't is said unto the recompence of the Reward He knew that to be for ever with Christ to behold his Glory and to be glorify'd with him to sit on his Throne and to reign with him Rom. 8.18 would beyond comparison make amends for all that he could do or suffer for his sake Christ is now the Desire of the Saints and in Heaven he will be their everlasting Delight O how will the glorify'd Saints then rejoyce in the view of the surprizing Wonders of his Love From Everlasting he loved them and to Everlasting they 'l love him again There will no Love be lost betwixt Christ and his Members when once they get to Heaven for their Love to him there will be a correspondent Affection according to their utmost Capacity All those Affections that were scattered here below will there be concentred in him for ever And most sure he infinitely deserves their Love having ransomed them from the worst of Miseries and purchased an everlasting Inheritance for them and all this with the dearest Price of his own most Precious Blood O love the Lord all ye his Saints who hath loved you at so dear a rate and who will give you yet greater Discoveries of his Love when he takes you into his glorious Presence 4. The Faithful shall then enjoy the clearest Sense of God's Love unto them and shall also have their Souls enflam'd with the most ardent Love to him And O what Soul-ravishing Comforts will this afford unto them There is nothing which doth now more trouble the Saints than the great coldness of their Love to God and the want of a Sense of God's Love to them Psal 30.5 7. In his Favour is Life weeping may endure for a Night but Joy cometh in the Morning Lord by thy Favour thou hast made my Mountain to stand strong but thou didst hide thy Face and I was troubled If God hides his Face but never so little and with-holds but the Sense of his Love from the Saints how are their Souls overwhelmed with Trouble But a Sense of his Favour Psal 4.6 7 and the Light of his Countenance doth soon fill the Soul with enravishing Comforts and make all Troubles vanish and quite disappear What unspeakable Joys and Comforts then will the Souls of the Saints be filled with when they come to enjoy the most feeling Sense of God's dearest Love unto them 5. They shall then enjoy God fully and shall see him Face to Face and the Beatifical Vision will be unto them 1. A Transforming 2. A Soul-satisfying Vision Ps 17.15 1. It will be unto the Saints a Transforming Vision The sight which we have of the Lord in the Gospel transformeth us in some measure 2 Cor. 3.18 For we all with open Face beholding as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. If by looking upon the Lord through the Light of the Spirit we are made like him in some measure then surely in Glory when we see him Face to Face we shall be more like him 1 John 3.2 We know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is The Apostle gives this as a Reason why the Saints in Glory shall be like the Lord because they shall see him as he is To see the Lord as he is will be a transforming Sight For look as in a Glass held up against the Sun hath the Image and Brightness of the Sun reflected upon it So the more clearly we behold the Lord of Glory the more of his Image shall we bear upon us And O what a blessed thing will it be for us poor Creatures to be made like unto the Lord Now this Likeness and Conformity makes way for Love and Love makes way for Delight and Delight makes way for Fruition For the more we love God the more shall we delight in him and the more we delight in God the more will God delight in us and will give us the actual Fruition of himself for our highest Felicity and Blessedness 2. Therefore the Beatifical Vision will be unto the Saints as a transforming so also a Soul-satisfying Vision For herein the Soul will fully enjoy God And then will God be unto every Saint an over-flowing Fountain of all Felicity Here a Believer's Joy and Comfort admits of increase and decrease but there the Soul will be so filled with Joy that it can receive no more Psal 16.11 In thy Presence is fulness of Joy and at thy right Hand there are Pleasures for evermore The Fruition of God's immediate Presence is not like the Joys of the World which can neither fill nor satisfy a Man But in our seeing and enjoying him we shall have full content and compleat Felicity The fulness of Joy is suspended till then that we may desire and long for that Day and it will be a joyful Day indeed unto every Believing Soul Ye now have Sorrow saith Christ but your Heart shall rejoyce and your Joy no Man taketh from you John 16.21 Believers while under deep Troubles here do rejoyce in hopes of the Glory of God Rom. 5.2 Yea their Hearts are sometimes so filled with Joy as that they can scarcely contain themselves 1 Pet. 1.8 Whom having not seen ye love in whom though now ye see him not yet believing ye rejoice with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory Now if the hopes of this blessed and glorious Estate breedeth such Joy what will Fruition do If a Glimpse or Taste be so sweet what will the full Enjoyment be Psal 17.15 I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy Likeness This is that which will yield the fullest Satisfaction to the Soul to see God and to be like him and to enjoy him to all Eternity Oh the greatness the exceeding greatness of the Saints Blessedness in Heaven There is no Tongue can express it 1 Cor 2.9 no Heart can conceive it And in this Blessedness they shall abide for ever Mat. 25.46 These shall go away into everlasting Punishment but the Righteous into Life Eternal As the Punishment of the Wicked so the Happiness of the Saints will endure for ever and ever And the Thoughts of this will greatly increase the Saints Joy and the Damneds Misery The Day of Doom pag. 76. Eternity Eternity Thou mak'st hard Hearts to bleed The Thoughts of thee in Misery Will make Men wail indeed For the Damned thus to think with themselves What must I never have Ease again Must I never obtain the least Freedom from these racking Soul-tormenting Pains No never never O most grievous and insupportable Miseries An Eternal Tooth-ach an Eternal Head-ach an Eternal pain of the Stone or Gout or an Eternal Burning-Feaver would be very sad and grievous But what alas are all these to the Eternal Torments of Hell When any of us are under some racking Pains of Body then the Hopes of
these I believe were her great Grief and Burden Naturally she seem'd to be inclined to Passion the which I have heard her lament and bewail and I hope through Grace she did very much conquer it Some of her Servants have told me that when she has been most angry her Back was no sooner turned but all her Passion was gone and she would then be as mild and well pleased again as if she had never been angry She was a very Tender and Affectionate Wife and as suitable I believe as ever Husband enjoyed Sure never did two live more comfortably together than these two Persons did Their greatest Strife seem'd always to be which should exceed in their Love to each other She was a very careful and indulgent Mother and had a very tender love to her Children yet would never indulge them in any thing that was bad Her nearest and dearest Relations and Friends 1 Thess 4.13 18. have cause to lament and bewail their own Loss but to rejoyce and take comfort in the hopes of her Gain Her Expressions and Carriage in her last Sickness and the Morning before she was taken ill were very remarkable and affecting For immediately before her last Sickness seiz'd her she renew'd her Resolutions of praising God more and told her Affectionate and now Sorrowful Husband that they would join together in singing God's Praises And she also discoursed then with him of Death and of the great Concerns of their Souls and this with greater Affection and Freedom than usually she had done And she further expressed her willingness to die if she had but more hopes of her fitness for it And all this the same Morning before her Sickness seized her which was therefore the more remarkable And after she was taken Ill and her Pains were very great upon her she would justify God and be speaking good of his Name saying Mic. 7.9 I will bear the Indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him Well would she say God is still Good and Gracious O! that I could love so Good a God more It is very affecting to hear a poor Soul who is even ready to breath out her last still breathing forth earnest Desires after God and after a more ardent Love unto him She desired to love him more while she was here and O now she loves even as she is beloved She renew'd her Resolutions of praising God more and now she 's gone to sing everlasting Allelujahs Let this therefore comfort her dearest Relations and every one of us who truly loved her Phil. 1.21 Heb. 12.23 that though her Death be a Loss unto us yet it 's far more gainful to her We have ground to hope that her Soul is gone to the Spirits of the Just made perfect where she shall sin no more nor sorrow any more Rev. 21.4 but all Tears shall be wiped from her Eyes and there shall be no more Death neither Sickness nor Pain for the former Things are passed away Now the Use that we should make of what hath been spoken in the Praise and Commendation of our deceased Friend is to follow and imitate her Example in whatsoever was excellent and imitable in her She was much in reading the Word of God in Meditation and Secret Prayer and in that necessary and too much neglected Duty of Self-Examination Let us endeavour therefore to be much in the practice of these necessary and most profitable Duties that we may live comfortably and die happily as we hope this deceased Gentlewoman did I am by no means for commending the Dead any further than may be for the good of the Living and for the Praise and Glory of God Yea I look upon it as a very great Sin to commend the deceased without good ground for it for in so doing God's People are grieved and the Wicked more hardened in their Impenitency And yet this alas is a practice too common But I hope I have said nothing of our deceased Friend but what may be attested by many and that which may be of good use to us all if we be not wanting to our selves Whatsoever Failings therefore we might see in her let us labour to shun and avoid the like and whereinsoever she did excel let us labour to imitate her Phil. 4.8 9. Heb. 6.12 And let us always endeavour to be Followers of those who through Faith and Patience inherit the Promises Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling Jude ver 24 25. and to present you faultless before the Presence of his Glory with exceeding Joy To the only-Wise God our Saviour be Glory and Majesty Dominion and Power both now and ever Amen An EPITAPH POor Mortals how can you once cast an Eye Vpon this Stone and Grave wherein I lie And not consider that your Bodies must Within a while also be laid in Dust But that 's not all your Souls must then ascend To God's Tribunal where your final End Shall be determined and you doom'd to A Place of everlasting Weal or Wo. And O! how happy they that shall obtain A Portion in those Mansions which remain To all Eternity where they shall sing Triumphant Allelujahs to their King But Wo wo wo ten thousand Woes to those Who God forgot and sinful Pleasures chose For they in everlasting Flames must lie And be tormented to Eternity Memento Mori Learn this Lesson well Think on the Joys of Heav'n and Pains of Hell Rouse from thy sinful Sloth cast off thy Chains Believe Repent and work while Time remains FINIS
several Metaphorical Names as sometimes it is called Paradise 2 Cor. 12 2 4. Sometimes it is called an House Joh. 14.2 sometimes it is called a City Heb. 11.16 sometimes it is called a Kingdom Luke 12.32 And sometimes it is called a Crown as here in my Text. For the Pleasantness of it it is called Paradise to note our Abode and Rest in it it is called an House for the Amplitude of it it is called a City and for the Splendor of it a Kingdom And to shew the exceeding Height of Glory that Believers are advanced to it is called a Crown Sometimes a Crown of Life Jam. 1.12 sometimes a Crown of Glory 1 Pet. 5.4 And here in my Text a Crown of Righteousness Why is it called a Crown of Righteousness Answ It may be so called on several accounts 1. Because it is the Purchase of Christ's Righteousness Ephes 1.14 Heb. 9.12 Rom. 5.18 2. Because it is given as a free Reward to such as lead a righteous Life Rom. 2.7 10. chap. 6.23 Isa 3.10 3. Because the Righteous God hath promised it and therefore will bestow it Jam. 1.12 Heb. 6.10 Now the whole Verse may be thus paraphras'd Henceforth or as to what remains there is appointed prepared and in safe keeping for me eternal Life and Happiness an immortal Crown of Glory which the Righteous God hath promised and therefore will bestow it a Crown which is the Purchase of Christ's Righteousness and ample Reward of mine though I have no ways merited or deserved it Another kind of Crown is this than what the Conquerors used to have in the Grecian Games even a great and most excellent Reward a Glory with which my whole Man shall be encompassed as a Man's Head is with a Crown Such a Crown of Righteousness will the Lord the righteous Judg give me at the Day of Judgment Mat. 16.27 Rom. 2.6 10. when all shall be rewarded according to their Works and not to me only shall this Crown be given as my particular Reward but whosoever shall truly believe in Christ and shall so lead their Lives in this World as that they can desire wait for and be well pleased with the Thoughts and Hopes of his coming to Judgment unto them will he give the same Reward also Thus much shall suffice for Explication I come now to the Doctrine And that which I shall build my present Discourse upon and which naturally ariseth from the Words of my Text is as followeth Doct. There is eternal Life and Happiness an immortal Crown of Glory yea the highest Felicity that the Heart of Man can wish or desire appointed purchased and prepared for every believing Soul who overcomes in the spiritual Warfare and continues faithful unto the Death Jam. 1.12 Blessed is the Man that endureth Temptation for when he is tried he shall receive the Crown of Life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him Rev. 21.7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my Son 1 Cor. 2.9 Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither have entred into the Heart of Man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him The Eye may have seen much and the Ear may have heard of more but the Heart may conceive of a far greater Happiness than either Eye hath seen or Ear hath heard of yet all comes infinitely short of that Happiness which God hath prepared for his faithful People Mat. 13.43 Then shall the Righteous shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father Rev. 2.10 Be thou faithful unto Death and I will give thee a Crown of Life Many more Scriptures might be brought for the proof of the Point laid down but these which I have mentioned are sufficient to evidence the Truth thereof Now the Method which I shall observe in speaking to this Doctrine will be to shew you so far as the Lord shall enable me 1. When Believers shall come to the Enjoyment of this Happiness 2. Wherein it will chiefly consist 3. Vpon what account the Lord will confer it upon them And 4. Make Application I. Then When shall Believers come to the Enjoyment of this Happiness I answer They shall enjoy it in part at their Death but fully at the Resurrection For 1. At Death the Souls of the Faithful do immediately pass into Heaven and their Bodies lie asleep in their Graves as in Beds of Rest Isa 57.2 They shall enter into Peace they shall rest in their Beds The Death of the Righteous is a sweet Sleep out of which they shall be awaked and their Graves in like manner are Beds of Rest out of which they shall rise again That the Bodies of the Saints do thus rest in their Graves till the general Resurrection I know none that will deny but that their Souls the mean while are in the actual Enjoyment of Happiness with Christ is denied by some though I know not the least Grounds they have to deny it And it has often been a wonder to me as it may be to any who considerately reads the Scriptures that ever so plain a Truth as this is should be so much as questioned by any Yet some professing the Christian Religion do positively deny it affirming that the Soul doth sleep with the Body till the general Resurrection But surely St. Paul would never have been in a Strait as he expressed himself to be Phil. 1.23 if he were to be reduced upon his Dissolution into a Condition of stupid Sleep without any Capacity of glorifying or enjoying God See Dr. Manton on 2 Cor. 5. v. 8. p. 67. I am in a Strait betwixt two saith he having a Desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better To be with Christ is to be in Heaven for there Christ is at the Right-hand of God Col. 3.1 Now the Apostle speaketh not this in regard of his Body but in regard of his Soul for his Body could not be with Christ presently upon his Dissolution till it was raised up at the Last-day but he knew that his Soul should and that it would be in a far better State than the estate it enjoyed here But is it not better you will say to remain here and serve God than to depart hence It were so if the Soul was in a State wherein we neither know nor love Christ Yea it would certainly be far worse for Paul to have his Body rotting in the Grave and his Soul without all Fruition of God if this were true But he well knew that if once his Soul was separated from the Body he should enjoy a far greater Happiness than he was capable of enjoying whilst he was here Many more Scriptures might be brought for the proof of this Truth I shall name a few Luk. 16.22 And it came to pass that the Beggar died and was carried by the Angels into Abraham 's Bosom By the Bosom of Abraham is meant Heaven and Hell
more neither thirst any more neither shall the Sun light on them nor any heat For the Lamb which is in the midst of the Throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living Fountains of Water and God shall wipe away all Tears from their Eyes So chap. 14.13 Blessed are the Dead that die in the Lord from henceforth Yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their Labours And again chap. 21.4 God shall wipe away all Tears from their Eyes and there shall be no more Death neither Sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away O how sweet is Health after a long pining Sickness How sweet is Ease after racking Pains How sweet is Peace after great Troubles And how sweet is Rest after hard Labours Why in Heaven there will be perfect Health and perfect Ease and perfect Peace and Rest and Happiness and that for evermore Chear up then Believing Soul who art here exercised with pining Sickness or with racking Pains whose Sufferings and Sorrows are many and great for yet a little while and all Tears shall be wip'd from thine Eyes and thou shalt be sick no more nor in pain any more but shalt shortly take an eternal Farewel of all thy Sufferings Pains and Sorrows 4. Believers shall be freed from Hell and from all Fears of Damnation Joh. 5.24 Verily verily I say unto you he that heareth my Words and believeth on him that sent me John 3.16 18. hath everlasting Life and shall not come into Condemnation but is passed from Death unto Life So Rom. 8.1 There is no Condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit O what would the Damned in Hell give to purchase such a Freedom Mat. 8.36 37. What shall it profit a Man saith Christ if he shall gain the whole World and lose his own Soul or what shall a Man give in exchange for his Soul Why no doubt but the Damned in Hell would give ten thousand Worlds if they had them to have their Souls freed from that State of Misery But alas it must not be if they had Millions of Worlds to give for it O dreadful will be the condition of those that must be eternally separated from God and lie under his heavy Wrath for ever Who knows the Power of thy Wrath saith the Psalmist Psal 90.11 There is none can express it no nor any conceive it but the Damned in Hell that lie under it Do those then know what they do who are running headlong to that State of Misery And that cannot endure to be controul'd or stop'd in their Course thither O what Pains do many take to undo themselves And what haste do they make to their own Perdition As if they could not be in Hell too soon or else do imagine it to be but a Fancy How many are there in these our Days that can dare the Great God to damn them As if they would have the World to know that they have Courage enough to be Damned O dreadful what do these Persons think Their Damnation sure will come soon enough without their so often calling for it And O it will be very sad indeed Rev. 21.8 Mar. 9.43 48. Mat. 13.41 42. Isa 65.14 to lie in a Lake of Fire and Brimstone where the Worm dieth not and the Fire shall never be quenched And where will be nothing but howling and yelling weeping and wailing and gnashing of Teeth No Heart can conceive what Horrour and Anguish will seize the Souls of the Damned in Hell and even fill them with Rage and everlasting Desparation Oh! how will they roar and tear themselves both from the Sense of their Loss and Pain Surely then to escape Hell deserves our uttermost Care and Diligence No Labours should be thought too much no Pains accounted too great for the obtaining Freedom from such Miseries O happy Souls most sure are they 1 Thess 1.10 whom the Lord shall save from the Wrath to come Chap. 5.9 Yea these are the Persons that are happy indeed And who are they Why all that truly believe in Christ and that overcome in the Spiritual Warfare Chear up then Believing Soul whom the Lord will free from Hell and Damnation for thou art the Person that hast cause to be chearful Heb. 2.14 15. Now it may be thou art full of Fears lest Hell should be thine eternal Portion Joh. 6.40 but Death within a while will put all out of doubt and free thee from all thy Fears of Damnation John 10.27 29. My Sheep hear my Voice saith Christ and I know them and they follow me And I give unto them eternal Life and they shall never perish neither shall any Man pluck them out of my Hand My Father which gave them me is greater than all and none can pluck them out of my Father's Hand Well then every believing Soul is safe 1 Pet. 1.5 though now it may be they have many Doubts for the Lord will make good his Promifes to them and will set them far above the reach of Danger 5. At the general Resurrection when Christ cometh to Judgment the Bodies of the Faithful shall be freed from Corruption and be raised again most Glorious Bodies 1 Cor. 15.43 53 54. For this Corruptible must put on Incorruption and this Mortal must put on Immortality And Christ shall change our vile Body Phil. 3.21 that it may be fashioned like unto his Glorious Body And then will it be fitted for the nearest Union with a pure immortal and glorify'd Soul And the Body and Soul thus reunited will be capable of enjoying the highest Good Which is the next thing in order to be enquired into under this Second General Head Quest 2. What then is that Good or that Blessedness which Believers shall enjoy in Heaven Why 1. Their Graces shall there be perfected and the Image of God restored in them They have here but some small Resemblances thereof but in Heaven they 'l be thorowly renewed to it Their Holiness Knowledg and Love to God will there be perfect and compleat Their Graces alas are now but weak but then they shall be strong Here they enjoy but a small Measure but there they shall enjoy a Fulness They now greatly long and breath after Holiness and after the Knowledg and Love of God and there they shall have their Desires fulfilled Chear up then Believing Soul who dost now much bewail thy great Imperfections and art often with Sighs and Groans breathing forth such longing Desires as these O that I was more Holy and more truly Gracious that I knew God better and could love him more Phil. 5.8 14. O that I could attain to a State of Perfection How happy then should I be Why the Time is drawing on a-pace when thou shalt be Holy 1 Cor. 13.9 12. 1 Joh. 3.2 3. as God is Holy and Know as
is opposed to it and 't is explain'd ver 25. He is comforted but thou art tormented Heaven is a Place of Comfort and Hell is a Place of Torment No sooner did Lazarus die but he was carried by the Angels into Heaven No sooner did the rich Man die but he was dragged by the Devils into Hell Ver. 23 24. And in Hell he lift up his Eyes being in Torment and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his Bosom Therefore I argue not only from Lazarus his being in Abraham's Bosom but also from the rich Man's being in Hell for God is not more prone to punish than he is to reward If the Wicked be in Torment as soon as they die then the Saints are in their Happiness presently upon their Dissolution Another Place is Luke 16.9 And I say unto you make to your selves Friends of the Mammon of Vnrighteousness that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting Habitations i. e. Do good with your worldly Riches and thereby evidence your Faith to be true and so consequently make God your Friend that when you come to die he may receive you into Heaven 1 Tim. 6.17 19. Luk. 19.8 Act. 10.4 Mat. 25.34 36. When ye fail What is that time failing It cannot be meant of Condemnation in the Judgment for there is no escaping or reversing that Sentence therefore 't is meant of the Hour of Death then are Believers received into everlasting Habitations and their everlasting Habitation is in Heaven Another Argument which proveth this Truth is that with which Christ silenc'd the Sadduces Mat. 22.31 32. Have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God saying I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob God is not the God of the Dead but of the Living The Sadduces denied the Immortality of the Soul as well as the Resurrection of the Body and Christ disproveth both by this Argument I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Exod. 3.6 These words were spoken by God unto Moses long after the Decease of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and it is not said I was but I am the God of Abraham c. Now saith Christ God is not the God of the Dead but of the Living therefore Abraham Isaac and Jacob though long ago deceased are yet alive So the Souls of all the Faithful departed out of this World do live to God in Heaven Luke 20.38 Another Scripture which clearly proves this Truth is Luke 23.43 The penitent Thief had desired Christ to remember him when he came into his Kingdom And Christ answered him again and said Verily I say unto thee To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Christ sheweth that he would not defer his Hope but his Desire should be accomplished that Day 't is not adjourned to many Days Months or Years but to Day saith Christ q. d. Thou shalt immediately enjoy thy Desire Now what Christ promised to him he promised it to him as a penitent Believer and what belongeth to one Believer belongeth to all in a like Case Therefore if his Soul in the very Day of his Death was translated to Paradise the Souls of other Believers will be so in like manner Rev. 2.7 To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God No doubt but by Paradise is meant Heaven and so the Apostle explaineth it 2 Cor. 12.2 4. Thither the penitent Thief went immediately after his Death and so doth every believing Soul Another Scripture that proves this Truth and the last that I shall name is 2 Cor. 5.8 We are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the Body and to be present with the Lord. This is so plain a Text for the proof of this Truth that if we had no other Scripture to prove it by even this alone were sufficient For we know saith the Apostle that whilst we are at home in the Body we are absent from the Lord ver 6. But are will rather to be absent from the Body and to be present with the Lord ver 8. So that as soon as the Souls of the Faithful are separated from the Body they are taken immediately into the Presence of the Lord in whose Presence there is Fulness of Joy Psa 16.11 and at whose Right-hand there are Pleasures for evermore And thus I have sufficiently prov'd that the Souls of the Faithful at Death do immediately pass into Heaven and their Bodies lie asleep in their Graves as in Beds of Rest Now 2. At the general Resurrection when Christ shall come to Judgment the Bodies of the Saints shall be raised in Glory and re-united unto their Souls even these very self same Bodies which now we have 1 Thess 4.16 For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a Shout with the Voice of the Archangel and with the Trump of God and the Dead in Christ shall rise first So Joh. 5.28 29. Marvel not at this saith Christ for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the Graves shall hear his Voice and shall come forth they that have done good unto the Resurrection of Life and they that have done evil unto the Resurrection of Damnation This will be a joyful Day to every believing Soul but a Day of Terror and Amazement to the Wicked When the Lord Jesus Christ shall be thus revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming Fire taking Vongeance on then that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall be punished with everlasting Destruction from the Presence of the Lord and from the Glory of his Power When he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that believe 2 Thess 1.7 10. The Thoughts of this most Blessed Day which Job foresaw by Faith did much refresh his Soul under his heavy Afflictions Job 19.25 26 27. I know saith he that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter Day upon the Earth And though after my Skin Worms destroy this Body yet in my Flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my self and mine Eyes shall behold and not another though my Reins be consumed within me Job was well assured that the self-same Body which had suffered so much in the World and which should not in the Earth and be eaten with Worms should be raised again at the last Day Yet this we must know that tho the same Body shall be raised again yet a very great Change shall pass upon it 1 Cor. 15.42 44. It is sown in Corruption it is raised in Incorruption it is sown in Dishonour it is raised in Glory it is sown in Weakness it is raised in Power It is sown a natural Body it is raised a spiritual Body So Phil. 3.20 21. Our Conversation is in Heaven saith
a Freedom from such Pains gives some Ease and Refreshment But supposing a Person should have ground to fear that he must endure some such racking Pains without the least Ease or Intermission for an hundred Years together the Thoughts of this would even double his Misery How then will the Thoughts of a miserable Eternity torment and tear the Hearts of the Damned This will make them roar out in the Bitterness of their Spirits O miserable miserable miserable Yea it will exceedingly heighten their Miseries to think that when thousands and ten thousand times ten thousands of Years are at an end their Torments and Miseries will not be ended But now on the contrary This is it which will increase and compleat the Happiness of the Saints in Heaven to be fully assured that it shall never have an end and without this they could never be happy As the fore-cited Poet has well expressed it Eternity Eternity Pag. 74. Oh were it not for thee The Saints in Bliss and Happiness Could never happy be If there were the least ground to fear that their Happiness would have an end the Thoughts of this would put a damp upon their Comforts and make them even miserable in the midst of their Enjoyments But so long as the Lord Jefus Christ lives so long shall their Happiness last and that shall be for ever and ever John 14.19 Because I live ye shall live also He tasted Death for them and swallowed it up in Victory and thereby obtained Eternal Redemption for them Heb. 9.12 The Felicity above is durable it is an abiding Happiness The Lord of Life will uphold the Saints in that blessed State for ever I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore Rev. 1.18 And because I live Joh. 14.19 ye shall live also Comfortable Words indeed The Happiness of the Saints would be incompleat if it were not everlasting Yea the least fear of losing it would disturb their peaceful Fruition For as hope in Misery allays Sorrow so fear in Happiness lessens Joy The Apprehension of losing such an Happiness would cause Torment but the full assurance of its Perpetuity will fill them with unexpressible Joy That which will terrify the Damned in Hell will afford Joy and Comfort to the Saints in Bliss and that is the Thoughts of Eternity The Thoughts of this will transport the Saints and will fill them with Songs of Joy and Triumph O who would not strive and labour and pray for a blessed and happy Eternity And now I come to the Third Particular which is to shew you upon what account this Happiness is conferr'd on Believers And 1. Then it is not conferred upon them on the account of any Worthiness of theirs nor do they merit or deserve such an Happiness either in whole or in part No though we should serve God a thousand Years we could not metit to be one Day in Heaven The Happiness is too great to be merited by Man though the Works of the Saints were more perfect For Finite Things carry no proportion to an Infinite and Eternal Happiness And besides alas the Works of the best are so many ways imperfect that they may rather expect Punishment for them than any the least Reward Believers do fight the good Fight of Faith but they do not merit Heaven thereby nor is an Immortal Crown of Glory conferred upon them on that account It is true God will reward their Faithfulness but their Faithfulness doth not deserve that Reward The Heavenly Happiness most sure is such as is not nor can it be earned by the Saints But 2. It is partly the free Gift of God and partly the Purchase of Christ As to any thing therefore that we have done or can do it is altogether free 1. It is freely given us of God and by him was prepared for us 'T was his own Love and most Free Grace that inwardly moved him to do this for us Luke 12.32 Fear not little Flock for 't is your Father's good Pleasure to give you the Kingdom So 1 Cor. 2.9 Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither have entred into the Heart of Man the Things which God hath prepared for them that love him Heb. 11.16 Mat. 20.23 And again Mat. 25.34 Come ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World This was the Preparation of God's Decree He loved his People from the Foundation of the World so as that he decreed to give his only Son for them Eph. 1.3 11. 1 Pet. 1.18 19 20. Gal. 4.4 7 that by his precious Blood and meritorious Death he might purchase for them an Everlasting Inheritance And in the Fulness of Time as he had decreed he sent his Beloved Son into the World Joh. 3.16 and most freely bound himself by his Covenant and Promise to confer this Inheritance upon all true Believers 2. Christ by his precious Blood hath purchased this Eternal Inheritance for us 1 Pet. 1.19 Heb. 9.12 15. By his own Blood he entred once into the Holy Place having obtained Eternal Redemption for us And for this cause he is the Mediator of the New Testament that by means of Death for the Redemption of the Transgressions that were under the First Testament they which are called might receive the Promise of Eternal Inheritance Christ having purchas'd it by his Death and God the Father having graciously promis'd it therefore all they that are effectually called shall have it conferred upon them Heb. 6.20 For Christ is ascended up into Heaven to take Possession of it in our Name I go saith he to prepare a Place for you Heb 10.14 Chap. 9.24 7.25 John 14.2 By his Death he purchased for us a Right and Title to Heaven and by his Intercession he prosecuteth and applieth that Right The merit of his Sacrifice pleads for Believers that the Blessedness of Heaven may be conferred upon them Now as Christ has purchased Heaven for the Saints and the Father will freely bestow it upon them so he freely gives them his Holy Spirit to fit and prepare them for the Enjoyment of it And without this all the rest would be of none effect For certainly 't would not avail us any thing to have Heaven prepared for us unless we be also prepared for Heaven An unrenewed unholy Soul would find little satisfaction in that Holy Place supposing such might be admitted into it But there is no unclean Thing shall enter there Rev. 21.27 The Divine Life is no way suitable to the Nature of an Unregenerate Person Alas such cannot love God here nor do him any acceptable Service but do loath that which he most loves and love that which he abhorreth They are altogether uncapable of that imperfect Communion with him which Regerate Persons do here partake of How then can they live in that perfect Love of him Delight in him and Communion with him 2
banish you therefore that Presence which you never loved I deny you that Vision which you did always shun Joh. 3.19 20. and the Impressions of my Likeness which you did ever hate I eternally abandon you to the grossest Darkness seeing Darkness was so grateful to you Depart from Me Luk. 13.27 28. and from the Happiness you slighted into endless and easeless Miseries and Torments O! what will impenitent Sinners have to say when the Righteous Judge shall plead the Case with them and shall pass the irrevocable Sentence upon them All Mouths assuredly will then be stopped and their Conscience will tell them that the Sentence is just Think of this therefore Heb. 3.15 18. and consider it seriously while a Door of Hope is yet open unto you And if the Heavenly Happiness will not invite you 2 Cor. 5.11 let the Terrours of Hell affright you from your Sins For it 's certain if you slight the Glory that 's offered you will bring upon your selves Everlasting Confusion Flee therefore unto Christ as your only Refuge Josh 20. with Heb. 6.18 that he may deliver you from avenging Justice and from the wrathful Displeasure of a provoked God Psal 2.12 And O! let him not still have fresh cause to complain Joh. 5.40 Ye will not come to me that ye might have Life 2. It should also excite Believers to greater Diligence in the Service of God 2 Pet. 1.5 11. For so an entrance shall be ministred unto us into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ If the Hopes and Fore thoughts of the Happiness above will not excite and quicken us to our Duty what will Let us then be convinced that there is such an Happiness and when we believe let us look for it and long for it and live in the hopeful expectation of it Looking for that Blessed Hope and the Glorious Appearing of the Great God 1 Pet. 1.13 Tit. 2.13 14. Now this Hope should put us upon serious Diligence and earnest Pursuit after such a Blessedness Phil. 3.20 Let us therefore endeavour to live Heavenly Lives as we hope to partake of the Heavenly Blessedness There is nothing should influence our Hearts below but that which doth suit Christ's Heart above 1 Joh. 3.2 All must be like the Lord that are to live with him And if we do hope to be like him hereafter then sure we should strive to resemble him here Ver. 3. Yea And every Man saith the Apostle that hath this Hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure i. e. as Christ is pure Yea certain it is if we do not desire further degrees of Holiness we cannot be said to desire Heaven for Heaven is the persection of Holiness A lively Hope therefore of our Conformity to Christ in Glory and Blessedness hereafter will assuredly put us upon a vigorous pursuit of Conformity to him in Holiness here O! were but our Hopes more strong and lively they would give us a Taste of the Blessedness above and this Taste would set us upon earnest longing after the Enjoyment of it Rom. 5.2 Chap. 8.19 23. 2 Cor. 5.2 For in this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our House which is from Heaven So ver 8. We are willing rather to be absent from the Body and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him ver 9. Let us labour then Heb. 11.1 by a lively Faith to realize the Happiness of Heaven to our Souls as also to get a well-grounded Hope of our Interest in this Happiness That so our most frequent and serious Thoughts and delightful Meditations may be of it For 't is impossible a Man can hope for any Thing but he will be thinking of it And the more we think of the Happiness Above the more we shall long for it And where there are longing Desires and Breathings after the Enjoyment of such an Happiness Heb. 4.1 there will also be a heedful and cautelous Fear lest we should miscarry or fall short of it and this accompanied with a diligent Care and most earnest Endeavour to make sure 1 Cor. 9. 24 27. Well then Phil. 3. 10 14. Ver. 17 20 Mat. 11.12 Rom. 8.25 Heb. 10.32 36. Let us make it appear that our Faith is true and our Hopes lively by a more Holy Activity Vigour and Diligence in the Ways and Service of God 1 Tim. 6.12 And let us wait with Patience for the expected Happiness against all Oppositions and Discouragements For in due season we shall reap if we faint not Gal. 6.9 I shall conclude this Use with the Apostle's Exhortation 1 Cor. 15.58 Therefore my Beloved Brethren be ye stedfast unmoveable always abounding in the Work of the Lord forasmuch as you know that your Labour is not in vain in the Lord. Now Vse III. For Consolation The Last Vse may be for Consolation to Believers against Wants Troubles and Death it self And 1. It administers Comfort to Believers against all their Wants and Necessities It may be now you are very poor Prov. 8.18 21.1 Pet. 1.4 but there 's durable Riches provided for you even a full incorruptible and glorious Inheritance Let the Fore-Thoughts of this support and comfort you under all your Straits and Necessities Luk. 16.25 for your best Days are yet to come Consider It is but a very little while that we shall have need of these outward Enjoyments And while we do need them Psal 34.9 10. Psal 8.11 we have good ground to hope for such a measure thereof as is convenient for us Whosoever he be that doth seek God's Kingdom and Righteousness above all other Things Mat. 6.31 33. and that waits upon God in a diligent use of those Means that he hath appointed shall certainly enjoy so much of these Things as the All-wise God sees requisite for him Rom. 8.32 And what can we desire more How soon alas should we ruine our selves Deut. 32.15 if God should leave us to be our own Carvers or should give us whatsoever we desire in the World Psal 37.3 9. Ver. 16. Rom. 8.28 But it 's well for us that we are under the care of so Wise and Gracious a Father who will give us nothing but what 's really good for us nor deny us any thing here in the World but that which he sees would be hurtful to us We are often desirous of several Things which are good in themselves and good for some Persons and which we apprehend may be good for us also and yet God doth in Mercy deny us such Things as knowing them not for our good And shall we not trust his infinite Wisdom before our own shallow and dark Understandings Pro. 3.5 6. Yes surely We need not therefore to trouble our selves with distracting Thoughts and with carking Cares Phil. 4.6 who have such a wise Father
Enemies can do us here Mat. 10.28 is only to kill the Body and this they cannot do neither without the permission of God and when God permits them to injure our Bodies Rom. 8.28 he thereby designs us good to our Souls So that our Enemies are very unskilful whatsoever Evil they design unto us for when they impair the outward Man they thereby better the inward Man 2 Cor. 4.16 And if they root us out of the Earth they do but send us the sooner to Heaven Yea Mat. 5.10 11 12. and the greater our Sufferings are here in the World the greater will be our Happiness hereafter 'T was a Saying of one of the Antient Fathers when vilified by his Enemies He that willingly takes from my good Name unwillingly adds to my Reward Surely then the Hopes of Heaven should chear our Hearts under all our Trials 3. It administers Comfort to Believers even against Death it self These Earthly Tabernacles must be dissolved 2 Cor. 5.1 but what then We have a Building of God an House not made with Hands Eternal in the Heavens We shall but leave a poor tottering Cottage to live in a Princely Palace and forsake an unquiet and troublesome World for a place of everlasting Repose Isa 57.2 Rev. 14.13.1 Thess 4.13 14 15. Death to Believers is but a sweet Sleep and the Grave but a Chamber of Rest where the Body doth quietly repose it self till the general Resurrection And then it shall certainly awake from its Sleep and be raised again a most Glorious Body Phil. 3.21 And while the Body doth thus quietly rest in the Grave the Soul is in actual Joy and Felicity It doth not sleep in the Grave with the Body 2 Cor. 5.8 Phil. 1.23 as some do foolishly imagine but is present with the Lord and in a State of Activity Death is to the Soul of every Believer an immediate Passage into Glory Believers may therefore look Death in the Face with a great deal of Joy and Comfort 1 Cor. 15.55 56 57. for its Sting is taken away by Christ and it is unto them a Translation Their Life is not taken away but changed 't is changed from a miserable and corruptible Life to that which is Blessed and Eternal There 's a Glorious State provided for Believers in the World to come and Death is the ready Passage into it Wherefore comfort one another with these Words 1 Thess 4.18 saith the Apostle With what Words Why that Jesus Christ shall come in the Clouds Ver. 16 17. and take Believers unto himself and so shall we for ever be with the Lord. Lastly The Doctrine affords matter of Comfort to the Dear Relations of our Deceased Friend who hath fought a good Fight and hath finished her Course and is now gone to receive the Crown which the Lord hath prepared for her She was one that was assaulted with many Temptations but through the Captain of her Salvation she did conquer and overcome Jam. 1.12 Rev. 2.10 and is now enjoying as we have ground to hope the Reward of a Faithful Souldier of Christ even an immortal Crown of Life and Glory yea the highest Felicity she is capable of receiving till her Body and Soul be again reunited and then will her Happiness be full and compleat Ever since I knew her I look'd upon her to be one that desired to make Religion her Business or the chief concern of her Life She had very low and mean Thoughts of her self and was greatly afraid of being mistaken and of thinking her Condition to be better than it was She has oft in my hearing lamented and bewail'd her Distractions of Mind in Duty and would tell me she found it a very difficult thing to keep her Heart close unto God And where is there a Christian indeed that doth not experience this It was her practice every Day to read a considerable Portion of the Holy Scriptures and to meditate and pray in secret besides her constant joyning in Family-Duties She would say that she found those two Soul-enriching Duties of Meditation and Self-examination very hard and difficult to perform them aright She had a very hearty Love I believe to all God's Faithful People 1 Joh. 3.14 not only those that were of the same Judgment with her but also to those that differed from her in some Circumstantials of Religion She was far from that factious and narrow Spirit which too many have discovered in these our Days that has no hearty Love for any but those that are of their own Perswasion No wheresoever she saw any thing of the Image of God Psal 15.4 Psal 16.2 3. in Rich or Poor or any Person that differed from her in Judgment such Persons were always welcome to her and she ever expressed an high esteem of them Psal 119.63 She delighted most in the Society of those who truly feared the Lord. She would speak her Mind freely and with very great Zeal in vindicating God's Faithful Servants when she heard any of them spoken against or reflected on by others Her Humility was very conspicuous and apparent to all that conversed much with her And you of her Neighbours who knew her well can give your Attestation to what I say How free was she always in her Converse with you And how familiar would she be with the poorest of you The Poor was as welcome to her as the Rich and more especially such as feared the Lord. She would visit the poorest of her Neighbours with delight when she could have any hopes of doing them good or of administring any Relief to them She went very modestly in her Apparel ever since I knew her chusing rather to go below her Quality than in the least to exceed She could not endure those ridiculous Fashions which are now so much followed by many those foolish and fantastical Dresses which abundance do please themselves with And for my part I verily believe that a great many Persons amongst us do please but a very few with their Dress besides the Devil and themselves And I wish the Lord may not bring upon these what he brought upon the haughty Daughters of Zion Isa 3.16 26. Jer. 15.9 chap. 14.1 18. and 52.1 27. Many there are which seem not to approve of these foolish fantastical Fashions and yet forsooth they must follow the same lest they make themselves ridiculous But our honoured Friend the deceased Gentlewoman was not of their Mind for she rather chose to be accounted ridiculous by proud and foolish Sinners than to make her self so indeed in the Sight of the All-seeing God She spent little time in dressing her self and as little she spent in Idleness She would constantly be employed in one honest Business or other as knowing it sinful either in Poor or in Rich to trifle and idle away precious Time She had indeed her Infirmities and Weaknesses which none are free from while here in the World but