Men or Angels Who hath given unto God and it shall be recompensed unto him again The Apostle speaks it by way of challenge unto all the Creatures from the highest Angel in Heaven to the meanest Creature on Earth Rom. 11.25 The Notion of a God and Creatures cuts off all Obligation that can be thought of by any Service that Creatures can tender unto him God is infinite in Happiness by and from himself and therefore stands not in need of our Services nor can we merit any thing of him much more not eternal Life because we cannot do any thing that may profit or advantage him Fourthly Works that are meritorious must bear some proportion to the Reward or Recompence that is bestowed upon the doing of them Now in this respect also nothing that the people of God do in this World can be Meritorious of Heaven and Eternal Happiness because there is no comparison between the best of their Services and the Happiness-of Heaven which God bestows upon them after the performance of them I reckon says the Apostle Rom. 8.18 That the Sufferings of this present Life and truly the Sufferings of a Christian as they are his most painful and laborious Works so are they the most deserving Works or part of a Christian's Life and yet says the Apostle I reckon that the Sufferings of this present Life are not worthy to be compared to the Glory that shall be revealed And if the Apostle had put in all the Duties and Services yea and all the Graces of the People of God into the Account his Reckoning had been true for all of them put together are not worthy to be compared to nor Meritorious of the Glory that shall be Revealed Remarkable is that Expression of the Apostle Rom. 6.23 The wages of Sin is Death but the Gift of God is Eternal Life Sin merits and deserves Death but Eternal Life is the Gift of God yea such a Gift as excludes all pretence of Merit for says the Apostle it is the Free Gift of God and not only so but it is the Free Gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. By Voluntary Constitution and Designation of God Eternal Life is the Reward of Holiness Death is the Reward of Sin as it merits and deserves it but Eternal Life is the Reward of Holiness meerly by the bountiful Liberality of God Hence we read in the 21. Verse of the Epistle of Jude that the People of God are said to look for the Mercy of God unto Eternal Life Heaven and Glory shall be dispensed to the Saints at the last day by the Mercy of God It was free Grace and Mercy that implanted Grace in the Hearts of the People of God at the first and it shall be Free Grace that shall put the Crown of Glory upon their heads at the last Without the Mercy of God there is no expectation of the least Degree of Happiness in Heaven Hence therefore we read that the Apostle St Paul 2 Tim. 1.17 18. when under restraints and straits and Onesiphorus finding him out and relieving him to testifie his Gratitude for his Kindness he prays for Onesiphorus that he may find mercy with God at the last day And surely this Prayer of the Apostle was not in vain but will be answered to the Honour and Advantage of Onesiphorus another day That which I quote this Scripture for is those words in the Prayer of the Apostle for Onesiphorus that God would grant he might find Mercy of the Lord in that day Some would have thought this Prayer of the Apostle had been more proper for Onesiphorus if he had been some notorious Malefactor or Persecutor of the People of God as himself once was some common Drunkard or Vnclean Person if then he had Prayed that he might have found Mercy of the Lord at the last day this had been a Prayer suitable both to his Sin and Misery But the Apostle knew very well that even a good man a Diligent Worker a Liberal Benefactor to the Servants of God as Onesiphorus was stands in need of Mercy from God as well as others And that it is the Free-Grace and Mercy of God and not the Duties the Prayers the Alms of any that must save them and therefore says the Apostle The Lord grant unto Onesiphorus that he may find Mercy of the Lord at that day Mercy must save the Holiest man to all Eternity as well as Convert the greatest Sinner There is considerable in Heaven not only the Glory of it in opposition to our Misery but the Mercy of God in bestowing of it in opposition to our unworthiness and without the Mercy of God there is no Expectation of Heaven and evermore where Mercy is there is an Exclusion of all Merit Now from all these Considerations put together it is clear that God's bestowing of Eternal Life and Glory upon the Saints in Heaven is not the rewarding of their Good Works by way of Merit and Desert Secondly Heaven and Eternal Life is called a Reward because it is given to the People of God as a Sequel or Consequence upon or rather after their performance of the Works of Holy Obedience And this is plain and evident because Good Works are the antecedent dispositions and preparations wrought in us for the fitting and qualifying of us to partake of the Reward of Eternal Life and Glory for it is inconsistent with the Holiness and Justice of God to give Heaven unto any that are not Holy Should God take an unholy Creature and Reward him at the last day with Eternal Life this would pollute Heaven it self But God hath provided another place for such a Hell where they shall for ever receive the Reward and Wages of their Works in Eternal Pain and Misery In the destribution of Rewards among Men usually respect is had either to some past Merit or to some present previous Qualifications in those on whom such Rewards are bestowed The former of these cannot be applied unto God because there can be no such thing as Merit or Desert in the Creature that can oblige the Great God to bestow the Heavenly Reward upon any But yet in the latter sence there are always previous qualifications of Grace and Holiness in all those on whom God bestows the Reward of the Heavenly Inheritance H nce therefore the Apostle tells us Heb. 12.14 That without Holiness no man shall see the Lord. Grace and Holiness in a Saint is his preparation or qualification for Heaven and all that are so qualified need not fear but the Reward of Heaven shall be bestowed upon them for Heaven is prepared for such and it shall certainly be given to those for whom it is prepared And indeed Glory in Heaven is the same with Grace here upon Earth and as Grace here is the Reward of Grace that is to whom soever God hath given some Grace upon the improving of that Grace he gives more So Glory hereafter shall be the Reward of a longer and
this World wicked men at once both vex and laugh at the Purity and Holiness of the Saints inwardly they vex and fret at it though outwardly in their Speeches and Countenances they laugh and deride it Yea and to some it is though it be a Devilish Contentment to them that they can reproach the Defects of the Godly Should such as these enter Heaven while they are such Heaven would be a place of exact Torture and Torment to them because there they would find nothing of that Sin and Wickedness which is agreeable to their corrupt Hearts and Natures but contrarily all that Purity and Holiness which they hate yea and nothing but perfect Purity and Holiness which hath no defects for them to abuse O the woful and deplorable but withal certain and unavoidable Misery of all unregenerate unsanctified persons for tho' Heaven be a place of unconceivable Bliss and Happiness yet Heaven it self cannot make such as they are happy Tell me O all ye wicked and prophane wretches who think no time mispent or lost but what is thrown away in Holy Duties that grudge at every word spoken in Prayer that think much of every sand in the Glass that runs at a Sermon and unto whom every Summons to the publick Service of God is as unacceptable as their Passing Bell that cry when will the Sabbath be gone and the Ordinances be over What would you do in Heaven or what can such unholy hearts as yours do there where a Sabbath shall not be barely as long as a day or a week or a year but as long as Eternity it self where there shall be nothing but a continual performance of Holy Duties and Services without so much as one spare minute or a vain thought or an idle word for ever where whatsoever you shall hear see or converse with shall be all Holy And let me add this by how much the more perfect the Holiness of Heaven is than what the Holiness of the Saints here on Earth was by so much the more irksome and intolerable will it be to the wicked for if their sore Eyes cannot endure the light of a Star how will they be able to bear the dazling brightness of the Sun Secondly Wicked men are not only unsuitable to the Work of Heaven but they are unsuitable to the Reward of Heaven The Work of Heaven is Holy and Spiritual and so is the Reward of Heaven a Holy and Spiritual Reward and it lies chiefly in two things both of them unsuitable to a wicked and carnal heart one is a clear and constant Vision of the Great and Blessed God and the other is an unconceivable entireness of Communion and Fellowship with him Now of all things in the World these are the things which as unboly Persons are unacquainted with so of all things in the World they cannot endure to speak of each of these briefly First For the Reward of Heaven that consists in a clear constant Vision of the Great God this a Sinner cannot bear Nothing is more terrible to a guilty Sinner than the sight of a Righteous and Holy God The Scripture acquaints us that many of God's own People have had dreadful apprehensions of God upon some though but restrained discoveries that he hath been pleased to make of himself unto them Thus Job in Job 42.5 6. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the Ear but now mine Eye sees thee wherefore I abhor my self and repent in Dust and Ashes So the Prophet Esay cries out Woe is me for I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips and mine eyes have seen the King the Lord of Hosts And when our Saviour put forth his Divine Power in the working of a Miracle the Glory of it was so terrible that Holy Peter cries out Luke 6. Depart from me O Lord for I am a sinful man What was it now that made these Holy Men so full of fear and trembling upon these discoveries of God Why it was only from a likeness that was in them unto Wicked men from those remainders of Sin and Corruption that still abide in them whereby they too much resemble ungodly men which Grace in this life cannot perfectly destroy Adam in Innocency had not nor have the Saints in Heaven any such dreadful apprehensions of God No Adam then did and the Saints in Heaven shall for ever enjoy the smiles of God's face beaming forth upon them If now the faint and weak discoveries of God that he hath made of himself unto Holy Men be so astonishing O what a confounding sight will it be unto Sinners to have all the Glorious Attributes of God break forth in a full flash of Lightning not only upon the Faces but into the Consciences of Sinners and when particularly among the rest of them they shall behold that dreadful Attribute his provoked Justice not only sworn but armed with Power and bent for their Destruction Is this such a Sight of God and wicked men shall behold no other as will make Heaven desirable unto Sinners surely it is not O that such would think of it before it be too late Secondly Another part of the Reward of Heaven stands in that unconceivable entireness of Communion and Fellowship with God which the Saints there enjoy This is their great Happiness both on Earth and in Heaven Holy David therefore tells us He had none in Heaven but God and that there was none on Earth that he desired in comparison of him And the Apostle speaking of himself and other Believers saith Their Fellowship was with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ And O how sweet and delightful are those intercourses that pass between God and Holy Souls in the Duties of his Worship and Service O what blessed exchanges of Love for Love what returns of Obedience and Praise for Grace and Mercy received which is the sweetness of every Duty and that which powerfully draws and engages Holy Souls to the daily performance of them And in Heaven in self the fulness and perfection of the Saints Happiness is that there they shall be for ever with the Lord. Now these Spiritual and Heavenly Enjoyments wicked men are not only unsuitable to but they are things which they also hate they were ever strangers to them here on Earth and how then shall they be fit for them in Heaven Certainly for wicked men to be tyed up to such Spiritualities as these will make Heaven it self but an uncomfortable place to them But though wicked Men are neither fitted for the Work nor suited to the Reward of Heaven yet is there both a Work and a Reward in Heaven that remains to be performed and enjoyed by the People of God That Heaven is a Place of Rest Ease and Refreshment is the common and received Notion that all Men have of it but that is not all that the Happiness of Heaven is made up of For it is not only a place of Rest but it is also a place
come Frequently therefore O Christian have recourse unto Heaven dwell much there in thy Thoughts and Contemplations this will inflame thy Soul with Love to God this will make thee pray with Zeal and Fervour hear with earnestness and attention and perform all the Duties God requires of thee with activity and liveliness Thirdly A Heart set upon Heaven will make a Christian live the most joyful and comfortable Life in the World A Heavenly Mind will be a joyful Mind A Saint on Earth hath the same ground of Joy that a Saint in Heaven hath he derives his Joy and Peace from the Apprehensions he hath of God's being his God and Father in Jesus Christ and from the sence and enjoyment of his Love and Favour manifested to his Soul And so doth a Saint in Heaven only he hath a clearer knowledge and discovery as also a larger and fuller enjoyment thereof at present than a Saint on Earth hath but what he wants in Enjoyment he hath in the Promise and the Promises to a Saint on Earth are as certain and as true as the performance of them to a Saint in Heaven for God is never worse but usually better than his Word to his People here but to be sure they always find it so when they come to Heaven Now they that are Rich in Promises as all the People of God are and can act Faith upon them may very well live a Life of Peace and Joy for whatever they have not in possession they have in reversion And when a Believer's Faith and Hope is entertained above with the delightful Views and Contemplations of the Glory and Happiness of Heaven which he shall ere long be in the possession of what should make him walk uncomfortably and sadly here below In Heaven all is Peace and Joy and most of Peace and Joy here below resides with those that live most in Heaven while they are here on Earth an instance of this we have in the Holy Apostle none ever lived a more Heavenly Life on this side Heaven than Blessed St. Paul did and none also ever lived a more Peaceable and Joyful Life than he did How full of Joy doth he express himself upon all Occasions I Joy and Rejoice with you all says he Philip. 2.17 I am filled with comfort I am exceeding Joyful in all our Tribulations 2 Cor. 7.4 So in Rom. 5.1 2. Being justified by Faith we have Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and Rejoice in Hope of the Glory of God And not only so but we Glory in Tribulation And Verse 11. We also Joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have received the Atonement So in 2 Tim. 4.8 I have fought a good Fight I have finished my Course I have kept the Faith henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Judge shall give unto me at that Day Now he that could say all this must needs be full of Joy and Comfort and being thus filled with Joy and Peace in believing though he knew that Bonds and Imprisonments did abide him in every place yet could he say that none of these things moved him neither counted he his Life dear unto him so he might finish his Course with Joy as himself speaks Acts 20.23 24. And this Joy of the Lord being his strength how earnestly and passionately doth he expostulate and chide with those Friends of his that would have disswaded him from Suffering Acts 21.13 What mean ye to weep and break mine Heart I am ready not only to be bound but to die for the Name of the Lord Jesus at Jerusalem From whence now came all this Courage and Boldness from whence did he receive and draw all this Joy and Consolation why it came from thence where his Hope his Heart his Life and Conversation was and that is from Heaven for so himself tells us Philip. 3.20 Our Conversation is in Heaven from whence we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ O this Hope of Eternal Life laid up for the Saints in Heaven as the Scripture calls it This laying hold of the blessed Hope set before us as it is called Heb. 6.18 19. This this was that which the Aposile had as an Anchor to his Soul sure and stedfast being that which entereth into that within the Vail that is into Heaven This made him not only to be content in every State and Condition but to rejoice in the worst that did befal him witness that strange Triumphant Speech of his 2 Cor. 12.3 I take pleasure says he in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in disiresses Now this peaceable joyful Life that this Blessed Apostle lived was not a Priviledge granted only unto him by way of special Grace and Favour because he was so eminent an Apostle and Servant of God but it is a Priviledge that is extended more commonly also unto other Believers it being that of which the Kingdom consists as the Apostle himself tells us Rom. 14.17 The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink but righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Ghost And therefore as a Duty incumbent upon Christians he urgeth the practice of it in several Scriptures So we read Philip. 3.1 Finally my Brethren rejoice in the Lord and in 1 Thess 5.10 Rejoice evermore Phil. 4.4 Rejoice always in the Lord and again I say rejoice Now the way for Christians to attain unto a Life of Peace and Joy is to be much conversant above to live a Heavenly Life to exercise his Thoughts and Contemplations daily upon Heaven and that State of Bliss and Happiness that is to be eternally enjoyed there Heaven is a place full of Peace and Joy yea a place where there is nothing else and the more of Heaven comes down into any Soul in this Life or the more any Soul ascends up into Heaven in Divine Contemplations the more comfortable and joyful Life doth that Soul lead while it is here upon Earth Fifthly Is there such a State of Bliss and Happiness to be enjoyed by the People of God hereafter let every one then examine themselves what Right and Title they have thereunto whether they are such as are qualified for the enjoyment of that blessed State First Examine thy self whether ever thou didst experience a work of Sanctification and Holiness wrought upon thy Soul if not whatever thy pretences for Heaven may be they are false and groundless and will end in Horror and Vexation of Soul The Command of God is that we should be Holy in all manner of Conversation that we should be Holy as God is Holy and the great Pattern and Exemplar of our Holiness is the Lord Jesus Christ who as the Apostle tells us was Holy Harmless Vndefiled separated from Sin and from all pollution and defilement both from Sin and Sinners Here now is both a Christian's Rule and a Christian's Example Now though a Christian cannot reach the exactness and perfection
without any Satiety or Weariness Here on Earth they are often starting aside to the Creature with an inordinate Love and Delight but in Heaven there shall be an eternal fixedness of Soul with infinite Complacency and Delight in God Here our Affections are under great Irregularities To instance in two briefly and they are the Affections of Love and Joy As to the Affection of Love It is well known unto all what is a Christian's commanded Duty namely To love the Lord our God with all our heart with all our soul with all our mind and with all our strength And this Love to God operating by Love to our Neighbours is so acceptable a Duty that it is called by the Apostle the fulfilling of the Law But alas how do the best of God's Servants fall short in this respect when all they attain to is only to love God in Sincerity and with some degree of prevalency above all other Enjoyments But to love God so as to desire him so as to rejoice and delight in him above all other things with the utmost extremity of Love and Affection in Perpetuity and Constancy Oh where is the Soul that can be found that doth sol Vain and foolish yea sinful Objects also entangle our Affections and draw away our Hearts from God to an over-loving and delighting in them and to an impairing and weakning of our Love and Affections towards God How often do we meet with such Complaints as these in the mouths of God's People Oh that we could love God more Oh that we could love Christ more but alas we cannot Their Faith discovers to them a wonderful Amiableness in God and Christ which draws out the Desires of their Souls after them So saith the Apostle to you that believe he is precious or desirable But yet they find they cannot love God as they ought nor as they desire to do for by reason of that Earthliness that is still in them their Hearts and Affections are divided and carried out after other Objects so that as the Apostle complains they cannot do the things that they would But now in Heaven these Complaints shall cease and all the disorders and Irregularities of the Affections shall be cured and the Soul shall perfectly and everlastingly love God and contemplate the Excellencies and Perfections that are in him with unspeakable Delight and Satisfaction For where ever there is the Actings of these Affections it always carrieth much Pleasure and Delight along with it especially where the Object beloved is deserving and the Affections are strong towards it Now in Heaven the Object is most deserving to be beloved for it is the ever blessed God and the Affections of the Soul will be strongest for there Love shall be in its Height and Perfection and that which results from hence must be infinite Satisfaction and Delight unto the Soul so that it cannot chuse but it must love God There holy Souls shall have continual views of the perfect Beauty of him who is altogether lovely yea who is Love it self the sight of whom will not only wonderfully draw their Hearts and Affections towards him but fill their Souls with continual Ravishments of Love and Joy in him so that it is impossible they should do otherwise than rejoice and delight in him O this Life of Love which Saints always live in Heaven It is that which fills them with unspeakable Satisfaction and Contentment yea Love in Heaven is that which will be both the Work and the Reward of a Saint at once and that in Constancy and Perpetuity And so for a Saint's Joy which is another Affection of the Soul How irregularly doth it frequently act we rejoice when we should mourn and we mourn when we should rejoice or if not so yet we often exceed in our Joy and Delight Commonly it is with us in our Enjoyments of the World as it is with us in our Losses in the World When we lose the Comforts of the World we over grieve and are cast down so excessively as if we had nothing left to take any Delight or Comfort in And just so is it with us in our Enjoyments of the World when God blesseth us with outward Comforts we over-love and delight in them so that that which God gives us to draw our Hearts nearer to himself by the Excesses of our Joy and Delight in them takes away our Hearts more from him insomuch that we are more forgetful of God by our inordinate rejoicing in what he bestows upon us A very evil and ungrateful return unto God for his Kindness to us but yet it is that which we are very inclinable unto Hence therefore is it that we are so often caution'd against all excessive Love of or Delight in things here below for Love to and Joy and Delight in any thing always go together the Apostle therefore bids us 1 John 3.16 Love not the World nor the things of the World if any Man love the World the Love of the Father is not in him Not that it is absolutely unlawful to express any kind of Love to or Delight in Worldly Things But it is as if he had said so hard and difficult a thing it is for Christians in loving and delighting in worldly Enjoyments to keep their Affections within their bounds and to express no more of Joy and Delight in those things than is due to them that it is almost necessary to lay a Command upon them not to love the World at all such a proneness is there in the best of Christians to transgress when any allowance is given unto these carnal Hearts and Affections of ours towards worldly Enjoyments It is true a Believer is not only allowed but commanded to rejoice yea and to rejoice always and none have more cause so to do than he But it is not in the persons or things of this World but in God so runs the Command 1 Thes 5. Rejoice always in the Lord and again I say rejoice But yet all rejoicing in outward Enjoyments is not forbidden him neither A Christian who is accepted of God may as the wise Man speaks eat his Bread with Joy and drink his Wine with a merry Heart Eccles 4.7 that is he may rejoice and be chearful in the use of those Comforts and Refreshments that God bestows upon him But yet in the greatest abundance of them his Moderation ought to be known unto all Men and still he must rejoice in them as if he rejoiced not that is use them and rejoice in them with a holy kind of Indifferency of Soul But now here is the great failing of Christians they exceed those bounds and limits that God allows them letting out their Hearts and Affections inordinately towards them But now in Heaven these delightful Affections of the Soul shall be regulated A Saint's Joy there shall be always rightly placed and duly bounded God will there be the only Object of our Joy and the right bounding of our Joys
Heaven and Happiness not upon any good works he had done but upon what Christ had done and suffered for him though he had whereof to Glory as himself saith yet he looked upon all as nothing and desired only to be found in Christ And whatever Conceit or Opinion sinners may have of themselves and of the Merit of their Duties and Services in their Health and Prosperity when Death and Judgment according to their Apprehensions seems to be many years distant from them or whatever men may say in the heat of a Dispute concerning the Merit of their good Works yet certainly they will be of another mind when Death lays hold of them with its cold hands and when an awakened Conscience is hurrying them on to make their appearance before the Tribunal of the great God the Righteous Judge of Heaven and Earth There are few if any that are so bold and presumptuous as to boast of their Merits upon a Death-bed No Death and Judgment convince and alter mens minds making them speak quite another Language than what they did formerly It is not then Lord deal with me according to my Deserts but Lord deal with me according to thy Mercy Blot out mine Offences O Lord not according to the Merit of a dying sinner but according to the Merit of a dying Saviour This this is the Language of a sinner upon a Death bed Then a Bellarmine will confute himself and cry out Oh it is safest trusting to the Merit of Jesus Christ Thirdly The final Cause of the Saint's Happiness is the Honour and Glory of God We read Luk. 2.13 14. when our Lord Jesus came into the World on this very Errand that he might obtain eternal Redemption and Salvation for Sinners the Angels those extraordinary Ambassadors of Heaven proclaim the Tydings thereof to the Shepherds saying Glory to God in the Highest on Earth Peace and good Will towards Man Not only is Man commanded to do all things for the Glory of God but God himself doth all he doth with respect to his own Glory As for Man God made him for himself and it is highly rational that as the enjoyment of God is Man's highest Happiness so his Glory should be his chief end and unless this be a chief Ingredient into all our Duties and Services they are neither acceptable to God nor comfortable to us The Scripture commands this as our great Duty that we make the Glory of God our supreme End in all our Actions Matth. 5.16 Let your Light so shine before Men that they may see your Good Works for what end that they may glorifie your Father that is in Heaven So 1 Cor. 10.31 Whether ye eat or drink or whatever ye do do all to the Glory of God Yea in Heaven where the Saints shall be fully and compleatly happy yet shall it be their eternal Exercise to ascribe Blessing Honour Glory and Praise unto him that sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb for evermore Rev. 5.13 And not only is Man commanded to do all that he doth to the Glory of God but God himself doth all he doth with respect to his own Glory The Work of Creation the Works of Providence the Work of Redemption they are all transacted here in Time and perfected in Eternity that God thereby may be glorified Our next Enquiry shall be concerning the great Qualification of the Saints for Heaven and that is Holiness Now by Holiness I mean not any one single Grace wrought in the Heart of a Believer but the universal Operation or Conjunction of all the Graces of the Spirit of God wrought in the Soul of a Saint Holiness is a real inward thorough Change wrought in the whole Man by the powerful Operation of the Spirit of God whereby not only the Heart is purged from the Love of all Sin and the Life from the Dominion and Practice thereof but it is that also whereby the whole Man is carried out in Ways of Duty and Obedience in the daily Exercise of Grace till it be brought to eternal Glory in Heaven Now that Holiness is the great Qualification of a Saint for Heaven the Scripture abundantly manifests Psal 15.1 Lord who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle Who shall ascend into thy Holy Hill The next Words tell us He that walketh uprightly and worketh Righteousness and that speaketh the Truth in His Heart Matth. 5.6 Blessed are the Pure in Heart for they shall see God Heb 12.14 Follow Holiness without which no Man shall see the Lord. Heaven is so holy a Place that no unclean thing shall in any wise enter therein Acts 26.18 To open their Eyes and to turn them from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgiveness of Sins and an Inheritance among them that are sanctified Sanctification and Holiness is the great Qualification of all those that shall partake of the Happiness of Heaven Not that Holiness is the meritorious Cause of that Happiness no that is nothing but the Blood of Christ Holiness is only that which qualifies and makes a Believer fit to partake of the Happiness of Heaven And this is the meaning of the Apostle Col. 1.12 Giving Thanks to God and the Father who hath made us meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light There is an absolute necessary connexion between Holiness and Heaven Holiness is Heaven and Heaven is Holiness Holiness is Heaven begun and Heaven is Holiness consummated they are but one and the same thing though greatly differing in degrees Holiness in a Saint here is mixed with Sin and Corruption and so is imperfect in this Life But now in Heaven Holiness shall be without Imperfection there is nothing to oppose or hinder the Holiness of a Saint Holiness is there come to its full Growth and highest Perfection for there is Holiness and nothing but Holiness Now Grace and Holiness in a Saint here being the same with that Glory that is the expected Consummation of a Saint's Happiness hereafter it shews the great necessity that there is that all that desire to be happy hereafter should endeavour to be holy here Now how Holiness qualifies for Heaven and why it is so necessary to the obtaining of Heaven will appear in two Particulars One is because Holiness and Heaven are one and the same thing And the other is because of the great unsuitableness between Heaven and an unholy Soul First There is an agreeableness yea a sameness between Holiness and Heaven The Glory of Heaven lies not in this that a Saint shall there out-shine the brightness of the Sun that there he shall not be exposed to Heat to Cold to Nakedness or Want that there he shall be free from Diseases Sickness and Death it self that he shall not stand in need of Meat Drink and Clothing no nor that he shall always be in the hearing of melodious Songs and Hallilujahs of Saints and Angels These Things indeed are in Heaven
upon any Creature-Comforts or Enjoyments but solely and entirely live upon God maintaining constant Converse with Him everlastingly beholding his Glory and with infinite Joy and Delight solace themselves for ever in him And thus shall Glorified Saints also live for ever in Heaven their Bodies shall no more stand in need or make use of any Earthly supplies as Food Physick Rayment nor shall their Souls express any more Desires to or Longings after any Created things but as the Angels they shall be for ever possest of God being filled with that fullness that is in him All the Powers and Faculties of their Souls shall then be Refined and Spiritualized and with unspeakable Joy and Delight shall they Please and Solace themselves in the Contemplation and Participation of the Infinite and Supream Good And thus it appears that the Saints in that Happiness which they enjoy in Heaven shall be like unto the Angels Fourthly Another thing to be enquired into is In what respect Heaven is called a Reward or Recompence To this I Answer It is true the Scripture doth in many places hold forth Heaven to us as a Reward or Recompence that shall be bestowed upon the People of God after they have done and suffered the Will of God here but First not by way of Merit Heaven and Eternal Life shall be given unto those who now are diligent and laborious in the Work and Service of God but yet that labour and diligence in the Work and Service of God doth not deserve Heaven and Eternal Glory nor shall they as such be bestowed God indeed will not be served by any without a Reward neither shall those that do sincerely zealously and perseveringly Serve and Glorifie him miss of the Reward of Eternal Life but yet it is not therefore bestowed upon them because by those Services they deserve it at the hands of God Even natural Conscience in Man would blush and be ashamed to think of demanding Heaven as a Reward for any work done by him To make Works Meritorious of Reward from another there are four things requisite They must be first a Man 's own Works done by himself Secondly Such as are not due from him by whom they are performed Thirdly They must be such as are beneficial And Lastly Such Works as bear a proportion to the Reward bestowed upon the doing of them Now in all these Respects the Duties and Services that the People of God perform unto him are wanting and therefore cannot be meritorious of an eternal Reward First Works that are meritorious must be our own that is such Works as are performed by our selves and with our own strength and ability What we are enabled to do by the Assistance of another by that we cannot properly be said to merit any thing from him by whom we are so assisted Now all the good Works that any of the Saints perform unto God and are followed by him with the Reward of eternal Life they are such as are not performed in their own strength but by those assistances which God by his Spirit is graciously pleased to vouchsafe to enable them thereunto All our Sufficiency the Scripture attributes unto God Without me says Christ to his Disciples you can do nothing John 15.5 And it is God that worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good Pleasure Phil. 13. And 2 Cor. 5.3 We are not sufficient as of our selves to think any thing but all our Sufficiency is of God Now if in all that we do we are enabled by God unto the performance of it we cannot by so doing and we cannot do any thing that is good any other ways merit the eternal Recompence of Reward Secondly Works that are meritorious must be such as are not due from him by whom they are performed unto him from whom he expects to merit All Works or Actions that are not above Duty are always below Merit What says our Lord Luk. 17.10 Say when you have done all those things that are commanded you We are but unprofitable Servants and we have done but that which was our Dnty to do He that owes a Debt to another Man by making payment of that Debt dischargeth indeed his Obligation to that Man but he doth not thereby put an Obligation upon that Man unto whom he pays what he owed because it was no more than what was his due The Case is the same between God and us all that we do nay all that we can possibly do is all due unto God and therefore by giving him any Work of Obedience we cannot oblige God to bestow upon us eternal Recompences Nay further in all we do we come infinitely short of what is our Duty to give unto God and how then can we by doing what we ought to do nay by coming infinitely short of what we ought to do deserve that Heaven should be bestowed upon us Now that all that we can do is due unto God the Scripture is very plain and clear for he is the Fountain of all our Lives and Beings In him says the Apostle we live we move and have our Beings Now we being God's not only by Creation as we are his Creatures receiving our very Lives and Being from him but being his also by Redemption receiving from him our spiritual Life and Strength for all that we either are or can do Whatever we do therefore cannot be meritorious or deserving from him much more not meritorious of Heaven and Happiness Thirdly Works that are meriterious must be such as are beneficial unto him to whom they are performed All Actions that do not bring in some Advantage unto him to whom they are performed cannot be meritorious Now upon this Account it is impossible that any Creature should merit at the hands of God for as Job speaks Job 23.2 3. No Man can be profitable unto God neither is it gain unto him that any Man's Ways are perfect Our Righteousness as the Psalmist speaks extendeth not unto him Psal 16.3 By all our Services God receives nothing He is not worshipped as the Apostle speaks by any of his Creatures as if he needed any thing Acts 17.25 The Sun in the Firmament receives nothing by our looking upon it nor the Fountain by the thirsty Passengers drinking of it We indeed receive benefit by both for by looking on the Sun we receive Light and Warmth and by drinking of the Fountain we are cooled and refreshed but neither of them receive any Advantage by us And so it is in the present Case our Benefit and Advantage in serving of God is great much Peace much Joy much Strength comes thereby Scripture and the Experience of Saints abundantly confirm it Great Peace have they that love thy Law and nothing shall offend them Psal 119.165 God always is and will be a Rewarder of them that diligently seek and serve him Heb. 11.6 But none of our Services are advantageous unto God He is infinitely above all the Praises and Services of
And in 2 Cor. 4.17 Our light Afflictions that are but for a moment work for us a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory Here are great and glorious Expressions that may well raise the Spirits of Christians above all Discouragements let their Afflictions and Sufferings be what they will For here are Afflictions and to balance it here is Glory put in Opposition to it here are light Afflictions and here is a Weight of Glory here is light Afflictions for a moment and here is an eternal Weight of Glory yea here is more for here is a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory It is very observable when the Apostle speaks of Afflictions the People of God may meet with in the World he soon gets over them they are Afflictions says he but they are but light Afflictions and but of short continuance for they last but for a moment But when he comes to speak of the Glory and Happiness of Heaven which he sets in Opposition to them he heaps up one Expression upon another as if he laboured under the want of Words to set forth the greatness of that Happiness he was about to mention and therefore says he there shall be a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory Words they are of such great Importance and Signification that our English Tongue will not reach the Elegancy and Fulness of them O who would not then with Moses chuse to suffer Affliction with the People of God rather than to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin for a Season who with him by an Eye of Faith beholds the eternal Recompence of Reward Thirdly Hast thou O Christian a Right and Title to this heavenly Inheritance live then as one that is an Heir to and Expectant of so great a Happiness Let thy practice O Christian be suitable to thy Profession thy Conversation on Earth unto thy Hopes of Heaven There is a comely Behaviour required of Christians which if they are not careful to observe in their Actings before Men they betray their high and holy Calling and the greatness of their Hopes and Expectations unto scorn and contempt Art thou O Christian an Heir of Heaven Live as such an one The Scripture is frequent in pressing of this Exhortation Sometimes Christians are called upon to live as it becometh Saints Ephes 2.3 To have their Conversations as it becomes the Gospel of Christ Phil. 1.21 To walk as it becomes those that profess Godliness with good Works 1 Tim. 2.10 And sometimes which is very high indeed To walk worthy of God who hath called them to his Kingdom and Glory 1 Thes 2.11 12. Expressions fully comprehensive both of a Christian's Privilege and also of his Duty in the sense of that Privilege and the Apostle in joining these two together seems to intimate to us that no other Words could express the Duty of a Christian to the heighth but what expresseth the heighth and perfection of his Blessedness Now the heighth of a Christian's Blessedness is to enjoy God and to enjoy him there where his Enjoyment shall be most full and most lasting and that is in Heaven which the Apostle here calls his Kingdom and Glory Now upon the Hopes of a Christian's Enjoyment of this great Blessedness the Apostle calls him to the performance of as great a Duty and that is to walk worthy of God who hath called him to his Kingdom and Glory And to how great and glorious things Christians are hereby called to the performance of few understand and fewer live in the practice of And here I cannot but take occasion to shew my detestation of that great Sin which is too frequent in this Age of abominable Licentiousness I mean the Sin of condemning shall I say nay of scoffing and deriding at that which is called Strictness and Preciseness in the Ways of God as if any could be too circumspect in avoiding of Sin too strict in the discharge of his Duty too careful in his Endeavours to serve and please God or could have too much of Grace and Holiness in which a Christian is bound to grow and encrease all his Days as if a Man could be too like unto God in that which is his highest Excellency and Glory I mean his Holiness for he is called a God glorious in Holiness In Heaven there is the greatest exactness that can be for there is Holiness and nothing but Holiness yea there is nothing but Holiness in the utmost Perfection of it And how canst thou then O prophane Sinner who now scoffest at Holiness in the People of God expect to be admitted into that holy Place hereafter Heavenly Hopes and Expectations require a heavenly Conversation which thou art perfectly void of whilst thou art a Derider at Holiness in others Those therefore whose Hopes and Expectations are set upon Heaven must manifest it by a Conversation and Deportment suitable thereunto Now this in the general may imply Two Things Holiness of Conversation and Chearfulness of Conversation First It implies a Holy Conversation the Apostle 2 Pet. 3.11 Speaking unto those who liv'd in expectation of the Glory and Happiness of Heaven What manner of Persons says he ought you to be in all Holy Conversation and Godliness A Holiness even unto Wonder and Admiration should shine forth and adorn the Conversations of those who expect such a blessed Day as this is Christians Hopes are to be like unto Angels in Glory and Happiness and therefore they should now as far as is possible live like Angels in the Flesh in the practice of Holiness In 2. Cor. 7.1 says the Apostle having these Promises what Promises why he tells us in the foregoing Chapter Promises of being the Sons and Daughters of God by Adoption and Regeneration and so come to have a Right and Title to the Heavenly Inheritance in Glory having such Promises as these it becomes us to carry our selves as those that look for such great things by cleansing our selves from all Pollution of Flesh and Spirit perfecting Holiness in the fear of God And most clear is that in 1 John 3.3 where the Apostle having a little before set forth the greatness of God's Love to himself and others an instance whereof he gives us in these words That they should be called the Sons of God which though it be a great Privilege yet is there more to come still something that is great and extraordinary we are looking for though we know not what we shall be for it doth not yet appear yet this we do know That when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is Now follows the Apostle's Inference from all this which should be the Practice of every Christian that hath the same hope that he had of being like unto Christ and of seeing God as he is which is only in Heaven Why he that hath this Hope in him Purifieth himself as God is Pure Dost thou O Christian look for Heaven
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
Eternal Life beyond it He that cannot look upon Heaven as belonging unto him at the end of his Sufferings as well as behold the Sufferings that himself endures loses that Joy and Consolation that should be his support under Sufferings Where there is no Expectation of the peaceable Fruit of Righteousness by them who are exercised with Afflictions there Afflictions cannot be joyous but grievous This is the peculiar Excellency and Advantage of the Grace of Faith and therein it is like unto God himself who is the Author of it that it can at one and the same time behold the End and the Means together and if a Christian did always act in this way and manner under Afflictions and were the Eye of his Faith so brightned that he could as clearly see his Right and Title unto Heaven as he doth feel his present Sufferings what a Life of Peace and Joy might he live notwithstanding all those Afflictions that lie upon him Doubtless when our Lord Jesus suffered on the Cross there were many standing by and gazing at his Sufferings who when they saw him dying there and after that laid in the Grave did shake their Heads at him looking upon him as one that was lost and gone never more to be heard of condemning him as a foolish and indiscreet Person to throw away his Life in that Way and Manner as he did because they were ignorant what he was doing and what was to follow upon his Sufferings But surely they who now behold him dying buried rising ascended glorified and interceding at God's Right Hand as Believers do they see great Cause to admire as the infinite Wisdom of God in contriving so the infinite Grace and Love of Jesus Christ in this Way and Manner of accomplishing the Redemption and Salvation of Sinners Were but Heaven and the fitting Christians for that glorious Inheritance apprehended by them as the end that God designs in all his dealings with them none of them would seem grievous and afflictive to them He that hath learn'd this way to Heaven that is he whose Soul hath gained Acquaintance with the Glory and Happiness that is above by frequent and daily Contemplations thereon hath a rich Cordial to revive and chear his Spirits in every Affliction There are none of us know what Trials we may yet meet withal before we are called hence and if God should exempt us from Publick and Private Calamities and Distresses while we live yet all of us know there is a time a coming when we must be sick and die and then we shall find that nothing but what we can draw down from Heaven into our Hearts will be Consolation strong enough to support our then departing Souls If therefore O Christian thou wouldst either live peaceably or die comfortably inure thy self daily unto a Life of Divine and Heavenly Contemplation Secondly Consider A Heart taken up much with Heaven will make a Christian lively and fervent in Duty It is the Heavenly Christian that is the lively and zealous Christian Where there is a strangeness in any Soul unto Heaven there will be a dulness and heaviness in Duty Frequent thoughtfulness of Heaven unto which Duties have a tendency make a Christian lively and vigorous in the performance of them And the stronger the Consolations are that flow into a Christian from his daily Contemplations of Heaven and Glory the more lively and vigorous will that Christian evermore be in the performance of Duty A full and clear Apprehension of Heaven and of our Right and Title thereunto how doth it lift up the Soul in Duty and make it run with the greatest activity and cheerfulness that can be in the Ways of God It is strange to see what the Hopes of Gain and Advantage in the World will carry Men unto how will they compass Sea and Land break their Rest in the Night hazard their Health in the Day rise early go to Bed late And shall the empty perishing things of this World animate and put Life and Vigour into these Mens Designs so that they shall stick at no difficulties or dangers for the attaining of them And shall not the fore-thoughts of Heaven and the Contemplations of the Glory and Happiness that is there to be eternally enjoyed put Life and Vigour Zeal and Activity into the Soul of a Christian in all his Duties Surely it will and that in so great a measure as shall enable him to mount up with Wings like Eagles to run and not be weary and to walk and not faint in the Ways of God the Joys and Consolations of Heaven and of the God of Heaven being his continual Strength and Support The Reason of all that sloathfulness and deadness that is to be found in Christians in the performance of their Duties is because they are such Strangers unto Heaven have so little knowledge of it dwell so little in their Thoughts and Contemplations upon that Glory and Happiness that there is to be enjoyed How fervent will that Man be in Prayer how attentive in Hearing how zealous in opposing Sin how watchful against Temptation how careful to lay hold of all opportunities of doing Good who considers that all this is done in order unto Heaven and Happiness Take a Christian one whose Life is spent much in Heaven one that hath as the Apostle saith of himself and others his Conversation in Heaven how easily may he be differenced from other Men he that hath a Spirit of discerning will quickly observe something of that which his Soul is taken with in Heaven to appear in his Duties and Conversation that will distinguish him from the careless and negligent Christian yea take the same Man when he hath been conversing with Heaven and solacing his Soul with Divine and Heavenly Contemplations and how doth he excel not others only but himself also O what a difference is there between what he is then and what he is in his common and ordinary Conversation for doubtless it may be averred of such a Soul's return from its contemplating views of that blissful State that there are such Heavenly Impressions made upon it as cause it to ascend in frequent Thoughts and Ejaculations towards Heaven in the midst of its Earthly Employments and to intermingle that which is Heavenly with its Earthly Speeches and Discourses among others Whereas a Christian that is careless and negligent of himself gives way to Earthliness and Vanity abates and lessens the exercising of his Soul in the Contemplations of Heaven and Heavenly Things he soon becomes as weak as vain and sometimes as prophane also as another Man who is altogether estranged unto this Life of Heavenly Contemplation The way therefore for Christians to shake off their deadness and dulness in Duty and to be rid of their sloathfulness and heaviness in the Ways of God is to betake themselves to Heaven where Christ who is their Life and Strength is and from whence alone all their quickning and enlivening influences do
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
Dead that is unto that State of Blessedness that the Saints shall arrive unto at the Resurrection from the Dead And the same Apostle in 1 Cor. 15.58 having discoursed concerning the Resurrection of Christ and thereupon proved the Resurrection of the Dead and the great Happiness of the Saints thereupon he concludes his Discourse with this Exhortation Wherefore my beloved Brethren be ye stedfast unmovable always abounding in the Work of the Lord for asmuch as you know your labour is not in vain in the Lord Whatever any do or suffer for God they shall be no loosers by it in the end Heaven will abundantly recompense a Christian for all the Labour and Pains yea for all the cost and charge he can be at in his way thither When our Lord had wrought a great Miracle in feeding so many thousand with a few Barley Loaves and two small Fishes he bids his Disciples Gather up the fragments that nothing be lost Joh. 8.12 There is nothing that a Believer doth for God now that shall be lost his Tears are all bottled his Sighs are all numbred his Prayers are all filed in Heaven and a day of reckoning will come when all shall be brought forth and recompensed not with a thousand fold as in this Life with Persecution but with eternal Gains that shall never have an end It is not only an unsuitable thing but highly disingenious for any to be niggardly and pinching in the Service of God to give him as little as they can of Duty and Obedience who expect so Magnificent and Glorious a State of Happiness from him hereafter What a shameful thing is it and how unbecoming a Christian to think any measure of Duty enough for God who looks for a promised as well as a purchased Reward from him that shall be without measure Why shouldst thou set bounds to thy Work when God hath set none to thy Wages how unreasonable a thing is it that any measure of Duty though never so short and scanty should be thought enough by thee when the Happiness thou hopest for and God hath promised is without all measure Surely a Christian should be always abounding in the Work of the Lord who will always make him Happy Alas how little how inconsiderable is our always of Working to Gods always of Rewarding Suppose we were always abounding in the Work and Service of God in which God knows we are greatly wanting yet all our Obedience extended unto the utmost can reach no longer than to the end of a short Life but Gods Reward and our Happiness thereby runs parallel with an endless Eternity Why then should a little time spent in the serving and honouring of God here seem too much and too long when an Eternity spent in the enjoyment of God will never be too much Were there nothing of a Reward to be expected hereafter yet a Godly Man would love and serve God for the New Nature not only enclines him to it but makes him delight in the doing of it It is true the great God the Supreme Soveraign Lord of all his Creatures might have made a Law if he had pleased to bind Man to Obedience without the encouragement of a promised Reward but he hath not thought good to deal with Man in so strict a way and manner but in a way of condescending Grace and Mercy and so out of his immense Bounty and Goodness hath been pleased to sweeten and facilitate Man's Obedience with a promise of no meaner importance than the enjoyment of the Eternal Inheritance with himself in Glory O how much should this affect our Hearts and how strongly should it oblige us to abound in the Work and Service of such a Lord and Master Were it possible for the Saints in Heaven to communicate the Experiences and Enjoyments which they now are partaking of in Glory What a Confirmation and Encouragement would this be thought to spirit and quicken us in the ways of Duty and Obedience Why the Word of God that holds forth the promised Reward is as true shall I say nay much more true than such a Communication can be for in that our Senses may be deceived and we imposed upon but by the Word of God we cannot for that is Truth it self and cannot lye Wherefore the Word of God holding forth the promised Reward of Heaven should be the greatest encouragement in the World to put Christians upon the utmost diligence imaginable in the Work and Service of God And the Truth of it is as we can never begin too soon so we can never hold out too long in the ways of Duty and Obedience None ever repented when they came to Die that they had spent too much of their time in the Service of God Who ever read or heard of any that did thus repent very many upon a Death-bed have bitterly lamented that they have done no more for God that they have idled and wasted away so much of their precious time upon impertinent Vanities and Trifles and that what they have done for God hath been so poor so mean so defective and so defiled These things have been a great grief and trouble unto many yea the best of God's Servants who have been most eminent for Grace whose usefulness in their Generation others have admired have yet themselves complained of their barrenness and unprofitableness and mourned for their deficiency and falling short of what they should have done Thus that eminently laborious Servant of Jesus Christ Bishop Vsher crys out against himself upon his Death bed begging Pardon for his Sins of omission and yet his constant Labours and Diligence both in Preaching and Writing was greatly and justly applauded by all And if any one should think this a strange assertion that the People of God should at a dying hour be thus sensible of their great deficiencies I humbly conceive this may be rendred as a Reason thereof because the Saints and Servants of God at such a time standing upon the brink of Eternity and being ready to lanch forth into that vast Ocean have then enlarged and widened apprehensions both of the infinite Majesty and Holiness of God and of the unspeakable greatness of the Glory and Happiness of Heaven and this makes not only their Persons but the best of their Services appear inconsiderable in their own Eyes but causes in them an Holy blushing and shame that all their time they have done so little for that God who hath laid up so much for them that they have glorified him so little here on Earth unto whom they are now a going to enjoy a state of Eternal Glory and Happiness in Heaven Eighthly and Lastly Is there such a place of Bliss and Happiness provided for and assured unto Believers hereafter as Heaven is Let the consideration hereof cause in them a Holy longing of Soul after the enjoyment of it If there be enough in any Object or in any Place to draw forth the Love and Desires the Pantings and Breathings