and spent that 't is like the shadow of a Dream and proportionably their Joy is lessened Honours like Perfumes by custom are less sensible to those that carry them But the Saints above always consider and feel the excellent difference between their suffering and triumphant state They never lose that ravishing part of felicity the vivid sense of past evils Their reflections are always as strong on the Misery from whence they were rais'd to the pitch of Happiness as in their first glorious Translation In what an Extasy of wonder and pleasure will they be from the fresh memory of what they were and the joyful sense of what they are I was says the admiring Soul poor blind and naked but O miraculous and happy Alteration I am full of Light enrich'd with the Treasures of Heaven adorn'd with Divine Glory I was under the tyrannous power of Satan but he is bruised under my feet I was sentenc'd to an everlasting separation from the Presence of God my only Life and Joy but now am possest of my supream Good O how transporting is the comparison of these wide and contrary extreams How beautiful and pleasant is the Day of Eternity after such a dark tempestuous Night How does the remembrance of such Evils produce a more lively and feeling fruition of such Happiness How strangely and mightily does Salvation with Eternal Glory affect the Soul This gives a spritely accent to their everlasting Hallelujahs This preserves an affectionate Heat in their Thanksgivings to their Victorious Deliverer And thus their Happiness is always the same and always new Their pleasure is continued in its perfection Lastly The Blessedness of the Saints is without end This makes Heaven to be it self There is no satiety of the present no solicitude for the future Were there a possibility or the least suspicion of losing that happy state it would cast an aspersion of bitterness upon all their delights they could not enjoy one moments repose but the more excellent their Happiness is the more stinging would their fear be of parting with it But the Inheritance reserved in Heaven is immortal undefiled and fades not away And the tenure of their Possession is infinitely firm by the Divine Power the true Support of their everlasting Duration With God is the Fountain of Life They enjoy a better Immortality than the Tree of Life could have preserved in Adam The Revolutions of the Heavens and Ages are under their Feet and cannot in the least alter or determin their Happiness After the passing of millions of Years still an entire Eternity remains of their enjoying God O most desireable State where Blessedness and Eternity are inseparably united O joyful Harmony when the full Chorus of Heaven shall sing This God is our God for ever and ever This adds an infinite weight to their Glory This redoubles their unspeakable Joys with infinite sweetness and security They repose themselves in the compleat Fruition of their Happiness God reigns in the Saints and they live in him for ever CHAP. III. The Mercy of God the Original Cause of his designing and preparing Heaven for his People The Obedience of Christ the meritorious Cause Some Qualifications are required in those that shall possess it The holy Change of Man's Nature indispensibly requisite in order to his Reception into Heaven The Reasons of it specified HAving such a Revelation of Heaven in the Gospel that all the Kingdoms of the World and the Glory of them in comparison are but as a Glow-worm to the Light of the Sun with what inflamed desires should we seek and strive for that unchangeable Happiness In order to this we shall consider the causes of it and the means whereby 't is obtain'd The Original moving Cause is the pure rich Mercy of God that prepared it for his People and prepares them for it The procuring Cause is the meritorious efficacy of Christ's Obedience and Sufferings This is expresly declared by the Apostle The wages of Sin is Death but the gift of God is eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. I. The designing the preparation and actual bestowing of the Heavenly Glory is from the Mercy of God This will appear by considering 1. That it is absolutely impossible that a meer Creature though perfect should deserve any thing from God For enjoying its being and powers of working from his Goodness the product of all is entirely due to him And the payment of a Debt acquires no Title to a Reward He is the Proprietary and Lord of all by Creation Hence 't is clear that in the order of distributive Justice nothing can be challenged from him 2. Besides such is the infinite Perfection of God in Himself that no benefit can redound to him by the service of the Creature When you have done all say you are unprofitable Servants for we have done what we ought to do The neglect of our duty justly exposes to punishment but the performance of it deserves no Reward because no advantage accrues to God by it Who hath first given unto him and it shall be recompensed to him again He challenges all Creatures even of the highest order To speak strictly therefore When God crowns the Angels with Glory he gives what is meerly his own and does not render what is theirs If he should leave them in their pure Nature or deprive them of their Being he were no loser nor injurious to them For what Law binds him to enrich them with Immortal Glory who are no ways profitable to him or to preserve that being they had from his unexcited Goodness No Creature can give to him therefore none can receive from him by way of valuable Consideration 3. There is no proportion between the best works of Men and the excellency of the Reward much less an equivalence 'T was the just and humble acknowledgment of Jacob to God I am less than the least of all thy Mercies those that common Providence dispenses for the support and refreshment of this temporal Life But how much less than the glorious Excellencies of the supernatural Divine Life wherein the Saints reign with God for ever The most costly the most difficult and hazardous Services are equally nothing in point of Merit with the giving but a Cup of cold Water to a Disciple of Christ there being no correspondence in value between them and the Kingdom of Heaven The Apostle tells us I count the Sufferings of the present Life are not to be compar'd to the Glory that shall be revealed in us And suffering is more than doing God rewards his faithful Servants not according to the dignity of their Works but his own Liberality and Magnificence As Alexander having ordered fifty Talents of Gold to be given to a Gentleman in Poverty to supply his want and he surpris'd with that immense Bounty modestly said ten were enough He replied If fifty are too much for you to receive ten are too little for me to give therefore do you receive as Poor
afraid lest the belief of those terrible Truths should enter into their Breasts therefore are utterly careless of what may convince them of their danger and will not foresee what they shall certainly suffer This is obstinate and the most incurable Infidelity An instance whereof we have in the Pharisees who rejected our Saviour Though all the Characters of the Messiah were conspicuous in his Person though his Doctrines were confirmed by Miracles yet they would not yeild up themselves to that omnipotent conviction so strong were their carnal prejudices against his humble State and holy Doctrines That reproach is more justly due to Infidels under the Gospel than to Israel in the Prophet Who is blind as my Servant The Heathens who are blind from their Birth and have only some glimmering apprehensions that Eternity succeeds Time are less culpable than those who have infinitely more reason to believe it and yet believe it less The Plea for them will be a terrible Accusation against such Unbelievers If a blind Person falls it moves compassion but if one voluntarily shuts his Eyes against the Sun and refuses the direction of the Light and falls from a Precipice his Ruin is the just consequence of his Folly Simple Ignorance excuses as to the degrees of the Fault but affected wilful Ignorance now Reason and Revelation with united Beams give so clear a prospect into the Eternal World aggravates the Guilt and Sentence of such Unbelievers 'T is in vain to offer Arguments to convince them for they are as deaf as Adders to the wisest Instructions till Sense extort a belief from them They have hardned their Hearts and Faces against all Reproofs and by an open contempt of Scripture-Threatnings are past reclaiming There are many degrees of Sins many steps in the descent to Hell but the lowest and nearest the Gates of that infernal Prison is the scornful derision of God's terrible preparations for the Wicked hereafter Besides the most who are Believers in Title are Infidels in Heart Our Saviour tells the Jews who pretended the highest Veneration to the Writings of Moses That if they had believed Moses they would have believed him for Moses wrote of him If Men did seriously believe such an excellent Reward as the Gospel propounds would it be a cold unpersuasive motive to them The depravation of the Will argues a correspondent defect in the Mind though not absolute total Infidelity yet such a weakness and wavering in the Assent that when Temptations are present and urgent and it comes to actual choice Sense prevails over Faith This will be clear by Universal Experience in temporal things The probable hope of Gain will make those who are greedy of Gold prodigal of their Lives and venture through tempestuous Seas to accomplish their Desires And if the belief were equal would not Men do or suffer as much for obtaining what is infinitely more valuable A firm Assent would produce adherence and Faith in the Promises Fidelity in obeying the Commands of Christ. Tertullian proprounds it as a powerful incentive to the Martyrs Quis ergo non libentissimè tantum pro vero habeat erogare quantum alii pro falso Who would not joyfully sacrifice Life and all it sindearments to obtain true Blessedness which others do for the vain Appearance of it On the contrary the fear of a present destructive Evil will controul the most eager Appetites 'T is recorded that when the Army of Israel were in pursuit of the Philistins Saul to compleat his Victory forbad upon pain of Death that any should taste Food till the Sun was down In the chase of their Enemies they past through a Wood abounding with Honey yet notwithstanding their Hunger and Faintness and the easy Provision before them no Man so much as tasted it for the People feared the King's Oath And did Men truly believe and fear the Law of God threatning Hell for Sin would they dare to commit it though invited by pleasant Temptations Nay not only a strong fear but the meer suspicion of great danger will restrain the most vehement desires of Nature What Person though inflamed with Thirst would drink a Glass of cool Liquor if he suspected that deadly Poison were mixt with it And if Men were persuaded that Sin is attended with Death would they drink in Iniquity like Water The Devils themselves are not able to conquer the Fear of Judgment to come they believe and tremble Therefore when it is not active upon the Conscience it is either because Men do not believe the thing it self or that Holiness is necessary to prepare for it Indeed even in true Believers the apprehension of Eternal Things has such great allays that temporal things are over-valued and over-feared A strong Faith in the Truth and Power of God would make the glorious World so sure and near in our Thoughts that with indifferent Affections we should receive good or evil things here rejoice as if we rejoiced not and mourn as if we mourned not Our Lives would be so regular and pure as if the Judg were to come the next hour as if the Sun did now begin to be darkned and the Trumpet of the Arch-angel were sounding and the noise of the dissolving World were universally heard Infidelity deads the Impression and suppresses the reigning Power of Eternal Things in our Hearts In short Men are heavenly or earthly in their Choice and Conversation as they are directed by the sincere Light of Faith or misled by the false beams of Sense CHAP. IX Consideration is requisite in order to a wise Choice How it must be managed that it may be effectual It must be serious frequent and with application to the Soul Motives to it The true Causes why Carnal Men are averse from it THE second thing requisite in order to a wise Choice is Consideration For as by Faith the virtue of the Reward is diffused through all the Faculties and the Powers of the World to come are felt in the Soul so by consideration Faith is exercised and becomes effectual This unites and reinforces the beams of Eternal Truth and inflames the Affections As the Psalmist expresses himself My Heart was hot within me while I was musing the Fire burned Heaven is a Felicity so glorious and attractive that if duly considered no Man can possibly refuse it and Hell is a Misery so extream and fearful that if seriously laid to Heart none can possibly choose it The last End is to be conceived under the notion of an infinite Good without the least mixture of Evil to which the human Will has a natural tendency The liberty of indifference is with respect to some particular good Things which may be variously represented so as to cause inclination or aversion That Men who believe Eternal Life is the Reward of Holiness yet with a careless inadvertency pass over their Duty and that Eternal Death is the Wages of Sin yet securely continue in it is more wonderful than to see
having found nothing within him to work upon The perfect regularity of Faculties in our Blessed Saviour was not in the least disorder'd neither by his fairest Insinuations or most furious Assaults And we might preserve our innocence inviolable notwithstanding all his Attempts did not some corrupt Affection cherish'd in our Bosoms lay us naked and open to his poison'd Darts The Apostle Peter who had a Spiritual Eye and discern'd wherein the strength of our great Enemy lies admonishes Christians Dearly Beloved I beseech you as Strangers and Pilgrims abstain from fleshly Lusts that war against the Soul And we are told by him That the Corruption that is in the World is through Lust. The outward Objects are useful and beneficial in their kind the abuse of them is from Lust. The Poison is not in the Flower but in the Spider 'T is therefore infinitely dangerous to consult or trust our carnal Faculties in this matter for they are brib'd and corrupted and will commend temporal things to our choice 3. The sensual Affections are so numerous and clamorous so vehement and hasty that if they are admitted to counsel and give the decisive Vote the Voice of Conscience will not be heard or regarded In concernments of a lower Nature 't is constantly seen that nothing more disturbs Reason and makes Men improvident and pecipitant in their Determinations than a disordered Passion From hence 't is a prudent Rule That as 't is not fit to eat in the heigth of a Fever because the Meat feeds the Disease by increasing the feaverish not the vital heat so 't is not good to deliberate in the heat of any Affection For then the Thoughts strongly blow up the Passion and smother Reason and the Mind is rather a Party than a Judge but after the declination of that Feaver in the Soul in a quiet enterval 't is seasonable to consider Now if any simple Passion when moved transports and confounds the Mind and makes it uncapable of judging aright much more the love of the World an universal Passion that reigns in Men and has so many swarming desires answerable to the variety of sensible things and therefore is more unruly lasting and dangerous then any particular Passion In short sensual Affections captivate the Mind and hinder its due considering the folly and obliquity of the carnal choice and when incenst as distracted Persons whose Strength grows with their Fury violently break all the restraints the understanding can apply from reason and revelation 2. In order to make a right choice we must be very watchful lest the general Example of Men taint our Reason and cause an immoderate esteem of temporal things The whole World lies in Wickedness in a sensual Sty without Conscience of its Misery or care of regaining its Happiness deceived and pleased with shews of Felicity The way to Hell is broad as the inclinations of the licentious Appetite pleasant as the delights of Sense so plain and easy that Men go to it blindfold and so frequented that it would force Tears from any considering Person to see Men so hasty to meet with Damnation When Calisto the Harlot reproacht Socrates that there were more followers of her Beauty than his Wisdom the Philosopher replied that was not strange because it was much easier to draw them in the way of Pleasure that is steep and slippery than to constrain them to ascend to Virtue seated on a Hill where the ascent is slow and with toil and difficulty Now there is nothing more contagious than Example We blindly consent with the Multitude and are possest with foolish Wonder and carnal admiring of worldly Greatness Treasures and Delights neglecting to make a due estimation of things 'T is the ordinary Artifice of the Devil to render temporal things more valuable and attractive to particular Persons from the common practice of Men who greedily pursue them as their Happiness As some crafty Merchants by false reports raise the exchange to advance the price of their own Wares The Men of the World are under the direction of Sense and think them only to be wise and happy that shine in Pomp abound in Riches and overflow in Pleasures The Psalmist tells us of the prosperous Worldling that while he lives he blesses his Soul and Men will praise thee when thou dost well to thy self By vicious imitation our Judgments are more corrupted and our Passions rais'd to higher degrees for painted Vanities The Affections in the pursuit of earthly things are inflam'd by the contention of others And when holy Desires and Resolutions spring up in Men yet so powerful is the custom of the World that they often become ineffectual As a Ship whose Sails are fill'd with a fair Wind but makes no way stopt by the force of the Current Now to fortify us against the pernicious influence of Example Consider 1. 'T is most unreasonable in this Affair of so vast moment to be under the direction of the Multitude For the most are sottish and sensual govern'd by the uncertain motions of a giddy voluble Fancy and roving impetuous Passions so that to be led by their example and disregard the solid immortal rules of heavenly Wisdom is as perfect madness as for one to follow a herd of Swine through the Mire and leave a clean Path that lies before him If there were but few in an Age or Country that were deluded with false Appearances it would be a disgrace to imitate the practice of the Foolish and shall the great numbers of the Earthly-minded give Reputation and Credit to their Error He were a strange Fool indeed that should refuse a single piece of counterfeit Money and receive a great heap in payment as if the number added a real value to them 'T is therefore a necessary point of Wisdom to devest all vulgar Prejudices to separate our selves from the Multitude that we may see the vanity of things that dazle inferior Minds 2. Consider the universal judgment even of the worldly Men in their last and serious Hours when the Prospect of Eternal Things is open before them How vastly different are their Apprehensions of temporal Things in the review from what they were in their vicious Desires How often do they break forth in the sorrowful Words of the Apostle We have been toiling all Night and caught nothing When there are but a few remaining Sands in the Glass of Time and Death shakes the Glass before them how powerfully do they preach of the emptiness and uncertainty of things below and sigh out in Solomon's phrase All is Vanity And this is more singularly observable in those who have had the fullest enjoyment of earthly things How do they complain of the vain World and their vainer Hearts when Experience has convinc'd them of their woful Folly Solomon who was among other Princes as the Sun in the midst of the Planets that obscures them by his illustrious Brightness He that had surveyed this Continent of Vanity