unreserved Obedience to him He will be our Father and we shall be his Sons and Daughters but 't is upon the terms of purifying our selves from all pollutions of Flesh and Spirit and unfeigned endeavours to perfect Holiness in his fear 'T is astonishing Goodness that he is pleased to condescend to such a Treaty with fallen Creatures by a voluntary Promise he encourages them but tho most free in making 't is conditional in the performance The constancy of his Holy Nature obliges him to fulfil his Word but 't is if we do not fail on our part by carelessness of our Duty A Presumer may seal Assurance to himself and be deceived in this great Matter but God will not be mocked If we prove false in the Covenant he will be faithful and exclude those from Heaven that were neglectful of the Conditions to which it is promised 3. The Gospel is stiled a Testament sealed in the Blood of Christ confirm'd by his Death The Donation of eternal Blessings in it is not absolute and irrespective but the Heirs are admitted to the possession of the Inheritance according to the Will of the rich liberal and wise Testator There can be no regular Title or Claim made out without performing what is required And this is the Will of God and Christ our Sanctification without which we cannot enjoy it Now from hence we may see the admirable Agreement between these two Notions that Heaven is a Gift and a Reward 'T is a Reward in the order of giving it not due to the Work but from the Bounty of the Giver God gives Heaven to those that faithfully serve him But their Service was due to God of no worth in respect of Heaven so that Man's Work is no Merit and God's Reward is a Gift Our everlasting Glory must be ascribed to his most free Grace as much as the pardon of our Sins I shall now proceed to consider what the Gospel declares to be indispensably requisite in order to our obtaining of Heaven this is compriz'd in the holy Change of Man's Nature which I will briefly unfold and shew how necessary it is to qualify us for Celestial Glory 1. This holy Change is express'd in Scripture by the new Birth Our Saviour with a solemn repeated Asseveration tells Nicodemus Verily verily except a Man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God Sin is natural to Man from his Conception and Birth and infects with its Contagion all his Faculties This is fomented and cherisht by Temptations that easily encompass him The Understanding is polluted with evil Principles full of strong Prejudices and lofty Imaginations against the supernatural Mysteries of Salvation 'T is full of Ignorance and Folly and from hence either rejects them as incredible or despises them as impertinent or unprofitable The Will is depraved and perverse full of unruly and unhallowed Affections The Senses are luxurious and rebellious In short Man is so viciously and sensually inclined so alienated from the Life of God as if he had no diviner Part within him that should aspire to a spiritual Blessedness that should regulate and controul the excess of the inferiour Appetites This is the unhappy Character Satan impress'd on him in his Fall and without Renovation upon an infinite account he is uncapable of seeing God This Renovation consists not in the change of his Substance as the Water was miraculously turn'd into Wine at the Marriage in Cana of Galilee the same Soul with its essential Powers the same Body with its natural Senses the Work of the Creator remains but in the cleansing of his stain'd Nature in the sanctifying his Faculties that are the Springs of his Actions the whole Man is quickned into a Divine Life and enabled to act in conformity to it And of this the new Birth is a convenient Illustration An active Principle of Holiness is planted in him that springs up into visible Actions The Apostle particularly expresses it in his earnest Prayer for the Thessalonians The very God of Peace sanctify you wholly and preserve your whole Spirit Soul and Body blameless till the coming of Jesus Christ. Every Faculty is renewed and every Grace infused that constitutes the Divine Image The Mind is renewed by Spiritual Light to believe the Truth and Goodness of unseen Things promised the reality and dreadfulness of Things threatned in the Word of God It sees the truest Beauty in Holiness the highest Honour in Obedience to God the greatest Equity and Excellence in his Service The Will is renewed by holy Love a purifying Flame and feels the attractive virtue of our blessed End before all desirable Things on Earth and determines to pursue it in the vigorous use of proper means The Body is made an holy Instrument fit for the renewed Soul In short the natural Man becomes Spiritual in his Perceptions Resolutions and Actions All things are become New There is a firm assent an inviolable adherence to those most precious Objects revealed in the Scripture and a sincere chosen constant Obedience flows from the renewed Faculties And from hence we may distinguish between regenerating Grace and formal Hypocrisy in some and the proficiency of Nature and power of common Grace in others A Hypocrite in Religion is acted from without by mercenary base respects and his Conscience being cauteris'd handles sacred Things without feeling a regenerate Person is moved by an internal living Principle and performs his Duties with lively Affections Natural Conscience under the compulsion of Fear may lay a restraint upon the outward Acts of Sin without an inward Consent to the Sanctity of the Law Renewing Grace cleanses the Fountain and the Current is pure It reconciles the Affections to the most Holy Commands I love thy Law because 't is pure saith the Psalmist A Moral Principle may induce one to abstain from many Sins and to perform many praise-worthy things in conformity to Reason But this is neither sanctifying nor saving for it only prunes Sin as if it were a good Plant and does not root it up it compounds with it and does not destroy it There may be still an impure Indulgence to the secret lustings of the Heart notwithstanding the Restraint upon their Exercise And many Duties may be done on lower Motives without a divine respect to the Commands and Glory of God But renewing Grace subjects the Soul to the whole Royalty of the Law uniformly inclines it to express Obedience to all its Precepts because they are pure and derived from the eternal Spring of Purity It mortifies Concupiscence and quickens to every good Work from a Principle of Love to God and in this is distinguisht from the most refined unregenerate Morality In short there may be a superficial tincture of Religion from common Grace a transient Esteem vanishing Affections and earnest Endeavours for a time after Spiritual Things and yet a Person remain in a state of Unregeneracy But renewing Grace is a permanent solid Principle that makes a Man
partaker of the Divine Nature and elevates him above himself This holy Change is wrought by Divine Power Our Saviour tells Nicodemus Except a Man be born of Water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God The Analogy of a new Birth signifies that 't is entirely the Work of the sanctifying Spirit that conveys a Principle of Life in order to the Functions of it 'T is the living Impression of God the sole Efficient and Exemplar of it the Fruit and Image of the Divine Vertues 'T is exprest by the new Creature The production of it is attributed to God's Power displaying it self in a peculiar excellent way even in that precise manner as in making the World For as in the first Creation all things were made originally of nothing so in the second the Habit of Grace is infused into the Soul that was utterly void of it and in which there was as little preparation for true Holiness as of Nothing to produce this great and regular World And altho there is not only an absolute privation of Grace but a fierce resistance against it yet creating invincible Power does as infallibly and certainly produce its Effect in forming the new Creature as in making the World From hence it appears that preventing renewing Grace is so intirely the Work of God as his forming the humane Body from the Dust of Earth at first But with this difference the first Creation was done without any sense in the Subject of the efficiency of the Divine Power in producing it but in the new Creation Man feels the vital Influence of the Spirit applying it self to all his Faculties reforming and enabling them to act according to the quality of their Nature And by the way we may observe the admirable Grace shewed to Man in the renovation of his corrupted Nature In the composition of his Being are united a Spirit like the Angels and a Body like terrestrial Animals by which he partakes of the spiritual and natural Life but he has peculiar Favours conferred upon him For whereas his Soul sinn'd with the Angels and his Body dies with the Beasts yet God is pleased to restore them by his glorious Power An Angel after Sin never repents and is therefore incapable of Pardon and irrecoverably disinherited of Heaven a Beast after Death never revives but though Man sins and dies yet his Soul may be renewed by Divine Grace and his Body shall be raised in an incorruptible Glory Now the indispensable necessity of this holy Change is evident from the Words of our Saviour for he speaks universally Except a Man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God He does not simply declare that an unregenerate Man shall not but with the greatest Emphasis cannot to signify an absolute impossibility of it The Jews highly presumed of the priviledg of their carnal Birth they sprang from the pure and noble Blood of Abraham God's Friend they had the Seal of the Holy Covenant mark'd in their Flesh and hence it was proverbial amongst them that every Israelite should have a part in the World to come But our Saviour overthrows this vain conceit and tells them that the supernatural Birth entitles to the supernatural Inheritance Circumcision then and Baptism now without real Grace is an ineffectual sign of no avail to Salvation In the quality of Sons we are Heirs of God's Kingdom And that honourable Relation we have upon a double account by Adoption and Regeneration Divine Adoption is not a meer change of our state a naked Declaration that one shall be dignified with the Title of God's Son but a holy Nature is always infused into the Person whereby he is made like to God in his Excellencies In this it differs from humane Adoption that gives the Name and Arms the Honour and Estate of the Adopter to a Person without conveying any of his intellectual or moral Endowments Whom God adopts he begets to a Divine Life Besides our Saviour purchased this high Priviledg for us God sent his Son made of a Woman under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the Adoption of Sons By Union with him we receive the investiture of this Dignity Now whoever is in Christ is a new Creature For the quickning Spirit that is to the Soul what the Soul is to the Body the principle of Life and Strength of Beauty and Motion and an active purifying Faith that is influential upon all other Graces are the Band of that vital Union So that as all in Adam are universally corrupt by the first Birth all that are in Christ are made holy by a new Birth But of this I shall speak in the next Chapter more fully under a distinct Head Briefly the Spirit of Grace that sanctifies is the Spirit of Adoption that seals our Right to that Kingdom Now the Reasons why this Change must be in order to our obtaining of Heaven are these 1. There is an exquisite Wisdom shines in all God's Works in disposing them for the ends to which they are appointed and is it not monstrously absurd to imagin he will admit into his Presence and Kingdom those that are absolutely unqualified for its Blessedness and opposite to its Purity 2. His invariable Justice excludes for ever all unholy Persons from Heaven For in the last Judgment God will be glorified as a Governour in the distribution of Rewards with respect to the Obedience and Disobedience of Men. 'T is worthy of observation that the Actions of God on the reasonable Creatures are of two sorts Some proceed from his soveraign good Pleasure of which there is no motive or reason in the Subjects on which they are terminated Thus by a free and insuperable Decree when all Mankind laps'd and miserable was in his view he chose some to be Vessels of Mercy and by priviledg separated them from the rest that finally perish Now what induc'd him to place a singular Love on the Elect There was nothing in them to incline his Compassion being equally guilty and depraved with the rest of the Progeny of Adam This difference therefore is to be resolved into his unaccountable and adorable Will as the sole cause of it Thus God declares it to be his glorious Prerogative I will have Mercy on whom I will have Mercy and I will have Compassion on whom I will have Compassion And this is no unjust acceptance of Persons For as a Benefactor he may dispense his own Favours as he pleases A Gift from meer and arbitrary Bounty may be bestowed on some and not on others without injustice But there are other Actions of God for which there is an evident reason in Men on whom they are terminated Thus as the supreme Judg without respect of Persons he will judg and reward every Man according to his Works The Evangelical Law as was toucht on before is the rule of eternal Judgment and gives a right from the gracious
your Sex and more truly Honourable than your Noble Descent and Alliance but direct my best Desires to God that your Family may be a singular and eminent Example of the Divine Favour that the fading Gloss of this World may not deceive you but your Heart may be above where your Treasure is that you may live to God and your Soul for Heaven and Eternity I am Madam Your Honour 's very humble and faithful Servant WILLIAM BATES The Bookseller's Advertisement THE Four Last Things Death and Judgment Heaven and Hell are Subjects of that great Importance and so nearly concerns all Persons that serious Discourses publish'd upon them deserve the Reader 's best Attention and Application And that they may be of more diffusive and general Benefit it will be a proper Means that according to the Examples of some pious Persons Books treating of those solemn Arguments BE GIVEN AT FUNERALS AS A FUNERAL-LEGACY When according to the observation of the wise Preacher The Living lay to Heart their own Frailty and are more receptive of Holy Counsels to prepare for their great Change from Time to Eternity and would affect their Minds with the present Instance of Mortality much better than Wine Sweatmeats Gloves or Rings or unprofitable Talk as is too usual at such Solemnities All serious practical Books are proper for this Design which may be of any Price or Bigness And if Bound in Black with a Cypher of Mortality will be very decent And some Memorables of the Life of the Deceased if desired may be printed on a Leaf or more and bound with it Several Books so bound may be seen at the Three Pigeons against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil B. A. OF DEATH HEB. 2.15 And deliver them who through fear of Death were all their Life-time subject to Bondage IN the first Chapter of this Epistle the Proofs of the Eternal Deity of Christ are produced with that evidence of Scripture-Light that only a vailed Heart obstinate Infidelity can resist The Medium which the inspired Pen-man makes use of is the comparing him with the Angels the most noble Flower of the Creation and shewing that he is infinitely dignified above them This he does by a strong connexion of Arguments First By his Title that is divinely high and peculiar to himself He is declared by the Testimony of the eternal Father to be his Son in the most proper and sublime sense begotten of him and therefore having the same essential Perfections of the Godhead in their uncreated Glory But the Angels are not dignified with this Name in any Places of Scripture where the Excellency of the Angels is in the fullest Terms expressed And that this Name is taken from his Nature is clearly proved because Adoration is due to him upon this account even from the Angels of the highest Order When he bringeth in the first-begotten into the World he saith And let all the Angels of God worship him Divine Worship is a Prerogative inseparably annex'd to the Deity both upon the account of the supream Excellencies of the Nature of God and his Relation to Angels and Men as Creator and Preserver the Fountain of their Being and Happiness This without the most open defiance of his Authority cannot be given to a meer Creature and by the Command of God himself is to be performed as a Respect due to the filial Godhead The Argument proceeds from the Name to the Offices Of the Angels he saith Who maketh his Angels Spirits and his Ministers a flame of Fire They are the prime Instruments of his Providence most zealous and active to accomplish his Pleasure But the Son is God not by Analogy and Deputation as Princes are nor with a limitation and diminution as Moses was made a God to Pharaoh but absolutely and really as subsisting in the Divine Nature And consequently he is the Supreme King and to him the Ensigns of Majesty divinely Royal are ascribed But unto the Son he saith Thy Throne O God is for ever and ever a Scepter of Righteousness is the Scepter of thy Kingdom Whereas the Scepters of Earthly Kings are often unrighteously manag'd and their Thrones ruinously fall There is a further Confirmation from his Works that are divinely great and glorious wherein no Creature has any share of Efficiency The making of the World is ascribed to him Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the Foundation of the Earth and the Heavens are the Works of thy Hands The Divine Attributes the peculiar Character of the Deity belong to him Eternity and Immutability The most solid parts of the visible Creation shall perish and be changed but thou remainest and art the same His Life is an intire uniform unchangeable Perfection His Glory and Felicity are in the same invariable Tenor for ever possess'd by him Lastly the Son sits in that quality at the right Hand of the Father in the Society of Empire as equal to him in Power and Honour commanding all in the visible and invisible World most easily and irresistibly tho gradually subduing his Enemies to a consummate Victory But the Angels so numerous and powerful are ministring Spirits employed for the defence and benefit of the Church From this summary account we may understand how firmly the Divinity of Christ is establish'd in the Scripture For those Passages of the Prophets that speak of the God of Israel as Creator and the sole Object of Adoration are directly referr'd to Jesus Christ. And the Name Jehovah the Majesty of which consists in its being incommunicable is attributed to him This is the Foundation upon which the whole Fabrick of the Gospel is built The Office of Mediator in the Prophetical Priestly and Regal Administration is necessarily join'd with the Divinity of his Person And the revelation of it from Heaven is as clear as the Sun is visible in the Firmament All the Difficulties in our conceiving this great Mystery of Godliness are but like the Shadows that attend the Light And all the heretical Subtilties to pervert the Sense of such plain and positive Texts are as impertinent as impious This being establish'd the Apostle proceeds to give an account of the Son of God's assuming the Humane Nature and submitting to Sufferings and Death This is a Divine Secret so miraculously strange that the Contrivance was without the Compass of the Angelical Minds and the discovery of it is only by supernatural Revelation but when revealed the account of it is so open and consentaneous to Reason as being the most congruous Means for the illustration of God's Glory in the saving lost Men that the humane Mind if not deeply corrupted with the tincture of Prejudice must consent to it as worthy of all Acceptation The substance of his reasoning is this That it was the product of the most wise merciful and righteous Counsel of God that the Saviour of Men should have Communion with them in their Nature that he might have a
and active to prevent a threatning Evil or to sustain it in the best manner 'T is observable in the brute Creatures that the Weak and Fearful are most subtile and ingenious to secure themselves and supply the want of Strength with Artifice But when Fear is inordinate 't is a tyrannous Master that vexes the weary Soul and hinders its free and noble Operations Cesar chose rather to be expos'd to sudden death than to be continually harrass'd with fears how to avoid it The Greek word implies the binding of the Spirit that causes an inward Slavery And in the Apostle's Writings the Spirit of Fear and the Spirit of Bondage are equivalent Ishbosheth when Abner provok'd by the Charge about Saul's Concubine imperiously threatned to translate the Kingdom to David was struck with such a fear that he could not answer Abner a word 2 Sam. 3.10 11. The sudden Passion stifled his Reply and reduc'd him to a defenceless Silence Now the fear of Death as 't is remiss or vehement such are the degrees of Bondage from it 1. It embitters the enjoyments of the present Life and makes the most prosperous in the World even in the fulness of their sufficiency to be in straits Though the Senses are pleased with the quick sweetness of Change from one Object to another yet the Soul cannot have a delightful undisturbed Fruition foreseeing that the stream of Pleasure will issue into the dead Sea Truly Light is sweet and 't is a pleasant thing to behold the Sun But how short is this Life with all its Pleasures in comparison of the Days of Darkness that follow Now though 't is our best Wisdom and truest Liberty to rejoice in this World as if we rejoiced not and frequently to meditate on the cooling Doctrines of Death and Judgment to repress the transports of the voluptuous Appetite yet since the Comforts of this Life are liberally indulged to us by the Love of God to be the Motives of our grateful and affectionate Obedience to sweeten our passage to Heaven we may with tranquillity of Spirit make a pure and chearful use of them in his Service and 't is an oppressing bondage when the disquieting anxious Fears of Death hinder our temperate enjoyment of his Favours and Blessings 2. The fear of Death oppresses the Souls of Men under a miserable Bondage to the Devil for his Dominion is maintain'd by the Allurements and Terrors of the World Though Men do not explicitly acknowledg his Soveraignty yet by voluntary yielding to his pleasing Temptations they are really his Slaves And the apprehension of temporal Evils especially of Death dress'd up in a frightful representation with its bloody Pomp is the strongest snare to the Soul The Faint-hearted prove false-hearted in the time of trial For the timerous Spirit being wholly intent how to avoid the incursion of a present Evil forgets or neglects what is indispensably to be done and thinks to find an excuse in the pretended necessity How many have been terrified from their clearest Duty and resolved Constancy To escape Death they have been guilty of the most insufferable Impieties by renouncing God their Maker and Saviour and worshipping the Devils for Deities Every Age presents sad Spectacles of many that choose Iniquity rather than Affliction that relinquish their Duty and by wicked Compliances save their Lives and lose their Souls Carnal Desires and carnal Fears are the Chains of Hell that retain Men Satan's Captives But what folly what madness is it for the avoiding the impotent fury of the Creature to venture on the powerful Wrath of God that exceeds all the Terrors that can be conceived by Fear This renders them more brutish than the Horse that starting at his Shadow springs over a desperate Precipice The Fearful are excluded from Heaven and cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone for ever 3. The extream fear of Death and Judgment dejects and discourages the Soul from the use of means to prevent eternal Misery and induces a most woful Bondage Fear anticipates and exasperates future Evils for as Knowledg excites Fear so Fear encreases Knowledg by the uncessant working of the Thoughts upon terrible Objects The fearful Mind aggravates the foreseen Evil and distils the Poison from all the Circumstances and Consequences of it And when the Evil is apprehended as insuperable and indeclinable all endeavours to escape are cut off What a Philosopher observes of an Earthquake compared with other destructive Evils is true in this case There may be a safe retreat from Fire from Inundations from Storms from War from Pestilence but an Earthquake astonishes with so violent a perturbation that stops our flight from the imminent Danger So the vehement impressions of Fear from the approaches of Death and the severe executions upon the Sinner after it distracts the Mind and disables from flying from the Wrath to come These Fears are more heavy by the suggestions of Satan who represents God so terrible in his Majesty inexorable in his Justice and unchangeable in his Threatnings that all Hopes of obtaining his Favour are lost As the Egyptian Darkness was not meerly from the absence of the Sun but from feculent Vapours condensing the Air that it might be felt So these dark and fearful expectations of the Divine Wrath are not only from the withdrawing the Light of God's Countenance but from the Prince of Darkness that foul Spirit And as we read of the Egyptians that no Man arose from his place for three days as if they had been buried in that Darkness and deprived of all active Power and Motion so the despairing Soul sits down mourning at the Gates of Death totally disabled from prosecuting the Things that belong to its Peace 'T is Hope inspires and warms us with alacrity encourages our Endeavours Despair blunts our edg and industry The Soul suffers the hardest Bondage and the Condition is unexpressibly sad under the tyranny of this Fear O how enthralled how desolately miserable Despair does meritoriously and effectually ruin the Soul For whereas there is no Attribute more Divine no clearer Notion of the Deity than Love and Mercy this Passion disparages his Mercy as if Sin were more omnipotent than his Power to pardon and all the Tears that flow from it are so far from expiating that they encrease Guilt and whereas the believing view of Christ would as compleatly and presently recover the Soul-wounded Sinner as the Israelites were by looking to the ordained visible Sign of their Salvation Despair turns away the Eye from our Deliverer and fixes it upon Misery as remediless and final 4. How comes it to pass that Men are not always under the actual fear of Death but subject to the revolutions of it all their Lives The Seeds of this Fear are hid in the guilty Breasts of Men and at times especially in their Calamities break forth and kindle upon them In their Leisure and Retirement intercurrent thoughts of
place with execration Thus the death of the Saints is precious in the sight of the Lord their Bodies are kept in the bosom of the Earth to be raised in Glory and the death of the Wicked is accurs'd In short as the Wood that Moses cast into the Waters of Marah by a miraculous virtue sweetned them so the Cross of Christ has taken away the malignity and bitterness of Death 2. Death is a blessed Advantage and enriching Gain to a Believer it brings him to the possession of that Good that incomparably exceeds the Evil that remains in it For the Death of a Saint is not total but as in the Ceremony of Purification from Leprosy one Bird was killed and the other let fly in the open Air the mysterious shadow of the Lepers being restored to a state of Liberty Thus when the Body dies and returns to the Earth the Spirit returns to God the Father of Spirits and Fountain of Life Our Saviour told the Jews I am the living Bread that came down from Heaven if any Man eat of this Bread he shall live for ever and the Bread that I will give is my Flesh that I will give for the Life of the World The Heavenly Divine Life that is communicated by the Spirit of Christ to Believers remains entire when the sensitive Life is lost The natural Order is There is a time to be born and a time to die the supernatural is there is a time to die and a time to be born The Death of a Saint is a new Birth the pains of the dying Body are as Throws whereby the ripen'd Soul is delivered into the Land of the Living The happiness of a Saint after Death more particularly will appear by considering 1. The freedom he obtains from all afflicting Evils that are numberless here and from Sin the worst in its nature and the cause of all the rest The present World is a Labyrinth of Thorns in every state we meet with something to vex us You may as well count the Waves of the Sea when inraged by a Tempest as the Troubles to which in this mortal open state we are expos'd Man that is born of a Woman is of few days and full of Trouble A short Life and many Miseries O our unhappy Capacity the Body is liable to as many Diseases as there are Members and the Soul to as many Perplexities as Passions How often are the Scenes and Habits chang'd in the time of one Man He that lives in Pleasures must act the Mourner's part Our sweetest Comforts have hidden Stings and whatever is most pleasing may occasion bitter grief And usually holy Men have a greater portion of Afflictions here sometimes by the malignity and violence of the Wicked as under the Law the Lamb and the Dove were Sacrifices the Emblems of Innocence and Purity and Meekness whilst the Vulture and the Lion the greedy Devourers escaped This the Apostle declares of the Elect They are predestinated to be conformed to the Image of God's Son who trac'd out the Way to Heaven in his own Blood and by the Cross ascended to the Throne Sometimes more immediately Divine Providence afflicts them to preserve their Spirits from the tainted Pleasures of the World and for other holy Ends but there is a Rest for the People of God in Heaven Besides there are Relicks of Sin in the best of the Saints here Indeed Sin is depos'd from Sovereignty and Rule the imperious Lusts are crucified but not quite expir'd As those that were nail'd to the Cross in their Hands and Feet the parts least vital and most sensible died a painful lingring Death Still the Flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh. As there is a complexion of Humours in humane Bodies always jarring when they are in the soundest Health and where there is not this active contrariety either the Body is without a Soul a meer Carcass or a glorified Body in Heaven So where there is not this internal Combat between Grace and Sin either the Man is wholly carnal dead in Sins and Trespasses or wholly spiritual reigning in Heaven And there is nothing more works on the tender Affections of a Saint than to find in himself what is displeasing to God that still he is under a sad necessity of sinning What is said concerning an old Man wasted and decayed in his drooping Years that the Grashopper is a burden to him is true of the new Man in a Christian the Sins that are counted light in the valuation of the World are a heavy weight to him Vain Thoughts idle Words irregular Passions unprofitable Actions are motives of heart-breaking Sorrow Now Death is to a Believer an universal Remedy against all the Evils of this Life it frees him from all Injuries and Sufferings and from Sin in all its degrees from all inclinations and temptations to it He that is dead ceaseth from Sin Death is the Passage from this Wilderness to the true Canaan the Rest above that flows with better Milk and Hony with Innocence and Happiness for ever There nothing can disturb the Peace or corrupt the Purity of the Blessed 3. Besides the privative advantage the freedom from all the Effects of God's Displeasure and the resentments of it there is the highest positive Good obtained by Death The Spirits of just Men are made perfect in Heaven The Soul is the Glory of Man and Grace is the Glory of the Soul and both are then in their Exaltation All the Faculties of the Soul are rais'd to the highest degrees of Natural and Divine Perfection In this Life Grace renews the Faculties but does not elevate them to their highest pitch it does not make a mean Understanding pregnant nor a frail Memory strong nor a slow Tongue eloquent but sanctifies them as they are But when the Soul is releas'd from this dark Body of Earth the Understanding is clear and quick the Memory firm the Will and Affections ardent and vigorous And they are enrich'd with Divine Light and Love and Power that makes them fit for the most noble and heavenly Operations The Lineaments of God's Image on the Soul are first drawn here but then it receives his last Hand All the Celestial Colours are added to give the utmost life and lustre to it Here we are advancing but by Death we arrive at Perfection We shall in Heaven be join'd to the Assembly of Saints and Angels our best Friends Love is the Law of that Kingdom and perfectly obeyed there Now how charming is the Conversation of one that is wise and holy especially if the sweetness of Affability be in his Temper How pleasantly does Time slide away in the company of our beloved Friends We are not sensible of its flight But what dear satisfaction is it to be united to that chosen consecrated Society Above who love one another as themselves Though the Angels and Saints have different degrees of Glory yet every one is
God causes the Hatred of Sin and therefore 't is against all Sin not only to prevent the Exercise of it but to eradicate it out of the Soul All the fearful consequences of Sin do not render it so odious to a gracious Spirit as its own proper Idea and intrinsick Evil as 't is contrary to the holy Nature and Law of God Love unites the Soul to God and turns the Thoughts continually to him and the lively sense of his Majesty and Presence who is so pure that he cannot behold Iniquity causes an aversion from all that is displeasing to his Divine Eyes And from hence it is that a zealous Lover of God is frequent and strict in reviewing his Heart and Ways and upon the discovery of sinful failings renews his Repentance which is the exercise of Grief and Love and renews his purposes of more care and circumspection for the future Love aspires to be like God in all possible degrees of Purity for it inflames our Desires after his Favour as that which is better than Life and all the sweetest enjoyments of it and Holiness is the powerful attractive of God's delightful Love to us Love is the Principle of free ingenuous and joyful Obedience 'T was our Saviour's Meat and Drink to do the Will of his Father For Love is the fountain of Pleasure it moves the Soul with Election and Liberty and makes every thing grateful that proceeds from it Therefore the Apostle declares that the Law is not made for a righteous Man that is as it is enforc'd by terrible penalties to constrain rebellious Sinners to Obedience for Love is an internal living Law in the Heart and has an Imperial Power over his Actions And this also distinguishes the renovation of one sanctified by the Spirit from the imperfect Change that is made in the Unregenerate They may stop the eruption of corrupt Nature but are Swine that being wash'd have an inclination to wallow in the Mire they may by strong impressions of Fear be urged to do many good things but in this they are like a Bowl that is thrown with such violence as controuls the drawing of the Bias and makes it run contrary to it But Love enclines the Soul to obey the holy Motions of the Spirit with facility as the Wheels in Ezekiel's Vision turned every way with readiness as the Spirit moved them And with holy Love there is a spiritual Power communicated that both the natural averseness and impotence to what is good may be healed By the virtue of the sanctifying Spirit the Soul that was dead absolutely unable to perform spiritual and supernatural Acts is revived to a kind of Omnipotence it can do all things required by the Evangelical Covenant by the new Law that is in the hands of our merciful Mediator for Salvation 'T is true there are relicks of Sin in the best and the Flesh and Spirit are repugnant Principles warring against one another but the holy Spirit will make no capitulation or composition with Sin but is so predominant that Sin is gradually subdued and does not so freely and frequently break forth as it does from the unrenewed By the accession of his Strength we are enabled to mortify the Deeds of the Body to crucify the Flesh with the Affections and Lust thereof And to perform holy Duties with freedom alacrity and zeal in such a manner as is acceptable to God In short saving Grace is distinguish'd from that which is common to the Unregenerate by its prevalency and constancy There may be a declination in the Saints tending to a downfal but the Seed of God that supernatural Grace that remains in them will by the Power of the holy Spirit recover the Supremacy Others may be enlightned and feel some good Motions and transient Touches as Saul had his rapture among the Prophets but they are not truly entirely and perseveringly converted to God they are not proof against the allurements or Terrors of the World They make a fair Profession till they are tried by Temptations Congealed drops of Water appear like solid Chrystal till the warm beams of the Sun dissolve them and discover the hypocrisy of the Chrystal False Jewels may seem to have the lustre of Diamonds till they are broke by a fall and discovered to be Glass Thus the Riches the Honours and Pleasures of the Flesh melt some and temporal Evils break the Resolutions of others and make it evident they were not sincere Converts But where the holy Spirit savingly works he is said to dwell he is not like a Passenger or a Tenant at will that neglects the House and suffers it to fall into ruine but as the Proprietary and Owner he keeps perpetual residence in true Christians and by his continual Influence preserves them from final Apostacy Now from hence we may judg whether we have an Interest in Christ and his Benefits For the Apostle clearly tells us That if any Man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his By this sacred Signature we are appropriated to Christ and visibly distinguished from the World For though the secret and pure Influences of the Spirit in the Soul are only known to the Person that feels them yet his active Inspirations are declarative of his Presence and Power in the outward Conversation As the Wind that is of so thin and subtil a nature that 't is invisible in it self but we certainly know from what Point it blows by the course and way that the Ship makes thus the Spirit of God who is compared to the Wind is discovered by an infallible Indication his Fruits and Effects in a holy Life And those who have communion with Christ by his Spirit have a share in his Victories and may with confidence meet the last Enemy Death For we are assured If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in us he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken our mortal Bodies by the Spirit that dwelleth in us A preparative conformity to Christ in Grace will be followed with a consummate in Glory But those who never felt the sanctifying efficacy of the Spirit in their Hearts and Lives though they are Christians in profession yet they have no other Union with Christ than a dead Branch with a Tree that receives no sap and virtue from it or an artificial Member joined to the Body that may have the outward clothing and ornaments proper to that part but derives no Life and Sense from it Whoever is in Christ is a new Creature And only those who partake in the first Resurrection from Sin shall be exempted from the Power of the second Death and upon just grounds are freed from the Terrors of the first To apply this Point let us 1. Consider our dear Obligations to our blessed Saviour who to free us from the sting and enslaving fear of Death submitted to it with all its Terrors from God and wicked Men. He felt a
them others appear and confound his Memory with their number so when Conscience is seriously intent in reflecting upon it self before it can reckon up the Sins committed against one Command innumerable others appear This made the Psalmist upon the survey of his Actions break forth in amazement and perplexity Mine Iniquities are more than the Hairs upon my Head therefore my Heart fails me But it will be one of the Miracles of that Day to enlarge the view of Conscience to all their Sins Now the Records of Conscience are often obliterated and the Sins written therein are forgotten but then they shall appear in so clear an impression that the Wicked shall be inexcusable to themselves and Conscience subscribes their Condemnation And O the formidable Spectacle when Conscience enlightned by a Beam from Heaven shall present to a Sinner in one view the Sins of his whole Life Now Conscience is a Notary in every Man's Bosom and though 't is not always vocal yet writes down their Actions The Sin of Judah is written with a Pen of Iron and with a point of a Diamond 't is graven upon the Tables of the Heart But then it shall be compell'd to give a full Charge against the Guilty Of this we have an infallible Presage in this World when Conscience turns the Point against the Breast of a Sinner and enforces the Tongue by a secret instigation to accuse the Person And this Information of Conscience at the last will make the Sinner speechless for the Book of Accounts with Divine Justice was always in his own keeping and whatever is recorded there was written with his own Hand And how will those hardned Sinners that now kick against the Pricks of Conscience be able to repel its strong and quick Accusations before that terrible Tribunal 4. Other numerous Witnesses will appear to finish the process of that Day Not as if God that knows all things wants Information but for the publick Conviction of the Wicked Satan will then bring in a bloody Charge against them Such is his Malignity that he is a Complainer of God to Man and by calumniating the Blessed Creator seduc'd our first Parents and he is the Accuser of Men to God He is stiled the Accuser of the Brethren before God day and night Sometimes falsly as when he taxed Job that his Piety was mercenary and often truly to provoke the Divine Displeasure But though his Charge be just against them as Sinners yet as Penitent Sinners they are absolved by the Judg upon the Throne of Grace This we have represented to the Prophet Zechary Joshua the High Priest a Type of the Church standing before the Angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him for that was the place of Accusers But Christ the Blessed Reconciler interposed And the Lord said to Satan The Lord rebuke thee O Satan even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee But he will principally act the part of an Accuser at the last Judgment This is intimated in that fearful Imprecation Let Satan stand at his right hand when he is judged let him be condemned He is now an active watchful Spirit whose Diligence is equal to his Malice and by glittering Snares or violent Temptations draws Men to Sin But then he will be their most bitter Accuser not from zeal of Justice but pure Malignity Then he will aggravate their Crimes by the most killing Circumstances though in accusing them he endites himself their Sins being usually done by his sollicitations And the Wicked themselves will accuse one another In this World Fellow-sinners usually conceal one anothers Wickedness restrain'd by their own obnoxiousness But then all that have been jointly engaged in the commission of Sin will impeach each other The voluptuous Sinners that have excited one another to Lust or Luxury Come let us take our fill of Love till the Morning Come I will fetch Wine and we will fill our selves with strong Drink for to morrow shall be as to day and much more abundant All the charming Companions and Associates will with fierceness charge one another And the malicious cruel Sinners that say Come let us lay wait for Blood let us swallow them up quick as the Grave will then like enraged Furies fly upon one another In all Sins of Combination the inferiour Instruments will accuse their Directors for their pernicious Counsel and the Directors will accuse the Instruments for their wicked Compliance And all the holy Servants of God who by their Instructions Counsels Admonitions Examples have endeavoured to make the World better especially those who by their Place and Relation were more concerned and more zealously and compassionately urged and perswaded those under their Care to reform their Lives and save their Souls will give a heavy Testimony against them Indeed the very Presence of the Saints will upbraid the Wicked for their resisting all the warming melting Intreaties all the grave and serious Reproofs all the tender earnest Expostulations that were ineffectual by the hardness of their Hearts Briefly the Scripture attributes to the Signs and Circumstances of Mens Sins a vocal Evidence against them Thus the Prophet speaking of the House built by Rapine and Extortion The Stones of the Wall cry and the Beams answer them and with concurrent Testimony accuse the unrighteous Builder And St. James declares That the Wages of the Hireling kept back by Fraud cry against the Oppressor And the Rust of Gold and Silver treasured up is a Witness against the Covetous And this by the recognition of Conscience will be a Memorial against them hereafter To what the Scripture speaks of this kind of Evidence of Mens Sins I shall add a useful Representation fram'd by a Heathen to signify that Wickedness how secretly soever committed shall be brought to light in Judgment He tells us That the Soul of a very guilty Wretch was after Death arraigned before one of the severe Judges below And at his Trial because his atrocious Crimes were done in secret he stood upon his defence denying all The Judg commanded his Lamp to be produc'd that was an Eye-witness of his Wickedness The Lamp appear'd and being demanded what it knew of him answered with a sigh Would I had been conscious of nothing for even now the remembrance of his Villanies makes me to tremble I wish my Light had been extinguished that the Oil that maintained had quench'd it But I burnt with disdain and cast about some Sparks to fire his impure Bed and was grieved that my little Flame was so weak as not to consume it I said within my self If the Sun saw these Villanies it would be eclips'd and leave the World in Darkness But I now perceive why I was constrain'd to give Light to him that being a secret Spy of his Uncleanness his Thefts and Cruelties I might reveal them But we that are enlightned by Faith and know that God is
the Apostle tho' a transcendent Saint devests himself of his own Righteousness that he may be entirely covered with the Righteousness of Christ and renounces all things that he may be found in him as his Surety in that Day of Accounts and obtain Pardon by vertue of his Satisfaction for Sin We cannot perfectly obey the Commands nor appease the Displeasure of God but the expiatory Sacrifice of Christ propitiats the Divine Justice This alone can make us stand in Judgment before the fiery Law and the fiery Tribunal and the Judg who is a consuming Fire to all the Guilty that appear in their Sins before him The Blood of the Mediator has sprinkled the Throne of God in Heaven and our Consciences being sprinkl'd with it by an unfeigned Faith we may appear before God the Judg of all with an humble confidence and enter into the Holy of Holies the Celestial Sanctuary with joy 2. Not only the pardon of our Sins but the acceptance and rewarding of our Services with eternal Glory is upon the account of our Saviour's compleat Righteousness There are defilements in the Persons and defects in the works of the Saints Their most holy and fervent Prayers are perfum'd by the Incense of his Intercession and so become grateful to God Our best Vertues are mix'd and shadowed with Imperfections but in him all Graces were conspicuous in their consummate degrees Our Obedience supposing it perfect is of no desert When we have done all we are unprofitable Servants but his Obedience was infinitely meritorious by the union of the Deity with his humane Nature and is the foundation of the excellent Reward Not that his Merits derive a value to our Works to make them worthy of eternal Glory as some noble Mineral infused into Water that is in it self without taste or efficacy gives it a medicinal tincture and Virtue for this is impossible since the infinite Dignity of his Person and his most perfect habitual actual Holiness that are the fountains and reasons of his Merits are incommunicable to our Persons and Works But the active and passive Obedience of Christ is so satisfactory and meritorious that God is pleased graciously to reward with the Crown of Life the mean Services of those who are by a lively and purifying Faith united to him Secondly Sincere Obedience that is an uniform and entire respect to all the Commands of God will alone be accepted in that day for his Authority runs through all and binds them on the Conscience David had this Testimony from God himself that he was a Man after his own Heart that fulfilled all his Will And St. John refers the decision of our state to this If our Hearts condemn us of any allowed Sin of omission or commission much more God will who is greater than our Hearts and knows all things But if the illuminated tender Conscience doth not condemn us of insincerity we have confidence towards God that he will spare and accept us notwithstanding our Frailties and give free and safe access into his Presence The lives of many are chequer'd with a strange disparity they are restrain'd from some Sins of apparent odiousness but indulgent to others they are strict in some Duties but loose and slack in others as if they hoped by way of commutation to be accepted of God to expiate their Delinquencies in one kind by supererrogating in another Some are painted Pharisees in the duties of the first Table very exact in the formalities of outward Devotions but gross Publicans in the duties of the second careless of Justice and Equity and Charity to Men Others are in appearance strictly moral in the discharge of their duties to Men and negligent of their Obligations to God But partial Obedience can never endure the trial of Conscience much less of God For what is the weak light of our Minds to the pure Eyes of his Glory It will make us liable to inward rebuke now and to open confusion at the last St. Paul's rejoycing was from the Testimony of his Conscience that in simplicity and godly Sincerity he had his Conversation in the World and as he expresses it in another place it was his daily Exercise to have a Conscience void of Offence towards God and towards Men. Tho our conquest of Sin be not compleat yet our resolution and endeavours must be to mortify it in every kind Tho our Obedience has not the perfection of Degrees we must be equally regarding the Divine Law If there be any secret-favour'd Sin either of Omission or Commission it will render our Petitions unacceptable at the Throne of Grace and our Persons at the Throne of Judgment If I regard Iniquity in my Heart the Lord will not hear my Prayer The Law requires the performance of our Duty without abatement or denounceth the Penalty without allay or mitigation The Gospel has not relax'd the strictness of the Law as 't is the Rule of Life but as it was the condition of obtaining Life Sincere Obedience is accepted by that gracious Covenant where the Legal Perfection is wanting but that is indispensably required of all I may illustrate this by a Passage of Alexander the Great who being desirous to learn Geometry applied himself to a skilful Instructer in it But his warlike Disposition made him more capable to conquer than to measure the Earth so that tired with the first Propositions he desir'd his Master to make the Scheme more clear and plain and easy to him To whom the Master replied that the Theorems of that Science were equally difficult to all and requir'd the same attention of Mind to understand them Thus the Gospel of Mercy requires of all sincere Sanctification and serious endeavours to perfect Holiness in the Fear of God and without this none shall be exempted from Condemnation To the sincerity of Obedience I shall add a more restrained Notion of it as respecting Religion The Duties of Piety consist of an outward and inward part and the one without the other is but as a Carcass without a quickning Soul Now there will be an exquisite Anatomy of the Heart in that Judgment a discovery of all the Principles and Motives by which Men were acted and then he that is a Saint inwardly in the Spirit who with pure Aims and holy Affections hath served God shall have praise of him And those who have us'd God to injoy the World that have assumed pretences of Piety for secular Ends shall be reproved This will be a cause of wonder in that day that many who are highly esteemed by Men as excellent Saints shall be an abomination to God That in the broad way to Hell thousands go thither is sad beyond expression but not strange at all but that in the Path of Heaven any should descend to Hell is astonishing That those who live without God in the World in the prophane neglect of his Worship in a dissolute disorderly course should fall under Condemnation is believed
a Life without Sin and without End for Immortality was a Privilege due to his Innocence and for Enemies for the worst Enemies Rebels by revolture from obedience to their Creator and King is a Love truly Divine and infinitely surpassing not only the Affections but the understanding and knowledg of all Creatures Briefly he gave his Life for us and gives himself to us the most excellent testimonies of Love that we can receive from Love it self and we shall love him with all the strength of our glorified Spirits 3. Union with God by Knowledg and Love accomplishes the Perfection and Happiness of the Saints The most pernicious effect of Sin is the separation of the Soul from God and the restoral of us to Happiness is by re-union with him This we obtain by Christ who is Emanuel in his Nature and by Office who took our Flesh which he offer'd as a Sacrifice to God to atone his Displeasure and gives his Spirit to dwell in us as a permanent active Principle by whose special operation Faith is produc'd in our Hearts that is such a belief of his Love in redeeming us as inspires us with a sincere and superlative Love to him and by these vital Bands we are united to him and as his true Members live the same Life with him in Grace and Glory Now in Heaven our Union with God is more near and noble more intimate and influential more inseparable and eternal 'T is observable in natural Causalties that what is of a more refin'd and purer Nature is more active and penetrating and more closely unites with other things than what is more gross and material Light which is the purest Quality in the World actuates all Colours and makes them visible and actuates the Eye and conveys the lively Image of the Object with shining Evidence into it The Sun shoots its invisible Virtue into the deepest Mines Fire is more subtile and pure than Water and will pierce into solid Metals which the Water cannot soak into The glowing Iron seems to be all Fire Now God is the purest Spirit and of infinite energy and can unite himself to our Spirits more intimately than the closest Union between any Creatures in the World He unites himself to the Understanding by an immediate irradiation and discovery of his glorious Excellencies In thy Light saith the Psalmist we shall see Light He unites himself to the Will by the infusion of his Love and by that drawing forth our Love to him This Union is compleat in Heaven and most communicative of the Divine Influences to the Saints and consequently their conformity and fruition of God is in the highest degrees that created Spirits are capable of This is the most desireable and perfect State of reasonable Creatures for God is the ever-flowing Fountain of Felicity the only stable Center of the Soul wherein it reposes it self for ever Accordingly the Psalmist speaks Return to thy Rest O my Soul for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee When the Soul opens its Eyes to the clear discoveries of the first Truth in which is no shadow of Error and its Breast to the dear and intimate imbraces of the Supream Good in which is no mixture of Evil and beyond which nothing remains to be known nothing to be enjoy'd what a Deluge of the purest and sweetest Pleasures will overflow it We cannot ascend in our Thoughts so high as to conceive the excess of Joy that attends those Operations of the glorified Soul upon its proper Object But something we may conjecture Those who are possess'd with a noble Passion for Knowledg how do they despise all lower Pleasures in comparison of it How do they forget themselves neglect the Body and retire into the Mind the highest part of Man and nearest to God The bare apprehension of such things that by their internal Nature have no attractive influence upon the Affections is pleasant to the Understanding As the appearance of Light though not attended with any other visible Beauties refreshes the Eye after long darkness So the clear discovery of Truths how abstract so ever that were before unknown is grateful to the intellective Faculty Thus some have been strangely transported with the pleasure of a Mathematical Demonstration when the Evidence not the Importance of the thing was so ravishing for what is more dry and barren of delight than the speculation of Figures and Numbers Solon when near his End and some of his Friends that visited him were speaking softly of a Point of Philosophy by that sound of Wisdom was awaken'd from the sleep of Death that was just seizing on him and opening his Eyes raising his Head to give attention being ask'd the reason of it Answered That when I understand what you are discoursing of I may die Such was his delight in Knowledg that a little of it made his Agony insensible But here are many Imperfections that lessen this intellectual Pleasure which shall cease in Heaven Here the acquisition of Knowledg is often with the expence of Health The Flower of the Spirits necessary for natural Operations is wasted by intense Thoughts How often are the Learned sickly As the Flint when 't is struck gives not a spark without consuming it self So Knowledg is obtain'd by Studies that waste our faint sensitive Faculties But then our Knowledg shall be a free emanation from the spring of Truth without our labour and pains Here we learn by circuit and discern by comparing things ignorant darkness is dispell'd by a gradual succession of Light But then perfect Knowledg shall be infused in a moment Here after all our labour and toyl how little Knowledg do we gain Every Question is a Labyrinth out of which the nimblest and most searching Minds cannot extricate themselves How many specious Errors impose upon our Understandings We look on things by false Lights through deceiving Spectacles But then our Knowledg shall be certain and compleat There is no forbidden Tree in the Celestial Paradise as no inordinate Affection But suppose that all things in the compass of the World were known yet still there would be emptiness and anguish in the Mind for the most comprehensive knowledg of things that are insufficient to make us happy cannot afford true Satisfaction But then we shall see God in all his Excellencies the supream Object and End the only Felicity of the Soul How will the sight of his glorious Perfections in the first moment quench our extream Thirst and fill us with Joy and Admiration 'T is not as the naked conception of Treasures that only makes rich in Idea's but that Divine sight gives a real interest in him The Angels are so ravish'd with the Beauties and Wonders of his Face that they never divert a moment from the contemplation of it 2. The pure Love of the Saints to God is fully satisfied in the possession and enjoyment of him and consequently the greatest delight and complacency is shed abroad in their Hearts Love
rejoice and triumph in the Happiness of one another With what an unimaginable tenderness do they embrace What Reciprocations of Endearments are between them O their ravishing Conversation and sweet Entercourse for their Presence together in Heaven is not a silent Show In the Transfiguration Moses and Elias talk'd with Christ We may understand a little of it by the sensible complacence that is among sincere Friends here In pure Amity there is a threefold Union a Union of Resemblance that is the principle of it likeness causes Love a Union of Affection that is its Essence 't is said of Jonathan that incomparable Friend his Soul was knit with the Soul of David and he loved him as his own Soul the Union of Conversation that is requisite to the satisfaction of Love What an entertainment of Love and Joy is there in the presence and discourses of dear Friends their mutual Aspects like a Chain compos'd of Spirits luminous and active draw and fasten their Souls to one another The Felicity of Love consists in their Conversation Now in Heaven whatever is pleasant in Friendship is in Perfection and whatever is distastful by Mens Folly and Weakness is abolish'd With what excellent Discourses do they entertain one another If David felt such inward Pleasure from the sense of God's Favours that he could not restrain the expression of it but invites the Saints Come and hear all ye that fear the Lord and I will tell you what he has done for my Soul Certainly in Heaven the Blessed with overflowing Affections recount the Divine Benefits the admirable Methods whereby the Life of Grace was begun preserv'd and carried on in the midst of Temptations the continual Succession of Mercies in the time of their Hopes and the Consummation of all in the time of their enjoyment How joyfully do they concur in their Thanksgivings to God for the Goodness of Creation in making them reasonable Creatures capable to know love and enjoy him when they might have been of the lowest Order in the whole Sphere of Beings for his compassionate Care and Providence over them in this World but especially for his sovereign and singular Mercy in electing them to be Vessels of Honour for his powerful Grace in rescuing them from the cruel and ignominious Bondage of Sin for his most free Love that justified them from all their Guilt by the Death of his only Son and glorified them with himself They are never weary in this delightful Exercise but continually bless him for his Mercy that endures for ever We may judg by the Saints here when they are in a fit disposition to praise God what Fervors they feel in their united Praises of him in Heaven The Psalmist in an Extasy calls to all the parts of the World to join with him The Lord reigns let the Heavens rejoice and the Earth be glad let the Sea roar let the Fields be joyful and all that dwell therein He desires that Nature should be elevated above it self that the dead parts be inspired with Life the insensible feel motions of Joy and those that want a Voice break forth in Praises to adorn the Divine Triumph With what Life and Alacrity will the Saints in their blessed Communion celebrate the Object of their Love and Praises The Seraphims about the Throne cried to one another to express their Zeal and Joy in celebrating his Eternal Purity and Power and the Glory of his Goodness O the unspeakable Pleasure of this Concert when every Soul is harmonious and contributes his part to the full Musick of Heaven O could we hear but some Eccho of those Songs wherewith the Heaven of Heavens resounds some remains of those Voices wherewith the Saints above triumph in the Praises in the solemn Adoration of the King of Spirits how would it inflame our Desires to be join'd with them Blessed are those that are in thy House they always praise thee 3. The fulness of Joy in Heaven is everlasting without defect and without end 1. 'T is undecaying the productive Causes are conservative of it being always equal Those are the beatifick Object and the continual fruition of it Whilst we are here below the Sun of Righteousness as to our perception and sense has Ascensions and Declinations Accesses and Recesses And our Earth is not so purified but some Vapours arise that intercept his chearful refreshing Light From hence there are alternate successions of Spiritual Comforts and Sorrows of Doubts and filial Confidence in the Saints 'T is a rare Favour of Heaven when an humble Believer in his whole course is so circumspect as not to provoke God to appear displeased against him When a Christian as those tutelar Angels spoken of in the Gospel always beholds the Face of his Heavenly Father and converses with him with an holy Liberty And what a torment the hiding of God's Face is to a deserted Soul only they know who feel it External troubles are many times attended with more Consolations to the Spirit than Afflictions to Sense but to love God with a transcendent Affection and to fear he is our Enemy no Punishment exceeds or is equal to it As his Loving-kindness in their esteem is better than Life so his Displeasure is worse than Death How do they wrestle with God by Prayers and Tears and offer as it were a holy Violence to the King of Heaven to recover their first serenity of Mind the lost Peace of Heart How passionately do they cry out with Job in the Book of his Patience O that I were as in months past as in the days when God preserved me when his Candle shin'd upon my head and when by his Light I walk'd through darkness As I was in the days of my youth when the Secret of God was upon my Tabernacle And sometimes God delays the revealing himself even to his dearest Children not that he does not see their Necessities and hears their Prayers or is so hard that till their Extremities he is not moved with Compassion but for wise and holy Reasons Either that they may not return to folly if by any presumptuous Sin they forfeited their Peace or if they have been careful to please him yet he may deprive them of Spiritual Comforts for a time to keep them humble and that with an obedient resignation to his Sovereign Pleasure they may wait for his reviving Presence And then Joy returns greater than before For thus God usually renders with interest what he suspended only for trial But the Saints above are for ever enlightned with the vital splendor and dear regards of his Countenance always enjoy his beamy smiles A continual effusion of Glory illustrates Heaven and all its blessed Inhabitants And their Contemplation of God is fixed If the Object though extraordinary glorious were transient or the Eye so weak that it could only see it but by glances the height of Joy would not be perpetual But the mind is prepar'd with supernatural vigour to see the brightness
Jul. 1 Thess. 4. * Ille exerit gladium ille cervicem uno voto unâ devotione sub tanto non dicam humanitatis sed pâ—tius naturae ipsius metu lati sunt John 21.41 Secutus à corpore volebat esse cum Christo sed si fieri posset praeter mortis molestiam Nolens ad eam venit sed volens eam vicit Aug. Tract 123 in Joan. Phil. 1. John 17. Cant. 1. †Quamdiu in Salo isto tamdiu inter naufragia Accitus sum ad id miraculi videre exultantem in morte hominem insultantem morti Bern. 26 Serm. in Cant. Gen. 4. Ver. 29. Ver. 26. Psal. 100. Isa. 33.22 Rom. 3.5 6. John 5.22 Ver. 26 27. Rev. 5. John 5.23 Luke 9.26 Mat. 26.64 63. Heb. 1. Isa. 11.2 3 4. Rev. 20.11 Rom. 7.17 Psal. 119.128 Rom. 2.18 〈◊〉 6.10 John 5.44 James 2.12 Isa. 1.16 17 18 Mal. 3.17 2 Tim. 1.7 1 Pet. 1.12 Luke 11.13 Rom. 1.26 27. Rom. 1.32 Rom. 2. Rom. 2.4 Acts 14.17 Adsit Regula peccatis quae poenas irroget aequas Horat. Isa. 6.2 3. Job 22.14 Poenae aequalitas non nude spectanda ut in ponderibus mensuris sed expenso proposito voto ejus qui deliquit Grot. Mat. 23.33 Gen. 3.11 Gen. 18.20 21 Dan. 5.27 Rev. 19.2 3. Rom. 2.5 Eccles. 12. ult 2 Cor. 5.10 Rom. 2.16 James 4. 1 Pet. 4.5 Col. 3.25 Mat. 12. Jude 14 15. Luke 21.3 4. Mat. 10.42 Rev. 20.12 John 5.45 John 12.48 Psal. 19. Heb. 4.13 Psal. 139. 1 Tim. 6.16 Rev. 1.14 Psal. 90.8 1 Sam. 15.21 2 Sam. 11.25 Matth. 23.14 Matth. 6.2 Matth. 23.14 Prov. 24.12 Jer. 17.10 Isa. 65.6 * O si nobis animam boni viri liceret inspicere quam pulchram faciem quam sanctam quam ex magnifico placidoquefulgentem videremus Senec. Mal. 3.16 17. Rom. 2.15 16. Psal. 40.12 Jer. 17.1 Rev. Zech. 3.1 2 3. Psal. 109.6 7. Prov. 7.18 Isa. 56.12 Prov. 1. Hab. 2.11 James 5.3 4. ‖ Ipse timendus est in publico ipse in secreto Lucerna ardet videt te Lucerna extincta est videt te In cubile intras videt te In corde versaris videt te Ipsum time 1 Pet. 1.17 Matth. 7.22 Col. 3. ult Col. 3.11 Gal. 6.7 8. Rom. 2.7 Rom. 6. ult Jude 21. Rev. 7.14 2 Tim. 4.7 8. Rev. 20.12 Mat. 25. 34. 35. * Plus amant illud Regnum in quo non timent habere consortes Aug. de Civit. Dei 2 Cor. 8.12 Luk. 12.47 48. Jer. 17.10 Luke 16.28 ‖ Non orat pro fratrum salute quâ non tangitur reprobus sed pro se ne ipsius tormenta ex consortio fratrum augeautur Brugen Testimonium animae naturaliter Christiana Tert. Jude 14 15. Eccles. 12. Esa. 45.23 Rom. 14.10 11. Mat. 13.42 43. 23.30 31. An verè extribuit nobis omnia quae promisit de solo die judicii nos fefellit Aug. Psal. 14.1 Psal. 50. Eccles. 8.2 Acts 17.130 2 Pet. 2.4 Deut. 32.34 ‖ Amos 8.7 Psal. 50.21 * Cum habeat in potestate vindictam mavult diu tenere patientiam Cyprian de bon Patient †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Cum hi novissimi versus in Tragoedia Euripidis pronuntiati essent totus populus ad ejiciendum Actorum Carmen consurrexit uno impetu donec Euripides in medium prosiluit petens ut expectarent viderentque quem admirator auri exitum faceret Senec. Epist. 115. Psal. 4. 2 Thess. 6.7 Rom. 2.7 1 Cor. 4.5 Inter Judicem justum conscientiam tuam noli timere nisi causam tuam Aug. 1 Pet. 1.7 2 Pet. 3.9 Psal. 94.5 6. 1 Pet. 4.3 4. Eccles. 11. Tit. 12.13 Phil. 1. Mat. 25. Acts. 2. Videtis vulnera quae inflixistis agnoscitis latus quod pupugistis quoniam per vos propter vos a pertum est nec intrare voluistis Aug. 2 Cor. 5.9 Rev. 8.3 1 John 3.20 21. 2 Cor. 1.12 * Cui praeceptor ista inquit omnibus eadem sunt aeque difficilia Senec. Ep. 91. Psal. 19.12 * Nullis vitiis desunt pretiosa nomina Plin. lib. 73. Mat. 10.33 34. Rom. 10. 1 Joh. 4.18 Matth. 10.31 32 33. 1 Cor. 4.17 Acts 5.41 John 5.33 36 37 39. Mark 8.38 Matth. 25.34 35.36 Jude 15. Rev. 1.9 1 Thess. 4.16 Pet. 3.11 1â— Acts 17.32 34. 1 Cor. 19.27 * Vae miseris nobis qui de electione nostra nullam adhuc 〈◊〉 vocem cognovimus iam in otio quâ—â—â— de securitate torpemus Greg. lib. 39. Moral Matth. 11. Isa. 35. Illorum hominum non tantum lingua sed vita prophetica fuit Aug. Acts 2 27 29. Rev. 17.7 1 Cor. 13. Ephes. 3. * Ut cum istud quicquid est de quo disputatis percepero moriar Val. Max. * Aristotle Cant. 7. Cant. 10.16 Cant. 6. * Sic itaque habebit donum aliud alio minus ut hic quoque donum habeat ne velit amplius Aug. * O si animum boni viri liceret inspicere ex magnifico placidóque fulgentem nonne veluti numinis occursu obstupefacti essemus Senec. Non errâsti Mater nam hic Alexander est Curt. lib. 3. Job 29.2 3 4. * Vitae nos taedium tenet timor mortis natat omne consilium nec implere nos ulla faelicitas potest Causa auteÌ„ est quod non pervenimus ad illud bonum immensum insuperabile ubi necesse est consistat nobis voluntas nostra quia ultra summum non est locus Senec. Ep. 74. †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist. Eth. l. 7. c. ult * Et totum se dedit universis totum singulis Ac per hoc quicquid passione sua Salvator praestitit sicut totum ei debent universi sic singuli nisi quod propè hoc plus singuli quam universi quod totum accepe runâ—â— singuâ—â— quantum unâ— versi Salvian * Si audiat multitudo silens non inter se particulatim comminuunt sonos tanquam cibos sed omne quod sonat omnibus totum est singulis totum August in Ep. ad Volusan Heb. 10.19 20. Rom. 9.16 Rom. 3.27 James 2. Heb. 9. 2 Cor. John 3.3 Rom. 8.17 Gal. 4.7 1 Pet. 1.17 Rom. 2.16 Acts 26.18 Heb. 12.14 John 3.16 Phil. 2.8 9. John 17.2 John 6. 1 Cor. 15.22 1 John 5.12 John 1.13 Ephes. 3.17 1 Cor. 1. Acts 5.31 Rom. 8. Psal. 106.14 Frui est amore alicujus rei inhaerere propter seipsam uti autem quod in usum venerit ad id quod amas obtinendum referre Aug. de Doct. Christ. * Acosta 1 Tim. 9.18 19. Phil. 3.13 14. Rev. 2. 1 Cor. 13. * Natator amnem interpositum superaturus exuitur nec tamen hoc tanto appararu quod se dispoliaverit transnatabit nisi totius Corporis nisu torrentis impetum scindat laborem natationis exhauriat Paulin. Rom. 2. Mat. 10.22 Juven Ezek. 18.24 Heb. 10.38 1 Cor. 5.11 1 Cor. 6.9 10. * Homil. 6. de laud. Paul †Quae justior venia in omnibus causis quam voluntarius an quam invitus peccator implorat Negationem quanta compellunt ingenia carnificum genera poenarum Quis magis negavit qui Christum vexatus an qui delectatus amisit Qui quum amitteret doluit an qui quum amitteret lusit Tert. de pudicit Denique saepe cognovimus quoniam quem formidolosa carnificum pompa non terruit nec divisi lateris sulcus infregit nec ardentes â—â—minae à triumphalis 〈…〉 * Flagitio insigni semper alicujus foeminae amore flagrans ob id Deas pingens sub dilectarum imagine Itaque scorta ejus venerabantur Plin. * Bion. †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aelian l. 13. c. 32. †Nunquam de vitâ judicatur semper creditur sanabimur si modò separemur à coetu Sen de vit Beat. Heb. 11.1 Nec vereamur occidi quos constat quando occidimur coronari Cyp. Isa. 1.2 3. * Primum ego scriptoris officium existimâ—â— ut titulum 〈◊〉 legat atque identidem 〈…〉 quid capâ—â—it scribere †Cum natalis dies Februarii admonuisset aetatis numerandae tricesimo reperissem invasit me subita moestitia perculsit admirantem quomodo sine sensu vitae ad ejus culmen pervenissem à quo lux quaelibet fit obscurior dies nostri ad occasum inclinare incipiunt Visa est mihi rerum facies momento mutata tunc primum me hominem agnovi Memoires Chanut 2 Cor. 4.18 2 Pet. 3.9 Quam suave carete suavitatibus istis Ut corpus redimas ferrum patieris ignes ut valeas animo quicquam tolerare negabis At pretium pars haec corpore majus habet Ovid. Psal. 90.11 2 Thes. 1. Indeed it is difficult to conceive how a material Fire can act on a spiritual Substance But 't is unreasonable to determine that it is impossible For if we consider what Pain is it is as conceivable how pure Spirits are capable of it as Spirits in Conjunction with Bodies The human Soul in its Nature is Spiritual as the Angels yet has a painful sense of Fire or other afflicting Evils incumbent on the Senses The Body meerly feels not pain but it passes through the Body to the Soul If the Soul by a strong diversion of Thoughts apply it self to an Object the Body is insensible of Pain as is evident in some Diseases and that in the heat of Battel deep Wounds are not felt And as God by a natural Constitution has ordered that the Body so touched and moved excites a painful Sense in the Soul he may have ordained that the Devils shall feel the impressions of Material Fire in the places to which they shall be confin'd Dan. 12.2 Tacitâ sudant praecordia culpa Juv. Jer. 14.12 Jussisti Domine sic est ut poena sit sibi omnis inordinatus affectus Aug. Luke 15.28 Psal. 77.7 Rom. 3.5 6. Job 4.17 Prov. 8.36 Rev. 16.10 11. Jer. 26.3 * Si frigido loquar nescit quod loquor Aug. Identidem dictitans qualis artisex pereo Suet. Nisi timore incipiat homo Deum colere non perveniet ad amorem Aug.