Promise of God to all penitent Believers in the Kingdom of Heaven and excludes all impenitent Infidels Divine Justice will illustriously appear then in distinguishing Believers from Unbelievers by their Works the proper Fruits either of Faith or Infidelity All the thick Clouds of Disgraces Calumnies Persecutions that often oppress the most sincere Christians here shall not then darken their Holiness and all the specious appearances of Piety which the most artificial Hypocrites make use of to deceive others shall not conceal their Wickedness And accordingly the one shall be absolved and glorified the others condemned and punish'd for ever In short without violation of his own righteous establishment in the Gospel God cannot receive the unholy into his Glory 3. Besides the Legal Bar that excludes unsanctified Persons from the beatifick vision of God there is a moral incapacity Suppose that Justice should allow Omnipotence to translate such a Sinner to Heaven would the Place make him happy Can two incongruous Natures delight in one another The happiness of Sense is by an impression of Pleasure from a suitable Object The happiness of intellectual Beings arises from an entire conformity of dispositions So that unless God recede from his Holiness which is absolutely impossible or Man be purified and changed into his likeness there can be no sweet Communion between them Our Saviour assigns this Reason of the necessity of Regeneration in order to our admission into Heaven That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit According to the quality of the Principle such is what proceeds from it The Flesh is a corrupt Principle and accordingly the Natural Man is wholly carnal in his propensions operations and end The Disease is turn'd into his Constitution He is dead to the Spiritual Life to the actions and enjoyments that are proper to it Nay there is in him a surviving Principle of Enmity to that Life not only a mortal coldness to God but a stiff aversation from him a perpetual resistance and impatience of the Divine Presence that would disturb his voluptuous enjoyments The Exercises of Heaven would be as the Torments of Hell to him while in the midst of those pure Joys his inward inclinations vehemently run into the lowest Lees of Sensuality And therefore till this Contrariety so deep and predominant in an unholy Person be removed 't is utterly impossible he should enjoy God with satisfaction As it was necessary that God should become like Man on Earth to purchase that Felicity for him so Man must be like God in Heaven before he can possess it Holiness alone prepares Men for Celestial Happiness that is against the corruption and above the perfection of meer Nature I shall now proceed to consider more particularly what is requisite in order to our obtaining of Heaven 1. Faith in the Redeemer is absolutely required of all that will partake of the Salvation purchased by him God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have Eternal Life This is the Spirit and Substance of the Gospel therefore I will briefly unfold it The Son of God having assumed the human Nature and performed what was necessary for the expiation of Sin the Father was so pleased with his Obedience that from his lowest State he rais'd him to Divine Glory and gave him supream Authority and all-sufficient Power to communicate that Glory to others Thus our Saviour declares Thou hast given him i. e. the Son power over all Flesh that he should give Eternal Life to as many as thou hast given him And he exhorts the People Labour for that Meat that endures unto Eternal Life which the Son of Man shall give unto you for him hath God the Father sealed Now this glorious Life is not given to all but only to those who are united to him As Adam the principle of the carnal corrupt Nature derives Guilt and Death to all his Progeny so Jesus Christ who is opposed to him the Head and Prince of the renewed State communicates Life and Glory to his People The Apostle expresses it As in Adam all dye his natural Descendants are involv'd in his Condemnation even so in Christ shall all be made alive that is all that are spiritually united to him shall partake of his glorious Resurrection And St. John tells us He that hath the Son hath Life and he that hath not the Son hath not Life The having the Son upon which our right to Eternal Life depends is believing in him Faith has a principal Efficiency in receiving Christ therefore 't is exprest by that Act But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God and consequently Heirs of Glory so as many as believed on his Name And Christ is said to dwell in our Hearts by Faith This is not a meer assent to the Doctrines of the Gospel concerning the Dignity of his Person that he is in so high and glorious a Relation of being the Eternal Son of God and the infinite value of his Merits whereby he is able to save all that come unto God by him and his merciful compassionate Nature to embrace returning Sinners and the excellency of the benefits purchased by him but such a Belief as sways the Will and Affections to receive him upon God's terms for our Salvation Faith is seated in the whole Soul in the Mind and Heart and accepts of Christ intirely as Prophet Priest and King The parts of the Mediator's Office are inseparably connected and all the Effects of them are communicated to the same Persons Jesus Christ is made of God to Believers Wisdom to cure their Ignorance and Folly Righteousness to abolish their Guilt Sanctification to renew their Natures and Redemption to free them at last from the Grave and bring them to Glory From hence 't is clear that the Faith which is justifying and saving includes in its Nature as dependance and trust in Christ as a powerful and merciful Mediator that is able and willing to reconcile us to God and make us for ever happy in his Favour so a sincere resolution of Obedience and Subjection to all his holy Commands even to the plucking out of the right Eye and the cutting off the right hand the parting with the most pleasing or profitable Sins For the Promises of God that are the Rule of Faith make an offer of Christ upon these Conditions to us Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of Sins And only the Justified shall be glorified Those therefore who desire a partial interest in him as a Saviour out of absolute necessity to escape Hell and will not out of Love submit to him as their Prince have not that Faith that is unfeigned and gives a title to Eternal
in these Talents because they are usually abused to the dishonour of the Donor If the slothful Servant that hid his single Talent in a Napkin and returned it without advantage to his Lord was cast into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth a fearful Image of what will befal all unprofitable Persons how severe will their Accounts be who lavish out their numerous Talents to gratify their carnal Appetites and betray the Blessings of God to his Enemy the Devil Only the wise and good Servant that with prudent Contrivance and zealous Endeavours improves his Talents shall from the gracious Lord in whom are all Attractives and Remuneratives of our Service receive an excellent Reward Fifthly Another Rule of our Acceptance at the last Day is That we must with Courage and Zeal maintain in our rank and places the Cause of Christ. For thus he declares expresly Whosoever shall confess me before Men him also will I confess before my Father which is in Heaven But whosoever shall deny me before Men him also will I deny before my Father which is in Heaven When the Truth Purity and Power of Religion in Doctrine Worship and Practice is discountenanc'd and overborn our Saviour commands and will reward our undiscouraged visible Constancy in it He will not only reign in our Hearts but be honoured with our Lips and in our Conversations We usurp the Title of Christians unless we adhere to our Duty in despite of all opposition The Temptations that usually withdraw Men from confessing and glorifying Christ are such as work upon the Passions of Fear and Shame And the consideration of the last Judgment will fortify us against both 1. Sometimes Religion exposes the Professors of it to the loss of all temporal Enjoyments and of Life it self And when the Honour of our Saviour requires such a Service of us when that Confirmation is necessary to recommend Divine Truth to the Belief and Affections of others when our chearful and couragious Example in suffering would animate those that are fearful to Constancy and Confession then from Cowardise to withdraw our Testimony is to betray him again When our Duty is attended with extream Dangers then the sincerity and perfection of our Love to Christ is brought to the strictest trial As true Carbuncles are discovered in the Night for the Darkness redoubles their Splendor so the fidelity of Christians is evident in Persecutions that enflame and excite their Zeal to magnify the Name of Christ in the sight of the World There is no Fear in Love but perfect Love casts out Fear But Fearfulness hinders the expressing acts of Love to Christ and betrays to Apostacy For as every Passion is a Perturbation so especially Carnal Fear that blinds and disturbs the Mind and hinders the serious consideration of the Reasons of our Duty and those Motives to persevere in it that are the Fountains of our Strength From hence the timerous are often treacherous and Faith lies buried under the cold pale Ashes of Fear Now the irregularity of this Passion is best cured by directing it to the most powerful Object As the Rod of Moses swallowed up the Rods of the Magicians so a stronger Fear will subdue that which is in a weaker degree Our Saviour therefore threatens those that for the fear of Men who can but kill the Body dare not own and defend his Truth and Cause that he will renounce them before his Father in the great Day the immediate consequence of which will be the destruction of Body and Soul in Hell If Earthly Potentates had a Jurisdiction over Heaven if Men were to be tried by their Laws at the last Day if their Power extended to Eternity they might exact unlimited Obedience to their Wills but Conscience is a more desirable Friend and terrible Enemy than Caesar and all temporal Tribunals are subordinate and accountable to the Supream and Eternal there is one Lawgiver and Judg who is able to save and to destroy for ever It is the worst Perdition to secure our selves by the neglect of our Duty when we ought to perish for the Glory of our Saviour He that saves his Life shall lose it 2. Shame wounds deeper the Breasts of some than Violence Zedekiah would rather expose his Kingdom and Life to the Fury of the Chaldean Armies than be himself exposed as an Object of Derision by surrendring it And Satan who understands the temper of Mens Spirits suits his Temptations accordingly The Purity and Holiness of Religion exprest in the Actions of the Saints is by the seurrilous Reflections and bitter Sarcasms of prophane Persons made contemptible This is as foolish and malicious as if a Slave should reproach the Son of a King that he was like his Father in his Countenance and Actions for by how much the resemblance of God's Holiness appears with more evidence and eminence in their Lives their Divine Relation is more certainly and justly to be acknowledged Yet how many are ashamed of this Glory And Zeal to vindicate the Honour of Religion is traduc'd and vilified either as the Effect of designing Faction or of the Indiscretion and Rashness of a weak Judgment and strong Passions In every Age the faithful Servants of God are by scornful Titles despised We are accounted saith the Apostle the Off-scouring of the World But a generous Christian looks upon disgrace for the sake of Christ as his Honour The Apostles rejoiced that they were accounted worthy to suffer shame for his Name 'T is said of the Baptist He was not that Light but came to bear Witness to that Light intimating as if that were the next degree of Dignity to it And our Saviour speaking of the Proofs of his Divine Mission reckons up the Witnesses of such Dignity that 't is not possible for Sacred Ambition to aspire to higher Honour than to be in Conjunction with them they are John the Baptist his Miracles his Father and the Scriptures Let us appeal then from the light depraved Fancies of carnal Men to the wise and faithful Judgment and Authority of the Son of God He will at the last Day in the presence of his Father and all the Court of Heaven give an incomparable Crown to all that have despised Shame for his sake But those vile Spirits whose Courage of Straw is quell'd by vain Opinion and the Reproaches of Fools and have deserted the Cause of Christ shall then be clothed with Confusion for this we are assured by our Judg That whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful Generation of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the Glory of his Father with the Holy Angels If the unnatural Brothers were astonish'd when the Governor of Egypt told them I am Joseph whom ye sold how much more will false Christians when the Lord of Glory shall tell them I am Jesus whom for base shame ye
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
Perfection and Satisfaction of the immortal Soul The Felicity resulting from it is as entire and eternal as God is Great and True who has so often promis'd it in Scripture Now the Damned are for ever excluded from the reviving Presence of God 'T is often seen how tenderly and impatiently the humane Spirit resents the loss of a dear Relation Jacob for the supposed death of Joseph was so overcome with Grief that when all his Sons and Daughters rose up to comfort him he refused to be comforted and said I will go down mourning to the Grave Indeed this overwhelming Sorrow is both a Sin and a Punishment 'T is ordain'd by the righteous and unchangeable Decree of God that every inordinate Affection in Man should be his own Tormentor But if the loss of a poor frail Creature for a short time be so afflicting how insupportable will the Sorrow be for the loss of the Blessed God for ever Who can fully conceive the Extent and Degrees of that Evil For an Evil rises in proportion to the Good of which it deprives us It must therefore follow that Celestial Blessedness being an infinite eternal Good the exclusion from it is proportionably Evil. And as the Felicity of the Saints results from the Fruition of God in Heaven and from comparison with the contrary State So the Misery of the Damned arises both from the thoughts of lost Happiness and from the lasting Pain that torments them It may be replied If this be the utmost Evil that is consequent to Sin the Threatning of it is likely to deter but few from the pleasing their corrupt Appetites for carnal Men have such gross and vitiated Affections that are careless of spiritual Happiness They cannot taste and see how good the Lord is To this a clear Answer may be given In the next State where the Wicked shall be for ever without those Carnal Objects that here deceive and delight them when deprived of all things that pleases their voluptuous Senses their Apprehensions will be changed they shall understand what a Happiness it is to enjoy God and what a Misery to be expell'd from the Celestial Paradise Our Saviour tells the Jews There shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth when ye shall see Abraham Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God and you your selves thrust out How will they pine with envy at the sight of that triumphant Felicity of which they shall never be Partakers To see that blessed Company entring into the sacred Mansions of Light will make the loss of Heaven infinitely more discernable and terrible to the Wicked who shall be cast into outer Darkness and for ever be deprived of Communion with God and his Saints Depart from me will be as dreadful a part of the Judgment as Eternal Fire With the loss of the most excellent Good the suffering of the most afflicting painful Evil is join'd The Sentence is Depart ye Cursed into Everlasting Fire God's Justice is not satisfied in depriving them of Heaven but inflicts the most heavy Punishment upon Sense and Conscience in the Damned for as the Soul and Body in their state of union in this Life were both guilty the one as a Guide the other as the Instrument of Sin and if an imaginarry Sorrow conceived in the Mind without a real external Cause as in Melancholly Persons when gross Vapours darken and corrupt the brightness and purity of the Spirits that are requisite for its chearful Operations is often so oppressing that Nature sinks under it How insupportable will the Sorrow of condemned Sinners be under the impression and sense of God's Almighty and avenging Hand when it shall fully appear how pure and holy he is in his Anger for Sin how just and dreadful in punishing Sinners It may be the indulgent Sinner may lessen his fear of Hell by fancying the number of Sufferers will asswage the sense of their Misery But this is a foolish Mistake For the number of Sufferers shall be so far from affording any relief that the Misery is aggravated by the Company and Communication of the Miserable Every one is surrounded with Sorrows and by the sights of Wo about him feels the universal Grief The weeping and wailing the cries and dolorous expressions of all the Damned increases the torment and vexation of every one As when the Wind conspires with the Flame 't is more fierce and spreading 3. The Concomitant of Sorrow will be Fury and Rage against themselves as the true causes of their Misery For God will make such a discovery of his righteous Judgment that not only the Saints shall glorify his Justice in the condemnation of the Wicked but they shall be so convinc'd of it as not to be able to charge their Judg with any defect of Mercy or excess of Rigour in his proceedings against them As the Man in the Parable of the Marriage-Feast when taxt for his presumptuous intrusion without a Wedding-Garment How camest thou in hither was speechless so they will find no plea for their Justification and Defence but must receive the eternal Doom with Silence and Confusion Then Conscience shall revive the bitter remembrance of all the methods of divine Mercy for their Salvation that were ineffectual by their Contempt and Obstinacy All the compassionate Calls by his Word with the holy Motions of the Spirit were like the sowing of Seed in the Stony Ground that took no root and never came to perfection All his terrible Threatnings were but as Thunder to the Deaf or Lightning to the Blind that little affects them the bounty of his Providence design'd to lead them to Repentance had the same effect as the Showers of Heaven upon Briars and Thorns that makes them grow the faster And that a Mercy so ready to pardon did not produce in them a correspondent affection of grateful obedient Love but by the most unworthy provocations they pluck'd down the Vengeance due to obstinate Rebels will so enrage the Damned against themselves that they will be less miserable by the Misery they suffer than by the conviction of their torn Minds that they were the sole Causes of it What Repentings will be kindled within them for the stupid neglect of the great Salvation so dearly purchased and earnestly offered to them What a fiery addition to their Torment that when God was so willing to save them they were so wilful to be Damned They will never forgive themselves that for the short and mean Pleasures of Sense which if enjoyed a thousand years cannot recompence the loss of Heaven nor requite the pains of Hell for an Hour they must be deprived of the one and suffer the other for ever 4. The Sorrow and Rage will be increased by Despair for when the wretched Sinner sees the Evil is peremptory and no Outlet of Hope he abandons himself to the violence of Sorrow and by cruel Thoughts wounds the Heart more than the fiercest Furies in Hell can This