A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE Blessed Place and State OF THE Saints Above In a Discourse upon the Words of our Blessed Saviour John xiv 2. In my Father's House are many Mansions if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a Place for you By WILLIAM BATES D. D. London Printed by J. D. for I. Robinson at the Golden Lion in St. Paul's Churh-yard M.DC.LXXXVII THE PREFACE IT is the privilege of Christianity that Life and Immortality are brought to Light in the Gospel The Heathen World sat in Darkness was secure in Misery As one that sleeps is pleas'd with the Scenes of Fancy he Dreams of Treasures of Gold of Gardens of Feasts and thinks the painted Appearances the superficial Colours of Good to be Realities thus whilst Reason was darkned by Sense the World was content with pleasant Delusions Who amongst the many pretenders to Wisdom had a convincing knowledg of the Blessed Eternity to come Who had a glimpse of that Happiness that results from the sight of God in Glory This Instruction so refreshing our Spirits darkned with Sorrows here comes from the School of Heaven as the Sun revives us by its chearful Appearance and affords that Light without which it were impossible to behold it During the Legal Dispensation there was a Mist upon the Future State The notice of Eternal Things was a Twilight mixt with Shadows The Revelation of the Heavenly Glory was reserv'd till our Saviour's appearing in the World who purchas'd it with the dearest price and offers it upon such gracious Terms that whosoever sincerely desires and seeks shall obtain it and none shall be depriv'd of it but for their wilful and guilty neglect It might be expected that such a Proposal were sufficient to engage Men with all their Active Powers to secure such a precious Interest when indeed their best Endeavours and most zealous Affections are too slight and faint with respect to that excellent Happiness Are not the first Notions of Things that are written in our Brests sufficient to convince us that what is for ever is to be preferr'd before what suddenly passes away Or is it necessary in Matters of Temporal Concernment to use strong Arguments to perswade us rather to chuse a Treasure that will enrich us for our Lives than what will purchase food only for a day Yet 't is strange to amazement that in Things of Infinite Weight Consequence that respect the Soul and trivial Things that respect the Body Men make as preposterous a Judgment and Choice as if they were irreconcilable Enemies to themselves and obstinately averse from their own Happiness The Life to come extends beyond all possible Number of Ages the Felicity is so compleat and sure that the least shadow of Evil shall never eclipse it The Soul shall be in a state of highest Perfection and Joy the Vnderstanding illuminated with perfect Knowledg with no more study than opening the Eye and fixing it on the Glorious Objects the Will satisfied with the perfect Love and Enjoyment of the Blessed God The Body shall be clothed with Light as with a Garment and shine with a Beauty that never disflourishes and decays the innumerable Assembly of Angels and Saints always affords new and inestimable Delights and what is set in comparison against this transcendent Felicity in Heaven The poor despicable vanishing Life on Earth whose Pleasures are so shallow and empty that they can't satisfy the Senses much less our noble and comprehensive Faculties whose Griefs are sometimes so heavy and oppressing that all the Comforts of the World are no more effectual to relieve the Soul labouring under them than the sounding of Brass and the tinckling of Cymbals usually done by the Heathens were to free the Moon from its dark Eclipse which they fancied to labour in extremity Yet the petty Preferments the deceitful Riches the vain Pleasures here are chosen and ambitiously and eagerly persued and the infinite everlasting Happiness hereafter undervalued and rejected But as the Wonder ceases that a Man doth not see in the clearest Day by saying He is blind so Carnal Men are without Faith that is the Internal Light of the Mind they do not stedfastly believe the Reality of the Divine World tho so clearly open'd in the Gospel They are under so strong a Delusion and Error of Sensuality that they vilify a Spiritual Happiness a Glorious Futurity and present sensible Things of no price in comparison have the highest place in their Esteem and Affections The proper Means to recover Man from his woful Folly are unceasing fervent Prayers That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of Glory may give unto them the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledg of him The Eyes of their Understandings being inlightned that they may know what is the Hope of his Calling and what the Riches of the Glory of his Inheritance in the Saints and to represent this World and the next as they are to their considerate Minds that their Interest and Duty with united Efficacy may over-rule their Hearts and turn the Stream of their Indeavours into the right Channel that the judicious Comparison between Objects so vastly differing may be the governing Principle of their Lives All Things are vain and transient within the Confines of Time all Things stable and solid in the Territories of Eternity JOHN XIV I. In my Father's House are many Mansions if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a Place for you OUR blessed Saviour in the words applies Heavenly Comfort to his Disciples to support their drooping Spirits in his absence from them He foretold his departure Little Children yet a little while I am with you Ye shall seek me and as I said to the Jews whither I go ye cannot come so now I say unto you This tenderly affected their Hearts But that their Sorrow might not flow into Despair he assures them that their Separation should not be final and that it was not the singular Privilege of St. Peter that he should follow him hereafter but that there were Rooms reserved in Heaven for them all and He would return and receive them to Himself This Consolation He addresses to them in a very affectionate manner Let not your Hearts be troubled No Work is more Divine none more proper and delightful to our Saviour than to comfort the afflicted Spirits of his People He directs them Ye believe in God believe also in me God is the Supreme Object of Faith his unchangeable Love and Faithfulness with his infinite Power in the accomplishing his Promises is the Security of Believers Christ as Mediator between God and guilty Creatures is the immediate Object of our Faith for he restores us to the Favour of God therefore 't is said we believe in God by him After this Preface to calm the unquiet Agitations of their Minds and make them more receptive of comfort he proposeth to them 1.
Joy is full 'T is call'd our Master's Joy Great God how ineffable is that Joy 'T is the richest Reward infinite Bounty can give to faithful Servants As being made like to Christ in Glory implies a divine and full Perfection so the entering into his Joy implies the most accomplisht and incomprehensible Felicity 'T is a permanent Joy that none shall take from the Blessed as our Saviour promises his Disciples Here below suppose a Person encompast with all the Good Things of the World yet this Felicity is neither without Defects nor without Dependance upon Casual Things that he is never compleatly happy but only less miserable and tho he lives long in Prosperity and hath a tenor of Health to enjoy it yet as the clearest Evening is presently follow'd by Night so the most vigorous old Age is certainly attended with Death that extinguishes all sensual pleasures But in the Presence of God is fulness of Joy at his Right Hand are Pleasures for ever To explain this more particularly let us consider that Knowledg Love and Joy are the Perfections and Felicity of immortal Spirits and are correspondent to the excellency of the Objects upon which they are fixt and the capacity of the Faculties that are exercis'd and the degrees of Satisfaction communicated to them Now in Heaven our noblest Faculties the Understanding and Will are rais'd and enlarg'd and entirely united to the best Objects What conception can we frame of Joy for an intellectual Creature so full and satisfying as the clear Vision of God invested with all his attractive Attributes his glorious Perfections and in perfect loving the most lovely Object and being perfectly lov'd by him When the Soul freed from this mortal muddy Flesh and the Mind clear'd from all terrene Images convey'd by the Channels of the Senses sees God Face to Face how is it ravish'd with wonder and love in the sight of his most amiable Excellencies How pure a Joy is infus'd to the Center of the Soul and fills all its Desires How permanent like the everlasting Spring from whence it flows The Psalmist inspir'd with the Love of God breaks forth in an Holy Extasy How blessed is that Man whom thou chusest and causest to approach unto thee that he may dwell in thy Courts We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy House even of thy Holy Temple Admirable Blessedness dear Felicity The same Heavenly Saint expresses his esteem and affection How excellent is thy loving kindness O Lord They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy House and thou shalt make them drink of the River of thy Pleasure Here we do but taste and see how good the Lord is and that is so powerful a Cordial as gloriously supports the Saints under the heaviest Sufferings But Heaven is the Element of Joy Here a glancing sight of his Goodness how reviving is it A living Vein of Light from his favourable Countenance pierc'd into the miserable Dungeon where Paul and Silas were chain'd and rais'd their Spirits to that Heavenly pitch that they sang Praises to God the illustrious reflection of Paradise lightned them at Midnight and put a gloss of Joy upon them But in Heaven those most divine and amiable Titles that God is Light and that God is Love are most fully exhibited and experimentally understood by the Saints They see him as he is in his essential Glory and all the secret Treasures of his Wisdom in his Works of Wonder are unfolded and the sweetest Manifestations of his Love are given to them That which the Prophet declares of God's tender Affections to his Church is verified in the most excellent manner in Heaven The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is Mighty he will save he will rejoice over thee with joy he will rest in his Love he will joy over thee with singing That the blessed God is well pleased in the glorified Saints is the supreme degree of their Felicity How joyful a Complacency arises from the Communion with the blessed Redeemer and the Saints in Heaven Love is the first Fountain of Joy and the more intense the more ravishing is the Fruition The Love of Christ to them was so great that from Eternity he was infinitely pleas'd in the thoughts of their Salvation His Delights were with the Sons of Men before they delighted in him If the Design of that blessed Work was so pleasing what is the Accomplishment The Evangelical Prophet declares He shall see of the travel of his Soul and be satisfied And the Love of the Saints to Christ is a correspondent Affection according to their utmost Capacity All the Affections that were scatter'd here below are concenter'd in him for he infinitely deserves their Love having ransom'd them with the dearest Price and purchas'd for them an everlasting Inheritance He lov'd them in their foul deformity that he might superinduce a Divine Beauty upon them and prepare them for the enjoyment of himself He is now their Desire and in Heaven where he appears in all his Brightness and Beauty their everlasting Delight We may conceive a little of their ravishing Communion by the Language of Divine Love between Christ and the Church in the Song of Solomon and their harmonious Affections exprest in the most endearing manner Open to me my Love my Dove my Vndefiled And the inflam'd Spouse in a high and delightful rapture breaks forth I am my Beloved's and he is mine If a Propriety and Interest in him be productive of such a pure Joy what will the everlasting Fruition be The Scripture represents it by a Marriage-Feast as the most compleat resemblance of that spiritual Joy Thus the Inhabitants of Heaven are introduc'd speaking Give Honour to him for the Marriage of the Lamb is come and his Wife hath made her self ready What Union what Joy How will the Saints rejoice in God their Saviour in the view of the surprising Wonders of his Love The Scripture speaks of another accession to the Joys of Heaven the innumerable Company of Angels and Saints that live in perfect Concord inviolable Love the sweetest Content and joyful Complacency Society is a principal Ingredient of Joy What exultation of Joy will there be when the whole Family of Heaven shall meet together in their Father's House We may conjecture how the Angels are affected to us by what is recorded concerning their appearance at the Birth of our Saviour There was a multitude of the heavenly Host praising God saying Glory be to God on High on Earth Peace good Will towards Men. 'T is the first time since the Fall of Man that we hear of the Angels Song They were commission'd to punish rebellious Sinners and appear'd with flaming Swords the Instruments of revenging Wrath. But when the Lord of Hosts became the God of Peace they appear'd with Harps in their Hands with Praise and Joy celebrating his Mercy They foresaw that Peace on Earth would end in
his special Love and eternal Duration 'T is an Observation of Tertullian That God who made other Things by command by the omnipotent Umpire of his Will appli'd himself with Counsel to form the Body of Adam which was the original Model of all Perfections that a humane Body is capable of for the beauty of Aspect without and the artificial order of the Parts within and the reason was Love drew the Lineaments Thus Love the Queen of the Divine Attributes employ'd infinite Wisdom and almighty Power to build this Celestial City for the reception of his chosen Favourites The King of Glory dwells there in a special manner The Heaven even the Heavens are the Lord's but the Earth hath he given to the Children of Men. By Right and Dominion the Earth is the Lord's and the Fulness thereof and the possession of it is from his Bounty to Men but Heaven is reserv'd for himself the Place of his glorious Residence As a Prince that hath many Houses gives some for to be inhabited by his Servants but the Imperial Palace is kept for his own Dwelling God manifests himself there in the most refulgent manner All the Perfections of the Glorious Deity are reveal'd to the Saints in their purity and radiancy The Divine Presence is the Supreme Glory of Heaven The Lord Jesus Christ is there crown'd with the Majesty of the Divine Empire This Glory is the Reward of his meritorious Obedience and Sufferings He was made a Subject and a Servant and endur'd the most ignominious cruel Death to satisfy God's injur'd Justice What hath not the Son done for the Glory of his Father He lost his Life rather than his Obedience And what will not the Father do for the Honour of his Son What Recompence is correspondent to such astonishing Humiliation Our Saviour in his last solemn Prayer with his Disciples addresses himself to God I have glorified thee on Earth I have finish'd the Work thou gavest me to do And now O Father glorify me with thy Self with the Glory I had with thee before the World was The Father was so highly honour'd by Christ that to satisfy his infinite Love towards him he hath dignified him with a Name and State that transcends all created Glory He is the Lord of Angels the Head of the Church and sits at the right Hand of Majesty on high In Heaven he appears in his triumphant Glory of which in the Transfiguration there was a transient glimpse when his Face did shine as the Sun but allayed and moderated that his Disciples might sustain his Presence There the Angels the Princes of the Celestical Court in all their bright Orders encompass the Throne of God and pay their humblest Homage to him The Saints appear there in their Robes of Glory for they are transform'd into the glorious likeness of the Son of God Their Souls radiant with pure unspotted Holiness shine through their Bodies as Sun-beams transmitted through Chrystal They all reign in Soveraign State for ever It becomes the Divine Majesty that all God's Subjects should be Kings and the highest Principality on Earth is but servitude compar'd with the Royalty enjoy'd by the Saints above For how often are the mightiest Monarchs on Earth in perfect bondage to their lawless Passions and the Soul in dull captivity to the sensual Appetites How often are the strongest Empires dissolv'd and ruin'd But the Saints in Heaven by obeying God reign triumphantly no Passions no Fears no Desires resist their Will nothing is able to trouble the sincere Delight the perfect Tranquillity of their State They in their several degrees of Glory shine like the Stars for ever and ever To sum up all What is promised to the Church is fulfill'd in Heaven The Sun shall be no more thy Light by Day nor the Moon by Night but the Lord shall be thy everlasting Light and thy God thy Glory Thus I have endeavour'd to represent that luminous Palace and the bright Inhabitants but how short is the description of the glorious Realities all humane Words are too weak and narrow to express it as it is The Glory and Joy of that blessed State are unspeakable as the Apostle a Spectator thereof certifies And 't is observable that our Saviour himself expresses the greatest Things by low familiar Terms and Resemblances as he tells his Faithful Disciples they shall eat and drink at his Table in his Kingdom In his Promises of Rewards it was not his intention meerly to make a show of his Power but to declare his Love Like a God he doth not magnify the Favours he will bestow but leaves it to their Spirits to conceive what becomes Almighty Goodness to bestow on his Servants In the plainest manner of promising the Reward there is a clear Character of the excellent Greatness of the Giver and his Gifts I will now consider the infallible Assurance we have of this blessed Place and State This is built on our Saviour's Love to them and his Truth and his going to prepare that Blessedness for them He saith to his Disciples Otherwise I would have told you implying that his Affection and Sincerity make it impossible that he should deceive them with an empty Promise of future Happiness 1. His Love secures them He would never have chosen them to be the Companions of his Cross never have expos'd them as Sheep among Wolves to suffer for his sake and to leave them for ever and reign alone in Heaven Love is a benevolent affection rising in the Breast and expressing it self in real Benefits according to the Power of the Lover and the Wants or the Capacity of the Person beloved and the more intense the Affection is the more evident and noble effects of Kindness will proceed from it All the most liberal Expressions without real performance are but a vain pageant of Friendship Now the Love of our Saviour to his Disciples was not only sincere but in such a degree of eminence that they might safely rely upon his Promises His pure Love was the motive of selecting them from the World and dignifying them with the endearing title of his Friends His Conversation with them was infinitely sweet a Miracle of Benignity and that glorious performance of his Love for them and all Believers in leaving Heaven for their sakes is the strongest assurance that he will bring them to his Father's House above 'T is represented as the peculiar Glory of Theodosius that he seated Majesty and Love in the same Throne for Love unites and conforms Persons and makes them as it were Peers and it seems too low a submission for a Soveraign to descend from his Throne to a kind of equality with a Subject or too high an exaltation to assume a private Person into such a degree of affection as to make him as himself yet such was the condescension of that great and amiable Emperor But how distant is the greatest Monarch in the World from the Eternal Son of
it upon Things Above Love between Friends is maintain'd by immediate Converse or by Letters when absent thus is Love between God and the Soul And if God that is to himself his own Blessedness his own Kingdom and Glory yet is pleas'd in his gracious Communications to his Children on Earth how much more should they by frequent and affectionate Duties address to him who is their eternal lnfinite Good Thus they are acquainted with him and enjoy a sweet Peace and obtain an humble Confidence of appearing before him in his Holy and Glorious Habitation whereas those who live without God in the World are justly fearful of Death for then the Spirit returns to God that gave it Briefly let us with zealous Affections and persevering Diligence prepare our selves for the Presence of God and the Society of Blessed Spirits in our Father's House Let us always abound in the Work of the Lord knowing our Labour is not in vain Let us join Works of Charity with Works of Piety employ the fading Riches of the World for the Relief of the Saints that as our Saviour Promises when we shall fail when in the Hour of Death our Flesh and Hearts shall fail us and our Souls be dislodged from our Earthly Tabernacles we may be received into Eternal Habitations The Everlasting Judg that dispenses Rewards and Punishments has acquainted us with the Rule of Judgment at the last Day Those who mercifully relieve him in his Members shall inherit the Kingdom of Glory and those who neglect that Duty shall be cast into the Lake of Fire Though many who are wretchedly careless of doing Good according to their Ability now satisfy themselves that they are not injurious to others Yet it will be a small mitigation of their Sentence at last that they are condemn'd not for the Defect of Justice but of Charity 6. Let the belief that there are Mansions of Rest and Joy prepar'd for the Saints in their Father's House gloriously support them under their heaviest Troubles here This World is the Devil's Circuit wherein he is alwayes ranging about seeking to devour The pleasant Things of the World are his Temptations to ensnare the Carnal the Men of the World are his Instruments to oppress the Saints and were it not for the Restraints of the Divine Power what Desolations would be made in God's Heritage 'T was a strange and barbarous Custom among the Persians that upon the Death of the Emperor for five days the Empire was left without Government And as upon removing the Stone from the Fabulous Cave of Aeolus the Winds broke out in their fury so by taking away the authority of the Laws licence was given to all Licentiousness and the whole Kingdom was in mortal Paroxisms All were in Arms some to do Injuries others to revenge them the Chastity of none was secure but conceal'd nor the Estates of any but defended the Bridle of Fear was taken off no Wickedness but was boldly committed or attempted and the Kingdom became a Field of Bloody War But when the new King was proclaim'd all things were immediately reduc'd to Order that the Advantage of Government might be set off by the experimental Confusions and Mischiefs of Anarchy But if God left the perverted World and Satan the Prince of it one day to their rage against his People did he not shut it in with Doors and Bars as he doth the impetuous Ocean so swelling and diffusive is their Malignity that it would like the Deluge drown all and not a Remnant of the Saints would be left Yet God wisely permits many Temporal Evils to be inflicted on his Servants by their Enemies for the tryal of their Fidelity and their noble Resolution to glorify him whatever they suffer for his sake And it becomes them with an undisturb'd serenity of Mind and harmony of Affections with an invincible Patience to bear all the Scorn and Contempt all the Malice and Fury to which they are expos'd upon a Christian account Let them remember they are Strangers and Sojourners here and live by other Laws than the World doth which causes their hatred But in their Father's House there will be perfect Rest. St. Paul who had experience of both in a singular manner declares I reckon that the Sufferings of the present State are not worthy to be compar'd to the Glory that shall be reveal'd in us In that State of pure Felicity there are no remains of Afflicting Evils all is Peace and Joy and Glory Seneca the Philosopher when an Exile and confin'd to the Mountains of Corsica entertain'd himself with the contemplation of the Heavens and the bright Luminaries in their various but regular Motions Thus when banish'd from the Court and City he dwelt amongst the Stars and casting his Eyes down upon the Earth despis'd all Humane Greatness and Possessions that are so vainly magnified by figurative Flatteries as we do a grain of Sand. Did Philosophy inspire him with such Principles of Patience and Fortitude yet it ascended no higher than the visible Heavens How much more should Faith that raises a Christian by high and steady Thoughts to the Supreme Heaven where the Divine Glory shines comfort him in all the Troubles of this World Add further That 't is an excellent Preservative from Envy and Fretfulness at the Prosperity of the Wicked to consider that their Felicity is as transient and vanishing as the Trouble of the Saints I have seen the Wicked in great Power and spreading himself like a green Bay Tree yet he pass'd away and lo he was not yea I sought him and he could not be found All the Riches and Greatness and Pleasures of the World are weighed number'd and measur'd by the Psalmist and found to be as light and fading as Vanity Naked they came into the World and naked they must go out and how much more tormenting will it be to be stript of all their Enjoyments how much more sorrowful will they be to go from their great Possessions than for one that leaves the World and never had them Their Hopes are like the giving up of the Ghost and expire with their Breath for ever I went into the Sanctuary saith the troubled Saint then understood I their End The End of their Felicity and the Miseries of the Righteous Besides the Evils suffer'd for Righteousness-sake there are innumerable Sorrows that befal the Saints here How many afflicting Diseases sad Occurrences vexing Passions harras them Some Afflictions are so wounding to their Spirits that no Balm that growns on Earth can heal But the lively Hope of Heaven is an Universal Cure for all their Troubles Let the mourning Christian consider the wise Providence of God that orders all Events and believe his Love in sending and his End in all their Afflictions Such is the Divine Power that God could immediately free us from all Troubles as easily as turn the Wind from a blasting Quarter of the Heavens to the most Benign and
Refreshing Are we pain'd with Diseases he can more easily change the Tone of Nature in a sickly Body and make it healthy than one can change the stop in an Organ that presently alters the sound but his Love dispenses bitter Things to us that are necessary for our Spiritual and Everlasting Good His End is to prepare us for Heaven that is prepared for us The Apostle declares He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God that is made us fit for the Heavenly Glory The Divine disposal of Things here to the Saints has a certain Order to their Eternal State He purgeth out our vicious guilty Affections to the World by sharp Physick that our Hopes of Heaven may be more pure and vigorous more actuated by serious Thoughts and intense Desires that we may feel the sense of the Psalmist's Expression O when shall we come and appear before God! In short Art thou in the Vale of Tears languishing in Sorrow and dying every Day by Faith ascend to the Mountains of Spices the Blessed Place Above and thou wilt find the Comforts of God to revive and delight thy Soul 7. Let this reconcile Death to us The Pale Horse is sent to bring us to our Father's House The Apostle expresses the true Christian Temper In this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed with our House that is from Heaven And we are willing rather to be absent from the Body and present with the Lord. Every Saint in the present World is both a Prison and a Captive his Soul is detain'd from the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God by confinement to his Body Therefore methinks he should not merely be content to die out of the Necessity of Nature when he can live no longer but desire the happy removal and say with the Psalmist I rejoic'd when they said to me Let us go into the House of the Lord. 'T is true Nature will recoile and the extinguishing the present Life with all its sensible pleasant Operations is uneasy to us but as when the Candles are put out the Sun rises in its brightness so when the Natural Life ceases the Spiritual Life springs forth in its Oriency and Glory When the Earthly Tabernacle is dissolv'd the naked separate Soul shall be received into a Building not made with Hands Eternal in the Heavens Our joyful Affections in leaving the World and ascending to Heaven should be in some manner suitable to our reception there What a joyful Welcome will entertain us from God himself Our Saviour comforted his Disciples with a Heavenly Valediction I go to my Father and your Father to my God and your God The Gracious Relation sweetens the Glorious He that joyfully receives the rebellious but penitent Son to Grace will joyfully receive his obedient Sons to Glory He that now receives their Prayers with the Affection of a Father will receive their Persons with the dearest Expressions of Love His Fatherly Providence watch'd over them in the Way and will triumphantly bring them Home Here many Blessed Testimonies of God's Love are given to the Saints that produce such a spiritual sweetness in their Hearts that they esteem his loving Kindness as better than Life more worth than all the World but the full revealing of his Love is only in Heaven And as a Child knows by Experience the Love of his Father but the Degrees and Strength of his Affection he does not understand till arrived at mature Age and sees the Inheritance his Father enstates upon him Thus in Heaven only the Saints shall know the excellent and perfect Love of God to them when they are possess'd of that Glorious Kingdom his most free and rich Gift which transcends all their present Thoughts And our blessed Redeemer that by so many Titles has an Interest in us that is not contented in his own Personal Glory without our partaking of it that by his Resurrection open'd the Grave and by his Ascension open'd Heaven for us how dearly will he receive us He esteems Believers to be his Joy and Crown and with an extasy of Affection will present them to his Father Behold I and the Children that God has given me The Angels and Saints Above overflow with Joy when the Soul as a pure Spark freed from its Ashes ascends to the Element of Spirits how joyfully is it entertain'd by that Glorious Assembly The Angels that rejoice at the Conversion of a Sinner will much more at the Glorification of a Saint and the Saints have a new accession to their Joy upon the reception of any of their Brethren to that State of Felicity The Saints of all Ages may be resembled to a Fleet of Merchant-men that are bound for the same Port some arrive sooner others later according to the time of their setting out but those who arrive first how do they welcome their Friends that come safely afterwards An imperfect resemblance how dearly and joyfully the Saints that are gone before us welcome those who arrive in Heaven every day knowing the dangerous Seas they have past through where so many have been cast away and lost for ever All Heaven is in Musick celebrating the Praises of God and expressing their joyful sense when a Victorious Saint is come to receive his Reward How does this Consideration upbraid us that we are so unwilling to be dissolv'd and to be with our best Friends in the best Place that our Tears and Sorrows for leaving the Earthly Tabernacle and the low Comforts of this Life should continue till we come to the Gate of Heaven How can we be content with the Imperfections of the present State Here we are as distant from compleat Happiness as the highest Heaven is from the Earth Where is our Faith in the Promises of God Where is our Love to our Redeemer and our Souls The lothness of a Sincere Christian to die and be with Christ is a deflection from his Christianity Lastly This should refresh our Sorrows for the loss of our dearest Friends that die in the Lord. Here is a mournful parting when they are laid in the cold dark and silent Mansions of the Earth when those whom we lov'd as our own Souls are finally separated from us and we shall see their Faces no more And as one that is directed by the Light of a Torch in the Night when 't is taken away is more sensible of the Darkness than if he had not been inlightned by it So when those dear Friends are taken away whose Conversation was the Light and Joy of our Lives we are more darkned with Sorrow than if we had never injoy'd them But if we duly consider Things there is more reason of Joy than Sorrow at the departure of the Saints Our Saviour tells his Disciples that were mourning for his signifying that he must go away If ye loved me ye would rejoyce because I say I must go to my Father to reign with him in Soveraign Glory Sincere Love will make us more to