you in Heaven let not pleasures hinder thee of the least degree of glory for to have but one pearle added to thy Crown is more than the whole World commit therefore no sinne that might hinder your attaining of glory for what though God pardon thy sin yet thou loosest glory thou mightest have gotten whilest thou wast in committing it the least shred of which glory transcends all the glory of the World Now wee come to the subject of this glory the Materia in qua the Vessell which shall receive this infinite masse of glory and that is the soule it is called the salvation of our soules the soule which will hold so much is the vessels of this glory the body shall be exceeding glorious but the soule is the receptacle which must receive this glory Rom. 9. 23. And that hee might make knowne the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which hee had before prepared unto glory And S. Peter calleth Christ the salvation of our soules the end of your faith the salvation of your soules My brethren your soule howsoever you value it is capeable of more glory than this world can afford the pleasures of which will fill your soule no more than one droppe will fill a Cisterne or a little shower the place where the Ocean stands Eccles 3. 11. Now it is said that in this life God will put a World into the heart of man and yet all that World will not fill it why my brethren your soules are narrow in this life in respect of that they shall bee hereafter they hold but little in respect of that they shall hold in Heayen they are but little bladders which there shall bee blowne up they are but dunge bladders in respect of that they shall be in Heaven hereafter which may appeare in this Salomon had a very large heart he had as many notions in him as the sands of the sea shore for number and yet the soule of the least child in heaven happily but new come out of his mothers wombe exceedes all the knowledge which Salomon had on earth our soules are capeable of more joyes than the senses can give they are not able to satisfie it it will drinke up more glory even in one houre than the senses can provide in many hundred yeeres it will drinke them all up at one draught My beloved your senses cannot let in the King of glory such narrow gates cannot receive such infinite great glory Psal 24. In Heaven the doores of your hearts shal be opened and when those dores are open I say the everlasting dores of your hearts are open they cannot containe this glory you must bee contained in it Enter saith Christ into thy masters ioy If the joy of the holy Ghost in this life passe all understanding and beleeving wee reioyce with joy unspeakeable and full of glory how much more in the world to come shal our joyes passe all understanding when wee shall have fruition of Gods presence which is life it selfe My brethren your soules have two great gulphs viz. the understanding and the wil which must and shall bee satisfied Now saith Salomon The eye of the body is not satisfied with seeing it can comprize halfe the World in it and if the eye of the body be so hard to be satisfied much more the eye of the soule and yet in Heaven this shall be satisfied this gulph shall be satisfied Psal 17. 15. I shall bee satisfied when I awake with thy likenesse hee was to lay his head in the grave for a while but hee should arise when the Heavens shall bee no more As Iob said I shall see him againe so David I shall awake and then I shall bee satisfied with thy likenesse Iohn 14. 18. Show us the Father saith Philip and it sufficeth us you will say if you could but see God it would suffice and indeed you may well say so for the sight of God will suffice you why you shall see God Iohn 17. 24. for Christ doth desire this especially those that are his to make thē happy to be with him to behold his face Father I will that they also that thou hast given me to bee with mee where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me So Math. 5. 8. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God they shall bee able to behold him If the Queen of Sheba who had seene so much glory before and being a Queene had partaken of so much glory in her selfe if she I say was so astonished so amazed that shee had no spirit in her even to see Salomons wisedome and to see his magnificency in honour and riches how much more shall the glory of God ravish us part of which wee never saw no not the glimpse of it oh how wilt thou bee amazed with joy when thou shalt see his glory and see him as hee is when wee shall know as we are knowne and GOD knowes us as farre as can bee 1 Corinthians 13. 12. For now wee see through a glasse darkely but then face to face now wee know but in part but then we shall know even as we are knowne all our sight of him here it is but as in a glasse Now what a great difference is it to looke upon a man who is behinde us and to turne our face and to looke truely and sted fastly upon him why there is infinitely more difference betwixt that light wee have of God by faith on earth and that perfect light of him and fruition of his glory which wee shall have in heaven why as I said before the eye of a mans body as it is but a small thing and the apple of it much smaller and yet by the helpe of the sunne it is able to take halfe the World into it at once how much more shall the eye of our understanding conceive infinite joys pastour apprehension here when it hath the light of Gods glory shining about it Psal 36. 8 9. They shall bee abundantly satisfied with the fulnesse of thy house and thou shalt make them drink of the rivers of thy pleasures for with thee is the fountaine of life in thy light shall wee see light when as the Sunne of glory comes to shine about us we shall even draw God into our soules and thus you see the first gulph shall be filled The second gulph of mans soule is the will thou hast a will and amongst all the affections of it love is most comfortable now that shall be fully satisfied wee shall be satisfied with Gods loving kindnesse for Psal 73. all other affections bring paine with them but love is alwaies comfortable Phil. 2. 1. If there bee any consolation of Christ if any comfort of love Wee love things here on earth that cannot love us againe as money riches and the like how much more shall wee love love it selfe Indeed as Salomon saith The love of friends is very delectable Pro. 27. 9.
more to it if any thing more can bee added to it and if I but mention the properties they will further adde to this glory and make it abound He name no more than those wee have already laid downe to our hands 1 Pet. 1. 45. Elect to an inheritance incorrupted and undefiled and that fadeth not away revealed in the last times In the first place brethren 1. Property it is an inheritance the deed of which runnes for ever to him and his The subtillest Lawyer that is yea such an one as can almost finde a knot in a bulrush shall not be able to picke the least hole in your evidence it is an inheritance to which every one of you shall be heires and shall have an everlasting possession in it it is not in Heaven as it is in this world where the elder brother is onely heire and goes away with the inheritance when many times the yonger are beggars but in Heaven it is not so for there we shall be all heires and coheires with Christ the reason of it is because it is called the inheritance of the Saints 2 Col. 12. Giving thankes unto the father who hath made us meete to bee partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light Why my brethren now you know light is such a thing as is common to all so that if there were ten thousand times more men in the world then there is they might enjoy it neither doth any envie at the light another hath why Heaven is an inheritance of the sonnes in light which wee shall be partakers of there shall be no envying of one anothers happinesse and light in glory why my brethren you may be all heires yea you shall bee all heires there are no younger brethren Againe why alasse in this life the livings we possesse the inheritance of them passeth from one to another from the father to the sonne yea and further all the evidence they have will bee burnt one day they will be made voide at the day of judgement the whole world will be burnt and what will become of their inheritance But now secondly this 2. Property inheritance is eternall incorruptible 1 Cor. 5. 1. For wee have if this earthly house of our Tabernacle be dissolved we have I say a building with God not made with hands eternall in the Heavens An inheritance my brethren that will be for ever why now thinke what eternity is and thinke of it againe it will even amaze your thoughts Eternity is that which multiplies our joyes here upon earth to enjoy a thing many yeeres is our greatest joy if we can so enjoy it there lies our comfort hence those words of the rich man in the Gospell Soule take thy rest for thou hast goods laid up for many yeeres What a happinesse is it not onely to enjoy an inheritance many yeeres but for ever goods layd up for ever what a mercy is it that they are for ever the eternity of them addes to our joyes it was a rejoycing to David that God would give him a Kingdome but more that hee would prepare a Kingdome to his house a great while 2 Sam. 7. 18 19. Then went King David and sate before the Lord and said Who am I O Lord God and what is my house that thou hast brought me hitherto and was this yet a small thing in thy sight oh Lord God but thou hast spoken of thy servants house for a great while to come David tooke it for a great favour that God would bestow a Kingdome upon him and yet saith he this was but a small thing in thy sight what was it a small thing to give a Kingdome No but there was another thing more than a Kingdome and that was that his posterity should sit on the Throne for a great while this made the mercy the greater if Heavens glory should last but for a few daies or yeeres it were worth more seeking after than all the things of this World wee make a great strife for momentary trifles in this world but Heaven shall last for ever it hath an everlasting evidence it shall never have an end the day thereof is for a long day for it is for eternity and a day Againe David was to die himselfe and to leave the glory of his Kingdome to another yet he tooke it for a great favour and mercy that it was promised to his house for a great while but now in Heaven we shall never die we shall possesse our Kingdome in our owne persons to everlasting the pleasures and riches wee enjoy here must go to others The rich man in the Gospell sings to his soule Soule thou hast goods in store laid up for many yeares eate drinke and take thy rest but marke the answer Thou foole this night shall thy glory be taken from thee Now in Heaven it is farre otherwise we shall never be deprived of our glory why let not the least thought of jealousie come into our mindes For this in the next place is incorruptible and not onely incorruptible in it selfe but also in those that enjoy it wee shall bee ever with the Lord we shall be the persons themselves The Kingdomes of this world were brave places if they might have no end the Kings of them exceeding happy if they might never die but live alwaies but alasse though they live like Gods they shall die like men Now in Heaven there is no such thing there is no dying nor talke of dying but mortality shall bee swallowed up of immortality wee shall enjoy those inexhaustible Rivers of pleasures to eternity Now wee come to the 3. Property next property It is incorruptible and undefiled 1 Cor. 5. 25. All the comforts wee have in this life are mixt with sinne yea with the impotency of sinne and misery so that one saith well to this purpose Though the joyes of a King be many and greater than others yet they have as many sorrowes attending upon them as joyes and if not crosses yet sinne the greatest crosse of all if men bee sensible of it but Heaven is undefiled there is no anguish no griefe no teares no sorrowes but joyes to all eternity There shall be no vexing Canaanites to trouble you neither outward nor inward enemies Isa 35. And the ransomed of the Lord shall returne and come to Sion with songs and everlasting ioy shall bee upon their heads they shall obtaine ioy and gladnesse and sorrow and sighing shall fly away here the guilt of sinne afflicts us the punishments due unto the same affright us one man is troubled with a lust which hee would faine master another man cries out with the Apostle O miserable man that I am c. Qualmes come over many mens hearts for the guilt of sinne and how many throes have they before they can get sinne abandoned another is vexed with some tormenting malady and grievous sickenesse in his body but in Heaven we shall bee freed from these sorrowes
there shall be neither soule nor body sicke Isa 33. 24. And they in Heaven shall not say I am sicke the people that dwell therein shall bee forgiven their iniquity there shall be no thought of the pardon of sinne for the inhabitants that dwell therein shall bee forgiven their iniquities that is those sinnes which they have committed in this life shall bee forgiven there There is no thought of sinne in Heaven there they shall be everlastingly buried in oblivion Obiect But you will say this glory may wither and decay it may waxe old and decline Answ There is no fading in Heaven for with God there is no variablenesse no not so much as shadow of changing The glory of Kingdomes decay daily and Monarchies fall as the Roman Empire what a glorious Monarchy was it but now it is come almost unto a bare title But in Heaven there is no decaying no failing there is alwaies a full spring-tide without ebbe That infinite masse of glory which thou shalt receive at the last day thou shalt keepe for ever after as many millions of yeeres expired as there are haires on thy head it shall bee as bright as it was on the last day and the reason of it is because of Gods presence wee shall be present with him who is the fountaine of life whose streams of glory must needes issue to eternity for at his right hand is fulnesse of joy and rivers of pleasure slow from him for evermore so long as God fades not Heaven will never fade when God himselfe fades when that fountaine can be dryed up then those rivers of pleasures shall cease flowing but that is impossible for hee is the Well of life What is the reason that precious stones decay not but that there is no drosse or corruption in them as the Diamond being pure in it selfe fades not away but alwaies keepes a lustre and splendour in it whereas other base stones that have drosse in them soone decay and moulder away In like manner though this World have drosse in it and by reason of that perish yet in Heaven there is no drosse of sin or corruption and therfore it cannot fade Why now you will say againe grant all this you have said before yet I doubt I may be bereaved of it it may be taken away from me by violence for Kingdomes in this life are taken away Kings deprived of their dignities Why but there is no feare of this in heaven it is kept for you sure enough no mothes of corruption to make you sin no violence of Satans temptations to make you fall The divell and sinne crept into Paradise but neither of them shall come into Heaven Matth 6. 20. Lay up treasures for your selves in Heaven where neither moath nor rust doth corrupt nor theeves breake in and steale But you will say againe if I could once get thither I had no cause to feare I should never fall if I were once in heaven but I feare the vilenesse of my owne heart I feare I shall be defiled with my corruptions and by Satan and as David said I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul I am afraid I may perish hereafter though I now be in the state of grace I may fall and never come thither But looke further it is said It is reserved for you who are kept by the power of God to salvation you are kept for it Christ hath reserved it for you who saith further Of those which thou hast given mee I have not lost one If all the power of the Creatour lie for it you shall not lose it but it doth therefore you shall not lose it And lastly thou shalt not stay long for it thou shalt not bee a probationer but till thy death at the farthest it is laid up ready for thee a Crowne of glory waites and staies for thee but now all these things are shewed this is the misery that wee will not beleeve In my Fathers house saith he there are many mansions If it had not beene so I would have told you he will not deceive us beleeve him on his word we use to beleeve the promise of a man we judge saithfull much more let us credit God who is truth it selfe Therefore as ever we would be partakers of these joyes and have part and portion in these eternall comforts let the beleefe of them bee stedfast and though there be many uses to bee made of this yet this is the chiefe that wee would believe this truth Indeed you believe but I say unto you beleeve and againe beleeve those that entered not into the promised Land entered not because they did not beleeve This is the cause that men perish and enter not into Gods rest I say therefore believe God seeing hee hath fulfilled all his promises hee hath not failed in one promise since the beginning The Land of Canaan he gave according to his promise long before 1 King 8. 23. Lord thou keepest Covenant and mercy with thy servants verse 26. Blessed bee the Lord that hath given rest to his people Israel according to all that hee promised by the hand of his servant Moses If he hath promised that ten Kings shall destroy the whore as indeed hee did she shall be destroyed hee will not faile in his promise he hath spoken and hee will make it good he is abundant in mercy and truth yea hee will bee better than his word Let me speake therefore to you that are yet in the state of nature who still delight in your sins if you beleeved these things surely you would not dote on your sinnes as you doe it would make you utterly abandon them and also let mee say something to you whose eyes God hath opened who are in the state of grace surely if you laboured more and more to petswade your selves of this you youl l not bee so glued to the world as you are it would make you like men of another World you would be transformed and be even as if you were in heaven Let then all your carriage and manner of conversation bee here as if you were in your heritance let all your thoughts be in heaven let your hearts take possession of this incorruptible Crowne whilest your bodies are on earth FINIS