innocence and designs of such a Person as the Son of God was ingaged in such Mediatorial Work and all pursuant to this great Design That Life and Immortallity might be intail'd upon us who our selves could not live till he himself had undergone and conquer'd Death Nor would he bring us to himself but under such advantages and upon such terms as should evidently and greatly minister to universal satisfaction and renown So black was that thick Cloud wherein this Sun of Righteousness did set and pass into his glorious State thus to prepare our way to himself in Heaven as that the sight thereof made his awakened Soul to tremble and to solicite God for help Mark 14.34 Heb. 5.8 9. Yet through this Cloud he wrought his Way to diffuse his Glory through the Heavenly Regions and to make the Hosts and the Inhabitants thereof the amazed Witnesses of his triumphant Grace and Faithfulness And thence to afford those Influences which should prepare us for and suit us to that State. Blessed is Heaven that Christ is in it and blessed are holy Hearts below that Christ in Heaven is theirs and for them Christ there inthron'd and imploy'd for us should loosen all our Hearts from all save what his Heart is upon His Work and Presence in that holy Place hath both its Voice and Force He speaks not now to us in roaring Thunder-claps from the burning Mount nor doth that Blood through which God brought him from the Dead and consecrated the High Priest of our Profession to his most noble Work within the Vail cry like the Blood of Abel for Revenges to fill our Hearts with Enmity or Anguish but it is an alluring grateful Whisper from betwixt the Cherubims of Grace and Glory a Call to Pisgah thence to behold Emanuel's Land that promised and expected State of Holiness and Joy hence therefore let us send our Hearts to Christ as a poor Widow's Mite only to acknowledg our Obligations to him and to testify how much we love our Lord and Head. And O thou Prince of Life and Glory thou Oracle of Truth the sealed Amen of all God's Promises and of our glorious Expectations thou Conqueror of Graves of Hearts and Hell whom to behold is our great Hope and Joy for without Thee the Prince of Life we cannot live and never look to know what it is indeed to live till we be got to Thee Lend us a Beam of Light to view thee by that every Look may melt our Hearts and make them shine and burn That thus our Admirations and Affections may bear some small proportion to their Object and more effectually secure us from losing Hearts below and throwing them away upon unworthy things We lose Affections in mistaken worth and thou get'st little else hereby but Slights and Stabs and all because we know not Thee the Lord of Glory How little is thy Love admir'd by us because we feel it not how little are we affected with thee because we have not seen thee how little do we bemoan our absence from thee because we are so little apprehensive of what thy glorious Presence so liberally produces and dispenses how easily are we courted and prevail'd upon to forget thee because we do so little think upon and are so little affected with thy Wounds below and thy Worth and Joys above Eyes have not seen Hearts cannot love O lift and help and warm and fix and conquer all O let our Hearts be made as fast and pure as Heaven Let preparations be compleat in Hearts as well as in those Mansions of eternal Glory with thy self which thou hast order'd and incourag'd us to expect O let not Grace and Love as large as Heaven be under our Feet any more but upon our Hearts Could ever Heaven be ours or found and valu'd by us as Heaven indeed without thy Sufferings Triumph Grace and Presence And can we think on Heaven indeed and yet forget the Throne of Majesty and Grace that is there and him that sits thereon acting pursuantly to this delightful Hope that we shall see him in his Meridian Glory and be with him for ever 10. Let nothing have or influence your Hearts below but that which suits the Heart of Christ above All must be like the Lord that are to live with him and he that hath this Hope in him must purify himself as Christ is pure 1 Joh. 3.2 3. Whatever Christ died to start below he lives above to propagate to vindicate and compleat He hath as true a Heart for Godliness now as ever and he was call'd the Holy Child after his Exaltation Acts 4.27 Christ's Heart is pure so are his Joys for they are the Joys of Holiness in its utmost luster vigour and extent You must be pure or Christ and you must part the Constitution of the heavenly State admits of no disorder His holy Soul abhors what seems to shake his Father's Throne He cannot bear it that a filthy Soul should stand before him for God's Name is in him Exod. 23.21 In that he lives he lives to God Rom. 6.10 He dy'd with Holiness upon his Heart and as a Martyr for it as well as to make an atonement for us 1 Pet. 2.22 23. With a pure Heart he went to Heaven and can you think that Purity can wast and rot when fac'd with the most immediate Visions of God and entertain'd with all things most expressive of God's complacency in it Surely God's greatest Favours must bear the clearest Characters and Signatures of his essential Purity and Holiness Hath Holiness lost its Interest in Heaven since Christ went thither Or hath Sin gotten ground by Christ's ascent to Glory O Sinners be no longer doting Fools and stupid Sots Lay by your Venom and cleanse your Hearts and Hands Jam. 4.8 1 Cor. 6.9 to 11. The Heart the Blood the Inheritance the Crown and Triumphs of our Lord are all engag'd to revive Holiness in the World Psal 130.4 Dote not upon deceitful Riches Christ is the Pearl of Price by whom you are to be inrich'd in every thing Let not the Mammon of Unrighteousness usurp the Throne of Christ the over-valued World is a perfect Enemy to Christ to Heaven and Heavenliness Be not perplexed nor over-charg'd with Cares be not intangl'd whilst you are allow'd to be imploy'd Take heed of Delilaes lest you lose your Locks and be bereav'd of your Christian Strength and Hopes Fear not the Frowns prize not the Smiles of Mortal Dust beyond Divine Allowance Christ hates Competitors Christ did it not below he loves it not above Be not buri'd alive in Sloth Rom. 12.11 there is nothing in Heaven but Life and Joy in full conformity to all the Laws and Purposes of that compleat Theocracy Diligence brings in rich Delights 't is Sloth that makes Hell so full and Heaven so empty Be not high-minded neither court nor cherish Self in any dress by Pride and Rage Haman's preferment made him but high enough to reach a Halter Learn
The earnest of the Spirit left and the earnest of Flesh carri'd up to Heaven a Pledg that all shall once be fetch'd up thither The Kingdom of God and Heaven possest in Christ makes all secure O then let Flesh and Hearts both rest in hope for Christ in Heaven will fetch us all to Heaven for there at God's right Hand stands Christ to plead and vindicate Act. 7.55 and there he sits to hear dispense and rule Heb. 1.3 13 14. And if he fail in both then may the lively Hopes 1 Pet. 1.3 of quickened Hearts Eph. 2.5 expire and die And if so then where is our Anchor sure and stedfast reaching to that within the Vail Was not the Heart of our ascending Lord and Head exceeding mindfull of his Friends and warm toward them Joh. 20.17 and cool'd it by the way Heb. 4.15 No surely all that are truly and firmly Christ's alway lie warm upon his Heart Let him be where he will though in the heights of all his Glory he is yet our High Priest Heb. 4.14 8.1 Our Life Col. 3.4 Our Head Eph. 1.22 23. Our Peace Eph. 2.14 Our Hope 1 Tim. 1.1 Our Lord 1. Cor. 1.2 Our Saviour Tit. 1.4 The Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls 1 Pet. 2.25 and our Advocate 1 John 2.1 And can Christ in Heaven statedly and avouchedly under such near and sure and dear Relations to us suffer our Hopes to fall surely his Exaltation puts no period to his Relation to us nor to those Bowels that are proper to it nor to those Expectations that are built upon it It 's true his Joys are high his Trust is great but it is as true that his Heart is commensurate with and answers both nor will his Kingdom please him without his Bride he will step once more from Heaven to fetch Her to Himself John 14.3 8. O what an Antidote is this Hope against the Snares and Fears of things below 2 Cor. 5.1 the Cross is heavy and Hearts are soon unfixed when Heaven and Christ therein and our determinate abode with him are not our lively Hope and stated Poize The Cross can make no breach while Christ in Heaven thus sets his Heart upon us and we have sent our Hearts intirely after him keep them there Rom. 8.34 35. Heb. 10.34 And Pleasures can do but little hurt whilst this great Hope relishes duly with us All the Delights of Pharaoh's Court could never reach the Heart of Moses When Christ and Heaven had got his Eye and fixt it Heb. 11.25 26. Hearts should be under their restraint in lawful Mirth and at enmity with sinful Mirth during the absence of their Lord Mat. 9.15 Mephibosheth grew careless of himself until his Lord returned in peace 2 Sam. 19.24 No joy but in his Master's presence And shall not Christ in Heaven correct and moderate our Joys in things below Groans to be stript of Earth and Flesh and to be gone to Christ in Heaven should be the deepest Groans And truly Sirs if Christ in Heaven have not your Hearts they will be prone to Surfeits or Distractions You either will be tunn'd with Wind or drunk with Vanity or wrack'd with Cares and Fears Hearts pitcht on Christ in Heaven know where to be full and welcom when things below have shew'd their best and done their worst They have a Glory that will pierce the darkest Cloud and reach the greatest Deep 2 Cor. 1.5 Their bitterest Herbs and sharpest Agonies may possibly be their entertainment at their last Passover but these their short-liv'd Sorrows are but to usher in and aggravate their Master's Joys Pleasures possest and kept by Christ for them and to be possest by them in his own immediate Presence must needs be great O Christians remember Heaven and Christ therein and what he is there preparing for you and fear neither Plots nor Strokes nor Rumors 1 Pet. 1.4 to 7. Mat. 5.10 to 12. Let your exalted Head and this your elevating Hope distil such influences upon your exercis'd Hearts as to make you valiant for your Prize exalted in your Aims triumphant in your Hopes and Sufferings and evermore insulting over the Cheats and Dangers that attend you He sells his Head and Hopes for thirty Pieces that is intangl'd with or unhing'd by any thing below this Head and Heritage and these things above Sure Christ in Heaven so evidently intent upon your being brought to live where he is wants neither Heart nor Worth nor Joys to make you know and to acknowledg that he is a Non-such Friend and though rough-handed Esau may be the first-born of your Entertainments here yet Jacob hath him by the Heel and shall supplant him Suffer and reign these are the terms of Life the Royal Law of Hope 2 Tim. 2.12 Ought not we as well as Christ to suffer and so to enter into Glory Luk. 24.26 with Rom. 8.17 Must not he follow Christ that designs to reach what he hath got John. 12.26 Heb. 12.2 What though the Way be foul and rugged What should discourage you in those Paths where every step you take is an advance toward Christ in Heaven Your Faith in Christ and Hope of Heaven are as the Dawnings of this Day to you and every look at Christ in Glory is as a Lift toward Heaven and as a Foretast of it A look at Christ in Glory bore up the Spirit of that Proto-martyr Stephen above the debasements which carnal Fears produce in others and would otherwise have brought him under 9. Why should not Things above make us remember and send our Hearts to Christ above had not Christ bought the Prize of Heaven Eph. 1.11 14. and made our way thereto Heb. 10.19 20. and peirced the Vail Heb. 9.8 and won and worn the Crown through his own Blood Heb. 1.3 our being with our Lord in Glory had been beyond our reach and hope 1 Pet. 1.3 4. An open Heaven for us cost Christ a wounded Heart He was poor to make us rich 2 Cor. 8.9 Our springs of Hopes and Joys came from this cloven Lehi if I may allude to Judg. 15.19 where the Spring that God clave was not in the Jaw-bone but in the place called Lehi because of the miraculous execution that was done by the Jaw-bone of an Ass 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Maxilla as Lehi siggnifies and should not Heaven in hopes inthrone our Lord in Heart 2 Cor. 5.14 It was this made the Apostle's Heart so warm and active Wherefore we labour c. Vers 9. Good-Will indeed toward Men when such good things were purchast for them Luk. 2.14 O then Christians if there be either Worth or Love Bowels or Bounty in that Heavenly State so aggravated by our there ever being with the Lord let all your Hearts be evermore for Christ He walk'd in the Valley of the Shadow of Death that you might fear no evil and felt the Pangs and Strokes of Death with all the loads and bitterness thereof consistent with the dignity
wherewith ye your selves are comforted of God 2 Cor. 1 3-5 And what now is it think you to comfort your selves herewith I will tell you as desiring labouring and hoping through your intreated Prayer for me and the supply of the Spirit to me thus to do It is 1. by close and solemn contemplation to represent this State unto your selves according to the Gospel-Scheme or Figure as great sure near and suited every way to make those happy who obtain it as yours by promise and in hope having been purchased and being now possest by Christ for you whose Spirit hath also sealed you thereunto and is your Pledg and Earnest of it and as of far greater consequence and concernment to you than all which you can meet with here can countervail And 2. it is pertinently and prudently to accommodate this your Encouragement and Support to every Exigence so as to make you calm and easy in your selves and sensibly and evidently pleased herewith whatever this your Hope may cost you here You must consider and apply it and regularly enforce it upon your exercised Souls and live upon it as your Food and Treasure and rest herein when little else but Toil and Sorrow here becomes your daily Entertainment But I have more largely handled this in my printed Sermon on Psal 42.11 in Dr. Anneslie's Morning Exercise and thither I refer you though ill printed 2. Comfort one another with these words Mal. 3.16 't is needful useful and delightful thus to do for God hath set this State thus characterised before us as our Directory to shew us what we are to be and do 1 John 3.2 3. as our Encouragement hereunto 1 Cor. 15.58 and as the Reward hereof Heb. 10 35-37 We are to give our Sentiments and Notions of this State and to represent it in its greatness each to other We are to confer about its certainty and so to shew and settle the reasons of our belief hereof to discourse the nearness of it lest otherwise the Midnight-Cry surprize us to talk about the Means and Evidence of our being entitled thereunto and of its suitableness to all our holy Principles and Instincts and to the Capacities and true Welfare of our Souls and of those great and glorious Purposes which it may subserve and to converse about the Snares which may be broken and of the Mischiefs which may be prevented by our lively Thoughts Belief and Hopes and Relishes of this blissful State and by our warm Discourse about it And we are to quicken one another to comparative Thoughts about it that is to consider it in its Transcendencies above all that rivals or opposes it Sometimes our Mouths or Palats have loste their tast and relish and then Discourse hereon must cure us and the great Excellencies of our Lord and of our abode with him for ever must be displayed afresh Sometimes our Hearts are out of hope and then Christ as our Advocate and Head in Heaven preparing all Things for our solemn meeting with him and as the Patron of this Hope may be the proper and fit Theme for Christian Conference about Sometimes our Minds and Thoughts are vagrant and like loose Garments rather hinder us than help us and then some warm discourse about this State may reduce our distracted Spirits to some advantageous composures Somtimes our Hearts are cold and careless and then some applicatory Conference about this heavenly State and Priviledg may make them burn again within us Sometimes the frame of Spirit and course of Life which is most congenial with this Lord and State is much neglected and we are degenerating into unchristian Principles Dispositions and Practices and then to speak of Christ in all those Glories where he and we must dwell together may recover us from our Decays and Lapses Sometimes our Devotions have not their proper Life and Spirit in them as Prayer Praise Thanks Sabbath-Solemnities and Sacramental Commemorations and Transactions c. and then right Words warmly delivered and enforced may make our Altars flame afresh And sometimes we are in the House of Mourning some sick some weak some dead and some twice dead all more or less lamenting the mournful State of Things Souls Persons c. and then for ever with the Lord closely discoursed may afford very great relief For Christ and all his Saints with him in Glory allays the bitterness of all such Cups makes all Conditions easy clears up the Brow and warms the Heart and adds new Life and Vigour to all our Winter and Summer-Graces Rom. 5.2 3. Jam. 1. 2-12 and fully reconciles us to all those Scenes of Sorrows and to Death it self through which we are to come to Christ Converse then more about this thing for no Salt like this to season Conversation with Col. 4.5 and nothing fitter to refresh the drooping Soul. And therefore Ye Beloved building up your selves and one another on your most holy Faith praying in the Holy Ghost keep your selves in the Love of God looking for the Mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto Eternal Life Jude 20 21. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God even our Father who hath loved us and given us everlasting Consolation and good Hope through Grace comfort your Hearts and establish you in every good Word and Work 2 Thess 2.16 17. And to him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his Glory with exceeding Joy To the only wise God our Saviour be Glory and Majesty Dominion and Power both now and ever Amen Jude 24 25. FINIS
Work of Faith Labour of Love and Patience of Hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God and our Father knowing your Election of God vers 3 4. It is not every one that is to be with Christ for ever The Subject must be suited to this State and Priviledg and that not by mere Miracle but by the fit improvements of those Means and Helps which God affords us for our preparation-work Means suited to their Ends are to be adhered to and used accordingly Nor can it be expected that God's Institutions will ordinarily be neglected by himself and that our neglect thereof should be to us as prosperous as our fit observation◠〈…〉 And yet mistake me not I do not say that outward Means and moral Swasions are all that Christian Converts are brought home by There is a powerful quickning Divine touch upon the Soul needful to make it throughly Christian and without this no Man becomes a real Christian And none can live with Christ for ever but he that is wrought and kept thereto by special Grace and Providence And excellent Persons must such be that are thus changed and kept for such a blissful State as this here in the Text The Apostle calls them the Children of the Light and Day 1 Thess v. 5. such as derive a new Nature from it 2 Cor. iii. 3 18. walk under the Government and Conduct of it Ephes v. 8. and are entitled to great Priviledges by it Acts xx 32. xxvi 18. John xii 35 36. Let me then close this Head with this 1. Consider who expresly are to be excluded and upon what accounts 1 Cor. vi 9 10. Galat. v. 19-21 Ephes v. 5. Mat. xxv 41-46 Rev. xxi 8 27. Hence then this We can take in no such Persons They that make nothing of discovering directive encouraging and transforming Gospel-Light that have not fetch'd their Principles therefrom and formed their Lives and Practices and Tempers thereunto nor made the greatest reckoning of these Privileges which are to be obtained thereby are no ways fitted and therefore not determined whilst such unto this blessed State. Consider 2. whom Christ expresly hath consigned and promised this Priviledg unto John xii 26. Luk. xii 31-37 xiv 26 27. xxii 28-30 2 Tim. ii 11 12. Luke xxi 36. 1 John iii. 1-3 Jude 20 21. 2 Pet. i. 5-11 iii. 14. 'T is not the Form but Power of Godliness that can entitle and adopt us to that State resolute Promoters of Christ's Interests patient Sufferers for it prudent Contrivers fruitful Walkers such as are observant of his Conduct obedient to his Laws submissive to his Providence and satisfied in and with his Care and Grace and that joyfully prepare and wait for his appearance and presence and duly represented him to themselves and others so as to value nothing like him no nor themselves but as in him and for him These are to be with him for ever see 2 Tim. iv 6-8 2. The State and Privilege whereto they are determined to be for ever with the Lord John xiv 2 3. Hence we are exhorted to seek those things above where Christ is Col. iii. 1. Hence Come ye Blessed and depart from me ye Cursed Mat. xxv 34 41. Present with the Lord 2 Cor. v. 8. They shall walk with me in White for they are worthy Rev. iii. 4. When Christ who is our Life shall appear then shall we also appear with him in Glory Col. iii. 4. When he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and admired at in all them that shall believe in that Day 2 Thess i. 10. Father I will that those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold the Glory which thou hast given me John xvii 24. Christ with his Father are the only Temple of that Blessed State where all the Favorites of Christ must be Rev. xxi 23. Christ is our Life in Heaven Col. iii. 3 4. Our Hope from Heaven Tit. ii 13. Phil. iii. 20. Our Plea for Heaven Heb. ix 15. Our Way to Heaven John xiv 6. Our Head and all in Heaven Ephes i. 20-23 We are to be with him who is the greatest Friend Isa ix 6 7. Heb. i. 2-14 iv 14-16 Rev. i. 5 18. Col. i. 15-19 ii 9 10. The dearest Friend Gal. ii 20. Ephes iii. 18 19. Tit. ii 14. His aim at this our Exaltation and Advancement his sharp and costly Agonies and Engagements to effect it and the delight he took therein prove this And the fastest and most faithful Friend in Isa xi 5. Heb. iii. 1 2. x. 23. xiii 8. But now what it is to be with Christ none yet fully know 1 Cor. xiii 9-12 Christ himself tells us We shall behold his Glory John xvii 22. Now what is Glory but the luster of discovered Excellency and Perfection And O the excellence of the Lord-Redeemer in his exalted State his Transfiguration amazed Beholders When he appeared to Saul he struck him blind the distant sight or glance which Stephen got imprest no ordinary Majesty and Glory on his Countenance But Christ acquaints us with his three-fold Glory wherein every Eye shall see him Luke ix 26. There is his personal Glory as to his humane Nature a glorious Body Spiritual Immortal incapable of Sufferings lively and of the nearest alliance and approach to Spirit and every way fitted to subserve the Function of his compleated Soul and like a Chrystal Mirror to have his inward Glory transmitted through it to all Spectators A glorious Soul exerting all its vigours in and through this Body wherein every Gesture Look and Motion and Expression shall shew the excellent Temper Furniture and Beauty of his Soul. O the Wisdom Majesty Holiness and Vivacity of his Soul which then will have their fullest Explications and Appearances And then the fulness of the Godhead which dwells bodily in him shall have such great and clear Discoveries and Effects as shall delightfully entertain his Favorites with great varieties of discoveries for evermore What emblemmatical Glory may attend his Person as the Symbol and Signal of the extraordinary presence of his Father with him and complacency in him I dare not guess at nor am I wise or good enough to know nor arrogant and bold enough to determine but sure I am the physical Changes and the judicial Process and Conclusions of that Day with the evident yieldings and submissions of the whole Frame of Nature to his Will and the effectual bowing of every Knee and the confession of every Tongue to him will deservedly bear the Character of the Father's Glory Phil. ii 9-11 And all this shall we behold to everlasting Satisfaction And we shall see his Glory further in all his Rectoral Excellencies The Constitution and Administration of his everlasting Kingdom will declare his Eminencies How much he is above them in Excellencies and Prerogatives How excellently he governs them with such extraordinary Light and Love suited so
in Heaven and there and such for ever signalized with the Name of God and of that perfected Corporation and of our glorified Redeemer Whether the Deity will or can be the Object of our immediate Vision I much doubt and am prompted so to do from 1 Tim. 1.17 6.16 I only say I doubt it much but I cannot judg my self infallible but when with Christ in Glory our Knowledg of God will be more clear than now and have more deep Impressions and livelier Influences upon the whole Man than now it hath We shall be like to Angels being the Children of God and of the Resurrection Luk. 20.36 for then the Privileges and Prerogatives of our adopted raised State will be in our actual and full Possession We shall be ever under the smiles of infinite Love and under the most invigorating Influences of the God of Life whose constant overshadowings of us shall draw forth all the vital Energies of our Faculties and perhaps of some Faculties which yet are latent in us as being fitter for the Felicities and Employments of the End than of the Way which yet I rather offer than assert and when exalted Faculties and Powers are placed amongst such glorious Objects in such vast multitudes and with such great variety when we converse and dwell with Angels so numerous excellent and endearing when we have such glorious Entertainments and Employments with and for the Lord Redeemer when we shall from himself receive immediately what he here promised and hath there prepared for us the Fruits and Harvest of all our Sufferings Labours Prayers and Hopes when all our Dangers Snares Fears Griefs and Maladies are gone when all Christ's Enemies and ours are underfoot when the Divine Life in its meridian Strength and Luster shews it self when all the Subjects of that State appear in their most accurate conformities unto their great Exemplar each one as Christ resembling the Children of a King as those in a far lower sense Judg. 8.18 Princes to look to as those Ezek. 23.15 Not after the manner of the Babylonians but after the manner of the Sons of God O what a State will this State be To close this Head He that hath a genuine Idea and right Notion of this State must represent it to himself as that wherein Nature is perfected as to Things and Persons and fix'd in that Perfection and Divine Government is compleated in all its Constitutions and Administrations and all the Priviledges thereof dispensed its Services perform'd exactly by all the Subjects thereof and the great Ends and Purposes thereof attained and answered to universal satisfaction and all this in the presence of the Lord upon his Throne encompassed with his Redeemed Ones who see his Glory bear his Image acknowledg his rich Grace and Love towards them and serve and glorify his Name for ever to his full satisfaction God taking great delight in them and they in him and owning his Son before them all as one that pleased his heart in bringing all these Sons to Glory whilst all these Morning Stars together sing their Hallelujahs with great harmony and chearfulness and shout for joy that God is all in all by Jesus Christ with them and that they can with so much order chearfulness and vigour serve and please him most entirely and delightfully with his own in that August Assembly for the presence of the Lord Redeemer there resembled loved and served by all the Inheritors Citizens and Subjects of that State with so much Wisdom Holiness and Vigour speaks Heaven indeed But let me not run too far 2. Comfort your selves and one another with these words 1 Thess 4.18 Think seriously upon 1 Pet. 1 3-9 Put on the Brest-plate of Faith and Love and for an Helmet the Hope of Salvation For God hath not appointed us to Wrath but to obtain Salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us that whether we wake or sleep we should live together with him Wherefore comfort your selves together and edify one another even as also ye do 1 Thess 5. 8-11 The word here rendred Comfort is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is indeed to play the Advocate as the Matter shall require To plead the Cause the Ground and Usefulness of this our glorious Expectation against discouraging and afflictive Providences as they are otherwise apt to dispirit or disturb us When we are prone to swoon or tire through the difficult Duties heavy Burthens smart Temptations strong Corruptions and intricating postures of Affairs below when we have little else in humane view but great Work and little Stength huge Perplexities and strange Intricacies in every Article of Concern manifold Enemies and Hindrances assaulting us continually and pressing most severely on us and very little help or hope in view O let us then our selves and quicken one another to repair unto this Hope as our best Refuge and our most sure and stedfast Anchor within the Vail whither our Prodromus or Forerunner is for us entred Heb. 6.18 Rom. 8.18 2 Cor. 4. 16-18 using it as our richest Cordial and urging it rationally and closely upon the Heart until we are brought to our delightful and absolute repose therein 1. Comfort your selves with those words and so begin at Home Rom. 5. 2. Phil. 3.3 For unless such grateful words come from the Speaker's Heart unto the Hearers from Principle to Principle they are not likely to have such invigorating Influences upon Souls nor to have such kindly Operations and Effects in Christian Conversation as the Case requires Vain talk about so great an Article of Hope is dreadful and it is no better as to him that speaks about it until his own Heart duly be affected with it Great Notions and high flights of Speech are but as swelling Words of Vanity to him whose Tongue is not attended and actuated with a transformed and thereupon concerned Soul. Nor can indeed the Speaker's End be right whilst his Heart is naught 2 Pet. 2.18 What God may do for the sake of Truth and with regard to his own Interest and Institution is one thing and what such an heartless Talker may expect is another thing And he that makes no reckoning of this blessed State and Hope himself will not be very much concerned how such things take with others unless as it may serve those lower Interests or popular Applauses which are so much eyed and idolized by himself But it is prophaness to the height to prostitute such a Sacred Ordinance as Christian Communion and such a glorious State and Hope as being ever with the Lord unto so mean and vile an End as ultimate selfishness O then make thorow work within and be what all must be that are to be for ever with the Lord. Your Directory in this Case you have in Tit. 2 11-14 2 Pet. 1 5-11 3 11-14 and when that is done then make this State your stated and occasional Consolation and Refreshment that so you may comfort one another with the Comforts