make up a Satisfactory Bliss and Happiness for an Immortal Soul but what is Supreamly Superlatively Perfectively and Eternally good and that is the Blessed God himself the Enjoyment of whom in Heaven can only make the Soul perfectly and compleatly Happy Were I to perswade wicked men I will not say long for Death but only to be willing to Die my task were not only difficult but impossible for who can by any Arguments prevail upon a Rational Creature willingly to run himself into Miseries and Torments though but of a short continuance much more to rush upon those Miseries and Torments that shall be everlasting into which every wicked man when he comes to Die shall fall And this Sinners know not only from Scripture Revelation but from the Terrors and Accusations of their own Consciences before hand Unto such therefore all perswasions of this nature are vain and to no purpose such stand in need of the most powerful Exhortations backt with the strongest Arguments that can be to stir them up to a speedy preparation for their approaching Dissolution lest thereby they fall into a State of Misery that is unalterable for ever But when I am speaking to the People of God unto whom Death will be of such infinite Gain and Advantage methinks my Work should be easie though my Exhortation runs much higher for unto such I am not now speaking by way of perswasion unto a fitness for Death because I take it for granted that this Work in the main of it is already done with them nor yet am I stirring up in such a bare willingness to Die but I would press them unto something further still and that is that they would entertain the thoughts of Death in their Meditations with Holy Longings and Desires of Soul after it and certainly there is no need of any other Arguments to urge this Duty upon such than barely to tell them that Heaven stands open ready to receive them and all the hurt Death will do unto such is to give them admission into such a State of Bliss and Happiness as shall extend it self unto the Satisfaction of all their Desires unto the utmost both as to the Nature and Quality of them and also as to the duration and continuance of them The Happiness of Heaven being so great that it requires the Capacities of the Soul should be enlarged to take in the fullness thereof it being impossible the Soul of Man should now receive or bear up under the oppressing weight of so great a Happiness as is there to be enjoyed Rest not thy self therefore satisfied O believing Soul with a bare Contentment of mind that when thou diest thou shalt certainly go to Heaven but let thy frequent Thoughts hereof fill thee with Holy Longings and Pantings of Soul after that blessed State The Miseries of this Life and the uncomfortableness of a Christian's manner of living while he is here in respect of Sin Sorrow Doubts Fears Ignorance and Temptations which are in a great measure the daily and afflictive Companions of his life are Arguments strong enough to make such a one willing to Die but in Conjunction with these a Believer hath a Prospect of the Glory and Happiness of Heaven in the Eye of his Faith unto which he knows Death will carry him this should fill the desires of his Soul with Holy Longings after the Enjoyment of it Open therefore O believing Soul the Eye of thy Faith and look upward and see if thou canst not espy a Glory and Happiness in the highest Heavens that is worthy of the most earnest Breathings and Desires of thy Soul after it Canst thou in the whole Vniverse find out better Society in conversing with whom thou canst enjoy such Soul-satisfying pleasure yea such ravishing Joys and Delights as are there to be found There are Holy Angels that never sinned whose Nature as well as whose Happiness in this State of Mortality is beyond the reach of thy understanding to fathom There are Glorified Saints advanced to that perfection of Grace and Holiness that they shall never sin more There is the Blessed and never to be sufficiently admired Saviour and Redeemer of Sinners the Lord Jesus Christ who as he once in our Natures shed his Blood here on Earth to purchase Heaven for Believers so is he now residing in the same Nature there preparing places for them ready to receive them into the Embraces of his Love and Favour Yea in that Glorious place there is that which should much more excite the Desires of Believers after it for there is the infinitely Great and Glorious God whose Excellencies and Perfections are such that as none can understand none can make known so none can bear the discoveries of them Such dazling Excellencies of Glory and Beauty are there in the Face of God that Angels themselves are not able to behold them and yet so lovely and desirable an Object is he that Angels cannot refrain from looking on him and certainly if the Great and Holy God should display but a little of himself in his Glory and Beauty unto the Soul of a Believer should he open though but a little of the infinite Treasures of his goodness unto the view of the Soul O with what Ravishments of Joy would that Soul press into the presence of God and with what a Holy kind of impatience would it throw it self into his Arms what need would there be of setting bounds to the Mount to keep such a Soul from breaking through unto the Lord The Happiness of Heaven is so great that had not God mercifully concealed from us the infinite Excellencies and Glory thereof in a great measure our Desires would be so vehemently bent upon it that we should be under such an impatiency of Spirit after the enjoyment of it as would render us unfit for any Employment that God calls us to in this World Some therefore upon this account have taken notice of the infinite Wisdom of God in engaging the Soul in so near and dear a Union with the Body that it might have such a care for and Love towards it as might tend to its preservation and not be desirous of quitting its habitation with it yea some of the Heathens themselves have observed the Wisdom of God in concealing the Happiness of Separate Souls that Men might be contented to live out that time God hath allotted to them in this World Alas the most and the best of us see and know but little of these things and what we do see is but through a Glass darkly and that is the reason our Affections go not out more earnestly after them did we know and understand more of Heaven and the Glory and Happiness thereof we should with a Holy impatiency of Desire long after it for is it not in Heaven that we shall never sin more never offend God more never wound our Consciences more never do any thing that shall either break our Peace disturb our Joy or indanger
regard they are free from any Mixtures The Joys of the Wicked are always mixed with Fear and Sorrow and so are oftentimes the Joys of the Saints also And herein God manifests great Wisdom and Goodness to his People thus to temper their Joys Even as it is with Men of weak Constitutions who must have their Wine mingled with Water for fear of distempering their Bodies And so must the Godly in this Life such is their Weakness have their Joys mingled with Fears and Sorrows lest they should grow proud or wanton Sometimes their Joys are mixed with Fear Hence it is Psalm 2.11 that we are commanded to serve the Lord with fear and to rejoice with trembling And thus we read of the two Women Matth. 28.8 who though assured by Angels that Christ was risen yet 't is said they departed from the Sepulchre with fear and great joy And so is it with a godly Man though by an Eye of Faith he beholds the Death and Sufferings of Christ and looking into his Grave is assured that he is risen from thence for his Justification and Salvation yet cannot but have his heart filled with a fearful trembling kind of Joy And as a Saint's Joy here is mixed with Fear so is it also sometimes mixed with Sorrow for when a Believer by Faith looks upon Christ crucified and considers that a person so infinitely great and glorious should die such a painful shameful cursed Death for so vile a Sinner and so great an Enemy unto God as he was the consideration of this so great and incomprehensible a Love manifested towards him in reconciling God and him together in delivering him from Wrath and Hell and in obtaining Eternal Life for him in Heaven Though this Love of Christ in doing all this for him cannot but affect him with great Joy yet the Consideration of his Sins that pierced and wounded yea crucified the Lord of Life and Glory cannot but break his Heart with godly Sorrow But now in Heaven the Joy of a Saint will be free from all mixtures both of Sorrow and Fear there shall be no Sorrow for present Troubles nor any Fears of future Dangers all their Sorrows will then be turned into Joy The sight of their Eyes will then affect their Hearts that is the sight and knowledge of the great God the Supreme and Insinite Good whom the Saints shall always have with them in Heaven is that which will fill and ravish their Souls with unspeakable Joy Secondly the Joys of a Saint in Heaven are spiritual Joys Now spiritual things are things both of the greatest Reality and of the greatest Excellency Spiritual things are things of the greatest Reality all other things comparatively are not they are such things as have no Being no Subsistence therefore says the Wise Man Why wilt thou set thine Eyes upon that which is not speaking of the admired things of the World We do but abusively call Men that abound with worldly Enjoyments rich substantial Men for Substance is no where but with God he only is the true substantial Good the things of this World are no more than a shadow If a Man were hungry would painted Bread satisfie him if a Man were starving with Cold would painted Fire warm him No why truly all the things of this World will appear no better to a Man when he comes to die there 's no Comfort nor Satisfaction to be fetch'd from them The Reality and Substantialness of Good is only laid up in God and in the Enjoyment of him who is the Saint's Happiness both on Earth and in Heaven There is a Vanity as in all the Troubles of the World so also in all the Comforts of the World There is a Vanity in the Troubles that the Saints endure they are but skin-deep a varnish of Trouble so says the Apostle 2 Cor. 6.10 as sorrowful yet always rejoicing as poor yet making many rich as having nothing yet possessing all things And as it is with the Troubles of the World so is it with the Comforts of the World all that sense looks at it is meerly out-side and appearing all the Enjoyments of the World are but a shadow an appearance of that which is Good God and Heaven are Realities but whatever else is Good is but appearingly so The things of the World are not when they are they are not in Reality when they are in Appearance It is a very great mistake to think nothing to be real but what we can touch and handle with our hands or what we can see with our Eyes such as Gold Silver Houses Lands these are not really substantially good things they make a fair show outwardly they have a Gaudery and Excellency as to Sense but nothing of real Excellency as to the Soul Nothing is real but what is spiritual though the Body be more seen than the Soul yet the Soul is a more real Good because it is a spiritual Good and comes nearest to God who is a Spirit and who only is so says the Prophet speaking concerning God Isai 43.11 who only art and there is none besides thee God Christ Grace and Heaven these are spiritually and substantially good and therefore it is said of Christ I cause them that love me to inherit Substance Prov. 8.21 And the Apostle tells the believing Hebrews Heb. 10.34 Ye took joyfully the spoiling of your Goods knowing that in Heaven you have a better and an enduring Substance The Joys and Delights of Heaven they are real because they are spiritual But this is not all for the Saints Joys in Heaven because they are spiritual they are therefore excellent yea the most excellent There is nothing that is earthy in Heaven but all of a spiritual and refined Nature and therefore the more real and the more excellent and by how much the more spiritual by so much the more real and the more excellent also All Joy and Delight placed upon any thing below God is carnal and earthly that which hath dregs in it and comes not up to the Excellency of the Soul it may refresh the Senses and delight the outward Man but it reacheth not the Soul and Conscience it must be something that is spiritual for its Nature and refined for its Excellency that must suit with and be the Delight of a Soul that is spiritual and such is Heaven and the Joys and Delights that are there superlatively excellent and spiritual flowing into the noblest and most excellent part of Man his Soul and Spirit from God who is a Spirit Thirdly The Joys of Heaven are full Joys The Psalmist calls them Fulnesses of Joy and Rivers of Pleasures for the abundance of them Psal 116.11 And the Apostle speaking of Believers tells us 1 Pet. 1.8 That though now they see him not yet believing they rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of Glory If now the Joy of Faith in the Promises of God from some small experience of his Love and Favour to the Soul be above
others came in their room which proved incurable and terminated in Death But when the Bodies of the Saints shall be raised out of their Graves at the general Resurrection they shall perfectly be healed of all their Distempers and shall die no more for then shall be brought to pass that saying that is written Death is swallowed up in Victory 1 Cr. 15.54 Secondly In Heaven the Bodies of the Saints shall become spiritual not that they shall be changed into spiritual Substances and so become absolutely spiritual for then they must cease to be Bodies but yet they shall become spiritual because they shall be endowed with spiritual Qualities Now concerning this Spirituality of the Body the Apostle speaks very clearly in 1 Cor. 15.44 it is sown says he a natural Body it is raised a spiritual Body Now the Bodies of the Saints in Heaven are said to be spiritual in these respects First Because in Heaven they shall be in a condition that is spiritual Their Bodies shall then stand in no more need of Meat or Drink Sleep or Apparel the now necessary and appointed means for its supportation In Heaven there is no eating or drinking no marrying or giving in Marriage but we shall there be as the Angels of God so saith our Lord Matth. 22.30 If Moses in this state of Mortality whilst he was with God in the Mount forty Days and forty nights did neither eat Bread nor drink Water as we read Exod. 34 28. how much more shall the Saints be enabled to live without the use of these things when they come to Heaven where they shall always live in the Presence of God Secondly The Spirituality of the Saints Bodies in Heaven consists in that entire and absolute Subjection they shall then be in unto their Spirits In this Life the Soul is debased made to stoop and become serviceable to the Flesh and when it is at the best with the Saints there is still a contention and strife between the Spirit and the Flesh so that when the Spirit is willing the Flesh is weak nay often refractary But in Heaven there shall be an absolute Subjection of the Body to the Spirit What a great Happiness would a godly Man now count it to have a Body every way serviceable to his Soul that whenever the Soul moves God ward and Heaven-ward in any holy Duty the Body might willingly and readily comply with it How delightful would this make a godly Man's Life to be Why in Heaven it shall be so in that state of Glory and Happiness the Soul shall not depend upon the Body but the Body upon the Soul for the Body shall then become spiritual because it shall be perfectly serviceable to the Spirit This certainly will be a blessed time Saints therefore should long for its approach Thirdly The Bodies of the Saints in Heaven shall be spiritual in regard they will then be more capable of and more fitted for spiritual Vses and Services Nothing that is of an earthy dreggy Nature shall then cleave to them all carnal sordid employments are greatly below them their Work is altogether heavenly and spiritual formerly their time and strength was laid out upon Employments that were earthly suitable unto their then earthly Bodies But now that their Bodies are changed and of earthly become spiritual their Employment is changed and become spiritual also And because there is such a change in the Employment of their Bodies it is an evident Demonstration that there is a change made in their Bodies also Heretofore the World was the Habitation in which their Bodies dwelt and their Designs then were worldly also But now that they are removed from Earth to Heaven the Habitation of Spirits their Bodies are refined and made spiritual suitable unto the Habitation to the Inhabitants to the Employments and Enjoyments that are there which are altogether spiritual Thirdly The Bodies of the Saints in Heaven shall be full of Power and Agility They are sown says the Apostle in Weakness they are frail sinful Bodies and therefore they must die yet shall they be raised in Power Now this Power and Agility that shall be bestowed upon Glorified Bodies is very wonderful being that whereby they shall be able to move to and fro in Heaven according as the Will shall command it without difficulty or weariness and possibly so as to be able to keep pace even with Angels themselves in their Motion And considering the spaciousness of Heaven that place where God Christ and those multitudes of glorious Saints and Angels do inhabit this Agility of Body may be very necessary Now there are two Reasons why it is so necessary that the Bodies of the Saints should be thus strong and powerful First That hereby they may be able to attend the Operations of their Souls and become fit for such Work as in Heaven they must be employed in Were their Bodies as weak and feeble in Heaven as they now are on Earth they could never undergo such work and motions as they must be employed in there but they would soon tire and faint Scripture and Experience tells us this that when the Soul is exercised about any high and glorious Object the Body presently sinks and fails So it was in the Ecstasies of the Prophet when God did reveal himself in an extraordinary manner unto Daniel his Body failed he fainted and was sick many Days Dan. 8.27 But now in Heaven the Bodies of the Saints shall be so strong and powerful that they shall become serviceable to their Souls in their highest and most glorious Operations Here the People of God have Souls willing to serve the Lord that would fain attend upon him in his Ordinances and never be weary or drowsie but though the Spirit be willing yet the Flesh is Weak their frail Bodies cannot keep pace with their Souls in Duty thus is it continually with them here but in Heaven it shall be otherwise their Bodies shall then be as good Companions for their Souls as they can desire and both together shall praise God with eternal Hallelujahs and never be weary Secondly It is necessary that the Bodies of the Saints in Heaven should be strong and powerful because otherwise they are not able to bear that weight of Glory and Happiness that there they shall be Partakers of We are easily persuaded to believe that a Man may be so miserable that he cannot bear it but it is as true that Man's highest Happiness cannot be born by the strength he now hath Extraordinary Joy will overcome and destroy as well as extraordinary Sorrow I have heard of one whom a great King in this Nation caused to be imprisoned and thrown into a Dungeon where lying hourly in expectation of losing his Life being suddenly surprized with News of a Pardon his Joy was so great that it overwhelm'd his Spirit and he died immediately The Condition of our Bodies here is a Condition of Weakness and Frallty And the Glory and Happiness of
Grace and Holiness where thy Employment shall always be in Holy and Spiritual Delights and Exercises unto all Eternity If thou hast no believing Hopes and Expectations of such a Heaven as this is certainly thou hast no Right and Title unto that Inheritance that is incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for Believers Nothing so plainly demonstrates what men are whither they are going and unto whom they belong as the daily course of their Lives and Conversation The Apostle therefore in Galat. 5.19 20. reckoning up the Works of the Flesh which are manifest As Adultery Fornication Vncleanness Drunkenness Murder and such like of the which says he I tell you before as I have also told you in times past that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God And in 1 Corinth 6.9 10. he speaks the same thing again Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Adulterers nor Idolaters nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God And on the contrary He that doth Righteousness is of God says the Apostle 1 John 2.29 And blessed is he that doth Righteousness at all times says the Psalmist Psal 106.3 For the Grace of God that hath appeared in the Gospel having taught them to deny all ungodliness and Worldly Lust and to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World Tit. 2.12 13. Looking for the Blessed Hope and the Glorious appearance of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ These are they and only they who according to Scripture Warrant can lay any claim unto Heaven And these may for they that are made free from Sin and are become the Servants of God they have their Eruit unto Holiness and their end shall be Everlasting Life Rom. 6.23 Wouldst thou therefore know O Christian without deluding thy own Soul whether thou art one that hast a Right and Title unto Heaven call thy self to an account what thy Works and Actions are The matter is not so difficult to be resolved it may be as thou imaginest What says the Apostle Gal. 6.7 8. He that soweth unto the Flesh shall of the Flest reap Corruption And he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap Life Everlasting And the same Apostle tells us Rom. 8.13 If we live after the Flesh we shall die but if we through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the Body we shall live What now is thy way and course what is thy general carriage and practice is it earthly and vain is it sensual and wicked according to the course of the World and after the manner of the men of the World If vain and sinful Society be thy delightful Companions if wicked and ungodly ways be thy daily practice thou art not of an Heavenly Extraction nor canst thou upon Scripture grounds have any expectations of the Heavenly Glory for unto such only doth it belong who by their lives and actions declare their opposition of and contrariety unto the ways and courses of the men of this World Shew me thy Faith by thy Works says the Apostle James 2 18. Thou art one that professest to believe a Heaven and a State of blessedness to be enjoyed there and hopest thou art one that shalt be a partaker thereof hereafter shew me now thy Faith herein by thy Works and assure thy self of this That all thy Faith in and all thy Hopes of Heaven and Glory will fill thee with nothing but shame and disappointment hereafter unless they evidence themselves by Works and Actions suitable thereunto for as the Apostle says James 2.26 As the body without the Spirit is dead so all Faith in and Hope of Heaven without Works and Actions corresponding thereunto is dead also and will leave the Soul short of Heaven and Happiness Sixthly Is there such a State of Bliss and Happiness provided for and assured unto Believers in Heaven hereafter let then the consideration hereof Reconcile to them the thoughts of their own Death and moderate their sorrows for the Death of their Godly Friends and Relations First Let the consideration of the Glory and Happiness of Heaven Reconcile to a Believer the thoughts of his own Death It is no strange thing that Heathens who have only the Light of Nature to be their Instructor should not be able to overcome the Fears of Death though indeed some of them have not only expressed great Courage in contempt of but great confidence in and desire after Death though notwithstanding all their boasting we may well imagine that they speak greater things than they lived up unto much more than they died under for it is said of one of the chief of them that Eloquent Orator Cicero that a little before his Death he did ingeniously confess That those Remedies he had prepared against this Enemy Death proved he knew not how too weak and feeble to support and strengthen him in its near approach unto him And indeed it is no wonder that thus it should be with them because they were greatly in the dark as to the reality of a future State of Happiness and much more at a loss how to find the right way to attain the enjoyment thereof Nor is it any strange thing to see a wicked Man under the light of the Gospel to be afraid of Death and to lead a Life accompanied with Fears and Terrours under the thoughts of it no the wonder rather is that such a one can have any case and quietness any freedom from horrours and perplexities of Mind that he is not a Magormissabib continually every moment of his Life encompassed about with fears and terrours And indeed did he rightly understand himself and his dangerous state and condition it would be thus always with him and the greatness of his Fears and Horrours would make him go mourning all his Days But though Heathens and prophane Sinners may and have cause to be afraid of Death yet it becomes not any of the People of God who have a well grounded Hope of Heaven to be affrighted at it there being no way for them to attain unto that State of Blessedness but by Dying I have read concerning the Turks who are not only Strangers but Enemies to the Christian Religion that they say they do not think Heaven to be a place of that Bliss and Happiness as Christians do profess to believe it is because they see so many that call themselves by the Name of Christian so backward and unwilling to go to it O what a disgrace is this unto Christianity and how should it concern Christians to labour with great industry to overcome all inordinate fears of Death that they may wipe off this reproach that is cast upon the most excellent Religion in the World and that which only can enable any to Die comfortably and joyfully upon the Hopes of a future State of Happiness All a Believer's fears of