shall God judg the World He may as soon renounce his Nature and cease to be God for as such he is necessarily Judg of the World as violate his own Perfections in his judicial proceedings with us 4. God being invisible in his own Nature hath most wisely ordained the last Judgment of the World to be transacted by a visible Person because Men are to be judged and the whole process of Judgment with them will be for things done in the Body The Person appointed for this Great Work is Jesus Christ the Son of God united to the Humane Nature The Father judgeth no Man Not as if he descended from the Throne and devested himself of his Supremacy but not immediately but hath committed all Judgment to the Son And it follows As the Father hath Life in himself so hath he given to the Son to have Life in himself And hath given him Authority to execute Judgment also because he is the Son of Man that is in the quality of Mediator for the reward of his Sufferings The quality of this Office requires no less Person for the discharge of it than the Son of God 1. Upon the account of its superlative Dignity No mere Creature is capable of such a glorious Commission To pass a Sovereign Sentence upon Angels and Men is a Royalty reserv'd for God himself We read that no Man in Heaven or Earth was able to open the Sealed Book of his Eternal Counsels as unsearchable as deep only Jesus Christ who was in the Bosom of the Father the Seat of his Counsels and Compassions and was acquainted with all his Glorious Secrets could unfold the Order of the Divine Decrees about the Church And if no Creature was worthy to be admitted into God's Counsel much less to be taken into his Throne The Eternal Son the express Image of his Person is alone fit to be his authorised Representative in Judgment Our Saviour declares that the Father invested the Son with this Regal Power that all Men should honour the Son with the same religious Reverence and supreme Adoration as they honour the Father 2. Upon the account of the immense Difficulty no mere Creature is able to discharge it To judg the World includes two things 1. To pass a righteous and irrevocable Judgment upon Men for all Things done in this Life 2. The actual execution of the Sentence And for this no less than infinite Wisdom and infinite Power are necessary If a select number of Angels of the highest Order were deputed yet they could not manage the judicial Trial of one Man For besides the innumerable Acts and Omissions in one Life the Secrets of the Heart from whence the guilt or goodness of Moral Actions is principally derived are not open to them He alone that discerns all Things can require an account of all 3. The Son of Man is invested with this high Office as the Reward of his Sufferings We must distinguish between the essential and oeconomical Power of Christ. The Son of God considered in his Divine Nature has an original Power of Judgment equal with the Father but considered as Mediator has a Power by delegation In the quality of the Son of Man he is inferior in Dignity to the Father The Apostle declares this in that scale of Subordination of the Creatures to Believers and of Believers to Christ and of Christ to God All things are yours and you are Christ's and Christ is God's And observing the beautiful Order that arises from the superiority and dependance between Things he saith The Head of every Man is Christ and the Head of the Woman is the Man and the Head of Christ is God Now this Power by Commission was conferr'd upon him as the Reward of his Sufferings The Apostle expresly declares it that Christ being in the Form of God and without any usurpation truly equal to him in Divine Perfections and Majesty humbled himself and became obedient to the Death of the Cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a Name above every Name that at the Name of Jesus every Knee should bow of Things in Heaven and Things in Earth and Things under the Earth and that every Tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father His victorious Sufferings are the Titles to his Triumphs his being so ignominiously depress'd and condemn'd by Men is the just reason of his advancement to judg the World 5. There is a Day appointed wherein the Son of Man will appear in sensible Glory and exercise his judicial Power upon Angels and Men. He is now seated at the right Hand of the Majesty on High and the Celestial Spheres are under his Feet Universal Nature feels the power of his Scepter He reigns in the Hearts of the Saints by his Word and Spirit and restrains the Fury of his Enemies in what degrees he pleases but still his Servants are in distress and his rebellious Enemies insolently break his Laws and the Curtains of Heaven conceal his Glory from us therefore a Time is prefix'd when in the face of the World he will make an eternal difference by Rewards and Punishments between the Righteous and the Wicked and his Government shall have its compleat and glorious Issue This is stiled the Judgment of the Great Day 1. With respect to the appearance of the Judg. When the Law was given from Mount Sinai the Mountain was covered with Fire and the Voice of God as loud as Thunder proclaimed it from the midst of the Flames so that the whole Army of the Israelites was prostrate on the Plain struck with a sacred Horror and almost dead at the amazing Sights and Sounds From hence 't is said that in his right Hand was a fiery Law And if the Law-giver appear'd in such terrible Majesty at the proclaiming the Law how much more when he shall come to revenge the Transgressions of it 'T is set forth in Scripture in the most lofty and magnificent Expressions He shall come in his Father's Glory and his own Glory and the Glory of the Angels A devouring Fire shall go before him to consume all the Works of the Universe He shall descend from the highest Heavens glorious in the attendance of innumerable Angels but more in his own Majesty and sit on a radiant Throne high above all 2. 'T is great with respect to the appearance of those who are to be judg'd All the Apostate Angels and the universal Progeny of Adam The bowels of the Earth and the bottom of the Sea and all the Elements shall give up the Dead The mighty Angels the winged Ministers of Justice shall fly to all Parts and attach the Wicked to bring them as miserable Prisoners before that high Tribunal And those blessed powerful Spirits shall congregate the Righteous to present them at his right Hand 3. 'T is great with respect to what shall be then done He shall perform the most glorious and
your Sex and more truly Honourable than your Noble Descent and Alliance but direct my best Desires to God that your Family may be a singular and eminent Example of the Divine Favour that the fading Gloss of this World may not deceive you but your Heart may be above where your Treasure is that you may live to God and your Soul for Heaven and Eternity I am Madam Your Honour 's very humble and faithful Servant WILLIAM BATES The Bookseller's Advertisement THE Four Last Things Death and Judgment Heaven and Hell are Subjects of that great Importance and so nearly concerns all Persons that serious Discourses publish'd upon them deserve the Reader 's best Attention and Application And that they may be of more diffusive and general Benefit it will be a proper Means that according to the Examples of some pious Persons Books treating of those solemn Arguments BE GIVEN AT FUNERALS AS A FUNERAL-LEGACY When according to the observation of the wise Preacher The Living lay to Heart their own Frailty and are more receptive of Holy Counsels to prepare for their great Change from Time to Eternity and would affect their Minds with the present Instance of Mortality much better than Wine Sweatmeats Gloves or Rings or unprofitable Talk as is too usual at such Solemnities All serious practical Books are proper for this Design which may be of any Price or Bigness And if Bound in Black with a Cypher of Mortality will be very decent And some Memorables of the Life of the Deceased if desired may be printed on a Leaf or more and bound with it Several Books so bound may be seen at the Three Pigeons against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil B. A. OF DEATH HEB. 2.15 And deliver them who through fear of Death were all their Life-time subject to Bondage IN the first Chapter of this Epistle the Proofs of the Eternal Deity of Christ are produced with that evidence of Scripture-Light that only a vailed Heart obstinate Infidelity can resist The Medium which the inspired Pen-man makes use of is the comparing him with the Angels the most noble Flower of the Creation and shewing that he is infinitely dignified above them This he does by a strong connexion of Arguments First By his Title that is divinely high and peculiar to himself He is declared by the Testimony of the eternal Father to be his Son in the most proper and sublime sense begotten of him and therefore having the same essential Perfections of the Godhead in their uncreated Glory But the Angels are not dignified with this Name in any Places of Scripture where the Excellency of the Angels is in the fullest Terms expressed And that this Name is taken from his Nature is clearly proved because Adoration is due to him upon this account even from the Angels of the highest Order When he bringeth in the first-begotten into the World he saith And let all the Angels of God worship him Divine Worship is a Prerogative inseparably annex'd to the Deity both upon the account of the supream Excellencies of the Nature of God and his Relation to Angels and Men as Creator and Preserver the Fountain of their Being and Happiness This without the most open defiance of his Authority cannot be given to a meer Creature and by the Command of God himself is to be performed as a Respect due to the filial Godhead The Argument proceeds from the Name to the Offices Of the Angels he saith Who maketh his Angels Spirits and his Ministers a flame of Fire They are the prime Instruments of his Providence most zealous and active to accomplish his Pleasure But the Son is God not by Analogy and Deputation as Princes are nor with a limitation and diminution as Moses was made a God to Pharaoh but absolutely and really as subsisting in the Divine Nature And consequently he is the Supreme King and to him the Ensigns of Majesty divinely Royal are ascribed But unto the Son he saith Thy Throne O God is for ever and ever a Scepter of Righteousness is the Scepter of thy Kingdom Whereas the Scepters of Earthly Kings are often unrighteously manag'd and their Thrones ruinously fall There is a further Confirmation from his Works that are divinely great and glorious wherein no Creature has any share of Efficiency The making of the World is ascribed to him Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the Foundation of the Earth and the Heavens are the Works of thy Hands The Divine Attributes the peculiar Character of the Deity belong to him Eternity and Immutability The most solid parts of the visible Creation shall perish and be changed but thou remainest and art the same His Life is an intire uniform unchangeable Perfection His Glory and Felicity are in the same invariable Tenor for ever possess'd by him Lastly the Son sits in that quality at the right Hand of the Father in the Society of Empire as equal to him in Power and Honour commanding all in the visible and invisible World most easily and irresistibly tho gradually subduing his Enemies to a consummate Victory But the Angels so numerous and powerful are ministring Spirits employed for the defence and benefit of the Church From this summary account we may understand how firmly the Divinity of Christ is establish'd in the Scripture For those Passages of the Prophets that speak of the God of Israel as Creator and the sole Object of Adoration are directly referr'd to Jesus Christ. And the Name Jehovah the Majesty of which consists in its being incommunicable is attributed to him This is the Foundation upon which the whole Fabrick of the Gospel is built The Office of Mediator in the Prophetical Priestly and Regal Administration is necessarily join'd with the Divinity of his Person And the revelation of it from Heaven is as clear as the Sun is visible in the Firmament All the Difficulties in our conceiving this great Mystery of Godliness are but like the Shadows that attend the Light And all the heretical Subtilties to pervert the Sense of such plain and positive Texts are as impertinent as impious This being establish'd the Apostle proceeds to give an account of the Son of God's assuming the Humane Nature and submitting to Sufferings and Death This is a Divine Secret so miraculously strange that the Contrivance was without the Compass of the Angelical Minds and the discovery of it is only by supernatural Revelation but when revealed the account of it is so open and consentaneous to Reason as being the most congruous Means for the illustration of God's Glory in the saving lost Men that the humane Mind if not deeply corrupted with the tincture of Prejudice must consent to it as worthy of all Acceptation The substance of his reasoning is this That it was the product of the most wise merciful and righteous Counsel of God that the Saviour of Men should have Communion with them in their Nature that he might have a
is an happy means to render Death comfortable to us Sins of Ignorance and Infirmity of sudden Surreption and Surprize the best Men are not freed from in the present State and being the daily motive of our Grief and serious circumspection to prevent them are consistent with the regular Peace of Conscience and the Friendship and Favour of God But great Sins in their matter being so contrary to natural Conscience and supernatural Grace or Sins presumptuous in the manner of their commission such as proceed from the choice of the perverse Will against the inlightned Mind whatever the matter or kind of them be are direct Rebellion against God a despising of his Command and provoke his pure Eyes and make the aspect of Death fearful The Spirit seals our Pardon and Title to Heaven as the holy Spirit his Testimony that we are the Children of God and Heirs of Glory is concurrent with the renewed Conscience and distinguish'd from the ignorant Presumptions blind Conjectures and carnal Security of the Unholy As the sanctifying Spirit he distinguishes true Christians from the lost World appropriates them to God confirms their present Interest in the Promises of the Gospel and their future Hopes Briefly Grace is the most sensible effect and sign of God's special Favour the fruit of Election and the earnest of Glory and the Truth of Grace is most clearly and certainly made evident by the continual Efficacy of it in the Conversation The observation of our Hearts to suppress unholy Affections and of our Senses to prevent them a constant course of Holiness in our Lives though many Frailties will cleave to the best is usually rewarded with great Peace here God has establish'd a connexion between our Obedience and his Comforts Those that keep themselves pure from the Defilements of the World have the white Stone promised the bright Jewel of assurance of God's pardoning and rewarding Mercy We read of Enoch that he walk'd with God was a Star shining in a corrupt Age the tenour of his Life was holy and he was translated to Heaven without seeing Death Though this was an extraordinary Dispensation yet there is a peculiar Reward analogical to it for those who walk circumspectly they shall not see Death with its Terrors but usually have a holy Chearfulness a peaceful Joy in their passage through the dark Valley to Heaven But presumptuous Sins against external and internal Restraints the convincing Law of God and the Directions of Conscience to which even the Saints of God are liable here as appears by David's earnest Prayer to be preserved from them such Sins grieve the holy Spirit and wound our Spirits and if continued sequester us from the comfortable Priviledges of the Gospel and render us unfit for the Kingdom of Heaven And when they are retracted by Repentance yet there often remains a bitter Remembrance of them as deep Wounds though cur'd yet are felt in change of Weather And sometimes a Spring-tide of Doubts and Fears breaks into humble penitent Souls in the last Hours though Death brings them safely yet not comfortably to Heaven 3. The zealous Discharge of the Duties of our Place and Calling the Conjunction of our Resolutions and Endeavours to glorify God and do good according to our Abilities and Opportunities of Service sweetens the Thoughts of Death to us For the true End and Perfection of Life is the Glory of God and when with Fidelity it is employed in order to it Death brings us to the blessed Rest from our Labours Our Saviour when he was to leave the World address'd himself to his Father I have glorified thee on Earth I have finish'd the Work thou gavest me to do And now Father glorify me with thy self with the Glory which I had with thee before the World was A Christian that imitates and honours Christ and with Diligence perseveres in well-doing may with an humble Confidence in the Divine Mercy expect the promised Reward The Reflection upon a well-spent Life is joyn'd with a joyful Prospect of God's Favour and Acceptance above But to the careless and remiss to those who are wilfully negligent of their Duty how fearful is Death that summons them to give an account of their Talents to the Righteous Lord 4. A holy Indifference of Affection to present things makes it easy to part with them and Death less fearful to us David though a King declares he was a Stranger on Earth not only with respect to his transient Condition but his inward Disposition and that he was as a weaned Child from the admired Vanities of the World Chrysostom in a Letter to Ciriacus who was tenderly sensible of his Banishment wrote to him You now begin to lament my Banishment but I have done so for a long time for since I knew that Heaven was my Country I have esteemed the whole Earth a place of Exilement Constantinople from whence I am expell'd is as distant from Paradise as the Desert to which they send me But when our Affections are set upon external things and we are irregular in our Aims intemperate in our Use and immoderate in our Delights how sensible and cutting is the Division from them How bitter is Death that deprives a carnal Wretch of all the Materials of his frail Felicity What a Storm of Passions is raised to lose all his good things at once for 't is a Rule in Nature What is possess'd with transporting Joy is lost with excessive Sorrow As the Ivy that twines so closely about the Tree and is intimately fastned by so many Roots as there are Branches cannot be pluck'd away without rending the Bark with it so when the World that was as it were incarnated with the Heart is taken away the Heart it self is grievously rent by the violent Separation And the Infelicity of carnal and worldly Persons is heavily aggravated in that the Guilt in procuring or abusing those Treasures and Delights that they leave here with so great Sorrow will cleave to them and give Testimony against them before their Judg. But when the Affections are loose to the World and set upon Heaven our leaving the Earth is no Loss but Gain and our Separation from the Body of Flesh is with that Alacrity as the putting off a vile Garment to be clothed with a Royal Robe 'T was the wise Counsel of Tertullian to the Women of the first Ages of the Church not to value and love the Jewels and Ornaments of Gold that they might be more ready and resolved to obtain by Death Martyrdom and by Martyrdom Eternal Glory And that we may disentangle our Souls from those voluntary Bands that fasten us to present things we must have a sincere uncorrupted Judgment of their Meanness The Apostle exhorts Christians to Moderation in their Temper and Conversation with respect to the Business and Enjoyments here that they who have Wives be as though they had none that those that rejoice be as though they rejoiced not and they
consummate act of his Regal Office after a righteous Trial pronounce Judgment upon which the eternal Destiny of the World depends And immediately the Saints shall ascend with him to the everlasting Mansions of Glory and the Wicked shall be swallowed up in the fiery Gulph for ever To define the particular Time when this shall be accomplish'd is beyond the knowledg of the Angels of highest Dignity 'T is inter Arcana Imperii among the Secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven 'T is observable that God has revealed the Times precisely wherein some great Events should come to pass after how many Years the Israelites should be freed from Egyptian Bondage after what space of Time they should be restored from the Captivity of Babylon when the Messiah should die for the expiation of Sin but there is no designation by certain Characters of the particular Day nor Year nor Age in any Prophecy of our Saviour's coming to Judgment And of this an Account may be given The special End of those Predictions was that those who lived to see their accomplishment notwithstanding the seeming Impossibilities might believe the Truth and Power of God to fulfil the Revelation of his Purposes for the Time to come But at the last Day all the Promises and Threatnings will be fulfilled nothing will remain to be the Object of Faith and consequently it was superfluous to declare the certain Time since the exact accomplishment of it according to the Prediction will neither be useful to confirm Believers or convert Infidels Lastly The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most convincing and commanding Evidence of this Doctrine that he shall judg the World For he was charged with Blasphemy deserving of Death for this Testimony I say unto you hereafter shall you see the Son of Mand sitting on the right Hand of Power and coming in the Clouds of Heaven He dedicated Martyrdom in his own Sufferings Now God in raising him from the Dead confirmed the Truth of his Testimony by that visible Miracle and the belief of it converted the World to Christianity I will now proceed to illustrate and prove the main Point which is this That God will judg the World in Righteousness by Jesus Christ. The Mediator who shall be Judg in the Union of both Natures considered as the Son of God is essentially Holy and Righteous and considered as the Son of Man was holy harmless undefiled and separate from Sinners In him all Vertues shin'd in their absolute Purity and who is so worthy and qualified to reward Holiness and punish Wickedness as the holy One of God 'T is said of him Thou hast loved Righteousness and hated Iniquity therefore thy God hath anointed thee with Oil of gladness above thy Fellows Consecrated him to the Regal Office and enrich'd his humane Nature with Endowments suitable to it 'T was prophesied of him The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the Spirit of Wisdom and Vnderstanding the Spirit of Counsel and Might the Spirit of Knowledg and of the Fear of the Lord and shall make him of quick understanding in the Fear of the Lord and He shall not judg after the sight of his Eyes neither reprove after the hearing of his Ears But with Righteousness shall he judg the Poor and reprove with Equity Humane Judgments are often unrighteous from vicious Respects and Affections that pervert the Will or fair appearances that deceive the Understanding by Gifts or Guile Innocence is cast and Guilt acquitted but the Judg of the World is inflexible to Partiality and all things are entirely open to his sight In the Act of Judgment he is represented sitting on a white Throne the Emblem of unspotted Holiness The Righteousness of God's Judicial Proceedings will appear by considering three Things I. The Equity of his Law the Rule of the great and final Judgment II. The Evidence of the Facts and Matter which shall be produc'd as the Reason of the Judgment III. The Impartiality of the Sentence I. The Equity of the Law which shall be the Rule of the last Judgment This will appear by considering the Law of Nature and the Law of Faith in their Precepts and Penalties annex'd to enforce the Observation of them 1. The Law of Nature which is the Rule of Mans Duty will be the Rule of Judgment for without the Law there is no Transgression and consequently a Person is unaccountable for his Actions This Law is composed of such Rules as are most becoming the wise and gracious Creator to give and the reasonable Creature to receive and obey for they entirely agree and concenter in his Glory and the Good of his Subjects The Apostle adorns the Law with the most excellent Elogy 't is Holy Just and Good Holy as it enjoins all Acts of Piety to God the adoration of his Majesty resulting from his inexpressible Divine Perfections the imitation of his Purity a reliance on his Goodness a resignation to his most wise Providence and a dutiful obedience to his Will Such a sense of our dependance and subjection to God is the proper Character of the reasonable Creature as dignified above inanimate and mere sensitive Beings The Law is just as it directs us how to demean our selves in our various Relations Justice is the Cement of Societies without which they disband and fall into Confusion And the Sum of the Law is virtually comprized in one Rule to do to others as we would they should do to us than which nothing is more equal 'T is good to Man that keeps it commanding nothing but what is influential upon his Well-being here and for ever It does not infringe his true Freedom but allows him unstain'd Delights and enjoins what is proper to advance and secure his Dignity Felicity and Perfection It forbids every thing that defiles and debases him and causes a degeneration from his native Excellency If we prescind in our thoughts the sacred Authority of the Law-giver all the Precepts of the Law for their moral Goodness deserve our esteem and choice and entire observation The sanctified Mind approves them universally I esteem all thy Precepts concerning all things to be right saith holy David Nay in the Wicked there is an intellectual assent to the Goodness of the Law though the corrupt Will doth not embrace it there are some Inclinations and Wishes to obey it but controul'd by vicious Desires 'T is said of the convinced Sinner Thou knowest his Will and approvest the things that are more excellent It may be objected That the Law being pure and Man in a frail state surrounded with innumerable Temptations to require perfect Obedience from him and condemn him for his Failings seems hard The Law lays a restraint upon all the Senses and forbids all fleshly Lusts this may be easy to separate Souls but for Men to live in the Body as if they were out of it to be always vigilant against the insinuations or attacks of Sin is impossible
rectified and inlarged we shall understand that from Eternity God was sole existing but not solitary that the Godhead is not confus'd in Unity nor divided in number that there is a priority of Order but no superiority among the Sacred Persons but they are all equally possess'd of the same Divine Excellencies and the same Divine Empire and are the Object of the same Divine Adoration Our Saviour tells his Disciples In that Day ye shall know that I am in the Father that is by unity of Essence and as naturally and necessarily God as the Father This Promise immediately refers to the time of pouring forth the Holy Ghost upon them after the Resurrection of our Saviour but shall be fully accomplish'd in Heaven All things of a supernatural Order shall be reveal'd The great Mystery of Godliness God manifest in the Flesh the union of the high Perfections of the Divine Nature with the innocent Imperfections of the Humane Nature the contrivance of our Redemption wherein there is an harmonious concurrence and concord of the principal Attributes of the Deity that seem'd irreconcileable that product of the Divine Wisdom that is so ador'd by the Angels that astonishes and saves us shall be unfolded The Divine Counsels in governing the World the Designs the Ways the Orders and Operations of God's Providence shall be conspicuous In some Dispensations of God we discern the Eye in the top of his Scepter the Wisdom the Rectitude the equity of his Providence is so visible in the defence of the Innocent and his Justice and Power in the punishment of the Guilty that it may convince the Atheists who deny a Providence and causes all sincere Believers to admire and reverence it But there are other Dispensations the immediate Reasons of which are so conceal'd in the Bosom of God that only the Lamb with whose Blood the Elect to Glory are written in the Book of Life can reveal Why the Light of the Gospel was never visible to so many Kingdoms why many are called and few chosen the unsearchable Ways and incomprehensible Judgments of God which St. Paul in an extasy admires which 't is not lawful to inquire in here we shall then understand in such a manner that Light it self is not more clear How often are the People of God here in miserable Perplexities and say with the Prophets Verily thou art a God that hidest thy self O God of Israel the Saviour 'T is true a stedfast Faith in the Providence of God that all that he does and all that he permits and disposes is best will quiet their Passions and change the tempestuous Ocean into the pacifick-Sea but when they are admitted into the Council of State above and see the immediate Reasons of his Decrees what a heavenly Wonder what an exquisite Pleasure will fill their Minds when the original Fountains of Wisdom as clear as deep shall be open'd what sweet Satisfaction will be shed abroad in their Spirits They will see the Beauty of Providence in disposing temporal Evils in order to their eternal Felicity that as in a curious Picture the darkest Tinctures are so dispos'd as to give Life and Grace to the orient Colours So all the Afflictions of this State were but shadows or foiles to make their Faith and Love and Patience more resplendent and their Reward more excellent What our Saviour said to Peter is applicable to the impenetrable dispensations of Providence to us in our mortal State What I do thou knowest not now but shall know hereafter then the Arcana Imperii the Secrets of his Counsels shall be unsealed and we shall be able to expound the perplexing Riddle how out of the Eater came Meat and out of the Strong came Sweetness we shall understand that his over-ruling Providence is most eminently glorified in extracting Good out of Evil for we shall know as we are known 2. I will consider the blessed Effects of the Vision of God in Heaven upon the Saints Our Saviour tells us This is Life eternal to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent The beginning and introduction of our Felicity is by a lively Faith here the consummation of it is by present sight in Heaven From the Vision of his Glory there will be a resultance of his likeness imprest on us We shall be like him for we shall see him as he is All the Perfection and Happiness of the Saints is comprised in that Promise The Sun when the Sky is clear and serene forms its Image on a Cloud temper'd to receive it with that orient brightness that the Eye cannot distinguish between the Copy and the Original Thus the uncreated Sun by powerful emanations transforms the Soul into its likeness in that divine Degree of Holiness and Felicity as gloriously resembles God Moses by conversing with God in the Mount and seeing his back-parts return'd to the Israelites with such a radiancy in his Face that they could not look on it without a Vail What an impression of Glory is in the Saints who see his Perfections in their infinite lustre 'T is the priviledge of Christians in this Life above the Church under the Law They behold in the Gospel as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord and are chang'd into the same Image from Glory to Glory they become more Holy and Heavenly more purified and adorn'd with his Vertues and Graces Now if the Vision of Christ here in a Glass an eclipsing Medium be so influxive upon Believers what an illustrious and infallible efficacy has the immediate clear and permanent view of his Glory upon the Saints in Heaven That sight is productive and conservative of his Image in its purity and perfection for ever The Divine Presence affects the Saints with the most humble reverence and solemn veneration of God This is an eternal respect due from the intellectual Creature to the Creatour upon the account of his infinite and incommunicable Excellencies He is distinguish'd not only from Idols but from Creatures of the highest Order by his essential supreme and singular Name I AM. Every kind of Being every spark of Life every degree of Perfection is from his Efficiency and depends entirely upon his supporting Power The most eminent Qualities of the Creatures are but in show and appearance compar'd with the reality and stability of his glorious Nature In the Scripture Wisdom Holiness Goodness Power Truth Immortality are attributed to God with the exclusion of all Creatures from those Prerogatives they being his essential infinite and wise incomparable Perfections They are separable Qualities in the Creatures like the gilding and enamaling of baser Metal but in the Deity they are like substantial massy Gold There is a vast distance between created Beings but the Distance between a Fly or a Worm and an Angel is nothing to the distance between an Arch-angel and God there being no comparison between finite and infinite All Creatures equally vanish and disappear as nothing compar'd to
considered as an Affection of Friendship is always attended with two Desires to be assured of Reciprocal Love and to enjoy the Conversation of the Person beloved the testimony of his Esteem and Good-will This kind of Affection seems to be inconsistent with that infinite distance that is between God and the Creature But tho 't is disproportionable to the Divine Majesty 't is proportionable to his Goodness Accordingly our Saviour promises He that loves me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and manifest my self unto him And to confirm our belief of this astonishing Condescention repeats it If a Man love me my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our abode with him In the present state the signs of God's special Favour are exhibited to his Friends Now he bestows on them the honour of being his Sons the Graces and Comforts of his Spirit the precious Earnests of his Love and Seal of their Redemption But in eminency of degrees the Emanations of his Love and the Effects of his Beneficence are incomparably more glorious in Heaven Here the Saints are adopted there crown'd There he opens all the bright Treasures of his Wisdom the Riches of his Goodness the Beauties of his Holiness the Glories of his Power and by the intimate application of his Presence makes his Love most sensible to them Infinite Goodness excites and draws forth all the Powers of the Soul and fills the utmost Capacity and Expansion of the Spirit From hence perpetual Pleasure and Satisfaction springs O the pure Delights between God and glorified Souls God looks on them with an engaged Eye as his own by many dear Titles and is ravish'd with the Reflex of his own Excellencies shining in them As the Bridegroom rejoices over the Bride 't is the Language of Divine Love so their God rejoices over them The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty he will save he will rejoice over thee with joy he will rest in his love he will rejoice over thee with singing He is infinitely delighted in the communication of his Goodness to them And what a blessed Rest do they find in the compleat fruition of his Goodness All their Desires quietly expire in his Bosom What triumphs of Joy follow Can we frame a fuller Conception of Happiness than to be perfectly loved by the best and most blessed Being and perfectly to love him and to partake of the richest Emanations of his Loving-kindness that is far more valuable and desireable than Life it self How precious and joyful will the Presence of Christ be to the Saints 'T was his Prayer on Earth Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory When the Saints are received into the Everlasting Kingdom the first Object that draws their admiring regards is Christ on the Throne Inestimable Felicity whether we consider him as the Son of God in whose conspicuous Countenance all the Glory of his Father shines or as the Saviour of Men and the Head of the Elect upon a double account partly that he that loved us and wash'd us from our Sins in his Blood after suffering all Indignities and Cruelties for our sake has received the Reward of his meritorious Sufferings the triumph of his Victory being glorified with the Father with the Glory he had before the World was and partly because every Member shall be conform'd to him in Glory The sight of the Face of Moses when radiant had no transforming Efficacy for the Light of it was not in him as its Spring but by derivation But the Son of God is Light essentially and the sight of his Glory will transform us into his Likeness And how dear and joyful is the presence of the Saints to Christ He then sees of the travel of his Soul the fruit of his sharp Sufferings and bleeding Love and is satisfied How delightful is it to him to see all his Spiritual Progeny safely brought to Heaven and made partakers of his Glory and Joy in his everlasting Kingdom For according to the extent of the Object and dearness of the Affection Joy rises He will then present them to his Father with infinite complacency Behold here am I and the Children whom thou hast given me The dearest Affections of Christ and the Saints in Heaven are mutual and reflexive In the Sacred Song the expressions of Love Desire and Joy borrowed from the espousals of Solomon and his beloved Wife are as it were Characters in the Bark to be understood in a spiritual Sense of the Mystical Marriage of Christ and the Church What endearing entercourse is there between the most perfect Lover and his Spouse inspir'd with the same pure Flam Here amiable Perfections attract his Eye and Heart Thou art all fair my Love there is no spot in thee His propriety in the Church is his unvaluable Treasure My Vineyard which is mine is ever before me He repeats the word Mine in the sweetest and most tender manner And the Church with the same harmonious Affections speaks of Christ. She contemplates in a soft extasy his ever-satisfying Beauty My Beloved is the chiefest of ten thousand he is altogether lovely She breaks forth in triumph My Beloved is mine and I am his By all their expressions of joyful Love and Union we may ascend in our Thoughts what are the Joys of Heaven where the Communion of Christ and the Church is entire and uninterrupted for ever If Faith and Love of our unseen Saviour produce a Joy unspeakable and glorious as if Believers were wrap'd up to Paradise or Paradise descended into them what will the sight and fruition of him There is as great a difference in degrees between the Joy that flows from the assurance and application of Faith and the Joy from Vision and full Possession as between the impression of Joy the Forerunner of Christ felt when he sprang in the Womb at the coming of our Saviour and his ravishing Joy when he saw Christ and pointed him out to his Disciples Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the Sins of the World 3. The supream Joy of the Saints is for the Felicity and Glory of God himself For as the holy Soul feels no more powerful motive to love God than because he is most worthy of it as he is God a Being of infinite Excellencies and therefore to be loved above the dearest Persons and Things even it self so the highest Joy it partakes of is from this consideration that God is infinitely blessed and glorious For in this the supream desire of Love is accomplish'd that the most beloved Object is perfectly honour'd and pleased In Heaven the Love of the Saints to God is in its highest Perfection and they see his Glory in the most perfect manner which causes a transcendent Joy to them And this is one reason why the Saints tho shining with unequal degrees of
Glory are equally content For their most ardent Love being set on God that he is pleased to glorify himself by such various communications of his Goodness is full satisfaction to their Desires Besides in those different degrees of Glory every one is so content with his own that there is no possible desire of being but what he is 4. In Heaven the innumerable Company of Angels and the General Assembly of the Church of the First-born as they receive Happiness from the sight of God so they communicate the purest Pleasure to one another An unfeigned ardent Affection unites that pure Society Our Love is now kindled either from a relation in Nature or a civil Account or some visible Excellencies that render a Person worthy of our Choice and Friendship but in Heaven the Reasons are greater and the degrees of Love incomparably more fervent All Carnal Alliances and Respects cease in that supernatural State The Apostle tells us If I have known Christ after the Flesh I know him so no more By the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ he was transported into another World and had communion with him as an Heavenly King without low regards to the temporal Priviledg of conversing with him on Earth The spiritual Relation is more near and permanent than the strictest Band of Nature The Saints have all relation to the same Heavenly Father and to Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace and Head of that happy Fraternity The principal Motives of Love here are the inherent Excellencies of a Person Wisdom Holiness Goodness Fidelity are mighty Attractives and produce a more worthy Affection a more intimate confederacy of Souls than propinquity in Nature or any carnal respects Vertue is amiable in an old Person tho wrinkled and deformed Vice is hateful in a young Person tho beautiful There are clearer Eyes than those of Flesh a purer Light than what is sensible a diviner Beauty than what is Corporeal and a nobler Love than what is sensual David declares that all his delight was in the Excellent But there are allays of this Spiritual Love here For 1. There are Reliques of Frailty in the best Men on Earth some Blemishes that render them less amiable when discovered Here their Graces are mix'd with Infirmities and but ascending to Glory Accordingly our Love to them must be regular and serene not clouded with Error mistaking Defects for amiable Qualities But in Heaven the Image of God is compleat by the union of all the glorious Vertues requisite to its perfection Every Saint there exactly agrees with the first Exemplar a Divine Beauty shines in them ever durable a Beauty that darts no contagious Fire that is inviolable and can suffer no injury The Apostle tells us The Church shall be glorious in Holiness without spot or wrinkle or any thing that may cast an Aspect of deformity upon it 2. In the present state the least part of the Saints Worth is visible As the Earth is fruitful in Plants and Flowers but its Riches are in Mines of precious Metals and the Veins of Marble hidden in its Bosom True Grace appears in sensible Actions but its Glory is Within The sincerity of Aims the purity of Affections the impresses of the Spirit on the Heart the interior Beauties of Holiness are only seen by God Besides such is the humility of eminent Saints that the more they abound in spiritual Treasures the less they show As the heavenly Bodies when in nearest conjunction with the Sun and fullest of Light make the least appearance to our sight But all their Excellencies shall then be in view The Glory of God shall be revealed in them And how attractive is the Divine Likeness to an holy Eye How will it ravish the Saints to behold an immortal Loveliness shining in one another Their Love is reciprocal proportionable to the cause of it An equal constant Flame is preserv'd by pure Materials Every one is perfectly amiable and perfectly enamour'd with all How happy is that state of Love The Psalmist breaks out in a Rapture Behold how good and pleasant it is for Brethren to dwell together in Vnity Love is the Beauty and Strength of Societies the Pleasure of Life How excellent is the Joy of the Blessed when the Prayer of Christ shall be accomplished that they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us God is absolutely One in his glorious Nature and Will and therefore unalterably Happy And their inviolable Union in Love is a Ray of the Essential Unity between the Sacred Persons There are no Divisions of Heart and Tongues as in this Babel but the most perfect and sweetest Concord an Eternal Agreement in Tempers and Inclinations There are no envious Comparisons for Love that affectively transforms one into another causes the Glory of every Saint to redound to the Joy of all Every one takes his share in the Felicity of all and adds to it Such is the Power of that Celestial Fire wherein they all burn that it melts and mixes Souls in such an entire Union that by Complacence and an intimate Joy the Blessedness of all is as it were proper to every one as if every one were plac'd in the Hearts of all and all in the Heart of every one If in the Church of the First-born Christians in the earthly Jerusalem the Band of Charity was so strict that 't is said the Multitude of Believers were of one Heart and one Soul How much more intimate and inseparable is the Union of the Saints in Jerusalem above where every one loves another as himself 'T is recorded of Alexander that entring with Hephestion his Favorite into the Pavilion of the Mother of Darius then his Prisoner she bowed to the Favorite as having a greater appearance of Majesty thinking him to be Alexander But advised of her Error she humbly begg'd his Pardon To whom the generous King replied You did not err Mother this is also Alexander Such was their Affection that whoever was taken of them the other was taken in him the less ascending in the greater without degrading the greater in the less This is a Copy of the holy Love of the Blessed but with the same difference as between the Description of a Star with a Coal and its Beauty in its proper Aspect And where all is Love all is Delight The Act it self is its own Reward As that benign and pleasant Affection is enlarged with respect to the Object and its degrees such is the complacence and delight that results from it In that blessed Society there is a constant receiving and returning of Love and Joy And that double exercise of the Saints in the perfect circle of Love is like the pleasant labour of the Bees who all the day are flying to the Gardens and returning to their Hives and all their Art is in extracting the purest Spirits from fragrant Flowers and making sweet Honey O how do they
of God's Face and by the most attentive application always converses with that blessed Object so that the Joy of Heaven is never intermitted for a moment They always see and love and rejoice and praise him 'T is possible a carnal suspicion may arise in some as if the uniform perpetual vision of the same Glory might lose its perfect delightfulness For those who seek for happiness in the vanity of the Creatures are always desirous of change and have their Judgments so corrupted that while they languish with a secret desire after an unchangeable Good yet they conceive no Good as desireable that is not changed But to correct this gross errour of Fancy let us a little enquire into the causes of Dissatisfaction that make the constant fruition of the same thing here to be tedious Sensible things are of such a limited Goodness that not any of them can supply all our present wants so that 't is necessary to leave one for another And the most of them are Remedies of our diseased Appetites and if not temperately used are destructive Evils Eating and Drinking are to extinguish Hunger and Thirst but continued beyond just measure become nauseous Besides the Insufficiency of their Objects the Senses themselves cannot be satisfied all at once The Ear cannot attend to delightful Sounds and the Eye be intent on beautiful Colours at the same time The Satisfaction of one Sense defeats another of enjoying its proper good therefore the same Object is not constantly pleasant but the Heart is distemper'd from as many Causes as there are desires unaccomplish'd Add farther all things under the Sun afford only a superficial delight and miserably deceive the Expectations raised of them and many times there is a mixture of some evil in them that is more offensive than the good is delightful The Honey is attended with a Sting so that often those very things we sigh after through vehement desire when they are obtain'd we sigh for grief Now all these Causes of dissatisfaction cease in Heaven for there is an infinite variety in God and whatever is truly desirable is eminently enjoyed in him And in his Presence all the Powers of the Soul are drawn out in their most pleasant exercise and always enjoy their entire happiness The fruition of him exceeds our most raised hopes as much as he is more glorious in Himself than in any borrowed Representations God will be to us incomparably above what we can ask or think The compass of our thoughts the depth of our desires are imperfect measures of his Perfections And as he is a Pure Good in Himself so he is prevalent over all Evil. 'T is evident therefore that nothing can allay the Joys of Saints when they are in God's presence 2. Novelty is not requisite to ingratiate every Good and make it perfectly delightful God is infinitely happy to whom no Good was ever new 'T is indeed the Sauce that gives a delicious taste to inferior things For Men relish only what is eminent and the good things of this World are so truly mean that they are feign to borrow a shew of Greatness by comparison with a worse estate preceding But an infinite Good produces always the same pure equal compleat Joy because it arises from its intrinsick perfection that wants no Foil to commend it The Psalmist breaks forth Whom have I in Heaven but Thee This is no vanishing Rapture but a constant joyful height of Affection God the essential Happiness of the Saints is always perfectly lovely and delightful to them 3. The glorified Saints in every Period of their happy state have as lively a perception of it as in the beginning To make this evident we must consider that the pleasure of Novelty springs from a quick sense of the opposite terms between our condition in the want of some desired Good and after our obtaining it Now the Mind is more intense on the advantage and more strongly affected at first One newly freed from the torments of a sharp disease feels a greater pleasure than from a constant tenour of health Those who are rais'd from a low state to eminent Dignity are transported with their first change but in tract of time the remembrance of their mean condition is so weakned and spent that 't is like the shadow of a Dream and proportionably their Joy is lessened Honours like Perfumes by custom are less sensible to those that carry them But the Saints above always consider and feel the excellent difference between their suffering and triumphant state They never lose that ravishing part of felicity the vivid sense of past evils Their reflections are always as strong on the Misery from whence they were rais'd to the pitch of Happiness as in their first glorious Translation In what an Extasy of wonder and pleasure will they be from the fresh memory of what they were and the joyful sense of what they are I was says the admiring Soul poor blind and naked but O miraculous and happy Alteration I am full of Light enrich'd with the Treasures of Heaven adorn'd with Divine Glory I was under the tyrannous power of Satan but he is bruised under my feet I was sentenc'd to an everlasting separation from the Presence of God my only Life and Joy but now am possest of my supream Good O how transporting is the comparison of these wide and contrary extreams How beautiful and pleasant is the Day of Eternity after such a dark tempestuous Night How does the remembrance of such Evils produce a more lively and feeling fruition of such Happiness How strangely and mightily does Salvation with Eternal Glory affect the Soul This gives a spritely accent to their everlasting Hallelujahs This preserves an affectionate Heat in their Thanksgivings to their Victorious Deliverer And thus their Happiness is always the same and always new Their Pleasure is continued in its Perfection The number of Possessors cannot lessen their Felicity The Divine Presence is an unwasted Spring of Pleasure equally full and open to all and abundantly sufficient to satisfy the immensity of their Desires Envy reigns in this World because earthly things are so imperfect in their Nature and so peculiar in their Possession that they cannot suffice nor be enjoyed by all But in Heaven none is touch'd with that base low Passion for God contains all that is precious and desirable in the highest degrees of Perfection and all partake of his Universal Goodness without intercepting one another In the Kingdom of Heaven there is no cause for the Elder Brother to repine at the Father's Bounty to the Younger nor for the Younger to supplant the Elder to obtain the Birth-right The Heirs of God are all rais'd to Sovereign Glory and every one enjoys him as entirely and fully as if solely his Felicity God is a Good as indivisible as infinite and not diminished by the most liberal communications of Himself We may illustrate this by comparing the Price of our Redemption
of Paradise that Men should still seek for substantial Blessedness to fill the Soul in vain shows that can only feed the Eye is beyond all degrees of Folly Astonishing madness that God and Heaven should be despised in comparison of painted Trifles This adds the greatest contumely to their Impiety What powerful Charm obstructs their true judging of things What Spirit of Errour possesses them Alas Eternal things are unseen not of conspicuous moment and therefore in the carnal Ballance are esteemed light against temporal things present to the Sense It does not appear what we shall be The Vail of the visible Heavens covers the Sanctuary where JESUS our High-Priest is entred and stops the enquiring Eye But have we not assurance by the most infallible Principles of Faith that the Son of God came down from Heaven to live with us and die for us and that he rose again to confirm our Belief in his exceeding great and precious Promises concerning this Happiness in the Future State And do not the most evident Principles of Reason and universal Experience prove that this World cannot afford true Happiness to us How wretchedly do we forfeit the Prerogative of the reasonable Nature by neglecting our last and blessed End If the Mind be darkned that it does not see the amiable Excellencies of God and the Will be depraved that it does not feel their ravishing Power the Man ceases to be a Man and becomes like the Beasts that perish As a blind Eye is no longer an Eye being absolutely useless to that end for which it was made And though in this present state Men are stupid and unconcern'd yet hereafter their Misery will awaken them to discover what is that Supream Good wherein their Perfection and Felicity consists When their Folly shall be exposed before God Angels and Saints in what extream confusion will they appear before that glorious and immense Theatre Our Saviour told the unbelieving Jews There shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God and you your selves turn'd out They shall be tortur'd with the desire of Happiness without possible Satisfaction 'T is most just that those who err without excuse should repent without remedy 2. Let us be seriously excited to apply our selves with inflamed desires and our utmost diligence to obtain this unchangeable Happiness In order to this we shall consider the causes of it and the means whereby 't is obtain'd The Original moving Cause is the pure rich Mercy of God that prepared it for his People and prepares them for it The procuring Cause is the meritorious efficacy of Christ's Obedience and Sufferings This is expresly declared by the Apostle The wages of Sin is Death but the gift of God is eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. I. The designing the preparation and actual bestowing of the Heavenly Glory is from the Mercy of God This will appear by considering 1. That it is absolutely impossible that a meer Creature though perfect should deserve any thing from God For enjoying its being and powers of working from his Goodness the product of all is entirely due to him And the payment of a Debt acquires no Title to a Reward He is the Proprietary and Lord of all by Creation Hence 't is clear that in the order of distributive Justice nothing can be challenged from him 2. Besides such is the infinite Perfection of God in Himself that no benefit can redound to him by the Service of the Creature When you have done all say you are unprofitable Servants for we have done but what we ought to do The neglect of our duty justly exposes to punishment but the performance of it deserves no Reward because no advantage accrues to God by it Who hath first given unto him and it shall be recompensed to him again He challenges all Creatures even of the highest order To speak strictly therefore When God crowns the Angels with Glory he gives what is meerly his own and does not render what is theirs If he should leave them in their pure Nature or deprive them of their Being he were no loser nor injurious to them For what Law binds him to enrich them with Immortal Glory who are no ways profitable to him or to preserve that being they had from his unexcited Goodness No Creature can give to him therefore none can receive from him by way of valuable Consideration 3. There is no proportion between the best Works of Men and the excellency of the Reward much less an equivalence 'T was the just and humble acknowledgment of Jacob to God I am less than the least of all thy Mercies those that common Providence dispenses for the support and refreshment of this temporal Life But how much less than the glorious Excellencies of the supernatural Divine Life wherein the Saints reign with God for ever The most costly the most difficult and hazardous Services are equally nothing in point of Merit with the giving but a Cup of cold Water to a Disciple of Christ there being no correspondence in value between them and the Kingdom of Heaven The Apostle tells us I count the Sufferings of the present Life are not to be compar'd to the Glory that shall be revealed in us And suffering is more than doing God rewards his faithful Servants not according to the dignity of their Works but his own Liberality and Magnificence As Alexander having ordered fifty Talents of Gold to be given to a Gentleman in Poverty to supply his want and he surpris'd with that immense Bounty modestly said ten were enough He replied If fifty are too much for you to receive ten are too little for me to give therefore do you receive as Poor I will give as a King Thus God in the dispensing his Favours does not respect the meanness of our Persons or Services but gives to us as a God And the clearest Notion of the Deity is that he is a Being infinite in all Perfections therefore all-sufficient and most willing to make his Creatures compleatly happy 4. If a Creature perfectly Holy that never sinn'd is uncapable to merit any thing from God much less can those who are born in a sinful State and guilty of innumerable actual Transgressions pretend to deserve any Reward for their Works This were presumption inspir'd by prodigious Vanity For 1. By his most free Grace they are restored in conversion to that Spiritual Power by which they serve him The Chaos was not a deader Lump before the Spirit of God moved on the Face of the Waters than the best of Men were before the vital influences of the Spirit wrought upon them And for this they are so deeply obliged to God that if a thousand times more for his Glory were perform'd yet they cannot discharge what they owe. 2. The continuance and increase of the powerful supplies of Grace to the Saints who even since their holy calling by many
Life by the Promises of the Gospel 2. We must chuse Heaven as our supream Happiness and regard it as the main end of our Lives Man fell from his Duty and Felicity by preferring sensual Pleasure before the Favour of God and became guilty of the greatest Disobedience and Dishonour to his Maker and is restored by the holy change of his Will the setting his Affections on a pure Spiritual Blessedness This subliming the Will and turning its Love and Choice from the Creatures to God is the effect of Divine Grace and wrought in a rational way For Man is not moved as artificial Engines by force nor as Brutes from necessity their Faculties being determined by the outward application of Objects he is not drawn up to Heaven by such a natural impression as Steel by the Load-stone nor forc'd by a violent motion as a Stone ascends but as an understanding free Agent by the direction of the enlightned Mind and the consent of the Will an elective unconstrained Faculty And herein the Wisdom Goodness and Equity of God's Transactions with Man appears His Wisdom in that as he has ordered in the whole sphere of Nature that the active Powers of every Creature be drawn forth into exercise for their preservation and accordingly he is pleased to work in and by them so the Understanding and Will the Principles of Operation in Man are to deliberate and choose in order to his Happiness Otherwise the rational Faculties would be in vain His Goodness and Equity in that he sets before them Eternal Life as the Reward of Obedience God will be glorified by him as a Law-giver and a Benefactor and has ordained in the Gospel that all who chuse and diligently seek the Kingdom of Heaven shall infallibly obtain it and none be deprived of it but for their neglect The Decree of a final state of Misery though not in time yet is consequent in the order of causes to the obstinate reluctancy of Sinners against restoring Grace and the wilful forsaking their own Mercies Therefore God vindicates the Equity of his Proceedings with Men by their own Principles and with tender pity expostulates Why will ye die The corrupt Will declining from God and adhering to the Creature as its Happiness is the true cause of Man's ruin This will infinitely clear the Wisdom and Justice the Purity and Goodness of God from all Imputation The choice of Heaven for our Felicity is primarily to be determined for 't is from the prospect of it that all holy Counsels derive their Life and Vigour As in drawing the Picture of a Man the first work is to delineate the Head not only as the part that in dignity and eminence is above the rest but as it regulates the drawing of the other parts and gives a just proportion and correspondence between them without which the whole Figure becomes disordered and monstrous Thus in the moral consideration of Man that which is primarily to be considered is the Soul and its final Felicity as incomparably more excellent than the Body and its Pleasures for this will have a powerful influence upon the whole Life directing to avoid what is inconsistent and impertinent and to do what is conducive to it Now this being a matter of unspeakable importance I will First Shew what the regular Choice of Heaven includes as to its Qualities and Effects Secondly Direct how to make this Choice Thirdly Present some powerful Motives to excite us to it The Qualities of this Choice are three 1. It must be sincere and cordial 2. Early in our first and best Days 3. Firm and constant 1. It must be sincere and cordial The most essential and active Desire in humane Nature is to Happiness but there being two kinds of good Things presented to the Will that solicit the Affections the Pleasures of Sense and spiritual Joys from hence it is that that which makes Men happy is the Object of Election And although there is nothing more uniform and inviolable than the natural inclination to Happiness yet the great distinction of Mankind arises from this source the regular or perverse use of this Inclination the wise or mistaking choice of Happiness Now the sincerity of our Choice is discovered when 't is clear and entire arising from a transcendent esteem of the Favour and Enjoyment of God as our chief Good and absolutely requisite for us And from hence it is evident that the Choice of true Happiness necessarily includes the despising and rejecting of the false Happiness that stands in competition with it There cannot be two reigning Principles in the Soul for it cannot vigorously apply it self to two Objects at the same time Our Saviour has decided it No Man can serve two Masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or hold to the one and despise the other ye cannot serve God and Mammon The Masters are irreconcileable and their Commands are directly opposite It was as possible to place upon the same Altar the Ark of God and the Idol of the Philistins as that Heaven and the World should compound and take equal shares in our Affections Indeed if the Conceptions in the Mind are but faint and floating of the universal satisfying Goodness of the Object proposed to make us happy the Will remains in suspence but when 't is clearly and strongly represented the Heart is drawn entirely to embrace it Divine Grace by the illumination of the Understanding purifies and changes the depraved Will and heals the distempered Affections The wise Merchant that had a discerning Eye saw reason enough to part with all that he might gain the Pearl of Price the Grace and Glory of the Kingdom of Heaven The Apostle declares his resolute contempt of the concurrence of all the Prerogatives either the Law or the World could afford him that he might have an Interest in Christ the Reconciler and Restorer of Man to the Favour and Fellowship of God But what things were gain to me those I counted loss for Christ yea doubtless I count all things but loss for the Excellency of the Knowledg of Jesus Christ my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I might win Christ. The glorious Gospel is the brightest and most pleasant Light that ever shone upon the World a Revelation of the deepest Wisdom and most admirable Love wherein the Combination of God's holy and wonderful Counsels for our Salvation is unfolded and accordingly St. Paul with the greatest Life of Affection sets forth his value of it and by full and most vilifying Expressions rejects all things in comparison of it 2. The Sincerity of the Heavenly Choice is discovered by a zealous observance of the Means requisite in order to it Inanimate things incline to rest in their Centre the Rational intend and pursue it The blessed End when valued and respected according to its worth excites and directs the Affections and Endeavours in that order
Glory in the next World that we may reign with him The Means in order to this End are of two sorts Some conduct to it by themselves those are the good things desired in the third and fourth Petitions and some lead to it by accident and those are the freedom from Evils express'd in the last Petition The good things desired either have a direct influence upon our obtaining Happiness and they are summ'd up in our universal Obedience to God's Will express'd in the third Petition Let thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven or they are such as by way of subserviency promote our Happiness and those we pray for in the fourth Petition Give us this day our daily Bread And 't is observable there is but one Petition for Temporal Blessings and 't is the last in the order of those that concern good things And that single Petition is so restrained that 't is evident by its Tenour that earthly things are not absolutely good to be desired for themselves but relatively and subordinately to our eternal Good Daily Bread we must ask of our heavenly Father the necessary support of the present Life without which we cannot exercise our internal or external Powers and Faculties in his Service but not Delicacies and Abundance for the luxurious Appetite The difference of Conditions in the present World is very great as in Pharaoh's Dream some Ears of Corn were so full and weighty that they bended with their weight others so thin and blasted that they were as Stubble for the Fire Thus some abound in all Felicities possible in this Life others are chastened every Morning under various and continual Afflictions Now this infallible Principle being planted in the Heart that all present things are to be improved with respect to our future Happiness will moderate the Affections in Prosperity so to use the World that we may enjoy God and make us not only patient but pleased in Adversities as they are preparatory for Heaven The Original of all the Sins and Misery of Men is their perverse abuse of things by turning the Means into the End setting their Affections of Love Desire and Joy upon sensible things as their proper Happiness with inconsiderate neglect of the spiritual eternal state to which all other things should be subservient As if one diseased and sickly in a Forreign Country that could not possibly recover Health but in his Native Air in his return thither invited by the pleasantness of the way should take up his residence in it and never arrive to his own Country Among the West Indians some are reported to be so swift in running that no Horse can keep pace with them and they have a constant rule in their Diet to eat of no Beast or Bird or Fish that is slow in motion fancying it would transfuse a sluggishness in them The Christian Life is by the Apostle compar'd to a Race and earthly things by an inseparable property of Nature load and depress the Soul that it cannot with vigour run the Race set before it The Believer therefore who intends for the high price of his Calling and is true to his End will be temperate in all things Nay he will not only be circumspect lest they should check with his great Design but wisely manages them in subserviency to it St. Paul charges them that are rich in this World to do good to be rich in good Works ready to distribute willing to communicate laying in store for themselves a good Foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold of eternal Life And the fixed aim at Heaven as our Felicity will reconcile an afflicted state to us When temporal Evils are effectual means to promote our everlasting Happiness the amiableness and excellency of the End changes their Nature and makes those Calamities that in themselves are intolerable to become light and easy The Poor the Mourners the Persecuted are blessed now because theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven The Apostle tho under variety of sharp Troubles yet expresses his sense with that mitigation as but lightly touch'd with them as sorrowful but always rejoicing From hence he tells us that with unfainting courage he prosecuted his glorious End For our light Afflictions that are but for a moment work for us a far more exceeding weight of Glory This seriously believed and considered will make us understand the Harmony and Consent of the most discordant parts of God's Providence This will reconcile the severity and roughness of his Hand with the tender Compassions of his Heart towards his Servants This will dry up Rivers of unprofitable Tears that flow from the Afflicted and make the Cross of Christ a light burthen For their heaviest Afflictions are not only consistent with his Love but the Effects of it being influential upon their Happiness We are now toss'd upon the alternate Waves of Time but 't is that we may arrive at the Port the blessed Bosom of our Saviour and enjoy a peaceful Calm and so we shall be ever with the Lord. Words of infinite sweetness This is the Song of our Prosperity and the Charm of our Adversity Well might the Apostle add immediately after Therefore comfort one another with these Words 4. The sincere Choice of Heaven as our final Happiness will make us aspire to the greatest height of Holiness we are capable of in the present state For the End has always a powerful Vertue to transform a Man into its Likeness and Heaven is a state of perfect conformity to the Holy God This difference is observable between the Understanding and the Will in their Operations The Understanding in forming Conceptions of Things draws the Object to it self The Will is drawn by the Object to it chuses and is always fashioning and framing the Soul into an intire conformity to it Thus Carnal Objects when propounded as the End of a Man secretly imprint on him their Likeness his Thoughts Affections and whole Conversation is Carnal As the Psalmist speaks of the Worshippers of Idols they that make them are like unto them so is every one that trusteth in them whatever we adore and esteem we are changed into its Image Idolaters are as stupid and senseless as the Idols to which they pay Homage Thus when God is chosen as our supream Good and last End by conversing with him the Image of his glorious Holiness is derived on the Soul and it becomes Godly the Heart is drawn by his attractive Excellencies and the Life directed to him This being a Point of great importance I shall further prove and illustrate it There is no deliberating about the degrees of that which is loved for it self as our End More or less may respect the Means that are valued and used to obtain it but the Love of the End is vast and unlimited A Physician endeavours to recover his Patient to sound and perfect Health that being the End of his Art He that seeks for
the Executioners and the Instruments of Torment they were pale and trembling The Flesh seem'd to cry out O let this Cup pass from me yet weak and faint it followed the Spirit that corrected the natural desire with not my Will but thine be done As the Moon in Eclipse though obscure yet goes on in a regular course as when 't is full of Light by the reflection of the Sun So those desolate Martyrs though as it were forsaken and deprived of the bright Beams of Comfort yet persever'd in their Profession of the Truth When one Word to renounce Christianity would have saved them no Torments could force it from them but they patiently endured all Now in these the Combat of Nature was visible and the admirable Power of Grace They first overcame their own Fears the reluctancy of the carnal part their Affection to whatever is desirable in the World which is the noblest Victory and then the Cruelty of their Persecutors In them was verified the Testimony of the Spirit Here is the patience of the Saints Here are they that keep the Command of God and the Faith of Jesus But how many appear faithful while their Faith is not to be shewed by difficult Works and proved by Sufferings The Seed that fell on the stony Ground sprang up as hopeful as the Seed in the good Ground at first but when Tribulation came it wither'd away wanting the Root of Sincerity And that which was sown among Thorns was choak'd by the Cares and Pleasures of the World Some Lust in the Heart interweaves with the Affections and causes Apostacy How many from glorious Beginnings have made a lamentable End not only Mercenaries in Religion whose Zeal is a foreign Complexion not springing from an inward Principle of Life and Health relinquish even the profession of Godliness when their Gain ceases but some who have thought themselves sincere yet in times of danger their Resolutions like the morning Dew have suddenly vanish'd As the foolish Builder that computed not the Charges of his designed Work began to raise a magnificent Structure but unable to finish it laid the Foundation in his own Shame They repented their Choice of Heaven when they saw what it must cost them and would save the World with the loss of their Souls Others that began in the Spirit and with raised Affections set out in the ways of Godliness yet by the allurements of sensual Lusts and Temptations and therefore with greater Guilt leave their first Love and end in the Flesh. They fall from high Professions but received by soft Pleasures feel not the Fall These were never sincere and never had a Right to Heaven They took up sudden Resolutions not grounded in serious and deep Thoughts and for a Flash were hot and active but with great levity return to their former Lusts. The Apostle tells us of such it had been better for them they had not known the Way of Righteousness than to turn back and voluntarily to forsake it 'T is observed that boiling Water taken off from the Fire congeals more strongly than that which was never heated because the subtile Parts being evaporated by the Fire the more terrestrial Parts remaining are more capable of Cold. So those who have felt the Power of the Word in their Affections and afterwards lose that holy heat become more harden'd in their Sins God justly withdraws his Grace and the evil Spirit that was expell'd for a time returns with seven worse and aggravates his Tyranny To conclude Since the certainty of Salvation is conditional if we persevere in a holy State let us beware of a corrupt Confidence and a vicious Dejection of Spirit the trusting in our selves or distrusting God To prevent the trusting in our selves consider 1. The most excellent Creatures are by the instability of Nature liable to defection subject to a corruptive change Of this the fallen Angels are a dreadful Example who of their own motion untempted sinned in Heaven 2. The Danger is greater of falling away when they are urged and solicited by a violent or grateful Temptation Thus our first Parents fell and lost more Grace in an Hour than can be recovered by their Posterity in all Ages to the end of the World 3. When there is supervenient Corruption in the Creature that inclines them with earnest propensity to forbidden Things and takes Flame from every Spark the Danger is extream Like a besieged City that is in great hazard of taking by Assaults from without and Conspiracies from within Let us therefore be very watchful over our Hearts and Senses and keep as much as is possible at a safe distance from Temptations And be very diligent in the use of all holy Means to confirm and fortify our Resolutions for Heaven God promised to Hezekiah 15 Years but not to preserve his Life by Miracle he was obliged to repair the wastings of Nature by daily Food and to abstain from what was noxious and destructive to his Body The Apostle excites Christians to work out their own Salvation with fear and trembling for it is God that works in them to will and to do of his good Pleasure Let him that stands take heed lest he fall None are a more easy Conquest to the Tempter than those who presume upon their own Strength We should be always jealous of our selves from the sad Examples of Apostacy in every Age. St. Ambrose testifies from his own knowledg that many after the couragious enduring of cruel Torments for Religion the tearing open their Sides that their Bowels appeared and the burning of some parts of their Bodies yet when led forth to finish the Victory of Faith to be a triumphant Spectacle to Angels and Men when the blessed Rewarder was ready to put the Martyrs Crown on their Heads at the sight of their mourning Wives and Children in the way were overcome by Pity the weakest Affection and fail'd in the last act of Christian Fortitude We must pray to be strengthned with all Might according to his glorious Power unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness For some may vigorously resist one sort of Temptation and render themselves to others And if finally vanquish'd by one of those Enemies we lose our Victory and Crown And as Presumption betrays the Soul into the Devil's Snares so a vicious dejection of Spirit from a distrust of Relief from God in our Difficulties and his assistance with our unfeigned endeavours for Salvation is very pernicious For this damps Industry and causes either a total neglect or uncomfortable use of Means for that End Many Christians considering their Graces are weak their Nature fickle and apt to revolt are ready as David said One day I shall perish by the Hand of Saul to conclude sadly of the Issue of their Condition To encourage such let them consider that Perseverance is not only a Condition but a Privilege of the Covenant of Grace For that assures us of supply of spiritual Strength to the
on the Mind but solid Conversion is produc'd by deliberate Discourse by the due consideration and estimation of things 't is rational and perpetual 2. Consideration must be frequent to keep eternal Objects present and powerful upon us Such is the natural Levity and Inconstancy Sloth and Carnality of the Mind That the Notions of Heavenly Things quickly pass through but of Earthly abide there If a Stone be thrown upwards it remains no longer in the Air than the impression of the force by which it was thrown continues but if it falls on the Earth it rests there by Nature When the Soul is raised in contemplation to Heaven how apt is it to fall from that height and lose the esteem the lively Remembrance and Affections of Eternal Things But when the Thoughts are excited by the presence of what is pleasing to Sense the withdrawing the Object does not deface the Idea of it in the Memory nor lessen the Conceit nor cool the Desires of it because the Heart is naturally inclined to it Therefore 't is necessary every day to refresh and renew the conceptions of eternal Things that although they are not always in act yet the efficacy may be always felt in the Heart and Life The Soul habituated to such Thoughts will not easily yield to Temptations that surprise and overcome others that are Strangers in their Minds to the other World Nay the presence of Temptations as by Antiperistasis will reinforce the Resolutions for Heaven like the pouring Water upon Lime that revives a hidden Fire in it which seems a natural Miracle 'T is therefore of great advantage frequently to sequester our selves from the World to redeem Time from secular Affairs for the recollecting of our Thoughts and their solemn exercise upon the Eternal World Sense that reveals natural things darkens spiritual How can the Thoughts be fixt on invisible things so distant from Sense if always conversant with secular Objects that draw them down In the silence of the Night a small Voice is more distinctly heard and a little distant Light more clearly seen so when the Soul is withdrawn from the noisy throng of the World and outward things are darkned the Voice of Conscience is better heard and the Light of Heaven more perfectly received 3. Consideration of Eternal Things must be with present Application to the Soul 'T is not the meer conviction of the Mind but the decree of the Will that turns Men from Sin to Holiness from the Creatures to God The Heart is very deceitful and by variety of shifts and palliations is disposed to irresolutions and delays in spiritual Concernments How often does the miserable Sinner contend with himself and while Conscience urges him to seek the Kingdom of Heaven and the Affections draw down to the Earth the carnal part prevailing over the rational he overcomes and is overcome he is convinced and condemned by his own Mind Till Consideration issues in this that with setled Judgment and Affections the Soul determines for God and Heaven 't is without profit Therefore in the managing this Duty 't is our Wisdom not to be curious and inquisitive after subtile Conceptions and exalted Notions of the future State that little confer to the making the Heart better but to think seriously on what is plain and evident and most useful to produce a present lasting Change It were egregious Folly in a Man that for the use of his Garden should with great labour fetch Water from distant Fountains and neglect that which springs up in his own Ground That Meditation is profitable which produces not new Thoughts but holy and firm resolutions of obeying God in order to the full enjoying of him for ever To perswade us to the serious practice of this Duty there are many Enforcements Is any Man so foolish so regardless of his Convenience to purchase a House wherein he must live all his Days and will not first see whether it will be convenient and secure for his Habitation Shall we not then consider Heaven the Mansion of Blessedness and Hell the Seat of Misery and Horror for according as we chuse here we shall be in the one or other place for ever I shall in the fourth part of this Treatise endeavour to represent something of the inexpressible Misery of the Wicked hereafter and shew how congruous and powerful the Thoughts of it are to restrain Men from Sin but at present shall briefly excite to the Meditation of the Heavenly Glory as the most noble delightful and fruitful Work of the Soul whiles confin'd to the Body of Flesh. 'T is the most exalted Exercise of the Mind the purest converse with God the Flower of consecrated Reason 'T is most like the Life of glorified Spirits above who are in continual contemplation of the Divine Excellencies and 't is most raised above the Life of Carnal Men that are sunk into Sensuality and Brutishness 'T is the most joyful Life in that it sheds abroad in the Soul Delights that neither satiate nor corrupt nor weaken the Faculties as the Delights of Sense do but afford Perfection as well as Pleasure 'T is the most profitable Life As in those parts of the Earth where the Beams of the Sun are strongly reflected precious Metals and Jewels are produc'd wherein the refulgent resemblance of that bright Planet appears so the lively and vigorous Exercise of the Thoughts upon the heavenly Glory will produce heavenly Affections heavenly Discourses and a heavenly shining Conversation This will make us live like the blessed Society above imitating their Innocence and Purity their joyful entire and constant Obedience to God This confirms the Holy Soul in its Choice with an invincible efficacy against the Temptations and Lusts of the World The serious considering Believer is filled with ravishing Wonder of the Glory that shall be revealed and looks down with Contempt upon the Earth and all that has the Name of Felicity here All the Invitations nay Terrors of the World are as unable to check his pursuit of his blessed End as the Breath of an Infant to stop the high flight of an Eagle But how rare and disused a Duty is this How hardly are Men induc'd to set about it Business and Pleasures are powerful Diversions Some pretend Business as a just Cause but in vain for the one Thing necessary challenges our principal Thoughts and Care Besides there are intervals of Leisure and the Thoughts are always streaming and often run waste which directed aright would be very fruitful to the Soul The true Cause of this neglect is from the inward temper of Men. Carnal Pleasures alienate the Mind and make it unfit for the deep serious actings of the Thoughts upon Eternal Things I have said of Laughter Thou art mad it makes the Mind light and vain and desultory As a distracted Person by every motion of Fancy flies from one thing to another without Coherence The Heart fill'd with cloudy Cares and smoaky Fires with Thoughts and Desires
Reply to all the pittiful Shifts that are made use of to elude the plain meaning of the eternal Judgment that will pass upon the Wicked Shall mortal Man be more just than God shall a Man be more pure than his Maker The Reprobates have now some bold Advocates that plead those things for favour to them which they will not dare to plead for themselves at the last Day The Holy Judg will then cut off all their Excuses and reduce them to a defenceless silence before he cuts them off God will be justified in his Sentence and overcome when he is judgeth The Righteousness of the Proceedings at the last Day in determining the Wicked to a state of everlasting Torments has been consider'd in the Discourse of Judgment and will farther appear by the following Considerations 1. The Wisdom of God requires that the Punishment threatned in his Law as it must be so firmly decreed that all obstinate Rebels shall of necessity undergo it so it must incomparably exceed all temporal Evils to which Men may be exposed for their Obedience to the Divine Commands otherwise the Threatning would not be an effectual restraint from Sin For the propinquity of an Evil makes a strong impression upon the Mind and a present Fear makes a Person sollicitous to avoid the incursion of what is ready to seize on him without forecasting to prevent an Evil look'd on at a distance Therefore that the Sanction of the Divine Law may preserve the Precepts Inviolable that there may be a continual reverence of it and a fixed resolution in the Hearts of Men not to transgress the Penalty threatned must be in its own Nature so terrible that the fear of it may conquer the apprehension of all present Evils that can be inflicted to constrain us to sin Therefore our Saviour warns his Disciples Fear not them that can kill the Body make that part die that is mortal but fear him that after he has killed has power to cast into Hell yea I say unto you fear him Now if the threatning of an everlasting Hell through Infidelity and Inconsideration be not effectual in the Minds of Men to restrain them from Sin if temporary Torments in the next State were only threatned which are infinitely more easy and tolerable carnal Sinners would follow the swinge of their corrupt Appetites and commit Iniquity with greediness this would seem to reflect upon the Wisdom of the Lawgiver as if he were defective in not binding his Subjects firmly to their Duty and the Ends of Government would not be obtain'd 2. God as the Sovereign Ruler of the World has establish'd an inseparable Connexion between the Choice and Actions of Men here and their future Condition for ever The promised Reward of Obedience is so excellent and eternal that all the Allurements of the World vanish in comparison with it and there is such an infallible Assurance of this Reward in the Word of God that all and only those who sincerely obey his Commands shall enjoy it in the future State that a serious Believer who ponders things cannot be diverted from his Duty by present Temptations Besides by a Chain of Consequences sinful Pleasures are linked with eternal punishment threatned in the Divine Law and he that will enjoy forbidden Pleasures binds himself to suffer all the Pains annexed to them Now when God has from his excellent Goodness and undeserved Mercy assured Men of the Glory and Joys of Heaven that are unspeakable and eternal upon the gracious Terms of the Gospel and upon their despising it threatned Eternal Misery if Men obstinately neglect so great Salvation how reasonable is it they should inherit their own Choice There is no middle State in the next World no tolerable mediocrity but two contrary States yet alike in this that the Happiness and Misery are equally Eternal and 't is just that all who neglect eternal Life should suffer eternal Death for 't is the natural and necessary Consequence of their Option Therefore Sinners are charged with extream madness to wrong their own Souls and to love Death 3. It will appear how unqualified the Damned are for the least favour if we consider their continual hatred and Blasphemies of God The Seeds of this are in wicked obstinate Sinners here who are stiled haters of God but in the Damned this enmity is direct and explicit the Fever is heightned into a Frenzy the blessed God is the Object of their Curses and eternal Aversation Our Saviour tells us that in Hell there is weeping and gnashing of Teeth extream Sorrow and extream Fury Despair and Rage are the proper Passions of lost Souls For when the guilty Sufferers are so weak that they cannot by Patience endure their Torments nor by Strength resist the Power that inflicts them and are wicked and stubborn they are irritated by their Misery and foam out Blasphemies against the righteous Judg. If their Rage could extend to him and their Power were equal to their Desires they would dethrone the most High Hatred takes pleasure in Revenge either real or imaginary and although God is infinitely above the transports of their Fury and all their rancorous Imprecations are reflexively pernicious to themselves like Arrows shot against the Sun that fall down upon their Heads that shot them yet they are always venting their Malice against the just Power that torments them 'T is said of the Worshippers of the Beast that they gnawed their Tongues for Pain and blasphemed the God of Heaven because of their Pains The Torment and Blasphemies of those impenitent Idolaters are a true representation of the state of the Damned From hence it appears they are the proper Objects of revenging Justice How can we reasonably conceive that God in favour to the Reprobates should cross the established order of Creation For two Ranks of Beings were made the Material of perishing Principles the Spiritual of an immortal Duration And will God withdraw his Conservative Power of the guilty Soul in its Immortality and to put an end to its deserved Misery and self-tormenting Reflections annihilate it If a Criminal were justly condemn'd to a severe Punishment and should contumeliously and fiercely reproach the Prince by whose Authority he was condemn'd could it be expected there should be a mitigation of the Sentence And is it a Thought consistent with the reasonable Mind that the righteous Judg of the World will reverse or mitigate the Sentence against the Damned who blaspheme his Majesty and Justice and if they were as omnipotent to effect as they are malicious to desire would destroy his Being 'T is true the Divine Threatning does not bind God to a rigorous execution of it upon Sinners he has declar'd if Sinners will turn from their evil ways he will repent of the Evil he purpos'd to do unto them but when Threatnings are part of the Laws whereby Men are govern'd it is congruous to the Wisdom and Justice of the Law-giver to execute them
are glorified in that great and blessed Work In Octavo Considerations of the Existence of God and of the Immortality of the Soul with the Recompences of the Future State To which is now added The Divinity of the Christian Religion proved by the Evidence of Reason and Divine Revelation for the Cure of Infidelity the Hectick Evil of the Times In Octavo The Soveraign and Final Happiness of Man with the effectual Means to obtain it Also the Joys of Heaven and Torments of Hell are discoursed of In Octavo Several Sermons upon Death and Eternal Judgment In Octavo The Four Last Things Death and Judgment Heaven and Hell practically considered and applied in several Discourses In Octavo The Danger of Prosperity discovered in several Sermons upon Prov. 1.17 In Octavo The great Duty of Resignation in Times of Affliction c. In Octavo A Funeral Sermon preached upon the Death of the Reverend and Excellent Divine Dr. Thomas Manton who deceased October 18 1677. To which is now added the last publick Sermon Dr. Manton preached In Octavo The Sure Trial of Uprightness opened in several Sermons upon Psal. 18. v. 23. In Octavo A Description of the Blessed Place and State of the Saints above in a Discourse on John 14.2 Preached at the Funeral of Mr. Clarkson The Way to the highest Honour on John 12.26 Preached at the Funeral of Dr. Jacomb The speedy Coming of Christ to Judgment on Rev. 22.12 Preached at the Funeral of Mr. Benj. Ashurst ADVERTISEMENT NEwly printed The Holy Bible containing the Old Testament and the New With Annotations and Parallel Scriptures To which is annex'd The Harmony of the Gospels As also The Reduction of the Jewish Weights Coins and Measures to our English Standards And a Table of the Promises in Scripture By Samuel Clark Minister of the Gospel Printed in Folio of a very fair Letter the like never before in one Volume Printed for Brabazon Aylmer in Cornhill Ver. 4 5. Ver. 6. Deut. 6.13 10.20 Ver. 7. Ver. 8. Ver. 10. Ver. 13. Ver. 14. Psal. 97.9 Chap. 2.11 Psal. 78.49 Rom. 5.12 Anima volens perdidit vivere nolens ergo perdat vivificare Rom. 6.23 Hac lege intraverant ut exiirent Senec. Heb. 9.27 Eccles. 1.4 Gen. 2.17 1 Sam. 26.10 Psal. 89.4 Eccles. 8.8 Isa. 38. Isa. 38.11 Dies moritur in noctem tenebrisusquequaque sepelitur funestatur mundi honor omnis substantia denigratur sordent silent stupent cuncta ubique justitium est Tertul. de Resurrec Car. Talia agentem atque meditantem mors praevenit Sueton. Psal. 49.16 17. * As our Divine Poet expresses it The brags of Life are but a nine days wonder And after Death the Fumes that spring From private Bodies make as big a Thunder As those that rise from a huge King Herbert 2 Kings 9.37 Isa. 14.11 Heb. 9.27 Acts 24.25 Heb. 10.31 Praestat semel mori quam semper timere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 8.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Tim. 1.7 Eccles. 11.7 Prov. 29. Job 36.21 Rev. 21. Nullum malum sine effugio Senec. Timor fugam perdidit 1 Sam. 28. Dan. 5.1 2 3 4. Amos 6.3 4. Aelian 2 Cor. 5.11 Heb. 11. 1 Tim. 2.6 1 Pet. 1. 〈…〉 〈…〉 1 Cor. 15. Gal. 3. Isa. 53. Heb. 12. 1 Cor. 10.33 Rev. 2. 1 Thess. 4.14 Annon longe gloriosius fuit quandoquidem totum pro nobis agebatur ut non modo passio corporis sed etiam cordis affectio pro nobis faceret Et quos vivificabat mors nihilominus trepidatio robustos moestitia laetos taedium alacres turbatio quietos facecet desolatio consolatos Bern. Serm. 1. de S. Andr. Isa. 57.1 2. Luke 2. John 6.48 †Dies iste quem tu tanquam supremum reformidas aeterni natalis est Senec. Job 14.1 Tempus angustatur ad vitam dilatatur ad miseriam * Omnes homines aut sunt penitus caro nihil habent spiritus ii sunt infideles sine regeneratione Aut sunt tantum spiritus sine carne Ii sunt sancti qui jam in Coelo aeterna fruuntur pace sine pugna Aut sunt partim spiritus partim caro Ii sunt omnes renati per Spiritum Sanctum in Christo. Aug. cont Jul. 1 Cor. 13. 1 John 3. Rom. 8. ‖ Poterat autem Christus etiam hoc donare credentibus ut nec istius experiâ—entur corporis mortem sed si hoc fecisset carni quaedam foelicitas adderetur minueretur fidei fortitudo Quid enim magnum erat vivendo eos non mâ—â—i qui crederent se non morituros Quanto est majus quanto fortius quanto laudabilius ita credere ut se speret moriturus sine fine victurum Aug. de pecc Mort. Lib. 2. Exercitia nobis sunt non funera dant animo fortitudinis gloriam Contemptu mortis praeparant ad coronam Cypr. de Mortal * Nomen terrae in igni reliquit Tertul. Rom. 1.11 Acts 2.24 Rom. 4. Heb. 13. * Qui sibi ipse pulcherrimum medicamentum Celsus Ephes. 2.6 Exod. 10.26 Mat. 27.52 53. Phil. 3.1 Rom. 8.23 1 Cor. 15. 1 Cor. 15. Mark 9. †Foelices errore suo quos ille timorum Maximus haud urget leti metus inde ruendi In ferrrum mens prona viris animaeque capaces Mortis ignavum rediturae parcere vitae Lucan 1 John 5.12 Rom. 8.1 Revel 1 Cor. 15.22 1 Cor. 6.17 John 6.36 2 Kings 4.34 Gal. 2.20 John 15.26 Rom. 1.4 Rom. 8.9 Rom. 8.11 2 Cor. 5.17 Revel 1. Macti ingenio este Coeli interpretes rerumque naturae capaces Argumenti repertores quo Deos hominesque vinxistis Plin. lib. 2. * Foelix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas Atque metus mortis inexorabile fatum Subjecit pedibus Virgil. Acts 20.21 Heb. 6.1 2 Cor. 5.14 Athen. Heb 2.7 8. Quis enim satis explicet verbis quantum mali sit non obedire tanto potestatis imperio tanto tenenti supplicio Nemo ergo sibi promittat quod evangelium non promittit Aug. Jer. 13.16 Psal 78.34 36. Rom. 2. 1 Sam. 26.21 Prov. 1. Matth. 25. Male cum his agitur quibus necessitas incumbit belli morbi Vâ—g ‖ Quod alicui gratiosè conceditur trahi non debet ab aliis in exemplum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys. Vix dici potest quantos haec inanis spei umbra deceperit Aug. †Tull. Tully ‖ Miserrimum morbi genus in quo aeger siti aquae metu cruciatur quorum spes in angusto est Cels. John 17. Haec enim est infoelicitas hominum propter quae peccant Morientes hic dimittunt ipsa peccata secum portant Aug. Stemus expeditae ad omnem vim nihil habentes quod relinquere timeamus Retinacula ista sunt spei nostrae De cult Foem Josh. 3.16 Ad instar montis intumescentis apparebant procul 1 John 1.3 Heb. 11.1 2 Cor. 5.1 Epist.