not doubt of compassing this Peace since such act according to their Primitive Institution and are in the state they were intended and in that condition for which God design'd them But in the revers those take much pains to loose their Labour that hope to finde Peace in the paths of Impiety No it s only a Religious life can make us happy for that ever yeilds comfort when we stand most in need of it in times of Affliction or Death Holiness being of that Blessed Nature that it makes all Light within tho there be nothing but Darkness without Riches Honours Pleasures and Preferments saith a Pious Author are coy and keep distance and when we loose them leave us with a weeping Eye and heavy Heart but Virtue never leaves us till we force and chase it from us It s the Sovereign Cordial in all conditions it s not lost in the many Misfortunes that surround us it continues sweet and comfortable in Misery gives Courage in Adversity makes us rich in Poverty is such a Physitian that puts us to little Expence yet gives such Cordials as chear the Body Spiritualize the Soul Nay is the precious Pearl that purchases our Peace to all Eternity and shines on our Souls even here with Beams of Everlasting Glory For such thoughts of Spiritual Ravishment and Unutterable rapture are many times inspired by the Spirit of Comfort into the hearts of Gods Children who have oft in a sweet showre from Heaven a whole Sea of Comfort powred on their Souls and by the Glorious fruition of inward Peace and Joy have such a lively perception and foretast of Everlasting pleasures as is beyond the power of the Heart of Man to conceive or the Tongue of Angels to express as if with one hand they had already laid hold on the Crown of Life and had got one step within the Gates of Heaven for the Angels whom they fill with joy with a careful tenderness and alacrity become their Guardians and servisable to them All the Creatures are in League with and reconciled unto them and with a secret reverence do adore that Sacred Character of Divinity that is imprinted on them for by being Undesiled These regain all that Adam by his fall lost and are happier in this state of Integrity then Adam in that of Innocency for the Undefiled are now Sons of God and Heirs to his Kingdom Nay for ought we know such may hereafter Equalize if not Transcend the splendour of Angles for tho the Undefiled are lower then Angels by Creation yet they are superior by Adoption Angels have only Glorified Spirits but the Undefiled shall have Glorified Souls and Spiritualized Bodies too even like our Saviour for the Felicity and the Eternity of such shall be like his as in the 1 Epistle St. John 3 Chap. 2 3 Verses And if the Pious enjoy such Transcendant Peace and Glory who in his wits then wou'd not deny himself the pleasure of a moment to be pleased for ever Who then wou'd not be a Christian for a few years to Reign with Christ for ever Did you see as I oft do in my Visits of the Sick I say did you see Sinners in that stormy night when Vengence reaches them or Death pangs seizes them you could no more describe their Fears and their Cares then fathom the Firmament But on the contrary if you were sensible of the Transports of Peace and Comfort that Pious Souls enjoy in the time of Afflictions or Death it wou'd make the greatest Debauch turn Puritan and the most refin'd Epicure a Mortified Saint it wou'd charm the Cup out of the hand of the Drunckard and lure the Sinner from the softest Embrace For when the Undefiled resign their already Mortified Bodies into the cold hands of Death their Souls being conscious of an upright and unspoted Life have created Eyes so Fortified that many enjoy Transcendent Rayes of the Beatific Vision before Departure Nay being supported by the Spirit of Comfort feel no sting in Death discover no darkness in the Grave no amazment at that Great and Terrible day of the Lord when the Sun shall be turned into Darkness and the Moon into Blood when the Heavens shrivel together like a Scrole of Parchment and the high and mighty Mountains skip out of their places like roused Hindes Then Lastly The Undefiled shall be Eternally Blest they shall not only look down with Cheerfulness into the Grave but in to the other World without terror where they shall not see a Court of Justice but a Throne of Grace where they shall not see a severe Judg but a kind Father and a Saviour who died for them ready to pronounce them Blessed and set the Crown of Glory on their Heads where they shall ever be in the conversation of Excellent Persons brave minds Charitable Souls and dear Friends be eas'd of all their Pains resolved of all their Doubts freed from all their Fears and happy beyond their Hopes having Scepters made to fill their Hands and mighty Glories to Crown their Heads and forever enjoy Gods dearest delights and highest Glories for Blessed are the Vndefiled in the way that walk in the Law of the Lord. FINIS
sorrow to the Grave this made Hecubà and others Bark with the Inhabitants of the Kennel Howl amongst the Tombs and sail to their Sepulchres in a Sea of tears I might instance a thousand more calamities incident to the life of man so that were it not for the Expectations of another life man would be the most miserable of Animals in this It was an apt Expression of the Philosopher upbraiding one that desired long life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Alass ther 's no object so deplorable as a Gray Head and an Unsanctified Heart but the Hoary Scalp is a Crown of Glory and only to be desired by such as excel in Piety Such aspiring Spirits were not given us to be tyed ever to a Perishing Body Nor can we think it worth the while that the maker of the Universe shou'd Create a Soul and send it down into the Body or World on purpose to superintend these trivial affairs to keep alive a silly piece of Earth whilst it Eats and Drinks to move it too and fro in chase of Shadows and to hold it up while others bow the Knee and do it Homage No our Creator has put us into this world in order to our Translation to a better we are not always to live among Mire and be tyed to a Perishrng body we come into this World not to take up our aboad and rest this life is only to Exercise our virtues and qualify us for the world to come we live not so much to Enjoy it as to Conquer it's Temptations and dispise it's flatteries and if we live long enough to do this we may thank God for what Labouring man wou'd not willingly be at rest what Mariner is not glad that he hath weathered all Storms and steer'd to his desired Haven where his soul shall Enjoy Divine pleasure to big to be describ'd When Craesus ask'd Solon who he thought happy he told him one Tellus a man that was dead for tho death breaks the Vnion between the Body and Soul yet it cannot break that Vnion between the Soul and Christ if undefil'd then why should we think a Temporary Life such a Felicity then why shou'd it trouble us to leave men to live with Christ and Angels why shou'd we be so unwilling to leave this body of dust where we shall sin no more be sick no more and troubled no more but pass from death to life from a vally of tears to Eternal joys then why should we not with Scipio desire to be dissolved when we hear of Immortality and Glory undoubtedly death to him that is undefil'd in the way is only as a passage through a dark entry into a Glorious Pallace a putting of these Rags of the flesh and a puting on the Robes of Righteousness a laying down a Sheep-hook and a taking up a Scepter a laying down a Crown of Thorns which Prick Torture and Torment us and a putting on a Crown of Glory which will for ever Comfort and Delight us Lastly A concurrence and combination of all these cannot make so much as one man Happy the Heathen Philosopher in search found a conveniency but no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 self-sufficiency for if one man had all the Excellency and Power all the Highest and Greatest Treasures and Glory under the Sun had he all the Bodily perfections which are distributed amongst the numerous Train of mankind and all conspired together to make this one man happy he wou'd infinitly come short of his Design And this miserable one Person at last would wofully Experiment that all these Glittering and Guilded Representations with which this flattering World had dazled and deceived his Eyes were but like Painted Sepulchres glorious and gay without but within fill'd with Rottenness Darkness Horror and Death or like Egyptian Temples with a Specious outside but Inhabited with Crocodiles and Dragons instead of Gods I say had one man all the Ethics of Aristotle all the Morality of Seneca all the Learning at Athens had he all the cuning and trickes of Achitophel the strength of Goliah the Treasures of Nebuchadnezar the Honour of Haman the Beauty of Absolon Nay had he the knowledg of the Scribes and the Devotion of the Pharises he would at last discover himself to be a stranger to true Felicity and utterly unacquainted with the blest condition and that on these following accounts At the Fall of our First Parents the Earth was Curst so cannot yeild to Man any true Comfort It must now bring forth Thorns and Bryers that is Cares and Troubles and so it s a Delusion to expect a second Paradice here or to hope for true Happiness any where but in Heaven because all here is mutable and we Mortal Wordly comforts are transient and vanishing they cannot extend themselves to Eternity and thus they want the very life and accomplishment of true Tranquillity here we cannot write for ever on our Riches here we cannot write for ever on our Honours or Pleasures there will be a period put to all Humane Glory all our Riches Pomp and Grandeur must abandon us at the Frontiers of the Grave six Foot and a Shrowd then will serve Indeed were it in our power to Procrastinate our days could we strike off the nimble Chariot Wheels of time and with Joshua Bid the Sun stand still could we Lengthen out our days to some thousands of years and those to be imployed in the most Entire and Choicest of Worldly Fruitions without interruption or decay it would seem a little more plausable to place our Hapiness here But alafs who is there Ignorant of this said Truth that the Life of Man is but a Span Long Are not my days few saith Job I go where I shall not return even into the Land of Darkness and shadow of Death and none knows but the next breath he draws to cool and fresh his Lungs may be that Gale of wind to waft him on the Coasts of Eternity For when God is but Angry all our days are gon Man is sick and dies Man perishes and where is he to day hee s set up and to morrow he shall not be found for he is turn'd into dust and his purpose Perisheth and his pomp terminateth in a neglected Grave and in a few Months after the Mourners have gone about the Streets and the Solemnity of his Funeral is over is forgotten as if he had never been and if so why should a thinking Man place his Happiness here Why should an Eternal Spirit Address a Vapour Why should an Immortal Soul court a Phantom since the Spirit of Man cannot delight in any thing that 's Terrestial here indeed are Diversions that please and tickle the Senses but cannot give the least Delectation to the Soul nor any wise satisfie the Capacity of a Mans heart for if a Man could give Silver as Stones and Caedars as the Wild Figtrees that grow abundantly on the Plains could he provide Men Singers and Women Singers and be croun'd with the
Trespasses for to tred always firm in the paths of Righteousness without ever sliping to walk so uprightly as never to fall by security weakness or inadvertency is a task not for a man but an Angel if there be any Souls so happy as to triumph over all Infirmities and so watchful as never to be surprized they are peculiar Jewels kept in undiscern'd Cabinets Tho some of the Patriarchs Apostles and blest Martyres ariv'd to such Sanctity that they seem'd uncapable of Accessions St. Paul said He was Crucified to the World c. Yet in this Age of ours not to be subject to disorderly desires not liable to Irregular Motions wandring thoughts dulness in Duty is only the Priviledge of Souls cloathed with Immortallity for our understandings are not so clear and bright but they may be deceived nor the bent of our affections so strongly set but they may be perverted Where is the Love that has no drfect where is the hope that has no fear we have secret Dispositions in Nature to folly and error we have ebs and flowes of Blood and Spirits Distempers within roughness of Conversation without Irksome Adversity and Flattering prosperity Nay we have Souls ingaged with our Senses and these with the World we are so surrounded with variety of objects which through the Intervention of our senses leave their Ideas in the head that the Eye of the mind can no more help looking on them then not to wink when a blow is given so that we must almost forget our Nature to be undefiled wholly amongst so many Snares Such sagacity of Judgment such strength of resolution such felicity of circumstance we can never soar to but that some venial defect may lurk in the most sanctified Soul but we must have a care of mistaking contracted habits for frailties of nature of cherishing any ill motions or throing our selves into the way of Temptations when we have warnings without or misgivings within for then they cease to be Sins of surprize or infirmity become Mortal bring dishonour to God injury to our Neighbour and defile our Nature Therefore Secondly Here 's the Characteristic of the good man that shall be esteemed Undefiled he is one tho he stumble accidentally on a Temptation yet he lies not in the Mire but rises again presently and keeps on his Journey gets ground of his Passions and is ever accompanied with earnest desires and serious endeavours he presses after the Mark of the high calling and when any Temptations ofered yeilds not to it for it s not his Sin to be Tempted or to feel that he is so but the Evil is in yeilding and doing since his actions are at his command tho not always his mind Its Corruption allures but consent defiles therefore the good man so soon as any unlawful object is represented to him he resists the Lure and the Fight of Rephidim begins sometimes Israel prevails and sometimes Amalec but he still holds up his hand that is le ts his thoughts be Elevated and his mind Soaring till he hears the shout that Israel hath the day And when he hath once got the Victory sets a strict watch at the Cinque port of his Senses and so soon as the Devil shews him the World dispises it and the Devil too with a Get thee behind me Satan And when ever he is Assaulted by any darling Sin he never parleys but if in danger of being overcom'n immediately throwes himself into the Armes of his Blessed Saviour in full assurance that he hath given his good Angels more power to preserve him then the Evil to hurt him and rests his hand on the Pillar of Faith and Prayer till Amelec fly before him Now such a man that thus struggles for the Consolation of the Spirit more then for sensible things that soars alost on the Wings of Faith and Love that Prunes the Luxuriancy of untaught Nature and Animal inclinations that adornes himself with those three Heroick Virtues Faith Love Humility that is fervent and frequent at Publick and Private Devotions is a constant Communicant is just in all his dealings is Generous in Charity like the Sun reaches his rayes to all is active in the work of Angels thankful to God Meek and Courteous in Behaviour to men is modest in Prosperity chalm and resign'd in Adversity that acts as uprightly as if he were to dye to day and give an account at night Now such a man that thus fears the Lord his God and does all the good he can to men may be as well assured he is in the state of Salvation as that Jesus is Risen such a Man may be satisfied he is undefiled according to Gods Will tho not according to the purity of his August Essence and may be confident that his defects for Christs sake shall be Pardoned and the spots that he hath contracted shall be by the Roab of his Righteousness covered and shall compass the Blessed Consequents of being Undefiled My last proposed First If God sees it good you need not doubt of being Externally blest since the service of God hath a Friendly regard to worldly Prosperity Godliness saith the Apostle is profitable to all things having the promises of this life 1 Tim. 4.8 for that piety inclines Men to be serious in their thoughts temporate in their lives and diligent in their callings which Enriches Read Deut. 28. Wicked men indeed may prosper by industry but it s not by the blessing but sufferance of God and such cannot be secure in what they posess since none are safe from Ruine but in the favour and protection of God the giver Psal 73 12.18 19 vers For the Elect's sake God made the World Enrich't and Redeem'd it Therefore if thou would'st be blest with Riches then be undefiled and thou hast the God of wealth and the Minerals of the world to supply thy wants if Honours thou hast him that makes the Heavens Bow and Scepters and Diadems obey if Wisdom the treasures of Eloquence and Riches of Eternal Knowledg are in his bosom all which God will certainly give thee if for his Glory and thy good Indeed God does not in the Gospel promise Wealth Honour c. to every man on this Theatre all are not to act the part of Princes and Prelates because the perfection of human Affaires requires a Diversity amongst men Kings and Subjects Masters and Servants Bishops and Deacons el's a general Aequality would usher in a general confusion But Secondly If thou hast not an affluence of Temporals yet if undefiled thou art secure at least of Christs Legacy internal Peace which is the greatest Blessing since a man is nothing but his mind and if that is out of order the greatest Treasures the highest Honours and the softest Pleasures cannot make happy but posessing peace of mind tho never so poor thou Enjoyest infinitely more comfort in it then in the affluence of all created beings without it and all that walk in the paths of virtue need