Misery that flows from despair shall be more fully opened under the distinct consideration of the Eternity of Hell Briefly as the Blessed are in Heaven and Heaven is in them by those holy and joyful Affections that are always exercised in the Divine Presence so the Damned are in Hell and Hell is in them by those fierce and miserable Passions that continually prey upon them 2. The Eternity of their Misery makes it above all other Considerations intollerable Our Saviour repeats it thrice in the space of a few Verses to terrify those who spare some favourite Corruption that in Hell their Worm dies not and the Fire is never quenched God will never reverse his Sentence and they shall never change their State How willingly would carnal Men raze the Word Eternal out of the Scriptures but to their grief they find it joined with the Felicity of Heaven and the Torments of Hell The second Death has all the terrible qualities of the first but not the ease and end it brings to Misery All the Tears of those forlorn Wretches shall never quench one spark of the Fire Where are the delicious Fare the Musick the Purple and all the carnal Delights of the rich Man they are all changed into a contrary state of Misery and that state is fixt for ever From his vanishing Paradise he descended into an everlasting Hell In this the Vengeance of God is infinitely more heavy than the most terrible execution from Men. Human Justice and Power can inflict but one Death that will be soon dispatcht upon a Malefactor worthy to suffer a hundred Deaths if he be condemned to the Fire they cannot make him live and die together to burn and not be consumed But God will so far support the Damned in their Torments that they shall always have Strength to feel though no Strength to endure them Those extream Torments which would extinguish the present Life in a Moment shall be suffered for ever This Consideration infinitely aggravates the Misery For the lost Soul rackt with the fearful Contemplation of what it must suffer for ever feels as it were at once all the Evils that shall torment it in its whole duration The perpetuity of the Misery is always felt by prevision This is as the cruel breaking of the Bones upon the Wheel when the Soul is tormented by the foresight of Misery that without allays shall continue in the circulation of Eternal Ages To make this more sensible let us consider that Pain makes the Mind observant of the passing of the hours In Pleasures Time with a quick and silent motion insensibly slides away but in Troubles the Hours are tedious in violent Pains we reckon the Minutes as long 'T is observable how passionately the afflicted Psalmist complains Will the Lord cast off for ever Will he be favourable no more Doth his Promise fail for evermore Hath he forgotten to be gracious Hath he in anger shut up his tender Mercies In what various pathetick Forms does he express the same Affection Though he had assurance that the gracious God would not be always severe yet his Anguish forc'd from him Complaints as if the moment of his Trouble were an Eternity But what strains of Sorrow are among the Damned who besides the present sense of their Misery have always in their Thoughts the vast Eternity wherein they must suffer it When three terrible Evils were propounded to David's choice pining Famine for three Years or bloody War for three Months or devouring Pestilence for three Days he chose the shortest though in it self the heaviest Evil. Many sad Days must pass under the other Judgments where Death by anticipation in such variety of Shapes would be presented to the Mind that the lingring expectation of it would afflict more than the sudden stroke whereas the fury of the Pestilence would be soon over But the Damned have not this relief but shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever How earnestly do they seek for Death but cannot find it What a Favour would they esteem it to be annihilated For certainly if when the Evils in the present State are so multiplied that no Comfort is left or so violent that the afflicted Person cannot enjoy them and refresh his sorrowful Spirit Death is chosen rather than Life it cannot be imagined that in the future State where the Misery is extream and nothing remains to allay it that the Damned should be in love with the unhappy good of simple being and not chuse an absolute extinction if it might be If any one should be so foolish to think that Custom will render that State more tolerable he will find a terrible confutation of his vain Fancy Indeed continuance under light Evils may arm the Mind with patience to bear them but in great Extremities it makes the Evil more ponderous and intolerable He that is tortured with the Stone or on the Rack the longer the Torture continues the less able he is to sustain it In short as the Joy of Heaven is infinitely more ravishing that the Blessed are without fear of losing of it so the Misery of Hell is proportionably tormenting that the Damned are absolutely destitute of hopes of a release O 't is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God who lives for ever and will punish for ever incorrigible Sinners There are some who strongly fancy 't is not consistent with Divine Justice to inflict an eternal Punishment for temporary Sins Therefore they soften the Sentence by interpreting the Words of Christ These shall go into everlasting Punishment of the annihilation of impenitent Sinners that is they shall be for ever deprived of Heaven but not suffer Torments for ever To this there is a clear Answer 1. The direct opposition between everlasting Punishment and everlasting Life in the words of Christ is a convincing Argument they are to be understood in the same extent for an absolute Eternity And the words in the Revelation are so express that they admit no mollifying Interpretation They are tormented Day and Night for ever and ever Which necessarily infer the tormented have Life and Sense for ever Now that in Scripture 't is evident that God hath decreed and denounced eternal Punishment to obstinate Sinners is sufficient to satisfy all Enquiries about the Justice of it for Divine Justice is the correspondence of God's Will and Actions with the Perfections of his Holy Nature From hence we may infer with invincible Evidence that whatever he pronounces in Judgment and consequently inflicts is most Righteous The Truth is we may as easily conceive there is no God as that God is unjust because absolute Rectitude is an inseparable Perfection of his Nature Thus the Apostle with abhorrence rejects the Question Is God Vnrighteous who taketh Vengeance God forbid for then how shall God judg the World That were to deny him to be God who is the Creator and King and Judg of the World 'T is a full
alive As all that were naturally in and from Adam the corrupt Fountain of Mankind are under the sentence of Death so all that are in Christ the Head of the Regenerate shall partake of his blessed Life Others shall be raised by his Power as their Judg but not as their Head rais'd to be more miserable than Death can make them not be transform'd into his glorious Resemblance made capable of suffering an ever-dying Death not revived to eternal Life Now the Bond of our Union to Christ is the Holy Spirit derived from him as the Head of the Church and is the inward powerful and lasting Principle of Holiness and new Obedience in Believers He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit that is by the Spirit of Holiness has a real Participation of his Life is both quickned and united to him When the Prophet Elisha by the outward applying the parts of his Body to the dead Child inspir'd Life into him there was no real Union between them but Christ is by his Spirit so intimately united to Believers that he lives in them and they in him The sanctifying Spirit renews the directing and commanding Faculties the Fountains of moral Actions enlightens the Understanding with saving Knowledg rectifies the Obliquity of the Will purifies the Affections and reforms the Life so that the same Mind is in Christians as was in Christ and as his Conversation was such is theirs in the World This Divine Change is not wrought by natural Reason though assisted by the most powerful Arguments The Breath of a Man may as easily dispel a Mist or thaw a Frost as humane Directions and Motives to Vertue can renew the Mind and Heart and produce a Holy frame of Soul towards God Renewed Christians are said to be in the Spirit illuminated inclin'd and enabled by the Spirit to do God's Will and the Spirit of God to dwell in them by his peculiar and eminent Operations They live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit An Angel may assume a Body and act by it but the humane Soul enlivens it and performs sensible Operations by it And such a Principle is the Holy Spirit to the Soul gives it spiritual Life Activity and Power for good Works By what Application of the Spirit 's Power this is produc'd is mysterious and inexplicable but as the Apostle speaks of his Rapture into the third Heavens that he knew it was real and heard unutterable things though how it was performed whether in the Body or out of the Body he could not tell thus when a natural Man the current of whose Thoughts and Affections was to the things of this World becomes spiritual when the carnal Appetite is subdued and sanctified Reason has the Throne when he feels such strong and sweet Impulsives to Holiness as engage the Will when the Stream of his Desires ascend to the things above and his Life becomes Holy and Heavenly he feels and knows this wonderful Change though the manner how it was wrought he cannot tell I will shew more fully this sanctifying Work of the Spirit that we may the better understand our State The Spirit of God is denominated by various Titles the Spirit of Truth the Spirit of Holiness the Comforter and represented by various Types by an Ointment that clarifies the Eye to see things aright by cleansing refreshing Water by purifying refining Fire correspondent to his sacred Operations in the Soul As the Spirit of Truth he illuminates the Understanding to see the Reality and Excellency of supernatural and Heavenly things of the great Mysteries of Godliness of Eternal Glory so that a Christian in his most deliberate solemn and composed Thoughts in his exactest Valuation infinitely prefers them before the gaudy Vanities of this transient World When the Eyes of the Mind are truly enlightned present things appear or rather disappear as Shadows As the Spirit of Holiness he renews the Will and Affections inspires the Soul with Divine and unutterable Desires after the Favour and Grace of God and communicates spiritual Power for the Prosecution and obtaining those Desires The Holy Spirit raises such a Love to God that habitually and strongly inclines the Soul to obey his Commands This is the most clear and essential Character of a Christian the special and most excellent Property of a Saint upon which all other Holy Qualifications depend As Reason is the first and chief Excellence of Man from whence his other Perfections are derived that distinguish him from the Brutes and give him a natural and regular Preeminence and Dominion over them so that a Man is most properly defined a reasonable Creature Thus the Love of God is the most Divine Grace the true Form of Holiness the Root from whence all other Vertues spring and flourish and most peculiarly distinguish a Saint from unregenerate Men however adorn'd and accomplish'd so that a Saint is most properly defined to be a Lover of God This is the Principle of true Holiness inherent in the Soul and shining in the Conversation that distinguishes the Sincerity of a Saint from the Art of Hypocrisy an affected Appearance of Religion for carnal sordid respects and from civil Vertue that restrains from what is ignominious and disgraceful to our Reputation and makes obnoxious to Penalties of the Laws and excites to praise-worthy Actions upon worldly Motives and from Philosophical Morality that forbids Vice as contrary to Reason and commends Vertue as the chief Ornament and Perfection of humane Nature without a Regard to please and glorify God And Divine Love is the Principle of universal Holiness Love is called the fulfilling of the Law as 't is a comprehensive Grace and as it draws forth all the active Powers of the Soul to do God's Will in an exact manner Universal Obedience is the Exercise of Love in various Instances As the Spouse in the Song of Solomon is transform'd in divers Representations sometimes as a Sister sometimes as a Warriour sometimes as the Keeper of a Vineyard but she always acted as a Lover and her chief business was to please her Beloved This Allegorical Description of the Church signifies that when the Soul is inflamed with the Love of God that Affection will be active and discover it self in all it does or suffers in the Service of God This will make a Christian very desirous and diligent to please God in all things and careful not to displease him in any thing for that is the inseparable Effect of Love The Felicity of the natural temper and the force of Education may cause a loathing of some Evils and dispose to some good Works but with a reserved delight in other Sins and a secret Exception against other Duties Servile Fear is a partial Principle and causes an unequal respect to the Divine Precepts it restrains from Sins of greater Guilt at which Conscience takes fire it urges to some Duties the neglect of which causes Disquiet but the Love of
God causes the Hatred of Sin and therefore 't is against all Sin not only to prevent the Exercise of it but to eradicate it out of the Soul All the fearful consequences of Sin do not render it so odious to a gracious Spirit as its own proper Idea and intrinsick Evil as 't is contrary to the holy Nature and Law of God Love unites the Soul to God and turns the Thoughts continually to him and the lively sense of his Majesty and Presence who is so pure that he cannot behold Iniquity causes an aversion from all that is displeasing to his Divine Eyes And from hence it is that a zealous Lover of God is frequent and strict in reviewing his Heart and Ways and upon the discovery of sinful failings renews his Repentance which is the exercise of Grief and Love and renews his purposes of more care and circumspection for the future Love aspires to be like God in all possible degrees of Purity for it inflames our Desires after his Favour as that which is better than Life and all the sweetest enjoyments of it and Holiness is the powerful attractive of God's delightful Love to us Love is the Principle of free ingenuous and joyful Obedience 'T was our Saviour's Meat and Drink to do the Will of his Father For Love is the fountain of Pleasure it moves the Soul with Election and Liberty and makes every thing grateful that proceeds from it Therefore the Apostle declares that the Law is not made for a righteous Man that is as it is enforc'd by terrible penalties to constrain rebellious Sinners to Obedience for Love is an internal living Law in the Heart and has an Imperial Power over his Actions And this also distinguishes the renovation of one sanctified by the Spirit from the imperfect Change that is made in the Unregenerate They may stop the eruption of corrupt Nature but are Swine that being wash'd have an inclination to wallow in the Mire they may by strong impressions of Fear be urged to do many good things but in this they are like a Bowl that is thrown with such violence as controuls the drawing of the Bias and makes it run contrary to it But Love enclines the Soul to obey the holy Motions of the Spirit with facility as the Wheels in Ezekiel's Vision turned every way with readiness as the Spirit moved them And with holy Love there is a spiritual Power communicated that both the natural averseness and impotence to what is good may be healed By the virtue of the sanctifying Spirit the Soul that was dead absolutely unable to perform spiritual and supernatural Acts is revived to a kind of Omnipotence it can do all things required by the Evangelical Covenant by the new Law that is in the hands of our merciful Mediator for Salvation 'T is true there are relicks of Sin in the best and the Flesh and Spirit are repugnant Principles warring against one another but the holy Spirit will make no capitulation or composition with Sin but is so predominant that Sin is gradually subdued and does not so freely and frequently break forth as it does from the unrenewed By the accession of his Strength we are enabled to mortify the Deeds of the Body to crucify the Flesh with the Affections and Lust thereof And to perform holy Duties with freedom alacrity and zeal in such a manner as is acceptable to God In short saving Grace is distinguish'd from that which is common to the Unregenerate by its prevalency and constancy There may be a declination in the Saints tending to a downfal but the Seed of God that supernatural Grace that remains in them will by the Power of the holy Spirit recover the Supremacy Others may be enlightned and feel some good Motions and transient Touches as Saul had his rapture among the Prophets but they are not truly entirely and perseveringly converted to God they are not proof against the allurements or Terrors of the World They make a fair Profession till they are tried by Temptations Congealed drops of Water appear like solid Chrystal till the warm beams of the Sun dissolve them and discover the hypocrisy of the Chrystal False Jewels may seem to have the lustre of Diamonds till they are broke by a fall and discovered to be Glass Thus the Riches the Honours and Pleasures of the Flesh melt some and temporal Evils break the Resolutions of others and make it evident they were not sincere Converts But where the holy Spirit savingly works he is said to dwell he is not like a Passenger or a Tenant at will that neglects the House and suffers it to fall into ruine but as the Proprietary and Owner he keeps perpetual residence in true Christians and by his continual Influence preserves them from final Apostacy Now from hence we may judg whether we have an Interest in Christ and his Benefits For the Apostle clearly tells us That if any Man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his By this sacred Signature we are appropriated to Christ and visibly distinguished from the World For though the secret and pure Influences of the Spirit in the Soul are only known to the Person that feels them yet his active Inspirations are declarative of his Presence and Power in the outward Conversation As the Wind that is of so thin and subtil a nature that 't is invisible in it self but we certainly know from what Point it blows by the course and way that the Ship makes thus the Spirit of God who is compared to the Wind is discovered by an infallible Indication his Fruits and Effects in a holy Life And those who have communion with Christ by his Spirit have a share in his Victories and may with confidence meet the last Enemy Death For we are assured If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in us he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken our mortal Bodies by the Spirit that dwelleth in us A preparative conformity to Christ in Grace will be followed with a consummate in Glory But those who never felt the sanctifying efficacy of the Spirit in their Hearts and Lives though they are Christians in profession yet they have no other Union with Christ than a dead Branch with a Tree that receives no sap and virtue from it or an artificial Member joined to the Body that may have the outward clothing and ornaments proper to that part but derives no Life and Sense from it Whoever is in Christ is a new Creature And only those who partake in the first Resurrection from Sin shall be exempted from the Power of the second Death and upon just grounds are freed from the Terrors of the first To apply this Point let us 1. Consider our dear Obligations to our blessed Saviour who to free us from the sting and enslaving fear of Death submitted to it with all its Terrors from God and wicked Men. He felt a
great Distance and since he cannot lessen the Certainty of Death in Mens Belief he removes the Image of it out of their Memories to weaken the Impression that it is capable to make on their Affections they dare not venture to die as they live careless of Salvation and unprepared for their Accounts with God therefore they suspend the Workings of Conscience by a seeming Compliance they resolve at random to convert and reform hereafter but will not determine at present to forsake their Sins The Tempter insinuates there will be a long Interval between the present time and the last hour that shall decide their State for ever that it will be a convenient season to prepare for the other World when they have done with this as if Repentance were best at last when there are no Temptations and therefore no Danger of retracting it And the Heart of Man is a great Flatterer very subtile to deceive and ruin him with vain Resolutions of a devout Retirement and becoming seriously religious hereafter and thus by an easy Permission he gratifies the present Desires of the Flesh and goes in a Circuit from one Vanity to another till Death surprize the Presumer 'T is very applicable to this purpose what is related of Alcaeus the Poet who from every season of the Year took Arguments to give a new Title to his Intemperance The Spring he said required liberal drinking in Sign of Joy for the Renovation of Nature the Summer to temper our Heat and refresh our Thirst 't was due to Autumn that is dedicated to the Vintage and Winter required it to expel the cold that would congeal the Blood and Spirits Thus he pleaded for the Allowance of his Excess And so Men in the several Ages of Life that are correspondent to the Seasons of the Year frame some Excuses to delay Repentance and give some colour to their Rebellion against God who commands us to hear his Voice to Day obediently and immediately upon no less Penalty than being excluded from his blessed Rest for ever Yet the self-deceiving Sinner preaches another Gospel to himself and thinks the Vanities of Childhood the Pleasures of Youth the Business of Middle-Age and the Infirmity of Old Age are plausible Pretences to put off the serious Work of Repentance O that such would duly consider the desperate Uncertainty upon which Men build their Hopes of a future Repentance and Divine Acceptance 1. Men delay Repentance upon the Presumption of a long Life But what is more uncertain 'T is the Wisdom and Goodness of God to conceal in his impenetrable Counsels the time of our Sojourning here For if Men though liable to Death every hour and therefore should be under just Fear lest it surprize them unprepar'd yet against so strong a Curb run with that exorbitant vehemence after the present World how much more licentious would they be if secured from sudden Death But none can promise to himself one Day Death comes not according to the order of Nature but the Decree of God How many in the Flower of their Youth and Strength thought themselves at as great a Distance from Death as the East is from the West when there was not the space of an Hour between them and Death between them and Hell The Lamp suddenly expires by a Blast of Wind when there is plenty of Oil to feed it The rich Man pleased himself with Designs of sensual Enjoyments for many years yet did not see the dawning of the next Morning Thou Fool this Night shall thy Soul be required of thee This Sentence is pronounced in Heaven against thousands that are now alive conversant in the Vanities and Business of the World Eating and Drinking Playing and Trading and all unconcerned as to dying yet shall breath their last before to Morrow and their unwilling Souls be rent from the Embraces of their Bodies In various manners Men die from inward and outward causes an Apoplexy an Imposthume a Flux of Rhume stopping Respiration kills the Body without any presaging Signs of Death As if the Roof and all the Chambers should fall within the House while the Walls are standing entire And how many unforeseen Accidens and therefore inevitable put a sudden Period to Life Is it not our truest Wisdom by an early Repentance to prepare for Death when the Season is certainly short and but uncertainly continued and the Omission is irreparable 2. Suppose Life be continued yet Sinners that delay Repentance can have no rational hopes that they shall sincerely repent in time to come For 1 st Saving Repentance is the Gift of God and is it likely that those who have been insensible of the loud and earnest Calls of the Word inflexible to the gracious Methods of his Providence leading them to Repentance should at last obtain Converting Grace The Gales of the Spirit are very transient and blow where he pleases and can it be expected that those who have wilfully and often resisted him should by an exuberant Favour receive afterwards more powerful Grace to over-rule their stubborn Wills and make them obedient To expect Divine Grace and the powerful Workings of the Spirit after long resisting his Holy Excitations is both unreasonable and unrevealed 'T is written as with a Sun-beam that God will graciously pardon repenting Sinners that reform their Lives but 't is no-where promised that he will give Saving-Repentance to those who securely continue in Sin upon a corrupt Confidence they will repent at last Our Saviour threatens to him that neglects the improving the Grace that is offer'd That which he hath shall be taken away Yet Men unwilling at present to forsake their Sins of Pleasure and Profit vainly hope they shall obtain Grace hereafter without any Promise from God and against the Tenor of his Threatnings God has threatned that his Spirit shall not always strive with rebellious Sinners and then their State is remediless This may be the case of many in this Life who are insensible of their Misery As consumptive Persons decline by degrees lose their Appetite Colour and Strength till at last they are hopeless So the Withdrawings of the Spirit are gradual his Motions are not so strong nor frequent and upon the continued Provocations of the Disobedient finally leaves them under that most fearful doom He that is filthy let him be filthy still He that is unrighteous let him be unrighteous still and thus punishes them on this side Hell as he does the Damned by giving them over to Sin 'T is a bloody Adventure for Men to indulge their carnal Appetites as if they had infallible Assurance that they should not die in an impenitent State The Delayer does not regularly trust but tempt God 2 dly Suppose the Holy Spirit be not totally withdrawn yet by every Day 's Continuance in Sin the Heart is more hardned against the Impressions of Grace more averse from returning to God and Repentance more difficult and hazardous The last guilty Disposition
considered as an Affection of Friendship is always attended with two Desires to be assured of Reciprocal Love and to enjoy the Conversation of the Person beloved the testimony of his Esteem and Good-will This kind of Affection seems to be inconsistent with that infinite distance that is between God and the Creature But tho 't is disproportionable to the Divine Majesty 't is proportionable to his Goodness Accordingly our Saviour promises He that loves me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and manifest my self unto him And to confirm our belief of this astonishing Condescention repeats it If a Man love me my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our abode with him In the present state the signs of God's special Favour are exhibited to his Friends Now he bestows on them the honour of being his Sons the Graces and Comforts of his Spirit the precious Earnests of his Love and Seal of their Redemption But in eminency of degrees the Emanations of his Love and the Effects of his Beneficence are incomparably more glorious in Heaven Here the Saints are adopted there crown'd There he opens all the bright Treasures of his Wisdom the Riches of his Goodness the Beauties of his Holiness the Glories of his Power and by the intimate application of his Presence makes his Love most sensible to them Infinite Goodness excites and draws forth all the Powers of the Soul and fills the utmost Capacity and Expansion of the Spirit From hence perpetual Pleasure and Satisfaction springs O the pure Delights between God and glorified Souls God looks on them with an engaged Eye as his own by many dear Titles and is ravish'd with the Reflex of his own Excellencies shining in them As the Bridegroom rejoices over the Bride 't is the Language of Divine Love so their God rejoices over them The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty he will save he will rejoice over thee with joy he will rest in his love he will rejoice over thee with singing He is infinitely delighted in the communication of his Goodness to them And what a blessed Rest do they find in the compleat fruition of his Goodness All their Desires quietly expire in his Bosom What triumphs of Joy follow Can we frame a fuller Conception of Happiness than to be perfectly loved by the best and most blessed Being and perfectly to love him and to partake of the richest Emanations of his Loving-kindness that is far more valuable and desireable than Life it self How precious and joyful will the Presence of Christ be to the Saints 'T was his Prayer on Earth Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory When the Saints are received into the Everlasting Kingdom the first Object that draws their admiring regards is Christ on the Throne Inestimable Felicity whether we consider him as the Son of God in whose conspicuous Countenance all the Glory of his Father shines or as the Saviour of Men and the Head of the Elect upon a double account partly that he that loved us and wash'd us from our Sins in his Blood after suffering all Indignities and Cruelties for our sake has received the Reward of his meritorious Sufferings the triumph of his Victory being glorified with the Father with the Glory he had before the World was and partly because every Member shall be conform'd to him in Glory The sight of the Face of Moses when radiant had no transforming Efficacy for the Light of it was not in him as its Spring but by derivation But the Son of God is Light essentially and the sight of his Glory will transform us into his Likeness And how dear and joyful is the presence of the Saints to Christ He then sees of the travel of his Soul the fruit of his sharp Sufferings and bleeding Love and is satisfied How delightful is it to him to see all his Spiritual Progeny safely brought to Heaven and made partakers of his Glory and Joy in his everlasting Kingdom For according to the extent of the Object and dearness of the Affection Joy rises He will then present them to his Father with infinite complacency Behold here am I and the Children whom thou hast given me The dearest Affections of Christ and the Saints in Heaven are mutual and reflexive In the Sacred Song the expressions of Love Desire and Joy borrowed from the espousals of Solomon and his beloved Wife are as it were Characters in the Bark to be understood in a spiritual Sense of the Mystical Marriage of Christ and the Church What endearing entercourse is there between the most perfect Lover and his Spouse inspir'd with the same pure Flam Here amiable Perfections attract his Eye and Heart Thou art all fair my Love there is no spot in thee His propriety in the Church is his unvaluable Treasure My Vineyard which is mine is ever before me He repeats the word Mine in the sweetest and most tender manner And the Church with the same harmonious Affections speaks of Christ. She contemplates in a soft extasy his ever-satisfying Beauty My Beloved is the chiefest of ten thousand he is altogether lovely She breaks forth in triumph My Beloved is mine and I am his By all their expressions of joyful Love and Union we may ascend in our Thoughts what are the Joys of Heaven where the Communion of Christ and the Church is entire and uninterrupted for ever If Faith and Love of our unseen Saviour produce a Joy unspeakable and glorious as if Believers were wrap'd up to Paradise or Paradise descended into them what will the sight and fruition of him There is as great a difference in degrees between the Joy that flows from the assurance and application of Faith and the Joy from Vision and full Possession as between the impression of Joy the Forerunner of Christ felt when he sprang in the Womb at the coming of our Saviour and his ravishing Joy when he saw Christ and pointed him out to his Disciples Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the Sins of the World 3. The supream Joy of the Saints is for the Felicity and Glory of God himself For as the holy Soul feels no more powerful motive to love God than because he is most worthy of it as he is God a Being of infinite Excellencies and therefore to be loved above the dearest Persons and Things even it self so the highest Joy it partakes of is from this consideration that God is infinitely blessed and glorious For in this the supream desire of Love is accomplish'd that the most beloved Object is perfectly honour'd and pleased In Heaven the Love of the Saints to God is in its highest Perfection and they see his Glory in the most perfect manner which causes a transcendent Joy to them And this is one reason why the Saints tho shining with unequal degrees of
and measure as is proportionable to its Excellency and the Difficulties of obtaining it There may be a naked estimation and some desires of Eternal Happiness simply considered yet the Will remains incompleat and undetermined in its choice for the End in conjunction with the Means is propounded to us and the carnal Man will not consent to the Means He dislikes the Holiness of Religion and will rather forfeit Heaven than submit to such strict terms Though with Balaam in a fit of Devotion he says O that I might die the death of the Righteous and that my last End might be like his yet from Indulgence to his sensual Inclinations he will not live as the Righteous All his Wishes of true Happiness are soon strangled by the predominant love of some Vanity 'T is said of the Israelites they despised the pleasant Land not absolutely in it self for it was the Glory of all Lands abounding with things for the support and delight of Man but considering its distance a Wilderness waste and wild interposing and the Enemies to be encountred they did not think it worthy of undergoing such Hazards and Difficulties The Land of Canaan was a Type of Heaven both with respect to its pleasantness and the manner of the Israelites obtaining it Their Title to it was derived from the rich Bounty of God therefore 't is called the Land of Promise but it was to be possess'd by Conquest Thus the Celestial Canaan is the pure Gift of God but the actual enjoyment of it is obtained by victorious resistance against the Enemies of our Salvation And Carnal Men despise this pleasant Land the Promise being inseparably joined with Precepts of Duty and Obedience from which they are averse But he that chuses sincerely is joyful and vigorous in the use of means for acquiring his most desired Good Ardent Affections like Elijah's Chariot of Fire ravish the Soul above this sensible World to the place where God dwells in Glory Zeal animates his Endeavours as the Motion of the Heart diffuses the Spirits into the Arteries to convey Life to all parts of the Body One thing saith the inflamed Psalmist have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the Beauty of the Lord and to enquire into his Temple The sensual Man is ranging abroad for satisfaction and shoots all the Game that crosses his Eye but the Soul that has a discovering Light and feeling heat of the divine Beauty unites all its desires in God and with affection to an Extasy longs for the enjoyment of him and the endeavours are in some proportion to the desires Our Saviour tells us That from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force Some previous Rays of the Sun of Righteousness appeared in his Ministry and produc'd such a holy Ardency in those Converts that with all resolution diligence and earnestness they sought to be partakers of the Blessedness revealed Lazy Desires easy Prosecutions sluggish Attempts discover that the Heart is not throughly engaged for the spiritual Eternal Good When the End is truly designed it will give Law to the Actions This is visible in Men who are wholly led by Sense how sagacious how sollicitous are they to accomplish their Ends and base Designs They try all ways either by fine dissimulation or toilsome industry to obtain their Desires No time is too much in their gainful Affairs or voluptuous Enjoyments They transform the Night to lengthen out the Day for their Profit they vail the Day to lengthen out the Night for their Ease and Pleasure But alas Heaven is only regarded by the By as if the intellectual Soul were only given to dwell with the Body on Earth the place of its Banishment and direct Affairs here below and not to lead in the way to Heaven the place of its Nativity and prepare for another World The Work of Salvation is followed with that remiss degree of Affection as if it were a slight matter whether performed or neglected These Persons carry their Conviction in their Bosoms for they are ardent and active to obtain inferior and infinitely less concerning Ends but with that cold application mind the superior nobler End of Man that it is wholly frustrate which plainly shews it was never seriously intended by them The sight of Worldly Men so active and vigilant to prosecute their low Designs should quicken us to seek with greater diligence and alacrity the Kingdom of Heaven and the Righteousness thereof A Carnal Wretch urged by the sting of a brutish Desire with what impatience doth he pursue the Pleasures of Sin that are but for a season An ambitious Person with what an intemperate height of Passion does he chase a Feather A covetous Man how greedily does he pursue the Advantages of the present World that passes away and the Lusts thereof Ah! how do they upbraid our indifferent Desires our dull Delays and cold Endeavours when such a high Prize is set before us Who is able to conceive the ravishing Pleasure of the Soul when it first enters through the beautiful Gate of the Celestial Temple and sees the Glory of the Place and hears a Voice from the Throne Enter into thy Master's Joy to be happy with him for ever The serious belief of this will draw forth all our active Powers in the Service of God 3. The sincerity of our Heavenly Choice declares it self in the temper and frame of our Hearts with respect to all temporal Things in this World For our main and happy End being established that it consists not in secular Riches and Honours and the Pleasures of Sense but in the clear Vision of God the blessedness of the Spirit it follows that all present things are in our use so far Good or Evil and to be desired or not as they are profitable or prejudicial to our obtaining Salvation as they conduct or divert us from Heaven A wise Christian looks on temporal things not through the Glass of disordered Passions that are impetuous and impatient for what is grateful to them but with reference to his future Happiness He considers the train of Temptations that attend an exalted Condition and desires such a portion of these things as may redound to the Glory of the Giver and be improved for his own Salvation This Purity of Affections our Saviour teaches us For in his Divine Form of Prayer the true Directory of our Desires are set down in an admirable order all things we are to pray for And they respect the End or the Means The End is the primary Object of our Desires accordingly the two first Petitions concern our blessed End as it respects God and our selves We pray Hallowed be thy Name that is by the reverence and adoration of all his Subjects and Thy Kingdom come that is for the manifestation of his Eternal
sincere Believer for performing the Condition it requires Indeed if Grace were the meer product of Free-Will the most fervent Resolutions would vanish into a Lie upon the Assault of an overpowering Temptation As Hezekiah acknowledged that the Assyrian Kings had destroyed the Gods of the Nations that were no Gods but Idols the work of Mens Hands But sanctifying Grace is the effect of the Holy Spirit and he that begins that good Work in the Saints will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. He that inclin'd them joyfully to chuse the Spiritual Eternal Good will bind their unconstant Hearts that by a faithful adherence they shall cleave to their Duty and Felicity God has most graciously declared I will put my Spirit into their Hearts that they shall never depart from me The Promise is founded in the unchangeable Love of God to his People Were God as Man subject to Variation there might be Jealousies in Believers lest they should lose his good Will As those who depend on Princes are suspicious lest from the natural inconstancy of the human Will a new Favourite should supplant them But whom God loves he loves to the End The Apostle prays for the Thessalonians that God would preserve them blameless until the coming of Christ by this Consideration faithful is he that calleth you he will do it He speaks of the Internal Call that opens the Heart and overpowers all Resistance As when the Angel came with a Light shining in the Prison to St. Peter and struck him on the Side bid him arise quickly loosed his Chains and led him through the Guards open'd the Doors and restored him to Liberty The effectual calling of a Sinner is the visible and infallible Effect of electing Mercy and God is unchangeable in his own purpose and faithful to his Promises of bringing all such by Sanctification to Glory The same Apostle tells the Saints at Corinth That the Redeemer would confirm them to the End God is faithful by whom ye are called Grace that was at first inspir'd is continually actuated by the Spirit who is stiled the Earnest of the Saints Inheritance So that whereas the Angels that excell'd in strength kept not their first State of Purity and Glory but are sunk into Corruption and Misery yet true humble Believers though weak and encompast with many Difficulties shall be preserved from destructive Evil and raised to an unchangeable Estate of Perfection This is as truly admirable as if the Stars should fall from Heaven and Clods of Earth ascend and shine in the Firmament The Apostle who acknowledged his insufficiency of himself to think a good Thought yet triumphantly declares I can do all things within the compass of his Duty through Christ that strengthens me The Love Fidelity and Power of God are a sure Fountain of Assistance to every Christian that sincerely resolves and endeavours to prosecute his last and blessed End I shall now come to the Directions how to fix our Choice aright This is a matter of everlasting Consequence it therefore becomes us with the most intense application of Mind to consider it and according to the advice of Wisdom to keep the Heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of Life Indeed the choice were not difficult between lying Vanities and substantial Blessedness if uncorrupted Reason had the superior sway but in this lapsed state of Nature the Understanding and Will are so depraved that present things pleasing to sense ravish the Heart into a Compliance Men are deceived not compelled into ruin the subtile Seducer prevails by fair Temptations This will be evident by reflecting upon the frame and composition of Man as he consists of Spirit Soul and Body and the manner of his acting The Spirit is the intellective discerning Faculty the Seat of Reason capable to compare and judg of the qualities of things and foresee their issues The Body includes the lower Faculties the Senses Fancy and Passions that are conversant about present things The Soul is the Will the principle of Election in the midst of the other as the Centre to which all their Addresses flow Now upon the proposal of the spiritual and carnal Good in order to Choice the Will is to be directed by the Mind and by its own Authority to rule the lower Passions But alas the Mind has lost its primitive Light and Purity Vigilance and Integrity neglects its Duty and from Ignorance Error and carnal Prejudices often pleads for the Flesh and the Will the rational Appetite is voluntarily subordinate and inslaved by the Sensitive From hence it is that in the competition Heaven with all its Glory is despised and the present World embrac'd To open this more particularly consider 1. The Senses can only taste and enjoy grosser dreggy Pleasures 2. The Fancy that depends upon them in its Operations and is guided by their Report conceives of Felicity only under the notion of sensitive Pleasure We may illustrate this by the practice of Aretius a Painter recorded with Infamy who being often imployed to paint the Goddesses to be set in the Pagan Temples always drew their Pictures by the Faces and Complexions of his Harlots that the Objects of his impure Love might have Veneration and a Divinity attributed to them under the Titles and pretence of Minerva Juno Diana and the other Goddesses ador'd by the Heathens This Impiety in an Idolater is resembled by Men who fancy Happiness that is a spiritual divine Perfection enjoyed in the glorious Vision of God to be a carnal Fruition and having with sensible Colours and Lineaments represented it agreeable to their brutish Faculties place it in their Hearts and sacrifice all their Thoughts Affections and Service to it The Fancy is very powerful in Men upon a double account 1. The Understanding naturally receives the Notions of Things by Phantasms that are still mixing in its Contemplations While the Soul is confined to a Tabernacle of Flesh it apprehends no Object without the precedent excitation of the Senses From whence it is impossible that a Person absolutely deprived of Sight from his Birth should have an Idea of Light or Colours or that is born deaf should conceive what Sound is the Sense never having imparted an account of it to them And the Image of the Object is not immediately transmitted from the Sense to the Mind but first to the Imagination that prepares it for its view And from hence the sensual Fancy is so predominant in sweying the Judgment and inclining the Will As those Counsellors of State that have the Ear of the Prince and are continually with him by specious Informations and disguising Truth influence him to approve or reject Persons and Things according to the various Aspects given by them The same Object propounded in a dark confused manner weakly moves us but varnisht and beautified with lively and pleasant Colours by the Imagination is armed with such Power that ravishes the esteem of the Mind and
Passions like Solomon's brazen Sea unmoveable by any Winds of Temptations Are they entirely exempted from the impression of Objects and the lower Affections No they are alive and sensible of those things that ravish the Affections of carnal Men but by the power of Grace despise and overcome them And this Grace is offered in the Gospel to all that sincerely desire it so that 't is a vain wretched pretence that Religion binds to hard Service To the other part of the Objection that sometimes Religion exposes the Professors of it to heavy Sufferings I answer Indeed the Gospel is plain and peremptory in this if we will reign with Christ we must suffer with him when we are called forth to give a noble testimony to his Truth 'T is no extraordinary Elevation no point of Perfection but the duty of every Christian to be always ready in the disposition and resolution of his Mind to sacrifice his Life when the honour of Christ requires it But 't is no hard condition to suffer transient Afflictions for the obtaining a Happy Immortality to be conformable to the Image of our suffering Redeemer that we may be crowned with his Glory How many Christians esteemed themselves honoured in the Disgrace and blessed in the Injuries they suffered for Christ and with an invincible Patience and astonishing Joy endured the most cruel Persecutions though yet the human Nature in them was as tender and sensible of Pains as in others but the natural aversion and repugnance to suffering was overruled by the determination of the rational Will upon the account of their Duty and the Reward attending it They gave a most convincing sensible Testimony how much more valuable Heaven is than this present World willingly exposing themselves to all Evil here and rejoicing in hope of a glorious issue In short the Reward of Obedience is a triumphal Crown and where there is no Victory there can be no Triumph and where no Combat no Victory and where no Enemy no Combat Therefore we are commanded to fight against our internal Enemies our corrupt Affections to kill the Lusts of the Flesh and to encounter and overcome by Humility and meek Submissions the Cruelty of malicious Enemies without us in order to obtain the Crown of Life And a Believer that has Heaven in taste and expectation will easily renounce the most pleasant and willingly endure the sharpest Temptations for the blessed Reward of his Obedience Lastly Fervent and constant Prayer is requisite for the Grace of God that we may fix our Aims aright upon eternal Happiness and use those sure Means that with divine Advantage are propos'd in the Scriptures that can make us wise to Salvation such is the depravation of Man since his Fall the Mind is diverted by vain Thoughts and the Heart prepossess'd with sensual Desires that 'till the Spirit of his Mind be renewed and his original Affections to the Supream Good be revived and restored by Divine Grace he is regardless of it and only applies himself to what is pleasing to Sense There may be some transient Glances and volatile Wishes of Heaven in Carnal Men but they are miserably weak and ineffectual Therefore a most necessary Duty incumbent upon us is by humble and fervent Prayer to address our selves to God for his Spirit to enlighten our Minds that we may believe the Reality and Greatness of the Eternal Reward and to reform our Wills that we may feel its attractive Force Both these Acts of the Spirit are requisite that the Love of God as our chief Felicity may be the regent Principle of our Hearts and Lives 1. For this end the Holy Spirit convinces Men thorowly of the Reality and Greatness of an invisible Happiness In the Light of the Gospel how many of eminent intellectual Faculties are stupid as to their great Interest and spend themselves about Trifles and are equally tractable to Eternal Ruin as the Ox to the Slaughter He that is destitute of the illuminating Grace of the Spirit is blind and cannot see afar off Now by the Analogy between the corporal and intellectual Faculties we may understand in some measure how the Mind is illuminated by the Spirit of God For as to the Act of Seeing two things are requisite 1. External Light in the Air without which the Colours Figures and Beauties of Objects are not visible to the sharpest Eye but lie obscur'd under impenetrable Darkness 2. Internal Light in the Eye in which the visive Power consists if this be extinguish'd the clearest Light of Heaven is of no use for the discovery of Things Thus the Understanding is enabled to see Spiritual things 1. By the Revelation of the Object In this respect Life and Immortality are brought to Light by the Gospel Till that bright Discovery was made of Eternal Blessedness it was above the desires and hopes of sinful Man Coelum homo nec optare poterat ex ignorantia nec sperare ex propriae miseriae conscientia 2. By the inward inlightning from the Spirit of Wisdom that removes the Ignorance Prejudice and Inadvertency of the Mind which as Scales darkned its Sight and disposes it to perceive the Verity and Excellency of spiritual and future Things tho not with comprehensive Evidence yet with that assurance that no doubtfulness or suspence remains concerning them 'T is observable that Faith is exprest in Scripture by Prudence Wisdom and Knowledg whereby a Man knows the Grounds and Motives of his Judgment and Actions And Sin is called Folly For as when the understanding Faculty either from the indisposedness of the Organs as in Idiots or from the disorder of Fancy by inflammation of the Humours as in distracted Persons cannot weigh and compare and therefore makes a perverse judgment of things so the carnal Mind by not due measuring and pondering judges falsly of spiritual Things If something no bigger than the Hand were put before the Eye it would intercept the sight of the Heavens and he that not considering the Properties of things near and distant should conclude that Piece to be bigger than the Heavens were justly reputed a Fool. And the folly of carnal Men is more gross who prefer things present to Sense before what is future and of everlasting consequence to the Soul But there are some Actions which if done by a Natural would be counted Folly yet being done by those who in the reputation of the World are Wise are esteemed Prudent but they are the most deplorable Folly Now as the restoring the Laesum principium the broken Mind to its sound state whereby 't is able to consider discern and conclude of things according to their Nature such is the action of God's Spirit upon the corrupt Mind clarifying and enlightning it so that it receives full conviction by the clearest Marks of divine Authority shining in the Gospel of the Truth of all the great and precious Promises therein contained and causing it by a steady application of the Thoughts to see the vast
State For 1. Temporal Evils of all kinds and degrees as Pestilence Famine War are designed for the bringing of Men to a sight and sense of their Sins and are common to Good and Bad here And if his Anger be so terrible when he chastises as a compassionate Father what is his Fury when he punishes as a severe Judg If the correcting Remedies ordered by his Wisdom and Love for the conversion of Sinners be so sharp what is the deadly revenge of his irreconcileable Hatred 2. The Miseries of the present State are allayed with some enjoyments None are so universally afflicted so desolate but something remains to sweeten the sense of their Sufferings Judgments are tempered with Mercies No Man is tortur'd with all Diseases nor forsaken of all Friends nor utterly without Comfort And when the Affliction is irremediable yet if our grief produces Sympathy in others 't is some ease to the troubled Mind and by that assistance the Burthen is made lighter But in Hell the Damned are surrounded with Terrors encompast with Flames without any thing to refresh their Sorrows not a drop of Water to a Lake of Fire All that was esteemed Felicity here is totally withdrawn Death puts a period to their Lives and Pleasures of Sin for ever For 't is most just that those Objects which were abused by their Lusts and alienated their Hearts from their Duty and Felicity should be taken away And which is extream Misery in their most pitiful State they are absolutely unpitied Pity is the cheap and universal Lenitive not denied to the most guilty in their Sufferings here for the Law of Nature instructs us to pity the Man when the Malefactor suffers But even this is not afforded to the Damned All their Agonies and Cries cannot incline the Compassion of God and the blessed Spirits in Heaven towards them for they are not compassionable Objects their Misery being the just effect of their perverse obstinate Choice And in Hell all human tender Affections are extinguisht for ever Now 't is the perfection of Misery the excess of Desolation to be deprived of all good things pleasing to our Desires and to suffer all Evils from which we have the deepest aversation and abhorrence As in Heaven all Good is eminently comprised and nothing but Good so in Hell all Evil is in excessive degrees and nothing but Evil. 3. Temporal Evils are inflicted by the mediation of second Causes that are of a limited power to hurt but in the next World he more immediately torments the Damned by his absolute Power The Apostle tells us that the Wicked are punished with everlasting Destruction from the presence of the Lord and the Glory of his Power What is the lashing with a few Rushes to a blow given by the hand of a Giant that strikes dead at once This comparison is below the Truth More particularly the state of Misery is set forth in Scripture by such representations as may powerfully instruct and terrify even the most carnal Men. Nothing is more intolerably painful than suffering the violence of Fire inraged with Brimstone and Hell is described by a Lake of Fire and Brimstone wherein the Wicked are tormented Whether the Fire be Material or Metaphorical the reality and intenseness of the Torment is signified by it But the ordinary Fire tho mingled with the most torturing Ingredients is not an adequate representation of it For that is prepared by Men but the Fire of Hell is prepared by the Wrath of God for the Devil and his Angels The Divine Power is illustriously manifested in that terrible Preparation So that as some of the Fathers express it if one of the Damned might pass from those Flames into the fiercest Fires here it were to exchange a Torment for a Refreshment The Scripture speaks of the vehement heat and fiery Thirst and outer Darkness in which the Damned suffer to satisfy the rights of Justice in the torment of those Senses for the Pleasure of which Men wilfully broke the Laws of God But the Soul being the chief Sinner shall be the chief Mourner in those Regions of Sorrow An Image of this we have in the Agonies of Spirit which sometimes the Saints themselves are in here and which the most stubborn Sinners can neither resist nor endure Job was afflicted in that manner that he complains The Arrows of the Almighty are with me the Poison whereof drinks up my Spirit the Terrors of God set themselves in Array against me If a Spark of his Displeasure falls on the guilty Conscience it tears and blows up all as a Fire-ball cast into a Magazine Solomon who understood the Frame of humane Nature tells us The Spirit of a Man can bear his Infirmity that is the Mind fortified by principles of moral Counsel and Constancy can endure the assault of external Evils but a wounded Spirit who can bear This is most insupportable when the sting and remorse of the Mind is from the sense of Guilt for then God appears an Enemy righteous and severe and who can encounter with offended Omnipotence Such is the sharpness of his Sword and the weight of his Hand that every stroke is deadly inward Satan the cruel Enemy of Souls exasperates the Wounds He discovers and charges Sin upon the Conscience with all its killing Aggravations and conceals the divine Mercy the only Lenitive and Balm to the Wounded Spirit What Visions of Horror what Spectacles of Fear what Scenes of Sorrow are presented to the distracted Mind by the Prince of Darkness And which heightens the Misery Man is a worse Enemy to himself than Satan he falls upon his own Sword and destroys himself The guilty Conscience turns the Sun into Darkness and the Moon into Blood the precious Promises of the Gospel that assure Favour and Pardon to returning and relenting Sinners are turn'd into Arguments of despair by reflecting upon the abuse and provocation of Mercy that the Advocate in God's bosom is become the Accuser Whatever the Soul-wounded Sinner sees or hears afflicts him whatever he thinks torments him All the Diversions in the World Business Pleasures merry Conversation Comedies are as ineffectual to give freedom from those Stings and Furies in the Breast as the sprinkling of Holy Water is to expel a raging Devil from a possest Person Those who in their Pride and Jollity have despised serious Religion either as a fond Transport and Extasy towards God or a dull Melancholy and Dejection about the Soul or an idle Scrupulosity about indifferent things yet when God has set their Sins with all their killing circumstances in order before their Eyes how changed how confounded are they at that Apparition how restless with the dreadful expectation of the doom that attends them Belshazzer in the midst of his Cups and Herd of Concubines by a few Words written on the Wall containing his Process and Judgment was so terrified by his guilty jealous Conscience that his Joints were loosed Nature sunk under the