not doubt of compassing this Peace since such act according to their Primitive Institution and are in the state they were intended and in that condition for which God design'd them But in the revers those take much pains to loose their Labour that hope to finde Peace in the paths of Impiety No it s only a Religious life can make us happy for that ever yeilds comfort when we stand most in need of it in times of Affliction or Death Holiness being of that Blessed Nature that it makes all Light within tho there be nothing but Darkness without Riches Honours Pleasures and Preferments saith a Pious Author are coy and keep distance and when we loose them leave us with a weeping Eye and heavy Heart but Virtue never leaves us till we force and chase it from us It s the Sovereign Cordial in all conditions it s not lost in the many Misfortunes that surround us it continues sweet and comfortable in Misery gives Courage in Adversity makes us rich in Poverty is such a Physitian that puts us to little Expence yet gives such Cordials as chear the Body Spiritualize the Soul Nay is the precious Pearl that purchases our Peace to all Eternity and shines on our Souls even here with Beams of Everlasting Glory For such thoughts of Spiritual Ravishment and Unutterable rapture are many times inspired by the Spirit of Comfort into the hearts of Gods Children who have oft in a sweet showre from Heaven a whole Sea of Comfort powred on their Souls and by the Glorious fruition of inward Peace and Joy have such a lively perception and foretast of Everlasting pleasures as is beyond the power of the Heart of Man to conceive or the Tongue of Angels to express as if with one hand they had already laid hold on the Crown of Life and had got one step within the Gates of Heaven for the Angels whom they fill with joy with a careful tenderness and alacrity become their Guardians and servisable to them All the Creatures are in League with and reconciled unto them and with a secret reverence do adore that Sacred Character of Divinity that is imprinted on them for by being Undesiled These regain all that Adam by his fall lost and are happier in this state of Integrity then Adam in that of Innocency for the Undefiled are now Sons of God and Heirs to his Kingdom Nay for ought we know such may hereafter Equalize if not Transcend the splendour of Angles for tho the Undefiled are lower then Angels by Creation yet they are superior by Adoption Angels have only Glorified Spirits but the Undefiled shall have Glorified Souls and Spiritualized Bodies too even like our Saviour for the Felicity and the Eternity of such shall be like his as in the 1 Epistle St. John 3 Chap. 2 3 Verses And if the Pious enjoy such Transcendant Peace and Glory who in his wits then wou'd not deny himself the pleasure of a moment to be pleased for ever Who then wou'd not be a Christian for a few years to Reign with Christ for ever Did you see as I oft do in my Visits of the Sick I say did you see Sinners in that stormy night when Vengence reaches them or Death pangs seizes them you could no more describe their Fears and their Cares then fathom the Firmament But on the contrary if you were sensible of the Transports of Peace and Comfort that Pious Souls enjoy in the time of Afflictions or Death it wou'd make the greatest Debauch turn Puritan and the most refin'd Epicure a Mortified Saint it wou'd charm the Cup out of the hand of the Drunckard and lure the Sinner from the softest Embrace For when the Undefiled resign their already Mortified Bodies into the cold hands of Death their Souls being conscious of an upright and unspoted Life have created Eyes so Fortified that many enjoy Transcendent Rayes of the Beatific Vision before Departure Nay being supported by the Spirit of Comfort feel no sting in Death discover no darkness in the Grave no amazment at that Great and Terrible day of the Lord when the Sun shall be turned into Darkness and the Moon into Blood when the Heavens shrivel together like a Scrole of Parchment and the high and mighty Mountains skip out of their places like roused Hindes Then Lastly The Undefiled shall be Eternally Blest they shall not only look down with Cheerfulness into the Grave but in to the other World without terror where they shall not see a Court of Justice but a Throne of Grace where they shall not see a severe Judg but a kind Father and a Saviour who died for them ready to pronounce them Blessed and set the Crown of Glory on their Heads where they shall ever be in the conversation of Excellent Persons brave minds Charitable Souls and dear Friends be eas'd of all their Pains resolved of all their Doubts freed from all their Fears and happy beyond their Hopes having Scepters made to fill their Hands and mighty Glories to Crown their Heads and forever enjoy Gods dearest delights and highest Glories for Blessed are the Vndefiled in the way that walk in the Law of the Lord. FINIS
sorrow to the Grave this made Hecubà and others Bark with the Inhabitants of the Kennel Howl amongst the Tombs and sail to their Sepulchres in a Sea of tears I might instance a thousand more calamities incident to the life of man so that were it not for the Expectations of another life man would be the most miserable of Animals in this It was an apt Expression of the Philosopher upbraiding one that desired long life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Alass ther 's no object so deplorable as a Gray Head and an Unsanctified Heart but the Hoary Scalp is a Crown of Glory and only to be desired by such as excel in Piety Such aspiring Spirits were not given us to be tyed ever to a Perishing Body Nor can we think it worth the while that the maker of the Universe shou'd Create a Soul and send it down into the Body or World on purpose to superintend these trivial affairs to keep alive a silly piece of Earth whilst it Eats and Drinks to move it too and fro in chase of Shadows and to hold it up while others bow the Knee and do it Homage No our Creator has put us into this world in order to our Translation to a better we are not always to live among Mire and be tyed to a Perishrng body we come into this World not to take up our aboad and rest this life is only to Exercise our virtues and qualify us for the world to come we live not so much to Enjoy it as to Conquer it's Temptations and dispise it's flatteries and if we live long enough to do this we may thank God for what Labouring man wou'd not willingly be at rest what Mariner is not glad that he hath weathered all Storms and steer'd to his desired Haven where his soul shall Enjoy Divine pleasure to big to be describ'd When Craesus ask'd Solon who he thought happy he told him one Tellus a man that was dead for tho death breaks the Vnion between the Body and Soul yet it cannot break that Vnion between the Soul and Christ if undefil'd then why should we think a Temporary Life such a Felicity then why shou'd it trouble us to leave men to live with Christ and Angels why shou'd we be so unwilling to leave this body of dust where we shall sin no more be sick no more and troubled no more but pass from death to life from a vally of tears to Eternal joys then why should we not with Scipio desire to be dissolved when we hear of Immortality and Glory undoubtedly death to him that is undefil'd in the way is only as a passage through a dark entry into a Glorious Pallace a putting of these Rags of the flesh and a puting on the Robes of Righteousness a laying down a Sheep-hook and a taking up a Scepter a laying down a Crown of Thorns which Prick Torture and Torment us and a putting on a Crown of Glory which will for ever Comfort and Delight us Lastly A concurrence and combination of all these cannot make so much as one man Happy the Heathen Philosopher in search found a conveniency but no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 self-sufficiency for if one man had all the Excellency and Power all the Highest and Greatest Treasures and Glory under the Sun had he all the Bodily perfections which are distributed amongst the numerous Train of mankind and all conspired together to make this one man happy he wou'd infinitly come short of his Design And this miserable one Person at last would wofully Experiment that all these Glittering and Guilded Representations with which this flattering World had dazled and deceived his Eyes were but like Painted Sepulchres glorious and gay without but within fill'd with Rottenness Darkness Horror and Death or like Egyptian Temples with a Specious outside but Inhabited with Crocodiles and Dragons instead of Gods I say had one man all the Ethics of Aristotle all the Morality of Seneca all the Learning at Athens had he all the cuning and trickes of Achitophel the strength of Goliah the Treasures of Nebuchadnezar the Honour of Haman the Beauty of Absolon Nay had he the knowledg of the Scribes and the Devotion of the Pharises he would at last discover himself to be a stranger to true Felicity and utterly unacquainted with the blest condition and that on these following accounts At the Fall of our First Parents the Earth was Curst so cannot yeild to Man any true Comfort It must now bring forth Thorns and Bryers that is Cares and Troubles and so it s a Delusion to expect a second Paradice here or to hope for true Happiness any where but in Heaven because all here is mutable and we Mortal Wordly comforts are transient and vanishing they cannot extend themselves to Eternity and thus they want the very life and accomplishment of true Tranquillity here we cannot write for ever on our Riches here we cannot write for ever on our Honours or Pleasures there will be a period put to all Humane Glory all our Riches Pomp and Grandeur must abandon us at the Frontiers of the Grave six Foot and a Shrowd then will serve Indeed were it in our power to Procrastinate our days could we strike off the nimble Chariot Wheels of time and with Joshua Bid the Sun stand still could we Lengthen out our days to some thousands of years and those to be imployed in the most Entire and Choicest of Worldly Fruitions without interruption or decay it would seem a little more plausable to place our Hapiness here But alafs who is there Ignorant of this said Truth that the Life of Man is but a Span Long Are not my days few saith Job I go where I shall not return even into the Land of Darkness and shadow of Death and none knows but the next breath he draws to cool and fresh his Lungs may be that Gale of wind to waft him on the Coasts of Eternity For when God is but Angry all our days are gon Man is sick and dies Man perishes and where is he to day hee s set up and to morrow he shall not be found for he is turn'd into dust and his purpose Perisheth and his pomp terminateth in a neglected Grave and in a few Months after the Mourners have gone about the Streets and the Solemnity of his Funeral is over is forgotten as if he had never been and if so why should a thinking Man place his Happiness here Why should an Eternal Spirit Address a Vapour Why should an Immortal Soul court a Phantom since the Spirit of Man cannot delight in any thing that 's Terrestial here indeed are Diversions that please and tickle the Senses but cannot give the least Delectation to the Soul nor any wise satisfie the Capacity of a Mans heart for if a Man could give Silver as Stones and Caedars as the Wild Figtrees that grow abundantly on the Plains could he provide Men Singers and Women Singers and be croun'd with the
A SERMON Preached in the Colledge Church OF St KATHARINS FEBRVAEY the 13th 1698. By JOSIA POVEY Brother and Minister there LONDON Printed by J. Mayos in the Year 1698. To the READER I Used many Arguments to perswade my Auditors to desist in their desires of rashly passing this Discourse from the Pulpit to the Press but not prevailing I fear the uncharitable will Carp at the Inchoherence c. A SERMON Preached in the Colledge Church of St Katharins February the 13th 1698. PSALM 119. Part of the 1st Verse Blessed are the Vndefiled in the way THAT all things do naturally act and are design'd to some extream and ultimate end of their being is a Truth so secure either from being deny'd by Philosophers or disputed by Divines that none who enjoy a moderate use of their Reason but will equally pretend to an Evidence and Demostration of it Thus to be existent and to have a Natural propension to some chief and final End are terms both Inseperable and Convertible and that innate Principle whereby every thing is inclin'd to prosecute its own well being and perfection is no less Necessary then Universal Neither are they lest destitute of means for the attainment of a proper and peculiar End Nay all things are naturally invested with particular Instincts and Imbred Faculties whereby they are enabled for the prosecution of Hapiness All Vegitables are qualified with faculties whereby they are impoured to spring out of the Earth and to grow up to Maturity and naturally produce Seeds and Fruits by which their Species is Multiplied and Perpetuated The sensitive Creatures being Endued with quick and acurate Senses have a lively perception of Pleasure and Pain and carried on with a vigorous and active Propension towards those pleasures of Sens. Being enabled to resist things unpleasant and Elect those that are grateful as if they apprehended the means and the end in which does consist their highest happiness nor is Mankind a jaring Noat in this great and Universal Harmony but all of them how different soever in their Degrees Fortunes or Humours yet by a general consent do agree in this one desire of being Blessed This is the great end that all their projects and contrivances do propose this is the Goal to which the whole course of their lives is only directed this is the reward which all contend for and every one expects to obtain in this agree the Godly and the Wicked the Pure and Debaucht Remember me O Lord with the favour that thou bearest unto thy People O visit me with thy Salvation or Blessedness Sings the Divine Psalmist Let me die the death of the Righteous saith Balaam and let my last end be like his that is be Blessed Thus this eager appetite of being happy is so incorporated with our Natures that nothing can divorce that desire but dissolution we may with as great facility new Model our frames as Extinguish this lively Principle it bearing the same date with our existence and cannot be put out while we are yet not dissolved into our Primitive Nothing so that its Demonstrable all court Hapines but most mistake werein it consists one thinks it s seated on the top Pinacle of Honour so with proud Sejanus climbs so high till he tumbles head-long another with Mydas thinks it a Mineral that must be dig'd out of the Earth so toils to load himself with this thick Clay till he finds a Grave where he sought his Treasure and indeed most think Hapiness to consist in worldly fruitions which satisfie sens and not in being undefil'd which only can give delectation to the Soul and since it is so shall take this Method First I shall shew you Particularly and Negatively wherein Hapiness does not consist Secondly Shall shew you in General and Affirmatively werein it does consist and how to compass that Blessed State Thirdly What it is to be Undefil'd and when we may be esteemed so And Lastly Shall give you the Blessed Consequents of so being First I shall shew you Particularly and Negatively wherein Blessedness does not consist First It does not or cannot consist in Riches Secondly In Honours Thirdly In Beauty Fourthly In Humane knowledg Fifthly In long Life Lastly That a Concurrence and Combination of all these cannot make one Man happy First Riches cannot render us truly Blest and Happy for that cannot do it that is not desirable for its own Excellency but for its use and subserviency to the more Ignoble part of Man and never satisfies for the more a carnal Man has of them the more he covets so that you may as readily extinguish Fire by puting on of Fuel or fill a Chest with Knowledge as satisfie a Mans desires with Riches The Macedonian Monarch when he had Conquer'd the World was so far from being contented that he Wept because he could not find out another Secondly That which is got with much care and cannot be secured can never make happy and that Riches are so St. Mathew assures us in the 13. and 22. there he compares them to Thorns to shew their vexation Hosea the 12. and 1. to Wind to shew their incertainty And Experience tells us That he who Enjoys the greatest hapiness in them wants one more a security for the future of what he possesses at present Do not think says Polycarp that thick Clay which has past through so many Hands will ever stick to thy Fingers Wilt thou set thy Heart on that which is not says Solomom for Riches take themselves Wings and fly away they have not only Feet to walk off from us but Wings and fly away from us And he that assures himself of their continuance with him is as much infatuated as the Rustick that thought himself for ever happy when a flight of Birds Lodg'd on his Farm purpos'd to feed Deliciously every day and at night to sleep in Down but alas he was soon disapointed for they suddenly took Wing and went to his Neighbour at best the most secure Miser can never have better Fortune then the Fool in the Gospel For if Riches go not from a man he must go from them for Riches cannot deliver from Death nor be of any value to a Man in the Grave He that dies worth ten Pounds is as happy then as he that dies worth ten hundred thousand Grudg not saith the Psalmist tho' a man be made Rich and the Glory of his House encreased for he shall carry nothing with him when he Dies neither shall his Pomp follow him Yet how many with Judas sell their Salvation for Silver and loose Heaven to engross Earth I cannot see when we have those things that are necessary in that State werein God hath placed us what satisfaction there is to view a mass of Treasure which we brought not into this world with us only heapt together and so leave not the world Richer or Poorer then we found it only fetch a few turns on the Theatre and entertain the beholders with a