regard they are free from any Mixtures The Joys of the Wicked are always mixed with Fear and Sorrow and so are oftentimes the Joys of the Saints also And herein God manifests great Wisdom and Goodness to his People thus to temper their Joys Even as it is with Men of weak Constitutions who must have their Wine mingled with Water for fear of distempering their Bodies And so must the Godly in this Life such is their Weakness have their Joys mingled with Fears and Sorrows lest they should grow proud or wanton Sometimes their Joys are mixed with Fear Hence it is Psalm 2.11 that we are commanded to serve the Lord with fear and to rejoice with trembling And thus we read of the two Women Matth. 28.8 who though assured by Angels that Christ was risen yet 't is said they departed from the Sepulchre with fear and great joy And so is it with a godly Man though by an Eye of Faith he beholds the Death and Sufferings of Christ and looking into his Grave is assured that he is risen from thence for his Justification and Salvation yet cannot but have his heart filled with a fearful trembling kind of Joy And as a Saint's Joy here is mixed with Fear so is it also sometimes mixed with Sorrow for when a Believer by Faith looks upon Christ crucified and considers that a person so infinitely great and glorious should die such a painful shameful cursed Death for so vile a Sinner and so great an Enemy unto God as he was the consideration of this so great and incomprehensible a Love manifested towards him in reconciling God and him together in delivering him from Wrath and Hell and in obtaining Eternal Life for him in Heaven Though this Love of Christ in doing all this for him cannot but affect him with great Joy yet the Consideration of his Sins that pierced and wounded yea crucified the Lord of Life and Glory cannot but break his Heart with godly Sorrow But now in Heaven the Joy of a Saint will be free from all mixtures both of Sorrow and Fear there shall be no Sorrow for present Troubles nor any Fears of future Dangers all their Sorrows will then be turned into Joy The sight of their Eyes will then affect their Hearts that is the sight and knowledge of the great God the Supreme and Insinite Good whom the Saints shall always have with them in Heaven is that which will fill and ravish their Souls with unspeakable Joy Secondly the Joys of a Saint in Heaven are spiritual Joys Now spiritual things are things both of the greatest Reality and of the greatest Excellency Spiritual things are things of the greatest Reality all other things comparatively are not they are such things as have no Being no Subsistence therefore says the Wise Man Why wilt thou set thine Eyes upon that which is not speaking of the admired things of the World We do but abusively call Men that abound with worldly Enjoyments rich substantial Men for Substance is no where but with God he only is the true substantial Good the things of this World are no more than a shadow If a Man were hungry would painted Bread satisfie him if a Man were starving with Cold would painted Fire warm him No why truly all the things of this World will appear no better to a Man when he comes to die there 's no Comfort nor Satisfaction to be fetch'd from them The Reality and Substantialness of Good is only laid up in God and in the Enjoyment of him who is the Saint's Happiness both on Earth and in Heaven There is a Vanity as in all the Troubles of the World so also in all the Comforts of the World There is a Vanity in the Troubles that the Saints endure they are but skin-deep a varnish of Trouble so says the Apostle 2 Cor. 6.10 as sorrowful yet always rejoicing as poor yet making many rich as having nothing yet possessing all things And as it is with the Troubles of the World so is it with the Comforts of the World all that sense looks at it is meerly out-side and appearing all the Enjoyments of the World are but a shadow an appearance of that which is Good God and Heaven are Realities but whatever else is Good is but appearingly so The things of the World are not when they are they are not in Reality when they are in Appearance It is a very great mistake to think nothing to be real but what we can touch and handle with our hands or what we can see with our Eyes such as Gold Silver Houses Lands these are not really substantially good things they make a fair show outwardly they have a Gaudery and Excellency as to Sense but nothing of real Excellency as to the Soul Nothing is real but what is spiritual though the Body be more seen than the Soul yet the Soul is a more real Good because it is a spiritual Good and comes nearest to God who is a Spirit and who only is so says the Prophet speaking concerning God Isai 43.11 who only art and there is none besides thee God Christ Grace and Heaven these are spiritually and substantially good and therefore it is said of Christ I cause them that love me to inherit Substance Prov. 8.21 And the Apostle tells the believing Hebrews Heb. 10.34 Ye took joyfully the spoiling of your Goods knowing that in Heaven you have a better and an enduring Substance The Joys and Delights of Heaven they are real because they are spiritual But this is not all for the Saints Joys in Heaven because they are spiritual they are therefore excellent yea the most excellent There is nothing that is earthy in Heaven but all of a spiritual and refined Nature and therefore the more real and the more excellent and by how much the more spiritual by so much the more real and the more excellent also All Joy and Delight placed upon any thing below God is carnal and earthly that which hath dregs in it and comes not up to the Excellency of the Soul it may refresh the Senses and delight the outward Man but it reacheth not the Soul and Conscience it must be something that is spiritual for its Nature and refined for its Excellency that must suit with and be the Delight of a Soul that is spiritual and such is Heaven and the Joys and Delights that are there superlatively excellent and spiritual flowing into the noblest and most excellent part of Man his Soul and Spirit from God who is a Spirit Thirdly The Joys of Heaven are full Joys The Psalmist calls them Fulnesses of Joy and Rivers of Pleasures for the abundance of them Psal 116.11 And the Apostle speaking of Believers tells us 1 Pet. 1.8 That though now they see him not yet believing they rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of Glory If now the Joy of Faith in the Promises of God from some small experience of his Love and Favour to the Soul be above
the Spring but the Resurrection of them again unto a new Life And what is Death unto us but a pulling down of these Clay Houses of our Bodies into the Dust And what is the Resurrection but a raising or rebuilding of the same Houses of our Bodies out of the same Dust again And this shall as certainly be accomplished by God as any of the former have been Moreover God hath given great Encouragement to our Faith to believe the Truth hereof by raising many from the Dead already both in the Old Testament and in the New as the Shunamite's and the Widow of Naim's Sons with Tabitha and Lazarus who had lain four days in the Grave together with many others that at the Death of Christ arose out of their Graves and went into the Holy City and were seen of many Now what God hath already done to some he can and will do unto all at the last Day For as our Lord saith The hour is coming wherein all that are in their Graves shall hear his Voice and shall come forth they that have done good unto the Resurrection of Life and they that have done evil unto the Resurrection of Damnation John 5.28 29. And O what great encouragement is here unto Believers both against their own Death and the Death of their Godly Friends and Relations How sweet upon this account may the Thoughts of Death be unto Believers themselves Therefore maist thou O believing Soul chearfully yield unto the stroak of Death for though by it thou art carried unto the Grave that Place of silence where thou shalt moulder away into Dust and Rottenness yet maist thou die in the assured Belief of this great Truth That as certainly as now by Death thou goest down intothe Grave so certainly shalt thou ere long be raisedr up out of it again and then shall thy Soul and Body have a comfortable meeting together again never to be parted any more but be made happy together in an eternal Enjoyment of God in Glory Here is also matter of great Comfort against the Death of our godly Friends and Relations What a blessed Support is this to a Believer when Death comes and takes away any such from him How comfortably may he take his leave of them delivering them up unto Death and the Grave knowing assuredly that they shall rise again unto Glory and Happiness Those that die in Christ and sleep in Jesus them he will certainly raise out of their Graves and bring with him unto Judgment Cease therefore thy immoderate Grief drown not thy self in Tears for those whose Souls are at present triumphing in Glory and whose Bodies shall shortly be raised up unto a participation of the same Glory and Happiness Whenever therefore O believing Soul either thou thy self shalt come to lie upon a Death-Bed taking thy last Farewell of thy godly Friends and Relations in this World or when any such godly Friends and Relations shall upon their Death-Beds take their last Farewell of thee let this great Truth of the Resurrection of the Body teach thee how thou shouldst do it not as one without hope but as it becomes a Christian and that is willingly and chearfully not because thou art thereby rid of a Trouble or Charge or because by their Death thou shalt be a gainer in thy worldly Concerns this shews a very evil sinful frame of Spirit and is no way becoming a Christian but let let thy willingness herein proceed from a more excellent Motive even this comfortable consideration that there is but a little short space of Time between thy Death and theirs as also between all your Deaths and the Time of your Resurrections which will quickly shde away whilst you and they are sleeping quietly in your Graves and then shall both you and they be raised up together thence with great Joy and Rejoicing so saith the Prophet Isa 26.19 Awake and sing ye that dwell in the Dust for then shall there be everlasting Joy upon your Heads But I must not forget that this is not the Subject I am treating upon it being that which comes in here only as a necessary Introduction unto that Happiness which the Bodies of the Saints shall partake of in Heaven unto which I now come to treat more particularly Now in speaking unto this I shall reduce all that I have to say unto these four Heads the Incorruptability the Spirituality the Power or Agility and the Glory and Beauty of the Body First The Bodies of the Saints in Heaven shall be incorruptible Their Souls are always immortal for when they leave their Bodies which by Death drops from them into the Grave yet they die not but returning unto God are adjudged to and initated in an everlasting state of Blessedness But now in Heaven the very Bodies of the Saints shall be as immortal as their Souls In this World the best carry up and down with them weak frail dying Bodies always yielding to Decays exercised with Pains and Aches that insensibly waste and wear them away till at length Death by some incurable Disease lays them from the Second Death yet have they thereby no exemption from the First Death but they as well as others must taste thereof because they as well as others have sinned It is true the Sting of Death shall never reach them that they are delivered from and gain Victory over by Jesus Christ but the stroke of Death must and will reach them Death cannot hurt them that 's certain because it hath no Poison in it but Death will have Dominion over them for a time But though Death play the Tyrant here on Earth sparing none either for their Greatness or their Goodness yet hath it no admittance into Heaven For when the Saints shall be cloathed upon with their House which is from Heaven then shall Death and Mortality be swallowed up of Life and the Life of the Body as well as the Life of the Soul shall then be everlasting The Apostle 1 Corinth 15.42 speaking of the Body tells us it is sown in Corruption but it is raised in Incorruption So in verse 52. in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last Trump the Dead shall be raised incorruptible and this Mortal must put on Immortality And O how comfortable must the Thoughts hereof needs be to the Saints to think that though now they have sickly diseased yea dying Bodies yet there is a time coming when they shall have Bodies free from all manner of Aches and Pains not subjected to Decays nor Death but always lively and vigorous The Resurrection will do more for the Bodies of the Saints than a Colledge of the ablest Physicians ever could do for it will at once perfectly cure them of all their Infirmities and Distempers which all the Physicians here on Earth could never do Alas they could only give some case and relief under some particular Distempers and that but for a little time but they soon returned again or
Grace and Holiness where thy Employment shall always be in Holy and Spiritual Delights and Exercises unto all Eternity If thou hast no believing Hopes and Expectations of such a Heaven as this is certainly thou hast no Right and Title unto that Inheritance that is incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for Believers Nothing so plainly demonstrates what men are whither they are going and unto whom they belong as the daily course of their Lives and Conversation The Apostle therefore in Galat. 5.19 20. reckoning up the Works of the Flesh which are manifest As Adultery Fornication Vncleanness Drunkenness Murder and such like of the which says he I tell you before as I have also told you in times past that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God And in 1 Corinth 6.9 10. he speaks the same thing again Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Adulterers nor Idolaters nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God And on the contrary He that doth Righteousness is of God says the Apostle 1 John 2.29 And blessed is he that doth Righteousness at all times says the Psalmist Psal 106.3 For the Grace of God that hath appeared in the Gospel having taught them to deny all ungodliness and Worldly Lust and to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World Tit. 2.12 13. Looking for the Blessed Hope and the Glorious appearance of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ These are they and only they who according to Scripture Warrant can lay any claim unto Heaven And these may for they that are made free from Sin and are become the Servants of God they have their Eruit unto Holiness and their end shall be Everlasting Life Rom. 6.23 Wouldst thou therefore know O Christian without deluding thy own Soul whether thou art one that hast a Right and Title unto Heaven call thy self to an account what thy Works and Actions are The matter is not so difficult to be resolved it may be as thou imaginest What says the Apostle Gal. 6.7 8. He that soweth unto the Flesh shall of the Flest reap Corruption And he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap Life Everlasting And the same Apostle tells us Rom. 8.13 If we live after the Flesh we shall die but if we through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the Body we shall live What now is thy way and course what is thy general carriage and practice is it earthly and vain is it sensual and wicked according to the course of the World and after the manner of the men of the World If vain and sinful Society be thy delightful Companions if wicked and ungodly ways be thy daily practice thou art not of an Heavenly Extraction nor canst thou upon Scripture grounds have any expectations of the Heavenly Glory for unto such only doth it belong who by their lives and actions declare their opposition of and contrariety unto the ways and courses of the men of this World Shew me thy Faith by thy Works says the Apostle James 2 18. Thou art one that professest to believe a Heaven and a State of blessedness to be enjoyed there and hopest thou art one that shalt be a partaker thereof hereafter shew me now thy Faith herein by thy Works and assure thy self of this That all thy Faith in and all thy Hopes of Heaven and Glory will fill thee with nothing but shame and disappointment hereafter unless they evidence themselves by Works and Actions suitable thereunto for as the Apostle says James 2.26 As the body without the Spirit is dead so all Faith in and Hope of Heaven without Works and Actions corresponding thereunto is dead also and will leave the Soul short of Heaven and Happiness Sixthly Is there such a State of Bliss and Happiness provided for and assured unto Believers in Heaven hereafter let then the consideration hereof Reconcile to them the thoughts of their own Death and moderate their sorrows for the Death of their Godly Friends and Relations First Let the consideration of the Glory and Happiness of Heaven Reconcile to a Believer the thoughts of his own Death It is no strange thing that Heathens who have only the Light of Nature to be their Instructor should not be able to overcome the Fears of Death though indeed some of them have not only expressed great Courage in contempt of but great confidence in and desire after Death though notwithstanding all their boasting we may well imagine that they speak greater things than they lived up unto much more than they died under for it is said of one of the chief of them that Eloquent Orator Cicero that a little before his Death he did ingeniously confess That those Remedies he had prepared against this Enemy Death proved he knew not how too weak and feeble to support and strengthen him in its near approach unto him And indeed it is no wonder that thus it should be with them because they were greatly in the dark as to the reality of a future State of Happiness and much more at a loss how to find the right way to attain the enjoyment thereof Nor is it any strange thing to see a wicked Man under the light of the Gospel to be afraid of Death and to lead a Life accompanied with Fears and Terrours under the thoughts of it no the wonder rather is that such a one can have any case and quietness any freedom from horrours and perplexities of Mind that he is not a Magormissabib continually every moment of his Life encompassed about with fears and terrours And indeed did he rightly understand himself and his dangerous state and condition it would be thus always with him and the greatness of his Fears and Horrours would make him go mourning all his Days But though Heathens and prophane Sinners may and have cause to be afraid of Death yet it becomes not any of the People of God who have a well grounded Hope of Heaven to be affrighted at it there being no way for them to attain unto that State of Blessedness but by Dying I have read concerning the Turks who are not only Strangers but Enemies to the Christian Religion that they say they do not think Heaven to be a place of that Bliss and Happiness as Christians do profess to believe it is because they see so many that call themselves by the Name of Christian so backward and unwilling to go to it O what a disgrace is this unto Christianity and how should it concern Christians to labour with great industry to overcome all inordinate fears of Death that they may wipe off this reproach that is cast upon the most excellent Religion in the World and that which only can enable any to Die comfortably and joyfully upon the Hopes of a future State of Happiness All a Believer's fears of
make up a Satisfactory Bliss and Happiness for an Immortal Soul but what is Supreamly Superlatively Perfectively and Eternally good and that is the Blessed God himself the Enjoyment of whom in Heaven can only make the Soul perfectly and compleatly Happy Were I to perswade wicked men I will not say long for Death but only to be willing to Die my task were not only difficult but impossible for who can by any Arguments prevail upon a Rational Creature willingly to run himself into Miseries and Torments though but of a short continuance much more to rush upon those Miseries and Torments that shall be everlasting into which every wicked man when he comes to Die shall fall And this Sinners know not only from Scripture Revelation but from the Terrors and Accusations of their own Consciences before hand Unto such therefore all perswasions of this nature are vain and to no purpose such stand in need of the most powerful Exhortations backt with the strongest Arguments that can be to stir them up to a speedy preparation for their approaching Dissolution lest thereby they fall into a State of Misery that is unalterable for ever But when I am speaking to the People of God unto whom Death will be of such infinite Gain and Advantage methinks my Work should be easie though my Exhortation runs much higher for unto such I am not now speaking by way of perswasion unto a fitness for Death because I take it for granted that this Work in the main of it is already done with them nor yet am I stirring up in such a bare willingness to Die but I would press them unto something further still and that is that they would entertain the thoughts of Death in their Meditations with Holy Longings and Desires of Soul after it and certainly there is no need of any other Arguments to urge this Duty upon such than barely to tell them that Heaven stands open ready to receive them and all the hurt Death will do unto such is to give them admission into such a State of Bliss and Happiness as shall extend it self unto the Satisfaction of all their Desires unto the utmost both as to the Nature and Quality of them and also as to the duration and continuance of them The Happiness of Heaven being so great that it requires the Capacities of the Soul should be enlarged to take in the fullness thereof it being impossible the Soul of Man should now receive or bear up under the oppressing weight of so great a Happiness as is there to be enjoyed Rest not thy self therefore satisfied O believing Soul with a bare Contentment of mind that when thou diest thou shalt certainly go to Heaven but let thy frequent Thoughts hereof fill thee with Holy Longings and Pantings of Soul after that blessed State The Miseries of this Life and the uncomfortableness of a Christian's manner of living while he is here in respect of Sin Sorrow Doubts Fears Ignorance and Temptations which are in a great measure the daily and afflictive Companions of his life are Arguments strong enough to make such a one willing to Die but in Conjunction with these a Believer hath a Prospect of the Glory and Happiness of Heaven in the Eye of his Faith unto which he knows Death will carry him this should fill the desires of his Soul with Holy Longings after the Enjoyment of it Open therefore O believing Soul the Eye of thy Faith and look upward and see if thou canst not espy a Glory and Happiness in the highest Heavens that is worthy of the most earnest Breathings and Desires of thy Soul after it Canst thou in the whole Vniverse find out better Society in conversing with whom thou canst enjoy such Soul-satisfying pleasure yea such ravishing Joys and Delights as are there to be found There are Holy Angels that never sinned whose Nature as well as whose Happiness in this State of Mortality is beyond the reach of thy understanding to fathom There are Glorified Saints advanced to that perfection of Grace and Holiness that they shall never sin more There is the Blessed and never to be sufficiently admired Saviour and Redeemer of Sinners the Lord Jesus Christ who as he once in our Natures shed his Blood here on Earth to purchase Heaven for Believers so is he now residing in the same Nature there preparing places for them ready to receive them into the Embraces of his Love and Favour Yea in that Glorious place there is that which should much more excite the Desires of Believers after it for there is the infinitely Great and Glorious God whose Excellencies and Perfections are such that as none can understand none can make known so none can bear the discoveries of them Such dazling Excellencies of Glory and Beauty are there in the Face of God that Angels themselves are not able to behold them and yet so lovely and desirable an Object is he that Angels cannot refrain from looking on him and certainly if the Great and Holy God should display but a little of himself in his Glory and Beauty unto the Soul of a Believer should he open though but a little of the infinite Treasures of his goodness unto the view of the Soul O with what Ravishments of Joy would that Soul press into the presence of God and with what a Holy kind of impatience would it throw it self into his Arms what need would there be of setting bounds to the Mount to keep such a Soul from breaking through unto the Lord The Happiness of Heaven is so great that had not God mercifully concealed from us the infinite Excellencies and Glory thereof in a great measure our Desires would be so vehemently bent upon it that we should be under such an impatiency of Spirit after the enjoyment of it as would render us unfit for any Employment that God calls us to in this World Some therefore upon this account have taken notice of the infinite Wisdom of God in engaging the Soul in so near and dear a Union with the Body that it might have such a care for and Love towards it as might tend to its preservation and not be desirous of quitting its habitation with it yea some of the Heathens themselves have observed the Wisdom of God in concealing the Happiness of Separate Souls that Men might be contented to live out that time God hath allotted to them in this World Alas the most and the best of us see and know but little of these things and what we do see is but through a Glass darkly and that is the reason our Affections go not out more earnestly after them did we know and understand more of Heaven and the Glory and Happiness thereof we should with a Holy impatiency of Desire long after it for is it not in Heaven that we shall never sin more never offend God more never wound our Consciences more never do any thing that shall either break our Peace disturb our Joy or indanger
themselves and very disquieting unto others Now as to the Temptations that most afflict the People of God in this Life they are such as either come from the World and the Flesh or such as come from the Devil As for those Temptations that come from the World and the Flesh as their Numbers cannot be expressed so their Burthen cannot be born without the Assistance of Divine Grace While we are in this World we walk in the midst of Snares Temptations lie in wait for us in all our Ways attend us in all our Enjoyments follow us into all Societies keep us company in all our Solitarinesses we can scarce cast our Eyes any where but we are in danger by something or other to be drawn away from God Every Condition every Place every Duty every Mercy and every Relation administer matter for a Temptation When we behold those that are much above us then a Temptation to Envy assaults us When we behold those that are low in the World and much our Inferiours then a Temptation to Scorn and Contempt presents its self to us Hath God bless'd us in the World that we grow rich and become Men of great Estates how strong and almost invincible are our Temptations to be proud and to forget yea to deny God If God lay us low in the World O how hard is it to be Poor and not to be Discontented nor to make use of unlawful means for our Relief rather than to wait patiently God's time for the Supply of our Necessities When we are in our Health and Strength O how stupid how careless are we as to the Concerns of our Souls How few Thoughts have we of and how little Preparation do we make for our Eternal State If God deprive us of our Health and Strength and by Sickness warns us that Death is making haste towards us then the sudden Approach of that King of Terrors distracts us with such Fears and Horrors as overwhelms and sinks us into Despair so that we give up all for lost But now when by Death a Saint comes to take his leave of this World in his flight towards Heaven his Soul is escaped out of all these Dangers and Temptations all these Snares are then broken in pieces for ever For whither he is gone none of them can come after him In Heaven there 's nothing but what tends to the advancing of our Joy and the promoting our Eternal Happiness And as in Heaven Saints shall be free from the Temptations of the World so shall they be free from the Temptations of Satan the grand Enemy of their Souls and the continual Disturber of their Peace The Apostle tells us he is always going up and doum like a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour 1 Pet. 5 8. And because he cannot destroy the People of God nor hinder them from Heaven hereafter therefore he will do what he can to disturb and disquiet them here And Oh how doth it make a godly Man inwardly to figh and mourn that he can never set about any thing that is good but the Evil One is working against him with his Temptations either to dissuade him from doing of it or to disturb him in the doing of it filling his Mind not only with vain and foolish but with wicked and sinful thoughts that continually indispose to and distract him in it And if notwithstanding all this a godly Man will persevere and go through his Work till he hath finished what he is about then to find the Wicked One discouraging him after his Performance telling him that because of those Wandrings and Distractings which himself hath been the cause of in a great measure therefore God will not own nor accept what he hath done This certainly must needs be a great Disquietment to a gracious Heart And yet these are the daily Temptations and Discouragements that a godly Man is striving with and contending against by reason of that Evil One. This if any thing will bring a Saint upon his knees and make him with the Apostle to pray again and again yea to besiege Heaven day and night with Prayers and Tears that he may be delivered from that cruel and bloudy Hell-hound and from all his wicked Solicitations Well be patient O all ye Tempted holy Souls for though the Temptations you meet with be so black and horrid that nothing can match them but the Blackness of Hell it self from whence at first they came though you are at present engaged in a very unequal Match for what can Flesh and Blood do to contend with Principalities and Powers and Spiritual Wickednesses in high Places Yet remember stronger is he that is in you than he that is in the World And in this hour of your Temptation and Contest with the Powers of Darkness there are these Two Things among others that may comfort you the one is Let the Temptations be as black and dismal as Hell can make them yet if a godly Man yields not his consent to them they are none of his Sins nor shall they be charged upon him as such The other is this That the God of Peace will shortly tread Satan under his feet nay he himself shall shortly trample him under his own feet The Time is hastning apace and it cannot be long before Death will come in to thy relief and set thee beyond the reach of all his Temptations It is true while we are in the Wilderness of this World the Devil will never let us be quiet but will be continually casting his fiery darts at us following us with one Temptation after another and when at any time in the strength of our great Lord we have worsted him in one Temptation yet are we sure to be vexed by him in some other But yet be not discouraged O Believing Soul notwithstanding all the Assaults of this Evil One But maintain thy Conflict keep thy Ground yield not basely and cowardly unto any of his Temptations but continue to resist him stedfastly in the Faith for the Time of thy wrestling and contending with him cannot last longer than thy short and transitory Life and remember for thy Support that as now thou neither standest nor fightest in thine own strength but in the strength of another so certainly shalt thou in that strength overcome yea obtain an everlasting Conquest over all Satan's Temptations The Time of thy Death will be the Time of thy eternal Deliverance not only from all his Temptations but from all his Malice and Envy that put him upon those Temptations O what a Happiness will this be And O how greatly should a Believer long for the accomplishment of it for then shall the Devil be as unlikely to tempt as our Hearts to close with his Temptations and both alike impossible Thirdly In Heaven Saints shall enjoy a perfect Freedom from all Sin There is no Evil in the World the People of God complain of with greater Grief and Sorrow than they do of Sin this makes
you have continued waiting but a few days longes God will grant your Desires for when you come to Heaven whither Death will certainly and suddenly bring you Sin an unholy Heart and Nature shall never more afflict or trouble you for Sin that was here your Burthen to feel shall there be your Delight to be for ever without that impenitent unbelieving Heart those vain yea sinful Thoughts which were wont to lie down and rise up with you which did use to follow you to every Duty and accompany you in every Place and Service and which you could no more leave behind you when you went to Pray to Hear to Read or to Meditate than you could leave your selves behind you shall all be left behind you when you come to die they did and would keep you company while you lived but they shall not go one step with you beyond Death then you take your leave of them bidding an eternal Farewel to all Sin O my Soul when shall that blessed day come that thou shalt thus take thy leave of Sin never to wound thy Conscience never to defile thy Soul nor never to displease thy God thereby any more O what a blessed state will that be when Death shall send a godly Man to Heaven perfectly free from all Sin not only as to the Power of it but also as to the vexing and disquieting Presence of it where he shall spend ars Eternity in serving and praising of God without the least interruption imperfection or weariness of Soul for ever And doth not Death in this appear a Believer's great Friend in that what Prayers and Tears Sighs and Groans together with the assistance of the Spirit of God did gradually that is mortifie and destroy Sin that Death doth for a Believer at one blow perfectly freeing him from the Burthen and Being of Sin for ever Fourthly In Heaven the People of God shall arrive unto a Perfection of Grace and Holiness As all that the Saints have here is but mean compared to what they shall attain to hereafter so all that the Saints do here is but mean compared to what they shall be enabled to do hereafter Grace in a godly Man in this Life is in its minority and therefore the acting of Grace must needs be accordingly The Excellency and Beauty of a Saint lies inward in the hidden Man of the Heart or as the Psalmist speaks he is one that is all glorious within And because Grace in him is inward therefore its Excellency is not so visible and apparent Grace in a godly Man neither doth nor can shine forth in its Glory and Beauty here because Sin in him eclipses the splendor of its appearance The imperfection of Grace is discernable here but the Perfection and Beauty of Grace is neither known nor attainable here The highest degrees of Grace and Holiness that the best of God's People reach unto here comes infinitely short to what they shall attain to in Heaven It is true a little Grace in a Saint now makes him glorious in the eyes of those who have a Spirit of discerning to behold it in respect whereof the Saints are called the excellent ones of the Earth Psal 16.3 Now if the weakness and imperfection of Grace for that which the People of God attain to of Grace here it no more compared with what they shall attain to in Heaven if this weakness and imperfection of Grace be so excellent and glorious O how exceeding glorious will the perfection and beauty of Grace be hereafter How glorious have some of the Saints of God of old appeared when their Excellency hath chiefly appeared in the Oriency and sparkling Beauty but of some one particular Grace as for instance How glorious was Abraham for his Faith Moses for his meekness self-denial Nehemiah for his zeal for God and his Glory David for his Love to God and his Ordinances Job for his Patience S. Paul for his unwearied Industry and Laboriousness in the Work of God and the Service of Souls O how eminently glorious have the particular actings of these particular Graces in these Servants of God made them in all Ages insomuch that the Spirit of God hath thought good to record their Excellencies in the holy Scriptures and their Praise shall be in all the Churches of God to the end of the World Now if the Saints Eminency in some particular Graces have made them so glorious notwithstanding their Imperfections other ways how glorious and excellent will they appear when all that Grace and Holiness that shall accompany them to Heaven and is there necessary unto their Happiness that they may see and enjoy God to eternity shall be fully and compleatly perfected having nothing of the least allay of any spot or imperfection in their Graces or in their Persons to take off from the Beauty and Glory of the one or of the other for ever In Heaven Grace in a Saint is in its excellency and in its visibility there is Grace and nothing but Grace there is Grace and all Grace yea there is all Grace shining forth in its fulness and utmost perfection of Glory to eternity In this Life Grace in the People of God is never perfect in some things they are always defective in other things always wanting they are continually aiming at and going on unto Perfection though while they are here they do not attain unto it In the Work of Regeneration they are truly sanctified and made holy but it is in Heaven only that they are perfectly sanctified The Lord Jesus Christ now loves his Church and he hath abundantly manifested that he doth so in giving himself for it that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word as the Apostle speaks But he never presents it to himself a Glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle till he brings it to Heaven By a work of Sanctification he is now daily cleansing and purifying of it but the full Perfection and Beauty of Holiness is not put upon it till the Marriage between him and his Church be consummated in Glory Here in this Life there is much Imperfection in the Righteousness and Holiness of the Saints many Faults and Infirmities they have that others may censure and condemn and themselves ought to bewail and mourn for but in Heaven they shall be Faultless so saith the Apostle Jude 24. Whilst the Church is Militant upon Earth though she is black and hath her spots yet is she comely but when she comes to be Triumphant in Heaven then will she be as a beautiful Bride adorned with fulness and perfection of Grace and Holiness fitted and prepared for her Lord and Husband's Company Rev. 22.2 where every Saint shall behold and love the Blessed and Holy God and their dear Lord Jesus with a Love equal to Angels and Cherubims satiating and delighting their Souls in him with a Joy far exceeding the highest Joys that any of the People of God ever were
others came in their room which proved incurable and terminated in Death But when the Bodies of the Saints shall be raised out of their Graves at the general Resurrection they shall perfectly be healed of all their Distempers and shall die no more for then shall be brought to pass that saying that is written Death is swallowed up in Victory 1 Cr. 15.54 Secondly In Heaven the Bodies of the Saints shall become spiritual not that they shall be changed into spiritual Substances and so become absolutely spiritual for then they must cease to be Bodies but yet they shall become spiritual because they shall be endowed with spiritual Qualities Now concerning this Spirituality of the Body the Apostle speaks very clearly in 1 Cor. 15.44 it is sown says he a natural Body it is raised a spiritual Body Now the Bodies of the Saints in Heaven are said to be spiritual in these respects First Because in Heaven they shall be in a condition that is spiritual Their Bodies shall then stand in no more need of Meat or Drink Sleep or Apparel the now necessary and appointed means for its supportation In Heaven there is no eating or drinking no marrying or giving in Marriage but we shall there be as the Angels of God so saith our Lord Matth. 22.30 If Moses in this state of Mortality whilst he was with God in the Mount forty Days and forty nights did neither eat Bread nor drink Water as we read Exod. 34 28. how much more shall the Saints be enabled to live without the use of these things when they come to Heaven where they shall always live in the Presence of God Secondly The Spirituality of the Saints Bodies in Heaven consists in that entire and absolute Subjection they shall then be in unto their Spirits In this Life the Soul is debased made to stoop and become serviceable to the Flesh and when it is at the best with the Saints there is still a contention and strife between the Spirit and the Flesh so that when the Spirit is willing the Flesh is weak nay often refractary But in Heaven there shall be an absolute Subjection of the Body to the Spirit What a great Happiness would a godly Man now count it to have a Body every way serviceable to his Soul that whenever the Soul moves God ward and Heaven-ward in any holy Duty the Body might willingly and readily comply with it How delightful would this make a godly Man's Life to be Why in Heaven it shall be so in that state of Glory and Happiness the Soul shall not depend upon the Body but the Body upon the Soul for the Body shall then become spiritual because it shall be perfectly serviceable to the Spirit This certainly will be a blessed time Saints therefore should long for its approach Thirdly The Bodies of the Saints in Heaven shall be spiritual in regard they will then be more capable of and more fitted for spiritual Vses and Services Nothing that is of an earthy dreggy Nature shall then cleave to them all carnal sordid employments are greatly below them their Work is altogether heavenly and spiritual formerly their time and strength was laid out upon Employments that were earthly suitable unto their then earthly Bodies But now that their Bodies are changed and of earthly become spiritual their Employment is changed and become spiritual also And because there is such a change in the Employment of their Bodies it is an evident Demonstration that there is a change made in their Bodies also Heretofore the World was the Habitation in which their Bodies dwelt and their Designs then were worldly also But now that they are removed from Earth to Heaven the Habitation of Spirits their Bodies are refined and made spiritual suitable unto the Habitation to the Inhabitants to the Employments and Enjoyments that are there which are altogether spiritual Thirdly The Bodies of the Saints in Heaven shall be full of Power and Agility They are sown says the Apostle in Weakness they are frail sinful Bodies and therefore they must die yet shall they be raised in Power Now this Power and Agility that shall be bestowed upon Glorified Bodies is very wonderful being that whereby they shall be able to move to and fro in Heaven according as the Will shall command it without difficulty or weariness and possibly so as to be able to keep pace even with Angels themselves in their Motion And considering the spaciousness of Heaven that place where God Christ and those multitudes of glorious Saints and Angels do inhabit this Agility of Body may be very necessary Now there are two Reasons why it is so necessary that the Bodies of the Saints should be thus strong and powerful First That hereby they may be able to attend the Operations of their Souls and become fit for such Work as in Heaven they must be employed in Were their Bodies as weak and feeble in Heaven as they now are on Earth they could never undergo such work and motions as they must be employed in there but they would soon tire and faint Scripture and Experience tells us this that when the Soul is exercised about any high and glorious Object the Body presently sinks and fails So it was in the Ecstasies of the Prophet when God did reveal himself in an extraordinary manner unto Daniel his Body failed he fainted and was sick many Days Dan. 8.27 But now in Heaven the Bodies of the Saints shall be so strong and powerful that they shall become serviceable to their Souls in their highest and most glorious Operations Here the People of God have Souls willing to serve the Lord that would fain attend upon him in his Ordinances and never be weary or drowsie but though the Spirit be willing yet the Flesh is Weak their frail Bodies cannot keep pace with their Souls in Duty thus is it continually with them here but in Heaven it shall be otherwise their Bodies shall then be as good Companions for their Souls as they can desire and both together shall praise God with eternal Hallelujahs and never be weary Secondly It is necessary that the Bodies of the Saints in Heaven should be strong and powerful because otherwise they are not able to bear that weight of Glory and Happiness that there they shall be Partakers of We are easily persuaded to believe that a Man may be so miserable that he cannot bear it but it is as true that Man's highest Happiness cannot be born by the strength he now hath Extraordinary Joy will overcome and destroy as well as extraordinary Sorrow I have heard of one whom a great King in this Nation caused to be imprisoned and thrown into a Dungeon where lying hourly in expectation of losing his Life being suddenly surprized with News of a Pardon his Joy was so great that it overwhelm'd his Spirit and he died immediately The Condition of our Bodies here is a Condition of Weakness and Frallty And the Glory and Happiness of
an account for that great estrangedness that is in it unto God and a Heavenly Life and for time to come leave off thy pursuits of Vanity and bend thy Soul with all seriousness to the Study of what thy Eternal State and Condition shall be busily employ thy Thoughts about the Happiness of a Life to come inure thy self to a Life of Divine and Heavenly Contemplation and let not the thoughts of Heaven be seldom slight and cursory but accustom thy self to them let them be fixed and abiding in thee dwell in thy Thoughts upon such Contemplations let thy Soul recreate it self with these Heavenly Delights And whenver thou findest thy Heart begin to flag and draw back or thy Thoughts to take liberty to flie out and ramble towards other things speedily call them back and keep them close to this pleasurable Employment let them not wander from their work indulge not thy self in Sloathfulness be quick and smart upon thy Soul for the least neglect that may be and for thy encouragement herein know that when once thou hast conquered the Difficulties and overcome the Obstructions that would hinder thee from experiencing so sweet and comfortable a Life and got the Mastery over thy Thoughts and Affections by an accustomed Obedience and Conformity unto the Practice of this Heavenly Duty thou wilt then find abundance of Sweetness and Delight therein and thy experience will confirm this to be a Truth of great Verity that the Life of Christianity is a Life of Joy that therein is to be found such abundant strong Consolations as will lift up thy Soul even into the very Suburbs of Heaven it self so that thou wilt seem to be as it were in a new World through the sense and feeling of those Joys which the Apostle tells us are unspeakable and full of Glory Now although the bare proposing of the Glory and Happiness of Heaven unto the Thoughts and Meditations of a Christian should be Argument strong enough to put him upon the practice of a Duty that is accompanied with so much Pleasure and Delight for certainly a more sweet delightful and desirable Life a Christian cannot live for this way of living is to bring down Heaven unto us before we are taken up thither it is to begin to live that life on Earth that we shall for ever live in Heaven and how then can there be any need of Arguments to press Christians to live such a life as this is Yet because sad experience tells us how hardly the best Christians are drawn to a daily practice of this Heavenly Duty I shall lay down some Arguments to excite and quicken them hereunto as First A Soul that lives in the believing views and contemplations of the Glory and Happiness of Heaven makes use of one of the strongest Cordials to support it self under Troubles and Afflictions that can be This will sustain a Christian's Spirit under Sufferings make them more easie to be born this keeps the Soul from murmuring and repining under the Hand of God makes it patient under all its Tribulations yea these believing views of Heaven and Glory will uphold and strengthen a Christian's Resolutions for God and holy Obedience and keep him from forsaking Christ and Religion for fear of Trouble and Persecution Alas will such a Soul say what if the Way be rough and unpleasant unto the Flesh yea what if it should be thorough Mud and Blood yet Heaven is at the end and that will make more than a thousand-fold amends for all the Sufferings that I can endure in the Way O sweet Pains and Torments O blessed Woes and Distresses O rich Poverty and Reproaches O happy Restraint and Imprisonment but much more happy Death however it comes that is accompanied with the joyful foretastes of a future Happiness in Heaven as no Bolts nor Bars no Restraints or Distresses can shut out or exclude the Joys and Consolations of Heaven from coming into the Soul Our Flesh that is these frail Bodies of ours may be confined within Walls of Stone or Bars of Iron but the Faith the Hope the Thoughts and Meditations of a Christian cannot still the Soul hath liberty in its flight towards Heaven from whence it fetches strong Consolations for its Support and Joy notwithstanding all the Severities that lie upon the outward Man Christ Faith and the Joys and Delights of Heaven are all spiritual and therefore it is not in the Power of any Prisons nor what the most malicious Persecutors can do to hinder a Soul that is a Spirit from sweet Intercourse and Commerce with them in John 20.19 when the Persecutions of the Jews were so hot against the Disciples that they were forced to meet privately and to shut the doors upon themselves for fear of the Jews yet even then Jesus came and stood in the midst of them and said Peace be unto you And when those two blessed Servants of God Paul and Silas were kept close Prisoners to speak in the Language of our Times after their Bodies had been abused by Scourging being locked up in the Inner Prison and their Feet made fast in the Stocks yet notwithstanding when they were suffering thus as to their Bodies they had a Heaven in their Souls and their Work and Employment was the same with what the Saints are taken up in Heaven even to sing Praises unto God and so they did for so we read Acts 16.24 25. At Midnight they pray'd and sang Praises unto God They had more Joy in undergoing their Sufferings than their Enemies had in inflicting them Yea so great were the Consolations of Heaven in their Souls that their Enemies were more desirous to free them from their Sufferings than they were desirous to come out of them for when they sent their Officers to fetch them out of Prison they refused to go out and made their very Persecutors themselves to beg and entreat them to come out Oh what wonderful strong Joys and Consolations had ravished their Souls that made them so unwilling to come out of Prison not to be punished but to be set at liberty How come those Worthies of whom we read in Heb. 11. to endure such sore Trials as are there recorded of them being exposed to the Violence of the Flames having Trials of cruel Mockings and Scourgings being stoned sawn asunder destitute afflicted and tormented And yet notwithstanding all would not accept of Deliverance Whence was it that they came to suffer so courageously Why the Reason is given us in Verse 35. it was That they might obtain a better Resurrection They saw not only to an end of their Sufferings but they looked also unto the Glory that was to be revealed and this made them so bold and courageous It is no wonder that Afflictions and Sufferings should be painful and grievous unto that Man who cannot see to the end of them And whatever Death is unto others it must needs be the King of Terrors unto him who cannot behold Immortality and
our Salvation Is it not there that we shall be for ever out of the reach of Satan's Temptations with which a Believer is so assaulted and harassed here as renders his Life not only uncomfortable but even burthensome to himself Is it not there that our frail Bodies which now are subject to Pains and Diseases because defiled with Sin shall be for ever loosed from all Weaknesses and Infirmities being made like unto the Glorious Body of Jesus Christ perfectly freed from Mortality and Corruption and from all Sin and Defilement Is it not there that all the People of God shall be of one Heart and of one Mind that being taken away both from within and from without which was the cause of all their Divisions and Contentions here on Earth and instead thereof there shall be a sweet union of Hearts and Affections all of them abundantly delighting and satisfying themselves in one God as the Object of their Happiness without the least jarring or discord among them to all Eternity While the People of God are in this Vail of Tears they labour under much Blindness and Ignorance about the Mysteries of Salvation as revealed in the Gospel but in Heaven these Mysteries shall all be fully and perfectly made known to us In this Life we take in our Knowledge of God of Heaven and of the Gospel by which we are savingly enlightned in either by little and little as a Man that desires to know what is contained in a Book before it is exposed to publick view reads it Sheet by Sheet from the Press and so understands a little and a little of it by Degrees And truly so do Christians concerning the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God now they hear a Sermon and by that they gain a little light and in some short time they hear another Sermon and by that they encrease their light a little more and thus their Stock of Divine Knowledge encreaseth a little and a little at time by the help of means and opportunities that they enjoy But now in Heaven all is done without travail or trouble for though it is true Glorified Saints there cease not from working yet is it as true that they cease from labour Here our Passions are strong and prevalent by reason whereof our minds are blinded and we easily mistake Error for Truth and Truth for Error but hereafter all these Clouds shall be blown away and we shall see things nakedly and truly as they are in themselves Here the weakness and smallness of many mens Natural Parts keeps them in the dark and renders them incapable of apprehending some Truths of God which others of greater abilities can search into with pleasure and delight But then as the Apostle speaking concerning the day of Judgment tells us They that are alive then shall not prevent those that are asleep So in Heaven they that are strong shall not prevent those that are weak but the Scholar shall there know as much as his Master and the People understand as much as their Minister In this World Contentions and Quarrellings among Holy and Learned Men leave the Weak and Ignorant at great uncertainties what to Judge concerning many Gospel Truths But in Heaven there shall be a perfect Reconciliation and Agreement among them all yea while we are here it often falls out that in our most diligent searching after Truth we meet with many hindrances and disturbances sometimes the necessary Affairs of this World cause us to lay aside our Enquiries at other times many Distempers that attend our infirm Bodies divert and hinder us in our most serious Inquisitions But in Heaven our Bodies will be above all these things we shall there no more be liable to nor annoy'd with any Weaknesses and Infirmities In that Glorious place we shall not need to provide either Raiment for the back or Food for the belly O what a Happiness have Believers by dying who are thereby at once eased of all the aches of their Bodies and of all the conflicts of their Souls how comfortably may they look Death in the Face who is the only Physician that cures them of all their Distempers at once O when that blessed hour comes how joyfully may they lift up their heads for as soon as they are passed through that dark and gloomy Valley they shall be brought into a place of unconceivable Bliss and Happiness where they shall behold him whom their Souls so much loved and longed to see even their Blessed Redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ not at a distance or afar off as they were wont to do by an Eye of Faith through the Glass of an Ordinance or Promise but with a Glorified Eye draw near to him and look upon his blessed Person the Glorious sight of whom they shall never more lose to all Eternity When a Believer shall not as here he hath now and then some little glimpses of his Face and some small tastes of his Love in a little Sacramental Bread and Wine but he shall lay his Mouth to the Fountain head and from his Bosom drink full and large draughts of those Rivers of the Waters of Life that proceed out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb for evermore He shall then no more have any descriptions of Heaven by fear say as he was wont to have it described to him here by the sorry Rhetorick of a Mortal Man either by Preaching or Writing of that which he himself had little Love to and less Knowledge and Acquaintance with but shall himself walk up and down and view the Streets of that Glorious City And O with what Wonder and Astonishment will a Believer bless himself there when he reflects back upon those poor and low thoughts that himself and the best of Preachers also had thereof when on Earth he did Meditate and they did Preach or Write upon that Subject One moment's sight of that Glory will give the Soul a thousand times better Information and Satisfaction what Heaven is than all the Discourses that it ever heard or all the Books it ever read here on Earth were ever able to do And canst thou O Believer hear all this concerning Heaven and thy Faith tell thee that all this is true and add also that Heaven is ten thousand times more and better than what all the Men in the World can imagine concerning it and yet not feel some springings up of Holy Joy and Delight in thee followed with earnest longings of Soul after the Enjoyment of it O whence doth this dulness and backwardness proceed this is not a temper of Soul suitable unto the Hopes of so great a Happiness as Heaven will be Why dost thou not O Believing Soul cry out with Holy Longings and Desires How long O Lord most Holy and True shall it be before thou bringest me into the Possession of this most Blissful State Every moment whilst thou art kept at a distance from it should seem to thee a Day and every Day a Month
and every Month as a Year yea as an Age until that blessed time doth come But O how little of this Holy Longing of Soul after Christ and Heaven is there to be found among Christians now Most of those that call themselves by that Name resting upon Hopes and Probabilities of their interest in that State of Blessedness never seeking to attain unto the Riches of the full Assurance of Hope accompanied with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory But sure I am such a frame of Spirit hath not always been enough to satisfie some Christians in their pursuits after Heaven Oh with what Ravishments of Joy and Delight have I both heard and read some Holy Souls expressing their longing Desires after Christ and Heaven There was a certain Noble Person whom I well knew from under whose own hand writing I Copied out this following Relation concerning her self Being employed in Holy Meditation which was both her daily Practice as also her daily Delight and Solace and Contemplating of the Joys of Heaven and how to secure her Interest in that State of Blessedness she did with great Desire of Soul as her own words are strive to take the Kingdom above with a Holy Violence and to Storm Heaven by importunate Prayer and God was pleased as she adds Blessing his Name to carry her up as it were unto Mount Nebo and from thence to give her a Prospect of the Heavenly Canaan by the sight whereof as one in an Ecstasy of Joy she cried out Lord I would not live here always for I am now convinced it is better for me to die than to live It is therefore O Lord the great Desire of my Soul that as Elias was so I might instantly be taken up into Heaven without returning any more to bid them farewel of my own House or ever seeing the Faces of any Mortal Relations more here on Earth Prayer and Meditation had as her Expression is Associated her Spirit to such Company that I rather thought says she I had a Body too much with me than found a want of it After which shedding plentiful Tears of Joy and the offering up of many Sighs and Groans accompanied with earnest Desires and Longings after Heaven with fervent Prayers to be a partaker of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light she returned from her Devotions Blessing and Praising of God who had so refreshed and comforted her Soul with Divine and Heavenly Consolations There was also a very Eminently Godly Person some of whose Relations are yet living who lying upon his Death-bed there came one to Visit him who told him he hoped it would please God to restore him to his Health again says the good Man to him Do you think to please me with such a Discourse as this know O Friend you are much mistaken in me if you apprehend the thoughts of Life and Health are pleasing to me Alas the World hath quite lost its Excellency in my Judgment it is but a poor contemptible thing in all its Glory compared with the Glory of the invisible World which I now live in the sight of it would be a far more Pleasant and Delightful thing to me if you could tell me for certain that I am no Man for this World long and that before to morrow I should be in Eternity for I do so long to be with Christ that I could be content to be cut in pieces and put to the most exquisite Torments might I but die and be with Christ Death through Grace is nothing to me it hath lost its terribleness and therefore may do its worst I fear it not I can as easily Die as shut my Eyes or turn my head and Sleep yea I long to Die that I may be with Christ come therefore O Lord Jesus come quickly why O why are thy Chariot Wheels so long a coming O says another How cold is thy kindness O Death in being so slow and backward to come and loose a poor tired Prisoner from his Bonds I live a dwindling Life with much Pain and much Love-Sickness for my sweet Lord Jesus O what would I give to have a Bed made for my wearied Soul in my Dear Lord's Bosom I cannot express what pains and delightsome Torments there are in his Love O Fairest among the Children of Men yea thou who art Fairer than all the Children of Men why stayest thou so long The Fire of Love burneth so hot in my heart towards Jesus Christ that neither Hell nor Earth can cast water enough to quench or extinguish it O Time Time how dost thou torment the Souls of those that would be swallowed up in Christ's Love because thou movest so slowly O how am I pained with the Love of Christ he hath left an Arrow in my Heart which hath wounded me that I am swallowed up with desires after him so that I am to be pitied for want of real possession of him my greatest pain is the want of Christ not of his Joys and Comforts but of a nearer Vnion and Communion with him O Heavens move fast O Time run run and hasten the Marriage Day for Love is tormented with delay Hope and Love woven through one another make Christ's absence a Spiritual Torment It is a pain to my Soul to wait for him but Hope that maketh not ashamed but ends in Enjoyment swalloweth up the pain O Lord when wilt thou fold the Heavens together like an old Cloak and Shovel Time and Days out of the way and make ready in haste the Bride for her Husband What do we here but sin and suffer O when shall the Night be gone and the Shadows fly away and the Morning of that long long Day without Clouds or Night dawn The Spirit and the Bride say come O when shall the Lamb's Wife be ready and the Bridegroom say I come also Even so come Lord Jesus come quickly I do not mention these things as if I thought these Holy Pantings and Longings of Soul after God and Heaven were the stated frame which is commonly attained by all Christians much less do I not think that none are truly Godly but such as attain to this frame of Spirit for I believe there are a great Number of Holy Souls that daily go to Heaven without them But yet is it a State that hath been attained by some and may be attained still by others And truly such a Heaven upon Earth as is hereby enjoyed by such Holy Souls should be motive sufficient to excite and provoke Christians to a diligent pursuit hereof the Effect whereof is Joy unspeakable and Glorious To conclude this whole Discourse I have been long in treating concerning the Glorious State of the Saints Happiness in Heaven and much larger than at first I intended but the excellency and deliciousness of the matter herein contained hath drawn out my Meditations to so great a length and the truth of it is in contemplating upon so delightful a Subject it is very hard and difficult when the
ever known that a Man who had the use of his Reason and Understanding and had forfeited his Life to his Prince by some Treasonable Act for which he was condemned to Die and had his Life proferred him if on such a Day he would come and submit himself to his Sovereign and ask his Pardon and instead of so doing he should rather choose to spend that Day among his sinful and riotous Companions in Drinking and Gaming and so lose the opportunity of saving of his Life Such Acts of Folly as these are committed by any Men would make them unpitied and unlamented under the extremity of Miseries and Sorrows that should befal them thereupon But the generality of Men in these cases are more wise and considerative than thus to ruine and undo themselves O then let it not lie any longer as a reproach upon Christians that the Men of the World are wiser in their Generation than the Children of Light Why shouldst not thou O Christian be as careful and prudent in thy Spiritual Concerns as the Men of the World are in their Temporal Concerns Is not Heaven of as much worth and value as Earth Is not thy Right and Title to an Eternal Inheritance above of as great moment to thee as a Title to an Earthly Inheritance here below is unto them Is not the Love and Favour of God as much to be prized and endeavoured after as the Favour of an Earthly Prince Is not the Salvation and Happiness of thy Soul in Heaven to all Eternity of as great importance as the saving of a short Temporal Life of the Body which with the improvement of the utmost care and diligence that can be used cannot long be kept from falling into corruption and rottenness What then canst thou render as a Reason of thy carelessness and negligence herein Surely thy Folly is as much greater than theirs as Heaven is better than Earth and the enjoyment of God to Eternity is better than the enjoyment of the World for a short moment of time The Blessedness and Happiness therefore propounded to thy consideration being of the greatest concernment that ever was or can be proposed unto any the despising yea the slighting and neglecting of an offer of such rich Grace and Bounty is that which shall be punished with infinitely far greater misery and torment than ever yet was inflicted upon any yea or upon all Mankind in the World put together Were it possible to make up a Misery and Torment of all the Rage and Malice that ever Men or Devils since the Creation invented or executed upon any yea and add to it the sum the quintessence and extremity of all those Pains and Diseases both of Body and Mind that the Justice of the Holy and Righteous God hath justly and righteously inflicted upon any yea upon the whole Race of Mankind from the beginning of the World unto this Day and let all this be laid upon one Man and he strengthened and enabled to live under all those Pains and Torments in the extremity of them for a thousand years Who would not say this Man were a miserable Man indeed Why truly such nay ten thousand times far greater shall be the Eternal never-ending Misery and Torment of that Man who finally persists in his contempt and slighting of Heaven and Eternal Happiness and so do all those whose pains and care is not with diligence and industry laid out in securing to themselves an interest in the Heavenly Inheritance For certainly the utmost extremity of Desires and Endeavours is due unto and ought to be laid out in the pursuit of an extremity of Bliss and Happiness and such is Heaven and the Blessedness there to be enjoyed it being that which will fill and satisfie the Desires and Cravings of the Soul unto the utmost to all Eternity I have no more to say to thee O Christian Reader than this if neither the greatest extremity of misery that can be endured yea the enduring of all Miseries and Torments heaped up together not for Thousands or Millions of years but to an endless duration never to expire will not move thee to look after Heaven nor yet the Happiness and Blessedness yea the Eternity of an inexpressible and unconceivable Happiness and Blessedness that there is and shall be for ever enjoyed by the Saints in Glory and may be also enjoyed by thee if thou art wise and prudent if thou art diligent and careful in improving thy time and opportunities If I say thine own Interest thine own Misery or Happiness will not move nor work upon thee to bestir thy self to make sure of Heaven and Eternal Life I know not what will neither do I know what to say more unto thee However I shall turn my Advice and Counsel to thee into Prayer unto God for thee whoever thou art that shalt read this Discourse that God would graciously be pleased to open thine Eyes and shew thee convincingly and powerfully by a Work of his own Spirit on thy Heart thy great Misery if thou persist in thy neglect of Heaven and thy great Happiness and Blessedness if thou embrace and close with the offers thereof before it be too late Which God of his infinite Mercy grant unto all those that shall read this Discourse for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake who by his Death and Sufferings hath purchased this Heaven and this Happiness and is thereby become the Author of Eternal Salvation to all those that believe in him and obey him Amen FINIS Books lately Printed for Nathanael Ranew at the King 's Arms in St. Paul's Church-Yard PRactical Preparation for Death The Wisdom and Interest of Christians The Folly and Misery of those that are negligent therein The great benefits of a Life spent in a daily Preparation for our latter end with Motives and Directions for the performance thereof Discourses or Sermons on several Scriptures By Ezekiel Hopkins late Lord Bishop of London-Derry In Octavo An Exposition on the Ten Commandments with other Sermons By Ezekiel Hopkins late Lord Bishop of London-Derry In Quarto The Holy Life of Mrs. Elizabeth Walker late Wife of Dr. Walker of Fyfield in Essex giving an Account of her exemplary Piety and Charity with some useful Papers and Letters written by her self upon several occasions The Naked Gospel Discovering 1. What was the Gospel which our Lord and his Apostles Preached 2. What Additions and Alterations latter Ages have made in it 3. What Advantages and Damages have thereupon ensued Of Faith Of the Trinity The Incarnation of our Blessed Saviour And the Resurrection of the Body Published by Arthur Bury D. D. Rector of Exeter College in Oxford The Vertuous Woman Or the Life of the most excellent Lady Mary late Countess of Warwick To which are annexed some of her Ladyships pious and useful Meditations Aurea Legenda Or Apophthegms Sentences and Sayings of many Wise and Learned Men useful for all Persons Collected out of many Authors by Samuel Clerk In Twelves Redemption of Time the Duty and Wisdom of Christians Or a practical Discourse shewing what special Opportunities ought to be redeemed what mis-spendings of time are to be avoided with convincing Reasons quickning Motives and proper Directions for the right improvement of precious Time By John Wade In Octavo The Danger of Delaying Repentance A Sermon Preached to the University at St. Mary's in Oxford By Arthur Bury D. D. Rector of Exeter College in Oxford In Quarto An earnest and compassionate suit for forbearance to the Learned Writers of some Controversies at present By the Bishop of Cork and Rosse In Quarto The End
Death arise from his Ignorance of what Death is in it self and of what it will be unto him and this makes him walk so uncomfortably under the thoughts of it And yet the worst that Death is and the worst it can do unto him is only to make a Separation between those two old loving Acquaintance his Soul and Body whereby the viler part the Body consumes and rots in the Grave being fed upon by Worms till it turns to Dust and Ashes for some little time after which it shall arise again a glorious refined purified Body from all its dross and corruption and made like unto the Glorious Body of Jesus Christ to be again united unto that Soul which during the time of its silent sleeping in the dust was rejoicing with Saints and Angels yea with God and Christ in a state of infinite and unconceivable Happiness unto which the Body after its re union with the Soul shall ascend with it to partake of the same Blessedness in Heaven to all Eternity Surely such a Soul instead of being timorous and fearful should rather say with the Apostle I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is best of all Phil. 1.21 Secondly The Consideration of so great a Happiness provided in Heaven for Believers should moderate their Sorrows for the Death of their Godly Friends and Relations It is true when such are taken away by Death the loss is great unto those that survive them and therefore the God of Bowels and Mercy allows us to mourn when by his Providence he makes such breaches among us Abraham mourned for Sarah his Wife Joseph wept for his Father Jacob the Israelites made great lamentations for the loss of Moses and both Mary and her Sister Martha mourned for their Brother Lazarus and our Lord doth not reprove them but sympathizeth with them in their loss and testifies it by his weeping also But though we are allowed to mourn at the Death of our Godly Friends and Relations yet are we to set bounds to our mourning for we are not to sorrow as those that have no Hope nor are we so to grieve and afflict our selves as to refuse to be comforted Friends use to rejoice in the advancement of one another in the World though it be in the enjoyment of that which is but Temporary and therein they shew their Love to one another And will not should not you much more rejoice when your Friends and Acquaintance are by Death preferred to the enjoyment of a Happiness that is Spiritual and Eternal Shall a Natural and contracted Relation either by Blood Cohabitation or Friendship engage to greater Love and Affection than a Spiritual and Supernatural Relation by Grace and Adoption shall do Believers are all nearly and intimately related to one another they are all Members of one and the same Body they have all one and the same Father they have all one and the same Redeemer they have all one and the same Sanctifier and Comforter they have all one Faith one Hope and shall all one day enjoy one and the same Heaven though they go thither in different ways and at different times Grieve not mourn not then O Believer that thy Friends and Relations are gone to Heaven a little before thee Time was it may be when you and they did take sweet Counsel together and walked to the House and Ordinances of God in company and very sweet and delightful was your Society one with another but now Death hath made a Separation between you so that the sweetness of that Friendship is at an end and they are not as to your enjoyment of them and this makes you passionately cry out Oh my loss my loss my Friends and Relations are dead and gone and what shall I now do But where O Believing Soul is thy love to thy dead Friends and Relations Is it at an end and all buried in the Grave with them Be patient for a while and Death will quickly open thee a passage into that place of Bliss where they now are and in the mean time shew thy Love to them by thy rejoicing in their present real though unseen Blessedness and if you cannot do this your Love to your self is great but your Love to your Friends is but little None of our Relations that die in the Lord are lost they are only gone to Heaven a little before others whither the rest of all the Faithful shall ere long be called also And while any Believers are left here behind in the World they have a God to live upon that will never leave them nor forsake them the enjoyment of whose presence and the manifestations of whose Love and Favour will abundantly more than recompense for the absence and loss of all our Friends We read in 1 Sam. 1.8 that Hannah was greatly afflicted because of her barrenness insomuch that she refused to eat what course doth Elkanah her Husband take to comfort her O why says he art thou troubled and why doest thou not eat Am not I better to thee than ten Sons Truly it may be much more said unto any Believer from whom God hath taken any dear and pious Relations why are you cast down why do you grieve and mourn is not God better than many yea than all your Friends and Relations put together and he lives still though your Friends and Relations be dead And truly this is that God expects at a Believer's hands that when he hath taken from him the comfort of near and dear Friends and Relations he should bear up himself cheerfully with this Consideration That having God to be his God doth infinitely more than countervail for the loss of all Stay up thy self therefore O desponding Christian yea solace thy Soul under all thy losses with this Consideration that God is thy God And say therefore with Holy David The Lord lives and blessed be my rock and let the God of my Salvation be exalted Seventhly Is there such a place of Bliss and Happiness provided for and assured unto Believers let the consideration hereof put them upon unwearied Diligence and Constancy in the Work and Service of God that is attended with so great a Reward The Scripture abounds with Exhortations and Commands to press this Duty upon Christians Josh 22.5 Take diligent heed to do all the Commandments of the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul And in Phil. 3.11 12 13 14. the Apostle gives us his own Example and Practice I have not already attained says he nor am I already perfect but I follow after if I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended of Christ Jesus Brethren I count not my self to have apprehended but this one thing I do forgetting the things that are behind I reach forth unto those things that are before pressing towards the mark for the prize of the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus if by any means I may attain unto the Resurrection of the