now in Heaven there is no sin there is neither spot nor wrinckle upon the face of glorifyed Saints Eph. 5.27 They were once as black as you but now Christ presents them to God as a proof of the cleansing vertue of his blood there they are freed from all sin here with much adoe we mortifie our lust and yet nature will be ever recoyling as the Ivy in the wall cut it never so much it will be breaking out again it is much here if the Dominion of sin be taken away there the being of it is abolished the glorifyed Saints displease God no more and are freed from all the immediate and inseparable consequences of original sin from distractions in duty here love is not perfect and therefore the soul cannot be fixed in the contemplation of God and that is the reason of wandring thoughts but there the heart cleaves to him without stragling from pride which lasts as long as life and therefore called pride of life 1 Joh. 2.16 we cannot have a revelation now but we grow proud of it nor an influence of grace but it lifts us up 2 Cor. 12.2 there is a worm in Manna but there when we are most high we are most humâ—le Christians is not this a blessed hope that tells you of a sinless state of being like Christ for purity and holiness 1 Joh. 3.2 We shall see him as he is for we shall be like unto him What is it that you have struggled with and groaned under all your lives but sin Now that is blotted out when the days of refreshing come And as there is no sin so there are no temptations In Paradise there was a tempter but not in heaven Satan was long since cast out thence and the Saints fill up the vacant rooms of the Apostate Angels the world is a place of snares a valley of temptations it is the devils circuit where did he walk to and fro but in the earth But into heaven nothing enters that defiles Rev. 21.27 No Serpent can creep in there Christians lift up your heads you will get rid of sin and displease God no more here we cry Lord deliver us from evil and there our cries are heard at the full Grace weakneth sin but Glory abolisheth it and old Adam is left in the Grave never to rise more 2 The next evil is the evil of affliction whatever is painful and burthensom to nature is a fruit of the fall a brand and mark of our Rebellion against God therefore affliction must be done away as well as sin if we be compleatly happy As in hell there is an evil an onely evil a cup of wrath unmixed without the least temperament of mercy so in heaven there is happiness and onely happiness sorrow is done away as well as sin it is said he will wipe all tears from their eys The afflictions of the soul are gone there are no more doubtings of Gods love nor sense of his displeasure here though we are pardoned and the wound be cured yet the scarrs remain As Absolom could not see the Kings face when he was restored in wise dispensation God sometimes hides his face from us we need to be dyeted and to taste the vinegar and the gall sometimes as well as the honey and sweetness The world is a middle place standing between heaven and hell and therefore hath something of both a mixture of pleasures and sorrows both good and evil are to be received from the hand of God but there there is fulness of joy for evermore Psal. 16.11 here we complain that the candle of the Lord doth not shine over us with a like brightness but there our Sun remains in an eternal high-noon without clowds and the shadows of this night The afflictions of the body are done away heaven is a happy ayr where none are sick there is no such thing there as Gowts and Agues and the grinding pains of the stone The body here is called a vile body Phil. 3.21 as it is the instrument of sin and the subject of diseases we have the root of diseases in the soul and the matter and fewel of diseases in the body peccant humors and principles of corruption as wood is eaten out with worms that breed within it self so are there in our bodies principles of corruption that do at lengâ—h destroy them but there we are wholly incorruptible Yea because deformity in the body is a monument of Gods displeasure one of the inconveniences introduced by Adams fall it is done away the bodies rise in due proportion whatever was monstrous or mishapen in the first edition is corrected in the second And for violence without heaven is a quiet place when there are tumults in the world God is introduced Psal. 2. as sitting in the heavens a quâ—et posture There is nothing to discompose those blessed spirits the company of wicked men is a burthen Lots righteous soul was vexed with it 2 Pet. 2.7 but there they are bound hand and foot and cast into utter darkness as when men will not be ruled they are sent to prison here the children of God are subject to a number of infirmities hunger thirst nakedness cold want but there we have a rich inheritance as well as a glorious Eph. 18. the distinctions of poor and rich as understood in the world do not outlive time we have enough of true riches which is eternal glory and the full fruition of God Labour ceaseth though there be a continual exercise of grace all things rest when they come to their proper place so do those which dye in the Lord we still serve God but without weariness yea we are freed from the necessities of nature eating drinking and sleeping to which the greatest Potentates are subject though they are exempted from hard bodily labour they are not exempted from the necessities of nature meat is for the belly and the belly for meats but God shall destroy both it and them 1 Cor. 6.12 The use of meats and of the stomach and of the belly is abolished it is a piece of our misery that our life is patcht up of so many creatures as a torn Garment is pieced and patcht up with supplies from abroad here the sheep or the silk-worm afford us cloathing the beasts of the earth and fish of the Sea serve for food and all to support a ruinous fabrick ever ready to drop about our eares but then we are above meat and drink and apparel nakedness will be no shame for glory will serve instead of a robe and it will be meat and drink enough to do our fathers will the body will not be a clog to the soul but a help that mass of flesh we carry about us is but the prison of the soul where it looks out by the windows of the senses but then it is no longer the prison of the soul but the Temple In short all that I have said upon this branch is comprised in Rev. 21.4 and God will wipe
out when you lanch into the other world a wicked man comes to himself when he comes to dye At his latter end he shall be a fool Jer. 17.11 he was ever a fool but then he shall be one in the conviction and acknowledgement of his own Conscience his own heart will make him cry out Oh fool mad-man that I was to be contented with such slight evidences for Eternity You see then it is good to be upon sure terms and to get our union with Christ so cleer and sensible that when we walk in the valley of the shadow of death we may not be afraid Psal. 23. As to the frame of your hearts it is a harder matter to dye well then you are aware of if you would dye well live well otherwise you do but provide matter of dispair and sorrow for your latter end It is every ones wish Oh that I might dye the death of the righteous Numb. 23. but it is not every ones happiness If you would dye in the Lord you had need to have Promises ready and your faith well exercised that you may have good proof of it before it comes to stead you in death In bello non licet his peccare As in war so in death there is no erring twice then you are to throw your last cast for everlasting woe or weale to do that which you never did before you had need of armour of proof to deal with the last enemy How foolishly do they deal that defer all to this hour are then to get faith when they should reduce it into practice Faith is a Grace wrought by degrees to strength and perfection now to put it to the hardest tryal at first is absurd and irrational You should have your Evidences cleer your promises ready your experiences at hand that you may be able to comfort your selves and too plead for God and to speak to the standers-by of the long proof you have had of his being a good Master and a gracious father to you How is it then Are all things set at rights between God and your souls Have you laid up comforts for this great day of expence Is your dying speech ready Are you provided of experiences whereby to commend the Mercifulness and faithfulness of your Redeemer Can you say that you have tryed him often and he never failed you all your days If it be so indeed your great work is done 3. Use To encourage the children of God to be more willing to dye Are you afraid to enter upon your own blessedness and glory Will you shun Christs company when he desires yours Love brought Christ out of heaven that he might be with us he thought of it before the world was Prov. 8.31 and longed for the time in effect saying When will it come We are to go from earth to heaven from conversing with men to converse with Angels and why so loath to remove What could Christ expect upon his coming into the world but hard usage but labour and griefs and shame and death he came to taste the Vinegar and the Gall we are called to the feast of love to taste of hidden Manna and the Rivers of pleasure that flow in his presence If you love Christ why should you be unwilling to be in the arms of Christ to be there where he is beholding his glory love is an affection of union it desireth to be with the party loved and can you be unwilling to be dissolved and to be with Christ Death is the Chariot that is to carry you into his presence Jacobs spirit revived when he saw the Waggons which Joseph sent to carry him into AEgypt Gen. 45.27 what is there in the world to be compared with heaven either there must be something in the world to detain us or we are frighted at the terribleness of the passage or else there is a contempt of what is to come You cannot say any thing of the world is more worthy then Christ in this sense you renounced father and mother brothers and sisters wife and children and friends when you were first acquainted with him It was the language of your souls then whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none on earth that I desire besides thee Psal. 73.25 Did you dissemble then Or have you found cause since to retreat and begrudge your affections to him Christ puts you to the tryal when sickness comes he hath sent hâ—s waggons to see if you will stand to your word Is it the terribleness of the passage doth nature grudge at the thought of a dissolution where is your faith death is yours 1 Cor. 3.18 Your friend your advantage Christ hath assured you of it will you trust his word you love him little when you have no confidence in what he saith Or is it contempt of things to come Then why is all this cost why came Christ to lay down his soul to purchase that which you care not for what needs all this waste Christians hear for the time to come we know not how soon we may be sent for and put to the tryal it is good to be resolved that we may say the sooner the better 4 Let this comfort us concerning our friends that dye in the Lord 1 Thess. 4.18 Comfort one another with these words This is proper Christian Scripture comfort Heathens to comfort one another can onely say that death is the common passage out of this world that all that are born must dye But Christians can comfort one another upon better terms that they that sleep in Jesus are blessed and shall we whine at their preferment that we shall all meet again in the other world that a day will come when the Captain of our Salvation will have his great rendezvouz and the head of the Church call all the Saints into one Congregation Psal. 1.5 and the whole flock shall follow the great shepherd of the sheep into their everlasting fold triumphing and saying Oh death where is thy sting Oh grave where is thy victory These are comforts proper for Christians especially for Ministers that are messengers of comfort to others that have more frequent advantages of meditation upon those priviledges then others have Shall we murmur and yield to sinkings of heart when God hath made a breach upon our relations how will this disparage our Doctrine and make others suspect the comforts which we reach forth to them upon like occasions Thy words have upholden him that was falling and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees but now it is come upon thee and thou faintest it toucheth thee and thou art troubled Job 4.4 5. To comfort others and faint our selves is to bring a discredit upon what we propound to them Remember the glory of God is concerned in your behaviour under this tryal and the honor of your Ministry Let your Christian friends know there is a reality in what you have held forth for their support in like case Let
away all tears from their eys and there is no more death nor sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for former things are passed away there is quite another change new dispensations no distraction of business our whole imployment will be to think of God and study God but without weariness satietie or distraction 2 In blessedness there is a confluence of all good necessary to the happiness of the creature our blessedness is full for parts full for the degrees and manner of injoyment and all this continues for ever without fear of losing it our Crown of Glory is a Garland that will never wither it is an eterâ—â—l state of actual delights we are blessed in our bodies blessed in our souls blessed in our company man is {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} a sociable creature and therefore to his compleat happiness it is necessary that he should not be onely blest in his person but in his company and relations we are brought into the presence of God who is blessedness it self and to the sight and blessed fellowship of his blessed son and into the company of blessed Angels and Saints 1 Let me speak of the happiness of his person and then both of his body and soul 1 For his body it is now a Temple of the Holy-Ghost he cannot leave his mansion and ancient dwelling-place and therefore he raiseth it up and formeth it again into a compleat fashion like Christs glorious body Phil. 3.21 for clarity agility strength incorruption Solomons Temple when it was destroyed the latter house was nothing so glorious as the former men wept when they saw it Ezr 2. but it is not so here it is raised quite another body for the present there is to be seen a beautiful fabrick wherein God hath shown his workmanship every member if it were not so common would be a miracle all is ordered for the service and comeliness of the whole but now it is a vile body subject to diseases fed with meat humbled with wants many times mangled with violence dissolved by death and crumbled to dust in the grave like a dry clod of earth this is the body we carry about us a mass of flesh drest up to be a dish for the worms but this vile body shall rise in another manner like Christs glorious body when the Sun appears the stars vanish their lustre is eclipsed and darkned but the Sun of Righteousness when he appears at the last day doth not obscure but perfect our glory More particularly If you inquire wherein our bodies shall be like Christs glorious body the Apostle will tell us that in another place 1 Cor. 15.40 41 42 43 44. Let me single out three expressions it is raised in incorruption it is raised in glory it is raised a spiritual body 1 It is an incorruptible body now it yields to the decays of nature and is exercised with pains and aches till at length it droppeth down like ripe fruit into the Grave but hereafter it shall be cloathed with immortality wholly impassible what a comfort is this to those that are racked with the Stone or Gout broken with Diseases or withered with age to think that they shall have a body without aches without decays that shall always be in the spring of youth the Trees of Paradise are always green 2 It shall be a glorious body here it is many times deformed at least beauty like a flower is lost in sickness daver'd or withered with age defaced by several accidents but then we shall be glorious like to Christs body the naked body of man was so beautiful in innocency that the beasts of the field admired it and thereupon did homage to Adam but we shall not be conformed to the first Adam but the second Christ in the Mount when he was transfigured they could not indure the shining of his garments it astonished the Disciples Mat. 17. His Garments could not vail nor their eys indure those strong emissions of the beams of glory Paul could not indure the light that shined to him when Christ appeared to him from heaven Act. 9. but was utterly confounded and struck blinde by this you may guess a little at the glory of the body when it is likened to Christs glorious body Moses by conversing with God forty days the complexion of his face was altered so that they were glad to put a vail upon it In this low estate in which we are we must make use of these hints 3 A spiritual body either for agility we shall not be clogged as now we shall be caught up in the air to meet the Lord or rather a spiritual body because more disposed for spiritual uses for the injoyments and the imployments of Grace Here it is a natural body an unready instrument for the soul we are not in a capacity to bear the new wine of glory but there we are made more capacious and stronger vessels to contain all that God will give out The Disciples fainted at Christs transfiguration Mat. 17.6 we cannot receive such large diffusions and overflowings of glory as we shall then have every strong affection and raised thought doth overset us and cause extasie and ravishment but there it is otherwise God maketh out himself to us in a greater latitude and we are more able to bear it 2 For the blessedness of the soul which is the heaven of heaven our happiness is called the inheritance of the Saints in light Col. 1.12 for which we must be prepared it is not for them that know no other heaven but to eat drink and sleep and wallow in filthy and gross pleasures It is an inheritance in light and for Saints that know how to value intellectual and spiritual delights Wherein you will say lyes the happiness of the soul in knowledge or love Ans. Divines are divided certainly in both our happiness consists in the love of God and knowledge of God from whence results union with God and fruition of God it is hard to say which is to be preferred to know God or love God in one place the Scripture tells us this is life eternal to know the onely true God Joh. 17. so that it seems to be the heaven of heaven to have the understanding satisfyed with the knowledge of God Psal. 17.15 When I awake I shall be satisfyed with thine image and likeness On the otherside 1 Joh. 4.16 he that dwells in love dwells in God and God in him the imbrace of the soul is by love the possession of God is by acts of love one saith it may be not modestly enough libentius sine aspectu te diligerem quam te videndo non amarem That he had rather not see God then not love him here in the world the hatred of God is worse then ignorance of him and therefore it should seem love should have the pre-eminence but we need not make a faction between the Graces by knowing we come to