Heaven is by the Apostle called an excessive weight of Glory Now it is not possible for a weak Head to bear an excessive weight of Glory What the Saints shall there see with their bodily Eyes is so excellent and glorious that it would now sink and overwhelm their weak Bodies to behold it Those ravishing Transports of Joy and Delight which glorified Souls shall have in the Vision of God will crack yea break a weak Vessel into pieces The Bodies of the Saints therefore must be made strong to bear the Glory of that Place otherwise the Excellency of the Object will destroy the Faculty When the Sun in the Firmament shines in its full strength the Glory of it is so great that the strongest Eye is not able to behold it but is soon overcome by its dazling Brightness O how much more unable then is any mortal Eye to see God and to behold his infinite Glory The Scripture therefore tells us He dwells in Light that is unapproachable 1 Tim. 6.16 And says the Apostle 1 Cor. 15. and 50. Flesh and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God Now by Flesh and Blood he doth not mean Sin and Corruption though that is very true but he means a Natural Body a Body as it is in this irail State so it cannot enter into Glory No the Soul must be purified and the Body must be spiritualized made powerful and strong before it can enter into Glory for otherwise it is not able to behold God and to enjoy the Glory and Happiness of Heaven Moreover the Bodies of the Saints must endure to all Eternity in Heaven and that without Reparation by Meats or Drinks or Sleep Doubtless therefore their Bodies at the Resurrection entring into a Place of so great Glory and Happiness as Heaven is shall be raised to a high and eminent degree of Power and Strength that they may be able to bear that weight of Glory that shall then be put upon them Fourthly The Bodies of the Saints in Heaven shall be Beautiful and Glorious The Words of the Apostle are very clear 1 Cor. 15.33 Speaking of the Body and that disgrace that it is brought under when thrown into the Grave it is sown says he in dishonour This indeed is but poor comfort to a Believer to think that his Body shall be vilified and disgraced in the Grave where it shall turn to corruption and rottenness But as if the Apostle had said Let not this trouble you for there will be a Time when the Body shall have a blessed Resurrection from that contempt and Disgrace that it now suffered under for though it be sown in dishonour yet it shall be raised in Glory and become a far more glorious and beautiful Body than ever it was here on Earth Some Glory and Majesty there is put upon the Bodies of Men now above the Bodies of all other Creatures in respect whereof our Bodies are said to be God's Workmanship Thy hands have made me and fashioned me says Job Yea they are said to be fearfully and wonderfully made and to be curiously wrought by God himself so we read Psal 139.14 15. But yet that Glory which the Bodies of the Saints now have is no Glory compared with that Glory that their Bodies shall be cloathed with in Heaven There is a vast difference between Celestial Bodies and Terrestrial Bodies How glorious is the Body of the Sun compared with the Body of a Worm or a Fly But there is a far greater difference between the Bodies of the Saints on Earth and the same Bodies when glorified in Heaven for then they shall become celestial and Heavenly Bodies shining with a Glory and Beauty that shall transcend the Stars yea the Sun in the Firmament The Apostle gives us the Sum of it in a few words Phil. 3.21 he tells us our Body of Christ They are now vile Bodies as he calls them made so by Sin being Instruments thereunto and they are Earthy because they bear the Image of the Earthly Adam but they shall be made Glorious Bodies because they shall for ever bear the Image of the Heavenly Adam the Lord Jesus Christ Exod. 34.29 We read when Moses had been in the Mount with God forty days and came down among the Israelites again his Face did shine so gloriously that they were not able to behold it Now if Moses's Body that was but a frail mortal Body and was shortly to lie in the Dust did by being with God for a little time shine so gloriously Oh with what Glory and Beauty shall the Bodies of the Saints shine in Heaven when they shall become immortal and enjoy the Presence of God with them to all eternity Secondly As the Body shall be a great sharer in the Glory and Happiness of Heaven so shall the Soul be also Not only the Excellency but the Capaciousness of the Soul renders it an Object of greater Happiness and Glory than the Body As the Soul is the more excellent part of a Saint than the Body so shall it have a more excellent Glory put upon it than the Body In Gen. 48.19 When Jacob was blessing the Two Sons of Joseph Manasseh and Ephraim Jacob tells Joseph that Manasseh the first-born should be a great Man but his Brother should be greater than he the same may be said of the Bodies and Souls of the Saints in Heaven It is true their Bodies shall be very beautiful and glorious but truly their Souls shall far excell them in Glory In Heaven the Bodies of the Saints shall be suited to and capacitated for that Glory and Happiness that is designed for and to be enjoyed by them there which now they are not But their Souls as they shall then take in more of the Glory and Happiness of Heaven than their Bodies so are they now in some measure but shall then be much more capacitated both to receive and bear the greatness of the Glory and Happiness of Heaven than the Body can or will be for the Happiness of Heaven being of a spiritual and refined Nature it is most suitable unto the spiritual part of Man which is his Soul And this is the Reason why we understand so little of the Happiness of the Soul in Heaven because it is spiritual Here we understand little what our Souls are and therefore can understand but little what that Happiness is that they shall attain to hereafter The Scripture calls it a Glory that shall be revealed Rom. 8.18 The Sufferings of this present Life are not to be compared to the Glory that shall be revealed in us that is in the Soul A Glory and Happiness there is that waits for Believers in the other World but it is not yet revealed what or how great it shall be No says the Apostle It doth not yet appear what we shall be but when Christ who is our Life shall appear we shall be like him The Beauty of the Soul will then be excellent and glorious because the
and Glory exalted in our Nature at the Right Hand of God through whose meritorious Undertakings we come to be presented unto God and to stand in his Presence with Confidence and Joy as having neither spot nor wrinkle nor any such thing There are the glorious Angels the Cherubims and Seraphims with all the glorified Saints and Servants of God that have lived in all Ages of the World as Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles who are always standing round about the Throne of God crying Alleiuja Praise Honour and Glory unto him that sitteth upon the Throne and to the Lamb for evermore In Heaven there is not only a perfect freedom from all Sin but from all Inclinations yea from all Temptations thereunto Grace and Holiness are there in their Fulness in their Perfection and Glory There it is that this corruptible shall put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on Immortality There it is that these vile Bodies of ours shall be made like unto the glorious Body of Jesus Christ There it is that these Souls of ours shall be enlarged in their utmost Capacities and Desires and yet filled and satisfied to the utmost also There it is that there is fulness of Joy excellency of Glory with an Eternity of Enjoyment of both This now is the Building of God that House not made with hands eternal in the Heavens 2 Cor. 5.1 This is that Kingdom that is to be inherited by the People of God prepared for them from the foundation of the World Matth. 25.46 This is that City that hath Foundations whose Builder and Maker is God Heb. 11.10 The Streets whereof are paved with Gold and the Gates whereof are Pearl Rev. 21.21 In which there is no Temple for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it Where there is no more Night no more Candle nor any need of the Sun or of the Moon to shine in it for the Lord God giveth them Light and they shall reign for ever and ever Rev. 22.5 This now is Heaven and much more than all this for when we have spent all our Days and Time in Hearing in Reading in Discoursing in Meditating upon Heaven and upon nothing else yet after we have done all we can said all we can thought all we can yet can we never set forth the Thousandth Part of that Happiness that is to be enjoyed in Heaven for it is that which is beyond expression beyond imagination but blessed be God it is not beyond enjoyment for the having and possessing of these things in their Fulness in their Perfection and in their Perpetuity is that which as it makes the Happiness of Heaven so excellent and glorious so doth it make it also so desirable to be enjoyed CHAP. II. A more particular Consideration of the Happiness of Heaven Of the Company and Society Believers shall enjoy in Heaven as 1. Communion with all the People of God 2. Communion with Angels 3. Enjoyment of Jesus Christ their Redeemer 4. Sight and Fruition of God What kind of Sight or Vision of God Saints shall have in Heaven Which shall be 1. Immediate and clear 2. Transforming 3. Joyful 4. Permanent and perpetual This Sight and Vision of God in Heaven will be a great Happiness because God is 1. An Vniversal Good 2. A Pure and Vnmixed Good 3. A Suitable Good 4 An All sufficient Good 5. A Satisfying Good 6. An Everlasting Good HAving in the Conclusion of the Former Chapter laid down a brief Description of Heaven and the Happiness thereof I now come to a more particular distinct handling of the several Branches of it Now here the First Thing that I shall instance in as a Part of that Happiness is the Company and Society that the Saints shall eternally enjoy in Heaven Which is comprehended in these Four Particulars Fellowship with all the Saints Communion with Angels The Sight of Jesus Christ as our Blessed and Glorious Redeemer And the eternal Vision and Enjoyment of God himself First The Happiness of Believers in Heaven consists in their Fellowship and Society with the Saints and People of God that have lived in all Ages of the World The Communion of Saints and the great Delight the People of God have taken therein is that we often read of in Scripture Holy David speaks of it with great pleasure Psal 42.4 I went says he to the House of God with the voice of Joy and Praise But why so it was says he with a Multitude that kept Holy-Day Such Society were the Delight of his Soul Psal 16.3 But to the Saints the excellent ones of the Earth in whom is all my Delight O how rejoycingly doth his Soul speak when such Company came unto him I was glad when they said unto me Come let us go up unto the House of the Lord Psal 122.1 It is true David's greatest Delight was in God and in the enjoyment of him and therefore says he I will go unto God my exceeding Joy and Chear Psal 42.4 But next unto God the People of God and Communion with them were those he most esteemed And therefore though his going to the House of God was chiefly to meet with God whom his Soul did most pant and breath after yet was it no small matter of Joy to him that he went to the House of God in such Company And if the People of God now be accounted by a Godly man to be such delightful Company here on Earth whilst Sin as well as Grace is in them in conjunction O how delightful will their Company be in Heaven when they shall be free from all Sin and Corruption having nothing but Grace in them in Perfection Here on Earth the Communion of Saints is sweet and desirable though mixed with Communion with the World so that while we have Fellowship with them we are to have Fellowship with Sinners at the same time and indeed there is no Society so pure and holy but there are and will be a Number of unholy ones among them To be full of Holiness our selves and to have none but holy ones in our company is a desirable thing on Earth but enjoyed only in Heaven Here the Chaff and the Wheat must grow together All that are now called by the Name of the Lord are not all holy but Saints and Sinners dwell together in the same House sit together at the same Table lie together in the same Bed yea eat both of the same Spiritual Meat and drink the same Spiritual Drink enjoy the same Ordinances partake of the same Sacrament even the Body and Blood of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ So that the People of God though they have Communion one with another yet have they Fellowship with Sinners also And this will always be the state of the People of God while they are here But now in Heaven Believers shall have Communion with the Saints and Servants of God and with none but them for all Sinners shall be eternally excluded out
the Grass which flourisheth for a while but is soon withered and gone 1 Pet. 1.24 But the heavenly Glory is permanent and perpetual a Flower that never withers Saints shall receive a Crown that fadeth not away CHAP. IV. Of the Resurrection of the Body in order to the Saints Happiness in Heaven A more particular Description of the Happiness of the Bodies of the Saints in Heaven which shall there be 1. Incorruptible 2. Spiritual 3. Powerful 4. Beautiful Of the Happiness of the Soul in Heaven which consists 1. In having its Vnderstanding enlarged 2. In its being perfected in Holiness 3. In having its Affections brought into a perfect Regularity Of the Eternity of the Saints Happiness in Heaven A Discourse of the Happiness of Heaven is like the breaking of the Bread by our Saviour in his miraculous feeding so many Thousands with a few Loaves and a few small Fishes which multiplied and increased by being broken And so doth the Happiness of Heaven by being search'd into for the more we look into it the more we discover of its Excellency and Perfection In this blessed Search much of Sweetness and Delightfulness hath been found out already but upon farther Enquiry into what the Scripture reveals concerning it we shall find much more than what hath hitherto been discovered Now that which presents it self to us as the Matter of our Discourse in this Chapter is the Consideration of the Subject of this Happiness in Heaven and that is the Bodies and Souls of the Righteous I begin with the First of these and that is to shew That the Bodies of the Righteous shall be the Subject of the Happiness of Heaven Now before the Body can be a partaker of this Biessedness it must first have a Resurrection from the Grave for till that be done it is not capable of enjoying the Glory and Happiness of Heaven Now that there shall be a Resurrection of the Body out of the Dust notwithstanding the seeming difficulties yea impossibilities also unto Sense and carnal Reason is very clear from the Scripture which though it be not against Reason yet is it in many things above Reason as it seems to be in this particular case and therefore though a Christian is not here wholly to lay aside his Reason yet must he chiefly make use of his Faith in this Point yet were it my Employment to treat of this Subject I doubt not but it might be demonstratively proved That the Resurrection of the Body is a great Truth not only by Scripture but by Reason also though when all that is or can be said our chief Light and Knowledge into this great Truth must and doth come from Divine Revelation But this is not my Work at present being only discoursing of it as a necessary Introduction to the Happiness that the Body shall be a partaker of hereafter in Heaven which that it may it must of necessity first be raised from the dead Now the Resurrection of the Body is that which is the Inlet as it were to all its future Happiness and Glory The Bodies of the Saints are as the Apostle speaks sacred Temples wherein the Holy Ghost dwells and therefore God will not suffer them to lie buried always in forgetfulness It is true their Bodies do dissolve into dust in their Graves but it is as true they perish not there God takes notice of them then and even at that time is their Dust precious in his sight and so it will appear at the last Day when by his All-powerful voice he shall call them forth out of their Graves and raise them up thence shining with such excellent Beauty and Glory as shall exceed the Sun in its Brightness and Glory It is a very difficult thing to believe that the Bodies of Men some whereof have lain rotting in the Grave Thousands of Years and others whose Bodies have been eaten up of wild Beasts or burnt and consumed to Ashes by Fire and those Ashes blown up and down the Earth or into the Water by the Wind or that when so many Multitudes of Ages and Generations of Men dying one after another and their Dust mingled one with another should all of them rise again and the same several Parcels of Dust come together again to make up the same Bodies of Men as once they were before O how impossible is it that such a thing as this is says carnal Reason should ever come to pass Were this great and wonderful Work to be effected by the combined strength and power of all the Saints and Angels in Heaven we might despair of its accomplishment but when we consider who is the Undertaker of this great Work even the Great and Almighty God this may well silence all Objections that can be made against it For he hath undertaken it for whom nothing is impossible And as none of us know what God is in himself so none of us know what this great God can do As it is with the sowing of Seed when Men cast it into the ground they sow not as the Apostle saith that Body that shall be and if the Seed sown did spring up by chance it might possibly bear Wheat or some other Grain but says he God giveth it a Body as it pleaseth him and to every Seed his own Body And so shall it be in the Resurrection at the last Day God raiseth up all Mens Bodies out of their Graves but this is not all but that every Man may have his own Body he giveth unto every Body it s own Dust And what reason is there that any should doubt of the Truth hereof For if a Gardener that hath a hundred several Seeds in his hand at once is able to distinguish between Seed and Seed Or if a skilful Chymist is able to extract one Metal out of another yea to take all the four Elements out of one and the same thing shall not the Almighty Omnipotent God be much more able to distinguish and separate one Man's Dust from another and give to every Man his own Dust Why then O why should it be thought a thing incredible that God should thus raise the Dead Consider a little who this God is one that is of infinite Power and able to do whatsoever he pleaseth both in Heaven and in Earth it is he that at first made the World out of nothing and cannot he rally together our lifeless Dust and scattered Bones and make them stand up and live surely he can Is he able to raise up Children unto Abraham out of stones as our Lord tells the Jews and can he not raise up our Bodies out of the same Dust into which they were dissolved Nay doth he not every day do as great Wonders as this is What is every Night but the Burial or Grave of the Light of the Day And what is every Morning but the Resurrection of the Day Again what is the cold Winter but the Death of the Fruits of the Earth And what is
CHAP. III. Further Discoveries of the Saints Happiness in Heaven manifested in their being freed 1. From all Afflictons 2. From all Temptations both from Satan and the World 3. In a perfect freedom from all Sin 4. In a Perfection of Grace and Holiness 5. In partaking of fullness of Joy being Pure Spiritual Full and Everlasting 6. In Excellent Glory and Honour that shall then be put upon them CHAP. IV. Of the Resurrection of the Body in order to the Saints Enjoyment of the Happiness of Heaven A more particular Description of the Happiness of the Bodies of the Saints in Heaven which shall there be 1. Incorruptible 2. Spiritual 3. Powerful 4. Beautiful Of the Happiness of the Soul in Heaven as 1. In having its Vnderstanding enlarged 2. In its being perfected in Holiness 3. In having its Affections brought into a perfect Regularity Of the Eternity of the Saints Happiness in Heaven CHAP. V. Of the Efficient Cause of the Saints Happiness in Heaven namely the Free Grace of God Of the Meritorious Cause of the Saints Happiness namely the Death and Sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ Of the Final Cause of the Saints Happiness in Heaven namely the Glory of God Holiness the Saints great Qualification for Heaven Wicked Men unsuitable to the Work of Heaven and to the Reward of Heaven both which are Holy In Heaven there is both an Eternal Work for Saints to be employed in and an Eternal Reward for Saints to enjoy CHAP. VI. A Resolution of some Questions as 1. Whether the Saints shall know one another in Heaven 2. Whether there are different degrees of Glory in Heaven 3. How the Saints are said to be equal with and like unto the Angels in Heaven 4. In what respects Heaven is called a Reward or Recompence Some useful and necessary Inferences from the consideration of that Happiness the Saints shall enjoy in Heaven deduced in order unto Practice as 1. Hopes of Heaven should make the World contemptible unto Believers 2. None that expect Heaven hereafter should be offended at any thing they meet with in their way thither 3. Expectations of Heaven should make Christians live as those that are Heirs of so great a Happiness 4 Frequent Thoughts and Meditations of Heaven should possess the Minds of those that hope to partake of the Happiness of Heaven 5. The Greatness of the Happiness of Heaven should put Christians upon Examing of themselves what Right and Title they have thereunto 6. Hopes and Expectations of Heaven hereafter should Reconcile to Believers the Thoughts of their own Death and moderate their Sorrows for the Death of their Godly Friends and Relations 7. Hopes of Heaven should put Christians upon unwearied diligence in the Service of God that is attended with such a Reward 8. The Consideration of so great a Happiness as Heaven is should cause in all Believers a Holy longing of Soul after the Enjoyment of it The Conclusion THE GLORY AND HAPPINESS OF THE SAINTS CHAP. I. The Introduction A State of future Glory and Happiness proved What it is that makes the Happiness of Heaven so excellent and glorious in a short and brief Description thereof THE framing a Discourse of Heaven that Place of inexpressible Bliss and Happiness the Portion of Holy and Righteous Persons to Eternity is a Work fitter for an Angel one of those Heavenly Courtiers who have ever since their Creation and for many Ages and Generations now past been happy partakers of that blissful State than the lisping and stammering of any mortal Tongue Sense here being the best Orator and they fittest to describe Heaven unto others who live in the fruition of it themselves And indeed all Discourses of this nature by poor frail Creatures are rather a darkning and diminution of that Glory and Happiness than an ample Illustration or Discovery what it is And when the People of God shall come to the enjoyment thereof they will soon find themselves wonderfully but happily deceived by the most glorious Descriptions that ever were laid before them What the Prophet saith in Hab. 3. where after he had given us a short description of some of the glorious Excellencies and Perfections of God he tells us in the 4th Verse His Brightness was as the Light that he had Horns coming out of his hands which usually are a signification of Strength and Might but says the Prophet There was the hiding of his Power As if he had said Whatever Strength and Might God had thereby put forth it was so far from manifesting the fulness and greatness thereof that it was rather a Hiding than a Revelation of his Power there being infinitely more Power in him than was ever yet put forth by him The like may truly be said concerning Heaven and its Glory and Excellency Take all the Descriptions that since the Creation of the World have been made of the Glory and Happiness thereof and put them all together and we may say of them all that they rather hide and eclipse the Glory of Heaven than any way come near to a manifestation of the Fulness and Excellency thereof still is there infinitely more hid from us than can possibly thereby be made known to us Heaven is like God himself an infinite Good and Happiness and so cannot be fully known or enjoyed by any who are but of finite Capacities and Understanding And therefore after all that we have heard thereof from Men or received from God himself either by what he hath revealed to us in his Word or secretly elapsed down immediately into our Souls by his Spirit yet what holy Job saith of God we may say of the Heaven of God Oh how little a Portion of it is known And therefore those Words of St. Paul need not be looked upon with admiration when he tells us Phil. 1.23 he desired to be dissolved and to be with Christ that is in Heaven where God and Christ are known and enjoyed for that is it which makes Heaven so desirable yea to be best of all as the same Apostle speaks For why should any think it strange that the blessed Apostle who had been wrapt up into the Third Heaven by extraordinary priviledge as well as in an extraordinary manner and there heard and saw so much of that Glory and Happiness that was there enjoyed as that himself said was unutterable that he should long after a fuller enjoyment of it Christians who profess their Hopes and Happiness is laid up in Heaven should rather wonder at his willingness to abide here any longer in the Flesh And certainly had not Love yea great Love to him who had prepared and purchased so great and inexpressible a Happiness for him wrought very powerfully in him it may seem almost impossible that Heaven and St. Paul should have been kept longer asunder if any thing in him or to be done or suffered by him could have brought him thither sooner than his appointed time Great and glorious things doth the Scripture
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
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
their Glorification also is of Grace Rom. 9.23 That he might make known the Riches of his Glory on the Vessels of Mercy that he had afore prepared unto Glory The work of Heaven is to Praise and Glorifie God for ever and nothing will draw forth the Praises and Thanksgivings of the Saints there so much as the consideration of the freeness and richness of his Grace and Love When a Soul is brought to Heaven meerly by the free Grace and Love of God and sees that Happiness it there enjoys and shall do to all Eternity is bestowed upon it on no other account but from the free and undeserved Grace and Mercy of God Oh how doth this enlarge and fill such a Soul with Praises unto God and so will do to all Eternity because free Grace and Mercy hath done it Secondly There is the Meritorious Cause of the Saints Happiness in Heaven and that is the Death and Sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ Not their Works not their Prayers their Tears their Fastings their Alms deeds no nor their Sufferings also To make our Good Works the Purchase of Heaven is a great wrong to the Blood of Christ Who ever thinks by their Doing or Suffering to merit Heaven and Salvation they put their Duties and Services in the place of Christ for he and he only hath deserved Heaven and Glory for us It is true Good Works are the Causey or Path-way in which we must walk towards Heaven but they are not the Meritorious procuring Cause of our obtaining Heaven that is only the Blood of Christ Our Duty is to be zealous of Good Works but when we have abounded most in the practice of them we must rely on the Merits and Satisfaction of Jesus Christ for God's acceptation of them and for our Happiness and Glorification after them All that we do of our selves shews us to be sinful Servants and all that we do when assisted by the Grace and Spirit of God makes us still to be but unprofitable Servants because we have done no more than what was our Duty to do All our Duties and Services even the best of them are both Defective and Defiled Defective of the good that God commands and Defiled with the Evil that God forbids now that which is Defective and Defiled cannot be Meritorious that which deserves Eternal Wrath and Vengeance in the doing of it cannot by the doing of it procure everlasting Grace and Favour There are none of our Prayers we send up unto Heaven but stand in need of the Intercession of Christ to make them prevalent with God None of our Tears shed for offending of God by Sin but wants the Blood of Christ to wash them or else they are but puddle-water None of our Sighs but must be perfumed with the Incense of Christ or else they are no better than howling in the Ears of God Conscience can pick a thousand holes in the best Duties that ever any of us tendered unto God and what then doth God see in them who is a thousand times greater than our Consciences and knows all things Heaven and Glory accompany Grace and Holiness not by virtue of any inherent Worth and Excellency in them to deserve so great a Happiness but by virtue of a Promise that God hath made that those that do persevere in Grace and Holiness shall inherit Eternal Life and Glory God was a free Promiser and he might have chose whether he would have made his People a Promise of Heaven and Happiness and if he had not Freely and Graciously done it it was not all their Duties nor all their Sufferings no nor all their Graces that could have deserved or procured that Happiness for them But since God hath so Freely and Graciously been pleased to make a Promise to his People of Heaven and Glory he is now become a Debtor to his own Promise and he will be True and Faithful in keeping of his Word And thus we are to understand those Scriptures that speak of the Justice and Righteousness of God as that in 1 John 1.19 If we confess our sins he is Faithful and Just to forgive us our sins So God is not unrighteous to forget your Labour of Love So 2 Thes 1.6 It is a Righteous thing with God to recomperse Tribulation to them that trouble you but to you who are troubled rest So 2 Tim. 4 6. Henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Judge shall give unto me at that day In all these places Justice and Righteousness is not to be taken for Commutative Righteousness but for the Righteousness of God's Promise and Fidelity and God is said to be a Righteous God in these places because he will keep his Word and make good his Promises made unto his People And to note it by the way what abundant matter of Joy and rejoycing doth this afford unto those who have true Grace though but in a small degree yet if it be in Truth here is great comfort unto such Souls because Grace doth not as a Natural Cause produce Glory but by the Covenant and Promise of God and so the weakest Grace may plead this as well as the strongest and the lowest Believer may say I have as good and as faithful a Promise for Heaven and Happiness as the strongest He that gives a Cup of cold water to a Prophet in the Name of a Prophet and because he belongs to Christ he shall not lose his Reward no not the Reward of Heaven and Glory But yet still all a Believers merit with respect to the Love and Favour of God here and the Eternal enjoyment of him in Heaven is in Jesus Christ his Death and Sufferings is that which obtains all for him Rom. 5.1 2. Being justified by Faith we have Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and rejoyce in Hope of the Glory of God So in 1 Pet. 1.4 5. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant Mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively Hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for us And the Blessed Apostle St. Paul who doubtless after his Conversion was as Holy a man as ever lived yet all his Glorying and Rejoycing all his Faith and Confidence was only in Christ I desire to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and him Crucified Cor. and in Phil. 3.3 9. I count all things but loss and dung for the excellency of the Knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For whom I suffer the loss of all things and count them but dung that I may win Christ and be found in him not having mine own Righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the Faith of Christ the Righteousness of God by Faith This was all St. Paul gloried in that upon which he built his Hopes and Expectations of
but the fulness and perfection of that Grace and Holiness the Initials and Beginnings whereof makes the Knowledge and Society of them so desirable here on Earth Now certainly if this be a thing desirable in Heaven as I humbly conceive it is a thing very probable why then it will follow that Satisfaction and Contentment herein shall not be wanting in Heaven for in Heaven there shall be no desire in Holy Souls that are Holy and Regular and in Heaven there shall be none but such that shall be unanswered or unsatisfied But further the Scripture seems enclining this way that the Saints in Heaven shall know one another and that not only those who lived together here on Earth but all those who ever did or shall live upon God's Earth may be known to one another in Heaven When God had created Adam he threw him into a deep sleep and of one of his Ribs which he then took out of him he formed Eve and brings her unto Adam who as soon as he saw her presently knew her and what manner of Creature she was and therefore says of her she is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh and how came Adam by this Knowledge why it was by being filled with the Holy Ghost by which he understood in an extraordinary manner who she was Why now after the same manner say some shall the Saints be renewed by Christ in Heaven and thereby come to know their Godly Friends and Relations yea and all the Saints of God in Heaven much more perfectly than Adam did know Eve So in Luke 16. which some take to be a History others only a Parable if it be a History it is plainly said there of Abraham that he knew Lazarus and of Lazarus that he knew Abraham and yet they lived near two thousand years distance in time one from the other so that they could not know one another on Earth and yet are they said to know one another in Heaven If it be only a Parable yet by it Abraham the Father of the Faithful is represented as one that had Knowledge both of the person and happy condition in which Lazarus was by which some say is represented the Knowledge Saints shall have of one another in Heave We read also Matt. 17.4 that when the three Disciples were with Christ at his Transfiguration there appeared unto him Moses and Elias whom the Apostles knew for they say unto him Let us build here three Tabernacles one for thee one for Moses and one for Elias and yet it is very apparent that the Apostles never saw Moses non Elias in the Flesh Again If the Saints shall not know one another in Heaven why is it made by our Lord a part of the Saints Happiness hereafter that they shall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven Matt. 11. Memory in Heaven shall not be abolished but perfected neither shall our Knowledge there be impared much less extinguished but greatly enlarged and increased In Heaven Saints enjoy every good thing and partake of every good gift that may add to their Joy and Felicity will now the meeting with and knowing of our former near Acquaintance and dear Relations together with all the Glorious Inhabitants of that Heavenly Place tend to the increasing of that Joy and Delight that shall there fill and ravish the Souls of the Blessed surely it will Society being nothing so Comfortable without intimacy of Familiarity and Acquaintance It being thus now it is very probable there shall be a Knowledge in the Saints of one another hereafter Certainly now from all that hath been said and more that might be added we may conclude it highly probable that the Saints in Heaven shall have a distinct Knowledge of one anothers Persons since nothing requisite unto the Happiness of that Blissful place shall or can be wanting to the Inhabitants thereof To conclude this head though a Saint's chief desire to be in Heaven should be and always is that he may see God and that he may be with the Lord Iesus Christ and therefore with his Soul he cries out as the Psalmist He hath none in Heaven but God and with the Apostle I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is best of all yet this may add a little to the quickning of his desires Heaven-ward the consideration of his being admitted into the blessed Society of all the Saints and People of God from the beginning of the World unto the end of it even those who were once the excellent ones of the Earth and now next unto God and Christ are the most Excellent and Delightful Company in Heaven who shall there be particularly and distinctly known beloved and delighted in by him to all Eternity Secondly Another Question is this Whether there shall be different Degrees of Glory in Heaven or not Now in Answer unto this Question I find Holy and Learned Men have different apprehensions some positively affirming it others strongly denying it and both pleading Scripture to maintain their Assertions Those that affirm there shall be different Degrees of Glory in Heaven urge such Scriptures as these in the defence of it Daniel 12.3 where it is said Some shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament and others as the Stars for ever and ever So Matth. 25.28 29. We read that he that received five Talents and made a good improvement of them received a greater Reward than he that received but two though he improved them also So Corinth 15.41 The Apostle tells us That one Star differeth from another Star in Glory and adds withal that So it shall be in the Resurrection of the Dead So in Matt. 5.11 12. our Saviour bids those that were persecuted wrongfully for his Names sake to Rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great should be their Reward in Heaven Those now that are against different Degrees of Glory they urge such Sctiptures as these in the defence of their Opinion Matt. 13.43 where our Lord speaking indefinitely of the Righteous tells us That they shall shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father without mentioning any different Degrees of Glory that some shall partake of more than others So in Luke 20.36 Our Lord speaking concerning the happy State of the Godly after the Resurrection tells us that they shall die no more but shall be equal unto the Angels and how can they in that State of Bliss he equai to the Angeis and yet unequal among themselves So again in that place Matt. 20. where the Labourers in the Vineyard are all said to receive a like Reward though for different Work and Labour for so we read at evening when the Lord of the Vineyard came to reckon with his Servants he gave them every one a Penny making those that camt in at the last hour equal with those that had born the heat and burthen of the day rendring this as a Reason for what he had done
that he was free and might do what he would with his own These now are some of those Scriptures that are made use of for and against this assertion of the Saints having different Degrees of Glory in Heaven Which is the Truth I shall not affirm I am inclinable to believe that there shall be different Degrees of Glory in Heaven But withal let me add tho' it is possible that some may have greater Degrees of Glory than others yet all shall partake of the same Happiness nay all shall have as much of Glory and Happiness as they can contain though one Vessel may hold more than another yet all shall be as full as they can hold nay further which is yet more all the Saints in Glory shall enjoy the Happiness of Heaven in the same perpetuity one as well as another for Eternity shall be the measure of all their Happiness But whether there shall be different Degrees of Glory in Heaven hereafter or not yet may the People of God at present make this double improvement of it First If there shall be different Degrees of Glory in Heaven then the consideration hereof should exite Christians to labour after the highest Degree of Grace that is attainable in this life because this is the way to increase their Glory in Heaven And surely to be ambitiously covetous after the highest place in Heaven is very commendable in any Who would not be desirous to have his Seat in that Heavenly Jerusalem next to Cherubims and Seraphims shall Isay nay if it were possible to possess that very place in Heaven that the Beloved Disciple St. John held here upon Earth when he lay in the Bosom Embraces of our Lord Jesus Christ If our growth and increase in Grace shall certainly be the increase of our Glory and Happiness hereafter who is there then that would be so ill a Husband to himself as not to stir up and put forth the Grace of God that is in him which will prove so greatly advantageous to him in the life to come If to be found in the daily exercise of Grace a Christian is thereby doing that which will adorn and enrich that Crown of Glory that shall hereafter be set upon his own head who then would be so sloathful and negligent as not to promote and heighten what in him lay his own Happiness and Glory Secondly If there shall be no different Degrees of Glory in Heaven but all the Saints shall there be of the same Pitch and Stature Oh then what matter of Joy and Consolation may it be unto thee O weak Believer to consider that though now thy Grace be poor and weak thy Fears and Doubts be many thy Corruptions restless and importunate thy Temptations strong and potent and almost irresistible though thou seest thy self out-done by many in the ways of Holiness whom thou greatly admirest and wouldst with all thy Soul imitate and follow yea overtake and equal in their pace to Heaven but thou canst not yet know for thy Comfort that at the last Day the same Sentence of Absolution that is pronounced upon others shall acquit and Absolve thee also The same Heaven that shall be opened unto others for their Eternal Blessedness shall be opened to receive thee into that Blessed State with them Yea the same Crown of Glory that is set upon their heads shall for ever Crown thy head also So that there shall be no difference between thee and all the Holy Patriarchs Prophets and Saints of God in all Ages of the World but thou shalt shine in Glory as a Star of the same Magnitude and with the same Brightness for ever Thirdly Some upon the reading of those words of our Saviour Luke 20.36 Where he tells us that at the Resurrection of the Saints which he there calls the Children of God and the Children of the Resurrection shall be equal unto the Angels may be desirous to know how or in what respects shall the Godly then be like unto or equal with the Angels To this I Answer they shall be like the Angels in these following particulars First Saints in Heaven shall enjoy the same Glory and Happiness which Angels do The Great and Blessed God who is the Delight and Happiness of Angels shall be the Delight and Happiness of the Saints also in one and the same place shall they both partake of one and the same Blessedness and that is in Heaven and in the same Work and Employment shall they both spend an Eternity together namely in Blessing and Praising in Magnitying and Adoring the infinitely Great and Blessed God See for this Revel 7.9 11 12. where the Saints are said to stand before the Throne of God crying with a loud voice Salvation unto God and to the Lamb. And the Angels also standing round about the Throne of God crying Amen Blessing Honour Glory and Power be unto God for ever and ever Amen Secondly The Saints in Heaven shall be like unto the Angels in their Fitness to serve God and in their Readiness Chearfulness and Vnweariedness in so doing This is one of the great requests our Lord hath taught us to offer up unto Heaven in our Prayers That the Will of God may be done by us on Earth as it is done in Heaven that is as the Angels do it in Heaven who do it Readily Chearfully Universally and Constantly And thus shall the Saints serve God and do his Will when they come to Heaven Here the People of God often complain that their Spirits are held down by the Flesh so that though they have a willing mind yet how to perform that which is good as they would they find not the Spirit indeed in them is willing but the Flesh is weak Oh how do they therefore mourn under the impediments of Nature with which they are loaded and oppressed And if at any time they do attain to a more than ordinary height and frame of Spirit that their Souls are a little lifted up in the ways of God yet is it with great difficulty that they arrive thereunto and with much more difficulty that they preserve and keep themselves in it But in Heaven the Saints shall be freed from all Infirmities of the Flesh and shall Glorifie God as the Angels do with Readiness and Activity with Constancy and Unweariedness and with all perfections of Soul and Body that may render their Services acceptable to God and delightful to themselves Thirdly The Saints in Heaven shall be like unto the Argels in their way of living What that is our Lord himself tells us Luke 20.36 Where speaking of the State of the People of God after the Resurrection he says They neither Marry nor are given in Marriage neither can they die any more By which expressions our Saviour gives us to understand what kind of Life the Saints shall live in Heaven a life like unto that of the Angels who have no manner of Converse with live not on the use of or in dependance
continued perseverance and improvement of Grace here For Grace and Glory are one and the same thing and differ only in degree the Scripture therefore gives it the same Name changed 2 Corinth 3.18 from Glory unto Glory that is from one degree of Grace unto another And as there is the same nature in a spark as there is in the Body of the fire in a drop of water as in the Ocean so there is the same Nature in Holiness that is in Happiness Now indeed is the Infancy of Grace and then is the Mature Age. Now the Twy-light then the Noon-tide Glory of it But still Grace and Glory differ only in degree And therefore it is suitable to the Wisdom Justice and Holiness of God to reward Good and Holy Works with Glory because they are the Dispositions and Preparations for it Now before I put a period to my Discourse concerning this sweet and delightful Subject of the Saints Happiness in Heaven I shall from what hath been said draw some useful and necessary inferences in order unto Practice and so conclude And First If there be such a State of Happiness to be enjoyed hereafter How are they then to be blamed that let out their Hearts and Affections inordinately towards any Worldly Enjoyments O how many low base Spirited persons are there to be found who seek no greater nor higher good than to enjoy the Comforts and Delights that the World affords them could they but attain so many hundreds or thousands could they compass such an Earthly Possession or Enjoyment O this would be enough to make them Happy the things of the World is all the Portion they crave for themselves But surely such Noble Affections as God hath endowed Man withal should not be so lavishly laid out upon such vile and contemptible things as all Worldly Enjoyments are An Earthly Conversation is very unsuitable to a Spiritual and Heavenly Hope and Expectation Hast thou O Christian laid up thy Treasure above what then do thy Heart and Affections so much here below Is thy Life hid with Christ in God whence then is it that thy Converse is so much with Creature Enjoyments as if thy Life and Happiness lay in them and not in God If thou lookest for a State of Bliss only in Heaven what is the reason then that thy Conversation is no more there dost thou believe and count upon it as thy Blessedness that thou shalt one day with the pure in Heart for ever see and enjoy God in Heaven how comes it to pass then that thy Desires and Inclinations go out so eagerly after the Perishing Enjoyments of this World now For shame O Christian let thy Hopes of Heaven moderate thy Affections towards the World You that look for so much from God in another World may very well be content if he cuts you short here giving you but a little of this Nothing is more unbecoming a Heavenly Hope than an Earthly Heart It was an Observation that I once heard from a Holy Man of God now in Heaven whereof I have since read other where that though there are many Spots and Blemishes charged upon the Saints and Servants of God in Scripture as instances of humane frailty yet there is not one Godly man to be found in all the Book of God the Story of whose Life is blotted with the sin of Covetousness If this be a Truth as some affirm may it not well be matter of great astonishment unto us in these days of the Gospel wherein Knowledge doth so much abound that this should be called the Professors Sin so that prophane men have nothing to lay more commonly unto the charge of those that are strict in the ways of God than this That they are a company of Covetous persons and that none are more eager in their pursuits after the World than those that make the greatest shews and pretences for Heaven for shame O Christian wipe off this Reproach from Religion let not wicked men by beholding thy scandalous practices herein blacken the Names of those that are really Godly with such reproachful Aspersions as if to be Covetous were a necessary consequent unto the Profession of Religion Make it appear that thy hopes of Heaven can inable thee to live above the World yea to contemn and despise all its Enjoyments Surely thou mayest well be content with a little here who expectest so much hereafter If the Hopes and Expectations of what is laid up for a Believer in Heaven doth not take off his Heart and Affections from inordinate pursuits of the things of this World nothing will Secondly Hath God provided a Heaven for Believers hereafter Surely then they have no cause to be offended at any thing they meet withal in their way to it Hath the faithful God for whom it is impossible to lye promised to bestow Heaven and eternal Happiness upon a Believer though not for yet in the way of Duty and holy Obedience this should certainly take him off from being scandalized at the Cross No Christian but should walk chearfully in that way in which he is sure he shall find Heaven at the end though he meet with Afflictions and Troubles in his passage to it The Cross should never cause a Believer to stumble in much less to turn out of that way that leads to Heaven No Man should think much to do or suffer any thing to partake of so great a Happiness as the Enjoyment of Heaven speaks That Man knows little what Heaven means that can think or speak hardly of any way of God that leads to it It is a great Discouragement unto many when they are looking Heaven-ward that they meet with so many Troubles and Afflictions in the Way especially if they be great and of long continuance but knowest thou not O Christian that thou oughtest not to be troubled at any Afflictions that befal thee in thy Way to Heaven knowing that thereunto thou art appointed as the Apostle speaks I Thes 3.3 And though thou canst not conclude that Heaven belongs to thee because thou art afflicted for in an evil Way thou may'st justly expect to meet with Sufferings Yet this thou may'st assure thy self of that if thou leave the Ways of God and holy Obedience because of Sufferings thou art for the present turned out of the Way that leads to Heaven and if God hath any Love for thy Soul and intends to bestow Heaven and Happiness upon thee he will reduce thee back though by some Affliction and probably by some smart and severe one too But why O Christian should Afflictions and Sufferings discourage thee Will not Heaven make amends for all thou endurest here What says the blessed Apostle St. Paul who doubtless under-went as many Sufferings as any we read of in Scripture And yet says he Rom. 8.18 I reckon and his reckoning was according to Truth that the Sufferings of this present Life are not worthy to be compared with the Glory that shall be revealed