A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE Blessed Place and State OF THE Saints Above In a Discourse upon the Words of our Blessed Saviour John xiv 2. In my Father's House are many Mansions if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a Place for you By WILLIAM BATES D. D. London Printed by J. D. for I. Robinson at the Golden Lion in St. Paul's Churh-yard M.DC.LXXXVII THE PREFACE IT is the privilege of Christianity that Life and Immortality are brought to Light in the Gospel The Heathen World sat in Darkness was secure in Misery As one that sleeps is pleas'd with the Scenes of Fancy he Dreams of Treasures of Gold of Gardens of Feasts and thinks the painted Appearances the superficial Colours of Good to be Realities thus whilst Reason was darkned by Sense the World was content with pleasant Delusions Who amongst the many pretenders to Wisdom had a convincing knowledg of the Blessed Eternity to come Who had a glimpse of that Happiness that results from the sight of God in Glory This Instruction so refreshing our Spirits darkned with Sorrows here comes from the School of Heaven as the Sun revives us by its chearful Appearance and affords that Light without which it were impossible to behold it During the Legal Dispensation there was a Mist upon the Future State The notice of Eternal Things was a Twilight mixt with Shadows The Revelation of the Heavenly Glory was reserv'd till our Saviour's appearing in the World who purchas'd it with the dearest price and offers it upon such gracious Terms that whosoever sincerely desires and seeks shall obtain it and none shall be depriv'd of it but for their wilful and guilty neglect It might be expected that such a Proposal were sufficient to engage Men with all their Active Powers to secure such a precious Interest when indeed their best Endeavours and most zealous Affections are too slight and faint with respect to that excellent Happiness Are not the first Notions of Things that are written in our Brests sufficient to convince us that what is for ever is to be preferr'd before what suddenly passes away Or is it necessary in Matters of Temporal Concernment to use strong Arguments to perswade us rather to chuse a Treasure that will enrich us for our Lives than what will purchase food only for a day Yet 't is strange to amazement that in Things of Infinite Weight Consequence that respect the Soul and trivial Things that respect the Body Men make as preposterous a Judgment and Choice as if they were irreconcilable Enemies to themselves and obstinately averse from their own Happiness The Life to come extends beyond all possible Number of Ages the Felicity is so compleat and sure that the least shadow of Evil shall never eclipse it The Soul shall be in a state of highest Perfection and Joy the Vnderstanding illuminated with perfect Knowledg with no more study than opening the Eye and fixing it on the Glorious Objects the Will satisfied with the perfect Love and Enjoyment of the Blessed God The Body shall be clothed with Light as with a Garment and shine with a Beauty that never disflourishes and decays the innumerable Assembly of Angels and Saints always affords new and inestimable Delights and what is set in comparison against this transcendent Felicity in Heaven The poor despicable vanishing Life on Earth whose Pleasures are so shallow and empty that they can't satisfy the Senses much less our noble and comprehensive Faculties whose Griefs are sometimes so heavy and oppressing that all the Comforts of the World are no more effectual to relieve the Soul labouring under them than the sounding of Brass and the tinckling of Cymbals usually done by the Heathens were to free the Moon from its dark Eclipse which they fancied to labour in extremity Yet the petty Preferments the deceitful Riches the vain Pleasures here are chosen and ambitiously and eagerly persued and the infinite everlasting Happiness hereafter undervalued and rejected But as the Wonder ceases that a Man doth not see in the clearest Day by saying He is blind so Carnal Men are without Faith that is the Internal Light of the Mind they do not stedfastly believe the Reality of the Divine World tho so clearly open'd in the Gospel They are under so strong a Delusion and Error of Sensuality that they vilify a Spiritual Happiness a Glorious Futurity and present sensible Things of no price in comparison have the highest place in their Esteem and Affections The proper Means to recover Man from his woful Folly are unceasing fervent Prayers That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of Glory may give unto them the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledg of him The Eyes of their Understandings being inlightned that they may know what is the Hope of his Calling and what the Riches of the Glory of his Inheritance in the Saints and to represent this World and the next as they are to their considerate Minds that their Interest and Duty with united Efficacy may over-rule their Hearts and turn the Stream of their Indeavours into the right Channel that the judicious Comparison between Objects so vastly differing may be the governing Principle of their Lives All Things are vain and transient within the Confines of Time all Things stable and solid in the Territories of Eternity JOHN XIV I. In my Father's House are many Mansions if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a Place for you OUR blessed Saviour in the words applies Heavenly Comfort to his Disciples to support their drooping Spirits in his absence from them He foretold his departure Little Children yet a little while I am with you Ye shall seek me and as I said to the Jews whither I go ye cannot come so now I say unto you This tenderly affected their Hearts But that their Sorrow might not flow into Despair he assures them that their Separation should not be final and that it was not the singular Privilege of St. Peter that he should follow him hereafter but that there were Rooms reserved in Heaven for them all and He would return and receive them to Himself This Consolation He addresses to them in a very affectionate manner Let not your Hearts be troubled No Work is more Divine none more proper and delightful to our Saviour than to comfort the afflicted Spirits of his People He directs them Ye believe in God believe also in me God is the Supreme Object of Faith his unchangeable Love and Faithfulness with his infinite Power in the accomplishing his Promises is the Security of Believers Christ as Mediator between God and guilty Creatures is the immediate Object of our Faith for he restores us to the Favour of God therefore 't is said we believe in God by him After this Preface to calm the unquiet Agitations of their Minds and make them more receptive of comfort he proposeth to them 1.
God than that a guilty Sinner should be reconciled to him As supposing the revival of a Phoenix from its Ashes 't is more easily conceivable that it should take its flight upwards which is the natural Motion of a living Bird than that it should be restor'd to Life in such a miraculous manner In short Heaven is a free Gift to us but dearly bought by our Saviour 't is the Gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. He had a double Title to Heaven as the Son of God he was Heir of his Kingdom this Title is incommunicably his own and he acquir'd it by his meritorious Sufferings This he imparts to Believers who enter into Heaven by the new and living Way which he consecrated for them through his Flesh. 2. He ascended into Heaven to prepare a Place for us The Actions of our Saviour may be considered two ways either as terminated in himself or with a relative respect to Believers as the Head of the Church His Resurrection was not meerly Personal but hath an operative Force in raising all the Members of his Mystical Body As David's subduing Goliah was not his own personal Victory simply but was extended in its happy Consequences to all his Nation for in him as their Champion the Army of Israel overcame the Philistims Jesus Christ as Head of the Church hath broken the Dominion of Death and by virtue of his Conquest the Grave shall restore the Saints at the general Resurrection And his Ascension was not a personal Act purely to obtain his own Right but as our Forerunner he is enter'd for us into Heaven As the High Priest in his majestick mysterious Habit with the Names of the Children of Israel upon his Breast enter'd into the Holy of Holies so Jesus Christ enter'd into the Eternal Sanctuary as our Representer to take possession of it for us The Language of Despair is silenc'd for ever Who shall ascend up to Heaven to raise us thither Christ is lifted up to the highest Glory and will draw all his People after him The first Adam was from the Earth Earthly but Christ is the Lord from Heaven and is return'd to Heaven and shall Earth destroy what Heaven cannot restore The Apostle tells us That Believers sit with Christ in Heavenly Places that is as he is the Head of that Sacred Society his Church and his Promise is exprest To him that overcomes will I grant personally to sit with me in my Throne even as I also am set down with my Father in his Throne After victorious Obedience the Saints shall be taken into Soveraign Alliance with Christ and reign for ever In short his excellent Merit is the Foundation of our glorious Hope and his prevailing Intercession introduces us into actual Possession He that purchas'd Heaven disposes of it by his last Will thus he addrest to his Father immediately before his Death Father I will that those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may see my Glory And he has Power to accomplish his own Testament What he hath done already for Believers is an uncontroulable Evidence and invincible Assurance of what he hath promised There is a vaster distance between the Deity and Misery than between Man and the Heavenly Glory For the Sun to go backwards ten Degrees was miraculous and astonishing but to ascend the Horizon is according to natural Order The abasement of the Son of God was stupendious but his advancement to the highest Glory is most becoming his Divine Relation and infinitely due to his exuberant Merits and a firm Foundation of Hope that all his redeemed Saints shall be where he is and be conform'd to him in all supernatural Divine Excellencies of Soul and Body for ever The Application 1. LET us adore the unconceivable Love of God who hath prepar'd such a Place of Joy and Glory for his Children when they leave the World The Father prepar'd it in his Decree from Eternity and by his creating Power from the Foundation of the World and we are assur'd 't is such a Place and State as fully answers the Design of God's Love that is to make a reasonable Creature as happy as 't is capable to be When Man was turn'd Rebel against his Creator when so chang'd from the Divine Resemblance imprest at first upon him into the disgraceful likeness of the Beasts that perish as the Psalmist justly reproaches him then to pardon us and prefer us to restore us to his Favour and Image and the nearest communion with himself in his Palace above is such an astonishing Mercy as is only proper to God who is Love And the Love of our Redeemer is equally admirable when we were expell'd Paradise he makes a reentry for us and intercepts the stroke of the flaming Sword that had destroy'd us We neither know the depth of our Misery from whence we are freed nor the heighth of Glory to which we are rais'd by our Redeemer In what Heart but that of the Son of God could ever such compassion and charity be conceiv'd He took our Flesh to Heaven to prepare it for us and interchangeably left his Spirit on Earth to prepare us for Heaven How just is the solemn and terrible denunciation of the Apostle He that loves not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha And how are we obliged to God for the blessed and glorious Gospel that infinitely excels all humane Books in the matter it contains the everlasting Happiness of Man and the certain way to obtain it and in the manner of conveying those great and Sacred Truths by Divine Revelation And what an Argument of thankfulness is it to consider the distinguishing Grace of God that when the most are so blind in the clear Light of the Gospel as not to discover the lustre of the Pearl of Price and so immers'd in Vanities as to disrelish Heavenly Joys that he is pleased to inlighten the Eyes of our Mind that we may know what is the Hope of his Calling and what the Riches of the Glory of his Inheritance in the Saints The number of Fools that understand not the Price that is put into their Hands in comparison of the truly Wise is greater than of common Stones that lie in the Mire of the Streets to precious Stones of the highest value Diamonds and Rubies How affectionately should we give thanks to the Father who has made us meet for the Inheritance of the Saints in Light But we have such Allays by the Relicks of Carnality that without the Heavenly Spirit 's inspiring our cold Earth we shall never be ardent and lively in the Praises of our Blessed Benefactor Even David himself was fain to call upon his Soul with repeated fervency and excite every Faculty within him to bless the Lord who had forgiven his Iniquities and redeem'd his Life from destraction and crown'd him with loving Kindness and tender Mercies 2. From hence we may infer the great Guilt of
his Letter to the King of Tyre desiring his Assistance Behold I build an House to the Name of the Lord my God to dedicate it to him and to burn before him sweet Incense and for the continual Shewbread and for the burnt-Offerings morning and evening on the Sabbaths and on the new Moons and on the solemn Feasts of the Lord our God And we read at the Dedication of Solomon's Temple that a suddain thick Cloud obscur'd the Air a sign of God's descending and acceptance whose invisible Majesty was veiled under it and whether from that Sacred Darkness or fear at the unexpected Miracle the Priests could not minister because of the Cloud The Sacrifices Musick and all the Temple-Service was interrupted But the Temple built with Hands and all its pompous Service was but an imperfect mutable Shadow of the Holy Temple Above where God exhibits his Sacred Presence not in a dark Vapour but in the richest Beams of Glory and wherein that most pure Spirit is worship'd in Spirit and Truth for ever The Saints are a Royal Priesthood to God in a state of Eminency and separation from the rest of the World They now offer up the Sacrifice of Praise and the sacred Incense of Prayer infinitely more pleasing to God than all the Sacrifice of Beasts and the most precious Gums and Aromatick Spices that with their sweet Smoak perfum'd the Temple But in the Holy of Holies Above where no defiled thing can enter they perform Divine Service in a Divine manner The perfect Rest in Heaven is a Sabbath's Rest wherein our fervent Affections the Springs of Activity are in their powerful Exercise upon God Here our faint Earth clogs our ascending Affections and such is the tender Indulgence of our Heavenly Father that when the Spirit is willing tho the Flesh be weak he pardons and accepts us But there our Bodies become Spiritual qualified for the Exercises of Heaven and all our Powers are in a holy Heat and Rapture admiring and praising the blessed God Here the Saints often retire from the World to worship the Divine Majesty in their Closets and the secrecy of the Duty is an Argument of the Sincerity They with more freedom pour forth their Souls into his Bosom and he insinuates the gracious acceptance of their Requests But the noblest elevation of the Affections is in communion with all the Saints and Angels above The ardent Seraphims were inflamed crying one to another Holy Holy Holy is the Lord of Hosts the whole Earth is full of his Glory Here there must be some interval between the solemn Acts of Worship the Circumstances of the present State require it but in the Heavenly Sanctuary 't is their continual work and delight to celebrate the high Praises of God They are before his Throne and serve him day and night in his Temple The Inhabitants of Arabia the Happy burn for their common uses those Aromatick Trees that produce Myrrh and precious Balm of which the Sacred Incense was compounded And 't is no wonder because those Trees grow common in their Country that is open to the most favourable Aspects of the Heavens and the strongest heat of the Sun But to our Countries how little of those rich Perfumes are brought And such is the Comparison between the Praises of the Angels and the glorified Saints and ours here below They are always in the noblest Work excited by the highest Motives They are always under the direct Beams of God's Favour which are vigorously reflected in their Praises All their Felicity is to contemplate his excellent Perfections all their Pleasure to love him all their Glory to obey him Their affectionate Praises are renewed without intermission because the Divine Favours are renewed every moment There is a perpetual circulation of Graces from the blessed Creator and Thanksgivings from the happy Creature All their joyful Affections all their solemn Thoughts and Reflections are terminated in that great and glorious Object The Prophet declares their holy Employment They continually speak of the glorious Honour of his Majesty and of his wondrous Works They speak of the Might of his terrible Acts and they declare his Goodness and sing of his Righteousness The Lord is gracious and full of compassion slow to anger and of great Mercy The Lord is good to all and his tender Mercies are over all his Works All thy Works praise thee O Lord and thy Saints bless thee They speak of the Glory of thy Kingdom and talk of thy Power Thy Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and thy Dominion endures through all Generations They never cease to love and admire and therefore never cease to praise him Their Hearts are eternally inflam'd and their Mouths eternally open'd to glorify him But with the highest veneration they adore his Mercy that Perfection that is the special Glory the dearest delight of God that which is the supreme of all the glorious Attributes in our Redemption that will be the principal Argument of their Praises They sing of the Mercies of the Lord for ever that Mercy that chose them from Everlasting that Mercy that in such an admirable manner conducted them through the World that never left them but most wisely order'd all things below in relation to their future Happiness that Mercy that crowns them with Life and Immortality when the reprobate World feel the most terrible Effects of revenging Justice We read of the Jews after their Captivity upon their finishing the Temple that with a transport of Joy they cried Grace Grace when God who is the Author of our Salvation shall have finish'd it with what a sweet consent shall we celebrate his sacred Praises Mercy upon Mercy all is Mercy Happy Exercise Heaven is a State of Joy and Thankfulness Blessed are those that are in thy house they always praise thee 4. The delightfulness of this Place 'T is call'd Paradise by our Saviour He promises the penitent Thief the Companion of his Cross To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Paradise was a Garden planted by immortal Hands to be the Habitation of Adam in his state of original Righteousness when the Favourite of Heaven it was the Beauty and Delight the Flower of the World and with abundance and variety exceedingly satisfied all the desires of Life 't was water'd with four Rivers to make it always pleasant and fruitful But the Celestial Paradise as much excels it in Beauty and Pleasantness as in its sublime situation and the joyful satisfaction of the Soul in communion with God and the blessed Society there infinitely excels all the innocent Delights of the natural Life Heaven is a state of pure full and unfading Joy The Joy of the Blessed is not mixt with things that may corrupt its excellence There is an absolute exemption from all Evils God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain The
Unbelievers in the Christian Church and such are all those who implicitly despise and reject Heaven for the present World This will aggravate the Sin and Sentence of the Carnal and Worldly that they despise such glorious Realities for empty Vanities Desperate Gamesters that venture a Kingdom at every Throw What blindness of Mind or rather perversness of Heart is it that Men pursue with their best strength and desires the fading and false World and slight Heaven an inestimable and everlasting Treasure Certainly when Death shall open their Eyes they will have chang'd thoughts of Things 'T is related by a wise Historian That a Citizen pleaded his own Cause of great moment before Philip King of Macedon who slept during the Plea and a little after pass'd an unrighteous Judgment against him the injur'd Person reply'd I appeal from your Sentence A word that seem'd so presumptuous to an Independent Soveraign that with indignation the King asked him To whom he appeal'd He answered From the King sleeping to the King waking Thus Men who are led by Sense are asleep whilst the Cause of infinite Concernment eternal Salvation is faithfully pleaded by the Advocates of their Souls and they determine for the Interest of the Flesh against the Spirit but their waking Thoughts will discover the unrighteousness of their carnal Judgment In the next State how will they with restless Anguish remember their foolish Bargain to exchange an everlasting Treasure for fading Toys We may a little conjecture the Torments of the Damn'd by the Terrors of the Dying then the enlightned guilty Conscience makes them cry out O that we had been wise so to use the World that we might enjoy God! O that we had been so careful to have obtain'd an Interest in Heaven as we have been to gain the Earth Then the stinging Remorse begins that shall never end 3. Let us make it our fixed Aim our zealous constant Endeavour to secure our Title to this heavenly Inheritance Let Eternity be our Counseller and guide our Choice Let us not build our Felicity on the Sand but on the Rock that cannot be shaken Such is the excellent Goodness of God reveal'd in the Gospel that every Person that sincerely and regularly seeks Heaven shall obtain it and no Person shall be depriv'd of it but for his wilful neglect Now our Blessed Saviour who open'd the Eternal Kingdom has declar'd to us upon what terms it may be obtain'd in his conference with Nicodemus Verily verily I say unto thee Except a Man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God Natural Birth and Accomplishments tho never so high and noble are of no advantage there The degeneracy of Man from his Primitive Holiness makes him both unworthy and uncapable of having a right or possession of Heaven without a Divine Change a Spiritual Regeneration The supernatural Inheritance is annext to the being born of God that is the receiving a Principle of Life and Actions suitable to the Life of God in universal Holiness and Righteousness 'T is not a ground of Title to Heaven that we have a natural alliance to God as the Father of Spirits in the first Creation but we must be his Off-spring by a new and more excellent Creation according to our Saviour's words That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit We must be renewed in the Spirit of our Minds spiritualiz'd in our Affections before we can obtain an interest in his Love which was forfeited by our Rebellion and consequently in his Kingdom Adoption into God's Family and the Line of Heaven is always in conjunction with the renovation of the Divine Nature and Image in us The Holy Spirit witnesses with our Spirits that we are the Children of God but his witnessing is always consequent to his working in us those Graces that constitute us to be the Children of God an humble Fear to offend him a Care to please him a Zeal for his Glory delight in Communion with him resignation to his Will and Wisdom trust on his Fatherly Love and a desire to be in his Blessed Presence By the discovery of these filial Affections our Divine Relation is made sure The Apostle infers If Sons then Heirs Holiness is the infallible Evidence of Election for the Vessels of Mercy are prepar'd by Holiness for Glory the Seal of Adoption whereby God's Children are distinguish'd from the World and the Earnest of their Inheritance for Heaven is a blissful State of Purity and the Graces with the Comforts of the Spirit are the beginnings of it here 'T is further to be observ'd that our right in the Heavenly Inheritance depends upon our union with Christ. He instates his Members in the same Relation with himself to God Thus he declares to his Disciples I ascend to my Father and your Father to my God and your God Christ's Relation hath precedency in Point of Dignity and Causality and he derives a Right to us in his Father's House We are Coheirs with Christ. Now 't is universally and necessarily true what the Apostle saith Whoever is in Christ is a new Creature For our vital Union with him is by the Sanctifying Spirit on Christ's part and by Faith and Love on our part Briefly Without Holiness no Man shall see God The Exclusion is absolute and universal of all unsanctified Persons 'T is impossible God should admit them into Heaven for the Rights of Justice are inviolable we must come to Christ's Tribunal before we come to his Throne We must come to God the Judg of all before we are admitted into the number of Just Men made perfect According to our Works the Reward will be and Men are uncapable of enjoying Heaven without Holiness The Wisdom of God appears in that the various sorts of Creatures live in the Elements from which they were produc'd and have Natures suitable to the Places of their Residence The Beasts that were form'd from the Earth walk and rest there the Birds and Fishes that were produc'd out of the Waters the one sort flies in the Air that is rarefied Water the other swim in Water that is the thickest Air and that Wisdom more evidently appears in suiting the everlasting States of Men to their moral Dispositions Thus we must be born from above if we would joyfully live above The Apostle tells us That Flesh and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven The natural Body must be spiritualiz'd and invested with Celestial Qualities before it can enter into that Glorious Place and the Reason is more strong that earthly sensual Souls can never enter into Heaven there being an absolute Contrariety and Opposition between the habitual constitution of such and that place and state they must be Holy and Heavenly to be prepar'd for the Divine Presence and to converse with the purified Assembly Above 'till they are wrought for that blessed End cleansed and purified and endued with Holy Qualities till they are made meet they cannot possess the
it upon Things Above Love between Friends is maintain'd by immediate Converse or by Letters when absent thus is Love between God and the Soul And if God that is to himself his own Blessedness his own Kingdom and Glory yet is pleas'd in his gracious Communications to his Children on Earth how much more should they by frequent and affectionate Duties address to him who is their eternal lnfinite Good Thus they are acquainted with him and enjoy a sweet Peace and obtain an humble Confidence of appearing before him in his Holy and Glorious Habitation whereas those who live without God in the World are justly fearful of Death for then the Spirit returns to God that gave it Briefly let us with zealous Affections and persevering Diligence prepare our selves for the Presence of God and the Society of Blessed Spirits in our Father's House Let us always abound in the Work of the Lord knowing our Labour is not in vain Let us join Works of Charity with Works of Piety employ the fading Riches of the World for the Relief of the Saints that as our Saviour Promises when we shall fail when in the Hour of Death our Flesh and Hearts shall fail us and our Souls be dislodged from our Earthly Tabernacles we may be received into Eternal Habitations The Everlasting Judg that dispenses Rewards and Punishments has acquainted us with the Rule of Judgment at the last Day Those who mercifully relieve him in his Members shall inherit the Kingdom of Glory and those who neglect that Duty shall be cast into the Lake of Fire Though many who are wretchedly careless of doing Good according to their Ability now satisfy themselves that they are not injurious to others Yet it will be a small mitigation of their Sentence at last that they are condemn'd not for the Defect of Justice but of Charity 6. Let the belief that there are Mansions of Rest and Joy prepar'd for the Saints in their Father's House gloriously support them under their heaviest Troubles here This World is the Devil's Circuit wherein he is alwayes ranging about seeking to devour The pleasant Things of the World are his Temptations to ensnare the Carnal the Men of the World are his Instruments to oppress the Saints and were it not for the Restraints of the Divine Power what Desolations would be made in God's Heritage 'T was a strange and barbarous Custom among the Persians that upon the Death of the Emperor for five days the Empire was left without Government And as upon removing the Stone from the Fabulous Cave of Aeolus the Winds broke out in their fury so by taking away the authority of the Laws licence was given to all Licentiousness and the whole Kingdom was in mortal Paroxisms All were in Arms some to do Injuries others to revenge them the Chastity of none was secure but conceal'd nor the Estates of any but defended the Bridle of Fear was taken off no Wickedness but was boldly committed or attempted and the Kingdom became a Field of Bloody War But when the new King was proclaim'd all things were immediately reduc'd to Order that the Advantage of Government might be set off by the experimental Confusions and Mischiefs of Anarchy But if God left the perverted World and Satan the Prince of it one day to their rage against his People did he not shut it in with Doors and Bars as he doth the impetuous Ocean so swelling and diffusive is their Malignity that it would like the Deluge drown all and not a Remnant of the Saints would be left Yet God wisely permits many Temporal Evils to be inflicted on his Servants by their Enemies for the tryal of their Fidelity and their noble Resolution to glorify him whatever they suffer for his sake And it becomes them with an undisturb'd serenity of Mind and harmony of Affections with an invincible Patience to bear all the Scorn and Contempt all the Malice and Fury to which they are expos'd upon a Christian account Let them remember they are Strangers and Sojourners here and live by other Laws than the World doth which causes their hatred But in their Father's House there will be perfect Rest. St. Paul who had experience of both in a singular manner declares I reckon that the Sufferings of the present State are not worthy to be compar'd to the Glory that shall be reveal'd in us In that State of pure Felicity there are no remains of Afflicting Evils all is Peace and Joy and Glory Seneca the Philosopher when an Exile and confin'd to the Mountains of Corsica entertain'd himself with the contemplation of the Heavens and the bright Luminaries in their various but regular Motions Thus when banish'd from the Court and City he dwelt amongst the Stars and casting his Eyes down upon the Earth despis'd all Humane Greatness and Possessions that are so vainly magnified by figurative Flatteries as we do a grain of Sand. Did Philosophy inspire him with such Principles of Patience and Fortitude yet it ascended no higher than the visible Heavens How much more should Faith that raises a Christian by high and steady Thoughts to the Supreme Heaven where the Divine Glory shines comfort him in all the Troubles of this World Add further That 't is an excellent Preservative from Envy and Fretfulness at the Prosperity of the Wicked to consider that their Felicity is as transient and vanishing as the Trouble of the Saints I have seen the Wicked in great Power and spreading himself like a green Bay Tree yet he pass'd away and lo he was not yea I sought him and he could not be found All the Riches and Greatness and Pleasures of the World are weighed number'd and measur'd by the Psalmist and found to be as light and fading as Vanity Naked they came into the World and naked they must go out and how much more tormenting will it be to be stript of all their Enjoyments how much more sorrowful will they be to go from their great Possessions than for one that leaves the World and never had them Their Hopes are like the giving up of the Ghost and expire with their Breath for ever I went into the Sanctuary saith the troubled Saint then understood I their End The End of their Felicity and the Miseries of the Righteous Besides the Evils suffer'd for Righteousness-sake there are innumerable Sorrows that befal the Saints here How many afflicting Diseases sad Occurrences vexing Passions harras them Some Afflictions are so wounding to their Spirits that no Balm that growns on Earth can heal But the lively Hope of Heaven is an Universal Cure for all their Troubles Let the mourning Christian consider the wise Providence of God that orders all Events and believe his Love in sending and his End in all their Afflictions Such is the Divine Power that God could immediately free us from all Troubles as easily as turn the Wind from a blasting Quarter of the Heavens to the most Benign and
Refreshing Are we pain'd with Diseases he can more easily change the Tone of Nature in a sickly Body and make it healthy than one can change the stop in an Organ that presently alters the sound but his Love dispenses bitter Things to us that are necessary for our Spiritual and Everlasting Good His End is to prepare us for Heaven that is prepared for us The Apostle declares He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God that is made us fit for the Heavenly Glory The Divine disposal of Things here to the Saints has a certain Order to their Eternal State He purgeth out our vicious guilty Affections to the World by sharp Physick that our Hopes of Heaven may be more pure and vigorous more actuated by serious Thoughts and intense Desires that we may feel the sense of the Psalmist's Expression O when shall we come and appear before God! In short Art thou in the Vale of Tears languishing in Sorrow and dying every Day by Faith ascend to the Mountains of Spices the Blessed Place Above and thou wilt find the Comforts of God to revive and delight thy Soul 7. Let this reconcile Death to us The Pale Horse is sent to bring us to our Father's House The Apostle expresses the true Christian Temper In this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed with our House that is from Heaven And we are willing rather to be absent from the Body and present with the Lord. Every Saint in the present World is both a Prison and a Captive his Soul is detain'd from the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God by confinement to his Body Therefore methinks he should not merely be content to die out of the Necessity of Nature when he can live no longer but desire the happy removal and say with the Psalmist I rejoic'd when they said to me Let us go into the House of the Lord. 'T is true Nature will recoile and the extinguishing the present Life with all its sensible pleasant Operations is uneasy to us but as when the Candles are put out the Sun rises in its brightness so when the Natural Life ceases the Spiritual Life springs forth in its Oriency and Glory When the Earthly Tabernacle is dissolv'd the naked separate Soul shall be received into a Building not made with Hands Eternal in the Heavens Our joyful Affections in leaving the World and ascending to Heaven should be in some manner suitable to our reception there What a joyful Welcome will entertain us from God himself Our Saviour comforted his Disciples with a Heavenly Valediction I go to my Father and your Father to my God and your God The Gracious Relation sweetens the Glorious He that joyfully receives the rebellious but penitent Son to Grace will joyfully receive his obedient Sons to Glory He that now receives their Prayers with the Affection of a Father will receive their Persons with the dearest Expressions of Love His Fatherly Providence watch'd over them in the Way and will triumphantly bring them Home Here many Blessed Testimonies of God's Love are given to the Saints that produce such a spiritual sweetness in their Hearts that they esteem his loving Kindness as better than Life more worth than all the World but the full revealing of his Love is only in Heaven And as a Child knows by Experience the Love of his Father but the Degrees and Strength of his Affection he does not understand till arrived at mature Age and sees the Inheritance his Father enstates upon him Thus in Heaven only the Saints shall know the excellent and perfect Love of God to them when they are possess'd of that Glorious Kingdom his most free and rich Gift which transcends all their present Thoughts And our blessed Redeemer that by so many Titles has an Interest in us that is not contented in his own Personal Glory without our partaking of it that by his Resurrection open'd the Grave and by his Ascension open'd Heaven for us how dearly will he receive us He esteems Believers to be his Joy and Crown and with an extasy of Affection will present them to his Father Behold I and the Children that God has given me The Angels and Saints Above overflow with Joy when the Soul as a pure Spark freed from its Ashes ascends to the Element of Spirits how joyfully is it entertain'd by that Glorious Assembly The Angels that rejoice at the Conversion of a Sinner will much more at the Glorification of a Saint and the Saints have a new accession to their Joy upon the reception of any of their Brethren to that State of Felicity The Saints of all Ages may be resembled to a Fleet of Merchant-men that are bound for the same Port some arrive sooner others later according to the time of their setting out but those who arrive first how do they welcome their Friends that come safely afterwards An imperfect resemblance how dearly and joyfully the Saints that are gone before us welcome those who arrive in Heaven every day knowing the dangerous Seas they have past through where so many have been cast away and lost for ever All Heaven is in Musick celebrating the Praises of God and expressing their joyful sense when a Victorious Saint is come to receive his Reward How does this Consideration upbraid us that we are so unwilling to be dissolv'd and to be with our best Friends in the best Place that our Tears and Sorrows for leaving the Earthly Tabernacle and the low Comforts of this Life should continue till we come to the Gate of Heaven How can we be content with the Imperfections of the present State Here we are as distant from compleat Happiness as the highest Heaven is from the Earth Where is our Faith in the Promises of God Where is our Love to our Redeemer and our Souls The lothness of a Sincere Christian to die and be with Christ is a deflection from his Christianity Lastly This should refresh our Sorrows for the loss of our dearest Friends that die in the Lord. Here is a mournful parting when they are laid in the cold dark and silent Mansions of the Earth when those whom we lov'd as our own Souls are finally separated from us and we shall see their Faces no more And as one that is directed by the Light of a Torch in the Night when 't is taken away is more sensible of the Darkness than if he had not been inlightned by it So when those dear Friends are taken away whose Conversation was the Light and Joy of our Lives we are more darkned with Sorrow than if we had never injoy'd them But if we duly consider Things there is more reason of Joy than Sorrow at the departure of the Saints Our Saviour tells his Disciples that were mourning for his signifying that he must go away If ye loved me ye would rejoyce because I say I must go to my Father to reign with him in Soveraign Glory Sincere Love will make us more to