of it I purpose to Discourse on these Words in this Method I. To consider the Nature of the State and Condition of the Saints in the other World It is here set forth as a State of Light II. The Certainty of it the sure Title they have to it It is their Inheritance III. The Qualifications requisite to make them meet to partake of it IV. How these Qualifications are to be obtain'd that so we may upon good grounds give thanks unto God who has made us meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light We begin with the First The Consideration of the State and Condition of the Saints here signified by a State of Light Light is the most proper word to express a State of Happiness and set forth to us the Heavenly State and Condition in whatever sense we take the word Light whether 1. In its common or natural Sense for a Bodily Quality a visible Lustre or Glory Or 2. For Knowledge which is sometimes call'd Light Or 3. For Purity and Holiness they are all of them Ingredients of the Heavenly State and concurr to compleat its happiness As to the First If Light be taken in its vulgar sense for a visible Lustre and Glory Light seems in this sense to be essential to the Notion of Heaven for Heaven is the Seat the Country of Light The Sun and Stars are Bodies Great and Glorious yet these are but the Ornaments of the outer Court of Heaven serving to Beautifie and Enlighten the lower World For the Heavenly Palace the New Jerusalem as St. John stiles it the Seat of God and of the blessed Spirits that stands not in need of these Lights they shine not there they have no influence above The Divine Apostle Rev. 21. has collected every thing that appears at present most bright and gay to help us to conceive the Glories of that Heavenly City He represents its Walls and Gates as built of the most glistring Pearls and Precious Stones as paved with Gold that there is no Night but a perpetual Day no need of Sun or Moon for the Glory of God does enlighten it for God is Light and the Lamb is the Light thereof ver 23. The Light of the Sun would sully and defile the pure brightness of that Region that being fitted only to serve the uses of this Elementary World is a gross Light a meer Kitchin-Fire if compared to that most refined Light with which God is Cloathed as with a Garment Light inaccessible to us in our present Capacities but those that shall be thought meet to be admitted into that State of Light I pray God it may be the happy Lot of all here present they shall have their Organs strengthned fitted to approach and enjoy that Light For they themselves shall be Cloath'd with Light and dress'd up in the Habit of the Country their Earthly Tabernacles shall be transform'd into Glorious Bodies such as their Saviour wears now in Heaven Mat. 13.43 for they shall shine then as Suns in the Kingdom of their Father he has assured them Their Bodies shall be like the Glorious Body of Christ tho' not equal to it in Glory Amongst the Saints themselves there shall be Degrees of Magnitude as one Star differs from another in Glory They that turn many to Righteousness saith Daniel 12.3 shall shine as Stars for ever and ever and they especially that have Suffer'd with Christ shall be also Glorified with him They that thought nothing too dear for their God but had the Grace and Courage to Die for their Saviour as he had Died for them their mangled Bodies shall shine next to his in Glory This imperfect Account of that State of Light may suggest to us the Happiness of it for Light is pleasant to behold it is so much the experience of every one that has Eyes to behold it as that I need not quote Solomon for it Light gives Beauty to all things it is the Paint and Varnish of the World it is the Life of it for when Light breaks in upon us it awakens and gives new Life to the Soul it brisks the Spirits and puts them in Tune for Joy and Mirth Whereas on the Contrary by Darkness is signified a State of Melancholy and Misery The Scene of Grief and Sorrow is black the Afflicted shut out the Light and condemn themselves to Darkness Darkness is a sad ingredient of the Miseries of Hell it is the essential Character of that place of horrour for the melancholy abode of the Damned is express'd to us by a Dungeon of Darkness of utter extream Darkness the very blackness of Darkness This makes the Sorrows of that Place more oppressive to the Spirit its terrors more frightful and amazing Besides Darkness gives scope and liberty to the Rage of guilty Consciences We know by woful experience that our thoughts are always most tyrannical in the Dark and sting most severely when any thing lies cross or heavy upon the Spirit Then when the Soul has nothing to do but to think has no Pleasure to divert it nor the too common refuge of Drink to drown its Cares nor the least pretence of Business to employ it for a moment The steady remembrance then of the mad follies of a brutish Life being reflected on in the Dark to all Eternity and continually repeated with fresh vexation of Spirit must of necessity strike deep pierce to the quick and wound to the very Centre of the Soul One Prospect of that State of Darkness one serious thought of it would quickly teach us what abundant reason they have to give God thanks as my Text exhorts who are by the Grace of God made meet to be Partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light 2. Light is frequently put for Knowledge in this respect also the State of the Saints in Heaven may properly be stiled a State of Light Knowledge is Spiritual Light it has the same influence upon the Eye of the Mind as Light upon the Eye of the Body Knowledge is pleasant as Light it cheers the Soul it brings in Day upon it it opens the World as Light and gives a prospect even to the utmost ends of the Earth It sees into the very Heavens it takes in past and future Ages into its view and by the help of Revelation even Eternity it self Knowledge gives Confidence and Security the understanding Man goes on freely and cheerfully as he that Travels in the Day He is in no danger of being led aside by Shadows and false Lights whereas Ignorance and Darkness hide and shut up every thing in Obscurity The Ignorant Man is like one locked up in a close Room or that walks in the dark Night he has no prospect of Things about him he knows not whither he goes he stumbles and wanders and fears every step all the Dangers that a benighted Fancy can represent Knowledge is often express'd by Light in the Holy Scriptures Particularly the Gospel-Revelation is
should be Redeem'd he freely offer'd himself to the Work tho' they were bitter things that the incensed Father required of Man's Surety But so that God might be glorified it pleas'd him to become an Object of the greatest Misery and Contempt To give us an Example of an intire dependance upon the Providence of God and trust in him he made himself poor destitute of Worldly Comfort and Accommodation the Foxes have holes but he had not where to lay his head He could indeed turn stones into Bread but we do not read that ever he work'd a Miracle to sustain his own hunger but trusted himself intirely to his Father's keeping 'T is true he complain'd with loud passion upon the Cross but not from despair or the least mistrust of God's failing him for with considence he commended his Spirit into his hands but a quick sense he had of that unusual change in his Father's Countenance It touch'd him to the quick that the beloved Father should look so full of Anger upon his most beloved Son It was the sting of his Sufferings to see a Cloud and severe Frown upon that Beauteous Face which always used to shine upon him with a pleasing Aspect now especially whilst he knew himself to be performing an Act highly acceptable to his Father Observe yet farther and imitate his Conversation was in Heaven whilst here on Earth his heart always there his Discourses tended thither Heavenly things being ever predominant in his Thoughts he was always ready to take fit Occasions to improve all Occurrences to Spiritual Purposes and raise up the Minds of his Company to the things above He sought opportunities of Retirement that he might have frequent and immediate Converse with God his Father Those hours wherein Nature call'd for Ease and Sleep he very often imploy'd in his Devotions spending whole Nights in Prayer He sat loose from the World perfectly dead to it The great and most difficult Lesson of Religion He had no affection for the things of it they appear'd not worth his thoughts But yet his contempt of them was decent and generous he did not with proud disdain spurn at them as a rude Stoick would have done he did not affront Men of Quality and Title but paid all becoming respect to those Honours of the World which he had not such regard for as to assume them to himself In his common Conversation he was very obliging affable courteous always in good humour conversing freely even with the worst of Men with Publicans and Sinners to make them if possible wiser and better He was always disposed to put the most fair and candid interpretation upon the Behaviour of Men ready to make the best excuses for them that their Case would admit of with any tolerable shew or colour of Reason willing to impute their faults and neglects to infirmity the weakness of their Flesh or Mind rather than to Malice or ill design When the Case would admit of no excuse but he was treated with the vilest usage and ill language yet he reviled not again but by cool and good argument indeavour'd to convince them of their Blasphemy and Outrage How calmly did he receive even Judas himself in an Act of the basest Treachery with the Title of Friend wherefore art thou come When his mind was loaded with grief to that extremity that he sweat drops of Blood no murmuring fretful or discontented word dropt from him he retain'd his Temper as well as his Integrity When he hung upon the Cross in most excessive pain no uneasiness of Spirit appear'd but he was quietly submissive to his Father's Will His whole Life was a constant course of Charity always doing good to the Bodies or Souls of Men healing their Diseases raising their Dead to Life and at last dying himself an accursed Death that his Enemies his Enemies that used him despitefully that hated him to the death might be saved This is our Calling Christians this is our Pattern Let us go and do likewise If we can thus live if we can thus love then are we meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light But if the Case be thus with us we may begin with amazement to cry out who then can or shall be saved We seem to have reason to fear that our Saviour has undone us by his Example has carried the Mark so high and propos'd such Conditions of Salvation as Flesh and Blood can never reach to can never hope upon these terms to be made meet partakers of the Heavenly Inheritance 4thly It highly concerns us therefore to inquire if they be possible How these Qualifications are to be obtain'd In a word it is true that Flesh and Blood Corrupt Flesh and Blood especially can never advance to that pitch of Holiness as to live as our Saviour lived and cannot by its own strength we may be sure fit it self for an admittance into that high and Holy Place But the Comfort is we do not go forth in our own strength we have the same Spirit of God promis'd and given to every baptiz'd Christian which sanctified our Lord Christ himself and inabled him to walk as he walk'd 'T is true he had the Spirit of God given him in much greater measure Heb. 1.9 and was anointed above all his fellows as the Apostle has taught us to speak whether Angels or Men for the advancing and perfecting of all kind of Vertue and Holiness and tho' it may not consist with the method of God's Grace and our present State and Condition that the Spirit of God should act so powerfully in us yet if it be not our own fault he will certainly act as effectually and afford us sufficient strength for the doing of what is requisite in order to Salvation and by degrees will lead us on towards that perfection as will fit us to dwell with the Saints above The difficulty of the Work can give us no just reason to despair when we have a God working in us and will not fail to do his part But yet tho' nothing is impossible with God and he will not fail us there is something for us to do in this great Work there lies our Danger therefore there ought to be our Care The Advice which I shall briefly offer shall be this and so Conclude 1. To be very Constant and Diligent in the use of those Means which the Gospel has prescribed For a Qualification for Heaven is not a Fitt but a lasting Temper of the Mind which is only to be obtain'd by a Constancy in Religious Practice Let every Morning and Evening at least have its fix'd times for Private Devotion with serious application of Mind Let us every day look over and examine well our Account between God and our own Souls This is an excellent Expedient to make short Reckonings at last He that makes even with God every day by Repentance is every night qualified for Heaven and has but one day to account for when ever he dies Read some part of the Word of God digest it well by Meditation this supplies the Soul with its daily Food for Spirits must be nourish'd as well as Bodies be continually fed with good Thoughts or they will languish or which is worse grow Brutish and Devilish In their proper Seasons Publick Ordinances are to be duly attended and more Solemn times of Self-examination fix'd but I lay the greatest stress of Religion upon those private daily Performances In the neglect of these it is impossible to be Religious in earnest and keep up a true Spirit of Devotion It is difficult to perswade to these but they being once secured the rest will easily follow The Gospel-Means are not empty dead Ceremonies like those of the Law they are Living Ordinances they are Bodies with a Soul for the Holy Ghost accompanies the due performance of them which as at first convey'd with the waters of Baptism to the Soul so by every Sermon Prayer or Sacrament rightly perform'd takes fresh possession and comes in with new degrees of strength A diligent use of these means of Religion are therefore necessary as being the only way to obtain and secure this Spirit of God 2. Keep your Eye always fix'd upon your Inheritance having his Eye upon the recompence of the Reward animated our Saviour himself to go through with his difficult Undertaking This is one of the peculiar Advantages of the Gospel that the Gates of Heaven are in a manner set open to us and such a view given into those Regions of Happiness as is sufficient to excite to Duty and keep us in our way thither More knowledge of Heaven might do hurt at present might exalt us into rapture and extasie and make us impatient of tarrying here God has therefore wisely proportion'd these Discoveries to our present Circumstances and Necessities It concerns us to make a right use of this peculiar benefit of the Gospel never to lose the sight of Heaven which it affords All the Kingdoms of the Earth and Glory of them are not sufficient to make an impression upon that Mind that is full of Heaven He walks therefore with the World under his feet having his Heart always with his Treasure above and he that lives above the World at present where should he live but in Heaven hereafter Being by the Grace of God thus made meet to be a Partaker of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light let him give thanks to the Father and with joyful Lips bless his Holy Name and begin his Eternal Praises To God the Father Son and Holy-Ghost be all Honour and Glory now and for Evermore FINIS
Emphatically called the Light and he that brought this Wonderful Discovery to the World is therefore himself stiled the Light of the World enlightning every Man coming into it And yet tho' the Gospel Revelation be a great Light in respect of all the Discoveries which were made before insomuch as the Ancient Father well observ'd the very Children of Christians are in their Catechisms taught to stammer forth greater Mysteries and sublimer Truths than the Wisest Philosophers could ever arrive to the Knowledge of yet this bright Revelation is but dark in respect of Vision We do as yet see but as through a Glass darkly we have a good Right Title and sure Promises but Promises are but Glimpses in respect of Enjoyment and that full Possession with which the Saints in Heaven are invested That therefore is well stiled a State of Light because a State of most certain inlarged and exalted Knowledge The State of this Life is really a State of Darkness we see but in part Truth is infinite as God A small portion of it is allotted us at present we know no more of it than God is pleas'd to let us into So much of it as may be useful to entertain us here and to secure our Eternal Interests hereafter But the Darkness of this State I now complain of is what Sin has brought upon our Understandings disturbing our Judgments and possessing us with infinite variety of wild and absurd Opinions to that excess as that it has pass'd into a Proverb So many Men so many Minds We might multiply much farther for it is seldom long that the same Man continues in the same Mind An infallible Argument of Darkness for Truth is always one and the same whatever differs from that must be Error and Darkness The Wisest Men are here observ'd to have their blind sides some mistakes for which they have been remarked All Men have Motes in their Eyes some have Beams It is too Notorious what senseless Errors some have espoused the Particulars are innumerable and maintain'd with heat and fierceness to the great disturbance of the World and confusion of the Church of God It might be something pardonable if we discover'd our Weakness only in Tattle and common Conversation when we profess to unbend our Souls but what Abominations do we see in the very Worship of the greatest part of the World What ridiculous Follies and Idolatries are to be found even at Christian Altars Their Understandings must needs want Light that play the Fool with their God When Men would be thought Wise Serious and Profound how often do they betray the nakedness of their Souls Our very Libraries are full of the blemishes of Mankind And the Works of the Learned are too often standing Monuments of the defects of Human Understanding We smile and pity the rude ignorance or short-sightedness of those that went before us but their Cause will be revenged trust an ill-natur'd World for it when those that follow us will laugh at ours But the comfort is we live in hopes of a better state of Life when every Man's Brain will be settled and all Heads set right When the Messiah shall next appear he will infallibly teach us all things He will then conduct all those to a State of pure Light and Knowledge whom by his Grace he has made meet to be Partakers of such Happiness All mists of Error will then be scatter'd by a clear Head an impartial Reason and fervent Charity A State of pure Light and Knowledge therefore I call it 1. Because there will be no Body no Worldly Interest to cloud the Light of the Mind or disturb it in its Reasonings No Flesh and Blood enters that Kingdom for the Natural Body we are assured will be rais'd a Spiritual Body by which Phrase we cannot well understand less than a more refined a more exalted state of Matter far removed from its Original Clay purified perhaps into Light as near as possible into Spirit that it may be a more suitable Companion for the Rational Spirit of Man a fit Partner of its Glories 2. A State of pure Light I call it because a State not of Revelation but of Vision In a State of Revelation we know no more than the Revealer is pleas'd to discover some Glimpses only of things the rest often reserv'd or wrap'd up as Mystery But in Heaven the Saints are admitted to see with their own Eyes the naked Truth of Things Then will be set to view the Wonders of Heaven the Passages of Providence which are at present a Riddle will be explain'd The unfathomable depths of Divine Wisdom the unsearchable and at present inconceiveable Riches of his Love and Kindness will then be the Entertainment of our Souls the Secrets of God which have been lock'd up from Eternity will then be laid open so far at least as Creatures will be made capable of knowing them or be made happy by them Then may be infused New Ideas into the Understanding for the want of which those things which are now therefore unintelligible may then be clear to our view An Unity in Trinity and a Trinity in Unity may possibly then be understood 3. A State of pure Light and Knowledge it will be because the Saints are there admitted into open and free Converse with the Wisest and Best of Beings with the Renowned Worthies of all Ages All those Departed Souls that were Wise unto Salvation with that innumerable Quire of Holy and Blessed Spirits the Wise Angels of God Lastly they are admitted into the presence of the Omniscient God himself Our Knowledge of his Creatures which is but imperfect for it is but little that we know of the Mysteries of the Creation and they themselves but shadows of their Maker's Wisdom Goodness and Power gives wonderful Delight at present and is one of the most Ravishing Entertainments our Reason is here acquainted with How transporting then must that Light be which shews the Creator himself face to face and gives a close view of all his Glorious Attributes in Substance in Fulness and Perfection where they live under the immediate and most powerful influence of them all having the most lively and comfortable sense of them continually injected into the Mind For Spirits seem to Converse by infusion of Thoughts and Affections and the Goodness of God makes him always Communicative of himself If we now consider a thirsty Soul a Spirit that has an insatiable appetite after Knowledge whose Thoughts are swifter than Lightning plac'd not only in the prospect of but united to a Being of infinite Perfections a Being that can never be thought through that can never be exhausted by the Eternal thirst of his Creatures the contemplation of infinite Ages How will such a Soul continually increase in Knowledge in brighter and brighter Light 'till it kindles almost into a Seraphim whither will such a Spirit grow I cannot tell what bounds to set to that Knowledge that is growing to all Eternity nor
how to measure the Powers of a Humane Soul in its State of Light and Enjoyment If the Soul of Man then be such a Wonderful Thing capable of such elevations of Spirit of Infinite Enjoyment what pity is it that God should intrust the greatest part of Mankind with such a precious Jewel What pity is it that this Heaven-born Creature should be suffer'd to trifle away its time here on Earth and which is worse to wallow in Filth and Brutishness and at last descend into Everlasting Darkness and Eternal Wailings Cursing and Blaspheming of that God which it was made to Admire and Adore to Love and Praise to all Eternity 3. I hasten to the 3d Acception of Light as it is taken for Purity of Heart Holiness of Life in reference to Practice In this sense also the Inheritance of the Saints above is a State of Light because a State of the greatest Purity In this Sense our Saviour enjoyns us to take care that our Light so shine before Men as that they may see our good Works and by our bright Examples be directed and enlightned in the Paths they should walk in that by the Beauty of our Conversation they may be enamour'd and charm'd into a compliance and glorifie God by an ambitious imitation of our Wisdom and Holiness Christians are therefore stiled the Lights of the World 1 Joh. 1. the Children of the Light and of the Day In this sense we find it introduc'd by St. John with a most pompous Preface the four first Verses being a solemn preparation to this great Truth that God is Light v. 5. and in him is no Darkness at all to fully the brightness of his Understanding no impurity to biass his Will he hates it therefore as being perfectly contrary to his pure Nature what communion hath Light with Darkness Impurity is indeed Darkness it clouds the Mind which is tinctured with it as we have seen already in Matters of Opinion or Doctrine in practical Matters much more In these especially the Flesh having a greater interest and concern the Soul of a Man is in greater danger of being benighted and fool'd and often made to act contrary to the Principles of all good Reason The inconsistencies and madness of Sinners are every where notorious their brutish and perverse reasonings and actings especially in moral Matters their whole Life being a continued course of follies and ill humours If thine Eye be Evil saith our Saviour Mat. 6.23 and the Light that is in thee be Darkness how great is that Darkness even as great as the Evil which is in the Eye and bears always a proportion to the power of the reigning Lust being a result and effect of it Hence it becomes so hard a thing amongst us Sinners to find that precious Jewel so much talk'd of Right Reason Most certainly it is no where to be found but in a purified Soul The only Expedient therefore to restore Light to a Sinner's Soul is to purifie it from its Lusts For this Reason did Baptism anciently go under the Name of Illumination as conveying the Holy Spirit with his Sanctifying Graces into the Soul which do by degrees enlighten it here in this Life as it passes from one degree of Grace unto another 'till at Death it is compleatly Sanctified and fitted for its Heavenly State of Light especially when at the Morning of the Resurrection it shall be dress'd up with its Spiritual and Glorified Body which will then be no burthen to the Soul as this Fleshly Tabernacle is now but will conspire with it in its operations in its enjoyments of God in the perfect practice of Holiness and all the business of Heaven There will be right Reason in Perfection according to the extent of its Knowledge no Darkness at all the whole face of the Soul will be bright and clear not one spot to be discovered there This is a State of Light indeed And let me farther observe that in proportion as the Body was purified by Grace here in this Life shall it be more refined more Spiritual and have brighter degrees of Glory It s sight of God more clear its communications from the Fountain of Light more strong having its Faculties extraordinarily strengthened to behold the Glorious Godhead The more pure Souls shall be peculiarly fitted to receive the stronger impressions of Divine Love For the State of Light is a State of Love If Love be the fulfilling of the Commandments compleat Holiness can be no other than perfect Love the Top of Heavenly Happiness Love is the Beauty of Angels the Glory of God himself God is Love and God is Light his Love and Favour is often express'd in Scripture by the Light of his Countenance Love has its Flames we all know the Love of Saints especially For inexpressible are the transports of a Purified Soul when admitted into the immediate presence of God when it has a clear view given it of the best of Beings when it has all Goodness for its Object all Perfection How quickly like Lightning its Affections are kindled how vehemently In a moment it is all on fire and with an inflamed appetite flies to its most Beloved Excessive Love placed upon a Creature is Torment and does abuse the Appetite because quickly drawn dry But when God is the Object Love cannot be excessive there being enough in him to give Eternal Satisfaction Thrice happy Souls infinitely more than thrice happy whose Business it is to love They love always they love vehemently and yet can never never love too much But beyond all this if any thing can be more a sense of being beloved by God of living always under the smile and shine of his Countenance This indears all his Infinite Perfections and gives them another Infinity To be beloved by a Creature below our selves is very obliging and does wonderfully draw forth our Affections to that little thing what e'er it be When the Great God then infuses a sense of his Love into the Soul it transports it into such an Extasie as is fit only for the other World Mortality cannot bear it Mortality cannot conceive it It is necessary therefore that I stop here So near as I can conceive such as this is that State of Light that Inheritance of the Saints the great Object of our Hopes the Business of this Life that we may be made meet to be partakers of it If what has been Discoursed has raised in any Person desires of being well assured of this State of Happiness I proceed 2dly To consider the Certainty we have of it our good Title to it it is call'd an Inheritance The whole Creation is the Family of God he provides for it every day he gives even the Ravens their food But Man that was made after the Image of God has a more particular Relation to him By his Natural likeness he would have appear'd a true Son of God had he preserv'd his Original Character undefil'd But what Man lost