A SERMON Preach'd at WHITE-HALL Before the QUEEN March the Sixteenth 1691. BY EDWARD PELLING D. D. Chaplain in Ordinary to Their Majesties and Rector of Petworth in Sussex Publish'd by Her Majesty's Special Command LONDON Printed for W. Crooke at the Green-Dragon without Temple-Bar MDC XCII COLOSS. I. 12. Giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in Light IT may be otherwise rendred thus and more agreeably to the Original Who hath fitted us for a share of the inheritance of the Saints in Light Which St. Chrysostom doth reckon to be a very Signal Act of the Wisdom and Goodness of God that he doth not only tender us the Felicities of Heaven but moreover qualifies and fits us for the Enjoyment of them This saith he is a double favour to offer and to fit us too Honour is lost when 't is thrown away upon an improper and unfit Person And hence St. Chrysostom argues That though God's preparing a Kingdom for us be a great expression of his free Grace and Goodness not merited in the least by any Performances of ours yet the preparing of us for that Kingdom the fitting of us to enter into it this is the main Thing the greatest Work and Blessing of all And for that Reason it is that St. Paul doth here give God such hearty Thanks for his unspeakable Goodness and Mercy in making us meet or fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in Light In Discoursing upon which Words I shall I. First shew That in order to the Enjoyment of the Felicities of another World it is necessary for us to be fitted and qualified for them in this II. Wherein that Fitness doth Consist or what those things are which directly serve to fit us III. And then in the Last Place I shall draw down this Speculation to our Practice 1. That in order to the Enjoyment of the Felicities of another World it is highly necessary for us to be fitted for them in this to be made meet and apt and rightly qualifi'd for the Enjoyment of them My meaning is that though we use the Means of Grace and Salvation as the hearing of God's Word Prayer the Receiving of the Holy Sacrament and the like though we believe all the Doctrines of our Religion and though we be fully satisfied of the Truth of God and comfort our selves with confident Expectations of God's Goodness and Mercy yet besides and beyond all this there is required such a Temper of Mind such a Disposition and Frame of Soul as is suitable to that Blessed State which is the Portion of the Saints in Light The Reason of this is drawn from the Common Notion of Happiness For after all the nice Disputes which have been about it Happiness must be a State of Delight and Pleasure resulting from the Congruity between the Object and the Desire Whatever it be that is prepared to make one Happy though it be never so good he cannot find true Happiness in it if it be disagreeable to his Mind or short of his Desires so that he cannot enjoy it with Complacency and Delight because in such a Case ones Soul would be unsatisfied and uneasie which is utterly inconsistent with a State of Happiness especially such a Perfect State of Happiness as the Saints in Light enjoy Heaven it self could not be a Place of Pleasure to such Souls as cannot love or rellish so Divine Entertainments nor care to be acquainted with them For by Heaven is understood not only a Glorious Place where the Spirits of Just Men live without any Sense of Misery and Pain but moreover a Perfect State wherein all those things are fully prepared which the Powers and Faculties of every Holy Soul do reach after here with a greedy and restless Appetite as the only proper Object for a Reasonable Soul to be employ'd about It includes a Perfection of Knowledge whereby the Mind doth with transcendent Pleasure perceive whatever the Understanding is capable of perceiving and a Perfection of Enjoyment whereby the Will is with transcendent satisfaction gratified with whatever it is capable of Desiring To render therefore this Pleasure and Satisfaction and conseuently this Happiness Perfect there must of necessity be a Correspondence and Suitableness between the Powers of the Soul and the Things of Heaven The Faculties must be of such a Disposition and Temper as answers and agrees with the Nature of the Things Forced Enjoyments can never be delightful to be sure not so perfectly delightful as Enjoyments that we desire Hence it follows That it is of infinite Concernment to us while we live in this World so to mould our Tempers and so to transform our Minds that our whole Soul may be of a Complexion and Frame agreeable to that Heavenly State which is the inheritance of the Saints in Light 'T is as much as our Souls are worth to do it and to do it now because there is nothing between this World and another but Death and that can never alter a Man's whole State so as to make him fit for that which he was not fit for before Death does only give the Soul a Passage into another World it doth not change its Inclinations and Habits Those are things which we are here a long while Contracting and consequently must require a long time to change and alter them An Habit of Vertue is not infused into the Soul in an Instant but is acquired by degrees by a constant Repetition of Vertuous Acts nor is this to be done but by the Assistance and Co-operation of God's Spirit sowing in our Nature a seminal Principle of a New Life and both Preventing and Furthering us in all our Works Now this great Work can be done but once and this Life is the only time for it For when Death comes there is an End of the H. Spirit 's Operations and the Spirit of a Man is past all mending There can be no Repentance in the Grave nor any right Repentance in Hell it self Though there must needs be Sorrow where there is such Torment yet it is a Sorrow not for Sin but for the Rewards of it no Godly Sorrow that reneweth the Heart The Soul is still disposed as before like a Wild Creature that retains its Nature though it be shut up within a Grate Heaven indeed is a Place where a Soul is perfected but yet it is not by changing its Habits and Qualities but by crowning them with Glory A Life of Vertue and Holiness is consummated and made unchangeable but not begun there In short it is impossible to conceive how that habitual Bent and Biass which is in the Heart of every wicked Man can be totally and finally rectified meerly by the passing of his Soul out of one World into another and that too against its Will and Desires Such a Soul therefore could not be happy among the Saints in Light were it admitted into that Society because
the Church Militant yet that they pray for particular Persons or in particular Cases or that they pray as Mediators or that they are to be prayed to themselves all this we utterly deny But it is a Truth unquestionable that they Adore the God of Heaven in such a way as is suitable to a State of Bliss and Perfection Admiring the Glories of his Nature extolling His Majesty Praising him continually and never resting from giving him Thanks for the Infinite Riches of his Grace and Goodness This appears from many Passages in St. John's Revelation where the Four Beasts are said not to rest Day or Night saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty and the Four and twenty Elders are said to fall down before him that sat on the Throne and to Worship him that liveth for ever and ever and with Harps and Golden Vials full of Odours to Sing a new Song unto the Lamb And the Angels themselves with the Beasts and Elders are said to Worship God saying Amen Blessing and Glory and Wisdom and Thanksgiving and Honour and Power and Might be unto our God and the like For though this was a Visionary Representation not a set History of the particular State of Heaven yet the Analogy it bears to it plainly shews that the Spirits of Just Men made Perfect do with the Blessed Angels make up one Heavenly Chorus to Adore the Infinite Majesty of God and to chant out Praises and Hallelujahs unto him to Everlasting Ages 3. And hence it follows Thirdly That the Life of the Saints in Light is a Life of the most Divine Contemplation also For this is the Ground of that Adoration and Worship which is paid to the Creator of all things and so St. John speaking of the Day of Appearance tells us That then we shall see God as he is 1 Jo. 3. 2. For now we see through a glass darkly but then face to face saith St. Paul 1 Chr. 13. 12. and again Then shall I know even as also I am known By which several Expressions it is evident that though the Saints of God have very imperfect Conceptions and Glimpses of him in this Mortal Life and though it is impossible for them being Finite Creatures to have an Adaequate and Comprehensive Knowledge of him in any State whatsoever yet when the Glory of God shall be Revealed in them they shall clearly and closely perceive every thing that is knowable of God with the most ravishing satisfaction shall Contemplate the Beauties and Glories of his Essence and as fully as 't is possible understand his Perfections together with the astonishing Reasons of his Decrees and Operations Whatever Notions our Souls have of God in this Life we are fain to gather by looking into the Glass of his Creation and of his Word as the Means of seeing what we are able to discover And that Imperfect Vision we have is but a Reflex Vision by the help of weak Consideration and Discourse And hence it is that our Apprehensions are so childish in Comparison we Argue like Children Speak like Children and Understand like Children whose Conceptions are rather Dreams and Fancies than the Results of Solid and Man-like Reason But when that which is imperfect is done away the Soul is blest with a direct and immediate view of God with a clear Understanding of the Excellencies of his Nature how Wise and Just and Good and Powerful God is and how wonderfully Righteous and Gracious in all his Works 4. From this clear and intimate Knowledge which the Saints in Light enjoy it follows yet further that their Life there is a Life of Purity because St. Paul tells us that without Holiness no Man shall see the Lord Heb. 12. 14. and our Saviour's Promise of seeing God particularly belongs to such as are Pure in heart Math. 5. 8. We come into this World unclean from the very Womb and as we grow up we contract a great deal more Filthiness of Flesh and Spirit by medling too much with the World and by suffering our foolish Appetites to run out after the Corruptions of it To Cleanse and Sanctifie our Souls and so to fit them for a Life of Bliss and Perfection with himself is the great Work of God here And this he does by the Ministry of his Holy Word by the use of Holy Sacraments by the inward Motions and Operations of his Holy Spirit and by that variety of Holy Laws which he hath laid before us And hence it is that there are so many Vertues proposed to our Practice proper and peculiar to this Mortal State wherein we are surrounded with Misery and Temptation as Moderation Temperance Meekness Self-denyal Patience Fortitude Justice Submission and the like For though these Vertues are highly consonant to Human Reason yet the great Advantage they bring in order to a future Life is the most considerable Excellency of them for all these serve in their several kinds and in a great measure some to subdue and tame our wild Spirits and to prepare them for a Life of everlasting Peace others to mortifie us and make us weary of our Lusts others to curb and bridle our Passions others to defend us from Temptations others to wean our Affections off from the World all of them to Spiritualize our Natures to scour us from our Dross and Tin and in one respect or other so to purge the Soul that when it goes out of the World being sprinkled with the Blood of Christ it appears Pure and without Blemish in that Heavenly Sanctuary whither nothing that is Unclean can come This is that Holiness and Purity of Heart which prepares the Saints for the seeing of God And as this Pure State fits them for the Beatifical Vision so doth the Beatifical Vision fix and confirm them in that State and renders it unchangeable The Reason is because all manner of Perfection which the Heart of Man can desire being in God and in God only every Soul that is with him must needs be satisfied to the full and the Understanding and Affections must of necessity be so employed and fixt upon him that the Will cannot possibly be averted from Enjoyments so infinitely Perfect and Satisfactory The very Nature and Condition of that Blessed State cannot permit any Souls to wander in the least from an Infinite Good and therefore they must Everlastingly continue Pure and Spotless like the Holy Lamb of God whose Will was perfectly Conformable to the Will of his Father Who knew no Sin neither was any Guile to be found in his Mouth 5. Besides these Positive Felicities which the Saints in Light enjoy I think there is but one particular Thing more which is Revealed to us of their Life in Heaven and that is That they bear a Resemblance and Similitude of God himself Thus St. John tells us 1 Jo. 3. 2. Beloved now are we the Sons of God and it doth not yet appear that is it doth not yet distinctly and fully appear what we shall
be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is Some render the Words when it shall appear meaning when our future State shall come we shall be like God and indeed it seems to be the more natural Reading We shall be like God in all manner of Glory according to the Capacities of Finite Beings and saving the Difference that ever must be between God and Creatures We shall be like him in a Divine and Immortal Life this Frail Animal Life being quitted and changed into a Spiritual one and Corruption being swallowed up of Incorruption But the greatest Happiness will be that we shall be like him in the Divine Perfections and Excellencies of his Mind without any Error in the Understanding without any obliquity in the Will without any Disorder in the Affections there will be a perfect Rectitude in our Nature Resembling in all possible Degrees those Perfections which are in the ever Blessed God who is absolutely Righteous Holy and Good Now by what is thus Revealed to us concerning the State of the Saints in Light we may easily perceive what Dispositions of Soul are necessary to be in us to fit and prepare us for a Blessed Portion with them viz. The same Divine and Heavenly Dispositions which the Saints in Light have such Qualities and Habits of Mind we must have here such an Heavenly Conversation we must begin here such a Frame and Temper of Heart we must carry with us to the Grave because as our Inclinations and Affections are when we go out of this World so they will be for ever I observed before That some Vertues are peculiar to our present Circumstances to this Weak Mortal and Militant Condition Even those Vertues we must be careful to grow and proceed in now because they help every one of them in its kind and in some measure to prepare us for a better State But because the Life of the Saints in Light doth immediately consist in the exercise and vigorous Activity of such Dispositions as are proper to a Glorious and Perfect State therefore our great Study and Business in this World should be to enrich and adorn our Souls with those Dispositions chiefly and to make them habitual to us by the familiar and delightful Practice of them now that we may be in Heaven as in our proper Element that the Society of Saints and Angels may be to our Hearts Desires and that the Condition of the other World may be such as we would be in such as we may be in Love with such as we may enjoy with the highest Pleasure and Satisfaction Were we caught up with St. Paul into the Third Heaven or could we climb up ot the top of some solitary Mountain there to pull out of our Sides all those Briars and Thorns which Adam left us and throw our Griefs and Troubles away all at once and so take our flight into those Happy Regions above Good God! What an Orderly Quiet and Harmonious World should we find there What a Family of Love What a Consort of Devout Spirits What an Angelical Host with Ecstasies and Raptures beholding the Face of God What a Glorious Church not having Spot or Wrinkle or any such thing but Holy and without Blemish every Soul there resembling the Holy one of Israel in Bliss and Sanctity 3. Therefore that we may be meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in Light we must above all things accustom our selves to the delightful Practice of those Heavenly Graces which are to be our Life in that day To fill our Hearts with an entire Love of God and Man to have fervent and perfect Charity among our selves to lay aside all Malice and Bitterness of Mind to keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace to put on as the Elect of God Bowels of Mercy and Kindness to love the Habitation of God's House and the Place where his Honour dwelleth here below to Pray without ceasing and to be continually in the Temple Praising and Blessing God in a great Congregation To have God always in our Thoughts increasing daily in the Knowledge of him and being filled with it in all Wisdom and Spiritual Understanding To cleanse our selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit and for the Perfecting of Holiness in the Fear of God to be like him as much as 't is possible even in this World to be as he is and by beholding as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord to be changed into the same Image from Glory to Glory from one Degree of it to another So much as we have of these Vertues and Perfections now so much we have of Heaven in our Possession already This we should mind therefore as the only thing we are to mind as long as we breathe because our Eternal Fortunes depend upon such a Disposition and Temper as I speak of now It doth not only Insure our Title to the Saints Inheritance but it likewise renders our Entrance into it very Easie and as it were Natural unto us And this is the highest Advantage we get by the sincere Practice and Love of Religion Though it is a security to us against all the Dangers of this Life and against all our Enemies round about us because it Intitles us to God's Particular Providence and Protection Though it always brings with it such Comfort and Peace of Mind as is a kind of Heaven to us in the greatest Distress and though it fortifies us against the Approach of Death which is so unwelcom to Nature and so terrible to Flesh and Blood yet our delighting in the Ways of Vertue and Piety brings us an Advantage beyond all these It prepares us for a Blessed Life to that Degree that after Death we shall be fit for no other State but the Society of Saints and the Enjoyment of God And herein lies the extream Folly of Lewd and Profligate Wretches that while others are laying up in store such excellent Securities against the Time to come that they may attain Eternal Life these are Treasuring up all the Wrath and Vengeance they can and prepare that Hell for themselves which God Originally prepared only for the Devil and his Angels Whither can we suppose Atheistical Spirits fit to go but to that dreadful Place where they will be forced to Believe as the Devils do with Trembling and Desperation Or whither can Men of Black Designs of Turbulent Spirits of Mischievous Dispositions and Malicious Minds Whither think ye can they be fit to go but to their Confederates in Iniquity those Spirits of Darkness which are a Plague and Torment to themselves as well as to the World Heaven can be no Place for such Devilish Natures Neither will God's Decree nor can the Nature of the Thing it self allow it It is impossible for the Saints of God and the Sons of Belial to be Joint-Heirs with Christ There would be another War in