were so amaz'd at the proposal of those terrors for it that he breaks out into the discontented expressions of the Text And David said unto Gad I am in a great strait Had it not been for Sin Death had never fetcht his circuits through the world Neither Adam or any of his sons had never come under his power 'T was Sin that brought in those terrible Harbengers of Death those various kindes of sicknesses to afflict mankinde For as the shadow follows the body so plagues attend Sin and had the cause been wanting which is Sin the effects had never been which is Misery There had been no sweeping away of mankinde by Sword or Famine Famine should never have conquered his thousands or the Sword his ten thousands There should have been no wasting Consumption no grievous Gout nor groaning Stone or tormenting Collick no burning Feaver or quaking Ague nor trembling Palsie or loathsome Jaundies nor a thousand other Infirmities and Casualties which now attend frail man to his Grave But this is not all for Death eternal also is the reward of Sin which is the second Death Rev. 20.14 and may well be term'd a death and no death being a privation from all that 's good or to a life desirable and a constancy in suffering that which is evil even intollerable torments that shall never know either end or measure impossible for life to suffer did not an infinite Justice keep the tortured from dying for there the best company shall be Devils and the best musick Blasphemy The ear shall be entertained with the grievous screeches of parties condemned and hideous howlings of woful Devils the eye with no better prospect then damned Ghosts the taste with no greater dainties then grievous hunger the smell with no choiser odours then sulphurous brimstone and the feeling with those terrible extreams of burning and gnashing of Teeth In a word 't is a death because they are excommunicated from such glory as the wit of man is not able to express and 't is a life too or rather a living death because they are alive to endure such hellish torments as the learnedst pen is not abâ—e to delineate nor the eloquentest tongue to describe the rarest wit to imagine or the knowingest mortal to define Ever to be dying yet never dye This this shall be the unrepentant sinners portion Matth. 25.41 Rev 20 10. To conclude since the effects of sin reach not onely to heap plagues upon the sinner here but also everlasting torments upon soul and body hereafter â—hat manner of persons ought we to he in all holy conversation My advice is that we shun thâ—t cause which brings such sad effects avoid sin that we never partake of those plagues as the rewards of it And in order hereunto that we set a narrow watch over our thoughts words and actions that we give not way to the least temptation but kills this cockatrice in the egge destroy sin in the birth get the mastery of every corruption and bid defiance to the destructive alurements of our immortal enemy And because all of us brought such a load of gilt with us into the world as without an infinite mercy would sink us into that place whence is no redemption and being not of our selves not able so much as to think a good thought let 's make our addresses to that all sufficient Saviour who for our sakes wrought glorious salvation conquered Death Sin and Satan foiled the powers of darkness and led the devils in Triumph as his Captives Hos 13.14 1 Cor. 15.57 Let 's endeavour to have an interest in him that his merits may be imputed unto us and we may be cloathed with the long white robes of his righteousness Rev. 4.4 That at the great day of Audit we may hold up our heads with joy before that bar whence the wicked shall be sentenc't and rejoyce that all straits are at an end and all our miseries out of date that our sins and death are laid in one grave ever to be forgotten and forgiven and are now ready to take livery and seizin of that glorious incorruptible and unfading Inheritance which the Lion of the Tribe of Judah the Captain of the Lords host and of our salvation hath purchast for us and be ever enjoying that glory which Moses so earnestly desired onely to behold and eternally chant forth Halle lujahs to the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity to whom be ascrib'd by Men and by Angels here and hereafter all Honour and Glory Thanksgiving and Obedience World without End Balaams happy Wish ANDVnhappy End A Meditation on Numb 23.10 Let me dye the death of the Righteous and let my latter end be like hiâ— THese words were utter'd by Balaam the son of Beor of Mesopotamia the notedst Conjuror of those times whom Balak King of Moab sent for to curse Israel and being come for that purpose from the Mountains of the East to the high places of Baal beholds a glimpse of Heavens Glory and Israels happiness discovers better wages then Balak could give him greater preferment then Balak could exalt him to and infinitely more honour then was at Balaks disposal Balaam being in an extasie and as it were ravisht with the glory which he sees turns his prophesie into a prayer and his prayer is this Let me dye the death of the righteous and let my latter end be like his Were these the words of a Sorcerer a better mouth might have spoke it we may well admire that so sweet a saying should proceed from so foul a mouth that such a flower of Paradise should grow on such a Dunghil that a stranger and an enemy to the God of Israel and the People of Israel should so excellently set forth the glory of the one and the happiness of the other and that he should have so much of heaven in so short a prayer Let me dye c. 'T was our Saviours question Matth. 7.16 Do men gather Grapes of Thorns or Figs of Thistles Here 's a Thorn brings forth Grapes an Inchanter with the expressions of a Prophet How can we sufsiciently admire the wisdome and power of God in making wicked men to sound forth his praises even the Devil himself to set forth the glory of the Father and proclaim the divinity of the Son Hard hearted Pharaoh must confess his power the Magicians his works and Balaam shall be sensible of his glory witness his Petition Let me dye c. A foul breath may make a Trumpet sound sweetly a crackt Bell may toll in others to Church a stinking carcase may have a honey-comb in it and a Sorcerer may speak good Divinity I am sure Balaam did and a prayer as excellent Let me dye the death of the righteous and let my latter end be like his Hence observe that we are not to judge of any man by his words or pass our verdict by the out-side for many cry Templum Domini with their mouths that have the Devil in
for posterity to read Judas Iscariot who also was the Traytor Matth. 10.4 And God is so just that he will not act that himself for which he so severely punishes others for being guilty of But secondly did God move David to number the people and doth he yet punish that sin of Davids with the death of no less then seventy thousand Men Is he so severe in punishing that sin of which himself is the Author I answer in the 2 Sam. 24.1 't is said That God moved David to number the people and in the 1 Chron. 21.1 't is said That Satan tempted David to number the people For the reconciling of these Scriptures you are to take notice that God is said to move David to number the people because he did for a little withdraw the Arms of his Protection from him left him to himself and permitted Satan to tempt him who fraught with malice enough against David proves successful in his attempts and brings David to commit this sin And for further confirmation of this Truth I shall borrow an Arrow out of a Learned Quiver and demonstrate the several kindes of Tempters with the various natures of their Temptations God Satan Man the World and the Flesh are all said to tempt God temps Man to try his obedience Satan temps Man to draw him from obedience Men tempt men to try what is in them and Men tempt God by distrusting his Power The World is a Tempter to keep Man from God and the Flesh is a Tempter to bring him to the Devill So God tempted Abraham in the offering of his Son Satan tempted Job in the loss of his Goods A Queen tempted Solomon in trying his wisdom The Israelites tempted God by unbelief in the Desert The World tempted Demas when he forsook the Apostles and the flesh tempted David when he fell by Adultery and his own corruptions together with the instigation and sollicitation of Satan tempts him to commit this sin for which God was so highly displeased with him that he sent such a harsh summons to him that instead of answering he breaks out in the language of the Text And David said c. And thus have I fairly remov'd this great block out of the way at which many have stumbled and many more might have fallen what now remains but that I onely in brief set down the sad effects of sin in general to all mankinde and so I le conclude But by the way I must crave leave of my Readers to make a short digression briefly to shew how glorious man was by Creation how happy in his state of Innocency how great his fall and how miserable the effects of it and that shall be my conclusion Man was created a glorious Creature and heir to much happiness put in a state of innocency seated in an earthly Paradise and placed as a Monarch over all the Creatures that God made except those blessed Angels that are resident in a higher Sphere the Beasts of the Field and the Fowls of the Air the Fish in the Sea and all Creeping things did him homage and he gave them their Names The place of his Residence the Garden of Eden a fit Emblem of that Celestial Paradise that is above there being all the varieties that heart could wish or desire to make a life happy without either carking or caring moiling or toiling sighing or sorrowing and to make his happiness compleat he was to continue without the limits of Threescore Years and Ten or Fourscore Years his Body no less immortal then his Soul Here was a happy life indeed where there was no Sicknes to torment no Death to affright or Devil able to hurt And as a further addition to his Happiness that nothing might be wanting that may any way conduce to his well being a beloved companion is given him with such a body and such a soul as he had for his perpetual consort to keep him from the dumps of melancholly and be a constant sharer with him in all his felicity Adam thus happy the fruit of every tree in that glorious Eden onely one excepted was for his use and to eat of that one tree was death to himself and posterity This tree stood in the midst of the Garden and served as a touchstone to try their obedience The Devil not long before thrown from Heaven for his pride perplext not more at his own misery then mans happiness envying that Man a creature inferiour to him by creation should usurp his place to fill up that room or shine in that Orb whence himself was cast resolves to work his wits to bring Man as miserable as himself and thus he manages the design he gets into the Serpent so climbs the tree waits his opportunity and sets upon the Woman tells her the tree is handsome the fruit beautiful and the taste much more delightful and finding her not so tractable as he desired further bespeaks her thus Fear not the threats or menaces of thy Creator for no evil shall acrue to thee or thine by eating the lovely fruit of this fair tree Do not make me believe a thing I know to be false tell not me of dying the death 't is no such matter for when you have once tasted you shall be no longer servants of him that made you but Lords and Masters of your selves and every way as great and as good as he that made you Were not trees made for fruit and what was fruit made for but to eat then why not this as well as others And thus by the alluring speeches of this subtil deceiver the Woman is deluded Adam perverted the most high God highly dishonoured and all mankinde without an infinite mercy ruined she tastes and gives her husband with her and he did eat And so man that was so fearfully and wonderfully made and in so happy and glorious condition hath forfeited all by this one act of disobedience is become a Map of perfect misery so that as one wittily observes man is shut out of the doors of his everlasting habitation for two pretty toyes an Apple and a Woman And now the judgements of God like a troop pursue him and his posterity and all the miseries and calamities of this life and that to come follow close at his heels as the effect and reward of sin and brings him to such a Non-plus being loaded with so much gilt and attended with so many judgements and therefore no wonder to see him cast down and dejected Wherefore doth a living man mourn or complain was a Prophets question and 't is sadly answered by himself A man for the punishment of his sin Lam. 3.39 I have sinned and what shall I say unto thee O thou preserver of men sayes Job Wo unto us for we have sinned cryes the Church Lament 5.16 David cryes That his sins were gone over his head and become a burthen too heavy for him to bear and therefore after his committing this sin no wonder if he
THE PILGRIMS PASS To the New JERUSALEM OR The serious CHRISTIAN his Enquiries after HEAVEN With his Contemplations on himself reflecting on his Happiness by CREATION Misery by SIN Slavery by SATAN and Redemption by CHRIST Together with Observations on the Vanity and Inconstancy of worldly Glory And Considerations on the Saint and Sinner as to their disagreeing conditions and dispositions here their various Entertainments of Death and different Rewards after Death Relating to those four last and great things of Death Judgement Hell and Heaven Seasonable for these Times By M. R. Gent. Phil. 3.14 I press towards the mark c. 1 Cor. 9.24 So run that ye may obtain London Printed by R. W. for the Author and are to be sold by John Andrews at the White Lion near Pye-Corner and by William Lugger at the Sign of the Kings Head over against the Shire-Hall in the City of Hereford 1659. To all those that love the Peace of Zion and welfare of Jerusalem Grace and Peace be multiplied FRIENDS THe Life of a Christian is not onely Speculative but Active speculation and action like the Soul and Body attend each other in performing the Duties of Christianity The most Wise God hath ordered and determined a set time for Man upon earth to fit and prepare himself for an everlasting condition how then are we all concern'd to redeem that short time we have allowed us which we know not how soon may be taken from us to enter into a strict examination of our wayes knowing that one day all our thoughts words and actions even our most retired and secret sins shall be exposed to the view both of Men and Angels O Time one of the most glorious things that ever God made how many blessed and glorious Spirits are now in Heaven for making a right use of thee And how many damned Ghosts are now in Hell for abusing thee who would now give a thousand worlds had they so many to dispose of for to have that opportunity we now enjoy to improve thee For mine own part I am but a yong Man who came into the world but as yesterday ere to morrow for ought I know may be taken hence For how many dayes are alloted me upon Earth none but the Ancient of days know wherefore during my continuance in this Tabernacle I desire to walk circumspectly that when my Lord shall come to call me to a reckoning I may like a good steward be found faithful of the charge committed to me You know his doom that hid his Talent in a Napkin It was in this consideration that I did now put Pen to Paper and raised my contemplations above the things of this world to those of a better in order to the gaining and attaining a right and title to that glorious undefiled and unfading Inheritance purchaste for Believers in the highest Heavens Let not any taxe me of Ambition for exposing my Lines to Publike view and my self to open Censure 'T was not to get me a Name but to further the weak Christian in his approaches towards Heaven Neither let any contemn the Work of this Author for the Author of this Work but remember that God can by weal means perform great matters Ravens those unclean Birds by the Law were Caterers to Elijah in his extremity at the Brook Cherith brought him bread and meat to sustain him he neither scorn'd those strange kinde of Purveyors or the Viands which they brought but admired the hand that sent it The Gifts and Graces of Gods Spirit are not to be slighted where ever found I speak not this by way of Ostentation but with a desire that my Readers would judiciously read ere they rashly censure and instead of carping at my failings correct their own that Love which covers a multitude of faults may cast the favourablest construction on mine 'T is Charity to judge well of others and Piety to look well to our selves If any thing of worth appear in me more then in the meanest person upon earth attribute it to him who is the giver of every good and perfect gift What have we that we have not received And let me further request you that after the clashing of Armor thunderings of Canons sound of Drums and the alarm of Trumpets you would in this your day enquire after your everlasting Peace and contest no longer about Niceties Circumstances and Shadows not worth contending for but for that one thing necessary which will reward your labours with no less then a Crown Our present division is a sad Omen of our future miseries and our â—…y unity would abundantly faciliate our desired felicity I wish we did all practise what we all profess Faith and Love we should all procure what we all desire Truth and Peace were we all united in the Tri-une-God we should not be thus divided one from another The Lord in his good time compose all our Differences that Malice Errour and Debate may return to the cursed Womb whence they deriv'd and all our Strife may end in this to excel each other in the power of Godliness and Christian Love For my Conclusion let me request you to vouchsafe a serious perusal of this small Manual and the Lord make it in some measure beneficial to you for next the Glory of God your good is chiefly aimed at by the Author And if this finde civil entetainment I shall if God prolong my life to finish what I have begun present you with something else In the mean time accept this as the earnest of his Love who subscribes himself Your Servant in our Immanuel M. R. The Contents of the following Book 1. ABrahams Profession and the Pilgrims Condition Or the inquiring Sojourner Directed A Meditation on Gen. 23.4 2. The Young Mans Monitor and Olds Mans Admonisher A Meditation on Eccles 12.1 3. Sin the cause of Sorrow and Death the effect of Sin A Meditation on 2 Sam. 24.14 4. Balaam's happy Wish and unhappy End A Meditation on Numb 23.10 5. The meritorious Ransom or the unparalleld Sufferings of the Son of God for the sons of Men. A Meditation on 1 Tim. 1.15 6. Observations on the Vanity and Inconstancy of worldly Glory 7. Considerations on the Saint and Sinner as to their disagreeing conditions and dispositions here their various entertainments of Death and different Rewards after Death reflecting on the Temporizing Professor illustrated and interlaced with the Historical Examples of Dying men 8. Godliness bearing its Rewards with it both here and here after and Sins pursuit of the Sinner to the other world Of the last Judgement and those succeding Events that ensue thereupon A Meditation on 1 Tim. 4.8 To his Judicious Friend the Author TO praise thy Work I need not though Divine It is enough I tell the world 't was thine Good Wine needs not a Bash the more I look The more I love the more I like thy Book So grave so wise in Youth Nature did place An August in thy Pen
in its sable Robes to the Old Man The Young Mans Sun is but newly risen the Old Mans is ready to set the Young Mans glass is but newly turned up the Old Mans sand is almost run out the Young Man is but newly come from the Grave of the Womb the Old Man is ready to go to the Womb of the Grave But it will be objected that the Young Man often leaves the World as soon as come in it onely begins to breathe and so breathes his last that many go away as well at the dawning of the day as at the approaches of the night and at Cocks crowing as in the afternoon and that the Young Mans Sun doth often set when but newly risen and his sand run out when his glass is but new turn'd up and that the Womb oftentimes become his Tomb. I grant all this that Young Men may dye by casualty or otherwise as manifold examples before our eyes do hourly manifest Young Men may dye but Old men must dye for nature is almost extinguisht in them and in all probability they cannot hold out long What are those gray Hairs but so many Monitors of their approaching Mortallity What are the shrinking of the Veins the coldness of the Blood the wasting of the Flesh the wrinkles in the Skin the numness of the Joynts the stiffness of the Limbs the weakness of the Sinews and the aches in the Bones but so many harbengers of death or friendly Memento's to minde them of their Graves and that those dayes are now come in which they may truly say They have no pleasure in them And what a time is this for repentance when the tongue begins to faulter deafness hath possest the ears dimness vail'd the eyes and the memory departed I confess 't is good to call upon God at any time even on our death-beds but 't is better that we make our peace with God ere sickness attache us Physicians observe that grief in time of sickness is the greatest enemy of health the greatest hinderer of Physick and the greatest hastner of death Indeed we should be ever prepar'd for that ere it comes that when we come to lie upon our sick beds there may be no discontent at it or disturbance in it and nothing to be done but to lie down and dye Late repentance is seldome good I will not say never true The example of the Thief upon the Cross forbids me that whom we know repented at the last hour he was saved at the last minute that none might despair and but he he had no fellow though another dyed with him thaâ— none might presume I will say of late repentance what a Father long since said in another case As their damnation is not certain so their salvation is doubtful My conclusion shall be this though you cannot remember this discourse be sure not to forget the Foundation on which 't is built Remember now thy Creator in the dayes of thy Youth Sin the Cause of Sorrow AND Death the Effect of Sin A Meditation on 2 Sam. 24.14 MY Contemplations are now fallen amongst Davids troubles and this I am now to treat of not the least he was a man that went through many afflictions and underwent many and great sufferings but neither time or the narrow limits I am confin'd to will give me leave to descant upon all his Troubles I shall therefore onely glance at some and speak home to this which may be term'd the greatest But before I treat of the Troubles of this man I shall speak something of this Man of Troubles give a short description of the Man then of his Sufferings The first mention we have of Davids name is in the 1 Sam. 16.11 and there we finde him under a four-fold description who he is what he was whence he was and when he liv'd First for his Parentage or Pedegree he was the son of Jesse the son of Obed c. of the Tribe of Judah and the youngest son of his Father Secondly for his Profession a Shepherd as most of his Fathers were before him but he soon relinquisht that kinde of life exchang'd his Crook for a Scepter and his Sheep-fold for a Throne became a publique Person and grew so famous that all places sounded with his Praises That 't were now but time lost to stand playing with his name or to use much discourse upon it for all that hear him mentioned know that he was a Prophet and a King and all other descriptions or definitions were altogether needless Thirdly for his Countrey he was of Bethlehem a City scituate in that Countrey which was the most renowned of the World and in the various dispensations of Gods Providence underwent several denominations For as an eminent Author judiciously observes it was first called the Land of Canaan from Canaan the son of Cham. Secondly the Land of Promise because the Lord had promised it to Abraham and his seed Thirdly Israel of the Israelites so called from Jacob who was surnamed Israel Fourthly Judea from the Jews or people of the Tribe of Judah Fifthly Palestine quasi Philistim the Land of the Philistims a potent Nation that once inhabited it And now sixthly The Holy Land because that herein was wrought the Work of our Redemption Now whether the Regality of the tribe of Judah was so predominant as to give a Name to the whole Countrey I determine not but this is certain that the little City of Bethlehem the place of Davids Nativity and thence called the City of David belonged unto and was a part of that Portion or Inheritance denomited to that Tribe when first this Countrey was conquer'd by the son of Nun. Fourthly the time when he lived it was in the dayes of King Saul upon whose disobedience David is by Gods appointment and approbation anointed King but not Sauls Competitor but Successor David did long shroud himself among the sheep-cotes ere he came to the Kingdom and for no short time in an ambitious eye did he content himself with the garb of a shepherd after he was anointed ere he was known to be a King or the son-in-law to one but the rayes of his fame did shine from under the mean veil of a shepherd that he could not be long concealed but the world must be witness of his glory Sauls Reign was very troublesome perpetual Wars betwixt him and the Philistines all his dayes and this shall make way for Davids greatness God many times keeps the best men for the worst times he loves to help at a dead lift and therefore David shall act for him at such a time when Saul and all Israel are at their wits ends then forth comes David arm'd with the power of Jehovah does wonders even to admiration turns the Israelites Fears into Triumphs and their Enemies Brags into Lachryma's The manner thus The Philistines had invaded the Land and put their Armies in a posture of Battle and King Saul having also assembled the Israelites to give
is briefly this That sin is the cause of sorrow or that all the miseries that ever hapned unto mankinde came by sin which I shall clearly demonstrate both by Scripture Reason and Experience with such perspicuous clearness as none but a son of contention will contradict 'T was sin that excluded Adam out of Paradise Gen. 3.24 Brought a deluge on the old world Gen. 7.12 Fire and Brimstone upon Sodom Gen. 19 24. Plagues upon Egypt Exod. 7.20 Destruction upon Pharaoh Exod. 14.28 Ruine upon Jericho Josh 6.24 And so many miseries upon Eli and his family that to hear would make the ears of any Israelite to tingle 1 Sam. 3.12 'T was sin that made Saul lose two Crowns the one on earth the other in heaven That brings a catologue of plagues on the head of the sinner Deut. 28.16 Makes the whole creation groan Rom. 8.22 Made the Sun withdraw himself the pale-fac't Moon to hide her head the twinkling Stars to disappear the Rocks to rend the Graves to open the vail of the Temple to part a general darkness to take place over the whole world brought the whole fabrick of heaven and earth out of course the Lord of Glory to a shameful end and the Prince of Life to an infamous death Luke 23.46 In a word I may truly say of sin as Abner did of war Knowest thou not that it will bring bitterness in the latter end 2 Sam. 2.26 God is so severe against sin that he would not spare his own Son when he undertook for the sins of the world and is so just in his chastising of sinners that he gives plagues answerable to the offence that oftentimes the world may read the sin by the punishment Instance the Sodomites who burnt with unnatural lust man with man therefore Hell comes from Heaven Fire and Brimstone out of Heaven upon Sodom Gen. 19.24 Pharaoh orders all the Hebrew males to be drown'd and he and his host are serv'd so in the Red Sea Exod. 14.21 Adonibezek in his wanton cruelty cut off the fingers and toes of seventy Kings and made them scramble for the crumbs of his Table and in the manner did God requite him 't is his own acknowledgement Judg. 1.7 Abimelech kills his seventy brethren upon one stone and his own brains are dasht out with a stone from the Tower of Thebes thrown by a Woman Judg. 9.53 Sauls sword slue eighty five of the Lords Priests and does the like courtesie for him 1 Sam. 31.4 Ahab and Jezabel who conspired to fool Naboth at once both of his Life and Vineyard ere long the dogs lick their blood on the plat of ground they so bloodily purchast 1 Kings 22.38 c. Zimri conspir'd against his master King Elah and put him to death for his Crown reigned but seven dayes but is forc't to be his own executioner 1 Kings 16.15 Queen Athaliah slayes all the blood Royal and she her self is sent with violence into another world to answer for her cruelty in this 2 Kings 11.20 Haman makes a Gallows of fifty Cubits high for Mordecai and sues for a general Massacre of all the Jews himself meets with a violent and infamous death on the Gallows he had prepared for Mordecai Esth 7.10 Those Persian presidents that conspired against Daniel to have him thrown into the den of Lions are themselves cast in and tore in pieces ere they came to the ground Dan. 6.24 Nebuchadnezzars pride transported himself beyond himself therefore Gods Justice brings him lower then a man makes him a beast by name that before was one in nature Dan. 4.33 Herods pride made him forget he was a man and therefore an Angel from the Lord makes him know himself to be but a man or rather a worm and smites one worm with many till he dyes Acts 12.23 'T was Jerusalems sin to stone the Prophets and her punishment was answerable not to have one stone upon another Mat. 23.37 The Judge objects against those on the left hand I was a stranger and ye took me not in naked and ye cloathed me not sick and in prison and ye visited me not and therefore their punishment is to finde no mercy themselves that would afford none to others and are for ever excluded the Judges presence and all happiness at once Mat. 25.41 Thus just is God in making the punishments so suitable to the sins But here is one Objection ready to be thrown into my way which I must not pass by without answering Doth God so severely punish sin and he the authour of all The Prophet Amos asks the question Can there be evil in the city and God hath not done it Amos 3.6 And that word when 't is put as an Interogatory in the beginning either of a Verse or Sentence 't is the highest affirmation and confirmation of a following Negative turth Instance Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burnt Can a man that is old return a second time into his mothers womb and be born again Can we bring a clean thing out of an unclean a pure Spring from a polluted Fountain surely no. Can there be evil in the city and God hath not done it there cannot And did God move David to commit the sin of numbering the People and doth he yet punish that sin of Davids with the death of no less then seventy thousand men Is he so severe against that sin of which himself is the authour I answer 'T is the greatest blasphemy imaginable to make God the Authour oâ— sin Let not any man when he is tempted say I am tempted of God for God cannot bâ— tempted of evil neither tempteth he any to evil James 1.13 You are to know that there are two sorts of evils the evil of Sin and the evil of Punishment the one proper to God the other incident to man We read of several in Scripture that did evil in the sight of the Lord there is the evil of Sin and then we read how God did inflict judgements upon them for those sins there was the evil of Punishment The guilt of the one requires the Justice of the other Again God is said to be the Authour of sin because he swayes all the actions of men and were he pleased he could take off the sinner in the heat and height of his sin and with a word as he made the World of nothing bring all that is therein to nothing no sin can be committed or cruelty acted without his permission And here by the way you are to take notice of a great Truth viz. That God permits many things to be done which he doth not approve of when they are done and to make this plain to the meanest capacities I could heap multitudes of Examples to confirm it I am not ignorant that many have measured the justness of a Cause by the success of it and because God for the sins of a Nation or other reasons best known to his Divine wisdom oftentimes suffer
their hearts and the Devil himself sometimes counterfeits an Angel of light Many make a fair profession of Christianity that speak well hear much and understand more upon examination you will finde by their actions that they have meerly a form of godliness but deny the power of it that at best will appear but like the Devil in Samuels Mantle We use to say that all is not gold that glisters and 't is as true that all are not holy that seem so all not Saints that have demure looks and specious pretences Our Saviour hath told us that the tree is known by his fruit and God that searches the reins knows the heart and judges of the outward actions by it Balaams words bespeak him both a Prophet and a Saint and he did as clearly prophesie of Christ as any Prophet of the Lord either before or after him and 't is thought by some that his Prophecy of a Star to rise out of Jacob c. drew those Persians King to attend the motion of that Star that appeared at our Saviours Incarnation 'T is most certain that Balaam spake so well that no man could speak better yet he could speak so bad that the Devil himself could not speak worse as when he advised the Moabites to send their Daughters to commit whoredom with the Israelites which occasioned the death of twenty four thousand Hebrews And so I pass from the Speakers description to the description of his Speech The speaker was Balaam and his speech or rather his prayer was Let me dye the death of the righteous and let my latter end be like his Balaam is so taken with the rayes of that Glory he beholds at a distance that he grows impatient No more of life nothing in it so desirable No more of this world he sees more glory in the next and therefore courts death to convey him to that glory which he so much longs for Let me dye c. What could he not dye without asking leave without much intreaty death was ready to attend him and for want of help he might have been his own executioner and as King Saul did a long time after made his own sword to have given him his Mittimus to the grave No Balaam as bad as he was would not lay violent hands on himself he knew that God would not entertain any runnagate or straggling sons that came without his call That God who infus'd a living Soul into our Bodies when we began to be will not have that soul come forth till he require it 'T is written Revel 3.21 To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my Throne even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his Throne To him that overcomes not to him that runs away to him that conquers not him that flies from his colours We are now but on our way not yet in our countrey In this world we must do our work in that to come we must have our wages Here we must fight under the Banner there we must receive if we deserve it the Crown This world is a Sea of trouble that a Haven of rest and those who to avoid the troubles of this rush themselves out by laying violent hands on themselves shall never reach the happiness of that For how can God afford Mercy to those who have none for themselves Balaam would dye but how There are saith one three sorts of death the death of Nature the death of Sin and the death of Grace or rather a gracious death or the death of the Just 'T is onely the last that Balaam sues for Let me dye sayes he but no death will serve his turn but that of the Just Let me dye the death of the righteous and let my latter end be like his My latter end he is not altogether for himself he hath some care of his posterity after him he knew that God would be Abrahams exceeding great reward and that he would be the same to his seed that he was to him be the God of his seed and of his seeds seed and in them should all the Nations of the world be blessed So Balaam prayes in respect of his own particular end and for his posterity those that were come or were to come out of his loins Let my latter end be like his Now for the further amplifying of this Prayer of Balaams I shall draw these following Conclusions from it First That the Righteous dye c. Secondly That their death is happy and attended with glory Thirdly That none shall dye so but those that live so or that a holy Life is the onely prologue to a happy Death Lastly I shall present you with some short Directions how to lead such a life how to reach such a Death and this shall be my conclusion That Death is a debt of Nature to be paid by all the sons of men is so known a truth that it needs no further proof then common experience the decree hath long since gone forth that all men must once dye So sure as death sayes our common Proverb and that 's so sure that nothing more certain For of all the Priviledges that Christ purchast for the sons of men he never granted this for he himself tasted of death and so must all those do that breathe upon this earth except those onely that shall be found alive at the day of judgement which shall not dye but be chang'd None are exempted from deaths rage no honey without this gall no exaltation without this humiliation all must pass through his black Gates ere they can enter into glory And this brings me from the first conclusion to the second from the certainty of death to all mankinde to the Happiness of it to the righteous Let my latter end be like his I cannot blame Lalaam for making such wishes and it had been well for him if it had fallen so he had then been eternally happy as now miserable Indeed death to a righteous man is but a sleep for so our Saviour stiles it it puts an end to our miseries and a beginning to our joyes it cures all diseases the aking head and the fainting heart Asa of his Gout and Mephibosheth of his lameness Lazarus of his Sores and Gehazi of his Leprosie finishes that life that was a kinde of death or a passage to it and gives birth to another not subject to mutation and serves as a short bridge to conduct the Pious soul to a spacious inheritance But it may here come within the verge of an inquiry whether the righteous may desire death 't is answer'd that it may de desired not for it self but for what it brings First we may desire it as it puts a period to sin there 's no offending of God in the Grave sin will be an inmate with the choicest of Gods Saints whilst they are here but is forc't to leave them when they leave the world For as one observes sin was
the Midwife or rather the womb that brought death into the world and death must be the Grave to bury sin so the Mother is killed by the Daughter Again we may desire it as it brings us home to our Fathers house near our Head and our elder Brother so Saint Paul desir'd it Phil. 5.23 Secondly That none shall dye so but those that live so c. For as the effect follows the cause or the shadow the body so happiness is the attendant of holiness Would Balaam dye the death of the Righteous that was so far as a learned Author observes of him from living the life of the Righteous that he gave Pestilent counsel against the lives of Gods Israel and though here in a fit of compunction he seem a friend yet he was after slain by the Sword of Israel whose happiness he admires and desires to share in Carnal men care not to seek that which they would gladly finde some faint desires and short-winded wishes may be sometimes found in them but their mistake is in breaking Gods chain to sunder Holiness from Happiness Salvation from Sanctification the end from the means they would dance with the Devil and sup with Christ at night Live all their lives long in Dalilahs lap and then go to Abrahams bosom when they dye The Romanists have a saying that a man would desire to live in Italy a place of great pleasure but to dye in Spain because there the Catholick Religion as they call it is so sincerely profest And a Heathen being askt whether he would rather be Socrates a painful Philosopher or Craesus a wealthy King answer'd That for his life he would be Craesus but for the life to come Socracrates But stay not here and hereafter too you know what Father Abraham said to Dives in flames Son Remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things and therefore now must look for evil That King Balaks proffers were so liberal that Balaam was loath to forgo so fat a Morsel his mouth watred and his fingers itcht to be dealing with Balak he will ask God again and again to gain such a prize and his heart again is ravisht with Israels happiness he would fain please Balak if he might not displease God in it and partake of both but as Balak had not his will so neither had Balaam either his wages or his wish God oftentimes fools wicked men of their expectations that whilst they strive to gain the happiness of both worlds at once finde neither so here I know not how fitter to compare Balaam then to a stranger travelling a far Countrey beholds the state and magnificence of the Court but no interest in the King or to a surveyor of Lands that takes an exact compass of other mens Grounds of which he shall never enjoy a foot I shall see him sayes Balaam so shall every eye and those also that pierc't him but not as Abraham saw him and rejoyced nor as Job Chap. 19.25 The pure in heart onely see him to their comfort when Balaam beholds him it shall be with terror and though when he made this prayer his soul danc't on his lips ready to flye off yet was he never nearer heaven then those Pisgah Hills Had Balaams works been answerable to his words or his worth to his wishes he might have reacht his desires But as Saul who was once among the Prophets fell after from God so Balaam is not long in these raptures and therefore for all his devotion though he were not so wicked as to kill himself is nevertheless so unfortunate as to fall by the Sword of the Israelites even among the thickest of Gods Enemies the Midianites as you may read at large in the one and thirtieth Chapter of this Book of Numbers v. 8. There is no man so much an enemy to himself but would be happy if happiness were to be gain'd with wishing for Ask the wickedst man upon earth if he does not hope to dye well he will tell you he does and so he will if a word upon his death-bed will do it A Lord have mercy upon me but alas Heaven is not to be attained on such easie tearms Cain may be distracted for his Murder Balaam and Saul may Prophesie Ahab walk in Sack-cloth Judas Preach and do miracles and all to no purpose 't was not Esau's blubber'd eyes that could recover either his Birth-right or his Fathers blessing I cannot but reprehend their folly that spend their dayes in sin and vanity and at the point of death think to turn suddain penitents as if that would do how foully are they mistaken that think so for he that lives like a devil upon earth though under an Angels vail shall never be a Saint in Heaven So I have now done with the parts propos'd what remains but that I in brief give some short directions how to lead this happy life how to reach that happy death and so I le conclude For the certain and speedy attainment of which be pleased seriously to weigh these following instructions First be conversant in the Scriptures make that your day and your night studies and take notice of the lives of all Gods Saints and endeavours to track them in those steps which brought them to glory Make Abrahams faith and Jobs patience Eliahs zeal and Hezekiahs Integrity patterns of your immitation Let Joseph be an example of unconquer'd chastity and Moses of meekness and humility Let Davids troubles teach us to depend upon Gods Providence and Pauls perseverance not to be weary of his Corrections Remember the Character which our Blessed Saviour gave of the Baptist That he was a burning and a shining light Indeed the Saints of God in all ages have serv'd as Beacons on hills to give light to a crooked and perverse generation Oh that we could but learn by their examples to adorn our profession and we shall be no losers in the end What sayes David Marke the upright man and behold the just indeed he is worth the noting for the end of that man is peace He it is that may be truly said to leave this world like a Lamb and shall for ever be owned in a better for one of Christs fold But above all look upon him that is the Author and finisher of your Faith strive to immitate the blessed steps of the holy Jesus whose feet were ever running Gods Commandements whose hands were ever busied in works of Charity his eyes ever looking for Objects of Mercy whose Soul was ever yerning with bowels of Compassion whose discourse was alwayes gracious and guile never found in his lips And that we may be the better fitted to write after such blessed copies let us set a narrow watch over our thoughts words and actions that we offend in neither but remember that he is an Almighty and Omniscient God with whom we have to do and all things naked and bare to his all-seeing eye and that we may make a happy progress in
no heart unless harder then Adamant but must needs melt into tears at such a sight no malice except altogether implacable but would be appeas'd with such sharp and so underserved revenge I appeal to you all whether he be not an object of pitty rather then further cruelty and whether you have not greater reason to bewail his misery then increase it but this will not do No sorrows which are not mortal no sufferings which are not deadly no blood but the heart-blood can satisfie the malicious and therefore albeit crown'd with Thorns and flead with Whips they still cry Execution Execution Let him be crucified But Pilate notwithstanding these obstinate repulses again solicites them to save his life and that his arguments might be crown'd with success he changes his stile from a man of sorrows presents him as a king of sufferings that so his dignity might prevail where his miseries could not and that the majesty of the sufferer might aggravate his sufferings and their cruelty bespeaks them thus Behold your King behold a king deprived of his comforts spoiled of all his goods sold by his brethren apprehended by his subjects scourged as a villain derided as a fool Behold a King who hath no other use of majesty but to aggravate his misery Behold a King whose sufferings are as transcendent as his person Behold a King who hath suffered things bitterer then death Behold a King yea your King how he hath suffered every thing but death and shall that malice of yours pursue him even do death it self shall I crucifie your King will ye have me to bring innocent blood upon my own head as well as yours and be a sharer with you in so hateful a sin For my part I le have no hand in it and let me advise you to have none neither wherefore let me request you to desist from so bloody a design And if ye have no regard neither to his innocency sufferings nor majesty look upon your own reputations which will suffer much for putting such a person to death Do not you know I mean you that are the Doctors of the Law and the Elders of the People that the name of a King is sacred God owns it as one of his Titles and them as his Vicegerents that represent himself who is the great Monarch of Heaven and Earth and their persons as sacred as their names being subject to no Tribunal but that of Heaven no Judge but the highest Wherefore to offer violence to one that bears that Title were a piece of such unparallel'd cruelty for which your selves could produce no example nor the world a president all nations would cry shame at so horrid a fact and your own consciences would fly in your faces for committing so hainous a Crime A way then with so bloody a motion you that pretend your selves such Zealots stain not your hands with such blood nor your souls with the guilt of it left ye bring such an odium on your Nation which your selves nor posterity shall be ever able to take off But all his rhetorick will not serve turne for their guilty consciences told them that they had already done more then they could justifie Therefore the more he perswades the more they exclaim lest their King might have out-liv'd his wounds recover'd his losses and turn'd his Reed into a Scepter they earnestly importune the Judge to dispatch him Let him be be Crucified He is no King of ours If he were we should not thus prosecute him We have no King but Caesar and thou art not Caesars friend if thou let him go 'T is not his innocency nor his sorrows nor his majesty which thou so much plead'st for shall satisfie us 't is his deserved death which we sue for and nought but that shall excuse him Take thou no care if he dye unjustly the guilt shall lie on us not thee Wherefore act thou thy part perform thy office and we will ours as thou sittest in judgement to do justice express it by thy condemnation of this man Thou seest the proofs are clear and evidence perspicuous Therefore without any more delayes excuses or apologies pronounce the sentence we will see it executed Pilate finding all his reasons too short to convince unreasonable men is now brought to his last shift and that 's to make him a donative and freeman at the Petition of the People but they prefer Barrabbas a Rebel a Murderer before the Saviour of the World desire to have him Crucified who raised the dead to have the other released who destroyed the living Pilate now finding that all his projects were frustrated and no way left to save his life calls for water and washes his hands before them as innocent of his Blood but being a timerous Man affraid of the Jews lest they should mutiny or tel tales to his Master whereby he might lose either his place or Caesars favour delivers up the most unspottedperson in the world into the hands of malice to glut it self with revenge in the exercising the most exquisite torments and expatiating them to the longest thread of misery but as if all this did not adde enough to the sadness of his tragedy he must after all this dye and the worst of deaths the Cross onely inflicted on most notorious offenders and betwixt two infamous Thieves the worst sort of companions In order to which he is led forth of the holy now the bloody City Jerusalem to the place of execution bearing his own Cross his head adorn'd with his Crown of Thorns which was not at all pul'd off so it became the King of sufferings notto lay aside his imperial thorns til they were chang'd into Diadems of glory he advances Mount Calvary a place difficult in the ascent eminent apt forthe publication of shame a hil of death and dead bones where he is stript naked who cloaths the field with flowers and all the world with robes and the whole Globe with the Canopy of Heaven A gay spectacle to satisfie impious eyes who would not stay behinde but attend the hangman to see the catastrophe of this bloody tragedy he is now fastened to his Cross and heaven and earth all creatures in both vailed in blacks to lament his obsequies as if terrified at his sufferings whilst menand devils conspire to increase them that he might have no sense but that of misery How are all his senses at once tormented in him and he in all of them his eies in seeing nothing but what disconsolated and afflicted him either his enemies rejoycing at his sufferings or his friends those few poor friends he had lamenting his miseries His ears play'd upon from every side with whole volleys of fearful blasphemies If thou be the King of Israel descend from the Cross cry the Jews If thou be the Christ save thy self and us sayes one of his fellow sufferers For his smell I le not offend the nice and delicate with commemorating the noisomness of the place
but for a time they did not last alwayes every Day hath his Night every Summer its Winter every Spring his Fall and every Life his Death and as some nights are darker then other some Autumns more unseasonable some Winters more sharp and some Death 's more yea much more cruel then others be some men fall like fruit others are cut down like trees some cut up as the flower others by the root some men dye onely others with torment which is two or more deaths in one but among all deaths that ever were suffer'd never any so strange never any so sad as our Saviours was for in it both pain and patience met in their extremities pain did her worst to overcome patience and patience her best to overcome pain and yet neither had pain the upper hand though it kil'd nor patience lost though Christ dyed such was his passion that the whole world cannot sample it with its parallel for Christs pain was such as never creature felt and his patience so great as for all the forrow he felt on the Cross he is not said to have utter'd a groan there so that it may easily be discerned that patience had the victory because pain could neither make her leave the field till she list nor bring her to any conditions but her own which were most honourable Though God be crucified Life be dead and Righteousness suster all effected yet nothing done to advance the contrary party For through his body Death slue it self and Sin and Satan took their deadly wounds for now the flesh hath lost her life and sin in that his throne and death with it his sting and the grave with this his power and hell with them her keys and the devil with all his victory whilst he hangs despicably on the tree of shame the powers of hell are dragg'd captive after the triumphant Chariot of his Cross Well might he therefore say 'T is finished for the Satisfaction is full Salvation sure Sin is nail'd Hell foil'd Satan chain'd the World baffled the Flesh wounded Death slain the Grave buried and every Adversary-power conquer'd by Christ Triumphant over all all is finished mans redemption compleated and that perfected he came about This is a true saying and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners But what is all this to us what is it to know that Christ is a Saviour if he be not ours what to know that he came to save the world if we are not one of the world he came to save what to know that his death is satisfactory to expiate the Justice of his Father if we have no interest in it I answer that as Christ hath done his part so must we do ours if ever we hope to have part in his sufferings he never came to save any that had no minde of salvation or to use those means which he hath appointed for all those that shall inherit eternal life as he did both do and suffer for us 't is requisite we should either do or suffer something for him His love to us and sufferings for us were unspeakable and they justly challenge our deepest affection and admiration that he should purchase our happiness at so dear a rate as his own Blood that God should be in Gore that man might be in Bliss the Prince of Life should dye that the Childe of Death might live that he should suffer on a Cross that we might not in Hell Did he sweat for our guilt and shall not we weep for our own and dissolve into love and tears for our dying Lord. O my soul shew thy affection to him that exprest so much to thee love him above thy life to serve him think milstones light to suffer for him make tortures pleasures hate sin more then death the Crown of pride as his Throns thy hearts lust as his spear thy iron neck and evil works and wayes as his nails their habit as his hammer which drives them home into his heart and his hands and feet Think not any thing enough thou sufferest for his sake that suffer'd so much for thine Though violent Tongues were laid on our Credit Hands of Rapine on our Estates of Bondage on our Persons of Blood on our Lives be so far from shrinking at it that hadst thou for one a thousand souls give all to his service a thousand bodies all to his suffering a thousand heads all to his study a thousand hearts bate not one to thy Saviour a thousand lives lay out all to his honour Hadst thou for two two thousand hands let them all do his business two thousand feet let them all go his errands if thou shouldst not thou wert unworthy of such a Saviour Now that we may know the cause or causes of Christs coming and understand our own duty in order to the making it a happy coming to us be pleased to take notice of these following particulars There are saith one four causes of mans salvation The Efficient cause The Meritorious cause The Instrumental cause And the Final cause First the Efficient cause which is the love of God 'T was Gods love to the world that caused him to send his Son into the world Had he not loved the world he would not have permitted his Son to dye for the world And he that denied us not his Son who is Heir of all things will not deny us any thing whereof he is heir Secondly the Meritorious cause That is Christ 'T was his Merits that purchast our happiness his Blood that gives us a right and title to that glorious undefiled and unfading Inheritance which he aforehand hath taken possession of Thirdly the Instrumental cause that is Faith Christ is the onely cure of our leprous souls Faith the hand to convey his merits to us Suppose a plaister of a soveraign nature were laid by a man dangerously wounded be the plaister never so excellent he may dye of his wounds if it be not applied to him for without an active hand to apply the plaister to the sore the worth of it is not at all available Christ saith one may be compared to sope Faith to the hand of the Landress though sope in it self be of a purifying nature yet without the hand of the Landress it does nothing The Apostle tells us that we are saved by Faith but that we may understand what that saving Faith is which the Apostle speaks of we are to present it first in the Negative what 't is not then in the Affirmative what it is Not an Historical Faith onely for that the Devils and damned in hell have that shall never receive any benefit at all by the death of Christ they know that Christ came into the world and that he suffered and that a day will come in which he shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire when he shalâ— take vengeance on all the ungodly of the earth and compleat their torments Not a Temporary
nor railing Rabshake's shall come there to belch infectious gorges forth to poison the hearts of any subjects in that Kingdom of glory No Polubragmatical Michiavelians nor crafty Boutefews shall interrupt that Kingdoms endlesse peace No bold Sejanus can insinuate into that glorious presence to corrupt it No male-contented Cataline can lurk there either to traduce the glorious Majesty of the King of kings or to seduce inferiour Officers Nor is there any warlike Ammunition magazin'd there No Civil Warrings can destroy that glorious Kingdom nor can any factious Jarrings deface that glorious Church No new-fangled Athenians nor schismatical Corinthians can disturb the unity or destroy the uniformity of that Church No over-mastering Pope nor undermining Jesuit no new Church-making Familist nor no Church-making Atheist can gain such favour or get such footing there as to eject the settled Saints and work the ruine of all the Church No ravenous Wolves in sheeps clothing can creep by any Postern-gates into that fold to flea or fleece the flock and mistake feeding on them for feeding of them Nothing that worketh any abomination can come there and therefore every thing that tendeth towards the grand abomination of desolation must needs be for ever excluded thence the glory of all there must last for ever and all in that glory must live for ever being free from sin they shall be from death from death spiritual in it from death temporal by it and from death eternal for it that presence of the ever-living God doth set them free from all for ever there is no dying they that are there are sure to live for ever the glorified Saints shall never be reduc't to a nullity those crowned personages shall not be folded up in a confused Chaos death has no power here they are free from the sting of death and from the stroke free from all tendencies unto death and from all fears of dying Now who would not gladly live in such a priviledg'd place where that boldest Sergeant Death cannot come to arrest Such is the sanctuary of Gods glorious presence that 's free from all kinds of death and free from unkinde Devils too from Devils infernal and Devils incarnate too No evil Angels can ascend from the bottomless pit into the presence to tempt any there to sin nor hellish Furies to torment for sinning in times past No Devil of the lower hell nor any of this wicked world above it can finde any entrance thither There is indeed free quarter for Saints but none for sinners the Free men of that City and all the Denizons of that Kingdom are always freed from all unwelcome troublesome intruders the spirit of strife and debate can never thrust the Devils mysterious cloven foot into that presence to set Divisions to cause Distractions to bring Destruction No carnal pride can ever beget fond fashionists in the streets of that most holy City nor spiritual pride breed up fantastical Factionists in those Mansions No hideous blasphemies nor filthy obscenities nor thumping oathes not hellish cursings nor peevish censurings are used by any in that presence all profane and black-mouth'd monsters of men are exiled for ever from that society of Saints and so are all insinuating Sycophants and false-hearted Pharisees that place shall be free from all evil or tending to it no evil company no evil by company no company of evil no devils not be devill'd men no tempters no tormentors nor any other infernals no devils incarnate either white or black no kinde of death either temporal or eternal no kinde of wars no kinde of woes no kinde of sufferings surely they must needs be happy that are in such a case Yet let me tell you that it is not the absence of evil alone that can make a man truly and fully happy it may cause some joy but not the fulness of joy till the affluence of all good things be enjoyed with it Now in the glorious presence of God there is not onely the absence of all evil but the presence of all good All things that are desirable are there and all things there are desireable there are profitable pleasures and pleasurable profits things inconsistent here are all coincident there those gifts that go not here together are all united there those comforts which are divided here in several streams do meet all there as in their fountain or rather in the ocean No one here may look to enjoy all good things but all there do ever so There are the precious Merchandices of all Cities for that 's the City of all precious Merchandices there are the true Delights of all Countreys for that 's the true Countrey of all Delights There are all the real Honours of the the Court that can never be lost and that 's the right Court of Honour that can never be put down There are all the true pleasures of Paradise for that 's the true Paradise of all pleasures What does any of your souls take most delight in what do you most of all desire there you may have it in the fullest measure and there enjoy it in the finest manner There is to satisfie all desires do you desire or delight in Gold or precious Stones or costly Gems or stately Palaces there 's a City of pure Gold clear as crystal walled and gated and garnished with Jaspers and Saphires and all sorts of Pearls and precious stones as St. John describes it Revel 21.18 c. Or do you delight in glorious triumphs and pompous shews there are triumphs everlasting and the glory of all Nations shall flow into that City in triumphant manner Revel 21.26 Or do you delight as Massinissa and Dioclesian did in curious Gardens in fruitful Orchards in healthful Walks in pleasant Fountains there is the Celestial Paradise wherein the most curious and nice had he a hundred times as many eyes as Argus might employ them all at once with various curiosities and transcendent rarities All those admir'd Gardens of Adonis and Alcinous of Po. and Tantalus and the Hesperides could never boast no not in any fiction of the Poets of such a living Fountain as that which floweth in the middle of this Garden of Heaven and affords the Water of life nor yet of such a Tree as that of Life which bears twelve kinds of fruits and brings forth every moneth as Saint John expresses Revelations 22.1 Or do you delight in or desire peace there can you never want it that new Jerusalem is the true Jerusalem the blissful vision of Peace a City at Peace and unity in it self There endless triumphs of peace are solemnized by all the Citizens that 's the place of peace there 's the Prince of peace the Authour of peace the Maker the Creatour of it There 's the full enjoyment of that mother blessing and all other blessings with it the true God of peace is there and the true peace of God which passeth all understanding Or do you desire truth with peace there are both together the God of peace is the God of truth and the truth of God is there revealed fully the true worship of the most holy God is there established and the true God is worshipped there in the beauty of holiness Or do you delight in the melody of curious musick there are soul-ravishing Anthems chanted and warbled by the sweetest of all the heavenly Quire in that Mother Church that glorious Temple Christs Church Triumphant Or do you delight in ease and rest from wearisome labours there the true Christian Sabbath is kept holy whereof our Sunday Sabbath is but an adumbration or preparatory Eve Jerusalem below hath six dayes for working for one Sabbath day for rest but Jerusalem above is free to sanctifie an endless Sabbath as free from labour as from sin Or do you delight in the presence of great Personages there is the mighty and Almighty Monarch of Heaven and Earth the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and there is his second self his onely begotten Son the Son of his love in whom he is well pleased his right hand Favorite his Christ our Lord and Jesus in the height of his honour invested with power to unlock the Exchequer of his Fathers richest favours with the key of his eternal merits and to deal them forth in glory to those that followed him in grace In a word there are all sorts of rich delights that endless fountain can never be drawn dry for there is all in all to draw them forth there are soul-ravishing joyes and soul-admiring felicities everlasting joyes without any interrupted mutation such are those divine Raptures which shall flow from that communion they enjoy in that glorious presence with unspotted Angels and glorified Saints I shall shut up all in the words of the Apostle 1 Cor. 2.9 Eye hath not seen nor ear heard or is it possible for the minde of man to conceive the glory that God hath laid up for them that love him It being beyond the power of Mortals to imagine the glory of that Kingdom the brightness of that Diadem and the splendour of that Crown which no hand of treason shall be ever able to take off the Wearers head Having now brought this happy Pilgrim to the New JERUSALEM where I leave him to take his fill of those everlasting pleasures To which place through the merits of that all-sufficient and satisfactory Redemption may I and my Readers in his good time arrive FINIS