And a Kingdom that cannot be moved Heb. 12.28 The strongest Kingdoms the greatest Cities the most stately Houses in the world have been Subverted Razed and utterly Demolished but this is an Eternal House City and Kingdom 3. This house is commended from the Place and Situation of it it is a house Eternal in the Heavens But you may say Doth this house differ from heaven it self because the Apostle calls it an Eternal house in the Heavens I Answer The house of every particular Saint is a part of heaven and of the blessedness of the invisible World and it is much such a form of speech as if I should say My house is in the City yet it is also a part of it and Oh what an honor is it to possess and inhabit such an house in such a Place Heaven in Scripture is called the Highest and the Holiest place Luke 19.38 Heb. 10.19 Oh what an unspeakable Dignity and Felicity is this for Vile Wretched Abject Creatures to be entertained in the highest and holiest Place David in the 1 Sam. 27.5 speaks as if it were too great an honour for such a Mean servant as he was to dwell in the Royal City with the King Oh how much then are we advanced by being admitted to dwell with an infinite Majesty in his Royal City 4. We may observe the certainty that the Apostle and other Believers had of their Title to Interest and Propriety in this blessed place and glorious state We know saith he that we have a building of God a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens This was not his or their guess or conjecture 't was not a meer probable opinion a loose and uncertain hope but we know it we are fully perswaded and assured of it and that on good grounds as Saints may know that they are begotten and born of God 1 Joh. 5.19 We know that we are of God So they may know that God will Treat and Portion them as his Children as here We know we have a building of God a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens According to these four Parts of the Words I shall raise and deliver to you these four Doctrines Doctrine 1. The bodies of Saints even as other mens are but an Earthly house of a Tabernacle Doctrine 2. The Earthly house of this Tabernacle must be dissolved Doctrine 3. When the house of this Tabernacle is dissolved yet Saints have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens Doctrine 4. Saints do or may know that when their Earthly Tabernacle shall be dislolved they have a building of God a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens Of each of these I shall speak with as much brevity as I can Doctrine 1. That the Natural Body of Saints is but an earthly house of a Tabernacle 1. It is an Earthly house Prov. 8.26 God is said to make the highest Part of the Dust of the World Rabbi Kimchi by Gods making the highest Part of the Dust of the World understands the Creation of the first Adam and the interpretation is exceeding probable It is a very humbling expression of Proud Man to call him but the higher part of the dust of the World Mans body was but one remove from dust it was but well colour'd warm'd and animated Dust 2. The Natural body is a Tabernacle as it comes from the first Adam it is exceeding weak and frail and but of a short and Temporary use to the Soul and is not yet fitted to be the everlasting abode and habitation of it This word Tabernacle is Metaphorical and the Metaphor is borrowed from Travellers and Soldiers 1. Travellers had their Tents especially in Countries where there were not such conveniences as Inns Gen. 31.25 Travelling Jacob pitches his Tents in a Mountain Saints are in their bodies as Travellers through this Wilderness to the heavenly Canaan they are strangers in this World and as Pilgrims journeying on towards the invisible and future World as Jacob they are passing on towards their Fathers house We have here no abiding City but we seek one to come Heb. 13.14 2. Saints are in their bodies as Soldiers in a Military Tent. Judah and Israel fighting against the Ammonites incamped in their Tents 2 Sam. 11.11 So Saints are in a Warfare the beloved City is also called the Camp of the Saints Rev. 20.9 They are fighting against Sin the World and the Devil Paul saith 1 Cor. 9.26 So fight I not as one that beats the Air. I am not in jest as Fencers but in good earnest as Soldiers I am subduing iniquity mortifying Members on Earth killing of fleshly Lusts Vse 1. Here is matter of Humiliation to us all our bodies are but an Earthly house a weak and frail Tabernacle why should any swell with conceits of their Wealth or be puffed up with Honour or Profperity or glory in their Birth or Breeding They dwell in houses of Clay they are clothed and clogged with vile bodies all their glory and grandeur is but as Tapistry hangings or cloth of gold put on or cast over a base mouldering Mud-wall These bodies that many are so proud of must shortly be breathless colourless Carcasses feeding the Worms and soiling the grass Vse 2. We may draw from hence matter of Caution and Counsel 1. Are our bodies Earthly houses Oh take heed that your hearts be not Earthly too and your Spirits Carnalized also 'T is Comfortable when there is a heavenly Tenant in this Earthly house but how sad is it when body and soul too are counted but Flesh by God Gen. 6.3 My Spirit shall not always strive with man for that he also is flesh How debasing to man is this expression though the Soul in its own Nature be a Spirit yet it is so debaucht and degenerate it is so sunk immersed into and swallowed up in the concerns of the body that by reason of its disposition and inclination it may well be called Flesh Take heed that your Souls be not thus drenched and soaked in bodily Pleasures and sensual delights that you do not invassal and inslave your Spirits to be Stewards and Caterers to your Flesh that Reason be not hired out to the service of a sensual Appetite Unregenerate Persons are called Men of this Earth Ps 10.18 Ps 17.14 and Men of this World their minds fix and dwell on this Earth their Affections cleave and are glued to it They are as Plants flourishing in their Native soil and as Free Denizens and Citizens of this present World Ps 37.35 Oh therefore seek that you may be recovered from this Degeneracy and be rescued from this Bondage by the renewing of the Holy Ghost Tit. 3.5 Joh. 3.6 1 Cor. 15.48 49. As that which is born of the Flesh is Flesh so that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit The heavenly Adam begets a heavenly Seed and Posterity if your Souls do now become Spiritual and
that kills the gourd of this Natural Life Rom. 8.10 The body is dead by reason of sin the Plague of Spiritual Leprofie infects this house and provokes God to pull it down The heavenly Husbandman is displeased with that Soil that will still nourish and feed Satans Tares The Righteous Judge of Heaven and Earth is resolved and bent against the old Frame of Nature he will pull it down and destroy it and that in his own and best People God hath ingaged in and is pursuing of a most gracious and excellent design and hath drawn an exact draught and idea of the New Creation viz. Rev. 3.14 Jesus Christ to which all the Saints must be conformed This Natural Frame was destroyed and utterly abolished in his own Son by Death and God will not uphold that in the Members which he hath taken down and abolished in the Head The Spiritual and Glorious Body of Christ is the great Pattern and Example according to which all the Bodies of the Saints must be Framed and Fashioned Vse 1. Information From hence we may learn Gods Hatred of and Severity against Sin God threatned the first Adam that if he did offend and transgress he should surely die and he will not repeal his Sentence or reverse his Decree The Righteous Judge is fixed in his determinations and inexorable as to the Doom he hath passed on the Natural bodies of sinners As Numb 14.29 30 31. God sware against the old Men that came out of Egypt that they should die in the Wilderness but the New and Young generation they should enter into and possess Canaan So God hath resolved that the Old Man shall Perish 1 Cor. 15.50 that Flesh and Blood shall not inherit the Kingdom of God it is the New Man that shall enter into the heavenly Canaan and be heir of the Eternal inheritance Vse 2. If this House and Tabernacle must be dissolved reckon upon it and expect it The Master will shortly take away your Stewardship your great Landlord will warn you out of this Earthly house The Lord of Hosts will call you to March out of this into another World live in expectation of that fatal word Return you sons of Men to your earth and dust Ps 90.3 Isa 38.12 13. Hezekiah says that he had as a weaver cut off his Life and that he reckoned that God would shortly make an end of him Consider you are upon the brink of the Pit and on the borders of Eternity Is it not past high-water with some of you doth not your strength and vigour Ebb do not your Lamps burn dim doth not Death make its near Approaches to you and begin to seize on the Posts and Out-works of your Senses is it not entred already at your Eyes and Ears as Posts did run to tell the King of Babylon that his City was taken at one end so Jer. 51.31 may I not say that this City of the Body is already taken at one End hath not Death already invaded and possessed the Cinque Ports of your Senses and shall your thoughts settle and your affections Centre on that place from whence you are removing will you not provide a better habitation being warned out of this house of Clay will you not seek out a New World to plant and settle in are there not numerous Colonies of healed and sanctified Souls already seated in it and will you not desire a Lot and Place among them you have no abiding City here and will you be wholly destitute by neglecting to seek one to come are you setting in the Horizon of Time and will you not make sure that you shall Rise and Shine for ever in the Horizon of Eternity Send out Faith as a Spy into the Heavenly Canaan Labour to enter into Rest Lay hold of the Hope set before you Improve Time before the spiritual Market is done before the Ladder that joins Earth and Heaven be drawn up and the door of the Bride-Chamber be shut for Ever Doctrine 3. When Saints depart out of their Earthly House they have a Building of God a House not made with hands Eternal in the Heavens Two things I shall here insist upon First What this house is Secondly What grounds there are to conclude that departing Saints have and shall enjoy this House First Quest What is to be understood by this house I Answer these two things I. The glorious Place * Of this place I did speak before but I shall now speak something of the state as it is comprehended in the word House and blessed State of the Souls of Saints separated from their Bodies II. This house comprehends the Recovery and Happiness of their Bodies 1. By this house we are to understand the glorious Place and State of the Soul it shall mount up to the highest Heavens and dwell there with God and Christ 1 Thes 4.17 We shall be for ever with the Lord. The glory of God is as a Covert and House over the Spirits of Just men Rev. 22.3 it is said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he shall dwell with them but Rev. 7.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He shall dwell or tabernacle over them Oh what a happy change is this to go out of a vile Tabernacle of flesh into a Place where the excellent glory of an infinite Majesty will be as a Tabernacle or Tent over us The immediate Presence of God will be as a Tent and House to guard us and keep off all Evils and as a living Fountain to derive all good to us Rev. 7.15 17. 2. This house takes in the Body and its happy State Saints do groan earnestly and desire to be clothed upon with their house from heaven and by a house from heaven the Apostle means the Recovery and Resurrection of the Body when the Lord from heaven 1 Cor. 15.47 shall beget it from the dead When by the arm of the second Adam stretched out from heaven it shall be plucked out of the Jaws of Death The Soul shall not live still as a naked ejected Spirit as dis-seized of its habitation but it shall be housed in the body and seated in its former and ancient dwelling Though Soul and Body be divorced yet they shall be joined together again these two Friends though long parted shall have a joyful meeting The grave is a Womb that must Travail and bring forth the bodies of the Saints their seed-time shall be followed with a harvest Death shall vomit up its Morsels this Whale shall spue out God's Jonah's and then it shall itself be swallowed up for ever The body that lies in the lowest grave shall sit in the highest heavens that which dwells for a time in darkness shall dwell in glorious Light for Eternity that which fed Worms shall feast with Angels on the delicious Fruits of the heavenly Paradise and though this was to be accomplished at the distance of some hundreds if not thousands of Years yet the Eagle-Eye of Faith seeth it as
might have adjudged and sent us to hell as our own place We are at best but as VVorms and Grass-hoppers Job 25. last Isa 40.20 compared with God and did a King ever build a Palace to entertain Worms and Grass-hoppers in By sin we were become as Rebels and Traytors and do Emperors use to build Royal Houses to Treat and Entertain those that have struck off their Authority and sought their lives O wonderful Mercy that God should build and furnish a Palace for us that might have been shut up in the eternal Prison and Dungeon Vse 2. Exhortation From this Truth I would draw several Exhortations 1. Hath God prepared such a house Oh labour and strive to be prepared for it Col. 1.12 seek to the Father to make you meet to partake of this inheritance Hath God built such a glorious house and will he take Swine and Lepers into it hath he laid out such curious workmanship on the Place and must not the Persons be Refined Perfumed Beautified and Adorned that shall inhabit it As the Place is the work of God so must not those that shall enjoy it be in a peculiar manner his Workmanship Eph. 2.10 Rev. 19.7 8. The Spouse of Christ is said to have made her self Ready and to come to the King in Raiment of Needle-work Psal 5.14 15. That Israel that is Gods glory Isa 46. last shall only enter into this house that is the habitation of his Holiness and of his Glory Isa 63.15 2. This should make the People of God willing to die and long to remove from hence Do we profess that so many years we have been seeking a City and Country Above and shall we be unwilling to find and enjoy what we have been so long seeking Shall we not long to possess the inheritance that is reserved for us should our Mansions above still stand empty should that house God hath built remain Un-Tenanted Why like worms are we so in love with our holes why do we go to the Threshold and door of our Fathers house with Sorrow and Tears with Moans and Complaints as if we were rather entring into the Prison than stepping into the Palace of God Oh! why do we dote so on an Earthly house why are we so Fond of a Frail Tabernacle why is our love so inordinate to a vile Cottage and our desires so weak and languishing after our Fathers house is the Footstool better than the Throne are our Hutts and Sheds to be preferred before the Mansion House of the Lord of Heaven and Earth 3. Moderate your sorrow for the death of godly Friends and Relations Our loss is their gain Phil. 1.21 To me to live is Christ and to die is gain they gain a better House better Company a better Country as they were Heirs in Reversion by the death of Christ so they are Heirs in Possession by their own death 2 Sam. 10.37 As Barzillai willingly parted with Chimham his Son sending him to live with King David in his Royal City and Palace at Jerusalem so we should freely dismiss our Christian Friends when they are to cross the Jordan of death enter into the True Canaan and live with the King of glory in heavenly Jerusalem If a man should strip our Children or Friends of Rags and cloth them with Royal Robes pull down their Cottages and give them strong and stately Houses in the place of them would we complain Our godly Friends do make a better Exchange may not we then command our Souls to return to their Rest because the Lord hath dealt so bountifully with our Friends which he hath taken to himself Their Souls enjoy a present Harvest though it be yet but seed-time with their Bodies and these very Bodies that now are sowed in the dust shall spring up again to life and immortality As the Tabernacle was taken down in the Wilderness but set up again in Canaan so this Tabernacle of our Bodies that is taken down by death shall be set up again and being turned into a strong house shall stand for ever in the heavenly Canaan God favours the dust of his spiritual Temples and will build them out of their Ruins that his Spirit as well as our Souls may inhabit them for ever Doctrine 4. Saints do or may know that when their earthly House and Tabernacle is dissolved they have a building of God an Eternal House in the Heavens But how can they know this have they a door opened to them into Heaven can they see their Names written over the Mansions taken up for them have they a window into the Breast of God can they read the book of Life search and peruse the Mysterious Rolls of Eternity Is not this a vain Boasting or foolish Bragging of things that cannot be understood or known I Answer True Christians are not mistaken or deluded they have ground for what they assert and they may come to know this 1. By Believing Faith is one kind of knowledge It is the knowing of things by the Testimony and Record of God and his Word is a sure Foundation to build Faith on God hath left us a Promise of the Everlasting Rest Heb. 4.1 he hath set matter of Hope before us in his Testimony and Oath Heb. 6.17 18. he that believes takes God at his Word he that comes in with his Eccho and Amen of Faith to the offers of God sets to his Seal that God is true John 3.33 Joshua and Caleb believed Gods Promise that he would give them the Earthly Canaan and it befell them according to their Faith Other Israelites distrusted Gods Power and rejected his Promise and it happened to them according to their Unbelief they were shut out of the Earthly Canaan Numb 14.8 9 28 29 30. So those that by the mouth of Faith do kiss the mouth of God speaking in the Promise Heb. 11.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Greâ—k word signifies to salute and that by Kissing the Patriarks thus saluted the Promises by the mouth of Faith shall not be disappointed according to their Faith it shall be to them As in the division of the World of old he that as the first occupant did set his foot on a Country did thereby get a Right to it even by his taking Possession of it therefore Land was passed from one to another among the Hebrews by taking off the shoe thereby as it were disclaiming and renouncing the right that he had gotten by setting his Foot first on the Land Ruth 4.3 7. So truly whatever we can set the foot and lay the hand of Faith on we make to be our own we Claim Challenge and et a Right in the Promise by believing This is the Record that God hath given us Eternal Life and this Life is in his Son he that hath the Son hath Life 1 Joh. 5.11 12. Receiving Christ the greatest gift of God we become intituled to all the other gifts and Promises of God that in him are
present Paul in his own and the Person of other Believers could boast and glory in the Promise as if he were in Possession as if the body were fallen and sprung up again as if it were Razed and Raised as if it were already taken out of the dark Prison of the grave and seated in the glorious Palace above We have saith he a building of God a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens The body when it shall be raised and built up out of its Ruines by the Power of Christ from heaven is then fitted to be an Eternal house for the Soul in heaven When Souls shall be possessed of this house they shall not be found naked 2 Cor. 5.2 3. Second Quest What Grounds and Reasons there are to conclude that departing Saints shall have such a house Answ 1. This house was prepared in the Purpose and Decree of God from all Eternity he then designed a habitation a place of Rest and Happiness for his Elect. The Idea of this great house was drawn the Modul and Scheme of this glorious building was laid out in the Mind of the infinite Architect from Everlasting As he chose a peculiar People before the Foundation of the World so he purposed to build a place to entertain them in and to express his love towards them for ever Christ sayes the Kingdom was prepared from or before the Foundation of the World Matth. 25.34 as some understand that phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. God built this house and City in the beginning of Time He set his hand to the work and executed his own Purpose and Decree Heb. 11.10 This is a City whose builder and maker is God Mans hands did contribute nothing to it it is wholly the product of Divine Goodness and Power and this City God is said to prepare for his People Heb. 11.16 God needed not such a house or City for he inhabited Eternity yea his own Eternity was a sufficient habitation for him Isa 57.15 3. The Lord Jesus by his Death Resurrection Ascension and Intercession hath made an entrance into the holiest place and prepared a place in Heaven for his People Heb. 10.19 with Joh. 14.2 I go to prepare a place for you Though the Kingdom was prepared in the purpose of the Father before the World yet this pleasure of the Lord was to prosper and to be accomplished in and by the hand of the Son as Mediator Isa 53.10 The Pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand It was his sacrifice that did Rent the Vail that was before the Earthly and did procure an entrance for Saints into the Heavenly Sanctuary This Vail stood up and could not be removed by all the sacrifices of the Law but when the Vail of Christs flesh was Rent Heb. 10.19 20. then the way was laid open to the true Holy of Holies and through the Rent and Torn vail of Christs flesh we have a passage into the heavenly Sanctuary As the Red Sea was divided that the Israelites might have a passage through it to the earthly Canaan so by the division and separation of Christs Soul and Body Believers have a passage unto the heavenly Canaan It is necessary also that Christ do carry in his Blood and sprinkle the Mercy-seat and the heavenly Sanctuary with it that without contradiction from Justice it may become a habitation for those that once as sinners were Enemies to and Rebels against God And Christs blood doth now speak yea cry in heaven for the fulfilling of his Testament that the heirs of Promise may partake of the heavenly inheritance Heb. 12.24 John 17.24 Father I will that those that thou hast given me be with me that they may see my glory And the Cry of Christs Blood cannot be gain-sayed or denied Yea Christ as a Fore runner hath entred into and taken possession of heaven for Believers in which respect while their Persons are here upon Earth they are said to sit in heavenly Places in Christ Eph. 2.5 6. The Israelites in Egypt had possession of the earthly Canaan but by the dead bodies of the Patriarchs Abraham Isaac and Jacob but Believers have Possession of Heaven in a living Fore-runner and well may the Anchor of their hope enter thither whither the Forerunner is for them entred Heb. 6.19 20. Christ as our high Priest is entred within the Vail with the Names of spiritual Israel on his breast and heart and he that hath already taken their Names will in due time take their Persons Souls and Bodies too within the Vail Lastly Christians may be said to have such a building and eternal house in heaven because they are now begotten to the lively hope of it 1 Pet. 1.3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath begotten us to a lively hope through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ to an inheritance incorruptible undefiled that fades not away reserved in heaven for us The hope of this inheritance is not so easie and common a thing as most imagine this lively hope cannot spring up or be found in a Natural Man those only that are begotten of God have ground to hope for his inheritance those only that are Regenerate and Adopted have a Right to it and a Fitness for it And Christians are first begotten to a hope or to a Reversion and then they come to Possession as a Child is first begotten to a hope of his Father's Estate and afterwards enters upon the enjoyment of it This hope that is raised by Regeneration and is built on the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ cannot be frustrated or disappointed Vse 1. This may Inform us of the wonderful Mercy of God mixed with his Severity That the Soul is cast out of its Earthly house this is Severity that it is received into a heavenly house this is Mercy Death is the Executioner of Justice yet it is Christ's Harvest-man also It Cuts off the lives of Men as Offenders yet it Reaps Saints as good Corn it gathers them as Sheaves into the Barn as Wheat into the Garner A Lease of Ejectment is sealed and served on the Soul by Death as Gods Officer the Spirit doth forfeit the house of the Body as a Traytor yet it is taken into Heaven as an Heir Oh how wonderful is this that a man should forfeit and inherit at the same time that the Body should be cast down to the lowest grave and the Soul be raised up to the highest Heaven that the one part of Man should dwell with such vile Kindred as Worms and Corruption and the other part of him should converse with such Noble Relations as God Christ Angels and Saints are Oh that God should Tear a man in Pieces and yet presently glorifie one piece of him with himself that God should pull off the garment of the Body and yet presently cloth the Soul with Celestial Glory Judas is said to go to his own place Acts 1.25 and God
all yea and Amen 2 Cor. 1.20 2. Christians come to know this by inspection into themselves and spiritual Experience of a saving work wrought on themselves Heb. 10.34 they knew within themselves that they had in Heaven a more induring Substance By looking into themselves they might espy such a Divine Nature such a supernatural Life sprung up in them as did evidence they were intituled to and designed for the Heavenly Inheritance As Mark 29.33 the Poor Woman healed by Christ felt it in her Body and verse 33. She knew what was done in her viz. that she was healed of that Plague So Christs spiritual Patients may know within themselves what excellent cures this Heavenly Physician hath wrought in and on them and thereby fitted them to Converse in the True land of the Living The very senses that an infant hath do shew that it was designed for an higher life and larger Place than still to be imprisoned and penned up in the Womb its Eyes Ears Smelling and Tasting were to be exercised on Objects in this large World so the Spiritual Senses of the Souls of Saints do speak them to be designed for the invisible and Eternal World They can see things invisible they can taste spiritual dainties they can smell the Odours that come from the Mountain of Myrrh and the Hill of Frankincense they can scent the spices of the Heavenly Canaan Moses his Parents did observe his rare and admirable Beauty and seem from thence to conclude that surely he was chosen and designed by God for some extraordinary service Heb. 11.23 And is not the Church of Believers the fairest among Women Cant. 1.8 and doth not this wonderful and rare beauty evince that Christ hath set his love on her and that she is called to the Marriage Feast and designed for the Bride-chamber of the Son of God Ignatius one of the most Ancient Fathers in his Epistle to the Romans saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The living water that did spring up in him did say to him within Come home to thy Father Christ hath written a living Epistle in their Minds and Wills The Life and Law of God as a byass on their Hearts inclines them to another Country and World They have the first Fruits of their Inheritance the earnest of the bargain the beginnings of Everlasting Life abiding in them already Job 14.23 1 Cor. 3.16 that glorious Company that they shall converse with for ever are now come down to sojourn in their hearts here below The Father and Son dwelled in them by the spirit and surely such Royal guests will in due time remove the Souls that entertain them to their own glorious Habitation 3. There is the Mysterious Testimony of the Holy Spirit Rom. 8.16 17. The Spirit himself beareth witness with or to our Spirits that we are the Sons of God and if Sons then Heirs c. Surely some very high Evidence and Assurance is intended by these words whether mediate or immediate I shall not now determine The spirit himself beareth witness this phrase imports that the Spirit himself excellently appears in this Testimony and will it Testifie and can it not make Souls to understand its voice to perceive its meaning to embrace its Testimony and acquiesce in its Evidence Shall any question or doubt whether men may know themselves to be the Sons of God when it is one Office and great work of the Holy Spirit to make them understand it and to assure their Souls of it Is the Testimony of the Spirit Dark Intricate and Ambiguous doth it leave Souls in hovering suspence and wavering uncertainty when it comes to give its evidence can it not decide and determine the Controversie and make an end of strife in an unbelieving Heart And if the Spirit doth clear up our Sonship may we not know we are Heirs All Gods Children are Heirs every Son hath the Rights Priviledges and Inheritance of a first born Vse 1. Oh be Exhorted Stirred up and Quickned to seek and obtain the sweet and comfortable knowledge of what is provided for you in Heaven Strive to assure to your selves that you have a house built a City prepared for you above Oh how uncomfortable is it to be at uncertainties whither we shall go how we shall be disposed of and where we shall be fixed for Ever We know we must remove from hence but how will this damp our spirits when we know not whither we shall remove We know what we must part with but how will it Chill and Deject us when we know not what we shall possess in another World Our love cannot be so Fervent our Joy so Strong our Praises so Hearty and Affectionate if we know not that God is our Father that he will divide a Rich Portion to us and settle a glorious Inheritance on us The knowledge of what is reserved for us in Heaven will have great influence on our Holy Calling and will both Quicken us in doing and support us in Suffering the Will of God Use therefore all diligence to attain the full assurance of Understanding of Faith and of Hope all which are mentioned in these following Scriptures Col. 2.2 Heb. 10.22 Heb. 6.11 These three do make an excellent and comfortable Syllogism the full Assurance of Understanding as to the Terms and Tenders of the Gospel maketh the Major the full Assurance of Faith believing and applying this Doctrine to our selves makes the Minor and the full assurance of Hope is the sweet Conclusion that results from these excellent Promises O Christians why are you contented to live at so low a Rate why are you so held in doubts and suspence about your Everlasting state why are you so lost in an intricate Wilderness and entangled in such uncomfortable Labyrinths why is there yet so dark a Vail on your minds that hinders you from looking with Joy and Comfort into another World Doth not the Gospel dispensation under which you live afford grounds for high Faith and strong Consolation Are we not told that God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself not imputing their Trespasses to them 2 Cor. 5.19 that Christ hath made an end of sin destroyed Satan overcome the World abolished death and brought Life and Immortality to Light Dan. 9.24 Heb. 2.15 Joh. 16. last 2 Tim. 1.10 Is not Heaven purchased and Possessed for and bequeathed in Christs Testament to the Heirs of Promise Are not all that fly for Refuge to take hold of the hope set before them accepted and allowed to be Heirs of this glorious inheritance Heb. 6.18 Is not this sentence not exceeding full and comprehensive God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have Everlasting Life Joh. 3.16 and is not this Testimony clear and express that God hath given to us Eternal Life and this Eternal Life is in his Son and he that hath the Son hath Life 1 Joh. 5.11 12. This Life