into the heavens third story So thou which made thee limne so well its glory Thy skill hath made Objects remote t' appear Close by and things a distance off seem neer Sin is alas an interposing screen A separating wall which stands between Glory and us but by thine heavenly art Glory 's revealed unto us in part Thine understandings search hath brought to light Secrets abstruse O blindness blest for sight The Spaniards Dove Columbus and our Drake Not Quaking in the least did undertake A long and dang'rous voyage sayling over Remotest Seas new Ilands to discover Home they return their richer vessels hold A fraught of nought but glorious luggage Gold Had they both Indies and could Numid-like Measure their unsumm'd treasure by a strike Time would consume it what a thief is Chink The greatest baggs will in the using shrink Alas alas the Glory they did win Was earthly vain their Bullion falling in A deep consumption pin'd away by leasure See there the end of their laborious pleasure But as for thee my truly Honor'd Friend Thou Rigg'st thy Vessel for an other end Thy braver spirit doth with scorn disdain The roaming here upon the foaming Main Grace is the Ship thy soul doth go aboard Thy Faith 's the Sayl thy Steers-man is Gods Word His Spirit 's the Wind that drives thee by degrees O're the calm back of th' Erythraean seas I mean Christ's bloud thou tak'st a view of heaven Returnest richly fraught with Jewels given By God himself by doing good thou thriv'st Thy lands enrich'd this is the trade thou driv'st Like Noahs Dove thou canst not dost not cease Until thou bringst an Olive-branch of Peace Wouldst thou view heaven on earth kind Reader then Let thine eye trace the foot-steps of his pen Steer'd by an others hand be pleas'd to look On the Reflections of this precious Book And here it is heavens glorious Objects pass Unto Faiths eye through this prospective glass Dost thou desire with beauties most sublime T' enrich thy soul engarrison'd with slime Shake off Earths dangling fetters which keep down Thy lab'ring soul from rising to its Crown The transient pleasures of this Mole-hill Earth Afford at best but melancholy mirth But joyes in heaven which are only sure And stable shall eternally endure In spight of time there the bles'd Saints advance Their heightned notes above the reach of chance Be practically good bid sin good-b'wy And Glory 's thine I 'le warrant you I I 'T is thine 't is thine the heavens have decreed It thine it thine Beatitude indeed Wouldst thou be made one of the royal stem And Den'son of the New-Jerusalem Be sure thou follow this directive way And then thou wilt not nay thou canst not stray Heav'n shield us all from the worlds Philtrecharms And hold us fast in his encircling arms O may we ever in that Glory rest Which our rare Author sweetly hath exprest Thrice happy be that soul who thirsting gapes To drink this liquor prest from Canaans Grapes Canterbury July 1. 1657. Nicholas Billingsley The Table A Believers present taste of future glory Page 1 Heavens glory not to be fully dsplaid in this life Page 3 Heavens Glory set out by 6 Properties Page 8 1 Its Altitude ibid 2 Its Magnificence Page 10 3 Its Purity Page 12 4 Its Amplitude Page 14 5 Its Brightness ibid 6 Its Permanency Page 16 Heavens glory further set out by sundry Scripture-names titles epithites as Page 18 1 A Kingdom Page 19 2 A Heavenly Kingdom Page 20 3 The Kingdom of God ibid 4 An Inheritance Page 21 5 An incorruptible Inheritance ibid 6 An exceeding eternal weight of glory Page 22 The Saints shall be with Christ in heaven Page 24 They shall be all Kings Page 29 They shall be all filled with joy Page 31 They shall have perfect Rest Page 34 They shall have full Security Page 36 There shall be a vindication of their names Page 39 Their Graces shall be perfected Page 42 The Beauty and Blessedness of Glorified Bodres Page 44 1 They are Immortal Page 46 2 Impassible Page 48 3 Agile Page 49 4 Amtable Page 51 The Beauty and Blessedness of Glorified Souls Page 52 1 Their Knowledge perfected Page 53 2 Their Love perfected Page 59 Five Practical Conclusions Page 64 Four Marks of our Interest in Heaven Page 75 A General Conclusion Page 82 Faiths Triumph Page 86 ERRATA In page 3. line 5. for the comprehensible r. th' incomprehensible p. 17. l. 9. for man r. men p. 31. l. 5. for joyn'd r. joyned p. 40. l. 27. for stiled r. stil'd p. 47. l. 2. for our r. over p. 49. l. 21. for at r. it p. 51. l. 15. r. bodies p. 62. l. 9. r. keep p. 62. l. 16. r. wound p 71. l. 13. r. makes GRAPES FROM CANAAN OR The Believers present taste OF Future Glory THe lives of Saints are Tragae-comaedies Their future joy their present grief out-vies Their death is sweet although their life be sowr Tears in the bud but Glory in the flower The blessed Angels at the port of bliss Or portal of the Heavenly edifice As Masters of the Ceremonies stand To welcome Saints into the Holy Land From whence into their Fathers Court strait-way These Ministring Spirits their new-Guests convey The glory that the Blessed there behold All language is too narrow to unfold The glittering stars which in that Orbe do shine No Logick can sufficiently define Had I as many tongues as hairs yet I Could never set out the resplendency Of that celestial Paradise above For saints ordained by the God of Love The shadow of it in the picture I Can only give and that imperfectly Heavens Glory not to be fully displai'd in this life NO eye hath seen ear heard or heart of man At any time conceived hath or can The comprehensible sublimity And glorious mysteries of that most high And heavenly Wisdom and unparallel'd Sweetness which in the Gospel is reveai'd How altogether then unutterable Is the perfection how inexplicable The full the real and the actual Fruition of those Evangelical Mysterious Revelations which are even Accomplish'd to the height in th' highest Heaven The eye of man hath seen Earths rarest sights Its bravest Ornaments and chief delights Mountains of Chrystal and rich Mines of Gold With Rocks of Diamonds wondrous to behold Ilands of Spices and the Pearly coast Of which some Travellers so much do boast The stately and sublime Pyramides Diana's Temple and such like as these Mausolus tombe in all its pompe and pride With all the wonders of the world beside The Ear hath with the sweetest melody Oft charmed been even with such harmony As once transported the amazed ear Of Alexander with a pang as 't were Of pleasing rage and sweerly did inhance His spirit with a most delightful dance The Heart of man imagine and surmise Rare pieces can and strange felicities The pebbles on the ground it in conceit Into rich Pearls can transubstantiate Dust into
did His Daughter sacrifice to God on high Or consecrate her to virginity Whether Naaman a real convert were Or one in semblance only did appear That scripture then each one that runs shal read Why then are they baptized for the dead When saints the heavenly paradise inherit They shal be hold with ravishment of spirit Those sacred mysteries which here below Some boldly dive into but cannot know They then shal see and shal rejoyce to see How three make one and one again makes three They then shal apprehend with admiration The miracles of Christ his incarnation They then the dark and secret mystery Of providence exactly shal descry While we in tenements of clay do dwel What God is doing of we cannot tel He many times in short-hand writeth and His characters we cannot understand We seeing here but darkly through a glass The footsteps of his providence can't trace But when we'e vested in the costly dress And choice attire of heavens happiness A reason of divine transactions we Shal then without al peradventure see In every providence we then no doubt A wonder or a mercy shal spy out A Limner at the first albeit indu'd With skil enough yet maketh but a rude Draught in the picture but when every part And lineament is limm'd out by his art And in their colours laid it by and by Appears most amiable to the eye We who in robes of flesh are cloathed here Do only see a rude draught as it were Some pieces of mysterious providence Obscurely shadowed out but when from hence We at the haven of felicity Arrived are and clearly do descry The pourtraiture of providence drawn ous In al its lively colours it no doubt Will be a blessed and a glorious sight Feeding the soul with infinite delight In fine when saints upon the shoar do land Of blessedness they then shal understand The mystery of hearts they then shal see To their content an heart anatomy For every work with every secret thing Jehovah then shal into judgement bring They then the cabinet designes shal ken And privy counsels of the hearts of men The heart is deep we may it wel compare Unto a river that hath very fair Streams gliding on the top but when this brook Comes to be drain'd who so doth in it look Much vermine at the bottom shal espy That lay before concealed from the eye Thus with the heart of man it is some fair Streams running on the top there oft-times are A civil life a specious pretence Of zeal of purity and innocence But when the tryer of the reins shal come To drain this river at the day of doom When God shal make a ful discovery Of hearts the crawling vermine by and by Of avarice and of ambition shal Appear and clearly be discern'd of al All secret things shal then be brought to light 'T were worth the dying to behold that sight The Saints Love perfected in Heaven LOve is the jewel the rich ornament with which Christs Bride is deckt more excellent 'T is in a sense than Faith for love doth never Cease but abides for aye as soon as ever The saints to heaven come Faiths orient Gem They straight put off but not loves Diadem Loves sparkling beams with their resplendency Shal gild the soul to al eternity VVhile here below we wallow in the mire Our love to God is rather a desire But when upon the spicy Mountain we Of bliss are lodg'd and face to face do see VVhen Hallelujahs we shal with the quire Of angels sing the smoak then of desire Into a â—â—ame of Love blown up shal be VVe then shal Love God in the highest degree Our love is luke-warme here and sometimes frozen It much afflicts the spirits of the chosen That in the grace of Love they are so poor And that they can their Maker love no more But there 's a time approaching shortly whan Their Love shal blaze and burn as hot as 't can The damned in a flame of fire shal be The saints of Love to perpetuitie Here flattering objects steal our Love away From God but there it never shal decay You in the morning may behold the grass With drops of dew al covered over as So many pearls but when the sun draws near With scorching beams they straightway disappear Perchance whâ—n our affections once are stirr'd Up by the quickning vertue of the VVord Or when we see the pretious bloud of Christ Trickling as 't were down in the Eucharist Our hearts then melt with love some love-drops fal Down from the Limbecks of our eyes but al Again doth vanish in a little space And our first-first-love declines and spends apace While here on Earth we Mortals have our station This matter is of great humiliation But when our God in glory we shal see Our Love shal fix'd as wel as fervent be It ne're shal taken off be any more From him whom Saints and Angels al adore Such beauty in Jehovah then shal shine That alwayes as a Load-stone most divine He sweetly shal attract each heart and eye Oh blessed fight Oh rare felicity Between the saints a mutual accord There shal be too there Enmity's abhor'd The Pulse of their affection towards each other Shal strongly beat here brother strives with brother But in the Paradise above the plant Of Love arrives at perfect growth I grant Our natures here are sometime so defac'd That grace cannot so great a lustre cast In aiming at that mark we here shoot wide Bad men unite when good-men oft divide 'Mong saints contentions never were more hot Nor Love more cold saints against saints do plot Many there are who Members are of Christ Whose musick al in discords doth consist Whose Harp the Cross is who the truth pretend To Love but won't an ear to concord lend Divisions are the powder-plot whereby Satan blows up the Churches unity Sin brought forth separation and this Daughter Her cursed Mother too much taking after The Grand-child of Division to our smart Hath born great thoughts searchings there of heart Are for these things it is no marvel I Conceive at al to hear the Harlot cry Pray let the Child divided be But oh To hear the Mother of the Child say so That 's very sad No wonder 't is to see Pope Jesuite and Sectary agree To rend the bowels of their tender Mother But for one saint to persecute another That 's very strange 't is such a sight as doth Provoke to pity and amazement both For VVolves to worry Lambs 't is usual For Lambs each other that 's unnatural It is an ordinary thing you know Among the thorns to see Christs Lilly grow But for this Lilly to become a thorn And tear it self to see 't who doth not mourn Well this a foil wil be the more to set Off Heaven there our Love shal ever get And kept the upper hand of Enmity Of judgement there no difference shal be I' th journies end saints shal
helps the weaker eye Tho. Woodrooffe M. A. TO His Honoured Friend Mr. Francis Taylor ON HIS Heavenly Poem Dear Friend WEre 't not a Solaetisme in Love I 'd say Welcome from heav'n for sure y'have been that way But if not so it must from Patmos be VVhere you have seen Landskip'd-Eternitie Were Metempsychosis in fashion now 'T is probable Saint John must live in you Your Book 's a Fountain but the Seals are gon And all you write is Revelation VVhich when I read my soul is ravish'd and Like to Religion doth on tip-toe stand Threatning departure in sweet extasy In which I neither truly live nor dye And what to Plato's Schollar did betide Were 't not a crime I could turn Suicide But tell me first when you did sit above In that high azure tent where stars do move Did not our world look like some dirty spot Pray say Could you see it or could you not How vainly then do most by acres guess At worth and mis call Riches Happiness Nay more when once your Faith was got within Those Empyraean Curtains where no sin But sinners do find place pray tell me then Your mem'ry's good I know what were the men That sang those holy Notes Did you not see Some Lawn-sleev'd Saints and some Presbyterie Did not sometimes an Independent ayre Sometimes a Baptist-Quaker mingle there No doubt there did how fondly then do we Fall out i' th' way who must i' th' End agree VVe all embrace one fundamental Light Our hands do joyn but yet our nails do fight Come welcome hour in which my sun shall set And Church-yard grass shall be my Coronet For who will throw away one Pray'r for Life VVhen Heav'n so calm and Earth so full of strife VVhen Christendom her fields are now bespred All o're with killing-troops and with the dead Like Cannibals our weekly Gazets feed On purple Broth which dying Christians bleed As if Baptismal water were too faint And coole an Element to make a saint Our boystrous age winds up the Nation high'r And needs must be baptiz'd with bloud and fire For many years Intelligences came Proclaiming wilde-fire from the Germane flame Where kindred-bloud was mingled with the Rhyne To wash away th' excesses of their wine And now the sturdy Swede with skilful steel Doth let all Poland bloud to make it feel This two-edg'd truth when God thinks fit to beat Luther shall strike as hard as Mahomet But stay these lines do run too black my Pray'r Shall therefore be for Englands passeover And while the Maids plant Laurels on your Brow I 'le sing an Eulogy to Faith and You. Triumphant Faith How stoutly do'st thou scorn The testimony which from sense is born Enoch by Faith Death's Trophyes did out-brave And where we fall he did o're-leap his grave Still winding up the weights of flesh so high His body step'd into Eternity Nought could fore-tel but Faith's Astrology The world debauch'd must of a Dropsie dye But lest the storm should blow the Globe away Good Noah casts Faith's anchor out to stay The tottring Clod and in his pinnace sleeps VVhere all the seminals of life he keeps By this when Sarah in her wrinckls lay And all her white and red did fade away VVhen snow was all the locks she wore then she Dandled by Faith her Isaac on her knee Faiths Bull-rush 't was kept Moses like a swan On Nilus lapp and when he was grown man He foild the guilded-dangers of a court And made dry paths where whales were wont to sport And lest some Atheist should in Sarcasmes say Faith then was young but now shee 's weak gray Behold a Christian Homer without eyes By Faith out-sees two Universities William Jacob 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 TO His Honoured Friend Mr. Francis Taylor Upon His Grapes from Canaan OR The Believers present taste of future glory AWake my Muse take up thy Lyre And make one of this sacred quire Who would not gladly show his art VVhere ev'ry creature adds its part Mark how the Birds do sweetly frame Their Voice to blaze their Makers fame Hark how they chirp and flock together Provoking to this work each other VVho though with much alacrity They all proclaim a Deity None to so high a Note can rise As this rare Bird of Paradise Thou art the Orpheus of our age Whose quill when storms within do rage With such sweet noise doth fill our ear As can't be told by those that hear Thy lines thy words and ev'ry letter Are so well suited to thy matter That from King David I 'le defend it Thou mayst be lineally descended He of the Earthly City wrot To praise the Heavenly is thy Plot VVhose glory doth so shine in thee Though blind thou can'st not chuse but see When once the Soul hath fix't its eye Upon the Glorie of things on high And seen its Christ within the vaile What matter though the Body's faile Haste then my Soul VVith this good guide Haste to that Glory here descri'd Thou need'st not fear to go astray VVhen this great Seer leads the way VVhere Angels and where Seraphim VVhere blessed Saints and Cherubin Praises continually do sing To God our God and heavenly King Frederick Primrose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Amico suo ingeniosissimo celeberrimi hujus Poematis Authori merito hoc encomiasticon commendat N. ◠Philo-Porta REgia marmoreis plusquam fabricata columnis Celsa Dei est sese extendens per inane locorum Lucidior gemmis Chrystallo purior omni Conspicuo longe fulvo rutilantior auro Firmior domibus multo fluitantibus orbis Nomina cum titulis nec non adjuncta sacratis Hujus coelestis Paradisi consuis ipse haec Omnia Taylere insignis Beatifica dona Fulgoris radiis complentia corpora pura Utque sigillatim memores Ut agilia narres Non moritura unquam Forma nitidissima Nec non Attributa quidem haec incompatibilia Deinde Lux felicitas animarum clara sacrarum Cognitio scilicet gemmans dominumque amor erga Sese perfectus collucent versibus aptis Haectua depinxit graphice pia docta Camaena Dulcis Amice stylum poliit tua lima Britannum Carmine suavisono scandant super aethera laudes Non torrem ostendam soli mea Musa silescet More Timanthaeo obvolvens haec ardua nube To my Loving Friend Mr. Fran. Taylor upon his excellent Poem entituled Grapes from Canaan c. DEpriv'd of sight can he be said to be Who sees the light How true is this of thee Thy soul is full of eyes whose sight refin'd See far although thou bodily art blind Let this to none a Paradox appear That thou a blind-man art and yet a Seer Paul was wrap't up
lodging in eternity Still Rally up thy thoughts and Muster them To prosecute the heavenly Diadem And learn with studiousness to methodise The grand affairs in which thy safety lies O let thy soul unto eternity As Eagles to the carcass swiftly flye And there be alwayes hovering up and down Till thou a fight gain of the eternal crown While others fill their thoughts with dirt and go After the muddy comforts here below O do not thou disgrace and vilifie Thy soul that of-set of divinity With such vain contemplations don't affect I' th' sumptuous casket of thine intellect To lay up pebbles 't is a very gross Sin for a saint to study dung and dross To putrifie his thonghts with objects which Defiling are and oft the heart bewitch Our lives like Candles in the wind are here To which each blast proves an extinguisher Or like to Glasses that are broken by A gentle knock and into shivers flye There 's no distemper but may in the wombe Of Earth our dying carcases intombe Since then we are so brittle and so frail Let us not cease to peep within the vail Let 's fix our thoughts upon eternal bliss Which our estate behind the curtain is Our vessels to that Haven let us steere And anchor al our meditations there The thoughts of Heaven put a mask before The beauties which al carnal hearts adore Of sensual appetites they dul the edge And cast a rust upon the golden wedge Such contemplations do anatomise The flattering world in its varieties And of its cheat each vein and artery Most clearly and distinctly do descry Eternal glory ruminated on Will stain the beauty of the regal throne 'T wil raise the heart and the affections carry Far above al contentments sublunary This opes the eyes and make a saint espy Much paint imposture and fugacity In the most rich and flourishing estate That comes within the worldly mans conceit VVhen once a saint through Faiths prospective glass Peeps into heaven and descries the mass Of never fading wealth laid up in store For such as God in purity adore The cream of creature comforts by and by Grows stale and curdles into vanity The Dagon streight of worldly bliss doth fall Before the thoughts of joy caelestial As pretty labouring Bees although they live I' th' midst of wax and honey in their Hive Yet are their nimble wings not hindred by That viscous matter that they cannot fly Abroad or swiftly pass from flower to flower To gather thyme to carry to their bower So thou that dost in the abundance dwell Of worldly Delicates as in a cell Of sweetness shouldst beware lest earthly things To thine affections cleave which are the wings Of thine immortal soul that may retard Thy daily flight and motion heaven-ward That may abate thy thoughts activity In their oft musing on the mystery Of heavens bliss which chiefly and above All things a saint delight in should and love The Loadstone doth its vertue lose and can't Iron attract plac'd neer the Adamant And shall the world thy heart draw and entice For all the neerness of the pearl of price Hagar no doubt would have contented been With her exhausted Bottle had she seen The Well that was beside her so should saints With little of the world since God acquaints Them with a spring of living water nigh Which shall refresh them to eternity The Fourth Practical Conclusion THough heaven be an edifice so wide That myriads of souls may there reside Yet thither all shall not advanced be To many Christ will say Depart from me I never knew you never did approve Of your Devotion or pretended love Who Vassals are to sin cannot expect A share in blessedness with Gods Elect. The Cherubims with flaming swords do stand To stop their passage to the Holy Land The Chaff may with the Wheat together lie Here in the floor not in the Granatie No sons of Belial e're refreshed shall Be with the dews of joyes caelestial Their heads with glory never shall be crown'd Whose hearts were never consecrated ground Such in the landskip of a single glance Shall ne're behold the saints inheritance Or if they do 't is to accumulate The infelicity of their desp'rate state Although the serpent into Paradise Did winde it self the VVoman to entise Yet no defiled soul by al its skill Shal e're ascend or scale Gods holy hill Great Pompeys theatre was stiled by Turtullian of al filthiness the sty But Heaven's Nonesuch there is not the least Tincture of sin to stain that place of rest There no temptation shal the saints assaile No sinful lust shal lodge within the vaile Heaven is the sacred and imperial court Of Gods immediate presence where in short His purer eyes shal ne're offended be VVith the least rising of deformity Marks of our Interest in Heaven THey that shal wear the Royal Diadem Of glory in the New Jerusalem Are Scions off from Natures Olive broke And grafted new into another stock God hath dismantled the old man in part VVho full possession once had of the heart Some carnal lust falls from them ev'ry day That in the soul did formerly bear sway They loosed are from the grave-cloaths of sin VVhich heretofore they were involved in Their wonted paths they willingly forsake And in the wayes of God much pleasure take The fignet of the word and heavenly print Hath stamped on their hearts once satans mint The spirits gale hath blown upon them and Turned their course towards the Holy Land Their lives bespangled are with holiness His Vertues that hath call'd them they express The rayes of Christs transcendent beauty shine Upon them and their hearts to him encline Temptations womb is in the bitths of sin Less fruitful than it heretofore hath been The weeds of lust decay in them apace And in their room springs up the Herb of Grace The Second Mark THeir souls are carried out with violence Heaven to attain they pine at no expence As Gods redeemed Israel by his aid The Land of Promise stoutly did invade So his Elect and chosen Generation Lay siege unto the heavenly habitation There 's no arriving at eternal life They know full well without this holy strife To heaven with all celerity they hie As flocks of Doves unto their windows flie They march on speedily without delay Although there be a Lion in the way The wings of Faith bear them above those fears Which carnal hearts do penetrate like spears They break through all obstructions that they may Possess themselves of their intended prey The batt'ries of their prai'rs'gainst heaven they plant And storm't till God to them an entrance grant They ask in Faith and will not be denied Heaven they must have what e're they want beside At this they aim to this each saint aspires 〈◊〉 here 's the center of their choice desires The Third Mark THey by the new and living way do go The vaile of Christs humanity they know That there is no salvation
to be had In any other if they be not clad VVith his unspotted robes of righteousness They can't be sav'd in any other dress There 's no name under heaven that can ease us Of sins enthralment but the name of Jesus Saints by his merits only do attain Eternal life which is the greatest gain Good works to heavens kingdom are the way The cause of reigning that we dare not say Christ is the Door and there 's no entring in But by his bloud which clonseth from all sin He is the curtain the refreshing screen Us and Gods scorching ire that stands between The deluge of his wrath no man can shun Unless with speed into this ark he run They lose themselves for ever who assay To go to heaven any other way The Fourth Mark THeir souls oft soar above the spangled sky And unto Heaven in contemplation fly Mount Tabor they do frequently ascend To eye the glory that may there be kenn'd They heaven alwayes have within their eye VVhich makes them earthly trifles to defie Their hearts are only fix'd on things above These are the chiefest objects of their love The blessed God their thoughts still dwel upon An eartely saint's a contradiction Though they to so journ here below are driven Yet is their conversation still in heaven There is their treasure there their chief estate From which no wile their hearts can separate How to be great on earth is not their plot They use the world as though they us'd it not The pleasures of this life they little heed Their thoughts upon the fairest objects feed They 'r alwayes pressing forward tow'rds the mark And long to taste the Manna in heav'ns ark The Fifth Practical Conclusion O Long to be installed in the throne Of endless glory let thy spirit groan After a full and plenary possession Of blessedness transcending all expression Pant after that unparallell'd estate One mite whereof surpasseth all conceit Be like the Bird of Paradise which they say Being intangled in the snare straightway Begins to strive and never giveth o're Till she enjoy her freedom as before Sing Simeons swan-like song at his decease Lord let thy servant now depart in peace Welcome the messenger of death which brings Most joyful tydings from the King of Kings Which tells the saints of an approaching crown Of matchless glory honour and renown Death is the chariot which without delay Saints to their Fathers house soon bears away Death lodgeth souls i' th' twinckling of an eye In the sweet bosome of felicity Death is to humble penitents no less Then a short entrance into happiness Their nasty loathsome rags death frees them from And gives them change of raiment in their room Death is the saints ascension day to bliss Their marriage day with Jesus Christ it is Death is the Charter of their liberty The period of their pain and misery Death gives them an immunity from sin And frees them from the fears they once were in Death is the bane of woe the grave of vice The portal opening into Paradise Where grace that in the bud was here below Into the flow'r of glory straight shal blow Where saints immortal souls made more divine Shal with the Di'monds of perfection shine Where they to their unspeakable delight Of God himself shal have a perfect sight VVhere in their wills there shal a likeness be To God in holiness and purity VVhere having shot the gulph of Death they shal VVear on their heads a crown imperial VVhere the rich caskets of their souls shal be O'relaid with glories best embroiderie VVhere in the river they of pleasures shal Be bath'd whose sweetness is perpetual VVhere no contaminating tincture e're Shall their unspotted purity besmear VVhere God himself unto the saints shall be A spring of life to perpetuitie Where they shal in the fragrant bosome liâ— Of their beloved to eternitie Where saints by vertue of their Saviours merit Shal alwayes have fresh in-comes of the spirit VVhere the enammel of their glory shal Never wear off nor soiled be at all VVhere they shal have a rich redundancy Of peace joy comfort and serenity Where they their safety shal behold from all Insulting foes and their eternal thrall VVhere they a glorious kingdom shal receive Of which no power on earth can them bereave VVhere they shal be partakers of that joy VVhich will them satisfie but never cloy VVhere Baca into Beracha shal be Converted mourning into melody VVhere brinish tears shal never dim their eyes Nor shal their ears be frighted more with cryes Where sorrows ne're shal damp their hearrs again Nor shal their senses be disturb'd with pain VVhere they no more shal persecuted be By Satans imps for their integrity VVhere saints with sparkling Gems of glory shal Be deck'd and not be envi'd for 't at all VVhere length of years without the least decay Of strength they shal enjoy yea where for ay They shal be blessed with the love of many And need not fear the jealoufie of any VVhere for their labour a Quietus est Each saint shal have and ever be at rest Where life and immortality they shall Have for their death in Christ and Christ for all The Conclusion of the whole THe Glory that within the curtain lies Can't measur'd be by our capacities There 's more within the vaile than by the best And most sublimed saint can be exprest Grace may believe 't but Reason cannot sound The bottom of 't though never so profound In fathoming this rich inheritance What 's all acuteness but meer ignorance He cannot reach this glory that 's indu'de VVith knowledge in the largest latitude If Natures secretary did not know The cause why Euripus did ebbe and flow O how then would his Reason puzz'led be To sound the Ocean of Eternity VVhat the inspired Pen-man doth relate Of natural men and unregenerate Respectively to spir'tuals that they are Not able them to comprehend or bear The same more truly may asserted be In reference unto Eternity 'T is with the prospect of eternity As to the Ocean it is with the eye It may its surface not its bottom see And so some dark and glimmering knowledge we May have of heaven but no mortal eye Into its in side able is to pry The blind-man half restored to his sight Said Lo I see by this imperfect light Men walk as trees So may a pur-blind eye Glance at the riches of Eternity Some few weak parcels of the knowledge we May of it gain but not its Centre see He that was carri'd up above the sky To see a Landskip of Felicity To take a view of those transcendencies Heaven was enrich'd withal what there his eyes Had seen to their ineffable content At his return with what astonishment Doth he relate it Yea he doth confess Words were too weak his Vision to express The ravishing and beatifical Sights which his eyes had blessed been withal VVere not to be pourtrai'd in all their glory By th'