to God at the time and in the work of Conversion when there is a sanctifying change wrought in a person when he is of a Sinner made a Saint and of an Enemy a Friend of God This is evident from that speech of our Saviour to Saul Acts 26. 17 18. I do now senâ—… thee to the Gentiles to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God from ignorance to knowledge from Idolatry and wickedness to the owning acknowledging worshipping anâ—… serving of God Converting Grace is the begetting of a Soul to God thâ—… bringing of the Prodigal Son to his Father the reducting of the lost anâ—… wandering Sheep home to its fold and this is the first return this is thâ—… first step until this be taken the Soul is not only far from God but whicâ—… is both its sin and misery it is going further and further from him Foâ—… every act of sin is a step from God and a continued course of sin is a constant departure from him As men sin against God more and more so they do revolt from God more and more while they add to sin they add tâ—… backslide But in Conversion there is a returning to him this sets facâ—… and heart God-ward and now the feet are guided into the way of peace Thrice happy you that have thus returned this is the beginning of youâ—… life As the Father said with joy concerning his returning Prodigal This mâ—… Son was dead but he is alive and this is the beginning of your blessedness Therefore Peter Preaching to the Jews told them Acts 3 26. That unto theâ—… first God having raised up his Son Iesus sent him to bless them in turninâ—… away every one of them from their iniquities Yea my Friends whatsoeveâ—… cheats are put upon you by the Father of Lies and your own self-deceivinâ—… hearts you will never be a blessed people till you are turned from youâ—… iniquities till then you are under guilt and wrath and a curse but a turnâ—… ing from iniquity is a returning unto God The turning you from sin iâ—… the breaking down of that middle wall of partition which did before staâ—… between God and you Let me therefore speak to you O sinners in thâ—… same words that Pâ—…ter used Acts 3. 19. Repent ye and be converted thâ—… your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from tâ—… presence of the Lord. Secondly There is a further return unto God in the actings exercisâ—… and increases of grace for though there be a turning to God in the firâ—… Conversion yet we must not stop there returning to him ought to be thâ—… â—…earer to morrow and â—…o nearer and nearer every day Now as every â—…ct of sin is a step from God so every act of grace is a step to God Faith â—…aiseth the Soul above the things that are seen and mounts it up as upon â—…he wings of an Eagle Love carrieth the Soul up as in a fiery Chariot a pure and holy flame so that it dwelleth in God and God in it Ardent and importunate desires are the feet upon which the Soul runs out to God and followeth hard after him and the more the Soul tramples upon the things that are below and by acts of self-denial goeth out of it self the more doth it find it self in God And so it is with reference to the happy additions which it makes to the grace it hath the more it grows in grace the more doth it grow up unto God All the improvements it makes in grace are blessed progressâ—…s in its way to God that is indeed going from strength to strength till it appear before God in Sion Psal. 84. Oh who is there that considers this that would be retrograde in his motions and languishing and decaying in spirituals who would be content to stand at a â—…ay who would not be possessed with and acted by a spirit of holy covetousness always receiving out of the â—…lness of Christ and yet always begging and while he draws up one Bucket-full letting down another for more Remember it O Christians the more you are as by the Spirit of the Lord changed from grace to grace the more considerable advances you make from lower to higher degrees of holiness the more will you be transformed in the spirit of your mind and changed from glory to glory the more will you have in you of a Divine Nature and the more of the Divine Image upon you In a word by this means you will come to have a greater conformity and likeness unto God and so a sweeter communion and intimacy with him So then this is a further return unto God this is a getting nearer and nearer to him and truly this should be the work of every day This is that which we should have in our designs and aims in all the holy duties that we perform and in all the precious Ordinances upon which we do attend that by every one of them we may have a lift given us and he brought more over and more close to God than we as yet are Thirdly There is a return to God at death So the Royal Preacher tells us Eccles. 12. 7. The dust shall return to the Earth as it was of that it was made and into that it shall be resolved When once the Soul leaves it the body drops into the grave and there first it putrifies and at length it crumbles but the Spirit shall return unto God that gave it All the Souls of Men and Women one and other both the good and the bad shall at death be upon their return whether with their will or against it this must be done They did at first come from God when they were formed he created them he infused them he united them to the body and when that union shall be dissolved when Death shall uâ—…ie the knot and snap the hand asunder then doth the spirit return to God The polluted and regenerate Souls of wicked men shall in all their guilt filth and deformity â—…eturn to God that they may from him receive their final and irreversible 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 malefactors carried into a dungeon of darkness the bottomless Pit where there is unquenchable fire to torment them but not the least beam of ligâ—… to comfort and refresh them and so they shall be punished with an everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power 2. Thes. 1. And the Souls of Saints which have been washed from theâ—… filthiness in the blood of the Lamb and had their nature changed theâ—… principles made holy and their beauty perfect through Christs comelineâ—… put upon them shall also then return unto God as their reconciled Friend and everlasting Father to be by him received gratiously heartily welcom'd and put into those glorious Mansionâ—… which have been designed and prepared for them in which they shall enjoy
spirit of faith and love and desire and longing in all those that have past through the new birth Attainments in many of them are little and low but in all of them desires are high And though these desires are exceeding good yet they are very painful as â—…arp hunger is to an almost starved creature How uneasie is a longing Woman it makes her sick at the very heart not seldom causeth a faintness and swoonings and puts her into a great discomposure throughout So do the desires of a longing Saint too too often he over-looks and pays not unto God due acknowledgments for nor doth he himself tast the sweetness and take the comfort of what he hath because he cannot as yet get what he wants Oh how much doth such an one hasten after a deliverance from sin How eagerly doth he thirst for increases of grace How doth he aspire to an holy fixation of mind free from those avocations and diversions which afflict him And as the hunted parched Hart panteth after the Water-brooks so doth his Soul pant after the Living God and an intimate unbroken Communion with him and it is even sick with love and longings because it finds not what it thus seeks It doth hardly enjoy it self because it hath not those enjoyments that it would But when once Death hath done its work upon him there is a rest from these things too not because the Souls love is in the least cool'd and abated for then it is perfected and raised up to the purest hottest and highest flame in which it shall everlastingly continue but because it hath plenary fruition of that which it loves of all which it loves While the gracious Soul is here in the body it hath its sallyings out its earnest reaches and lofty flights Oh that it were so and so Thus poor Iob as you have it in Iob 29 v. 2 c. O that I were as in months past as in the days when God preserved me when his Candle shined upon my head and when by his light I walked thorough darkness when the secret of God was upon my Tabernacle when the Almighty was yet with me So O that it were with me as sometimes I have found it O that it were with me as it is with such an one and such an God more and love him more and live him more But when the Soul comes to Heaven it takes the place appointed and prepared for it and there it sits down at ease because it is where it would be and as it would be There is no desire because a compleat satisfaction Psal. 17. ult As for me I will behold thy face in righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness There desires are turned into and swallowed up of delights There is indeed in glorified Souls a natural desire of the resurrection of their bodies and a reunion to them but that desire is no impairing of their happiness not in the least afflictive because moderate and rightly tempered and sweetened with a full assurance that it shall be done at the time appointed by the Father And in the mean while they are abundantly pleas'd having a fulness of joy in the vision and fruition of God Father Son and Spirit who is to them infinitely better than the body can be Come we now to the next thing propounded viz. the properties of that rest into which the holy Soul doth enter after death or what kind of rest it is and that I shall endeavour to shew you in these three particulars First It is a compleat rest every way perfect there is not any thing wanting thereunto There is indeed a sweet and blessed rest which those have here in this life who come to Christ and make a believing closure upon the terms propounded in the Gospel though they have not the rest of the World yet they have a rest in the World and that in the midst of concussions and confusions when they are tumbled and toss'd up and down they have a rest out of their Enemies reach This our dear Lord and Saviour hath promised and he cannot but be as good as his word Mat. 11. 28. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest not only a right to it but the possession of it that which they could not meet with before neither in themselves nor in the creature they meet with in him as the Dove that could find no place for the sole of its foot when it was abroad as the Raven could that would light and feed upon Carrion the dead carcasses floating upon the surface of the waters yet it found rest in the Ark upon its return to it Those that before were through the stingings of Conscience and the apprehensions of Divine wrath and impending Judgments as persons upon a Rack are through the sprinklings of the blood of the Covenant upon them and the sealings and witnessings of the Spirit within them as in a Bed of Down or Roses Those wounds that formerly smarted are graciously healed and their Agonies are over unless they cause new ones by their foolishness but for all this here aliquid deest something is wanting as well as something amiss Paul in 1 Thes. 3. 10. speaks of something that was lacking in their Faith and truly the same may be affirmed of the best improved and most grown Saints on this side of Heaven that there is something lacking in their Faith yea and in their Love and in their Humility and Meekness and Patience and in all the graces that have been by the blessed Spirit of God wrought in them And we may be sure of this that as long as there is something lacking in the grace there will be something not be arrived at a perfect state But after death all these wants will be supplied and all these defects made up there will be no vacancy in the Soul nothing lacking then that which is perfect will be come and so that which is imperfect shall be done away and hereupon that rest which the Soul shall have when it comes to Heaven will be greater and fuller than that which it had when it first came to Christ or all the while that it lived a sojourner in the World there will be perfect holiness and by consequence there will be a perfect happiness God will not in any thing be behind hand with his people or wanting to them there they are continually before the Throne of God always in his presence and David tells us Psal. 16. 11. That in his presence there is fulness of joy and a fulness of joy doth necessarily imply and carry along with it a fulness of rest and that which followeth hereupon Secondly It is an undisturbed rest Here our peace is oftentimes broken and our rest is gone It is said of Ahasuerus that he could not sleep his sleep fled away from him he did all that in him lay to compose himself he would gladly have slept
many common mercies than the least of which you are less and how many special mercies upon which you may read Love you are not able to number them being more than the hairs upon your heads How many messages of peace have been brought to you by his Ministers and Spirit How many comfortable Answers hath he given so that you have been constrained to say He hath not turned away your prayer nor his mercy from you How many rich tokens hath he blest you with every one of greater value than an Orient Pearl or glistering Diamond How many marks of Covenant-favour hath he set upon you In short how often and how greatly hath he made your Souls to rejoyce and your Hearts to leap within you and then how well may you argue thus with your selves If there be so much coming from God what is there in God If there be such conveyances made by the Pipes of Ordinances and Duties what is there in him in whom are all my Springs If messages be so delicious what are the closest embraces If there be such beams at a distance such comfortable beams and vital influences communicated in this state of absence what light and life what beauty and glory is there in the Eternal Sun Secondly From this bountiful dealing of God with you you may argue to his liberality and the singular pleasure which he takes in giving forth of that his fulness to his People which is infinitely beyond the delight of the most affectionate Mother in drawing her full and pained Breast to her sucking and smiling Infant Death it is true will carry you from all your enjoyments in this World it will strip you to your skins and not so much you do now taste the greatest sweetness and from which you fetch your greatest comfort You must shake hands with faithful Friends dearest Relations and Possessions your places and preferments your worldly honours and preheminences will know you no more If a man die saith Iob shall he live again Yes he shall but not in the same place not in the same state not to the same ends and purposes that he did before But what of all that if you be such as you ought to be and mind that for which you were sent hither you shall at death go directly to him who is able to do for you far more abundantly than all these things could do and to supply all your needs according to his riches in glory and since he is able you may by the sufficient warrant both of his Promise and your own Experiences say I am sure also that he will do it That God who hath been so good so exceeding good to you here you have no reason to question but he will be as good to you there You have seen how mindful he is of his Covenant and faithful to his Promises how much his heart is set upon your good his name is I am though the Heavens wax old like a garment and shall be chang'd as a Vesture yet he is always the same without any variableness or shadow of turning as great as ever as full as ever yea and as good as ever It is not strange that good old Iacob and all his family were forward to go into Egypt when Ioseph who had already been so kind to them sent this encouraging invitation Come to me for I will give you the good of the Land of Egypt and you shall eat the fat of the Land regard not your stuff for the good of all the Land of Egypt is before you Oh! saith the Text when they had told him all the words of Joseph and when he saw the Waggons which Joseph had sent to carry him his spirit revived and he said It is enough Joseph is yet alive I will go and see him Gen. 45. 27 28. How much more may you be of the same mind how much more readily may you set up your Sail for the other World when God saith Come my Son my Daughter come away come to me regard not your stuff all the good of Heaven is before you And when you see the Messenger that must carry you hence you may take Heart this may be as they are wont to say a lightning before death my God is still alive and my Saviour still alive and he lives for evermore I will go and see him and live with him I can tell what he is I am sure he hath been a loving God to me and that he delighteth in mercy I have many and many a time tasted that he is gracious and therefore I will not fear him now Since mercy and goodness have followed me all the days of my life I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever What though I am going to another world yet I shall be with the same God and blessed are they that dwell in his house for they are still praising Heaven whither I am to go is filled with glory and admiration and rings with Allelujahs And then which follows hereupon Thirdly These bountiful dealings of God with his people are a very firm and solid foundation upon which they may without fear build their comfortable hopes and expectations for Eternity Mercies to such are like pay the debts she owed and upon the rest she was to live So in mercies which you receive from God there is the mercy it self to answer the present occasion to discharge the present expence and then there is the experience to live upon for the future Thus the Saints have argued from Gods former dealings with them to his further dealings with them So David did 1 Sam. 17. 37. The Lord that delivered me from the paw of the Lion and out of the Paw of the Bear he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine And such were the noble and heroick actings of Pauls faith he having received the same Spirit of Faith and being at that time under the like influence 2 Cor. 1. 9 10. We had the Sentence of death in our selves that we should not trust in our selves but in God which raiseth the dead who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver in whom we trust that he will yet deliver And the like we meet with in Psal. 23. 5 6. Thou preparest a Table before me in the presence of mine enemies thou anointest mine head with Oyl my Cup runneth over But possibly David this will not last God hath done all for thee that he intends he will now stay his hand nay but saith he I am certain that he will not Surely mercy and goodness shall follow me all the days of my life Thus they have argued unto further mercies in time and you may take a further reach and argue from your present experiences to mercies for Eternity Psal. 84. 11. The Lord God is a Sun and a Shield That our sense speaks him to be We are now refreshed with his beams and secured by his shadow but what will he be and
what will he do Let faith answer he will give grace and glory Grace enough for time and glory enough for ever Grace to enable us for our duties glory to satisfy our desires Grace to fit us for glory and glory to Compleat and Crown our Grace These are the proper arguings of faith and exceeding strong in the hand of a true Believer the premises are Gods own and the conclusion drawn from them is undeniable He is a loving Father to me in this World and he will be so in the next too He that now is a fountain opened sending forth such precious and plentiful Streams will not then prove a Spring shut up and a Fountain sealed He that affords me such large Clusters while I am in the wilderness will not starve nor stint me when I come to Heaven He that feeds me with Manna here will never grudge me the Honey and Milk of the Land of promise Certainly I shall not there enjoy least where according to the promise I look for most my God will then do far more abundantly than I am now able to ask or think These present bountiful dispensations of God to his people are great grounds of high expectations if we consider First While the People of God are here they are in their Non-age and Minority There is an apparent and sensible difference between them In their growth some are as Cedars others but Shrubs and in their strength some are as mighty men to run a race others can hardly draw their Legâ—… after them A great deal of difference there is in their knowledge and in their Grace but both one and other are under age but when God doth come by Children home to Heaven they are arrived at their ripeness of years Now if they receive so much from God as they do and are maintained at such a rate while they are Children what is it that God designs them for what is it that he will bestow upon them at last When you see young ones brought up in Splendor and Bravery you immediately conclude them to be some great Persons Children and that they shall have a great Estate and that something is intended for them suitable to their garb and education Take your measures from the pains that God takes with his people now and the cost he is at upon them and then judge what he hath in his heart and purpose concerning them when that which is perfect shall come that which is imperfect shall be done away 1 Cor. 13. 10. When the eye is fully strengthened there shall be no more use of a Glass to see in which gives but a dark sight When the heir comes to understand how to mannage his Estate he shall be put into possession of the whole So when once the Saints come to be perfected in themselves all imperfections shall be removed from their enjoyments When once they come to be fit for great things they shall be sure to have them the inheritance of the Saints in light shall be given them when meet to be made partakers of it The marriage of the Lamb will come when the Bâ—…ide hath made her self ready and the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory will be laid on when the shoulder is in a Capacity of bearing it Secondly In this life the Children of God are fitting for the enjoyment of that which God intendâ—… them This life is not a season for a full possession but for the bringing them into a due preparation And accordingly here they have only their allowances because as yet they are not fit for more You read in Esth. 2. 9. That when Eâ—…ther was brought to the Custody of Hegai the Keeper of the VVomen she had the things given her for purification with all that belonged to her and seven Maidens that were meet to be given her All that was suitable to that State and no more It was not before her being throughly prepared purified and presented to King Ahasuerus and by him accepted and chosen to be his Wife that she had the Crown set upon her head and the Robes and Ensigns of Majesty given her which were suitable to her advancement and Royal State Come Christians you have now no cause of murmuring and discontent but of grateful acknowledgements and admirings God is exceeding gracious you receive very much and are daily laden with his benefits there are blessed allowances which he is pleased to make unto you such as are suitable to your present condition day unto day sheweth hislove and night unto night his faithfulness what is the report what the account that you are obliged to give of him Must you not say that you have enough to support you under all your burdens when they are most heavy enough to maintain you at your work and to carry you thorough it when most difficult and also enough to sweeten your bitterest afflictions to you and such beams of light breaking in upon you that you can walk thorough darkness and comfortably proceed in your by God which will prepare you for the Crown of Life and Righteousness which God the Righteous Judge shall give unto you at that day and make you meet for the Throne of Glory unto which you shall be advanced so that you may become it and fit you for the presence of God that you may be brought into it with exceeding joy that you may be able to bear his presence without terrour and trembling and he to bear you in his presence without hatred and loathing In a word you have that now afforded you by God which may suit you both to the place and company and employment so that when you come there there may be an amicable agreement and perfect harmony without any thing of jarring and discord that you may not be weary of Heaven nor Heaven of you And do you seriously consider how much this stands God in what abundance of cost he is at for your preparation and what a great deal of pains he takes with you in order thereunto which clearly shews it to be no small or inconsiderable thing which he hath in his everlasting love and kindness designed you for The beauty of the Wedding Garment which every one of the Guests must have on in order to his acceptance doth loudly proclaim the greatness of the Solemnity and the splendor of the Entertainment and when once full preparation is made in the Soul full possession shall be given to it When once the Vessel is thoroughly cleansed it shall be filled up to the brim When once the Divine Spirit hath made you meet you shall receive the Inheritance of the Saints in Light Matth. 25. 10. The Bridegroom came and they that were ready went in with him to the Marriage and the door was shut Thirdly Consider what that life is which God will have his People to live while they are here in the world viz. the life of Faith so the Lord himself hath told us Hab. 2. 4. Behold