I will confess you before my Father and the holy Angels This will be the joyful day indeed the day of our full Redemption the time of refreshing indeed the fore-thoughts of this day should support us under all our present Troubles 4. The Fourth Preparative is the Saints solemn Coronation and receiving into the Kingdom of their Father Now the Crown of Righteousness of Life of Glory which was promised them from the beginning of the World and purchased for them by the most precious Blood of Jesus and laid up in Heaven for them shall by the Lord the righteous Judge he given them at that day they have been faithful unto Death and therefore shall receive the Crown of Life The Lord Jesus will then say to all his Saints Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world Every word is full of joy and comfort COME will Christ say Approach this exceeding Glory come is near as you will for the way to it is open for you I have made your passage plain by my blood Christ will not say then Come take up your Cross and follow â—â— but Come now and receive your Crown COME YE BLESSED In the world ye were accursed but now ye are blessed and shall be blessed for ever OF MY FATHER You are the objects of my Father's love he loveth you as he loveth me INHERIT You are the heirs of the promises the heirs of the kingdom the heirs of salvation No less than the Kingdom of Heaven You shall reign with me for ever and ever PREPARED Eternal Love hath laid the Foundation He prepares the Kingdom for us and then prepares us for the Kingdom FOR YOU for you all poor penitent Believers called Regenerate Souls for all you that received me by Faith and persevered therein to your death Thus much for the Preparatives to this far more excceeding and eternal weight of Glory II. Secondly I shall speak a little also of the Properties of this Glory but oh how short and shallow are my Apprehensions of this also Lord enlighten my Understanding and affect enlarge and quicken my Heart 1. This glorious state of Happiness is called The Purchased Possession Eph. 1. 14. It is the Friâ—â— of the Love and Blood of our dear Redeemer whom we shall in Heaven behold and enjoy We shall have our Redeemer alwaies before our Eyes and the liveliest sense and freshest Remembrance of that bleeding-dying-love still upon our Souls Oh how will it fill our Souls with perpetual Ravishments to think that in the Streams of this Blood we have swam through the violence of the World the snares of the Devil the seducements of the Flesh the curse of the Law the wrath of aâ— offended God the Accusations of a guilty Conscience and the vexing doubts and fears of an unbelieving Heart and are passed through all and are safely arrived at the Bosom of God O think and think again what weight of Woâ—â— and Wrath of Sin and Sorrow lay upon the Soul and Body of our most dear Lord to purchase foâ— us this exceeding weight of glory His Soul was oppressed exceedingly oppressed his Body broken his Blood shed to purchase this Glory We value things by the Price they cost If any thing we enjoy were purchased by the Life of our deareâ—â— Friend how would we esteem it Certainly thâ— bitter Death and Blood of our Lord will everlastingly sweeten our Heavenly Glory Oh that the Joy we shall then leave those Hearts of Stone and Rock behind us the Sin that here so close hâ— sets us and the sottish Unkindness that followeâ— us so long shall not be able to follow us into that Glory but we shall behold as it were the wounds of Love with Eyes and Hearts of Love for ever Now his Heart is open to us and ours shut to him but when his Heart is open and our hearts open too oh what a weight of Joy will there then be What a passionate meeting was there between our new-risen Lord and the first-sinful silly Woman that he appears unto How did Love struggle for expression Mary saith Christ Master saith Mary and presently she clasps about his Feet having her Heart as near his Heart as her Hands were to his Feet What a meeting of Love then will there be between the new-glorified Saint and the glorious Redeemer But I am here at a loss my Apprehensions fail me and fall short only this I believe that it will be the singular Praise of our Glory that it was bought with the price of that Blood and the singular Joy of the Saints to behold the Purchaser and the Price together with the Possession 2. Secondly This Glory also is most free it was dear to Christ but free to us Silver and Gold could not purchase this Glory nothing but the precious Blood of the Son of God but we have it freely for nothing without Mony and without Price It 's true this Glory is promised on Conditions but the Condition is but hearty Acceptance and to take him for our Lord who hath redeemed us especially when the Condition is also given as it is by God to all his Chosen Faith which is the main Condition is the gift of God O the everlasting admiration which must needs surprize the Saints to think of the freeness of their Glory O what did the Lord see in me to count me meet for such a state That I a poor diseased despised Wretch should be cloathed in the brightness of this Glory That I a silly worthless Worm should be advanced to this high Dignity That I who was but lately groaning weeping dying should now be so full of Joy as my Heart can hold Yea should be taken from the Grave where I was rotting and stinking and from the Dust and Darkness where I seemed forgotten and here sit before the Throne of God in Glory when the poor self-denying self-accusing humble Soul that thought himself unworthy the ground he trod on unworthy the air he breathed in unworthy to eat drink or live that this Soul shall find himself wrapt up into Heaven closed in the Arms of Christ crowned with Glory in a moment Dâ— but think with your selves what a transporting astonishing thing this will be surely our Unworthiness shall not hinder our Glory God hath chosen the Poor of this World rich in Faith to be Heirs of that Kingdom Grace is most free so is Glory As we pay nothing for our Pardon so nothing for our Glory What an astonishing thought will it be to think of the unmeasurable difference between our Deservings and our Receivings between the state we should have been in and the state we are in to look down upon Hell and see the vast difference between us and them to see the Inheritance which we were born to so different from that we are adopted to O what pangs of Love will it cause within us to think yonder in that dreadful place in those
Lakes of Fire and Brimstone was my native place my deserved Portion those unquenchable Flames should have lain on me that never-dying Worm should have fed on me But that unsearchable rich Grace and infinite Love in God through the most precious Blood of my Redeemer I am delivered from that place of Torment Eternal Life is the Gift of God through Jesus Christ my Lord Did not I neglect Grace and make light of the Offers of Life and slight my Redeemer's Blood a long time as well as those poor damned Souls Did not I waste my time forget my God and my Soul and walk after the Flesh as well as they Was not I born in Sin â—nd Wrath as well as they Or who made me to â—iffer Should I ever have loved God if he had not first loved me Or ever been willing if he had not made me willing Had not I been in those â—ames if I had my own way and if he had let me â—lone to my own will Oh how free was all this â—nfinite Love and how free is this Crown of Glory that so glorious a Crown should be set on the Head of so vile a Creature 3. The third Property of this Glory is that it shall be fully satisfying and contenting for it is a weight of Glory an exceeding weight of Glory It shall be a perfect freedom from all Evil and a perfect fruitiâ—ns of all Good This Glory shall be perfectly suiâ—â—ed to our Natures for as here in this Life every gracious Soul is made partaker of the Divine Nature of the Life of God in some measure and made like Christ in some degree so in the Life to come he shall have a Nature more fully like God his holy Image more fully printed on him and made more fully like Christ When he shall appear we shall see him as he is and we shall be like him â— Job 3. 2. When we awake at the glorious morning of the Resurrection we shall be satisfied with his likeness Psal 17. 15. This Glory shall be perfectly suited also to the Desires of the Saints then the So shall have all that Heart can wish all that ever thou O poor believing Soul didst ever pray or labor for there thou shalt find thou wouldst rather have God in Christ than all the World why there thou shalt have him O what wouldst thou give for the Assurance of his Love Why there thou shalt have Assurance beyond all suspicion yea thou shalt have infinitely more than thou canst desire This Glory is suited also to all the Necessities of the Saints it will make a full supply to all our wants for it is an exceeding weight of Glory My God shall supply all your need with the riches of his glory in Jesus Christ Phil. 4. 19. Here in this World we are always complaining of Wants for Soulor Body or both we want Grace want Peace and Comfort we want Health and Friends nothing but Wants But when once we come to possess this exceeding weight of Glory we shall have no more cause to complain of Wants we shall never want any thing for ever for we shall be filled with all the Fulness of God we shall ever be with the Lord and dwell in his presence for ever in whose presence is fulness of Joy and at whose right hand are Pleasures for evermore Solomon said That Mary answereth all things I am sure that Glory will answer all things 4. Fourthly This Glory is incorruptible 1 Cor. 9. 25. This is an Inheritance incorruptible and undefiled 1 Pet. 1. 4. We shall then have Joy without any mixture of Sorrow Rest without Weariness As there is no mixture of Corruption with our Graces then so no mixture of Sufferings with our Solace Our best Comforts here are mixed with Crosses we have no Flower without Prickles Our best Wine is mixed with Water and some times with Vinegar and Gall. We are now sometimes even at the gates of Heaven and presently almost as low as Hell Today we are well to morrow sick to day in credit to morrow in disgrace to day have Friends to morrow none The only thing that corrupts and imbitters our sweetest Comforts here is our Sins and God's hiding his Face from us for our Sins It is Sin that puts Gall and Wormwood into all our pleasant Cups but when we shall receive that exceeding weight of Glory we shall sin no more for ever Hark O my Soul the best News that ever thou heardst since that greatest good news of a Saviour the time is coming when thou shalt sin no more Rev. 21. 27. then Saints are Saints indeed Eph. 5. 27. O poor Believer if it were put to thy choice wouldst thou not rather chuse to be freed from Sin than to be made Heir of all the World Wait till then and thou shalt have thy desire That hard earthly carnal Heart that thou hast so often complain'd of to the Lord those vain and vile Thoughts which did lye down and rise with thee shall trouble thee no more Oh blessed state blessed time 5. And Lastly It is an eternal weight of glory a Crown of Glory that fadeth not away that Life is everlasting there is no more Death it is everlasting Peace everlasting Joy Pleasures for evermore Eternal Glory O blessed Eternity The Saints shall be Pillars in the Temple of God and go no more out for ever What! to be eternally blessed to be ever with the Lord What can my shallow Thoughts conceive of this O happy Souls in Hell if they could escape after millions of years But how infinitely happy are those in Heaven that shall live there eternally O this amazing this astonishing word Eternity O my Soul study this word Everlasting methinks it should revive thee in thy deepest Agony Thy Heaviness shall endure but for a night God will hide his Face but for a moment thy Afflictions are but light and short thy Temptation shall be but an hour thy Tribulation but ten days but thou shalt receive a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory Believe this O my Soul and let thy Heart break and melt that thou art no more affected with that eternal Love that purchased this eternal Glory for thee For ever adore and admire eternal Love and Grace and double thy Diligence to secure thy title to this eternal weight of glory and live in the Love and in the high Praises of thy dear Redeemer and patiently bear all thy Afflictions because they are preparing thee for this Glory Thus we have seen a little of the Preparatives to and Properties of this far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory and alas how little do I know of it Now before I proceed let us also enquire who shall be the Possessors of this Glory or what those happy persons are that shall be made partakers of this Blessedness that we may know whether we our selves have any title to it and have any good hope through Grace that we shall one
this Rule we shall find our Hearts so earthly so carnal our Minds so fleshly so set upon visible temporal things but our Thoughts on invisible eternal things so short so weak so inconstant so seldom so soon tired and our Affections so unsetled so unfixed that we shall have great cause to bewail our selves and cry out with St. Paul O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death Rom. 7. 24. And this will make us cry to God also to renew the Spirits of our Minds and to transform the Image of our Minds and this should make us look up to God's Covenant for new Hearts for Hearts joyned and united to the Lord Psal 86. 11. Psal 57. 7. 108. 1. Oh what cause have we to bewail the frequent departings and wandrings of our Hearts from God their slidings from God and to cry with holy David Quicken me uphold me Our Hearts are not fixed nor stayed on God we do not abide with God Third Vse of Exhortation To this great Duty of most serious minding of and looking unto invisible eternal things O let us mind and look unto and aim at God Christ the Spirit the Word the Promises the great and glorious things purchased by Christ and prepared for us in the other World Oh mind the full enjoyment of God and Christ in Heaven for ever and ever to dwell with him in whose presence is fulness of joy and at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore Let us mind eternal things in good earnest with all our Hearts and Souls Look off look off visible temporal things shut your Eyes to the World turn away your Eyes from beholding Vanity But open your Eyes towards Heaven hold your Eyes to invisible eternal things Here I shall shew I. The Hinderances to this Duty II. Means to help us to perform it III. Motives to perswade to it I. The Hinderances which are many and which must be avoided 1st Hinderance is living in any known or beloved Sin this will keep us down from heavenly Meditation Heb. 12. 1. No looking unto Jesus except we lay aside the Sin that doth so easily beset us in some Passion in some Weariness of well-doing in others Pride or Covetousness is the Sin that doth easily beset them This must be hid aside whatever it be it must be repented of and reformed 1 Thess 5. 22. Abstain from all appearance of Evil Sin interposeth between God and our Souls and hides his Face from us If we would mind the Heavenly Word of God so as to profit by it in hearing or reading of it we must lay aside all known Sin 1 Pet. 2. 1 2. Sin divides us from God and heavenly things If we regard any Iniquity in our Hearts God will not hear our Prayers The sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord. 2ly Worldly Cares Fears Joys Sorrows If we suffer these to take up our Hearts and to fill our Minds and Thoughts there will be no room for heavenly things We must therefore be watchful to cast out and keep out those bad guests Luke 21. 34. Phil. 4. 6. Be careful in nothing If our Affections be set on visible temporal things they cannot be set on invisible eternal things No man can serve two Masters God and Mammon saith our Lord. If the World be Master of our Hearts and Minds of our Thoughts and Affections then surely they cannot be set on GOD and things above 3ly Worldly Company where is nothing but Earthly Discourse They that are of the Earth are earthly Worldly Company will cool the Affections and dull and deaden the Heart and draw it from God Therefore is that Exhortation and Prohibition Eph. 5. 11. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them True Christians are Christ's Doves his Turtle-Doves they have no Society with the Birds of Prey They are Christ's Sheep what have they to do among Swine They are his Children what have they to do among his Enemies We are not aware of the very great mischief that carnal company doth bring to our Souls If at any time we have had any communion with God in any Ordinance and Duty and then presently go into vain carnal Company we shall quickly lose all savour and relish of God and Heavenly things as if you eat Hony and presently eat Gall after you lose all the taste of Hony And that 's not all but by being in worldly Company you will soon be infected and will bring away on your Spirits the ill savour of the Earth and filthy World as a man that comes out of a Garden of sweet Flowers goes and wallows on a stinking Dunghil The best of us should not go into worldly Company but as Physicians into a Pest-house when lawfully called and with our Preservatives with us We having so much Flesh and Earth in us Worldly Company will make us more fleshly and earthly 4ly Pride and High-mindedness God resisteth the proud 1 Pet. 5. 5. Psal 10. 4. There are many precious Promises made to the humble Job 22. 29. God will dwell with the humble teach them save them None have so sweet Communion with God as humble Souls Heavenly things and humble Souls are things very suitable and agreeable one to the other 5ly Sloth and Idleness 'T is easie we say to go down the Hill but not so easie to go up 'T is easie because natural and usual and ordinary to mind visible temporal things but there must be Pains-taking Industry and Labour used to raise up our Hearts to invisible eternal things a stirring up our selves 2 Tim. 1. 6. And we must often call upon our own Souls and provoke one another and ill too little We must have Resolution and Zeal 6ly The greatest Hinderance of all is Vnbelief Men do not fully believe nor are fully perswaded of the Reality and transcendent Excellency of invisible eternal things This is the grand Impediment Why is not the great God the good God the Fountain of all Goodness the Alsnfficient Good minded thought on loved feared trusted served no more but because He is not believed He is not believed to be that which he is indeed and which he hath revealed himself to be Heb. 11. 6. He that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Oh the cursed rooted Atheism and Unbelief that is in all our Hearts more or less Why is not Jesus Christ Precious Jesus Blessed Jesus Lovely altogether Lovely Jesus the Brightness of his Father's Glory the Chiefest of Ten thousands the fairest of all the Sons of Men is whom dwells all fulness oh why is he no more minded thought on spoken of why no more admired loved and sought after but because He is not believed To them to all them that believe he is precious most precious 1 Pet. 2. 7. And why is not Heaven and Happiness that far more exceeding and eternal weight of