God against the damned when he sees his heavenly Father angry though it be not against him yet this must needs strike a reverential Fear and Aw into his Soul Now this reverential Fear will remain for ever The Fear of the Lord endureth for ever yea when the Children of God shall be made for ever happy in Heaven yet this Fear shall be then encreas'd and not at all diminished the more they see of the Power of the Wrath and Severity of God executed upon the damned the more they fear and reverence this powerful this Sin-revenging God and this kind of Fear is no prejudice to their full Assurance and Joy nor shall it be prejudicial to their compleat and perfect Happiness in Heaven Thirdly 3. Because of the desert of their Sins The consideration of the desert of Sin should cause a holy Fear of God even in those that are fully assured of his Love When a Child of God looks upon Sin and sees what Wrath and Torment he hath deserved by it tho' he be assured by the Testimony of the Spirit of God that he is pardoned yet it cannot but fright him to consider that he should deserve so great Condemnation As a Malefactor though he be pardoned yet if he be present at the Execution of his Fellow Offenders it must needs strike him with Fear and Horror that he should be guilty of the same Crimes that they are to suffer such sharp and cruel Punishments for What the Thief on the Cross said unto his Fellow Thief Dost thou not fear God seeing thou art in the same Condemnation The same may I say to Believers Do not your fear God seeing you deserve at least to be in the same Condemnation with those Wretches that lie frying and howling in Hell 4. Because in it self it is possible all this Wrath might have been their Portion Fourthly Another Ground of fear is that it is in it self possible that all this Wrath should be your Portion for ever even you who are most assured of Glory And is not this just cause of Fear if not of Expectation yet at least of Terror Indeed as God hath been graciously pleased to bind himself in a Covenant of Grace and Mercy to you so it is impossible that this Wrath should fall upon you but yet such a Supposition as this is is enough to cause Fear in the most assured Heart to think that if God had not engaged himself by Promise to deliver him from that Wrath what then would have been his Condition to all Eternity Would not such Thoughts as these are make you tremble Suppose a Man were fast chained to the top of some high Rock hanging over a bottomless Gulf though he knew and was assured that he should not fall into it being immoveably fasten'd there yet when he looks down that deep and dangerous Precipice and fees the Gulf foaming and raging under him will not a cold Fear drill through his Heart to think O! if I were not here fastned by a strong Chain to this immoveable Rock what would become of me Even so Believers you that are most assured to escape Hell this is your Condition you are fastned to the Rock of Ages by the unchangeable Promise of God that will ever hold you fast but yet every time you look down into the bottomless Gulf that is under you where thousands are swallowed up to all Eternity doth not such a Thought as this is fright you to think O! if I were not fastned to this immoveable Rock if God had not made an everlasting Covenant with me ordered in all things and sure I should also have been swallowed up with the rest of the World and have gone down quick into Hell Why alas we are all of us held over the Lake of Fire and Brimstone in the Hands of God some he holds in the left Hand of his common Providence and others of them he holds in the right Hand of his special Grace those whom he holds only in the Hands of his Providence he le ts fall and drop one after another into Hell where they are swallowed up and lost eternally those that he holds in the Hands of his Grace it is true it is impossible upon that Supposition that ever they should fall into Hell yet when they think O if we were not upheld yea how possible it was that they should not have been upheld this apprehension must needs strike them with Fear and Terror though not with a perplexing Doubtfulness concerning the safety of their Condition yet with a doubtful apprehension of the possibility of what would have been their Condition if God had held them over Hell only by the Hand of his common Providence 5. Because they escape very narrowly Fifthly Consider though you are assured that you shall escape this eternal Death yet it will be a narrow escape and that may cause Fear It will be an escape with very much Labour and Difficulty tho' you are held in the Hands of God yet he leads you along to Heaven by the Gates of Hell and this is sufficient to cause Fear Our way to Heaven is so strait the Rubs in it so many our Falls by them so frequent our Enemies so potent that though our assurance may make us not to fear but that in the end we shall escape Hell yet it will be high presumption for us not to fear how we may escape it The Apostle brings in the Salvation of the Elect themselves with a scarcely 1 Pet. 4.18 1 Pet. 4.18 If the Righteous scarcely be saved Why now this scarcely doth not imply that there is any uncertainty in the End but only it implies the great difficulty in the means of obtaining of it So then the End is certain that is a Believers Salvation from Hell and that is just cause of rejoycing but the Means are very difficult and laborious and that is just cause of Fear Well then briefly to apply it in one Word Though you are assured through Faith of the Pardon of your Sins yet tremble at the thought of that Wrath and Hell that you have escaped It is observed that those are the fixed Stars that tremble most So Christians who are fixed immoveably in the unchangeable love of God as Stars fixed to the Heavens in their Orbs yet they are most of all in Trepidation and Trembling when they reflect upon themselves and think that instead of being Stars in Heaven they might have been Firebrands in Hell Those to me are suspicious Professors that make a great blaze with their Joys in the apprehensions of their Right to Heaven but never tremble under the apprehensions of their Deserts of Hell What there is in the consideration of God as our God that may cause us to fear him Having shewed you upon what account God is to be feared as he is a consuming Fire in the next place I shall shew you what there is in the consideration of God as our God that
for assure your selves this troublesome Inmate shall not long disquiet you I might also add Fourthly 4. Saints in Heaven are free from Satans Temptations You shall then rest from your Labour in working against Satan's Temptations who is now buffeting of you while you are here upon Earth but in Heaven the evil One shall not approach near to touch you There you shall no more trouble your selves to know how to distinguish between the Injections of Satan and the Ebolitions of your own Corruptions for you shall know neither there you shall then stand no more upon your own Guard and keep Centinel to your own Soul nor conflict with any of Satan's Temptations but shall forever triumph in Victories and Conquests over them This is that blessed Rest that you shall shortly possess if you will but now Work And what is it that comforts the painful Labourer but this that tho' his Work be hard and difficult yet the Evening will soon shut in and he shall then betake himself to quiet Rest and Repose What is it that comforts the wearisome Traveller but this Every Step of his long Way brings him nearer to his Home where he shall enjoy a longer Rest And shall not the same incourage and support you in your Way and Work What though the Work be painful and laborious yet it will not be long before you shall lie down in the Bed of the Grave and sweetly sleep away a short Night of Oblivion that is between this and the Resurrection and your tired weary Souls shall then repose and nestle themselves in the warm Bosom of God himself What though the Way be long and tedious to the Flesh yet you are Travelling to your Father's House where you are sure to be welcome and where you shall enjoy an Eternity of Rest and Repose and shall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob and the whole Ring of glorious Saints discoursing to them of the Dangers and Difficulties that you have passed through in getting to them Doth it not sweeten the Toil and Pains that you take in your Youth to think that thereby you are laying up that whereupon you may live at Ease hereafter and spare the weakness of old Age And is it not much more Rational that while you are in this World which may be called the Youth of Eternity you should lay up a good Foundation and treasure up a large rich Stock upon which you might live at Ease for ever Why should you not be as wise and politick for Heaven as for a little of the perishing Things of this World Will you Labour that you may Rest here where your Rest shall certainly be disquieted and you shook out of it and will you not labour that you may Rest in Heaven where alone you can enjoy an everlasting Rest I know it is that inveterate prejudice that Men have taken up against the Ways of God that they are painful and laborious and this invalidates all Reasons and Arguments that we bring them to persuade them to work Rest that is it they would have and though God tells them they shall have an Eternal Rest if they will but work a while and tells them on the other Hand that they shall never enter into Rest if they do not work that they shall never enjoy more Ease than what they can find in Hell it self where their Groans and Bellowings together with the Smoak of that bottomless Pit shall ascend up for ever yet such is the madness of Mens Folly that neither the Rest of Heaven nor the Restlessness of Hell can stir or move them but they roll themselves up in their own Sloth and will hear nothing nor lay any thing to Heart that may rouze or awaken them Hath not God often called upon them by his Ministers Sinners Sinners awake bestir your selves Hell-fire is kindling about you God is ready to open his Mouth to pronounce Sentence against you Satan is ready to lay hold of you and to drag you to be tormented One would think such Execrations as these are should awaken the Carkasses that you set over were they not in their final state and yet with you whose Souls are yet in their Bodies but know not how soon they may be in Hell who among you are moved with all that hath or can be said of this Matter nay are you not like sleepy Men when jogged ready to grow pettish and to quarrel with us Why do you molest us Why do you envy us our Rest Why do you disturb our Peace and will not let us alone Shall I say to you now as once our Saviour said to his Disciples Luke 21.40 Sleep on and take your Rest sleep on and nod your selves into Destruction sleep on and never wake more till the Flames of Hell awaken you Truly we come not to disturb your Rest but we come to inform and guide you to a better Rest than what you can find here even an eternal Rest a Rest with him that is immortal a Rest with him who alone is unchangeable and is not this Rest worth a little Pains and Strugling to obtain Do you think you are always to believe and to repent always to obey and mortifie your Corruptions You cannot think so unless you think you are always to live in this World No there is a Rest remains for the People of God after a few short Days be gone It is not therefore your Ease that you seek when you will not work no it is rather your Pain and eternal Torment which shall certainly then be given unto all slothful Persons when the industrious and painful Christian that labours and works for Salvation shall be admitted into the Eternal Rest that he is aspiring after and hath already embraced in his Hope and Faith 4. In Heaven there is an eternal Work Fourthly Consider As in Heaven there is an eternal Rest so also in Heaven there is an eternal Work to be done And therefore you should inure your selves to that Work while you are here upon Earth If Happiness according to the Philosophers Notion consists in Operation then in Heaven where there is the most perfect Happiness there must needs be the most perfect Operation And therefore whatever hath been spoken of Rest that remains yet you are not so to conceive of it as possibly some gross enough are apt to wish and fancy to themselves as if in Heaven the blessed were unactive and enjoyed there only a long Vacation and only stretched themselves on that Flowery Bank and so void of Cares and Fears lull'd away an Eternity No these are too low and bruitish Apprehensions for the Glory of that Place That Rest that is there to be expected and enjoyed is operative working Rest it is both Rest and Exercise at once and therefore it is a true Paradox though the Saints in Heaven rest from their Labours yet they never rest from their Working continually are they blessing and praising of God Ascribing Glory
6.24 29. How they should do to work the Works of God Our Lord tells them This is the Work of God that you believe on him whom he hath sent Nay further as a Faith of Adherence or Acceptance gives a Right and Title to Salvation so a Faith of full Assurance is this Salvation it self Heb. 11.1 For Faith is the substance of Things hoped for the Evidence of Things not seen In its justifying Act it gives a Title to Salvation in its assuring Act it gives the substance of the Thing it self for it is much at one to a strong Faith to believe Heaven and to enjoy it Secondly Faith doth compendiously further and promote the working out of our Salvation in actual possession and that because Faith is that Grace which fetcheth all that ability and strength from Christ whereby a Christian is inabled to work Faith is not only a Grace of it self but it is Steward and Purveyor for all other Graces and its Office is to bring in Provision for them while they are working and therefore as a Mans Faith grows either stronger or weaker so his Work goes on more or less vigorously When other Graces are in want and cry Give Give then Faith betakes it self to Christ and saith Lord such a Grace stands in need of so much Strength to support it and such a Grace stands in need of so much Support to act it and I have nothing to give it my self and therefore I come to fetch Supplies from thee And certainly this Faith that comes thus empty-handed unto Christ never goes away empty-handed from Christ What is it that you complain of Is it that the Work stands at a stay and you cannot make it go forward Is it that Temptations are strong and violent that Duties are hard irksome and difficult Why set Faith on work to go to Christ and there you may be sure to have Supply because Faith is an omnipotent Grace All things are possible to him that believeth and that because all things are possible to that God and to that Christ on whom Faith is acted There is no Grace nor no Supply nor Mercy laid up in the Lord Jesus Christ but it is all in the Hands of a Believer's Faith and he may take from thence whatsoever he needs to supply the present Wants and Necessities of his Soul Secondly Another working Grace is the fervent actings of Love Love is the great Wheel of the Soul that sets all the rest a moving and makes it like the Chariots of Aminadab to run swiftly towards its desired Object There is a mutual dependence between Faith and Love in their working Love depends upon Faith to strengthen it and Faith depends again upon Love to act it As we love not that which we do not know and our knowledge of God and of the Things of Eternity is by Faith not by Vision so those Things which we do know and which we do believe yet if we love them not we shall never endeavour after them The Apostle therefore tells us that Faith worketh by Love Now there is a threefold spiritual Love required to expedite our great Work First A transcendent Love of God Secondly A regular Love of our selves Thirdly A complacential Love unto and Delight in our Work it self Now when the Affections go out after these Objects of Love this will much facilitate our great Work First The Love of God is a great help to our Duty Our Saviour therefore urgeth Obedience upon this very account If ye love me keep my Commandments John 14.15 1 John 5.3 And says the Apostle this is the Love of God that is this is a certain Sign or it is the constant effect of our Love to God that we keep his Commandments and his Commandments are not grievous they are not grievous because they are his Commandments who is the Love and Joy of our Souls Divine Love always conforms it self to divine Precepts and that for two Reasons First Because this Grace as it desires the beatifical Union to God in Glory hereafter for Love is the desire of Union so now it causes an unspeakable Union of Will and a supernatural simpathy of Affection betwixt God and the Soul which Union cannot be a Union of Equality or Entity as is in the Persons of the blessed Trinity and therefore it is a Union of Subordination of a Christians Will to the Will of God Now what is this Will of God Why the Apostle tells us 1 Thes 4.3 This is the Will of God says he even your Sanctification And the same Apostle tells us in another place Eph. 2.10 We are his Workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good Works that God hath before ordained that we should walk in them And is this Gods Will and shall it not be our Work Hath God ordained that we should walk therein and shall we be averse from or slothful thereunto How can we pretend we love God while we neglect the only Thing he requires from us Holiness and Obedience God wills our Holiness because there is no better a thing that he can Will next unto himself the Image of God next to himself is the most excellent and chiefest Good every thing the nearer it approacheth unto God the more desirable it becomes in it self Now that which comes most near unto God and advanceth the Soul in some resemblance and similitude to him is Holiness and Endeavours after Obedience whereby we become conformable unto God and attain some faint Shadows and Essays of the divine Perfections The Soul wills in order unto Gods Will God now wills Holiness because it is most desirable and we must will our own Holiness because if we love God as we pretend to do our Wills must be conformable to his holy Will Secondly Love to God is a Help to Duty because it is in and by Duty that we enjoy the Presence of God and have Communion and Fellowship with him These are the Lattices through which God appears to the longing Soul and though he many times vouchsafes but half Smiles and little Glances yet in these reserved Communications the Soul finds so much sweetness as ingageth it to a constant performance of Duties all its Days Here says the Soul God was wont to walk in his Sanctuary here have I heard his Voice here have I seen his Face his Spirit hath here breathed upon me his Consolations have here refreshed me and therefore here will I wait upon him as long as I live I remember well says the Soul when in Prayer and Meditation my Heart hath been filled by him poured out to him and accepted with him I remember when he filled me first with Sighs and then with Songs and both alike unutterable and therefore I will keep to the performance of these Duties waiting for the further Discoveries and Manifestations of my God unto me Secondly As Love to God so a regular Self-love will much help and further our Obedience and Duty And then is