and open a Passage for sanctifying and saving Doctrine into the Hearts of Men. This is the successful Method to convince those who are seduced with Errors and to reclaim the Disobedient to the Wisdom of the Just. The Defence of the Truth must be managed in a calm peaceable manner as the Sun scatters and overcomes the darkness of the Night and Clouds without noise 'T is the Apostle's Counsel In Meekness instructing those that oppose themselves Without Contumelies and Revilings for Injuries convince no Man The Human Spirit is naturally proud and stiff and will resist such Arms Fierceness and Scorn irritate the Passions and hinder impartial and serious Deliberation that opens the Mind for receiving the Truth To perswade the Soul the mild and placid manner of conveying the Truth is as effectual as the Irradiation and Evidence of it And to reclaim the disobedient there is nothing more powerful than Gentleness and the constraint of Love The most fervent Reprehensions of Sinners must be mixt with tenderness to their Souls Under the Law there was a severe Prohibition of offering Sacrifices with the common Fire But only with that Fire that came from Heaven and was preserved Day and Night in the Temple The Allusion is easy and fit The Reprehension of Sinners in the Pulpit must be always from Zeal for the Honour of God and the Eternal Salvation of Souls not from natural fiery Passions If a Minister denounces the Judgments of God with Compassion to Souls if he thunder and lightens in his Sermons a Shower of repenting Tears will follow in convinced Sinners 6. A Minister of the Gospel must joyn a holy Life with found Doctrine according to our Saviour's Description of him He that shall do and teach my Commands shall be great in the Kingdom of Heaven He must not only be free from Pollutions but excel in Vertues nothing in his Conversation should be worthy of Reproach nothing but what is worthy of Imitation He must lead a Life answerable to the Excellence and End of his Calling He is to preach a Doctrine so holy divine and venerable that it would become the unspotted Angels to be ministring Spirits in revealing it to Men. He is therefore strictly obliged to shew forth the Power of Godliness and the Beauty of Holiness in all his ways He must imitate and honour his Master who inseparably united saying and doing in himself He must adorn the Gospel by expressing the Efficacy of divine Truths in his Actions Under the Law he that had touch'd a dead Body was forbidden to approach the Sanctuary and what a Violation is it of all the Rules of Decency and Reason for one who is employed in the holy Service of the Gospel to be polluted with dead Works Tertullian writing of the Excellency of Patience and reflecting upon himself how opposite his fiery Nature was to that Vertue was deeply affected with Grief and Shame and drew up his own Arraignment and Process for his Impatience How much juster Cause has an unholy Minister to be surprised with Horrour and Confusion considering the irreconcileable opposition between his Doctrine and his Life How just and stinging is the upbraiding Speech of God to such how peremptory the Rejection What hast thou to do to declare my Statutes and to take my Covenant into thy Mouth since thou hatest to be reformed and hast cast my Words behind thee The End of the sacred Ministry requires Holiness in those who perform it That is to convert Men to the Faith and Obedience of the Gospel Now the Practice of a Minister gives Weight and Efficacy to his Doctrine the exemplifying of it in his Actions is the most powerful perswasive to draw Men to their Duty Therefore the Apostle commands Titus in all Things to shew himself a Pattern of good Works As the Plants that are productive of Balm and Myrrh and Incense have a Fragrancy not only in the precious Liquor that distils from them but all their Branches and Leaves and Bark are Aromatick Thus a Minister of the Gospel must be Holy not only in his Doctrine but in all manner of Conversation Be thou an Example of the Believers in Word in Conversation in Charity in Spirit in Faith in Purity is the solemn Charge to Timothy He that is holy in his Profession and unholy in his Life both discredits the Gospel and hardens Men in their Sins Though his Tongue may direct to Heaven if his Life leads to Hell the Authority of his Actions will be more prevalent than of his Instructions The Vices of a Minister are more conspicuous and infamous than of private Persons As a Blemish in the Eye is more conspicuous and disfiguring than in a concealed Part of the Body and they have the most corrupting destructive Influence upon others For there is nothing more natural than for Men to think that Ministers do not believe what they preach when there is a visible Contradiction between their Lives and their Words That their most zealous Sermons are rather Pageantry than serious Piety and accordingly to slight them This is a principal Reason that the Conversion of Sinners is so rare 'T is not from any defect in the word for that is not like some medicinal Drugs that lose their Virtue by Age it has the same Divine Power to revive dead Souls to transform the carnal into spiritual Persons to clarify the Mind that it may see things invisible to reconcile the Will to the Sanctity of God's Law to calm the stormy Affections and leave an Impression of its Purity in the Hearts of Men but the admirable and secret Grace of the holy Spirit is not usually concomitant with the Ministry of those who grieve him and quench him in themselves and they render the holy Doctrine ineffectual by their discordant Conversations It was the Character of the wicked Pharisees from the Mouth of Christ They say and do not and to them and all that are involved in the same Guilt the Saviour of the World threatens the most heavy Damnation 7. Humble fervent and continual Prayer to the Father of Mercies and the Father of Spirits that he would bless the outward Ministry is requisite to make it effectual The Conversion of Man is not wrought by Man but by the Energy of the holy Spirit God instructs us what he does in the more secret Operations of Grace by what he does in the more visible Operations of Nature This is express'd by the Apostle Paul plants and Apollos waters but God gives the Increase A Man plants a green Stick and waters it but the God of Nature forms the Tree in all its Parts the Root the Sap the Trunk the Branches and the Fruits The planting by the Hand of Man is necessary for the Growth of a Tree but what is that to the Divine Blessing Thus according to the ordinary Method of Divine Grace God unites his marvellous Power with the weak Ministry of Men for the Salvation of Souls and according
in his own Breast will inflame others but if there be no Spark of Celestial Fire in the Minister's Brest if he does not value the Consequence of Divine Truths he speaks of them without a deep concernment and a cold Preacher makes a careless Hearer and the Sermon is lost in the Air between the Lips of the one and the Ears of the other 2. The Matter of their Sermons must be the Doctrine of the Gospel revealed from Heaven to reduce Men to their Duty and restore them to Felicity This is the Tenor of the Commission given by our Saviour to his Apostles Go teach all Nations to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you The preaching unrevealed or trivial things impertinent to the Salvation and Perfection of Souls is directly contrary to the end of their Office The wisest Method of recovering lost Sinners is to unfold the two Covenants and represent the two Worlds to them The first Covenant was with Man created in natural Righteousness and Holiness but was of a short continuance For by his rebellious Sin he made a deadly forfeiture of the Image and Favour of God of Communion with him the Fountain of our Felicity He is cut off from that blessed Life and must remain in the state of Corruption and Death for ever without redeeming Mercy 'T is a necessary preparative for the Conversion and Recovery of Sinners to convince them of the guilt pollution and dominion of Sin and the everlasting Hell that follows it that they may be roused out of their Security to fly from the Wrath to come The Terrors of the Lord make the first Breach into the Hearts of Men and Grace victoriously enters and subdues the reluctant Will After the Conviction of Sin 't is seasonable to convince them of the all-sufficient Righteousness of Christ that he is the Tree of Life for the reviving dead Sinners that he is Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption a universal Remedy for all the Evils that lie upon Man in his fallen State And 't is requisite to open the Terms upon which God offers his Mercy the Law of Faith in the Gospel that consists of Commands and Promises both to check Presumption that flatters so many into Hell and to prevent Despair that works as dangerously though not so frequently to the Ruin of Souls That men may not from corrupt minds and carnal Affections misinterpret the Gospel to live at ease in their Sins a faithful Minister must shew them that the Promises of Pardon and Salvation are made only to a certain order of Sinners the repenting and reforming Sinners that rely upon Christ alone for their acceptance that he is a King as well as a Priest and none can regularly depend upon his Sacrifice without Subjection to his Scepter In short the soveraign Balm of his Blood is to be applied only to those whose Hearts are broken for their Sins and from them And to raise and encourage drooping Spirits that feel the intolerable Burthen of Sin and both from their Guilt and Unworthiness and their Impotency to perform the Conditions of the Gospel are apt to be hopeless of obtaining Salvation the Gospel assures us that God is rich in Mercy ready to receive humble contrite Suppliants That although Sins are of different degrees of Guilt and accordingly Conscience should be affected and the Springs of Godly Sorrow be opened yet God can as easily forgive ten thousand Talents as a few pence that the Blood of Christ cleanses from all Sins those that are of a Crimson dy as well as from those of a lighter Tincture That the Promise of Pardon is without limitation to all penitent Believers And although in the fallen State Man is destitute of Spiritual Strength no Man can come to Christ except the Father draw him though Carnal Lusts have fetter'd Nature and captivated the Will that Men cannot rescue themselves from the Bondage of Sin yet Divine Grace is offered in the Gospel to enable us to do what is impossible without it and the Holy Spirit is promised to all that sincerely ask it who is stiled the Spirit of Love and Power and a sound Mind with respect to his Heavenly Operations in the Hearts of Men. Therefore as it would be Folly in a Scholar that is invited to the School of a learned Master to discourage himself from going because he wants Learning For that is to be obtained there and only his Desire and Capacity of Instruction is requisite for his Admission so 't is unreasonable for those who have a humble sense of their Sins and Misery to be discouraged from coming to our Saviour for he is most willing to reconcile God to them by his prevailing Mediation and to communicate Divine Grace that they may perform that Obedience which God will graciously accept This is to imitate the Apostles of whom 't is said We preach not our selves but Christ Jesus the Lord. 'T is of excellent use also for Preachers often to represent to Men the two Worlds so vastly different in the Qualities the Degrees and Duration of the Good and Evil Things that are enjoyed or suffered in them that they may discover the Errors of their Ways before they come to their End and Death opens their Eyes to see and lament what is lost and never to be recover'd All the admired Things in the sensible World are perishing Vanities like an inchanted Feast that feeds the Eye without real Nourishment But in the Coelestial World all is substantial satisfying and eternal All the Evils the Calamities the Injuries and Troubles suffer'd here are no more to the Plagues prepared by revenging Justice for impenitent Sinners than the slight razing of the Skin is to a deadly Wound in the Heart Now the fundamental Delusion of Men is in valuing the present state of Things above what is Future and infinitely better or worse They think and call them only Happy who live in Pomp and flow in Riches and Pleasures but as vainly as the Heathens dignified their Idols with the Titles of Coelestial Deities They count them only miserable that are in Poverty Sickness and Afflictions here And as 't is observed by the great Physician that if a delirous Person proposes his incohoerent Fancies seriously as the Product of Consideration his Case is more dangerous and hardly curable So the solemn Folly of Men that think it reasonable to esteem what is present and sensible above what is future and spiritual and accordingly to choose the present as the real substantial Good and neglect the future as a matter of Fancy and Conceit is hardly cured Their Minds and Affections their Aims and Desires center in the Earth their Fears Anxieties Sorrows terminate there And 't is one necessary part of the Minister's Work to devest the World of its Masquing Habit that appears so rich and glittering in the Night by Torch-light to strip it naked as it shall burn in the consuming Fire at the last Day And to unvail the
as Companions in a Journey are together all day but have set times of refreshing themselves so a Christian in his coelestial Journey is to walk always before God uprightly in all temporal Affairs to regard his Presence and every day at set times to draw near to him by Prayer and Thanksgiving and to represent his Greatness and Glory in so solemn a manner that there may be a serious habitual Constitution of Spirit respecting him in all his Actions If there be a neglect of heavenly Communion with him and of our spiritual State and a perpetual Consumption of our Thoughts Time and Strength for secular Advantages and Interests Men are Slaves of the World not Servants of Christ. 3. The Service of Christ is more eminently performed in some special Offices ordained for the Glory of God and the publick Good And such are the civil Magistracy and the spiritual Ministry 1. Magistrates the highest and subordinate in the Scale of Government are by designation to their Office to serve him They are called the Ministers of God for the good of the People Princes may be considered in a double Capacity as Christians and as Princes and in both they are obliged to serve Christ. As Christians by an inflexible necessity without Priviledg or Dispensation they are bound to obey his holy Laws as strictly as every private Person as Princes they are subject to him not only upon the account of his Deity simply considered but his Office as Mediator In his mortal State he did not exercise Regal Power nor appeared with conspicuous marks of Royalty for it was incongruous to his End The Redemption of the lost World was to be obtained by Sufferings But his Supremacy over the World is a Prerogative annext to his being Head of the Church a Title that infinitely transcends all Angelical much more Human Principalities He is stiled the Prince of the Kings of the Earth Princes are commanded to kiss the Son a Token of the Adoration and Homage they owe to him As Princes they are to exercise their Power and Authority to repress Wickedness and preserve the publick Tranquillity For without the restraints of Fear the most savage fierce Beasts would be less dangerous than Men to Men. They are to encourage Moral Goodness and not only to promote the civil Prosperity but eternal Felicity of their Subjects Accordingly the Apostle exhorts Christians to offer up Prayers and Supplications for Kings and all in in Authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable Life in all Godliness and Honesty When Princes are inspired with Sentiments and Resolutions becoming their Lieutenancy to the Lord Christ when they govern their Greatness and employ their Power in subserviency to his Interest when they protect and encourage all that seek the Kingdom of Heaven and the Righteousness thereof as the clear direct way that leads to it they shall obtain the brightest richest Crowns in the State of Glory But those who are a Terror to the Good and encourage evil Doers their mighty aggravated Sins will sink them into the deepest Damnation 2. Those who are consecrated to the Spiritual Function of teaching and governing the Church are in a peculiar manner the Servants of Christ not as he is the Lord of the Earth but of Heaven considering the Quality of their work and the End of it For 't is wholly conversant about the Souls of Men to open their Eyes and turn them from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan to God that they may receive forgiveness of Sins and inheritance amongst them which are sanctified by Faith that is in Christ And as 't is express'd in other Words of Scripture to translate them from the Kingdom of Darkness into the Kingdom of his dear Son This Relation extends it self from the highest Apostle to the lowest in the sacred Office St. Paul frequently stiles himself the Servant of Christ and by that Title he expresses any that are by office employed for the saving of Souls The Servant of the Lord must not strive but be gentle to all Men apt to teach As Christ is called the Servant of God by way of Eminency and was anointed to to preach the Gospel so those who are dedicated to that Work are his Servants in the most proper sense and are to follow him the most excellent Example and highest Master in that Divine Work This I will more particularly insist upon being suitable to the present occasion and lay down some Rules directing how the Ministers of Christ may serve him acceptably so as to be rewarded in the Heavenly Glory 1. They must by serious study furnish themselves with Divine Knowledg and substantial Learning for the Discharge of all the parts of their Office To instruct the Ignorant to refute the Erroneous to reform the Unholy and to comfort the Humble and Disconsolate Our Saviour compares the Ministers of the Gospel unto a Man that is an Housholder which brings forth out of his Treasure things new and old 'T is his Duty to give to the Flock Meat in due season for which not only Fidedelity but Wisdom is requisite 'T is the Apostle's charge to Timothy Give attendance to Reading to Exhortation to Doctrine meditate on these things give thy self wholly to them that thy profiting may appear before all If Timothy who had supernatural Gifts by Inspiration was obliged to be intent and diligent in the application of his mind to the Mysteries of Godliness how much more should those who must acquire Knowledg by search and Industry and the Divine Blessing upon it As Fountains by secret Passages derive from the Sea the Waters that flow in their Streams so Ministers by reading and Contemplation and Prayer in their Retirements obtain the Knowledg of Divine Things which they convey in their Sermons to the People With the Notional an Experimental Knowledg of Divine Truths is absolutely necessary to a Minister to save himself and most useful to save others 'T is not a perfect Systeme of Divinity in the Head not an universal knowledg of spiritual Things confined to the Brain that has a saving Efficacy 'T is not composing a Sermon with exquisite Art and the delivering of it like an Orator that makes him accepted with God For without a cordial Sense of Divine Truths he only lends his Tongue in that holy Service like a Reciter in a Scene all he does is but external Appearance God sees and requires the Heart without it neither the Head nor the Tongue of a Minister tho his Speculations are sublime and his Words Drops of Gold are of any value And usually the Sermons of such are without profit to the Hearers The sound of words only reaches the Ear 't is the Mind convinces the Mind and the Heart perswades the Heart He that is strongly convinc'd of the Truth of eternal Things he will speak of them with assurance as an Eye witness and in a lively manner He that is burning
to the Apostle's arguing it is an impossible Event that Men should believe without hearing the Gospel and hear without a Preacher But the converting and saving of Souls is to be ascribed to God And thus in the Spiritual Husbandry the Occasions of Pride and Slothfulness are equally removed As the same Apostle saith He that plants is nothing and he that waters is nothing but God that gives the Increase This Consideration should be an Incentive in our Breasts to petition the God of all Grace that he will please to give Life and Efficacy to his Word In Jacob's Vision of the mysterious Ladder that reach'd from Heaven to Earth the Angels were ascending and descending An Emblem of a Minister's Duty they must first ascend in Prayer and Contemplation and then descend in preaching to the People 'T is observable that sometimes Men of excellent Accomplishments are blasted in their Ministry and others of meaner Abilities but of more holy Affections are very instrumental to save Souls The Reason is plain those who are most frequent and fervent in Prayer obtain the richest Abundance of the Spirit and are usually most blest with Success When the Apostles were filled with the Holy Ghost descending in the significant Emblem of fiery Tongues what an admirable Influence had their Preaching upon the obdurate Jews The first Sermon presently convinc'd and converted three thousand that were Murderers of our Saviour with the Stains of his Blood fresh upon them Tongues of Flesh are without vigor make no lasting Impression upon the Hearers Tongues of Fire have a divine Force and Operation to dispel the Ignorance and Errors of Mens Minds to quicken the dull Earth of their Affections to refine and purify their Conversations Lastly To sum up all in one general Consideration He serves Christ that employs all his Abilities and uses all Opportunities in the Circle of his Calling as was before spoken of for the Honour of our Saviour This is represented in the Parable of the Talents which the Master committed to his Servants different in their Number but to be faithfully improved for the Master's Interest Under the Talents are comprised all that we have and are whether in the Order of Nature and with respect to our civil State in the World all our intellectual and sensitive Faculties all our innate and acquired Endowments our Time our Health our Dignities and Power our Estates or Spiritual Blessings all the Gifts and Graces of the Spirit the Light of the Gospel all the Advantages we have of doing or receiving Good for our more excellent and immortal part the Salvation of our Souls Every one according to the Character wherewith he is invested in this World and according to his Capacity of doing Good must be diligent in the service of Christ. In what Relations soever Men are as Fathers Masters or Magistrates in a superiour Rank or as Friends and Associates in an equal Line and as they stand related to all Men they are either by Authority and Command or by Counsel and compassionate Care and Encouragements to promote with Diligence their Temporal and Eternal Welfare The Apostle's Advice with respect to Acts of Beneficence for relieving the Poor Let us do good unto all as we have opportunity is by just Analogy binding to all other Expressions of Love to direct to perswade Men to their Duty to comfort them in their Sorrows to assist them in all their Wants and Exigencies Briefly the Wisdom and Goodness of Christ's Servants consists in their faithful improving all their Talents for his Glory as our Saviour declares Who is that wise and faithful Servant and Well done good and faithful Servant 2. We are to shew upon what accounts our Service is due to Christ. If we seriously consider things it will be evident that by all the Titles of Justice and Gratitude by all Divine and Rational Rights we are obliged to serve him intirely and for ever In the present State there are four ways whereby Men become Servants Some are born Servants some are by ransom and purchase some by victorious rescue and deliverance others are Servants by Covenant and Agreement Now all these Titles concur in obliging us to serve Christ. 1. We are his Servants by Nature he has an original and unalianeble Right in us as our Creator God to satisfy the Inquiry of Moses defines himself I am All the intimate and eternal Attributes of the Deity are implyed in that short Title He is the only necessary Being by his Nature and consequently has all Perfections in himself and is the Fountain of all Being His Hands made us and fashioned us he breathed into us a living Soul All our Faculties and their Efficacy are from him He produces this evidence of his Right in us Remember O Jacob thou art my Servant I have formed thee The Psalmist declares Know ye that the Lord he is God 't is he that made us and not we our Selves we are his People and Sheep of his Pasture We owe to him an Obedience as ready unconstrain'd as the meekest Creatures pay to those that feed and conduct them His Perfections qualify him to be our absolute Master for his Will is always directed by infinite Wisdom 't is the Rule of Goodness and his Benefits in making and preserving us acquire to him a supreme Right in us Now if there be a Spark of Reason in our Minds 't is impossible to have the least Shadow of doubt that a derivative Being has a dependent Working and is to employ his active Powers according to the Will of his Maker as the Rule and his Glory as the ultimate End of all The Connexion is indissolvable for of him and through him and to him are all things The Psalmist ardently calls the whole World Bless the Lord all ye his Works in all Places of his Dominion The Angels who by Nobility of Nature are superiour to all his other Works yet are not sui juris at their own disposals but his Ministers that do his Pleasure They employ their excellent Strength in humble Obedience to his Commands they fly with incredible Swiftness to perform his Orders And in the visible World the Heavens in their Motion the Earth in its Seasons with an invariable Tenor observe the Law impress'd upon them in their Creation As the Psalmist speaks they continue this day according to thy Ordinance for all are thy Servants And if the Creatures without Reason and Sense are perfectly subject to his Will much more should Man who understands his Obligations to the Creator Now the Son of God made us and maintains our Beings by his powerful Providence from whence it follows we are under an eternal Obligation to serve and glorify him to the utmost of our Capacities His unexcited and most free Goodness decreed our Beings from everlasting and in time brought us into the World whereas he might have created innumerable other Persons for Omnipotence is without Bounds and left us in
Esteem and Affections of Men unless they are prodigiously degenerate and corrupted by their Lusts. The Heathens were convinc'd that Honour is the extrinsick Tribute always due to Vertue and some were so strict and had such Divine Thoughts as to maintain that Vertue is the only true Nobility 'T is foretold in Scripture The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance They leave an honourable Evidence of their Graces and Vertues in their Works and are of precious memory when the Name of the Wicked shall rot But the Reward our Saviour promises is the Honour that comes from God only And as his Majesty infinitely transcends all Earthly Principalities so in proportion the Honour that he confers upon his Servants is above all the Titles of Honour all the swelling Praises of Men. This Reward is given in the next World Here the Servants of Christ are sometimes darkened with many Afflictions and buried in sad Obscurity before they are dead They are the Objects of Scorn and Contempt St. Paul who was an incarnate Seraphim whose Zeal in the Service of his Divine Master exceeded all the Apostles yet was as he declares vilified as the off-scouring of the World Now such is the excellent Goodness of God that he will certainly in the next Life reward with the highest Honour all who have advanced his Honour The Honour and Glory of the future state is concealed at present 't is wrapt up in a Cloud only some glimmerings of it glance upon our Eyes Light is sowed for the Righteous the plenary Revelation is hereafter 'T is true the Apostle tells us that Life and Immortality are brought to Light through the Gospel But that is only to be understood of a Comparative Revelation to what was under the Law 'T is brought to the Light of Faith which is like to Break of Day when the Shadows of the Earth and the Light of Heaven are mixt There is a Veil between us and the Glory of Heaven partly to try our Faith whether we will believe the Promise of God without sensible Discoveries of it and to try the sincerity of our Love whether we love God for Himself without the distinct unfolding of that excellent Glory and to comply with the weakness whilst we are in such temper'd Tabernacles of Flesh. If the Beams of his Glory were display'd before our Eyes we should be struck with blindness as Saul was at the brightness of Christ's appearing to him The Flood of Light would swallow us up in Extasy and Amazement Our faint Faculties cannot sustain his Glorious Presence As God told Moses No Man can see my Face and live St. John tells Believers Now we are the Sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be Now our Names are written in the Book of Life in the Rolls of Eternity now we are Adopted into the Line of Heaven now we are cloathed with the Righteousness of Christ the Royal Purple Robe dyed in his Blood we have the Priviledges of the justified State we have a Right to the Eternal Kingdom by our Saviour's Purchase and the firm Covenant of Grace we have the Holy Spirit of Promise who is the earnest of our Inheritance and the Seal of God's Love to us But the full partaking of that Glory is reserved till we leave this visible World I will briefly glance at the several Degrees of the Reward that shall be conferred upon all whom the King of Glory delights to honour in the next World 1. The Scripture reveals that the Souls of just Men first come to the perfection of Glory If Adam had continued in his holy State after a short Immortality upon Earth he had been translated Alive and entire in Soul and Body to Heaven The everlasting Doors had been opened wide for his Reception But since our Disobedience tho our Guilt be pardoned the Gate is so strait that the gross Spoils of our Flesh must be left behind us Now immediately upon the dissolution of the Saints God sends a Guard of Angels his most noble Creatures to convoy their Souls into the Courts of his Honour into the Chamber of his glorious Presence Divine Dignity This is the priviledg of his chosen Friends and Favourites of the most illustrious and blessed Creatures In Heaven the Divine Majesty is seen in its Glory And if one Ray of it reflecting upon Suffering Stephen adorn'd him with Angelical Glory how much more will the Face of God most radiant and resplendent transform the Soul into an admirable Similitude of his Perfections When we shall see him as he is we shall be like him by his everliving Spirit the principle of the Divine Life and Beauty in the Soul as the Soul is of the natural Life and Beauty in the Body There will remain no shadow of Error in the Mind no mixture of Evil in the Will no Pollution in the Affections but the full Likeness of God in Holiness and Joy This is the highest Honour an immortal Spirit is capable of The State of Innocence wherein Man was created is call'd a State of Honour The Angels are dignified with the Title of Saints And God is glorious in Holiness It follows therefore when the Spirits of just Men are made perfect they partake of the Heavenly and Divine Honour If the Joy that springs from believing whilst we are in this Vale of Tears be unspeakable and full of Glory how glorious is the Joy that springs from the clearest Sight and the most intimate Fruition of the blessed God the Joy that is without defect or end as the Psalmist expresses In thy Presence is fulness of Joy at thy right Hand are Pleasures for evermore 2. At the last day their Bodies shall be raised and refined to a Spiritual Excellency and transformed into the Likeness of Christ's glorious Body The Apostle declares That the Consummation of the Saints Glory shall be at Christ's Appearance Then their Souls shall be reinvested with shining Robes of Immortality They shall be placed at the right Hand of the everlasting King which implies the highest Honour as God's being at our right Hand implies Protection and Defence They shall then receive a most glorious Testimony of his Acceptance Well done good and faithful Servants enter into your Master's Joy After they are approved they shall sit upon Thrones and judg the the World even the Prince of Darkness with all his Apostate Trains they shall give their solemn Suffrages to the Judgment pronounced by our Saviour saying Hallelujah Salvation and Glory and Honour and Power unto the Lord our God for true and righteous are his Judgments And after the last Act of his Regal Office our Saviour will lead them into the Kingdom of his Glory to reign with him for ever and ever Who is able to unfold this excellent Glory all Humane Words are unworthy and too narrow to express it only the lively and ravishing Experience of that Glory can fully reveal it to us The meanest Saint in that Kingdom