(b) Erimus Christiani cum Christo gloriosi de Deo patre beati de perpetua voluptate laetantes semper in conspectu Det agentes Deo gratias semper Cyprian ad Demetr pa. 331. you shall be glorious as Christ is glorious blessed of God replenished with all fulness of Joy and shall have an everlasting Sabbath of Rest taking up your sweetest Repose in the Bosom of your blessed Redeemer loving praising and enjoying him in one eternal Soul-entrancing Fruition HOW chearfully then may the People of God undergo their present Sufferings and entertain when it comes their approaching Dissolution The hope which Jacob had to enjoy the beautiful Rachel was to him a comfortable Hope under all his Hardships yet not worthy to make an Emblem of ours who hope within a few days more to enjoy the Light of God's Countenance and the Soul-ravishing Beauty of our blessed Redeemer's Face in Glory Affliction may attend God's People all their Life long but only as a Foil to set off their future Blessedness and make Heaven so much the sweeter Death it self that bold Pursuivant will erelong look in at the Windows of God's dearest Children but only as their Birth-day to an Eternity of Joy unspeakable and beyond imagination Lift up then your Heads with Joy amidst all your Afflictions to that Crown of Life that follows after And while the Thorn of Death is at your Breast ready to let out your Life-blood even then let your Souls break forth like so many heavenly Nightingales into singing as knowing that your bodily Dissolution will only make way for your Coronation in Glory You (c) Psal 126.5 6. may sow in Tears but shall reap in Joy You may go out weeping though you be such as bear precious Seed but shall doubtless come again rejoycing and bring your full Sheaves of Glory along with you Sorrow you may have over Night when you have the advantage of the Season to sleep it out and pass it over But your Joy will come in the Morning when you shall enter fresh upon it and have before you to enjoy it in the whole Day of a blessed Eternity that will never be over Your Joys are now mixt with Sorrows your Comforts with many Crosses and your Light with much Darkness But having finished your Course Death will put an end to all your Sorrows remove your Crosses and so compass you about with the Light of Glory When wicked Men die their Works follow them in eternal Hellish-torments But when the People of God die their Works follow them in the full Reward of everlasting heavenly Glory For Believers over Hell and Death Christ hath got the Victory and lets (d) 1 Cor. 15.57 them wear the Grown So that (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost now Death which to wicked Men is porta inserni the Gate of Hell to you that believe is become in tâ—â—itus coeli an entrance into Heaven Death which to the wicked is as God's Serjeant to drag them into the infernal fiery Dungeon is to you the Lord's Gentleman Usher to conduct you into the supernal Palace of heavenly Glory And who would not through Storms and Tempests to come to such a Harbour Who would not embrace a fiery Tryal Complement Death and come to the Grave with gladness knowing that to be the ready way to the coelestial Paradise They that come from (f) Chrysost hom de divit Laz. a City to a Country Village to transact Matters of Concern there when their Business is well accomplished they return into the City again with Joy Thus Christians you whose Souls came from the new Jerusalem to Negotiate the great Matters of Eternity here in this World having finished your Course and kept the Faith how joyful may you return like so many Royal Ships laden with the richest Merchandise to that heavenly City where the (g) Rev. 21.23 Lamb will be your Light and God your Glory Well may you be content to serve an hard Apprentiship here so you may come hereafter to be made free Denizens of this heavenly Jerusalem Well may you go on in the Work of the Lord having such a Crown in your Eye and so sure after all your Conflicts to be set upon your Heads Well may you Christians having that clear prospect of Glory which (h) At enim nos exequias adornamus eadem tranquillitate quâ vivimus Minut. Foel Oct. 125. erelong like a divine Load-stone will draw you to it self subscribe your selves upon all Occasions with that resolved Servant of Christ Ann Ayscough such as neither Fear Death nor dread his Might but as merry as those that are bound for Heaven Now unto the King Eternal Immortal Invisible the only Wise God be Honour and Glory for ever and ever Amen FINIS Mr. Joseph Cooper's Advice to his Wife and Children THE Regions of Eternal Love Which I approach my Soul doth move Something Divine with you to leave While Death of me doth you bereave When I in silent Dust do dwell These Lines to you my Love shall tell Your Widows Vail when you put on Your Fatherless when they make moan Accept these Words naught else I crave Do not despise your Husband 's Grave Know Life is short and Death most sure To dying thoughts yourself inure What I am now Dust and a Shade Your self must be your Life doth fade Let warm Repose nourish no Sin Old Age approaching courts Death in Of my cold Bed in Dust take part You must with or against your Heart This I suggest from silent urn That whilst I speak your Heart may burn And be inflam'd with heavenly Love Aspiring still to things above Your Children sweet in number many Resign to God reserve not any He is their Father and he will Their Souls with all his Goodness fill Doubt not his Love or tenderness To Widows and to Fatherless Can Love you hate can Life you kill Can evil spring from God's good will This is his will that Widows chast Should trust in God and not make hast This is his Goodness to their Seed He will them help in time of need Upon this Promise still depend It fills with joy makes God your Friend His heart is open and his hand Treasures of Love and Grace command To Widows that are pure in heart And Children he doth Life impart And let me whisper one thing more You and your Children have in store Treasures of Sighs Tears Groans and Prayers Of which you are the rightful Heirs He that in silent dust doth sleep For you to God did often weep Nay weeping was his easiest part He sigh'd he groan'd he broke his heart Strugling with God that he might give You Grace in Christ to make you live Hoping for this he did expire God will you save you shall admire Sweet Children and my Spouse most dear Live still by Faith and nothing fear But Sin which is the root of Strife The Seed of Death the Plague of Life Your
nor could Mary Magdalen refrain her weeping by Christ's (b) John 20.14 15. Sepulchre because though Christ was present with her yet she did not know him So though the Well of Life Everlasting be before us and Christ having the Reward of eternal Glory in his Hand be present with us to Crown us yet if we know not all this we may well be filled with Sorrow and go weeping as Men without Hope from day to day For it is not so much Heaven as the Assurance of Heaven nor so much an Interest in eternal Life as the Knowledg of our Interest in that glorious reward that can wipe away all Tears from our Eyes and make our Hearts rejoyce with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory The Safety of your Souls depends indeed upon your Interest in the Recompence of eternal Glory that gives them the strongest Security against an everlasting Shipwrack so that let what Storms and Tempests will be abroad in the World yet having an Interest in heavenly Glory they shall never miscarry but be landed safe upon the wished Shoar of eternal Rest But yet the Comfort of your Souls and Hearts and Lives doth mainly depend upon the Knowledg and Assurance of that blessed Interest You may be safe with a bare Interest in Heaven but you can never be Comfortable nor free from Heart-perplexing Thoughts all the day long without knowing your Interest without some Assurance of Heaven as your eternal Inheritance The Sun when hid in a Cloud doth not yield those comfortable Irradiations and guilded Beams of Brightness to refresh us as at other times when shining forth in its Noon-day Splendour So neither must you expect the like Comfort from Heaven and eternal Glory to solace your Hearts your Interest therein being hid from your Eyes as otherwise they would afford did you but know Heaven to be your home and eternal Glory to be entailed upon you as your Portion in another World You then that would live Comfortable and die Triumphing give diligence to know what Right you have to the Recompence of Reward 'T will afford you little Comfort to have Heaven in your Eye so long as you want the Assurance of Heaven in your Hearts not knowing but you may eternally fall short of it A prospect of eternal Glory without a known Interest in eternal Glory will prove but a dull Cordial Be thy Right to eternal Life never so good yet thou losest the Comfort thereof so long as thy Evidences for eternal Life are not cleared up And had you rather dwell in the Tents of Kedar invelop'd in thick Darkness than to live and die assured of the heavenly Jerusalem as your own Inheritance Had you rather walk under the Fears of Death and be filled every day with the dreadful Apprehensions of eternal Burnings than to know that your Names are written in the Book of Life Had you rather be wandring in the Wilderness not knowing whether ever you shall come to Canaan than to be upon sure ground for that holy Land Had you rather be shut up in a black Cloud than solace your Souls in the bright Sun-shine of God's Love and Favour Had you ratheâ— be under continual Tossings at Sea and live at the Mercy of every enraged Wave than to come with full Sails into the peaceful Harbour of a divine Plerophory Had you rather be upon Uncertainties for an heavenly Mansion than to know that if your earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved you have a Building of God an House not made with Hands eternal in the Heavens In one word had you rather barely look upon heavenly Glory than to behold it with an Eye of Faith as that which shall infallibly be the Reward of all your Obedience to Crown you with What alas are all the Royalties of Heaven and Glory to me if I may not know them to be mine Were all the Beams of heavenly Glory collected and gathered together in one Sun yet what were all this to me if still I be left to sit in Darkness not seeing any ground of Claim to one beam of that Glory Let all the Clusters of Canaan let all the Grapes of that Holy Land be pressed and strained into one Cup yet what Comfort can my Soul have thence when seeing them I know not but I may want them for ever God allows us in all our Obedience to look at Heaven and Glory and eternal Happiness but wherewith shall I clear up my Heart and make glad my Soul if I cannot look upon Heaven as my Heaven upon Glory as my Glory upon eternal Happiness as my own Happiness and exceeding great Reward What sweetness can a Christian draw from the Promise of eternal Life if he know not himself to have an Interest in it and be not sure to live eternally by it Lose not therefore the Comfort of your Souls in an heap of Uncertainties do not cast away through your Unbelief those Cordials which God hath provided for you oh sit not down satisfied any longer without the assurance of Heaven if you would not live and die without the Joys of Heaven Many there are I confess that cry down Assurance under the reproachful Nick-names of carnal Confidence Presumption and Security as if this heavenly Manna like that in the Wilderness were subject to Corruption and would breed Worms making Men turn Libertines grow careless and cease to work out their own Salvation with Fear and Trembling But the truth is there are none that ever walk so chearful so upright so circumspect in Heavens way as those that know they shall infallibly come there Amongst all Men in the World those are always most stedfast most immoveable most abounding in the Work of the Lord that know their Labour shall never be in vain but be Crowned at length with eternal Rest Whoever expects to receive much from God and hath the Hope of eternal Life abiding in him such an one will most willingly spend and be spent in the Service of God giving diligence above all others to purify himself as (c) 1 John 3.3 he is pure As well you may say that the Fire will make a Man freeze with cold as that the Assurance of eternal Life will make God's People grow secure sloathful and negligent in their Christian Course taking boldness to live as they list What doth the Assurance of future Glory dispose those that have it to turn the Grace of God into Wantonness Shall a known Interest in the Reward of eternal Life be thought to make Men love the Wages of Unrighteousness Must the knowing that we have an Inheritance amongst the Saints in Light incline us to have the more Fellowship with the unfruitful Works of Darkness Can you think that the Souls Evidences for Heaven should encourage it to walk the way which leads to Hell Men that are yet unacquainted with the Spirit of Adoption not knowing what it is to have the hope of eternal Life abiding in them may tell you so
be their Eternal condition in another World whether it be upon Sin unto Death or upon Righteousness unto life everlasting Whatever the Church of Rome may dogmatize of their Limbus Infantum a Receptacle for the Souls of Infants dying without Baptism or of a Purgatory for such as die in venial Sins whose guilt was not fully expiated * Omnis homo aut est cum Christo regnaturus aut cum Diabolo cruciandns Aug. Ser. 85. de Temp. Aut Caesar aut nullus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gregor Naz. in Pentecost Rom. 2.7 8 9. Yet as the ways of Men in this life are but two either Holy or Unholy so the Divine Oracle acknowledgeth no more than two Final and Everlasting estates for Men in the Life to come the one of Happiness the other of Misery the one of all fulness of Joy in God's presence and the other of everlasting Destruction from his Presence and from the Glory of his Power Hence it is said of God that to those who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality he will render eternal Life But to every Soul that hath Pleasure in Unrighteousness not obeying the Gospel Indignation and Wrath Tribulation and Anguish (*) Mat 25.31.46 And Christ himself declaring the Process of that great Day as he only takes Cognizance of two sorts of Men the one Righteous the other Wicked the one as Sheep on his right Hand the other as Goats on his left So he only makes mention of a twofold Sentence the one of Absolution the other of Condemnation each assigning to its proper Objects their everlasting Condition so that the Wicked in the Execution of this Sentence must go away into everlasting Punishment and the Righteous into life Eternal They that have not the Happiness to stand amongst the Sheep of Christ on the right Hand they must stand amongst the Goats on his left They that are not pronounced Blessed are pronounced Accursed And whoever is not called to inherit the Kingdom of God to be sure he must have his Portion with Hypocrites in the Lake that bumeth with Fire and Brimstone for ever Every Man's Works when he once comes to be matriculated amongst the Dead will (†) Opera sequuntur bonos persequuntur malos illi secundum opera coronâ justitiae donantur hi propter opera injustitiae quae injusti perpetrârunt oeternâ plectuntur miseriâ be sure to follow him either for his Comfort if they have been Righteous or for his eternal Confusion if Unrighteous Never think then my Brethren falling short of Heaven and Glory to escape the Damnation of Hell For as when the Light is departed a gloomy Darkness immediately thereupon succeedeth and taketh place So whoever are not counted Meet to be partakers of the Inheritance b of the (a) Col. 1.12 Saints in Light for them is reserved the (c) Heb. 10.27 Blackness of Darkness for ever And who to avoid Misery would not choose Happiness Who to escape everlasting Shame and perpetual Contempt in the World to come would not now make Glory his Option Who to prevent the heaviest Stroak of God's eternal Displeasure the furious gnawings of that Worm which never dies and the most exquisite Torments of everlasting Burnings in Hell would not now give diligence to lay up for himself a Treasure in Heaven Believe it Sinner thou that art a Demas embracing this present World thou that art a Judas betraying thy Lord and Master for thirty pieces of Silver thou that art an ungodly Achan hugging thy self in any accursed thing which God hath devoted thou in a word that art a prophane Esau selling thy Birth-right for a Mess of Pottage I have received a Commission from God to write bitter things against thee and out of love to thy poor Soul let me tell thee that if thus thou go on to make light of Heaven and Glory there remaineth nothing but a fearful looking for of Judgment d and fiery Indignation from the Lord to devour to torment and to burn thee for ever Oh then consider this all ye that forget God left he tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver you What is there in all the Profits Honours and pleasurable Vanities of this World that for them you should run the hazard of everlasting hellish Torments What is not Life to be preferred before Death Happiness before an Eternity of Misery and the Joys of Heaven before the everlasting Pains Tortures and Burnings of Hell Oh remember it Sinner there is that in Hell which though thy Flesh were of Iron and thy Bones of Brass might make thee tremble and thy Knees to smite one against another And yet in case thou be a Drunkard a Swearer a Covetous or an unclean Person making light of Heaven to enjoy thy Lust this is the place whither shortly thou (b) Jude 13. must go and wherein thou must erelong receive for thy Portion the Vengeance of eternal Fire For the Mouth of Truth hath spoken it and will make it good (d) Psal 9.17 that the Wicked shall be turned into Hell with all the Nations that forget God But that what I have said may effectually influence your Souls to look after Heaven give me leave to Epitomize Hell and to shew you in some few Particulars the Horrors wherewith this place of Torment is filled up to the brim 1 CONSIDER the Purity of Hell Torments which are a Cup of the Wine of God's fiercest Wrath unmixed wherein there is not to be found any one Ingredient of his Love or Mercy Here the worst of Men do enjoy some Good But in Hell even they whose Condition is the best they have nothing but Evil. There is not any Grant of the least Comfort to the greatest Torment not one drop of Hony in all the Gall which is given them to drink of nor so much as the least glimpse of heavenly Light in all that Cimmerian Darkness But (e) Jam. 2.13 Sorrow without Joy Death without (f) Potest dici quod etiam in eis damnatis scil misericordia locum habet in quantum citra condignum puniuntur Aq. Sup. 3. part q. 99. art 2. 1. Life and Judgment without Mercy must for ever be their Portion 'T is I know the Opinion of the Schoolmen that the very Reprobates in Hell are punished oitra condignum Whence some would infer that there is no place wherein there is not some Impression of God's Mercy nor any Creature which doth not tast of his Goodness But however God should mitigate some part of that Torment which the Sinner justly deserved and which in the Rigour of his Justice he might rightly have inflicted Yet as for any positive Effect of God's Mercy and Goodness in Hell the Damned are altogether unacquainted with it 'T is true both the Devils and Reprobates in Hell they have a Physical Being which in it self is good But yet to them it is nothing so as being only
the Worm never dieth the Fire never goeth out the Storm is never blown over but an Everlasting Night of Darkness is determined upon them So that though they should desire Death as a Paradise yet it will fly from them Fire will burn them Devils insult over them and the Flames of Hell torment them without quenching for ever Oh dreadful condition and never to be thought upon but with fear and trembling For a Man to be miserable and that Eternally be shut up in Chains of Darkness and that Eternally have his portion with Hypocrites in the Lake that burneth with Fire and Brimstone and all this Eternally how doleful and unsufferable would this be And yet thus it is and thus it will be with all the ungodly their Repentance for Sin never had a beginning and therefore the Wrath the Horrour the Heart-rending Torments of Hell shall never have any end Oh boundless Eternity Oh Eternity not to be melted by any spaces of Time Oh Eternity not to be comprehended by any humaâ—e Intellect How infinitely beyond all Hyperbole of imagination doth it aggravate the Torments of the damned in Hell Grievous are the Torments of Hell for extremity more grievous for the sad variety of them but most grievous of all for their unfathomed Eternity For what more miserable than for a poor Creature to be so extreamly tortured that he cannot live and yet so strangely wretched that he cannot die What will it profit thee Oh Man that in this Life thou hast had thy Pleasures when in Hell there will be nothing remaining of them but Eternal Pain to torment thee Should not an Eternity of Hellish Torments following after make thee fly from all the foregoing Pleasures of Sin which are but for a season What meanest thou poor fond Sinner canst thou burn for ever be damned for ever undergo the Frowns of God for ever or canst thou endure for ever an Eternal Agony of Hellish Horrour (a) Fuge frater illa tormenta ubi nec tortores deficiunt nec torti moriuntur quibus sine fine mors est non posse in cruciatibus mori August de Catechiz Rud. cap. 25. pag. mihi 76. Fly Man if thou love thy Soul these intolerable endless Tortures where neither the Tormenters will fail nor the tormented die where there is D at h without Life and these Torments where in Death itself that puts an end to all other Sorrows can yield no Succour Oh what Agonies and Horrours will invade and tear in pieces the woful Hearts of wicked Men when they must be burning in Fire and Brimstone kept in highest Flame by the ignivomous Breath of the Almighty World without end Better were it for a Man to endure the sharpest and most exquisitely tormenting of all bodily Tortures in this World for a thousand Years together without any Heart to pity him or any Hand to succour him than to lie under the Wrath of God enduring the pains of the Damned in Hell the least moment Oh then consider this all you that forget God how will you be able to lie under the Frowns of God for ever to endure the fierceness of his Wrath everlastingly and to suffer through all Eternity the pains of Hell without any hope of end or mitigation Think then Sinners many sad and serious thoughts about your Eternal Condition What provision you have made for Eternity What Comfort your immortal Soul will meet with at the Threshold of Eternity What Harbour you will put into when lanching forth in the vast Ocean of Eternity whereby to shelter your selves from the hideous Storms of God's Eternal displeasure Who knows how soon Sinners you may drop into Eternity how soon you may be swallowed up of an Everlasting Condition how soon you may take possession of that estate in another World which shall be for ever and from whence there is no returning Why then will you still make light of heavenly Glory when in case you fall short of that an Eternity of Wrath Misery and unsufferable Torments in Hell must be your portion Oh what desperate folly hath possessed the Hearts of all graceless Sinners who never seek an interest in the Kingdom of Heaven but run headlong without Fear upon Eternal Burnings in Hell as it were to a Banquet Is this your Wisdom to despise Canaan and die in the Wilderness to set light by Heaven and then drop into Hell irrecoverably Is it your Wisdom to sin a while and be damned for ever Oh what Worlds would you give for Heaven when shut up in Hell What Worlds for a Day of Grace when Eternal Wrath is determined upon you What Worlds for the least hope of eternal Glory when punished with everlasting Destruction from the presence of God and from the Glory of his Power How dreadful will be the Condition of all such as fall short of the Recompence of eternal Life I have shewed with all Faithfulness And now dear Friends I would beg of you as ever you desire Comfort living or dying as ever you would escape everlasting Torments in Hell or be called up into eternal Communion with God in Heaven that you give all possible diligence to make sure of that glorious Reward Oh set about this Work presently without delay set about it in good earnest without trifling set about it in a right manner and do it throughly that you miscarry not and that by the due Observation of these ensuing Particulars CHAP. XII Directeth how to get an Interest in heavenly Glory and to have it as our eternal Reward in 10 Particulars which may be as so many Rounds in Jacob's Ladder for the Soul to climb up into Heaven by 1. LABOUR to be truly sensible of and to get your Hearts very deeply affected with Godly Sorrow for all your Sins Humiliation like John the Baptist having prepared the way of Christ before him Now he takes the Sinner by the Hand (a) John 16.22 and puts him in Possession of that Joy which no Man can take from him The King of Persia's Presence might not be approached of any Man in Sackcloth and Mourning But the way to approach the blissful Presence of God in Glory is first to be covered all over with the Sackcloth of godly Sorrow as with a Garment A Generation of Men there is who not able to bear the wholsome Severities of Christianity do declaim against the Doctrin of Repentance as Legal and inconsistent with the Gospel-dispensation But believe it Christians such as thus make it their business to cry down the Practice of Repentance as an unevangelical Work by making you to neglect the Seed-time of godly Sorrow they would spoil you of that Harvest of Joy that full Crop of eternal Glory which follows after For this observe I beseech you as God's usual Method with lost Sinners that first he humbles before he Exalteth them first he gives them the Spirit of Bondage to fear before he gives them the Spirit of Adoption first he fills them
Reward of those who having finished their Coursâ— are now gathered to the Spirits of just Men made perfect As God is light and in him there is no darkness at all So the Inheritance of (e) Col. 1.12 God's People is light and in that there is no darkness no night of Sorrow no Trouble at all There is all Joy and nothing but Joy all Comfort and nothing but Comfort all Glory and nothing but Glory there is all fulness of Pleasure a Cup of divine Consolation brimful and not any the least distastful Ingredient to imbitter it Here indeed Job hath his Botches and Hezekiah his Boyl David hath his ulcering Wound and Lazarus his noisom Sores this Man spends his Days in Pain and that Man in Sorrow in this Man the Keepers of the House tremble by reason of a Palsie and in that Man those that look out at the Windows are Darkness by reason of Blindness in one Man the Daughters of Musick are brought low through deafness and in every Man here Sin reigneth unto Death But the rewarded of God in Heaven they feel none of these things they groan under none of these Burdens no Sickness no Sorrow no Viper of Reproach of Persecution of stinging Grief and Heart-rending Vexation can fasten upon them As the upper Region of the Air hath no Meteors no Storms nor Tempests engendred in it So God's People dwelling in the highest Region of heavenly Glory they are quite above the reach of every Storm no Wind of Persecution Trouble or of any the â—east Grief shall ever blow upon them to disturb their rest When Christians you come to (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Macar Hom. 26. pag. 349. Heaven then look you may for solace without sighing for Comfort without Grief for Ease without any Pain for rest without ever being weary and for all fulness of Joy and Glory without any Devil to tempt you any Enemy to â—rouble you or any the least Disappointment to afflict and make sad your Spirits to all Eternity 2 The Reward whereunto God allows his People a respect in â—ll their Obedience it 's a sinless Reward cleansing them perfectly from all the reliquâ—s of indwelling Corruption When â—his Sun riseth all the Clouds of Sin will be scattered â—nd dissipated for ever When once you get this Crown upon your Heads you shall feel no more strugling of Sin and Corruption in your Hearts for ever And (g) Non erit concupiscentia in membris non ultrà ulla exâ—rget rebellio carnis sed totus hominis status pudicus â—acificus sana ex integro natura sine omni maculâ â—uga permanebit Cyprian de Ascent Christi §. 9. pag. mihi 526. b. is not â—his Christians a blessed Reward that brings with it a State of simple Perfection so that being once possessed of â—t now you shall never have cause to complain more of â— Body h of Death of an unbelieving Heart of an earthly Mind of a drowsy Spirit of a Law in your (i) Rom. 7.23 Members warring against the Law of your Mind of the Flesh lusting against the Spirit so that you cannot do the things that you would nor of an importunate croud of vain sinful and worldly Thoughts breaking in upon you to damp your Devotion to disquiet your Souls and to interrupt your Peace your Fellowship your sweetest Communion with God over all blessed for ever Here the best of God's People are troubled with Sin dogging them wherever they go and disturbing them in every Duty But in Heaven the whole Body of Corruption shall wholly be laid aside and their Sins never trouble them more Even in this Life God's People have the strength of indwelling Corruption broken that it cannot have any plenary and total Dominion over them But yet till they loose from the Shoar of Time and are landed safe at the Harbour of blessed Eternity like a combersome Inmate it will abide with them (k) Aliud est habere peccatum aliud non obedire desideriis ejus Aug. de Nat. grat c. 62. Habitat sed non regnat manet sed non dominatur aut praevalet evulsum quodammodo necdum tamen expulsum dejectum sed non prorsus ejectum tamen Bern. Is 90. Ser. 10. Yet one thing you must know it is to have Sin abiding in us and another thing not to obey it in the Lust thereof Sin cannot Reign over any of God's People But it will remain in them for the whole time of this mortal Life It is mortally wounded in the weakest yet not wholly slain in the strongest 'T is dejected and thrown down from the Throne of its Regency in the least Babe of Grace But yet not ejected or wholly cast out from the strong hold of its Inherency in those that have most Grace 'T is subdued in all yet not wholly abolished in any of God's People whilst cloathed with Mortality The whitest Swan hath her black feet the fairest Summers-day (l) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. lib 2. Const cap. 18. hath some misty Clouds the purest Gold its Grains of Allowance the clearest Fire its smoaky Vapours So the holiest Saint hath the Reliques (m) Nemo esse sine delicto potest quamdiu indumento carnis oneratus est cujus infirmitas triplici modo subjacet dominio peccati factis dictis cogitationibus Lactant. lib. 6. cap. 13. 593. of Sin and indwelling Corruption during the whole interim of this mortal Life The Lord hath left these Canaanites and Perizites the Remainders I mean of Sin and indwelling Corruption in us to be as Thorns in our Sides and Pricks in our Eyes to keep us low that we may not be exalted above measure Hereby the Lord hides Pride from our Eyes and so keeps us humble in the sense of our own Vileness The Reliques of Indwelling Corruption are those stinging Corrosives which eat down that Pride of Heart and Self-admiration to which the best of God's People are here Obnoxious Our black Feet those are left that we may not be proud of our fair Feathers For as that holy Father well saith (n) Multum autem nobis in hac carne tribueremus nisi usque ad ejus de positionem sub vâ—niâ viverâ—mus Aug. de Civit. Dei lib. 10. cap. 11. p. 604. we should be apt to grow high ascribing overmuch to our selves whilst cloathed upon with this mortal Flesh did we not daily live under and accordingly stâ—nd in need of pardoning Mercy like the very time that this earthly Tabernacle shall be dissolved As therefore Gravel and Dirt is good to ballast a Ship making it go steadily and keeping it from being blown over with every Wind So the remainders of Sin and indwelling Corruption these keep the People of God from being overthrown through Pride and high towring Thoughts of themselves (o) 2 Sam. 24. David's miscarriage in the Matter of Uriah did more deeply abase him than all the Persecutions that ever he met
no Thunder nor Storms To be sure all our Thunder-claps do proceed from our own malignant Vapours nor should we be troubled with any Storm of affliction were it not for these Sins and Corruptions that abide in us (l) Cum à nobis amota fuerit omnis iniquitas nulla remanebit infirmitas Fulgent ad Trasimund lib. 3. pag. 370. For when once we are perfectly freed from all the Reliques of indwelling Corruption we shall hear no more of any Affliction But shall quite be past and out of the reach of all suffering so soon as ever we are past a possibility of sinning Rejoice then and lift up your Heads all you that have found Sin an heavy Burden like a Gravel in your Bowels like Fire in your Bones and like Poyson drinking up your Spirits the reward of Eternal Life will infallibly Prove the death of all your Sins There is a fourfol◠state of Man which respecting the point in Hand is vastly different A state of innocency before the Fall a state of Nature in the Fall a state of Grace after the Fall a state of Glory above the Fall In the State of Innocency Man might but would not abstain from Sin in the State of Nature Man neither can nor will forbear sinning in the state of Grace Man would but cannot be wholly free from Sin but in the state of Glory Man neither will nor can have any the least Sin abiding in him And if any thing I am sure this is welcome news to you that know the bitterness of Sin that find whenever you would be good Evil is present with you that groan continually under that Body of Death which you carry about you that complain every Day of Sin as that which hinders your Communion with a precious Christ disturbs the quiet of your minds makes Duty a weariness to you cools the heat damps the vigour and blasteth the Comfort of all your Devotions turning your poor distressed Hearts into a very Dunghil of all unclean and noysom Lusts Sin in the Heart is like the Leprosy in the House that would not out till the House was pulled down Thus though Sin may cleave to you for the whole time of this Life when once your earthly Tabernacles are dissolved now Christ comes to reward you to set the Crown upon your Heads to receive you into Eternal Mansions of Glory so that Sin and your Souls shall be parted never to meet again to all Eternity (m) Jam. 3.2 Here in many things we offend all But in Heaven we shall none of us offend in any thing at all (n) 1 John 1.8 10. Here if we say we have no Sin we deceive our selves if with any Sin we enter into Heaven we must deceive the infinitely wise God who never admits of us there till perfectly cleansed from all our Sins (o) 1 King 8.46 On Earth there is no Man that sinneth not (p) Eccles 7.20 in Heaven there is no Man that either doth or can sin (q) 1 Chron. 6.36 That Sin which is now only so far mortified that it cannot reign over you Shall then be totally abolished that it may not remain in you God's People are now like the Moon-light in the Lord but yet as the Moon so they have their spots and blemishes But then they shall be as the Sun in its Noon-day brightness (r) Ephes 5.27 wholly light and unchangeably Glorious not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing Grace indeed doth weaken Sin in the Soul enabling it to resist the Temptations of Satan But the recompence of Eternal Glory will wholly abolish the former and deliver from the latter (a) Joshua 10.24.25 As Joshua took the five Kings and shut them up in the Cave at Makkedah till the Battel was over (b) Absorptâ ergo morte in victoriâ nulla erit animae carnisve corruptio Fulgent de pass pag. 370. So God restrains and shuts up Sin in the Cave of our Body till our Warfare be finished but then he will utterly destroy them all That Crown of Righteousness which shall now be set upon your Heads it will perfectly ease you of every weight and the Sin that doth so easily beset you dividing like Moses's Rod the Waters of indwelling Corruption and so making a free passage for you into the heavenly Canaan So that having got this Crown upon thy Head now thou shalt never more Christian have cause to complain oh my Pride oh my Hypocrisy oh my outsidedness oh my vile affections oh my carnal earthly deceitful Heart but standing upon the Shore of Blessed Eternity thou shalt see all these Egyptians lie dead on the red Sea of Christ's Blood never any more to perplex thee nor any more to trouble thee nor any more to grieve thy Heart and wound thy Spirit to all Eternity Oh this is the blessed time wherein the Garden of thy Soul shall no more be incumbred with any such noysom Weeds (c) Genus illud peccati quod toties conturbat nos concupiscentias loquor desideria mala reprimi quidem debet potest per gratiam Dei ut non regnet in nobis sed non ejicitur nisi in morte Bern. ser 6. de advent Dom. This is the Funeral of all thy Sins and therefore must needs be to thy Soul the Birth-day of Joy unspeakable and full of Glory What is it Christian that is now thy greatest Sorrow thy daily Burden thy continual Trouble but only the remainders of Sin and indwelling Corruption Well rejoyce Christian and be exceeding glad the time is at hand when all these Achans that trouble thy Peace shall be stoned to death all these Jonah's which cause so many Storms in thy Soul shall be thrown over-board And all those Egyptian Lusts that daily pursue thee as unwilling to let thee go free they shall all of them be drowned and everlastingly overwhelmed as Pharaoh and his Host in the Red-sea One touch of this glorious Reward it will quite dry up every bloody Issue of Sin in thy Soul and as perfectly cleanse thee from all Filthiness and Pollution as thy Heart can desire to be 3 THE Reward whereunto God allows his People a respect in all their Obedience it 's a suitable Reward This Reward doth so punctually hit the Condition of an immortal Soul the Miseries the Wants the Desires of it as nothing in the World besides can do Be your present Troubles never so many your Necessities never so urgent your Desires never so enlarged Yet the Recompence of eternal Glory it affords a proper supply to them all answering every Trouble with a suitable Comfort every Necessity with a suitable Mercy every Desire with a suitable Good to fill up and satisfie it Here is Bread of Life to feed the hungry and sincere Milk to nourish the Weak (a) Isa 55.1 and the Wine of divine Consolation to comfort the Disconsolate and white Robes to adorn the naked and Rivers of living
Water to refresh the Thirsty and an eternal Sabbath of Rest for all that are now weary This Reward is Manna cujuslibet suporis like the Manna prepared for God's People in the Wilderness which they say had that very tast and relish in every Man's Mouth that pleased him best Here if one thing suite well with your Desires yet another goes cross or if one thing answer your Expectations yet in some other Mercy or Comfort you are often disappointed Oh but the Reward of heavenly Glory this will answer your Desires this will answer all your Wants your Grievances your sorrowful Sighs and careful Groans accommodating it self most exactly to your longing Expectations in all things Every poor Soul in this Life is a very Compound of manifold Miseries Wants and heart-breaking Distresses But as it is said of Mony that answers all things so this Reward it answers them all and removes them all What is it poor Child of God that thou standest in most need of What are thy Wounds that most pain thee thy Troubles that most oppress thee and what are thy daily Burdens that lie most heavy upon thy Spirit to grieve and afflict thee What is it after which thy Heart doth so pant and breath so impatiently long for Oh it may be thou art now upon the Rack sorely distressed But this Reward it will give thee a Writ of Ease from all thy Pain not suffering thee to groan under them any longer It may be with Zion thou sittest with Tears upon thy Cheeks weeping bitterly in the Night Oh but this Reward it will bring in fulness (b) Isaiah 35.10 of Comfort wiping away all Tears from thy Eyes Thou may'st possibly go mourning and be bowed down by reason of great Affliction Oh but this Reward it will give thee the Oyl of Gladness and make thee lift up thy Head with everlasting rejoycing Possibly thy Sins thy Unbelief thy Unfruitfulness thy hardness of Heart thy want of love to God and our dear Lord Jesus these trouble and afflict thy Spirit Oh but this Reward it destroys all our Sins turns faith into open Vision Hope into full Fruition crowning all our Graces how weak soever here with fullness and everlasting Perfection If thou groan because thy Pilgrimage is prolonged and thou dwellest as it were in the Tents of Kedar Oh remember this Reward it will bring thee home to thy Father's House it will gather thee to the Spirits of just Men made perfect it will change thy Sodom into a Zion it will turn the Brick-kilns of Egypt into Canaan's Golden Mines and the barren Wilderness of this World wherein thou now wandrest up and down like a poor distressed Pilgrim this Reward will change it into the Garden of God into the heavenly Paradise into a spiritual Eden full of purest Delights and divine Contentments Now peradventure thou hast Sorrow to remember thy Sins thy former Miscarriages thy daily Troubles thy absence from the Lord who alone is thy Hope thy Life thy Comfort thy Hearts desire oh but dear Christian this Reward it will make thee to forget (c) John 16.20 22. the days of thy Mourning it will put thee into the Bosom of thy dearest Lord it will turn thy Sorrow into Joy that shall never be taken from thee On Christians there is that suitableness in his Reward that it 's the very Plaister for your Sore the very Balm for your Wound the very Voice of Joy to your Spirits in heaviness the very Harbour of Rest and Happiness after all your Storms that have so grievously tossed you That variety of Expression made use of by the holy Ghost to shadow out the transcendent Excellency of this Reward doth most clearly evince the suitableness of it to all the Wants Indigences and desires of an immortal Soul If the Soul be dislodged from its earthly Tabernacle this Reward (d) 2 Cor. 5.1 provides Mansions of Glory for the comfortable Entertainment thereof in another World If a Man be hungry it 's a pot of hidden Manna to feast him If sorrowful (e) Rev. 2.17 it s the Joy of the Lord to comfort him If any Man be thirsty (f) Mat. 25.21 it's Rivers of Pleasure at God's right Hand for evermore to cool and refresh him If any Man walk in darkness (g) Psal 16. and have no light in him (h) Col. 1.12 it is the Inheritance of the Saints in Light If any Man walk in the valley of the shadow of Death it 's a Crown of Life (i) James like a Death-bed-cordial to revive him If any Man suffer Nakedness for Righteousness sake it 's the Garments of Salvation to cloath him it 's the white Robes of Glory to hide the Shame of his Nakedness If any Man lose Houses or Lands for Christ it 's an Inheritance incorruptible Undefiled (k) 1 Pet. 1. and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for him To the weary Soul that hath long been troubled through the Malice of an ungrateful World (l) Rev. 14.13 it 's a resting from his Labours To be short if any Man endure Afflictions it 's a far more exceeding and eternal weight of (m) 2 Cor. 4.17 Glory Oh then how suitable is this Reward that a poor Soul cannot be in any Distress nor labour under any Wants but this Reward will afford supply of Comfort giving ease to all that are now in pain the Garment of Praise to all that are now in heaviness and to all that are now labouring and weary and heavy laden the sweet enchearing Bosom of God himself for their eternal easeful Repose 4 THE Reward whereunto God allows his People a Respect in all their Obedience it 's a sure Reward So you may find it called by Sâ—lomon a Man in whose Breast all the Lines of Wisdom met as in their proper Center (n) Prov. 11.18 The Wicked worketh a deceitful Work but to him that soweth Righteousness shall be a sure Reward Both the Righteous and the Wicked are Men of active Spirits only the Works of the Wicked they prove abortive promising all good but exposing to Misery and so deceive Expectation But the Righteous he never meets with any such sad Disappointment but as the Harvest naturally follows the Seed-time so after a short Seed-time of Grace there will spring up as the never failing sure Reward of such a Person a full crop of eternal Glory So (o) Gal. 6.8 that you see the Text though but short doth yet carry in it both Blessing and Cursing both Life and Death both Heaven and Hell Blessing Life and Heaven to Crown the Righteous Cursing Death and Hell as that which must inevitably be the Portion of all the Ungodly The Wicked he worketh the work of a Lie that is a sinful Work every Sin being a Lie and such a Work that albeit it tells us a fair tale yet it will miserably deceive us at last betraying us into the Hands of Wrath Hell and
a Man eye the Reward of Eternal Glory that his Face is towards the heavenly Jerusalem if that be the great design of his Life and he makes it his principal Care to win the Crown of Life this will certainly set him above all carking Cares he will not stoop to those sordid enjoyments that others do he hath higher Thoughts his mind is not set on the World but upon God upon Glory upon life eternal And what need he trouble himself with the Cares of the World who hath placed all his Happiness in Heaven and knows he can never come to the full enjoyment of it till he leave the World So then to have Heaven and Glory in our Eye is the best Way to get the World and all worldly Cares out of our Hearts 7 A due respect had to this glorious Reward it will put much holy Courage and spiritual Fortitude into you quite setting you above all slavish Fears Undauntedly will all that have Heaven in their Eye look the worst of earthly dangers in the Face So that come Life or come Death let the Clouds gather let the Winds blow let what Storms will overtake them yet looking forward to their Harbour of Eternal Rest no distracting servile Fears can take hold upon them 'T is storied by Naturalists of Bees that when out in a storm they gather up to themselves little Stones wherewith they being poysed they escape blowing away and come home safely This far more exceeding and Eternal weight of Glory is that (g) Psal 125.1 Tutelary-stone whereby God's People stand unshaken amidst all Storms and become like Mount Sion which cannot be removed but abideth for ever Though Houses might be overthrown by impetuous Storms and shaken out of their Places yet Mount Sion stood immoveable keeping its place let what Storms and Tempests would be abroad in the World Thus albeit that such as have only built upon the Sands of a temporary Faith may fall and be frighted by Storms of persecution out of their Religion yet the true Christian who hath cast anchor within the Veil fixing his Eye upon future Glory he stands unshaken no Storm of Reproach Persecution or trouble in the World can fright him out of Heaven's Way (h) Psal 112.7 Such an one will not be afraid of evil tidings His Heart is fixed trusting in the Lord. Let the blind world say what it will let it threaten God's People with exile spoiling of goods with a fiery tryal Yet none of these things move them but they stand unshaken and can laugh like the Leviathan with a holy scorn at the shaking of the spear of every threatned danger of every denounced cruelty This redoubted Chivalry and invincible courage the holy Ghost gives us exemplified in those three (i) Dan. 3.16 17 18. Jewish Worthies With what unbended constancy and undaunted gallantry of Spirit do they answer the great Nebuchadnezzar when urging them to idolatry by arguments taken from the dreadful Topicks of kingly Fury and a fiery Furnace heated seven times hotter than usual O Nebuchadnezzar we are not careful to answer thee in this matter If it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery Furnace and he will deliver us out of thy Hand O King But if not be it known unto thee O King we will not serve thy Gods nor worship the golden Image which thou hast set up Moses in the words preceeding my Text and those that follow is a pregnant instance of the like holy boldness and Christian prowess who could suffer afflictions with the People of God not fearing the fierce Wrath of an heard-hearted Pharaoh but endured as seeing him that was invisible Nor was holy Paul of any worse metal but as a Man furnished with adamantine hardiness he tramples most bravely upon all discouragements resolving rather to die (k) Acts 21.13 than to dissemble Conscience and balk his Duty What do you tell a Man saith he of Bonds and Fetters who is ready not only to be bound but to die at Jerusalem for the name of Jesus (l) Pueri mulierculae nostrae cruces tormenta feras omnes suppliciorum terriculas inspiratâ patientiâ doloris illudunt Mint Fael Octavius 121. Should I borrow light to this Truth from Ecclesiastick History telling you the invincible Courage of all the holy Martyrs who having respect to the recompence of the Reward tired out the cruelties derided the menaces and overcame the enraged malice of their proudest Persecutors the time would indeed fail me and this one particular Branch swell out into a large volume Luther was a Man of such an hardy robustious Spirit that he resolves to do his work though there were as many Devils to oppose him in it as Tiles upon the Houses at Worms knowing well that his Reward would be great in Heaven Of no less holy resolution and undaunted Courage was Polycarp Bishop of Smyrna and Simeon Bishop of Jerusalem and Chrysostome Bishop of Constantinople nothing fearing the Pride and Persecution of the Empress Eudoxia (m) Hostes veritatis jam non tantum non per horescimus sed provocamus inimicos Dei jam hoc ipso quod non cessimus vicimus Epist 26. pag. 60. And Cyprian the holy Bishop of Carthage to whom thus bravely we find some Confessors expressing themselves We are so far from fearing the Enemies of the Truth that we provoke them rather overcoming their Malice whilst we yield not to their ungodly Practices (n) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat. ad Rom. epist pag. 86. Blessed Ignatius was a Man of the same heroick Spirit whom we find also professing himself fearless of all manner of Dangers and Torments whilst fixing his Eye upon Christ as his Portion and exceeding great Reward O saith he that I were with the wild Beasts made ready to devour me I could wish they may prove a compendium a quick dispatch to me I would allure them speedily to eat me up and not as with others be terrified so as not to touch them and if they should delay I would provoke them Pardon me I know what is most expedient for me I now begin to be a Disciple of Christ neither regarding things visible nor invisible so I may win Jesus Christ Let Fire Cross and the concourse of wild Beasts the cutting separating and breaking of my Bones the rending of my Members the destruction of my whole Body and the most exquisite Torments that Hell itself can devise come upon me so I may obtain the full enjoyment of Christ in Glory (o) Steterunt torti torquentibus fortiores pulsantes ac laniantes ungulas pulsata ac laniata membra vicerunt Inexpugnabilem fidem superare non potuit saeviens diu plaga repetita quamvis rupta compage viscerum torquerentur in servis Dei jam nòn membra sed vulnera Fluebat sanguis qui incendium persecutionis extingueret qui flammas ignes gehennae glorioso
a Land all whose Rivers run heavenly Nectar and all whose Trees are ever laden with the sweet delicious Grapes of Paradise (o) Si tanta nobis tribuis in careere quid dabis in patria Aug. de civit Dei If here in the Land of your Pilgrimage so much of Heavens Glory be revealed to you what Tongue of Man or Angel can tell the Happiness the Glory to be revealed in you when at home in your own Country The Crown of Life if now so bright and orient to an Eye of Faith beholding it Oh then what a far more excâ—â—ding and Eternal Weight os Glory will be found in it when a glorious Christ shall set it upon your Head with his own remunerative Hands 12 AND lastly a due respect had to this glorious Reward will bring you safe to it never leaving you till your Souls be crowned with fulness of Glory The Loadstone will draw Iron to itself when intra Spheram activitatis suae within the reach of its own attractive influence Thus the Reward of Eternal Life as an heavenly Loadstone hath that magnetick Virtue in it that if you put yourselves by a due respect had thereto under it it will draw you home to itself The wise Men keeping their Eye upon the Star which went before them were at length brought to Christ Thus keeping your Eye Christians upon this Eternal Reward as a glorious Star it will bring you at length to Christ in Glory whom fully to enjoy is our Life our Comfort our Happiness yea the Heaven of Heavens 'T is true Christians we must be uncloathed of this Body of Death before we can enter into the Joy of our Lord and be cloathed upon with the white Robes of Blessed Immortality Death must break down the Prison Walls of a Mortal Body before our Souls can ever come to the glorious Liberty of God's Children (a) 2 Cor. 5.1 Till our earthly Tabernacle be dissolved there is no having of a Building of God an House not made with Hands Eternal in the Heavens And why should we not be willing that God should pull down these Cottages of Clay who hath promised to raise us up a more glorious Temple The Loadstone cannot draw Iron as some say whilst the Diamond is in Presence Doubtless were it not for a Body of Death that is still present with us an Eye fixed upon Heaven's Glory would immediately draw us into Heaven For besides the interposition of an earthly gross Body together with those corruptions whose Foundation is in that Dust there is nothing as one well observes that hinders a Christian from the full enjoyment of God in Glory So that Death's peculiar Office is to break down this Wall of separation that the Soul may the better come to her God her beloved Redeemer her Eternal Habitation in the Kingdom of Heaven The Soul when once loosed from this dying Body then she hath the Crown of Life set upon her Head then she sees God no longer through a Glass darkly but Face to Face then she is ravished with the unconceivable sweetness of the beatifical Vision (b) Mori plane timeat sed qui ex aqua spiritu non renatus Gehennae ignibus mancipatur mori timeat qui non Christi cruce passione censetur mori timeat qui ad secundam mortem de hac morte transibit quem de seculo recedentem perennibus poenis aeterna torquebit flamma Cyp. de Mortalit pag. 344. Let those therefore tremble at the knocking and approaches of Death who know not what will become of their immortal Souls who not being born again from above are every moment liable to infernal Flames who have no interest in the Glory purchased by Christ who must pass from Death to Death from short momentany Pleasures to everlasting hellish Torments Death to the Wicked is the Trap-door that opening lets them fall down irrecoverably into the dark vault of Eternal Misery But to the Gracious Soul there is no cause of Terrour in Death no Fear in the Grave no Sting to perplex in a bodily dissolution as that which only ushers in her everlastingly Blessed and Glorious Coronation Death comes to a Man dying the recompence of Reward like Moses to the Israelites to deliver him as the Angel to Peter in Prison to set him free as God's fiery Chariot to carry him like Elias into heavenly Glory And are you Christians afraid of entring upon your own Blessedness are you afraid to be cloathed upon with your House from Heaven Get a right notion of Death which as Bernard calls it is nothing but the Gate of Life the Portal of eternal security Though Death look upon thee with a grim Countenance yet it comes upon a good errand to God's People to fetch them out of their Wilderness-condition and to bring them to an everlasting estate of Happiness By Death we go from Earth to Heaven from conversing with Sinful Men to converse with Millions of glorious Angels and what makes us so loath to remove Who would not leave a Cottage to gain a Kingdom Who would not leave an Egypt to inherit Canaan Who would not leave gladly an oppressive Babylon to be made a Citizen of Sion of the heavenly Jerusalem OUR greatest Misery lies not in Death but in Life 'T is the Veil of Flesh that keeps us from entring into the holiest of all c Death gives us a pasport from corruptible Joys to an incorruptible Crown from a Mortal Life to a Life of blessed Immortality from a troublesome condition to a State of perfect tranquillity So that the name of Death should not offend us But the Happiness and Glory to which it leads should delight us The Moon never comes to the full til after her change Thus through the change of Death a Christian comes to all fulness of Joy and hath the white Robes of Glory given him Now the Bridegroom comes to meet the Soul in Happiness now all Tears are wiped away and Heaven Gates are set wide open to give her everlasting glorious entertainment Now the Reward of life everlasting now the Joy of Eternal Salvation now the full possession of the heavenly Paradise comes Now heavenly Mansions instead of earthly Tabernacles now greatest Glory instead of small and Eternal Happiness instead of poor temporal enjoyments are bestowed upon every Child of God What Man that is well in his Wits woâ—ld not part with Life and bid Death welcome upon terms of such everlasting blessed and glorious advantage (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost ad pop Ant. hom 7. Death in the true notion (c) Mors haec transitus universorum est transitur à corruptione ad incorruptionem à mortalitate ad immortalitatem à perturbatione ad tranquillitatem Non igitur nomen mortis te offendat sed boni transitûs beneficia delectent Ambros lib. de Bono mort cap. 4. Proemium vitae gaudium salutis aeternae perpetua laetitia possessio Paradisi