torment till it be put into its right place again and so the Man and Wife being at variance with God till they be set right there there will be nothing but disorder and quarrelling between them but that difference being compos'd their Conjugal state will be a state of Comfort and Happiness and in every respect a great and High Blessing Of Civil Society and Government Mankind being propagated and multiplyed by the means of that Divine Institution from hence arise in the first place Families which as Aristotle observes in his Politicks are the first Societies in Nature the Ground and Original the Nurseries and Seminaries of all the rest and from them larger Societies and Bodies Politick And from this mutual Combination and Fellowship who does not see the great good and benefit accruing to Mankind in general What inestimable Advantages spring from such an Union and Association 'T is certain by Nature we are all dependent and cannot live without the mutual Assistance of our fellow-creatures we must be beholding to others for things necessary without which our very Being cannot be preserved and therefore to supply those defects and imperfections which are in us living singly and solely by our selves we are even naturally induced to seek communion and fellowship with others And the Benefit of a Sociable Life sufficiently appears in that Nature has implanted in all Men a strong desire of it which shews it to be in all respects advantageous and profitable for otherwise such a desire had never been so universally engrafted in the Constitutions of Men. Civil Society does more content the Nature of Man than any kind of private solitary living because in Society the good of mutual participation is so much larger than otherwise Nor indeed are we satisfied with a Society bounded within the narrow limits of our Native Country but we covet to have a kind of Fellowship if possible with all Mankind Which thing Socrates intending to signifie professed himself a Citizen not of this or that Common-wealth but of the World And an effect of that desire in us to have universal Fellowship with all Men appears by the wonderful delight men have some to visit Foreign Countries some to discover Nations not heard of in former Ages and all of us to know the Affairs and Dealings of other People yea to be in League and Amity with them And does not Reason tell us that by this means Traffick is promoted and when many are confederated each may make other the more strong Is it not evident that by such Confederations and Compacts the general Good is advanced and the publick Tranquillity secured How is it possible for the Interest and Welfare of Mankind to be provided for without men's being link'd and united in such settled Societies where each Individual is obliged to study and to consult the Common Advantage and every Member to be serviceable to the good of the whole Body And therefore the confounding of Languages was rightly accounted a Curse to the Old World because thereby men were rendred incapable of mutual Commerce and debar'd the great Priviledges resulting from thence They became Barbarians to each other and lost the sweet Benefit of Society and Converse without which all Delights are insipid all Order is disturb'd and all Safety banish'd And as the Benefit and Necessity of such Communions and Politick Societies is great so consequently Laws for the maintenance of them must be equally necessary and beneficial the just power of making which Laws belongs properly to the same entire Societies which having gained a Publick Approbation do afterwards obtain an obliging force and become binding to every particular Member And without this Government and Discipline it is not conceivable how any Societies can consist for if when there was but one Family in the World no means of Instruction either Humane or Divine without positive Laws could prevent the effusion of Blood how is it possible now when Families are so multiplyed and increased on the Earth but that without Laws Envy Strife Contention and Violence must grow amongst them There is no impossibility indeed in Nature Man retaining his original Integrity but that Men might have liv'd without any publick Government but presupposing the Corruption and Sinfulness of Man and of his Off-spring it cannot be denied but that the Law of Nature doth now require of necessity some kind of Government so that to bring things to the first course they were in and utterly to take away all kind of publick Government in the World were apparently to overturn the whole World It must be acknowledged that Government is the effect of Sin but yet that does not in the least detract from its necessity or usefulness to Men. Those Laws of right Reason which in a State of Innocency had been sufficient to direct each particular Person in all his Affairs and Duties are not now sufficient nor able to serve since the Corruption of our Nature when Mens iniquity is so difficultly restrained within any tolerable bounds but do require the Addition of other Laws to which it has always been found needful to annex Rewards to allure unto Good and Punishments to deter from Evil. These are the Instruments which uphold the World in Order and keep it from running into a State of Confusion and Violence These are the Bridles which restrain the Exorbitant Passions of Men and contain them within due bounds and these alone secure us in the Possession of our just Rights which otherwise we might be depriv'd of by an unjust force without a possibility of Redress In a word without this Bulwark and Defence there would be nothing but grievances and wrongs injuries and endless discord The World would not be able to subsist nor we to live in it without daily Fears and Jealousies for whither would not the impetuous and turbulent Passions of Men drive them if they were at liberty to take their full career without controul or restraint What would not the Wickedness of Men attempt if all things might be committed with impunity 'T is therefore to Government that we owe the Possession of whatever is dear to us and for that reason we may deservedly account it a most unvaluable Blessing deriving it self from God the Author of all good Gifts without which we can have no secure enjoyment of any thing that is valuable but must be in continual fears of being dispossess'd of it by violent Aggressors who being more powerful will not dispute the Right or Equity of the Matter If the Irregularities and Vices of Men can hardly be curb'd by the most severe Sanctions and Penalties what would they not dare to enterprize if they were exempted from those Penalties and were wholly left to themselves to act as they please without fear of punishment What dismal consequences would this produce And therefore we can never sufficiently extol the inexpressible Benefits of publick Government and Laws nor yet that God who has graciously enabled us to find out and
here while he gives them time to do it and for neglecting his many calls both of mercy and chastisement and thereby making Hell to become their own choice 7. Is it possible O my Jesus that I have chosen that horrible place by choosing Sin and continuing in it Yes for God set before thee Life and Death Blessing and Cursing and left the Election to thy self Why then Lord if I have hitherto chosen Death and that accursed place by sinning grant I may get out of it before I go into it and that by repenting by forsaking my sins and by relieving thy poor Members I may gain thee to be my Saviour and at the last day be called to thee with those comfortable words Come ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepar'd for you from the Beginning of the World The Third WEEK Of the Company of the Damned and of their pain of Sense 1. IF that terrible Abode were only a wide empty space though sad obscure and afflictive to the Wicked yet without such ill Company it might be more tolerable But the fierce and cruel Inhabitants and their hateful Company is worse and more intolerable than the place it self None but Devils and damned Persons are the Neighbours of that infernal City The Devils that are busily inflicting Tortures and the damned most impatient in suffering them raging and blaspheming with incredible Fury Nothing is heard there but the noise of the Lash and the cry of those that feel it a sighing without comsort a groaning without ease an eternal Woe and alas an endless weeping wailing and gnashing of Teeth 2. Their Lamentations are Oaths Curses and Blasphemies they rage despair and they belch out Vengeance without Revenge and Wrath without Satisfaction O good Jesus The hearing of one Curse the hearing of one Blasphemy is sufficient to pierce a Heart and afflict a Soul What will it then be to hear so many horrid Curses and Blasphemies This may be reckoned the very Hell of Hell it self But alas Lord the Damned do not only hear and suffer them but also utter them and that is yet much worse and more to be abhorred Rather O Lord let me suffer a Hell without pains but without Sins and Blasphemies than a Hell of Sins and Blasphemies without any other pain 3. In that unhappy and calamitous City and among those wretched Citizens all their Peace is Discord all their Quiet War all their Comfort Anger all their Order is Division Disagreement and Confusion Imagine thou didst behold a City where the Inhabitants went up and down killing and burning one another with Swords and Fire-brands in their Hands here loud Complaints there louder Cries here Rage there Death and Desperation Such a place were peaceable and quiet in comparison of the Hatreds Fightings and Discords that are in Hell For those at last come to an end when the Inhabitants have made an end of one another But these instead of ending are always beginning a new The Sufferings of those have some measure and limitation but these have no degree below infinite nor any limit short of Eternity and finally the Companions Friends and Neighbours of that dismal Abode are only the Devils and the Damned most inveterately hating and abhorring themselves and one another 4. Think how the nice and delicate Person will be able to endure this surly boisterous Company who by being used to suffer nothing that can cross his tender Inclination is become too haughty and insolent to bear the Company of his own Family or so much as bear with patience the attendance of his Servants How will the proud scornful and dissolute Woman endure to see her self encompassed with Devils and with Souls as proud and imperious as her self who cannot endure the Company of that Husband which God has given her How will the tyrannical Governour be able to suffer so many Devils to be his Superiors and to tyrannize over him who cannot suffer his Inferiors though Loyal and Obedient to live quietly under him And how will the rebellious Subject be able to suffer so many infernal Princes to exercise over him the Empire of their cruel Wills who never can suffer one good just and moderate Sovereign ruling him according to the Laws 5. Oh if thou didst turn the Eyes of thy Consideration another way and didst see loose and sensual Persons instead of the delightful Embraces of their lustful Lovers embraced and inflamed by Vipers and fiery Basilikes and suffering unexpressible Torments without any remedy or comfort If thou didst see the Scornful the Proud the Haughty trampled upon by Devils dragg'd and despised by them and burning in unquenchible Fire If thou didst see the ambitious Grasping at the top of Flames and Smoak and for ever suffering the Thirst which that of their ambition kindled here in so short a Life If thou didst see the rich covetous Miser in eternal beggary and nakedness without any other plenty but of Fire Torment Anguish and Affliction If thou didst see the beautiful and lascivious Woman whose Sins and Vanities carry her to Hell there become ugly loathsome and abominable her Body parched with flames and her Soul racked with vexation and despair If thou didst see the debauched Clergy-man who instead of guiding Souls to Heaven by his Doctrine brings many to Hell by his evil Example tormented there in living Flames his holy Orders much increasing his punishment and what was here his Honour and his Ornament becoming there the greatest Aggravation of his Crimes If thou didst see the Glutton and the Drunkard the Epicure and the Libertine there hungry and thirsty lean and pale all their Delights reduced to Fire and Brimstone without one drop of Water to cool or quench their thirst and instead of their delicate meats to be now devoured themselves and gnawed for ever by the Worm of their own Consciences If thou didst see all this and heard'st so many sad Cries and woeful Lamentations so many Curses Blasphemies and Confusions If I say thou didst see hear and well consider all this Ah! how much more careful would'st thou be to see to hear and to live otherwise than thou hast done hitherto Therefore go down into Hell by consideration while thou livest that thou mayest not go down into it by condemnation when thou diest Look well upon it thus and behold it now to the end thou mayest not be thrown into it now by Meditation to the end thou mayest never see it any other way nor be there compelled to feel the weight of God's wrathful Indignation The Fourth WEEK Of the Duration and the Pain of Loss and of the Worm of Conscience 1. IS there any Evil in Hell greater than this Can there be any other greater Yes there is yet another greater and more cruel than all these and that is the Eternity of them 2. If these horrible Misfortunes Torments and Miseries were to last for a Hundred thousand Years or for a hundred Millions of Years and that then
right Justice of the Creator Consider how many Mischiefs are caused by a slackness in Legal Vindictive Commutative or Distributive Justice Consider the inequality of the World in disposing of Rewards Offices and Dignities Consider the wrong done in Suits by giving that Sentence for the Rich and Powerful which is due to the Poor and Necessitous Person Consider the false Clemency and Pity whereby ill Men are Pardon'd and the secure Tyranny whereby the good are Oppressed Consider the Disturbances that arise from the ill management of Laws and of Publick Resolutions All this disorder all this excess or defect omission and commission and all this perverting of Judgment proceeds from our swerving from that Eternal Rule of Internal and Superiour Justice which God imprinted in Natural Reason and which his Grace afterwards did more illustrate by his Holy Laws Counsels and Directions Tell me what Justice there can be in the heart of him who is unjust in himself and who is possessed with filthy Appetites and inordinate Passions That Justice which begins with so terrible an Injustice as to throw God out of the Possession of his heart how can it deserve the name of Justice Or how can that be so called which does not oblige a Man to do within himself as he desires that others should do without himself The first thing that a wicked and partial Judge does is to rob God by taking away his own Heart Understanding and Discourse from him and giving it to the common Enemy Now where is this Judge like to end that begins thus with playing the Thief He that robs God of that which is his what Robberies will he not commit upon Man 'T is manifest that his Justice will be but a tolerated and applauded Tyranny since he is to Judge and pass Sentence openly who is himself already Judged and Condemned secretly Partiality and Arbitrariness will sway his Sentence to free a Delinquent if he be his Friend and to condemn an Innocent if his Enemy He will prefer one that bribes and flatters him and reject another that neither presents nor honours him He will prefer his own Commodity Pleasure Profit or Will before the Publick Peace Quiet and Security In all his Actions he will measure the Publick Conveniency with his own and leave his neglect and carelesness to the Publick All his Diligence and Watchfulness shall be for himself but not the least part of either for God or the due performance of his Publick Employment Now wouldst thou do Justice and be Excellent in that Vertue Then first be just within thy self and then thou wilt not fail of doing Justice to others Settle and govern thy inward Common-wealth with Holiness Let God and Reason and the Rules thereof order that little World which thou hast within thee and then thou mayest come forth holy and just to govern the World without thee Is it not certain that if thy little World be disturbed confused and in disorder the great World will be so likewise as far as thou hast the Government of it If the Governour himself be naught how shall it go with the thing governed If a furious Storm have broken and carried away the Rudder what shall become of the poor Ship If thou and I when we are Superiours be the Rudder and Government of the People and if we will be ungoverned and destroyed by Vice how shall they be governed and preserved in Vertue Let us govern our selves first and then we may be fit to govern others Let us do Justice in our own Houses and then having given credit to it by that means it will enter powerfully and effectually into the Houses of others With what colour of Modesty can the Judge that is inwardly unjust act outwardly against a Criminal or a guilty Person finding himself more guilty than that Criminal Will not his Heart and his Conscience in every Action be condemning and lashing him for his own Injustice Will it not call out unto him with clear and loud cries and speak truth to his Soul in the midst of his falshood and deceit Saying Why dost thou condemn another O thou wicked Judge being thy self the most worthy of Condemnation Thou Hypocrite thou seest the smallest Mote in the Eye of another and dost thou not see the Beam in thine own Wilt thou guide and restrain and govern others being blind and loose and disorderly thy self Take away thine own Beam and then thou mayest see to take away the other's Mote Govern thy self and then thou mayest govern the People Amend thy self and then thou mayest amend them Corect thy self and then correct them First do Justice within thy self and then thou wilt likewise do it abroad Wouldst thou be just towards others Then rectifie thy self Cleanse the Affections of thy Soul and thou shalt see clearly Passions are as the Eye-lids of the Soul they close themselves upon it and take away all its light Lift up those Lids set aside those Passions and look up to God and thou shalt see and shine and burn and give light to others Of Fortitude The same thing thou findest concerning Justice thou wilt also find concerning Fortitude whose exterior practise depends totally upon the interiour This excellent Vertue is the Crown of the rest since it conserves strengthens and defends them all Fortitude in its Original is Valour in its Behaviour is Prudence in its Cause is Justice and in its Execution Temperance Since then that Fortitude is Valour Prudence Justice Temperance nay and Perseverance too how can it consist with the Vice Weakness and Inconstancy of a Man that governs not himself by Reason but is subjected and enslav'd by Passion He that is not strong in himself must needs be weak against others for he is wholly governed by his inordinate Passion which in itself is meer weakness and debility What dost thou think that Fortitude is Dost thou believe it is to conquer Provinces and to trample under foot Kingdoms and to tyrannize over the World This rather is a crowned Weakness a respected Violence and a publick Pest What matter is it for the Valiant Tyrant to present his Face to the Enemy if at the same time he turn his back to Vertue What matter is it though he defeat and conquer the Army he fights against if at the same time he be conquer'd and dragg'd in Triumph by his Passions That cannot be Vertue which is the cause of innumerable Crimes and is a Crime itself in its very root Alexander the Great subdued all the World but was the great and publick Thief of the World His Commanders punish one that steals a Thousand Ducats whilst he in one Year Robs and Usurps Thirty Kingdoms and that was a Crowned a Reverenced and an Adored Crime Julius Caesar who if he had possess'd himself of his Neighbour's Inheritance would have been banish'd from Rome Usurps and takes Possession of the whole Roman Empire destroying and cutting the Throats of innumerable Neighbours and Citizens and is ador'd
Christian and now no body can destroy thee but thou thy self and thou art told by the Word of Truth that the greatest outward Enemy the Devil will flie from thee if thou dost but resist him Thou canst not but be greatly chear'd with these Encouragements and much comforted by seriously considering what thou hast received in Baptism We Christians certainly ought never to lose the sight of that Benefit but still to reflect upon the greatness of it with thankful hearts Yet we ought not only to look upon what God hath done for us but also to think upon our part of this Covenant and to weigh the Duties we are oblig'd to by it Remember that thy God fathers and God-mothers when thou wert baptized did promise and vow in thy Name that thou shouldst forsake the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World and all the sinful Lusts of the Flesh as likewise that thou shouldst believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith contained in the Apostles Creed and finally that thou shouldst keep God's Holy Will and Commandments contain'd in the Decalogue and walk in the same all the days of thy life The Church appointed them to do this for thee as thy Sureties because at that time by reason of thy tender Age thou wert not able to make much less to perform these Promises but being come to Understanding thou art bound to take that Vow upon thy self and they may properly be called God-fathers and God-mothers because in the mean while it is their Duty to take care that their God-Children as they grow up may be taught what a Solemn Vow Promise and Profession they have made for them and to cause them to be instructed both in the Articles of the Creed and in the Ten Commandments Moreover if at any time they shall hear them speak or see them do any thing contrary to that Divine Law they ought to put them in mind that they promised and vowed the contrary in their Baptism But O! how little of this care is there in the World there is nothing more neglected or forgotten than this Duty of God-fathers yet I hope not generally I cannot have such hard thoughts for though I must needs confess it is too much slighted yet certainly there be many that have a due regard of it But since Children when they grow to Age are themselves bound to perform what was promised in their Names by their God-fathers and God-mothers They may in great part discharge themselves when they take care that their God-children be so well Instructed in the Christian Religion as to know the Duties that Vow engages them to and when being of years able to renew that Covenant and to take the charge of their Souls upon themselves they shall have perswaded them upon serious consideration so to do and have brought them to the Bishop to be Confirmed according to that Order which the Wisdom of the Church hath established appointing all the Members thereof to be so or at least to be ready and desirous to be so before they be admitted to the Holy Communion The Bishop by whose Ministry this Office is performed first causeth the Parties who are to be Confirmed to make an open Confession in the Publick Congregation that they do renew the Promise and Vow that was made in their Name at their Baptism ratifying and confirming the same in their own Persons and acknowledging themselves bound to believe and to do all those things which their God-fathers and God-mothers then undertook for them He also prays to God to strengthen them by the Holy Ghost the Comforter and daily to increase in them his manifold Gifts and Graces the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding the Spirit of Counsel and Ghostly Strength the Spirit of Knowledge and true Godliness and to fill them with the Spirit of his holy Fear for ever Lastly he lays his hand upon each Child and blesses him as our Saviour did upon those Children that were brought to him and concludes beseeching God to direct sanctifie and govern both their Hearts and Bodies in the ways of his Laws and in the works of his Commandments that through his mighty Protection both here and ever they may be preserved in Body and Soul through our Lord Jesus Christ Much are those Parents and Sureties to be blamed that omit to bring them to this Order of Confirmation it being a great benefit both to the Sureties in the discharge of their Obligation and to the Children who are duly fitted and prepared for it for they are thereby awakened to an early sense of Religion and to a future endeavour of performing their Duty in it When Young Plants are removed out of their Nurseries and set in the open Field it is necessary to fence them about with Stakes to hinder their being crop'd or trodden down by Beasts and it is no less necessary thus to confirm and strengthen new beginners in Christianity that they may be the better guarded at their coming into the open World against the dangerous approach of brutish Men. Such Branches as are so engrafted into the true Vine God doubtless vouchsafes to water with his Grace and though in weak measure at first yet if they continue to take firm Root he will not fail to make them thrive and bring forth good Fruit. Those gifts of the Spirit prayed for on their behalf will likewise through his Mercy increase till they become so many strong Bulwarks to defend their Souls against the Common Enemy within which they may stand safe to fight according to their Vow against the World the Flesh and the Devil Remember therefore always the Obligation that lies upon thee by that Vow We are engaged in our Childhood to that which we neglect when we are grown up whereas being grown up we should be careful to perform that which our Sureties promised for us when we were Children Keep then still in mind that thou art a listed Souldier forget not in what Army thou art enroll'd what Captain thou art to follow what Fidelity thou hast sworn to him and fight valiantly even to the death rather than suffer thy self to be overcome by the subtil Perswasions and Devices of his and thine own Enemies The Souldiers of this World for a very small hire keep Fidelity to their General they fight and die for him without any other bond or tye than that of some little piece of Money ill paid and yet they give their blood and daily venture their life for that Pay whereas we Christians the Souldiers of Jesus Christ listed under the Ensign of his Cross assisted by so many Benefits of Grace being Heirs and Co-heirs of Glory and having Heaven for our Pay do frequently desert our Colours like vile infamous Cowards and by sin treacherously fly over into the Enemies Camp The Souldiers of the World fight to defend their King or their General but here our General fights and gives his Blood and his Life for the
as strong and effectual as it was then Grace does not grow old but continues the same or rather increases Strive then fight and persevere for he that without Grace is but meer weakness may by it become a powerful Conquerour The Second WEEK Of the Glory of the Blessed THough the former Doctrine was sad and disconsolate I hope this last has chear'd and comforted thee We must still walk between hope and fear for the doubt of fear restrains us and the light of hope sets us forward To facilitate the way of the Spirit is good and sound Counsel and of possible performance for it is made easie by Grace and therefore a Christian ought not to be afraid of it but to facilitate Salvation and to make it consistent with a loose and licentious Life to make it attainable without seeking Heaven in good earnest without Repentance and Contrition through Grace and without conquering the Passions and banishing them from the Soul to make it easie I say to be sav'd that way is a most plain Fallacy and dangerous Deceit St. Paul tells us That through many tribulations we must enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and therefore the steps that lead to Glory are Tribulations And believe me even so it is purchased at a very cheap rate for all we can suffer in this Life full of Miseries is not worthy of the Glory that shall be revealed which he obtains who suffers willingly for God What can our Sufferings be in comparison of those Enjoyments How light are they all in respect of the eternal weight of Glory What an inexpressible Happiness must it be to see ones self admitted to be one of the Citizens of the Coelestial Jerusalem to see ones self in the ravishing Company of Saints and Angels to see ones self with the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs Confessors and Virgins to see all those Just and Holy Spirits singing Hymns and Praises to the Glory of God And yet all this is less though unspeakably great than to see the holy Humanity of our Lord that gracious Countenance those Divine Eyes whose brightness darkeneth the Sun and enlightens all the Creatures those Hands and Feet and that pierced Side from whence as Blood heretofore there now comes forth the Splendour of Glory the Stream of Grace the Joy and Comfort of all the Saints And still this is less than to see God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost Three Persons in One Essence the beginning and the end of all Creatures that ineffable Mystery which exceeds all created Understandings before whom all the Angels and Saints prostrate themselves in Adoration This is that which amazes the Pen and humbles the highest Meditations in contemplation whereof the most lofty Cherubims and Seraphims lose themselves not being able fully to comprehend it From this Fountain and Original of Divinity and Goodness proceed all the Felicities of those holy Citizens in that Triumphant Jerusalem from that Source of Joy and Delights flow all their Delights and Pleasures from that Infinite Omnipotent and Supream Essence which is Incomprehensible in all it's Attributes springs the Original Glory of the Blessed All their Power and Being arises from his Power and Being The sight of that Goodness that Wisdom and Charity is the cause of theirs From that Light proceeds their Light Only to see one of his Attributes whether his Goodness Justice or Mercy though 't is impossible to see any one of them without seeing the rest is enough to give inexpressible Glory to all the Creatures What a blessedness also is it to turn the Eyes upon the Order and Beauty of that whole Coelestial Court To see the Martyrs crown'd with Ensigns of their own Valour to see the Holy Confessors adorn'd with their Vertues to see the Virgins with their Palms and Crowns only to see the Order wherein they are rank'd and wherewith they Adore and Praise the Lord to see the Nine Quires of Angels with the Three admirable Hierarchies only to see the great number of beatified Souls and Spirits every one in his Place and Employment serving their Creator and the Author of all their Happiness with unspeakable Contentment What a wonderful and high Felicity is this Then what Peace what Contentment what Joy what Quiet what Sweetness what Union what Conformity what Ardent love of God and of his Creatures is there in that blessed City Finally wouldst thou see what Heaven is Look what all the Delights of this World are freed from any mixture of Disgust and thou shalt find that in respect of them they are but Pains and Torments Think what it is to hear the sweetest Voices to smell the sweetest Perfumes and to enjoy whatever can delight the rest of the Senses think of an Heart full of Joy and Contentment an Understanding with all the Powers of the Soul fill'd with all the Delights and Pleasures that this World can afford it is all but Sadness and Affliction Pain and Anguish in the highest degree in comparison of those Eternal Joys Wouldst thou know what Glory is Then consider who it is that gives it to the Saints Think how Infinite the Power of God is it 's his Power that gives that Glory Think how Infinite is his Wisdom 't is that Wisdom which gives that Glory Think how Infinite is his Goodness 't is that Goodness which gives that Glory If then an Infinite Power an Infinite Wisdom and an Infinite Goodness joyn together to give Glory what must that Glory be which is the effect of such a Power of such a Wisdom and of such a Goodness If God gives to every one of his Saints in his just proportion according to his Love his Power and his Wisdom what Riches shall he give who is infinitely Rich What Wisdom and Light shall he give who is Infinitely Wise And what Joy shall he give who is Infinitely Good and Happy If the necessitous Person measures his hopes by the Power and Hand of the Liberal what shall the Joy be that is given by an Infinite Power which is willing to give that which is Infinite Wouldst thou see what Joys those are which God will give to the Blessed in Heaven Think how great the Punishments are that are inflicted upon the Damned in Hell If those are so sharp and intolerable for the pain of them to the wicked how sweet and superabundant will be the Enjoyments of the good Though his Justice and his Mercy are Essentially equal yet in the effects his Mercy is greater than his Justice for he punishes in Hell less than Sinners deserve and rewards in Heaven more than the Saints deserve What Glory shall he give in Heaven who punisheth so terribly in Hell with everlasting Fire Wouldst thou see the Joys which he confers upon the Elect who serve him in this Life Think what he suffered for them and what he did to save them If he gave his Blood and Life upon the Cross for the bad as well as for the good