thy being Eternally under the Torments of Hell this is that which makes thee truly miserable And on the other hand it is not thy being in Heaven comparatively that will make thee Happy but it is thy being Eternally there that makes thee truly Happy This this is that which Accents thy Misery or thy Happiness even the Eternity of it Oh Eternity Eternity thou art the bitterest and thou art the sweetest word in all the World to the Damned thou art the bitterest of all words because their Torments are to last to all Eternity And to the Godly thou art the sweetest word in all the World for their Joys and Happiness shall last unto all Eternity There is nothing either in Heaven or in Hell but what speaks Eternity There is nothing in Hell but what is Eternal Hell it self that place of Torment is Eternal The Sufferings and Torments of the Damned in Hell are Eternal The Wrath and Vengeance of God that is the cause of those Torments in Eternal Yea all the Damned themselves together with the Devil and his Angels are all to be sufferers under an Eternity of Torments in Hell O Eternity Eternity how miserable beyond all expression dost thou make the condition of the Damned to be And as there is nothing in Hell but what is Eternal so neither is there any thing in Heaven but what speaks Eternity There is the Great and Blessed God the Father of Eternity the Sum and Heighth of the Saints Happiness in Heaven to be Eternally enjoyed It is there that the Lord Jesus Christ the Saints great and blessed Redeemer is whose Meritorious Death and Sufferings hath Deserved and Obtained for them the Eternal Enjoyment of that Happiness which there they are partakers of Heaven that place of Bliss and Happiness where God manifests and displays all his Glorious Excellencies and Perfections is Eternal The blessed Company and Society of a Saint in Heaven the innumerable Company of Glorified Saints and Angels shall Eternally be their fellow Inhabitants in that Holy place Yea both the Happiness of Heaven and every Saint that shall participate of that Happiness shall both continue in conjunction together Everlastingly Here O my Soul is a Happiness most worthy of all thy thoughts a Happiness so great that it calls for and deserves all thy Time all thy Parts yea all the Labour and Pains thou canst possibly lay out for the obtaining of it O Eternity Eternity how pleasant how delightful a word art thou for Holy Souls to contemplate upon thou art not more full of dread and horror to the wicked in Hell than thou art full of pleasure and delight unto the Saints in Heaven thou art the Sweetness the Consummation the Perfection of a Saint's Happiness God himself who is the All of a Saint's Happiness if he be not enjoyed for ever cannot make a Saint always Happy Unless an Eternity of Enjoyment be added to a Saint's Happiness in Heaven he cannot be fully and compleatly Happy It is true whilst he enjoys the Happiness of Heaven he is in a Happy state but if Eternity be not added to that Enjoyment a time will come when that Happiness shall cease and have an end Take away Eternity from a Saint's Happiness and there not only will but there must come a time when a Saint must be miserable O Eternity Eternity thou art not only a Happiness added to a Saint's Happiness in Heaven but thou art that blessed Band that unitest and tiest all the scattered parcels of a Saint's Happiness together in one bundle for his satisfaction and security for ever O my Soul study this word Eternity well as it is the Crowning addition unto the Saints Happiness It is that which will revive and quicken thee yea it is that which will put a new life into thee in thy greatest Agonies and Sufferings which thou canst undergo here for they are but of short continuance Death at farthest will come and put an end to them all but the Glory and Happiness that remains for thee in Heaven that is Eternal and Everlasting and shall never never never know an end CHAP. V. Of the Efficient Cause of the Saints Happiness in Heaven namely the Free Grace of God Of the Meritorious Cause of the Saints Happiness namely the Death and Sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ Of the Final Cause of the Saints Happiness namely the Glory of God Holiness the Saints great Qualification for Heaven Wicked Men unsuitable to the Work of Heaven and to the Reward of Heaven both which are Holy In Heaven there is both an Eternal Work for Saints to be Employed in and an Eternal Reward for Saints to Enjoy THat which is next to be discoursed of in the handling of this Subject of the Saints Happiness according to my propounded Method is the consideration of that Happiness in the several causes of it Now in speaking unto this head I shall discourse a little upon these three particulars The Efficient Cause of the Saints Happiness in Heaven The Meritorious Cause of that Happiness And lastly the Final Cause thereof First The Efficient Fundamental Cause of the Saints Happiness in Heaven and that is the Free Grace of God Now for this the Scripture is very full Ephes 2.4 5 c. But God who is rich in Mercy for the great love wherewith he loved us Even when we were dead in Sins and Trespasses hath quickened us together with Christ by Grace ye are saved And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus That in the Ages to come he might shew the exceeding Riches of his Grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus For by Grace are ye saved through Faith and that not of your selves it is the Gift of God So in Rom. 6.23 The Gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. All is from the free Grace of God And though this Happiness of the Saints be the highest that can be bestowed upon any yet is it that which is given freely What says our Lord Luke 12.32 Fear not little Flock it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the Kingdom This is to act like a God to give most bountifully and yet most freely To give the highest and best Gifts and yet to give them freely and undeservedly Thus God gives himself Heaven Glory and Eternal Life freely All that he doth for his people from their first Conversion on Earth unto their Eternal Glorification in Heaven is all from his own free Grace and Good Will Their Conversion is of Grace James 1.18 Of his own good will begat he us by the Word of Truth Their Justification is of Grace Rom. 3.24 Being justified freely by his Grace Their Sanctification also is of Grace Titus 2.11 12 13. The Grace of God that hath appeared unto all men teacheth us that denying all ungodliness and worldly lust we should live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present evil World Yea
most beautiful Persons or Objects in the World yet is there no transforming Power coming from them to work any alteration in the Complexion of the Beholder rendering him the more beautiful by the sight of those Persons or Objects He may carry away an Idea of the Beauty and Comliness of those Persons or Objects that he hath beheld in his Mind which may delight his Fancy in the thoughts of them but there is no Alteration made in him but the same Deformities and Blemishes remain still notwithstanding But it is otherwise in Heaven the Sight of the Glorious and Holy God makes the Saints that behold him to become like unto him in Holiness and Glory for so are the Words of the Beloved Apostle who lay in the Bosom of Christ 1 John 3.2 We shall be like unto him that is unto God and the Ground or Reason of it follows in the next Words for we shall see him as he is It is true the People of God are like unto him while they are in this World but their Likeness to God here and their Likeness to him in Heaven greatly differ The Likeness that the People of God have unto God in this Life is both an imperfect Likeness and a growing Likeness neither of which are the People of God capable of in Heaven First The Likeness they have to God here is an imperfect Likeness In some things they are like unto God and in other things they are not Wherein they are like unto God they are comely but wherein they are like unto the World they are deformed and therefore uncomely It was the Complaint of the Church whom Christ called his Love and his Fair One that she was comely but yet she was black also Cant. 1.5 I am black but comely She was comely with Grace and there was her Likeness unto Christ and that made her so lovely But yet she was black with Sin and there was her Imperfection and Deformity And hence it is that we read Cant. 6.10 That the Church is said to look forth as the Morning fair as the Moon now the Moon though she be one of the great Luminaries of Heaven yet hath she her Spots and the Morning-Light is but small and imperfect unto a Noon-Day-Brightness and therefore it increaseth more and more unto the perfect Day Thus it is with the best of God's People here Grace gives them a Likeness unto God but with the Moon they have their Spots Sin and Corruption still remaining in them while they are in this World But now the Saints Likeness to God in Heaven by the Vision they have of him there it is such a Likeness as excludes all Sin and all Imperfection They are so like unto God that they are nothing but what he is not as to his Being and Essence for that is incommunicable but in Grace and Holiness and so according to their Capacities they partake of the Divine Nature it self And Oh what a blessed State will this be when we shall have nothing in us but what we partake of from God and wherein we shall be in every thing like unto him Secondly That Likeness the People of God have unto God here is a growing Likeness That Grace and Holiness Believers have in this Life wherein consists their Likeness unto God it is always growing and increasing in them Hence the Apostle tells us That the state of Christians here is like unto new-born Babes who are always desirous of the breast for their Nourishment and Growth 1 Pet. 2.2 As New-born Babes that desire the sincere Milk of the Word that we may grow thereby No Saint or Servant of God ever attained to that degree of Grace and Holiness here but still there was something lacking in his Faith something defective in his Love something wanting in his Patience something that might be added to his Heavenly-mindedness to his Meekness to his Humility and to all his other Graces Hence therefore it is that the People of God are so often commanded to add to their spiritual stature to encrease with the Encreases of God to grow in Grace and in the saving knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ And to explain this Truth no farther that of the Apostle is full to this purpose 2 Cor. 3.18 We all with open Face beholding as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from Glory unto Glory That is from one degree and measure of Grace and Holiness unto another Believers are now like unto God but this Likeness is Imperfect and therefore while they are here they are still growing into a greater Conformity unto him But now in Heaven Grace in the Saints is in its Perfection Heaven is a Place where the Spirits of just Men are made perfect Holiness is the Advancement the Elevation of the Soul a higher pitch of Glory and Excellency it is not capable of for Holiness is the Glory of God himself and therefore though God is said to be Infinite in regard of his Wisdom Almighty in regard of his Power yet is he only said to be Glorious in regard of his Holiness So we read Exod. 15.11 Who is a God like unto thee glorious in Holiness Now in Heaven the Saints Holiness shall be in the highest degree in the greatest eminency and perfection and because herein they shall be like unto God they also shall be glorious in Holiness for they shall then have as much of Grace and Holiness as they can desire or as God would have them to have for when that which is perfect is come that which is imperfect shall be done away And O what a blessed state will that be when the Saints shall have nothing in them that is weak and imperfect nor nothing that is wanting or defective but shall be for ever like unto God himself perfect in Grace and Holiness Thirdly The Saints Sight and Vision of God in Heaven will be happy and joyful A Believer is the only happy Person in all the World his Life is a Life of continual Joy either he doth or he may always rejoyce He hath always the Presence of God with him he hath always the Love of God towards him he hath always the Hopes shall I say nay he hath the Assurance of Heaven and Glory in the Promise continually set before him And who may rejoyce if he may not He hath the Great the Almighty God for his Shield and Protection here and to be his exceeding great reward hereafter And shall not such a one rejoyce Is not here cause of Joy O how happy is the Person that is in such a case as this Such are commanded to rejoyce evermore 1 Thes 5.17 Nay in the most afflicted state and condition such have cause of Rejoycing I am says the Apostle exceeding joyful in all our Tribulations And says our Blessed Lord Matth. 5.11 12. Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and speak all manner of evil against you falsly
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
their Glorification also is of Grace Rom. 9.23 That he might make known the Riches of his Glory on the Vessels of Mercy that he had afore prepared unto Glory The work of Heaven is to Praise and Glorifie God for ever and nothing will draw forth the Praises and Thanksgivings of the Saints there so much as the consideration of the freeness and richness of his Grace and Love When a Soul is brought to Heaven meerly by the free Grace and Love of God and sees that Happiness it there enjoys and shall do to all Eternity is bestowed upon it on no other account but from the free and undeserved Grace and Mercy of God Oh how doth this enlarge and fill such a Soul with Praises unto God and so will do to all Eternity because free Grace and Mercy hath done it Secondly There is the Meritorious Cause of the Saints Happiness in Heaven and that is the Death and Sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ Not their Works not their Prayers their Tears their Fastings their Alms deeds no nor their Sufferings also To make our Good Works the Purchase of Heaven is a great wrong to the Blood of Christ Who ever thinks by their Doing or Suffering to merit Heaven and Salvation they put their Duties and Services in the place of Christ for he and he only hath deserved Heaven and Glory for us It is true Good Works are the Causey or Path-way in which we must walk towards Heaven but they are not the Meritorious procuring Cause of our obtaining Heaven that is only the Blood of Christ Our Duty is to be zealous of Good Works but when we have abounded most in the practice of them we must rely on the Merits and Satisfaction of Jesus Christ for God's acceptation of them and for our Happiness and Glorification after them All that we do of our selves shews us to be sinful Servants and all that we do when assisted by the Grace and Spirit of God makes us still to be but unprofitable Servants because we have done no more than what was our Duty to do All our Duties and Services even the best of them are both Defective and Defiled Defective of the good that God commands and Defiled with the Evil that God forbids now that which is Defective and Defiled cannot be Meritorious that which deserves Eternal Wrath and Vengeance in the doing of it cannot by the doing of it procure everlasting Grace and Favour There are none of our Prayers we send up unto Heaven but stand in need of the Intercession of Christ to make them prevalent with God None of our Tears shed for offending of God by Sin but wants the Blood of Christ to wash them or else they are but puddle-water None of our Sighs but must be perfumed with the Incense of Christ or else they are no better than howling in the Ears of God Conscience can pick a thousand holes in the best Duties that ever any of us tendered unto God and what then doth God see in them who is a thousand times greater than our Consciences and knows all things Heaven and Glory accompany Grace and Holiness not by virtue of any inherent Worth and Excellency in them to deserve so great a Happiness but by virtue of a Promise that God hath made that those that do persevere in Grace and Holiness shall inherit Eternal Life and Glory God was a free Promiser and he might have chose whether he would have made his People a Promise of Heaven and Happiness and if he had not Freely and Graciously done it it was not all their Duties nor all their Sufferings no nor all their Graces that could have deserved or procured that Happiness for them But since God hath so Freely and Graciously been pleased to make a Promise to his People of Heaven and Glory he is now become a Debtor to his own Promise and he will be True and Faithful in keeping of his Word And thus we are to understand those Scriptures that speak of the Justice and Righteousness of God as that in 1 John 1.19 If we confess our sins he is Faithful and Just to forgive us our sins So God is not unrighteous to forget your Labour of Love So 2 Thes 1.6 It is a Righteous thing with God to recomperse Tribulation to them that trouble you but to you who are troubled rest So 2 Tim. 4 6. Henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Judge shall give unto me at that day In all these places Justice and Righteousness is not to be taken for Commutative Righteousness but for the Righteousness of God's Promise and Fidelity and God is said to be a Righteous God in these places because he will keep his Word and make good his Promises made unto his People And to note it by the way what abundant matter of Joy and rejoycing doth this afford unto those who have true Grace though but in a small degree yet if it be in Truth here is great comfort unto such Souls because Grace doth not as a Natural Cause produce Glory but by the Covenant and Promise of God and so the weakest Grace may plead this as well as the strongest and the lowest Believer may say I have as good and as faithful a Promise for Heaven and Happiness as the strongest He that gives a Cup of cold water to a Prophet in the Name of a Prophet and because he belongs to Christ he shall not lose his Reward no not the Reward of Heaven and Glory But yet still all a Believers merit with respect to the Love and Favour of God here and the Eternal enjoyment of him in Heaven is in Jesus Christ his Death and Sufferings is that which obtains all for him Rom. 5.1 2. Being justified by Faith we have Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and rejoyce in Hope of the Glory of God So in 1 Pet. 1.4 5. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant Mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively Hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for us And the Blessed Apostle St. Paul who doubtless after his Conversion was as Holy a man as ever lived yet all his Glorying and Rejoycing all his Faith and Confidence was only in Christ I desire to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and him Crucified Cor. and in Phil. 3.3 9. I count all things but loss and dung for the excellency of the Knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For whom I suffer the loss of all things and count them but dung that I may win Christ and be found in him not having mine own Righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the Faith of Christ the Righteousness of God by Faith This was all St. Paul gloried in that upon which he built his Hopes and Expectations of
Heaven and Happiness not upon any good works he had done but upon what Christ had done and suffered for him though he had whereof to Glory as himself saith yet he looked upon all as nothing and desired only to be found in Christ And whatever Conceit or Opinion sinners may have of themselves and of the Merit of their Duties and Services in their Health and Prosperity when Death and Judgment according to their Apprehensions seems to be many years distant from them or whatever men may say in the heat of a Dispute concerning the Merit of their good Works yet certainly they will be of another mind when Death lays hold of them with its cold hands and when an awakened Conscience is hurrying them on to make their appearance before the Tribunal of the great God the Righteous Judge of Heaven and Earth There are few if any that are so bold and presumptuous as to boast of their Merits upon a Death-bed No Death and Judgment convince and alter mens minds making them speak quite another Language than what they did formerly It is not then Lord deal with me according to my Deserts but Lord deal with me according to thy Mercy Blot out mine Offences O Lord not according to the Merit of a dying sinner but according to the Merit of a dying Saviour This this is the Language of a sinner upon a Death bed Then a Bellarmine will confute himself and cry out Oh it is safest trusting to the Merit of Jesus Christ Thirdly The final Cause of the Saint's Happiness is the Honour and Glory of God We read Luk. 2.13 14. when our Lord Jesus came into the World on this very Errand that he might obtain eternal Redemption and Salvation for Sinners the Angels those extraordinary Ambassadors of Heaven proclaim the Tydings thereof to the Shepherds saying Glory to God in the Highest on Earth Peace and good Will towards Man Not only is Man commanded to do all things for the Glory of God but God himself doth all he doth with respect to his own Glory As for Man God made him for himself and it is highly rational that as the enjoyment of God is Man's highest Happiness so his Glory should be his chief end and unless this be a chief Ingredient into all our Duties and Services they are neither acceptable to God nor comfortable to us The Scripture commands this as our great Duty that we make the Glory of God our supreme End in all our Actions Matth. 5.16 Let your Light so shine before Men that they may see your Good Works for what end that they may glorifie your Father that is in Heaven So 1 Cor. 10.31 Whether ye eat or drink or whatever ye do do all to the Glory of God Yea in Heaven where the Saints shall be fully and compleatly happy yet shall it be their eternal Exercise to ascribe Blessing Honour Glory and Praise unto him that sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb for evermore Rev. 5.13 And not only is Man commanded to do all that he doth to the Glory of God but God himself doth all he doth with respect to his own Glory The Work of Creation the Works of Providence the Work of Redemption they are all transacted here in Time and perfected in Eternity that God thereby may be glorified Our next Enquiry shall be concerning the great Qualification of the Saints for Heaven and that is Holiness Now by Holiness I mean not any one single Grace wrought in the Heart of a Believer but the universal Operation or Conjunction of all the Graces of the Spirit of God wrought in the Soul of a Saint Holiness is a real inward thorough Change wrought in the whole Man by the powerful Operation of the Spirit of God whereby not only the Heart is purged from the Love of all Sin and the Life from the Dominion and Practice thereof but it is that also whereby the whole Man is carried out in Ways of Duty and Obedience in the daily Exercise of Grace till it be brought to eternal Glory in Heaven Now that Holiness is the great Qualification of a Saint for Heaven the Scripture abundantly manifests Psal 15.1 Lord who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle Who shall ascend into thy Holy Hill The next Words tell us He that walketh uprightly and worketh Righteousness and that speaketh the Truth in His Heart Matth. 5.6 Blessed are the Pure in Heart for they shall see God Heb 12.14 Follow Holiness without which no Man shall see the Lord. Heaven is so holy a Place that no unclean thing shall in any wise enter therein Acts 26.18 To open their Eyes and to turn them from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgiveness of Sins and an Inheritance among them that are sanctified Sanctification and Holiness is the great Qualification of all those that shall partake of the Happiness of Heaven Not that Holiness is the meritorious Cause of that Happiness no that is nothing but the Blood of Christ Holiness is only that which qualifies and makes a Believer fit to partake of the Happiness of Heaven And this is the meaning of the Apostle Col. 1.12 Giving Thanks to God and the Father who hath made us meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light There is an absolute necessary connexion between Holiness and Heaven Holiness is Heaven and Heaven is Holiness Holiness is Heaven begun and Heaven is Holiness consummated they are but one and the same thing though greatly differing in degrees Holiness in a Saint here is mixed with Sin and Corruption and so is imperfect in this Life But now in Heaven Holiness shall be without Imperfection there is nothing to oppose or hinder the Holiness of a Saint Holiness is there come to its full Growth and highest Perfection for there is Holiness and nothing but Holiness Now Grace and Holiness in a Saint here being the same with that Glory that is the expected Consummation of a Saint's Happiness hereafter it shews the great necessity that there is that all that desire to be happy hereafter should endeavour to be holy here Now how Holiness qualifies for Heaven and why it is so necessary to the obtaining of Heaven will appear in two Particulars One is because Holiness and Heaven are one and the same thing And the other is because of the great unsuitableness between Heaven and an unholy Soul First There is an agreeableness yea a sameness between Holiness and Heaven The Glory of Heaven lies not in this that a Saint shall there out-shine the brightness of the Sun that there he shall not be exposed to Heat to Cold to Nakedness or Want that there he shall be free from Diseases Sickness and Death it self that he shall not stand in need of Meat Drink and Clothing no nor that he shall always be in the hearing of melodious Songs and Hallilujahs of Saints and Angels These Things indeed are in Heaven
Eternal Life beyond it He that cannot look upon Heaven as belonging unto him at the end of his Sufferings as well as behold the Sufferings that himself endures loses that Joy and Consolation that should be his support under Sufferings Where there is no Expectation of the peaceable Fruit of Righteousness by them who are exercised with Afflictions there Afflictions cannot be joyous but grievous This is the peculiar Excellency and Advantage of the Grace of Faith and therein it is like unto God himself who is the Author of it that it can at one and the same time behold the End and the Means together and if a Christian did always act in this way and manner under Afflictions and were the Eye of his Faith so brightned that he could as clearly see his Right and Title unto Heaven as he doth feel his present Sufferings what a Life of Peace and Joy might he live notwithstanding all those Afflictions that lie upon him Doubtless when our Lord Jesus suffered on the Cross there were many standing by and gazing at his Sufferings who when they saw him dying there and after that laid in the Grave did shake their Heads at him looking upon him as one that was lost and gone never more to be heard of condemning him as a foolish and indiscreet Person to throw away his Life in that Way and Manner as he did because they were ignorant what he was doing and what was to follow upon his Sufferings But surely they who now behold him dying buried rising ascended glorified and interceding at God's Right Hand as Believers do they see great Cause to admire as the infinite Wisdom of God in contriving so the infinite Grace and Love of Jesus Christ in this Way and Manner of accomplishing the Redemption and Salvation of Sinners Were but Heaven and the fitting Christians for that glorious Inheritance apprehended by them as the end that God designs in all his dealings with them none of them would seem grievous and afflictive to them He that hath learn'd this way to Heaven that is he whose Soul hath gained Acquaintance with the Glory and Happiness that is above by frequent and daily Contemplations thereon hath a rich Cordial to revive and chear his Spirits in every Affliction There are none of us know what Trials we may yet meet withal before we are called hence and if God should exempt us from Publick and Private Calamities and Distresses while we live yet all of us know there is a time a coming when we must be sick and die and then we shall find that nothing but what we can draw down from Heaven into our Hearts will be Consolation strong enough to support our then departing Souls If therefore O Christian thou wouldst either live peaceably or die comfortably inure thy self daily unto a Life of Divine and Heavenly Contemplation Secondly Consider A Heart taken up much with Heaven will make a Christian lively and fervent in Duty It is the Heavenly Christian that is the lively and zealous Christian Where there is a strangeness in any Soul unto Heaven there will be a dulness and heaviness in Duty Frequent thoughtfulness of Heaven unto which Duties have a tendency make a Christian lively and vigorous in the performance of them And the stronger the Consolations are that flow into a Christian from his daily Contemplations of Heaven and Glory the more lively and vigorous will that Christian evermore be in the performance of Duty A full and clear Apprehension of Heaven and of our Right and Title thereunto how doth it lift up the Soul in Duty and make it run with the greatest activity and cheerfulness that can be in the Ways of God It is strange to see what the Hopes of Gain and Advantage in the World will carry Men unto how will they compass Sea and Land break their Rest in the Night hazard their Health in the Day rise early go to Bed late And shall the empty perishing things of this World animate and put Life and Vigour into these Mens Designs so that they shall stick at no difficulties or dangers for the attaining of them And shall not the fore-thoughts of Heaven and the Contemplations of the Glory and Happiness that is there to be eternally enjoyed put Life and Vigour Zeal and Activity into the Soul of a Christian in all his Duties Surely it will and that in so great a measure as shall enable him to mount up with Wings like Eagles to run and not be weary and to walk and not faint in the Ways of God the Joys and Consolations of Heaven and of the God of Heaven being his continual Strength and Support The Reason of all that sloathfulness and deadness that is to be found in Christians in the performance of their Duties is because they are such Strangers unto Heaven have so little knowledge of it dwell so little in their Thoughts and Contemplations upon that Glory and Happiness that there is to be enjoyed How fervent will that Man be in Prayer how attentive in Hearing how zealous in opposing Sin how watchful against Temptation how careful to lay hold of all opportunities of doing Good who considers that all this is done in order unto Heaven and Happiness Take a Christian one whose Life is spent much in Heaven one that hath as the Apostle saith of himself and others his Conversation in Heaven how easily may he be differenced from other Men he that hath a Spirit of discerning will quickly observe something of that which his Soul is taken with in Heaven to appear in his Duties and Conversation that will distinguish him from the careless and negligent Christian yea take the same Man when he hath been conversing with Heaven and solacing his Soul with Divine and Heavenly Contemplations and how doth he excel not others only but himself also O what a difference is there between what he is then and what he is in his common and ordinary Conversation for doubtless it may be averred of such a Soul's return from its contemplating views of that blissful State that there are such Heavenly Impressions made upon it as cause it to ascend in frequent Thoughts and Ejaculations towards Heaven in the midst of its Earthly Employments and to intermingle that which is Heavenly with its Earthly Speeches and Discourses among others Whereas a Christian that is careless and negligent of himself gives way to Earthliness and Vanity abates and lessens the exercising of his Soul in the Contemplations of Heaven and Heavenly Things he soon becomes as weak as vain and sometimes as prophane also as another Man who is altogether estranged unto this Life of Heavenly Contemplation The way therefore for Christians to shake off their deadness and dulness in Duty and to be rid of their sloathfulness and heaviness in the Ways of God is to betake themselves to Heaven where Christ who is their Life and Strength is and from whence alone all their quickning and enlivening influences do