thy being Eternally under the Torments of Hell this is that which makes thee truly miserable And on the other hand it is not thy being in Heaven comparatively that will make thee Happy but it is thy being Eternally there that makes thee truly Happy This this is that which Accents thy Misery or thy Happiness even the Eternity of it Oh Eternity Eternity thou art the bitterest and thou art the sweetest word in all the World to the Damned thou art the bitterest of all words because their Torments are to last to all Eternity And to the Godly thou art the sweetest word in all the World for their Joys and Happiness shall last unto all Eternity There is nothing either in Heaven or in Hell but what speaks Eternity There is nothing in Hell but what is Eternal Hell it self that place of Torment is Eternal The Sufferings and Torments of the Damned in Hell are Eternal The Wrath and Vengeance of God that is the cause of those Torments in Eternal Yea all the Damned themselves together with the Devil and his Angels are all to be sufferers under an Eternity of Torments in Hell O Eternity Eternity how miserable beyond all expression dost thou make the condition of the Damned to be And as there is nothing in Hell but what is Eternal so neither is there any thing in Heaven but what speaks Eternity There is the Great and Blessed God the Father of Eternity the Sum and Heighth of the Saints Happiness in Heaven to be Eternally enjoyed It is there that the Lord Jesus Christ the Saints great and blessed Redeemer is whose Meritorious Death and Sufferings hath Deserved and Obtained for them the Eternal Enjoyment of that Happiness which there they are partakers of Heaven that place of Bliss and Happiness where God manifests and displays all his Glorious Excellencies and Perfections is Eternal The blessed Company and Society of a Saint in Heaven the innumerable Company of Glorified Saints and Angels shall Eternally be their fellow Inhabitants in that Holy place Yea both the Happiness of Heaven and every Saint that shall participate of that Happiness shall both continue in conjunction together Everlastingly Here O my Soul is a Happiness most worthy of all thy thoughts a Happiness so great that it calls for and deserves all thy Time all thy Parts yea all the Labour and Pains thou canst possibly lay out for the obtaining of it O Eternity Eternity how pleasant how delightful a word art thou for Holy Souls to contemplate upon thou art not more full of dread and horror to the wicked in Hell than thou art full of pleasure and delight unto the Saints in Heaven thou art the Sweetness the Consummation the Perfection of a Saint's Happiness God himself who is the All of a Saint's Happiness if he be not enjoyed for ever cannot make a Saint always Happy Unless an Eternity of Enjoyment be added to a Saint's Happiness in Heaven he cannot be fully and compleatly Happy It is true whilst he enjoys the Happiness of Heaven he is in a Happy state but if Eternity be not added to that Enjoyment a time will come when that Happiness shall cease and have an end Take away Eternity from a Saint's Happiness and there not only will but there must come a time when a Saint must be miserable O Eternity Eternity thou art not only a Happiness added to a Saint's Happiness in Heaven but thou art that blessed Band that unitest and tiest all the scattered parcels of a Saint's Happiness together in one bundle for his satisfaction and security for ever O my Soul study this word Eternity well as it is the Crowning addition unto the Saints Happiness It is that which will revive and quicken thee yea it is that which will put a new life into thee in thy greatest Agonies and Sufferings which thou canst undergo here for they are but of short continuance Death at farthest will come and put an end to them all but the Glory and Happiness that remains for thee in Heaven that is Eternal and Everlasting and shall never never never know an end CHAP. V. Of the Efficient Cause of the Saints Happiness in Heaven namely the Free Grace of God Of the Meritorious Cause of the Saints Happiness namely the Death and Sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ Of the Final Cause of the Saints Happiness namely the Glory of God Holiness the Saints great Qualification for Heaven Wicked Men unsuitable to the Work of Heaven and to the Reward of Heaven both which are Holy In Heaven there is both an Eternal Work for Saints to be Employed in and an Eternal Reward for Saints to Enjoy THat which is next to be discoursed of in the handling of this Subject of the Saints Happiness according to my propounded Method is the consideration of that Happiness in the several causes of it Now in speaking unto this head I shall discourse a little upon these three particulars The Efficient Cause of the Saints Happiness in Heaven The Meritorious Cause of that Happiness And lastly the Final Cause thereof First The Efficient Fundamental Cause of the Saints Happiness in Heaven and that is the Free Grace of God Now for this the Scripture is very full Ephes 2.4 5 c. But God who is rich in Mercy for the great love wherewith he loved us Even when we were dead in Sins and Trespasses hath quickened us together with Christ by Grace ye are saved And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus That in the Ages to come he might shew the exceeding Riches of his Grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus For by Grace are ye saved through Faith and that not of your selves it is the Gift of God So in Rom. 6.23 The Gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. All is from the free Grace of God And though this Happiness of the Saints be the highest that can be bestowed upon any yet is it that which is given freely What says our Lord Luke 12.32 Fear not little Flock it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the Kingdom This is to act like a God to give most bountifully and yet most freely To give the highest and best Gifts and yet to give them freely and undeservedly Thus God gives himself Heaven Glory and Eternal Life freely All that he doth for his people from their first Conversion on Earth unto their Eternal Glorification in Heaven is all from his own free Grace and Good Will Their Conversion is of Grace James 1.18 Of his own good will begat he us by the Word of Truth Their Justification is of Grace Rom. 3.24 Being justified freely by his Grace Their Sanctification also is of Grace Titus 2.11 12 13. The Grace of God that hath appeared unto all men teacheth us that denying all ungodliness and worldly lust we should live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present evil World Yea
Grace and Holiness where thy Employment shall always be in Holy and Spiritual Delights and Exercises unto all Eternity If thou hast no believing Hopes and Expectations of such a Heaven as this is certainly thou hast no Right and Title unto that Inheritance that is incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for Believers Nothing so plainly demonstrates what men are whither they are going and unto whom they belong as the daily course of their Lives and Conversation The Apostle therefore in Galat. 5.19 20. reckoning up the Works of the Flesh which are manifest As Adultery Fornication Vncleanness Drunkenness Murder and such like of the which says he I tell you before as I have also told you in times past that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God And in 1 Corinth 6.9 10. he speaks the same thing again Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Adulterers nor Idolaters nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God And on the contrary He that doth Righteousness is of God says the Apostle 1 John 2.29 And blessed is he that doth Righteousness at all times says the Psalmist Psal 106.3 For the Grace of God that hath appeared in the Gospel having taught them to deny all ungodliness and Worldly Lust and to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World Tit. 2.12 13. Looking for the Blessed Hope and the Glorious appearance of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ These are they and only they who according to Scripture Warrant can lay any claim unto Heaven And these may for they that are made free from Sin and are become the Servants of God they have their Eruit unto Holiness and their end shall be Everlasting Life Rom. 6.23 Wouldst thou therefore know O Christian without deluding thy own Soul whether thou art one that hast a Right and Title unto Heaven call thy self to an account what thy Works and Actions are The matter is not so difficult to be resolved it may be as thou imaginest What says the Apostle Gal. 6.7 8. He that soweth unto the Flesh shall of the Flest reap Corruption And he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap Life Everlasting And the same Apostle tells us Rom. 8.13 If we live after the Flesh we shall die but if we through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the Body we shall live What now is thy way and course what is thy general carriage and practice is it earthly and vain is it sensual and wicked according to the course of the World and after the manner of the men of the World If vain and sinful Society be thy delightful Companions if wicked and ungodly ways be thy daily practice thou art not of an Heavenly Extraction nor canst thou upon Scripture grounds have any expectations of the Heavenly Glory for unto such only doth it belong who by their lives and actions declare their opposition of and contrariety unto the ways and courses of the men of this World Shew me thy Faith by thy Works says the Apostle James 2 18. Thou art one that professest to believe a Heaven and a State of blessedness to be enjoyed there and hopest thou art one that shalt be a partaker thereof hereafter shew me now thy Faith herein by thy Works and assure thy self of this That all thy Faith in and all thy Hopes of Heaven and Glory will fill thee with nothing but shame and disappointment hereafter unless they evidence themselves by Works and Actions suitable thereunto for as the Apostle says James 2.26 As the body without the Spirit is dead so all Faith in and Hope of Heaven without Works and Actions corresponding thereunto is dead also and will leave the Soul short of Heaven and Happiness Sixthly Is there such a State of Bliss and Happiness provided for and assured unto Believers in Heaven hereafter let then the consideration hereof Reconcile to them the thoughts of their own Death and moderate their sorrows for the Death of their Godly Friends and Relations First Let the consideration of the Glory and Happiness of Heaven Reconcile to a Believer the thoughts of his own Death It is no strange thing that Heathens who have only the Light of Nature to be their Instructor should not be able to overcome the Fears of Death though indeed some of them have not only expressed great Courage in contempt of but great confidence in and desire after Death though notwithstanding all their boasting we may well imagine that they speak greater things than they lived up unto much more than they died under for it is said of one of the chief of them that Eloquent Orator Cicero that a little before his Death he did ingeniously confess That those Remedies he had prepared against this Enemy Death proved he knew not how too weak and feeble to support and strengthen him in its near approach unto him And indeed it is no wonder that thus it should be with them because they were greatly in the dark as to the reality of a future State of Happiness and much more at a loss how to find the right way to attain the enjoyment thereof Nor is it any strange thing to see a wicked Man under the light of the Gospel to be afraid of Death and to lead a Life accompanied with Fears and Terrours under the thoughts of it no the wonder rather is that such a one can have any case and quietness any freedom from horrours and perplexities of Mind that he is not a Magormissabib continually every moment of his Life encompassed about with fears and terrours And indeed did he rightly understand himself and his dangerous state and condition it would be thus always with him and the greatness of his Fears and Horrours would make him go mourning all his Days But though Heathens and prophane Sinners may and have cause to be afraid of Death yet it becomes not any of the People of God who have a well grounded Hope of Heaven to be affrighted at it there being no way for them to attain unto that State of Blessedness but by Dying I have read concerning the Turks who are not only Strangers but Enemies to the Christian Religion that they say they do not think Heaven to be a place of that Bliss and Happiness as Christians do profess to believe it is because they see so many that call themselves by the Name of Christian so backward and unwilling to go to it O what a disgrace is this unto Christianity and how should it concern Christians to labour with great industry to overcome all inordinate fears of Death that they may wipe off this reproach that is cast upon the most excellent Religion in the World and that which only can enable any to Die comfortably and joyfully upon the Hopes of a future State of Happiness All a Believer's fears of
and a part of the Happiness thereof as every thing that the heart of Man can desire or imagine that is truly excellent doth make up the Happiness of that blessed State But that which chiefly constitutes Heaven is Holiness there is a holy God there is a holy Place there is holy Company and Society yea every thing that is holy and nothing but what is holy There it is that holy Souls shall be for ever united to a holy God by a continual fervour of holy Love there it is that they shall always holily depend upon God by holy and heavenly Acts of Faith and Hope There it is that they shall eternally obey God with a holy Joy and Delight and all this with the same holy Love Faith Hope and Joy which they did put forth towards God here upon Earth only in Heaven these Graces shall be advanced and exalted above all those Imperfections and Frailties that in this Life did attend them This now is the Glory of Heaven and indeed what greater Glory can there be than this Holiness being the Glory of God himself Thus Moses stiles God in his triumphant Song Exod. 15.11 Where he tells us though he be a God that is fearful in Praises and infinite in Power yet that wherein he is most glorious is his Holiness Who is a God like unto thee O Lord amongst the Gods Who is like unto thee glorious in Holiness fearful in Praises doing Wonders And what is the Glory of the Saints in Heaven but only a Reflexion of the Glory of God cast upon them Now as God is in an especial manner glorious in his Holiness so are they glorious in their Holiness And what then will become of all the hopes of wicked and profane Sinners whose Hearts are full of Hatred and Malice not only against those that are holy but against Holiness it self witness their impious and profane scoffing at Holiness their persecuting all those that make a stricter Profession of it than themselves What a strange kind of Heaven do these Men hope for and how miserably do they deceive themselves for if Grace and Glory if Holiness and Heaven be one and the same thing as they are then certainly all the hopes of such wretched Sinners are built upon a rotten Foundation For how can they that hate and persecute a little Holiness in a Saint on Earth where it is mingled with much Sin and Corruption take delight in Heaven where there are greater measures and degrees of Grace and Holiness than all the Saints that ever lived here upon Earth did or could attain to in this World yea where there is nothing else but Grace and Holiness In vain O Sinner dost thou wish or hope for a Heaven where there is nothing but Ease and Pleasure a Place where thou may'st be above all thy Cares and Fears where thou may'st enjoy a constant Freedom from all thy Pains and Distresses that now afflict and torment thee such a Heaven as this is impossible God never made any such nor canst thou in reason expect it but contrarywise know thou must to thy Terror and Amazement that the great God hath joyned sin and the curse so close together that Heaven it self would be no Sanctuary to secure thee either from the stinging Horrors of an Evil and now too late awakened and accusing Conscience nor from the ghasty and tormenting Fears of Wrath and Hell if sin and guilt should enter with thee into that Holy Place Secondly Holiness is a necessary Qualification for Heaven because without it there is no suitableness between us and Heaven All true Pleasure and Delight is caused from the suitableness that there is between the Object and the Power or Faculty in man that receives it It is therefore a pleasant thing for the Eyes to behold the Light and so is it also for the Ears to hear melodious sounds because these Objects are suited unto those Sences which otherwise would not be delightful to them as we see in those that are Blind and Deaf the one takes no Pleasure in the Light nor the other in Musick And so it is with us in reference unto Heaven there is nothing there would be Pleasant and Delightful to us did not God before hand prepare and suit our Souls by his Grace unto that Glory that shall there be revealed to us Hence we find the Apostle Col. 1.12 Giving thanks unto God who by a work of Sanctification had made them meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light To illustrate this a little further there is a two fold unsuitableness between every wicked man and Heaven he is unsuitable to the work of Heaven and he is unsuitable to the Reward of Heaven both which are Holy First Every wicked man is unsuitable to the work of Heaven What shall be the work of Holy Souls in Heaven but to admire and adore to Bless and Praise and with Pleasure and Delight to Love and Serve God for ever This is that joyful work wherein Saints and Angles shall spend an Eternity in And canst thou O Prophane Sinner who hast all thy life time accustomed thy self to wallow in sin and uncleanness impose such a cheat upon thy Soul as to think thou shalt be able to croud into the number of that Holy and Blessed Company in Heaven and there joyn with them in those Holy and Blessed Works that will be the Delight of those Holy ones to all Eternity If Sanctification and Holiness be the only Qualification that manifests any do belong to that Holy Place What shall we then say unto all wicked and prophane sinners who not only take no Delight in the practice of Holiness but unto whom the thoughts of it are grievous and burthensome who are so far from keeping up in their minds constant Meditations of Holy things accompanied with strong and lively affections towards them that they know no Task or Burthen so heavy upon them nor so affictive to them nor that they undertake so unwillingly as the Duties of Holiness and Obedience Oh what a trouble to them is it sometimes to be drawn though but to the external performance of Holy Duties witness their so seldom engaging in them with their so slight and careless management of them If I should now enquire what is the reason of all this why truly that which lies at the bottom of all is an unholy Heart an unsanctified Nature and what would such as these do in Heaven would not that Holy place be a Hell rather than a Heaven to them a place of Torment rather than a place of Happiness it being that place where Saints and Angels spend an Eternity in the most Holy fixed Contemplations and most ardent Love of God And surely they that cannot bear the weak and imperfect Holiness of the People of God here without railing at it as a piece of unnecessary and peevish preciseness will never be able to bear that perfect spotless Holiness that is in Heaven In
THE GLORY and HAPPINESS OF THE SAINTS IN HEAVEN OR A DISCOURSE Concerning the Blessed State of the Righteous after Death By Nathanael Ranew late of London Bookseller London Printed for N. R. and sold by J. Robinson A. and J. Churchill J. Taylor and J. Wyat. 1694. TO THE READER Christian Reader I Dare not suppose thee in an Age of somuch Light and Knowledge to be ignorant of a future State and Condition that doth abide thee and all Men after this Life for this were to conceive of the contrary not only to the sentiments of all Christians but even of Heathens themselves Neither can I think any to be so far blinded and hardned as to believe that this State which shall befall all Men after Death to be the same unto all Persons whether they be good or bad for though the Wise Man tells us in Eccles 9.1 2. That in this Life All things come alike unto all Men and there is one event to the Righteous and to the Wicked to the Clean and to the Vnclean So that in the way of God's common Providential dealings with Men in this World no Man knoweth Love or Hatred by all that is before them Yet when Death and Judgment come a discriminating Sentence shall pass upon all Men According to what they have done in the Body whether it be good or bad And then as the Apostle speaks All those who have not obeyed the Truth but have lived in Sin and Vnrighteousness shall receive Indignation and Wrath Tribulation and Anguish upon every Soul of Man that hath thus done Evil But to them who by patient continuance in well-doing have sought for Glory and Honour and Immortality shall be Eternal Life And of this none that live under the Light of the Gospel can be ignorant Now as to the former of these that State of Woe and Misery that is to be the Portion of Sinners in Hell it is not my design in the following Discourse to say any thing Having confined my Thoughts and Meditations therein unto the latter and that is that State of Bliss and Happiness that shall be the Portion of Holy Souls in Heaven All Men now will say they desire and seek after happiness but few there are that attain thereunto not that there is no such Thing or State attainable for Holiness always lays a sure Foundation for Happiness But Man being fallen from God and sunk into the Creature cannot without the help of Divine Grace raise up his Soul his Affections and Desires towards God towards Heaven and Heavenly things but takes up with what is suitable to his Earthly and Fleshly part and so the World and the Enjoyments thereof being adapted to the Inclinations of his present State and Condition here below accordingly with the greatest eagerness he pursues the Riches the Honours the Pleasures and Delights of this World as those things which when attained he vainly fansies will make him truly Happy but when he comes to enjoy them meets with Frustration and Disappointment All Men being forced sooner or later to subscribe unto what the Wisest of Men faith as a great Truth concerning all things under the Sun that they are but Vanity and Vexation of Spirit Wouldst thou not Christian Reader when thou comest to die be eternally deceived in thy Hopes and Expectations of Happiness Let not the World and the Enjoyments thereof take up thy Thoughts and Affections now God hath provided the good things thereof and by his Care and Providence brings them to thee daily for thy use that with this Gracious and Liberal Allowance of his thou mayest serve him with the greater Chearfulness and Delight of Soul in thy Passage through this World But he never intended thou shouldst take up with them as thy Happiness Believe it God hath provided better things for holy Souls in another World he intends himself to be their Portion his Heaven to be their Habitation and Dwelling place Angels Patriarchs Prophets Apostles to be their Associates and Companions where they shall live in the light of God's Countenance see his Face behold his Glory and be filled with his Love to all Eternity O blessed State of infinite Bliss and Happiness beyond what words is able to express Well may holy Souls with wonder and amazement cry out with the Apostle and say Eye hath not seen Ear hath not heard nor can it enter into the heart of Man to conceive what God hath provided for them that Love him And why mayest not thou who now castest thine Eyes upon these lines make one of that great number of holy Souls that shall be thus Eternally Happy and Blessed God hath not Excluded thee out of Heaven and why shouldest thou exclude and shut out thy self God is now displaying before thee the Excellencies and Glory of that Blessed State and wherefore doth he do so but to invite and draw Sinners to come and partake of this Happiness not that God needs us or any thing that we can do for he is as Happy without us as he can possibly be with us But we need him and cannot be happy without him Now therefore since he is pleased to continue the offers of such rich Grace and Mercy let none be found slighters and contemners thereof Disappoint not O Sinners the design of God in seeking to bring Souls to Heaven Frustrate not your own Expectations of Bliss and Happiness Make not your selves Eternally miserable by choosing any sinful course or walking in any allowed way of Wickedness Nor yet provoke God by any sinful delays or any sluggish and lazy desires and endeavours in seeking to obtain this Everlasting Happiness to deal with you as obstinate despisers and contemners thereof and swear in his Wrath that you shall never enter into his Rest If God may be Glorified and Souls receive benefit hereby unto Eternal Life the Author hath the desire of his Soul and an abundant Reward for what he hath done in the ensuing Discourse and that a Blessing from Heaven may make is thus Successful unto all that shall read it is and shall be the Prayer of the Publisher The CONTENTS CHAP. I. AN Introduction A State of Future Glory and Happiness proved What it is that makes the Happiness of Heaven so Excellent and Glorious with a short and brief Description thereof CHAP. II. A more particular Consideration of the Happiness of Heaven Of the Company and Society Believers shall enjoy in Heaven As 1. Communion with all the People of God 2. Communion with Angels 3. Enjoyment of Jesus Christ their Redeemer 4. Sight and Fruition of God What kind of Sight or Vision of God Saints shall have in Heaven Which shall be 1. Immediate and Clear 2. Transforming 3. Joyful 4. Permanent and Perpetual This Sight and Vision of God in Heaven will be a great Happiness because God is 1. An Vniversal Good 2. A Pure and unmixed Good 3. A Suitable Good 4. An All-sufficient Good 5. A Satisfying Good 6. An Everlasting Good
and Glory exalted in our Nature at the Right Hand of God through whose meritorious Undertakings we come to be presented unto God and to stand in his Presence with Confidence and Joy as having neither spot nor wrinkle nor any such thing There are the glorious Angels the Cherubims and Seraphims with all the glorified Saints and Servants of God that have lived in all Ages of the World as Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles who are always standing round about the Throne of God crying Alleiuja Praise Honour and Glory unto him that sitteth upon the Throne and to the Lamb for evermore In Heaven there is not only a perfect freedom from all Sin but from all Inclinations yea from all Temptations thereunto Grace and Holiness are there in their Fulness in their Perfection and Glory There it is that this corruptible shall put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on Immortality There it is that these vile Bodies of ours shall be made like unto the glorious Body of Jesus Christ There it is that these Souls of ours shall be enlarged in their utmost Capacities and Desires and yet filled and satisfied to the utmost also There it is that there is fulness of Joy excellency of Glory with an Eternity of Enjoyment of both This now is the Building of God that House not made with hands eternal in the Heavens 2 Cor. 5.1 This is that Kingdom that is to be inherited by the People of God prepared for them from the foundation of the World Matth. 25.46 This is that City that hath Foundations whose Builder and Maker is God Heb. 11.10 The Streets whereof are paved with Gold and the Gates whereof are Pearl Rev. 21.21 In which there is no Temple for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it Where there is no more Night no more Candle nor any need of the Sun or of the Moon to shine in it for the Lord God giveth them Light and they shall reign for ever and ever Rev. 22.5 This now is Heaven and much more than all this for when we have spent all our Days and Time in Hearing in Reading in Discoursing in Meditating upon Heaven and upon nothing else yet after we have done all we can said all we can thought all we can yet can we never set forth the Thousandth Part of that Happiness that is to be enjoyed in Heaven for it is that which is beyond expression beyond imagination but blessed be God it is not beyond enjoyment for the having and possessing of these things in their Fulness in their Perfection and in their Perpetuity is that which as it makes the Happiness of Heaven so excellent and glorious so doth it make it also so desirable to be enjoyed CHAP. II. A more particular Consideration of the Happiness of Heaven Of the Company and Society Believers shall enjoy in Heaven as 1. Communion with all the People of God 2. Communion with Angels 3. Enjoyment of Jesus Christ their Redeemer 4. Sight and Fruition of God What kind of Sight or Vision of God Saints shall have in Heaven Which shall be 1. Immediate and clear 2. Transforming 3. Joyful 4. Permanent and perpetual This Sight and Vision of God in Heaven will be a great Happiness because God is 1. An Vniversal Good 2. A Pure and Vnmixed Good 3. A Suitable Good 4 An All sufficient Good 5. A Satisfying Good 6. An Everlasting Good HAving in the Conclusion of the Former Chapter laid down a brief Description of Heaven and the Happiness thereof I now come to a more particular distinct handling of the several Branches of it Now here the First Thing that I shall instance in as a Part of that Happiness is the Company and Society that the Saints shall eternally enjoy in Heaven Which is comprehended in these Four Particulars Fellowship with all the Saints Communion with Angels The Sight of Jesus Christ as our Blessed and Glorious Redeemer And the eternal Vision and Enjoyment of God himself First The Happiness of Believers in Heaven consists in their Fellowship and Society with the Saints and People of God that have lived in all Ages of the World The Communion of Saints and the great Delight the People of God have taken therein is that we often read of in Scripture Holy David speaks of it with great pleasure Psal 42.4 I went says he to the House of God with the voice of Joy and Praise But why so it was says he with a Multitude that kept Holy-Day Such Society were the Delight of his Soul Psal 16.3 But to the Saints the excellent ones of the Earth in whom is all my Delight O how rejoycingly doth his Soul speak when such Company came unto him I was glad when they said unto me Come let us go up unto the House of the Lord Psal 122.1 It is true David's greatest Delight was in God and in the enjoyment of him and therefore says he I will go unto God my exceeding Joy and Chear Psal 42.4 But next unto God the People of God and Communion with them were those he most esteemed And therefore though his going to the House of God was chiefly to meet with God whom his Soul did most pant and breath after yet was it no small matter of Joy to him that he went to the House of God in such Company And if the People of God now be accounted by a Godly man to be such delightful Company here on Earth whilst Sin as well as Grace is in them in conjunction O how delightful will their Company be in Heaven when they shall be free from all Sin and Corruption having nothing but Grace in them in Perfection Here on Earth the Communion of Saints is sweet and desirable though mixed with Communion with the World so that while we have Fellowship with them we are to have Fellowship with Sinners at the same time and indeed there is no Society so pure and holy but there are and will be a Number of unholy ones among them To be full of Holiness our selves and to have none but holy ones in our company is a desirable thing on Earth but enjoyed only in Heaven Here the Chaff and the Wheat must grow together All that are now called by the Name of the Lord are not all holy but Saints and Sinners dwell together in the same House sit together at the same Table lie together in the same Bed yea eat both of the same Spiritual Meat and drink the same Spiritual Drink enjoy the same Ordinances partake of the same Sacrament even the Body and Blood of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ So that the People of God though they have Communion one with another yet have they Fellowship with Sinners also And this will always be the state of the People of God while they are here But now in Heaven Believers shall have Communion with the Saints and Servants of God and with none but them for all Sinners shall be eternally excluded out
for Flesh and Blood that ever was born in respect whereof he might well be said to be fairer than the Children of Men and therefore the sight of him daily among the common People with whom he lived was no small Priviledge but much greater was the Happiness of his Disciples who had constant converse with him being those he made choice of to make known himself unto declaring to them the things relating to himself and to their Salvation and Happiness through him in respect whereof our Lord calls them Blessed in Mat. 13.16 17. Blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear for verily I say unto you many Prophets and Righteous Men have desired to see the things that you see and to hear the things that you hear and have not seen nor heard them Yea even then when his Visage was marred more than any man's and there seem'd to be no Form nor Comliness in him so that as to outward appearance there was no reason why any should desire him yet was he then most lovely and beautiful And was the Sight of him so glorious and so desirable when he was on Earth and came with Sin upon him that is imputed to him O how glorious will the Sight of him be in Heaven when he shall appear without Sin The Scripture gives us an Account of two great Desires the Blessed Apostle St. Paul had upon which his Soul was much set the one was in reference unto this World and the other in reference to the World to come but the Object of both was Jesus Christ That which he desires in this World was to know Christ and him crucified That which he desires in reference to the world to come was to see Christ glorified Concerning his knowledge of Christ crucified we read in 1 Cor. 2.2 I determined says he to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and him crucified And in comparison of this knowledge of Christ all other things were but as Dung and Dross unto him so himself tells us in Phil. 3 8. And concerning his knowledge of Christ glorified we read in Phil. 1.23 I desire says he to be dissolved and to be with Christ And concerning this knowledge of Christ which comprehends Enjoyment also he tells us in the following Words that it was best of all Whatever Sight the People of God have of Christ in this World though in it self it be very sweet and that which is more desirable than all the Pleasures and Delights that the World can afford yet is it but imperfect and a small thing compared to that Sight and Enjoyment of Christ which God intends his People in Heaven when their Graces shall be full and perfect and their Souls fully and compleatly like unto him whom they shall behold not as once he was the Object of the Scorn and Contempt of the World not as one beholding to others for a supply of his Wants and Necessities not as dying crucified and rejected but Jesus the lively and express Image of his Father and the brightness of his Glory Jesus the Lord of Life and King of Glory accompanied with Thousands and Millions of Angels all of them at his Command and yet at the same time not disdaining ut graciously smiling upon all the Saints in general and upon every Saint in particular who shall equally behold the blessed Face of him who did suffer so great and wonderful things to obtain that eternal Life and Happiness for them into which they are now instated and shall be possessors of in his glorious Presence to all eternity When holy Job that Man of Sorrows and Troubles for as there was none like him for Patience so was there none like him for suffering of Affliction How heavy was the Hand of God upon him both in Soul and Body How did Satan worry and torment him His Friends and Relations who should as might well be expected have pitied and compassionated his sad Condition censure him for a Hypocrite in Job 19. from ver 1. to 22 Now under all his Sorrows and Sufferings what was that which supported him Why it was the consideration of a time that was coming when he should have a Glorious Sight of his blessed Redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ and it is wonderful to read in what Triumphant Expressions he discovered his Faith and Hope herein Job 19 from ver 23. to 27. of that Chapter O that my words were now written Oh that they were printed in a Book that they were graven with an Iron Pen and Lead in the Rock for ever I know says he that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth And though after my Skin Worms shall destroy this my Body yet in my Flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my self and mine Eyes shall behold and not another for me though my Reins be consumed within me As if he had said though by this Affliction that now lies upon me I should die as die I must one time or other yet I do not nor will not give up all for lost I am not an undone man hereby for I have Faith and Hope in a Blessed and Glorious Redeemer left me still not as in one who may possibly come for my Redemption and Salvation but as in one whom I am sure will come For I know that my Redemer lives and that he shall stand upon the Earth that in my Flesh I shall see God that mine Eyes shall see him and that I shall see him for my self that is so see him as to be made happy in the eternal Enjoyment of him And this doubtless was that which this holy Man's Faith had an Eye unto and was the Support of his Soul under his present Sufferings Now that this Sight of Christ will add much to a Believer's Happiness in Heaven is not to be questioned for the beholding of Christ in Heaven is doubtless the most Glorious Object the Saints can look upon next to the Beatifical Vision it self for as the Apostle speaks Col. 2.19 In him that is in Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily And how can they but rejoyce when they behold him who was wounded for their Transgressions who was bruised for their Iniquities who laid down his Life for their sakes and shed his Blood a Ransom for their Souls and a Propitiation for their Sins And that they should not lie eternally under the Wrath of God in Hell did himself suffer willingly under the Wrath of God what was equivalent to an eternity of Sufferings for their sakes Certainly therefore when the Saints in Heaven shall look upon the blessed Lord Jesus Christ and be able to say upon certain evidence as then they will that this was he by whose wounds they were healed that this was he that once had a Crown of Thorns platted upon his Head that they might now wear a Crown of Glory that this was he that once died for their sins but
most beautiful Persons or Objects in the World yet is there no transforming Power coming from them to work any alteration in the Complexion of the Beholder rendering him the more beautiful by the sight of those Persons or Objects He may carry away an Idea of the Beauty and Comliness of those Persons or Objects that he hath beheld in his Mind which may delight his Fancy in the thoughts of them but there is no Alteration made in him but the same Deformities and Blemishes remain still notwithstanding But it is otherwise in Heaven the Sight of the Glorious and Holy God makes the Saints that behold him to become like unto him in Holiness and Glory for so are the Words of the Beloved Apostle who lay in the Bosom of Christ 1 John 3.2 We shall be like unto him that is unto God and the Ground or Reason of it follows in the next Words for we shall see him as he is It is true the People of God are like unto him while they are in this World but their Likeness to God here and their Likeness to him in Heaven greatly differ The Likeness that the People of God have unto God in this Life is both an imperfect Likeness and a growing Likeness neither of which are the People of God capable of in Heaven First The Likeness they have to God here is an imperfect Likeness In some things they are like unto God and in other things they are not Wherein they are like unto God they are comely but wherein they are like unto the World they are deformed and therefore uncomely It was the Complaint of the Church whom Christ called his Love and his Fair One that she was comely but yet she was black also Cant. 1.5 I am black but comely She was comely with Grace and there was her Likeness unto Christ and that made her so lovely But yet she was black with Sin and there was her Imperfection and Deformity And hence it is that we read Cant. 6.10 That the Church is said to look forth as the Morning fair as the Moon now the Moon though she be one of the great Luminaries of Heaven yet hath she her Spots and the Morning-Light is but small and imperfect unto a Noon-Day-Brightness and therefore it increaseth more and more unto the perfect Day Thus it is with the best of God's People here Grace gives them a Likeness unto God but with the Moon they have their Spots Sin and Corruption still remaining in them while they are in this World But now the Saints Likeness to God in Heaven by the Vision they have of him there it is such a Likeness as excludes all Sin and all Imperfection They are so like unto God that they are nothing but what he is not as to his Being and Essence for that is incommunicable but in Grace and Holiness and so according to their Capacities they partake of the Divine Nature it self And Oh what a blessed State will this be when we shall have nothing in us but what we partake of from God and wherein we shall be in every thing like unto him Secondly That Likeness the People of God have unto God here is a growing Likeness That Grace and Holiness Believers have in this Life wherein consists their Likeness unto God it is always growing and increasing in them Hence the Apostle tells us That the state of Christians here is like unto new-born Babes who are always desirous of the breast for their Nourishment and Growth 1 Pet. 2.2 As New-born Babes that desire the sincere Milk of the Word that we may grow thereby No Saint or Servant of God ever attained to that degree of Grace and Holiness here but still there was something lacking in his Faith something defective in his Love something wanting in his Patience something that might be added to his Heavenly-mindedness to his Meekness to his Humility and to all his other Graces Hence therefore it is that the People of God are so often commanded to add to their spiritual stature to encrease with the Encreases of God to grow in Grace and in the saving knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ And to explain this Truth no farther that of the Apostle is full to this purpose 2 Cor. 3.18 We all with open Face beholding as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from Glory unto Glory That is from one degree and measure of Grace and Holiness unto another Believers are now like unto God but this Likeness is Imperfect and therefore while they are here they are still growing into a greater Conformity unto him But now in Heaven Grace in the Saints is in its Perfection Heaven is a Place where the Spirits of just Men are made perfect Holiness is the Advancement the Elevation of the Soul a higher pitch of Glory and Excellency it is not capable of for Holiness is the Glory of God himself and therefore though God is said to be Infinite in regard of his Wisdom Almighty in regard of his Power yet is he only said to be Glorious in regard of his Holiness So we read Exod. 15.11 Who is a God like unto thee glorious in Holiness Now in Heaven the Saints Holiness shall be in the highest degree in the greatest eminency and perfection and because herein they shall be like unto God they also shall be glorious in Holiness for they shall then have as much of Grace and Holiness as they can desire or as God would have them to have for when that which is perfect is come that which is imperfect shall be done away And O what a blessed state will that be when the Saints shall have nothing in them that is weak and imperfect nor nothing that is wanting or defective but shall be for ever like unto God himself perfect in Grace and Holiness Thirdly The Saints Sight and Vision of God in Heaven will be happy and joyful A Believer is the only happy Person in all the World his Life is a Life of continual Joy either he doth or he may always rejoyce He hath always the Presence of God with him he hath always the Love of God towards him he hath always the Hopes shall I say nay he hath the Assurance of Heaven and Glory in the Promise continually set before him And who may rejoyce if he may not He hath the Great the Almighty God for his Shield and Protection here and to be his exceeding great reward hereafter And shall not such a one rejoyce Is not here cause of Joy O how happy is the Person that is in such a case as this Such are commanded to rejoyce evermore 1 Thes 5.17 Nay in the most afflicted state and condition such have cause of Rejoycing I am says the Apostle exceeding joyful in all our Tribulations And says our Blessed Lord Matth. 5.11 12. Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and speak all manner of evil against you falsly
themselves and very disquieting unto others Now as to the Temptations that most afflict the People of God in this Life they are such as either come from the World and the Flesh or such as come from the Devil As for those Temptations that come from the World and the Flesh as their Numbers cannot be expressed so their Burthen cannot be born without the Assistance of Divine Grace While we are in this World we walk in the midst of Snares Temptations lie in wait for us in all our Ways attend us in all our Enjoyments follow us into all Societies keep us company in all our Solitarinesses we can scarce cast our Eyes any where but we are in danger by something or other to be drawn away from God Every Condition every Place every Duty every Mercy and every Relation administer matter for a Temptation When we behold those that are much above us then a Temptation to Envy assaults us When we behold those that are low in the World and much our Inferiours then a Temptation to Scorn and Contempt presents its self to us Hath God bless'd us in the World that we grow rich and become Men of great Estates how strong and almost invincible are our Temptations to be proud and to forget yea to deny God If God lay us low in the World O how hard is it to be Poor and not to be Discontented nor to make use of unlawful means for our Relief rather than to wait patiently God's time for the Supply of our Necessities When we are in our Health and Strength O how stupid how careless are we as to the Concerns of our Souls How few Thoughts have we of and how little Preparation do we make for our Eternal State If God deprive us of our Health and Strength and by Sickness warns us that Death is making haste towards us then the sudden Approach of that King of Terrors distracts us with such Fears and Horrors as overwhelms and sinks us into Despair so that we give up all for lost But now when by Death a Saint comes to take his leave of this World in his flight towards Heaven his Soul is escaped out of all these Dangers and Temptations all these Snares are then broken in pieces for ever For whither he is gone none of them can come after him In Heaven there 's nothing but what tends to the advancing of our Joy and the promoting our Eternal Happiness And as in Heaven Saints shall be free from the Temptations of the World so shall they be free from the Temptations of Satan the grand Enemy of their Souls and the continual Disturber of their Peace The Apostle tells us he is always going up and doum like a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour 1 Pet. 5 8. And because he cannot destroy the People of God nor hinder them from Heaven hereafter therefore he will do what he can to disturb and disquiet them here And Oh how doth it make a godly Man inwardly to figh and mourn that he can never set about any thing that is good but the Evil One is working against him with his Temptations either to dissuade him from doing of it or to disturb him in the doing of it filling his Mind not only with vain and foolish but with wicked and sinful thoughts that continually indispose to and distract him in it And if notwithstanding all this a godly Man will persevere and go through his Work till he hath finished what he is about then to find the Wicked One discouraging him after his Performance telling him that because of those Wandrings and Distractings which himself hath been the cause of in a great measure therefore God will not own nor accept what he hath done This certainly must needs be a great Disquietment to a gracious Heart And yet these are the daily Temptations and Discouragements that a godly Man is striving with and contending against by reason of that Evil One. This if any thing will bring a Saint upon his knees and make him with the Apostle to pray again and again yea to besiege Heaven day and night with Prayers and Tears that he may be delivered from that cruel and bloudy Hell-hound and from all his wicked Solicitations Well be patient O all ye Tempted holy Souls for though the Temptations you meet with be so black and horrid that nothing can match them but the Blackness of Hell it self from whence at first they came though you are at present engaged in a very unequal Match for what can Flesh and Blood do to contend with Principalities and Powers and Spiritual Wickednesses in high Places Yet remember stronger is he that is in you than he that is in the World And in this hour of your Temptation and Contest with the Powers of Darkness there are these Two Things among others that may comfort you the one is Let the Temptations be as black and dismal as Hell can make them yet if a godly Man yields not his consent to them they are none of his Sins nor shall they be charged upon him as such The other is this That the God of Peace will shortly tread Satan under his feet nay he himself shall shortly trample him under his own feet The Time is hastning apace and it cannot be long before Death will come in to thy relief and set thee beyond the reach of all his Temptations It is true while we are in the Wilderness of this World the Devil will never let us be quiet but will be continually casting his fiery darts at us following us with one Temptation after another and when at any time in the strength of our great Lord we have worsted him in one Temptation yet are we sure to be vexed by him in some other But yet be not discouraged O Believing Soul notwithstanding all the Assaults of this Evil One But maintain thy Conflict keep thy Ground yield not basely and cowardly unto any of his Temptations but continue to resist him stedfastly in the Faith for the Time of thy wrestling and contending with him cannot last longer than thy short and transitory Life and remember for thy Support that as now thou neither standest nor fightest in thine own strength but in the strength of another so certainly shalt thou in that strength overcome yea obtain an everlasting Conquest over all Satan's Temptations The Time of thy Death will be the Time of thy eternal Deliverance not only from all his Temptations but from all his Malice and Envy that put him upon those Temptations O what a Happiness will this be And O how greatly should a Believer long for the accomplishment of it for then shall the Devil be as unlikely to tempt as our Hearts to close with his Temptations and both alike impossible Thirdly In Heaven Saints shall enjoy a perfect Freedom from all Sin There is no Evil in the World the People of God complain of with greater Grief and Sorrow than they do of Sin this makes
you have continued waiting but a few days longes God will grant your Desires for when you come to Heaven whither Death will certainly and suddenly bring you Sin an unholy Heart and Nature shall never more afflict or trouble you for Sin that was here your Burthen to feel shall there be your Delight to be for ever without that impenitent unbelieving Heart those vain yea sinful Thoughts which were wont to lie down and rise up with you which did use to follow you to every Duty and accompany you in every Place and Service and which you could no more leave behind you when you went to Pray to Hear to Read or to Meditate than you could leave your selves behind you shall all be left behind you when you come to die they did and would keep you company while you lived but they shall not go one step with you beyond Death then you take your leave of them bidding an eternal Farewel to all Sin O my Soul when shall that blessed day come that thou shalt thus take thy leave of Sin never to wound thy Conscience never to defile thy Soul nor never to displease thy God thereby any more O what a blessed state will that be when Death shall send a godly Man to Heaven perfectly free from all Sin not only as to the Power of it but also as to the vexing and disquieting Presence of it where he shall spend ars Eternity in serving and praising of God without the least interruption imperfection or weariness of Soul for ever And doth not Death in this appear a Believer's great Friend in that what Prayers and Tears Sighs and Groans together with the assistance of the Spirit of God did gradually that is mortifie and destroy Sin that Death doth for a Believer at one blow perfectly freeing him from the Burthen and Being of Sin for ever Fourthly In Heaven the People of God shall arrive unto a Perfection of Grace and Holiness As all that the Saints have here is but mean compared to what they shall attain to hereafter so all that the Saints do here is but mean compared to what they shall be enabled to do hereafter Grace in a godly Man in this Life is in its minority and therefore the acting of Grace must needs be accordingly The Excellency and Beauty of a Saint lies inward in the hidden Man of the Heart or as the Psalmist speaks he is one that is all glorious within And because Grace in him is inward therefore its Excellency is not so visible and apparent Grace in a godly Man neither doth nor can shine forth in its Glory and Beauty here because Sin in him eclipses the splendor of its appearance The imperfection of Grace is discernable here but the Perfection and Beauty of Grace is neither known nor attainable here The highest degrees of Grace and Holiness that the best of God's People reach unto here comes infinitely short to what they shall attain to in Heaven It is true a little Grace in a Saint now makes him glorious in the eyes of those who have a Spirit of discerning to behold it in respect whereof the Saints are called the excellent ones of the Earth Psal 16.3 Now if the weakness and imperfection of Grace for that which the People of God attain to of Grace here it no more compared with what they shall attain to in Heaven if this weakness and imperfection of Grace be so excellent and glorious O how exceeding glorious will the perfection and beauty of Grace be hereafter How glorious have some of the Saints of God of old appeared when their Excellency hath chiefly appeared in the Oriency and sparkling Beauty but of some one particular Grace as for instance How glorious was Abraham for his Faith Moses for his meekness self-denial Nehemiah for his zeal for God and his Glory David for his Love to God and his Ordinances Job for his Patience S. Paul for his unwearied Industry and Laboriousness in the Work of God and the Service of Souls O how eminently glorious have the particular actings of these particular Graces in these Servants of God made them in all Ages insomuch that the Spirit of God hath thought good to record their Excellencies in the holy Scriptures and their Praise shall be in all the Churches of God to the end of the World Now if the Saints Eminency in some particular Graces have made them so glorious notwithstanding their Imperfections other ways how glorious and excellent will they appear when all that Grace and Holiness that shall accompany them to Heaven and is there necessary unto their Happiness that they may see and enjoy God to eternity shall be fully and compleatly perfected having nothing of the least allay of any spot or imperfection in their Graces or in their Persons to take off from the Beauty and Glory of the one or of the other for ever In Heaven Grace in a Saint is in its excellency and in its visibility there is Grace and nothing but Grace there is Grace and all Grace yea there is all Grace shining forth in its fulness and utmost perfection of Glory to eternity In this Life Grace in the People of God is never perfect in some things they are always defective in other things always wanting they are continually aiming at and going on unto Perfection though while they are here they do not attain unto it In the Work of Regeneration they are truly sanctified and made holy but it is in Heaven only that they are perfectly sanctified The Lord Jesus Christ now loves his Church and he hath abundantly manifested that he doth so in giving himself for it that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word as the Apostle speaks But he never presents it to himself a Glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle till he brings it to Heaven By a work of Sanctification he is now daily cleansing and purifying of it but the full Perfection and Beauty of Holiness is not put upon it till the Marriage between him and his Church be consummated in Glory Here in this Life there is much Imperfection in the Righteousness and Holiness of the Saints many Faults and Infirmities they have that others may censure and condemn and themselves ought to bewail and mourn for but in Heaven they shall be Faultless so saith the Apostle Jude 24. Whilst the Church is Militant upon Earth though she is black and hath her spots yet is she comely but when she comes to be Triumphant in Heaven then will she be as a beautiful Bride adorned with fulness and perfection of Grace and Holiness fitted and prepared for her Lord and Husband's Company Rev. 22.2 where every Saint shall behold and love the Blessed and Holy God and their dear Lord Jesus with a Love equal to Angels and Cherubims satiating and delighting their Souls in him with a Joy far exceeding the highest Joys that any of the People of God ever were
acquainted with here continually singing Praises and Hallelujahs unto the great God and to the Lamb that sits upon the Throne and be no more weary thereof than the Angels themselves are understanding perfectly the Will of God and readily obeying it without so much as one vain Thought passing thorough their Minds or one idle Word dropping from their Mouths or one wry Look in their Countenances to Eternity O what a blessed Frame is here What would not a Gracious Soul give or do that he could attain to it now How would he rejoice to find a connaturality or perfect suitableness and agreement in himself unto Divine and Heavenly Employments O how happy would he think himself were his heart always as holy as his work Unto this tend all his Duties and performances even unto the perfecting of him in Grace and Holiness it is for this that he so often fasts and prays it is for this that he so often hears reads and meditates upon the Word of God for this it is he so often partakes of the Supper of the Lord and is so frequent in the Communion of Saints even for the destroying of Sin and Corruption and the encreasing and perfecting of Grace in his Soul Oh how full of longing Desires is he after that Day and Time Oh how earnestly doth he cry when when will the shadows flee away when will Days and Nights be at an end when will Time be spent when shall the Curtains be drawn that he may not only look at but eternally possess that blessed Place where Sin shall be for ever excluded both out of him and it where Grace and Holiness shall be perfected in him and where he shall always behold it shining in its ravishing Beauty and Glory Well be of good Chear O all ye Holy and Gracious Souls whose Desires are thus bent for in Mount Sion there shall be both a Deliverance from Sin and a Perfection of Holiness In Heaven the Spirits of just Men are made perfect Let the Thoughts therefore of your perfect Holiness in Heaven support you against all your natural Infirmities and Failings here on Earth Yea let all those that have a real Love to Holiness and a Hatred unto Sin long for Heaven and be desirous to die that they may sin no more but be for ever perfect in Grace and Holiness Fifthly The Saints in Heaven shall be Partakers of Fulness of Joy Joy is the peculiar Privilege of a Saint None in all the World notwithstanding all their great Possessions have that Cause of rejoicing that a godly Man hath That which makes a wicked Man rejoice is something that delights his Senses something that pleaseth his Fancy all which is vain and vanishing But that which delights a Godly Man is that which is solid and substantial something within that reacheth the very Soul and Conscience and that is God reconciled to him in Jesus Christ evidenced to his Soul upon Scripture grounds followed with the Testimony of the blessed Spirit in his Conscience witnessing with his Spirit that he is among the number of the Children of God upon which follows the Love of God shed abroad in his Heart by the same Spirit filling him with that Joy and Peace by Believing that is unspeakable and glorious Now though this be the Privilege of a godly Man yet hath he not always the sense and feeling of this Joy but though he hath not always the Comfort of it yet hath he always the ground of this Joy for Light is always sown for the Righteous and Gladness for the Vpright in Heart Psalm 97.11 Though it doth not presently spring up and break sorth yet the Seed of it is there None in all the World do or might lead such a pleasant joyful Life as the People of God were it not their own Fault they giving way to the omission of some Duty or the commission of some Sin and this mars all their Joy It is true the Devil doth what he can to disquiet them and the Wicked of the World give them molestation and trouble sometimes they are tempted with the Allurements of Profit and Advantage and sometimes they are aw'd with Fears and Threatnings But if they would put forth their Grace into Exercise and by Prayer implore Divine Assistance they would be enabled not only to stand up against all the Enemies of their Peace but with a holy Joy and Triumph to vanquish and over come them This is that Life a godly Man might lead were he so watchful as he ought But Experience tells us it is not so for there are many Clouds of Discontent and Trouble that darken the Sun-shine of a Believer's Joy O the Complaints of past Sorrows O the Sense of present Evils and the Fears of worse for the future these in a great measure share our Lives among them But in Heaven it shall not be so there 's no Sorrow no Troubles no Evils no Dangers no nor so much as any Fears of them for all is Peace there 's nothing but Joy nothing but Pleasure and Sweetness Nor can it be otherwise with a godly Man in Heaven because that which was the Cause of all his Grief and Sorrow which is Sin is now perfectly taken away Now in the Joys of Heaven there are these four Properties they are pure they are spiritual they are full they are everlasting Joys First The Joys of a Saint in Heaven are pure Joys and pure they are in respect of the Object of them and in their being free from any Mixture First They are pure in respect of the Object of them The Joy of the Wicked is terminated upon some carnal Object His Joy is in the Flesh not in the Spirit When he rejoiceth it is among his wicked Companions his Delight is commonly in something that is sinful or sensual in Chambring and Wantonness or at best in Corn Wine and Oil. But now the Joy of a Saint is in God he now cries out with Holy David Psalm 73.25 Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee Thy Favour O Lord is Life and thy Loving Kindness is better than Life And with how much greater Joy and Delight doth a Saint say so of God and of the Enjoyment of him in Heaven It is true Saints in Heaven enjoy the Blessedness of Peace and Rest from all their former Troubles and Sorrows which they remember with Delight and Praise unto their Deliverer but though this eternal Peace and Rest be a great Blessing and that which passeth all Understanding yet is it the least part of the Saints Happiness in Heaven for their greatest Satisfaction and Contentment ariseth from the Joy and Delight which proceeds from beholding the Face of God in Heaven This is that which fills and satifies yea ravisheth the Soul of a Saint when enlarged to its utmost Capacity with that Joy and Delight that is unexpressibly great and glorious Secondly The Joys of Heaven are pure Joys in
expression what will be the Joy of the Beatifical Vision of God in Heaven If now the believing Soul doth so greatly rejoyce in hearing from its Lord and Saviour in preaching and reading of his Word wherein there are such secret Messages of Love sent down from Heaven unto it O what will be the Joy of such a Soul in seeing him and dwelling with him for ever It shall never be said unto the Saints in Heaven what our Lord said unto his Disciples Hitherto you have asked nothing ask and you shall receive that your Joy may be full No the Joys of the Blessed in Heaven are always perfect and full For how can it be otherwise when there is nothing in Heaven but what is Matter of Joy to the Saints They are there in their Father's House come to the Inheritance and Possession of Children in an everlasting glorious Kingdom where they continually behold the Face of God and of the Lamb. The Joys of Heaven far exceed not only all earthly Joys such as the Joy of Marriage the Joy of Harvest but the Joy of Ordinances the Joy of Faith yea the Joy of the Holy Ghost All these Joys are swallowed up in Heaven and are almost as no Joys compared with the Joys thereof for in that holy Place there is nothing to disturb or to diminish the Joys of the Saints for ever O why then do not the People of God more fetch their Joys and Delights from Heaven while they are here This if any thing should comfort their Hearts and support their Spirits under all the Troubles they meet with here for though this World he a Valley of Tears yet in Heaven there will be Fulness of Joy and Rivers of Pleasures of which they may drink as deep and take in as much as their Hearts can hold though enlarged to their utmost capacity Fourthly The Joys of Heaven are permanent and everlasting and this makes it full Consolation indeed When our Lord told his Disciples he was to leave them and to return to Heaven unto his Father their Hearts were filled with Sorrow thereupon what course now doth our Lord take to comfort them Why he tells them John 16.20 Their Sorrow should be turned into Joy But when was this to be Why it was when he should come again and receive them to himself Not that they were to be without comfort until then no for he tells them when he departed he would send the Comforter to them who was to continue with them while they continued in the World But the Fulness and Perfection of their Joy they were to wait for till they come to Heaven and then when he shall come for that end and purpose to receive them to himself their Hearts should rejoyce and their Joy no Man should take from them for at God's right hand there are Pleasures for evermore A Believer hath always cause of Rejoycing in God but by reason of many sharp Trials that God sees good to lay upon his People there are some sad interruptions of his Joy for a time The Joy that the People of God partake of in this Life is like the Joy of the Husbandman in time of Harvest which though it be great for the present yet is it soon over and if he expect to partake of any more of the same nature he must first be at the pains and trouble of a Seeds-time So after the People of God have had their Joys here they again sow in Tears before they receive another crop of Comfort It is in Heaven only that our Joy will be everlasting there is fulness of Joy without any mixture of Sorrow a continual Feast a Joy that is ever in fulness and perfection even as the Fruits are in time of Harvest A Believer shall never sow in Tears there but have a perpetual Joy without weariness because there shall continually arise infinite variety of fresh Delights in God which shall fill the Soul with a continual Festival of Joy for ever Sixthly In Heaven the Saints shall partake of excellent Glory and Honour Heaven is the Palace of the great King of Glory the Presence-Chamber where he unvails himself and manifests his Glory both to Saints and Angels and this indeed is the most glorious Sight in Heaven and that which makes Heaven to be the most glorious Place We read in Acts 6.15 That when Stephen stood before the Councel his Face did shine with an Angelical Brightness This was a glorious Sight to see the Face of a Man to shine as the Face of an Angel But this is nothing compared with that Glory with which the Saints shall shine when they shall stand before the great God of Heaven seeing him face to face The Scripture describing to us this part of the Saints Happiness in Heaven abounds with variety of Expressions that discover the Greatness and Excellency thereof Thus the Saints Glory there is set forth by the Glory of Kings at their Coronation and taking possession of their Kingdoms which is the greatest and highest of all worldly Glory Every Saint in Heaven is a Crowned King having taken possession of a glorious Kingdom prepared for them before the foundations of the world when also they receive a Crown of Glory that fadeth not away Sometimes it is described by the Glory of the Sun Thus our Lord tells us Matth. 13.43 The Righteous shall shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father Sometimes it is compared to the Glory of the Angels who as they excel in strength so do they also excel in Glory all the Princes of the Earth Hence we read the Saints in Heaven shall not only he like unto but equal with the Angels Luke 22.36 Sometimes also this Glory of the Saints is set forth by the Glory of Christ himself who is the Lord of Glory which is the highest pitch of Glory that can be Thus we read that when Christ shall come at the last Day to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in them that believe the Saints also shall then appear with him in Glory Col. 3.4 Shining gloriously by reason of his Glory that he will put upon them for then shall they be made like unto him for ever seeing him as he is so says the Apostle 1 John 3.12 Sometimes the Glory of Heaven is called a weight of Glory so we read 2 Cor. 4.17 An exceeding excessive eternal weight of Glory High Expressions setting forth the Glory of Heaven and almost to an Hyperbole but that Christ and Heaven can never be Hyperbolically expressed Sometimes again this glorious State of Believers is called Eternal Glory 2 Tim 2.10 That they may attain that Salvation that is in Christ with eternal Glory So 1 Pet. 5.10 The God of all Grace who hath called you to his eternal Glory Worldly Honour and Glory is transitory inconstant and vanishing The Fashion of the World passeth away 1 Cor. 7.31 And the Glory of Man says St. Peter is as the Flower of
perfect Lineaments of Christ will then be drawn upon it A weak and small measure of Grace which is the highest attainment that any Saint reacheth to here compared with what we shall do hereafter and is also the Image of Christ upon the Soul of a Believer yet even this imperfect Grace and Holiness makes the Soul to shine gloriously here how much more then shall Glory that is the Perfection of Grace and the perfecting of the Image of Christ upon the Soul make the Soul of a believer to exceed in Glory Not that the Saints in Heaven shall be continually receiving new additions to their Grace or Glory and so be made more and more like unto Christ by the Vision they shall there have of him No this is a Saint's Work and Employment here on Earth whilst he beholds Christ only by an eye of Faith in the Glass of Duties and Ordinances thus to be changed into his Image from Glory to Glory But this Sight of Christ shall vanish away in Heaven and the Saints shall have an immediate Vision of God and Christ and their Souls shall thereby be changed into an exact and perfect conformity unto the Image of Christ It shall not then be from Glory to Glory from one degree of Grace to another as it is now but Grace and Holiness in Heaven shall be always in them in its height and perfection The Souls of Believers upon their entrance into that Holy Place become perfectly and compleatly glorious having the perfection of Grace and Holiness in them without the least remainders of Sin and Corruption which in this World the holiest Persons are not totally free'd from But to speak a little more particularly concerning the Happiness of the Souls of Believers in Heaven and here First In Heaven the Vnderstandings of the Saints shall be enlarged Knowledge is a necessary Engredient unto the Soul's Happiness in Heaven and the more enlarged the Vnderstanding of a Saint is the greater is his Happiness An ignorant Soul cannot be a happy Soul neither on Earth nor in Heaven Ignorant Persons are look'd upon with pity and contempt That the Soul be without knowledge says the Wise Man is not nor cannot be good Prov. 19.2 Knowledge is a great Ornament in any Man but much more in a Christian It is a great Commendation to have an insight into the Secrets of Nature to be skill'd in Arts and Sciences to understand Logick Philosophy Metaphysicks and the like but the Excellency of Knowledge lies not in these things but in the knowledge of the Highest and Chief Good of all and that is God and Christ This the Scripture calls the Excellency of Knowledge So says the Apostle Philip. 3.9 I count all things but Loss and Dung for the Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord and John 17.2 This is Life eternal to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent This is excellent Knowledge indeed to know God to know the Lord Jesus Christ to understand the wonderful Work of Man's Redemption to be acquainted with the Mysteries of Divine Providence This is a knowledge wherein Angels may delightfully busie themselves in the contemplation of and not stoop below the Excellency and Dignity of their Natures Something of Light and Knowledge they have into these Objects now But alas it 's little we know of God of Christ of the Mysteries of Redemption and Providence to what shall be known in Heaven Some of these blessed Objects are far above out of our sight others are far above the reach of our Vnderstanding to comprehend the depth of those Mysteries of Wisdom Grace and Love that are contained in them But in Heaven our Capacities shall be enlarged to take in the Knowledge of these high and glorious Objects In Heaven God will take off the Vail from his Face that we may see him Face to Face and not only so but will strengthen us that we may be able to look upon and behold his Glory and Excellency which otherwise would astonish and confound us There shall we see the blessed Lord Jesus who for our sakes was for a little while made a little lower than the Angels crowned with Glory and Honour All the wonderful and astonishing Mysteries of our Redemption shall be there unfolded to us There it is that we shall see all the glorious Attributes of God Wisdom Justice Mercy Holiness Faithfulness and Truth sweetly reconciled and fully satisfied and contented in the contrivance of our Redemption by Jesus Christ There we shall with great satisfaction understand the deep and obscure Mysteries of Religion which here the most profound Scholars were never able fully to comprehend There shall the most dark and difficult Passages of that divine and heavenly Book the Scriptures be made clear and plain to our Understanding There it shall be given us to discern how exquisitely the several parts of Holy Writ were by the All wise and Fore seeing Author of them God fitted and adapted unto the several Times Places Persons and Occurrences for which they were intended chiefly to be used We shall then plainly see not only a Reconcileableness but a Friendship and perfect Harmony between those Sacred Texts in Holy Writ that seem'd most to jarr and be at greatest variance Yea there shall we discover not only the meaning of the most dark and obscure Passages of that Sacred Book but how fit it was that they should be so together with the infinite Wisdom of the great God that caused them to be written so obscurely There it is that those Riddles of Divine Providence shall be expounded and laid open before us which have made not only wicked Men to deny but tempted even good Men themselves sometimes to call in question the infinite and unerring Wisdom of the great God in his Government of the World when they behold wicked and ungodly Men to prosper grow rich and great having all their Hearts can wish whilst upright and righteous ones are continually exposed to Poverty Reproach and Contempt There shall we be fully convinced that all these seeming Irregularities are not only consistent with God's Justice and Goodness but are the wise productions of them And though the Belief hereof doth to wise and understanding Persons seem to be a piece of great Self-denial yet when we come to Heaven it will appear to be as highly rational as now we find it to be hard and difficult Man of himself is no fit Judge of the Providence of God at any time but especially not in this World because he cannot see the whole of his Providential Workings at once His Days as Job speaks are but as a shadow upon Earth and they fly away So that he can see but little of what God is doing But when we come to Heaven the whole Conduct of God's Providence in the Administration of Affairs in the World shall be laid open to our view Then shall all the Revolutions and Occurrences of Empires States
Families and particular Persons which peevish Men were wont here to find fault with be all disclosed and made appear to be so just and righteous yea so necessary and seasonable that those very things which here were a Temptation to us to deny God shall in Heaven prove a powerful Engagement for us to praise God And then shall we not so properly be satisfied with what his Providence hath brought about as ravished with the Wisdom and Beauty that we shall behold in it But in a more especial manner shall we be transported with Admiration and Gratitude when the great God shall vouchsafe to discover to each particular glorified Soul in Heaven the reasonableness of all his Dispensations towards them making visible to them not only how necessary and righteous but how merciful and gracious he was in bringing those very Afflictions upon them which they usually accounted severe Dispensations there being no Rod that ever God took into his hand to chastise them withal that ever came sooner fell heavier or abode longer upon them than the Occasion that extorted it from him did require it should And though sometimes their Expectations were disappointed yet was it always a happy Disappointment for them because intended by God to secure their Title unto far better things which now they enjoy than any they could hope for here And who is there that hath tasted the pleasurable and delightful Life that a Holy Soul leads whose Mind is frequently taken up in the Study and Contemplation of those two excellent Theams the Word of God and the Providence of God but must profess as a Great Noble and Learned Person doth both very ingeniously and piously also that though there be something of Difficulty in a studious employment of our Thoughts in the Contemplation of these things yet are they also so pleasing and inviting That to give you his own Words should Heaven says he afford me no greater Blessing than a clear accompt of the abstruse Mysteries of Divinity and Providence I should value the having my Vnderstanding gratified and enriched with Truths of so noble and precious a Nature enough to court Heaven at the rate of renouncing for it all those unmanly Sensualities and trifling Vanities for which inconsiderate Mortals are wont to forfeit that Interest their Saviour so dearly bought them in it But I must not dwell upon this part of the Soul's Happiness in Heaven though a most pleasing and delightful Subject Secondly In Heaven the Souls of Believers shall be perfected in Holiness Here the People of God are truly sanctified but not throughly Sanctified they are in every Part though but in part sanctified still there are the Relicks of Sin the Remains of the Old Man in them while they are here The Truth of Grace they have but not the Perfection of Grace An absolute State of Perfection is rather to be wished for than enjoyed in this Life The utmost that a godly Man can attain to here is not to commit great Sins nor to allow himself in little Sins when thorough daily Infirmity he doth commit them Now the People of God have the first Fruits of the Spirit but yet they have the remainders of the Old Man in them Now the Spirit of God helps them to mortifie Sin and to keep it under but it doth not enable them perfectly to destroy it as it shall be in Heaven Here the Righteous are delivered from the prevalency of their Corruptions for so is God's gracious Promise to his People that Sin shall not have Dominion over them and blessed be God for this But in Heaven they shall be for ever free'd from the presence of Sin There is a continual mortifying of Sin by Believers here on Earth but in Heaven Sin shall be totally abolished It is in a dying languishing Condition now but in Heaven it shall be dead for ever cease to be Perfection of Grace and Holiness is the aim and endeavour of every godly Man but it is not his attainment So the Apostle tells us concerning himself who doubtless had as great a measure of Grace as any have attained to since Phil. 3.12 13. Not as though I had already attained or were already perfect No says he I count not my self to have apprehended but this one thing I do for getting the things that are behind and reaching forth unto those things that are before I press forward towards the Mark for the prize of the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus This is all a godly Man can do here in the use of Means to strive and endeavour after Perfection of Grace though he cannot attain it But in Heaven no godly Man shall be defiled with any Sin or defective of any Grace no nor yet wanting in any measure or degree of Grace and Holiness as now he is The Spirits of just Men made perfect are there that is there is a Perfection of Grace and Holiness in Heaven that shall beautifie the Spirits of just Men when they come there In this World the People of God are partly carnal and partly spiritual partly holy and partly sinful But in Heaven they shall he perfectly holy and spiritual free'd from all sinful Mixtures no Dross with their Gold no Corruption mingling it self with their Holiness Their Vnderstandings shall be perfectly holy without the least Cloud or Mist of Ignorance or Error to darken or sully them That Glorious Sun of Righteousness whom they shall always behold in Heaven shall for ever scatter all Clouds and Darkness quite away Their Thoughts shall all be holy no blasphemous unclean or envious Thoughts shall ever arise in their Souls no nor the least Vanity or Impertinency pass through their Minds to Eternity but all shall be holy being brought into a perfect Obedience unto the Lord Jesus Christ Their Memories shall there be holy being strengthned to retain and bring forth out of their Treasuries whatever things may tend to feed and increase their Love and Joy and to elevate their Souls in the high Praises of God Their Wills shall then be perfectly holy for there shall they obtain that which they so often pray'd for on Earth namely that the Will of God may be done by them as the Angels do it in Heaven O what a delightful Harmony will there then be for ever between their Wills and the Will of God! Then shall they always have a perfect compliance in them with that sweet and blessed Law that they shall then be under without the least contrariety or opposition Never more shall they have any motion or inclination in them to that which is evil for ever Thirdly Another thing wherein the Happiness of the Saints in Heaven as to their Souls doth consist is the Regularity of their Affections which shall all be set right for and continually drawn out after God by an unalterable Regularity There the Saints shall in their Hearts and Souls constantly and perpetually cleave unto God having always their Love and Delight in him
what it is to have this God to be our God and truly no more are we able to tell what it is to have the Heaven of God to be ours and as God himself so the Heaven in which God dwells both which shall be the Reward of the Saints hereafter by reason of their infinite Greatness and Glory are better known to us by what they are not than by what they are and we may best conceive of that Recompence of Reward that the Saints shall partake of in Heaven when we are told there is nothing there that may affright or afflict us nothing that may grieve molest or trouble us but an everlasting Enjoyment of the highest and sweetest Delight and Satistaction that the now but much more then vast and capacious Soul of Man can receive desire or in agine Art thou now O Soul oppressed with the grievous and intolerable burthen of thy Sins those daily though also unavoidable Infirmities by which thou dishonour est God grievest his Spirit woundest thy own Conscience under which thou criest out as a Man distracted O wretched Man that I am where and by whom shall I find Deliverance Why assure thy self the Old Man shall never more molest thee in Heaven there is no Entrance for this Body of Sin and Death into Life All the motions and stirrings of Sin shall forever cease in that eternal Rest Art thou now overwhelmed with Grief and Sorrow and doth the smart of one Affliction no sooner wear off but the bitterness of another comes in the room of it and is there thus daily a Succession of them one after another for the Trial and Exercise of thy Patience So that thou may'st say thou art continually a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with Grief as thy Lord and Master was before thee Why in Heaven God shall wipe away all Tears from thy Eyes and Sorrow and Sighing shall for ever fly away Art thou now continually harassed with Temptations Will not the Evil One let thee rest Day nor Night but is perpetually haunting thee with horrid and blasphemous Thoughts as black as Hell it self can invent In Heaven thou shalt not only be out of the reach of his fiery Darts but shalt have an everliving Fountain within thy Soul that shall be eternally springing up in such spiritual Contemplations and heavenly Raptures beyond whatever thou wert acquainted with in thy State of Mortality even when thou wert in the most spiritual and heavenly Frame Art thou here under Clouds and Desertions And doest thou walk up and down mournfully and disconsolately for want of the Light of God's Countenance and the manifestations of his Love and Favour towards thee Doth God seem to hide his Face from thee in Anger and Displeasure so that thou roarest and criest out by reason of the Disquietness of thy Soul Why in Heaven all those Clouds shall vanish away and thou shalt have such clear and full Discoveries of God's Love and Favour and the Light of his Countenance shall beat so fully and everlastingly upon thee that it is impossible thou shouldst be under the least Fears or Doubtings thereof for ever For thou shalt then no more see him through a Glass darkly but Face to Face without any interruption or obscurity to all Eternity This now is something of that great and glorious Reward that shall be bestowed upon the Saints in Heaven but the fulness and perfection of it cannot be known but by Enjoyment CHAP. VI. An Essay towards the Resolution of some Questions as 1. Whether the Saints shall know one another in Heaven 2. Whether there are different Degrees of Glory in Heaven 3. How the Saints are said to be equal with and like unto the Angels in Heaven 4 In what respects Heaven is called a Reward or Recompence Some Vseful and Necessary Inferences from the Consideration of that Happiness the Saints shall enjoy in Heaven deduced in order unto Practice as 1. Hopes of Heaven should make the World contemptible unto Believers 2. None that expect Heaven hereafter should be offended at any thing they meet with in their way thither 3 Expectations of Heaven should make Christians live as those that are Heirs of so great a Happiness 4. Frequent Thoughts and Meditations of Heaven should possess the Minds of those that Hope to partake of the Happiness of Heaven 5. The greatness of the Happiness of Heaven should put Christians upon examining themselves what Right and Title they have thereunto 6. Hopes and Expectations of Heaven hereafter should reconcile to Believers the Thoughts of their own Death and moderate their Sorrows for the Death of their Godly Friends and Relations 7. Hopes of Heaven should put Christians upon unwearied Diligence that is attended with such a Reward 8. The consideration of so great a Happiness as Heaven is should cause in all Believers a Holy longing of Soul after the Enjoyment of it The Conclusion THat which remains to be Discoursed of before we come to the Conclusion of this delightful Subject is to endeavour to give some light into though not full Solution of some Questions the Answering whereof will tend much to the further illustration of the greatness of the Saints happiness in Heaven And here First Some may be inquisitive whether the Saints shall know one another in Heaven or not To this I Answer it is highly probable that the Saints shall know one another in Heaven Were Adam Enoch Noah Abraham Isaac Jacob David Hezekiah Josiah Esay Jeremiah Daniel Paul Peter John with all the rest of the Apostles Saints and Martyrs of God in all Ages of whom we have either read in Scripture or heard of in History who have been Eminent in Grace and Holiness some for their Humility some for their Meekness some for Faith some for Patience some for Self-denial some for Zeal some for Contempt of the World and the like were all these Blessed Saints of God living together at one time and in one place here on Earth as they now are in Heaven would not every Godly man be greatly desirous if it were possible to see them and to live with them especially if there were none but such among them that they might be particularly and distinctly acquainted with them and would not this Knowledge tend much to their Delight and Satisfaction surely it would And is it Irrational to suppose that when all the Saints that have lived from the beginning of the World unto the end of it shall all meet together in Heaven that they might be desirous of a particular Knowledge of one another then Or was it so Delightful and therefore so desirable a thing to be acquainted with the Saints of God particularly when they lived here on Earth when they were men of like Passions and Infirmities as we now are And will it not be a much more desirable thing to have a particular acquaintance with them in Heaven when all their Sins and Imperfections shall be done away and they have nothing in them
ever known that a Man who had the use of his Reason and Understanding and had forfeited his Life to his Prince by some Treasonable Act for which he was condemned to Die and had his Life proferred him if on such a Day he would come and submit himself to his Sovereign and ask his Pardon and instead of so doing he should rather choose to spend that Day among his sinful and riotous Companions in Drinking and Gaming and so lose the opportunity of saving of his Life Such Acts of Folly as these are committed by any Men would make them unpitied and unlamented under the extremity of Miseries and Sorrows that should befal them thereupon But the generality of Men in these cases are more wise and considerative than thus to ruine and undo themselves O then let it not lie any longer as a reproach upon Christians that the Men of the World are wiser in their Generation than the Children of Light Why shouldst not thou O Christian be as careful and prudent in thy Spiritual Concerns as the Men of the World are in their Temporal Concerns Is not Heaven of as much worth and value as Earth Is not thy Right and Title to an Eternal Inheritance above of as great moment to thee as a Title to an Earthly Inheritance here below is unto them Is not the Love and Favour of God as much to be prized and endeavoured after as the Favour of an Earthly Prince Is not the Salvation and Happiness of thy Soul in Heaven to all Eternity of as great importance as the saving of a short Temporal Life of the Body which with the improvement of the utmost care and diligence that can be used cannot long be kept from falling into corruption and rottenness What then canst thou render as a Reason of thy carelessness and negligence herein Surely thy Folly is as much greater than theirs as Heaven is better than Earth and the enjoyment of God to Eternity is better than the enjoyment of the World for a short moment of time The Blessedness and Happiness therefore propounded to thy consideration being of the greatest concernment that ever was or can be proposed unto any the despising yea the slighting and neglecting of an offer of such rich Grace and Bounty is that which shall be punished with infinitely far greater misery and torment than ever yet was inflicted upon any yea or upon all Mankind in the World put together Were it possible to make up a Misery and Torment of all the Rage and Malice that ever Men or Devils since the Creation invented or executed upon any yea and add to it the sum the quintessence and extremity of all those Pains and Diseases both of Body and Mind that the Justice of the Holy and Righteous God hath justly and righteously inflicted upon any yea upon the whole Race of Mankind from the beginning of the World unto this Day and let all this be laid upon one Man and he strengthened and enabled to live under all those Pains and Torments in the extremity of them for a thousand years Who would not say this Man were a miserable Man indeed Why truly such nay ten thousand times far greater shall be the Eternal never-ending Misery and Torment of that Man who finally persists in his contempt and slighting of Heaven and Eternal Happiness and so do all those whose pains and care is not with diligence and industry laid out in securing to themselves an interest in the Heavenly Inheritance For certainly the utmost extremity of Desires and Endeavours is due unto and ought to be laid out in the pursuit of an extremity of Bliss and Happiness and such is Heaven and the Blessedness there to be enjoyed it being that which will fill and satisfie the Desires and Cravings of the Soul unto the utmost to all Eternity I have no more to say to thee O Christian Reader than this if neither the greatest extremity of misery that can be endured yea the enduring of all Miseries and Torments heaped up together not for Thousands or Millions of years but to an endless duration never to expire will not move thee to look after Heaven nor yet the Happiness and Blessedness yea the Eternity of an inexpressible and unconceivable Happiness and Blessedness that there is and shall be for ever enjoyed by the Saints in Glory and may be also enjoyed by thee if thou art wise and prudent if thou art diligent and careful in improving thy time and opportunities If I say thine own Interest thine own Misery or Happiness will not move nor work upon thee to bestir thy self to make sure of Heaven and Eternal Life I know not what will neither do I know what to say more unto thee However I shall turn my Advice and Counsel to thee into Prayer unto God for thee whoever thou art that shalt read this Discourse that God would graciously be pleased to open thine Eyes and shew thee convincingly and powerfully by a Work of his own Spirit on thy Heart thy great Misery if thou persist in thy neglect of Heaven and thy great Happiness and Blessedness if thou embrace and close with the offers thereof before it be too late Which God of his infinite Mercy grant unto all those that shall read this Discourse for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake who by his Death and Sufferings hath purchased this Heaven and this Happiness and is thereby become the Author of Eternal Salvation to all those that believe in him and obey him Amen FINIS Books lately Printed for Nathanael Ranew at the King 's Arms in St. Paul's Church-Yard PRactical Preparation for Death The Wisdom and Interest of Christians The Folly and Misery of those that are negligent therein The great benefits of a Life spent in a daily Preparation for our latter end with Motives and Directions for the performance thereof Discourses or Sermons on several Scriptures By Ezekiel Hopkins late Lord Bishop of London-Derry In Octavo An Exposition on the Ten Commandments with other Sermons By Ezekiel Hopkins late Lord Bishop of London-Derry In Quarto The Holy Life of Mrs. Elizabeth Walker late Wife of Dr. Walker of Fyfield in Essex giving an Account of her exemplary Piety and Charity with some useful Papers and Letters written by her self upon several occasions The Naked Gospel Discovering 1. What was the Gospel which our Lord and his Apostles Preached 2. What Additions and Alterations latter Ages have made in it 3. What Advantages and Damages have thereupon ensued Of Faith Of the Trinity The Incarnation of our Blessed Saviour And the Resurrection of the Body Published by Arthur Bury D. D. Rector of Exeter College in Oxford The Vertuous Woman Or the Life of the most excellent Lady Mary late Countess of Warwick To which are annexed some of her Ladyships pious and useful Meditations Aurea Legenda Or Apophthegms Sentences and Sayings of many Wise and Learned Men useful for all Persons Collected out of many Authors by Samuel Clerk In Twelves Redemption of Time the Duty and Wisdom of Christians Or a practical Discourse shewing what special Opportunities ought to be redeemed what mis-spendings of time are to be avoided with convincing Reasons quickning Motives and proper Directions for the right improvement of precious Time By John Wade In Octavo The Danger of Delaying Repentance A Sermon Preached to the University at St. Mary's in Oxford By Arthur Bury D. D. Rector of Exeter College in Oxford In Quarto An earnest and compassionate suit for forbearance to the Learned Writers of some Controversies at present By the Bishop of Cork and Rosse In Quarto The End