them go bowing down greatly yea to sigh and mourn continually What says holy David Psal 38.3 4 5 6 There is no soundness in my Flesh because of thine Anger neither is there any rest in my Bones by reason of my Sin Mine Iniquities are gone over my head as a Burden too heavy for me to bear My Wounds stink and are corrupt because of my Foolishness I am troubled I am bowed down greatly I go mourning all the day long Thus holy Paul complains also in Rom. 7.14 I am carnal and sold under sin Verse 21. I find a Law that when I would do good Evil is present with me And 23 I see another Law in my Members warring against the Law of my Mind and bridging me into captivity to the Law of Sin that is in my Members In the sense whereof he cries out as a Man greatly oppressed in the next Words Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death In-dwelling Sin renders the Lives of God's People very bitter and uncomfortable And how can it be otherwise For Sin is the constant Source and Fountain of all their Miseries There is no Distress or Trouble befalls a Godly Man but Sin is the meritorious procuring Cause of it Sometimes Sin disturbs his Peace sometimes it impairs his Grace sometimes it breaks his Bones but it always pollutes and defiles his Soul Oh what sad work doth Sin make continually and the best it can end in is Repentance and godly Sorrow A Christian in this Life is always in a Conflict with Corruptions Sin and Lust are continually warring against the Soul So saith the Apostle Gal. 5.17 The Flesh iusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh and these two are contrary the one unto the other so that ye cannot do the things that ye would Sin draws a godly Man one way and Grace draws him another Sin in him will not yield and Grace in him cannot yield And though through the strength of the Spirit enabling him to exercise Grace he is daily getting ground of his Corruptions yet is it very slowly what he gains is as it were by Inches every step he takes through his Enemies Country he is fain to force his way and he never obtains a Victory over Sin but it is with great strugling and wrestling He is always standing upon his Guard and if he chance to slumber never so little or be negligent in his spiritual watch he is presently furprized by a diligent Enemy that always lies in wait and observes him This now is the constant Life of a Christian always to be maintaining a Warfare with Sin that is continually stirring in him and ever ready to put forth it self one way or other to do him Mischief Sin is continually making the Life of a godly Man uncomfortable and while Sin is in him it will not be otherwise Now Sin will always be in him while he is in this World and therefore he will always have some Troubles some Perplexities to afflict and disquiet him But when Death that Friend of the Saints for so Death is to them and to none but them comes they shall be perfectly free from all that which now afflicts and troubles them because they shall be perfectly free from Sin that is the Cause of it And therefore that I may note it by the way With what rejoycing of Soul should a godly Man upon this account entertain the thoughts of Death How welcome should the approach of this Friend of his be unto him For certainly a Saint hath not a better Friend in all the World for next unto Jesus Christ who hath made satisfaction for a Believer's Sins and obtained Life and Salvation for his Soul Death must needs be his best Friend because it frees him from all Sin He that frees us from the Evil of our Sins and from suffering eternal Punishments due to us because of them by satisfying the Justice of God for them must needs be our best and chiefest Friend and next unto him he that frees us from the being of Sin that we may no more offend God thereby and that is Death And indeed none in the World can be kinder to a Saint or do such an Office of Love for him as Death doth for at once it sets him not only out of the reach of all his Enemies but perfectly frees him from that which caused them to be so and that is Sin and herein the Goodness of God is greatly to be observed that Death which is a Punishment for Sin should be turned into the destruction of the very Being of Sin and so it is to every Believer For after Death Sin shall not only cease to act but shall cease to be Two Things commend Death and ought to make it desirable to every Believer One is That it frees him from all Sin and the other is That it brings him to the everlasting enjoyment of God and the latter depends upon the former for till a Believer is perfectly freed from all Sin he can have no entrance into Heaven where God the Fountain of all Bliss and Happiness is seen and enjoyed And certainly where Sin is felt as a heavy Burthen by any Soul and where God is the Delight of that Soul Death must needs have an amiable Aspect and so it will if the Soul act as it ought to do Should God ask one Godly Man after another What is it that you most desire tell me and it shall be given you would they not all with one consent say Lord that we might be freed from Sin Oh that we might be delivered from our Corruptions that we might never offend and displease God Lord thou that knowest our hearts knowest that nothing in all the world is so great a Burthen to us as these sinful Hearts and Natures of ours whereby we are necessitated to offend thee this is the constant Language of their Prayers of their Cries of their Tears day and night that they might be rid of Sin Would it not be the most welcome News in the world to them that the Time were come wherein they should sin no more Certainly were it offered to their choice there is no godly Man in all the World but would rather chuse to be freed from Sin than to be made the Heir yea than to be the Possessor of the whole World What good says a Godly Man would the World do me so long as Sin and a naughty Heart inhabit in me These Lord saith a gracious Soul would do me more hurt in one day than the Enjoyment of the whole World to Eternity can do me good O Lord therefore whatever thou dost with me or whatever thou dost for me deliver me from this Body of Sin and Death that I continually carry about with me Why know all ye holy and gracious Souls whoever you are that thus go up and down mourning and complaining by reason of Sin know for your eternal Comfort that when
our Salvation Is it not there that we shall be for ever out of the reach of Satan's Temptations with which a Believer is so assaulted and harassed here as renders his Life not only uncomfortable but even burthensome to himself Is it not there that our frail Bodies which now are subject to Pains and Diseases because defiled with Sin shall be for ever loosed from all Weaknesses and Infirmities being made like unto the Glorious Body of Jesus Christ perfectly freed from Mortality and Corruption and from all Sin and Defilement Is it not there that all the People of God shall be of one Heart and of one Mind that being taken away both from within and from without which was the cause of all their Divisions and Contentions here on Earth and instead thereof there shall be a sweet union of Hearts and Affections all of them abundantly delighting and satisfying themselves in one God as the Object of their Happiness without the least jarring or discord among them to all Eternity While the People of God are in this Vail of Tears they labour under much Blindness and Ignorance about the Mysteries of Salvation as revealed in the Gospel but in Heaven these Mysteries shall all be fully and perfectly made known to us In this Life we take in our Knowledge of God of Heaven and of the Gospel by which we are savingly enlightned in either by little and little as a Man that desires to know what is contained in a Book before it is exposed to publick view reads it Sheet by Sheet from the Press and so understands a little and a little of it by Degrees And truly so do Christians concerning the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God now they hear a Sermon and by that they gain a little light and in some short time they hear another Sermon and by that they encrease their light a little more and thus their Stock of Divine Knowledge encreaseth a little and a little at time by the help of means and opportunities that they enjoy But now in Heaven all is done without travail or trouble for though it is true Glorified Saints there cease not from working yet is it as true that they cease from labour Here our Passions are strong and prevalent by reason whereof our minds are blinded and we easily mistake Error for Truth and Truth for Error but hereafter all these Clouds shall be blown away and we shall see things nakedly and truly as they are in themselves Here the weakness and smallness of many mens Natural Parts keeps them in the dark and renders them incapable of apprehending some Truths of God which others of greater abilities can search into with pleasure and delight But then as the Apostle speaking concerning the day of Judgment tells us They that are alive then shall not prevent those that are asleep So in Heaven they that are strong shall not prevent those that are weak but the Scholar shall there know as much as his Master and the People understand as much as their Minister In this World Contentions and Quarrellings among Holy and Learned Men leave the Weak and Ignorant at great uncertainties what to Judge concerning many Gospel Truths But in Heaven there shall be a perfect Reconciliation and Agreement among them all yea while we are here it often falls out that in our most diligent searching after Truth we meet with many hindrances and disturbances sometimes the necessary Affairs of this World cause us to lay aside our Enquiries at other times many Distempers that attend our infirm Bodies divert and hinder us in our most serious Inquisitions But in Heaven our Bodies will be above all these things we shall there no more be liable to nor annoy'd with any Weaknesses and Infirmities In that Glorious place we shall not need to provide either Raiment for the back or Food for the belly O what a Happiness have Believers by dying who are thereby at once eased of all the aches of their Bodies and of all the conflicts of their Souls how comfortably may they look Death in the Face who is the only Physician that cures them of all their Distempers at once O when that blessed hour comes how joyfully may they lift up their heads for as soon as they are passed through that dark and gloomy Valley they shall be brought into a place of unconceivable Bliss and Happiness where they shall behold him whom their Souls so much loved and longed to see even their Blessed Redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ not at a distance or afar off as they were wont to do by an Eye of Faith through the Glass of an Ordinance or Promise but with a Glorified Eye draw near to him and look upon his blessed Person the Glorious sight of whom they shall never more lose to all Eternity When a Believer shall not as here he hath now and then some little glimpses of his Face and some small tastes of his Love in a little Sacramental Bread and Wine but he shall lay his Mouth to the Fountain head and from his Bosom drink full and large draughts of those Rivers of the Waters of Life that proceed out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb for evermore He shall then no more have any descriptions of Heaven by fear say as he was wont to have it described to him here by the sorry Rhetorick of a Mortal Man either by Preaching or Writing of that which he himself had little Love to and less Knowledge and Acquaintance with but shall himself walk up and down and view the Streets of that Glorious City And O with what Wonder and Astonishment will a Believer bless himself there when he reflects back upon those poor and low thoughts that himself and the best of Preachers also had thereof when on Earth he did Meditate and they did Preach or Write upon that Subject One moment's sight of that Glory will give the Soul a thousand times better Information and Satisfaction what Heaven is than all the Discourses that it ever heard or all the Books it ever read here on Earth were ever able to do And canst thou O Believer hear all this concerning Heaven and thy Faith tell thee that all this is true and add also that Heaven is ten thousand times more and better than what all the Men in the World can imagine concerning it and yet not feel some springings up of Holy Joy and Delight in thee followed with earnest longings of Soul after the Enjoyment of it O whence doth this dulness and backwardness proceed this is not a temper of Soul suitable unto the Hopes of so great a Happiness as Heaven will be Why dost thou not O Believing Soul cry out with Holy Longings and Desires How long O Lord most Holy and True shall it be before thou bringest me into the Possession of this most Blissful State Every moment whilst thou art kept at a distance from it should seem to thee a Day and every Day a Month
arose again for their Justification and Glorification that this was he that with the price of his own Blood not only bought their Pardon but purchased that glorious Inheritance for them which now they are instated into the possession of this must needs put a new Life of Joy into their Souls and create a new kind of Happiness in them which they never were acquainted with nor was it possible for them to understand before Christ is the Desire of all Nations the Joy of Angels the Delight of God himself he in whom he is always well pleased All the Glory and Happiness of Heaven is wrapp'd up in him The Treasures of the Divine Wisdom Love and Kindness which were sometimes hid and concealed are now laid open in Heaven to the view of all the Saints O with what ravishing Joy and Delight then must those Souls be eternally filled with that live in the Sight Possession of him as theirs for ever Is not his Love better than Wine Will not the lifting up of the light of his Countenance upon the Soul administer more cause of Joy and Rejoycing than the greatest increase of all worldly enjoyments whatsoever O is not this the Language of holy Souls His Love is Life yea his loving kindness is better than Life O how shouldst thou chide thy self O Believing Soul whose Faith gives thee an Interest in him that thou art so afraid of his Appearance Whence is it that thou art so backward to go unto him Is the Enjoyment of him in Glory who is all Love all Life all Joy all Peace a frightful thing How comes it to pass that thou art so unwilling to die and be for ever with him whom thou callest thy Saviour Hath he laid down his Life and shed his Blood to redeem thee and will he now make an eternal Slave of thee What hath his Ascension into Glory changed his Nature and rendered him less lovely or the Happiness of Heaven in the Enjoyment of him less desirable No certainly he is not less lovely in himself because of his Exaltation into Glory but the more Nor is the Happiness of Heaven in the Enjoyment of him less but the more desirable and the more easily to be obtained for as the Apostle says If when we were Enemies we were reconciled by his Death much more being reconciled shall we be saved by his Life And because he lives glorified in Heaven therefore shall Believers live with him there and therefore also should they be the more desirous to be there because he is there Awake therefore O ye drowsie Saints rouze your selves up out of your Security and Slothfulness for a careless indifferent frame of Spirit doth not become those who are Expectants of so great and glorious a Redeemer and of so great a Happiness as is the eternal Enjoyment of him O what a holy Impatience and Vnquietness of Soul should rather be found in Believers after this Blessed Redeemer Is it not he by whom you expect to escape the Wrath and Vengeance of God Was not his Body broken and his Blood poured forth to make an Oblation for your Souls Was it not he whose Death and Sufferings have made full satisfaction to the Justice of God for your Sins Is it not he who to deliver you from the Curse of the Law was himself made a Curse for you Is it not he by whom alone you escape everlasting Burnings and hope to obtain an Inheritance incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for you Is there any thing either in this World or in the World to come that is comparable to him Look upon him well O Believing Souls both in respect of what he once was and in respect of what he now is and you cannot but say he is made up of Love Henceforth therefore wonder not O blind and ignorant World that the People of God express such passionate longing Desires after the Enjoyment of this Blessed Jesus but rather wonder at your selves that such Blindness and Darkness should be found within you that you should not be able to discern those Excellencies and that Loveliness that is in him Were the Eyes of your Understanding opened had you but a Spirit of discerning bestowed upon you to see into those glorious Excellencies and Perfections that are in the Lord Jesus and the Happiness that is in the Sight and Fruition of him in Heaven you would then say We see now there is the greatest Reason in the World why the Saints and People of God have such vehement Desires after him are so covetous of being in his Presence and beholding of his Glory For what Soul that knows him that hath tasted of his Love and experienced the Manifestations of his Grace and Favour towards it but doth most earnestly wish not only to see him but to live for ever with him O my Soul Whence is it then that thou that canst say thou lovest him in Truth and in Sincerity dost yet make it no more thy daily Care and Study to gain more and farther Knowledge of him and a more dear and intimate Acquaintance with him that so thou maist be brought into a more full and immediate Enjoyment of him And O thou infinitely Blessed Lord Jesus who hast all Loveliness and Amiableness in thee look down graciously upon thy poor Creatures and discover unto them more of those ravishing transcendent Beauties and Excellencies that are in thee and let us every day have more and farther insight into those never to be fully known Perfections of Glory and Loveliness that are in thy self that thereby we may be enabled not only to commend thee a thousand times more feelingly and affectionately unto others but may thereby also win upon yea command the Affections and Desires of all that hear of thee unto thee that nothing short of the Enjoyment of thy self and the Manifestations of thy Love and Favour in Eternal Glory may satisfie and content us or them but that we may continually be crying out in that known Language of thy Church Come Lord Jesus come quickly Fourthly and Lastly The Saints Happiness in Heaven consists in this That there they shall have the Vision and Enjoyment of God himself being always where he is seeing his Face and beholding his Glory Now in speaking to this great Happiness of the Saints the Beatifical Vision of God I shall content my self with those things that are most plain and will be most benificial Now the Sacred Scripture gives us an Account of this Great and Mysterious part of the Saints Happiness in many high and lofty expressions calling it sometimes a seeing of the Face of God Rev. 22.4 They shall see his Face Sometimes it is set forth by our becoming like unto God and seeing him as he is so in 1 John 3.2 Now says the Apostle we are the Sons of God but it doth not no nor can it yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall
acquainted with here continually singing Praises and Hallelujahs unto the great God and to the Lamb that sits upon the Throne and be no more weary thereof than the Angels themselves are understanding perfectly the Will of God and readily obeying it without so much as one vain Thought passing thorough their Minds or one idle Word dropping from their Mouths or one wry Look in their Countenances to Eternity O what a blessed Frame is here What would not a Gracious Soul give or do that he could attain to it now How would he rejoice to find a connaturality or perfect suitableness and agreement in himself unto Divine and Heavenly Employments O how happy would he think himself were his heart always as holy as his work Unto this tend all his Duties and performances even unto the perfecting of him in Grace and Holiness it is for this that he so often fasts and prays it is for this that he so often hears reads and meditates upon the Word of God for this it is he so often partakes of the Supper of the Lord and is so frequent in the Communion of Saints even for the destroying of Sin and Corruption and the encreasing and perfecting of Grace in his Soul Oh how full of longing Desires is he after that Day and Time Oh how earnestly doth he cry when when will the shadows flee away when will Days and Nights be at an end when will Time be spent when shall the Curtains be drawn that he may not only look at but eternally possess that blessed Place where Sin shall be for ever excluded both out of him and it where Grace and Holiness shall be perfected in him and where he shall always behold it shining in its ravishing Beauty and Glory Well be of good Chear O all ye Holy and Gracious Souls whose Desires are thus bent for in Mount Sion there shall be both a Deliverance from Sin and a Perfection of Holiness In Heaven the Spirits of just Men are made perfect Let the Thoughts therefore of your perfect Holiness in Heaven support you against all your natural Infirmities and Failings here on Earth Yea let all those that have a real Love to Holiness and a Hatred unto Sin long for Heaven and be desirous to die that they may sin no more but be for ever perfect in Grace and Holiness Fifthly The Saints in Heaven shall be Partakers of Fulness of Joy Joy is the peculiar Privilege of a Saint None in all the World notwithstanding all their great Possessions have that Cause of rejoicing that a godly Man hath That which makes a wicked Man rejoice is something that delights his Senses something that pleaseth his Fancy all which is vain and vanishing But that which delights a Godly Man is that which is solid and substantial something within that reacheth the very Soul and Conscience and that is God reconciled to him in Jesus Christ evidenced to his Soul upon Scripture grounds followed with the Testimony of the blessed Spirit in his Conscience witnessing with his Spirit that he is among the number of the Children of God upon which follows the Love of God shed abroad in his Heart by the same Spirit filling him with that Joy and Peace by Believing that is unspeakable and glorious Now though this be the Privilege of a godly Man yet hath he not always the sense and feeling of this Joy but though he hath not always the Comfort of it yet hath he always the ground of this Joy for Light is always sown for the Righteous and Gladness for the Vpright in Heart Psalm 97.11 Though it doth not presently spring up and break sorth yet the Seed of it is there None in all the World do or might lead such a pleasant joyful Life as the People of God were it not their own Fault they giving way to the omission of some Duty or the commission of some Sin and this mars all their Joy It is true the Devil doth what he can to disquiet them and the Wicked of the World give them molestation and trouble sometimes they are tempted with the Allurements of Profit and Advantage and sometimes they are aw'd with Fears and Threatnings But if they would put forth their Grace into Exercise and by Prayer implore Divine Assistance they would be enabled not only to stand up against all the Enemies of their Peace but with a holy Joy and Triumph to vanquish and over come them This is that Life a godly Man might lead were he so watchful as he ought But Experience tells us it is not so for there are many Clouds of Discontent and Trouble that darken the Sun-shine of a Believer's Joy O the Complaints of past Sorrows O the Sense of present Evils and the Fears of worse for the future these in a great measure share our Lives among them But in Heaven it shall not be so there 's no Sorrow no Troubles no Evils no Dangers no nor so much as any Fears of them for all is Peace there 's nothing but Joy nothing but Pleasure and Sweetness Nor can it be otherwise with a godly Man in Heaven because that which was the Cause of all his Grief and Sorrow which is Sin is now perfectly taken away Now in the Joys of Heaven there are these four Properties they are pure they are spiritual they are full they are everlasting Joys First The Joys of a Saint in Heaven are pure Joys and pure they are in respect of the Object of them and in their being free from any Mixture First They are pure in respect of the Object of them The Joy of the Wicked is terminated upon some carnal Object His Joy is in the Flesh not in the Spirit When he rejoiceth it is among his wicked Companions his Delight is commonly in something that is sinful or sensual in Chambring and Wantonness or at best in Corn Wine and Oil. But now the Joy of a Saint is in God he now cries out with Holy David Psalm 73.25 Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee Thy Favour O Lord is Life and thy Loving Kindness is better than Life And with how much greater Joy and Delight doth a Saint say so of God and of the Enjoyment of him in Heaven It is true Saints in Heaven enjoy the Blessedness of Peace and Rest from all their former Troubles and Sorrows which they remember with Delight and Praise unto their Deliverer but though this eternal Peace and Rest be a great Blessing and that which passeth all Understanding yet is it the least part of the Saints Happiness in Heaven for their greatest Satisfaction and Contentment ariseth from the Joy and Delight which proceeds from beholding the Face of God in Heaven This is that which fills and satifies yea ravisheth the Soul of a Saint when enlarged to its utmost Capacity with that Joy and Delight that is unexpressibly great and glorious Secondly The Joys of Heaven are pure Joys in
Dead that is unto that State of Blessedness that the Saints shall arrive unto at the Resurrection from the Dead And the same Apostle in 1 Cor. 15.58 having discoursed concerning the Resurrection of Christ and thereupon proved the Resurrection of the Dead and the great Happiness of the Saints thereupon he concludes his Discourse with this Exhortation Wherefore my beloved Brethren be ye stedfast unmovable always abounding in the Work of the Lord for asmuch as you know your labour is not in vain in the Lord Whatever any do or suffer for God they shall be no loosers by it in the end Heaven will abundantly recompense a Christian for all the Labour and Pains yea for all the cost and charge he can be at in his way thither When our Lord had wrought a great Miracle in feeding so many thousand with a few Barley Loaves and two small Fishes he bids his Disciples Gather up the fragments that nothing be lost Joh. 8.12 There is nothing that a Believer doth for God now that shall be lost his Tears are all bottled his Sighs are all numbred his Prayers are all filed in Heaven and a day of reckoning will come when all shall be brought forth and recompensed not with a thousand fold as in this Life with Persecution but with eternal Gains that shall never have an end It is not only an unsuitable thing but highly disingenious for any to be niggardly and pinching in the Service of God to give him as little as they can of Duty and Obedience who expect so Magnificent and Glorious a State of Happiness from him hereafter What a shameful thing is it and how unbecoming a Christian to think any measure of Duty enough for God who looks for a promised as well as a purchased Reward from him that shall be without measure Why shouldst thou set bounds to thy Work when God hath set none to thy Wages how unreasonable a thing is it that any measure of Duty though never so short and scanty should be thought enough by thee when the Happiness thou hopest for and God hath promised is without all measure Surely a Christian should be always abounding in the Work of the Lord who will always make him Happy Alas how little how inconsiderable is our always of Working to Gods always of Rewarding Suppose we were always abounding in the Work and Service of God in which God knows we are greatly wanting yet all our Obedience extended unto the utmost can reach no longer than to the end of a short Life but Gods Reward and our Happiness thereby runs parallel with an endless Eternity Why then should a little time spent in the serving and honouring of God here seem too much and too long when an Eternity spent in the enjoyment of God will never be too much Were there nothing of a Reward to be expected hereafter yet a Godly Man would love and serve God for the New Nature not only enclines him to it but makes him delight in the doing of it It is true the great God the Supreme Soveraign Lord of all his Creatures might have made a Law if he had pleased to bind Man to Obedience without the encouragement of a promised Reward but he hath not thought good to deal with Man in so strict a way and manner but in a way of condescending Grace and Mercy and so out of his immense Bounty and Goodness hath been pleased to sweeten and facilitate Man's Obedience with a promise of no meaner importance than the enjoyment of the Eternal Inheritance with himself in Glory O how much should this affect our Hearts and how strongly should it oblige us to abound in the Work and Service of such a Lord and Master Were it possible for the Saints in Heaven to communicate the Experiences and Enjoyments which they now are partaking of in Glory What a Confirmation and Encouragement would this be thought to spirit and quicken us in the ways of Duty and Obedience Why the Word of God that holds forth the promised Reward is as true shall I say nay much more true than such a Communication can be for in that our Senses may be deceived and we imposed upon but by the Word of God we cannot for that is Truth it self and cannot lye Wherefore the Word of God holding forth the promised Reward of Heaven should be the greatest encouragement in the World to put Christians upon the utmost diligence imaginable in the Work and Service of God And the Truth of it is as we can never begin too soon so we can never hold out too long in the ways of Duty and Obedience None ever repented when they came to Die that they had spent too much of their time in the Service of God Who ever read or heard of any that did thus repent very many upon a Death-bed have bitterly lamented that they have done no more for God that they have idled and wasted away so much of their precious time upon impertinent Vanities and Trifles and that what they have done for God hath been so poor so mean so defective and so defiled These things have been a great grief and trouble unto many yea the best of God's Servants who have been most eminent for Grace whose usefulness in their Generation others have admired have yet themselves complained of their barrenness and unprofitableness and mourned for their deficiency and falling short of what they should have done Thus that eminently laborious Servant of Jesus Christ Bishop Vsher crys out against himself upon his Death bed begging Pardon for his Sins of omission and yet his constant Labours and Diligence both in Preaching and Writing was greatly and justly applauded by all And if any one should think this a strange assertion that the People of God should at a dying hour be thus sensible of their great deficiencies I humbly conceive this may be rendred as a Reason thereof because the Saints and Servants of God at such a time standing upon the brink of Eternity and being ready to lanch forth into that vast Ocean have then enlarged and widened apprehensions both of the infinite Majesty and Holiness of God and of the unspeakable greatness of the Glory and Happiness of Heaven and this makes not only their Persons but the best of their Services appear inconsiderable in their own Eyes but causes in them an Holy blushing and shame that all their time they have done so little for that God who hath laid up so much for them that they have glorified him so little here on Earth unto whom they are now a going to enjoy a state of Eternal Glory and Happiness in Heaven Eighthly and Lastly Is there such a place of Bliss and Happiness provided for and assured unto Believers hereafter as Heaven is Let the consideration hereof cause in them a Holy longing of Soul after the enjoyment of it If there be enough in any Object or in any Place to draw forth the Love and Desires the Pantings and Breathings