(a) Mentis rationisque Ministras I will faith the Apostle that men pray every where lifting up holy hands (b) 1 Tim. 2. 8. Salomon in that excellent prayer spread forth his hands towards Heaven (c) 1 Kings 8. 22. Constantine had his Image engraven on his Coyn with his hands joyned together and lift up towards Heaven and upon several Gates of his Palace he was drawn in an upright posture praying and lifting up of his hands towards Heaven If we go upwards to the face God hath made the face to look upward to Heaven Salomon findes the Sun Moon and Stars in the Head of man l at d Os homini sublime dedit coelumque tueri jussit e Eccles 12. 2. least according to the Chaldee paraphrase which refers it to the face and eyes Before the Beauty and glory of thy face be changed and the light of thine eyes be darkned and the apples of thine eyes the stars of thy countenance be extinguished for as the whole face so the eyes are given us for this end Anatomists observe that whereas other creatures have only four muscles to their eyes whereby they look forward and downward and on both sides man only hath a fifth by which he is able to look up to Heaven Look inward to the Heart that is an inverted Pyramid or like a Vial that is narrow and contracted in that part toward Heaven but above all the soul was purposely given us for this end we can no way think that God hath given us these immortal souls to be only conversant about perishing things these spiritual souls to be taken up with secular affairs these souls which are heavenly substances to be wholly employed about earthly objects How absurd is it to think that God should so curiously fashion a body in the lower parts of the earth and breath into it an immortal soul created after his own Image made in the same mould with the blessed Angels capable of eternal happiness and then should send into the world this Epitome of the whole Creation only to eat drink and sleep or only to buy and sell and traffique in the world the beasts that have but sensitive souls can do all this and much more as well as we they know when they are ill what herbs to have recourse to for the recovery of their health and some think the practice of Physick hath been much improved by observations taken from the creatures they know how to dig their holes and make their nests to secure themselves against the injuries of the weather when the place of their abode groweth incommodious they can shift into a warmer Climate The Stork in the Heaven knoweth her appointed time and the Turtle and Crane and Swallow (f) Jer. 8. 7. they know how to provide against a time of want The Ant provideth her meat in summer (g) Prov. 6. 8. they are so wise as to prevent a danger before them surely in vain is the snare laid in the sight of any Bird (h) Prov. 1. 17. they have skill to provide a shelter against a time of danger the wild Beasts have their Dens the Stags their Thicket the Hares their Covert the Wasps their Cells the Bees their Hives the Doves their Windows the Foxes their Holes the Birds of the air their Nests the Conies their Burrows the Goats their Hills in a word those things that most men busie themselves about the creatures can do as well if not better than we some are stronger some swifter some quicker sighted some better scented in all these one creature or other excelleth man and can we think that God hath given us these intellectual immortal soules only to do what brute creatures can do as well if not in a better manner than we Can we Imagine that these Heaven-born souls should be bestowed upon us for no higher end Certainly there is nothing short of Heaven and things eternal that will bear any proportion with the excellency of these souls wherewith God hath entrusted us saith Seneca (i) Quam contemptibilis res est homo si sâ—pra humana se non erexerit What a contemptible thing is man if he doth not look higher than these temporal things Chrysostome will scarce allow such to be reasonable Creatures whose souls so far forget their heavenly extraction it is infinitely below the dignity of the soul to espouse earthly interests A spirit hath not flesh and bones saith our Saviour neither should it debase it self to such things as are only suitable to bodies of flesh What Father is there who if his Son ask bread will he give him a stone We should much less deal thus with our souls to put them off with a stone with things temporal when only the bread of Heaven things eternal can satisfie them 4. The fourth Motive to look to things eternal may be taken from the unspeakable benefits flowing from it 1 It is an excellent preservative from sin Some School-men say that the sight of God in Heaven maketh the Saints impeccable (k) Beatifica visio reddit impotentes ad peccandum if so it will follow the more men enjoy God and converse in Heaven while they are here the more free they are from sin the times Noah lived in where times of great defection when all flesh had corrupted their wayes and the whole earth was filled with violence and it is much for one spark of fire to keep alive in the midst of a Sea of water yet God giveth this testimony of Noah Noah was a just man and perfect in his Generation if you would know what kept him upright in the midst of that wicked and froward Generation it followeth Noah walked with God he that walketh with God and hath his conversation in Heaven feareth nothing but sin and this he feareth more than Hell they say the Ermin is so neat a creature that if she seeth a puddle of dirt on the one hand and a company of dogs on the other she will rather expose her self to be torn in pieces by the dogs than to defile her self by going through the puddle it is so with him that is truly heavenly he had rather endure the worst affliction than willingly defile himself with the least sin nay if he saw Hell on the one hand and sin on the other he would with Chrysostome and Anselme chuse rather Hell than sin he looketh upon sin as the greatest evil and therefore trembles at the first motions of sin dareth not give himself allowance in the least sin bate him those sins of daily incursion which the best cannot avoid he cometh nearest the state of glorified Saints who cannot sin (l) Gen. 6. 9. 2. It is a good security against temptations while the Bird is soaring in the air she is out of peril of Gun-shot and free from those snares and Lime-twigs which she is liable to be taken in when she is upon the earth he that looketh to things eternal
for the meat that perisheth but for that meat that indureth to everlasting life (x) Joh. 6. 27. implying that the labour we take for these earthly things is not worthy to be called labour in comparison of that we are to take for Heaven such labour and study and striving we find the Saints to have used in the pursuit of heavenly things Since the daies of John Baptist the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence (y) Mat 11. 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they did not only use diligence but violence a metaphor taken from a Castle that holdeth out in a siege and is not taken but by storming then followeth the violent take it by force thus Paul reached forth unto those things that were before (z) Phil. 3. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying the uttermost strains of the body to catch at any thing I press forward toward the mark for the price of the high Calling i. e. I pursue and follow with the greatest eagerness He useth the same word * Acts 26 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to express his rage in persecuting the Saints being exceedingly mad against them I persecuted them to strange Cities the same violence he shewed before in persecuting the Church he used now in working out his salvation such earnestness and violence must we use in the pursuit of things Eternal if ever we would obtain them but this I shall speak more to in the next use and therefore shall not now anticipate CHAP. XII Of looking to Eternal things as our end enforced by eight several Arguments 5. WE should look to them as our aim and end this I conceive is chiefly meant in the Text the word signifies to look as the Archer doth at the mark he aimeth at though there may be many things before him worth his looking on and which he would look to at another time yet now his eye is upon the mark he shooteth at so it was with the Apostles it was not temporal but eternal things they looked to They were the mark they aimed at the great end they propounded to themselves so I press toward the mark this he made his great work and business whatsoever he did he did in tendency to this he thought all he could do little enough if by any means he might attain unto the Resurrection of the dead And thus it should be with us we should look upon all other things as things accessary (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we should do them as if we did them not use them as if we used them not allow them only the fragments of our time they are things eternal that we should mainly aim at that should be the end we propound to our selves there is a twofold end the end of the worker that is the Glory of God which is the ultimate end into which all must be resolved and there is the end of the work that is salvation (d) Finis operantis finis operis 1 Pet 1. 9. that you may receive the end of your faith the salvation of your souls Though the glory of God be the great ultimate end we should aim at yet we may have respect to our own salvation as an end subordinate and things that are subordinate are not opposed a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 b Phil. 1. 11 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one to the other these two like Naomi and Ruth go hand in hand together whatsoever maketh for Gods Glory conduceth to our salvation that therefore we may nay and next to Gods glory ought to make the end we propound to our selves And this being the thing that is chiefly meant in the text I shall the more enlarge my self upon it and the rather because it is a thing of very great import as will appear from these following Considerations 1. This is the great thing God looks at there is nothing in this world that God so much respects as man All these things have my hands made but to this man will I look (e) Isa 66. 2. Nothing in man so much as the heart My Son give me thy heart that is the Mount Sion which God loveth above all the dwellings of Jacob and nothing in the heart so much as the aim and end of it it is true of God what the Apostle speaketh of the word of God it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart Let a mans profession be never so glorious let him be never so abundant in the performance of duties yet if his end be wrong all his pretensions and performances are but beautifull abominations in Gods esteem Simon Magus had been baptized desired the gift of the Holy-Ghost but did not this with a right aim and intention but to get money therefore Peter telleth him his heart was not upright in Gods sight On the other side though a mans failings be many yet if his aim and end be right if the frame and tendency of his heart be toward God and Heaven this works his acceptation in Gods sight Jehoshaphat offended greatly in his affinity with Ahab and the Prophet reproveth him severely for it yet withal tells him nevertheless there are good things found in thee in that thou hast prepared thy heart to seek God (h) 2 Chron. 19. 3. And thus Hezekiah describeth the f Heb. 4. 12. g Acts 8. 21. sincerity of those that came to the Passeover The good Lord be merciful to every one whose heart is set to seek the God of his Father although his heart be not cleansed according to the purification of the Sanctuary although they failed in that particular yet their heart being set upon God that both declared their sincerity and wrought their acceptation Barnabas exhorts the Châ—istians at Antioch that with full purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord (k) Acts 11. 23. We read before that he was sent by the Church at Jerusalem to visit the Brethren at Antioch and when he came to them we read of no other exhortation but only this implying that this is the conclusion of the whole matter the great thing God looks at and that should be one engagement to us to look to these things as our end 2. This is the great thing in which the Devil seeketh to deceive men though he seeks to deceive us in all the passages of our life yet it is still in order to our chief Good or end Mithridates the King of Pontus being worsted by the Romans and fearing he should not escape them caused a great deal of Gold and Silver and rich furniture to be scattered in the wayes which while the Roman Souldiers gathered with great eagerness he escaped their hands and got into a place of safety the Devil knowing what taking tempting things the profits and pleasures of the world are to men he scattereth them in their way that being busied about them he might hinder them in their pursuit of heaven and things Eternal that
Julius Palmar said to them that have their souls linked to the flesh like a Rogues foot to a pair of stocks it is indeed hard to dye but for him who is able to separate soul and body by the help of Gods spirit it is no more mastery for such an onâ— to dye than for me to drink this cup of Beer having before-hand sent his heart to Heaven he looketh upon death as a favourable wind to carry him sooner to his desired Haven Moses converseth with God as a man converseth with his friend and when God bade him go up to the Mount and dye there Moses maketh no more of it he wenâ— up into the Mount and died according to the word of the Lord The Jews say that his soul was sucked out of his mouth with a kiss he who now converseth in Heaven when he dyeth only changeth his place but not his company removeth to a higher forme but continueth at the same school while he liveth he is like the Bâ—e which converseth amongst sweet flowers or like the Birds of the fortunate Islands which they say are all their life-time nourished with perfumes and when he dyeth he dyeth like the Phoenix in the sweet odours of an heavenly conversation 15. It would give us after death a wide and large entrance into Heaven They that look here to things Eternal shall after this life have possession of them shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven when others who look no higher than things temporal shall be called the least in the Kingdom of God Heaven like the Halcions nest will hold nothing but its own bird the Apostle blesseth God because he had made them meet to be made partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light (c) Col. 1. 12. Men must be meet for Heaven before they come there they who are now strangers to God and Heaven what should they do in Heaven where the great happiness consists in the enjoyment and service of God whereas they who make it their business to lay up treasure in Heaven shall have a ready admittance into Heaven a free participation of whatsoever blessedness is there treasured up whatsoever happiness there is in the sight and enjoyment of God whatsoever solace in the embraces of a dear Saviour whatsoever Satisfaction in the society of Angels and Saints whatsoever joyes and pleasures are in that place of bliss all this and much more than we can imagine shall be the undoubted portion of those who make Eternal things their aim and end Jerom saith That Saul knew before-hand he should be made King because in a kind of a vision he saw himself placed upon the top of a Palm-tree the Palm-tree is an Emblem of the heavenly minded Christian as was before shewed in several resemblances Now as Saul seeing himself advanced to the top of a Palm-tree looked upon this as a Presage of his future advancement to the Throne so he who hath his heart and mind in Heaven while he liveth may assure himself of Heaven when he dyeth it is his now by way of election and shall be hereafter his by way of fruition now he walketh with God then he goeth to God while he is here he converseth in Heaven when he goeth hence he taketh possession of it having chosen that better part it shall never be taken away from him To conclude this use let these many advantages serve as somany incentives to quicken us to this duty in the Text of looking to those things that are Eternal CHAP. XIV Of various considerations to move us to make provision for Eternity 4. BE exhorted to make timely provision for that Eternity we must ere long enter upon By things Eternal spoken of in the Text we are chiefly to understand the unseen Eternal things in Heaven as appeareth by comparing this with the foregoing verse accordingly the thing I would exhort to is to secure these to our selves this is it which is so often called for in Scripture though under different expressions as Seeking first the Kingdom of God (d) Mat. 6. 33 20. John 6. 27. Luke 13. 24. Phil. 2. 12. 1 Tim. 6. 12 19. 2 Peter 1. 10. Laying up for our selves treasure in Heaven Labouring for that meâ—â— which endureth to everlasting life Striving to enter in â—t the Strait gate Working out our salvation Laying hold upon eternal life Laying up in store a good foundation against the time to come Giving diligence to make our calling and election sure All which and many like expressions tend to the same purpose and do all call upon us to practise that necessary dâ—ty I am now to speak to in speaking to which I shall first propound some Motives or Considerations to quicken us to it then by laying down some Directions shew how we may do it more succesfully For Motives take these 1. This is the one thing necessary the great thing we have to do (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if we do not this we do nothing those who mind only temporal things neglecting this are said to walk in a vain shew and disquiet themselves in vain (f) Psal 39. 6. To weave the Spiders web (g) Isa 59. 5. To labour for that that is not bread (h) Isa 55. 2. To labour for the wind (i) Eccles 5. 16. To labour in the fire and weary themselves for very vanity (k) Hab. 2. 13. That this is the main thing we have to do will appear upon this following account 1. It is the end for which God sent us into the world If a Philosopher (l) Anaxagoras Clazamenius being asked why he came into the world could say that I might contemplate Heaven Heaven is my Country my great care is for that much more should we Christians think so and accordingly answer the end of our coming hither it is a great deal of care we take about the things of this life what we shall eat and what we shall drink and wherewith we shall be cloathed and all this we may do our heavenly Father knoweth we have need of these things but what is all this to Eternity What is all this to the great end for which we come hither (m) Aulus Fulvius As He told his Son that he begat him not to Cataline but to his Country So God did not send us into the world to eat and drink and buy and sell c. but that we might serve him and save our own souls all other things are impertinent to that errand we came for A devout Pilgrim travelling to Jerusalem in his way passed thorow many Cities where though he saw many rare monuments and found courteous entertainment yet would say This is not Jerusalem this is not the end of my coming Amongst those many good things we have and other things we do we should still think with our selves this is nothing to Eternity this is not that we came into the world for