The day cometh that shall burn as an Oven and all the proud yea and all that do wickedly shall be stubble and the day cometh that shall burn them up saith the Lord Hosts that it shall leave them neither root nor branch Then shall they call upon the mountains to cover them and âpon the ââlls to fall upon them to hide them from the fierceness of the wrath of God O consider this all you that forget God lest he tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver you Secondly if there be such mansions of Glory for Believers hereafter I note from hence the desperate folly and madnesse of all those who neglect or despise their own salvation Ye will not come to me saith our Saviour Joh. 5.40 that ye might have life This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men love darknesse rather then light because their deeds are evil Christ and salvation is freely offered to all in the Gospel Christ invites all to come Ho every one that thirsteth come to the waters Isa 55.1 Rev. 22.17 The Spirit and the Bride say Come and let him that is athirst come and whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely And as Christ invites all to come so he receives all that doth come He that comes to me I will in no wayes cast him out saith our Saviour Joh. 6.37 What think you sinners of these Scriptures will ye come to Christ and accept of life and salvation or will ye wilfully cast away your own souls for ever You see here Christ offers himself to you freely if you will but receive him Come unto me saith our Saviour Mat. 11.28 all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will refresh you What ãâ¦ã of the ãâ¦ã will ye come ãâ¦ã and be saved ãâ¦ã you be so deâperatly mad as to destroy your own most precious and immortall souls When I behold the lives of most men my very heart trembles to think what will everlastingly become of their precious souls all the care they take is for their bodies how does money come in and how they shall get riches but they never consider how it goes with their souls Ah sinners are your bodies everlasting Is this world everlasting Can any thing but heaven make you happy Are not your souls everlasting will ye rather cast away your souls then leave your lusts for sin and you must part orelse heaven and your souls will never meet He that doth not leave his sins on this side the grave by Repentance shall find ãâã sins to meet him on the other side the gravel ãâã condemn him If you live in your sins ye shaâ die in your sins Yea die everlastinglie for you sins Sinners I beseech you consider are yoâ fit to die are you fit to live in another world are you prepared for heaven If not let me teââ you you are fit for nothing but hell and hellâ prepared for you Sinners what do you do What do you mean to do are you yet a sleep Alâ Lord what a harvest will hell have in these sin full daies What preparations do men make so heaven Are not they that were filthie filthiâ stâll What men were that they are still Thougâ God is every day tumbling men into their graves yet no man mends his pace for heaven Sinners you hear all this but can you bear all this Leâ me give you two or three properties of a man fitted for hell and I beseech you try and examinâ your own souls by them The first propertie of a man fitted for hell iâ Obduration A stone you know is fitted to descend it is its propertie to fall downwards Hardnesse makes fitnesse The way to Hell is from burning to burning from a seared Conscience to a damned soul A second propertie of a man fitted for wrath is alienation estrangednesse to God speaks fitness to wrath and it is a sign that the Soul is fitted for utter darknesse There are but two steps to death first the sinner saith he will have no fellowship with God And secondlie God saith he shall have no fellowship with him Now is the sinner judged now fit for hell then judge ye the Execution onlie is wanting And the Devil is not usuallie backward to perform his office The sinner is upon the Gallows as it were he wants but turning off unlesse Christ steps in with a reprieve that soul is utterlie lost A third propertie of a man fiâted for Hell is Prophanenesse Prophanenesse is the badge of a wicked person Wickednesse in the life speaks out a cursed soul You may know what Countrie men are of by their Language By their Fruits ye shall know them When mens words and works are the Language of Hell what need any further inquirie what Countrie men or to what place they belong You may read Hell in their very faces The tree is known by his fruit saith our Saviour Mat. 7.20 Mens lives foreshew what their ends are like to be As the Tree falls so it lyes As sinners live so they usuallie die Every mans life lively bespeaks what they are and what they shall be hereafter If men will go on in the broad way of sin you know where their journies end will be Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction Mat. 7.13 I know not what lives you live but to be sure you may either spell Heaven or Hell in them If ye would know the frame of your souls then view your lives your souls breath out themselves either into the bosom of God or the Devils and into whose bosom you breath out your souls here in this life into that bosom you will certainly bâeath
them out in death Fitting grace for heaven you see is no trifle your eternall estate depends upon it Sinners why do you put off this work as a trisle and why do you put it off till death I dare say that man would never be holy if be could help it that will not be holy till he die he would never have to do with Christ if he could avoid that will not be acquainted with him before he is ready to leave this world when death is fitting the soul for hell then and never till then to be looking after heaven Ah Lord that ever those men should have precious and immortall Souls to damn themselves they that look no after heaven till they come to their death-beds are usually crost in their folly they are then either surprized with infirmities of body and so disinabled to perform so great a work or else surprized in their souls and so unfitted and indisposed to it either they have no strength or no heart to it and so dye in their sins and perish eternally Wicked men would never leave sinning if they did not cease living and that is one reasont to justifie the infinitnesse or everlastingnesse of the punishment of wicked men in hell The damned in hell are under easelesse and endlesse sufferings because they would have sinned alwayes if they had lived alwayes wicked men would have no end of their lives here they would live ever that they might sin ever therefore the Lord giveth them a life not such a one as they would have but such a one as they deserve to have which is indeed a death for ever wicked men shall die eternally for sin because they would have lived eternally in sin In the third place I beseech you note from hence what a blessed thing it is to be a Child of God Is it so that there are mansions of Glory for Believers in Heaven hereafter then Believers are the onely happy Men and Women in the World Were it not for the hopes of Heaven the condition of Gods Children might be sad enough if in this life onely we had hope we were of all men most miserable 1 Cor. 15.19 But the hopes of Gods Children are in the life to come therefore they are of all men most blessed The happinesse of a Child of God is not in what he enjoyes here below but in what he shall enjoy hereafter in Glory The best things of a Child of God are unseen things Whilst we look not saith the Apostle at the things which are seens but a the things Which are not seen For the things which are seen are temporal but the things that are noââ seen are eternall 2 Cor. 4.18 And in 1 Pet. ãâã 3 4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to His abundance mercy hath begotten us again unto a lived hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the deaâ To an Inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through Faith unto Salvation The Apostle here excellentââ sets forth the condition of a Child of God and that in severall Regards First They are bâ gotten again by Christ to an Inheritance possiblie they may lose all here below for Hââ sake But yet here is the comfort of a Child ãâã God he is Heir to a great Estate in the neâââ World There is an Inheritance for him anâ that is a sure one In six Regards First Iâââ not a corruptible but an incorruptible one Sâââ condly it 's an undefiled one And thirdlie it ãâã a lasting yea an everlasting one it fadeth noâââ away Fourthly it 's reserved for them tiââ they come to age Gods Children in this life are not at full age therefore they are nor capâble of enjoying so great a happinesss which God will hereafter bestow upon them Fifthlie it reserved for them in a safe place Many moâââ leave great estates here for their children whiââ they are often cheated of But the Inheritance of Gods Children is reserved by God for them in Heaven where neither Moth doth corrupt nor Theis steals away And lastlie as the Inheritance is reserved for the Children of God so the People of God are preserved for their Inheritance Henven if reserved for them and they are preserved for Heaven They are kept by the mightie power of God through faith unto Salvation Fourthly are there such Mansion of glorie for Believers hereafter then I beseech you try and examine your own souls whether or no ye be in the faith And let me exhort you in the Name of Christ seriouslie to set about the work of Salvation You see what great and glorious things there are laid in store for Gods Children hereafter Then I beseech you labour to get an interest in Christ here that so you may partake of those glorious Mansions hereafter How greatlie should the consideration of these things draw out our hearts in longings and pantings after God When shall I come and appear before God saith David Psalm 42.1 As the Hart panteth after the Water-brooks so panteth my soul after thee O God My soul thirsteth for God for the living God When shall I come and appear before God And if David and such longings after the enjoyment of God in his Ordinances here what desires thought we to have after the full enjoyment God himself in glory hereafter Are there ãâã mansions of glory to be had hereafter Wâââ manner of persons ought we to be then in all maner of godlinesse And then lastly If there be such Mansiâ of glory then let me exhort you all even now this your day to set your hearts at work seeking after those great things of Eterniââ Let every Soul of you thus reason with you selves Are there such glorious things hereafter and am I the man or woman that shall ââjoy them I remember a story of Gauls wââ having once tasted the sweet Wine of Itaâââ presently enquired after the Countrie and ââver rested till they had gotten it I have heââ given you as it were a fore-taste of that Hâvenly Wine which Believers shall drink hereafter in Glory now if you find any sweetneââ in it let not your hearts be at rest till you comââ to the Countrie it self where are Rivers those sweet Pleasures and that for evermore Martyr suffering death one asked him the cauââ why he suffered Saith he in the words of tâââ Apostle Eye hath not seen ear hath nor heart neither hath it entred into the heart of manââ conceive the things which God hath prepared fâââ them that love him The naming of whâââ wrought so effectually on the mans heart that âe immediately became a Christian and after âffered death of His Names sake You have âad not onely one but very many Scriptures âpened to you I beseech you let not all be in âain We read in Mark 10.17 how the young âan came running to Christ saying Good Mater what shall
the enjoyment ând embracements of your friends society whose ââve and favour is altogether inconstant and ââangeable you may be taken from them or they from you in a moment O but your friends ãâã Heaven they are immortall and their love is ââchangeable they and you shall then and there ââve for ever and enjoy one another and rejoice ââne with another for ever but your dearest ââiends on earth must die they must leave you ââât your joy in Heaven shall no man take from ââu In Heaven there is God your Father and Christ your Head and Husband and Saviour there even in his humane nature wherein he ââffered death on the Crosse for you and your âomforter God the holy Spirit is there yea ââd all your friends How mightily do children âââng to go home to their fathers house or a wife ãâã her husband so earnestly should our souls ââsire to go to heaven our fathers house to Christ our head and husband where there is good pany only and that to all eternity And then lastly the Glory of Heaven is stant and permanent In Heaven all is safe sure all things continue there fixed and immâable Heaven is an Inheritance settled upon Saints for ever and sealed unto them by broad Seal of Christs Blood I have shewed you in part what those ââsions of glory are which the Saints shall eâââ hereafter I come now and I must be brief ââving a little touch on it already to show what those losses and crosses are which Bââvers may meet withall here below and first the losses which you may meet withall in ãâã world What are they poor trifles a ãâã pebble-stones as it were a little earthly tâââ sure it may be such as is not considerable Sâââ little what those worldly enjoyments are whâââ possibly thou mayest lose for Christs sake Fââ thou losest nothing for Christ here but whââ vanity and emptiness broken Cistrens that ãâã hold no water For as one saith well A wââfull of honours or pleasures cannot satisfie one ãâã with any solid comfort Thou mayest as soon ãâã thy Chest with Grace as thy heart with Goââ There is not that in the Creature which ãâã look for Experience tells us a man may at oâââ have a house full of Gold and yet a heart fulâââ sorrow They that enjoy the most of the world cannot say they have enough therefore the losse of it is not considerable not to be comparers with the gain of Heaven Seconly there is nothing thou losest for Heaven but what is the portion of the wicked Woâdly comforts are wicked mens portions Yea and âââs all the portion that ever they shall have either here or hereafter Son remember saith Abraham to Dives being in hell that thou in thy life-time reâeivest thy good things They that have their Heaven in this world shall have nothing in Heaven in the world to come Thirdly thou canst âose nothing for Christ that can be profitable to âhee All the outward good things of this life cannot sanctifie nor purchase one dram of saving Grace for thee They may prove share to âhee or be occasions of sin to you or draw you from Christ as they did the Young-man in the Gospel but they will never drive you to Christ and commonly they that have most of Gold have âeast of Grace or rather no Grace at all And as they cannot sanctifie you so they cannot save you They can neither sheââer you from the judgements of God here of from the stroke of âeath Neither can they preserve you from hell hereafter Rich Dives went to hell when poor Lozarus was carried unto Heaven Wordly things cannot purchase Heaven if the whole world would lend you their shoulders thâââ could not lift you up to Heaven Fourth there is nothing here below that is certain ãâã things under the Sun are mutable subluâââ enjoyments more changeable then the Moâââ inconstant even as the Winde certain onââ in uncertainties And as they are uncertaâââ so they are corruptible and perishing Châââ calls them meat that perisheth Joh. 6.27 ãâã things which either moths or rust may consuââ or thieves may steal away from you or they ãâã be destroyed by fire which if you do posseââ while you live yet you must leave them behâââ you when you die For as we brought nothâââ into the World so it is certain we shall carry ãâã thing out of the world 1 Tim. 6.7 Fifthly outward enjoyments are often vââ troublesome they bring many fears many caââ much sorrow and vexation There is a carââ get and a care to keep riches as the Wise nâââ faith All is vanity so is it also vexation of ââârit Worldly comforts they are like Roses thââ have sharp prickles as well as sweet flowers man may have much bitternesse in his least ãâã comforts here therefore do not think much ãâã part with all things here below for Christ ãâã thou shalt be no loser by the bargain Thou shââ receive an hundred fold more in this life and the world to come eternall life Mark 10.30 I come now in the next place in a word to âew you what these Crosses are which Believers do oftentimes undergo for the Kingdom of Heavens sake and they are very small and inââsiderable also in respect of the glory that follows The Apostles endured as much tribulations for the Kingdom of heavens sake as possibly ââould be yet what did they think of it We ââckon saith St. Paul that the afflictions of this âse are not worthy to be compared with the gloly that shall be For first they are but light our light afflictions And as they are light so they are ââor short they are but for a moment Our light affliction saith the Apostle which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and ââternall weight of glory Hence it is that the ââints of old were so joyfull in all their tribulations hence they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ I shall come now to shew you how it is that âose Mansions of glory in Heaven will make âood all our losses and crosses upon earth and his appears further for these reasons For first ãâã you have heard already the glory of the gloââfied Saint in heaven is infinite and durable ând therefore must needs exceed and make good ãâã their losses which as you have also heard are ââte and uncertain We use to account more of âose things which are durable and lasting than those things which are of no certainty Secondly The only yea all the treasures the Saints are laid up in Heaven and what neâ any care for losing a few triffles so long as thâ treasure is safe If a man lose a few triffâââ yet if he have a safe treasury to go to he ãâã soon make good so small a losse Beloved all tâââ things you do enjoy here are but triffles but tâââ things which you shall enjoy hereafter in hââven are no lesse then a treasure