you have continued waiting but a few days longes God will grant your Desires for when you come to Heaven whither Death will certainly and suddenly bring you Sin an unholy Heart and Nature shall never more afflict or trouble you for Sin that was here your Burthen to feel shall there be your Delight to be for ever without that impenitent unbelieving Heart those vain yea sinful Thoughts which were wont to lie down and rise up with you which did use to follow you to every Duty and accompany you in every Place and Service and which you could no more leave behind you when you went to Pray to Hear to Read or to Meditate than you could leave your selves behind you shall all be left behind you when you come to die they did and would keep you company while you lived but they shall not go one step with you beyond Death then you take your leave of them bidding an eternal Farewel to all Sin O my Soul when shall that blessed day come that thou shalt thus take thy leave of Sin never to wound thy Conscience never to defile thy Soul nor never to displease thy God thereby any more O what a blessed state will that be when Death shall send a godly Man to Heaven perfectly free from all Sin not only as to the Power of it but also as to the vexing and disquieting Presence of it where he shall spend ars Eternity in serving and praising of God without the least interruption imperfection or weariness of Soul for ever And doth not Death in this appear a Believer's great Friend in that what Prayers and Tears Sighs and Groans together with the assistance of the Spirit of God did gradually that is mortifie and destroy Sin that Death doth for a Believer at one blow perfectly freeing him from the Burthen and Being of Sin for ever Fourthly In Heaven the People of God shall arrive unto a Perfection of Grace and Holiness As all that the Saints have here is but mean compared to what they shall attain to hereafter so all that the Saints do here is but mean compared to what they shall be enabled to do hereafter Grace in a godly Man in this Life is in its minority and therefore the acting of Grace must needs be accordingly The Excellency and Beauty of a Saint lies inward in the hidden Man of the Heart or as the Psalmist speaks he is one that is all glorious within And because Grace in him is inward therefore its Excellency is not so visible and apparent Grace in a godly Man neither doth nor can shine forth in its Glory and Beauty here because Sin in him eclipses the splendor of its appearance The imperfection of Grace is discernable here but the Perfection and Beauty of Grace is neither known nor attainable here The highest degrees of Grace and Holiness that the best of God's People reach unto here comes infinitely short to what they shall attain to in Heaven It is true a little Grace in a Saint now makes him glorious in the eyes of those who have a Spirit of discerning to behold it in respect whereof the Saints are called the excellent ones of the Earth Psal 16.3 Now if the weakness and imperfection of Grace for that which the People of God attain to of Grace here it no more compared with what they shall attain to in Heaven if this weakness and imperfection of Grace be so excellent and glorious O how exceeding glorious will the perfection and beauty of Grace be hereafter How glorious have some of the Saints of God of old appeared when their Excellency hath chiefly appeared in the Oriency and sparkling Beauty but of some one particular Grace as for instance How glorious was Abraham for his Faith Moses for his meekness self-denial Nehemiah for his zeal for God and his Glory David for his Love to God and his Ordinances Job for his Patience S. Paul for his unwearied Industry and Laboriousness in the Work of God and the Service of Souls O how eminently glorious have the particular actings of these particular Graces in these Servants of God made them in all Ages insomuch that the Spirit of God hath thought good to record their Excellencies in the holy Scriptures and their Praise shall be in all the Churches of God to the end of the World Now if the Saints Eminency in some particular Graces have made them so glorious notwithstanding their Imperfections other ways how glorious and excellent will they appear when all that Grace and Holiness that shall accompany them to Heaven and is there necessary unto their Happiness that they may see and enjoy God to eternity shall be fully and compleatly perfected having nothing of the least allay of any spot or imperfection in their Graces or in their Persons to take off from the Beauty and Glory of the one or of the other for ever In Heaven Grace in a Saint is in its excellency and in its visibility there is Grace and nothing but Grace there is Grace and all Grace yea there is all Grace shining forth in its fulness and utmost perfection of Glory to eternity In this Life Grace in the People of God is never perfect in some things they are always defective in other things always wanting they are continually aiming at and going on unto Perfection though while they are here they do not attain unto it In the Work of Regeneration they are truly sanctified and made holy but it is in Heaven only that they are perfectly sanctified The Lord Jesus Christ now loves his Church and he hath abundantly manifested that he doth so in giving himself for it that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word as the Apostle speaks But he never presents it to himself a Glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle till he brings it to Heaven By a work of Sanctification he is now daily cleansing and purifying of it but the full Perfection and Beauty of Holiness is not put upon it till the Marriage between him and his Church be consummated in Glory Here in this Life there is much Imperfection in the Righteousness and Holiness of the Saints many Faults and Infirmities they have that others may censure and condemn and themselves ought to bewail and mourn for but in Heaven they shall be Faultless so saith the Apostle Jude 24. Whilst the Church is Militant upon Earth though she is black and hath her spots yet is she comely but when she comes to be Triumphant in Heaven then will she be as a beautiful Bride adorned with fulness and perfection of Grace and Holiness fitted and prepared for her Lord and Husband's Company Rev. 22.2 where every Saint shall behold and love the Blessed and Holy God and their dear Lord Jesus with a Love equal to Angels and Cherubims satiating and delighting their Souls in him with a Joy far exceeding the highest Joys that any of the People of God ever were
without any Satiety or Weariness Here on Earth they are often starting aside to the Creature with an inordinate Love and Delight but in Heaven there shall be an eternal fixedness of Soul with infinite Complacency and Delight in God Here our Affections are under great Irregularities To instance in two briefly and they are the Affections of Love and Joy As to the Affection of Love It is well known unto all what is a Christian's commanded Duty namely To love the Lord our God with all our heart with all our soul with all our mind and with all our strength And this Love to God operating by Love to our Neighbours is so acceptable a Duty that it is called by the Apostle the fulfilling of the Law But alas how do the best of God's Servants fall short in this respect when all they attain to is only to love God in Sincerity and with some degree of prevalency above all other Enjoyments But to love God so as to desire him so as to rejoice and delight in him above all other things with the utmost extremity of Love and Affection in Perpetuity and Constancy Oh where is the Soul that can be found that doth sol Vain and foolish yea sinful Objects also entangle our Affections and draw away our Hearts from God to an over-loving and delighting in them and to an impairing and weakning of our Love and Affections towards God How often do we meet with such Complaints as these in the mouths of God's People Oh that we could love God more Oh that we could love Christ more but alas we cannot Their Faith discovers to them a wonderful Amiableness in God and Christ which draws out the Desires of their Souls after them So saith the Apostle to you that believe he is precious or desirable But yet they find they cannot love God as they ought nor as they desire to do for by reason of that Earthliness that is still in them their Hearts and Affections are divided and carried out after other Objects so that as the Apostle complains they cannot do the things that they would But now in Heaven these Complaints shall cease and all the disorders and Irregularities of the Affections shall be cured and the Soul shall perfectly and everlastingly love God and contemplate the Excellencies and Perfections that are in him with unspeakable Delight and Satisfaction For where ever there is the Actings of these Affections it always carrieth much Pleasure and Delight along with it especially where the Object beloved is deserving and the Affections are strong towards it Now in Heaven the Object is most deserving to be beloved for it is the ever blessed God and the Affections of the Soul will be strongest for there Love shall be in its Height and Perfection and that which results from hence must be infinite Satisfaction and Delight unto the Soul so that it cannot chuse but it must love God There holy Souls shall have continual views of the perfect Beauty of him who is altogether lovely yea who is Love it self the sight of whom will not only wonderfully draw their Hearts and Affections towards him but fill their Souls with continual Ravishments of Love and Joy in him so that it is impossible they should do otherwise than rejoice and delight in him O this Life of Love which Saints always live in Heaven It is that which fills them with unspeakable Satisfaction and Contentment yea Love in Heaven is that which will be both the Work and the Reward of a Saint at once and that in Constancy and Perpetuity And so for a Saint's Joy which is another Affection of the Soul How irregularly doth it frequently act we rejoice when we should mourn and we mourn when we should rejoice or if not so yet we often exceed in our Joy and Delight Commonly it is with us in our Enjoyments of the World as it is with us in our Losses in the World When we lose the Comforts of the World we over grieve and are cast down so excessively as if we had nothing left to take any Delight or Comfort in And just so is it with us in our Enjoyments of the World when God blesseth us with outward Comforts we over-love and delight in them so that that which God gives us to draw our Hearts nearer to himself by the Excesses of our Joy and Delight in them takes away our Hearts more from him insomuch that we are more forgetful of God by our inordinate rejoicing in what he bestows upon us A very evil and ungrateful return unto God for his Kindness to us but yet it is that which we are very inclinable unto Hence therefore is it that we are so often caution'd against all excessive Love of or Delight in things here below for Love to and Joy and Delight in any thing always go together the Apostle therefore bids us 1 John 3.16 Love not the World nor the things of the World if any Man love the World the Love of the Father is not in him Not that it is absolutely unlawful to express any kind of Love to or Delight in Worldly Things But it is as if he had said so hard and difficult a thing it is for Christians in loving and delighting in worldly Enjoyments to keep their Affections within their bounds and to express no more of Joy and Delight in those things than is due to them that it is almost necessary to lay a Command upon them not to love the World at all such a proneness is there in the best of Christians to transgress when any allowance is given unto these carnal Hearts and Affections of ours towards worldly Enjoyments It is true a Believer is not only allowed but commanded to rejoice yea and to rejoice always and none have more cause so to do than he But it is not in the persons or things of this World but in God so runs the Command 1 Thes 5. Rejoice always in the Lord and again I say rejoice But yet all rejoicing in outward Enjoyments is not forbidden him neither A Christian who is accepted of God may as the wise Man speaks eat his Bread with Joy and drink his Wine with a merry Heart Eccles 4.7 that is he may rejoice and be chearful in the use of those Comforts and Refreshments that God bestows upon him But yet in the greatest abundance of them his Moderation ought to be known unto all Men and still he must rejoice in them as if he rejoiced not that is use them and rejoice in them with a holy kind of Indifferency of Soul But now here is the great failing of Christians they exceed those bounds and limits that God allows them letting out their Hearts and Affections inordinately towards them But now in Heaven these delightful Affections of the Soul shall be regulated A Saint's Joy there shall be always rightly placed and duly bounded God will there be the only Object of our Joy and the right bounding of our Joys
for my Name sake Rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in Heaven Thus whatever condition the People of God are in yet still they ought always to joy and rejoyce in God and the Reason is this because they have the special Presence of God with them and where that is there are frequent though secret discoveries of God's Love unto them How often doth God lift up the light of his Countenance upon such whilst they are attending upon him in holy Duties secretly whispering to their Souls that they are accepted in the Beloved vouchsafing to them some Discoveries of the invisible and unseen but yet real Glory and Happiness of Heaven and of their Interest in it whereby their Souls are even ravished with an excess of strange and unusual Joy and Delight beyond what they are able to express And yet all this is whilst as the Apostle speaks Believers walk by Faith and not by Sight Now if this little Sight and these small Enjoyments that the Saints have of God here which in comparison of what they shall see and enjoy of God hereafter may be said to be no Sight for so the Apostle calls it 1 Pet. 1.8 Whom as yet having not seen if this Sight of God which as it follows in the next Words is only our Believing in God if this fills the Soul of a Believer with so great Joy and Delight what then shall the Beatifical Vision of God in Heaven do If Faith and Hope do so ravish the Souls of Believers with Joy and Delight even then whilst we are absent from the Lord for as the Apostle speaks Whilst we are at home in the Body we are absent from the Lord. If yet the Joy of Faith and Hope be so great O what then shall the Joy of Vision be when Believers shall not only be absent from the Body and present with the Lord but shall be ever present with the Lord both in Soul and Body seeing him face to face and enjoying him as he is Surely this Joy must needs be unspeakably great and glorious indeed this Sight of God is that which will not only amaze the Eye with wonder but ravish the Heart with eternal Ecstasies of Joy and Delight Fourthly The Saints Sight and Vision of God in Heaven shall be permanent and perpetual In this Life the People of God have not always the Presence of God with them nor the Manifestations of his Love and Favour towards them but are often in the dark for either they sin away God's Presence from them which is most frequent or else God for wise and holy Ends sees good to withdraw himself from them for a time and when either of these happen it is a sad time with such Souls especially if Sin hath been the Cause of it Such therefore walk very dejectedly and the Truth is their Case is very sad but yet it is that which many of the People of God have experienced See how the Church complains Esa 49.14 But Sion said the Lord hath forsaken me my God hath forgotten me So the Spouse Cant. 5.6 I opened to my Beloved but my Beloved had withdrawn himself my Soul failed when he spake I sought him but I could not find him I called him but he gave me no Answer And as it hath been thus with the People of God formerly so sad Experience tells us it is so with many of them still Sometimes they enjoy something of God his Presence and the Manifestations of his Love towards them in a Duty and O how sweet and delightful is it to their Souls when they thus meet with God! It is Heaven upon Earth but these things do not last for when Duties are ended the People of God grow careless and remiss yield to Temptations give way to Sin become vain and worldly and so lose the Presence of God by reason whereof they walk in Darkness have no Manifestations of his Love and Favour towards them insomuch that their Souls are even ready to faint and sink within them under a despair of Mercy This now is the Case of many a Child of God in this World sometimes he hath the benign Instuences of the Divine Favour darted into his Soul which makes him greatly to rejoyce but what God thus graciously gives he doth not wisely and holily retain These joyful Seasons abide not always with the People of God but they soon lose them the Light of God's Countenance is eclipsed and his Face hid from them by reason of their Foolishness But it is not thus in Heaven no Sin comes there to intercept between the Face of God and those holy Souls for ever There is no complaining of any Saint in Heaven that God hath forsaken him or hides his Face from him But it shall ever be with those holy Ones as our Lord tells us it is now with their Angels Matth. 18.10 They shall always behold the Face of God in Glory This blessed Object of the Saints Happiness in Heaven shall never be withdrawn from them to eternity nor shall their Sight ever be wearied with beholding of it nay without this constant Vision and enjoyment of God Heaven would not be a Happiness great enough to fill and satisfie the Desires of the Saints Their Souls are so raised so capacious that they cannot be content with any thing even in Heaven it self unless they enjoy God there Should God bestow upon them the Glory of all the Creatures either in Heaven or in Earth should he confer upon them the Glory of all the Kings and Emperors in the World yea should he add to that the Glory of the Sun Moon and Stars nay should he add to them the Glory of all the Angels and Cherubims in Heaven yet still they would say they had not enough to make them happy for all these are not God When therefore God hath given Heaven to the Saints he must there give them the Vision and Enjoyment of himself or else they will not account themselves happy Nay I will go a little farther still it is not the Vision and Enjoyment of God in Heaven for a little time suppose it were for a few Days or Years nay were it for many Thousands of them this would not give their Souls full Satisfaction and Contentment unless they could eternally enjoy God This only can make them compleatly happy and now and never till now do they say they have enough And O how sweet is this Word Ever unto the Saints in Heaven in the sense I am speaking of Ever to be with the Lord ever to have him smile upon the Soul ever to behold his Face ever to have his Presence with it and ever to be under the Manifestations of his Love and Favour Here here is Heaven and Happiness indeed thus to see and enjoy God for ever And so much for the First Thing What kind of Sight or Vision of God the Saints shall have in Heaven Secondly Wherein doth it appear that this Vision of God
expression what will be the Joy of the Beatifical Vision of God in Heaven If now the believing Soul doth so greatly rejoyce in hearing from its Lord and Saviour in preaching and reading of his Word wherein there are such secret Messages of Love sent down from Heaven unto it O what will be the Joy of such a Soul in seeing him and dwelling with him for ever It shall never be said unto the Saints in Heaven what our Lord said unto his Disciples Hitherto you have asked nothing ask and you shall receive that your Joy may be full No the Joys of the Blessed in Heaven are always perfect and full For how can it be otherwise when there is nothing in Heaven but what is Matter of Joy to the Saints They are there in their Father's House come to the Inheritance and Possession of Children in an everlasting glorious Kingdom where they continually behold the Face of God and of the Lamb. The Joys of Heaven far exceed not only all earthly Joys such as the Joy of Marriage the Joy of Harvest but the Joy of Ordinances the Joy of Faith yea the Joy of the Holy Ghost All these Joys are swallowed up in Heaven and are almost as no Joys compared with the Joys thereof for in that holy Place there is nothing to disturb or to diminish the Joys of the Saints for ever O why then do not the People of God more fetch their Joys and Delights from Heaven while they are here This if any thing should comfort their Hearts and support their Spirits under all the Troubles they meet with here for though this World he a Valley of Tears yet in Heaven there will be Fulness of Joy and Rivers of Pleasures of which they may drink as deep and take in as much as their Hearts can hold though enlarged to their utmost capacity Fourthly The Joys of Heaven are permanent and everlasting and this makes it full Consolation indeed When our Lord told his Disciples he was to leave them and to return to Heaven unto his Father their Hearts were filled with Sorrow thereupon what course now doth our Lord take to comfort them Why he tells them John 16.20 Their Sorrow should be turned into Joy But when was this to be Why it was when he should come again and receive them to himself Not that they were to be without comfort until then no for he tells them when he departed he would send the Comforter to them who was to continue with them while they continued in the World But the Fulness and Perfection of their Joy they were to wait for till they come to Heaven and then when he shall come for that end and purpose to receive them to himself their Hearts should rejoyce and their Joy no Man should take from them for at God's right hand there are Pleasures for evermore A Believer hath always cause of Rejoycing in God but by reason of many sharp Trials that God sees good to lay upon his People there are some sad interruptions of his Joy for a time The Joy that the People of God partake of in this Life is like the Joy of the Husbandman in time of Harvest which though it be great for the present yet is it soon over and if he expect to partake of any more of the same nature he must first be at the pains and trouble of a Seeds-time So after the People of God have had their Joys here they again sow in Tears before they receive another crop of Comfort It is in Heaven only that our Joy will be everlasting there is fulness of Joy without any mixture of Sorrow a continual Feast a Joy that is ever in fulness and perfection even as the Fruits are in time of Harvest A Believer shall never sow in Tears there but have a perpetual Joy without weariness because there shall continually arise infinite variety of fresh Delights in God which shall fill the Soul with a continual Festival of Joy for ever Sixthly In Heaven the Saints shall partake of excellent Glory and Honour Heaven is the Palace of the great King of Glory the Presence-Chamber where he unvails himself and manifests his Glory both to Saints and Angels and this indeed is the most glorious Sight in Heaven and that which makes Heaven to be the most glorious Place We read in Acts 6.15 That when Stephen stood before the Councel his Face did shine with an Angelical Brightness This was a glorious Sight to see the Face of a Man to shine as the Face of an Angel But this is nothing compared with that Glory with which the Saints shall shine when they shall stand before the great God of Heaven seeing him face to face The Scripture describing to us this part of the Saints Happiness in Heaven abounds with variety of Expressions that discover the Greatness and Excellency thereof Thus the Saints Glory there is set forth by the Glory of Kings at their Coronation and taking possession of their Kingdoms which is the greatest and highest of all worldly Glory Every Saint in Heaven is a Crowned King having taken possession of a glorious Kingdom prepared for them before the foundations of the world when also they receive a Crown of Glory that fadeth not away Sometimes it is described by the Glory of the Sun Thus our Lord tells us Matth. 13.43 The Righteous shall shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father Sometimes it is compared to the Glory of the Angels who as they excel in strength so do they also excel in Glory all the Princes of the Earth Hence we read the Saints in Heaven shall not only he like unto but equal with the Angels Luke 22.36 Sometimes also this Glory of the Saints is set forth by the Glory of Christ himself who is the Lord of Glory which is the highest pitch of Glory that can be Thus we read that when Christ shall come at the last Day to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in them that believe the Saints also shall then appear with him in Glory Col. 3.4 Shining gloriously by reason of his Glory that he will put upon them for then shall they be made like unto him for ever seeing him as he is so says the Apostle 1 John 3.12 Sometimes the Glory of Heaven is called a weight of Glory so we read 2 Cor. 4.17 An exceeding excessive eternal weight of Glory High Expressions setting forth the Glory of Heaven and almost to an Hyperbole but that Christ and Heaven can never be Hyperbolically expressed Sometimes again this glorious State of Believers is called Eternal Glory 2 Tim 2.10 That they may attain that Salvation that is in Christ with eternal Glory So 1 Pet. 5.10 The God of all Grace who hath called you to his eternal Glory Worldly Honour and Glory is transitory inconstant and vanishing The Fashion of the World passeth away 1 Cor. 7.31 And the Glory of Man says St. Peter is as the Flower of
and Delights in him will be to joy and rejoice in him without bounds and limits Let our rejoicing in him be never so great it cannot be so great as he deserves Were it possible for one glorified Soul in Heaven to contain in it all the Affections of Love and Delight that are scattered up and down in all the Saints and Angels in Heaven and to put forth the Extremity of those Affections towards the great and blessed God in loving and delighting in him to the utmost of its Capacity yet when that Soul hath acted with the greatest ardency of all these Affections towards God still is there more of Worth and Excellency in God than all these Affections can reach unto and infinitely more doth he still deserve to be loved and delighted in It is true a gracious Soul in Heaven shall have other Objects to delight in as Saints and Angels and the glorious place of its Habitation the highest Heavens But whatever Joy or Delight the Soul expresseth in or towards any of these Objects it is because of the Divine Excellencies and Perfections that are communicated to them and do shine forth gloriously in them But still God is the chiefest Object of their Joy Here on Earth a Saint's Joy is chiefly in God Hab. 3. I will rejoice in the Lord and joy in the God of my Salvation Psal 34.2 My Soul shall make her boast in the Lord Psal 33.1 Rejoice in the Lord O ye Righteous And if it be thus with the People of God here much more will it be so with them in Heaven that which is now their Duty shall there be their eternal Reward always to rejoice in God for in his presence is fulness of Joy and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore And oh what a support may this be to a Soul that by the excess of its Joy and Delight in worldly Enjoyments hath provoked God to hide his Face from it and being sensible of its Sin is returning unto God seeking after him with weeping and mourning because of its offending him though as yet it cannot find God graciously smiling upon it Go on still O Soul seek him and mourn after him and remember for thy Comfort though weeping may endure for a night yet joy will come in the morning there is a time coming when thy Sorrow shall be turned into Joy yea when thou shalt have fullness and perpetuity of Joy in Conjunction for it shall be that in which thou shalt bathe thy Soul with infinite Pleasure and Delight to all Eternity I shall now close this Chapter with a short Discourse of that which is a necessary addition unto all that hath been said for the compleating the Saints Happiness in Heaven and that is the perpetuity or eternity thereof This is a Crown unto our Crown of Glory that it shall be eternal It is true God is the chief Happiness of a Saint in Heaven but tho' God be the chief yea the only Happiness of glorified Souls and Heaven it self were no Happiness to a Saint without God there yet if it be not an eternal Enjoyment of God in Heaven a Believer's Happiness there would be as it were no Happiness to him for the greater the Good is that is enjoyed if mixed with continual Fears of losing it the less Joy and Delight is there unto any in the possessing of it because the fear of being deprived of so great a Good abates so much of the Happiness and Comfort that otherwise would accrue unto the Soul in the enjoying of it that it makes it to be very little comparatively to what it would be That which otherwise would be unexpressibly delectable in the Enjoyment by our Fears of losing it gives little Contentment to us while we are possessed of it Now though there be just Cause for us to fear the loss of all earthly Enjoyments and possibly it may be necessary that God should suffer such Fears to prevail upon us that worldly things may have less of our Hearts and Affections and himself the more yet as to Heaven and the Happiness thereof there is no ground for any such Fears Nay though the Happiness of Heaven be Ten thousand times greater than what we can promise our selves in all worldly Enjoyments yet that which adds to the excellency of that Happiness is this that it is a thousand times more certain and secure than any worldly thing can be The Happiness of Heaven is not only a full and compleat Happiness but it is also a secure Happiness It is a full Happiness holy Souls though they are never satisfied till then yet are they then fully satisfied In Heaven there is a Cessation of Desire In the enjoyment of God in that glorious Place there is more of Happiness than the Soul is able to receive or bear And as this Happiness is full and satisfactory so is it also secure it is a Happiness that cannot be lost The Gates of the New Jerusalem that is of Heaven are therefore said to stand open to shew there is no fear of any Enemies Approach to take away the Happiness of a Saint there God will never take away the Happiness of a Saint from him the Devil nor Sin cannot take it away neither shall Man himself either lose or throw it away The Happiness of a Saint in Heaven is not like the Happiness of Man in Paradise which was in his own keeping and so was soon lost by him but it is in God's hands and so it cannot be lost As the Power of God now preserves and keeps a Saint for the enjoyment of Heaven therefore says the Apostle 1 Pet. 1.5 You are kept by the mighty Power of God through Faith unto Salvation So the Love the Grace the Mercy of God that hath bestowed the Happiness of Heaven upon them will for ever secure the Enjoyment of it to them And as the Happiness of Heaven cannot be lost so it shall never decay it is therefore called by the Apostle 1 Pet. 1.4 An Inheritance incorruptible undefiled that fadeth not away And says the same Apostle chap. 5.4 When the chief Shepherd shall appear you shall receive a Crown of Glory that fadeth not away neither Moth nor Thief comes there neither internal nor external Means of Corruption or Decay Here on Earth the sweetest Comforts soonest fade as the sweetest Rose soonest withers But in Heaven there 's an eternal Freshness and Greenness upon a Saint's Blessedness When glorified Souls have sung the Song of Moses and the Lamb Millions of Millions of Years it is a new Song still and as pleasant and delightful as ever And that a Saint's Happiness may be perfect and compleat it is that which shall never have an end Heaven is not a Tenement at Will but an Inheritance purchased for the Saints by the Blood of Christ and setled upon them for ever We know says the Apostle that when this earthly house of our Tabernacle shall be dissolved we have a Building of
of that holy Plaee no thing or person that is defiled or polluted shall ever enter there and certainly this must needs be sweet and delightful Were it a thing that we might suppose possible as indeed it is not that here we could have Communion with the People of God and with them only yet the best of them have now so many Weaknesses and Imperfections as would render the purest Society of them sometimes uncomfortable for here being in their imperfect state they must be born withal in many things for they are still Men subject to like Passions and Infirmtiies with others Moses a Man eminent for Meekness so that there was none like him on Earth yet sometimes spake unadvisedly with his lips Job a patient Man even to a Proverb yet had sometimes his Fits of Impatience and Discontent Jonah a Prophet of the Lord yet very froward and peevish and justifies his Passion and Anger not only before Men but even unto the Face of God himself saying I do well to be angry even unto the death Yea most if not all the Saints and People of God mentioned in Scripture though eminent for Grace and Holiness yet have they had some Sins some Infirmities or other recorded of them that it might be known they were Men yea sinful Men also as well as Saints and if we expect Communion with any while we are here that are not Sinners as well as Saints we must then go out of the world as the Apostle speaks for all the People of God here have Flesh in them as well as Spirit Sin and Corruption in them as well as Grace and Holiness And yet notwithstanding all their Frailties and Infirmities they are still the best Company and Fellowship and Society with them most desirable And if while they have their Spots their Stains upon them their Company is so excellent and desirable what shall they be when they shall be free from all their Imperfections when they shall have no Ignorance no Blindness no Pride no Impatience no Spots no Blemishes nor any thing whereby they may be polluted or defiled but shall be adorned and beautified with all Grace and Holiness in the Fulness and Perfection of it Surely then their Company must needs be far more desirable yea even a kind of a little Heaven it self Secondly The Happiness of Believers in Heaven consists in their Communion with Angels the highest the noblest and most excellent of God's Creatures The Welfare of Man is that in which the Angels delight When Man was at first created those Morning-Stars sang together and those Sons of God as holy Job speaks shouted for joy Job 38.7 When Jesus Christ the Saviour of Mankind came into the World for this very end and purpose that he might be a Redeemer unto Man it is said that a multitude of the Heavenly Host joyned together in praising of God saying Glory to God on high on Earth Peace and Good Will towards Man Luke 2.13 And when any Sinners are turned unto God there is joy says our Lord among those Blessed Spirits Luke 15.10 This Heavenly Host of God now as the Apostle speaks rejoyce to be ministring Spirits unto the Saints Heb. 1.14 They are therefore called Ministring Spirits sent forth by God to minister for them who shall be Heirs of Salvation Many Offices of Love and Kindness they do for the People of God now when they are in danger which they cannot observe nor take notice of for though their Help and Assistance be always real as to the effect and operation thereof yet is it always invisible as to their knowledge and observation it being impossible for them to understand how often and after what manner they are employed by God for their Benefit The Angels are the continual Guardians and Attendants of the People of God while they are in this world hence therefore our Lord bids those he spake to in Matt. 18.10 Take heed that they offended not any of those little ones that believed in him for says he in heaven their Angels do always behold the Face of my Father which is in heaven And that the Angels do protect and defend the People of God here is very clear in Psal 34.7 The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him and delivereth them And that 's a great Scripture and adds much to the confirmation of the Happiness of the People of God both in respect of their Fellowship with the Saints and their Communion with the Angels in Heaven in Heb. 12.22 23. Ye are come unto Mount Sion the City of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable Company of Angels and to the Spirits of just men made perfect While we carry about with us these earthly Tabernacles of our Bodies we are scarce capable of Communications with such spiritual heavenly Creatures but at Death the Saints shall know their old Friends and Fellow-Servants and then those Heavenly and Triumphant Chariots shall carry up their departed Souls with Shoutings and Acclamations of Joy into the Presence of God where they shall make Relations of the strange and wonderful Providences of God towards them while they were here and joyn together in the high Praises of God for evermore In this world the sight of one Angel though a Messenger of Peace and one that brings good Tidings along with him yet doth cause Fear and Amazement But in Heaven the Saints shall behold all the Angels of God and that not only without Dread and Horrour but with Joy and Delight as being their Fellow-Creatures with whom they shall eternally maintain a blessed Communion and Correspondency And oh what happy and delightful Company will those Glorious Creatures be in whom there is nothing but what is Amiable and Lovely yea nothing but what is Admirable and Wonderful And though this Communion with Angels be a part of that Happiness which the Saints shall enjoy in Heaven and a Truth of great Certainty yet the Way and Manner of the Saints converse with them there is very dark and obscure and that to which we are now altogether strangers Let therefore the Certainty thereof suppress our Curiosity and satisfie our Minds until we come thither when we shall have a full Revelation and Enjoyment thereof together being made not only like unto but equal with the Angels Thirdly The Happiness of the Saints in Heaven lies in this that there they shall have a Sight and Enjoyment of Jesus Christ as their Blessed and Glorious Redeemet Now this is a Happiness so great that a Saint cannot but account himself recompensed with infinite Gain and Advantage though he lost his Life in the attaining of it Christ says the Apostle Col. 3.11 is all in all It was doubtless a blessed and glorious sight to behold the Lord Jesus Christ when he was here upon Earth when in the days of his Flesh he humbled himself and took upon him the form of a Servant for certainly he was the comiiest Person
arose again for their Justification and Glorification that this was he that with the price of his own Blood not only bought their Pardon but purchased that glorious Inheritance for them which now they are instated into the possession of this must needs put a new Life of Joy into their Souls and create a new kind of Happiness in them which they never were acquainted with nor was it possible for them to understand before Christ is the Desire of all Nations the Joy of Angels the Delight of God himself he in whom he is always well pleased All the Glory and Happiness of Heaven is wrapp'd up in him The Treasures of the Divine Wisdom Love and Kindness which were sometimes hid and concealed are now laid open in Heaven to the view of all the Saints O with what ravishing Joy and Delight then must those Souls be eternally filled with that live in the Sight Possession of him as theirs for ever Is not his Love better than Wine Will not the lifting up of the light of his Countenance upon the Soul administer more cause of Joy and Rejoycing than the greatest increase of all worldly enjoyments whatsoever O is not this the Language of holy Souls His Love is Life yea his loving kindness is better than Life O how shouldst thou chide thy self O Believing Soul whose Faith gives thee an Interest in him that thou art so afraid of his Appearance Whence is it that thou art so backward to go unto him Is the Enjoyment of him in Glory who is all Love all Life all Joy all Peace a frightful thing How comes it to pass that thou art so unwilling to die and be for ever with him whom thou callest thy Saviour Hath he laid down his Life and shed his Blood to redeem thee and will he now make an eternal Slave of thee What hath his Ascension into Glory changed his Nature and rendered him less lovely or the Happiness of Heaven in the Enjoyment of him less desirable No certainly he is not less lovely in himself because of his Exaltation into Glory but the more Nor is the Happiness of Heaven in the Enjoyment of him less but the more desirable and the more easily to be obtained for as the Apostle says If when we were Enemies we were reconciled by his Death much more being reconciled shall we be saved by his Life And because he lives glorified in Heaven therefore shall Believers live with him there and therefore also should they be the more desirous to be there because he is there Awake therefore O ye drowsie Saints rouze your selves up out of your Security and Slothfulness for a careless indifferent frame of Spirit doth not become those who are Expectants of so great and glorious a Redeemer and of so great a Happiness as is the eternal Enjoyment of him O what a holy Impatience and Vnquietness of Soul should rather be found in Believers after this Blessed Redeemer Is it not he by whom you expect to escape the Wrath and Vengeance of God Was not his Body broken and his Blood poured forth to make an Oblation for your Souls Was it not he whose Death and Sufferings have made full satisfaction to the Justice of God for your Sins Is it not he who to deliver you from the Curse of the Law was himself made a Curse for you Is it not he by whom alone you escape everlasting Burnings and hope to obtain an Inheritance incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for you Is there any thing either in this World or in the World to come that is comparable to him Look upon him well O Believing Souls both in respect of what he once was and in respect of what he now is and you cannot but say he is made up of Love Henceforth therefore wonder not O blind and ignorant World that the People of God express such passionate longing Desires after the Enjoyment of this Blessed Jesus but rather wonder at your selves that such Blindness and Darkness should be found within you that you should not be able to discern those Excellencies and that Loveliness that is in him Were the Eyes of your Understanding opened had you but a Spirit of discerning bestowed upon you to see into those glorious Excellencies and Perfections that are in the Lord Jesus and the Happiness that is in the Sight and Fruition of him in Heaven you would then say We see now there is the greatest Reason in the World why the Saints and People of God have such vehement Desires after him are so covetous of being in his Presence and beholding of his Glory For what Soul that knows him that hath tasted of his Love and experienced the Manifestations of his Grace and Favour towards it but doth most earnestly wish not only to see him but to live for ever with him O my Soul Whence is it then that thou that canst say thou lovest him in Truth and in Sincerity dost yet make it no more thy daily Care and Study to gain more and farther Knowledge of him and a more dear and intimate Acquaintance with him that so thou maist be brought into a more full and immediate Enjoyment of him And O thou infinitely Blessed Lord Jesus who hast all Loveliness and Amiableness in thee look down graciously upon thy poor Creatures and discover unto them more of those ravishing transcendent Beauties and Excellencies that are in thee and let us every day have more and farther insight into those never to be fully known Perfections of Glory and Loveliness that are in thy self that thereby we may be enabled not only to commend thee a thousand times more feelingly and affectionately unto others but may thereby also win upon yea command the Affections and Desires of all that hear of thee unto thee that nothing short of the Enjoyment of thy self and the Manifestations of thy Love and Favour in Eternal Glory may satisfie and content us or them but that we may continually be crying out in that known Language of thy Church Come Lord Jesus come quickly Fourthly and Lastly The Saints Happiness in Heaven consists in this That there they shall have the Vision and Enjoyment of God himself being always where he is seeing his Face and beholding his Glory Now in speaking to this great Happiness of the Saints the Beatifical Vision of God I shall content my self with those things that are most plain and will be most benificial Now the Sacred Scripture gives us an Account of this Great and Mysterious part of the Saints Happiness in many high and lofty expressions calling it sometimes a seeing of the Face of God Rev. 22.4 They shall see his Face Sometimes it is set forth by our becoming like unto God and seeing him as he is so in 1 John 3.2 Now says the Apostle we are the Sons of God but it doth not no nor can it yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall
acquainted with here continually singing Praises and Hallelujahs unto the great God and to the Lamb that sits upon the Throne and be no more weary thereof than the Angels themselves are understanding perfectly the Will of God and readily obeying it without so much as one vain Thought passing thorough their Minds or one idle Word dropping from their Mouths or one wry Look in their Countenances to Eternity O what a blessed Frame is here What would not a Gracious Soul give or do that he could attain to it now How would he rejoice to find a connaturality or perfect suitableness and agreement in himself unto Divine and Heavenly Employments O how happy would he think himself were his heart always as holy as his work Unto this tend all his Duties and performances even unto the perfecting of him in Grace and Holiness it is for this that he so often fasts and prays it is for this that he so often hears reads and meditates upon the Word of God for this it is he so often partakes of the Supper of the Lord and is so frequent in the Communion of Saints even for the destroying of Sin and Corruption and the encreasing and perfecting of Grace in his Soul Oh how full of longing Desires is he after that Day and Time Oh how earnestly doth he cry when when will the shadows flee away when will Days and Nights be at an end when will Time be spent when shall the Curtains be drawn that he may not only look at but eternally possess that blessed Place where Sin shall be for ever excluded both out of him and it where Grace and Holiness shall be perfected in him and where he shall always behold it shining in its ravishing Beauty and Glory Well be of good Chear O all ye Holy and Gracious Souls whose Desires are thus bent for in Mount Sion there shall be both a Deliverance from Sin and a Perfection of Holiness In Heaven the Spirits of just Men are made perfect Let the Thoughts therefore of your perfect Holiness in Heaven support you against all your natural Infirmities and Failings here on Earth Yea let all those that have a real Love to Holiness and a Hatred unto Sin long for Heaven and be desirous to die that they may sin no more but be for ever perfect in Grace and Holiness Fifthly The Saints in Heaven shall be Partakers of Fulness of Joy Joy is the peculiar Privilege of a Saint None in all the World notwithstanding all their great Possessions have that Cause of rejoicing that a godly Man hath That which makes a wicked Man rejoice is something that delights his Senses something that pleaseth his Fancy all which is vain and vanishing But that which delights a Godly Man is that which is solid and substantial something within that reacheth the very Soul and Conscience and that is God reconciled to him in Jesus Christ evidenced to his Soul upon Scripture grounds followed with the Testimony of the blessed Spirit in his Conscience witnessing with his Spirit that he is among the number of the Children of God upon which follows the Love of God shed abroad in his Heart by the same Spirit filling him with that Joy and Peace by Believing that is unspeakable and glorious Now though this be the Privilege of a godly Man yet hath he not always the sense and feeling of this Joy but though he hath not always the Comfort of it yet hath he always the ground of this Joy for Light is always sown for the Righteous and Gladness for the Vpright in Heart Psalm 97.11 Though it doth not presently spring up and break sorth yet the Seed of it is there None in all the World do or might lead such a pleasant joyful Life as the People of God were it not their own Fault they giving way to the omission of some Duty or the commission of some Sin and this mars all their Joy It is true the Devil doth what he can to disquiet them and the Wicked of the World give them molestation and trouble sometimes they are tempted with the Allurements of Profit and Advantage and sometimes they are aw'd with Fears and Threatnings But if they would put forth their Grace into Exercise and by Prayer implore Divine Assistance they would be enabled not only to stand up against all the Enemies of their Peace but with a holy Joy and Triumph to vanquish and over come them This is that Life a godly Man might lead were he so watchful as he ought But Experience tells us it is not so for there are many Clouds of Discontent and Trouble that darken the Sun-shine of a Believer's Joy O the Complaints of past Sorrows O the Sense of present Evils and the Fears of worse for the future these in a great measure share our Lives among them But in Heaven it shall not be so there 's no Sorrow no Troubles no Evils no Dangers no nor so much as any Fears of them for all is Peace there 's nothing but Joy nothing but Pleasure and Sweetness Nor can it be otherwise with a godly Man in Heaven because that which was the Cause of all his Grief and Sorrow which is Sin is now perfectly taken away Now in the Joys of Heaven there are these four Properties they are pure they are spiritual they are full they are everlasting Joys First The Joys of a Saint in Heaven are pure Joys and pure they are in respect of the Object of them and in their being free from any Mixture First They are pure in respect of the Object of them The Joy of the Wicked is terminated upon some carnal Object His Joy is in the Flesh not in the Spirit When he rejoiceth it is among his wicked Companions his Delight is commonly in something that is sinful or sensual in Chambring and Wantonness or at best in Corn Wine and Oil. But now the Joy of a Saint is in God he now cries out with Holy David Psalm 73.25 Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee Thy Favour O Lord is Life and thy Loving Kindness is better than Life And with how much greater Joy and Delight doth a Saint say so of God and of the Enjoyment of him in Heaven It is true Saints in Heaven enjoy the Blessedness of Peace and Rest from all their former Troubles and Sorrows which they remember with Delight and Praise unto their Deliverer but though this eternal Peace and Rest be a great Blessing and that which passeth all Understanding yet is it the least part of the Saints Happiness in Heaven for their greatest Satisfaction and Contentment ariseth from the Joy and Delight which proceeds from beholding the Face of God in Heaven This is that which fills and satifies yea ravisheth the Soul of a Saint when enlarged to its utmost Capacity with that Joy and Delight that is unexpressibly great and glorious Secondly The Joys of Heaven are pure Joys in
regard they are free from any Mixtures The Joys of the Wicked are always mixed with Fear and Sorrow and so are oftentimes the Joys of the Saints also And herein God manifests great Wisdom and Goodness to his People thus to temper their Joys Even as it is with Men of weak Constitutions who must have their Wine mingled with Water for fear of distempering their Bodies And so must the Godly in this Life such is their Weakness have their Joys mingled with Fears and Sorrows lest they should grow proud or wanton Sometimes their Joys are mixed with Fear Hence it is Psalm 2.11 that we are commanded to serve the Lord with fear and to rejoice with trembling And thus we read of the two Women Matth. 28.8 who though assured by Angels that Christ was risen yet 't is said they departed from the Sepulchre with fear and great joy And so is it with a godly Man though by an Eye of Faith he beholds the Death and Sufferings of Christ and looking into his Grave is assured that he is risen from thence for his Justification and Salvation yet cannot but have his heart filled with a fearful trembling kind of Joy And as a Saint's Joy here is mixed with Fear so is it also sometimes mixed with Sorrow for when a Believer by Faith looks upon Christ crucified and considers that a person so infinitely great and glorious should die such a painful shameful cursed Death for so vile a Sinner and so great an Enemy unto God as he was the consideration of this so great and incomprehensible a Love manifested towards him in reconciling God and him together in delivering him from Wrath and Hell and in obtaining Eternal Life for him in Heaven Though this Love of Christ in doing all this for him cannot but affect him with great Joy yet the Consideration of his Sins that pierced and wounded yea crucified the Lord of Life and Glory cannot but break his Heart with godly Sorrow But now in Heaven the Joy of a Saint will be free from all mixtures both of Sorrow and Fear there shall be no Sorrow for present Troubles nor any Fears of future Dangers all their Sorrows will then be turned into Joy The sight of their Eyes will then affect their Hearts that is the sight and knowledge of the great God the Supreme and Insinite Good whom the Saints shall always have with them in Heaven is that which will fill and ravish their Souls with unspeakable Joy Secondly the Joys of a Saint in Heaven are spiritual Joys Now spiritual things are things both of the greatest Reality and of the greatest Excellency Spiritual things are things of the greatest Reality all other things comparatively are not they are such things as have no Being no Subsistence therefore says the Wise Man Why wilt thou set thine Eyes upon that which is not speaking of the admired things of the World We do but abusively call Men that abound with worldly Enjoyments rich substantial Men for Substance is no where but with God he only is the true substantial Good the things of this World are no more than a shadow If a Man were hungry would painted Bread satisfie him if a Man were starving with Cold would painted Fire warm him No why truly all the things of this World will appear no better to a Man when he comes to die there 's no Comfort nor Satisfaction to be fetch'd from them The Reality and Substantialness of Good is only laid up in God and in the Enjoyment of him who is the Saint's Happiness both on Earth and in Heaven There is a Vanity as in all the Troubles of the World so also in all the Comforts of the World There is a Vanity in the Troubles that the Saints endure they are but skin-deep a varnish of Trouble so says the Apostle 2 Cor. 6.10 as sorrowful yet always rejoicing as poor yet making many rich as having nothing yet possessing all things And as it is with the Troubles of the World so is it with the Comforts of the World all that sense looks at it is meerly out-side and appearing all the Enjoyments of the World are but a shadow an appearance of that which is Good God and Heaven are Realities but whatever else is Good is but appearingly so The things of the World are not when they are they are not in Reality when they are in Appearance It is a very great mistake to think nothing to be real but what we can touch and handle with our hands or what we can see with our Eyes such as Gold Silver Houses Lands these are not really substantially good things they make a fair show outwardly they have a Gaudery and Excellency as to Sense but nothing of real Excellency as to the Soul Nothing is real but what is spiritual though the Body be more seen than the Soul yet the Soul is a more real Good because it is a spiritual Good and comes nearest to God who is a Spirit and who only is so says the Prophet speaking concerning God Isai 43.11 who only art and there is none besides thee God Christ Grace and Heaven these are spiritually and substantially good and therefore it is said of Christ I cause them that love me to inherit Substance Prov. 8.21 And the Apostle tells the believing Hebrews Heb. 10.34 Ye took joyfully the spoiling of your Goods knowing that in Heaven you have a better and an enduring Substance The Joys and Delights of Heaven they are real because they are spiritual But this is not all for the Saints Joys in Heaven because they are spiritual they are therefore excellent yea the most excellent There is nothing that is earthy in Heaven but all of a spiritual and refined Nature and therefore the more real and the more excellent and by how much the more spiritual by so much the more real and the more excellent also All Joy and Delight placed upon any thing below God is carnal and earthly that which hath dregs in it and comes not up to the Excellency of the Soul it may refresh the Senses and delight the outward Man but it reacheth not the Soul and Conscience it must be something that is spiritual for its Nature and refined for its Excellency that must suit with and be the Delight of a Soul that is spiritual and such is Heaven and the Joys and Delights that are there superlatively excellent and spiritual flowing into the noblest and most excellent part of Man his Soul and Spirit from God who is a Spirit Thirdly The Joys of Heaven are full Joys The Psalmist calls them Fulnesses of Joy and Rivers of Pleasures for the abundance of them Psal 116.11 And the Apostle speaking of Believers tells us 1 Pet. 1.8 That though now they see him not yet believing they rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of Glory If now the Joy of Faith in the Promises of God from some small experience of his Love and Favour to the Soul be above
Families and particular Persons which peevish Men were wont here to find fault with be all disclosed and made appear to be so just and righteous yea so necessary and seasonable that those very things which here were a Temptation to us to deny God shall in Heaven prove a powerful Engagement for us to praise God And then shall we not so properly be satisfied with what his Providence hath brought about as ravished with the Wisdom and Beauty that we shall behold in it But in a more especial manner shall we be transported with Admiration and Gratitude when the great God shall vouchsafe to discover to each particular glorified Soul in Heaven the reasonableness of all his Dispensations towards them making visible to them not only how necessary and righteous but how merciful and gracious he was in bringing those very Afflictions upon them which they usually accounted severe Dispensations there being no Rod that ever God took into his hand to chastise them withal that ever came sooner fell heavier or abode longer upon them than the Occasion that extorted it from him did require it should And though sometimes their Expectations were disappointed yet was it always a happy Disappointment for them because intended by God to secure their Title unto far better things which now they enjoy than any they could hope for here And who is there that hath tasted the pleasurable and delightful Life that a Holy Soul leads whose Mind is frequently taken up in the Study and Contemplation of those two excellent Theams the Word of God and the Providence of God but must profess as a Great Noble and Learned Person doth both very ingeniously and piously also that though there be something of Difficulty in a studious employment of our Thoughts in the Contemplation of these things yet are they also so pleasing and inviting That to give you his own Words should Heaven says he afford me no greater Blessing than a clear accompt of the abstruse Mysteries of Divinity and Providence I should value the having my Vnderstanding gratified and enriched with Truths of so noble and precious a Nature enough to court Heaven at the rate of renouncing for it all those unmanly Sensualities and trifling Vanities for which inconsiderate Mortals are wont to forfeit that Interest their Saviour so dearly bought them in it But I must not dwell upon this part of the Soul's Happiness in Heaven though a most pleasing and delightful Subject Secondly In Heaven the Souls of Believers shall be perfected in Holiness Here the People of God are truly sanctified but not throughly Sanctified they are in every Part though but in part sanctified still there are the Relicks of Sin the Remains of the Old Man in them while they are here The Truth of Grace they have but not the Perfection of Grace An absolute State of Perfection is rather to be wished for than enjoyed in this Life The utmost that a godly Man can attain to here is not to commit great Sins nor to allow himself in little Sins when thorough daily Infirmity he doth commit them Now the People of God have the first Fruits of the Spirit but yet they have the remainders of the Old Man in them Now the Spirit of God helps them to mortifie Sin and to keep it under but it doth not enable them perfectly to destroy it as it shall be in Heaven Here the Righteous are delivered from the prevalency of their Corruptions for so is God's gracious Promise to his People that Sin shall not have Dominion over them and blessed be God for this But in Heaven they shall be for ever free'd from the presence of Sin There is a continual mortifying of Sin by Believers here on Earth but in Heaven Sin shall be totally abolished It is in a dying languishing Condition now but in Heaven it shall be dead for ever cease to be Perfection of Grace and Holiness is the aim and endeavour of every godly Man but it is not his attainment So the Apostle tells us concerning himself who doubtless had as great a measure of Grace as any have attained to since Phil. 3.12 13. Not as though I had already attained or were already perfect No says he I count not my self to have apprehended but this one thing I do for getting the things that are behind and reaching forth unto those things that are before I press forward towards the Mark for the prize of the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus This is all a godly Man can do here in the use of Means to strive and endeavour after Perfection of Grace though he cannot attain it But in Heaven no godly Man shall be defiled with any Sin or defective of any Grace no nor yet wanting in any measure or degree of Grace and Holiness as now he is The Spirits of just Men made perfect are there that is there is a Perfection of Grace and Holiness in Heaven that shall beautifie the Spirits of just Men when they come there In this World the People of God are partly carnal and partly spiritual partly holy and partly sinful But in Heaven they shall he perfectly holy and spiritual free'd from all sinful Mixtures no Dross with their Gold no Corruption mingling it self with their Holiness Their Vnderstandings shall be perfectly holy without the least Cloud or Mist of Ignorance or Error to darken or sully them That Glorious Sun of Righteousness whom they shall always behold in Heaven shall for ever scatter all Clouds and Darkness quite away Their Thoughts shall all be holy no blasphemous unclean or envious Thoughts shall ever arise in their Souls no nor the least Vanity or Impertinency pass through their Minds to Eternity but all shall be holy being brought into a perfect Obedience unto the Lord Jesus Christ Their Memories shall there be holy being strengthned to retain and bring forth out of their Treasuries whatever things may tend to feed and increase their Love and Joy and to elevate their Souls in the high Praises of God Their Wills shall then be perfectly holy for there shall they obtain that which they so often pray'd for on Earth namely that the Will of God may be done by them as the Angels do it in Heaven O what a delightful Harmony will there then be for ever between their Wills and the Will of God! Then shall they always have a perfect compliance in them with that sweet and blessed Law that they shall then be under without the least contrariety or opposition Never more shall they have any motion or inclination in them to that which is evil for ever Thirdly Another thing wherein the Happiness of the Saints in Heaven as to their Souls doth consist is the Regularity of their Affections which shall all be set right for and continually drawn out after God by an unalterable Regularity There the Saints shall in their Hearts and Souls constantly and perpetually cleave unto God having always their Love and Delight in him
and a part of the Happiness thereof as every thing that the heart of Man can desire or imagine that is truly excellent doth make up the Happiness of that blessed State But that which chiefly constitutes Heaven is Holiness there is a holy God there is a holy Place there is holy Company and Society yea every thing that is holy and nothing but what is holy There it is that holy Souls shall be for ever united to a holy God by a continual fervour of holy Love there it is that they shall always holily depend upon God by holy and heavenly Acts of Faith and Hope There it is that they shall eternally obey God with a holy Joy and Delight and all this with the same holy Love Faith Hope and Joy which they did put forth towards God here upon Earth only in Heaven these Graces shall be advanced and exalted above all those Imperfections and Frailties that in this Life did attend them This now is the Glory of Heaven and indeed what greater Glory can there be than this Holiness being the Glory of God himself Thus Moses stiles God in his triumphant Song Exod. 15.11 Where he tells us though he be a God that is fearful in Praises and infinite in Power yet that wherein he is most glorious is his Holiness Who is a God like unto thee O Lord amongst the Gods Who is like unto thee glorious in Holiness fearful in Praises doing Wonders And what is the Glory of the Saints in Heaven but only a Reflexion of the Glory of God cast upon them Now as God is in an especial manner glorious in his Holiness so are they glorious in their Holiness And what then will become of all the hopes of wicked and profane Sinners whose Hearts are full of Hatred and Malice not only against those that are holy but against Holiness it self witness their impious and profane scoffing at Holiness their persecuting all those that make a stricter Profession of it than themselves What a strange kind of Heaven do these Men hope for and how miserably do they deceive themselves for if Grace and Glory if Holiness and Heaven be one and the same thing as they are then certainly all the hopes of such wretched Sinners are built upon a rotten Foundation For how can they that hate and persecute a little Holiness in a Saint on Earth where it is mingled with much Sin and Corruption take delight in Heaven where there are greater measures and degrees of Grace and Holiness than all the Saints that ever lived here upon Earth did or could attain to in this World yea where there is nothing else but Grace and Holiness In vain O Sinner dost thou wish or hope for a Heaven where there is nothing but Ease and Pleasure a Place where thou may'st be above all thy Cares and Fears where thou may'st enjoy a constant Freedom from all thy Pains and Distresses that now afflict and torment thee such a Heaven as this is impossible God never made any such nor canst thou in reason expect it but contrarywise know thou must to thy Terror and Amazement that the great God hath joyned sin and the curse so close together that Heaven it self would be no Sanctuary to secure thee either from the stinging Horrors of an Evil and now too late awakened and accusing Conscience nor from the ghasty and tormenting Fears of Wrath and Hell if sin and guilt should enter with thee into that Holy Place Secondly Holiness is a necessary Qualification for Heaven because without it there is no suitableness between us and Heaven All true Pleasure and Delight is caused from the suitableness that there is between the Object and the Power or Faculty in man that receives it It is therefore a pleasant thing for the Eyes to behold the Light and so is it also for the Ears to hear melodious sounds because these Objects are suited unto those Sences which otherwise would not be delightful to them as we see in those that are Blind and Deaf the one takes no Pleasure in the Light nor the other in Musick And so it is with us in reference unto Heaven there is nothing there would be Pleasant and Delightful to us did not God before hand prepare and suit our Souls by his Grace unto that Glory that shall there be revealed to us Hence we find the Apostle Col. 1.12 Giving thanks unto God who by a work of Sanctification had made them meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light To illustrate this a little further there is a two fold unsuitableness between every wicked man and Heaven he is unsuitable to the work of Heaven and he is unsuitable to the Reward of Heaven both which are Holy First Every wicked man is unsuitable to the work of Heaven What shall be the work of Holy Souls in Heaven but to admire and adore to Bless and Praise and with Pleasure and Delight to Love and Serve God for ever This is that joyful work wherein Saints and Angles shall spend an Eternity in And canst thou O Prophane Sinner who hast all thy life time accustomed thy self to wallow in sin and uncleanness impose such a cheat upon thy Soul as to think thou shalt be able to croud into the number of that Holy and Blessed Company in Heaven and there joyn with them in those Holy and Blessed Works that will be the Delight of those Holy ones to all Eternity If Sanctification and Holiness be the only Qualification that manifests any do belong to that Holy Place What shall we then say unto all wicked and prophane sinners who not only take no Delight in the practice of Holiness but unto whom the thoughts of it are grievous and burthensome who are so far from keeping up in their minds constant Meditations of Holy things accompanied with strong and lively affections towards them that they know no Task or Burthen so heavy upon them nor so affictive to them nor that they undertake so unwillingly as the Duties of Holiness and Obedience Oh what a trouble to them is it sometimes to be drawn though but to the external performance of Holy Duties witness their so seldom engaging in them with their so slight and careless management of them If I should now enquire what is the reason of all this why truly that which lies at the bottom of all is an unholy Heart an unsanctified Nature and what would such as these do in Heaven would not that Holy place be a Hell rather than a Heaven to them a place of Torment rather than a place of Happiness it being that place where Saints and Angels spend an Eternity in the most Holy fixed Contemplations and most ardent Love of God And surely they that cannot bear the weak and imperfect Holiness of the People of God here without railing at it as a piece of unnecessary and peevish preciseness will never be able to bear that perfect spotless Holiness that is in Heaven In
this World wicked men at once both vex and laugh at the Purity and Holiness of the Saints inwardly they vex and fret at it though outwardly in their Speeches and Countenances they laugh and deride it Yea and to some it is though it be a Devilish Contentment to them that they can reproach the Defects of the Godly Should such as these enter Heaven while they are such Heaven would be a place of exact Torture and Torment to them because there they would find nothing of that Sin and Wickedness which is agreeable to their corrupt Hearts and Natures but contrarily all that Purity and Holiness which they hate yea and nothing but perfect Purity and Holiness which hath no defects for them to abuse O the woful and deplorable but withal certain and unavoidable Misery of all unregenerate unsanctified persons for tho' Heaven be a place of unconceivable Bliss and Happiness yet Heaven it self cannot make such as they are happy Tell me O all ye wicked and prophane wretches who think no time mispent or lost but what is thrown away in Holy Duties that grudge at every word spoken in Prayer that think much of every sand in the Glass that runs at a Sermon and unto whom every Summons to the publick Service of God is as unacceptable as their Passing Bell that cry when will the Sabbath be gone and the Ordinances be over What would you do in Heaven or what can such unholy hearts as yours do there where a Sabbath shall not be barely as long as a day or a week or a year but as long as Eternity it self where there shall be nothing but a continual performance of Holy Duties and Services without so much as one spare minute or a vain thought or an idle word for ever where whatsoever you shall hear see or converse with shall be all Holy And let me add this by how much the more perfect the Holiness of Heaven is than what the Holiness of the Saints here on Earth was by so much the more irksome and intolerable will it be to the wicked for if their sore Eyes cannot endure the light of a Star how will they be able to bear the dazling brightness of the Sun Secondly Wicked men are not only unsuitable to the Work of Heaven but they are unsuitable to the Reward of Heaven The Work of Heaven is Holy and Spiritual and so is the Reward of Heaven a Holy and Spiritual Reward and it lies chiefly in two things both of them unsuitable to a wicked and carnal heart one is a clear and constant Vision of the Great and Blessed God and the other is an unconceivable entireness of Communion and Fellowship with him Now of all things in the World these are the things which as unboly Persons are unacquainted with so of all things in the World they cannot endure to speak of each of these briefly First For the Reward of Heaven that consists in a clear constant Vision of the Great God this a Sinner cannot bear Nothing is more terrible to a guilty Sinner than the sight of a Righteous and Holy God The Scripture acquaints us that many of God's own People have had dreadful apprehensions of God upon some though but restrained discoveries that he hath been pleased to make of himself unto them Thus Job in Job 42.5 6. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the Ear but now mine Eye sees thee wherefore I abhor my self and repent in Dust and Ashes So the Prophet Esay cries out Woe is me for I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips and mine eyes have seen the King the Lord of Hosts And when our Saviour put forth his Divine Power in the working of a Miracle the Glory of it was so terrible that Holy Peter cries out Luke 6. Depart from me O Lord for I am a sinful man What was it now that made these Holy Men so full of fear and trembling upon these discoveries of God Why it was only from a likeness that was in them unto Wicked men from those remainders of Sin and Corruption that still abide in them whereby they too much resemble ungodly men which Grace in this life cannot perfectly destroy Adam in Innocency had not nor have the Saints in Heaven any such dreadful apprehensions of God No Adam then did and the Saints in Heaven shall for ever enjoy the smiles of God's face beaming forth upon them If now the faint and weak discoveries of God that he hath made of himself unto Holy Men be so astonishing O what a confounding sight will it be unto Sinners to have all the Glorious Attributes of God break forth in a full flash of Lightning not only upon the Faces but into the Consciences of Sinners and when particularly among the rest of them they shall behold that dreadful Attribute his provoked Justice not only sworn but armed with Power and bent for their Destruction Is this such a Sight of God and wicked men shall behold no other as will make Heaven desirable unto Sinners surely it is not O that such would think of it before it be too late Secondly Another part of the Reward of Heaven stands in that unconceivable entireness of Communion and Fellowship with God which the Saints there enjoy This is their great Happiness both on Earth and in Heaven Holy David therefore tells us He had none in Heaven but God and that there was none on Earth that he desired in comparison of him And the Apostle speaking of himself and other Believers saith Their Fellowship was with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ And O how sweet and delightful are those intercourses that pass between God and Holy Souls in the Duties of his Worship and Service O what blessed exchanges of Love for Love what returns of Obedience and Praise for Grace and Mercy received which is the sweetness of every Duty and that which powerfully draws and engages Holy Souls to the daily performance of them And in Heaven in self the fulness and perfection of the Saints Happiness is that there they shall be for ever with the Lord. Now these Spiritual and Heavenly Enjoyments wicked men are not only unsuitable to but they are things which they also hate they were ever strangers to them here on Earth and how then shall they be fit for them in Heaven Certainly for wicked men to be tyed up to such Spiritualities as these will make Heaven it self but an uncomfortable place to them But though wicked Men are neither fitted for the Work nor suited to the Reward of Heaven yet is there both a Work and a Reward in Heaven that remains to be performed and enjoyed by the People of God That Heaven is a Place of Rest Ease and Refreshment is the common and received Notion that all Men have of it but that is not all that the Happiness of Heaven is made up of For it is not only a place of Rest but it is also a place
of Working It is true the Work there is not toilsome and laborious but sweet and pleasant and that makes the Saints delightfully spend an Eternity therein In Heaven therefore the Saints are to perform an eternal Work as they are there to enjoy an eternal Reward both go to the making up the Happiness of Heaven First In Heaven there is an eternal Work for the Saints to be employed in Much hath been said concerning that Happiness which the Saints shall enjoy in Heaven and more is there of Sweetness and Excellency in it than Words can express But yet we are not so to conceive of the Happiness thereof as some ignorant Persons do grossly imagine and wish to themselves as if Heaven were a Place where the blessed Inhabitants thereof were altogether unactive and unemployed enjoying only their Ease and Rest and so void of Cares and Fears passed away an Eternity This may be the low and brutish Apprehensions that profane Sinners may have concerning Heaven but they are such as are no way becoming the Glory and Dignity the Honour and Happiness of that holy Place for that Rest the People of God shall enjoy in Heaven is an operative working Rest or it is Rest and Exercise at once for though in Heaven the Saints do rest from their labours yet they do not rest from their working Now if any ask what that Work is in which the Saints shall be employed in Heaven I answer they shall always be blessing and praising of God there according to that in Rev. 5.13 Blessing Honour and Glory unto him that sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb for evermore Continually are those blessed ones beholding admiring and adoring of God and burning in Love to each other and mutually rejoicing all in God and in one another This now is that eternal Work that a Saint shall be for ever employed about in his everlasting Rest a Work so full of Pleasure and Delight that it cannot be intermitted or forborn by the Saints to Eternity Secondly In Heaven there is an eternal Reward that shall be bestowed upon the Saints A Reward so great and so glorious as is beyond the Thoughts and Imaginations much more beyond the Words and Expressions of poor mortal Creatues to discover When all hath been said of it that can be still is there something of Glory and Excellency of Sweetness and Delight in this glorious Reward that exceeds all Expressions and Apprehensions Rack and torture the whole Creation extract the Quintessence of all the Glory Beauty Excellency and Goodness that is in all the Creatures in the World and let it be the Enjoyment of one Man for his Happiness yet all this is but a shadowy representation of that Glory and Happiness that the Saints shall enjoy hereafter Let the Desires Thoughts and Imaginations of Angels and Men be bent upon imagining and contriving what it is they could desire that would make the condition of any one happy in the Fruition of it the heavenly Reward there shall be a participating of that Happiness or that which is infinitely better and beyond it The Desires of Men's Souls may run out after great things which if they can attain they question not but the Enjoyment of them will make them happy But Men's Imaginations can go much farther even to the coveting after that in their Thoughts that they cannot tell how almost to desire But let the Desires and Imaginations of Men's Souls be enlarged and widened never so greatly and insatiably after a Happiness that may satisfieand content them yet still they come infinitely short both in Desire and in Imagination of what shall be the heavenly Reward And if Desires if Thoughts if Imaginations cannot reach the Greatness of this Reward Surely all Words though nttered with the greatest Eloquence to represent the Greatness and Excellency thereof must fall infinitely short of it So many good things are contained in this Reward that they exceed Number So great things that they exceed Desire and so precious that they exceed Estimation Nay this Reward of the Saints is so great and glorious that it exceeds both the Faith and Hope of a Christian The People of God believe and trust in God for great things and God loves to have the Hopes and Expectations of his People greatned and enlarged towards himself Of Abraham it is said that against Hope he believed in Hope or above Hope But in this great and glorious Reward of the Saints in Heaven we cannot believe above Hope that is we cannot believe above the great things that are hoped for Whatever we believe and hope for in Heaven that which the Saints shall enjoy there will be above it and beyond it It is true at present we know not what these great things are but when we come to Heaven we shall certainly find that they exceed both our Faith and our Hope And to add no more the Greatness and Glory of this Reward is that which exceeds all those Expressions which the Spirit of God in Scripture is pleased to set forth the the Greatness and Glory of it to us by Great Things are there spoken concerning this Happiness of the Saints But there is still abundantly more to be revealed and enjoyed than what that Holy Book hath discovered to us so great shall be the Reward of the Saints in Heaven that it exceeds Words exceeds Thoughts exceeds Faith exceeds Hope It is too great for Words to express too great for Thoughts to conceive too great for Faith to believe too great for Hope to expect For though Faith believes the Truth and Hope expects the Certainty of the things promised yet Faith doth not believe nor doth Hope expect the Greatness and Fulness of what shall be hereafter enjoyed by the Saints For saith the Evangelical Prophet from whom the Apostle makes use of the same Words Isa 64.4 and 1 Cor. 2.9 Since the beginning of the World Men have not heard nor perceived by the Ear neither hath the Eye seen O God besides thee what he hath prepared for them that love him and wait for him So great shall this Happiness of the Saints in Heaven be that it can never be known but by Enjoyment There shall be nothing to Eternity that shall be afflictive or troublesome but an aggregation or meeting together of every thing that is pleasing and delightful with the continuance of them for ever That is a sweet Scripture and gives us the fullest Description of that State of Blessedness in so few Words Rev. 21.17 He that overcometh shall inherit all things and God will be his God And what can be said more to make any one happy For in this Scripture we have both the certainty of a Saint's Reward and the Fulness of it the certainty of his Reward in these Words He shall inherit I will be his God The fulness of it in these Words He shall inherit all things and God will be his God and who can tell what God is or
come Frequently therefore O Christian have recourse unto Heaven dwell much there in thy Thoughts and Contemplations this will inflame thy Soul with Love to God this will make thee pray with Zeal and Fervour hear with earnestness and attention and perform all the Duties God requires of thee with activity and liveliness Thirdly A Heart set upon Heaven will make a Christian live the most joyful and comfortable Life in the World A Heavenly Mind will be a joyful Mind A Saint on Earth hath the same ground of Joy that a Saint in Heaven hath he derives his Joy and Peace from the Apprehensions he hath of God's being his God and Father in Jesus Christ and from the sence and enjoyment of his Love and Favour manifested to his Soul And so doth a Saint in Heaven only he hath a clearer knowledge and discovery as also a larger and fuller enjoyment thereof at present than a Saint on Earth hath but what he wants in Enjoyment he hath in the Promise and the Promises to a Saint on Earth are as certain and as true as the performance of them to a Saint in Heaven for God is never worse but usually better than his Word to his People here but to be sure they always find it so when they come to Heaven Now they that are Rich in Promises as all the People of God are and can act Faith upon them may very well live a Life of Peace and Joy for whatever they have not in possession they have in reversion And when a Believer's Faith and Hope is entertained above with the delightful Views and Contemplations of the Glory and Happiness of Heaven which he shall ere long be in the possession of what should make him walk uncomfortably and sadly here below In Heaven all is Peace and Joy and most of Peace and Joy here below resides with those that live most in Heaven while they are here on Earth an instance of this we have in the Holy Apostle none ever lived a more Heavenly Life on this side Heaven than Blessed St. Paul did and none also ever lived a more Peaceable and Joyful Life than he did How full of Joy doth he express himself upon all Occasions I Joy and Rejoice with you all says he Philip. 2.17 I am filled with comfort I am exceeding Joyful in all our Tribulations 2 Cor. 7.4 So in Rom. 5.1 2. Being justified by Faith we have Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and Rejoice in Hope of the Glory of God And not only so but we Glory in Tribulation And Verse 11. We also Joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have received the Atonement So in 2 Tim. 4.8 I have fought a good Fight I have finished my Course I have kept the Faith henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Judge shall give unto me at that Day Now he that could say all this must needs be full of Joy and Comfort and being thus filled with Joy and Peace in believing though he knew that Bonds and Imprisonments did abide him in every place yet could he say that none of these things moved him neither counted he his Life dear unto him so he might finish his Course with Joy as himself speaks Acts 20.23 24. And this Joy of the Lord being his strength how earnestly and passionately doth he expostulate and chide with those Friends of his that would have disswaded him from Suffering Acts 21.13 What mean ye to weep and break mine Heart I am ready not only to be bound but to die for the Name of the Lord Jesus at Jerusalem From whence now came all this Courage and Boldness from whence did he receive and draw all this Joy and Consolation why it came from thence where his Hope his Heart his Life and Conversation was and that is from Heaven for so himself tells us Philip. 3.20 Our Conversation is in Heaven from whence we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ O this Hope of Eternal Life laid up for the Saints in Heaven as the Scripture calls it This laying hold of the blessed Hope set before us as it is called Heb. 6.18 19. This this was that which the Aposile had as an Anchor to his Soul sure and stedfast being that which entereth into that within the Vail that is into Heaven This made him not only to be content in every State and Condition but to rejoice in the worst that did befal him witness that strange Triumphant Speech of his 2 Cor. 12.3 I take pleasure says he in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in disiresses Now this peaceable joyful Life that this Blessed Apostle lived was not a Priviledge granted only unto him by way of special Grace and Favour because he was so eminent an Apostle and Servant of God but it is a Priviledge that is extended more commonly also unto other Believers it being that of which the Kingdom consists as the Apostle himself tells us Rom. 14.17 The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink but righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Ghost And therefore as a Duty incumbent upon Christians he urgeth the practice of it in several Scriptures So we read Philip. 3.1 Finally my Brethren rejoice in the Lord and in 1 Thess 5.10 Rejoice evermore Phil. 4.4 Rejoice always in the Lord and again I say rejoice Now the way for Christians to attain unto a Life of Peace and Joy is to be much conversant above to live a Heavenly Life to exercise his Thoughts and Contemplations daily upon Heaven and that State of Bliss and Happiness that is to be eternally enjoyed there Heaven is a place full of Peace and Joy yea a place where there is nothing else and the more of Heaven comes down into any Soul in this Life or the more any Soul ascends up into Heaven in Divine Contemplations the more comfortable and joyful Life doth that Soul lead while it is here upon Earth Fifthly Is there such a State of Bliss and Happiness to be enjoyed by the People of God hereafter let every one then examine themselves what Right and Title they have thereunto whether they are such as are qualified for the enjoyment of that blessed State First Examine thy self whether ever thou didst experience a work of Sanctification and Holiness wrought upon thy Soul if not whatever thy pretences for Heaven may be they are false and groundless and will end in Horror and Vexation of Soul The Command of God is that we should be Holy in all manner of Conversation that we should be Holy as God is Holy and the great Pattern and Exemplar of our Holiness is the Lord Jesus Christ who as the Apostle tells us was Holy Harmless Vndefiled separated from Sin and from all pollution and defilement both from Sin and Sinners Here now is both a Christian's Rule and a Christian's Example Now though a Christian cannot reach the exactness and perfection
make up a Satisfactory Bliss and Happiness for an Immortal Soul but what is Supreamly Superlatively Perfectively and Eternally good and that is the Blessed God himself the Enjoyment of whom in Heaven can only make the Soul perfectly and compleatly Happy Were I to perswade wicked men I will not say long for Death but only to be willing to Die my task were not only difficult but impossible for who can by any Arguments prevail upon a Rational Creature willingly to run himself into Miseries and Torments though but of a short continuance much more to rush upon those Miseries and Torments that shall be everlasting into which every wicked man when he comes to Die shall fall And this Sinners know not only from Scripture Revelation but from the Terrors and Accusations of their own Consciences before hand Unto such therefore all perswasions of this nature are vain and to no purpose such stand in need of the most powerful Exhortations backt with the strongest Arguments that can be to stir them up to a speedy preparation for their approaching Dissolution lest thereby they fall into a State of Misery that is unalterable for ever But when I am speaking to the People of God unto whom Death will be of such infinite Gain and Advantage methinks my Work should be easie though my Exhortation runs much higher for unto such I am not now speaking by way of perswasion unto a fitness for Death because I take it for granted that this Work in the main of it is already done with them nor yet am I stirring up in such a bare willingness to Die but I would press them unto something further still and that is that they would entertain the thoughts of Death in their Meditations with Holy Longings and Desires of Soul after it and certainly there is no need of any other Arguments to urge this Duty upon such than barely to tell them that Heaven stands open ready to receive them and all the hurt Death will do unto such is to give them admission into such a State of Bliss and Happiness as shall extend it self unto the Satisfaction of all their Desires unto the utmost both as to the Nature and Quality of them and also as to the duration and continuance of them The Happiness of Heaven being so great that it requires the Capacities of the Soul should be enlarged to take in the fullness thereof it being impossible the Soul of Man should now receive or bear up under the oppressing weight of so great a Happiness as is there to be enjoyed Rest not thy self therefore satisfied O believing Soul with a bare Contentment of mind that when thou diest thou shalt certainly go to Heaven but let thy frequent Thoughts hereof fill thee with Holy Longings and Pantings of Soul after that blessed State The Miseries of this Life and the uncomfortableness of a Christian's manner of living while he is here in respect of Sin Sorrow Doubts Fears Ignorance and Temptations which are in a great measure the daily and afflictive Companions of his life are Arguments strong enough to make such a one willing to Die but in Conjunction with these a Believer hath a Prospect of the Glory and Happiness of Heaven in the Eye of his Faith unto which he knows Death will carry him this should fill the desires of his Soul with Holy Longings after the Enjoyment of it Open therefore O believing Soul the Eye of thy Faith and look upward and see if thou canst not espy a Glory and Happiness in the highest Heavens that is worthy of the most earnest Breathings and Desires of thy Soul after it Canst thou in the whole Vniverse find out better Society in conversing with whom thou canst enjoy such Soul-satisfying pleasure yea such ravishing Joys and Delights as are there to be found There are Holy Angels that never sinned whose Nature as well as whose Happiness in this State of Mortality is beyond the reach of thy understanding to fathom There are Glorified Saints advanced to that perfection of Grace and Holiness that they shall never sin more There is the Blessed and never to be sufficiently admired Saviour and Redeemer of Sinners the Lord Jesus Christ who as he once in our Natures shed his Blood here on Earth to purchase Heaven for Believers so is he now residing in the same Nature there preparing places for them ready to receive them into the Embraces of his Love and Favour Yea in that Glorious place there is that which should much more excite the Desires of Believers after it for there is the infinitely Great and Glorious God whose Excellencies and Perfections are such that as none can understand none can make known so none can bear the discoveries of them Such dazling Excellencies of Glory and Beauty are there in the Face of God that Angels themselves are not able to behold them and yet so lovely and desirable an Object is he that Angels cannot refrain from looking on him and certainly if the Great and Holy God should display but a little of himself in his Glory and Beauty unto the Soul of a Believer should he open though but a little of the infinite Treasures of his goodness unto the view of the Soul O with what Ravishments of Joy would that Soul press into the presence of God and with what a Holy kind of impatience would it throw it self into his Arms what need would there be of setting bounds to the Mount to keep such a Soul from breaking through unto the Lord The Happiness of Heaven is so great that had not God mercifully concealed from us the infinite Excellencies and Glory thereof in a great measure our Desires would be so vehemently bent upon it that we should be under such an impatiency of Spirit after the enjoyment of it as would render us unfit for any Employment that God calls us to in this World Some therefore upon this account have taken notice of the infinite Wisdom of God in engaging the Soul in so near and dear a Union with the Body that it might have such a care for and Love towards it as might tend to its preservation and not be desirous of quitting its habitation with it yea some of the Heathens themselves have observed the Wisdom of God in concealing the Happiness of Separate Souls that Men might be contented to live out that time God hath allotted to them in this World Alas the most and the best of us see and know but little of these things and what we do see is but through a Glass darkly and that is the reason our Affections go not out more earnestly after them did we know and understand more of Heaven and the Glory and Happiness thereof we should with a Holy impatiency of Desire long after it for is it not in Heaven that we shall never sin more never offend God more never wound our Consciences more never do any thing that shall either break our Peace disturb our Joy or indanger
and every Month as a Year yea as an Age until that blessed time doth come But O how little of this Holy Longing of Soul after Christ and Heaven is there to be found among Christians now Most of those that call themselves by that Name resting upon Hopes and Probabilities of their interest in that State of Blessedness never seeking to attain unto the Riches of the full Assurance of Hope accompanied with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory But sure I am such a frame of Spirit hath not always been enough to satisfie some Christians in their pursuits after Heaven Oh with what Ravishments of Joy and Delight have I both heard and read some Holy Souls expressing their longing Desires after Christ and Heaven There was a certain Noble Person whom I well knew from under whose own hand writing I Copied out this following Relation concerning her self Being employed in Holy Meditation which was both her daily Practice as also her daily Delight and Solace and Contemplating of the Joys of Heaven and how to secure her Interest in that State of Blessedness she did with great Desire of Soul as her own words are strive to take the Kingdom above with a Holy Violence and to Storm Heaven by importunate Prayer and God was pleased as she adds Blessing his Name to carry her up as it were unto Mount Nebo and from thence to give her a Prospect of the Heavenly Canaan by the sight whereof as one in an Ecstasy of Joy she cried out Lord I would not live here always for I am now convinced it is better for me to die than to live It is therefore O Lord the great Desire of my Soul that as Elias was so I might instantly be taken up into Heaven without returning any more to bid them farewel of my own House or ever seeing the Faces of any Mortal Relations more here on Earth Prayer and Meditation had as her Expression is Associated her Spirit to such Company that I rather thought says she I had a Body too much with me than found a want of it After which shedding plentiful Tears of Joy and the offering up of many Sighs and Groans accompanied with earnest Desires and Longings after Heaven with fervent Prayers to be a partaker of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light she returned from her Devotions Blessing and Praising of God who had so refreshed and comforted her Soul with Divine and Heavenly Consolations There was also a very Eminently Godly Person some of whose Relations are yet living who lying upon his Death-bed there came one to Visit him who told him he hoped it would please God to restore him to his Health again says the good Man to him Do you think to please me with such a Discourse as this know O Friend you are much mistaken in me if you apprehend the thoughts of Life and Health are pleasing to me Alas the World hath quite lost its Excellency in my Judgment it is but a poor contemptible thing in all its Glory compared with the Glory of the invisible World which I now live in the sight of it would be a far more Pleasant and Delightful thing to me if you could tell me for certain that I am no Man for this World long and that before to morrow I should be in Eternity for I do so long to be with Christ that I could be content to be cut in pieces and put to the most exquisite Torments might I but die and be with Christ Death through Grace is nothing to me it hath lost its terribleness and therefore may do its worst I fear it not I can as easily Die as shut my Eyes or turn my head and Sleep yea I long to Die that I may be with Christ come therefore O Lord Jesus come quickly why O why are thy Chariot Wheels so long a coming O says another How cold is thy kindness O Death in being so slow and backward to come and loose a poor tired Prisoner from his Bonds I live a dwindling Life with much Pain and much Love-Sickness for my sweet Lord Jesus O what would I give to have a Bed made for my wearied Soul in my Dear Lord's Bosom I cannot express what pains and delightsome Torments there are in his Love O Fairest among the Children of Men yea thou who art Fairer than all the Children of Men why stayest thou so long The Fire of Love burneth so hot in my heart towards Jesus Christ that neither Hell nor Earth can cast water enough to quench or extinguish it O Time Time how dost thou torment the Souls of those that would be swallowed up in Christ's Love because thou movest so slowly O how am I pained with the Love of Christ he hath left an Arrow in my Heart which hath wounded me that I am swallowed up with desires after him so that I am to be pitied for want of real possession of him my greatest pain is the want of Christ not of his Joys and Comforts but of a nearer Vnion and Communion with him O Heavens move fast O Time run run and hasten the Marriage Day for Love is tormented with delay Hope and Love woven through one another make Christ's absence a Spiritual Torment It is a pain to my Soul to wait for him but Hope that maketh not ashamed but ends in Enjoyment swalloweth up the pain O Lord when wilt thou fold the Heavens together like an old Cloak and Shovel Time and Days out of the way and make ready in haste the Bride for her Husband What do we here but sin and suffer O when shall the Night be gone and the Shadows fly away and the Morning of that long long Day without Clouds or Night dawn The Spirit and the Bride say come O when shall the Lamb's Wife be ready and the Bridegroom say I come also Even so come Lord Jesus come quickly I do not mention these things as if I thought these Holy Pantings and Longings of Soul after God and Heaven were the stated frame which is commonly attained by all Christians much less do I not think that none are truly Godly but such as attain to this frame of Spirit for I believe there are a great Number of Holy Souls that daily go to Heaven without them But yet is it a State that hath been attained by some and may be attained still by others And truly such a Heaven upon Earth as is hereby enjoyed by such Holy Souls should be motive sufficient to excite and provoke Christians to a diligent pursuit hereof the Effect whereof is Joy unspeakable and Glorious To conclude this whole Discourse I have been long in treating concerning the Glorious State of the Saints Happiness in Heaven and much larger than at first I intended but the excellency and deliciousness of the matter herein contained hath drawn out my Meditations to so great a length and the truth of it is in contemplating upon so delightful a Subject it is very hard and difficult when the