Death arise from his Ignorance of what Death is in it self and of what it will be unto him and this makes him walk so uncomfortably under the thoughts of it And yet the worst that Death is and the worst it can do unto him is only to make a Separation between those two old loving Acquaintance his Soul and Body whereby the viler part the Body consumes and rots in the Grave being fed upon by Worms till it turns to Dust and Ashes for some little time after which it shall arise again a glorious refined purified Body from all its dross and corruption and made like unto the Glorious Body of Jesus Christ to be again united unto that Soul which during the time of its silent sleeping in the dust was rejoicing with Saints and Angels yea with God and Christ in a state of infinite and unconceivable Happiness unto which the Body after its re union with the Soul shall ascend with it to partake of the same Blessedness in Heaven to all Eternity Surely such a Soul instead of being timorous and fearful should rather say with the Apostle I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is best of all Phil. 1.21 Secondly The Consideration of so great a Happiness provided in Heaven for Believers should moderate their Sorrows for the Death of their Godly Friends and Relations It is true when such are taken away by Death the loss is great unto those that survive them and therefore the God of Bowels and Mercy allows us to mourn when by his Providence he makes such breaches among us Abraham mourned for Sarah his Wife Joseph wept for his Father Jacob the Israelites made great lamentations for the loss of Moses and both Mary and her Sister Martha mourned for their Brother Lazarus and our Lord doth not reprove them but sympathizeth with them in their loss and testifies it by his weeping also But though we are allowed to mourn at the Death of our Godly Friends and Relations yet are we to set bounds to our mourning for we are not to sorrow as those that have no Hope nor are we so to grieve and afflict our selves as to refuse to be comforted Friends use to rejoice in the advancement of one another in the World though it be in the enjoyment of that which is but Temporary and therein they shew their Love to one another And will not should not you much more rejoice when your Friends and Acquaintance are by Death preferred to the enjoyment of a Happiness that is Spiritual and Eternal Shall a Natural and contracted Relation either by Blood Cohabitation or Friendship engage to greater Love and Affection than a Spiritual and Supernatural Relation by Grace and Adoption shall do Believers are all nearly and intimately related to one another they are all Members of one and the same Body they have all one and the same Father they have all one and the same Redeemer they have all one and the same Sanctifier and Comforter they have all one Faith one Hope and shall all one day enjoy one and the same Heaven though they go thither in different ways and at different times Grieve not mourn not then O Believer that thy Friends and Relations are gone to Heaven a little before thee Time was it may be when you and they did take sweet Counsel together and walked to the House and Ordinances of God in company and very sweet and delightful was your Society one with another but now Death hath made a Separation between you so that the sweetness of that Friendship is at an end and they are not as to your enjoyment of them and this makes you passionately cry out Oh my loss my loss my Friends and Relations are dead and gone and what shall I now do But where O Believing Soul is thy love to thy dead Friends and Relations Is it at an end and all buried in the Grave with them Be patient for a while and Death will quickly open thee a passage into that place of Bliss where they now are and in the mean time shew thy Love to them by thy rejoicing in their present real though unseen Blessedness and if you cannot do this your Love to your self is great but your Love to your Friends is but little None of our Relations that die in the Lord are lost they are only gone to Heaven a little before others whither the rest of all the Faithful shall ere long be called also And while any Believers are left here behind in the World they have a God to live upon that will never leave them nor forsake them the enjoyment of whose presence and the manifestations of whose Love and Favour will abundantly more than recompense for the absence and loss of all our Friends We read in 1 Sam. 1.8 that Hannah was greatly afflicted because of her barrenness insomuch that she refused to eat what course doth Elkanah her Husband take to comfort her O why says he art thou troubled and why doest thou not eat Am not I better to thee than ten Sons Truly it may be much more said unto any Believer from whom God hath taken any dear and pious Relations why are you cast down why do you grieve and mourn is not God better than many yea than all your Friends and Relations put together and he lives still though your Friends and Relations be dead And truly this is that God expects at a Believer's hands that when he hath taken from him the comfort of near and dear Friends and Relations he should bear up himself cheerfully with this Consideration That having God to be his God doth infinitely more than countervail for the loss of all Stay up thy self therefore O desponding Christian yea solace thy Soul under all thy losses with this Consideration that God is thy God And say therefore with Holy David The Lord lives and blessed be my rock and let the God of my Salvation be exalted Seventhly Is there such a place of Bliss and Happiness provided for and assured unto Believers let the consideration hereof put them upon unwearied Diligence and Constancy in the Work and Service of God that is attended with so great a Reward The Scripture abounds with Exhortations and Commands to press this Duty upon Christians Josh 22.5 Take diligent heed to do all the Commandments of the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul And in Phil. 3.11 12 13 14. the Apostle gives us his own Example and Practice I have not already attained says he nor am I already perfect but I follow after if I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended of Christ Jesus Brethren I count not my self to have apprehended but this one thing I do forgetting the things that are behind I reach forth unto those things that are before pressing towards the mark for the prize of the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus if by any means I may attain unto the Resurrection of the
of any Soul after them certainly that Object is God and that Place is Heaven where God is fully and eternally to be enjoyed and in the enjoyment of whom there is not only nothing but what is lovely and desirable but where there is every thing that is lovely and desirable also We read frequently of the Expressions of many Holy Men that set forth the greatness of their Love and Affection towards God but there is none that we meet with in Sacred Writ whose Soul did more delightfully vent it self in pathetical expressions of this Nature than Holy David The Book of Psalms abounds with them Psal 42.1 2. As the Hart panteth after the Water Brooks so panteth my Soul after thee O God My Soul is athirst for God for the living God when shall I come and appear before God Psal 84.1 2. How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts my Soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord my Heart and my Flesh cryeth out for the living God A day in thy Courts is better than a thousand I had rather be a Door-keeper in the House of my God than to dwell in the Tents of Wickedness Psal 63.1 2 3. O God thou art my God early will I seek thee my Soul thirsteth for thee my Flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty Land where no water is that I may see thy Power and thy Glory so as I have seen thee in the Sanctuary Now all these expressions of this Holy Man are but the streamings forth of the Love and Affection of his Soul at several times and upon several occasions after the enjoyment of God in his House and Ordinances which he was then deprived of And if the mediate presence of God and the comnications of his Grace and Love to a Soul in Holy Duties be so much to be defired because therein it enjoys God and hath thereby the manifestations of his Love and Favour sealed and confirmed to it Is not then the immediate presence of God in Heaven much more to be desired where the Soul shall stand in no need of any Duties or Ordinances to confirm the Love of God unto it because there shall be no Sin in it to provoke God to hide his Face from it or to interrupt the Peace and Joy of the Soul 's delighting it self in him to Eternity To be in such a frame as to be able to say though I experience not those ravishing Joys in the Hopes of Heaven that some Servants of God attain unto though I am a Stranger unto those vehement longings and holy pantings of Soul after God and Heaven that some are acquainted with whereby they are ardently desirous of a dissolution yet to be able to say I bless God I am very well content to submit to his Will the thoughts of Death are not terrible and amazing to me but I am willing to yield my self up unto the good pleasure of God when he sees good to call me hence This indeed is something of the temper of a good Christian and that which God takes well at the hands of any if it be done upon good grounds But this is not all that God expects nor is it all that the Christian Religion teaches and requires the certain and sure Principles of Christianity founded on the Divine Oracles will enable a Believer to go further for it discovers an unbodied State of Happiness to be enjoyed by Holy Souls in another World after which there should be such strong Workings and earnest Groanings as should carry forth the Soul in Holy Longings and Desires after the participation thereof And this now is not a frame of Soul to be found in a Believer upon a Death bed only but it is that which should be the joyful Companion of his Life in the time of his Health and Strength and the Reason is this because God and Heaven have the same loveliness and desireableness in them at one time that they have at another in Health that they have in Sickness in Life as they have in Death and therefore they call for and deserve the same height of Love and Affection and the same strength of Joy and Delight to be exercised towards them when a Believer hath the greatest enlargements of outward Prosperity as when he is under the greatest confinement of Adversity or Sickness Live therefore O Believer with a Holy Longing and Desire of Soul springing up in thee continually after Heaven be earnestly desirous after thy departure hence that thou may'st be with God This was that Blessed Frame Holy Souls of old lived in so the Apostle speaks of himself and others in that excellent Scripture 2 Cor. 5.2 4 8. We says he that are in this Tabernacle do groan earnestly that we may be cloathed upon with our House that is from Heaven And we groan being burthened that Mortality might be swallowed up of Life And yet again says he We are always confident or we do always with confidence expect and desire to be absent from the Body But why so Oh there is good Reason for it because says he Whilst we are at home in the Body we are absent or we are kept at too great a distance from the Lord. To be content to Die is a good temper of Soul and that which is rarely found in any wicked man to be sure not upon good grounds but truly when I consider how much farther a Christian might go and what he is yet short of that might tend to the Glory of God the Credit of the Christian Religion and the Peace and Comfort of his own Soul methinks his present attainment compared with what is his Duty to Labour after is no extraordinary great thing For consider a little what a strange kind of expression is it and how harshly doth it sound to say concerning a Believer that he is content to be Happy As to Worldly enjoyments it is not usual to say of any Man that he is Content to have them who says concerning Silver and Gold that a Man is Content to be enriched with them No the common expression in this case is not that Men are Content to be Rich but that they are Covetous after Riches And so for Honour and outward Greatness we say not that Men are Willing to be Honoured and Advanced above their Neighbours but they are Ambitious in seeking after Promotion And why then should it be said of a Christian only that he is Content to be Happy Content to be with God in Heaven Now if Worldly Mens desires work thus strongly after Earthly and Temporal Enjoyments which cannot make them Happy when attained surely the desires of a Christian should work as strongly after Heavenly and Eternal Enjoyments which when attained can and will make them truly and really Happy And here I will add one thing let the whole Creation be ransackt let Earth and Heaven be searcht there is nothing no Person no Object to be found in either that can
CHAP. III. Further Discoveries of the Saints Happiness in Heaven manifested in their being freed 1. From all Afflictons 2. From all Temptations both from Satan and the World 3. In a perfect freedom from all Sin 4. In a Perfection of Grace and Holiness 5. In partaking of fullness of Joy being Pure Spiritual Full and Everlasting 6. In Excellent Glory and Honour that shall then be put upon them CHAP. IV. Of the Resurrection of the Body in order to the Saints Enjoyment of the Happiness of Heaven A more particular Description of the Happiness of the Bodies of the Saints in Heaven which shall there be 1. Incorruptible 2. Spiritual 3. Powerful 4. Beautiful Of the Happiness of the Soul in Heaven as 1. In having its Vnderstanding enlarged 2. In its being perfected in Holiness 3. In having its Affections brought into a perfect Regularity Of the Eternity of the Saints Happiness in Heaven 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 in Heaven 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 CHAP. VI. A Resolution of some Questions as 1. Whether the Saints shall know one another in Heaven 2. Whether there are different degrees of Glory in Heaven 3. How the Saints are said to be equal with and like unto the Angels in Heaven 4. In what respects Heaven is called a Reward or Recompence Some useful and necessary Inferences from the consideration of that Happiness the Saints shall enjoy in Heaven deduced in order unto Practice as 1. Hopes of Heaven should make the World contemptible unto Believers 2. None that expect Heaven hereafter should be offended at any thing they meet with in their way thither 3. Expectations of Heaven should make Christians live as those that are Heirs of so great a Happiness 4 Frequent Thoughts and Meditations of Heaven should possess the Minds of those that hope to partake of the Happiness of Heaven 5. The Greatness of the Happiness of Heaven should put Christians upon Examing of themselves what Right and Title they have thereunto 6. Hopes and Expectations of Heaven hereafter should Reconcile to Believers the Thoughts of their own Death and moderate their Sorrows for the Death of their Godly Friends and Relations 7. Hopes of Heaven should put Christians upon unwearied diligence in the Service of God that is attended with such a Reward 8. The Consideration of so great a Happiness as Heaven is should cause in all Believers a Holy longing of Soul after the Enjoyment of it The Conclusion THE GLORY AND HAPPINESS OF THE SAINTS CHAP. I. The Introduction A State of future Glory and Happiness proved What it is that makes the Happiness of Heaven so excellent and glorious in a short and brief Description thereof THE framing a Discourse of Heaven that Place of inexpressible Bliss and Happiness the Portion of Holy and Righteous Persons to Eternity is a Work fitter for an Angel one of those Heavenly Courtiers who have ever since their Creation and for many Ages and Generations now past been happy partakers of that blissful State than the lisping and stammering of any mortal Tongue Sense here being the best Orator and they fittest to describe Heaven unto others who live in the fruition of it themselves And indeed all Discourses of this nature by poor frail Creatures are rather a darkning and diminution of that Glory and Happiness than an ample Illustration or Discovery what it is And when the People of God shall come to the enjoyment thereof they will soon find themselves wonderfully but happily deceived by the most glorious Descriptions that ever were laid before them What the Prophet saith in Hab. 3. where after he had given us a short description of some of the glorious Excellencies and Perfections of God he tells us in the 4th Verse His Brightness was as the Light that he had Horns coming out of his hands which usually are a signification of Strength and Might but says the Prophet There was the hiding of his Power As if he had said Whatever Strength and Might God had thereby put forth it was so far from manifesting the fulness and greatness thereof that it was rather a Hiding than a Revelation of his Power there being infinitely more Power in him than was ever yet put forth by him The like may truly be said concerning Heaven and its Glory and Excellency Take all the Descriptions that since the Creation of the World have been made of the Glory and Happiness thereof and put them all together and we may say of them all that they rather hide and eclipse the Glory of Heaven than any way come near to a manifestation of the Fulness and Excellency thereof still is there infinitely more hid from us than can possibly thereby be made known to us Heaven is like God himself an infinite Good and Happiness and so cannot be fully known or enjoyed by any who are but of finite Capacities and Understanding And therefore after all that we have heard thereof from Men or received from God himself either by what he hath revealed to us in his Word or secretly elapsed down immediately into our Souls by his Spirit yet what holy Job saith of God we may say of the Heaven of God Oh how little a Portion of it is known And therefore those Words of St. Paul need not be looked upon with admiration when he tells us Phil. 1.23 he desired to be dissolved and to be with Christ that is in Heaven where God and Christ are known and enjoyed for that is it which makes Heaven so desirable yea to be best of all as the same Apostle speaks For why should any think it strange that the blessed Apostle who had been wrapt up into the Third Heaven by extraordinary priviledge as well as in an extraordinary manner and there heard and saw so much of that Glory and Happiness that was there enjoyed as that himself said was unutterable that he should long after a fuller enjoyment of it Christians who profess their Hopes and Happiness is laid up in Heaven should rather wonder at his willingness to abide here any longer in the Flesh And certainly had not Love yea great Love to him who had prepared and purchased so great and inexpressible a Happiness for him wrought very powerfully in him it may seem almost impossible that Heaven and St. Paul should have been kept longer asunder if any thing in him or to be done or suffered by him could have brought him thither sooner than his appointed time Great and glorious things doth the Scripture
To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the Tree of Life that is in the midst of the Paradise of God Rev. 2.7 To him that overcometh will I give to sit with me on my Throne even a I have overcome and am set down with my Father on his Throne Rev. 3.21 Believers are the greatest Heirs in all the World for as the Apostle speaks They have the Promise of the Life that now is and of that which is to come And says the same Apostle All things are yours whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or Life or Death or things present or things to come all is yours and you are Christ's and Christ is Gods 1 Cor. 3.22 Secondly The Certainty of a future state of Glory and Happiness may be demonstrated from the great Undertaking of the Lord Jesus Christ And indeed this was a Work fit for none but him to undertake for none else were able to accomplish it Whatever worth or excellency there is either in all the Men on Earth or in all the Saints and Angels in Heaven should they have proffered to have done and suftered all that their Natures are capable of to have purchased the Love and Favoun of God to have been enjoyed though but by one Soul and that but for one moment of time in Heaven it would have been rejected and despised by God But now the Death and Sufferings of Jesus Christ were of equal worth and value with Heaven and the Enjoyment of God to eternity for his Blood was the Blood of God and therefore the shedding of it deserved the Presence Love and Favour of God to be bestowed upon Believers as their Portion for ever This Jesus Christ hath done for this he hath both suffered and died and because he hath made a Purchase of these things with his Blood Believers shall therefore enjoy them for Christ will not lose his Purchase nor shall Believers therefore lose their Happiness The bringing many Sons unto Glory was the End which Christ designed in the laying down of his Life and therefore he willingly submitted unto the Way by which he was to accomplish it and that was by his suffering Death and from hence therefore the People of God are said to obtain an inheritance among them that are sanctified by Faith in him Thirdly Another Ground or Reason we have to believe a state of Glory and Happiness hereafter may be taken from the Spirit 's introductory or preparatory working in the Hearts of Believers here in this Life By this now I mean the Beginning of Grace wrought in the Soul for Grace and Glory are one and the same thing Grace is Glory and Glory is Grace all the Difference between them is only in the degree Grace is Glory begun and Glory is Grace perfected And when the Spirit of God works Grace in any Soul he then gives the first Fruits the Earnest or Fore-taste of Glory Grace therefore is sometimes called Glory in Scripture so we read 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 unto another And Grace there is called Glory because when Grace is advanced unto its highest degree of perfection it is Glory Now where ever any receive the first fruits of Heaven in Grace and Holiness they shall receive the full Harvest of Glory it self Grace therefore is called the Spirit 's forming or fitting of the Soul for Glory Hence the Apostie speaking of himself and others as groaning and longing to be cloathed with their House which is frown Heaven that Mortality might be swallowed up of Life In 2 Cor. 5.3 4. he adds in the 5th verse He that hath wrought us for the self same thing is God who hath also given us the Earnest of the Spirit which in Ephes 1.14 is called the Earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased Possession Where ever Grace is in truth it is always in Growth and it shall be in perfection So saith the Apostle Phil. 1.6 He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the Day of Jesus Christ Where the Spirit gives unto any the Nature and Disposition of the Children of God he thereby gives them an undoubted Right and Title unto Heaven and Glory yea such a Right and Title as shall never be lost or broken off So saith the Apostle Rom. 8.16 17. For the Spirit it self beareth witness with our Spirits that we are the Children of God and if Children then Heirs Heirs of God and joint-Heirs with Jesus Christ and if we suffer with him we shall also be glorified together Fourthly and lastly Imight argue the Certainty of a future state of Glory and Happiness from the constant believing Hopes and Expectations yea and Sufferings also of the Saints and People of God in all Ages If Believers had hope only in this Life they were then as the Apostle speaks of all men most miserable But it is not so for their Hopes and Happiness lies in those things that are to be enjoyed beyond Time even in Eternity And hence it is that they have such strong Consolation as bears up their Souls above all the Sufferings that they meet with in this present Life because they have sled for Refuge to lay hold on the Hope that is set before them which Hope they have as an Anchor of the Soul that is sure and stedfast because it entreth into that within the Vail Heb. 6.18 19. It is the Nature of the New Creature where-ever it is to cause the Soul to look upwards and hence it is that the People of God are said to be begotten again unto a lively hope of an Inheritance incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for them 1 Pet. 1.3 4. From this now springs great Joy and Consolation and therefore upon this account it is that Believers are said to rejoyce in hopes of the Glory of God Rom. 35.2 Should I now attempt to lay down a Description of Heaven that Place of perfect Bliss and Happiness I should prevent my self in what I intend to speak more fully and largely to afterwards Only in the General to excite and quicken our Desires and Affections after it take this following short Sum of it Heaven is a Place where there is a total and everlasting exclusion of all that is evil and imperfect and where there is a full perfection and perpetual enjoyment of all that is Good and that in the largest latitude and extent of it In Heaven there is nothing to afflict or torment but every thing that is satisfactory and delightful There is nothing of Sin there and therefore nothing of Sorrow Saint in Heaven enjoy the best Company There is the Great and Glorious God seen and known in all his glorious Excellencies and Perfections There is the Blessed Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of Life
into the Kingdom of God 2 Tim. 3.12 All that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer Persecution They who are not of the world but chosen by God out of the world are sure to meet with the World's Hatred so our Lord tells us John 15.19 John 17.14 A Saint's Peaceable and quiet State is yet to come In this Life they receive all their evil things from God from Men and from Devils and when they arrive at Heaven their afflicted persecuted State is over and instead thereof they shall for ever be partakers of Peace and Joy O all ye Saints and People of God that now can set upon no Work or Service for God but you meet with Opposition yea and if you will go through with it are sure not only to lose the Love of the World and to part with many of your outward Comforts and Enjoyments in so doing but also to meet with many Enemies that will afflict and persecute you in the discharge of your Duty yet be not affrighted at it but persevere therein and for your Encouragement know that while you do so you are secure of the Love and Favour of God to you and the Time is almost come when you shall see an End of all your Persecutors yea and of their Persecutions also How quickly will Death come in to your Relief and put you out of the reach of all their Malice to harm you for ever For in Heaven you shall never meet with any company that shall discourage your Hearts or weaken your Hands but such only as will gladly further you in your holy Work by joyning Hearts and Voices with you in everlasting Joys and Praises And until that Time doth come let Faith and Hope support and bear you up that you may always in Patience possess your Souls And whatever Reproaches you meet with for well doing bind them as so many Crowns upon your Heads value them with Moses as greater Riches to you than all the Treasures of the world yea as the blessed Apostle says in Jam. 1.2 Let it be all joy unto you when you fall into divers Temptations remembring God can deliver you from them however he will quickly deliver you out of them recompensing Tribulation to them that trouble you but unto you who are troubled Rest and Peace for ever In this Life also the People of God suffer many Losses meet with many Disappointments But in Heaven there are no such things All Treasures laid up on Earth are subject to the Moth to the Rust and to the Thief Inward Corruption or outward Violences do often deprive us of them or if we lose them not so Death to be sure will put an end to our Enjoyment of them But it is not so in Heaven Treasure laid up there is safe and secure there 's no Moth nor Rust to corrupt it nor no Thieves to rob and spoil us of it A Saint's Happiness in Heaven cannot be lost nor shall a Godly Man ever meet with any Disappointments there unless it be by finding a Happiness far greater than ever he imagined All in Heaven is like unto the God of Heaven permanent and abiding It shall not be with a Saint there as it is with him here Now his Condition is subject to Change and Alteration sometimes he is high and sometimes low sometimes rich and sometimes poor sometimes in peace and liberty and sometimes under restraint and imprisonment But the Happiness of Heaven is always one and the same subject to no Changes or Vicissitudes And as for the loss of Friends and Relations a great Affliction unto many in this World it shall not be so with us in Heaven for whoever of them we meet with there they and we shall never be parted Saints in Heaven have not only the best Company but they have that Society with the greatest Advantage being such as shall never be broken but continue everlastingly Here the People of God greatly love and delight in the Society of one another as they are Saints but because they are also Sinners Death will make a separation between them But when once Sin is extirpated out of them as it shall be in Heaven then as they shall be the best Company so they shall be a perpetual Society Here the Fear of losing our Friends and Relations is a great Disquietment to us while we enjoy them but in Heaven all such Fears are abolished Let but Husband and Wife let but Parents and Children let but Friends and Relations make Heaven sure to their own Souls let them but clear up to themselves their Title unto that Happiness that is to be enjoyed in Heaven through the great and blessed Redeemer and then though Death will part them one from another for a Time yet it shall certainly bring them together again in Heaven and though some of them are more Happy than others because by dying before them they get to Heaven sooner than they yet shall they all come thither in their appointed Time and then shall they be free'd from all Fears of ever being parted asunder any more And instead thereof they shall know themselves to be confirmed in the Happy and Everlasting Enjoyment of one another in Glory In this Life also the People of God are often afflicted with many Weaknesses and Distempers of Body in respect whereof their Lives may be called a Dying Life Oh! what wearisome Days what tiresome Nights do they sigh and groan away by Reason hereof Oh! what mournful Complaints are there made by them upon this Account some daily crying out Oh my Head Oh my Stomach others Oh my Side Oh my Bowels seldom are they free two days together from some Distemper or other yea so rack'd and tormented are they with Extremity of Pain that their Lives are little better almost than a continual Burthen to them But now in Heaven all these Complaints shall cease they are only the Effects of Sin and therefore to accompany us only in our sinful State and when Sin shall be expelled out of the Soul as it shall be in Heaven Sickness and Distempers shall never more annoy these Bodies of ours As Job speaks of the Grave there the weary are at rest that is those who now are wearied with labours and pains when they come to lye down in their Graves shall be at Rest And if it be thus in the Grave how much more shall it be so in Heaven and that not by insensibleness and want of feeling as it is with those that are dead but because the Happiness of that State is so great as is not only exclusive of but cannot possibly admit of any such thing as Pain and Sorrow being a State made up of perfect Joy and Delight in an eternal Perpetuity for they obtain joy and gladness and Sorrow and sighing flee away Esai 35.10 Secondly in Heaven the Saints shall enjoy a perfect Freedom from all Temptations In this World Temptations make the Lives of God's People very uncomfortable to
you have continued waiting but a few days longes God will grant your Desires for when you come to Heaven whither Death will certainly and suddenly bring you Sin an unholy Heart and Nature shall never more afflict or trouble you for Sin that was here your Burthen to feel shall there be your Delight to be for ever without that impenitent unbelieving Heart those vain yea sinful Thoughts which were wont to lie down and rise up with you which did use to follow you to every Duty and accompany you in every Place and Service and which you could no more leave behind you when you went to Pray to Hear to Read or to Meditate than you could leave your selves behind you shall all be left behind you when you come to die they did and would keep you company while you lived but they shall not go one step with you beyond Death then you take your leave of them bidding an eternal Farewel to all Sin O my Soul when shall that blessed day come that thou shalt thus take thy leave of Sin never to wound thy Conscience never to defile thy Soul nor never to displease thy God thereby any more O what a blessed state will that be when Death shall send a godly Man to Heaven perfectly free from all Sin not only as to the Power of it but also as to the vexing and disquieting Presence of it where he shall spend ars Eternity in serving and praising of God without the least interruption imperfection or weariness of Soul for ever And doth not Death in this appear a Believer's great Friend in that what Prayers and Tears Sighs and Groans together with the assistance of the Spirit of God did gradually that is mortifie and destroy Sin that Death doth for a Believer at one blow perfectly freeing him from the Burthen and Being of Sin for ever Fourthly In Heaven the People of God shall arrive unto a Perfection of Grace and Holiness As all that the Saints have here is but mean compared to what they shall attain to hereafter so all that the Saints do here is but mean compared to what they shall be enabled to do hereafter Grace in a godly Man in this Life is in its minority and therefore the acting of Grace must needs be accordingly The Excellency and Beauty of a Saint lies inward in the hidden Man of the Heart or as the Psalmist speaks he is one that is all glorious within And because Grace in him is inward therefore its Excellency is not so visible and apparent Grace in a godly Man neither doth nor can shine forth in its Glory and Beauty here because Sin in him eclipses the splendor of its appearance The imperfection of Grace is discernable here but the Perfection and Beauty of Grace is neither known nor attainable here The highest degrees of Grace and Holiness that the best of God's People reach unto here comes infinitely short to what they shall attain to in Heaven It is true a little Grace in a Saint now makes him glorious in the eyes of those who have a Spirit of discerning to behold it in respect whereof the Saints are called the excellent ones of the Earth Psal 16.3 Now if the weakness and imperfection of Grace for that which the People of God attain to of Grace here it no more compared with what they shall attain to in Heaven if this weakness and imperfection of Grace be so excellent and glorious O how exceeding glorious will the perfection and beauty of Grace be hereafter How glorious have some of the Saints of God of old appeared when their Excellency hath chiefly appeared in the Oriency and sparkling Beauty but of some one particular Grace as for instance How glorious was Abraham for his Faith Moses for his meekness self-denial Nehemiah for his zeal for God and his Glory David for his Love to God and his Ordinances Job for his Patience S. Paul for his unwearied Industry and Laboriousness in the Work of God and the Service of Souls O how eminently glorious have the particular actings of these particular Graces in these Servants of God made them in all Ages insomuch that the Spirit of God hath thought good to record their Excellencies in the holy Scriptures and their Praise shall be in all the Churches of God to the end of the World Now if the Saints Eminency in some particular Graces have made them so glorious notwithstanding their Imperfections other ways how glorious and excellent will they appear when all that Grace and Holiness that shall accompany them to Heaven and is there necessary unto their Happiness that they may see and enjoy God to eternity shall be fully and compleatly perfected having nothing of the least allay of any spot or imperfection in their Graces or in their Persons to take off from the Beauty and Glory of the one or of the other for ever In Heaven Grace in a Saint is in its excellency and in its visibility there is Grace and nothing but Grace there is Grace and all Grace yea there is all Grace shining forth in its fulness and utmost perfection of Glory to eternity In this Life Grace in the People of God is never perfect in some things they are always defective in other things always wanting they are continually aiming at and going on unto Perfection though while they are here they do not attain unto it In the Work of Regeneration they are truly sanctified and made holy but it is in Heaven only that they are perfectly sanctified The Lord Jesus Christ now loves his Church and he hath abundantly manifested that he doth so in giving himself for it that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word as the Apostle speaks But he never presents it to himself a Glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle till he brings it to Heaven By a work of Sanctification he is now daily cleansing and purifying of it but the full Perfection and Beauty of Holiness is not put upon it till the Marriage between him and his Church be consummated in Glory Here in this Life there is much Imperfection in the Righteousness and Holiness of the Saints many Faults and Infirmities they have that others may censure and condemn and themselves ought to bewail and mourn for but in Heaven they shall be Faultless so saith the Apostle Jude 24. Whilst the Church is Militant upon Earth though she is black and hath her spots yet is she comely but when she comes to be Triumphant in Heaven then will she be as a beautiful Bride adorned with fulness and perfection of Grace and Holiness fitted and prepared for her Lord and Husband's Company Rev. 22.2 where every Saint shall behold and love the Blessed and Holy God and their dear Lord Jesus with a Love equal to Angels and Cherubims satiating and delighting their Souls in him with a Joy far exceeding the highest Joys that any of the People of God ever were
regard they are free from any Mixtures The Joys of the Wicked are always mixed with Fear and Sorrow and so are oftentimes the Joys of the Saints also And herein God manifests great Wisdom and Goodness to his People thus to temper their Joys Even as it is with Men of weak Constitutions who must have their Wine mingled with Water for fear of distempering their Bodies And so must the Godly in this Life such is their Weakness have their Joys mingled with Fears and Sorrows lest they should grow proud or wanton Sometimes their Joys are mixed with Fear Hence it is Psalm 2.11 that we are commanded to serve the Lord with fear and to rejoice with trembling And thus we read of the two Women Matth. 28.8 who though assured by Angels that Christ was risen yet 't is said they departed from the Sepulchre with fear and great joy And so is it with a godly Man though by an Eye of Faith he beholds the Death and Sufferings of Christ and looking into his Grave is assured that he is risen from thence for his Justification and Salvation yet cannot but have his heart filled with a fearful trembling kind of Joy And as a Saint's Joy here is mixed with Fear so is it also sometimes mixed with Sorrow for when a Believer by Faith looks upon Christ crucified and considers that a person so infinitely great and glorious should die such a painful shameful cursed Death for so vile a Sinner and so great an Enemy unto God as he was the consideration of this so great and incomprehensible a Love manifested towards him in reconciling God and him together in delivering him from Wrath and Hell and in obtaining Eternal Life for him in Heaven Though this Love of Christ in doing all this for him cannot but affect him with great Joy yet the Consideration of his Sins that pierced and wounded yea crucified the Lord of Life and Glory cannot but break his Heart with godly Sorrow But now in Heaven the Joy of a Saint will be free from all mixtures both of Sorrow and Fear there shall be no Sorrow for present Troubles nor any Fears of future Dangers all their Sorrows will then be turned into Joy The sight of their Eyes will then affect their Hearts that is the sight and knowledge of the great God the Supreme and Insinite Good whom the Saints shall always have with them in Heaven is that which will fill and ravish their Souls with unspeakable Joy Secondly the Joys of a Saint in Heaven are spiritual Joys Now spiritual things are things both of the greatest Reality and of the greatest Excellency Spiritual things are things of the greatest Reality all other things comparatively are not they are such things as have no Being no Subsistence therefore says the Wise Man Why wilt thou set thine Eyes upon that which is not speaking of the admired things of the World We do but abusively call Men that abound with worldly Enjoyments rich substantial Men for Substance is no where but with God he only is the true substantial Good the things of this World are no more than a shadow If a Man were hungry would painted Bread satisfie him if a Man were starving with Cold would painted Fire warm him No why truly all the things of this World will appear no better to a Man when he comes to die there 's no Comfort nor Satisfaction to be fetch'd from them The Reality and Substantialness of Good is only laid up in God and in the Enjoyment of him who is the Saint's Happiness both on Earth and in Heaven There is a Vanity as in all the Troubles of the World so also in all the Comforts of the World There is a Vanity in the Troubles that the Saints endure they are but skin-deep a varnish of Trouble so says the Apostle 2 Cor. 6.10 as sorrowful yet always rejoicing as poor yet making many rich as having nothing yet possessing all things And as it is with the Troubles of the World so is it with the Comforts of the World all that sense looks at it is meerly out-side and appearing all the Enjoyments of the World are but a shadow an appearance of that which is Good God and Heaven are Realities but whatever else is Good is but appearingly so The things of the World are not when they are they are not in Reality when they are in Appearance It is a very great mistake to think nothing to be real but what we can touch and handle with our hands or what we can see with our Eyes such as Gold Silver Houses Lands these are not really substantially good things they make a fair show outwardly they have a Gaudery and Excellency as to Sense but nothing of real Excellency as to the Soul Nothing is real but what is spiritual though the Body be more seen than the Soul yet the Soul is a more real Good because it is a spiritual Good and comes nearest to God who is a Spirit and who only is so says the Prophet speaking concerning God Isai 43.11 who only art and there is none besides thee God Christ Grace and Heaven these are spiritually and substantially good and therefore it is said of Christ I cause them that love me to inherit Substance Prov. 8.21 And the Apostle tells the believing Hebrews Heb. 10.34 Ye took joyfully the spoiling of your Goods knowing that in Heaven you have a better and an enduring Substance The Joys and Delights of Heaven they are real because they are spiritual But this is not all for the Saints Joys in Heaven because they are spiritual they are therefore excellent yea the most excellent There is nothing that is earthy in Heaven but all of a spiritual and refined Nature and therefore the more real and the more excellent and by how much the more spiritual by so much the more real and the more excellent also All Joy and Delight placed upon any thing below God is carnal and earthly that which hath dregs in it and comes not up to the Excellency of the Soul it may refresh the Senses and delight the outward Man but it reacheth not the Soul and Conscience it must be something that is spiritual for its Nature and refined for its Excellency that must suit with and be the Delight of a Soul that is spiritual and such is Heaven and the Joys and Delights that are there superlatively excellent and spiritual flowing into the noblest and most excellent part of Man his Soul and Spirit from God who is a Spirit Thirdly The Joys of Heaven are full Joys The Psalmist calls them Fulnesses of Joy and Rivers of Pleasures for the abundance of them Psal 116.11 And the Apostle speaking of Believers tells us 1 Pet. 1.8 That though now they see him not yet believing they rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of Glory If now the Joy of Faith in the Promises of God from some small experience of his Love and Favour to the Soul be above
the Spring but the Resurrection of them again unto a new Life And what is Death unto us but a pulling down of these Clay Houses of our Bodies into the Dust And what is the Resurrection but a raising or rebuilding of the same Houses of our Bodies out of the same Dust again And this shall as certainly be accomplished by God as any of the former have been Moreover God hath given great Encouragement to our Faith to believe the Truth hereof by raising many from the Dead already both in the Old Testament and in the New as the Shunamite's and the Widow of Naim's Sons with Tabitha and Lazarus who had lain four days in the Grave together with many others that at the Death of Christ arose out of their Graves and went into the Holy City and were seen of many Now what God hath already done to some he can and will do unto all at the last Day For as our Lord saith The hour is coming wherein all that are in their Graves shall hear his Voice and shall come forth they that have done good unto the Resurrection of Life and they that have done evil unto the Resurrection of Damnation John 5.28 29. And O what great encouragement is here unto Believers both against their own Death and the Death of their Godly Friends and Relations How sweet upon this account may the Thoughts of Death be unto Believers themselves Therefore maist thou O believing Soul chearfully yield unto the stroak of Death for though by it thou art carried unto the Grave that Place of silence where thou shalt moulder away into Dust and Rottenness yet maist thou die in the assured Belief of this great Truth That as certainly as now by Death thou goest down intothe Grave so certainly shalt thou ere long be raisedr up out of it again and then shall thy Soul and Body have a comfortable meeting together again never to be parted any more but be made happy together in an eternal Enjoyment of God in Glory Here is also matter of great Comfort against the Death of our godly Friends and Relations What a blessed Support is this to a Believer when Death comes and takes away any such from him How comfortably may he take his leave of them delivering them up unto Death and the Grave knowing assuredly that they shall rise again unto Glory and Happiness Those that die in Christ and sleep in Jesus them he will certainly raise out of their Graves and bring with him unto Judgment Cease therefore thy immoderate Grief drown not thy self in Tears for those whose Souls are at present triumphing in Glory and whose Bodies shall shortly be raised up unto a participation of the same Glory and Happiness Whenever therefore O believing Soul either thou thy self shalt come to lie upon a Death-Bed taking thy last Farewell of thy godly Friends and Relations in this World or when any such godly Friends and Relations shall upon their Death-Beds take their last Farewell of thee let this great Truth of the Resurrection of the Body teach thee how thou shouldst do it not as one without hope but as it becomes a Christian and that is willingly and chearfully not because thou art thereby rid of a Trouble or Charge or because by their Death thou shalt be a gainer in thy worldly Concerns this shews a very evil sinful frame of Spirit and is no way becoming a Christian but let let thy willingness herein proceed from a more excellent Motive even this comfortable consideration that there is but a little short space of Time between thy Death and theirs as also between all your Deaths and the Time of your Resurrections which will quickly shde away whilst you and they are sleeping quietly in your Graves and then shall both you and they be raised up together thence with great Joy and Rejoicing so saith the Prophet Isa 26.19 Awake and sing ye that dwell in the Dust for then shall there be everlasting Joy upon your Heads But I must not forget that this is not the Subject I am treating upon it being that which comes in here only as a necessary Introduction unto that Happiness which the Bodies of the Saints shall partake of in Heaven unto which I now come to treat more particularly Now in speaking unto this I shall reduce all that I have to say unto these four Heads the Incorruptability the Spirituality the Power or Agility and the Glory and Beauty of the Body First The Bodies of the Saints in Heaven shall be incorruptible Their Souls are always immortal for when they leave their Bodies which by Death drops from them into the Grave yet they die not but returning unto God are adjudged to and initated in an everlasting state of Blessedness But now in Heaven the very Bodies of the Saints shall be as immortal as their Souls In this World the best carry up and down with them weak frail dying Bodies always yielding to Decays exercised with Pains and Aches that insensibly waste and wear them away till at length Death by some incurable Disease lays them from the Second Death yet have they thereby no exemption from the First Death but they as well as others must taste thereof because they as well as others have sinned It is true the Sting of Death shall never reach them that they are delivered from and gain Victory over by Jesus Christ but the stroke of Death must and will reach them Death cannot hurt them that 's certain because it hath no Poison in it but Death will have Dominion over them for a time But though Death play the Tyrant here on Earth sparing none either for their Greatness or their Goodness yet hath it no admittance into Heaven For when the Saints shall be cloathed upon with their House which is from Heaven then shall Death and Mortality be swallowed up of Life and the Life of the Body as well as the Life of the Soul shall then be everlasting The Apostle 1 Corinth 15.42 speaking of the Body tells us it is sown in Corruption but it is raised in Incorruption So in verse 52. in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last Trump the Dead shall be raised incorruptible and this Mortal must put on Immortality And O how comfortable must the Thoughts hereof needs be to the Saints to think that though now they have sickly diseased yea dying Bodies yet there is a time coming when they shall have Bodies free from all manner of Aches and Pains not subjected to Decays nor Death but always lively and vigorous The Resurrection will do more for the Bodies of the Saints than a Colledge of the ablest Physicians ever could do for it will at once perfectly cure them of all their Infirmities and Distempers which all the Physicians here on Earth could never do Alas they could only give some case and relief under some particular Distempers and that but for a little time but they soon returned again or
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
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
what it is to have this God to be our God and truly no more are we able to tell what it is to have the Heaven of God to be ours and as God himself so the Heaven in which God dwells both which shall be the Reward of the Saints hereafter by reason of their infinite Greatness and Glory are better known to us by what they are not than by what they are and we may best conceive of that Recompence of Reward that the Saints shall partake of in Heaven when we are told there is nothing there that may affright or afflict us nothing that may grieve molest or trouble us but an everlasting Enjoyment of the highest and sweetest Delight and Satistaction that the now but much more then vast and capacious Soul of Man can receive desire or in agine Art thou now O Soul oppressed with the grievous and intolerable burthen of thy Sins those daily though also unavoidable Infirmities by which thou dishonour est God grievest his Spirit woundest thy own Conscience under which thou criest out as a Man distracted O wretched Man that I am where and by whom shall I find Deliverance Why assure thy self the Old Man shall never more molest thee in Heaven there is no Entrance for this Body of Sin and Death into Life All the motions and stirrings of Sin shall forever cease in that eternal Rest Art thou now overwhelmed with Grief and Sorrow and doth the smart of one Affliction no sooner wear off but the bitterness of another comes in the room of it and is there thus daily a Succession of them one after another for the Trial and Exercise of thy Patience So that thou may'st say thou art continually a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with Grief as thy Lord and Master was before thee Why in Heaven God shall wipe away all Tears from thy Eyes and Sorrow and Sighing shall for ever fly away Art thou now continually harassed with Temptations Will not the Evil One let thee rest Day nor Night but is perpetually haunting thee with horrid and blasphemous Thoughts as black as Hell it self can invent In Heaven thou shalt not only be out of the reach of his fiery Darts but shalt have an everliving Fountain within thy Soul that shall be eternally springing up in such spiritual Contemplations and heavenly Raptures beyond whatever thou wert acquainted with in thy State of Mortality even when thou wert in the most spiritual and heavenly Frame Art thou here under Clouds and Desertions And doest thou walk up and down mournfully and disconsolately for want of the Light of God's Countenance and the manifestations of his Love and Favour towards thee Doth God seem to hide his Face from thee in Anger and Displeasure so that thou roarest and criest out by reason of the Disquietness of thy Soul Why in Heaven all those Clouds shall vanish away and thou shalt have such clear and full Discoveries of God's Love and Favour and the Light of his Countenance shall beat so fully and everlastingly upon thee that it is impossible thou shouldst be under the least Fears or Doubtings thereof for ever For thou shalt then no more see him through a Glass darkly but Face to Face without any interruption or obscurity to all Eternity This now is something of that great and glorious Reward that shall be bestowed upon the Saints in Heaven but the fulness and perfection of it cannot be known but by Enjoyment CHAP. VI. An Essay towards the Resolution of some Questions as 1. Whether the Saints shall know one another in Heaven 2. Whether there are different Degrees of Glory in Heaven 3. How the Saints are said to be equal with and like unto the Angels in Heaven 4 In what respects Heaven is called a Reward or Recompence Some Vseful and Necessary Inferences from the Consideration of that Happiness the Saints shall enjoy in Heaven deduced in order unto Practice as 1. Hopes of Heaven should make the World contemptible unto Believers 2. None that expect Heaven hereafter should be offended at any thing they meet with in their way thither 3 Expectations of Heaven should make Christians live as those that are Heirs of so great a Happiness 4. Frequent Thoughts and Meditations of Heaven should possess the Minds of those that Hope to partake of the Happiness of Heaven 5. The greatness of the Happiness of Heaven should put Christians upon examining themselves what Right and Title they have thereunto 6. Hopes and Expectations of Heaven hereafter should reconcile to Believers the Thoughts of their own Death and moderate their Sorrows for the Death of their Godly Friends and Relations 7. Hopes of Heaven should put Christians upon unwearied Diligence that is attended with such a Reward 8. The consideration of so great a Happiness as Heaven is should cause in all Believers a Holy longing of Soul after the Enjoyment of it The Conclusion THat which remains to be Discoursed of before we come to the Conclusion of this delightful Subject is to endeavour to give some light into though not full Solution of some Questions the Answering whereof will tend much to the further illustration of the greatness of the Saints happiness in Heaven And here First Some may be inquisitive whether the Saints shall know one another in Heaven or not To this I Answer it is highly probable that the Saints shall know one another in Heaven Were Adam Enoch Noah Abraham Isaac Jacob David Hezekiah Josiah Esay Jeremiah Daniel Paul Peter John with all the rest of the Apostles Saints and Martyrs of God in all Ages of whom we have either read in Scripture or heard of in History who have been Eminent in Grace and Holiness some for their Humility some for their Meekness some for Faith some for Patience some for Self-denial some for Zeal some for Contempt of the World and the like were all these Blessed Saints of God living together at one time and in one place here on Earth as they now are in Heaven would not every Godly man be greatly desirous if it were possible to see them and to live with them especially if there were none but such among them that they might be particularly and distinctly acquainted with them and would not this Knowledge tend much to their Delight and Satisfaction surely it would And is it Irrational to suppose that when all the Saints that have lived from the beginning of the World unto the end of it shall all meet together in Heaven that they might be desirous of a particular Knowledge of one another then Or was it so Delightful and therefore so desirable a thing to be acquainted with the Saints of God particularly when they lived here on Earth when they were men of like Passions and Infirmities as we now are And will it not be a much more desirable thing to have a particular acquaintance with them in Heaven when all their Sins and Imperfections shall be done away and they have nothing in them
Grace and Holiness where thy Employment shall always be in Holy and Spiritual Delights and Exercises unto all Eternity If thou hast no believing Hopes and Expectations of such a Heaven as this is certainly thou hast no Right and Title unto that Inheritance that is incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for Believers Nothing so plainly demonstrates what men are whither they are going and unto whom they belong as the daily course of their Lives and Conversation The Apostle therefore in Galat. 5.19 20. reckoning up the Works of the Flesh which are manifest As Adultery Fornication Vncleanness Drunkenness Murder and such like of the which says he I tell you before as I have also told you in times past that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God And in 1 Corinth 6.9 10. he speaks the same thing again Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Adulterers nor Idolaters nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God And on the contrary He that doth Righteousness is of God says the Apostle 1 John 2.29 And blessed is he that doth Righteousness at all times says the Psalmist Psal 106.3 For the Grace of God that hath appeared in the Gospel having taught them to deny all ungodliness and Worldly Lust and to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World Tit. 2.12 13. Looking for the Blessed Hope and the Glorious appearance of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ These are they and only they who according to Scripture Warrant can lay any claim unto Heaven And these may for they that are made free from Sin and are become the Servants of God they have their Eruit unto Holiness and their end shall be Everlasting Life Rom. 6.23 Wouldst thou therefore know O Christian without deluding thy own Soul whether thou art one that hast a Right and Title unto Heaven call thy self to an account what thy Works and Actions are The matter is not so difficult to be resolved it may be as thou imaginest What says the Apostle Gal. 6.7 8. He that soweth unto the Flesh shall of the Flest reap Corruption And he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap Life Everlasting And the same Apostle tells us Rom. 8.13 If we live after the Flesh we shall die but if we through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the Body we shall live What now is thy way and course what is thy general carriage and practice is it earthly and vain is it sensual and wicked according to the course of the World and after the manner of the men of the World If vain and sinful Society be thy delightful Companions if wicked and ungodly ways be thy daily practice thou art not of an Heavenly Extraction nor canst thou upon Scripture grounds have any expectations of the Heavenly Glory for unto such only doth it belong who by their lives and actions declare their opposition of and contrariety unto the ways and courses of the men of this World Shew me thy Faith by thy Works says the Apostle James 2 18. Thou art one that professest to believe a Heaven and a State of blessedness to be enjoyed there and hopest thou art one that shalt be a partaker thereof hereafter shew me now thy Faith herein by thy Works and assure thy self of this That all thy Faith in and all thy Hopes of Heaven and Glory will fill thee with nothing but shame and disappointment hereafter unless they evidence themselves by Works and Actions suitable thereunto for as the Apostle says James 2.26 As the body without the Spirit is dead so all Faith in and Hope of Heaven without Works and Actions corresponding thereunto is dead also and will leave the Soul short of Heaven and Happiness Sixthly Is there such a State of Bliss and Happiness provided for and assured unto Believers in Heaven hereafter let then the consideration hereof Reconcile to them the thoughts of their own Death and moderate their sorrows for the Death of their Godly Friends and Relations First Let the consideration of the Glory and Happiness of Heaven Reconcile to a Believer the thoughts of his own Death It is no strange thing that Heathens who have only the Light of Nature to be their Instructor should not be able to overcome the Fears of Death though indeed some of them have not only expressed great Courage in contempt of but great confidence in and desire after Death though notwithstanding all their boasting we may well imagine that they speak greater things than they lived up unto much more than they died under for it is said of one of the chief of them that Eloquent Orator Cicero that a little before his Death he did ingeniously confess That those Remedies he had prepared against this Enemy Death proved he knew not how too weak and feeble to support and strengthen him in its near approach unto him And indeed it is no wonder that thus it should be with them because they were greatly in the dark as to the reality of a future State of Happiness and much more at a loss how to find the right way to attain the enjoyment thereof Nor is it any strange thing to see a wicked Man under the light of the Gospel to be afraid of Death and to lead a Life accompanied with Fears and Terrours under the thoughts of it no the wonder rather is that such a one can have any case and quietness any freedom from horrours and perplexities of Mind that he is not a Magormissabib continually every moment of his Life encompassed about with fears and terrours And indeed did he rightly understand himself and his dangerous state and condition it would be thus always with him and the greatness of his Fears and Horrours would make him go mourning all his Days But though Heathens and prophane Sinners may and have cause to be afraid of Death yet it becomes not any of the People of God who have a well grounded Hope of Heaven to be affrighted at it there being no way for them to attain unto that State of Blessedness but by Dying I have read concerning the Turks who are not only Strangers but Enemies to the Christian Religion that they say they do not think Heaven to be a place of that Bliss and Happiness as Christians do profess to believe it is because they see so many that call themselves by the Name of Christian so backward and unwilling to go to it O what a disgrace is this unto Christianity and how should it concern Christians to labour with great industry to overcome all inordinate fears of Death that they may wipe off this reproach that is cast upon the most excellent Religion in the World and that which only can enable any to Die comfortably and joyfully upon the Hopes of a future State of Happiness All a Believer's fears of
ever known that a Man who had the use of his Reason and Understanding and had forfeited his Life to his Prince by some Treasonable Act for which he was condemned to Die and had his Life proferred him if on such a Day he would come and submit himself to his Sovereign and ask his Pardon and instead of so doing he should rather choose to spend that Day among his sinful and riotous Companions in Drinking and Gaming and so lose the opportunity of saving of his Life Such Acts of Folly as these are committed by any Men would make them unpitied and unlamented under the extremity of Miseries and Sorrows that should befal them thereupon But the generality of Men in these cases are more wise and considerative than thus to ruine and undo themselves O then let it not lie any longer as a reproach upon Christians that the Men of the World are wiser in their Generation than the Children of Light Why shouldst not thou O Christian be as careful and prudent in thy Spiritual Concerns as the Men of the World are in their Temporal Concerns Is not Heaven of as much worth and value as Earth Is not thy Right and Title to an Eternal Inheritance above of as great moment to thee as a Title to an Earthly Inheritance here below is unto them Is not the Love and Favour of God as much to be prized and endeavoured after as the Favour of an Earthly Prince Is not the Salvation and Happiness of thy Soul in Heaven to all Eternity of as great importance as the saving of a short Temporal Life of the Body which with the improvement of the utmost care and diligence that can be used cannot long be kept from falling into corruption and rottenness What then canst thou render as a Reason of thy carelessness and negligence herein Surely thy Folly is as much greater than theirs as Heaven is better than Earth and the enjoyment of God to Eternity is better than the enjoyment of the World for a short moment of time The Blessedness and Happiness therefore propounded to thy consideration being of the greatest concernment that ever was or can be proposed unto any the despising yea the slighting and neglecting of an offer of such rich Grace and Bounty is that which shall be punished with infinitely far greater misery and torment than ever yet was inflicted upon any yea or upon all Mankind in the World put together Were it possible to make up a Misery and Torment of all the Rage and Malice that ever Men or Devils since the Creation invented or executed upon any yea and add to it the sum the quintessence and extremity of all those Pains and Diseases both of Body and Mind that the Justice of the Holy and Righteous God hath justly and righteously inflicted upon any yea upon the whole Race of Mankind from the beginning of the World unto this Day and let all this be laid upon one Man and he strengthened and enabled to live under all those Pains and Torments in the extremity of them for a thousand years Who would not say this Man were a miserable Man indeed Why truly such nay ten thousand times far greater shall be the Eternal never-ending Misery and Torment of that Man who finally persists in his contempt and slighting of Heaven and Eternal Happiness and so do all those whose pains and care is not with diligence and industry laid out in securing to themselves an interest in the Heavenly Inheritance For certainly the utmost extremity of Desires and Endeavours is due unto and ought to be laid out in the pursuit of an extremity of Bliss and Happiness and such is Heaven and the Blessedness there to be enjoyed it being that which will fill and satisfie the Desires and Cravings of the Soul unto the utmost to all Eternity I have no more to say to thee O Christian Reader than this if neither the greatest extremity of misery that can be endured yea the enduring of all Miseries and Torments heaped up together not for Thousands or Millions of years but to an endless duration never to expire will not move thee to look after Heaven nor yet the Happiness and Blessedness yea the Eternity of an inexpressible and unconceivable Happiness and Blessedness that there is and shall be for ever enjoyed by the Saints in Glory and may be also enjoyed by thee if thou art wise and prudent if thou art diligent and careful in improving thy time and opportunities If I say thine own Interest thine own Misery or Happiness will not move nor work upon thee to bestir thy self to make sure of Heaven and Eternal Life I know not what will neither do I know what to say more unto thee However I shall turn my Advice and Counsel to thee into Prayer unto God for thee whoever thou art that shalt read this Discourse that God would graciously be pleased to open thine Eyes and shew thee convincingly and powerfully by a Work of his own Spirit on thy Heart thy great Misery if thou persist in thy neglect of Heaven and thy great Happiness and Blessedness if thou embrace and close with the offers thereof before it be too late Which God of his infinite Mercy grant unto all those that shall read this Discourse for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake who by his Death and Sufferings hath purchased this Heaven and this Happiness and is thereby become the Author of Eternal Salvation to all those that believe in him and obey him Amen FINIS Books lately Printed for Nathanael Ranew at the King 's Arms in St. Paul's Church-Yard PRactical Preparation for Death The Wisdom and Interest of Christians The Folly and Misery of those that are negligent therein The great benefits of a Life spent in a daily Preparation for our latter end with Motives and Directions for the performance thereof Discourses or Sermons on several Scriptures By Ezekiel Hopkins late Lord Bishop of London-Derry In Octavo An Exposition on the Ten Commandments with other Sermons By Ezekiel Hopkins late Lord Bishop of London-Derry In Quarto The Holy Life of Mrs. Elizabeth Walker late Wife of Dr. Walker of Fyfield in Essex giving an Account of her exemplary Piety and Charity with some useful Papers and Letters written by her self upon several occasions The Naked Gospel Discovering 1. What was the Gospel which our Lord and his Apostles Preached 2. What Additions and Alterations latter Ages have made in it 3. What Advantages and Damages have thereupon ensued Of Faith Of the Trinity The Incarnation of our Blessed Saviour And the Resurrection of the Body Published by Arthur Bury D. D. Rector of Exeter College in Oxford The Vertuous Woman Or the Life of the most excellent Lady Mary late Countess of Warwick To which are annexed some of her Ladyships pious and useful Meditations Aurea Legenda Or Apophthegms Sentences and Sayings of many Wise and Learned Men useful for all Persons Collected out of many Authors by Samuel Clerk In Twelves Redemption of Time the Duty and Wisdom of Christians Or a practical Discourse shewing what special Opportunities ought to be redeemed what mis-spendings of time are to be avoided with convincing Reasons quickning Motives and proper Directions for the right improvement of precious Time By John Wade In Octavo The Danger of Delaying Repentance A Sermon Preached to the University at St. Mary's in Oxford By Arthur Bury D. D. Rector of Exeter College in Oxford In Quarto An earnest and compassionate suit for forbearance to the Learned Writers of some Controversies at present By the Bishop of Cork and Rosse In Quarto The End