to God at the time and in the work of Conversion when there is a sanctifying change wrought in a person when he is of a Sinner made a Saint and of an Enemy a Friend of God This is evident from that speech of our Saviour to Saul Acts 26. 17 18. I do now senâ—… thee to the Gentiles to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God from ignorance to knowledge from Idolatry and wickedness to the owning acknowledging worshipping anâ—… serving of God Converting Grace is the begetting of a Soul to God thâ—… bringing of the Prodigal Son to his Father the reducting of the lost anâ—… wandering Sheep home to its fold and this is the first return this is thâ—… first step until this be taken the Soul is not only far from God but whicâ—… is both its sin and misery it is going further and further from him Foâ—… every act of sin is a step from God and a continued course of sin is a constant departure from him As men sin against God more and more so they do revolt from God more and more while they add to sin they add tâ—… backslide But in Conversion there is a returning to him this sets facâ—… and heart God-ward and now the feet are guided into the way of peace Thrice happy you that have thus returned this is the beginning of youâ—… life As the Father said with joy concerning his returning Prodigal This mâ—… Son was dead but he is alive and this is the beginning of your blessedness Therefore Peter Preaching to the Jews told them Acts 3 26. That unto theâ—… first God having raised up his Son Iesus sent him to bless them in turninâ—… away every one of them from their iniquities Yea my Friends whatsoeveâ—… cheats are put upon you by the Father of Lies and your own self-deceivinâ—… hearts you will never be a blessed people till you are turned from youâ—… iniquities till then you are under guilt and wrath and a curse but a turnâ—… ing from iniquity is a returning unto God The turning you from sin iâ—… the breaking down of that middle wall of partition which did before staâ—… between God and you Let me therefore speak to you O sinners in thâ—… same words that Pâ—…ter used Acts 3. 19. Repent ye and be converted thâ—… your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from tâ—… presence of the Lord. Secondly There is a further return unto God in the actings exercisâ—… and increases of grace for though there be a turning to God in the firâ—… Conversion yet we must not stop there returning to him ought to be thâ—… â—…earer to morrow and â—…o nearer and nearer every day Now as every â—…ct of sin is a step from God so every act of grace is a step to God Faith â—…aiseth the Soul above the things that are seen and mounts it up as upon â—…he wings of an Eagle Love carrieth the Soul up as in a fiery Chariot a pure and holy flame so that it dwelleth in God and God in it Ardent and importunate desires are the feet upon which the Soul runs out to God and followeth hard after him and the more the Soul tramples upon the things that are below and by acts of self-denial goeth out of it self the more doth it find it self in God And so it is with reference to the happy additions which it makes to the grace it hath the more it grows in grace the more doth it grow up unto God All the improvements it makes in grace are blessed progressâ—…s in its way to God that is indeed going from strength to strength till it appear before God in Sion Psal. 84. Oh who is there that considers this that would be retrograde in his motions and languishing and decaying in spirituals who would be content to stand at a â—…ay who would not be possessed with and acted by a spirit of holy covetousness always receiving out of the â—…lness of Christ and yet always begging and while he draws up one Bucket-full letting down another for more Remember it O Christians the more you are as by the Spirit of the Lord changed from grace to grace the more considerable advances you make from lower to higher degrees of holiness the more will you be transformed in the spirit of your mind and changed from glory to glory the more will you have in you of a Divine Nature and the more of the Divine Image upon you In a word by this means you will come to have a greater conformity and likeness unto God and so a sweeter communion and intimacy with him So then this is a further return unto God this is a getting nearer and nearer to him and truly this should be the work of every day This is that which we should have in our designs and aims in all the holy duties that we perform and in all the precious Ordinances upon which we do attend that by every one of them we may have a lift given us and he brought more over and more close to God than we as yet are Thirdly There is a return to God at death So the Royal Preacher tells us Eccles. 12. 7. The dust shall return to the Earth as it was of that it was made and into that it shall be resolved When once the Soul leaves it the body drops into the grave and there first it putrifies and at length it crumbles but the Spirit shall return unto God that gave it All the Souls of Men and Women one and other both the good and the bad shall at death be upon their return whether with their will or against it this must be done They did at first come from God when they were formed he created them he infused them he united them to the body and when that union shall be dissolved when Death shall uâ—…ie the knot and snap the hand asunder then doth the spirit return to God The polluted and regenerate Souls of wicked men shall in all their guilt filth and deformity â—…eturn to God that they may from him receive their final and irreversible 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 malefactors carried into a dungeon of darkness the bottomless Pit where there is unquenchable fire to torment them but not the least beam of ligâ—… to comfort and refresh them and so they shall be punished with an everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power 2. Thes. 1. And the Souls of Saints which have been washed from theâ—… filthiness in the blood of the Lamb and had their nature changed theâ—… principles made holy and their beauty perfect through Christs comelineâ—… put upon them shall also then return unto God as their reconciled Friend and everlasting Father to be by him received gratiously heartily welcom'd and put into those glorious Mansionâ—… which have been designed and prepared for them in which they shall enjoy
but he could not So it is Spiritually with the Saints themselves their rest fleeth from them Sometimes they break their own rest Psal. 38. There is no rest in my bones because of my sin and as there was none in his bones so none in his flesh and none in his Spirit and sometimes God breaks their rest one while he gives them rest round about at another time he makes them fear round abouâ—… Iob 7. 13 14. When I say my Bed shall comfort me my Couch shall ease my complaint then thou scarest me with Dreams and terrifiest me with Visions Oh the dismal thoughts that some good people have in the night they lie down with holy and gracious thoughts with believing thoughts with God admiring thoughts but in their sleep they have Vain Absurd Defiling and Disquieting thoughts so that they wake in an affright and as the Psalmist tells us sometimes sorrow endures for a night and joy comes in the morning So experience tells us that at other times joy endures for a day and sorrow comes in the Evening The bright and comfortable sun sets in a dark Cloud David reckoned without his host when in Psal. 30. he thought his Mountain stood strong his State of Peace and Prosperity was firm and unalterable so that he should never be moved that he should never more feel what broken bones meant nor be any more hunted by his enemy as a Partridge upon the Mountains nor be again smitten and almost consumed by the blow of the Divine hand nor have his moisture turned into the drought of Summer But he was quickly convinced of his mistake God hid his face and he was troubled So troubled as that he was at his wits end almost beside himself both Counsel and Courage failed him But now when once the Soul comes to Heaven there shall be nothing of a disturbance no such inroads made upon its peace but a perpetual Serenity and Calm a clear Sun-shine without any Eclipse or Clouds or Overcastings No hiding of the face of God no damp upon the Soul No frown without no fear an holy reception no anger in God to obstruct and stop his gracious communication God will be continually giving out of himself and the Soul shall be continually taking in The glorified Soul shall be always full up to the brim and as God shall please according to the exceeding riches of his grace and kindness to dart forth new beams and rays of his glory so he will strengthen the eye that it shall behold them with inconceivable delight and pleasure as he shall please to open his hand of Love so he will widen the Vessel and inlarge its capacity Thirdly It will be an everlasting rest as it knows no disturbance so no end The Soul for certain shall not sleep as some have fondly and foolishly imagined the body indeed doth that enjoys a sweet sleep in its bed of dust where it lies in Jesus for death hath not broken the Union between it and Christ 1 Thes. 4. 14. Them which sleep in Iesus shall God bring with him But the Soul sleeps not it is not suitable to the nature of it it meets with enough to keep it awake Yea it will be so far from sleeping as that it shall not so much as wink for it shall not know any such thing as lassitude or weariness It shall be continually acting and that with Strength and Vigour to the utmost of its power and yet not be tyred by those actings The bow shall be always bent yet not hereupon grow a Slug but abide in strength But though the Soul shall never sleep yet it shall always rest when it is once entered into it it shall abide and never come out more there are as you have heard from the Word pleasures for evermore and therefore there shall be rest for evermore O Eternity Eternity its length is not to be measured but its weight and importance to be seriously consider'd that is the sweet ingredient in the joys above and that the Gall which is put into the Cup of trembling and astonishment below the damned in Hell shall be in everlasting misery their worm dieth not and the glorified Souls shall have an everlasting felicity Let us apply to this those sweet expressions which we find in Rev. 7. 15 16 17. They are before the Throne of God as Heavens Courtiers and Favourites whom the King of Kings loves to look upon They serve him day and night in his Temple They shall be altogether taken up with God their whole business and employment shall be about God And he that sits upon the throne shall dwell among them And there cannot be better Company none so good His presence is enough alone they shall hunger no more neither thirst any more It is impossible they should be hungry who are at such a feast or thirst who have not only their Cups running over but are continually refreshing and bathing themselves in a River of pleasure and of life clear as Christal which proceeds out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb neither shall the Sun light on them nor any beat there shall be beams to refresh them but none to scorch them Nothing that shall render them faint or uneasy For the Lamb which is in the midst of the Throne shall feed them He loves to do it and he will be sure to give them the best and with a large liberal hand and shall lead them to fountains of living water all fresh and pure and at the first hand and God removed all sorrow from their hearts if there be not a tear then not a sigâ—… no nor a sad thought and further you may be also sure that since God doâ—… with his own gracious hand wipe away all their tears none of them shaâ—… return nor shall any new ones succeed and come in the room of the formeâ—… a tear shall not be found in the eye nor upon the cheek throughout all eteâ—… nity Thus have I done what I promised as to the first Doctrine the usâ—… whereof I shall defer until I have spoken to the second Doctrine and then shall make some short application of them both together Now that Doctrinâ—… as was said before will arise from the reason of Davids calling upon his Soul 〈◊〉 return unto its rest or if you please from the argument and motive he useth fâ—… the perswading it so to do taken from Gods former providences and graâ—… ous dispensations towards him For the Lord hath dealt bountifully wâ—… thee Which is such an argument as doth become every Saint every one 〈◊〉 his Children for upon them all he hath shewn and magnified his merâ—… The Doctrine shall be this Doct. 2. Gods dealing bountifully with a Soul should be a powerful aâ—… cogent argument with it for its return to him It doth carry a great dâ—… of weight and reason in it and it should come with a proportionable strengâ—… upon the Soul It should be effectual It should
spirit of faith and love and desire and longing in all those that have past through the new birth Attainments in many of them are little and low but in all of them desires are high And though these desires are exceeding good yet they are very painful as â—…arp hunger is to an almost starved creature How uneasie is a longing Woman it makes her sick at the very heart not seldom causeth a faintness and swoonings and puts her into a great discomposure throughout So do the desires of a longing Saint too too often he over-looks and pays not unto God due acknowledgments for nor doth he himself tast the sweetness and take the comfort of what he hath because he cannot as yet get what he wants Oh how much doth such an one hasten after a deliverance from sin How eagerly doth he thirst for increases of grace How doth he aspire to an holy fixation of mind free from those avocations and diversions which afflict him And as the hunted parched Hart panteth after the Water-brooks so doth his Soul pant after the Living God and an intimate unbroken Communion with him and it is even sick with love and longings because it finds not what it thus seeks It doth hardly enjoy it self because it hath not those enjoyments that it would But when once Death hath done its work upon him there is a rest from these things too not because the Souls love is in the least cool'd and abated for then it is perfected and raised up to the purest hottest and highest flame in which it shall everlastingly continue but because it hath plenary fruition of that which it loves of all which it loves While the gracious Soul is here in the body it hath its sallyings out its earnest reaches and lofty flights Oh that it were so and so Thus poor Iob as you have it in Iob 29 v. 2 c. O that I were as in months past as in the days when God preserved me when his Candle shined upon my head and when by his light I walked thorough darkness when the secret of God was upon my Tabernacle when the Almighty was yet with me So O that it were with me as sometimes I have found it O that it were with me as it is with such an one and such an God more and love him more and live him more But when the Soul comes to Heaven it takes the place appointed and prepared for it and there it sits down at ease because it is where it would be and as it would be There is no desire because a compleat satisfaction Psal. 17. ult As for me I will behold thy face in righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness There desires are turned into and swallowed up of delights There is indeed in glorified Souls a natural desire of the resurrection of their bodies and a reunion to them but that desire is no impairing of their happiness not in the least afflictive because moderate and rightly tempered and sweetened with a full assurance that it shall be done at the time appointed by the Father And in the mean while they are abundantly pleas'd having a fulness of joy in the vision and fruition of God Father Son and Spirit who is to them infinitely better than the body can be Come we now to the next thing propounded viz. the properties of that rest into which the holy Soul doth enter after death or what kind of rest it is and that I shall endeavour to shew you in these three particulars First It is a compleat rest every way perfect there is not any thing wanting thereunto There is indeed a sweet and blessed rest which those have here in this life who come to Christ and make a believing closure upon the terms propounded in the Gospel though they have not the rest of the World yet they have a rest in the World and that in the midst of concussions and confusions when they are tumbled and toss'd up and down they have a rest out of their Enemies reach This our dear Lord and Saviour hath promised and he cannot but be as good as his word Mat. 11. 28. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest not only a right to it but the possession of it that which they could not meet with before neither in themselves nor in the creature they meet with in him as the Dove that could find no place for the sole of its foot when it was abroad as the Raven could that would light and feed upon Carrion the dead carcasses floating upon the surface of the waters yet it found rest in the Ark upon its return to it Those that before were through the stingings of Conscience and the apprehensions of Divine wrath and impending Judgments as persons upon a Rack are through the sprinklings of the blood of the Covenant upon them and the sealings and witnessings of the Spirit within them as in a Bed of Down or Roses Those wounds that formerly smarted are graciously healed and their Agonies are over unless they cause new ones by their foolishness but for all this here aliquid deest something is wanting as well as something amiss Paul in 1 Thes. 3. 10. speaks of something that was lacking in their Faith and truly the same may be affirmed of the best improved and most grown Saints on this side of Heaven that there is something lacking in their Faith yea and in their Love and in their Humility and Meekness and Patience and in all the graces that have been by the blessed Spirit of God wrought in them And we may be sure of this that as long as there is something lacking in the grace there will be something not be arrived at a perfect state But after death all these wants will be supplied and all these defects made up there will be no vacancy in the Soul nothing lacking then that which is perfect will be come and so that which is imperfect shall be done away and hereupon that rest which the Soul shall have when it comes to Heaven will be greater and fuller than that which it had when it first came to Christ or all the while that it lived a sojourner in the World there will be perfect holiness and by consequence there will be a perfect happiness God will not in any thing be behind hand with his people or wanting to them there they are continually before the Throne of God always in his presence and David tells us Psal. 16. 11. That in his presence there is fulness of joy and a fulness of joy doth necessarily imply and carry along with it a fulness of rest and that which followeth hereupon Secondly It is an undisturbed rest Here our peace is oftentimes broken and our rest is gone It is said of Ahasuerus that he could not sleep his sleep fled away from him he did all that in him lay to compose himself he would gladly have slept
mortal Enemies one to another are far one from another though as to their bodies they may be in the same room now a state of sin is a state of enmity so the Apostle Paul tells us Rom. 8. 7. The carnal mind is enmity against God enmity in the abstract enmity in the height of it The carnal mind votes against God and the carnal heart hates him and all that bears his Image and Superscription it hates his Law his Government his Word his Ways his People any thing that savours of God any one that resembles him As God doth perfectly hate the carnal mans wickedness so doth the carnal man hate Gods holiness yea all holiness except it be an holy day of his own making The unregenerate man cannot endure the splendor of the Sun no not so much as the twinkling of a Star My meaning is he cannot bear with the perfect holiness of God himself no not with the imperfect holiness of his People Secondly There is a distance from God in our imperfect state while we are in our nonage and minority The gracious Soul is indeed said to be brought nigh as you may see in Ephes. 2. 13. Now in Christ Iesus ye Who were sometimes far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ So that as ye have it in verse 19. Ye are no more strangers and forreigners but fellow-citizens of the Saints and of the houshold of God You are now some of the family with some of the house all those that are sincere Converts sound Believers persuaded to be not almost but altogether Christians are brought into a near relation to God they are his Children and have a right to go up to his very Throne and there call him Father and they are also brought into a near Communion 1 Iohn 1. 3. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye might have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Iesus Christ. And as God hath made it their duty so they do make it their delight to be drawing nigh to him in those Ways which he hath appointed them hence they love praying and hearing Sabbaths and Sacraments means of grace and actings of grace and many sweet meeting they have with him and abundance of benefit and advantage they find coming into their Souls by it Psal. 73. 28. It is good for me to draw near to God pleasant and profitable good as it affords me peace and good as it promotes my growth good as it increaseth my grace and as it adds to my comfort it is every way and upon all accounts good to draw â—…igh to God but yet as near as the Saints themselves are to God they are not so near to him as they would be nor as they should be and therefore things of the enamoured Spouse Cant. 1. 4. Draw me we will run after thee And the Language of all holy Souls is the very same for they are not satisfied with though thankful for what they have but are and while here will be making out after nearer approaches still nearer not only the banquettinghouse-entertainment Cant. 2. 4. but chamber-fellowship Cant. 3. 4. and after clearer sights Shew me thy glory said Moses and after fuller enjoyments Stay me with flaggons comfort me with apples Straw me with them compass load me with them and as none of them are so full as they would be so none of them so fixed as they would be they cannot dwell upon God as they would do but are guilty of wandrings from him both out of duty and in it too their minds and affections are running away from God so that they have them to seek while they should be wholly taken up with him woful flutterings and rovings are the matter of their frequent and sorrowful complaint Thirdly There will be a distance during the time of this their mortal state while they do inhabit the earthly house of this Tabernacle so long as the Christian is upon Earth he is not where he would be unless it be for work-sake and for duties-sake this is not his own home but the house of his Pilgrimage this is not his Country but a strange Land this is not his rest for it is polluted and he is uneasie and when he can make his escape and be upon the wing and get to Heaven by raised meditations flaming affections and a Gospel-adorning conversation still he is not there so as he would be not in such a manner nor to such a degree He is not so often there nor so much there nor so long there as he would be Rara hora brevis mora He can get up thither too seldom and he can abide there too little He is not wholly and altogether there as he would be when he hath taken a great deal of pains to winde his Soul up there are heavy weights that press it down and so there are miserable vexatious declensions and descensions through weakness the holy Soul cannot mount up to Heaven so strongly and through wantonness it cannot abide there so constantly as it would and besides this the present state is a state of absence which the gracious heart doth not like nor approve it is grievous and â—…rksom to it as the wilderness-condition was to Israel though they had Manna sent them from Heaven and Water fetched for them out of a Rock and that following them in a never-failing stream yet it was but a wilderness not the Land flowing with Milk and Honey which they had in the Promise and in their Hope 2 Cor. 5. 6. While we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord we do not enjoy his glorious presence nor lie in his bosom we do walk by faith and not by sight we rejoyce in hope and not in fruition the sights which we have of him are but as in a glass darkly and not face to face Our enjoyment of him is mediate we have his tokens and not those endearing embraces that we would Yea and while we are absent we are burdened with this load of corruptible flesh in which we cannot be compleatly happy and with a 〈◊〉 of sin the body of death which stinks in our nostrils and with a load accounts there follows an uneasiness and restlesness of spirit verse 2. We groâ—… earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from Heaven to have a Robe of Immortality and Glory put on over this Garment of the body Thus I have shewn you that there is a distance from the Lord and that in all men even the best and most holy those who have attained to the largest measures and highest degrees of grace while they are Pilgrims and Strangers here Now according to this threefold distance from God there is to be a threefold return to him if ever we would come to the enjoyment of a perfect happiness and rest which I shall give up thus to you First There is a return
God and in him a perfect happiness without danger or fear of losing either him or it Our blessed Lord Jesus made way for this return of the Soul to God by his most precious blood which is pacifying to God and purifying to man by it he made peace such a peace as cannot be broken and so clear'd the passage that all the Devils iâ—… Hell cannot shut it up again The blessed and Divine Spirit whom our Saviour promised to send doth make it his work and business to bring Souâ—… back to God by his quickening renewing and sanctifying grace and tâ—… carry them on further and further by fresh influences assistances and supplies And then when they come to be duly qualified ready and meet to be made partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in light so that they may be presented before the presence of the Divine glory with exceeding joy the holy Angels who are now appointed to be ministring Spirits unto them who arâ—… the Heirs of Salvation are sent forth by their tender and ever-loving Father as his Messengers to fetch them home and as a powerful Guard to convey them safe through the Regions of the Air and Legions of Devils into the seat of the blessed those celestial and sure resting places which their Lord and Head purchased and hath taken possession of in their names and now keeps for them And this is that return which I shall discourse to you abouâ—… as that which is most proper because most pertinent and suitable to the present occasion This is that return which the holy Soul should have much upon its thoughts and which it ought to desire with longings and when thâ—… time is come call upon it self to make with all chearful readiness and wâ—… have a very good reason for it in the Text before us because it is a returning to our rest There is a sweet and desirable rest which Death brings along with it to the People of God A rest to the body that it lays to sleep in thâ—… chamber of the grave in the bed of dust Isa. 57. 1 2. The righteous perish anâ—… merciful men are taken away if you ask from what he tells you it is froâ—… the evil to come if again you ask what becomes of them he tells youâ—… they go or enter into peace and shall rest in their beds and that out of the reacâ—… of them who would discompose them as Iob spake when he was discontenâ—… because Death was so slow-paced and came no sooner for him for if it hâ—… saith he Ioâ—… 3. 17. then I should have been where the wicked cease from 〈◊〉 â—…ear not the voice of the â—…ressor But that which is far more and better than that when Death knocks at the door of a godly man it brings along with it a rest unto his Soul Or that I may speak more properly it brings the Soul to iâ—… rest to the best rest it can have or desire viz. a rest in its God a rest in the Centre a rest in the arms and bosom of him who is the supreme object of its love and pleasant for delights That rest can want nothing to compleat it which is a rest in Heaven a rest in God But in order to the commending to you this return unto God by Death we will briefly shew these two things 1. What those things are from which the Soul doth after Death rest 2. What are the properties of that rest which the holy Soul shall then be put into the possession of First then What are those things which the holy Soul doth after Death rest from Unto this I shall answer in these four things First There will be a rest from all Conflicts for then it enters into peace and is encompast about with it The life of a Christian here is thoroughout a combating life there is not any that flees to Christ as a Saviour but must if he would find him so submit to him as a Lord and list himself under him as a Captain Therefore we are expresly commanded to put on the whole Armour of God and to fight the good fight of Faith and to endure hardship as the good Souldiers of Jesus Christ. You must not think to live here wholly at ease and in quiet Christianity is a warfare No sooner are you reconciled and made the Friends of God but others will be enraged and become desperate yea implacable Enemies unto you Great Enemies there are potent cruel and a great many of them Intestine Enemies those of our own house yea nearer yet those of our own hearts and because they are so very near therefore they are exceeding dangerous A Legion of lusts which war against the Soul who indeed can tell the number of them There is flâ—…sh which lusteth against the spirit sin against grace fears and doubts and jealousies of God against Faith sensual and self-love against the love of God and there are forreign Enemies too Satan and the World the World one while undermines the Soul by its flattering promises and another while batters it with its terrible menaces Now it fawns with Delilah anon it frowns like a fury and then the Devil who will never be quiet at one time he comes forth against the Soul in a disguise like to an Angel of Light that he may so deceive and surprize it at another time he will appear in his own shape as ugly and deformed as it is for Devils do not know how to blush I say he comes as a Prince of darkness to carry it captive and fright it into his Net sometimes the Saints find him hissing as a Serpent and nibbling at their heels at other times roaring like a Lion and coming upon them with open mouth as if he would swallow them at once so that what with the one and the other the sin that dwelleth within and the Enemies that beset and lay close siege without the poor Christian is oftentimes weary of his life but when Death comes it puts an end to all this it takes the Christian and carries him out of the field and of Salvation having come off with honour and obtain'd the Victory yea been more than a Conquerour shall maintain an everlasting Triumph with their Robes of Glory and Palms in their hands When once Death lays them asleep in their graves the last stroke is struck as to them they shall not learn nor prosecute this holy War any more Secondly There will be a rest from trouble and sorrow As there will be no fightings so no mournings as no dangers so no fighs This World is a place of trouble it is full of it Man is born to trouble and as it meets him at his birth so it will accompany him to his grave When our first Father Adam had once transgressed the Law of his Creation there was immediately introduc'd a dismal and astonishing change the face of the Earth was covered with Briars and Thorns and who is there among all the Children of men that
endear him to us and higâ—… ly commend him and accordingly draw us to him and inflame our desiâ—… and longings after an immediate communion more and more If men wâ—… but give themselves leave to consider and wâ—…igh all things in a just ballanâ—… they will find and be constrained to acknowledge that there is no solid 〈◊〉 sufficient reason nay not so much as the shadow of a reason in all Goâ—… carriages to his people why any one should go away from him Therefoâ—… when upon the subducting of many of his common hearers our Savioâ—… propounded to his Disciples this Question Will ye also go away Peter 〈◊〉 the name of the rest made this reply Lord to whom shall we go We are well as we are find such Love and Sweetness and good entertainment wâ—… thee that we do not know in all the world where we can mend our selvâ—… where we shall be better nay where we may be so well for with thee alâ—… are the words of eternal life And as there is no reason why any should go 〈◊〉 way from him so in case any have been so foolish and imprudent and enâ—… mies to themselves as to go away there is no reason at all why they shâ—… stay away Indeed if such deserters do return it must be with shame aâ—… blushing And that they may thank their former folly for they had 〈◊〉 thousand times better come to shame than not come to God But as was saâ—… there is no reason for their staying away altogether Ier. 2. 31. O Geneâ—… tion see the word of the Lord have I been a wilderness unto Israel or a Lâ—… of darkness wherefore say my people VVe are Lords we will come no more unâ—… thee How now Israel what is the meaning of this language why have yâ—… taken up such an hasty resolution What is it that doth displease yoâ—… Wherein have I offended you charge me if you can what have I 〈◊〉 or what have I done what cause I have given you What will you coâ—… ter In this case sinners must be speechless or they will not be able to say any thing to purpose Whereas on the other side there is a great deal of reason why those that have gone from him should return to him Assoon as ever the Prodigal came to himself he thought it his best and wisest course to go to his Father And there is also highest reason why those that live here in his love and fear should desire to go from hence that they may live with him in his Kingdom and Glory In the remainder of this discourse I shall speak only concerning the Souls return to God at death and its willing and chearful readiness so to do Christians let me suppose you standing upon the Worlds higher ground having the Sun of prosperity shining upon your Tabernacle with waters of a full Cup wrung out unto you Let your conditions here be never so full and pleasant your life never so sweet not made up of nights of trouble and months of vanity but all good and halcyon let your enjoyments be never so abounding and your Communion with God never so close and intimate though your peace be as a River and your righteousness in the delightful fruits thereof as the Waves of the Sea yet this should not glue and fasten you to the World in the midst of all this your heart should be weaned and willing to be gone as knowing this is not your rest Peter is looked upon as forgetting himself when upon the transfiguration of Christ he said Lord it is good to be here if thou wilt let us make here three Tabernacles c. Where saith one there are plura absurda quam verba more absurdities than there are words Paul that had been in the third Heaven was not for building but for the pulling down and dissolving of the Tabernacle Nay the comfortable enjoyments which you have now and Gods dealing bountifully with you at present both in temporals andSpirituals should make you willing and desirous to be gone that you may know what the best will be whensoever God is pleased to call for you and by that grim Messenger Death saith come up hither you should with gladness and rejoycing say Go my Soul make no tarrying shew no lothness but with a smile and holy transport take thy last farewel of all these Earthly Friends and Enjoyments of all these sublunary drossie delights and welcom the Messenger that is sent for thee though he should handle thy body roughly yet let patience have its perfect work and take it kindly because thou shalt return to thy rest and quickly be with that God from whom thou didst first come whose face thou shalt behold in righteousness Now that gracious and bountiful dealing which you have found at his hand all the time that you have spent in the world notwithstanding your ill deservings and unanswerable walkings may very well contribute greatly to this willingness and be a mighty encouragement as they do strongly oblige you to duty here so they should do more than reconcile you to a departure hence That I hope will appear evidently to you upon a threefold account First This bountiful dealing of God with you is a plain and evident demonstration of that fulness which is in him by the liberality of his hand you may judge something of the greatness of his stock Who is a God like what a blessed exchange do you make when you come to die You leave a company of broken Cisterns that are little and leaking can hold no water but frequently fail your expectations and leave you at that loss they find you in and then you go to a living Fountain that is ever full and overflowing You go out of an earthly Clay Cottage which is crazy and tottering and the keeping of it in repair puts you to a great deal of trouble and charge and when you have done your utmost it must tumble and then you take possession of an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens whose builder and maker is God and which was by him made for the place of his everlasting residence the habitation of his holiness and glory so that by all you part with here you will be no losers but change unspeakably to your advantage Are there any of you that have got good hope through grace that have had your Faith of Adherence crowned with that of Assurance one would rationally conclude you as willing to go to Heaven as Israel was to see Egypt upon their backs which had been to them an house of bondage and great servitude or to make haste through an howling and inhospitable Wilderness that they might come to a Canaan a Land of desire flowing with Milk and Honey I beseech you Christians seriously to reflect upon things that are past and consider what doth now come from God what you have received since you did accept and embrace an offered Iesus and what you are still receiving How