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
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
Possessions and Delights of the Sons of Men could carrouse it continually with Belshazar in full Bouls yet all these or the highest degrees of Luxury could not desend the most daring Belshazar from the Sting of a Tormented Conscience for in the midst of Laughter the Soul and the Heart too if Wicked will be sad then all the Jewels in Sauls Crown cannot Comfort or create a chalm within For if a Man have a defiled Conscience tho he were deckt with Majesty and arrayed with Beauty and Honour tho he wash his Paths with Butter and the Rocks power him out Rivers of Oyle tho he purchase a confluence of all created beings and could leave tokens of his pleasure in every place Were he the Universal Governour of the Ocean and could not only Trace but Control and Command the Motions of the Sun and Stars yet the Restless and Ambitious Curiosity of his Soul would aspire beyond the highest Heavens prye after some unreveal'd Excellency some absconded Felicity which the whole extent of this finite Material World with all her perfections could in no ways afford there being an inherent Insufficiency riveted in the very Essence of Sublunary beings that we can never allay our thirst at these Puddles of Egypt but if wee 'd be satisfied we must be undefiled and so soar aloft to the Cysterns of the Coelestial Canaan For that nothing can Extinguish the thirst of a mans Soul but the Waters of the Well of Life and the unfathomable Sea of the comforts of another World And those that hope for happiness in any Worldly fruitions without walking in the way of the Lord O! how is their Ignorance to be pittied O! with what compassionate Tears shou'd that Carnal state of man be lamented by all that understand the worth of a Soul What hart doth not bleed for miserable man that is perpetually mockt with Shadows cheated with false delusive appearances infatuated and betrayed by their own Senses whilst they rise up early and lye down late to seek rest in trouble and life in death that run away from true Blessedness whilst they pretend to pursue it Descend patiently to the Chambers of Death and Dream of nothing but an Earthly Paradice till they are amidst the infernal Regions Now if their Circumstances are thus to be Lamented that hope for happiness in Riches Honours c. or a Concurrence of all these then sure it concerns all to enquire what will make them blest and happy My second General propos'd True happiness consists in being invested with as good a state and condition as our Natures are capable of receiving but since the united sufficiencies of all created beings are not enough to satisfie our boundless desires and to make us truly and for ever perfect and happy The Soul of man being unsatiable in its appetite as its immortal by nature It only remains then that our aspirings must terninate in an infinite and eternal being in acquaintance and Fellowship with God the fountain of all Blessedness who alone being infinite is able to fill the Soul of man which is Immortal and therefore we may be assured that true happiness can consist in nothing else but a Regenerate state in a devout contemplation of God in being a Child of his an heir of Salvation in supernatural Grace and the blessed consequents thereof These are the Sources and Fountains of all happiness these the parents of Joy and Peace those Rich and mighty Cordials that raise Nature make all Purity all Glory lay all Storms compose all Mutinies in our Bosoms extinguish Troubles prevent Fears such a one can commune with his own Heart without uneasiness reflect on 's Actions without regret is ever raised above Malencholy being continually cherisht by Coelestial influences and ever incircled in Gods Love These are the never failing Fountains that perpetually feed and supply those Rivers of endless and unspeakable Blessings these are the Springs which for ever maintain that Ocean of Infinite and Eternal joys these are those inestimable Jewels which whosoever is securely possest of his heart is so fil'd with love and admiration that for ever he imploys his dearest and most noble thoughts on them ever sixing his Eyes and uniteing his heart to God the supreme Good And now Secondly The way to compas this Blessed state our dearest Redeemer tells us in his Sermon on the Mount Mat. 5th also the Patriarches Prophets Apostles and wisest of Mortals from their own experience assure us that there is no Happiness without Holyness Therefore they passionately excite us to elevate our affections above these contemptible vanities and Fallacious Ideas and to esteem them as Dross in comparison of those sublimated Excellencies which are at Gods Right Hand and if any ever hope to be happy here or hereafter he must be Innocent Charitable Humble Harmless and Honest he must love Righteousness and hate any thing that is foul or ill he must have a heart first fixt on Heavenly things and subservient to these the necessary affaires of his honest and lawful occupation And thus let the way of the Lord be your path then doubt not of being Blessed for his Graces will enliven you his Blessed Spirit will be your guide his Holy Angels your guard his Word your Light and Blessedness your end for Blessed are the undefiled in the way that walk in the Law of the Lord. Which leads me to my third proposed to tell you what it is to be undefiled and when we may be esteemed so First To be Undefiled is to practice the precepts in the 15th Psalm and to continue in a general and sincere course of Piety and Charity St. James in his first Chap. and last Verse tells you That pure Religion and undefil'd before God is to visit the Fatherless and Widow in their affliction and to keep your selves unspoted from the World You 'l answer we may visit the Fatherless and Widdow but we cannot be unspoted Its own'd that we cannot wholly put of the Rags of Corruption till we wholly put on the Roabes of Righteousness for that this Heredetary Corruption Sin will stick to our Flesh tho we wash this Ethiope with all our Hysop it will be black tho we rub this Leopard with all our Nitre it will have some spots The flesh will be a Solicitous Dalilah about us and within us will Sojourn in our Mesec and dwell in our Tents of Kedar for while we are in this Village where our Martha dwells our affections will have a tast of Earth we may correct our Corruptions but cannot wholly destroy them we may and must be without blame as to gross Inniquities but cannot be without blemish as to sinful Infirmities till we pass this Egypt and arrive at the Coelestial Canaan for there and there only are the Spirits of Just men made perfect and undefiled God never had but one Son here without Sin Except him the best of Saints have been subject to it and are Enjoin'd to confess their daily