live always If I am sure to live why do I fear death If we lay hold on eternal life and finde the beginnings of that life in our souls we have that life set up in us which cannot expire Joh. 6.44 He that eats my flesh and drinks my bloud hath eternal life How can that be lost which is eternal that which is eternal cannot be lost It is a great skill to be able to distinguish between this natural life which we live in common with other men and that spiritual life which we live as Christians The natural life of a Saint is subject to death as other mens is although the curse of it be taken away but there is a life in a Saint and that is the life which he lives in and by the Spirit of God and this is such a life as cannot be extinguished We should labour for that spiritual skill as to be able to distinguish between these two kindes of life and not be without hope as other men when this natural life ceaseth we should remember there is a life in us that cannot dye If we have begun to know God to love God to live upon him and to live to him here on earth we shall not cease to know him to love him to live upon him to live to him in eternity and to eternity Vse 1 1. We come now to the Uses of this Doctrine and there are onely two that we shall make of it The first Use shall be of Reprehension If we ought to lay hold on eternal life two things are hence to be reprehended 1. That we are so much taken up in following this world and in the pursuit of temporal things 2. That we are so much addicted to the love of this life I. We are to be reprehended that we are so much taken up in following this world and in the pursuit of temporal things Lay hold on eternal life If we ought to lay hold on eternal life then we ought to live above the world and contemn it The eager pursuit of this world is most contrary to our laying hold on eternal life We cannot pursue two things at once while we are pursuing hard after the world we must needs let Heaven and Salvation go The greatest part of men think not on eternal things they live as if they were always to live here on earth they never think of a future state nor do they provide for it But if we ought to lay hold of eternal life if that ought to be the mark and scope in our eye that shews that we are far wide of that which ought to be our true mark and scope when we are wholly taken up with temporal things and neglect eternal II. We are to be reprehended that we are so much addicted to the love of this life We are commanded to love eternal life and to lay hold on that but we are found of this life and loth to part with it He is a rare soul that is satisfied with life here on earth and hath such an apprehension of the reality and excellencie of eternal life that this life groweth out of esteem with him I grant that this natural life is a blessing as other temporal blessings are but as it is possible for us to love other things too much so it is possible yea too common to love this life too much and it is the wisdom of God to imbitter this life to us by many afflictions because we are so fond of it and that he may weary us out of it and cause us to long for that which is the true life Vita longa long a infirmitas a long life is a long infirmity and we may adde Longa tentatio a long temptation What is our whole life but a life of tryals and temptations It is true we may value and prize life for these two ends 1. To work out our Salvation to make ready for the coming of the Bridegroom 2. That we may do some work and service for God that we may glorifie him upon the earth and finish the work that he hath given us to do But to be over-fond of this life meerly for lifes sake is a certain signe of unbelief It is a signe we have little knowledge of another life little acquaintance with eternal life Had we a prospect by faith of a better and more excellent life we should not be so over fond of this life Vse 2 2. By way of Exhortation to exhort us all to put the duty of the Text in practice Let us labour to lay hold on eternal life Oh! let us labour to call up our hearts from visible things to invisible from present things to future from momentary things to eternal the things of the other world are never the less real because they are out of sight Atheists think that eternal life and all future things are but a fiction but we may use to them that Speech of Cyprian In aeternam poenam serò tandem credent qui in aeternam vitam credere noluerunt Cyprian They shall believe too late to their eternal torment who would not believe to eternal life But let Atheists and Scoffers say what they please we do know or ought to know that eternal life is the greatest reality God that cannot lye hath promised us eternal life Titus 1.2 The great promise of the Gospel is eternal life 1 Joh. 2.25 This is the promise that he hath given to us eternal life Unless we make God to be a lyar we must take eternal life for the greatest reality In the prosecution of this Use I shall onely propound some Directions for the better putting in practice of this duty to shew us how we ought to lay hold of eternal life 1. Let us have great and admiring thoughts of eternal life We should labour to have our hearts raised up with the consideration of the excellencie of this life Quanta erit illa faelicitas ubi nullum erit malum nullum latebit bonum Aug. Civit. Dei. How great shall that happiness be where there shall be no evil present and no good shall be wanting where we shall be wholly taken up in the praises of God and God shall be all in all we shall see and love love and praise as Austin expresseth it This natural life which now we live is not worth the name of life in comparison of eternal life nay it deserves to be called a death rather then a life for we always carry about sin with us which is the matter cause of death But in eternal life we shall not onely be free from sorrow but from sin the cause of sorrow yea we shall be free from the possibility of sinning Mans first happiness in the state of Innocencie was posse non peccare a power not to have sinned His last happiness in Heaven is non posse peccare not to be able to sin at all Though man in his first estate was endowed with such a power
of Mr. Rutherford were these Glory glory dwells in Emmanuels land We should pray for the clearest sights and prospects that may be of the heavenly glory The clearer sights we can get of eternal things the more shall we finde our hearts crucified to the things of time and the more shall we finde our hearts carried up aloft to those things that are above even whilst we are fain to use these other things for our present necessitie We come now to the Reasons of the Doctrine why we ought to lay hold on eternal life Reason 1 1. This life is a short transient thing it soon glides and slips away How soon do we pass from one state to another from infancie to childhood from thence to youth thence to grown age and from thence to old age and death My days are swifter then a weavers shuttle Job 7.6 Swifter then a post they go away Job 9.25 This life is a vanishing thing it is an easie prospect to see to the end of it the longest life here on earth is nothing to eternity Therefore since this life is so shppery short and uncertain it is our great wisdom to set our hearts upon that life that is solid durable permanent What wisdom is it to set our hearts upon that which is not perminent We have here no continuing city Heb. 13.14 Thsi life is madeup of changes and vicissitudes and abides in no consistency it is our great concernment to minde that life which is stable and enduring Reason 2 2. Eternal life is that state that we must rest and abide in That life which we shall live in the other world will always stick and abide by us as we are then we shall ever be It is not so with us now we are not now as we shall ever be we are still changing from one state to another But eternal life is that state we shall always rest and abide in When once we are entred into eternal life we may say It shall never be otherwise with me then now it is this is the state I must take up with and thus it shall be for ever Now doth it not become us to be reaching out in our souls after this state Certainly we ought to overlook this life and the whole of our time as a little short thing and fasten our eyes upon the unchangeable state above where we must six and abide for ever We look not to the things that are seen for they are temporal but to the things which are not seen for they are eternal 2 Cor. 4.18 Reason 3 3. Eternal life is the onely true life it is the most noble and excellent life What a poor life is this life to converse with this world and the things of it in comparison of eternal life in which we shall converse with God and the holy Angels What a poor life is this life which is made up of wants of sorrows of complaints of miseries of distresses of he constant fear and expection of death in comparison of that life where there is all joy no sorrow all fulness no want all satisfaction no complaint all happiness no misery all life no death nor fear of death Oh this is the life that we should be suspiring and breathing after Reason 4 4. We ought to lay hold on eternal life because the thoughts and expection of eternal life will carry us up above the difficulties troubles and afflictions of this life He that seeth the Port before him though he be out at Sea and is tossed with waves and tmepests yet he knows if he can get safe to the Port all is quiet placid and serene there He that hatha prospect by the eye of Faith of eternal life and the heavenly Country though he be tossed up and down with many afflictions tryals and distresses here yet he knows all is tranquil and serene above Ibi nulla mors nulla aegritudo There is no sickness no death The thoughts of eternal life may well swallow up all our afflictions This life is but for a moment in eternal life there shall be none of these things to trouble or disquiet us Let us wait patiently for the blessed hope and the revelation of eternal life and we shall know these sorrows no more Reason 5 5. If we lay hold on eternal life death will be no surprise or terror to us when this life fails we shall have another life in view nay we shall feel the beginningso f another life in us This is eternal life to know thee c. Joh. 7.3 So much as we know God adhere to him rest in him live upon him and are satisfied with him we have the beginning of eternal life and this is such a life as shall never end That natural life which is in a Saint fails and must have anend Oh! but there is in his soul the seed of eternal life Joh. 4.14 The water that I shall give shall be in him a well of water springing up to everlasting life A true Believer hath the Spirit of God an the grace of the Spirit dwelling in him and this is the seed o eternal life The Spirit of God which hath begâ—â— the knowledge of God and love to God in the soul of a Saint here on earth will continue that knowledge of God and love to God in the soul to eternity yea in eternal life this knowledge this love shall be perfected and consummated Hence is that of the Apostle Rom. 8.10 The body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousness The body dies and the life of it perisheth and vanisheth away but the spirit the soul of a Saint which is the seat of Grace and the habitation of the Spirit of God continueth and lives when the life of the body ceaseth If the soul should dye with the body then grace it self must be extinct and perish But saith the Apostle the spirit is life because of righteousness The spirit of a godly man having a principle of righteousness in it continues in being and the spiritual life of it remains when the body dyes It is true the soul of a wicked man is immortal and continues to live when his body dyeth but the life which remains to a wicked man after this life being a life of misery and torment the Scripture chooseth to call it by the name of death rather then of life But a godly man enjoys an happy and a blessed life in his soul when this life ceaseth Hence is it that we read of the spirits of just men made perfect Heb. 12.23 And Paul desired to be dissolved and to be with christ which was far better Phil. 1.23 Now when we feel such a life in us as cannot expire neither can be taken away from us why should we fear death Luther observes that the great cause why men fear death is a secret suspition that lyes at the bottom of their hearts Quasi non semper victuri as if they should not
that he might not have sinned yet it was possible for him to sin and he did sin but in eternal life the will shall be so confirmed as that there shall not be a possibility of sinning Oh! how great will that happiness be when the soul shall enjoy the sweetness of eternal joys without intermission when the soul shall forget all its sins and sorrows as to any sense or experience of them yet not so as to be unthankful to him who hath been its Saviour and Deliverer 2. We should breathe long and suspire after eternal life We should elevate and lift up our hearts abovetime and this lower world breathe after the sweetness and delights of the Heavenly Country Those breathings that are in the hearts of the Saints after eternal things Cum sitimus res coelestes tum sentimus perpetuò aliquid gaudii voluptatis Roloc. in Joh. give them some taste of those things When we thirst after heavenly things saith a judicious Divine we do always perceive and experiment something of joy and sweetness Those breathings that are in the hearts of the Saints after eternal life are some of the first fruits of the Spirit Rom. 8.22 We our selves which have the first fruits of the Spirit even we our selves groan within our selves waiting for the adoption the redemption of our bodies Other men feel no such longings and breathings as these are for although there be a natural instinct in all men which carries them out to desire happiness yet none but the Saints long and breathe after the enjoyment of God as their happiness Therefore so far as we finde a thirst kindled in our souls after the sight and enjoyment of God in eternal life so far we have an earnest of eternal life in our souls How great a thing should it be to us to be admitted to the sight of the Divine Majesty to be taken up from the light of the Sun and Moon to the light of him who made the Sun and the Moon as Austin expresseth it It is a good observation of Luther How much joy is there when God doth exhibit by the Word one drop of consolation to such as are tempted and afflicted in conscience but far greater and unexpressible will that joy be when the God of all consolation shall reveal himself and shall wholly pour himself forth unto us in eternal life How should we breathe after this life Thirdly let us place our happiness and expect it no where but in eternal life We should carry our hope and expectation above this world and never expect to finde happiness Ipse finis erit desideriorum nostorum qui sins fine videhitur sine fastidio amabitur sine fatigatione landabitur Aug. until we come to live with God in eternal life He shall be the end of our desires who shall be seen without end loved without nauseousness praised without wearisomness This is life eternal c. It is a vain thing to expect happiness until we come to see God and to live with him in his eternity If the Lord make our passage in any measure tolerable thorow this world this is a mercy if he give us any comfort in outward things in this world these are mercies so far as he is seen and loved in them otherwise the best comforts here on earth are pitiful things for what can be truely good from which the chief good is absent Deus est omnis boni bonum God is the good of every good and nothing is good but as he appears in it But we ought to remember that our true and great happiness is to live in the Divine presence above and to have the sight of God to eternity And it is not possible that any soul that hath had one glimpse or one true taste of him should think any thing to be happiness short of that sight This therefore is to lay hold of eternal life to keep our spirits aloof off from the world as much as may be and to keep our spirits reserved for the enjoyment of God in eternal life The enjoyment of God in eternal life is the point and centre that we should be moving and tending unto When the Lord gives us any of the comforts and blessings of this life when he gives us estates friends the comfort of relations we should say These are the gifts of God and so far they are good but these are not my happiness my happiness is God himself my happiness is to see him and to live with him in his eternity Here should our desires rest and terminate and though we defire and use many things for necessity in the present state yet our desire and expectation should be still carried above these things and end no where but in the enjoyment of God Quis alius noster est finis nisi pervenire ad regnum cujus nullus est finis Aug. What other end have we but to come to that kingdom of which there is no end Fourthly we should labour to be in a readiness and preparedness of spirit to enter upon eternal life 2 Pet. 3.14 Be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blame Our ambition should be to be found in such a posture and to keep our souls in such an holy evenness as that nothing may impede or hinder our free passage out of Time into Eternity We should labour to keep our Consciences pure We should see that the guilt of no sin remain upon our Conscience unpardoned unrepented of We should see that our affections be not intangled with the inordinate love of lawful things much less with the love of any sin We should labour to have our hearts fortified with a stedfast belief of the things God hath promised us in the other world the weakness of our faith in believing the things promised makes us very unfit for the enjoyment of eternal life We should often contemplate eternal life we should be thinking of it night day all the comforts that we enjoy all the necessary employments we are engaged in should not take us off from the frequent meditation of eternal life What so necessary to be thought of as that state which when once it is begun shall never have an end This whole life is but like one long dream in comparison of eternal life Oh! let us not forget eternal life but be still preparing and making ready for it Fifthly we should not take up or rest satisfied with what we have already attained in grace but press forward toward that which lies before us and is yet wanting to us This is the direction the Apostle gives us from his own example Phil. 3.13 Brethren I count not my self to have apprehended but one thing I do forgetting those things which are behinde and reaching forth unto those things which are before I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus Paul's aim and scope was to obtain