"IV il *■ FRINpJETON, N. J. No. Case, /^^ . No. Shelf,^_^'''-''' No. Book,__^ The John IM. Krelts Donation 54a S ''Jmm'.^^^•': ■■:KA^M0SSailk(t^. li^^d THE WORLD TO COME; OR, DISCOURSES ON THE JOYS OR SORROWS OF DEPARTED SOULS AT DEATH/ AKD THE GLORY OR TERROR OF THE RESURRECTION. TO WHICH IS PREFIXED, AN ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF OF A SEPARATE STATE OF SOULS AFTER DEATH. By I. WATTS, D. D. FHOM THE FIFTH ESfOilSH EDITION. HAVERHILL : PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY BURRILL AND TILESTON, AND SOLD AT THEIR BOOKSTORE. 1816. PREFACE. AMOJ^G all the solemn and important things which relate to religion, there is nothing that strikes the soul of man with so much awe and solemnity as the scenes of death, and the dreadful or delightful conse- quences which attend it. Who can think of entering into that unknown region where spirits dwell, without the stongest impressions upon the mind arising from so strange a manner of existence P Who can take a sur- vey of the resurrection of the millions of the dead, and of the tribunal of Christ, whence men and angels must receive their doom, without the most painful solicitude, what will my sentence be ? Who can meditate on the intense and unmingled pleasure or pain in the world to come, without the most pathetic emotions of soul, since each of us must be determined to one of these states, and they are both of everlasting duration ? These are the things that touch the springs of every passion in the most sensible manner, and raise our hopes and our fears to their supreme exercise. These are the subjects with which our blessed Saviour and his apostles frequently entertained their hearei's, in order to persuade them to hearken and attend to the divine les- sons which they published amongst them. These were some of the sharpest weapons of their holy warfare, which entered into the inmost vitals of mankind, and pierced their consciences with the highest solicitude. These have been the happy means to awaken thousands of sinners to flee from the wrath to come, and to allure and hasten them to enter into that glorious refuge that is set before them in the gospel. ^ IV PREFACE. It is for the same reason that 1 have selected a few discourses on these ars^uments out of my public minis- try, to set them before the eyes of the world in a more iniblic manner, that if -possible some thoughtless crea- tures might be roused out of their sinful slumbers, and might awake into a spiritual and eternal life, through the concurring influences of the blessed spirit. I am not willing to disappoint my readers, and there- fore I would let them knoic beforehand, that they ivill find very little in this book to gratify their curiosity about the many questions relating to the invisible world, and the things ichich God has not jdainly revealed. Sorne- thing of this kind perhaps may be found in two discour- ses of death and heaven, which I published long ago : hut in the present discourses Ihave very much neglected such curious enquiries. JVor will the ear that has an itch for controversy be much entertained here, for I have avoided matters of doubtful debate. JSTor need the most zealous man of orthodoxy fear to be led astray into new and dangerous sentiments, if he will but take the plainest and most evident dictates of scripture for his direction into all truth. My only design has been to set the great and most mo7nentous things of a future world in the most convinc- ing and affecting light, and to enforce them upon the conscience with all the fervor that such subjects demand and require, t^tnd may our blessed Iledeemer who reigns Lord of the invisible world, pronounce these words with a divine poiver to the heart of every man who shall either read or hear them. The treatise which is set as an introduction to this book, was printed several years ago without the author's name, and there in a short preface represented to the reader these few reasons of its ivriting a7id publication, viz. The principles of atheism and infidelity have pre- vailed so far upon our age^ as to break in upon the PREFACE. V sacred fences of virtue and piety, and to destroy the noblest and most effectual springs of true and vital religion ; / mean those which are contained in the hlessed gospel. The doctrine of the resurrection of the body, and the consequent states of heaven and hell, is a guard and motive of divine force ; but it is renounced by the enemies of our holy Christianity. And should we give up the recompences of separate souls, while the deist denies the resurrection of the body, I fear between both we should sadly enfeeble and expose the cause of virtue, and leave it too naked and defenceless. The christian would have but one persuasive of this kind remaining, and the deist would have none at all. It is necessary therefore to be upon our guard and to establish every motive that ice can derive either from reason or scripture, to secure religion in the world. The doctrine of the state of separate spirits, and the commencement of rewards and punishments immediately after death, is one of those sacred fences of virtue which we borrow from scripture, and it is highly favored by reason ; and therefore it may not be unseasonable to pub- lish such arguments as may tend to the sujiport of it. In this edition of this small treatise, I have added several paragraphs and pages to defend the same doc- trine ; and the last section contains an answer to va- rious new objections which I had not met with when I first began to write on this subject. I hope it is set upon such a firm foundation of many scriptures as cannot possibly be overturned ; nor do I think it a very easy matter any way to evade the force of them. May the grace of God lead us on further into every truth that tends to jnaintain and propagate faith and holiness. Amen. J^ote — Where these Discourses shall be used as a religious service in private ^families on Lord's day evenings, each of them will afford a division near the middle, kst, ths service be made too long and tiresome. Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2011 witin funding from Princeton Tiieoiogicai Seminary Library http://www.arcliive.org/details/worldtocomeordOOwatt CONTENTS. AN Essay toward the proof of a separate state of souls, Page 9 Section I. The introduction or proposal of the question, with a distinction of the persons who oppose it, ib. Section II. Probable arguments for the separate state, 16 Section III. Some firmer or more evident proofs of a separate state, 25 Section lY. Objections answered, 44 Section V. More objections answered, . . , 61 Discourses on the world to come, 70 Discourse I. The end of time, lb. Discourse II. The watchful christian dying in peace, 95 Discourse III. Surprise in death, 13S Discourse IV. Christ admired and glorified in his saints, . . . * 148 Discourse V. The wrath of the Lamb, . . . 177 Discourse VI. The vain refuge of sinners, . , 193 Discourse VII. No night in heaven, .... 310 Discourse VIII. A soul prepared for heaven, . 331 Discourse IX. No pain among the blessed, . . 363 Discourse X. The first fruits of the spirit ; or, the foretaste of heaven, 306 Discourse XI. Safety in the grave, and joy at the resurrection, 334 liiscourse XII. The nature of the punishments in hell, 36S Discourse XIII. The eternal duration of the punishments of hell, 405 AN ESSAY TOWABS THE PROOF OF A SEPARATE STATE OF SOULS BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. SECTION I. THE INTRODUCTION OR PROPOSAL OF THE QUESTION, WITH A DISTINCTION OF THE PERSONS WHO OPPOSE IT, IT is confessed that the doctrine of the resur- rection of the dead at the last day, and the everlasting Joys, and the eternal sorrows, that shall succeed it, as they are described in the New Testament, are a very awful sanction to t!ie gospel of Christ, and carry in them such principles of hope and terror as should ef- fectually discourage vice and irreligion, and become a powerful attractive to the practice of faith and love, and universal holiness. But so corrupt and perverse are the inclinations of men in this fallen and degenerate world : and their pas- sions are so much impressed and moved by things that are present or just at hand, that the joys of heaven, and the sorrows of hell, when set far beyond death and the grave, at some vast and unknown distance of time, would have but too little influence on their hearts and lives. And though these solemn and important events are never so certain in themselves, yet being looked upon as things a great way off, make too feeble an im- pression on the conscience ; and tiieir distance is much 10 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF abused to give an indulgence to present sensualities. For tliis we have the testimony of our blessed Saviour himself, Matt. xxiv. 48. The evil servant says, my Lord delays his coming ; then he begins to smite his fellow- servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken. And Solomon teaches us the same truth, Eccles. viii. 11. Be- cause sentence against an evil work is nof executed speedily, therefore the heart of the soris of men is fully set in them to do evil. And even the good servants in this imperfect state, the sons of virtue and piety, may be too much allured to indulge sinful negligence, and yield to temptations too easily when the terrors of another world are set so far oif, and their hope of hap- piness is delayed so long. It is granted, indeed, that this sort of reasoning is very unjust ; but so foolish are our natures, that we are too ready to take up with it, and to grow more remiss in the cause of religion. Whereas, if it can be made to appear from the word of Grod, that, at the moment of deatli, the soul enters into an unchangeable state, according to its cliaracter and conduct here on eartli, and that the recompences of vice and virtue, are, in some measure, to begin im- mediately upon the end of our state of trial ; and if, besides all this, there be a glorious and a dreadful res- urrection to be expected, with eternal pain or eternal pleasure both for soul and body ; and that in a more intense degree, when the theatre of tliis world is shut up, and Jesus Christ appears to pronounce his public judgment on tlie world, then all tliose little subterfuges are precluded, which mankind would form to themselves from the unknown distance of the day of recom pence. Virtue will liave a nearer and stronger guard placed about it, and piety will be attended with superior mo- tives, if its initial rewards are near at hand, and shall commence as soon as this life expires ; and the vicious and profane will be more effectually affrighted, if the. OF A SEPARATE STATE. 11 hour of death must immediately consign tliem to a state of perpetual sorrows and bitter anguish of conscience, without hope, and with a fearful expectation of yet §;reater sorrows and anguish. I know what the opposers of the separate state reply here;, viz. That the whole time from death to the res- urrection, is but as the sleep of a night ; and the dead shall awake out of their graves, utterly ignorant and insensible of the long distance of time that hath past since their death. One year, or one thousand years will be the same thing to them ; and, therefore, they should be as careful to prepare for the day of judgment, and tlie rewards that attend it, as tliey are for their en- trance into the separate state at death, if there were any such state to receive them. I grant, men should be so in reason and justice : but such is the weakness and folly of our natures, that men will not be so much influenced nor alarmed by distant prospects, nor so solicitous to prepare for an event which they suppose to be so very far off, as they would for the same event, if it commences as soon as ever this mortal life expires. The vicious man will indulge his sensualities, and lie down to sleep in death with this comfort, I shall take my rest here for a hun- dred or a thousand years, and jperhaps in all that space, my offences may he forgotten, or something may hap- pen that I may escape ; or, Let the worst come that can come, I shall have a long sweet nap before my sorrows begin. Thus the force of divine terrors are greatly enervated by this delay of punishment. I will not undertake to determine, when the soul is dismissed from the body, whether there be any explicit divine sentence passed concerning its eternal state of happiness or misery, according to its works in this life ; or wiiether the pain or pleasure that belongs to the sep- arate state, be not chiefly such as arises by natural con- IS ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF sequence from a life of sin or a life of holiness, and as being under the power of an approving or a condemn- ing conscience : but, it seems to me more probable, that since the spirit returns to God that gave it ; to God the Judge of all, with whom the spirits of the just made perfect dwell ; and, since the spirit of a christian, when absent from the body, is presew with the Lord, i. e. Christ. I am more inclined to think that there is some sort of judicial determination of this important point, either by God himself, or by Jesus Christ, into whose hands he has committed all judgment. Heb. ix. S7« It is appointed unto men once to die., hut after this the judgment. Whether iramedijite or more distant, is not here expressly declared, though the immediate con- nexion of the words hardly gives room for seventeen hundred years to intervene. But, if the solemn formal- ities of a judgment be delayed, yet the conscience of a separate spirit, reflecting on a holy or a sinful life, is sufficient to begin a heaven or a hell immediately after death. Amongst those who delay the season of recompence till the resurrection, there are some who suppose the soul to exist still as a distinct being from the body, but to pass the whole interval of time in a state of stupor or sleep, being altogether unconscious and unactive. Others again imagine, that the soul itself has not a suf- ficient distinction from the body to give it any proper existence when the body dies ; but that its existence shall be renewed at the resurrection of the body, and then be made the subject of joy or pain, according to its behavior in this mortal state. I think there might be an effectual argument against each of these opinions raised from the principles of philosophy. I shall just give a hint of them, and then proceed to search what scripture has revealed in this matter, which is of much greater importance to us, and OF A SEPARATE STATE. iS will have a more powerful influence on the minds of christians. I. Some imagine the soul of man to be his blond or his breathy or a sort of vital fiame, or refined air or vapor, or the composition and motion of the fluids and solids in the animal body. This they suppose to be the spring or principle of his intellectual life, and of ail his thoughts and consciousness, as well as of his animal life. And though this soul of man dies together with the body, and has no manner of separate existence or consciousness, yet when his body is raised from the grave they suppose this principle of consciousness is re- newed again, and intellectual life is given him at the resurrection as well as a new corporeal life. But it should be considered, that this conscious or thinking principle having lost its existence for a season, it will be quite a new thing, or another creature at the resurrection ; and the man will be properly another person, another self, another I or he : and such a new conscious principle or person cannot properly be rewarded or punished for personal virtues or vices of which itself cannot be conscious by any power of mem- ory or reflection, and which were transacted in this mor- tal state by another distinct principle of consciousness. For if the conscious principle itself, or the thinking being has ceased to exist, it is impossible that it should retain any memory of former actionsj since itself began to be but in the moment of the resurrection. The doc- trine of rewarding or punishing the same soul or intel- ligent nature which did good or evil in this life, neces- sarily requires that the same soul or intelligent nature should have a continued and uninterrupted existence, that so the same conscious being which did good or evil may be rewarded or punished. II. Those who suppose the soul of man to have a real distinct existence when the body dies, but only to 14 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF fall into a state of slumber witliout consicousiiess or ac- tivity, must, I think, suppose this soul to be material^ i. e. an extended and solid substance. If they suppose it to be inextended, or to have no parts or quantity, I confess I have no manner of idea of the existence or possibility of such an inextended being without consciousness or active power, nor do they pre- tend to have any such idea as I ever heard, and there- fore they generally grant it to be extended. But if tliey imagine the soul to be extended, it must either have something more of solidity or density than mere empty space, or it must be quite as unsolid and thin as space itself. Let us consider both these. If it be as thin and subtle as mere empty space, yet while it is active and conscious, I own it must have a proper existence ; but if it ouce begin to sleep and drop all consciousness and activity, I liave no other idea of it, but the same which I have of empty space ; and that I conceive to be mere nothing, though it impose upon us with the appearance of some sort of properties. If they allow the soul to have any the least degree of density above what belongs to empty space, this is solidity in the philosophic sense of the word, and then it is solid extension, which I call matter: and a material being may indeed be laid asleep, i. e. it may cease to have any motion in its parts ; but motion is not con- sciousness ; and how either solid or unsolid extension, either space or matter, can have any consciousness or thought belonging to any part of it, or spread through the whole of it, I know not ; or what any sort of exten- sion can do toward thought or consciousness, I confess I understand not ; nor can I frame any more an idea of it, than 1 can of a blue motion or a sweet smelling sound, or of fire or air or water reasoning or rejoicing : and I do not affect to speak of things or words, when I can form no correspondent ideas of what is spoken. OP A SEPARATE STATE. 15 So far as I can judge, the soul of man in its own nature, is nothing else hut a conscious and active princi- ple, subsisting by itself, made after the image of God, who is all conscious activity ; and it is still the same being, whether it be united to an animal body, or sepa- rated from it. If the body die, the soul still exists an active and conscious power or principle, or being ; and if it ceases to be conscious and active, I think it ceases to be ; for I have no conception of what remains. Now, if the conscious principle continue conscious after death, it will not be in a mere conscious indolence : the good man and the wicked will not have tlie same indolent existence. Virtue or vice, in the very temper of this being when absent from matter or body, will become a pleasure or a pain to the conscience of a sep- arate spirit. I am well aware that this is a subject wiiich has em- ployed the thoughts of many philosophers, and I do but just intimate my own sentiments without presuming to judge for others. But the defence or refutation of argu- ments on this subject would draw me into a field of pliilosophical discourse, which is very foreign to my present purpose : and whether tliis reasoning stand or fall, it will have but very little influence on tliis contro- versy with the generality of christians, because it is a thuig rather to be determined by the revelation of the word of God. I therefere drop this argument at once, and apply myself immediately to consider tlie proofs that may be drawn from scripture for the soul's ex- istence in a separate state after death, and before the resurrection. 16 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF SECTION 11. PROBABLE ARGUMENTS FOR THE SEPARATE STATE. THERE are several places of scripture in the Old Testament, as well as in the New, which may be most naturally and properly construed to signify the existence of the soul in a separate state after the body is dead ; but since they do not carry with them such plain evidence or forcible proof, and may possibly be interpreted to another sense, I shall not long insist upon them : liowever it may not be amiss just to mention a few of them, and pass away. Psalm Ixxiii. 24, 26. Thou slialt guide me with thy counaelf and afterward receive me to glory : my flesh and my heatt faileth ; but God i^ the strength of my heart and my portion for ever. In tliese verses receiving to glory seems immediately to follow a guidance through this world ; and when the flesh and heart of the Psalmist should/^?/ him in deatli, God continued to be \\\^ portion for ever, God would receive him to himself as such a portion, and thereby he gave strength or courage to his heart even in a dying hour. It would be a very odd and unnatural exposition of this text to interpret it only of the resurrection : thus, Thou shalt guide me by thy counsel through this life, and after the long interval of some thousand years thou wilt receive me to glory. Eccles. xii. 7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit to God that gave it. It is con- fessed the word spirit in the Hebrew is the same with breath, and is represented in some places of scripture as the spring of animal life to the body : yet it is evident in many other places, the word spirit signifies the con- scious principle in man, or the intelligent being, which knows and reasons, perceives and acts. The Scripture speaks of being grieved in spirit, Isa. liv. 6. Of re- OF A SEPARATE STATE. 17 joicin^s; in spirit, Luke x. SI. The spirit of a man Icnoiveth the things of a man, 1. Cor. ii. 11. There is a spirit in man, i. e. a principle of understanding, Job xxxii. 8. And this spirit both of the wicked and the righteous at death returns to God, Eccl. xii. 7- to God who (as I hinted before) is the Judge of all in the world of spirits, probably to be further determined and dis- posed of, as to its state of reward or punishment. Isa Ivii. ;3. The righteous is taken away from the evil to come : he shall enter into peace : they shall rest in their beds, each one icalking in his uprightness. The soul of every one that walketh uprightly shall at death enter into a state of peace while their body rests in the bed of dust. Luke ix. 30^ 31. And behold there talked with him, i. e. with Jesus, two men, which ivere Moses and Elias, who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. I grant it possible that these might be but mere visions whicli appeared to our blessed Saviour and his apostles : but it is a much more natural and obvious interpretation to suppose that the spirits of these two great men, whereof one was the institutor, and the other the reformer of the Jewish church, did really appear to Christ, who was the re- former of the world, and the institutor of the christian church, and converse with him about the important event of his death and his return to heaven. Perhaps the spirit of Elijah had his heavenly body with him there since he never died, but was carried alive to heaven ; but Moses gave up his soul at the call of God when no man was near him, and his body was buried by God. himself. See S Kings ii. 11. and Deut. xxxiv. 1, 5, 6. and his spirit was probably made visible only by an assumed vehicle for that purpose. JoIhi v. 34. Whoso heareth mi) word and believeth dn him that sent me, hath everlasting life; is passed from 18 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF death to life. Joliii vi. 47, 50, 51. This is the bread which Cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever. John xi. 26. Whoso liveth and be- lieveth in me, shall never die, to which may be added the words of Christ to the woman of Samaria, John iv. 14. The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting life. 1 John v. 12. He that hath the So7i hath life, &^c. The argument I draw from these scriptures is this : it is hardly to be supposed that our saviour in this gospel, and John in his first epistle imitating him, should speak such strong language concerning eternal life, actually given to and possessed by the believers of that day, if there must be an interruption of it by total death or sleep both of soul and body for almost two thousand years, i. e. till the resurrection. Acts vii. 59. *S.nd they stoned Stephen calling upon God, saying, Lord Jesus receive my spirit. Those who deny a separate state, suppose that Stephen here commits his spirit, or principle of human life, into the hands or care of Christ (because the life of a saint is said to be hid with Christ in God, Colos. iii. 3, 4.) that he might restore it at the resurrection, and raise him to life again. But I think this is an unnatural force put upon these words, contrary to their most obvious mean- ing, if we consider the context : for Stephen here had a vision of tiie Son of Man or Christ Jesus, standing on the right hand of God, and the glory of God near him ; see ver. 55, 5Q. Whereupon Stephen being conscious of the existence of Clirist in that glorious state, desired that he would receive his spirit, and take it to dwell with him in liis Father's house ; not to lie and sleep in heaven, for there is no night there, but to behold the glory of Christ according to the many promises that Christ had made to his disciples, that he would go and OF A SEPARATE STATE, 19 prepare a place for them in his Father^ s house, and that they sliould be until him there to behold his glory, John viv. and xvii, which I shall have occasion to speak of afterward. Rom. viii. 10, 11. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness, i. e. If Christ dwell in you by the sanc- tifying influences of his Spirit, it is true indeed, your body is mortal and must die, because it is doomed to death from the fall of Adam on the account of sin, and because sinful principles still dwell in this flesldy body ; but your soul or spirit is life, or your spirit lives when the body is dead, and enjoys a life of happiness, because of the righteousness imputed to you, i. e. your justification unto life, Rom. v. 17? 18? Si- I know there are several other ways of construing the words of this verse by metaphors ; but the plain and most natural antitliesis which appears liere between the death of the body of a saint because of sin or guilt, and the continu- ance of the spirit or soul in a life of peace because of justification or righteousness, and that even when the body is dead, gives a pretty clear proof that this is the sense of the apostle. This is also further confirmed by the next verse, which promises the resurrection of the dead body in due time. If the Spirit of him that raised up Christ from the dead, dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead, i. e. God tlie Fatlier, shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. The spirit or soul of the saint lives without dying, because of its pardon of sin and justification and sanctification, in tlie 10th verse ; and the body (not the spirit or soul) shall be quickened or raised to life again, by the blessed Spirit of God which dwells in the saints, ver. 11. 2 Cor. V. 1, 2. ^' For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle w ere dissolved, we have a build- 2& ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF ing of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in tlic heavens. For in this we groan earnestly, desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven." Ver. 4. *^ We in this tabernacle groan being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. It is evi- dent that this house fmrn heaven, this building of God, is something which is like the clothing of a soul divested of this earthly tabernacle, ver. 1, 2 ; or it is the clothing of the whole person, body and soul, which would abro- gate the state of mortality and sitmlloiv it iip in life, ver. 4. For though in ver. 4, the Apostle supposes that the soul doth not desire the death of the body, or that itself should be unclothed, and therefore he would rather choose to have this state of blessed immortality superin- duced on his body and soul at once without dying, yet in the first verse he plainly means such a house in or from heaven, or such a clothing which may come upon the soul immediately as soon as the earthly house or tabernacle of his body is dissolved. And how dubious soever this may appear to those who read the chapter only thus far, yet the 8th verse, which supposes good men to be present with Christ when absent from the body, determines the sense of it as I have explained it ; of which hereafter. Perhaps it is hard to determine, whether this super- induced clothing be like the Sliechinah or visible glory in which Christ, Moses, and Elias, appeared at the transfiguration, and which some suppose to have be- longed to Adam in innocency ; or whether it signify only a state of happy immortality, superinduced or brought in upon the departing soul at death, or upon the soul and body united as in this life, and with which those saints shall be clothed, who a.re found alive at the coming of Christ, according to 1 Cor. xv. 52, 53, 54. Let this matter, 1 say, be determined either way j OF A SEPARATE STATE. 2i yet the great point seems to be evident, even beyond probability, that there is a conscious being spoken of, which is very distinct from its tabernacle, or hausp, or clothings and w^hich exists still, w^hatever its clothing or its dwelling be, or whether it be put off or pat on ; and that, when the earthly house or vesse) is dissolved or put off, the heavenly house or clothing is ready at hand to be put on immediately, to render the soul of the christian fit to be present with the Lord. 2 Cor. xii. 2, 3. " I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell, God knoweth ; how that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words.'' I grant this ecstacy of the apostle does not actually shew the existence of a separate state after death till the resurrection ; yet, it plainly manifests St. Paul's belief, that there might be such a state ; and tliat the soul might be separated from the body, and might exist, and think, and know, and act, in paradise, in a state of sep- aration, and hear, and perhaps converse in the un- speakable language of that world, while it was absent from the body. And, as I acknowledge T am one of those persons who do not believe that the intellectual spirit or mind of man is the proper principle of animal life to the body, but that it is another distinct conscious being, that gen- erally uses the body as an habitation, engine, or instru- ment, while its animal life remains ; so I am of opinion, it is a possible thing for the intellectual spirit, in a miraculous manner, by the special order of God, to act in a state of separation without the death of the animal body, since the life of the body depends upon breath and air, and the regular temper and motion of tlie solids and fluids of which it is composed.* And St. Paul * It would be thoug'ht, perhaps, a little foreign to my present purpose, if 1 should stay here, to prove that it h not the conscious principle in man, 22 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF seems here to be of the same mind, by his doubting whether his spirit was in the body or out of the body, whilst it was wrapt into the third heaven and enjoyed this vision, his body being yet alive. Phil. i. 2i. For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. The apostle, whilst he was here upon earth, spent his life in the service of Christ, and enjoyed many glorious communications from him. For him to live was Christ. And on this account, he was contented to continue here in life longer : yet he is well satisfied that death would be an advantage or gain to him. Now we can hardly suppose what gain it would be for St. Paul to die, if his soul immediately went to sleep, and became inactive and unconscious, while his body lay in the grave, and neither soul nor body could do any service for Christ, or receive any communications from him till the great rising day. This text seems to carry the argument above a mere probability. that gives or maintains the animal life of his body. It is granted, that, ac- cording to the course of nature, and tlie general appointment of God therein, this conscious principle or spirit continues its communications with the body, while the body has animal life, or is capable of its natural motions, and able to obey the volitions of the spirit ; and on this account, the union of the ra- tional spirit to the body, and the animal life of the body, are often represented as one and the same thing. But, if we enter into a philosophical consideration of things, we should remember that animals of every kind in earth, air, and sea, and even the minutest insects which swarm in millions, and worlds of them, which are invisible to the naked eye, have all an animal life, but no such conscious or thinking principle as is in man : and why may not the body of man have tha same sort of animal life quite distinct from the conscious spirit ? Besides, if this conscious principle give life to the body, medicines and physicians, whose power reaches only to rectify the disordered solids or fluids of the body, would not be so necessary to preserve life, as an orator to per- suade the spirit to, continue in the body, and preserve its life. And accord- ingly, we read of foreign ignorant nations, where the kindred persuade the dying person to live and tarry with them, and not to forsake them ; and,when the person is dead, they mourn and reprove him, " Wliy were you so unkind to leave and forsake us ;" and indeed this conduct of those poor savages is a very natural inference from their supposition of the intelligent spirit giving animal life to the body. OP A SEPARATE STATE. g3 1 Thess. iv. 14. For if we believe that Jesus died, and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus ivill God bring ivith him. The most natural and ev- ident sense of these words, is this, tliat when the man Jesus Christ (in whom dwells the fulness of the God- head) shall descend from heaven, in order to raise the dead bodies of those that died, or went to sleep in the faith of Christ, God dwelling in him, will bring with him the souls of his saints who were in paradise, down to earth to be reunited to their bodies when Jesus raises them from the dead, of which the apostle speaks 4n the 6th verse : this, I say, is the most natural and obvious sense ; other paraplirases of the words seem strained and unnatural. 1 Thess. V. 10. Jesus Christ, icho died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together tvith him. Sleep is the death of good men, in the language of the apostle, in chap. iv. 13, 14, 15 ; and sleep in this verse, can neither signify natural sleep, as verse 7 ; nor spiritual sloth, as verse 6 ; therefore it must signify death here. Now, they who sleep in Christ, in this sense, do still live together ivith him in their souls, and shall live with him in their bodies also, when raised from the dead. This exposition arises near to a cer- tainty of evidence. 1 Pet. iii. 18, 19, 20. Christ was put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit ; by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, which sometime were disobedient, ichen once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of J^oah. I confess this is a text that has much puzzled interpreters, in what sense Christ may be said to go and preach to those ancient rebels who were destroyed by the flood ; Vv'hether he did it by his Spirit working in Noah the preacher of righteousness in those days ; or whether, in the three days in which the body of Christ lay dead, Jiis soul 34 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF visited the spirits of those rebels in their separate state of imprisonment, on which some ground the notion of his descent into hell. But, let this be determined as it will, the most clear and easy sense of the apostle, when he speaks of the spirits in prison^ is, that the souls of those rebels, after their bodies were destroyed by the flood, were reserved in prison for some special and fu^ ture design : and this is very parallel to the present circumstances of fallen angels in Jude, verse 6. " The angels that kept not their first estate, he liath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day.'' And why may not the spirits of men be as well kept in such a prison as angelic spirits ? Jude, verse 7. '^ Sodom and Gomorrha are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." It is evident, that the material fire wliich destroyed So«lom and Gomorrha, was not eternal ; for a great lake of water quickly overflowed, aijd now covers all that plain where the fire was first kindled, Avhich burnt down those cities. It is manifest also, that the day of resurrection and future punishment being not yet come, they do not at this time, sntfer the vengeance of eternal fire in their bodies. Nor can this verse, I think, be well explained to make Sodom and .Gomorrha an ex- ample to deter present sinners from uncleanness, but by allowing that the spirits of those lewd persons are now suffering a degree of vengeance or punishment from the justice of God, which is compared to that^re whereby their cities and their bodies were burnt ; and which vengeance, at the last great day, shall continue their punishment, and pronounce it eternal, or kindle materi- al fire which shall never be quenched. The last text I sliall mention, is Rev. vi. 9. 1 saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. I confess this is a book of visions, and this place, amongst OF A SEPARATE STATE. 25 others, might be explained as a mere vision of the apostle, if there were no other text which confirmed the doctrine of a separate state : But since I think there are some solid proofs of it in other parts of the New Testament, I know not why this may not be explained, at least something nearer to the literal sense of it than those will alloAv, who suppose the soul to sleep from death to the resurrection. Why may not the spirits of the martyrs, which are now with God, pray him to hftsten the accomplishment of his promises made to his church, and the day of vengeance upon his irreconcila- ble enemies. SECTION in. SOME FIRMER OR MORE EVIDENT PROOFS OF A SEP AR ATI: STATE. I COME now to consider those texts which do more expressly and certainly discover the separate state, and which, I think, cannot, with any tolerable appearance of reason, Ije turned aside from their plain and obvious intention, to reveal and declare that there is a separate state of souls. And such, in my opinion, are these that follow. I. Text, Matt. x. 28. Fear not them which Mil the body, hut are not able to kill the soul ; hut rather fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. Every common reader, as well as every man of learning, who reads this text with a sincere mind and without preju- dice, I think, will acknowledge at least, that the most obvious and easy sense of the words, implies, that there is a soul in man which men cannot kill, even though they kill the body. It is to very little purpose for writers to sav, that the 4 2Q ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF Greek word •^'^X.^ wliicli we translate soul here, dotli in other places of scripture, and even in the 39th verse of this very chapter, signify //fe, and consequently here it may also signify the animal life or the person of the man ; for it is manifest, that in this place it must signify some immortal principle in man that cannot die ; whereas when the body is killed, the animal life dies too, and does not exist till the body is raised again : but the soul is a principle in this place which men cannot kill even though they destroy the life of the body : and whatso- ever other senses the word ')livy^v] may obtain in other texts that cannot preclude sucli a sense of it in this text, as is most usual in itself, and which the context makes necessary in this place. Nor will it avail the supporters of the mortality of the soul to say that this scripture means only that men can- not kill the soul for ever^ so that it shall forever perish and have no future life hereafter by a resurrection : for in this sense men cannot Mil the body, so that it shall never revive or rise again : but here is a plain distinction in the text, that the body may be killed, but the soul cannot. And I think this scripturfe proves also, that though the ])ody may be laid to sleep in the grave, yet the soul can- not be laid to sleep ; for the substance of the body still exists, and is not utterly destroyed by killing it, but only laid to sleep for a time, as the scripture often de- scribes death : but tlie soul cannot be thus laid to sleep for a time, with its substance still existing, for that would be to have no pre-eminence above the body, which is contrary to this assertion of our Saviour. II. Luke xvi. 22, &c. ^* The beggar died and was carried by angels into Abraham's bosom : The rich man also died and was buried, and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and said, father Abraham, Iiave mercy on me, &c. and send Lazarus, verse 27, to my father's OF A SEPARATE STATE. 27 house that he may testify to my brethren, lest they come also into this place of torment.'' I grant that this ac- count of the rich man and the beggar is but a parable, and yet it may prove the existence of the rich man's soul in a place of torment before the resurrection of the body ; I. Because the existence of souls in a separate state, whilst other men dwell here on earth, is the xQvjf omnia' tion of the whole parable, and runs tlu'ough tlie whole of it. The poor man died and his soul was in paradise. The rich man's dead body Avas buried and his soid was in hell, while his five bretliren were here on earth in a state of probation, and would hearken to Moses and the prophets. 2. Because the very design of the parable is to shew, that a ghost sent from the other world, whether lieaven or hell, to wicked men who are liei-e in a state of trial, will not be sufficient to convert them to holiness, if they reject the means of grace and the ministers of tJie world. The very design of our Saviour seems to l3e lost, if there be no souls existing in a separate state. A ghost sent from tlie other world could never be supposed to have any iniiuence to convert sinners to this world, even in a parable, if there were no such things as ghosts there. The rich man's five brethren could have no motive to hearken to a ghost pretending to come from heaven or hell, if there were no such thing as ghosts or separate souls either happy or miserable. Now surely, if para- bles can prove any tiling at all, they must prove those propositions which are both the foundation and the de- sign of the whole parable. 3. I might add yet furtlier, tliat it is very strange that our Saviour should so particularly speak of angels car- rying the soul of a man, whose l)ody was just dead, into heaven or paradise, which he calls Abraham's bosom ; if there were no such state or place as a heaven for sep- arate souls ; if Abraham's soul hnd no residence there. 28 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF no existence in that state ; if angels had never any thing to do in such an office. What would the Jews have said or thought of a prophet come from God, who had taught his doctrines to the people in such parables as had scarce any sort of foundation in tlie reality or nature of things. But you will say the Jews had such an opinion current among them, though it was a very false one, and that this was enough to support a parable : I answer, what could Christ (who is tiiith itself) have said more or plainer to confirm the Jews in this gross error of a sepa- rate state of souls, than to form a parable which sup- poses this doctrine in the very design and moral of it, as well as in the foundation and matter of it. HI. Luke XX. 37? 38. '" Now that the dead are rais- ed even Moses shewed at tlie bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ; for he is not a God of the dead but of the living; for all live unto him." Some learned men sup- pose that the controversy between Christ and the Sad- ducees in this place was a])out the anastasis, which implies the whole state of existence after death, including both tlie separate state and the resurrection, Ijecause the Sadducees denied both these at once, and believed that death finished the whole existence of the man. They denied angels and spirits, Acts xxiii. 8. i. e. separate souls of men, and thought the rewards and punishments mentioneji in scripture related only to this life. Upon this account they suppose our Saviour's design is to prove the existence of persons or spirits in the separate state as much as the resurrection of the body. And when he says, that tlie Lord or Jehovah is de- scribed as the God of Abraham, &c. it supposes Abraliam at the same time to have actually some life and existence in some state or otlier, for God is not a God of the dead, but of the living, for all that are dead and gone out of OF A SEPARATE STATE. 39 this world still live unto God, i. e. they have present life in the invisible world of spirits as God is an invisible Spirit, as well as they expect a resurrection of their body in due time. Hbw could God in the days of Moses be called actu- ally the God of Mraham, Isaac and Jacob, who were long since dead, if there was no sense in wMch they were now alive to God, since our Saviour declares God is properly the God only of the living, and not of the dead P This part of the argument holds good in what- soever sense you construe the whole debate, and by whatsoever medium or connection you prove the doctrine of the resurrection of the body ; and this is obvious to the honest and unlearned reader, as well as to the men of learning. IV. Luke xxiii. 42, 43. " And he (that is the peni- tent thief upon the cross) said unto Jesus, Lord, remem- ber me when thou comest into thy kingdom : and Jesus said unto him, verily I say unto thee, to-day slialt thou be with me in paradise." The thief upon the cross be- lieved that Christ would enter into paradise which he supposed to be Christ's kingdom, when he departed from this world which was not his kingdom ; and this he believed partly according to the common sentiment of the. Jews concerning good men at their death, as well as it is agreeable to our Saviour's own expressions to God, John xvii. 11. Holy Father, I am no more in the world and I am come unto thee : or as he had said to his dis- ciples, Jolm xvi. 28. / leave the world and go to the Father. And according to these expressions, Luke xxiii. 46. Christ dies with these words on his lips. Father, into thij hands I commend my spirit. Our Saviour taking notice of the repentance of the thief, acknowledging his own guilt, thus, we are justly under this condemnation and receive the due reward of our deeds ; and taking notice 30 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF also of his faith in the Messiah, as a king whose king- dom was not of this worlds wlien he prayed, Lord, re- member me when thou comest into thy kingdom : Christ, I say, taking notice of both these, answers him with a promise of much grace, Verily, I say unto thee, to-day shalt thou be with me in jiaradise. The use of the word paradise in scripture, and amongst ancient writers Jewish and Christian, is to signify tlie hajjpiness of holy souls in a separate state ; and our Saviour entering into that state at his death, declared to the dying penitent, that he should be with him there im- mediately. It is certain, that by tlie word paradise, 8t. Paul means the place of happy spirits, into ^^ hicli he was transported, 2 Cor. xii. 4. And tliis sense is very accommodate and proper to this expression of our Sa- viour, and to the prayer of the penitent thief; and it is as suitable to the design of Christ in his epistle to the church of Ephesus, Rev. ii. 7 ? '^ the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God,-' which are the only three places wliere the New Testament uses this word. I know there have been great pains taken to shew that the stops should be altered, and the comma should be placed after the word to-day ,* thus, '^ I say unto thee to-day, thou shalt be with me in paradise ; i. e. some time or other hereafter. As though Christ meant no more than this, viz : " thou askest me to remember thee wJien I come into my kingdom : and I declare unto thee truly this very day, that some long time hereafter, thou shalt be witli me in happiness at thy resurrection, when my kingdom shall be just at an end, and I shall give it all up to the Father,''^ as in 1 Cor. xv. 24. Can any one imagine this to be the meaning of our ])lessed Sa- viour, in answer to this prayer of the dying penitent ? I know also, there are other laborious criticisms to repre- sent these words f to-day J in other ])laces of scripture, as referring to some distant time, and not to mean that OF A SEPARATE STATE. 31 vely day of twenty-four hours : but rather than enter in- to a long and critical debate upon all these texts, I will venture to trust the sense of it in this place, with any sincere and unlearned reader. But if we consult the learned Dr. Whitby, he will tell us, that it was a familiar phrase of the Jews to say, on a just man's dying, " to-day shall he sit in the bo- som of Abraham. '^ And it was their opinion, that the souls of the righteous who were very eminent in Jjiety^ were carried immediately into paradise. The Chaldee paraphrase on Solomon's Song, iv. 12. takes some no- tice of the souls of the just f who are carried into paradise by the hands of angels. Grotius, in his notes on Luke xxiii. 43. mentions the hearty and serious wish of the Jews concerning their friends who are dead, in the lan- guage of the Talmudicial writers : '' Let his soul be gathered to the garden of Eden." And in their solemn prayers when one dies, '^ Let him have his portion in paradise, and also in the world to come ;" by which they mean the state of the resurrection, and plainly distin- guish it from this immediate entrance into Eden or para- dise, at the hour of death. The Jews suppose Enoch to be carried to paradise, even in his body ; and that the souls of good men have no interruption of life ; but tliat there was a reward for blameless souls, as the book of Wisdom speaks, Chap. ii. 22. ^* For God created man to be immortal, and to be an image of his own eternity," which seems to suppose blameless souls entering into this reward without intermption of their life. And, if tliis be the meaning otiiMradise among the Jews, doubtless oar Saviour spake the words in such a known and com- mon sense, in which the penitent thief would easily and presently understand him, it being a promise of grace in his dying hour, wherein he had no long time to study hard for tlie sense of it, or consult the critics in order to find the meaning. 3a ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF We come now to consider the writings of St. Paul ; and it is certain, that the most natural and obvious sense of his words, in many places of his epistles, refer to a separate state of the souls after death : for, as he Avas a Pharisee in his sentiments of religion, so he seems to be something of a Platonist in philosophy, so far as Chris- tianity admitted the same principles. Why then should it not be reasonably supposed, wheresoever he speaks of this subject, and speaks in their language too, that he means the same thing whicli the Pharisees and the Pla- tonists believed, that is, tlie immortality and life of the soul in a separate state ? But I proceed to the particu- lar texts. V. 2 Cor. V. 6, 8. ^' Therefore Ave are always confi- dent, (or of good courage,) knowing, that whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. Wc are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.*' The apostle, verse 4, seems to wish tliat he might l)e clothed upon at once with immortality in soul and body, without dying or being unclothed. But, since these things are oth- erwise determined, then, in the next place, he would rather choose absence from the body ^ that he might be jjvesent ivith the Lord. These words seem to me so plain, so express, and so unanswerable a proof of tlie spirits of good men existing in a separate state, and being jxreseiit unth the Lord, when they are absent from the body at death, that I could never meet but with two ways of evading it. The first is w hat a gentleman many years ago, who professed Christianity, acknoAvledged to me, viz. that he believed St. Paul did mean, in this place, the same sense in which I have explained him ; but he thought St. Paul might be mistaken in his opinion, for he was not of the apostle's mind in this point. I think I need not tarry to i-efute this answer. But I may make this remark upon OF A SEPARATE STATE. 33 it, viz. that the sense of St. Paul concerning the sepa- rate state was so evident, in this place, that this man had rather diflPer from tlie apostle than deny this to be his meaning. All his prejudices against this doctrine could not hinder him from acknowledging that the apostle be- lieved and taught it. The second way of evading it is, that this text, with one or two others of like kind, do indeed speak of the happiness of souls in a separate state, but it doth refer only to the apostles themselves, who had this peculiar favor and privelege granted them by Christ, to follow him to paradise and enjoy his presence there, while the souls of otlier christians were asleep, unconscious and inactive till the resurrection. Answer 1. It is granted indeed, that several verses of this chapter, as well as in the former, have a peculiar reference to the ministers of Christ, and perhaps to the apostles who were his ambassadors ; but there are many things in both these chapters that are perfectly applica- ble to every christian ; and the verses just before and just after tliis eighth verse, may belong to all good men as well as to the apostles or ministers. He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing, i. e. for the happi- ness of the future state, is God, who hath also given unto us the earnest of the spiint, at least as an enlightener and a sanctifier, if not as the author of special gifts, for Rom« viii. 9. If any man hath not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And ver. 6. therefore we are ahcays confi- dent, or of good courage, knoit'ing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent fom the Lord, for we walk by faith not by sight. This is or should be the character of every christian. And the ninth verse that follows it belongs to all the saints : " Wherefore we la- bor, that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him ; for we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in 34 ESSAY TfOWAUD THE PROOF his body according to tliat he hath done, whether it be good or bad.'^ Now why sliouhl we suppose that St. Paul excludes all other christians besides himself and his brethren, the apostles, from the blessing of the eighth verse, (viz.) that when they are absent from the bodyilmj shall be present with the Lord, since the verses all round it are applicable to all christians ? Jliistcer 2. These chapters were written with a design not only to vindicate and encourage the apostle himself under the suiferings and reproaches which he met with, but doubtless to give encouragement to the Corinthians, and all christians under any sufferings or reproaches they might meet with in the world ; that (as he expresses it a little before) they might learn to walk by faith and to look at the things which are unseen, which are eternal. And indeed if this peculiar blessing of the happiness of a separate state belongs only to the apostles, how much are the comforts of the New Testament narroAved and diminished, and the faith and hope of common christians discouraged and enervated, and their motives to holiness weakened, when they are told, that they have notliing to do to lay hold upon such promised favors, such rela- tions of grace, because they belong only to the apostles and not to them. And indeed how shall common christians ever know what part of the epistles they may apply to themselves for their direction and consolation, if they may not hope in such words of grace, where the holy writers use the word we, and do not plainly intimate that they belong to preachers or apostles only ? tinswer 3. When our Saviour prays for himself and his apostles in tlie beginning of the xviith of St. John, he comes in the :20th verse to extend the blessings he had prayed for to all believers. Ver. 20. " Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through theij- Avord : that they all may be one, as OF A SEPARATE STATE. 35 thou, FatheVj art in me, and I in thee, that they may l)e one in us ; that tlie world may believe that thou hast sent me. Ver. 24. " Father, I will that they also whom thou liast given me may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me." Here it is evident that our Saviour prays that those that shall believe on him through the word of the apostles may ])e present with him in liis kingdom to behold his glory ; and is not that a very considerable part of his glory, wliich the Fatlier hath conferred upon him to be Lord and King and Head of his church? but this peculiar glory reaches no further than tlie resurrection and judg- ment, and cannot l)e seen afterwards ; for in 1 Cor. xv. 24. " Then cometh the end, and Christ shall deliver up tlie kingdom to God tlie Father : the Son himself also &hall be subject unto the Father, that God may be all in all," verse 28. As for that final blaze of supreme glory wherein Christ shall appear at the day of judgment just before he resigns up his Idngdom, and wliich perhaps is once called his kingdom., 2 Tim. iv. 1. " When he shall come in the glory of his Father and of his holy angels as well as his own," Mark viii. 38. The sight of it shall be pr.blic and common to all the world, and not any pecu- liar favor to the saints. It seems therefore most probable that it is only or chiefly in the separate state of souls departed, that the saints have a special promise of beholding this media- torial glory of Christ in his kingdom ; and this faA or our Saviour entreats of his Father for others that shall believe on him, as well as for his apostles. I might here take occasion to inquire whether every text which promises to other christians as well as to the apostles, a dwelling with Christ in Jus kingdom., must not have a more special reference to the glory of the separate state ; upon this very account, because this king- S5 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF dom of Christ ceases at the resurrection and judgment ; and particularly that text in 2 Pet. i. 11. ^^ So an en- trance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jegus Christ :" which is often in scripture called everlasting because it continues to the end of the world ; and the abtmdant entrance into it very naturally refers to our departure from this life. Answer 4. I cannot find any text of scripture where this blessing of being present with the Lord after death in the separate state is limited only to the apostles : I read not one word of such a peculiar favor promised them by Christ ; and therefore, according to the current course of several other places of scripture which have been here produced, I am persuaded it belongs to all true christians, unless the apostle in some plainer man- ner had limited it to himself and his twelve bretliren, and secluded or forbid our hopes of it. After all, if it be allowed that the apostles may enjoy the blessedness of a separate state before the resurrec- tion, then there is such a thing as a sejmraie state of hap- piness for souls. This precludes at once all the argu- ments against it that arise from the nature of things, and from any supposed impropriety in such a divine consti- tution. And since it is granted that there are millions of angels and several human spirits in this unbodied state, enjoying happiness, I see no reason why the rest of the unbodied spirits of saints departed should not be receiv- ed to their society after death, unless there were some particular scriptures that excluded them from it. VI. Phil. i. 23, 24. " For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ ; which is far better : nevertheless, to abide in the flesli is mor^ needful for you." When the apostle speaks here of his abiding in the flesh, and his departing from the flesh, he declares the fli'st was more needful for the OF A SEPARATE STATE. 3^ Pliilippians, to promote religion in their hearts and lives ; but the second would be better for himself, for he should be with Christ, when he was departed from the flesh. I would only ask any reasonable man to determine w hether St. Paul speaks of his beifig with Christ after his departure from the flesh, he can suppose that the apostle did not expect to see Christ till the resurrection, w^iich he knew would be a considerable distance of time, though perhaps it has proved many hundred years longer than the apostle himself expected it ? No ; it is evident he hoped to he present icith the Lord immedi- ately as soon as he was absent from the body ; otherwise, as I have hinted before, death to him would have been but of little gain if he must have lain sleeping till the dead shall rise, and have been cut oil* from his delightful service for Christ in the gospel and all the blessed com- munications of his grace. The objection which may arise here also from supposing this to be a peculiar fa- vor granted to the apostles is answered just before. VII. Heb. xii. 2S. "Ye are come to the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the- general assembly and church of the first-born which are written (or registered) in heaven, to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant,'' i. e. the gos- pel or the christian state brings good men into a nearer union and communion with the heavenly world, antl tlie inhabitants thereof, than the Jew ish state could do : now the inhabitants of this upper world, this heavenly Jeru- salem, are here reckoned up, God as the prime Lord or head ; Jesus the mediator as the King of his cluirch ; the innumerable company of angels as ministers of his khig- dom ; the general assembly of God's favorites or children who are called the first-born ; perhaps this may refer in general to all the saints of all ages past and to come whose names are written in the book of life in heaven : 38 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOl' and particularly to the separate spirits of just men who are departed from tliis world, and are made perfect in the heavenly state. The criticisms that are used to put other senses upon these words seem to carry tliera away so far from their more plain and obvious meaning, that I can hardly think they are the meaning of the apostle ; for it would be of very little use for a common christian to read tiiese verses of divine consolation and grace, if he could take no comfort from tliem till lie had learnt those critical and distant expositions of such plain language. It has been indeed objected against the plain sense of this text, that the spirits of the just or good men are not yet made perfect in heaven, because the same apostle, Heb. xi. 39, 40, says, ^^ These all," i. e. the saints of the Old Testament, "having obtained a good report through faitli, received not the promises, God having provided some better things for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." Now these had been dead for many generations, yet tliey received not the promises nor were made perfect. Thus saith the objection. But the evident meaning of this text is, that they lived and died in the faith of many promises, some of which were to be fulfilled after their days here on earth, but were not fulfilled in their life time. They did not enjoy the privileges and blessings of the gospel of the Messiah, in that perfect manner in which we do, since the Messiah is actually come, and has fulfilled these promises ; and by his death, or offering himself as the same apostle expresses it, for ever j)erfected them that are sanctijied, Heb. x. 14. But all this does by no means preclude their existence and happiness in a sep- arate state as spirits made perfect, i. e. in a perfect free- dom from all sin and sorrow ; thougli it is proba1)le tliis very state of comparative perfection might have several degrees of joy added to it at the ascension of Christ, and will have manv more at the resurrection from the dead. i OF A SEPARATE STATE. 30 VIll. 2 Pet. i, 13. '• I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up, by putting you in re- membrance ; knowhig that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle." Here it is evident, that the person who thinks it meet to stir np christians to their duty, has a tabernacle belonging to him, and which he must sJiortly put off. The soul, or thinJcing principle of the apostle Peter, which is here supposed to be himself, is so plain- ly distinguished from the tabernacle of the body in which he dwelt for a season, and which he must put off shortly, that most evidently implies an existence of this thinking soul very distinct from tlie body, and which will exist when the body is laid aside. Surely the conscious being and its tabernacle or dwelling place, are two very dis- tinct things, and the conscious being exists when he puts off his present dwelling. After all these arguments from scripture, may I be permitted to mention one which is derived partly from reason, and partly from the sacred records, which seems to carry some weight with it. The doctrine of rewards and punishments in a sepa- rate state of souls, hath been one of the very chief prin- ciples or motives whereby virtue and religion have been maintained in this sinful world throughout all former ages and nations, and under the several dispensations of Grod among men, till the resurrection of the body was fully revealed. Now, it is scarce to be supposed that such a doctrine, which God, in the course of his prov- idence, hath made use of as a chief principle and motive of religion and virtue, tlirough all the world which had any true virtue, and in all ages before Christianity, should be a false doctrine. Let us prove the first prop- osition by a view of the several ages of mankind, and dispensations of religion. The heathens, who have liad nothing else but the light of nature to giude them, could have no notion at all ot 40 ESS4Y TOWARD THTri PROOF the resurrection of the body ; and therefore, not only the wisest and best of them, but perhaps the bulk of man- kind among the Gentiles, at least in Europe and Asia, if not in Africa and America also, who have been taught by priests, and poets, and the public opinions of their nation, and traditions of their ancestors, have generally supposed such a separate state after this life, wherein their souls should be rewarded or punished, except where the fancy of transmigration prevailed ; and even these very transmigrations into other bodies, viz. of dogs, or horses, or men, were assigned as speedy rewards or pun- ishments of their behavior in this life. Now, though this doctrine of immediate recompences could not be proved by them with certainty and clear- ness, and had many follies mingled witli it, yet the prob- able expectation of it, so far as it liath obtained among men, hath a good degree of influence through the conduct of common providence, to keep the world in some toler- able order, and prevent universal irregularities and ex- cesses of the highest degree ; it hath had some force on the conscience to restrain the enormous wickedness of men. The patriarchs of the first ages, wliose history is re- lated in scripture, had no notion of the resurrection of the body expressly revealed to them, tliat we can find ; and it must be the hope of such a state of recompence of their souls after death, that influenced their practice of piety, if they were not informed that tlieir bodies should rise again. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had no plain and distinct promise of the resurrection of the body ; yet it is said, Heb. xi. 14. '* They received the promises," that is, of some future happiness, '•^ and embraced them ; and con- fessed they were strangers and pilgi'ims on the eartii ; whereby they plainly declared, that tliey souglit some other country, i. e. an heavenly ; and God hath prepared OF A SEPARATE STATE. 40 a city for tliem." What city, what heavenly country can tliis be, which they themselves sought after, but the city or country of separate souls or paradise, where good men ai*e rewarded, and God is their God, if they had no plain promises or views of a resurrection of the body ? And indeed they had need of a very plain and express prom- ise of such a resurrection, to encourage their faith and obedience, if they had no notion or belief of a separate state, or a heavenly country^ whither their souls should go at their death. Job seems to have some bright glimpses of resurrec- tion in chap, xixth ; but this was far above the level of the dispensation wherein he lived, and a peculiar and distinguishing favor granted to him under bis uncommon and peculiar sufferings. In the institution of the Jewish religion by Mases, there is no express mention of a resurrection, and we must suppose their hope of a future state was chiefly such as they could gain from the light of nature, and learn by traditions from their fathers, or from unwritten instructions. For though our Saviour improves the words of God to Moses in the bush,/*' I am the God of Abraham," &c. so far as to prove a resurrection from them ; yet we can hardly suppose the Israelites could carry it any further, than merely to the happiness of Abraham's soul, &c. in some separate state ; and thence came the notion of departed souls of good men going to the- bosom of Abraham. I grant that David in his Psalms, Isaiah and Daniel in their prophecies, have some hints of the resurrection of the body ; but this doth not seem to have been the common principle or support of virtue and goodness, or a general article of belief among the Jews in the early ages. In the days of the later prophets, and after their re- turn from Babylon^ I confess the Jews had some notions 6 4:2 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF of a resurrection ; but they also retained their bpinion of the righteous souls being at rest with God in a sep- arate state before the resurrection. See the book of Wisdom, chap. iii. 1, 2, 3, 4, " The souls of the riglit- eous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them. In the sight of the unwise, they seemed to die ; and their departure is taken for misery, and their going from us to be utter destruction ; but tliey are in peace ; for though they be perished in the sight of men, yet is their hope full of immortality ;" and iv. 7- " Though the rigliteous be prevented with death, yet they shall be in rest." That this was the most common doctrine of the Jewsj, except the Sadducees and their followers, in our Sa- viour's time, and that it was the doctrine of the prim- itive christians also, need not be proved here ; though they also had the expectation of the resurrection of the body. Now, if this be the chief or only doctrine whicli men could attain to under the dispensation of natural reason, as the most powerful motive to virtue and piety ; if this be the cliiefest doctrine of that kind that we know of, whicli the patriarchs and primitive Jews enjoyed ; if this also be a constant doctrine of later Jews, i. e. the wisest and best of them ; and also of tlie primitive chris- tians, which had so much influence on the good behav- ior of all of them toward God and men ; and by which God carried on his work of piety in their hearts and lives ; and by which also he imprest the consciences of evil men in some measure, and restrained them from their utmost excesses of vice and wickedness, is it not hard to be supposed that this doctrine is all mere fancy and delusion, and hath nothing of truth in it ? And indeed, if this doctrine had been taken away, the heathens would be left without any possible tnie notion of a future state of recompence ; and the patriarchs seem OF A SEPARATE STATE. 43 to have liad no suflBcient principle or motive to virtue and piety left them ; and the principles and motives of goodness in the following ages among Jews and chris- tians, liad been greatly diminished and enfeebled. At the conclusion of this chapter, I cannot help taking notice, though I shall but just mention it, that the multitude of narratives which we have heard of in all ages of the apparition of the spirits or ghosts of persons departed from this life, can hardly be all delusion and falsehood. Some of them have been affirmed to appear upon such great and important occasions, as may be equal to such an unusual event. And several of these accounts have been attested by such witnesses of wis- dom, and prudence, and sagacity, under no distempers of imagination, that they may justly demand a belief. And the eifects of these apparitions in the discovery of murthers and things unknown, have been so consider- able and useful, that a fair disputant should hardly venture to run directly counter to such a cloud of wit- nesses, without some good assurance on the contrary side. He must be a shrev»^d philosopher indeed, who, tipon any other hypothesis^ can give a tolerable account of all the narratives in GlanvilPs Sadducismus Trium- phatus, or Baxter's World of Spirits and Apparilions, &c. Though I will grant some of these stories have but insufficient proof, yet, if there be but one real appa- rition of a departed spirit, then the point is gained, that there is a separate state. And indeed, the scripture itself seems to mention such sort of ghosts or appearnces of souls departed. Matt. xiv. 26. When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, they thought it had been a spirit. And Luke xxiv. 36. After his resurrection, they saw him at once appearing in the midst of them ; a??he hour of death also, for he hath the keys of death and of hell, or of the invisible world ; Rev. i. 18. It is he who appoints the very moment when the soul shall be dismissed from this flesh, he opens the doors of the grave for the dying body ; and he is Lord of the world of spirits, and lets in new inhabitants every minute into those unseen re- gions of immortal sorrow, or immortal peace. And as Christ may be said to come to us by the mes- sage or summons of death, so the many solemn writings and commands of watchfulness, which attend these par- ables of Christ, have been usually, and with good rea- son, applied to the hour of death also, for then the Lord comes to shut up the scene of each of our lives, our works are then finished, our last day is come, and the world is then at an end with us. Let it be observed also, that there is a further paral- lel between the day of the general judgment^ and that 100 THE WATCHFUL CHRISTIAN of our own death. The one will as certainly come as the other, but the time when Christ will come in either of these senses, is unknown to us and uncertain. And it is this, which renders the duty of perpetual watchful- ness so necessary to all men. The parable assures us, that our Lord will certainly come, but whether at the second or third watch, whether at midnight, or at cock- crowing, or near the morning, this is all uncertainty ; yet whensoever he comes, he expects we should have our loins girded, like servants fit for business, and our lamps burning, to attend him at the door ; and that we be ready to receive him as soon as he knocks. Were the appointed hour oi judgment, or of death, made known to us for months or years before-hand, we should be ready to think constant watch fulness a very needless thing. Mankind would persuade themselves to indulge their foolish and sinful slumbers, and only take care to rub their eyes a little, and bestir themselves an hour or two before this awful event. But it is the suddenness and uncertainty of the coming of Christ to all mankind, for either of these purposes, that extends the charge of watchfulness to all men as well as to the apostles, Mark xiii. 37 ; and that calls upon us aloud to keep our souls ever awake, lest (as our Lord there expresses it,) com- ing suddenly he should find us sleeping. And remem- ber this, that if we are unprepared to meet the Lord at death, we can never be ready when he comes to judg- ment. Peace and blessedness attend the watchful Christian, whensoever his Lord cometh. Blessed is that servant, ichom, when his Lord comes he shall find watching. This leads me to the second general head. Secondly, What is implied in watchfulness. Jlnswer. In general, it is opposed to sleeping as I have already hinted, in Mark xiii. 35, 36. And in the language of scripture, as well as in common speech, sleep and slumbering, denote an unpreparedness to receive DYING IN PEACE, IQI whatever comes, for this is the case with those who are asleep. On the other hand, watchfulness is a prepara- tion and readiness for every event, and so it is express- ed in some of these parables^ ver. 40. Be ye therefore ready. But to enter into a few particulars. 1. There is a sleep of death, Psal. xiii. 3. Spiritual death as well as natural, is sometimes called a sleep. Such is the case of a soul dead in trespasses and sins, Eph. V. 14, compared with ii. 1. "Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.'^ Watchfulness therefore implies life, a principle of spiritual life in the soul. Surely those who are dead in sins are not prepared to receive their Lord ; he is a perfect stranger to them, they know him not, they love him not, they obey him not ; and a terrible stranger he will be^ if he comes upon them before they are awake. But those who are awakened by divine grace into a spiritual life, have seen something of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, they are acquainted with their Lord, they love him, and have some degree of preparation to meet their Saviour when he summons them to leave this world. This is therefore a matter of highest consequence, that we awake from a state of sin and death, that we be made alive to God, begin the christian life, and set upon religion in good earnest, ac- cording to the rules of the gospel, before Christ calls us away. It is only this divine life begun in us, that can secure us from eternal death ; tJiough even Christians may be found slumbering in other respects, and expose themselves to painful evils, if that hour surprise them at unawares. 2. There is a sleep of indolence and thoughtlessness ; when a man is insensible of his own circumstances, and too careless of the things which most concern him, and we say, the man is asleep. Such a sleep seems to be 103 THE WATCHFUL CHRISTIAN upon the cimrch of Israel, Isa. xxix. 10 ; a sjiirit of deep sleep, when the Jaw which contained the great tilings of God, and their salvation, was to them as a sealed hook, they read it not, their eyes were closed, their spiritual senses were bound up. Many a christian who hath been raised from a death in sin, has been seized with this criminal slumber, and has had the image of death come again upon him. He has grown too careless and unconcerned about his most important and eternal af- fairs ; and in this temper he hardly knows what his state is toward God, nor keeps up a lively sense or no- tice of divine and eternal things upon his spirit. Watchfulness in opposition to this sleep, implies a holy solicitude and diligence, to know our own spiritual state ; a consciousness of what we are ; a keeping all the spiritual senses in proper exercise, and maintaining a lively perception of divine things. It implies an cute, painful sense of indwelling sin, and the irregular propensities of the heart, a delightful relish of heavenly objects, frequent thoughts of death and eternity, constant waiting for those awful events, with a quick apprehen- sion and resentment of all things, that help or hinder the spiritual life. This is the character of a wakeful christian, and such an one as is ready to receive his returning Lord. 3. There is a sleep of security and foolish jieace, when a person is not apprehensive of imminent danger, and is much unguarded against it. Such was the sleep of Jo- nah in the storm, of Sampson on the lap of Delilah, when the Phillistines were upon him, and of the disci- ples when Judas and the band of soldiers were just ready to seize their master. This is the case of many a slumbering christian ; he is not upon his guard against his inward lusts and passions, nor against those outward temptations and perils to which he is continually ex- posed, while he dwells in flesh and blood. DYING IN PEAOE. 103 Watchfulness in this respect is, when a christian hath his eyes open, and turns them round on every side to foresee approaching evil, and prevent it ; when he is prepared for every assault of every adversary, whether sin or the world, whether death or the devil ; he hath liis spiritual armour girt upon him, and is ready for the combat. He is every hour guarded against the powers of the flesh, and watching against its allurements and attractions, lest he be defiled thereby, and unfit to meet his returning Lord. He is daily loosening his heart from all sensual attachments, and weaning himself from the world and creatures, because he knows he must quickly take his long fjirewell, and part with them all, at the call and appointment of his great Master. He is like a ceutinel upon his watch tower, ever awake, be- cause dangers stand thick around him. 4, There is a sleep of sloth and inactivity ; Prov. xix. 15. Slothfalness cast into a deep sleep. A little more sleep, a little more slumber, saith the lazy christian, who turns upon his bed, as the door upon its hinges,VLnd makes no progress or advance in his way to heaven. We are sleepy christians when we do little for God, or our own souls, in comparison of the vast work, and important varieties of duty that lie upon us. When our zeal is cold, and our eiforts of service slight and feeble ; when the light of grace shines so dim, and the spark of holi- ness is so covered with ashes, that it is hard to say whether it burn or no. As in natural things, so in spiritual. It is a difficult matter sometimes to distin- guish between a dead man, and a lethargic sleeper. Watchfulness in opposition to this slumber, is a lively and vigorous exercise of every grace, and a diligent at- tendance on every duty, both toward God and man ; a constant converse with heaven by daily devotion ; an active zeal for God in the world ; a steady faith in the promises ; a joyful hope of heavenly blessedness ; a 104 THE WATCHFUL CHRISTIAN longing expectation of the returning Saviour, which makes the soul stretch out the wings of desire and joy, as though it were going forth to meet him. This is the meaningof the apostle Peter's expression ; 2 Pet. iii. 12; Looking for, and hastening to the coming of the darj of God. Put all these things together now, and they make up the character of a watchful christian. He is awake from the sleep of death, and made spiritually alive ; he hath the work of vital religion begun in liis heart. He is awake from the sleep of thoughtlessness and indolence ; he is solicitous to know his own state, and hath good hope through grace ; he lives in the view of heavenly things, and keeps his eye open to future and eternal glories. He is awake from the sleep of security, he is upon his guard against every danger, and ready to receive every alarm. He is awake from the sleep of slothfulness, and is active in the pursuit of the glory of his God, and his own eternal interest, and still jiressing toward the mark to obtain the prize. This is the soul that is ready to meet a returning saviour, and to receive liis Lord when he I comes, either at the hour of death, or to the general I judgment. I Thirdly, Let me propose some special considerations whicli discover the blessedness of the icatchful christian at the hour of death. 1. Consid. That moment dispossesses us of every I enjoyment of flesh and blood, and divides us from the ' commerce of this visible world ; but the wakeful chris- tian is happy, for he is ready to be thus divided and dis- I possessed. Death breaks the band at once between us, I and all the sensible things round about us, by dissolving the frame of this body, which had united us to them ; and the watchful saint is content to have that bond bro- DYING IN PEACE. 10 j keii, these unions dissolved. His heart and soul are not torn away from the dear delights of this mortal state with that pain, anguish and horror, that attends the sin- ner when death summons him oiF the stage, and divides him from his fleshly idols. The christian hath been untying his heart by degrees from the dearest de- lights of sense, and disengaging it from all that is not immortal ; with holy pleasure he can bid farewell to sun, moon and stars, and to all things which their light can shew him, for lie is going to a world where the Sun of righteousness ever shines in unclouded glory, and discovers such sights, as are infinitely superior to all that the eyes of flesh can behold ; he can part with friends and kindred with a composed spirit, for he is going to meet better friends and diviner kindred, as we shall shew immediately. He can leave his dying flesh behind liim, and commit it to the dust, in joyful hope of the great rising day ; and lie hath a better mansion at present provided for him on high, in his Father's house, while he lives far separate from all earthly dwellings. 2 Cor. V. 1 ; " We know that if this earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 2, Consid. The moment of death finishes our state of trial, and fixes us unchangeably in the state of sin or holi- ness, in which we are tlien found. And blessed is the icatchfid christian, for he is prepared to have his trial thus ended, and his state thusjixed and made unchangea- ble. As the tree falls, so it lies ; Eccles. xi. 10 ; tvhether to the north, or the south. As the soul parts from the body, so it remains, whether fitted for heaven or hell. It is therefore a matter of tlie last importance, to be pre- pared and ready for such an eternal sentence, and un- changeable determination. Were any of us to be sui-prized some moment this day, and forced to continue all our lives in that very posture of body, in which we 14 ' 106 THE WATCHFUL CHRISTIAN are then founds should we not be awake, and keep our- selves in the most natural and easy gestures all that day, lest we he seized at once, and fixed in some distorted, painfulj and uneasy situation, all our months and years to come ? Or if we were to be bound down to one sin- gle thought or passion, all the remnant of our life, in which we were found in any uncertain minute in this hour, should we not watch with utmost care, and guard against every unpleasing thought, and every fretful and vexing passion, lest it should be fixed upon us till we die ? Now this is the case at death : the Almighty voice of God then pronounces, he that is unclean and unholy must for ever be unholy and unclean^ but he that is righteous let him be righteous stilly and he that is holy shall be for ever holy ; Rev. xxii. 11. I will not pre- cisely determine that this is the sense of that text ; yet since the apostle speaks there concerning the coming of Christ, it may be very applicable to the present case. Now how dreadful soever this thought is to a guilty, sin- ful creature, it is no terror to a wakeful christian. He is ready to have these words pronounced from heaven, for they will establish him in eternal holiness and eternal peace. He hath endeavoured to secure to himself an interest in the love of God, through the faith and love of Jesus the blessed Mediator, and at death he is fixed for ever in their love. He hath loved God in time, and in this visible world, and there is nothing in all the unseen worlds, nothing through all the ages of eternity, sball ever separate him from the love of God in Christ Jesus. The moment of death liath fixed him for ever a holy and beloved soul, beyond the power of creatures to change liis temper, or his state. This is the blessedness of tlie watchful christian. 3. Consid. Death sets us in a more immediate and sensible manner in the presence of God, a glorious and holy God, God the Judge of all : and blessed is the DYING IN PEACE. 107 watchful christian^ for he is willing to stand before this God, to he brought into his 'presence. This is what he hath longed and prayed for, to he for ever with God. It is the blessedness that he hath sought with incessant labors and tears, with holy diligence, and daily devotidn^ and blessed is the pure in heart, who hath watched against the pollutions of the world, /or he shall see God, Matt. V. 8. It is certain, that when the soul departs from the body, it returns to God who gave it, Eccles. xii. 7- And pro- bably to God as a Judge too. Heb. ix. 27- *3fter death judgment. There is some sort of determination of the state of each single person at death, before the great and general judgment-day, because that day is appointed rather for the public vindication of the equity of God in his distribution of rewards and punishments, and is par- ticularly put into the hands of our Lord Jesus. Now, since the separate soul returns to God who gave it, it is of vast importance that we be then prepared to come before him. • Some of us here would be mightily afraid of appearing before a prince, or a great and honorable person in an undress ; but for our souls in a naked state, or in a gar- ment of sinful pollution, to be surprized by the great and holy God, to be set on a sudden in his presence, what terror is contained in this thought ! Now the watchful christian hath this blessedness, that he is washed from his defilements in the blood of the Lamb, '^ he is clothed with the robe of righteousness, and the garments of sal- vation;" Isa. Ixi. 10. He is prepared to appear before a God of infinite holiness without terror, for he is made like him, he bears his image, he appears as one of his children, and he is not afraid to see his Father. However some commentators may confine and impov- erish the sense of David in the end of the seventeenth Psalm, yet I am persuaded the spirit of God in him de- 108 THE WATCHFUL CHRISTIAN signed to express liis faitli and joy, either at the hour of death, or in the morning of the resurrection, " I shall behold thy face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness." When the Psalmist had described what were the satisfactions of the men of this world in death, ver. 14, viz. that they had filled their houses with children, and and leave their substance or riches to them, lie then declares what was his support and hope in his dying lioui* ; Jlsfor me, saith he, I have other views ; I am not afraid, O my God, to appear be- fore thee in the other world, for I shall see thy face, not as a criminal, but as a person approved and accepted, and righteous in thy sight ; I shall awake from this world of dreams and shadows, into thy complete image and perfect holiness , or I shall awake from the dust of death, and shall be fully satisfied ; and rejoice to find myself made so like my God, and to dwell for ever in his presence. 4. Consid. It is the Lord Jesus Christ that lets the soul out of the body, for he "^ hath the keys of death, and of the unseen world, and blessed is the watchful chris- tian, who waits for the coming of his Lord, for he can meet him gladly, w hen fulfilling this part of liis glorious office." He shall be introduced by him into the presence of God his Father, and shall receive most condescending instances of mercy from Christ himself. See the text, Luke xii. 36, 37. '' Be ye yourselves like men that wait for the Lord, that when he cometh and knocketh, ye may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching : Verily I say to you, he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and come forth and serve them." He shall condescend, as it were, even be- low the office of a steward, he shall bring out the heav- enly provisions of his Father's house, and make them sit down in liis kingdom, and give them divine refresh- DYING IN PEACE. 109 ments after their labors ; he shall feed them as a shep- herd, shall lead them to living fountains of waters, and afford them his presence for ever. The watchful christian is blessed indeed, when he shall be absent from the body, and be at once present with the Lord, 2 Cor. v. 8. The Lord Jesus whom he hath seen by faith in his gospel, whose voice he hath lieard in his word, and obeyed it ; Jesus, whom he hath touch- ed and tasted in the appointed emblems of his supper on earth, in whom he hath believed through the word of grace, and whom he hath loved before he saw him, shall now receive him into his presence, and the disciple shall rejoice for ever to meet his Lord, with joy unspeakable and full of glory. 5. Consid. At the hour of death we are sent at once into an invisible world ; we shall find ourselves in the midst of holy or of unclean spirits ; borne away at once into an unknown region, and into tlie midst of unknown inhabitants, the nations of the saved, or the crowds of damned souls ; and blessed is the watchful christian, for he is ready to enter into the unseen regions .-he knows he shall not be placed among those whose company and whose character he never loved here on earth : his soul shall not be gathered with sinners, nor his dwelling be tcith the workers of iniquity, but witli the saints, the ex- cellent in the earth, in whom was all his delight. Every one when dismissed from the prison of this body, must go as the apostles did, when released from the prison at Jeinisalem, must go to their own company, Acts iv. S3. Judas the traitor went to his own place. Acts i. %5. And the watchful christian will be disposed among spirits of the just made perfect, he will find himself in that blessed society, at his dismission from flesh and blood. Bead and see what a glorious society it is, Heb. xii. S3, S3 ; To the innumerable company of angels, the general as- sembly and church of the first-born^ ivho are written in 110 THE WATCHFUL CHRISTIAN heaven^ to God the Judge of all, and to the sjririts of just men made perfect, and Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant. The apostle says, we are come to them, already, that is, by the covenant of grace, as administered under the gospel ; we are bronght into a blessed union with them, in spirit and in temper, even in this life ; we are members of the same body ; we are united to the same head, and made parts of the same household, though we are not yet brought home. But at death we are actually present with them, and dwell and converse among them with holy familiarity, as citizens of the same heavenly Jerusalem, as parts of the same sacred family, and at home, as children of the same God, and in their Father's house. The watchful christian is at once car- ried into the midst of the blessed world by ministering angels, the world where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dwell, and made a speedy partaker of their blessedness ; Luke xvi. 2S. 6. Consid. Death brings with it a most amazing and inconceivable change of all our present circumstances and thoughts, our actions and pursuits, our sensations and enjoyments. I mean all those that relate to this life only ; such as eating, drinking, buying, selling, &c. It dislodges us from these bodies, and thereby finishes all those affections, concerns and troubles, which belong to the body, and sends us into another sort of world, whose affairs and concerns are such only as belong to spirits, whether sinful or holy. A most delightful, or a most dreadful change ! A world of unknown sorrows, or unknown happiness / Luke xxiii. 43 ; '^ This day slialt thou be with me in paradise." liuke xvi. 22 ; " The rich man died, and in hell he lift up his eyes." And indeed the change is so vast, that, comparatively s])eak- ing, we know not what sorrow, or happiness is, till this day comes. Now it is a very foolisli and dangerous thing at best, to pass into such an extreme clian^^^e of DYING IN PEACE. Ill states, infinitely worse, or infinitely better, while we are asleep, and at all uncertainties. What if it should be the miserable state, and we should awake in hell ? But the watchful christian is blessed^for he is ready for this amazing change. He hath long lived upon it by faith and hope ; though he knows not so well what the par- ticular enjoyments of heaven are : and he is well satis- fied that he is prepared for that happy world by God himself. 2 Cor. v. 5 ; He that hath wrought us for the self -same thing is God. He is well pleased to have his faith changed into sight, and his hope into fruition. He hath been long pained and burdened in this sinful world, with the vain trifies, the poor, low cares and amusements of it. The sins, sorrows and temptations that surround him in it, give him continual disquietudes ; and he hath been training up in the school of Cln-ist, by devotion and good works, for those higher services of heaven. Since he can trust the promises of the gospel, and has had some small foretaste of these pleasures ; he knows that the actions and employments, the business and joys of the upper world, are incomparably superior to any thing here on earth, and free from all the uneasy and defiling circumstances of this life. He is awake to receive this change ; he rejoices in his removal from world to world. His vital and active powers are ready for the business of paradise, and he opens his heart to take in the joy. 7. Consid. Death makes its approaches often times, and seizes us in such a manner, as to give no room for prayers or repentance ; then the blessedness of the ivatch- ful soul appears f that if he is carried out of the world and time, in such a surprising ivay, he is safe for eternity. Sometimes the messenger of death stops all our thouglits aud actions at once, by a lethargic stroke, or confounds them all, by ihe delirious rovings of a fever. The light of reason is eclipsed and darkened, the powers US THE WA'ICHFUL CHRISTIAN of the mind are all obstructed, or the laiiguishings of na- ture have so enfeebled tliem, that either we cannot exer- cise tiiem to any spiritual purposes ; or we are forbid to do it, for fear of counterworking the physician, increasing the malady, and hastening our death. Thus we are not capable of making any new preparation for the important work of dying : we can make use of none of the means of grace, nor do any thing more to secure an interest in the love of God, the salvation of Christ, and the blessings of heaven. This is a very dismal thought indeed. But the watchful christian hath this blessedness, that he is fit to receive the sentence of death in any form. Nor lethar- gies, nor deliriums, nor languors of nature, can destroy the seed of grace and religion in the heart, wliich were sown there in the days of health. Nor can any of the formidable attendants of death, cancel his former trans- actions with God and Christ, about his immortal con- cerns. That great and momentous work was done before death appeared, or any of its attendants. He was not so unwise, as to leave matters of infinite importance at that dreadful hazard. He is not now to begin to seek after a lost God, nor to begin his repentance for past sins. He is not now a stranger at the throne of grace, nor be- ginning to learn to pray. He is not now commencing liis acquaintance with Jesus Christ his Saviour, in the midst of a tumult and hurry of thoughts and fears ; nor are the works of faith, and love, and holiness, to be noAv begun. Dreadful work indeed,' and infinitely hazardous ! to begin to ])e convinced of sin on the borders of death, and to make our first enquiries after God and hea,ven, jipon the very brink of hell ! to begin to ask for pardon, when we can live in sin no longer ! to cry out, Jesus, save me, when tiie waves of the wrath of God are break- ing in upon the drowning soul ! Hopeless condition and extreme wretchedness ! to have all the hard work of DYING IN PEACE. 113 conversion to go through, under the sinkings of feeble nature, and to begin the exercises of virtue and godli- ness, under the wild disorders of reason ! What a madness is it, to leave our infinite concerns at such a horrible uncertainty ! But these are not thy circumstances, O wakeful christian : nor was this the case of our young departed friend ; though her distemper soon discomposed her reasoning powers, and gave her very little opportunity to make a present preparation for dying. But she had heard the voice of Christ in his gospel betimes, and awoke to righteousness at his call, that she might be always ready for his summons in death. Religion was her early care. A fear to offend God, possessed and governed her thoughts and actions from her childhood ; and heavenly things were her youthful choice. She had appeared for some years, in the public profession of Christianity, and maintained the practice of godliness in the church, and the world ; but it began much more early in secret. Her beloved closet, and her retiring hours, were silent witnesses of her daily converse with God and her Saviour. There she devoted her soul to her Creator betimes, according to the encouragements and rules of the gospel of Christ ; and there she found peace and salvation. It was there she made a consci- entious recollection of the sermons she heard in public, from her tender years, and left behind her these fruits of her memory, and her pen to attest what improvements she gained in knowledge, by the ministrations of the word : and her cabinet has now discovered to us, another set of memoirs, wherein she continually observed what advances she might make in real piety, by those weekly seasons of grace. It was under these influences she maintained a most dutiful and affectionate behavior to her honored par- ents, and with filial fondness mingled with esteem, sub- 15 114 THE WATCpPtTL CHRISTIAN mission and reverence paid her constant regards to the lady her mother, in her widowed estate. It was by the united principles of grace and nature, she lived with her younger sisters in uncommon harmony and friendship, as though one heart and soul animated them all. It was under these influences, she ever stood upon her guard, amongst all the innocent freedoms of life, and though she did not immure herself, in the walls of a mothers house, but indulged a just curiosity to learn some of the forms of the world, the magnificence of courts, and the grandeurs of life, yet she knew how far to appear among them, and when to retire. Nor did she forbid herself all the polite diversions of youth, agreeable to her rank ; nor did reason or religion, or her superior relatives forbid her ; yet she was still awake to secure all that belongs to honor and virtue, nor did she use to venture to the utmost bounds, of what sobriety and religion might allow. Danger of guilt stands near the extreme limits of innocence. Shall I let this paper inform the world, with what friendly decency, she treated her young companions and acquaintance, how far from indulging the modish liber- ties of scandal on the absent, how mucli she hated those scornful and derisive airs, which persons on higher ground, too often assume toward those who are seated in the inferior ranks of life ? Is it proper I should say, how much her behavior won upon the esteem of all tliat knew her, though I could appeal to the general sor- row at her deatli, to confirm the truth of it ? But who can forbear on this occasion, to take notice, how far she acquired that lovely character in her narrow and pri- vate spliere, which seems almost to have been derived to lier by inlieritance, from her honored father, deceased, who had the tears of his country long dropping upon his tomb, and whose memory yet lives in a thousand hearts ? DYING IN PEACE. ^15- 8iich a conversation and such a cliaracter, made up of piety and virtue, were prepared for the attacks of a fever, with malignant and mortal symptoms. Slow and unsuspected were the advances of the disease, till the powers of reason began to faulter and retire, till the heralds of death had made their appearance, and spread on her bosom, their purple ensigns. When these dis- orders began, her lucid intervals were longer, and while she thought no person was near, she could address her- self to God, and say, how often she had given herself to him ; she hoped she had done it sincerely, and found acceptance with him, and trusted that she was not de- ceived. The gleams of reason that broke in between the clouds, gave her light enough to discern her own evidencs of piety, and refresh her liope. Then she re- peated some of the last verses of the i39th Psalm in metre, viz. Lord, search my sOul, tsy every thought : Tho' my own heart accuse me not, Of walking in a false disguise, 1 beg the trial of thine eyes. Doth secret mischief lurk within ? Do I indulge some unknown sin ! O turn my feet whene'er I stray. And lead rae in thy perfect way. She was frequent and importunate in her requests for the Psalm-book, that she might read that Psalm, or at least have it read to her throughout; and it was with some difficulty, we persuaded her to be composed in silence ; thus sincerely willing was slie, that God might search and try her heart, still hoping well concerning her spirit- ual state, yet still solicitous about the assurance of her own sincerity, in her former transactions with heaven. The next day among the roving of her thoughts, she rehearsed all those verses of the 17th Psalm, which are 116 THE WATCHFUL CHRISTIAN paraphased in the same book, with Tery little faltering in a line or two : Lord I am thine ; but thou wilt prove My faith, my patience, and my love, &c' The traces of her thoughts under this confusion of ani- mal nature, retained something in them divine and heav- enly. O blessed situation of soul, when we stand prepared for death, though it come with the formidable retinue of a disordered brain, and clouded reason ! It would be too long at present to represent to you the sad conse- quences of being found asleep when Christ comes to call us away from this world ,* I shall therefore only make these three reflections. Reflection 1. JVone can oegin too early to awalce to righteousness, and iirejmre for the call of Christ, since no one is too young to be sent for by his messenger of death. I do not here speak of the state of infancy, when persons can hardly be said to be in u personal state of trial. But when I say, 7ione can awake too early to mind the things of religion, I mean, after reason begins its proper exercise, and this appears sometimes in early childhood. All our life in tliis world, compared with heaven, is a sort of night and season of darkness ; and if our Lord summon us away in the first watch of the nighty in the midst of youth and vigor, and the pleasing al- lurements of flesh and sense, we are in a deplorable state if we are found sleeping, and hurried away from earth, into the invisible world, in the midst of our foolish dreams of golden vanity. Dreadful indeed, to have a young tlioughtless creature carried off the stage, sleep- ing and dead in trespasses and sins ! Let those that are drunk w ith wine fall asleep upon the top of a mast in the middle of the sea, where the winds and the waves are tossing and roaring all around them j let a mad- DYING IN PEACE. 117 man who has lost his reason, lie down to sleep upon the edge of a precipice, where a pit of fire and brimstone is burning beneath him, and ready to receive his fall ; but let not young sinners, whose rational powers are in ex- ercise, and whose life is every moment a mere uncer- tainty, venture to go on in their dangerous slumbers, while the wrath of a God and eternal misery attend them, if they die before they are awake. It is granted that no power beneath that which is di- vine, can effectually quicken a dead soul, and awaken it into a divine life. It is the work of God to quicken the dead, Rom. iv. 17; Eph. ii. 5. It is the Son of God who is the light and life of the word, John i. 4. To whom the Father hath given this quickening power, John vi. 2Q. He calls sinners to awaken them from tlieir deadly sleep, Eph. V. 14. And they live by him, as he lives by the Father, John vi. 57- He awakens dead souls to life, by the same living spirit, which shall quicken their mor- tal bodies, and raise them from the grave ; Rom. viii. 9, 11, 13 ; 2 Cor. iii. 3 ; which spirit he hafli received from. the Father, John iii. 34. And on this account we are to seek the vital influences of this grace from heaven, by constant and importunate prayer. Yet in my text, as well as in other scriptures, awaking out of sleep, and watching unto righteousness, is represented as our duty, and we are to exert all our uatural powers with holy fervency, for this end, while our daily petitions draw down from heaven the promised aid of grace. Our dili- gence in duty, and our dependance on the divine power and mercy, are happily and effectually joined in the command of our Saviour, on this very occasion, in one of his parables, Mark xiii. 33. " Watch and pray, for ye know not when the time is that the Lord will come." And again. Chap. xiv. 38. " Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation." Trust not in your own strength and sufficiency for the glorious change to be 118 THE WATCHFUL CHIftSTlAN wrought ill your sinful hearts, and yet neglect not your own labors and restless endeavors under a pretence, tbat it is God's work, and not yours. Awake tliou that steepest^ and arise from the deadj and Christ shall give thee light. Nor should frail dying creatures in their youngest years, delay this work, one day, nor one hour, since the consequences of being found asleep when Christ calls, are terrible indeed. We are beset with mortality all around us ; the seeds of disease and dissolution are working within us from our very birth and cradle, ever since sin entered into our natures ; and we should ever be in a readiness to remove hence, since we are never secure from the summons of heaven, the stroke of death, and the demands of the grave. There was a lovely boy, the son of the Shunamite, who was given to liis mother in a miraculous way, and and when he was in the field among the reapers, he cried out, my head, my head; he was carried home immedi- ately, and in a few hours died in his mother's bosom, 2 Kings iv. 18. Who would have imagined that head- ache should have been death, and that in so short a time too ? This is almost the case which we lament at pre- sent ; the head -ache was sent but a few days before, nor was the pain very intense, nor the appearance danger- -ous, yet it became the fatal, though unexpected fore- runner of death. This providence is an awful warning piece to all her young acquaintance, to be ready for a sudden removal ; for she was of a healthy make, and seemed to stand at as great distance from the gates of death as any of you. But the firmest constitution of human nature is born with death in it. From every age, and every spot of ground, and every moment of time, there are short and sudden ways of descent to the grave. Trap doors (if I may use so low a metaphor) are always under us, and a DYING IN PEACE, 119 thousand unseen avenues to the regions of the dead. A malignant fever strikes the strongest nature with a mortal blast, at the command of the great Author and Disposer of life. My youngest hearers may be called away from the earth, by the next pain that seizes them. Nothing but religion, early religion, and sincere godli- ness, can give you hope in youthful death, or leave a fragrant savor on your name or memory among those that survive. Reflection 2. If such blessedness as I* have described, belong to every watchful christian at the hour of death, then it may not be improper here to take notice of some peculiar advantages which attend those who shake off the deadly sleep of sin in their younger years, and are awake early to God and religion. 1. They have much fewer sins to mourn over on a death-bed, and they prevent much bitter repentance for youthful iniquities. Holy Job was a man of distinguish- ed piety, and God himself pronounces of him, that the7^e was none like him in all the earth. Job i. 28. Bui, it is a question whether his most early days were devoted to Grod, and whether he was so watchful over his beha- vior, in that dangerous season of life, for he makes a heavy complaint in his addresses to God, Job xiii. 26. ^^ Thou writest bitter things against me, and raakest me to possess the iniquities of my youth." The sooner we begin to be awake to holiness, the more of these follies and sorrows are prevented. Happy those who have the fewest of them, to imbitter their following lives, or make a death-bed painful ! 2. Young persons have fewer attachments to the world, and the persons and things of it, which are round about them, and are more ready to part wifcli it when their souls are united to God by an early faith and love.- They have not yet entered into so numerous engage- ments of life, nor dwelt long enough here to have their 1;20 THE WATCHFUL CHRISTIAN liearts grown so fast on to creatures, wliich usually makes the parting stroke so full of anguish and smart- iug sorrow. A child can much more easily ascend to heaven, and leave a parent behind, without that tender and painful solicitude, which a dying, parent has for the welfare of a surviving child. The surrender of all mor- tal interests at the call of God, is much more easy when our souls are not tied to them by so many strings, nor united by so many of the softer endearments of nature, and where grace has taught us to practise an early weaning from all temporal comforts, and a little loosen- ed our hearts from them, by the faith of things eternal. 3. Those that have been awake betimes to godli- ness, give peculiar honours to the gospel at death, and leave this testimony to the divine religion of Jesus, that it was able to subdue passion and appetite in that season of life, when they are usually strongest and most unruly. They give peculiar credit and glory to the christian name and the gospel, which has gained them so many victo- ries over the enemies of their salvation, at that age wherein multitudes are the captives of sin, and slaves to folly and vanity. -t. Those christians who are awake to God in their early years, leave more happy and powerful examples of living and dying, to their young companions and ac- quaintance. It is the temper of every age of life, to be more influenced and affected by the practice of persons of the same years. Sin has fewer excuses to make, in order to shield itself from the reproof of such examples, who have renounced it betimes ; and virtue carries with it a more effectual motive to persuade young sinners to piety and goodness, when it can point to its votaries of the same age, and in the same circumstances of life. *• Why may not this be practised by you, as well as by your companions round about you, of the same age ?" But I must hasten the last reflection. DYING IN PEACE. 1^1 Reflection 3. When we mourn the death of friends who were prepared for an early summons, let their preparation be our support. Blessed be God^ they were not found sleeping! While we drop our tears upon tlie grave of any young christian who was awake and alive to God, that blessedness which Christ him- self pronounces upon them, is a sweet cordial to mingle with our bitter sorrows, and will greatly assist to dry up the spring of them. The idea of their piety, and their approbation in the sight of God, is a balm to heal the wound, and give present ease to the heart-ache. We are ready to run over their virtues, and spread abroad their amiable qualities in our thoughts, and then with seeming reason, we give a loose to the mournful passion ; whereas all these, when set in a true liglit^ are real ingredients towards our relief. We lament the loss of our departed friend, when we review that capacious and uncommon power of memory, which the God of nature had given her, and which was so well furnished with a variety of humane and divine knowledge, and was stored with a rich treasure of the word of God, so that if providence had called her into a more public appearance, she might have stood up in the world as a burning and shining light, so far as her sex and station required. This furniture of the mind seems indeed to be lost in death, and buried in the grave ; but we give in too much to the judgment of sense ; did not this extensive knowledge lay a foundation for her early piety ? And did it not, by this means, prepare her for a more speedy removal to a higher school of improvement^ and a world of sublimer devotion ? And does she not Bhine there among the better and brighter company ? We mourn again for our loss of a person so valuable, when we think of that general calmness, and sedateness of soul, which she possessed in a peculiar degree, so that she was not greatly elevated or depressed, by cora- 10 ISS THE WATCHFUL CHRISTIAN mon accidents or occurrences ; but this secured her from the rise of unruly passions, those stormy powers of na- ture, which sometimes sink us into guilt and distress, and make us unwilling and afraid of tlie sudden sum- mons of Christ, lest he should find us under these dis- orders. We think of her firmness of spirit, and that steady resolution, whicii, joined with a natural reserve, was a happy guard against many of the forward follies and dangers of youth, and proved a successful defence against some of the allurements and temptations of the gayer years of life. And then we mourn afresh, that a person so well formed for growing prudence and virtue, should be so suddenly snatched away from amongst us. But this steady and dispassionate frame of soul, well improved by religion and divine grace, became an eflTec- tual means to preserve her youth more unblemished, and made her spirit fitter for the heavenly world, where nothing can enter that is defiled, and whose delights are not tumultuous as ours are on earth ; but all is a calm and rational state of joy. We lament yet further, when we think of her native goodness and unwillingness to displease. But goodness is the very temper of that region to which she is gone : and she is the fitter companion for the inhabitants of a world of love. We lament that such a pattern of early piety should be taken from the earth, when there are so few prac- tisers of it ; especially among the youth of our degen- erate age, and in plentiful circumstances of life. But it is a matter of high tliankfulness to God, who endowed her with tliose valuable qualities, and trained licr up so soon for a world so much better than ours is. Let our borrow for the deceased be changed into devout praises to divine grace. Let us imitate the holy language of St. Paul to the Thessalouians, and say, ive are cpwforted SURPRISE IN DEATH. 123 eveu at her grave, in all our affliction and distress, hy the remembrance of her faith and piety. What sufficient thanks can ice render unto God, upon her accou7it, for all the joy wherewith we rejoice for lier sake, before our God, night and day, praying exceedingly that we may see her fice in the state of perfection. And may God himself, even our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to the happy world where she dwells ; 1 Thess. iii. 7? &c. The imitation of what was excel- lent in her life, and watchful readiness to follow her in death, are the best honors we can pay her memory, and the wisest improvement of the present providence. May the spirit of grace teach us these lessons, and make us all learn them with power, that when our Lord Jesus shall come to call us hence by death, or shall appear with all his saints, in the great rising day, we may be found among his wakeful servants, and partake of the promised blessedness ! Amen. DISCOURSE III, SURPRISE IN DEATH. MARK xiii. 36. Watch ye therefore, lest coming suddenly, he Jind you- sleeping. AMONG the parables of our Saviour, there arc several recorded by the evangelists, which represent him as a Prince, or Lord and Master of a family, de. parting for a season from his servants, and in his absence 1S4 SURPRISE IN DEATH. appointing them their proper work, with a solemn charge to wait for his return ; at which time he foretold them, that he should require an account of their behavior in his absence ; and he either intimates or expresses a severe treatment of those who should neglect their duty while he was gone, or make no preparation for his ap- pearance. He informs them also, that he should come upon them on a sudden ; and for this reason, charges them to be always awake and upon their guard, ver. 35. '' Watch ye therefore, for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, whether at even, or at midnight, or at cock-crowing, or in the morning." Though the ultimate design of these parables, and the coming of Christ mentioned therein, refer to the great day of judgment, when he shall return from heaven, shall raise the dead, and call mankind to ap- pear before his judgment seat, to receive a recompence according to their works ; yet both the duties and the warnings which are represented in these parables, seem to be very accommodable to the hour of death ; for then our Lord Jesus, who lias the keys of death and the grave, and the unseen icorld^ comes to finish our state of trial, and to put a period to all our works on earth. He comes then to call us into the invisible state ; he dis- poses our bodies to the dust, and our souls are sent into other mansions, and taste some degrees of appointed happiness or misery, according to their behavior here. The solemn and awful warning which my text gives us concerning the return of Christ to judgment, may be therefore pertinently applied to the season when he shall send his messenger of death to fetch us hence. Watch ye therefore, lest coining suddenly, hefnd you sleeping. When I had occasion to treat on a subject near akin to this,*^ I shewed that there was a distinction to be made * In a funeral sermon for Mrs. Sarah Abney, on Luke xii. "7 ; " Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching." SURPRISE IN DEATH. ±25 between the dead sleep of a sinner, and slumber of an unwatcliful christian. Those who never had the work of religion begun in their hearts or lives, are sleeping the sleep of death ; whereas some who are made alive by the grace of Christ, yet may indulge sinful drowsiness, and grow careless and secure, slothful and inactive. The wise virgins as well as the foolishy were slumber- ing and sleeping; Matt. xxv. 5. The mischiefs and sorrows which attend each of these, when Christ shall summon them to judgment, or shall call them away from earth by natural death, are great and formidable, though they are not equally dangerous. Let us consider each of them in succession, in order to rouse dead sinners from their lethargy, and to keep drowsy christians awake. First. Let us survey the sad consequences which at- tend those that are asleep in sin, and spiritually dead, when the hour of natural death appproaches. They are such as these : — I. If they happen to be awakened on the borders of the grave, into what a horrible confusion and distress of soul are they plunged P What keen anguish of conscience for their past iniquities seizes upon them ? What bitter remorse and self reproaches, for the seasons of grace which they have wasted, for the proposals of mercy which they have abused and rejected, and for the divine salvation which seems now to be lost for ever, and put almost beyond the reach of possibility and hope. They feel the messenger of death laying his cold hands upon them ; and they shudder and tremble with the expecta- tion of approaching misery. They look up to heaven and they see a God of holiness there, as a consuming fire ready to devour them, as stubble fit for the flame. They look to the Son of God, who has the keys of death in his hand, and who calls them away from the land of the living, even to Jesus, the compassionate Mediator ; 1S6 SURPRISE IN DEATH. but they can scarce persuade tlieni selves to expect auy thing from hira, because they have turned a deaf ear so long to the invitations of liis gospel, and so long afl'ronted bis divine compassion. They look behind them, and with painful agonies are frighted at the mountains of their former guilt, ready to overwhelm them. They look forward and see the pit of hell opening upon them, with all its torments, long darkness without a glimpse of light, and eternal despair with no glimmerings of hope. Or if now and then amidst their horrors, they would try to form some faint hope of mercy, how are their spirits perplexed with prevailing and distracting fears, with keen and cutting reflections ? *' O that I had im- proved my former seasons for reading, for praying, for meditating on divine things ! But I cannot read, I can hardly meditate, and scarce know how to pray. Will the ear of God ever hearken to the cries and groans of a rebel, that has so long resisted his grace ? Are there any pardons to be had for a criminal, who never felt his sins till vengeance was in view ? Will the blood of Christ ever be applied to wash a soul that has wallowed in his defilements, till death roused him out of them ? Will the meanest favor of heaven be indulged to a wretch wlio has grown bold in sin, in opposition to so loud and repeated warnings ? I am awake indeed, but I can see nothing round me but distresses and discour- agements ; and my soul sinks within me, and my heart dies at the tlioughts of appearing before God." It is a wise and just observation among christians, though it is a very common one, that the scriptures give us one instance of a penitent saved in his dying hour ; and that is the tli'ief upon the cross, that so none might utterly despair : But there is but one such instance given, that none may presume. The work of repentance is too diflBcult, and too important a thing, to be left to the SURPRISE IN DEATH. Ig^ languors of a dying bed, and the tumults and fluttevings of thought, which attend such a late conviction. There can be hardly any elBfectual proofs given of the sincerity of such repentings. And 1 am verily persuaded there are few of them sincere ; for we have often found these violent emotions of conscience vanish again, if the sinner has happened to recover his health. They seem to be merely the wild perplexities and struggles of nature, averse to misery, rather than averse to sin. Their re- nouncing their former lusts, on the very borders of hell and destruction, is more like the vehement and irregular efforts of a drowning creature, constrained to let go a most beloved object, and taking eager hold of any plank for safety, rather than the calm, reasonable, and volun- tary designs of a mariner, who forsakes his earthly joys, ventures himself in a ship that is oifered him, and sets sail for the heavenly country. I never will pronounce such eiForts and endeavors desperate, lest I limit the grace of God which is unbounded ; but I can give very little encouragement for hope to an hour or two, of this vehement and tumultuous penitence, on the very brink of damnation. Judas repented ; but his agonies of soul hurried him to hasten his own death, that he might go to his own place. And there is abundance of such kind of repenting in every corner of hell. That is a deep and dreadful pit, whence there is no redemption, though there are millions of such sorts of penitents. It is a strong and dark prison, where no beam of comfort ever shines, where bitter anguish and mourning for sins past, is no evangelical repentance, but everlasting and hope- less sorrow. II. Those that are found sleeping at the hour of death, are carried away at once, from all their sensual pursuits and enjoy men' Sf which were their chosen portion ^ and their highest happiness. At once they lose all their golden dreams ; and their chief good is, as it were 4S8 SURPRISE IN DEATH. snatched away from them at once, and for ever. They stand on slippery places ; they are brought to destruction in a moment ; and all their former joys are like a dream when one ivaketh, and finds himself beset round with terrors. Are there any of you that are pleasing yourselves here in the days of youth and vanity, and indulge your dreams of pleasure, in the sleep of spiritual death, think of the approaching moment, when the death of nature shall dissolve your sleep, and scatter all the delusive images of sinful joy. Tliis separation from the body of flesh, is a fearful sliock given to the soul, that makes it awake indeed. Sermons would not do it ; the voice of the preacher was not loud enough ; strokes of affliction, and smarting providences would not do it ; perhaps the soul might be roused a little, but dropt into profound sleep again ; sudden or surprising deaths near them, and even the pains of nature in their own flesli, their own sicknesses and diseases, did not awaken them, nor the voice of the Lord in them all. But the parting stroke tliat divides the soul and body, will terrihly awaken the soul from the vain delusion, and all its fancied delights for ever vanish. When they are visited by the Lord of hosts, with this tliunder and earthquake, as the prophet Isaiah speaks, v,'hen tMs storm and tempest of deatli shall shake the sinner out of his airy visions, he shall be as an hungry man that dreameth he was eating, but awakes and his soul is empty ; or as a thirsty creature dreaming that he drinks, hut he awaketh, and behold he is faint, and his soul is pained with raging appetite. The sinner finds to his own torment, how wretchedly he lias deceived himself and fed upon vanity. There are no more earthly objects to please his senses, and to gratify his inclina- tions : but the soul for ever lives upon a rack of carnal desire, and no proper object to satisfy it. His taste is SURPRISE IN DEATH. Ii39 not suited to the pleasures of a world of spirits, be cau find no God there to comfort him. God with his offers of grace, are gone for ever, and the world with its joys are for ever vanished, while the wretched and malicious creatures, into whose company he is hurried, and who were the tempters or associates of his crimes, shall stand round him to become his tormentors. HI. Though death will awaken sinful souls into a sharper and more lively sense of divine and heavenly things than ever they had in this worldly et they shall never he awakened to spiritual life and holiness. And I think I may add, that though they should be awakened to a sight of God, his justice, and his grace, to a sight of heaven and hell, more immediate and perspicuous than what even the saints themselves usually enjoy in this life, yet they would remain still under the bondage of their lusts, still dead in trespasses and sins. They shall for ever continue unbeloved of God, and incapable of all the happiness of the heavenly state, because they are for ever averse to the holiness of God, and themselves for ever unholy. It is only in the present state of trial, and under the present proposals of grace, that sleeping sinners can be awak- ened into the spiritual and divine life. The voice of the Son of God, that breaks the monuments of brass, and makes tombs of hardest marble yield to his call, shall never break one heart of stone, which is gone down to death, in its native and sinful hardness. That almighty voice that must awaken the nations of the dead, and command their bodies up from the grave, shall never awaken one dead soul, when they are past the limits of this life. The compassionate calls of a Saviour, and the offers of mercy, are then come to their utmost period. And if we refuse to hear the call of mercy to the moment of death, we shall then be terribly constrained to feel the loss of it, but never able to obtain the blessing. Obstinate sleepers shall be awakened to see God, bnt 17 130 SURPRISE IN DEATH. only as Balaam was : / shall see Mm, but not nigh / Numb. xxiv. I7. The saints in this life have God near them in all their trials, as a father and a friend, to uphold, to comfort, to sanctify, though they see him but darkly through a glass, and behold but little of his power or glory. The sinner awaking in hell, shall, perhaps, have a clearer and more acute perception of what God is, than any saint on earth. But he shall behold him as an en- emy, and not a friend. If he beholds him in the glory of his grace, it is at a dreadful and insuperable distance : there is no grace for him. He sees him in his holiness, but he cannot love liiin ; he has no meltings of true pen- itence for his former rebellions against God ; his heart is hardened into everlasting enmity, and shall never taste of his love. Hence arise all the foul and gnawing pas- sions of envy, malignity, and long despair, which are the very image of satan, and change mankind into devils. These impenitent sons and daughters of men shall grow into the more complete likeness of those wicked spirits, and, under tlie impressions of their guilt and damnation, they sliall rival those apostate and cursed creatures,in the obstinate hatred of God and all that is holy. IV. Hence it will follow in the last place, tliat the sinner who i^fast asleep in his sins at the hour of death , shall awake into such a life as is worse than dying. He shall be surprised all at once into darkness and fire, which have no gleam of light, and sorrows without mitigation.and which can find no end. The punishm.ent of hell is not called eternal death, to denote a state of senseless and stupid existence ; but death being the most opposite to life, and all the enjoyments of it, the misery of hell is described by deatli, as the most formidable thing to na- ture, as a word that puts a period to all the enjoyments of this mortal life, and stands directly opposite to a life of joy and glory in the immortal world. Happy would it be for such souls if they could sink into an evevlasting SURPRISE IN DEATH. 131 sleep, and grow stupid and senseless for ever and ever. But this is a favor not to be granted to those who have been constant and nnrepenting rebels, against the law and the grace of God. The moment when the body falls asleep in death, the soul is more awake than ever, to behold its own guilt and wretchedness. It has then such a lively and pierc- ing sense of its own iniquities, and the divine wrath that is due to them, as it never saw or felt before. The in- word senses of the soul, if I may so express it, which have been darkened and stupified, and benumbed in this body, are all awake at once, when the veil of ilesh is thrown off, and the curtains are drawn back, which di- vided them from the world of spirits. Every thought of sin, and the anger of God^ wounds the spirit deep in this awakened state, though it scarce felt any thing of it be- fore ; and a wounded spirit icJio can bear ? Prov. xviii 14. But sinners must bear it days without end, and ages without hope. Then the crimes they have committed, and the sinful pleasures they have indulged, shall glare upon their re- membrance, and stare them in the face with dreadful surprise ; and each of them is enough to drive a soul to despair. Nor can they turn tlieir eyes away from the horrid sight, for their criminal practices beset them around, and the naked soul is all sight and all sense ; it is eye and ear all over ; it hears the dreadful curses of the law, and the sentence of the Judge, and never, never forgets it. This is the character, these the circumstances of an obstinate sinner, that awakes not till the moment of death, and lift up his eyes in hell, as our Saviour ex- presses it. These will be the consequences of our guilt and folly, if we are found in a dead sleep of sin, when our Lord comes to call us from this mortal state. Secondlijf Let us spend a few thoughts also upon the dangerous and unhappy circumstances of those of whom 13S SURPRISE IN DEATH. we may have some reason to hope, they have once begun religion in good earnest, and are made spiritually alive, but have indulged themselves in drowsiness, and woirn out the latter end of their days in a careless, secure, and slothful frame of spirit. 1. If they have had the principle of vital religion "wrought in their hearts, yet by these criminal slumbers j they darken and lose their evidences of grace ; and by this means, they cut themselves off from the sweet reflec- tions and comforts of it on a dying bed, tchen they have most need of them. They know not whether they are the children of God or no, and are in anxious confusion and distressing fear. They have scarce any plain proofs of their conversion to God, and the evidences of tnie Chris- tianity ready at hand, when all are little enougli to sup- port their spirits. They have not used themselves to search for them by self inquiry, and to keep them in their sight ; and therefore they are missing in this im- poi-tant hour. They have not been wont to live upon their lieavenly hopes, and they cannot be found when they want them to rest upon in death. They die there- fore almost like sinners, though they may, perhaps, have been once converted to holiness ; and there may be a. root of grace remaining in them ; and the reason is, because they have lived too much as sinners do. They liave given too great and criminal indulgence to the vain and worldly cares, or the trifling amusements of this life. These have engrossed almost all their thoughts and their time ; and therefore in the day of death, they fall under terrors and painful apprehensions of a doubt- ful eternity just at hand. If Ave have not walked closely with God in this world, we may well be afraid to appear before him in the next. If we have not maintained a constant converse witli Jesus our Saviour, by holy exercises of faith and hope, it is no wonder if we are not so ready w itli cheer- SURPRISE 'IN DEATH. I33 fulness and joy, to resign our departing spirits into bis hand. It is possible we may have a right to the inher- heritance of heaven, having had some sight of it by faith as revealed in the gospel, having in the main chosen it for our portion, and set our feet in the path of holiness that leads to it ; but we have so often wandered out of the way, that in this awful and solemn hour, we shall be in doubt whether we shall be received at the gates, and enter into the city. Such unwatchful christians have not kept the eternal glories of heaven, in their constant and active pursuit, they have not lived upon them as their portion and in- heritance, they have been too much strangers to the invisible world of happiness, and they know not how to venture through death into it. They have built indeed upon the solid foundation, Christ Jesus and the gospel ; but they have mingled so much hay and stubble with the superstructure, that when they depart hence, or when they appear before Christ in judgment, they shall suffer great loss by the burning of their works, yet themselves may be saved so as by fire ; 1 Cor. iii. 10 — 15. They may pass as it were by the flame of hell, and have something like the scorching terrors of it in death, tliough the abounding and forgiving grace of the gospel, may con- vey them safe to heaven. They escape as a man that is awakened with the sudden alarms of fire, who suffers the loss of his substance, and a great part of the fruit of liis labors, and just saves his own life. They plunge into eternity, and make a sort of terrible escape from hell. 2. ^' They can never expect any peculiar favors from heaven at the hour of death, no special visitations of the comforting spirit, nor that the love of God, and the joy of his presence, should attend them through the dark val- ley." It is not to such unwatchful or sleepy christians, that God is wont to vouchsafe his choicest consolations. They fall under terrible fears about the pardon of their 134 SURPRISE IN DEATH. sins, when they stand in most need of the sight of their pardon ; and Christ as the ruler of his church, sees it fit they shoukl be tlias punished for their negligence. They lay hold of the promises of mercy with a trembling hand, and cannot claim them by a vigorous faith, because they have not been wont to live upon them, nor do they see those holy characters in their own hearts and lives, which confirm their title to them. They have no bright views of the celestial world, and earnests of their salvation, for it is only for watchful souls, that these cordials are prepared in the fainting hour ; it is only to the watchful christian, that these foretastes of glory are given. '' The fruit of righteousness is peace, and the eftect of righteousness is quietness and assurance for ever, Isaiah xxxii. 17. Blessed is he which icatcheth, and Jeeepeth his garments clean, that he may enter with tri- umph into that city, where nothing shall enter that de- fileth. 3. Sliimhering and slothful christians are oftentimes left to wrestle icith sore temptations of satan, and have dreadful conflicts in the day of death ; and the reason is evident, because they have not watclied against their ad- versary, and obtained but few victories over him in their life. These temptations are keen and piercing thorns, that enter deep into the heart of a dying creature. The devil may be let loose upon them ivith great wrath, Tcnowing that his time is but short ; and yet tliere is great justice in the conduct of the God in heaven, in giving them up to be buffetted by the powers of hell. What frightful agonies are raised in the conscience, by the temper, and the accuser of souls, on a sick or dying bed, can hardly be described by the living, and are known only to those who have felt them in death. 4. Such drowsy christians make dismal work for new and terrible repentance on a death bed ; for, though they have sincerely repented in times past of their former sins, SURPRISE IN DEATH. 135 yet having too much omitted the self-mortifying duties, having given too much indulgence to temptation and fol- ly, and having not maintained this habitual penitence, for their daily oflences in constant exercise, tlieir spirits are now filled with fresli convictions, and bitter remorse of heart. The guilt of their careless and slothful con- duct finds them out now, and besets them around, and they feel most acute sorrows, and wounding reflections of conscience, while they have need of most comfort. What a glorious entrance had St. Paul into the world of spirits, and the presence of Christ? He had made re- pentance and mortification and fiiith in Jesus, his daily work. ^^O wretched man that I am! Who shall de- liver me from the body of this death ? I run, I fight, I subdue my body, and keep it under ; I am crucified to the world, and the world to me ; the life which I live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God." When he was ready to he offered up, and the time of Ids dejmr- ture was at hand, from the edge of tlie sword, and the borders of the grave, he could look back upon his for- mer life, and say, " I have fouglit the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept tlie faith, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of rigliteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge will give me." 3 Tim. iv. 7, 8. 5. The unwatchful christian, at the hour of death, has the pain and anguish of reflecting, that he has omit- ted many duties to God and man, and these can never be performed now ; that he has done scai'ce any services for Christ in the world, and those must be left for ever undone. There is no further work or device, no labors of zeal, no activity for God in the grave, whither we are hastening; Eccl. ix. 10. ^^Alas! I have brought forth but little fruit to God, and it is Avell if I be not cast away as an unprofitable servant. My talents have laid bound up in rust, or been but poorly employed, wliilst T have 136 feURPIUSE IN DEATH laid slumbering and inactive. The records of my life in the court of heaven, Avill shew but very little service for God amongst men ; I have raised few monuments of praise to my Redeemer, and I can never raise them now. I shall have but few testimonies for my love and zeal, to appear in the great day of account, when the martyi's, and the confessors, and tlie lively christians, shall be surrounded with the living ensigns of their victories over sin and the world, and their glorious services for their Redeemer. Wretch that I am ! that I have loved my Lord at so cold a rate, and laid slumbering on a bed of ease, whilst I should have been fighting the battles of the Lord, and gaining daily honors for my Saviour !" 6. Jls such sort of christians give but little glory to God in life, so they do him no honor in death : they are no ornaments to religion ivhile they continue here, and leave perhaps but little comfort with their friends when they go hence. Doubtings and jealousies about their eternal welfare, mingle with our tears and sorrows for a dying friend ; these anxious fears about the departed spirit, swell the tide of our grief high, and double the in- ward anguish. They are gone alas ! from our world, but we know not whither they are gone, to heaven or to hell. A sad fareAvell to tliose whom we love ! a dismal parting- stroke, and a long heart-ache ! And wliat honor can be expected to be done to God or his Son, what reputation or glory can be given to religion and the gospel, by a drowsy christian departing, as it were, under a spiritual letliargy ? He dies under a cloud, and casts a gloom upon the christian faith. St. Paul was a man of another spirit, a lively and active saint, full of vigor and zeal in his soul. It was t!ie holy resolu- tion and assurance of tliis blessed apostle, ^^ that Christ should be magnified in his body, whether by life or death ;" Phil. i. 20. He spent liis life in the service of Christ, and he could rejoice in death as his gain. It is SURPRISE IN DEATH. 137 a glory to the gospel, when we can lie down and die with courage, in the hope of its promised blessings. It is an honor to our common faith, when it overcomes tlie terrors of death, and raises the christian to a song of triumph, in view of the last enemy. It is as a new crown put upon the head of our Redeemer, and a living cordial put into the hands of mourning friends in our dying hour, when we can take our leave of them with holy fortitude, rejoicing in the salvation of Christ. No sooner does he call but we are ready, and can answer, with lioly transport, Lord 1 come. This is a blessing that belongs only to the watchful christian. May every one of us be awake to salvation in our expiring moments, and partake of this glorious blessedness ! I proceed now to a few remarks, and particularly such as relate to the necessity and duty of constant watchfulness, and the hazardous case of sleeping souls. 1. Remark. To presume on long life is a most dan- gerous temptation, for it is the common spring and cause of spiritual sleep and drowsiness. Could we take an inward view of the hearts of men, and trace out the springs of their coldness and indifference about eter- nal things, and the shameful neglect of their most im- portant interests, we siiould find this secret thought in the bottom of tiieir hearts, that we are not like to die to- diij or to-morrow. They put this evil day afar off, and ind'ilge therasplves in their carnal delights, without due solicitude to prepare for the call of God. There is scarce any thing produces so much evil fruit in the world, so much shameful wickedness amongst the sen- sual and the profane, or such neglect of lively religion among real christians, as this bitter root of presumption upon life and time before us. Matt. xxiv. 48, 49. The evil servant did not hegin to smite his fellows, and to eat and drink with the drunken, till he said in his heart, my Lord delayeth his coming. It was lahile the bride- 18 138 SURPRISE IN DEATH. groom tarried, and they imagined he would tarry lon- ger, tliat even the wise virgins fell into slumbers. Ask your own hearts, my friends, does not this thought se- cretly lurk within you, when you comply with a temp- tation, surely T shall not die yet, I have no sickness upon me, nor tokens of death, 1 shall live a little longer, and repent of my follies ? Vain expectation and groundless fancy ! When you see the young, and the strong, and the healthy, seized away from the midst of you, and a final period put at once to all their works and designs in this life. Yet we are foolish enough to imagine our term of life shall be extended, and we presume upon months and years, which God hath not written down for us in his own book, and which he will never give us to enjoy. We are all borderers upon the river of death, which conveys us into the eternal world, and we should be ever waiting the call of our Lord, that we may launch away witli joy, to the regions of immortality. But thoughtless creatures that we are, we are perpetually wandering far up into the fields of sense and time, we are gathering the gay and fading flowers that grow there, and filling our laps with them as a fair treasure, or makine; garlands for ambition to crown our brows, till one and another of us is called oif on a sudden, and hurried away from this mortal coast. Tliose of us who survive, are surprised a little, we stand gazing, we follow our depart- ing friends with a weeping eye for a minute or two, and then we fall to our amusements again, and grow busy as before, in gathering the flowers of time and sense. O how fond we are to eurich ourselves with these perisliing trifles, and adorn our heads with honors and withering vanities, never thinking whicli of us may receive the next summons to leave all behind us, and stand before God : but each presumes it will not be sent to me. We trifle with God antl things eternal, or utterly forget them, while our hands and our hearts are thus deeply engaged SURPRISE IN DEATH. 139 in the pursuit of our earthly delights. All our powers of thought and actiou, are intensely busied amongst the dreams of this life, while we are asleep to God, because we vainly imagine he will not call us yet. 2. Remark. Whatsoever puts us in mind of dying, should be improved to awaken us from our spiritual sleep. Sudden deaths near us should have this affect ; our young companions and acquaintance snatched away from among us in an unexpected hour, should become our monitors in death, and teach us this divine and need- ful lesson. The surprising loss of our friends who lay near our hearts, should put us in mind of our own de- parture, and powerfully awaken us from our dangerous slumbers. Sinners when they feel no sorrows, they think of no death : but ivhen the judgments of God are in the earth, his spirit can awaken the inhabitants of the ivorld to learn righteousness. At such seasons it is time for the sinners in Zion to be afraid, sin([ fearfulness to surprise the hyprocrites. Even the children of God have sometimes need of painful warning-pieces, to awa- ken them from their careless, their slothful, and their secure frame. And as for those souls who are indeed awake to righteousness, and lively in the practice of all religion and virtue, such sudden and awful strokes of providence have a happy tendency to wean them from creatures, and keep them awake to God, that when their Lord comes he may find them watching, and pronounce upon them everlasting blessedness. 3. Remark. JSTo person can be exempted from this duty of watchfulness, till he is Lord of his own life, and can appoint the time of his own dying. Then indeed you might have some colour for your carnal indulgen- cies, some pretence for sleeping, if you were sovereign of death and the grave, and had tlie keys in your own hand. And truly such as venture to sleep in sin, do in effect 140 SURPRISE IN DEATH. say, we are lords ef our own life. They act and man- age as if their times were in their own hands, and not in the hand of their Maker. But the watchful christian lives upon that principle, which David professes, Psalm. xxxi. 15 ; my times are in thine hand, O Lr>rd ; and they never give rest to themselves till they can rejoice with him, and say to the Lord, " thou art my God, into thy hands I commit my spirit, for thou hast redeemed it, and I leave it to thy appointment when thou wilt dislodge me from this body of flesh and blood, and call me into thy more immediate presence." If we could but resist the messenger of death, when the Lord of hosts has sent it, if we could shut the mouth of the grave when the Son of God has opened it for us, with the key that is intrusted in his hand, we might say then to our souls, sleep on upon your bed of ease, and take your rest. But wo be to those, who will venture to sleep in an unholy and unpardoned state, or even allow themselves the in- dulgence of short and sinful slumbers, when they cannot resist death one moment, when they cannot delay the summons of heaven, when they cannot defer their ap- pearance before that Judge, whose sentence is eternal pleasure, or everlasting pain. Our Itoly watch must not be intermitted one moment, for every following moment is a grand uncertainty. There is no minute of life, no poiut of time, wherein I can say / shall not die, and therefore I should not dare to say, this minute I ivill take a short slumber. What if my Lord should summon me while he finds me sleep- ing? His command cannot be disobeyed, the very call and sound of it divides me from flesh and blood, and all that is mortal, and sends me at once into the eternal world, for it is an almighty voice. 4. Remark. As it is a foolish and dangerous thing, for any of the sons and daughters of men to presume upon long life, and neglect their watch, so persons un- SURPRISE IN DEATH. 14| der some 'peculiar circumstances, are eminently called to he ever wakeful. Give me leave here to reckon up some of them, and make a particular address to the per- sons concerned. 1. Is your constitution of body weak and feeble ? You carry then a perpetual w^arning about you never to in- dulge sinful drowsiness. Every langor of nature as- sures you, that it is sinking to the dust. Every pain you feel, should put you in mind, that the pains of death are ready to seize you. You are tottering upon the very borders of the grave, and will you venture to drop in before your hopes of life and immortality are secured, and a joyful resurrection ? You pass perhaps many nights, wherein the infirmities of your flesh will not suf- fer you to sleep, and to take that common refreshment of nature, and shall not these same infirmities keep you awake to things spiritual, and rouse all your thoughts and cares about your immortal interests? 2. You whose circumstances or employments of life, expose you to perpetual dangers either by land or by sea / yon who carry your lives as it were in your hand, and are often in a day within a few inches of death, is it not necessary for you to inquire daily. Am I prepared for a departure hence ? Am I ready to hear the summons of my Lord, and ready to give up my account before him ? Shall I dare go on another day with my sins unpar- doned, with my soul unsanctified, and in immediate danger of eternal misery? A fall from a horse, or a house top, may send you down to the pit whence there is no redemption. Every wind that blows, and every rising wave, may convey you into the eternal world ; and are you ready to meet the great God in such a sur- prise, and without warning ? 3. You who are young, and vigorous, and flourish amidst all the gaities and allurements of life, you are in most danger of being lulled asleep in sin, and therefore 142 SURPRISE IN DEATH. I addressed you lately in a funeral discourse, when the present providence gave each of you a new and loud call to awake, and I pray God you may hear his voice in it. 4. Perhaps others of you are arrived to old age, and the course of nature forhids you to expect a long contin- uance in the land of the living. Are any of my hearers ancient sinners and asleep still ? Venturous and thought- less creatures ! That have grown old in slumber, and worn out their whole life in iniquities ! Surely it is time for you to hear the voice of tlie Son of God in the gos- pel, and accept of his salvation. Behold the Judge is at the door, he comes speedily, and he will not tarry, his herald of death is just at hand. Are you willing lie should seize you in a deadly sleep, and send you into eternal sorrows ? And let aged christians bestir themselves, and awake from their slothful and secure frames of spirit ; let them look upward to the crown that is not far oif, to the prize that is almost within reach. Whatsoever your hand or hesirtjlnd to do for God, do it tcith all your zeal and might. Let your loins he girt about, and your natural powers active in his service, let your lamjj of profession be bright and burning, that when Jesus comes, ye may receive him with joy. 5. And are there any of you that are under decays of grace and piety, that are laboring and wrestling with strong corruptions, or in actual conflict with repeated temptations which too often prevail over you, it becomes you to hear the watch-word which Christ often gives to his churches under such circumstances. Make haste and awake unto holiness, be watchful and strengthen the things that remain that are ready to die ; hold fast ivhat thou hast received ; remember thy first affection and zeal, and repent and mourn for what thou hast lost, lest I come upon thee as a thief, and thou shall notknow the hour. Bemember whence thou art fallen, and repent, SURPRISE IN DEATH. 143 and do thy first works, for thou hast lost thy first love. Have a care of dangerous luke-u'armness, and indiffer- ence in the things of religion. This is the very temper of a sleepy declining christian, wliile he dreams he is rich and has great attainments. Take heed, lest presuming upon thy riches and thy self-sufficiency, thou shouldest be found wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. Keep your souls awake hourly, and be upon your guard against every adversary, and every de- filement, lest ye be seized away in the commission of some sin, or in the compliance with some foul tempta- tion. The drowsy soldier is liable to be led captive, and to die in fetters, and groan heavily in death. But blessed is the watchful cln-istian ; he shall be found amongst the overcomers, and shall partake of the rich variety of divine favors, which are contained in the epistles to the seven churches ; Rev. ii. and iii. Though the greatest part of a former discourse, has been describing the blessedness of a watchful christian at the hour of death, and in this I have set before you the sad consequences that attend sleepers, (both which are powerful preservatives against drowsiness) yet at the conclusion of this sermon, give me leave to add a few more motives to tine duty of watchfulness, for we cannot be too well guarded against the danger of spirit- ual sloth and security. Motive 1. Our natures at best in the jJresent state are too much inclined to slumber. We are too ready to fall asleep hourly. All the saints on earth, even the most lively and active of them, are not out of danger, while they carry this flesh and blood about them. Indeed the best of christians here below dwell but as it were in twi- light, and in some sense they may be described as per- sons between sleeping and waking, in comparison of the world of spirits. We liehold divine things here but darkly, and exert our spiritual faculties but in a feeble 144i SURPRISE IN DEATH, manner. It is only in the other ^yorlcl, that we are broad awake, and in the perfect and unrestrained exercise of our vital powers ; there only the complete life and vig- or of a saint appears. In such a drowsy state then, and in this dusky hour, we cannot be too diligent in rousing ourselves, lest we sink tlown into dangerous slumbers. Besides, if we profess to be children of the light and of the day, and growing up to a brighter immortality, let us not sleep as others do wlio are the sons and daugh- ters of night and darkness ; t Thess. v. 4. 5. Motive %. Almost every thing around us in this world of sense and sin, tends to lull us asleep again as soon as we begin to be awake. The busy or tiie pleasant scenes of this temporal life are ever calling away our thoughts from eternal things, they conceal from us the spiritual world, and close our eyes to God, and things divine and heavenly. If the eye of the soul were but open to in- visible things, what lively christians should we be ? But either the Avinds of worldly cares rock us to sleep, or the charm of worldly pleasures sooth us into deceit- ful slumbers. We are too ready to indulge earthly de- lights, and while we dream of pleasure in the creatures, we lose, or at least, abate our delights in God. Even the lawful satisfactions of flesh and sense, and the enti- cing oljjects round about us, may attach our hearts so fast to them, as to draw us down into a bed of carnal ease, till we fall asleep in spiritual security, and forget that we are made for heaven, and that our hope and our home is on high. Motive 3. Many thousands have been found sleeping at the call of Christ ; some perhaps in a profound and deadly sleep, and others in an hour of dangerous slum- ber. Many an acquaintance of ours has gone down to the grave, when neither they nor we thought of their dying at such a season. But as thoughtless as they were, they were never the further from the point of death : SURPRISE IN DE\TH. 145 and we shudder with horror, when we think what is become of their souls. While we are young, we are ready to please ourselves with the enjoyments of life, and flatter our hopes with a long succession of them. We suppose death to be at a distance of fifty or three score miles : threescore years and ten is the appointed period. But alas ! how few are there whose hopes are fulfilled, or whose life is ex- tended to those dimensions ? Perhaps the messenger of death is within a furlong of our dwelling ; a few more steps onward, and he smites us down to the dust. There are some beautiful verses whicli I have read perhaps thirty years ago, wherein the ingenious author describes the different stages of human life, under the image of a fair prospect or landscape ; and death is placed by mistaken mortals, afar off, beyond them all. Since the lines return now upon my remembrance, I will repeat them here with some small alteration. They are as follows : Life and the scenes that round it rise. Share in the same uncertainties ; Yet still we hug ourselves with vain presage Of future days serene and long ; Of pleasures fresh and ever strong. An active youth and slow declining age. Like a fair prospect still we make Things future pleasing forms to take : First verdant meads arise and flowery fields : Cool groves and shady copses here, There brooks and winding streams appear, While change of objects still new pleasures yields. Further fine castles court the eye : There wealth and honors we espy ; Beyond, a huddled mixture fills the stage, Till the remoter distance shrouds The plains with hills, those hills with cjouds. There we place death behind old shivering age. When death, alas, perhaps too nigh. In the next hedge doth skulking lie, 19 146 SURPRISE IN DEAl If. There plants his engines, thence lets fly his darts , Which while we ramble without fear. Will stop us in our full career, And force us from our airy dreams to part. How fond and vain are our imaginations, when we have seen others called away on a sudden from the early scenes of life, to promise ourselves a long continuance here ! We have the same feeble bodies, the same tab- ernacles of clay that others have ; and we are liable to many of the same accidents or casualties. The same killing diseases are at work in our natures, and why should we imagine or presume that others should go so much before us ? And if we enquire of ourselves as to character or merit, or moral circumstances of any kind, and compare our- selves with those that are gone before, what foundation have we to promise ourselves a longer continuance here? Have we not the same sins, or greater, to provoke God ? Are we more useful in the world than they, and do more service for his name ? May not God summon us off the stage of life on a sudden, as well as others? What are we better than they? Are we not as much under the sovereign disposal of the great God, as any of our acquaintance who have been seized in the flower and prime of life, and called away in an unexpected hour? And what power have we to resist the seizure, or what promise to hope that God will delay longer? Let us then no more deceive ourselves with vain imaginations, - but each of us awake and bestir ourselves, as though we Were the next persons to be called away from this assembly, and to appear next before the Lord. Motive 4. When we are aicake, we are not only jitter for th^ coming of our Lord to call us away by deatlu and fitter for his apjmarance to the great judgment , hut we are better prepared also to attend him in every call to present duty, and more ready to meet his apjJearance in SURPRISE IN DEATH. 14^ every providence. It is the christian soldier who is ever awake and on his guard, that is only fit for every sudden appointment to new stations and services ; he is more prepared for any post of danger or hazardous enter- prise, and better furnished to sustain the roughest as- saults. We shall be less shocked at sudden afflictions here on earth, if our souls keep heaven in view, and are ready winged for immortality. When we are fit to die, we are fit to live also, and to do better service for God, in whichsoever of his worlds he shall please to appoint our station. My business, O Father, and my joy, is to do thy will among the sons of mortality, or among the spirits of the blest on high. Motive 5. Let us remember we have slept too long already in days past, and it is but a little while that tve are called to watch. We have worn away too much of our life in sloth and drowsiness. The " night is far spent" with many of us, " the day is at hand ; it is now high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer tlian when we first believed ;" Rom. xiii. 11, ±2. Another hour or two, and the night will be at end with us ; Jesus, the morning star, is just appearing ; what ? Can we not watch one hour 9 O happy souls, that keep themselves awake to God in the midst of this dreaming; world ! Happy indeed, when our Lord shall call us out of these dusky regions, and we shall answer his call with holy joy, and spring upward to the inheritance of the saints in light ! Then all the seasons of darkness and slumbering, will be finished for ever. There is no need of laborious watchfulness in that world, where there is no flesh and blood to hang heavy upon the spirit ; but the sanctified powers of the soul are all life and immor- tal vigor. There is no want of the sun beams to make their day light, or to irradiate that city ; the glory of God enlightens it with divine splendors, and the Lamb Is the light thereof. No inhabitant can sleep under such 148 CHRIST ADMIRED AND an united blaze of grace and glory. No faintings of nature, no languors or weariness are found in all that vital climate ; every citizen is for ever awake and busy under the beams of that glorious day ; zeal, and love, and joy, are the springs of then* eternal activity : and there is no night there. DISCOUESE IV. CHRIST ADMIRED AND GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. 2 THESS. i. 10. • — When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe. HOW mean and contemptible soever our Lord Jesus Christ might appear heretofore on earth, yet there is a day coming when he shall make a glorious figure in the sight of men and angels. How little soever the saints may be esteemed in our day, and look poor and despicable in an ungodly world, yet there is an hour approaching, wlieu they shall be glorious beyond all im- agination ; and Christ himself shall be glorified in them. In that day shall the Lord our Saviour be the object of adoration and wonder, not only among those of the sons of men that have believed on him, but before all the in- tellectual creation ; and that, upon the account of his grace manifested in believers. The natural inquiry that arises here, is this ; What particular instances of the grace of Christ in his saints. GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS, 14,9 shall he the matter of our admiration, and his glory in that day 9 To this I shall propose an answer under the follow- ing particulars. First, It is a matter of pleasing wonder, that persons of all characters should have been united in one faith, and persuaded to trust In the same Savioiu*, and em])race the same salvation ; for some of all sorts shall stand in that blessed assembly. Then it shall be a fruitful spring of wonder and glory, that men of various nations and ages, of different tempers, capacities, and interests, of contrary educations, and contrary prejudices, should be- lieve one gospel, and tioist in one Deliverer, from hell and death ; that the sprightly, the studious and the stupid, the wise and the foolish, should relish and rejoice in the same sublime truths, not only concerning the true God, but also concerning Jesus the Redeemer ; that the barbarian and the Roman, the Greek and the Jew, should approve and receive the same doctrines of salvation, that they should come into the same sentiments in the matters of religion, and live upon them as their only hope. Astonishing spectacle ! when the dark and savage in- habitants of Africa, and our fore-fathers, the rugged and warlike Britons, from the ends of the earth, sliall appear in that assembly, with some of the polite nations of Greece and Rome, and each of them shall glory in having been taught to renounce the gods of their ancestors, and the demons which they once worshipped, and shall rejoice in Jesus, the King of Israel, and in Jehovah, the ever- lasting God. The conversion of the Gentile world to Christianity, is a matter of glorious wonder, and shall appear to be so in that great day. That those who had been educated to believe many gods, or no God at all, should renounce atheism and idolatry, and adore the true God only ; and those that were taught to sacrifice to idols, and to atone 150 CHRIST ADMIRED AND for their own sins W'ith the blood of beasts, should trust in one sacrifice, and the atoning blood of the Son of God. Here shall stand a heliemng atheist^ and there a convert- ed idolater, as monuments of the almighty power of his grace. There shall shine also in that assembly, here and there a prince, and a philosopher, though not many wise, not many noble, not many mighty are called; and they shall be matter of wonder and glory ; that princes who love no control, should bow their sceptres and their souls, to the royalty and godhead of the poor man of Nazareth — That the heathen philosophers, who had been used only to yield to reason, should submit their understandings to divine revelation, even when it has something above the powers and discoveries of reason in it. It shall raise our holy wonder too when we shall be- hold some of the Jewish priests and pharisees who be- came converts to the christian faith, adorning the triumph of that day. The Jewish pharisees who expected a glorious temporal Prince for their Messiah, that they should at last own the son of a carpenter for their Teacher, their Saviour, and their King ; that they should veil the pride of their souls, and acknowledge a parcel of poor fishermen for his chief ministers of state, and receive them as ambassadors to the world. That those who thought they were righteous, and boasted in it, should renounce their boastings and righteousness, and learn to expect salvation and life for themselves, from the death and righteousness of another — That they who once called the cross of Christ folly and weakness, should come to see the wisdom and 'power of God in a crucified man, and believe him who hung upon a tree as an ac- cursed creature, to be Emmanuel, God with us, God manifest in the flesli, and the Saviour of mankind. Surely shall men and angels say in that day, '^ these were the effects of an Almighty Power, it was the work GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. 151 of God the Saviour, and it is marvellous in our eyes." With united voices shall all the saints confess, " flesh and blood has not revealed this unto us, but the spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of God the Father. We had perished in our folly, but Christ has been made wisdom to us ; we were in darkness and lay under the shadow of death, but Christ has given us light ;" 1 Cor. i. 30 ; Ephe. v. 14-. Come, all ye saints of these latter ages upon whom the end of the world is come, raise your heads with me and look far backwards, even to beginning of time and the days of Adam ; for the believers of all ages, as well as of all nations, shall appear together in that day, and acknowledge Jesus the Saviour. According to the brighter or dai'ker discoveries of the age in which they lived, he has been the common object of their faith. Ever since he was called the seed of the ivoman, till the time of his appearance in the flesh, all the chosen of God have lived upon his gTace, though multitudes of them never knew his name. It is true, the greater part of that illus- trious company on the right hand of Christ, lived since the time of Ms incarnation, (for i\v<^ great multitude which no man could number, is derived from the Gentile na- tions ; Rev. vii. 9.) Yet the ancient patriarchs, with the Jewish prophets and saints, shall make a splendid appearance there. '^ One hundred and forty four thou- sand are sealed among the tribes of Israel.'' These of old embraced the gospel in types and shadows ; but now their eyes behold Christ Jesus the substance and the truth. In the days of their flesh they read his name in dark lines, and looked through the long glass of pro- phecy to distant ages, and a Saviour to come, and now behold they find complete and certain salvation and glory in him. •• These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar ofl*, and were persuaded of them f Heb. xi. 13. They died in the 15S CfmiST ADMIRED AND hope of this salvation, and they shall arise in the blessed possession of it. Behold Abraham appearing there, the Father of the faithful, who saw the day of Christ, and rejoiced to see it ; who trusted in his Son Jesus two thousand years before he was born. His elder family, tlie pious Jews, surround him there, and we his younger children among the Gentiles, sliall stand with liim as the followers of his faith, who trust in the same Jesus almost two thou- sand years after he is dead. How shall we both rejoice to see this brightest day of the Son of Man, and con- gratulate each others faith, while our eyes meet and cen- ter in him, and our souls triumph in the sight and love, and enjoyment of him in whom we believed ! How ad- mirable and divinely glorious shall our Lord himself appear on whom every eye is fixed with unutterable de- light, in whom the faith of distant countries and ages is centered and reconciled, and in whom all the nations of ihe earth appear to be blessed, according to the ancient word of promise ; Gen. xv. and xvii. Secondly. It is a further occasion of pleasing wonder, that so many wicked obstinate wills of men, and so many perverse affections, should be bowed down, and submit themselves to the holy rules of the gospel. This is another instance of the grace of Christ, and shall be the subject of our joyful admiration. Every son and daughter of Adam by nature is averse to God, and inclined to sin, a child of disobedience and death ; Eph. ii. 2. There is a new miracle wrouglit by Christ in every instance of converting grace, and he shall have the glory of them all in that day. It is a first resurrection of the dead, it is a new creation, and the Almighty Power shall then be publicly adored. Then one shall say, " I was a sensual sinner, drench- ed in liquor and unclean lusts, and wicked in all the forms of lewdness and intemperance. The grace of GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. 153 God my Saviour appeared to me, and taught me to deny the worldly lusts, which I once thought I could never have parted with. I loved my sins as my life, but he has persuaded and constrained me to cut off a right hand, and to pluck out a right eye, and to part with my dar- ling vices ; and behold me here a monument of his saving mercy. "^ I was envious against my neighbor, (shall another say) and my temper was malice and wrath ; revenge was mingled with my constitution, and I thought it no in- iquity : but I bless the name of Christ my Redeemer, who in the day of his grace turned my wrath into meek- ness ; he inclined me to love even mine enemies, and to pray for them that cursed me ; he taught me all this by his own example, and he made me learn it by the sove- reign influences of his Spirit. I am a wonder to myself, when I think what once I was ; amazing change, and Almighty grace !" Then a third shall confess, "I was sl profane wretch, a swearer, sl blasphemer ; I hoped for no heaven, and I feared no hell ; but the Lord seized me in the midst of my rebellions, and sent his arrows into my soul ; he made me feel the stings of an awakened conscience, and constrained me to believe there was a God and a hell, till I cried out astonished, what shall I do to he saved P Then he led me to partake of his own salvation, and from a proud rebellious infidel, he has made me a penitent and a humble believer ; and here I stand to shew forth the wonders of his grace, and tlie boundless extent of his forgiveness." A fourth shall stand up and acknowledge in that day, " And I was a poor carnal covetous creature, who made this world my God, and abundance of money was my heaven ; but he cured me of this vile idolatry of gold, taught me how to obtain treasures in the heavenly world, and to forsake all on earth, that I might have an inher- IS-^t CHRIST ADMIRED AKD itance there ; and behold he has not disappointed my hope. I am now made rich indeed, and I must for ever speak his praises." There shall be no doubt or dispute in that day, wheth- er it was the power of our own will, or the superior power of divine grace, that wrought the blessed change, that turned a lion into a lamb, a grovelling earth-worm into a bird of paradise, and of a covetous or malicious sinner, made a meek and a heavenly saint. The grace of Clirist shall be so conspicuous in every glorified believer in that assembly, that with one voice they shall all shout to the praise and glory of his grace ; JSTot to us, O Lord, 7iot to MS, but to thy name be all the honor ; Psalm cxv. 1 . Thirdly. It shall be the matter of our wonder, and the glory of Christ in that day, that so many thousand guilty wretches should be made righteous by one right- eousness, cleansed in one laver from all their iniquities, and sprinkled unto pardon and sanctification, with the blood of one man, Jesus Christ. See the great multi- tude that no man can number ; Rev. vii. 9, 10. They all ivashed their robes, and made them ivhite in the blood of the Lamb; ver. 14. It is a matter of wonder to us now on earth, tliat tlie blessed Son of God who is one with the Father, should stoop so low as to unite himself to a mortal nature, that he should become a poor despicable man, and pass through a life of suiferings and sorrows, and die an ac- cursed death, to redeem us from guilt and deserved mis- ery. But when we shall see him in his native glory and lustre, his acquired dignities, and all the honors of heaven heaped upon him, it will raise our wonder Iiigli to think that such a one should once humble himself to the death of the cross, the death of the vilest slave, that he might save our souls from dying ; that he should pour out his own blood to wash off the stains of millions of sins, that we might appear righteous before the God GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS, 155 of holiness. Then shall the multitude of the saved join in that song, "To him that loved us, and vrashed us from our sins in his own blood, be glory and dominion for ever ; Rev. i. 5, 6." "Worthy is the Lamb that vras slain to receive power, and riches, and honour, for thou hast redeemed us with thy blood from every kindred, tribe and nation ;" Rev. v. Then shall those blessed words of scripture appear and shine in full glory, howsoever they are often passed over in silence, and too much forgotten in our age ; Rom. V. 17? 19, 2i ; " tf by one man's offence death reigned by one ; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. For as by one man's disobedi- ence many were made sinners ; so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign tlirough righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." Then shall our blessed Lord shine in the complete lus- tre of that incommunicable name Jehovah Tzidkenu, The Lord of righteeusness ; Jer. xxiii. 6. And not only the atonement and salvation itself, shall be the subject of our glorious admiration, but the icay and manner how sinners partake of it, shall minister further to our wonder, and to the glory of Christ. Tiiat such a world of poor miserable creatures should be sa- ved from hell, by believing or trusting in grace, when they could never be saved by all their own works ; that they should obtain righteousness and acceptance unto eternal life, by a humble penitence and poverty of spirit, depending on the death and righteousness of another, Avhen all their labor and toil in works of the law, could not make up a righteousness of their own, sufficient to appear before the justice of God ; Christ will not only be gloriiied in their holiness as saints, hut admired and honored in and by their faith as believers. His blood 156 CHRIST ADMIRED AND and his grace shall share all the glory. Therefore it is of faith, and not of works that it might be of grace ; Rom. iv. 15. Yet this saving faith is the spring of shining holiness in every believer. Duties and virtues are not left out of our religion, when faith is brought into it. The graces of the saints join happily with the atonement of Christ, to render that day more illustrious. Fourthly. That a company of such feeble christians, should maintain their course towards heaven, through so many thousand obstacles. This shall be another sub- ject of admiration, and yield a further revenue of glory to our Lord Jesus Christ, for he who is their righteous- ness is their strength also ; Isaiah xlv. 24, 25. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel glory in that day, as their strength and their salvation. They have broke through all their difficulties, and were able to do all things through Christ strengthening them; Phil. iv. 13. Behold that noble army w ith palms in their hands ; once they were weak warriors, yet they overcame mighty enemies, and have gained the victory and the prize ; enemies rising from earth, and from hell, to tempt and to accuse them, but they overcome by the blood of the Lamb; Rev. xii, 7? H* What a divine honor shall it be to our Lord Jesus Christ, the captain of our salvation, that weak christians should subdue their strong corrup- tions, and get safe to heaven through a thousand oppo- sitions within and without. It is all owing to the grace of Christ whicli is all-sufficient for every saint. 2 Cor. xii. 9. Tiiey are made more than conquerors through him that has loved them ; Rom. viii. 38. Then shall the faith, and courage, and patience of the saints, have a blessed review ; and it shall be told before the whole creation what strife and wrestlings a poor believer has passed tlu'ough in a dark cottage, a chamber of long sickness, or perhaps in a dungeon ; how he has there combatted with powers of darkness, how GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. 1^7 he has struggled with huge sorrows, and has home and has not fainted, though he has been often in heaviness through manifold temptations. Then shall appear the bright scene which St. Peter represents as the event of sore trials ; 1 Peter, i. 6, 7. When our faith has been tried in the fire of tribulation, and is found more pre- cious than gold, it sliall shine to the praise, honor, and glory, of the suffering saints, and of Christ himself at his appearance. Behold that illustrious troop of martyrs, and some among them of the feeblest sex and of tender age ; now that women should grow bold in faitli, even in the sight of torments, and children, with a manly courage, should profess the name of Christ in the face of angry and threatening rulers ; that some of these should become undaunted confessors of the trutli, and others triumph in fire and torture ; these things shall be matter of glory to Christ in that day ; it was his power that gave them courage and victory in martyrdom and death. Every christian there, every soldier in that triumphing army, shall ascribe his conquest to tlie grace of his Lord, his leader, and lay down all their trophies at the feet of his Saviour, with humble acknowledgments and shouts of honor. Almost all the saved number were, at some part of their lives, weak in faith, and yet, by the grace of Christ they held out to the end, and are crowned. ^^ I wa* a poor trembling creature, shall one say, but I was confirmed in my faith and holiness by the gospel of Christ ; or I rested on a naked promise and found sup- port, because Christ was there, and he shall have the glory of it.^' In him are all the promises, yea, and in him amen, to the glory of the Father ; 2 Cor. 1. SO, 2i, 22. And the Son shall share in this glory, for he died to ratify these promises, and he lives to fulfil them. ^^Oh what an almighty arm is this (shall the believer 158 CHRIST ADMIRED AND say) that has borne up so many thousands of poor sink- ing creatures, and lifted their heads above the waves !'' The spark of grace that lived many years in a flood of temptations, and was not quenched, shall then shine bright to the glory of Christ who kindled and maintain- ed it. When we have been brought through all the storms and the threatening seas, and yet the raging waves have been forbid to swallow us up, we shall cry out in raptures of joy and wonder, ^^ What manner of man is this, that the winds and the seas have obeyed him ?" Then shall it be gloriously evident, that he has con- quered Satan, and kept the hosts of hell in chains, when it shall appear that he has made poor mean trembling believers victorious over all the powers of darkness, for the Prince of peace has hridsed him under their feet. Fifthly. There is more work for our wonder and joy, and more glory for our blessed Lord, when we shall see that so many dark and dreadful providences were work- ing together in mercy, for the good of the saints ; it is because Jesus Christ had the management of them all put in his hand ; and we shall acknowledge he has done all things well ; Rom. viii. 28. All things have wrought together for good. It is the voice of Christ to every saint in sorrow, ivhat I do, thou knowest not now, hut thou shall know hereafter ; John xii. 7« I saw not then saith the christian, that my Lord was curing my pride, by such a threatening and abasing providence, thai lie was weaning my heart from sensual delights, by such a sharp and painful wound ; but now I behold things in another light, and give thanks and praises to my Divine Physician. We shall look back upon the hours of our impatience and be ashamed ; we shall chide the flesh for its old re- pinings, when we shall stand upon the eternal hills of paradise, and cast our eyes back upon yonder transact- ions of time, those past ages of complaint and infirmity. GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. 159 We shall then, with pleasure and thankfulness, confess, that the captain of our salvation was much in the right to lead us through so many sufferings and sorrows, and we were much in the wrong to complain of his conduct. Bear up your spirits then, ye poor afflicted distressed souls, who are wrestling through difficult providences all in the dark. Bear up but a little longer, he that shall come, will come, and will not tarry ; he will set all his conduct in a fair light, and you shall say, "Blessed be the Lord, and all his government.'' Sixthly. That heaven should he so well filled out of such a hell of sin and misery as this world is, shall be another delightful reflection full of wonder and glory. Take a short survey of mankind, how all flesh has cor- rupted its icays before God, and every imagination of the thought of man's heart is only evil, and that continu- ally ; there is none righteous, no not one. Look round about you and see how iniquity abounds, violence, op- pression, pride, lust, sensualities of all kinds, how they reign among the children of men. Religion is lost, and God forgotten in the world ; and yet, out of this wretch- ed world Christ has provided inhabitants for heaven, where nothing can enter that defileth. Look into your own hearts, ye sinners, see what a hell lies there ; and ye converts of the grace of Christ, look into your hearts too, and see how many of the seeds of wickedness still lie hid there ; how much corruption, and how little ho- liness ; look inward, and wonder that Christ should ever fit you for heaven, by his converting and his sanc- tifying grace. Look round the world again, and survey the miseries of this earth ; as many calamities as there are creatures, and perhaps ten times more. Who is there on earth without his sorrows ? And sometimes a multitude of them meet in one single sufferer. See how toil, and weariness, and disappointment, poverty and sickness. 160 CHRIST ADMIRED AND pain, anguish, and vexation, are distributed through this world, that lies on the borders of hell. See all this, and wonder at the grace of Christ, that has taken a colony out of this miserable world, and made a heaven of it. We shall, many of us, be a wonder to each other as well as to ourselves ; and we shall all review and ad- mire the grace of Christ in and towards us all. Among the rest, there are two sorts of christians whose salvation shall be a special matter of wonder ; and these are the melancJioly and the uncharitable. The melancholy christian shall wonder that ever such a sinner as him- self was brought to heaven ; and the uncharitable shall wonder how such a sinner as his neighbor came there. The poor, doubting, melancholy soul, who was full of fears lest he should be condemned, shall then have full assurance that he is elected and redeemed, pardoned and saved, when he sees, hears, and feels the salvation and the glory upon him, within him, and all around him ; and he shall admire and adore the grace of God his Saviour. The narrow souled christian, wlio said his neighbor would be damned for want of some party no- tions, or for some less failings, shall confess his unchar- itable mistake, and shall wonder at the abounding mercy of Christ, which has pardoned those errors in his neighbor, for which he had excommunicated and con- demned him. Both these christians in that day, I mean the timorous and the censorious, shall stand at his right hand, as monuments of his surprising grace, who forgave one the defects of his faith, and the other his want of love ; and their souls and their tongues shall join together to rejoice in the Lord ; and their spirits shall magnify tlieir God and Redeemer. Christ shall have his due revenue of glory from both, in the hour of their public salvation. O what honor shall it add to the overflowing mercy GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. l6l of Christ ! what joy and wonder to all the saints, to see Paul, the persecutor and blasphemer there, and Peter, who denied the Lord that bought him, and Mary Mag- dalene, that impure sinner. See what a foul and shame- ful catalogue, what children of iniquity are at last made heirs and possessors of heaven ; 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10, 11 5 the fornicators and idolaters ^ the thieves and the cov- etouSy the drunkards, the revilers, and the extortioners. Such they were in the days of ignorance and heathenism, fit fuel for the fire of hell : and in those circumstances, they are utterly excluded from the kingdom of God ; but now they find a place in that blessed assembly ; and the converting grace of Christ is admired and glorified, that could turn such sinners into saints. O surprising scene of rich salvation, when these Corinthian converts, washed in the blood of Christ, and renewed by his Spirit, shall appear in their white garments of holiness and glory ! There is not one sinful creature to be found in all the vast retinue of the holy Jesus. But there are thousands who have been once great criminals, notorious sinners, and have been snatched by the arm of divine love, as brands out of the burning. What an affecting sight will it be, when we shall behold all the members of Christ united to their Head, and complete in glory, and see at the same time, a world of vile sinners doomed to destruction ! With what adoration and wonder shall we cry out, and such were some of these happy ones ; but they are sanctified, but they are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God; verse 11. JSTot unto us, Lord, not unto us, but to God our Saviour, be eternal honor. In the seventh place. There is another glory and wonder added to this illustrious scene, and gives honor to our blessed Saviour ; and that is, that so many vig- orous, beautiful, and immortal bodies, should be raised at once out of the dust, with all their old infirmities left 31 163 CHRIST ADMIRED AND behind them. Not one ache or pain, not one weakness or disease, among all the glorified millions. As the Israelites came out of their bondage in Egypt, so shall the army of saints from the prison of the grave, and not one feeble among them; Psalm cv. 37. This is the work of Christ, the Creator and the Healer. Here I might run many sorrowful divisions, and travel over the large and thorny field of sickness and pains, that attend human nature, those inborn mischiefs that vex poor christians in this state of trial and suffer- ing. But these were all buried when the body went to the grave, and they are buried for ever ; he that has the keys of death, shall let the bodies of his saints out of prison , but no gout nor stone, no infirmity nor distem- per, no head-ache nor heart-ache, shall ever attend them. The body was soicn in iceakness, but it is raised in 'power ; it was sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory, through the power of the second Adam and his quicken- ing Spirit ; 1 Cor. xv. 43, 45 ; Rom. viii. 11. Then shall Christ appear to be Sovereign and Lord of death, when such an endless multitude of old and new captives are released at his word, and the grave has restored its prey ; when those bodies which have been turned into dust some thousands of years, and their arms scattered abroad by the winds of heaven, shall be raised again in glory and dignity, to meet their descending Lord in the air. Surely Jesus in that day shall be ac- knowledged as a Sovereign of nature, when at the word of his command, a new creation shall arise, all perfect and immortal. It will add yet further glory to Christ, when we re- member wliat fruitful seeds of iniquity were lodged in that flesh and blood, which we wore on eartli, and Avhich we laid down in the tomb ; and when, at the same time, we survey our glorified bodies, hov/ spiritual, how holy, how happily fitted for the service of glorified souls made GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS, 163 perfect in holiness. How did all the saints once com- plain of a law in their memhers, that warred against the law of their minds, and brought them into bondage to the law of sin ? but this law of sin is now for ever abol- ished, this bondage dissolved and broken, and these members are all new-created, for instruments of right- eousness to serve God in his temple for ever and ever. Holy Paul shall no more groan in a sinful tabernacle, he shall no more complain of ihsii flesh wherein no good dwelt, he shall cry out no more, " O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me ?" Many and bitter have been the sorrows of a holy soul in this world, because of the perverse dispositions of animal nature and the flesh ; but none of the saints in that assembly shall ever feel again the stings of inward envy, the pricking thorns of peevishness, nor the wild ferments of wrath and passion ; none of them shall ever find those unruly appetites which wrought so strongly in their old flesh and blood, and too often overpowered their unwilling souls, those apjjetites which brought their consciences sometimes under fresh guilt, and filled them with inward reproaches and agonies of spirit. These evil principles are all destroyed by death ; they are lost in the grave, and shall have no resurrection. The new raised bodies of the righteous in that day, shall be com- pletely obedient to the dictates of their spirits, without any vicious juices to make reluctance, or perverse humors to raise an inward rebellion. And not only so, but perhaps even our bodies shall have some active, holy tendencies, wrought in them, so far as corporeal nature can administer toward the sacred exercises of a glorified saint. A sweet and blessed change indeed ! And Jesus, who raised these bodies in this beauty of holiness, shall receive the glory of this divine work. The last instance I shall mention, wherein Christ shall be admired in his saints, is this j they shall all 164) CHRIST ADMIRED AND appear in that day, as so many images of his 'person, and as so many monuments of the success of his qfjice. Is the blessed Jesus a great Prophet and the Teacher of his church ? These are the persons that have learnt his divine doctrine ; they have heard the joyful sound of his gospel ; and the holy truths of it are copied out in their hearts. These are the disciples of his school ; and by his word, and by his spirit, they have been taught to know God and their Saviour ; and they have been trained up in the way to eternal life. Is Jesus a great High Priest, both of sacrifice and in- tercession ? Behold all these souls, an endless number, purified from their defilements by the blood of his cross, washed and made white in that blessed laver, and recon- ciled to God by his atoning sacrifice. Behold the power of his intercession, in securing millions from the wrath of God, and in procuring for them every divine blessing. He has obtained for each of them grace and glory. Is Jesus the Lord of all things, and the King of his church? Behold his subjects waiting on him, a numer- ous and a loyal multitude, who have the laws of their King engraven on their souls. These are the sons and daughters of Adam, whom he has rescued by his power from the kingdom of darkness, and the hands of the devil. He has guarded them from the rage of their malicious adversaries in earth and hell, and brought them safe through all difficulties, to behold the glories of this day, and to celebrate the honors of their King. Is he the Captain of salvation f See what a blessed army he has listed under his banner of love : and they have followed him through all the dangers of life and time under his conduct. These are the chosen, the called, the faithful. They have sustained many a sharp conflict, many a dreadful battle ; and they are at last, made more than conquerors through him that has loved GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. l65 them. They attribute all their victories to the wisdom, the goodness, and the power of their divine Leader ; and even stand amazed at their own success, against such mighty adversaries. But they fought under the banner, conduct, and influence of the Prince of life, the King of righteousness, who is always victorious, and has a crown in his hand for every conqueror. Is Jesus the great example of his sai7its P Behold the virtues and graces of the Son of God, copied out in all his followers. Jls he was, so were they in this world, holy, harmless, and undefiled, and separate from sinners. As he now is, so are they ; glorious in holiness, and divinely beautiful, while each of them reflects the image of their blessed Lord, and they appear as wonders to ail the beholding world. They were unknown here on earth, even as Christ himself was unknown. This is the day appointed to reveal their works and their graces. Jesus is the brightness of his Father^s glory, and the express image of his person ; and all the sons and daughters of God shall then appear as so many pictures of the blessed Jesus, drawn by the finger of tlie eternal Spirit. And not their souls only, but their glorified bodies also are framed in his likeness. What grace and grandeur dwell in each countenance; as thou art, O blessed Jesus, so shall they be in that day, all of them resembling the children of a king ! Vigor and health, beauty and immortality, shine and reign throughout all that blessed assembly. The adopted sons and daughters of God, resemble the original and only begotten Son. Christ will have all his brethren and sisters conformed unto his glories, that they may be known to be his kindred, the children of his Father, and that he may ap- pear the first born among many brethren. When the Son of God breaks open the graves, he forms the dust of his saints by the model of his own glorious aspect and figure; and changes their vile bodies into the likeness of 166 CHRIST ADMIRED AND his own glorious body, by that power tvher^hy he is able to subdue all things to himself; Phil. iii. ult. He shall be admired as the bright original, and each of the saints as a fair and glorious copy. The various beauties that are dispersed among all that assembly, are summed up and united in liimself ; he is the chiefest often thousands, and altogether lovely. One sun in the firmament can paint his own bright image at once^ upon a thousand reflecting glasses or mirrors of gold. What a dazzling lustre would arise from such a scene of reflections ! But what superior and inexpressible glory, above all the powers of similitude, and beyond the reach of compar- ison, shall irradiate the world in that day, when Jesus the Sun of righteousness shall shine upon all his saints, and find each of them well prepared to receive this lustre, and to reflect it round the creation ; each of them dis- playing the image of the original Son of God, and con- fessing all their virtues and graces, all their beauties and glories, both of soul and body, to be nothing else but mere copies and derivations from Jesus, the first and fairest image of tiie Father I 'USE. The doctrines and the works of divine grace are full of wonder and glory. Such is the person and offices of Christ, such are his holy and faithful followers, and such eminently will be the blessed scene at his appearance. In the foregoing part of the discourse, we have briefly surveyed some of those glorious wonders; we now come to consider what use may be made of such a theme. Use I. It gives us eminently these two lessons of in- struction. Lesson 1. How mistaken is the judgment of flesh and sense, in the things that relate to Christ and his saints. The Son of Grod himself was abused and scorned by the blind world, they esteemed him as one smitten of GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. 167 God and unheloved, and tJiey saiv no beauty nor comeli- ness in him ; Isaiah liii. 33. He was poor and despis- ed all his life, and he was doomed to the death of a criminal and a slave. As for the saints, they find no more honor or esteem among men than their Lord, they are many times called and coi\ntQ,(\. the filth of the world, and the off-scouring of all things ; 1 Cor. iv, 13. This is the judgment of flesh and sense. But when the great appointed hour is come, and Je- sus shall return from heaven with a shout of the arch- angel and the trump of God, when he shall call up his saints from their bed of dust and darkness, and make the graves resign those prisoners of hope, when they shall all gather together around their Lord, a bright and nu- merous army, shining and reflecting the splendors of his presence, how will the judgment of flesh and sense be confounded at once, and reversed with shame ! " Is tliis the man that was loaded with scandal, that was buftetted with scorn, and scourged and crucified in the land of Judea? Is this the person that hung on the cursed tree, and expired under agonies of pain and sorrow ? Amazing sight ! How majestic, how divine his ap- pearance ! The Son of God, and the King of Glory ! And are these the men that were made the mockery of the world ? That wandered about in sheep-skins, and goat-skins, in dens and caves of the earth ? Surprising appearance ! How illustrious ! How full of glory !" O that such a meditation might awaken us to judge more by faith. Lesson 2. The next lesson that we may derive from the text is this, viz. One great design of the day of judgment, is to advance and publish the glory of Christ. He shall cofne on purpose to be glorified in his saints ; the whole creation was made by him and for him ; tlie transactions of providence, grace and justice, are man- aged for his honor ; and the joyful and terrible affairs 168 CHRIST ADMIRED AND of the day of judgment, are designed to display the majesty and the power of Jesus the King, the wisdom and equity of Jesus the Judge, and the grace and truth of Jesus the Saviour. I will grant indeed, that the appointment of this day is partly intended for the glory of Christ, in the just destruction of the impenitent^ for he will be glorified in pouring out the vengeance of his Father upon rebellious sinners. " The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power," ver, 7? 8, 9 ; before my text. But his sweet- est and most valuable revenue of glory arises from among his saints. If the messengers of the churches are called the glory of Christ, with all the weaknesses, and sins, and fol- lies that attend the best of them here, as in 2 Cor. viii. 23, much more shall be his glory hereafter, when they shall have no spot nor blemish found upon them, and the work of Christ upon their souls has formed and fin- ished them, in the perfect beauty of holiness. The saints shall reflect glory on each other, and all of them cast supreme lustre on Christ their head. The people shall be the crown and glory of the minister in that day, and the minister shall be the joy and glory of the people ; and both shall be the crown, joy and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ ; 1 Thess. ii. 19, 20; 2 Cor. i. 14; 2Thess. i. 12 ; He shall appear high on a throne in the midst of that bright assembly, and say, " Father, these are the sheep that thou hast given me, in the counsels of thine eternal love ; all these have I ransomed from hell at the price of my own blood ; these have I rescued by my grace, from the dominion of sin and the devil ; I have formed them unto holiness, and fitted them for GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. 169 heaven ; I have kept them by my power through all the dangers of their mortal state, and have brought them safe to thy celestial kingdom. Ml thine are minef and all mine are thine ; 1 was glorified in them on earth. John xvii. 10 ; and they are now my everlasting crown and glory." Then shall the unknown worlds that never fell, worlds of angels and innocent creatures, and the world of guilty devils and condemned rebels, stand and won- der together, at the recovery and salvation Christ has provided for the fallen sons of Adam. They shall stand amazed to see the millions of apostate creatures, the iniiabitants of this earthly globe, recovered to their duty and allegiance by the Son of Grod, going down to dwell amongst them ; millions of impure and deformed souls restored to the divine image, and made beautiful as angels, by the grace and Spirit of our Lord Jesus. Those spectators shall be filled with admiration and transport, to see such a multitude of criminals pardoned and justified for the sake of a righteousness, which they themselves never wrought, and accepted as righteous in the sight of God, by a covenant of grace, unknown to other worlds, and by faith in the great Mediator. They shall wonder to see such an innumerable company of polluted wretches washed from their sins, in so precious a laver as the blood of Gcd's own Son. And he that hung upon the cross as a spectacle of wretchedness at Jerusalem, shall entertain the superior and inferior worlds with the sight of his adorable and divine glories, and the spoils he has brought from the regions of death and hell. Thus to the principalities ar.d powers in heavenly places^ shall be made known hy the church tri- umphant, the manifold wisdom., and the manifold grace of God the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ ; Eph. iii. 10. But tremble, O ye obstinate and impenitent wretches, ye sensual sinners, ye infidels of a christian name and S3 170 eHRIST ADMIRED AND nation, Christ will be glorified in you one way or another. If your hearts are not bowed and melted to receive his gospel, you shall be jnmished with everlast- ing destruction among those that know not God, and obey not the gospel of his Son. Tremble, ye sensual and ye profane sons of iniquity, when ye remember this day, when ye shall see the holy souls that ye scorned, with crowns on their heads, and palms in their hands, with the shout of victory, and joy on their tongues, and the God-man whom ye despised, and whose grace ye neglected, shining at the head of that bright assembly. Tremble, ye infidels, ye despisers of the name of a crucified Christ ; behold his cross is become a throne, and his crown of thorns a crown of glory. See the man w hom ye have scorned and reproached, at the head of millions of angels, and adored by ten thousand times ten thousand saints, while wicketl princes and captains, armies and nations of sinners, wait their doom from his mouth, nor dare hope for a word of his mercy. O make haste, and come and be reconciled to him, and to God by him, that ye may belong to that blessed assembly, tliat ye may bear a part in the triumphs of that day, and that Christ may be glorified in your recovery from the very borders of damnation. This thought leads me to the next use. II. This discourse gives rich encouragement to the greatest sinners to hope for mercy , and to the weakest saints to hope for victory and salvation. Such sort of subjects of the grace of Christ, shall yield him some of the brightest rays of glory at the last day. Yet, siiuiers, let me charge you here, never to hope for this happiness without solemn repentance, and an entire change of heart unto holiness ; for an indioly soul would be a fearful blemish in tliat assembly, and a disgi'ace to our Lord Jesus. Christians; I would charge you also, never to GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. I7I hope for the happiness of this day, without battle and conquest, for all the members of that assembly must be overcomers. But where there is a hearty desire and longing after grace and salvation, let not the worst of sinners despair, nor the weakest believer let go his hope ; for it is such as you and I are, in whom Christ will be magnified in that day. Believe this, O thou humbled and convinced sinner, who complainest thy heart is hard, though tliou wouldest fain repent and mourn ; who fearest the bonds of thy cor- ruptions are so strong, that they shall never be broken ; believe that the sovereign grace of Christ has designed to exalt itself in the sanctification of such unholy souls as thou art, and in melting such hard hearts as thine. And thou poor trembling soul, that wouldest fain trust in a Saviour, but art afraid, because of the greatness of thy guilt, and thine abounding iniquities, believe this, that where sin has abounded,, grace has much more abounded. It is from the bringing such sinners as thou art to heaven, that the choicest revenues of glory shall arise to our Lord Jesus Christ; and thy acclamations of joy and honor to the Saviour, shall, perhaps, be loudest in that day, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints^ and admired in them that believe. Kead 1 Tim. i. 13, 14, 15, and 16 ; and see there what an account the great apostle gives of his own con- version ; " I was a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious, yet I obtained mercy ; and the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is in Jesus Clmst." Now I am sent to publish and preach to blasphemers and persecutors, that ^^this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners ; of whom I am cliief. Howbeit, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first, Jesus Christ might shew forth all long i*;l% CHRIST ADMIRED AND suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on liim to life everlasting. Turn to another text, ye feeble believers, % Cor. xii. 9, 10 ; there you shall find tlie same apostle a convert and a christian ; but too weak to conflict with the mes- senger of satan tliat buffetted him, nor able to release himself from that sore temptation that lay heavy upon him ; but having received a word from Christ, that his grace was sufficient, and that his strevgth urns to shine perfect in glory in the midst of our weakness, the apostle encourages himself to a joyful hope. Now, says he, I can even glory in my infirmities, so far as they are without sin, that the power of Christ may rest upon me ; when 1 am weak in myself, / am strong in the Lord. Are not the most diseased patients the chief honors of the physician that hath healed them? And must not these appear eminently in that day, when he displays to the sight of the world the noblest monuments of his healing power ? When cripples and invalids gain the victory over mighty enemies, is not the skill and conduct of their leader most admired ? You are the persons then, in whom Christ will be glorified : be of good cheer, receive his offered grace, and wait for his salvation. III. The next use I shall make of this discourse, is to diaw a word of advice from it. Learn to despise those honors and ornaments in this ivorld, in which Christ shall have no share in the world to come. I do not say, cast them all away, for many tilings are needful in tliis life, that can liave no immediate regard to the other ; but learn to despise them, and set light by tliem, because they reach no further than time, and shall be forgotten m eternity. Never put tiie higher esteem on yourselves or your neighbors, because of the gay glitterings of silk or silver; nor let these employ your eyes and your thouglits in the time of worsliip, wlien the things of the future world sliould fill up all youi' attention j nor let them eu- GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. 1^3 tertain your tongues in your friendly visits, so as to exclude the discourse of divine ornaments, and the glo- rious appearance of our Lord Jesus. When I am to put on my best attire, let me consider, if I am hung round with jewels and gold, these must perish before that solemn day, or melt in the last great burning ; they can add no beauty to me in that assembly. If I put on love, and faith, and humility, I shall shine in these hereafter, and Christ shall have some rays of glory from them. O may your souls and mine be drest in those graces which are ornaments of great prize in the sight of God ! 1 Pet. iii. 3, 4. Such as may command the respect of angels, and reflect honor upon Christ in that solemnity ! I confess we dwell in flesh and blood, and human nature in the best of us is too much imprest by things sensible. When we see a train of human pomp and grandeur, and long ranks of shining garments and equi- page, it is ready to dazzle our eyes, and attract our hearts : vain pomp, and poor equipage, all this, when compared with the triumph of our blessed Lord, at his appearance with an endless army of his holy ones ; where every saint shall be vested (not in silks and gold) but in robes of refined light, out-shining the sun, such as Christ himself wore in the mount of transfiguration. Millions of suns in one fiimament of glory. Think on that day, and the illustrious retinue of our Lord. Think on that splendor that shall attract the eyes of heaven and earth, shall confound the proud sinner, and astonish the in- habitants of hell. Such a meditation as this will cast a dim shadow over the brightest appearances of a court, or a royal festival ; it will spread a dead coloring over all the painted vanities of this life ; it will damp every thought of rising ambition and earthly pride, and we shall have but little heart to admke or wish for any of the vain shows of mortality. Methinks every gaudy 174 CHRIST ADMIRED AND scene of the present life, and all the gilded honors of courts and armies, should grow faint, and fade away, and vanish, at the meditation of this illustrious appearance. TV. This text will give us also two hints of caution. First. You that are rich in this world^ or wise, or mighty, dare not ridicule nor scoff at those poor weak christians in whom Christ shall be admired and glorified in the last day. You that fancy you have any advantages of birth or beauty, of mind or body liere on earth, dare not make a jest of your poor pious neighbor that wants them, for he is one of those persons whom Christ calls his glory ; and he himself has given you warning, lest you incur his resentment on this account ; Mat. xviii. 6 ; ^' Whoso shall offend one of these little ones which be- lieve in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." Perhaps the good man has some blemish in his outward form, or it may be his countenance is dejected, or his mien and figure awkward and un- comely ; perhaps his garments sit wrong and unfash- ionable upon him, or it may Ije they hang in tatters ; the motions of his body perhaps are ungraceful, his speech improper, and his deportment simple and unpolished; but he has shining graces in his soul, in which Christ shall be admired in the last day, and how darest thou make him thy laughing-stock? Wilt thou be willing to hear thy scornful jest repeated again at that day, when the poor derided christian has his robes of glory on, and the Judge of all shall acknowledge him for one of his favorites ? The second hint of caution is this ; You that shall be the glory of Christ in that day, dare not do any thing that may dishonor him noiv. Walk answerable to your character and your hope, nor indulge the least sinful defilement. Say within yourselves, " Am I to make one in that splendid retinue of my Lord, Avhere every one must appear in robes of holiness, and shall I spot GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. lyg my garments with the flesh ? When I am provoked to anger and indignation, let me say, doth wrath and blus- ter become a follower and an attendant of the meek and peaceful Jesus? When I am tempted to pride and vanity of mind, will this be a beauty, or a blemish to that as- sembly that shines in glorious humility ? Or perhaps I am wavering, and ready to yield, and become a captive to some foolish temptation ; but how then can I expect a place in that holy triumpli, which is appointed for none but conquerors ? And how shall I be able to look my blessed General in the face on that day, if I prove a coward under his banner, and abandon my profession of strict holiness, at the demand of a sinful and threatening world ?-' Y. Tlie last use I .shall make of the text, is matter of consolation and joy to two sorts of christians. First. To the jpoor, mean, and despised followers of Christ, and in whom Christ himself is despised by the ungodly world ; read my text, and believe that in you Christ shall be gloriiied and admired, when, with a million of angels, he shall •descend from heaven, and make his last appearance upon earth ; mean as you are in your own esteem, because of your ignorance and your weakness in this world, you shall be one of the glories of Christ in the world to come ; little and despicable as you are in the esteem of proud sinners, they shall behold your Lord exalted on his throne, and you sitting among the honors at his right hand, while they shall rage afar off, and gnash their teeth at your glory ; when the eye of faith is open, it can spy this bright hour at a distance, and bid the mourning christian rejoice in hope. Secondly. There is comfort also in my text, to those who mourn for the dishonor of Christ in the world ; those lively members of the mystical body who sympathise with the blessed Head, under all the reproaches tliat are cast upon him and his gospel, who groan under the load 176 CHRIST ADMIRED, See of scandal that is thrown upon Christ in an infidel age, as though it were personally thrown upon themselves. It is matter of lamentation indeed, that there are but few of this sort of clu'istians in our day, few that love our Lord Jesus with such tenderness ; but if such tliere be among you, open your eyes, and look forward to this glorious day. This day, to which Enoch, the first of all the prophets, and John, the last of all the apostles, di- rects our faith ; Jude 14, 15 ; Rev. i. 7- " Behold, the Lord Cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all the hard speeches, which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. Behold, he Cometh with clouds ; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him. And all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him." Bear up your hearts, ye mourners, and support your hopes with the promise of oiu' Lord. ^' Again, a little while and ye shall see me 5 ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the throne of his glory;" Matt. xxv. 3il. "Then shall your heart rejoice in his lionors and in your own, and this joy no man taketli from you ;" John xvi. 19? 22. And while he repeats this promise with his last words in the Bible, surely I come quickly, let every soul of us echo to the voice of our beloved 5 amen. Even so come Lord Jesus. DISCOUHSE V. THE WRATH OF THE LAMB. REV. vi. 15, 16, 17- And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond-man, and every free-man, hid them- selves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains ; and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come ; and who shall be able to stand. WHEN some terrible judgment, or execution of divine vengeance is denounced against an age or a na- tion, it is sometimes described in the language of pro- phecy, by a resemblance to the last and great judgment- day, when all mankind shall be called to account for their sins, and the just and final indignation of God shall be executed upon obstinate and unrepenting crimi- nals. The discourse of our Saviour in the xxivth of Matthew, is an eminent example of this kind, where the destruction of the Jewish nation is predicted, together with the final judgment of the world, in such uniform language, and similar phrases of speech, that it is diffi- cult to say, whether both these scenes of vengeance run through the whole discourse, or which part of the dis- course belongs to the one, and which to the other. The same manner of prophecy appears in this text. Learned interpreters suppose these words to foretel the universal consternation which was found amongst the heathen idolaters and persecutors of the church of 178 THE WRATH OF THE LAMB. Christ, when Constantine, the first christiau Emperor, was raised to the throne of Rome, and became governor of the world. But whether they hit upon the proper application of this prophecy or not, yet still it is pretty evident, that this scene of terror is borrowed from the last judgment, which will eminently appear to be the day of wrath, as it is called ; Rom. ii. 5. It is the great day of divine indignation, in so eminent a manner, that all the tremendous desolations of kingdoms and people? from the creation of the world, to the consummation of all things, shall be but as shadows of that day of terror and vengeance. 1 shall therefore consider these words at present, as they contain a solemn representation of that last glorious and dreadful day ; and here I shall enquire particularly. 1. Who are the persons whose aspect and appearance shall then be so dreadful to sinners ? 2. How comes the wrath which discovers itself at that time to be so formi- dable ? and 3. How vain will all the shifts and hopes of sinners be, in that dreadful day, to avoid the wrath and vengeance. First. Who are the persons that appear clothed in so much terror ? Answer. It is he that sits ujwn the throne, and the Lamb. It is God the Father of all, the great and Al- mighty Creator, the supreme Lord and Governor of the world, and the Lamb of God, that is, onr Lord Jesus Christ, his Son, dwelling in human nature, to whom the Judgment of the world is committed, and by whom the Father will introduce the terrible and the illustrious scenes of that day, and manage the important and eter- nal affairs of it. It is by these names that tlie apostle John, in this prophetical book, describes God the Father, and his Son Jesus ; Rev. iv. 10, and v. 6 — 13. If it be enquired, why God the Father is described as the person sitting on the throne, this is plainly agreea- THE WRATH GF THE LAMB 1^9 ble to the other representations of him throughout the scripture, where he is described as first and supreme in authority, as sitting on the throne of majesty on high, as denoting and commissioning the Lord Jesus, his well- beloved Son; to act for him, and as placing him on his tlirone, to execute his works of mercy or vengeance ; Rev. iii. 2i. ^'Ht that overcometh shall sit down with me on my throne, saith our Saviour, even as I have over- come, and am set down with the Father on his throne f John V. 22—27. "The Father hath committed all judg- ment into the hands of the Son/^ It is true, the Grod- head or divine essence is but one, and it is the same Godhead which belongs to the Father that dwells in the Son, and in this respect Christ and the Father are one, he is in the Father, and the Father in him ; John x. 30, 38 ; yet the Father is constantly exhibited in scrip- ture, with peculiar characters of prime authority, and the Son is represented as receiving all from the Father ; John V. 19,20,22,26,27. If it be farther enquired, why Christ is called the Lamh of God, I shall not pursue those many fine meta- phors and similes, in which the wit and fancy of men have run a long course on this subject ; but shall only mention these two things. 1. He is called the Lamb, from the innocence of his behavior, the quietness and meekness of his disposition and conduct in the world. The character of Jesus, among men, was peaceful, and harmless, and patient of injuries ; when he was reviled, he reviled not again, but was led as a lamb to the slaughter, with submission, and without revenge. This resemblance appears, and is set forth to view in several scriptures, wherein he is compared to this gentle creature ; Acts viii. 32 ; 1 Pet. ii. 23. 2. He is called the Lamb, because he was appointed a sacrifice for the sins of men ; John 1. 29. "Behold 180 THE WRATH OP THE LAMB. the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world ;" 1 Pet. 1. 18, 19 ; " You were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blem- ish, and without spot." It was a lamb that was or- dained for the constant daily sacrifice amongst the Jews, morning and evening, to typify the constant and ever- lasting influence of the atonement made by the death of Christ ; Heb. x. 11, 12. It was a lamb which was sacrificed at the passover, and on which the families of Israel feasted, to commemorate their redemption from the slavery of Egypt, and to typify Christ who is our passover, who was sacrificed for us, and for whose sake the destroying angel spares all that trust in him ; 1 Cor. V. 7. But will a lamb discover such dreadful wrath ? Has the Lamb of God such indignation in him ? Can the meek, the compassionate, the merciful Son of God, put on such terrible forms and appearances ? Are his ten- der mercies vanished quite away, and will he renounce the kind aspect, and the gentle language of a lamb for ever ? To this I answer, that the various glories and offices of our blessed Lord, require a variety of human meta- phors and emblems to represent them. He was a Lamb, full of gentleness, meekness, and compassion, to invite and encourage sinful perishing creatures, to accept of divine mercy. But he has now to deal with obstinate and rebellious criminals, who renounce his Father's mercy, and resist all the gentle methods of his own grace and salvation. And he is sent by the Father to punish those rebellions, but he is named tJie Lamb of God still, to put the rebels in mind what gentleness and compassion they have affronted and abused, and to make it appear that their guilt is utterly inexcusable. Let us remember, Christ is now a Lamb, raised to the throne in heaven, and furnished and armed with THE WRATH OP THE LAMB. 181 seven eyes and seven horns, with perfect knowledge and perfect power, to govern the world, to vindicate his own honor, and to avenge himself upon his impenitent and obstinate enemies ; Rev. v. 5, 6. Here the Lamb will assume the name of the Lio7i of the tribe of Judah also, and he must act in different characters, according to tlie persons he has to deal with. The second general question which we are to consider is, How comes the wrath of that great day to be so ter- rible P I answer in general, because it is not only the wrath of God, but of the Lamb. It is the wrath that is mani- fested for the affronts of divine authority, and the abuse of divine mercy. It is wrath that is awakened by the contempt of the laws of God, written in tlje books of nature and scripture, and for the contempt of his love revealed in the gospel by Jesus Christ. It is proper to observe here, that the ivrath of God, and the wrath of the Lamb, are not to be conceived as exactly the same, for it is the wrath of the Son of God in his human nature exalted, as well as the displeasure of God the Father. It is the righteous and holy resent- ment of the man Jesus, awakened and let loose against rebellious creatures, that have broken all the rules of his Father's government, and have refused all the pro- posals of his Father's grace. It is the wrath of the highest, the greatest, and the best of creatures, joined to the wrath of an offended creator.* Eut let us enter a little into particulars. * Here let it be observed, that when the holy scripture speaks of the -wrath and indignation of the blessed God, we are not to understrnd it as though God were subject to such passions or affections of nature, as we feel fermenting' or working within om-selves when our anger rises ; but because the justice or rectoral wisdom of God inclines him to bring natural evil, pain or sorrow, upon those who are obstinately guilty of moral evil or sin, and to treat them as anger or wrath inclines men to treat those that have offended them ; there- fore the scripture speaking after the manner of men, calls it, the -wrath and indignation of God. 183 THE WUATH OF THE LAMB. 1. It is righteous wratli, and just and deserved ven^ ^eance^Wmi arises from the clearest discoveries of the love of God neglected, and the sweetest messages of divine grace refused. All the former discoveries of the love of God to men, both in nature and providence, as well as by divine revelation, whether made by men, or by angels, whether in the days of the patriarchs, or in the days of Moses and the Jews, were far inferior to the grace which was revealed by Jesus Christ ; and there- fore the sin of rejecting it is greater in proportion, and the punishment will be more severe. If the ivord sjwken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and dis- obedience received a just recompence of reward, — how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation, as this which began to be spohen by our Lord ? Heb. ii. 2, 3. Moses had many true discoveries of grace made to him, and entrusted with him for sinful men. Bu^ the scripture saith, John i. 17 ; The law came by Moses, and grace and truth came by Jesus Christ ; that is, in sucii superabundance, as though grace and truth had never appeared in the world before. The forgiving mercy of God, under the veil of ceremonies and sacrifices, and the mediation of Ciirist, under the type of the high Priest, was but a dark and imperfect discovery, in comparison of the free, the large, the full forgiveness, which is brought to us by the gospel of Christ. Learn this doc- trine at large, from Heb. x. 1 — 14. This is amazing mercy, astonishing grace ; and the despisers of it will deserve to perish with double destruction, for they wink their eyes against clearer light,«and reject the offers of more abounding love. And it is liard to say, whether or no the 7vrath of the Lamb, that is, of the man Christ Jesus, in whom Godhead dwells, be any thing more, than tlie calm, dispassionate, rectoral wisdom of the human nature of Christ, inclin- ing him to punish rebellious and impenitent sinners, in confurmity,to the will of God his Father, or in concurrence jwith the Godhead which dwells in him- THE WRATH OP THE LAMB. 18B 2. It is wrath that is awakened by the most precious and most expensive methods of salvation slighted and undervalued. Well may Grod say to christian nations, especially to Great Britain, who sits under the daily sound of this gospel, *^' What could I have done more for you than I have done ? Isaiah v. 4. I have sent my own Son, the Son of my hosom, the Son of my eternal love, to take flesh and blood upon him, that he might be able to die in your stead, who were guilty rebels, and deserved to die : I have given him up to the insults and injuries of men, to the temptations, the buifettings, and rage of devils, to the stroke of the sword of my jus- tice, to the cursed death of the cross for you ; here is heaven and salvation purchased for man, with the dear- est and most valuable life in all the creation, with the richest blood that ever ran in the veins of a creature, with the life and blood of the Son of God ; and yet you re- fused to receive and accept of this salvation, procured af so immense a price. I called you to partake of this invaluable blessing freely, ivithout money and without price, and yet you slighted all these offers of mercy ; what remains but that my wrath should kindle against you in the hottest degree, and fill your souls with ex- quisite anguish and misery ; you have refused to accept of a covenant which was sealed with the blood of my own Son, which was confirmed by miraculous operations of my own Spirit ; you have valued your sinful pleas- ures, and the trifles of this vain world, above the blood of my Son, and the life of your souls. It is divinely proper that divine vengeance should be your portion, who have rejected such rich treasures of divine love.''' Hebrews x. ^8 — 31. ^' He that despised Moses law, died without mercy, under two or three witnesses ; of how much sorer punishment suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith 184? THE WRATH OF THE LAMB. he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done des- pite unto the spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, vengeance belongeth unto me, I will repay, saith the Lord." 3. It is wrath that must avenge the affronts and in- juries done to the prime tninister of God's government, and the chief messenger of his mercij. All the Patri- archs, and the Prophets, and Angels themselves, were but servants to bring messages of divine grace to men, and som€ of them in awful forms and appearances, rep- resented the authority of God too. But the Son of God is the prime minister of bis government, and the noblest ambassador of his grace, and the chief deputy or vicege- rent in his Father's kingdom ; See Heb. i. 1, S ; Psalms ii. 6, 9, IS. His Father's glory and grandeur, compas- sion and love, are most sublimely exhibited in the face of Christ his Son, and God will not have his highest and fairest image disgraced and affronted, without pe- culiar and signal vengeance. The great God will vindicate the honors of his Son Jesus, in tlie infinite destruction of a rebellious and un- believing world. And the Son himself hath wrath and just resentment ; he will vindicate his own authority, and his commission of grace. He hath a rod of iron put into his hands, as v/ell as a sceptre of mercy, and with this rod will he break to pieces rebellious nations ; Rev. iii. latter end. Is it not fit that the first minister of the empire of the king of heaven, and the brightest image of his majesty and of his love, sliould appear always in the character of a Lamb, a meek and unre- senting creature. He will put on the Lion when his commission of grace is ended. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah ; Rev v. 5 ; and will rend the caul of the heart of those unrepenting sinners, who have resisted his authority and abused his love. And how will the wrath of the Lamb of God penetrate THE WRATH OF THE LAMB 185 the soul of sinners with intense anguish, when the meek and the compassionate Jesus, shall be commissioned and constrained to speak the language of resentment and divine indignation? ^^ Did you not hear of me, sinners, in yonder world^ which lies weltering in flames? Did you not read of me in the gospel of my grace ? Did you not learn my character and my salvation in the ministrations of my word ? Were you not told that I was appointed to be a Saviour of a lost world, and a minister of divine mercy to men ? And was there not abundant evidence of it by miracles and prophecies ? Were you not told I was exalted after my suflPerings, to the right hand of God, on purpose to bestow repentance and remission of sins ? Acts V. 31. And were you not informed also, that I had a rod of iron given me, to dash rebels to death ? Psalm ii. What is the reason you never came to me, or submitted to my government, or accepted of my grace ? Did you never hear of the threatenings that stood like drawn swords, against those who wilfully refuse this mercy ? Did you think these were mere bugbears, mere sounding words to frighten chikken with, and harmless thunder that would never blast you? Did you think these flashes of wrath in my word, were such sort of lightenings as you might safely play with, and flame that would never burn ? What punishments, think you^ do you deserve, first for the abuse of my authority, and then for the wilful and obstinate refusal of my grace ? Is it not divinely fit and proper, my wrath should awake against such heinous criminals ? Where is any proper object for my resentment, if you are not made objects of it ? Take them, angels, bind them hand and foot, and cast them into utter darkness. Let them be thrown headlong into the prison of hell, where fire and brim- stone burn unquenchably, where light, and peace, and hope can newer come. Let them be rnislied with the 186 THE WRATH OF THE LAMB rod of iron, which the Father hath put into my hands, as the first minister of his kingdom, as the avenger of his despised grace." 4. It is a wrath that is excited hy a final and utter re- jection of the last proposals of divine love. When mercy was offered to men by the blessed God at first, the dis- coveries were more dark and imperfect ; there were still further discoveries to be made in following ages ; there- fore the crime and guilt of sinners in those former days, was much less than the crime and guilt of those who reject this last proposal of mercy. There is no further edition of the covenant of grace, for those who refuse this offer. Those who neglect Christ, as he is set forth in the gospel to be a sacrifice for sin, there remains no more sacrifice for them, but a certain fearful expectation of vengeance and fiery indignation, tchich shall consume the adversary ; Heb. 10. 26, 28. All the former dispensations of grace are contained eminently, and completed in this dispensation of the gospel. Grod can send no greater messenger than his own Son ; and he concludes and finishes the whole scene and period of grace, with the gospel of Christ. There remains nothing but wrath to the uttermost, for those who have abused this last offer of mercy. This was exemplified in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jews, a little after they had put Christ to death, and rejected the salvation which he proposed ; and this wrath will be more terribly glorified in the final destruc- tion of every sinner that wilfully rejects the glad tidings of this salvation. 5. It is such wrath as arises from the patience of a God, tired and worn out by the boldest iniquities of men, and by a final perseverance in their rebellions. It is the character and glory of God, to be long-svjfering, and slow to anger ; Exod. xxxiv. 6 ; The Lord God merci- ful and gracious, long-sufferirig, and abundant in good- THE WRATH OF THE LAMB. 187 ness and truth; and Jesus his Son, is the minister of this his patience, and the intercessor for this delay of judgment and vengeance. He is represented as inter- ceding one year after another, for the reprieve of obsti- nate sinners ; and at his intercession, God the Father waits to he gracious. But God will not wait and delay, and keep silence for ever ; nor will Jesus for ever plead. Psalm. 1. 1, 3, 21, 23 ; Consider this, ye that forget God, lest he tare you in pieces, and there he none to deliver, God will say then to obstinate sinners, as he did to the Jews of old ; Jer. xv. 5, 6 ; J will stretch out my hand against thee and destroy thee ; I am weary of repenting ; and even the abused patience of Jesus the Saviour, shall turn into fury, when the day ofrecompence shall come, and the day of vengeance which is in his heart ; Isaiah Ixiii. 1, 4. O let each of us consider, " How long have I made the grace of God wait on me ? How many messages of peace and pardon have I neglected ? How many years have I delayed to accept of this salvation, and made Jesus wait on an impenitent rebel, with the commission of mercy in his hand, while I have refused to receive it ? Let my soul be this day awakened to lay hold of the covenant of grace, to submit to the gospel of Christ, lest to-morrow the days of his commission of mercy toward me expire, lest the patience of a God be finished, lest the abused love of a Saviour turn into fury, and nothing remains for me but unavoidable destruction.'' 6. It is a sentence of divine wrath, which shall he at- tended with the fullest conviction of sinners, and self- condemnation in their own consciences. This doubles the sensations of divine wi'ath, and enhances the anguish of the criminal to a high degi'ee. This final unbelief and rejection of grace, is a sin against so much light, and so much love, that however men chejit their consciences now, and charm tliem into 188 THE WRATH OF THE LAMB. silence, yet at the last gi'eat day, their own consciences shall be on the side of the Judge, when he pronounces wrath and damnation upon them. What infinite terrors will shake the soul, when there is not one of its own thoughts can speak peace within ? When all its own inward powers shall echo to the sentence of the Judge, and acknowledge the justice and equity of it for ever. O who can express the agonies of pain and torture^ when the impenitent sinner shall be awakened into such reflections as these ? ^^ I was placed in a land of light and knowledge ; the light of the gospel of grace shone all around me | but I winked my eyes against the light, and now I am plunged into utter and eternal darkness. I was convinced often that I was a sinner, and in danger of death and hell ; I was convinced of the truth of the gospel, and the all-sufficiency of the salvation of Christ ; but I loved the vanities of this life, I followed the appe- tites of the flesh, and the delusive charms of a tempting world, I delayed to answer to the voice of providence, and the voice of mercy, the voice of the gospel, inviting me to this salvation, and the voice of Christ requiring me to be saved. My own heart condemns me with ten thousand reproaches. How righteous is God in his in- dignation ! How just is the resentment of the Lamb of God in this day of his wrath ! What clear and con- vincing and dreadful equity attends the sentence of my condemnation, and doubles the anguish of my soul ?" 7- It is such wrath as slmll he executed immediately and eternally, icithout one hour of reprieve, and without the least hope of mercy, and that through all the ages to come. For though Jesus is tlje Mediator between God and man, to reconcile those to God who have broken his law, there is no Mediator appointed to reconcile those sinners to Christ, when they have finally resisted the grace of his gospel. There is no blood nor death that can atone foi* the final rejection of the blood of this dying Saviour. THE WRATH OF THE LAMB. 189 If we resist Jesus Christ the Lord, and his atonement, and his sacrifice, his gospel and his salvation, there re- mains no more atonement for us. Let us consider each of these circumstances apart, and dwell a little on these terrors, that our hearts may be affected with them. 1. This wrath shall be executed immediately, for the time of reprieve is come to an end. Here divine wisdom and justice have set the limits of divine patience, and they reach no further. 2. It is wrath that shall be executed without mercy, because the day and hour of mercy is for ever finished. That belongs only to this life. The day of gi'ace is gone for ever. He that once made them, will now have no mercy upon them ; and he that formed them, will shew them no favor ; Isa. xxvii. H. The very mercy of the Mediator, the compassion of the Lamb of God, is turned into wrath and fury. The Lamb himself has put on the form of a Lion, and there is no Redeemer or advocate to speak a word for them who have finally rejected Jesus, the only Mediator, worn out the age of his pity, and provoked his wrath as well as his Father's. 3. It is wrath without end, for their souls are immor- tal, their bodies are raised to an immortal state, and their whole nature being sinful, and miserable, and immortal, they must endure a wretched and miserable immortality. This is the representation of the book of God, even of the New Testament ; and I have no commission from God, either to soften these words of terror, or to shorten the term of their misery. REMARKS OX THIS DISCOURSE. Remark 1. What a wretched mistake is it to imagine the great God is nothing else but mercy, and Jesus Christ is nothing else but love and salvation. It is true, God has more mercy than we can imagine ; his love is boundless in many of its exercises j and Jesus his Son, 190 THE WRATH OP THE LAMB. who is the image of the Father, is the fairest image of his love and grace. His compassions have heights and depths, and leiigths and breadths in them, that pass all our knowledge ; Eph. iii. 18. But God is a universal Sovereign, a wise and righteous Governor. There is majesty with him as well as grace ; and Jesus is the Lord of lords, and King of kings. He bears the image of his Father's justice, as well as of his Father's love ; otlierwise he could not be the full brightness of his glory, nor the express image of his person. And besides, the Father hath armed him with powers of divine vengeance, as well as with powers of mercy and salvation. Psalm ii. 9 ; He has put the rod of iron into his hand, to dash the nations like a potters vessel. Rev. ii. 27, and xix. 13 ; He is the elect and precious corner stone laid in Zion ; 1 Pet. ii. 6. But he is a stone that will bruise those who stumble at him, and those on whom he shall fall, he will grind them to powder; Matt. xxi. 43. He is a Lamb and a Lion too. He can suflFer at Jerusalem and mount Calvary, with silence, and not opeyi his mouth ; and he can roar from heaven with overspreading terror, and shake the world with the sound of his anger. See that his mercy be not abused. Remark 2. The day of Chnsfs patience makes haste to an end. Every day of neglected grace hastens on the hour of his wrath and vengeance. Sinners waste their months and years in rebellion against his love, while he waits months and years to be gracious : but Christ is all- wise, and he knows the proper period of long-suflPering, and the proper moment to let all his wrath and resent- ment loose, on obstinate and unreclaimable sinners. Oh may every one of our souls awake to faith and repent- ance, to religion and righteousness, to hope and salva- tion, before this day of our peace be finished and gone for ever. Psalm ii. 12 ; ICiss the Son lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, wheii his wrath is kindled THE WRATH OF THE LAMB. 191 but a little. There was once a season when he saw the nation of the Jews, and the people of Jerusalem, wasting the proposals of his love ; they let their day of mercy pass away unimproved, and he foretold their destruction with tears in his eyes. Luke xix. 41, 42 ; He beheld the city and wept over it, alas, for the inhabitants who would not be saved. He was then a messenger of sal- vation, and clothed with pity to sinners, but in the last great day of his wrath, there is no place for these tears of compassion, no room for pity or forgiveness. Remark 3. When we preach terror to obstinate sin- ners, we may preach Jesus Christ as ivell as when we preach love and salvation ; for he is the minister of his Father^s government, both in vengeance and in mercy. The Lamb hath wrath as well as grace, and he is to be feared as well as to be trusted ; and he ]must be repre- sented under all the characters of d^grj;^y to wliich he is exalted, that knowing the isrrorS of the Lord, as well as the compassion of the Saviour, we may persuade sinful men to accept of salvation and happiness. DISCOURSE VL THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS ; OR, A MEDITATION ON THE ROCKS, NEAR TUJ^BRIDGB WELLS. 1729. REV. vi. 15, 16, 17. ^Ind the kings of tJie earth, and the great men, and the rich men, 8^c. hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the rocks and moimtains, fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. IN the former discourse on this text, we have taken a survey of these two persons and their characters, God and the Lamb, whose united wrath spreads so ter- rible a scene through the world at the great judgment- day ; we have also inquired, and found sufficient reasons, why the anger and justice of God should be so severe against the sinful sons and daughters of men, who have wilfully broken his law, and refused the grace of his gospel ; and why the indignation of the Son of God should be superadded to all the terrors of his Father's vengeance. We are now come to the third and last general head of discourse ; and that is to consider. How vain will all the refuges and hopes of sinners be found in that dreadful day, when God and the Lamb shall join to manifest their wrath and indignation against them. These hopes, and shifts, and refuges of rebellious and guilty creatures, are represented by a noble image and description in my text. They shall call to the rocks and ';' THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS. 103 the mountains to fall upon them, and to cover them from the face of him that sits upon the throyie, and from the wrath of the Lamb. As this address to mountains and to rocks appears to be but a vain hope in extreme dis- tress, when a feeble and helpless criminal is pursued by a swift and mighty avenger, so vain and fruitless shall all the hopes of sinners be, to escape the just indignation and sentence of their Judge. In order to shew the van- ity of all the refuges and sliifts to which sinners shall betake themselves in that day, let us spread abroad this sacred description of them in a paraphrase under the following heads. 1. Let us consider the rocks and mountains^ as vast and mighty created beings, of huge figure, and high appearance, whose aid is sought in the last extremity of distress ; and what is this but calling upon creatures to help them against their Creator ? What is it but flying to creatures to deliver and save them, when their of- fended God resolves to punisli ? A vain refuge indeed, when God, the Almighty Maker of all things, and Jesus his Son, by whom all things were made, shall agi'ee to arise and go forth against them, in their robes of judg- ment, and with their artillery of vengeance ! What created being dares interpose in that hour to shelter or defend a condemned criminal ? What high and mighty creature is able to afford the least security or protection? The princes of the earth, and the captains, the kings, and heroes, and conquerers, with all their millions of armed men, are not able to lift a hand, for the defence of one sinner, against the anger of God and the Lamb. They themselves shall quake and shiver at the tre- mendous sight, and they shall fly inio the holes of the rocks like mere cowards, and shall join their outcries with the poor and the slave, entreating the rocks and mountains to befriend them with shelter and safety. Not the highest mounlains^ not the hardest or the 3i5 194 THE VAIN REFUGK OF SINNERS. strongest rocks, not the most exalted or most powerful persons, or things in nature can defend, when the God of nature resolves to destroy. When he who is higher than the highest, and stronger than the strongest, shall pronounce destruction upon rebels, what creature can speak deliverance ? The rocks and the mountains obey tlieir Maker, they shiver in pieces at the word of his wrath, and will yield no relM to criminals. But man, rebellious man diso- beys his Maker, and calls to the rocks and mountains to protect him. Vain hope, O sinner, to make the most exalted creatures your friends, when God the Cre- ator is your enemy. These inanimate things have never learnt disobedience to their Maker, and rather than screen a rebel from his deserved judgments, they will offer themselves as instruments of divine vengeance. S. Rocks and mountains in their cliffs, and dens, and caverns, are sometimes considered as places of secrecy and concealment. My text tells us, that kings and mighty men, the rich and the free man, as well as the poor and the slave, hid themselves in dens, and in the rocks of the mountains. Tliey hoped there might be some secret corner, whose thick shadows and darkness were sufficient to iiide them, wliere the Judge might not spy or find them out. Vain hope for sinners to hide in the holes of the rocks, and the deepest caverns of the mountains, to escape the notice of that God, who is all eye and ear, and present at once in every place of earth and heaven ! Foolish expectation indeed, to avoid the notice of the Son of God, ivlwse eyes are as a flame of fire, and slioot through the earth and its darkest caves. Read the 1.39th Psalm, O sinner, and tlien think if it be possible to liee from the eye of God, and to hide thyself in the clefts of the rock, where his hand sliall not find thee. — He has n\Yea.dj beset thee behind and be- fore, and hl!<: liand already compasses thee round about THE VAIN REFUGE OP SINNERS. 195 ill all thy paths. Darkness itself cannot cover thee ; the night shines as the day before him, and scatters light round about the criminal that would hide himself from the wrath of God. Ask Jeremy the prophet, and he shall tell thee^ that none can hide himself in secret places where God shall not see hirriy the God who Jills heaven and earth ; Jer. xxiii. 4. He shall hunt obsti- nate sinners from every mountain, and out of the holes of the rocks ; for his eyes are upon all their ways, neither their persons, nor their iniquities, can be hid from him. And as you can never conceal yourselves from the sight and notice of the Judge, so neither can you turn your eyes away from him : you must behold his face in vengeance, and endure the distressing sight. The rays of his Majesty, in the day of his wrath, shall strike through all the crannies of the darkest den, and pierce the deepest shade. ^' Lord, when tliy hantl is lifted up they will not see ; but they shall see and be ashamed ;'" Isa. xxvi. 10. And the face of the Lamb must be seen in all its unknown terrors. Rev. i. 7 ; Behold he comes in the clouds, aud every eye shall see him. The guilty creature, and the divine Avenger, shall meet eye to eye, though the creature has hid himself under rocks and mountains. 3. These rocks and mountains are designed to repre- sent, not only concealment and darkness by their holes and caverns, but they are known hulicarks of defence, and i^laces of security and shelter, hy reason of their strength and thickness. When the prophet would ex~ press the safety of the man who practises righteousness in a vicious age ; Isaiah xxxiii. 16 ; he says. He shall dwell on high, his place of defence shall he a munition of rocks. These shall be a bulwark round him for his guard aud safety. When sinners therefore flee to the mountains, and to the rocks, they may be supposed to 196 THE VAIN REFUGE OP SINNERS. seek a thick covering, or a shield of defence to secure tliem, where the strokes of diviite anger shall not break through and reach them. They trust to the solid pro- tection of the rocks, and the strength of the mountains to guard them ; but these, alas ! can yield no shelter from the stroke of the arm of God. Should the rocks, O sinners, attempt to befriend thee, and surround thee with their thickest fortification, his wrath would cleave them asunder, and pierce thee to the soul, with greater ease than thou canst break through a paper wall with the battering engines of war. Ask the Prophet Nahum, who was acquainted with the majesty of God, and he shall tell thee, how it throws doivn the mountain, and tears the rock in pieces. When his fury is poured out like fire, the mountains quake at him, the hills melt, the earth is burnt at his presence, icith all that dwell therein. He that has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. What mountain can stand before his indignation P And where is the rock that can abide in the fierceness of his anger P Nahum i. 2. — 6. Were the whole globe of the earth one massy rock, and should it yawn to the very centre to give thee a refuge and hiding place, and then close again and surround thee with its solid defence, yet, when the Lord commands, the earth will obey the voice of him that made it ; this solid earth would cleave again and resign the guilty prisoner, and yield thee up to the sword of his justice. Wheresoever a God resolves to strike, safety and defence are impossible things. The sinner must suifer without remedy, and without hope, who has provoked an Almighty God, and awakened the wrath of that Saviour who can subdue all things to himself 4. Rocks and mountains falling upon us are instru- ments of sudden and overwhelmning death. When sinners therefore call to the rocks and mountains to fall upon them and cover them, tliey are supposed to endeavor to THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS. 197 put an end ^o their own beings by some overwhelmning destruction, that they may not live to feel and endure the resentments of an affronted God, and an abused Sa- viour. Though they are just raised to life, they would fain die again ; but God, who calls the dead from their graves, will forbid the rocks and the mountains, and every creature, to lend sinners their aid to destroy them- selves. Sinners, in that dreadful day, shall seek death, hut death shall flee from them. Their natures are now made immortal, and the fall of rocks and mountains cannot crush them to death. They must live to sustain the weight of divine wrath, which is heavier than rocks and mountains. The life which God hath now given to men in this mortal state, may be given up again, or thrown away by the daring impiety of self murder ; and they may make many creatures instruments of their own destruction ; but the life which the Son of God shall give them, when he calls them from the dead, is everlasting ; they can- not resign their existence and immortality, they cannot part with it, nor can any creature take it from them. They would rather die than see God in his majesty, or the Lamb arrayed in his robe of judgment ; but the wretches are immortalized to punishment, by the long abused majesty and power of God. And they must live for ever to learn what it is to despise the authority of a God, and to abuse the grace of a Saviour. Their doom is everlasting burnings. They have no rest day nor night, the smoke of their torment will ascend for ever and ever, in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb ; Rev. xiv. 10, 11. Thus have we considered those huge and bulky be- ings, the rocks and the mountains, in all their vast and mighty figures and appearances, with all their clefts, and dens, and caverns, for shelter and concealment, with all their fortification and massy thickness for defence, and 198 THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS. with all their power to crush and destroy mankind, and yet we find them utterly insufficient to hide, cover, or protect guilty creatures, in that great day of the wrath of God and the Lamb. REFLECTIONS ON THE FOREGOING DISCOURSE. 1. How strangely do all the appearances of Christ to sinners, in the several seasons and dispensations of his grace J differ from that last great and solemn appearance, which to them will he a dispensation of final vengeance. He visited the world in divine visions of old, even from the day of the sin of Adam, and it was to reveal mercy to sinful man ; and he sometimes assumed the majesty of God, to let the world know he was not to be trifled with. He visited the earth at liis incarnation. How lowly was his state ! How full of grace his ministry ! Yet he then gave notice of tliis day of vengeance, when he should appear in his own and his Father's most awful glories. He visits the nations now with the w ord of salvation, lie appears in the glass of his gospel, and in the ordi- nances of his sanctuary, as a Saviour whose heart melts with love ; and in the language of his tenderest com- passions, and of his dying groans, he invites sinners to be reconciled to an offended God. He appears as a Lamb made a sacrifice for sin, and as a minister of his Father's mercy, offering and distributing pardons to criminals. But when he visits the world as a final judge, how solemn and illustrious will that appearance be ? How terrible his countenance to all those who have refused to receive him as a Saviour ? Behold he Cometh in fiaming fire, with ten thousand of his angels, to render vengeance to them that resisted his grace, and disobeyed the invitation of his gospel ; 2 Thess. i. 7- Time was, when the Father sent forth his Son, not to condemn the world, hut that through him the world might THE VAIN REFUGE OP SINNERS. 199 have life ; John iii. 17- But the time is coming, when God shall send him arrayed with majesty, and with righteous indignation, to condemn the rebellious world, and inflict upon them the pains of eternal death. Hast thou seen him, O my soul, in the discoveries of his mercy, fly to him with all the wings of faith and love, with all the speed of desire and joy, fly to him ; receive his grace, and accept of his salvation, that when the day of the wrath of tlie Lamb shall appear, thou mayest behold his countenance without terror and confusion. Reflection 2. How very different will the thoughts of sinners he in that day, from what they are at present P How different their wishes and their inclinations ? And that with regard to this one terror, which my text des- cribes, viz. that they shall address themselves to the rocks and mountains for shelter, and fly into the dens and caverns of the earth for concealment and safety. Let us survey this in a few particulars. Sinners whose loolcs were once lofty and disdainful^ whose eyes were exalted in pride, their mouth set against the lieavens, and their hearts haughty and full of scorn, they shall be liumbled to the dust of the earth, they shall creep into tlie hiding places of the moles and the bats, and thrust their heads into holes and caverns, and dens of desolation, at the appearance of God their Creator in flaming fire, and the Son of God their Judge ; for he is the avenger of his own, and his Father's in- jured honors. Sinners who were once fond of their idols, and their sensual delights, who made idols to themselves of every agreeable creature, and gave it that place in their hearts which belongs only to God, they shall be horribly con- founded in that day, when God shall appear in his majesty, to shake the earth to the centre, and to burn the surface of it with all its bravery. Tliis is nobly described by the prophet Tsaiah. chap. Sd, from 10 — 2i. SOO THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS. ^^In that day shall a man cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made, eacli one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats, to go into the clefts of the rock, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth." Sinners who once could not tell how to spend a day without gay company J those sons and daughters of mirth, who turned their midnights into noon, with the splendor of their lamps, and the rich and shining furniture of their palaces, those noisy companions of riot, who made the streets of the city resound with their midnight revels, they shall now fly to the solitary caverns of the rocks, and would be glad to dwell tliere in darkness and silence for ever, if tliey might but avoid the wrath of a provoked God, and the countenance of an abused Sav- iour. They would fain be shut up for ever from day- light, lest they should see the face of an almighty en- emy, whose name and honor have been reproached in their songs of lewd jollity and profaneness. Sinners who once weie fond of liberty in the wildest sense, and could not bear that any restraints should be laid upon their persons or tlieir wishes, who never could endure the thought of a confinement to their closets for one half hour, to converse with God, or with their own souls there, they now call aloud to the rocks and the mountains to immure them round, as a refuge from the eye of their Judge. They were once perpetually roving abroad, and gadding tlirougli all the gay scenes of sen- snality, in quest of new and flowery pleasures ; but now they beg to be imprisoned for ever, in the dens and caves of tlie earth ; the deepest and most dismal caves are their most ardent wishes, that they might never see the countenance of their divine Avenger, nor feel the weight of his hand. Sinners who heretofore thought themselves and their THE VAIN REFUGE OP SINNERS. 201 deeds of darkness secure enough from the eye of God, and from the strokes of his justice, while they reveled in their common habitations, those, who even under the open sky, could defy the Almighty, could laugh at his threaten ings, and mock the prophecies of his vengeance, now they can find no caverns deep or dark enough to hide them from his sight. His lightnings penetrate the hardest rocks, and shine into the deepest solitudes. There is no screen or shelter thick and strong enough to stand between God and them, and to cover and shield tlieni from his thunder. They call now to the moun- tains and the rocks to be an eternal screen ; but the rocks and the mountains are deaf to their cry. Then shall they remember, with unknown regret and anguish, those days of grace, when Jesus Christ, who is now their Judge, offered himself to become a screen to them, and a defence from the anger of God their Creator. But they rejected this offered grace. He would have been the rock of their safety, where they should have found refuge from the fiery threatenings of the broken law, and the majesty of an offended God. The Father himself had appointed him for this kind oflBce to repent- ing sinners ; and perhaps lie gave Moses a type or emblem of it, when he commanded himself to hide in the clefts of the rock, to secure him from destruction, while the burning blaze of his glory passed by ; Exod. xxxiii. 22. And Isaiah, the prophet, had foretold, that this Jesus should be as the shadow of a great rock, to shelter them from the beams of the wrath of God ; but they refused this blessing, they renounced this refuge ; and now they find there is no other rock sufficient to become a shelter from the stroke of his almighty arm, or a suffi- cient shadow from tlie burning vengeance. Sinners who once over rated their flesh and blood, and loved it with infinite fondness, who treated their fleshly appetites with excessive nicety and elegance, and affected 26 SOS THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS. a humorous delicacy in every thing round ahout thein. would now gladly creep into the mouldy caverns of the rocks, they would be glad to hide and defile themselves in the dark and noisome grottos of the earth, and squeese their bodies into the rough and narrow clefts, to shield themselves from the indignation of him tliat sits upon the throne, and of the Lamb. Those who once icere so tender of this mortal life and limhs, and could not think of bearing the least hardship for the sake of virtue and piety, are now wishing to have those delicate limbs of theirs crushed by the fall of rocks and mountains. They wish earnestly to have their lives and their souls destroyed for ever, and their whole na- tures buried in desolation and death, if they might but avoid the eternal agonies and torments that are prepared for them. Now they long for caverns and graves, to hide them for ever from the justice of God, whose author- ity they have despised, and from the wrath of a Saviour, whose mercy they have impiously renounced. Look forward, O my soul, to this awful and dreadful hour ; survey this tremendous scene of confusion, when sinners shall run counter to all their former principles and wishes, and pass a quite different judgment upon their sinful delights, from what they were wont to do in the days of this life of vanity. Learn, O my soul, to judge of things more agreeably to the appearances of that day. Never canst thou set the flattering pleasures of sense, and the joys of sin, in a truer and juster view, than in the light of this glorious and tremendous judg- ment. Reflection 3. How great and dreadful must the dis- tress of creatures be, when they cannot hear to see the face of God their Creator P How terrible must be the circumstances of the sons of men, when they cannot endure to see the face of the Son of God, but would fsiin hide themselves from the si2;ht, under rocks and mouu- THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS. 20B tains ? How wretched must their state be, who avoid the face of the blessed God with horror, which the holy angels ever behold with most intense delight, and which the saints rejoice in, as their highest happiness ? It is their heaven to see God, and behold the glory of his Son Jesus ; Matt. v. 8, John xvii. But this is the very hell of sinners in that dismal hour, and will till their souls with such inexpressible anguish, that they call to the rocks and mountains to hide them from the sight. Dreadful and deplorable is their case indeed, who can- not endure to see the countenance of Jesus, the Son of God, Jesus, the Saviour of men, the copy of the Father's glory, and the image of his beauty and love. They cannot bear to see that Jesus who is the chiefest of ten thousands, and altogether lovely ; they fly from that blessed countenance, which is the ornament and the joy of all the holy and happy creation. That blessed coun- tenance is become the terror and confusion of impenitent and guilty rebels* And what shall I do, if I should be found amongst this criminal number, in that great day ? If I look at the wisdom and the righteousness of God, these will reflect the keenest rays of horror and anguish upon my soul, for it is that wisdom, and that righteousness, that have joined to prepare the salvation which I have re- jected ; and therefore, now that wise and righteous God seeth it proper and necessary to punish me with ever- lasting sorrows. If I look at the power of God, it is a dreadful sight. Eternal and almighty power, that can break through rocks and mountains, to inflict vengeance upon the guilty, and stands engaged by his honor, to break my rebellious spirit, with unknown torments. If I look at his goodness or his love, it is love and goodness that I have despised and abused ; and it is now changed into divine fury. If I look at the face of Jesus, and find there the correspondent features of his Father, I S04« THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNEKS. shall then hate to see it — for this very reason, because it bears his Father's image, who is so terrible to my thoughts. I shall neither be able to bear the sight of God, or of his fairest copy, that is, Jesus his Son, because I am so shamefully unlike them both ; and besides, I have affronted their majesty, and despised their mercy. How painful and smarting will be the reflection of my heart in that day, when I shall remember that Jesus called out to me fi-om heaven, by the messengers of his grace, and said. Behold me, behold me, look unto me from the ends of the earth, and be saved. But now he is armed with a commission of vengeance, and he strikes terror and exquisite pain into my soul with every frown, so that I shall wish to be for ever hid from the face of the Lamb, for the great day of his ivrath is come, and, who shall be able to endure this wrath, to stand before his thunder, or bear the lightning of this day ? Alas ! how miserable must I be by an everlasting necessity, if I cannot bear the countenance of God and Christ, which is the spring of unchangeable happiness to all the saints and the blessed angels ? O may I timely secure the love of my God, and gain an interest in the favor and salva- tion of the blessed Jesus ! Here, O Lord, at thy foot, I lay down all the Aveapons of my former rebellions ; I implore thy love through the interest of thy Son, the great Mediator. Let me see the light of thy countenance, and the smiles of thy face. Let me see a reconciled God, and let him tell me that my sins are all forgiven ; then shall I not be afraid to meet the countenance of him that sits upon the throne, or the Lamb, when Christ shall return fi'om heaven, to punish the impenitent rebels against divine grace. Reflection 4. Hoic hopeless, as well as distressed, is the case of sinners in that day, when they are driven to this last extremity, to seek help from the rocks and the mountains P It is the last, but the fruitless refuge of a THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS. 205 frighted and perishing creature. The rocks and moun- tains refuse to help them. They will not crush to death those wretches, whom the justice of God has doomed to a painful immortality, nor will they conceal or shelter those obstinate rebels, whom the Son of God has raised out of their graves, to be exposed to public shame and punishment. Those high and hollow rocks, those dis- mal dens and caverns, dark as midnight, those deep and gloomy retreats of melancholy and sorrow, which they shunned with utmost aversion, and could hardly bear to think of them without horror here on earth, are now be- come their only retreat and shelter ; but it is a very vain and hopeless one. When I see such awful appearances in nature, huge and lofty rocks hanging over my head, and at every step of my approach, they seem to nod upon me with over- whelming ruin ; when my curiosity searches far into their hollow clefts, their dark and deep caverns of sol- itude and desolation, methinks while I stand amongst them, 1 can hardly think myself in safety, and at best they give a sort of solemn and dreadful delight. Let me improve the scene to religious purposes, and raise a divine meditation. Am I one of those wretches, who shall call to these huge, impending rocks to fall upon me ? Am I that guilty and miserable creature, who shall entreat these mountains to cover me from him that sits on the throne and the Lamb ? Am I prepared to meet the countenance of the blessed Jesus, the Judge in that day ? Have I such an acquaintance with the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, such a holy faith in his mediation, such a sincere love to him, and such an unfeigned repentance of all my sins, that I can look upon him as my friend and my refuge, and a friend infinitely better than rocks and mountains, for he not only screens me from the divine anger, but introduces 306 THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS. me into the Father's love, and places me in his blissful presence for ever? Heflection 5. JVJiat hideous and everlasting mischief is contained in the nature of sin, especially sin against the gospel of Christ, against the methods of grace, and the offers of salvation, which exposes creatures to such extreme distress f The fairest and the most ilattering iniquity, what beautiful colours soever it may put on in the hour of temptation, yet it carries all this hidden mischief and teiTor in the bosom of it ; for it frights the creature from the sight of his Creator and liis Saviour, and makes him fly to every vain refuge. Adam and Eve, the parents of our race, when tliey lost their inno- cence and became criminals, fled from the presence of God, whom they conversed witli before in holy friend- ship. Gen. iii. 8 ; Theij hid themselves among the trees of paradise, and tlie thickest shadows of the garden ; but the eye and the voice of God reached them there. The curse found them out, thougli that was a curse allayed with the promised blessing of a Saviour. Guilt will work in the conscience, and tell us that God is angry, and the next thought is, ichere shall I hide myself from an angry God P But when the mercy of God has taught us where we may hide ourselves, even under the shadow of the cross of his Son, and we refuse to make him our refuge, there remains nothing but a final horror of soul, and a hopeless address to rocks and mountains, to liide us from an offended God, and a provoked Saviour. Whensoever, O my soul, thou shalt find or feel some flattering iniquity alluring thy senses, making court to thy heart, and ready to gain upon thy inward wishes, remember the tlistress and terror of heart that sin- ners must undergo in the great and terrible day of tlie Lord. Think of the rocks and mountains which they vainly call upon to befriend them, to sliield tliem from the vengeance of that almighty arm which is provoked THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS. 207 by sin, to make his creatures miserable. Remember, O my soul, and fear : remember and resist the vile tempt- ation, and stand afar off from that practice, which will make thee afraid to see the face of God. Reflection 6. Of what injinite im'portance is it then to sinners f to gain a humble acquaintance andfmendship with the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, that ice may be able with comfort, to behold the face of him that sits on the throne in that day. Which of us can say, I am not a sinner, I am not guilty before God F And which of us then has the courage and hard- ness to declare, I have no need of a Saviour P And is there any one amongst us, who hath not yet fled for refuge to Jesus our only and suiRcient hope ? There is a protection provided against a provoked God, but there is none against a neglected and abused Saviour ; I mean where this neglect and abuse is final and unrepented. O how solicitous should every soul be, in a matter of this divine moment, tliis everlasting importance ? What words of compassion shall we use, what words of awak- ening terror, to put sinners in mind of their extreme danger, if they neglect the only security which the gospel has appointed ? What language of fear and importunity shall we make use of, to hasten you, O sinners, to the acquaintance, the faith, and the love of Jesus the Saviour, that you may behold his face, and the face of the Father, with serenity and joy in the last day ? Give yourselves up to him then without further delay, as your teacher, your high priest, your reconciler, your Lord and king. His blessed offices are the only chambers of protection, when God shall arise to burn the world, and to avenge himself on bis enemies that will not be reconciled. Reflection 7- Let us take occasion from my text, also to meditate on the happy circumstances of true chris- tians, in that day of terror. Behold the Judge appears, he cometh in the clouds, surrounded with armies of 20H THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS. avenging angels, the ministers of his indignation; he rideth on a chariot of flaming fire, the earth with all its monntains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord, the fields and the forests become one spacious blaze, the sea grows dry and forsakes its shores, and rivers flee away at his lightning ; the rocks are broken and shivered at the appearance of his majesty, the tombs are thrown open, and with terrible dismay shall the graves give up their dead ; the pyramids of brick and stone, moulder and sink into dust, the sepulchres of brass and marble yield up their royal prisoners, and all the captives of death awake and start into life, at the voice of the Son of Grod. Amidst all these scenes of surprise and liorror, with how serene a countenance, and how peaceful a soul, do the saints awake from their beds of earth ? Calm and serene among all these confusions they arise from their long slumber, and go to meet their returning Saviour and their friend. They have seen him in the glass of his gospel, submitted to his laws, and rejoiced in his grace, and they now delight to see him face to face in his glory. They have seen him vested with his commission of mer- cy, they have heard and received his message of good- ness and love, and they cannot but rejoice to see him coming to fulfil his last promises. Tiiey have cheer- fully subjected themselves to his government here on earth, they have followed him in paths of holiness, through the wilderness of this world ; and what remains but that they be publickly acknowledged by Jesus the Judge of all, and follow him up to the place of blessed- ness which he hath prepared for them. Perhaps some of tliese holy ones, in the days of the flesh, were banished from the cities and the societies of men for the sake of Christ, they were tlriven out from their native towns, and forced to seek a shelter in solita- ry dens and caves, among rocks and mountains, to wan- der through deserts in sheep-sJcins and goat-sJnns, desti- THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS, 209 tute, afflicted, tormented ; Heb. xi. 31. They made the clefts of the rock and caverns of the earth their refuge from the face of their cruel persecutors. Tlie mountains and rocks sheltered them from the wrath of princes, and the dark grottos of the earth, and the dens of wild beasts, concealed them fpom the rage of men, from the sword of the mighty ; but now tlie scene is gloriously changed ; the martyrs and holy confessors awaking from their graves, exult and triumph in the smiles of their Judge, and receive public honors before the whole creation of God. They behold the infinite consternation of hauglity tyrants and persecuting princes, of proud generals, and bloody captains in that day. They hear them call to rocks and mountains to hide them from the face of him that sits upon the throne and the Lamb. The authority and regal honor of the emperors of the earth, liath long slept in the dust ; but it is lost there for ever ; tlieir glory shall not awake nor arise with them. Behold the mighty sinners who have been the enemies of Christ, or negligent of his salvation, how they creep affrighted out of their shattered marbles, and leave all that pomp and pride of death in ruins, to ap- pear before God with shame and everlasting contempt. The men of arms, the captains and sons of valor, whose swords lay under their heads, with their tropliies and titles spread around them, shall raise their heads up from the dust, with utmost affright and anguish of spirit. Their cour ^e fails them before the face of Jesus, the Lord and Judge of the whole creation. They would fly to the common refuge of slaves, they shrink into the holes of the rocks, and call to the mountains to screen and protect them. *^nd every bond-man, and every free- man, who have not known nor loved God and Christ, are plunged into extremest distress ; but the humble chris- tian is serene and joyful, and lifts up his head with S7 " ' 310 THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS. courage and delight, in the midst of these scenes of astonishment and dismay. " He is come, he is come, saith the saint, even that Lord Jesus, whom I have seen, whom I have known and loved in the days of my mortal life, whom I have long waited for in the dust of death ; he is come to reward all my labors, to wipe away all my sorrows, to finish my faith, and turn it into sight, to fulfil all my hopes and his own promises ; he is come to deliver me for ever, from all my enemies, and to bear me to the place which he has prepared for those that love him, and long for his appearance. '^ blessed be the God of grace, who hath convinced me of the sins of my nature, and the sins of my life in the days of my flesh ; who hath discovered to me the dan- ger of a guilty and sinful state, hath shewn me the com- mission of mercy in the hands of his Son, hath pointed me to the Lamb of God, who was offered as a sacrifice to take away the sins of men, and hath inclined me to receive him in all his divine characters and offices, and to follow the captain of my salvation through all the labors and dangers of life. I have trusted him, I have loved him, I have endeavored, though under many frail- ties, to honor and obey hira, and I can now behold his face without terror. While the mighty men of the earth tremble with amazement, and call to the rocks and mountains to hide them from his face, I rejoice to see him in his robes of judgment, for he is come to pronounce me righteous in the face of men and angels, to declare me a good and faithful servant before the whole creation, to set the crown of victory on my head, to take me to heaven with him, that where he is I may be also to be- hold his glory, and to partake for ever of the blessings of his love" Amen. DISCOURSE VIL NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN. REV. xxii. 25. And there shall he, no night there. LENGTH of night and overspreading darkness in the winter season, carries so many inconveniences with it, that it is generally esteemed a most uncomforta- ble part of our time. Though night and day necessarily succeed each other all the year, by the wise appoint- ment of God in the course of nature, by means of the revolution of the heavenly bodies, or rather of this earthly globe, yet the night season is neither so delight- ful nor so useful a part of life, as the duration of day- light. It is the voice of all nature, as well as the word of Solomon, light is sweet, and a pleasant thing to enjoy the sun-beams. Light gives a glory and beauty to every thing that is visible, and shews the face of nature in its most agreeable colours ; but night, as it covers all the visible world with one dark and undistinguishing vail, is less pleasing to all the animal parts of the creation. Therefore as hell and the place of punishment is called utter darkness in scripture, so heaven is represented as a mansion of glory, as the inheritance of the saints in light. And this light is constant without interruption, and everlasting, or without end. So my text expresses it, there shall he no night there. Let it be observed, that in the language of the holy writers, light is often ascribed to intellectual beings, and is used as a metaphor to imply knowledge, and holiness, and joy. Knowledge as the beauty and excellency of 22i NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN. the mind, holivess as the l)est regulation of the willf and joy as the harmony of our best afiections in the posses- sion of what we love. And in opposition to these, igno- rance, iniquity and sorrow, are represented by the met- aphor of darkness. Then we are in darkness in a spiritual sense, when the understanding is beclouded or led into mistake, or when the will is perverted or turn- ed away from God and holiness, or when the most un- comfortable affections prevail in the soul. I might rite particular texts of scripture to exemplify all this. And when it is said, there shall be no night in heaven, it may be very well applied in the spiritual sense ; there shall be no errors or mistakes among the blessed, no such ig- norance as to lead them astray, or to make them uneasy; the will shall never be turned aside from its pursuit of holiness, and obedience to God ; nor shall the affections ever be ruffled with any thing that may administer grief and pain. Clear and unerring knowledge, unspotted holiness, and everlasting joy, shall be the portion of all the inhabitants of the upper world. These are more common subjects of discourse. But I choose rather at present to consider this word night, in its literal sense, and shall endeavor to repre- sent part of the blessedness of the heavenly state, under this special description of it. There is no night there. Now in order to pursue this design, let us take a brief survey of the several evils or inconveniences which attend the night, or the season of darkness here on earth, and shew how far the heavenly world is removed, and free from all manner of inconvenience of this kind. 1. Though night be the season of sleep for the relief of nature, and for our refreshment after the labors of the day, yet it is a certain sign of the weakness and weari- 7iess of nature when it wants such refreshments, and such dark seasons of relief But there is no night in heaven. Say, ye inhabitants of that vital world, are ye ever NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN. 313 weary ? Do your natures know any such weakness ? Or are your holy labors of such a kind as to expose you to fatigue, or to tire your spirits? The blessed above mount up toivards God as on eagles wings^ they run at the command of God and are not weary^ they walk on the hills of paradise and never faint, as the Prophet Isaiah expresses a vigorous and pleasurable state ; chap. xl. verse last. There are no such animal bodies in heaven, whose natural springs of action can be exhausted or weakened by the business of the day. There is no flesh and blood there, to complain of weariness, and to want rest. O blessed state, where our faculties shall be so happily suited to our work, that we shall never feel ourselves weary of it, nor fatigued by it. And as there is no weariness, so there is no sleeping there. Sleep was not made for the heavenly state. Can the spirits of the just ever sleep, under the full blaze of divine glory, under the incessant communica- tions of divine love, under the perpetual influences of the grace of God the Father, and of Jesus the Saviour, and amidst the inviting confluence of every spring of bles- sedness. 3. Another inconvenience of night, near akin to the former, is, that business is interrupted by it, partly for want of light to perform it, as ivell as for want of strength and spirits to pursue it. This is constantly visible in the successions of labor and repose here on earth ; and the darkness of the night is appointed to in- terrupt the course of labor, and the business of the day, that nature may be recruited. But the business of heaven is never interrupted ; there is everlasting light and everlasting strength. Say, ye blessed spirits on high, who join in the services which are performed for God and the Lamb there, ye who unite all your powers in the worship and homage that is paid to the Fa- 214) NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN. ther and to the Son, ye that mingle in all the joyful conversation of that divine and holy assembly, say, is there found any useless hour there ? Do your devotions, your duties and your joys, ever suffer such an entire in- terruption of rest and silence, as the season of darkness on earth necessarily creates amongst the inhabitants of our world ? The living creatures * which are represented by John the apostle, in Rev. iv ; whether they signify saints or angels, yet y a true and living faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, tJiat we obtain a title to eternal life, according to the proposals of the covenant of grace in the gospel ; but our preparation for heaven by a holy and heavenly temper of mind and conduct of life, is the fairest and most incontested evi- dence of the truth and life of our faith, and such a proof of it as will stand the test both in life and deatii, in this world, and in the world to come. If we would manifest our faith in Christ to be sincere and genuine and effec- tual for our salvation, we must make it appear that we are growing up into tlie image of Christ in all things, we must be formed after tlie likeness of the Son of God, who is our great example, and our fore-runner into heaven ; and where this evidence is found the soul cannot fail of salvation. Wheresoever there is this fitnf ss for the joys on high, God will assuredly bestow these divine pleasures. It is for such souls that he has prepared a 24B A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. heaven, and when he has prepared such souls for the heavenly world, he will surely bring them to the pos- session of it. Of how great moment and importance is it then for each of us to examine ourselves with watchful diligence and sincerity, whether we are in any measure iitted for the blessedness above. And to this end we may run over in our inquiries all the former steps of preparation. Let us inquire of our souls then, am I so fully per- suaded of this state of future happiness, as to resolve, this shall be my aim, tliis my everlasting pursuit ? Have we seen this blessedness in the various representations of it in the word of God, as the most amiable and desira- ble thing, and have we set our faces to travel tiiither with an holy purpose and determination, through grace, never to tire, or grow weary till we arrive at tlie enjoy- ment of it ? Have we fixed our hope and expectation upon the blessed promises in the word, and are we by these promises, endeavoring daily to cleanse ourselves from all defilements of flesh and spirit, and to perfect lioliness in the fear of G od ? Do we obtain any victories over our spiritual enemies, and maintain our pious con- flicts against all the oppositions which we meet with in our way ? Do we labor to suppress every rising ferment of envy, pride, wrath, sensuality, and those corrupt appe- tites and passions which render us unfit for that lioly and heavenly world ? Are your hearts daily more mortified to the things of tliis world, the enjoyments of flesh and sense, which are not to be found in heaven? Are our hearts more weaned from the sensual satisfactions and intemperate delights of the animal life ! Are we dead to the temptations of gold and silver, the grandeurs and the gaieties, and splendors of this present low life of flesh and blood, which are no part nor portion of the heavenly felicity? Do we view the tempting things of this world with an holy indifference, and possess and use them with A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. ^4,9 aff'ections so calm and so cool, as becomes a rank of be- ings that have a nobler, a richer, and a more exalted hope ? Have we found the labors and burdens, the sor- rows and aflftictions of the present state, happy instru- ments to prepare us for the blessedness above, by curing all our vain and carnal desires ? Are we in any measure imitators of those who have gone before us through faith and j^atience, and are made possessors of the promised joy? Are we followers of God as dear children f Have we the image of our heavenly Father created anew in us^ and do we walk as our Lord Jesus Christ also walked, while he was in this wilderness travelling to his Father's house ? Are our earnest desires towards tliis sort of feli- city excit'Ml and raised high ? Have we a strong tendency of soul to the holy enjoyments of the upper world ? Do we sigh and grcan after a complete freedom fi'om sin^ and a delivei'ance from every temptation ? Do we em- ploy oiu'selves with pleasure in tlie work and business of heaven, in the holy contemplation of God, in a delightful survey of the person and offices of liis Son Jesus, his wondrous condescension, and his amazing compassion ? Do we take pleasure in conversing with God our Father by holy addresses of praise and thankfulness ? Do we love all the saints, and delight in their society, and do we rejoice to spend our time with them in heavenly con- versation, though they may be amongst the lower ranks of life here on earth? And do we diffuse our love through all who wear the image of God, and take a pleasing satisfaction of soul in their increase in holiness, and rejoice in their joys ? If God has thus fitted tliee, O christian, in this man- ner for the mansions of the happy world, then surely he has set thee apart for himself, he has begun eternal life, in thee, the dawn of eternal glory is risen upon thee, and he will bring thee into the complete noon of blessedness, into the overflowing light of divine beatitudes. Arise g50 A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. and sliinc O christian, for thy life is come, the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee ; thou liast no need to as- cend into heaven to search for thy evidencies among the decrees of God, and to pry into the rolls of electing grace ; for if thou hast been transformed into an lieavenly temper, tliy name is surely written in the Lamb's book of life ; heaven is begun within thee, and God will fulfil his own work. Remark 2. What a solid comfort is it to poor mourn- ing, troubled^ afflicted souls under all their sorrows, their fr'ailties, their temptations^ and infirmities here on earth, that they have a clear evidence of heaven within them. This is such a peace as Jesus Clirist left to his disciples by legacy; John xiv. 37- Such as the world cannot give, and such as the world cannot take away. This is a spring of constant and divine consolation to those who seem to be worn out with old age or infirmi- ties of nature, and they complain they are fit for no service in this world ; but if they can feel in themselves this holy fitness for the enjoyments of heaven, they have a rich and living fountain of pleasure in their own breasts, ever springing, ever flowing, and such as will follow them with daily supplies of pleasure, if they are not wanting to themselves, through all this wilderness, till they arrive at that land where all the rivers of blessing meet and join in a full stream, to make the inhabitants for ever happy. It may be, O christian, thou art afraid that thou liast felt but little of this divine preparation ; thou seest so many defects in thyself daily, so mnch unlikeness to God, so much w orking of iniquity, such restless efforts of the body of sin, so much prevalence of temptation, so much coldness in duty, such deadness in acts of devotion, such frequent returns of guilt and pain in a tender con- science, and so many enemies to struggle with every step of thy way to heaven^ tliat thou art greatly discoura- A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. 251 ged and afraid this divine preparation is not wrought ia thee. Enquire then yet further, are all these melancholy scenes both within and without, the matter of thy sincere grief and burden ? Canst thou say in this tabernacle, I groan, being burdened with the body of sin, as well as with the frailties and pains of nature ? Canst thou say sincerely, that thy inmost desires are towards God and his glory in the present life, and towards his enjoyment in the life to come ? Dost thou maintain a constant con- verse with heaven as well as thou canst, though it be so much broken, and so often painfully interrupted ? Hast thou a continual and settled aversion and hatred to sin and a holy jealousy and fear of its defilements ? Hast thou a restless breathing of soul after greater likeness to God, and greater communion with him ? Dost thou delight in spiritual and holy conversation ; and does thy zeal for the honor of God and his Son Jesus, carry thee forth to those actions which are suitable to thy station, for the advancement of religion in the world ? Be assured then that God is training thee up for this heavenly state, and has in some measure prepared thee for it. God has begun in thee the business and blessed- ness of the upper world. In the midst of all thy sorrows and complaints here below, peace be with thee, and joy in the Lord, for thy salvation and thy felicity shall be completed. Remark 3. How vain, and idle, and unreasonable are all the hopes of sinners, that they shall ever arrive at heaven without any preparation for it here P There is nothing divine and holy begun in them in this world, and yet they hope to be made happy in the world that is to come ; there is nothing of true grace in their hearts here, and yet they vainly expect to be made perfect in pleasure and glory hereafter. Think with thyself, O carnal creature, that heaven will be a burden to thee ; the powers^ the appetites, and 252 A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. passions of thy sinful nature, will not suffer thee to relish the joys of the heavenly state. Dost thou ima- gine that a worm or serpent of the earth, or a swine which is ever tumbling in the mire, can be entertained with the golden ornaments and splendors of a palace ? Or will the stupid ass be delighted with the harmony of a harp or viol ? No more can a soul of a carnal and sensual taste, and which is ever seeking and grovelling after earthly gratifications, be pleased or gratified with the refined enjoyments of the heavenly world. Thou must have a new nature, new appetites and new affections, ere thou canst partake of divine joys, or relish them if thou wert placed in the midst of them. Holy adoration of God, and humble converse with him in worship, con- verse with the saints about divine things, perfect purity and devotion, with the meditation of the excellencies of Christ, and the sight of him in his ordinances, have never yet been the object of thy delight or joy ; nay, they have rather been thine aversion ; and shouldst thou have the gates of heaven open before thee, and see what business the holy souls there are employed in, thou wouldst find no desire to such sort of satisfactions ; the place and the company would be thy burden, if thou couldst be let at once into the midst of them. Think again, O sinful wretch, thy carnality of soul, thy supreme love of sensual and brutal joys, the secret malice or envy, the pride and impiety of thy heart, have prepared thee for another sort of company ; thou art fitted for hell by the very temper of thy spirit, for such are the inhabitants of that miserable world, and in thy present state there can be no admission for thee into heaven. Thou hast treasured up food for the worm that never dies, for the eternal anguish of conscience ; thou hast made thyself fit fuel by indulgence of thy sinful and rebellious appetites and passions, for the fiery indignation of God ; and every day tliou persisteth in A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. ^53 ihis state, thy preparation for the dark regions of sin and sorrow is increased. But this leads me to the last remark. Remark 4. How dangerous a thing it is for a sinner to continue a day longer in a state so unprepared for the heavenly world. Dost thou not know, whilst we are in- habitants in these regions of mortality, we are borderers upon death ; and if we are unprepared for heaven, we are borderers upon damnation and hell ? Our life is but a vapor, and the next puff may blow us away into the regions of everlasting darkness, misery and despair. Alas ! How much of this divine preparation do the best of saints stand in need of for an immediate entrance into heaven ? What care do they take, how constant are their labors, and how fervent their prayers to in- crease in this divine fitness, in these holy and heavenly qualifications? And dost thou vainly imagine to exchange earth for heaven at once, and to be received into the pure and holy mansions of paradise, "without any con- formity to God or Christ, or the rest of the inhabitants of that world ? Objection. But some idle and slothful creatures will be ready to object and say, if it be God who creates his people anew, according to his own image, and fits them for heaven ; if we must be wrought up by his power and grace for the participation of his glory, what can we do towards it ourselves ? Or why are we charged and exhorted to prepare ourselves for heaven ? Since then it is God must do this work, why may we not lie still, and wait till his grace shall prepare us ? I answer, no, by no means ; for God is wont to exert his grace only while creatures are in the use of his ap- pointments, and fulfil their duty. This language there- fore, and these excuses, seem to be the mere cavils of a carnal mind, or the voice of sloth and indolence. Those who have no inclination to prepare themselves for the S54 A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. joys of tlie heavenly state, may wait and expect divine influences in vain, if tiiey will never stir up themselves to practise what is in their own power, and to attempt what the gospel of grace demands. In almost all the transactions of God with men, it is ^e way of his wisdom to join our diligence and his grace together ; and there are many scriptures that give us sufHcient notice of this. See how St. Paul argues with the Philippians, and stirs them up to zeal and activity in securkig their own salvation by the hope of divine as- sistances ; Phil. ii. 13. 13 ; Tfork out your own salva- tion, for it is God that worketh in you both to ivill and to do. So said David to his son Solomon, when he ap- pointed him to build the temple of the Lord ; 1 Chron. xxviii. 20 ; Be strong and ofs!;ood courage, and doit, — for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee, and icill not fail thee, nor forsake thee, till thou hast finished all the work. This was the charge also that God gave to his people Israel, Lev. xx. 7? 8. Sanctify yourselves and be ye holy, keep my statutes; lam the Lord who sanctifieth you. So the Psalmist tells ns ; Psalm iv. 3. The Lord hath set apart, or separated him ivho is godly for himself ; and yet, 2 Cor. vi. 17? The Lord com- mands his people to separate themselves unto him, to come out from amongst the sinners of tliis world ; and be you separate, saith the Lord, and I icill receive you. So in other places of scripture, divine wisdom commands sinners to fulfil their duty ; Prov. i. 23. Turn ye at my reproof And yet in the 80th Psalm, the church prays, turn us Lord, and we shall be saved. The case is very much the same even in the things that relate to this life, wherein divine assistance and blessing are connect- ed with our diligence in duty. Solomon tells us ; Prov. X. 4 ; Tlie hand of the diligent maketh rich ; and yet, verse 22, It is the blessing of the Lord that maketh rich also. We can never expect tlie favors. of heaven, A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN, S55 unless we are zealous to obey the commands of heaven. When the sinful children of men are found waiting on God in his own appointed ordinances, then they are in the fairest way to receive divine communications, and be transformed into saints. If the blind man had not obeyed the voice of Christ, John ix. 7? and washed him- self in the pool of Siloam, he could not expect to have received his eye-sight. If the man with the withered hand ; Matthew xii. 10, 13, had not used his own en- deavors to stretch forth his hand at the command of Christ, I can hardly believe it would liave been re- stored to its ancient vigor and usefulness. If the poor impotent creature had not been waiting at the side of the pool in Bethesda ; John v. he had not met with the blessed Jesus, nor been healed by his miraculous power. You will say, perhaps, that our blessed Saviour could have visited him in his own house, could have directed his journey towards his habitation, or have sent for him into the public, and hea.led him there. No, our Lord did not chuse either of these wa^'S ; but while the man was waiting at the pool, where he had encouragement to hope for a cure, there the Lord found him, and heal- ed him. Let not any presuming sinner therefore, who is sensi- ble of his own unfitness for heaven, dare to continue in a careless indifference about so important a concern. Let him not put off his own conscience with this foolish excuse. It is God must do all in us and for us, and there- fore I will do nothing myself. Dost thou think, O soul, that this will be a suiBcient answer to him that shall judge thee in the great and solemn day ? May you not expect to hear the Judge reply terribly to such an excuse, "^ You never sought after this preparation for heaven, and you must be plunged into hell, for which your own rebellion and slothfulness hath prepared you." But perhaps you will object a^ain, what can so feeble, 356 A SOUL PRBPAUED FOR HEAVEN SO sinful a creature as I am, do towards this divine work ? I answer. Canst thou not separate one quarter of an hour dailv, to think of thy dreadful circumstances, and thine eternal danger, in a sinful and defiled state of soul ? Think of the uncertainty of life, and how sudden thy summons may be into the eternal and unchangeable state. Survey thyself in thy sinful condition both of heart and life, and see how unfit thou art for the com- pany of all the holy ones above. Meditate on tliese thy perilous circumstances, till thy heart be deeply affected therewith ; fall down before God in humble acknowl- edgment of thy former guilt and pollutions. Give up thyself to him with holy solemnity, to have thy heart turned away from every sin, and strongly inclined to ho- liness and heaven. Commit thy soul, guilty and defiled as it is, into the hands of Jesus the Mediator ; entrust thy case with him as an ail-sufficient Saviour ; entreat that he would cleanse thee from all tliy guilt and pollu- tion, by the blood of his sacrifice, and the grace of his Spirit ; that blood of atonement which has procured for vsinners pardon and peace with God, and those opera- tions of his grace which may sanctify thy sinful nature. Address thyself to the exalted Saviour, for healing in- fluences from his hand, to cure all the maladies of thy soul, to form thee after his image, and to make thee a son of God. Pray with holy importunity for this neces- sary and divine Idessing ; wait on God in secret and in public ; give him no rest night nor day, till he has re- newed thy soul, and transformed thee into a new crea- ture, and given thee a relish of the heavenly enjoyments. Dwell at the throne of grace till thou feelest thy heart drawn upward and heavenward ; and watch against every thing that would defile thy soul anew, or make thee unfit to enter into the company of the blessed. Permit me here to dwell a little upon those motives A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. ^5*^ that should awaken thee to bethink thyself ere it he too late, before the grave has shut its mouth upon thee, and thou art consigned to the place of eternal misery. Awake, awake, O impenitent sinners, who are as yet unprepared for the business and blessedness of the heavenly state ; awake, and exert your souls in warmest reflections on matters of infinite importance. 1. Think with yourselves how much the great God has done towards the preparation of sinful men for this heaven ; think seriously of his long suffering goodness, and his sparing mercy, which should have led you long ago to a melting sense of your own folly, and brought you back unto him by humble repentance. For what reason were his patience and his long suffering exercised towards you, if not for this very purpose ? Rom. ii. 4. Think of the blessings of nature with which he has sur- rounded you, and the comforts of this life wherewith he has furnished you, in order to allure your thoughts towards him, who is the spring of all goodness, and to raise your desires towards him. It is he invites you, who will be the everlasting portion and happiness of his people, and in whose favor consists life and felicity; and dare not any longer neglect your preparation f.*r this happiness, which consists in the enjoyment of God, lest you should be cut off before you are prepared. 2. Consider again what Jesus the Son of God has done and suffered, and consider what he is yet doing towards the preparation of souls for heaven. He came down to our world to undertake the glorious and dread- ful work of the redemption of sinners from the curse of the law and the terrors of hell, and to procure a heaven for every rebellious creature that would return to God his Father. Think of the agonies of his death with which he purchased mansions of glory for those that re- ceive his grace in his own appointed methods, those that are willing to have their hearts and minds formed into a 33 S58 A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. suitable frame to receive this felicity. Remember that he is risen from the tleail, he is ascended to prepare a place in glory for those that are willing to follow him through the paths of holiness. Hearken to the many kind invitations and allurements of his gospel, which calls to the worst of sinners to return and live, and en- treats and exhorts those who are in the ends of the earth, and upon the borders of hell, to look unto him that they may be saved ; Isai. xlv. 22. Take heed that you suf- fer not these seasons of his inviting love to slide away and vanish unimproved ; take heed how you rebel against the language of the grace of his gospel, and thereby prepare yourselves for double and everlasting destruction. 3. Think again, what blessed assistances he has pro- posed to those who are desirous to be trained up for heaven ; how many thousand souls, as carnal, as sensual, and as criminal as yours are, have been recovered by the word of his gospel, and the iniiuences of his Spirit, to a new nature and life of holiness? How many are there w ho, from children of wrath, have become the sons and daughters of the most high God, heirs of this blessed- ness, and prepared for the enjoyment of it? O take lieed that you resist not this grace, nor rebel against the kind and sacred motions of the blessed Spirit w ithin you, when his very office and business is to change your sin- ful natures, and to prepare you for the regions of eternal holiness and |>eace. 4. Think yet further what advantages you have had from tlie weekly ministrations of the word of grace, from reading the book of God in your own language, and from the pious education many of you have enjoyetl in the families from whence you sprung. Think what awakening hints you have received by the inward con- Aiction of your own consciences, and by the christian friends you may have conversed with. Have you not A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. 25Q been told plainly enough by the voice of conscience, that you ave now utterly unprepared for heaven ? Have not public and private admonitions given you sufficient warn- ing of the danger of your present state ? And after all this will you proceed in your own sinful course, till you arrive at the veiy gates of hell and destruction, till you have prepared yourselves, and made your souls ripe for the vengeance of God, and are plunged into it by death, without remedy or relief? 5. Consider how dreadful will your state be if death meet you in all your guilt and defilements, unwashed, unpardoned, and unsanctified, without any garment of rigliteousness, without any robe of salvation. What a terrible sentence is that whicli death will pronounce upon every such sinner, the moment that he strikes their heart ? Hear it and tremble, O miserable creature, hear the for- midable and eternal sentence, Let him that is unholy be unholy still : let him that is unprepared for heaven go down to tlie regions of death and hell, for which his iniquities have best prepared him. 6. Think with yourselves, if you have any thing of importance to do in this world, or have any momentous scene of life to pass through, how diligent are you in preparation for it. If you are but to visit the court of a prince, or to go to make your addresses to any great man of honor and power, or to be admitted into any numer- ous society of a superior character, how diligently do you endeavor to furnish yourselves with such knowledge of the common ceremonies of life, and such ornaments about your body as may render you acceptable amongst those whom you are going to converse with. And does not an entrance into the court of heaven, into the presence of a God of holiness, and into the society of pure and blessed spirits, require some solicitude and care about those or- naments and qualifications which are necessary for so solemn and glorious an appearance ? If you are design- 1360 A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. ing in this life to commence any tirade or business for your support, you are willing to serve an apprenticeship of seven years, in order to a preparation for the exercise of this public business ; and can you not afford one day in a week to learn the business of heaven, and to prepare for the blessedness of it ? And let parents also consider with themselves what pains they have taken that their children may be fit for the trades and employments of life to wliich they design them, and then let each enquire of their own consciences, have I ever done so much to train up my son for the heavenly world, to fit him for the appearance before God, and saints, and angels, and for all the unknown services of that celestial country ? 7- Cro on yet further, O impenitent sinners, and con- sider with yourselves, what a blessedness it is to be prepared for heaven ; for then you are prepared for death ; and at once you take away all the terrors of it. O what an unspeakable happiness is it to pass through this world daily, without fear of dying ; what is it that makes life so bitter to multitudes of souls, and every malady or accident so frightful to them, but the perpet- ual terrors of death ? Think what a divine satisfaction it is to walk up and down in this desert land, ready pre- pared for an entrance into the land of promise, the inher- itance of the saints in light. Think of the solid joy and inward consolation of those souls who feel in themselves an habitual readiness for a departure hence, and who are wrought up by divine grace to a preparation for the business and the joys above. Think of the victory over- death, which is obtained by such a readiness for heaven, and how glorious a thing is it to meet the last enemy and the king of terrors, and encounter him without fear, and to triumph over him with divine language, O deaths where is thy sting P How joyful a scene would it be to (:ake leave of all our friends in this land of mortality^ A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. g6l with an assured hope that we are entering into a happier climate, and a better country, ready prepared for all the more glorious scenes that shall meet us in the invisible world ? It is an amazing thing to me, how the children of men, who are dying daily oft* from this stage of life, who must all shortly die, and enter into a world of eternal futurity, should be no more concerned about a preparation for their departure hence ; that they should be so stupidly thoughtless of a world to come, while they are on the very borders of it, and eternal joy or eternal sorro^^ depends upon this one question, am I prepared for heaven or not ? O these two awful regions of the unseen world, where the love of God shines with its briglites^ glories, or where the vengeance of God is discovered in all its anguish and horror ! One of these will be the certain and eternal dwelling place of the souls that are prepared for them ; and there they must pass their long immor- tality, either in joy or in sorrow, without a change ; and yet the foolish and besotted tribes of mankind seem to have abandoned all thought and concern about them. A dangerous lethargy or distraction ! What shall we do to cure sinners of this madness ? Shall I try to rouse these indolent unthinking wretches out of their dangerous and mortal slumbers with tlie loudest voice of thunder and divine terror ? But the lethargy of sin is proof against all these terrors and thunders. Shall I call for a fountain of tears into my eyes, and weep over them with the tenderest sympathy and compassion ? But they feel not any meltings of pity for themselves, nor are their hearts to be softened by all our tears and wailings. Sliall I beseech them in the name of Christ, by the bowels of his dying love, and the blood and anguish of his sufferings for our salvation ? But even these divine and astonishing instances of ten- derness and mercy, make no iippression on their souls. 262 A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. While Satan holds them in his chains, they are sleeping the sleep of death. O for a word of sovereign and almighty Grace to reach the centre of their spirits ! to shake all the powers of their nature ! to awaken them to behold tlieir eternal interest ! and to prepare for heavenly felicity ! Awake, O sleepers, ere the angel of death seize you, and the grave shuts its ftiouth upon you ; then all your seasons and hopes of mercy are cut off for ever, and you will awake hopeless immortals. I shall conclude this discourse with one laord of ex- hortation to those who are in any measure wrought up to a preparation for the heavenly blessedness. O happy creature ! Whatsoever pains you have taken, whatever conflicts you have endured in the matter of your oAvn salvation, yet let God and his grace have all the honor of this work. It is to God you owe your sacrifices of praise. He that hath wrought you up for this felicity is God. It was he who aw akened you first, and set you a thinking of your most important concerns. It was he that led you first into tlie way of salvation by Jesus Christ his Son, and hat!) thus far crowned your labors and prayers with success and blessing. Every stum- bling-block in your way might have thrown you down to perdition : every temptation might have turned you back from tliis glorious pursuit : every enemy of your souls might have discouraged or overcome you, if God and his grace had not been engaged on your side. It is he hath upheld you when you were falling ; he hath taken you by the hand and led you right onward when you were wandering, and he hatli supported you by his divine cordials of promise wlien you weVe fainting. It is God who hath enabled you to maintain your con- flict with all the mighty obstacles of your faith and hope : it is his grace hatii renewed your nature, hath weaned you from this vain flattering world, and given you a sacred relish of divine blessedness. It is he wJio hath NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 2bS formed you again after his own image, and hath trained you up, and made you meet for the inheritance of the saints in liglit. Call up all your powers to praise his goodnessj and say, ^^ Bless the Lord, my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord for ever, and fi)rget not all his benefits. It is God who hath called me out of darkness into his marvellous light, and given me to see the things that belong to my ever- lasting peace. It is God who washed away my iniquities in the blood of his own Son, and hath renewed me unto holiness by his blessed Spirit. It is God who hath taken me out of the family of sin and Satan, and given me a place among his children ; who hath begun to pre- pare me for the joys and blessings of heaven ; and in his own time he will fulfil my hopes, and complete my felicity.'' Walk before him with holy care and watch- fulness, and take heed that you lose not the things ichich you have wrought, nor the things wliich God hath wrought in you, but that, persevering to tlie end, you may receive the full reivard, and obtain the crown of everlasting; life. Amen. DISCOURSE IX. NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. REV. xxi. 4. JVeither shall there he any more pain. THERE have been some divines in ancient times, as well as in our present age, who suppose this prophecy reUtes to some glorious and happy event here on earth. 264) ^O PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. wherein the saints and faithful followers of Christ shall be delivered from the bondage and miseries to which they have been exposed in all former ages, and shall fenjoy the blessings which these words promise. Among these writers some liave placed this happy state before the resurrection of the body. Others make it to belong to ihfit first resurrection which is spoken of in Rev. xx. 6. But let this prophecy have a pai'ticular aspect upon what earthly period soever, yet all must grant it is certainly true concerning the heavenly state ; from whose felicities, taken in the literal sense, these figurative expressions are derived to foretel the happiness of any period of the church in tliis world ; and in this sense, as part of our happiness in heaven, I shall understand the words here, and propose them as the foundation for my present dis- course. Among the many things that make this life uncomfort- able, and render mankind unhappy here below, this is one that has a large influence, viz. that in this mortal state we are all liable to pain, from which we shall be perfectly delivered in the life to come. The Greek word which is here translated pain, signifies also toil and fa- tigue, and excessive labor of the body, as well as anguish and vexation of the spirit. But since in the two other places of the New Testament where it is used, the word most properly signifies the pain of the body, I presume to understand it chiefly in this sense also in my text. T need not spend time in explauiing what pain is to persons who dwell in flesh and blood. There is not one of you in this assembly but is better acquainted with the nature of it by the sense of feeling, than it is possible for the wisest philosopher to inform you by all his learned language. Yet that I may proceed regularly, I would just give you this short description of it. Pain is an uneasy perception of the soul, occasioned by some indis- position of the body to which it is united ; whether this NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 365 arise from some disorder or malady in the flesh itself, or from some injury received from without by wounds^ hruises, or any thing of the like kind. Now this sort of uneasy sensations is not to be found or feared in heaven. In order to make our present meditations on this part of the blessedness of heaven useful and joyful to us while we are here on earth, let us inquire, - 1. What are the evils or grand inconveniences that generally flow from the pains we suffer here ; and as we go we shall survey the satisfactions which arise by our freedom from them all in heaven. II. What just and convincing proofs may be given that there are no such uneasy sensations to be felt in heaven^, or to be feared after this life. III. What are the chief reasons or designs of the blessed God in sending pain on his creatures in this world ; and at the same time I shall shew that pain is banished from the heavenly state, because God has no such designs remaining to be accomplished in that world. IV. What lessons we may learn from the painful discipline wiiich we feel while we are here, in order to shevv' there is no need of such discipline to teach us those lessons in heaven, let us address ourselves to make these four inquiries in their order. SECTION I. First. What are the evils which flow from fahiy and, usually attend it in this life / and all along as we go we shall take a short view of the heavenly state, where we shall be released from all these evils and inconveniences. 1. Pain has a natural tendency to make the mind sor- rowful as well as the body uneasy. Our souls are so nearly united to flesh and blood, that it is not possible for the mind to possess perfect happiness and ease, while the body is exposed to so many occasions of pain. It 34! :^66 >JO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. is granted, that natural courage and strength of heart may prevail in some persons to bear up their spirits under long and intense pains of the flesh, yet they really take away so much of the ease and pleasure of life, while any of us lie under the acute sensations of them. Pain will make us confess that we are flesh and hlood, and force us sometimes to cry out and groan. Even a stoicJe in spite of all the pride of liis philosophy, will sometimes be forced, by a sigh or groan to confess him- self a man. What are the greatest part of the groans and outcries that are heard all round this our globe of earth, but the effects of pain, either felt or feared ? But in heaven, where there is no pain, there shall be no sighing or groaning, nor any more crying, as my text expresses. There shall be nothing to make the flesh or the spirit uneasy, and to break the eternal thread of peace and pleasure that runs through tlie whole du- ration of the saints. Not one painful moment to inter- rupt the everlasting felicity of that state. When we have done with earth and mortality, we have done also with sickness and anguish of nature, and M'ith all sor- row and vexation for ever. There are no groans in the heavenly world to break in upon the harmony of the harps and the songs of the blessed ; no sighs, no out- cries, no anguish there to disturb the music and the joy of the inhabitants. And though the soul shall be united to the body new raised from the dead, to dwell for ever in union, yet that new raised body shall have neither any springs of pain in it, nor be capable of giving an- guish or uneasiness to the indwelling spirit for ever. 2. Another evil which attends on pain is this, that if so indisposes our nature as often to unfit us for the busi- ness and duties of the present state. With how mucii coldness and indifferency do we go about our daily work, and perform it too with many interruptions, when nature i& burdened with continual pain, and the vital springs of NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. ^67 action are overborne with perpetual uneasiness ? What a listnessness do we find to many of the duties of religion at such a season, unless it be to run more frequently to the throne of Grod, and pour out our groanings and our complaints there ? Groanings and cries are the language of jiature, and the children of God address themselves in this language to their heavenly Father. Blessed be the name of our gracious God, who hears every secret sigh, who is acquainted with the sense of every groan^ while we mourn before him, and make our complaints to liim, that we cannot worsliip liim, nor work for him as we would do, because of the anguish and maladies of nature. And what an indisposition and backwardness do we feel in ourselves to fulftl many of the duties towards our fellow creatures v ile we ourselves are under pre- sent smart and anguisn? Pain will so sensibly affect .sp(f as to draw off all our thoughts thither, and centre them there, that we cannot so much employ our cares and our active powers for the benefit of our neighbors ; it abates our concern for our friends, and while it awa- kens the spirit within us into keen sensations, it takes away the activity of the man that feels it from almost all the services of human life. When human nature bears so much it can act but little. But what a blessed state will tliat be when we shall never feel this indisposition to duties, either human or divine, through any uneasinsss of the body ? When we shall never more be subject to any of these painful im- pediments, but for ever cast off all those clogs and bur- dens which fetter the active powers of the soul ? Then we shall be joyfully employed in such unknown and glorious services to God our Father, and to the blessed Jesus, as require much superior capacities to what we here possess, and shall find no weakness, no weariness, no pain throughout all the years of our immortality ^ 268 NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSTiD. Rev. vii. 15. None of the blessed above are at rest or idle, either day or night, but they serve him in liis temple, and never cease, and iv. 8. No faintness, no langors are known there. The inhabitants of that land shall not say, lam sick. Everlasting vigor, cheerfulness and ease shall render every blessed soul for ever zealous and active in obedience, as the angels are in heaven. 3. Pain unfits us for the enjoT/ments of life, as ivell as for the labors and duties of it. It takes away all the pleasing satisfactions which might attend our circum- stances, and renders the objects of tliera insipid and unrelishing. What pleasure can a rich man take in all the aiftuence of eai'thly blessiiigs around him, while some painful distemper holds him upon the rack, and distresses him with tlie torture? How little delight can he find in meats or in drinks which are prepared for luxury when sharp pain calls all his attention to the diseased part? What joy can he find in magnificent buildings, in gay and shining furniture, in elegant gardens, or in all the glittering treasures of the Indies, when tlse gcuit torments his hands and his feet, or the rheumatism atHicts his limbs with intense anguish? If pain attacks any part of the body and rises to a high degree, the luxuries of life grow tasteless, and life itself is imbittered to us. Or when pains less acute are pro- longed through weeks and months, and perhaps stick in our flesh all the night as well as in the day ; how vain and feeble are all the efforts of the bright and gay things around us to raise the soul ioto cheerfulness ? There- fore Solomon calls old age the years wherein there is no pleasure ; Eccles. xii. 1. Because so many aches and ails in that season pursue us in a continual succession ; so many infirnrities and painful hours attend us usually in that stage of life, even in the be stsituation that mor- tality can boast of, as cuts off and destroys all our pleas- ures. NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 2&Q But O what a wondroiis, what a joyful change shall that be, when the soul is commanded to forsake this flesh and blood, when it rises as on the winejs of angels to the heavenly world, and leaves every pain behind it, together with the body in the arms of death ? And what a more illustrious and delightful change shall we meet in the great rising day, when our bodies shall start up out of the dust with vigorous immortality, and without any spring or seat of pain ? All the unknow n enjoy- ments with whicli heaven is furnished, shall be taken in by the enlarged powers of tlie soul with intense pleasure, and not a moment's pain shall ever interrupt them. 4. Another inconvenience and evil which belongs to pain is, that it snakes time and life itself appear tedious and tiresome,, and adds a neiv burden to all other griev- ances. Many evidencies of tliis truth are scattered throughout all nature, and on all sides of this globe. There is not one age of mankind but can furnish us with millions of instances. In what melancholy language does Job dii^cover his sensations of the tiresome nature of pain ? " I am made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me. When I lie down I say, when shall I rise and the night be gone ? And I am full of tossing to and fro unto the dawning of the day ;" Job vii. 3. When pain takes hold of our flesh, it seems to stretch the measures of time to a te- dious length ; we cry out as Moses expresses it ; Deut. xxviii. 67. In the morning we say^ would to God it were evehing ; and at the return of evening ice say again, would to God it were morning. Long are those hours indeed, whether of day-light or darkness, wherein there is no relief or intermission of acute pain. How tiresome a thing is it to count the clock at midnight in long successions, and to wait every hour for the distant approach of morning, while our 370 NO. PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED, eyes are unable to close themselves in slumber, and our anguish admits not the common refuge of sleep. There are multitudes among tlie race of mortals who have known these truths by sore experience. Blessed be God that we do not always feel them. But when we turn our thoughts to tlie heavenly world where there is no pain, there we shall find no weary hours, no tedious days, though eternity with all its un- ineasurable lengtlis of duration lies before us. What a dismal thought is eternal pain? The very mention of it makes nature shudder and stand aghast ; but futurity with all its endless years, in a land of peace and pleas- ure gives the soul the most deliglitful prospect, for there is no shadow of uneasiness in that state to render our abode there tiresome, or lo tliink the ages of it long. 5. Another evil tiiat belongs to pain is, that it ha^ an unhappy tendency tu riijjie the passions^ and to ren- der us fretful and peevish icithin ourselves, as well as towards those who are round about us. Even the kind- est and tenderest hand that ministers to our relief, can hardly secure itself from the peevish quarrels of a man in extreme pain. Not that we are to suppose that this peevisli humor, this fretfulness of spirit are thereby made innocent and perfectly excused : no, by no means ; but it must be acknowledged still that continuance in pain is too ready to work up the spirit into frequent disquietude and ea- gerness. We are tempted to fret at every thing, we quarrel with every thing, we grow impatient under every delay, angry with our best friends, sharp and sudden in our resentments, with wrathful speeches breaking out of our I'tps. This peevish humor in a day of pain is so common a fault, that I fear it is too much excused and indulged. Let me rather say with myself, '^ My God is now putting me to the trial what sort of christian I am. and how NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. §71 much I have learnt of self-government, and througli his grace I will subdue my uneasy passions, though I can- not relieve my pain." O it is a noble point of honor gained in a sick chamber, or on a bed of anguish, to lie pressed with extreme pain, and yet maintain a serenity and calmness of soul ; to be all meekness and gentleness and patience, among our friends or attendants, under the sharp twinges of it ; to utter no rude or angry lan- guage, and to take every thing kindly that they say or do, and become like a weaned child. But sucli a char- acter is not fouud in every liouse. A holy soul, through the severity of pain, may some- times in such an hour be too much ruffled by violent and sudden fits of impatience. This proceeded to such a degree even in that good man. Job, under his various calamities and the sore boils upon his ilesh, that made him cui'se the day ivherein he teas born, and cry out in the anguish of his spirit, my soul chooseth strangling and death rather than life ; Job. iii. and vii. 15 ; and there have been several instances of those, who, having not the fear of God before their eyes, with hasty violence and murderous hand have put an end to their own lives, through their wild and sinful impatience of constant pain. But tliese trials are for ever finished when this life expires. Then all our pains are ended for ever, if we are found among the children of God. There is not, nor can be any temptation in heav<^n, to fretfulness or disquietude of mind. iVll the peevish passions are dropped into the gi'ave, together with the body of fiesh ; and those evil humors which were the sources of smart and anguish here on earth, have no ])lace in the new raised body. Those irregular juices of animal nature which tormented the nerves, and excited pain in the flesh, and which at the same time provoked choler, and irri- tated the spirit, are never fouivd in the Iieavenly man- S7S NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. sioiis. There is nothing but peace and pleasure, joy and love, goodness and benevolence, ease and satisfaction, diifiised through all the regions on high. There are no inward springs of uneasiness to ruffle the mind, none of those fretful ferments which were wont to kindle in the mortal body, and explode themselves with fire and thunder, upon every supposed offence, or even sometimes without provocation. O happy state and blessed man- sions of the saints, when this body of sin shall be- de- troyed, and all the restless atoms that disquieted the flesh and provoked the spirit to impatience, shall be buried in the dust of death, and never, never rise again ! 6. Pain carries a temjjtation with it, sometimes to repine and murmur at the providence of God. Not feU low-creatures alone, but even our sovereign Creator comes within the reach of the peevish humors, which are alarmed and roused by sharp or continual paia. Jonah the prophet, when he felt the sultry heat of the sun smite fiercely upon him, and the gourd which gave him a friendly shadow was withered away, he told God him- self in a passion, that he did well to be angry, even unto death, Jonah iv. 9. And even the man of Uz, the pat- tern of patience, was sometimes transported v.ith the smart and maladies that were upon him, so that he complained against God, as well as complained to him, and used some very unbecoming expressions toward his Maker. When we are under the smarting rebukes of providence, we are ready to compare ourselves with others who are in peace, and then the envious and the murmuring humour breaks out into rebellious lan- guage, *• Why am I thus afflicted more than others ? Why hast thou set me as a mark for thine arrows ? Why dost thou not let loose thy hand and cut me off from the earth ? But in heaven there is a glorious reverse of all such unhappy scenes : there is no pain nor any temptation to NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. ^3 murmur at the dealiugs of tlie Almighty ; there is no- thing that can incline us to think hardly of God ; the days of chastisement are for ever end^d, and painful discipline shall be used no more. We shall live for ever in the embraces of the love of God, and he shall be the object of our everlasting praise. Perfect felicity without the interruption of one uneasy thought, for ever forbids the inhabitants of that world to repine at their situation under the eternal smiles of that blessed Being that made them. 7. To add no more ; j;a?}« (uid av.gidsli of the flesh have sometimes prevailed so far as to distract the mind as well as destroy the body. It has overpowered all the reasoning faculties of man, it has destroyed natural life, and brought it down to the grave. The senses have been confounded, and the understanding overwhelmed with severe and racking pain, especially where there hath been an impatient temper to contest with them. Extreme smart of the flesh distresses feeble nature, and turns the whole frame of it upside down in wild confu- sion. It has actually worn out this animal fi-ame, and stopped all the springs of vital motion. The gout and the stone have brought death upon tlie patient in tl is manner ! and a dreadful manner of dying it is, to have breath, and life, and nature quite oppressed and destroyed with intense and painful sensations. Eut when we survey the mansions of the heavenly world, we shall find none of these evils there. No dan- ger of any such events as these ; for there is no pain, no sorrow, no crying, no death nor desti'uction there. The mind shall be for ever clear and serene in the ease and happiness of the separate state : and when the body shall be raised again, that glorified body, as was inti- mated a little before, sliall have none of the seeds of distemper in it, no ferments that can racli the nerves, or create anguish ; no fever, or gout, or stone, was ever 30 274 NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. known in that country ; no head- ache or heart- ache have ascended thither. That hody also shall ])e capable of no outward Mounds nor bruises, for it is raised only for happiness, and leaves all the causes of pain behind it. It is a body made for immortality and pleasure ; there the sickly christian is delivered from all the maladies of the flesh, and the twinges of acute pain which made him groan here on earth night and day. Tliere the martyrs of the religion of Jesus, and all the holy confessors are free from their cruel tormentors, those surly executioners of heatlien fury, or antichristian Avrath ; they are for ever released from racks, and wheels, and fires, and every engine of torture and smart. Immortal ease and unfading health and cheerfulness mn tlirough their eternal state, and all the powers of the man are composed for the most regular exercises of devotion and divine joy. Thus I have endeptvoured ])rietiy to set the different states of heaven and earth before you under this distin- guishing character, that a^^ the tempting, the distresshi'j; mid mischievous attendants and consequences of jjain to which we are exposed in our mortal life, are for ever banished from the heavenly world. SECTION II. The second general enquiry was this ; What just and convincing arguments or jwoofs can he given, that there are no pains or uneasy sensations to be felt by the saints in a future state, nor to be feared after this life P My answers to this question shall be very few ; be- cause I think the thing must be sufficiently evident to those who believe the New Testament, and liave lil)erty to read it. First Argument. God has assured us so in his ivord. that tkere is no pain for holy souls to endure in the icorld NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 275 to come. My text may be esteemed a sufficient proof of it ; for whatsoever particular event or period of the church on earth this prophecy may refer to, yet the description is borrowed from the blessedness of heaven ; and if therq shall be any such state on earth, much more will it be so in the heavenly world, wliereas that period on earth is but a shadow and emblem. We are expressly told, Rev. xiv. 8. in order to encourage the persecuted saints and martyrs, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth, for they rest from their labors [^or pains'] and their works follow them ; that is, in the way of gracious recompence. It is granted indeed by the papists themselves, that in heaven there is no pain ; yet they suppose there are many and grievous pains for the soul to undergo in a place called purgatory, after the death of tlie body, be- fore it arrives at heaven. But give me leave to ask, does not St. Paul express himself with confidence concerning himself and his fellow christians — that they shall be present with the Lord when they are absent from the body; 3 Cor. v. 8? Surely the state wherein Christ our Lord dwells after all his safi'er- ings and agonies, is a state of everlasting ease without suffering ; and shall not his followers dwell with him ? Do we not read in the parable of our Saviour, Luke xvi. 22, that Lazarus was no sooner dead, but his soul was carried by angels into the bosom of Abraham, or paradise ? Every holy soul wherein the work of grace is begun, and sin hath received its mortal wound, is per- fectly sanctified when it is released from this body ; and it puts off the body of sin and the body of flesh together, for nothing that defileth must enter into paradise or the heavenly state. The word of God has appointed but two states, viz. heaven and hell, for the reception of all mankind Avhen they depart from tliis world. And how vain a thing must 27^ NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. it be for men to invent a third state, and make a purga- tory of it ? This is a building erected by the church of Rome between heaven and hell, and prepared by their wild imagination for souls of imperfect virtue, to be tor- mented there with pains equal to those of hell, but of shorter duration. This state of fiery purgation, and ex- treme anguish, is devised by that mother of lies, partly under a pretence of completing the penances and satis- factions for the sins of men committed in this life, and partly also to purify and refine their souls from all the remaining dregs of sin, and to fill up their virtues to perfection, that they may be fit for the immediate pre- sence of God. But does not the scripture suflBciently inform us, that the atonement or satisfaction of Christ for sin is full and complete in itsetf, and needs none of our additions in this world or another ? Does not the apostle Jolin tell us, 1 Epis. i. 7 ; The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin f Nor shall the saints after this life sin any more, to require any new atonement ; nor do they carry the seeds of sin to heaven with them, but (h"op them together with the flesh, and all the sources of pain together. Now since neither Christ nor his apostles give us any intimation of such a place as purgatory for the refinement or purification of souls after this life, we have no ground to hearken to such a fable. The second Argument is this. God has not provided any medium to convey pain to holy souls after they have dropped this body of flesh. They are pardoned, they are sanctified, they are accepted of God for ever ; and since they are in no danger of sinning afresh by the influences of corrupt flesh and blood, therefore they are in no fear of suflTering any thing thereby. And if, as some divines Lave supposed, there should be any pure sethereal bodies or vehicles provided for holy separate spirits, when de- parted from this grosser tabernacle of flesh and blood, yet it cannot be supposed that the God of all grace NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 277 would mix up any seeds of pain with that sethereal mat- ter, which is to be the occasional habitation of sanctified spirits in that state, nor that he would make any avenues or doors of entrance for pain into these refined vehicles, when the state of their sinning and their trial is for ever finished. Nor will the body at the final resurrection of the saints be made for a mediun of any painful sensations. All the pains of nature are ended, when tlie first union be- tween flesh and spirit is dissolved. When this body lies down to sleep in the dust, it shall never awake again with any of the principles of sin or pain in it. Though it be sown in weakness^ it is raised in power ; though it be sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory ; and we shall be made like the Son of God, without sorrow and with- out sin for ever. 3d Argument. There are no moral causes or reasons why there should be any thing of pain provided for the heavenly state. And if there be no moral reasons for it, surely God will not provide pains for his creatures with- out reason. But this thought leads me to the next gen- eral head of my discourse. SECTION III. The third general inquiry which I proposed to make, was this, ichat may be the chief moral reasons, motives, or designs of the blessed God, in sending pain on his crea- tures here below ; and at the same time I shall shew that these designs and purposes of God are finished, and they have no place in heaven. I. Then pain is sometimes sent into our natures to awaken slothful and drowsy christians out of their spir- itual slumbers, or to rouse stupid sinners from a state of spiritual death. Intense and sharp pain of the flesh has 278 NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. oftentimes been tlie appointed and effectual means of providence to attain tliese desirable ends. Pain is like a rod in the hand of God, wherewith lie smites sinners that are dead in their trespasses, and his Spirit joins with it to awaken tliem into spiritual life. This rod is sometimes so smarting and severe, that it will make a senseless and ungodly wretch lookupwards to the hand that smites it, and take notice of the rebuke of heaven, though all the thundering and lightning of the word; and all the terrors of hell denounced there, could not awaken tliem. Acute pain is also a common instrument in our heavenly Fatlier's hand, to recover backsliding saints from their secure and drowsy frames of spirit. David often found it so, and speaks it plainly in the 38th and 39th Psalms. And in Psalm cxix. 67, he confesses, before I was af- flicted, I went astray ; but when he had felt the scourge. he learnt to obey, and to keeq} the tcord of his God, But tliere is 7W need of this discipline in heaven ; no need of this smarting scourge to make dead sinners feel their Makers hand, in order to rouse them into life, for there are no suc!i inhabitants in tliat world. Nor is tliere any need of such divine and paternal discipline of God in those holy mansions, where tliere is no drowsy christian to be awakened, no wandering spirit that wants to be reduced to duty. Antl where the designs of such smarting strokes have no place, pain itself must be for ever banished ; for God does not ivillingly ajflict, nor take delight in grieving the children of meii^ without substantial reasons for it. 2. Another use of bodily pain and anguish in this world is, to punish men for their faults and follies^ to make them Tcnow what an evil and bitter thing it is to sin against God, and thereby to guard them against new temptations ; Jer. ii. 19. Thy oicn ivickedness shall correct thee, and thy backsliding shall reprove thee ; that NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 379 isj by means of the smarting chastisements they bring upon men. Wlien God makes the sinner taste of the fruit of his own ways, he makes others also observe how hateful a thing every sin is in the sight of God, which he thinks fit so terribly to punish. This is one general reason why special diseases, mal- adies, and plagues are spread over a whole nation, viz. to punish the sins of the inhabitants, when they hav6 provoked God by public and spreading iniquities. War and famine, with all their terrible train of anguish and agony, and the dying pains which they diffuse over a kingdom, are rods of punishment in the hand of God, the Governor of the world, to declare from heaven and earth, his indignation against an ungodly and an unright- eous age. This indeed is one design of the pains and torments of hell, where God inflicts pain without intermission. And this is sometimes the purpose of God in his painful providences here on earth. Sliall I rise yet higher and say, that this was one great design in the eye of God, wheji it jjleased the Father to bruise his best beloved Son, and put him under the impressions of extreme pain, viz. to discover to the world the abominable evil that was in sin ? While Jesus stood in the stead of sinners, then his soul was exceeding sorroicful, even unto deaths and he siceat drops of blood under the pressure of his ag- onies, to let the world see what the sin of man had de- served. And sometimes God smites his own children in this world with smarting strokes of correction, when they have indulged any iniquity, to shew the world that God hates sin in his own people, wheresoever he finds it, and to bring his children back again to the paths of righteousness. But in theheavenly state, there are no faults to punish^ 110 follies to chastise. Jesus, our Surety, in the days of his flesh, has suffered those sorrows which made atone- 280 NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. ment for sin, and that anguish of his holy soul, and the blood of his cross, have satisfied the demands of God ; so that with honor he can pardon ten thousand penitent criminals, and provide an inheritance of ease and bless- edness for tliem for ever. When once we are dismissed from this body, the spirit is thoroughly sanctified, and there is no fire of purgatory needful to burn out the re- mains of sin. Those foolish invented flames are but false fire, kindled by the priests of Rome to friglit the souls of the dying, and to squeeze money out of them to purchase so many vain and idle masses to relieve the souls of the dead. Upon our actual release from this flesh and blood, neither the guilt nor the power of sin, shall attend the saints in their flight to heaven. All the spirits that arrive there, are made perfect in holiness without new scourges, and commence a state of felicity that shall never be interrupted. 3. God has appointed pain in this world, to exercise and try the virtues and the graces of his people. As gold is thrown into the fire to prove and try how pure it is from any coarse alloy, so the children of God are sometimes left for a season in the furnace of sufferings, partly to refine them from their dross, and partly to dis- cover their purity, and tlieir substantial Aveight and worth. Sometimes God lays smarting pain with his own hand on the flesh of his people, on purpose to try their graces. When we endure the pain without murmuring at prov- idence, then it is we come off conquerors. Christian submission and silence under the hand of God, is one way to victory. I was dumb, says David, and opened mot my mouth, because thou didst it ; Psalm xxxix. Our love to God, our resignation to his will, our holy fortitude, and our patience, find a proper tiial in such smarting seasons. Perhaps when some severe pain first seizes and surprises us, we find ourselves like a wild hull NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 281 in a net, and all the powers of nature are thrown into tumult and disquietude, so that we have no possession of our own spirits ; but when the hand of Grod has con- tinued us a while under this divine discipline, we learn to bow down to his sovereignty, we lie at his footstool calm and composed. He brings our haughty and reluc- tant spirits down to his foot, and makes us lie humble in the dust, and we wait with patience the hour of his re- lease. Kom. V. 3, 4 ; Tribulation ivorketh jjatience, mid patience under tribulation gives us experience of the dealings of God with his people, and makes our way to a confirmed hope in his love. The evidence of our various graces grows brighter and stronger under a smarting rod, till we are settled in a joyful confidence;^ and the soul rests in God himself. Sometimes he has permitted evil angels to put the flesh to pain, for the trial of his children. So Job urns smitten tilth sore boils from head to foot by the malice of Satan , at the permission of God ; but he knoics the way that I take, says this holy man, and when he has tried me I shall come forth as gold; for my foot hath held his steps through all tiiese trials, neither have 1 gone hack from the commandments of his lips ; Job xxii. 10, 12. At other times he suffers wicked men to spend their own malice, and to inflict dreadful pains on his own children. Look back to the years of ancient perse- cution in the land of Israel, under Jewish or heathen tyrants ; review the anuals of Great Britian ; look over the seas into popish kingdoms ; take a view of the cursed courts of inquisition in Spain, Portugal, and Italy ; be- hold the weapons, the scourges, the racks, the machines of torture and engines of cruelty, devised by the barba- rous and inhuman wit of men, to constrain' the saints to renounce their taith, and dishonor their Saviour. See the slow fires where the martyrs have been roasted to death with lingering torment. These are seasons of m S8a NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSEIC, terribU' trial indeed, wliereby the malice of satan and antichvist would force the servants of God and the follow- ers of the Lamb, into sinful compliances with their idolatry, or a desertion of their post of duty. But the Spirit of God has supported his children to bear a glori- ous testimony to pure and undefiled religion ; and they have seemed to mock the rage of their tormentors, to defy all the stings of pain, and triumphed over their vain attempts, to compel them to sin against their God. One would sometimes be ready to wonder, that a God of infinite mercy and compassion should suffer his own dear children to be tried in so terrible a manner as this ; but unsearchable wisdom is with him, and he does not give an account to men of all the reasons and the rules of his conduct. This has been his method of providence with his saints at especial seasons, under the Jewish and the christian dispensations, and perhaps under all the dispensations of God to men, from the days of Cain and Abel to the present hour. Our bless- ed Lord has given us many warnings of it in his word by his own mouth, and by all his three apostles, Paul, Peter and Jolm. They that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall sujfer j)erseciition. Think it not strange therefore concerning the fiery trial. The devil, by his \vicked agents shall cast some of yon into prison, that ye may he tried ;" and ye shall have tribulation ten days, but fear none of the things ivhich thou shall suffer. Se thou faithful unto death, and I icill give thee a crown of If^- But blessed be God tliat this w orld is the only stage of such trials. As soon as the state of probation is fin- ished, the state of recompence begins. Such hard and painful exercises to try the virtues of the saints, liave no place in that world which was not made for a stage of trial and conflict, but a palace of glorious reward. Heaven is a place wliere crowns and prizes are distrib- NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 283 uted to all those blessed ones who have enduved temp- tation, and who have been found faithful to the death. These sharp and dreadful combats with pain, have no place among conquerors, who have finished their war- fare, and have begun their U'iuraph. 4. Pain is sent us by the hand of providence to teach .us many a lesson both of truth and duty, ivhich perhaps ive should never have learnt so well without it. This sharp sensation awakens our best powers to attend to those truths and duties which we took less notice of before. In the time of perfect ease we are ready to let them lie neglected or forgotten, till God our great Mas- ter takes his rod in hand for our instruction. SECTION IV, And this leads me to the fourth general head of my discourse; and that is to enquire what are those spiritual lessons which may be learnt on earth from the pains ice have suffered, or may suffer in the flesh. I shall divide them into two sorts, viz. Lessons of instructiou in useful truth, and lessons of duty, or practical Christianity ; and there are many of each kind with which the disciples of Christ in this world may be better acquainted,, by tlie actual sensations of pain, than any other way. In this tvorld I say, and in this only / for in heaven most of these lessons of doctrine and practice are utterly need- less to be taught, either because they have been so per- fectly well known to all its inhabitants before, and their present situation makes it impossible to forget them ; or they shall be let into the fuller knowledge of them in heaven in a far superior way of instruction, and without any such uneasy discipline. And this I shall evidently make appear, when 1 first enumerated all these general lessons both of truth and duty, and shewn how wisely the great God has appointed them to be taught here on 284 NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. earth, under the scourge and the wholesome discipline of pain in the flesh. I. The lessons ofhistruction here on earth, or the use- ful truths, are such as these : 1. Pain teaches us feelingly, what feeble creatures we are, and how entirely dependant on God our maker for every hour and moment of ease. We are naturally wild and wanton creatures, and especially in the season of youth, our gayer powers are gadding abroad at the call of every temptation ; but when God sends his arrows into our flesh, he arrests us on a sudden, and teaches us that we are but men, poor feeble dying creatures, soon crushed, and sinking under his hand. We are ready to exult in the vigor of youth, when animal nature, in its prime of strength and glory, raises our pride, and supports us in a sort of self-sufficiency ; we are so vain and foolish, as to imagine nothing can hurt us. But when the pain of a little nerve seizes us, and we feel the acute twinges of it, we are made to confess that our fiesh is not iron, nor our bones brass ,* that we are by no means the lords of ourselves, or sovereigns over our own nature. We cannot remove the least degree of pain, till the Lord who sent it takes oiF his hand, and commands the smart to cease. If the torture fix itself but in a finger or a toe, or in the little nerve of a tooth, what in- tense agonies may it create in us, and that beyond all the relief of medicines, till the moment wherein God shall give us ease. This lesson of the frailty of human nature must be some time written upon our hearts in deep and smarting characters, by intense pain, before we have learnt it well ; and this gives us, for some time to come, a happy guard against our pride and vanily ; Psalms xxxix. 10. When David felt the stroke of the hand of God upon him, and corrected him with sharp rebukes for his iniquity, he makes an humble address to God, and acknowledges that his beauty, and all the boasted \ NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED, 285 exceUencies of flesh and blood, consume away like a moth; surely every man is vanity f Psalm xxxix. 10, 11. 2. The next useful truth in which pain instructs us, Is the great evil that is contained in the nature of sin, because it is the occasion of such intense pain and mis- ery to human nature. 1 grant, I have hinted this before, but I would have it more powerfully impressed upon our spirits, and therefore I introduce it here again in this part of my discourse as a spiritual lesson, which we learn under the discipline of our heavenly Father. It is true indeed that innocent nature was made capa- ble of pain in the first Adam, and the innocent nature of the man Jesus Christ suifered acute pain, when he came in the likeness of sinful flesh. But if Adam had continued in this state of innocence, it is a great ques- tion with me, whether he or his children would have actually tasted or felt what acute pain is ; I mean such pain as we now suifer, such as makes us so far unhappy^ and such as we cannot immediately relieve. It may be granted, that natural hunger, and thirst, and weariness after labor, would have carried in them some degrees of pain or uneasiness, even in the state of innocence ; but these are necessary to awaken nature to seek food and rest, and to put the man in mind to supply his natural wants ; and man might have immediately relieved them himself, for the supplies of ease were at band ; and these sort of uneasinesses were abundantly compensated by the pleasure of rest and food, and per- haps they were in some measure necessary to make food and rest pleasant. But surely if sin had never been known in our world, all the pain that arises from inward diseases of nature, or from outward violence, had been a stranger to the human race, an unknown evil among the sons of men, as it is among the holy angels, the sons of God. There had been no distempers or acute pains to meet young 286 NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. babes at their entrance into this world ; no maladies to attend the sons and daughters of Adam through the journey of life ; and they should have been translated to some higher and happier region, without death, and withot pain. It was the eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, that acquainted Adam and his offspring with the evil of pain. Or if pain could have attacked inno- cence in any form or degree, it would have been but in a way of trial, to exercise and illustrate his virtues ; and if he had endured the test, and continued innocent, I am satisfied he should never liave felt any pain which was not overbalanced with superior pleasure, or abun- dantly recompenced by succeeding rewards and satis factions. Some persons indeed, have supposed it within the reach of the sovereignty of God to afflict and torment a sinless creature. Yet I think it is hardly consistent with his goodness, or his equity, to constrain an inno- cent being, which has no sin, to suffer pain without his own consent, and without giving that creature equal or superior pleasure as a recorapence. Both those were the case in tlie sufferings of our blessed Lord in his human nature, who was perfectly innocent. It was with his own consent that he gave himself up to be a sacrifice, when it pleased the Father to bruise him and put him to grief. And God rewarded him with trans- cendant honors and joys after his passion, he exalted him to his own right hand and his throne, and gave him authority over all tilings. In general therefore we have sufficient reason to say, that as sin brought in death into human nature, so it was sin that brought in pain also ; and wheresoever there is any pain suffered among the sons and daughters of men, I am sure we may venture to assert boldly, tliat the sufferer may learn the evil of sin. Even the Son of NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 287 God himself, when he suffered pain in his body, as well as anguish in his spirit, has told us by his apostles, that our sins were the causes of it ; he bore our sins on his own body on the tree, and for our iniquities he was bruised, so says Isaiah the prophet, and so speaks Peter the apostle. And sometimes the providence of God is pleased to point out to us the particular sin we are guilty of by the special punishment which he inflicts. In Psalm cvii. 17, iS, fools are said to be affl.icted; that is, with pain and sickness, because of their transgressions of riot and intemperance; their soul abhors all manner of meat, and they draw near to the gates of death. Sickness and pain overbalance all the pleasures of luxury in meats and drinks, and makes the epicure pay dear for the elegance of his palate, and the sweet relish of his mor- sels or his cups. The drunkard in his debauchees, is preparing some smarting pain for his own punislunent. And let us all be so wise as to learn tlris lesson by the pains we feel, that sin which introduced them into the world, is an abominable tiling in the sight of God, be- cause it provokes him to use such smarting strokes of discipline, in order to recover us from our folly, and to reduce us back again to the paths of righteousness. O blessed smart ! O happy pain, that helps to soften the heart of a sinner, and melts it to receive divine in- struction, which before was h^rd as iron, and at^eniSed to no divine counsel ! We are ready to wander from God, and forget him amongst the montlis and the years of ease and pleasure ; but when the soul is melted in this furnace of painful sufferings, it more easily receives some divine stamp, some lasting impression of truHi, which the words of the preacher and the book of God, had before inculcated without success, and repeated almost in vain. Happy is the soul that learns this les- son thoroughly, and gains a more lasting acquaintance :^88 NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. with the evil of sin, and abliorrence of it, under the smarting stroke of the hand of God. Blessed is the man whom thou correctest, O Lord, and teachest him the truths that are written in thy law ; Psalm xciv. 12. 3. Fain in the flesh teaches us also how dreadfully the great God can punish sin and sinners ichen he pleasei?, in this ivorld or in the other. It is written in the song of Moses, the man of God ; Psalm xc. 11 ; According to thy fear, so is thy wrath ; that is, the displeasure and auger of the blessed God is as terrible as we can fear it to be ; and he cau inflict on us such intense pains and agonies, whose distressing smart we may learii by feel- ing a little of them. Unknown multiplications of rack- ing pain, lengtliened out beyond years and ages, is part of the description of hellish torments, aud tlie other part lies in the bitter twinges of conscience, and keen remorse of soul, for our past iniquities, but without all hope. Beliold a man under a sharp fit of the gout or stone, which wrings the groans from his heart, and tears from his eyelids ; this is the hand of God in the present world, where there are many mixtures of divine good- ness ; but if ever we should be so wilfully unliappy as to be plunged into those regions where the almighty vengeance of God reigns, without one beam of divine light or love, this must be dreadful indeed. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God; Ileb. X. 31 ; to be banished far off* from all that is holy and happy, and to be confined to that dark dungeon, that place of torture, where the gnawing worm of con- science never dies, and where the fire of divine anger is never quenched. We who are made up of flesh and blood, which is interwoven witli many nerves and muscles, and mem- branes, may learn a little of the terrors of the Lord, if we reflect that every nerve, muscle, and membrane of the body, is capable of giving us most sharp aud painful sen- NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. g89 satious. We may be wounded in every sensible part of nature ; smart and anguish may enter in at every pore, and make almost every atom of our constitution an in- strument of our anguish. Fearfully and wonderfully are we formed indeed, capable of pain all over us ; and if a God shall see fit to punish sin to its full desert, and penetrate every atom of our nature with pain, what sur- prising and intolerable misery must that be ? And if God should raise the wicked out of their graves to dwell in such sort of bodies again, on purpose to shew his just anger against sin in their punishment, how dreadful, he^ yond expression, must their anguish be through the long ages of eternity ? God can form even such bodies for immortality, and can sustain them to endure everlasting agonies. Let us think again, that when the hand of our Crea- tor sends pain into our flesh, we cannot avoid it, we can- not fly from it, we carry it with us wheresoever we go. His arrows stick fast in us, and we cannot shake them off. Oftentimes it appears that we can find no relief from creatures. And if by the destruction of ourselves, that is, of these bodies, we plunge ourselves into the world of spirits at once, we shall find the same God of holiness and vengeance there, who can pierce our souls with un- known sorrows, equal, if not superior, to all that we felt in the flesh. If I make m^ bed in the grave, Lord, thou art there, thy hand of justice and punishment would find me out. What a formidable thing is it to such creatures as we are, to have God, our Maker, for our enemy ? That God who has all the tribes of pain and disease, and the innumerable host of maladies, at his command ? He fills the air in which we breathe, with fevers and pestilences as often as he will. The gout and the stone arrest and seize us by his order, and stretch us upon a bed of pain. Rheumatisms and cholics come and go wheresoever he 37 a90 NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. sends them, and execute his anger agahist criminals. He keeps in his hand all the various springs of pain, and every invisible rack that can torment the head or mem- bers, the bowels or the joints of man. He sets them at their dreadful work when and where he pleases. Let the sinner tremble at the name of his power and terror, who can fill both flesh and spirit with thrilling agonies ; and yet he never punishes beyond what our iniquities de- serve. How necessary is it for such sinful and guilty beings as we are, whose natures are capable of such con- stant and acute sensations of pain, to have the God of nature our friend and our reconciled God ? 4. When we feel the acute pains of nature, we may learn something of the exceeding greatness of the love of Christ, even the Son of God, that glorious Spirit, who took upon him flesh and blood for our sakes, that he might be capable of pain and death, though he had never sinned. He endured intense anguish, to make atonement for our crimes. Because the children whom he came to save from misery ivera j^artakers of flesh and hlood, he also himself took part of the same, that he might suffer in the flesh, and by his sufferings put away our sins. Happy was he in his Father's bosom, and the delight of his soul through many long ages before his incarna- tion. But he condescended to be born in the likeness of sinful flesh, that he might feel such smart and sorrows as our sins had exposed us to. His innocent and holy soul was incapable of such sort of sufferings, till he put on this clothing of human nature, and become a Surety for sinful, perishing creatures. Let us survey his sufferings a little. He w as born to sorrow, and trained up through the common uneasy cir- cumstances of the infant and childisli state, till lie grew up to man. What pains did attend him in hunger and thirst, and weariness, while he travelled on foot from city NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 291 to city, through wilds and deserts, where there was no food nor rest ? The Son of man sometimes wanted the common bread of nature, nor had he where to lay his head. What uneasy sensations was he exposed to, when he was buffeted, when he was smitten on the cheek, when his tender flesh was scourged with whips, and his temples were crowned with thorns, when his hands and his feet were barbarously torn with rude nails, and fastened to the cross, where the whole weight of his body hung on those wounds ? And w hat man or angel can tell the inward anguish, when his soul was exceed- ing sorrowful unto death ; and the conflicts and agonies of his spirit forced out the drops of bloody sweat througli every pore. It was by the extreme torture of his nature, that he was supposed to expire on the cross. These were the pangs of his atonement and agonies, that expi- ated the sins of men. O blessed Jesus ! What manner of sufferings were these ? And what manner of love was it that willingly gave up thy sacred nature to sustain them ? And what was the design of them, but to deliver us from the wrath of God in hell, to save our flesh and spirit from eternal anguish and distress there ? Why was he made such a curse for us, but that he might redeem us from the curse of the law, and the just punishment of our own iniquities. Let us carry our thoughts of his love, and our benefit by it, yet one step further. Was it not by these sorrows, and this painful passion, that he provided for us this very heaven of happiness, where we shall be for ever freed from all pain ? Were they not all endured by him to procure a paradise of pleasure, a mansion of everlasting peace and joy for guilty creatures, who had merited everlasting pain ? Was it not by these his agonies in the mortal body which he assumed, that he purchased for each of us a glorified body, strong and immortal as his own, when he rose from the dead, a body which has NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. no seeds of disease or pain in it, no springs of mortality or death ? May §lory, honor, and praise, with supreme pleasure, ever attend the sacred person of our Redeemer, whose sorrows and anguish of flesh and spirit, were equal to our misery, and to his own compassion. 5. Another lesson which we are taught by the long and tiresome pains of nature, is the value and worth of the word of God, and the sweetness of a promise which can give the kindest relief to a painful hour, and sooth the anguish of nature. They teach us the excellency of the covenant of grace, which has sometimes strengthened the feeblest pieces of human nature to bear intense suf- ferings in the body, and which sanctifies them all to our advantage. Painful and tiresome maladies teach us to improve the promises to valuable purposes, and the promises take away half the smart of our pains by the sensations of divine love let into the soul. We read of philosophers and heroes in some ancient histories, who could endure pain by dint of reasoning, by a pride of their science, by an obstinacy of heart, or by natural courage ; but a christian takes the word of a promise, and lies down upon it in the midst of intense pains of nature ; and the pleasure of devotion supplies him with such ease, that all the reasonings of philosophy, all the courage of nature, all the anodynes of medicine, and soothing plaisters have attempted without success. When a child of God can read his Fatlier's love in a promise, and by searching into the qualifications of liis own soul, can lay faster hold of it by a living faith, the rage of his pain is much allayed, and made half easy. A promise is a sweet couch to rest a languishing body in the midst of pains, and a soft repose for the head or heart- ache. The Stoics pretended to give ease to pain, by per- suading themselves there was no evil in it ; as thougli the mere misnaming of things would destroy their na- NO PAIN AMONG THE BI.ESSED. 29g ture. But the christian, by a sweet submission to the evil which his heavenly Father inflicts upon his flesh, reposes himself at the foot of Gcd on the covenant of grace, and bears the wounds and the smart with much more serenity and honor. '* It is my heavenly Father that scourges me, and I know he designs me no hurt, though he fills my flesh with pi'esent pain. His own presence and the sense of his love, soften the anguish of all that I feel. He bids me not yield to fear, for when I pass through the fires he will he with me ; and he that loved me, and died for me, has suffered greater sorrows and more anguish on my account, than what he calls me to bear under the strokes of his wise and holy discipline. He has left his word with me as an universal medicine, to relieve me under all my anguish, till he shall bring me to those mansions on high, where sorrows and pains are found no more." 6. Anguish and pain of nature here on earth teach us the excellency and use of the mercy seat in heaveii. and the admirable privilege of prayer. Even the sons of mere nature, are ready to think of God at such a season ; and they who never prayed before, pour out a prayer he- fore him when his chastening is upon them ; Isaiah xxvi. 16. An hour of twinging and tormenting pain, when creatures and medicines can give no relief, drives them to the throne of God, to try wSiether he will relieve them or not. But much more delightful is it for a child of God that has been used to address the throne of grace, to run thither with pleasure and hope, and to spread all his anguish before the face of his heavenly Father. The blessed God has built this mercy-seat for his people to bring all their son^ows thither, and spread them before his eyes in all their smarting circumstances, and he has been often pleased to speak a word of relief. Our Lord Jesus Christ, when he dwelt in flesh and blood, practised this part of religion with holy satisfac- 294 NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. tioii and success. Being in an agony he prayed more earnestly J and an angel was sent to strengthen and com- fort him ; Luke xxii. 43, 44. This was the relief of holy David in ancient times; Psalm xxv. 18. Look upon my affiiction and my pain, and pardon all my sins ; Psalm cxvi. S, 4. The sorrows of death compasseth me, and the pains of hell, or the grave, took hold of me ; then called I upon the name of the Lord ; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. And when he found a gracious answer to his request, he acknowledges the grace of God therein, and charges his soul to dwell near to God ; re- turn to thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. I was brought low, and he helped me ; he delivered my soul from death, and mine eyes from tears. But we have stronger encouragement than David was acquainted with, since it is revealed to us. that we have an High Priest at this throne ready to bespeak all ne- cessary relief for us there ; Heb. ii. 18. An High Priest 7vho can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, who has sustained the same sorrows and pains in the flesh, who can pity and relieve his people under their maladies and acutest anguish ; Heb. iv. 15. When we groan and sigh under continued pains, they are ready to make nature weary and faint. We groan unto the Lord, who knows the language of our frailty. Our High Priest carries every groan to the mercy- seat. His com- passion works towards his brethren, and he will suffer them to continue no longer under this discipline, than is necessary for their own best improvement and happiness. O how much of this sort of consolation has many a christian learnt and tasted, by a holy intercourse with heaven, in such painful seasons? How much has he learnt of the tender mercies of God the Fatlier, and of t he pity and sympathy of our great High Priest above ? Wlio would be content to live in such a painful world as NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 2Q5 this is, without the pleasure aud relief of prayer ? Who would live without an interest at this mercy-seat, and without the supporting friendship of this Advocate at the throne ? Thus I have run over the chief lessons of instruction or doctrine, which may he derived from our sensations of pain here in this world. But there is no need of this sort of discipline in the blessed regions of heaven to teach the irdial)itants such truths. They will remember what feeble, helpless creatures they icere when they dwelt in flesli and blood ; but tliey have put off those ileshly garments of mortality, with all its weaknesses together. The spirits of the blessed know nothing of those frailties, ,nor shall the bodies of the saints, new raised from the dust, bring back any of their old infirmities with them. These blessed creatures know well how entirely dependent they are for all things upon God their Creator, without the need of pains and maladies to teach them, for they live every moment with God, and in a full dependence upon him. They are supported in their life, and all its everlasting blessings, by his immediate presence, power and mercy. They liave no need of pain in those fields or gardens of pleasure to teach them tlie evil of sin ; they well re- member all the sorrows they have passed through in their mortal state, while they were traversing tlie wilderness of this world, and they know that sin was the cause of them all. They see the evil of sin in the glass of the divine holiness, and the hateful contrariety that is in it to the nature of God, is discovered in the immediate light of all his perfections, his wisdom, his truth, and his good- ness. They behold the evil of sin in the marks of the sufferings of their blessed Saviour ; he appears in glory as the JLamb that was slam, and carries some memorials of his death about him, to let the saints know for ever what he has suffered to make atonement for their sins. :396 ^O PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. Nor have the blessed above any need to learn how dreadfully God can punish sin and sinners^ while they behold his indignation going forth in a long and endless stream, to make the wicked enemies of God in hell for ever justly miserable. And in this sense it may be said, that the smoke of their torments comes up before God and his holy angels, and his saints for ever. Nor do these happy beings stand in need of new sen- sations of pain, to teach them the exeeeding greatness of the love of Christ, who exposed himself to intense and smarting anguish, both of the flesh and spirit, to procure their salvation. For while they dwell amidst the bles- sedness of that state, which the Redeemer purcliased with the price of his own sufierings, they can never ferget his love. Nor do they want to learn in heaven the value of the word of God and his promises, by which they were sup- ported under their pains and sorrows in this mortal state. Those promises have been fuliilled to them partly on earth, and in a more glorious and abundant manner in the heavenly world. They relish the sweetness of all those words of mercy, in reviewing the means whereby divine grace sustained them in their former state of trial, and in the complete accomplisliment of the best of those promises in their present situation, amidst ten thousand endless blessings. And if any of them were too cold and remiss, and un- frequent in their applications to the mercy-seat by prayer, when they were here on earth, and stood in need of chas- tisement to make them pour out their prayers to God, yet they can never forget the value of this privilege, while they themselves dwell round about the throne, and behold all ther ancient sincere addresses to the mercy-seat an- swered and swallowed up in the full fruition of their present glories and joys. Praise is properly the lan- guage of heaven, when all their wants are supplied, and NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 297 their jjrayers on earth are finished ; and whatever fur- ther desires they may have to present before God, the throne of grace is ever at hand, and God himself is ever in the midst of them to bestow every proper blessing in its season that belongs to the heavenly world. Not one of them can any more stand in need of chastisement or painful exercises of the flesh to drive them to the throne of God, while they are at home in their Father's house, and for ever near him and his all-sufficiency. It is from thence they are constantly deriving immortal supplies of blessedness, as from a spring that will never fail. SECTION V. I proceed now to consider in the last place, what are the practical lessons which pain may teach us while we are here on earth in our state of probation and discipline, and shall afterward make it evident, that there is no need of pain in heaven for the same purposes. 1. The frequent returns of pain may put us in mind to offer to God his due sacrifices of praise for the months and years of ease which we have enjoyed : we are too ready to forget the mercy of God herein, unless we are awakened by new painful sensations ; and when we experience new relief, then our lips are opened with thankfulness, and our mouth shews forth his praise. Then we cry out with devout language. Blessed be the Lord that has delivered us ! Wlien we have been op- pressed for some time with extreme anguish, then one day, or one hour of ease fills the heart and the tongue with thankfulness ; blessed be the God of nature that has appointed medicines to restore our ease, and blessed be that goodness that has given success to them! What a rich mercy is it, under our acute torments, tliat there are methods of relief and healing found among the powers of nature, among the plants and the herbs. a!id the min- 38 398 NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. eral stores which are under ground? Blessed be the Lord, who in the course of his providence has given skill to physicians to compose and to apply the proper means of relief! Blessed be that hand that has plant- ed every herb in the field or the garden, and has made the bowels of the earth to team with medicines for the recovery of our health and ease ; and blessed be his name who has rebuked our maladies, who has constrained the smarting diseases to depart by the use of balms and balsams that are happily applied ! While we enjoy the benefits of common life, in health of body and in easy circumstances, we are too often thoughtless of the hand of God, which showers down these favors of heaven upon us in long and constant suc- cession ; but when he sees fit to touch us with his finger, and awaken some lurking malady within us, our ease vanishes, our days are restless and painful, and tiresome nights of darkness pass over us without sleep or repose. Then we repent that we have so long forgotten the God of our mercies ; and we learn to lift up our praises to the Lord, that every night of our lives lias not been restless, that every day and hour has not been a season of racking pain. Blessed be the Lord that enables us, without an- guish or uneasiness, to fulfil the common business of the day ; and blessed be his hand that draws the peaceful curtains of the night round about us ! And even in the midst of moderate pains, we bless his name who gives us refreshing slumbers ; and we grow more careful to employ and improve every moment of returning ease, as the most proper way of expressing our thankfulness to our Almighty healer. Alas, what poor, sorry, sinful creatures are we in the present state, who want to be taught the value of our mercies by the removal of them ! Tlie man of a robust and vigorous make, and a healthy constitution, knows not the true worth of health and ease, nor sets a due value upon these blessings of heaven ! But we NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. are taught to thank God feelingly, for an easy hour after long repeated twinges of pain. We bless that goodness which gives us an easy night after a day of distressing anguish. Blessed be the God of nature and grace, that has not made the gout or the stone immortal, nor subjected our sensible powers to an everlasting cholick or tooth-ache. 2. Pain in the flesh more effectually teaches us to sympathise with those who suffer. We learn a ten- derness of soul experimentally by our own sufferings. We generally love self so well that we forget our neigh- bors under special tribulation and distress, unless we are made to feel them too. lu a particular manner, "when our nature is pinched and pierced through with some smarting malady, we learn to pity those Avho lie groaning under the same disease. A kindred of sor- rows and sufferings works up our natures into compas- sion ; and we find our own hearts more sensibly affect- ed with the groans of our friends under a sharp fit of the gout or rheumatism, when we ourselves have felt the stings of the same distemper. Our blessed Saviour himself, though he wanted nor compassion and love to the children of men, since he came down from heaven on purpose to die for them, yet he is represented to us as our merciful High Priest, who had learnt sympathy and compassion to our sorrows in the same way of experience as we learn it. He was, encompassed about with infirmities, when he took the sinless frailties of our nature upon him, that he might learn to pity us under those frailties. In that he hi7n- self hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted. For we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with thefeelins; of our infirmi- ties, but was in all points tempted like as we are, though he ivas always without sin ; and by the things which he suffered, he may be said, after the manner of men, to 300 NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. learn sympathy and pity to miserable creatures, as well as obedience to God, who is blessed for ever ; Heb. ii. 18, and iv. 15, and v. 2. 8. 3. Since our natures are subject to pain, it should teach us watchfulness against every sin, lest we double our own distresses by the mixture of guilt with them. How careful should we be to keep always a clear con- science, that we may be able at all times to look up with pleasure to the hand of God who smites us, and be bet- ter composed to endure the pains whicli he inflicts upon us for our trial and improvement in grace. Innocence and piety, and a peaceful conscience, are an admirable defence to support the spirit against the overwhelming eiforts of bodily pain. But when inward reproaches of mind, and a racking conscience join with acute pain in the flesh, it is double misery, and aggravated wretched- ness. The scourges and inward remorse of our owii hearts, joined to the sorrows of nature, add torment to torment. How dreadful is it when we are forced to confess, 1 have procured all this to myself by intemper- ance, by my rashness, by my obstinacy against the advice q/* friends, and rebellion against the commands of God. Probably it was such circumstances as these, tliat gave the soul of David double anguish, ' when his bones waxed old, through his roaring all the day long, when day and night the hand of God was heavy upon him, and his moisture was turned into tlie drought of sum- mer ; when he complained unto God, thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore ; there is no soundness in my flesh, because of thine anger ; nor any rest in my bones, because of my sin. Mine iniquities are gone over mine head as a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me. Deep calls unto deep at the noise of thy water-spouts ; all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.' The deep of anguish in my flesh calls to the deep of sorrow in my soul, and makes a tremend- NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 301 ous tumult within me. My wounds stinky and are cor- rupt, because of my foolishness ; I am feeble and sore broken ; I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart ; nor could he find any rest or ease till he ac- knowledged his sin unto God, and confessed his trans- gressions, and till he had some comfortable hope that God had forgiven the iniquity of his sin. See this sor- rowful scene exemplified in a very affecting manner in the 32d and 38th Psalms. Happy is the man that walks closely with his God in the days of health and ease, that whenever it shall please his heavenly Father to try him with smarting pain, he may find sweet relief from a peaceful conscience, and humble appeals to God con- cerning his own sincerity and watchfulness. 4. Pain in the flesh may sometimes be sent by the hand of God, to teach us to wean ourselves by degrees from this body, which we love too well ; this body, which has all the springs of pain in it. How little should we be fond of this flesh and blood in the present feeble state, wherein we are continually liable to one malady or another ; to the head-ache or the heart-ache, to wounds or biTiises, and uneasy sensations of various kinds ? Nor can the soul secure itself from them, while it is so closely united to this mortal body. And yet we are too fond of our present dwelling, though it be but a cottage of clay, feeble and ruinous, where the winds and the storms are continually ready to break in and distress us. A sorry habitation indeed for an immortal spirit, since sin has mingled so many diseases in our constitution, has made so many avenues for smart and anguish in our flesh, and we are capable of admitting pain and agonies at every pore. Pain is appointed to be a sort of balance to the tempt- ing pleasures of life, and to make us feel that perfect happiness does not grow among the inhabitants of flesh and blood. Pain takes away the pleasures of the day SOS NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. and the repose of the night, and makes life bitter in all the returning seasons. The God of nature and grace is pleased, by sending sickness and pain, to loosen his own children by degrees from their fond attachment to this fleshly tabernacle, and to make us willing to depart at his call. A long continuance of pain, or the frequent repeated twinges of it, will teach a christian and incline him to meet death with courage, at the appointed hour of re- lease. This will much abate the fierceness of the king of terrors, when he appears as a sovereign physician to finish every malady of nature. Death is sanctified to the holy soul, and by the covenant of grace this curse of nature is changed into a blessing. The grave is a safe retiring place from all the attacks of disease and anguish. And there are some incurables here on earth, which can find no perfect relief but in the grave. Neither maladies nor tyrants can stretch their terrors beyond this life ; and if we can but look upon death as a conquered enemy, and its sting taken away by the death of Christ, we shall easily venture into this last combat, and obtain an ever- lasting victory. Blessed be God for the grave as a refuge from smarting pains ! Thanks be to God through Christ Jesus, who enables us to triumph over the last pain of nature, and to say, O death where is thy sting ? and grave wliere is thy victory P In the fifth and last place, by the pains that we suffer in this body, we are taught to breathe after the blessed- ness of the heavenly state wherein there shall be no pain. When the soul is dismissed from the bonds of flesh, and presented before God in the world of spirits without spot or blemish by Jesus our great Forerunner, it is then ap- pointed to dwell among the spirits of the just made per- fect, who were all released in their several seasons from the body of flesh and sin. Maladies and infirmities of every kind are buried in the grave/, and cease for ever : NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 303 and if we survey the properties of the new raised body in the great resurrection day, as described 1 Cor. xv. we shall find no room for pain there, no avenue or residence for smart or anguish. It will not be such a body of flesh and blood which can be a source of maladies, or subject to outward injuries ; but by its own principles of innate vigor and immortality, as well as by the power and mercy of God, it shall be for ever secured from those uneasy sensations which made our flesh on earth painful and burdensome, and which tended toward dissolution and death. It is such a body as our Lord Jesus wore at his ascent to heaven in a bright cloud for ever incor- ruptible ; fot^'flesh and blood connot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corrujption inherit incorruption. Jls we have home the image of the earthly Ac! am in the frailties and sufferings that belong to it, so shall we also hear the image of the heavenly, even the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may he fashioned like unto his own glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself; Phil. iii. SI. We shall hunger no more, we shall thirst no more, nor shall the sun light on us with its parching beams, nor shall we be annoyed with fire or frost, with heat or cold, in those temperate and happy- regions. The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed his people for ever there with the fruits of the tree of life, and with unknown entertainments suited to a glorified state. He shall lead them to living fountains of waters, and God shall wijpe away all tears from their eyes. Thus have I set before you the practical lessons which pain is designed to teach us in our present state ; and we find that a body subject to maladies and pains, is a well appointed school, wherein our great Master gives us these divine instructions, and trains us up by degrees for the heavenly world. It is rough discipline indeed for the flesh, but it is wholesoire for tlie soul. And 304 NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. there is many a christian here on earth that has been made to confess, he had never learnt the practice of some of these virtues, if he had not been taught by such sort of discipline. Pain which was brought into human nature at first by sin, is happily suited by the providence of God to such a state of probation, wherein creatures born in the midst of sins and sorrows, are by degrees recovered to the love of God and holiness, and fi.tted for a world of peace and joy. But when we have done with this world, and departed from the tribes of mortal men, and from all the scenes of allurement and temptation, there is no more need that such lessons should be taught us in heaven, nor any painful scourge made use of by the Father of spirits, to carry on, or to maintain the divine work of holiness and grace Avithin us. Let us survey this matter according to the foregoing particulars. Is it possible that while the blessed above are sur- rounded with endless satisfactions flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb, they should forget their benefactor, and neglect his irraises? Is it possible they should dwell in immortal health and ease without inter- ruption, under the constant vital influences of the King of Glory, and yet want gratitude to the spring of all their blessings ? Nor is there any need for the inhabitants of a world where no pains nor sorrows are found, to learn compas- sion and sympathy to those who suffer, for there are no sufferings there. But love and joy, intense and intimate love, and a harmony of joy runs through all that blessed company, and unites them in an universal sympathy, if I may so express it, or blissful sensation of each other's happiness. And I might add also, could there be such a thing as sorrow and misery in those regions, this divine principle of love would work sweetly and pow- erfully towards such objects in all necessary compassion. What if pain was once made a spur to our duties in I NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. S05 this frail state of flesh and blood ? What if pain were designed as a guard against temptation, and a means to awaken our watch against new transgression and guilt ? But in a climate where all is holiness, and all is peace, in the full enjoyment of the great God, and secured by that everlasting covenant which was sealed by the blood of the Lamb, there is no more danger of sinning. The aoul is moulded into the more complete likeness of Grod, by living for ever under the light of his countenance and the warmest beams of his love. What if we had need of the stings of pain and an- guish in time past, to wean us hy degrees from this body, and from all sensible things, and to make us willing to part with them all at the call of God ? Yet when we arrive at the heavenly world, we shall have no more need of being weaned from earth, we shall never look back upon that state of pain and frailty with a wishful eye, being for ever satisfied in theaffluenceof present joys. O glorious and happy state ! where millions of crea- tures who have dwelt in bodies of sin and pain, and have been guilty of innumerable follies and oflfences against their Maker, yet they are all forgiven, their robes are washed and made white in the blood of Jesus, their iniquities are cancelled for ever, and there shall not be one stroke more from the hand of God to chasten them, nor one more sensation of pain to punish them. Divine and illustrious privilege indeed ! and a glorious world, where complete sanctification of all the powers of nature shall for ever secure us from new sins, and where the springs and causes of pain shall for ever cease, both within us and without us. Our glorified bodies shall have no avenue for pain to enter ; the gates of heaven shall admit no enemy to afflict or hurt us ; God is our everlasting friend, and our souls shall be satisfied with the rivers of pleasure which Jtoiv for ever at the right hand of God. Amen. 39 DISCOURSE X. THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT; OR, THE FORETASTE OF HEAVEN. ROM. viii. 23. And not only they, but ourselves also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, that is, the re- demption of the body. SECTION I. IT is by a beautiful figure of speech the apostle had been describing, in the foregoing verses, the unnatural abuse which the creatures suffer through the sins of men, when they are employed to sinful purposes and the dis- honor of Grod their Creator. Permit me to read tlie words, and represent the sense of them in a sliort par- aphrase. Verse 22 ; We Jcnoiv that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. The earth itself may be represented as groaniyig to bear such loads of iniquity, such a multitude of wicked men who abuse the creatures of Ood, to the dishonor of him that made them. The air may be said to groan to give breath to those vile wretches who abuse it in filthiness and foolish talking, to the dishonor of God, and to the scandal of their neighbors ; it groans to furnish men with breath that is abused in idolatry, by tlie false wor- ship of the true God, or the worship of creatures, which is abominable in his sight. The sun itself may be said to groan to give light to those sinners who abuse both day-light and darkness, in rioting and wantonness, iu THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT, &c. 307 doing mischief among men and committing fresh iniqui- ties against their Maker. The moon and stars are abused by adulterers and thieves, and other midniglit sinners, when they any way afford light enough to them to guide them in their pursuit of wicked ways and prac- tices. The beasts of burden may be said to groan and be abused, when they bear the wicked sons and daugh- ters of Adam to the accomplishment of their iniquities. And even all the parts of the brutal world, as well as of the inanimate creation, are some way or other made to serve the detestable and wicked purposes of the sinful children of men, and may be figuratively said to groan on this account. And if we have tasted of the fruits of the Spirit of grace, we cannot but in some measure groan with the rest of the creation, in the expectation of the blessed day, when the creatures shall be delivered from this bondage of corruption, to which the providence of God has suffered them to be subjected in this degenerate state of things. We hope there is a time coming, when the creatures themselves shall be used according to the original ap- pointment of their Maker, agreeable to their own first design, and for the good of their fellow-creatures, and supremely for the honor of their God, in that day when holiness to the Lord shall be written upon the bells of the horses; and every pot in Jerusalem shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts. Why should we not join then with the whole creation, in groaning and longing after this promised time, when all the works of God shall be re- stored to their rightful use, and the glory of the Maker shall some way or other be made to shine in every one of them ? The apostle then adds, in the Avords of my text and not these creatures only, but ourselves also, ivho have the first fruits of the Spirit, we who are filled -vith the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit ; and eminently the first SOS THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT ; fruits hereof appear in our taste and relish of the divine provisions that God has given us here in this world, to prepare for a better ; and even bestows upon some of his christian servants, these first fruits of the tree of paradise, these blessings, and these foretastes which are near akin to those of the upper world, when the saints shall be raised from the dead, when their adoption shall be clearly manifested, and they shall look like the children of God, and their bodies and all their natural powers shall be redeemed from those disorders, whether of sin or sorrow, and from all tlie springs and seeds of them, which they are more or less liable to feel in the present state. Here let it be observed, that the Jirst fruits of any field, or plant, or tree, are of the same kind with the full product or the harvest ; therefore it is plain, that the first fruits of the Spirit in this place, cannot chiefly signify the gifts of the Spirit, such as the gifts of tongues, or of healing, or of miracles, nor the gifts of prophecy, preach- ing, or praying, because these are not the employments nor the enjoyments of heaven. The first fruits of the Spirit must rather refer therefore, to the knowledge and holiness, the graces and^^e joys, wliich are more perfect and glorious in the heavenly state, than they were ever designed to be here upon earth. Now these first fruits of graces and joys are sometimes bestowed upon chris- tians in this world, in such a degree as brings them near to the heavenly state. And that is the chief observation I design to draw from these words, viz. That God has heen pleased to give some of his children here on earthy several of the foretastes of the heavenly blessedness, the graces, and the joys of the upper world ; as they are the first fruits of that paradise to which we are travelling. And these privileges have brought some of the saints within the verge of the courts of heaven, within the con- fines and borders of the celestial country. What these OR, THE FORETASTE OF HEAVEN. 309 are I shall shew immediately ; but before I represent them, I desire to lay down these few cautions. Caution 1. These sensible foretastes of heaven do not belong to^all christians; these are not such general blessings of the covenant of grace, of which every chris- tian is made 'partaker ; but they are special favors now and then bestowed on some particular persons by the special will of God. 1. Such as are more eminent in faith, and holiness, and prayer than others are, such as have made great advancements in every part of religion, in mortification to the world, in spiritual mindedness, in humility, and in much converse with God, &c. Or, 2. Sometimes these first fruits may be given unto sucli as are weak, both in reason and in faith, and may be babes in Christ, and are not able by their reasoning powers to search out their evidences for heaven, especlnlly under some present temptation or darkness. Or, 3. Sometimes to those who are called by providence to go through huge and uncommon trials and sufferings, in order to support their spirits, and bear up their coarage, their faith and patience. It is true, the more general and common way whereby God prepares his people for heaven, is by leading them through several steps of advancing holiness, sincere re- pentance, mortification of sin, weanedness from the world, likeness to God, heavenly mindedness, &c. These are indeed the usual preparatives for glory, and the surest evidences of a state of grace. Tlierefore let not any person imagine he is not a true christian, because he hath not enjoyed these special favors and signal man- ifestations. Caution 2. If there be any who have been favored with these peculiar blessings, they must not expect them to be constant and perpetual, nor always to be given in the same manner or same measure ; they are rare bless- ings and special reviving cordials ; they are not the 310 THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT; common food of christians, nor the daily nourishment of the saints. The word of God, and the grace of Christ in the promises, is our daily support, and the constant nourishment of our souls. Cordials are not given for our daily nourishment in the life of grace. Caution 3. However great and rapturous these fore- tastes may be, let us not so depend on them as to neglect the more substantial and solid evidences for heaven, and those steps of preparation which I have elsewhere men- tioned. Let not those who have enjoyed them give a loose to their souls, and let go their watchfulness, or neg- lect their daily mortification and diligence in every duty. Some of these divine raptures have sometimes been so nearly counterfeited by raptures of fancy, by warm self- love, or perhaps by the deceit of evil angels, that they are not so safe a foundation for our dependance and as- sured hope, as the soul's experience of a sincere repent- ance, and general turn of heart to Cxod, and mortification of sin, and delight in every practice of holiness. The devil sometimes has transformed himself into an angel of light ; 2 Cor. xi. 14. And there have been some who at first hearing of the gospel, have had wondrous raptures. Heb. vi. 4, it is said they have tasted the powers of the world to come, &c. — who have yet fallen away again ; and having lost all their sense and savor of divine things, have become vile apostates. Caution 4. If you seem to enjoy any of these affection- ate and rapturous foretastes of heaven, be jealous of the truth of them, if they have not a proportionable sanctify- ing influence upon your souls and your actions. If you find they incline you to negligence in duty, to coldness in the common practices of religion and godli- ness, if they make you fancy that common ordinances are a low and needless dispensation, if they seem to excuse you from diligence in the common duties of life towards man, or religion towards God, there is great reason then OR, THE FORETASTE OP HEAVEN. 311 to suspect them. There is danger lest they should be mere suggestions and deceitful workings either of your own natural passions, or the crafty snares of the artful and busy adversary of souls, on purpose to make you neglect solid religion, and make you part with what is substantial for a bright and flashy glimpse of heavenly things. But on the other hand, if you find that these special favors and enjoyments raise your hearts to a greater nearness to God, and more constant converse with him ; if they keep you deep in humility, and in everlasting dependance on the grace of Christ in the gospel, and warm and zealous attendance on the ordinances of wor- ship ; if they teach and incline you to fulfil every duty of love to your neighbor, and particularly to your fellow- christians, then they appear to be the fruits of the Spirit ; and as they fit you for every duty and every providence here upon earth, there is very good reason to hope they are real visits from heaven, and are sent from the God of all grace to make you more meet for the heavenly glory. SECTION II. These are the four cautions. I proceed now to de- scribe some of i\vQ.sQ foretastes of the heavenly blessedness, and shew how nearly they resemble the blessedness and enjoyments of the heavenly world. First. In heaven there is a near view of God in his glornes, ivith such a fixed contemplation of his several perfections, as draws out the heart into all correspondent exercises, in an uncommon, transcendent, and supreme degree. It is described as one of the felicities of heaven, that we shall see God ; Matt. v. 8 ; that we shall be- hold him face to face, and not in shadows and glasses ; 1 Cor. xiii. 12. Let us exhibit some particulars of this 313 THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT ; kind, and dwell a little upon them in the most easy and natural method. 1. In heaven tlie blessed inhabitants behold the majesty and greatness of God in such a light as fixes their thoughts in glorious wonder and the humblest adoration, and exalts them to the highest pleasure and praise. Have you never fallen into such a devout and fixed contempla- tion of the majesty of God, as to be even astonished at his glory and greatness, and to have your souls so swal- lowed up in his sight, that all the sorrows and the joys of this life, all the business and necessities of it liath been forgotten for a season, all things below and beneath God have seemed as nothing in your eyes ? All the grandeurs and splendors of mortality have been buried in darkness and oblivion ; and creatures have, as it were, vanished from the tlioughts and been lost, as the stars die and vanish at the rising sun, aud are no more seen ? Have you never seen the face of God in this sublime grandeur, excellence and majesty, so as to shrink into the dust before him, and lie low at his foot with humblest adoration? And you have been transported into a feeling acknowledgment of your oAvn nothingness in the presence of God. Such a sight the prophet Isaiah seems to have enjoyed; Isaiah Ix. 12, 15, 17; "Behold the nations before him are as the drop of the bucket, and as the small dust of the balance ; he taketh up the ^sles as a very little thing. All nations before him are as nothing ; they are counted to him less than nothing and vanity." When the lips are not only directed to speak this sub- lime language, but the soul, as it were, beholds God in these heights of transcendent majesty, it is overwhelmed with blessed wonder and surprising delight, even while it adores in most profound lowliness and self-abasement. This is tlie emblem of the worship of the heavenly world ; see Hev. iv. 10. where the elders, saints and prophets, martyi's, angels, and dominions, and principal- OR, THE PORETASTfi OF HEAVEN. 313 ities of the highest degree cast down their crowns at the foot of him that made them, and exalt God in his su- premacy over all. 2. In heaven there are such blessed and extensive surveys of the infinite knowledge of God, and his amaz- ing wisdom discovered in his works^ as makes even all their own heavenly improvements in knowledge and understanding to appear as mere ignorance, darkness, and folly before him. In such an hour as this is, the lioly angels may charge themselves with folly in his sight, as he beholds them in the imperfection of their understanding. Now have you never been carried away in your meditations of the all-comprehensive knowledge of God to such a degree, as to lose and abandon all your former pride and appearances of knowledge and ■wisdom in all the native and acquired riches of it, and count them all as nothing in his sight ? Have you never looked upward to the midnight skies, and with amazement sent your thoughts upward to him who calls all the stars by their names, and brings them forth in all their sparkling glories, who marshals them in their nightly ranks and orders, and then stood overwhelmed with sacred astonishment at the wisdom which made and ranged them all in their proper situations, and there ap- pointed them to fulfil ten thousand useful purposes, and that not only towards this little ball of earth, but to a multitude of upper planetary worlds ? Have you never inqured into the wonders of his wisdom in framing the bodies, the limbs, and the senses of millions of animals, birds, and beasts, fishes, and insects, as well as men all around this globe, and who hath framed all their organs and powers of nature with exquisite skill, to see and hear, to run and fly, and swim, to produce their young in all their proper forms and sizes, furnished with their various powers, and to feed and nourish them in their innumerable shapes and colours, admirable for strength 40 314* THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT; and beauty? And have you not felt your souls filled with devout adoration at the unspeakable and infinite contrivances of a God ? And not only his works of creation, but of his provi- dence too, have afforded some pious souls such devout amazement. What astonishing wisdom must that be which has created mankind on earth near six thousand years ago, and by his divine word in every age continues to create them or give them being, with all the same natural powers and parts, beauties and excellencies ! That he hatli wisely governed so many millions of ani- mals with living souls or spirits in them, so many mil- lions of intelligent creatures, endued with a free will of their own to choose or refuse what they will or will not do, and hath managed this innumerable company of be- ings in all ages, notwithstanding all their different and clashing opinions and customs, their crossing humors, wills and passions in endless variety, and yet hath made them all subservient to his own comprehensive designs and purposes through all ages of the word and all nations on earth ! What inconceivable m isdom is that which hath effectually appointed them all to centre in the accomplishment of his own eternal counsels ! xind with what overwhelming amazement will this scene ap- pear, when he shall shut up the theatre of this eartii, and fold up these heavens as a curtain, and this visible structure of things shall be laid in ashes ? What an as- tonishing view must this be of the all-surveying knowl- edge, all-comprehending wisdom of a God, and with what holy and humble pleasure must the pious soul be filled who takes in and enjoys this scene of infinite vari- eties and wonders ? How near doth sucli an hour ap- proach to the bliss of heaven and the raptures of contem- plation, which belong to the blessed inhabitants of it. 3, I might add something of the Mmighty power of God in his creation and Government of the world, in his OR, THE FORETASTE OF HEAVEN. 3l5 kingdottis of nature and providence. Did not the angels rejoice at the birth day of this universe, and those morn- ing stars shout for joy at the first appearance of this creation ? And what the inhabitants of heaven make their song, may not a holy soul be entertained with it;, even to extacy and rapture ? I behold, says he, in di- vine meditation, I behold this huge structure of the uni- verse rising out of nothing at the voice of his command ; I behold tlie several planets in their various orders set a moving by the same word of power. With what delightful surprise do 1 hear him pronounce the words, let there be light, and lo, the light appears P Let there be earth and seas ; let there be clouds and heavens ; let there be sun, moon and stars, and lo the heavens, and the dry land, and the waters appear, the clouds and the stars in their various order and situation, and all the parts of the creation arise, all replenished with proper ornaments and animals according to his word. At his command nature exists in all its regions with all its fur- niture ; the beasts, and birds, and fishes in all their forms arise, and at once they obey the several Almighty orders he gave, and by the unknown and unconceivable force of such a word they leap out into existence in ten thousand forms. Again, what divine pleasure is it to hear a God be- ginning the work of his providence, and speaking those wondrous words of power to every plant and animal, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and lo, in a long succession of near six thousand years the earth has been covered all over with herbs and plants, with shrubs and tall trees in all their beauty and dimensions. The air hath been filled with birds and insects, the seas and rivers with fish, and the dry land with beasts and men even to this present day. When all this philosophy is changed into devotion, it must also be transformed into divine and unutterable joy. 316 THE FIRST FilUlTS OF THE SPIRIT; Nor are these things too low and mean for the con- templation of heavenly beings. For God is seen in all of them. There is not a spear of grass but the power and wisdom of a God are visible therein. And it ie certain the heavenly beings must be sometimes employ- ed in tlie contemplation of many of these lower wonders. The plants and beasts in desolate regions where no man inhabits, and in distant and foreign oceans and rivers, where the fishy shoals in all their variety and numbers, in all their successions and generations for near six thousand years were never seen nor known by any of the sons of men ; these seem to have been created in vain, if no heavenly beings are acquainted with them, nor raise a revenue of glory to him that made them. This Mmiglity power therefore which made this huge universe, which sustains the frame of it every moment, and secures it from dissolving ; this power which brings forth the stars in their order, and worms a,nd creeping things in their innumerable millions, and governs all the motions of them to the purposes of divine glory, must needs affect a contemplative soul with raptures of pleasing meditation ; and in these sublime meditations, by the aids of the divine Spirit, a soul on earth may get near to heaven. And with what religious and unknown pleasure at such a season doth it shrink its own being as it were into an atom, and lie in the dust and adore ! 4. The all-sufficiency of the great God to form and to supply every creature with all that it can want or desire, is another perfection of the divine nature, whicli is bet- ter known in heaven than it ever was here on earth, and affords another scene of astonishment and sacred delight. And there may be some advances towards this pleasure found among saints below, some first fruits of this heav- enly felicity and joy in the all-sufficiency of God. My whole self, body and mind, is from God and from him alone. All my limbs and powers of flesh and OR, THE FORETASTE OF HEAVEN. 317 spirit were derived from him, and borrowed their first existence from tlieir original .pattern in his fruitful mind. All that I have of lite or comfort, of breath or being, with all my blessings round about me, is owing to his boundless and eternal fullness ; and all my long reach- ing hopes and endless expectations that stretch far into futurity, and an eternal world, are growing out of this same all-sufficient fullness. But what do I think or speak of so little a trifle as I am ? Stretch thy thoughts, O my soul, through the lengths and breadths, and depth of his creation, O what an unconceivable fulness of being, glory, and excellency is found in God the universal parent and spring of all ! What an inexhaustible ocean of being and life, or per- fection and blessedness must our God be, who supplies all the iniinite armies of his creatures in all his known, and unknown dominions with life and motion, with breath and activity, with food and support, with satisfac- tion and delight ! Who maintains the vital powers and faculties of all the spirits which he hath made in all the visible and invisible worlds, in all his territories of light, and peace, and joy, and in all the regions of dark- ness, punishment and misery! In him all things live, and move, and have tlieir beings ; Acts xvii. 28. Psalms civ. 29 ; He withdraws his breath and they die. He hath writ down all their names in his own mind, he gives them all their natures, and without him there is nothing, there can be nothing ; all nature without him would have been a perpetual blank, an universal emptiness, an ever- lasting void, and with one turn of his will he could sink and dissolve all nature into its original nothing. Confess, O my soul, thy own nothingness in his pres- ence, and with astonishing pleasure and worship adore his fulness. He is thy everlasting all. Be thy depend- ance ever fixed upon him ; thou canst not, thou shalt not live a moment without him, without ids habitual depend- 318 THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT; aiice, and a frequent delightful acknowledgement of it. Such a devout frame as this, is heaven, and such scenes now and then passing tlirough the soul, are glimpses of the heavenly blessedness. SECTION III. Though the eternity and bnmensitij of God might perhaps, in their own nature, and in the reason of things, be first mentioned, yet his majesty, his power, and liis wisdom, in their sovereign excellency strike the souls of creatures more immediately, therefore I have put these first. However, let us now consider the eternity of the gl'eat God and his omnipresence, and tijink how the spirits in heaven are affected therewith, and what kin- dred meditations may be derived from these perfections by the saints here on earth. I proceed therefore, 5. To the eternity of God, which, though the most exalted spirit in heaven cannot comprehend, yet it is probable they have some nearer and clearer discovery of it than we can have here in this mortal state, while we dwell in flesh and blood. We have nothing in this risible world that gives us so much as an example or similitude of it. The great God ivho is, ivho was, and who is to come through all ages, he is, and was, and for ever icill be the same. Let us go back as many thou- sand ages as we can in our thoughts, and still an eternal God was before them ; a Being that had no beginning of his existence, nor will have any end of his life or du- ration. And as he says to Moses, my name is I am THAT I AM, so as there is nothing which had any hand in his being, but all the reasons of it are derived from his own self-fulness, therefore we may say of him that he is because he is, and because he will be. He had no spring of his first beginning, nor any cause of his con- tinued existence, but what is within himself. We can OR, THE FORETASTE OF HEAVEN, 319 never set ourselves in too mean a light, when an eternal God is near us ; and every thing besides God can be but little in our eyes. And, O my thinking powers, are ye not sweetly lost in this holy rapture, and overpowered with divine pleas- ure, O my soul, in such a medtiation as this ? Art thou not delightfully surprised ^vith the thoughts of such self- sufficience and such an inconceivable perfection ? Thy being considered as here in this life, is not so much in the sight of God, as an atom in comparison of the whole earth ; and even the supposed future ages of thy existence in the eternal state, are inconceivably short, when com- pared with the glory of that Being that never began his life or his duration. Many things here on earth concur towards my satis- faction and peace ; but if I have God my friend, I have all in him that I can possibly want or desire. Let me. then live no longer upon creatures when God is all. Let sun, moon, and stars vanish, and all this visible creation disappear and be for ever annihilated if God please, he himself is still my eternal hope and never- failing spring of all my blessedness. My expectations are continually safe in liis hands, and shall never fail while I am so near to him. This is joy unspeakable and akin to glory. 6. Let us meditate also on the immensity of God, which I think is much better expressed by his omni- presence. God is wheresoever any creature is or can be ; knowing immediately by his own presence all that belongs to them, all that they are or can be, all that they do or can do, all that concerns tliem, whetlier their sins or their virtues, their pains or their pleasures, their hopes or their fears. It implies also that he doth by his immediate power and influence, support and govern all the creatures. In short, this immensity is nothing else but the infinite extent of his knowledge and iiis power ; 320 THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT ; and it reaches to and beyond all places, as eternity reaches to and beyond all times. This the blessed above know and rejoice in, and take infinite satisfaction therein. Having God, as it were, surrounding them on all sides, so that they cannot be where he is not, he is ever present with liis all-sufficiency, ready to bestow on them all they wish or desire, while he continues their God ; that is, for ever and ever. They are under the blessing of his eye, and the care of his hand, to guard them from every evil, and to secure their ])eace. Let thy flesh or spirit be surrounded with ever so many thousand dangers or enemies, they cannot do thee the least damage without his leave, by force or by sur prise, while sucli an Almighty Being is all around thee. Nor hast thou reason to indulge any fear while the spring and ocean of all life, activity, and blessedness, thus secures thee on every side. If thou hast the evi- dences of his children on thee, thou possessest an eter- nal security of thy peace. 7. The sovereignty and dominion of the blessed God is a further meditation and pleasure which becomes and adorns the inhabitants of the heavenly world. There he reigns upon the throne of his glory ; and the greater part of the territories whicli are subject to him, are less in their view than our scanty powers of nature or per- ception can now apprehend ; and a proportionable de- gree of pleasure is found with the saints above in these contemplations. But in our present state of mortality, our souls can only look through these lattices of flesh and blood, and make a few scanty and imperfect inferences from what they always see, and hear, and feel. And yet the glo- rious sovereignty and dominion of the blessed God may so penetrate the soul with a divine sense of it here on earth, as to raise up a heaven of wonder and joy within. r OR, THE FORETASTE OF HEAVEN. S2i Adore him, O my soul, who surveys and rules all things which he has made with an absolute authority, and is for ever uncontrolable. How righteous a thing is it that he should give laws to all the beings which his hand hath formed, which his breath hath spoken into life, and especially that rank which his favor hath fur- nished with immortality? How just that he should be obeyed by every creature without the least reluctance or reserve, without a moment's delay, and that to all the length of tlieir existence ? Submit to his government with pleasure, O my nature, and be all ye my powers of soul and body, in everlast- ing readiness to do whatsoever he requires, and to be whatsoever he appoints. Wilt thou have me, O Lord, lie under sickness or pain, wilt thou have me languish under weakness and confinement ? I am at thy foot, I am for ever at thy disposal. Wilt thou have me active and vigorous in thy service ? Lord, I am ready with utmost cheerfulness. Wilt thou confine me to painful idleness and long patience ? Lord, here I am ; do with me what seemeth good unto thee ; I am ready to serve thy purposes here, or thy orders in the unknown world of spirits, when thou shalt dissolve this mortal frame. I lay down these limbs in the dust of death at thy com- mand. I venture into the regions of angels and unbod- ied minds at thy summons. I will be what thou wilt, I will go when thou wilt, I will dwell where thou wilt, for thou art always with me, and I am entirely thine. I both rejoice and tremble at thy sovereignty and domin- ion over all. God cannot do injury to any creature who is so entirely his own property ; God will not deal un- kindly with a creature who is so sensible of his just dominion and supremacy, and which bows at the foot of his sovereignty with so much relish of satisfaction. 8. Let us next take notice of the j^crfect purity of the nature of God, liis universal holiness, the rectitude of 41 S22 THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT ; the divine nature manifested in all his tlioaghts, his works, and his words, all perfectly agreeable to the eternal rules of truth and righteousness, and at the fur- thest distance Trom every thing that is false and faulty, every thing that is or can be dishonorable to so glorious a. Being. Have we never seen Grod in this light, in the glory of his holiness, his universal rectitude, and the everlasting harmony of all his perfections, in exact cor- respondence with all the notions we can have of truth and reason ? And has not God appeared then as a glo- rious and lovely Being? And have we not at the same time beheld ourselves as unclean and unholy creatures ; in one part or other of our natures, ever ready to jar or fall out with some of the most pure and perfect rules of holiness, justice or truth ? Have we not seen all our sins and iniquities in this light, with utmost abhorrence and highest hatred of them, and looked down upon our- selves with a deep and overwhelming sense of shame and displacence against our depraved a,od corrupted na- tures, and abased ourselves as Job does, in diist and ashes, and not daring to open our mouths before him ? Job. xiii. 6 ; 1 have heard of thee by the hearins; of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee, ayid I abhor myself iyi dust and ashes. The least spot or blemish of sin grows highly offensive and painful to the eyes of a saint in this situation. Every little warping from truth in our conversation, every degree of insincerity or fraud becomes a smarting uneasiness to the mind in the remembrance of oiu* past follies in the present state. There is the highest abhor- rence of sin among all the heavenly inhabitants ; and this sight of God in the beauties of his holiness, and his perfect rectitude, is an everlasting preservative to holy souls against the admission of an impure or uniioly thought. And therefore some divines have supposed, that the angels at their first creation were put into a state OR, THE FORETASTE OF HEAVEN. 3S8 of trial before they were admitted to this full sight of the beauty of God in his holiness, which would have secured them from the least thought or step towards apostacy. O my soul, of what happy importance is it to thee to maintain as long as possible, this sense of the purity^ rectitude and perfection of the nature of the blessed God, wlio is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, with the least regard of approbation or allowance? And what infinite condescension is it in such a God to find out and appoint a way of grace, whereby such shameful, polluted creatures as we are, should ever be admitted into his presence to make the least address to his majesty, or to hope for his favor ? Besides, in this sublime view of the holiness of God, we shall not only love God better than ever, as we see him more amiable under this view of his glorious attri- butes, but we shall grow more sincere and fervent in our love to all that is holy, to every fellow-christian, to every saint in heaven and on earth. We shall not bear any fstrangedness or alienation from those who have so much of the likeness of God in them. They will ever appear to be the excellent of the earth, in whom is all our delight. Their supposed blemishes will vanish at the thought of their likeness to God in holiness. And especially our blessed Lord Jesus, the Son of God, will be most precious and all-glorious in our eyes, as he is the most perfect image of his Father's holiness. There is nothing in the blessed God, but the man Christ Jesus bears a proportionable resemblance to it, as far as a crea- ture can resemble God, and he will consequently be Jiighest in our esteem, under God the Lord and Father of all. 9. The ever pleasing attribute of divine goodness and love, is another endless and joyful theme or object of the contemplation of the heavenly world. There this perfection shines in its brightest rays ; there it display^t S^ THE URST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT ; its most triumphant glories, and kindles a flame of ever- lasting joy in all the sons of blessedness. But we in this world may have such glimpses of this goodness and love., as may fill tlie soul with unspeakable pleasure, and begin in it the first fruits and earnest of heaven. When we survey the inexhaustible ocean of goodness which is in God, which fills and supplies all the creatures with every thing they stand in need of ; when we behold all the tribes of the sons of men sup- ported by his boundless sufficiency, his bounty and kind providence, and refreshed with a thousand comforts be- yond what the mere necessities of nature require ; in such an hour if we feel the least flowings of goodness in ourselves towards others, we shall humble ourselves to the dust, and cry out in lioly amazement. Lord, what is an atom to a mountain ? What is a drop to a river, a sea of benificence ? Wkat is a shadow to the eternal substance ? What good thing is there in time or in eter- nity, which I can possibly want which is not abundantly i^pplied out of thine overflowing fulness ? Hence arises the eternal satisfaction of all the lioly and happy creation in being so near to thee, and under the everlasting as- surances of thy love. I can do nothing but fall down before thee in deepest humility, and admire, adore, and everlastingly love thee, who hast assumed to thyself the name of love; 1 John iv. 8 ; God is love. SECTION IV. Thus far our joys may rise into aii imitation of the ioys above, in the devout contemplation of divine per- Hions. nd not only the jjerfectioyis of God considered and '^d single in themselves, but the union and blessed of many of them in the divine works and trans- providence and of grace, especially in the gos- OR, THE FORETASTE OP HEAVEN. 325 pel of Christ, administer further matter for contemplation and pleasure among the happy spirits in heaven. And so far as this enjoyment may be communicated to the saints here on earth, they may be also said to have a foretaste of the business and pleasure of heaven. Let us take notice of this harmony in several instances. 1. In the sacred constitution of the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, as God and man united in one personal agent. Here majesty and mercy give a glorious instance oT their union ; here all the grantleur and dignity of Godhead condescends to join itself in union with a crea- ture, such as man is, a spirit dwelling in iiesh and blood. 1 Tim. ii. 5 ; There is one God, and one Mediator be- tween God and man, even the mq^n Christ Jesus. But this man is personally united to the blessed God ; he is God manifested in the jlesh. He is a man in ivhom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, to constitute one all-suiiicient Saviour of miserable and fallen man- kind. What an amazing stoop or condescension is this for the eternal Godhead thus to join itself to a creature, and what a siu-prising exaltation is this of the creature for the man Christ Jesus thus to be assumed into so near a relation to the blessed God ? All the glories that re- sult from this divine contrivance and transaction, are not to be enumerated on paper, nor by the best capacity of writers here on earth. The heavenly inhabitants are much better acquainted with them. Again. Here is an example of the harmony and co- operation of unsearchable wisdom and all- commanding power, in the person of the blessed Jesus ; and what a happy design is hereby executed, namely, the reconcil- iation of sinful man and the holy and glorious God. And who could do this but one who was possessed of such wisdom and such power ? When there was no creature in heaven or earth sufficient for this work, God was pleased to appoint such au union between a creature 3S6 THfi FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT; and Creator, between God and man, as might answer all the inconceivable purposes concealed in his thought. If there be wanting a person fit to execute any of his infinite designs, lie will not be frustrated for want of an agent ; he will appoint God and man to be so nearly united as to become one agent to execute this design. 3. In the manner of our salvation, viz. by an atone- ment for sin. The great God did not think it proper, nor agreeable to his sublime holiness, to receive sinful man into his favor without an atonement for sin, and a satisfaction made to the Governor of the world for the abuse and violation of his holy law here on earth ; and therefore he appointed such a sacrifice of atonement as might be sufficient to do complete honor to the law-giver, as well as to save and deliver the offender from death. Therefore Jesus was made a man capable of suffering and dying, that he might honor the majesty and the jus- tice of the broken law of God, and that he might do it completely by the union of Godhead to this man and Mediator ; the dignity of whose divinity diffuses itself over all that he did and all that he suffered, so as to make his obedience completely acceptable to God instead of thousands of creatures, and fully satisfactory for the offence that was given him by them ; here is a sacrifice provided equal to the guilt of sin, and therefore sufficient to take it away. You see here what a blessed harmony there is between the justice of God doing honor to his own law, and his compassion resolved to save a ruined creature. Here is no blemish cast upon the strict justice and righteousness of God, when the offender is forgiven in such a method as may do honor to justice and mercy at once. Rom. iii. 24, 25 ; We are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ ; whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare Ms righteousness^ even his perfect governing OR, THE FORETASTE OF HEAVfiN. 327 justice^ though he passes by and pardons tlie sins of a thousand criminal creatures. To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might appear to be just to his own authority and law, while he justifies the sinful man who believeth or trusteth in Jesus the Mediator, as becoming a proper sacrifice and propitiation for sin. 3. By the sa7ictiflcation of our' nature. There is also another remarkable harmony between the holiness of God, and his mercy in this work of the salvation of sin- ful man. The guilt of sin is not only to be forgiven and taken away by a complete atonement and sacrifice, but the sin fid nature of this ruined creature is to be changed into holiness, is to be renewed and sanctified by the blessed Spirit, and reformed into the image of God his Maker. He must not only be released from punishment by forgiveness, but he must be restored to the image of God by sanctifying grace ; that so he may be fit company for the rest of the favorites of God in the upper world ; that he may be qualified to be admitted into this society, where peifect purity and holiness are necessary for all tlie inhabitants of this upper world, and for such near attendants on the blessed God. In that happy state nothing shall enter there that defileth ; Rev. xxi. 27 ; and therefore concerning the criminals amongst the Corinthians, as vile and as offensive to the pure an holy God as they are represented, 1 Cor. vi. 9 — 11 ; viz. For- nicators, idolaters, adulterers, drunkards, 8^c. but it is said, they are washed, hut they are sanctified, but they are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. Now when the souls of the saints here on earth are raised to such divine contemplations, what transporting satisfaction and delight must arise from the surprising union and harmony of the attributes of the bles; >ed God in these his transactions ? And especially when ithe soul in the lively exercise of grace and view of its ovjxi par- SS8 THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT ; don, justification^ and restored holiness, looks upon itself as one of these happy favorites of the majesty of heaven. It cries out as it w^ere in holy amazement, what a divine profusion is here of wisdom and power, glory and grace, to save a wretched worm from everlasting burnings, and to advance a worthless rebel to such undeserved and exalted glories ! SECTION V. The wonders of divine jjerfectio7is united in the suc- cess of the gospeU give an ecstacy of joy sometimes to holy souls. Not only do these views of the united per- fections of Grod, as they are concerned in the contrivance of the gospel, entertain the saints above Avith new and pleasurable contemplations, but the wonders of divine wisdom, power and grace, united and harmonizing in the propai^'ation and success of this gospel, become a matter of delightful attention and survey to the saints on high. This is imitated also in a measure by the children of God here on earth. Have you never felt such a surpris- ing pleasure in the view of the attributes of God, his grace, wisdom, and power, in making these divine de- signs so happily efficacious for the good of thousands of souls ? If there be joy in heaven amon^ the angels of God, at the conversion of a sinner, what perpetual mes- >>ages of unknown satisfaction and delight did the daily and constant labors of the blessed apostle Paul send to the upper w orld ? What perpetual tidings were carried to the worlds on high of such an:l such souls, converted unto Gof'i from gross idolatry, from the worship of dumb idols, from the vain superstition of their heroes and me- diator-g ods, and from the impure and bloody sacrifices of their ov tn countrymen, whereby they intended to satisfy their g( jds for their own iniquities, and to reconcile them- selves to these invented gods, these dsemons or devils OR, THE FORETASTE OF HEAVEN. 3S9 which were deified by the folly and madness of sin- ful men ? What new hallelujahs must it put into the mouths of the saints and angels on high, to see the true and living God worshipped by thousands that had never before known him, and to see Jesus the Mediator in all the glories of his divine offices admired and adored by those who lately had either known nothing of him, or been shameful revilers and blasphemers of his majesty. And what an unknown delight is diffused through many of the saints of God now here on earth upon such tidings, not only from the foreign and heathen countries, but even some that have professed Christianity, but un- der gross mistakes and miserable fogs of darkness and superstition ? What an inconceivable and overwhelm- ing pleasure has surprised a christian sometimes in the midst of his zealous worship of God and his Saviour, to hear of such tidings of new subjects in multitudes submitting themselves to their divine dominion? And even in our day, whensoever we hear of the work of grace begun by the ministry of the word awakening a drowsy and lethargic soul from its dangerous sleep on the brink of hell, rousing a negligent and slothful crea- ture from his indolence and carelessness about the things of eternity ; or again, in making a heart soft and impi'essive to the powers of divine grace, which was be- fore hard as the nether millstone ; and especially when multitudes of these tidings come together from distant places, as of late we have heard from J^ew- England^ and several of those plantations, from Scotland and several of her assemblies, what additional scenes of heavenly joy and pleasure have been raised amongst the pious souls, both those who relate and those who hear them. 42 330 THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT; SECTION VI. Fortastes of heaven are sometimes derived from the overflowing sense of the love of God let in upon the soul. The spirits above who are surrounded with this bles- sedness and this love, and rejoice in the everlasting as- surance of it, cannot but be filled with intense joy. What can be a greater foundation of complete blessed- ness and delight than the immediate sensation and as- surance of being beloved by the glorious, and supreme, and the all-sufficient Being, who will never suffer his favorites to want any thing he can bestow upon them to make them happy in perfection, and for ever? All creatures are under his present vfew and immediate command ; there is not the least of them can give dis- turbance to any of the favorites of heaven, who dwell in the midst of their Creator's love ; nor is there any crea- ture that can be employed towards the complete happi- ness of the saints on high, but is for ever under the disposal of that God who has made all things ; and it shall be employed upon every just occasion for the dis- play of his love to his saints. Some have imagined, that that perfect satisfaction of soul which arises from a good conscience, speaking peace inwardly in the survey of its sincere desire to please God in all things, and having with upnghtness of heart fulfilled its duty, is the supreme delight of heaven. But it is my opinion God has never made tlie felicity of his creatures to be drawn so entirely out of themselves, or from the spring of their own bosom, as this notion seems to imply. God himself will be all in all to his creatures ; and all their original springs of blessedness as well as being are in liim, and must be derived from him. It is therefore the overflowing sense of being be- loved by a God almiglity and eternal, that is the su- preme fountain of joy and blessedness to every reason 0«, THE FORETASTE OF HEAVEN. 331 able nature, and the endless security of this happiness is joy everlasting in all the regions of the blessed above. Now a taste of this kind is heavenly blessedness even on this earth, where God is pleased to bestow it on his^ creatures ; and the glimpses of it bring such ecstacies into the soul as can hardly be conceived, or revealed to others, but it is best felt by them who enjoy it. SECTION VII. Foretastes of heaven in the fervent emotions of soul in love to Jesus Christ. What the love and strong affections of the blessed saints above towards Jesus Christ their Lord and Sav- iour may impress of joy in their spirits, is not possible for us to learn in the present state ; but there are some who have even here on earth felt sucli transcendant affections to Jesus the Son of God, even thougli they have never enjoyed the sight of him, yet tliey love him with most intense and ardent zeal ; their devotion al- most swallows them up and carries them away captive above all earthly things, and brings them near to the heavenly world. There is an unknown joy which arises from such intense love to an object so lovely and so deserving ; such is that which is spoken concerning the saints to whom St. Peter wrote ; 1 Peter i. 8 ; Whom having not seen, ye love, in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. It is through this divine taste of love, and joy, and glory communicated by the blessed Spirit, re- vealing the things of Christ to their souls, that many of the confessors snd martyrs in the primitive ages and in latter times, have not only joyfully parted with all their possessions and their comforts in this life, but have fol- lowed the call of God through prisons and deaths of a most dreadful kind ; through racks, and fires, and many torments for the sake of the love of Jesus. And perhaps 33S THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT; there may be some in our day who have so lively and strong a sensation of the love of Christ let in upon their souls, that they could not only be content to be absent from all their carnal delights for ever, but even from their intellectual and more spiritual entertainments, if they might be for ever placed in such a situation to Jesus Christ, as to feel the everlasting beams of his love let out upon them, and to rejoice in him with perpetual de- light. As he is the nearest image of God the Father, they can love nothing beneath God equal to their love of him, nor delight in any thing beneath God equal to their delight in Jesus Christ. Indeed their love and their joy are so wrapped up in the great and blessed God as he appears in Christ Jesus, that they do not usually divide their affections in this matter, but love God supremely for ever, as revealing himself in his most perfect love in Christ Jesus unto their souls. How near this may approach to the glorified love of the saints in lieaven, or what difference there is between the holy ones above and the saints below in this respect, may be hard to say. SECTION VIII. Foretastes of heaven in the transcendant love of the saints to each other. I might here ask some advanced saints. Have you never seen or heard of a fellow-christian growing into such a near resemblance to the blessed Jesus, in all the virtues and graces of the Spirit, that you would willingly pai*t with all the attainments and honors that you have already arrived at, which make you never so eminent in the world or the church, as to be made so near a conformist to the image of the blessed Jesus as this fellow-christian has seemed to be ? Have you never seen or read of the glories and graces of the Son of God exemplified in some of the saints in so high a degree, and at the same time been so divested OR, THE FORETASTE OP HEAVEN. 333 of self, and so mortified to a narrow self-love, as to be satisfied with the lowest and the meanest supports of life, and the meanest station in the church of Christ here on earth, if you might but be favored to partake of that transcendant likeness to the holy Jesus, as you would fain imitate and possess ? Have you never had a view of all the virtues and graces of the saints, derived from one eternal fountain, the blessed God, and flowing through the mediation of Jesus his Son, in so glorious a manner, that you have longed for the day when you shall be amongst them, and receive your share of this blessedness ? Have you never found yourself so united to tliem in one heart and one soul, that you have wished them all the same bless- ings that you wished to yourself, and that without the least shadow of grudging or envy, if every one of them were partaker as much as you ? There is no envy among the heavenly inhabitants ; nor doth St. Paul re- ceive the less because Cephas or Apollos has a large share. Every vessel has its capacity enlarged to a proper extent by the God of nature and grace, and every vessel is completely filled, and feels itself for ever full and for ever happy. Then there cannot be found the shadow of envy amongst them. Now to sum up the view of these things in short, who is there that enjoys these blessed evidences of an. interest in the inheritance on high ; who is there that has any such foretastes of the felicity above, but must join with the whole creation in groaning for that great day, when all the children of God shall appear in the splen- dor of their adoption, and every thing in nature and grace among them shall attain the proper end for which it was at first designed ? And whensoever any such christian hears some of the last words in the Bible pro- nounced by our Lord Jesus, Surely I come quickly, he must immediately join the universal echo of the saints " with unspeakable delight, even so come, Lord Jesus. DISCOURSE XL SAFETY IN THE GRAVE, AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION. JOB xiv. 13, i% 1&. that thou ivouldst hide me in the grave, that thou wouldst keep me in secret until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldst appoint me a set time and remember me ! If a man die shall he live a "^ain ? All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come. Thou shalt call and I will answer thee. Thou wilt have a desire to the work of thy hands, BEFORE we attempt to make any improvement of these words of Job for our present edification, it is necessary that we search out the true meaning of them. There are two general senses of these three verses, which are given by some of the most considerable inter- preters of scripture, and they are exceeding different from each other. The first is this. Some suppose Job under the ex- tremity of his anguish to long after death here, as he does in some other parts of this book, and to desire that God would cut him off from the land of the living, and hide him in the grave, or, at least, take him away from the present stage of action, and conceal him in some retired and solitary place, dark as the grave is, till all the days which might be designed for his pain and sor- row were finished : and that God would appoint him a time for his restoration to health and happiness again in this world, and raise him to the possession of it, by calling him out of that dark and solitary place of retreat ; SAFETY IN THE GRAVE, &c. 335 and then Job would answer him, and appear with pleasure at such a call of providence. Others give this sense of the words, that though the pressing and overwhelming sorrows of this good man constrained him to long for death, and he entreated of God that he might be sent to the grave as a hiding place, and thus be delivered from liis present calamities, yet he had some divine glimpse of a resurrection or living again, and he hopes for the happiness of a future state when God should call him out of the grave. He knew that the blessed God would have a desire to restore the work of his own hands to life again, and Job would an- swer the call of his God into a resurrection witli holy pleasure and joy. Now there are four or five reasons which incline me to prefer this latter sense of the words, and to sliew that the comforts and hope which Job aspires to in this j^lace, are only to be derived from a resurrection to final hap- piness. 1. The express words of the text are, (J that thou imuldst hide me in the grave ! Not in a darksome place like the grave ; and where tlie literal sense of the words is plain and agreeable to the context, there is no need of making metaphors to explain them. There is nothing that can encourage us to suppose that Job had any hope of happiness in this world again, after he was gone down to the grave, and therefore he would not make so unrea- sonable a petition to the great God. This seems to be too foolish and too hopeless a request for us to put into the mouth of so wise and good a man. 2. He seems to limit the continuance of man in the state of death to the duration of the heavens, verse ISth man lieth down and riseth not till the heavens be no more. Not absolutely /or ever does Job desire to be hidden in the grave, but till the dissolution of all these visible things, these heavens and this earth, and the great rising 336 SAFETY IN THE GRWE, day for the sons of men. These words seem to have a plain aspect towards the resurrection. And especially when he adds, they shall not be awak- ened nor raised out of their sleep. The brutes when dying; are never said to sleep in scripture, because they shall never rise again ; but this is a frequent word used to signify the death of man both in the Old Testament and in the New, because he only lies down in the grave for a season, as in a bed of sleep, in order to awake and arise hereafter. 3. In other places of this book, Job gives us some evident hints of his hope of a resurrection, especially that divine passage and prophecy, when he spake as one surrounded with a vision of glory, and filled with the light and joy of faith. Job xix. 25 ; ^^I know tliat my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God ; whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins be consumed within me." But in many parts of this book the good man lets us know, that he had no manner of hope of any restor- ation to health and peace in this life. Job vii. Q^'^y^'r, •^ My days are spent without hope : mine eye shall no more see good : the eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more : thine eyes are upon me, and I am not." Verse 21 ; " Now shall I sleep in the dust ; thou shalt seek me in the morning, and I shall not be." Job xvii. 15 ; Where is now my hope ? As for my hope, who shall see it ?" He and his hope seemed " to go down to the bars of the pit together, and to rest in the dust." And if Job had no hope of a restoration in this world, then his hopes must point to the resurrection of the dead. 4. If we turn these verses here, as well as that noble passage in Job xix. to the more evangelical sense of a resurrection, the truths which are contained in the one AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION. 337 and the other, are all supported by the language of the New Testament. And the express words of both these texts are much more naturally and easily applied to the evangelical sense, without any strain and difficulty. The expressions in the nineteenth of Job, I know that my Redeemer livetJi^ &c. have been rescued by many wise interpreters from tliat poor and low sense wliich has been forced upon them, by those who will not allow Job to have any prospect beyond this life. And it has been made to appear to be a bright glimpse of divine light and joy, a ray or vision of the Sun of righteousness breaking in between the dark clouds of his pressing sor- row. And that the words of my text demand the same sort of interpretation, will appear further by these short remarks, and this paraphrase upon them. Job had been speaking, verse Y^ &c. that there is hove of a tree when it is cut down, that it will sprout again visibly, and bring forth boughs ; but when min gives up the ghost he is no more visible upon earth. Where is he P Job does not deny his future existence, but only intimates that he does not appear in the place where he was ; and in the following verses he does not say, a dying man shall never rise, or shall never he awakened out of his sleep, but asserts that he rises not till the dissolution of these heavens and these visible things. And by call- ing death a sleep, he supposes an awaking time, though it may be distant and far off. Then he proceeds to long for death — that thou wouldst hide me in the grave ! that thou wouldst keep me secret till thy wrath be past f Till these times and seasons of sorrow be ended, which seems to be the effect of divine wrath or anger. But then 1 entreat thou wouldst appoint me a set time for my tarrying in the grave, and remember me in order to raise me again. Then with a sort of surprise of faith and pleasure, he adds, if a man die shall he live again P Shall these dry 43 338 SAFETY IN THE GKWE, bones live ? And he answers in the language of hope — Ml the days of that appointed time of thine / icill icait till that glorious change shall come. Thou shalt call from heaven, art £? I will answer thee from the dust of death. I will appear at thy call and say, here am I. Thou wilt have a desire to the work of thy hands, to raise me again from the dead, whom thou liast made of clay, and fashioned me into life. From the words thus expounded, we may draw these several observations, and make a short reflection upon each of them, as we pass along. 'Observation I. This world is a place wherein good men are exposed to great calamities, and they are ready to think the anger or wrath of God appears in them. Observation II. The grave is God's known hiding place for his people. Observation III. God has appointed a set time in his own counsels for all his children to continue in death. Observation IV. The lively view of a happy resur- rection, and a well grounded hope of this blessed change, is a solid and divine comfort to tlie saints of God, under all trials of every kind, both in life and death. Observation V. Tlie saints of God who are resting in their beds of dust, will arise joyfully at the call of tiich- heavenly Father. Observation YI. God takes delight in liis works of nature, ])ut iiiiich more when tliev are di2:nificd and adorned by the operations of divine grace. Observation VII. How much are we indebted to Goil for the revelation of the New Testament, whicli teaches us to find out the blessings which arc contained in the. Old, and to fetch out tlie glories and treasures Avhich are concealed there ? Let us dwell a while upon each of these, and endeavor to improve them by a particular a])plication. Observation I. This world is a iiluce wherehi good AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION. 339 men are exposed to great calamities ; and they are ready to tJiink the anger or wrath of God appears in them. This mortal life and this present state of things, as sur- rounded with crosses and disappointments ; the loss of our dearest friends, as well as our own pains anxl sick- nesses, have so much anguish and misery attending them, that tliey seem to be the seasons of divine wrath, and they grieve and pain the spirit of many a pious man, un- der a sense of the anger of his God. It must be con- fessed in general, that misery is the effect of sin, for sin and sorrow came into tlie w orld together. It is granted also, tlitit God sometimes affiicts his people in anger, and corrects them in his hot displeasure, when tliey have sinned against him in a remarkable manner. But this is not always the case. The great God was not really angry with Job when he suffered him to fall into such complicated distresses ; for it is plain, that while he delivered liim up into the hands of Satan to be afflicted, he vindicates and honors him with a divine testimony concerning his piety. Job i.8. There is none like him in the earth, a perfict and an upright man, one that feareth God and avoideth evil. Nor was he angry witli his Son Jesus Christ, when it pleased the Father to hridse him, and put him to grief, w^hen be made his soul an offering for sin ; and he was stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted ; Isai. liii. To these we may add Paul, tl)e best of the apostles, and the greatest of christians, who was abundant in labors antl sufferings beyond all the rest. See a dismal catalogue of his calamities, 2 Cor. xi. 23, &c. What variety of wretchedness, what terrible persecutions from men, what repeated strokes of distress came upon him by the prov- idence of God, which appeared like the effects of divine wrath or anger? But they were plainly designed for more divine and blessed purposes, both with regard to 340 SAFETY IN THE GRAVE, God, with regard to himself, and to all the succeeding ages of the christian church. God does not always smite his own people to jninish sin and shew liis anger ; but these sufferings are often appointed for the trial of their christian virtues and graces^ for the exercise of their humility and their pa- tience, for the proof of their steadfastness in religion, for the honor of the grace of God in them, and for tlie increase of their own future weight of glory. Blessed is the man that endures temptation ; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life ichich the Lord hath promised to them that love him ; James i. 12. The devil shall cast some of you into irrison^ that you may he triedf and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithfal unto death, and 1 will give thee a crown of life ; Rev. ii. 10. Our light ajflictions which are but for a moment, are working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory ; 3 Cor. iv. 17- However, upon the whole, this world is a very trou- blesome and painful place to the children of God. They are subject here to many weaknesses and sins, tempt- ations and follies ; they are in danger of new deiilements ; they go through many threatening perils, and many real sorrows, whicli either are the effects of the displeasure of God, or, at least, carry an appearance of divine anger in them. But there is a time when the«e shall be fin- ished, and sorrow shall have its last period. There is a time when these calamities will be overpast, and shall return no more for ever. Reflection. AYhy then, O my soul, why shouldst thou be so fen 1 of dwelling in this present world ? Why shouldst thou be desirous of a long continuance in it? Hast thou never found sorrows and afflictions enough among the scenes of life, to make thee weary of them ? And when sorrow and sin have joined together, have they not grievously embittered this life unto thee ? Wilt AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION. 84i thou never be weaned from these sensible scenes of flesh and blood ? Hast thou such a love to the darknesses, the defilements, and the uneasinesses, which are found in such a prison as this is, as to make thee unwilling to de- part when God shall call ? Hast thou dwelt so long in this tabernacle of clay, and doest thou not groan, being burdened f Hast thou no desire to a release into that upper and better world, where sorrows, sins and tempt- ations, have no place, and where there shall never be the least appearance or suspicion of the displeasure of thy God towards thee ? Observ. II. TJie grave is God^s known hiding place for his people. It is his appointed shelter and retreat for his favorites, when he finds them overpressed either with present dangers or calamities, or when he foresees huge calamities and dangers, like storms and billows, ready to overtake them ; Isai. Ivii. 1 ; The righteous is taken away from the evil to come. God our heavenly Father beholds this evil advancing forward through all the present smiles of nature, and all the peaceful circum- stances that surround us. He hides his children in the grave from a thousand sins, and sorrows, and distresses of this life, which they foresaw not. And even when they are actually beset behind and before, so that there seems to be no natural way for their escape, God calls them aside into the chambers of death, in the same sort of language as he uses in another case ; Isai. xxvi. 20 ; Come my people, enter thou info thy chambers^ and shut thy doors about thee, hide thyself as it were for a little moment, till the indignation be overpassed. And yet perhaps it is possible, that this very language of the Lord in Isaiah, may refer to the grave, as God's hiding place, for the verse before promises a resurrection. Thy dead men shall live ; together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing ye that dwell in the iust^for thy dew- is as the dew of herbs, and the earth 343 SAFETY IN THE GRAVE, shall cast out the dead. And if we may suppose this last verse to have been transposed by any ancient trans- cribers, so as to liave followed originally verse SO or 21. it is very natural then to interpret the whole paragraph concerning death, as God's hiding place for his people, and their rising again through the virtue of the resurrec- tion of Christ, as their joyful release. Many a time God is pleased to shorten the labors, and travels, and fatigues of good men in this wilderness ; and he opens a door of rest to them where he pleases, and perhaps surprises them into a state of safety and peace, where the icearif are at rest, and the wicked cease from troubling ; and holy Job seems to desire tliis favor from his Maker here. Sometimes indeed, in the history of tliis book, he seems to break out into tiiese desires in too rude and angry a manner of expression ; and in a fit of criminal impatience, he murmurs against God for upholding him in the land of the living. But at other times, as in his text, he represents his desires with more decency and submission. Every desire to die is not to be construed sinful and criminal. Nature may ask of God a relief from its agonies, and a period to its sorrows ; nor does grace utterly forbid it, if tliere be also an Immble sub- mission and resignation to the will of God, such as we find exemplified by our blessed Saviour ; Father, if it be thy will, let this cup pass from me ; yet not as I will, but as thou wilt. On this second observation, I desire to make thesa three reflections. Reflection 1. Though a good man knows that death was originally appointed as a curse for sin, yet his faith can trust God to turn tiiat curse into a blessing : he can humbly ask his Maker to release him from the painful bonds of life, to hasten (he slow approaclies of death, and to hide liim in tlic grave from some overwhelming sor- AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION. 343 VOWS. This is the glory of God in his covenant of grace with the chiklren of men, that lie turns curses intQ blessings ; Deut. xxiii. 5. And the grave, which was designed as a prison for sinners, is become a place of shelter to the saints, where they are hidden and secured from rising sorrows and calamities. It is God's known hiding place for his ov/n children from the envy and rage of men ; from all the known and unknown agonies of nature, the diseases of the flesh, and the distresses of human life, whicli perhaps might be overbearing and intolerable. Why, O my fearful soul, why shouldst thou be afraid of dying? Why shouldst thou be frighted at the dark shadows of tlie grave, w hen thou art weary with the toils aud crosses of the day ? Hast thou not often desired the shadow of the evening, and longed for the bed of natural sleep, where thy fatigues and thy sorrow^ may be for- gotten for a season ? And is not the grave itself a sweet sleeping place for the saints, wherein they lie down and forget their distresses, and feel none of the miseries of human life, and especially since it is softened and sanc- tified by the Son of God lying down there ? Why shouldst thou be afraid to lay thy head in the dust? It is but entering into God's hiding place , into his chambers of rest and repose. It is hut committing thy flesh, the meaner part of thy composition, to his care in the dark for a short season. He will hide thee there, and keep thee in safety from the dreadful trials which perhaps would overwhelm thy spirit. Sometimes in the course of his providence he may find it necessary that some spreading calamity should overtake the place wliere thou dwellest, or some distressing stroke fall upon thy family, or thy friends ; but he will hide tliee under ground be- fore it comes, and thus disappoint all thy fears, and lay every perplexing thought into rest and silence. Reflection S. Let it be ever remembered, that the 1 344 SAFETY IN THE GRAVE, grave is God's hiding place and not our own. We are to venture into it without terror when he calls us ; but he does not suffer us to break into it our own way with- out his call. Death and life are in the hands of God, and he never gave the keys of them to mortal men, to let themselves out of this Avorld when they please, nor to enter his hiding place without his leave. Bear up then, O my soul, under all tlie sorrows and trials of this present state, till God himself shall say, ii is finished ; till our blessed Jesus, who has the keys put into his hands, sliall open the door of death, and give thee an entrance into that dark and peaceful retreat. It is a safe and silent refuge from the bustle and the noise, the labors and the troubles of life ; but he .that forces it open with his own hands, how will he dare to appear before God in the world of spirits ? What will lie an- swer, when with a dreadful frown the great God shall demand of him, friend^ how comest thou in hither f Who sent for thee, or gave tiiee leave to come ? Such a wretch must venture upon so rash an action at tlie peril of the wrath of God, and his own eternal destruction. Our blessed Jesus, who has all the vast scheme of divine counsels before his eyes, by having the books of his Father's degrees put into his hands, he knows how long it is proper for thee, O christian, to tight and labor, to wrestle and strive with sins, temptations and difficul- ties in the present life. He linows best in what moment to put a period to them, and pronounce thee conqueror. Fly not from the field of battle for w ant of holy fortitude, though thy enemies and thy dangers be never so many ; nor dare to dismiss thyself from thy appointed post, till the Lord of life pronounce the word of thy dismission. Sometimes I have been ready to say within myself, why is my life prolonged in sorrow ? Why are my days lengthened out to see further wretchedness ? Methinks the p'ave should, he remlyfor me, and the house appoint- AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION. 345 edfor all the living. What can I do further for God or for man here on earth, since my nature pmes away with painful sickness, my nerves are unstrung, my spirits dissipated, and my best powers of acting are en- feebled and almost lost? Peace, peace, thou com- plaining spirit ! Dost thou know the counsels of the Almighty, and the secret designs of thy God and thy Saviour? He has many deep and unknown purposes in continuing his cliildren amidst heavy sorrows, which they can never penetrate or learn in this world. Silence and submission becomes thee at all times. Father^ not my will hat thy will be done. And let it be hinted to thee, O my soul, that it is much more honorable to be weary of this life, because of the sins and temptations of it, than because of the toils and sorrows that attend it. If we must groan in this tabernacle bein^ burdened, let the snares, and the dan- gers, and the defilements of it be the chief springs of thy groaning and the warmest motives to request a release. God loves to see his people more afraid of sin than of sorrow. If thy corruptions are so strong, and the temp- tations of life so unhappily surround thee, that thou art daily crying out, who shall deliver thee from the body of sin and death, then thou mayest more honoraldy send up a wish to heaven, O that Iliad the wings of a dove, that I might fly away and be at rest ! O that God would hide me in the grave from my prevailing iniquities, and from the ruffling and disquieting influence of ray own follies and my daily temptations ! But never be thou quite weary of doing or suifering the will of thy heavenly Father, though he should continue thee in this mortal life a length of years beyond thy desires, and should withhold thee from his secret place of retreat and rest. A constant and joyful readiness at the call of God to depart hence, with a cheerful patience to continue here daring his pleasure, is the most perfect and blessed tem- 44 346 SAFETY IN THE GRAVE, per that a christian can arrive at. It gives God the highest glory, and keeps the soul in the sweetest peace. Reflection 3. This one thought, that the grave is God's Jiiding place, should compose our spirits to silence, and abate our mourning for the loss of friends, who have given sufficient evidence that they are the children of Grod. Their heavenly Father has seized them from tlie midst of their trials, dangers and difficulties, and given them a secure refuge in his own appointed place of rest and safety. Jesus has opened the door of the grave with his golden key, and liath let them into a chamber of repose. He has concealed them in a silent retreat, where temptation and sin cannot reach them, and where anguish and misery can never come. When I have lost therefore a dear and delightful re- lative or friend, or perhaps many of them in a short season are called successively dow n to the dust, let me say thus within myself, " It is their God and my God has done it. He saw what new temptations were ready to surround them in the circumstances of life wherein they stood. He beheld t!ie trials and difficulties that were ready to encompass them on all sides, and his love made a way for their escape. He opened the dark retreat of death, and hid them there from a thousand perils which might have plunged them into guilt and de- filement. He beheld this as the proper season to give them a release from a world of labor and toil, vanity and vexation, sin and sorrow. They are taken away from the evil to come, and I will learn to complain no more. Tiie blessed Jesus to whom they had devoted themselves, well knew what allurements of gaiety and joy might have been too prevalent over them, and he gave them a kind escape lest their souls should suffer any real det- riment, lest their strict profession of piety should be soil- ed or dishonored. He knew how mucli they ivere ahle to beai% and lie iconld lay ujmn them no further burden. AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION, 34^7 He saw rising difficulties approaching, and new perils coming upon them beyond their strength, and he fulfils their own promises, and glorifies his oxvn faithfulness, by opening the door of his well known hiding place, and giving them a safe refuge there. He keeps them there in secret from the corruptions of a public life, and the multiplied dangers of a degenerate age, which might have divided their hearts from God and things heavenly. And perhaps he guards them also in that dark retreat from some long and languishing sickness, some unknown distress, some overbearing flood of misery, which was like to come upon them had they continued longer on the stage of life. ^^Let this silence thy murmuring thoughts, Omy soul; let this dry up thy tears which are ready to overflow on such an occasion. Dare not pronounce it a stroke of anger from the hand of God, who divided them from the tempting or the distressing scenes of this world, and kindly removed them out of the way of danger. This was the wisest method of his love to guard them from many a folly and many a sorrow, which he foresaw just at the door." Will the wounded and complaining heart go on to groan and murmur still, ^'^ But my son was carried off in the prime of life, or my daughter in her blooming years ; they stood flourishing in the vigor of their na- ture, and it was my delight to behold their growing appearances of virtue and goodness, and that in the midst of ease, and plenty, and prospects of happiness, so far as this world can afford it ?" But could you look through the next year to the end of it ? Could you penetrate into future events, and sur- vey the scenes of seven years to come ? Could your heart assure itself of the real possession of this imagina- ry view of happiness and peace ? Perhaps the blessed God saw the clouds gathering afar off;, and at a great 348 SAFETY IN THE GRAVE, distance of tirae, and in much kindness he housed your favorite from unknown trials, dangers and sorrows. So a prudent gardener, who is acquainted with tlie sky, and skilful in the signs of the seasons, even in the month of May, foresees a heavy tempest rising in the edge of the horizon, while a vulgar eye observes nothing but sunshine ; and he who knows the worth and the tender- ness of some special plants in his garden, houses them in haste, lest they should be exposed and demolished by the sweeping rain or hail. You say, these children were in the bloom of life^ and in the most desirable appearance of jo^ and satisfaction. But is not that also usually the most dangerous season of life, and the hour of most powerful temptation ? Was not that the time when their passions might have been too hard for them, and the deluding pleasures of life stood round them with a most perilous assult ? And "what if God, out of pure compassion, saw it necessary to liide them from an army of perils at once, and to car- ry them oif the stage of life with more purity and honor? Surely when the great God has appointed it, when the blessed Jesus has done it, we would not rise up in op- position and say, "But I would have liad them live lon- ger here at all adventures. I wish they were alive again, let the consequence be what it will." This is not the voice of faith or patience ; this is not the lan- guage of holy submission and love to God, nor can our souls approve of such irregular storms of ungoverned affection, which oppose tliemselves to the divine will, and raffle tlie soul with criminal disquietude. There are many, even of tlie children of God, who bad left a more unblemished and a more honorable character behind them, if they had died much sooner. The latter end of life hath sometimes sullied their bright- ness, and tarnished the glory they had acquired in a liopeful youth. Their growing years have fallen under AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION. 349 such temptations, and been defiled and disgraced by such failings, as would have been entirely prevented had they been summoned away into God's hiding place some years before. Our blessed Jesus walks among the roses and lilies in the garden of his church, and m hen he sees a wintry storm coming upon some tender plants of righ- teousness, he hides them in earth to preserve life in them, that they may bloom with new glories when they shall be raised from that bed. The blessed God acts like a tender Father, and consults the safety and honor of his children, wheji the hand of his mercy snatches them away before that powerful temptation comes, which he foresees would have defiled and distressed, and almost destroyed them. They are not lost, but they are gone to rest a little sooner than we are. Peace be to that bed of dust where tiiey are hiddeu, by the hand of their God, from unknown dangers ! Blessed be our Lord Jesus, who has the keys of the grave, and never opens it for Lis favorites but in the wisest season ! Observation III. God has appointed a set time in his own counsels for all his children to continue in death. Those whom he has hidden in the grave he remembers they lie there, and he will not suifer them to abide in the dust for ever. When Job entreats of God that he may be hidden from his sorrows in the dust of death, he requests also that God would appoint a set time for his release, and remember him. His faith seems to have had a glimpse of the blessed resurrection. Our senses and our carnal passions would cry out, where is Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the rest of the an- cient worthies, who have been long sleepers in their beds of repose for many thousand years ? But faith as- sures us, that God numbers the days and the months of their concealment under ground ; he knows where their dust lies, and where to find every scattered atom against the great restoring (lay. They are unseen indeed and 350 SAFETY IN THE GRAVE, forgotten of men, but they arc under the eye and tho keeping of the blessed God. He watches over then- sleeping dust, and while the world has forgotten and lost even their names, they are every moment under the eye of God, for they stand written in his book of life, with the name of the Lamb at the head of them. Jesus, his Son, had but three days appointed him to dwell in his hiding place, and he rose again at the ap- pointed hour. Other good men, who were gone to tlieir grave not long before him, arose again at the resurrection of Christ, and made a visit to many in Jerusalem. Their appointed hiding place was but for a short season ; and all the children of God shall be remembered in theii proper seasons in faithfulness to his Son, to wliom he has given them. The Head, is raised to the mansions of glory, and the members must not for ever lie in dust. Mejieetion. Then let all the saints of God wait with patience for the appointed time Avhen he will call them down to death, and let them lie dow n in their secret beds of repose, and in a waiting frame commit their dust to liis care till the resurrection. Ml the days of my ajj- fohited time (says Job) I unll wait till my change come. The word appointed time is supposed to signify warfare in the Hebrew. As a sentinel, when he is fixed to his post by liis general, he waits there till he has orders for a release. And this clause of the verse may refer either to dying or rising again, for either of them is a very great and important change passing upon human nature, whether from life to death, or from death to life. It is said by the prophet Isaiah, chap, xxviii. 16 ; Me that believeth shall not make haste ; that is, he that trusts in the wisdom and the promised mercy of Go/l will not be too urgent or importunate in any of his desires. It is for want of faith that nature sometimes is in too much haste to die, as Job in some of his expressions appears to have been, or as Elijah perhaps discovered himself AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION. 351 wlien he was wandering in the wilderness disconsolate and almost despairing, or as the prophet Jeremiah suffi- ciently manifested, when he cursed the day of his birth, or as Jonah was, that peevish prophet, when he was an- gry with God for not taking away his life; but the ground of it was, he was vexed because God did not destroy Ninevah according to his propliecy. These are certain blemishes of the children of God left upon record in his word, to give us warning of our danger of impatience, and to guard ns against their sins and follies. And since we know that God has appointed tlie seasons of our entrance into death, and into the state of the resur- rection, we should humbly commit the disposal of our- selves to the hand of our God, who will bestow upon us the most needful blessings in the most proper season. Do not the spirits of the just made perfect wait in pa- tience for the great and blessed rising day which God has appointed, and for the illustrious change of their bodies from corruption and darkness to light, and life, and glory ? God has promised it, and that suffices and supports their waiting spirits, though they know not the hour. The Father keeps that in Ms own hand, and per- haps reveals it to none but his Son Jesus, who is exalted to be the Governor and Judge of the world. There are millions of souls waiting in that separate state for the accomplishment of these last and best promises, ready to shout and rejoice when tliey shall see and feel that bright morning dawning upon them. Wait therefore, O my soul, as becomes a child of God in the wilderness among many trials, darknesses, and distresses. He lias stripped thee perhaps of one comfort after another, and tliy friends and dear relatives in succession are called down to the dust ; tliey are re- leased from their conflicts, and are placed far out of the reach of every temptation ; and it is not thy business to prescribe to God at what hour he shall release thee also. 35S SAFETY IN THE GR WE, Whensoever he is pleased to call thee to lay down thy flesh in the dust, and to enter into God's hiding place, meet tiiou the summons with holy courage, satisfaction and joy, enter into the chamber of rest till all the days of sin, sorrow, and wretchedness, are overpast. Lie down there ;n a waiting frame, and commit thy flesh to liis care and keeping, till the hour in which he has ap- pointed thy glorious change. Observation IV. The lively view of a happy resurrec- tion, and a well grounded hope of this blessed change, is a solid and divine comfort to the saints of God, under all trials of every kind, both in life and death. The faith and hope of a joyful rising day has supported the children of God under long distresses and huge agonies of sorrow which they sustain here. It is the expectation of this desirable dav that animates the soul with vii^or and life, to fulfil every painful and dangerous duty. It is for this we expose ourselves to the bitter reproaches and persecutions of the wicked world ; it is for this that we conflict with all our adversaries on earth, and all the powers of darkness that are sent from hell to annoy us; it is this joyful expectation that bears up our spirits under every present burden and calamity of life. What could we do in such a painful and dying world, or how could we bear with patience the long fatigues of such a wretched life, if we had no hope of rising again from the dead ? Surely we are the most miserable of all men in days of public persecution, if we had hope only in this life ; 1 Cor. xv. 19. It is for this that we labor, and suifer, and endure whatsoever our heavenly Father is pleased to lay upon us. It is this confirms our forti- tude, and makes '^us steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as vve know that our labor shall not be in vain in the Lord ;'' 1 Cor. XV. 58. It is this that enables us to bear the loss of our dearest friends with patience and hope, and AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION. 353 assuages the smart of our sharpest sorrows. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so we rejoice in hope that they which sleep in Jesus shall he brought with him at his return, and shall appear in brighter and more glorious circumstances than ever our eyes were blessed with here on earth ; 1 Thess. iv 13. This teaches us to triumph over death and the grave in divine language, O death, where is thy sting ! O grave, where is thy victory ! Hefiectioyi. What are thy chief burdens, O my soul ? Whence are all thy sighs and thy daily^ groanings ? What are thy distresses of flesh or spirit ? Summon them all in one view, and see whether there be not power and glory enough in a resurrection to conquer and silence them all, and to put thy present sorrows to flight ? Dost thou dwell in a vexing and persecuting world, amongst oppressions and reproaches ? But those who reproach and oppress are but mortal creatures, who shall shortly go down to the dust, and then they shall tyrannize and afllict thee no more. The great rising day shall change the scene from oppression and reproach to do- minion and glory. When they lie doivn in the grave like beasts of slaughter, death shall feed on them, and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning, when God shall redeem thy soul from the power of the grave. Thy God shall hide thy body from their rage in his own appointed resting place, and he shall receive thy soul, and keep it secure in his own presence, till that blessed morning break upon this lower creation ; then shalt thou arise and shine, for the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. Do the calamities which thou sufferest proceed from the hand of God ? Art thou disquieted with daily pain, with sicknesses, and anguish in thy flesh? Or art thou surrounded with crosses and disappointments in thy 4.^ 354 SAFETY IN THE GRAVE, outward circumstances? Are thy spirits sunk with many loads of care and pressing perplexities ? Canst thou not forget them all in the vision tliat faith can give thee of the great rising day ? Canst thou not say in the language of faith, the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to he compared with the glory that shall he revealed in us ? Then the head and the heart shall ache no more, and every circumstance around thee shall be pleasing and joyful for ever. Or art thou tenderly affected with the loss nf pious friends, who have been very dear and desirable ? Per- haps thy sensibilities here are too great and painful. They are such indeed as nature is ready to indulge, bul are they not more than God requires, or the gospel allows ? Do not tiiy thoughts dwell too much on the gloom and darkness of the grave ? O think of that bright hour when every saint shall rise from the dark retreats of death, with more complete characters of beauty, holiness and pleasure, than ever this world could shew them in ! They are not perished, but sent a little before us into God's hiding place, where, though tliey lie in dust and darkness, yet they are safe from the dan- gers and vexations of life ; but they sliall spring up in the happy moment into immortality, and shall join with thee in a mutual surprise at each other's divine cliange. Or dost thou feel the corruptions of thy heart working within thee, and the sins of thy nature restless in tlieir endeavors to bring defilement upon tliy soul, and guilt upon tliy conscience? Go on and maintain the lioly war- fare against all these rising iniquities. This my warfare shall not continue long. Tliou shalt find every one of these sins buried with thee in the grave : but they shall rise to assault thee no more. The saint shall leave every sin behind him when he breaks out of the dust at the summons of Christ ; and tliou shalt find no seeds of iniquity in thy body, when it is raised from tlie grnvo. AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION. 355 Holiness to the Lord shall be inscribed upon all thy powers for ever. Or art thou perplexed, O my soul, at the near pros- pect of death, and all the terrors and dismal appearances that surround it ? Art thou afraid to lie down in the cold and noisome grave ? Does thy nature shudder at it as a gloomy place of horror ? These indeed are the prejudices of sense ; but the language of faith will tell thee, it is only God^s hiding place where he secures his saints till all the ages of sin and sorrow are overpast. Look forward to the glorious morning when thou shalt rise from the dust among ten thousand of thy fellows, every one in the image of the Son of God, with their hodies formed after the likeness of his glorious hody, and rejoicing together with divine satisfaction in the pleasure of this heavenly change. Try whether the meditation of these glories, and the distant prospect of this illustrious day, will scatter all the gloom that hovers round tlie grave, and vanquish the fiercest appearances of the king of terrors. What is there, O my soul, among all the miseries thou hast felt, or all that thou fearest, that can sink tliy courage, if the faith of a resurrection be but alive and wakeful ? But this leads me to Observj^tion V. The saints of God, ivho are resting in their beds cf dust, will arise joyfully at the call of their heavenly Father. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee, said holy Job. The command of God creates life, and gives power to the dead to arise and speak. / come, O Lord, I come. When Jesus, the Son of God, as with the trumpet of an archangel, shall pronounce the word which he spake to Lazarus, Arise and come fortlu dust and rottenness shall hear the call from heaven, and the clods of corruption all around the earth shall arise into the form of man. The saints shall appear at once and answer to that divine call, arrayed 356 SAFETY IN THE GRAVE, ill a glory like that of angels ; an illustrious host of mar- tyrs and confessors for the truth ; an army of heroes and valiant sufferers for the na je and cause of God and his Son ; an innumerable multitude of faithful servants who have finished their work, and lay down at rest. How shall Adam, the father of our race, together with the holy men of his day, be surprised when they shall awake out of their long sleep of five thousand years ? How shall all the saints of the intermediate ages break from their beds of darkness with intense delight ? And those who lay down but yesterday in the dust shall start up at once with their early ancestors, and answer to the call of Jesus from one end of time to the other, and from all the ends of the earth. They shall arise together to 7neet the Lord in the air, that they may he for ever with the Lord. Never was any voice obeyed with more readiness and joy than the voice or trumpet of the great archangel, summoning all the children of God to awake from their long slumbers, and to leave their dusty beds behind them, with all the seeds of sin and sorrow, which are bu- ried and lost tliere for ever. Never did any army on earth march with more speed and pleasure, at tlie sound of the trumpet, to attend their general to a new triumph, than this glorious assembly shall arise to meet their returning Lord, when this last trumpet sounds, and when he shall come the second time in the full glories of his person and his offices, as Lord and Judge of tlie world, to bring his faithful followers into complete salvation. Reflection. Whensoever, O my soul, thou feelest any reluctance to obey the summons of death, encourage thy faith, and scatter thy fears, by waiting for the call of God to a blessed resurrection. Jesus himself lay down in the grave at his Father's command, and he arose with joy at the appointed hour, as the head of the new cre- ation, as the first born from the dead ; and he has orders AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION, 357 given him by the Father to summon every saint from their graves at the long appointed hour. Because Jesus, arose and lives, they shall arise and live also. O may my flesh lie down in the dust with all courage and com- posure, and rejoice to escape into a place of rest and si- lence, far away from the noise and tumult, the hurry and bustle of this present life ; being well assured that the next sound which shall be heard is the voice of the Son of God, arise ye dead! Make haste then, O blessed Jesus, and finish thy divine work here on earth. I lay down my head to sleep in the dust, waiting for thy call to awake in the morning. Observation VI. God takes delight in his icorks of nature, hut much more when they are dignified and adorned by the operations of divine grace. Thou wilt have a desire, saith the good man in my text, to the work of thy own hands. Thou hast moulded me and fashioned me at first by thy power ; thou hast new created me by thy Spirit, and though thou hidest me for a season in one of thy secret chambers of death, thou wilt raise me again to light and life ; and in my flesh shall I see God. When the Almighty had created this visible world, he surveyed his works on the seventh day, and pronoun- ced them all good ; and he took delight in them all be- fore sin entered and defiled them. And when he has delivered the creatures of his power from the bondage of corruption, and has purged our souls and our bodies from sin and from every evil principle, he will again delight in the sons and daughters of Adam, whom he has thus cleansed and refined by his sovereign grace, and has qualified and adorned them for his own presence. He. will sing and rejoice over them, and rest in his love ; Zeph. iii. I7. He will love to see them with his Son Jesus at their head, diffusing holiness and glory through all his mem- bers. Jesus the Redeemer will love to see them round 358 SAFETY IN THE GRAVE, liim, for lie has bought them with his blood, and they are a treasure too precious to be for ever lost. He will re- joice to behold them rising at his call into a splendor like his own, and they shall he satisjipd when they awake from death into his likeyiess, and appear in the image of his own glorious body, fit heirs for the inheritance of heaven, fit companions for the blessed angels of light, and prepared to dwell for ever with himself. Reflection. And shall not we w ho are the work of his hands have a desire to him that made us ? To him that redeemed us ? To him that has new created and moulded us into his own likeness ? Do we not long to see him ? Have we not a desire to be with him, even though we should be absent from the body for a season? But much more should we delight to think of being present icitli the Lord, when our whole natures, body and soul, shall appear as the new workmanship of Almighty power ; our souls new created in the image of God, and our bodies new born from the dead, into a life of immortality. Observation VII. The last observation is of a very general nature, and spreads itself through all my text, and that is, hoiv much are ice indebted to God for the revelation of the J\*ew Testament, which teaches us to find out the blessings which are contained in the Old, and to fetch out the glories and treasures which are con- cealed there ? The writers of the gospel have not only pointed us to the rich mines where these treasures lie, but have brought forth many of the jewels and set them before us. It is this gospel tliat brings life and immor- tality to light by Jesus Christ; 2 Tim. i. 10. It is this gospel tliat scatters the gloom and darkness which was spread over the face of tlic grave, and illiminates all the chambers of death. Who could have found out the doctrine of the resurrection contained in that word of grace given to Abraham, / am thy God, if Jesus, the great Prophet, had not taught us to explain k thus ? AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION. 359 Matt. xxii. 31 ; God is not the God of the dead^ but of the living. We who have the happiness to live in the days of the Messiah, know more than all the ancient prophets were acquainted with, and understand the word of their pro- phecies better than they themselves ; for they searched 2chat, or what manner qj^Mmethe spirit of Christ which ivas in thern^ did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory ivhich should follow ; 1 Pet. i. 11. But we read all this fairly written in the gospel. Do you think that good David could have explained some of his own Psalms into so divine a sense, or Isaiah given such a briglit account of his own words of prophecy, as St. Paul has done in several places of the New Testament, where he cites and unfolds them ? Could those illustrious ancients liave given us such abundant consolation and hojje through the scrij}- tures, which they themselves wrote aforetime, as this Apostle has done ; Rom. xv. 4, Do you think Job could have read us such a lecture on his own expressions in this text, or in that briglit pophecy in the nineteenth chapter, as the very meanest among the ministers of the gospel can do by the help of the New Testament ? For in point of clear discoveries of divine trutlis and graces, the least in the kingdom of the Messiah is greater than John the Baptist and all the prophets, and our blessed Jesus has told us so ; Matt. xi. 11, 13. And by the aid and influences of his Spirit we may be taught yet further to search into these hidden mines of grace, and bring forth new treasures of glory. Reflection. Awake, O my soul, and ])less the Lord with all thy powers, and give thanks with holy joy for the gospel of his Son Jesus. It is Jesus by his rising from the dead has left a divine light upon the gates of the grave, and scattered much of the darkness that sur- rounded it. It is the gospel of Christ which casts a glory 360 SAFETY IN THE GRAVE, even upon the bed of death, and spreads a brightness upon the gi'aves of the saints in the lively views of a great rising day. O blessed and surprising prospect of faith ! illustrious scenes of future vision and transport ! When the Son of God shall bring forth to public view all his redeemed ones, \vho had been long hidden in night and dust, and shair^r^iipit them all to God the Father in his own image, brigtit and holy, and unblem- ished, in the midst of all the splendors of the resurrec- tion ! O blessed and joyful voice, when he shall say with divine pleasure, '* Here am /, and the children which thou hast given me. We have both passed through the grave, and I have made them all conquerors of death, and vested them with immortality according to thy divine commission ! Thine the.ij were, O Father, and thou hast given them into my hands, and behold I have brought them all safe to thy appointed mansions, and I present them before thee without spot or blemish." And many a parent of a pious household in that day, when they shall see their sons and their daughters around tliem, all arrayed with the beams of the Sun of rigteous- ness, shall echo with holy joy to the voice of the blessed Jesus, ^' Lord^ here am I and the children which thou hast given me. I was afraid, as Job once might be when his friends suggested this fear ; I was afraid that my children had sinned against God, and he had cast them away for their transgression. But I am now convinced, when he seized them from my sight, he only took them out of the way of temptation and danger, and concealed them for a season in his safe hiding place. I mourned in the daytime for a lost son or a lost daughter, and in the night my couch was bedewed with my tears. I was scared with midnight dreams on their account, and the visions of the grave terrified me because my children were there. I gave up myself to sorrow for fear of the displeasure of my God, both against them and against A SPEECH OVER A GRAVE. 861 me. But how unreasonable were these sorrows ? How groundless were my fears ? How gloriously am I disap- pointed this blessed morning? I see my dear offspring called out of that long retreat where God had concealed them, and they arise to meet the divine call. I hear them answering with joy to the happy summons. My eyes behold them risen in the image of my God and their God ; they are near me, tJiey stand with me at the right hand of the Judge ; now shall we rejoice together in the sentence of eternal blessedness from the lips of my Lord and their Lord, my Redeemer and their Redeem- er." Amen, A SPEECH OVER A GRAVE. Among my papers I have found a speech spoken at a, grave, wliicii I transcribed almost fifty years ago, and which deserves to be saved from perishing. It was pronounced many years before, at the funeral of a pious person, by a minister there present, supposed to be the Rev. Mr. Peter S perry ; and the subject of it being suited to this discourse, I thought it not improper to preserve it here. ^^ CHRISTIAN friends, though sin be entered into the world, and by sin death, and so death passed upon all men, for tliat all have sinned ; yet it seems not wholly suitable to our christian hope, to stand by and see the grave with open mouth take ?n, and swallow down any part of a precious saint, and not bring some testimony against the devourer. And yet that our witness may be in righteousness, we must first own, acknowledge, and accept of that good and serviceableness that is in it. ^•For tiirougii the death and resurrection of our dear Redeemer, death and the grave are become sweetened 46 363 A SPEECH OVER A GRAVE. to US, and sanctified for us. So that as death is but a sleep, the grave through his lying down in it and rising again, is become as a bed of repose to them that are in him, and a safe and quiet hiding place for his saints till the resurrection. •^And in this respect we do for ourselves, and for this our dearly beloved in the Lord, accept of thee, O grave, and readily deliver up her body to thee ; it is a body that hath been weakened and wearied with long affliction and anguish, we freely give, it unto thee; re- ceive it, and let it have in thee a quiet rest from all its la- bors; for thus we read it written of thee, there the wicked cease from troubling^ and there the weary be at rest. " Besides, it is, O grave, a body that hath been sweet- ly embalmed by a virtuous, pious, peaceable conversa- tion, by several inward openings and outpourings of the spirit of life, by much patience and meekness in strong trials and afflictions. Receive it, and let it enjoy in thee, what was once deeply impressed on her own heart, and in a due season written out with her own hand, a sjabbath in the grave. For thus also we find it recorded of our Lord and her Lord, that he enjoyed the rest of his last sabbath in the grave. ^^ But we know tliee, O grave, to be also a devourer, and yet we can freely deliver up the body into thee. There was in it a contracted corruptibility, dishonor and weakness ; take them as thy proper prey, they belong to thee, and we would not withhold them from thee. Freely swallow them up for ever, that they may appear no more. *^ Yet know, O grave, there is in the body, considered as once united to such a soul, a divine relation to the Lord of life ; and this thou must not, thou canst not dissolve or destroy. But know, and even before thee, and over thee be it spoken, that there is a season hast- ening wherein we shall expect it again from thee in in- corruption, honor and power. THE NATURE OF THE PUNISHMENTS IN HELL. S63 *^ We now sow it into thee in dishonor, but expect it again returned from thee in glory ; we now sow it into thee in weakness, we expect it again in power ; we now sow it into thee a natural body, we look for it again from thee a spiritual body. "And when thou has fulfilled that end for which the Prince of life, who took thee captive, made thee to serve, then shalt thou who hast devoured, be thyself also swallowed up, for thus it is written of thee, O death, I will he thy plague, O grave, I icill he thy destruction. And then shall we sing over thee what also is written of thee, death, where is now thy sting 9 grave where is now thy victory f Amen. J\ote. A line or two is altered in this speech, to suit it more to the under- standing and the sense of the present age. DISCOURSE XII. THE NATURE OF THE PUNISHMENTS IN HELL. MARK ix 46. Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. INTRODUCTION. THESE words are a short description of hell, by the lips of the Son of God, who came down from heaven. And he who lay in the bosom of his Father, and was intimate in all the councils of his mercy and justice, must be supposed to know what the terrors and the wrath of God are, as well as his compassion and his goodness. 364 THE NATURE OF THE It is confessed J that a discourse on this dreadful sub- ject is not a direct ministration of grace and the glad tidings of salvation, yet it has a great and happy ten- dency to the same end, even the salvation of sinful men ; for it awakens them to a more piercing sight, and to a more keen sensation of their own guilt and danger : it possesses their spirits with a more lively sense of their misery, it fills them with a holy dread of divine punish- ment, and excites tfie powerful passion of fear to make them fly from the wrath to come, and betake themselves to the grace of God revealed in the gospel. The blessed Saviour himself, who was the most per- fect image of liis Father's love, and the prime minister of his grace, pul)lishes more of tliese terrors to the world, ami preaches hell and damnation to sinners more than all the prophets or teachers tliat ever went before him ; and several of the apostles imitate their Lord in this practice. They kindle the flames of hell in their epis- tles, they thunder through the very hearts and conscien- ces of men with the voice of damnation and eternal mis- ery, to make stupid sinners feel as much of these terrors in the present prospect as is possible, in order to escape the actual sensation of them in time to come. Such awful discourses are many times also of excel- lent use to keep the children of God, and the disciples of Jesus, in a holy and watchful frame, and to aifright them from returning to sin and folly, and from the in- dulgence of any temptation, by setting these terrors of the Lord before their eyes. O may these words of his terror, from the lips of one of the meanest of his minis- ters, be attended with divine power from the convincing and sanctifying Spirit, that they may answer these happy ends and purposes, that they may excite a solemn rev- erence of the dreadful majesty of God in all our souls, and awaken us to repentance for every sin, and a more ^vatchful course of holiness ! PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 365 Let US then consider the expression in my text. When our Saviour mentions the word hell, he adds where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched ; in which description we may read the nature of this punishment, and the perpetuity of it. First. We shall consider the nature of this punish-^ ment, as it is represented by the metaphors which our Saviour uses ; and if I were to give the most natural and proper sense of this representation, I would say that our Saviour might borrow this figure of speech from these three considerations. 1. Worms and fire are the two most general ways nvhereby the bodies of the dead are destroyed ; for whether they are buried or not buried, worms devour those who, by the custom of their country, are not burnt with fire ; and perhaps he might refer to the words of Isaiah Ixvi. 24, where the prophet seems to foretell the punishment ot those who will not receive the gospel when it shall be preached to all nations. They, says he, (that is the true Israel, the saints of God, or chris- tians,) they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men who have transgressed against me, for their icorm shall not die, neither shall their fire he quenched^ and they shall he an abhorrence to all fiesh. It is highly probable that this is only a metaphor referring to the punishment of the souls of obstinate unbelievers in hell, for it would be but a very small punishment indeed, if only their dead bodies were devoured by worms or fire, or rather no punishment at all besides a memorial of their sin. 2. Consider the gnawing of worms and the burning of fire are some of the most smart and severe torments that a living man can feel in the flesh ; therefore the ven- geance of God, upon the souls of obstinate sinners, is set forth by it in our Saviour's discourse ; and it was probably well known amongst the Jews, as appears by 36§ THE NATURE OP THE some of the Apocryphal writings : Judith xvi. 17; ^^ Wo to the nation that rises up against my kindred ; the Lord Almighty will take vengeance of them in the day of judgment, putting fire and worms in their flesh, and they shall feel them and weep for ever." And Eccles. vii. 16, 17 ; ^'Number not thyself among the multitude of sinners, but remember the wrath will not tarry long. Humble thy soul greatly, for the vengeance of the un- godly is fire and worms." 3. Consider whether worms feed upon a living man or devour his dead body, still they are such as are bred irt his own flesh ; butflre is brought by other hands, and applied to the flesh. Even so this metaphor of a worm liappily represents the inward torments and the teasing and vexing jiassions which shall arise in the souls of those unhappy creatures, who are the just objects of this punishment ; and it is called their worm, that worm that belongs to them, and is bred within them by the foul vices and diseases of their souls. But the fi,re which shall never be quenched^ refers rather to the pains and anguish which come from without^ and that chiefly from the hand of God, the righteous avenger of sin, and from his indignation, which is compared to fire. SECTION L The worm that dieth not. Let us begin with the first of these, viz. the torments which are derived from the gnawing worm, those ago- nies and uneasy passions which will arise and work in the souls of these wretched creatures, so far as we can collect them from the word of God, from the reason of things, and the working powers of human nature. When an impenitent sinner is cast into hell, we have abundant reason to suppose, that the evil leraper of his isoul, and the vicious principles within him, are not iPUNISH]VrBNTS OF HELL. 367 abated ; but his natural powers, and the vices which have tainted them and mingle with them, are awakened and enraged into intense activity and exercise, under the first sensations of his dreadful punishment. Let us en- deavor to conceive then what would be the ferments, the raging passions, and the vexing inward torments of a wicked man, seized by the officers of an Almighty Judge, borne away by the executioners of vengeance, and plunged into a pit of torture and smarting misery, while at the same time he had a most fresh and piercing conviction ever present, that he had brought all this mischief upon himself by his own guilt and folly. I. The first particular piece of wretchedness therefore contained in this metaphor, is the remorse and terrible anguish of conscience ichich shall never he relieved. How terrible are the racks of a guilty conscience here on earth, which arise from a sense of past sins ? How does David cry out and roar under the disquietude of his spirit ? Psalm xxxii. 3 ; " While I kept silence" and confessed not mine iniquity, ^* my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long ; day and niglit thy hand was heavy upon me ; and my moisture is turned into the drought of summer." And again. Psalm xxxviii. 4; "Mine iniquities are gone over mine head, as an heavy burden ; they are too heavy for me." God has Avisely so framed the nature and spirit of man, that a reflection on Jiis past misbehavior should raise such keen anguish at his heart ; and thousands have felt it in a dreadful degree, even while they have continued in this world, in the land of life and hope. But when death has divided the soul from this body, and from all the means of grace, and cut off all the hopes of pardoning mercy for ever, w hat smart beyond all our thoughts and expressions, must the sinner feel from such inward wounds of conscience ? And it gives a twinging accent to every sorrow when the sinner is con- 368 THE NATURE OP THE strained to cry out, '^' It is 1, it is I who have brought all tills upon myself. Life and death were set before me in the world where I once dwelt, but I refused the blessings of eternal life, and the oifers of saving grace. I turned my back upon the ways of holiness which led to life, and renounced the tenders of divine mercy. I chose the paths of sin, and folly, and madness, though I knew thev^, led to everlasting misery and death. Wretch thaHT was, to choose those sins and these sor- rows, though I knew they were necessarily joined together ! 1 am sent into those regions of misery which I chose for myself, against all the kind admonitions and warnings of God and Christ, of his gospel and his min- isters of grace ! these cursed eyes of mine, that led me into the snares of guilt and folly ! These cursed hands that practised iniquity with greediness ! These cursed lips of mine, which dishonored my Maker ! O these cursed appetites and passions, and this obstinate will, which iiave wrought my ruin ! This cursed body and soul, that have procured their own everlasting wretchedness !" These thoughts will be like a gnaw- ing worm v/ithin, which will prey upon the spirit for ever. The fretting smart arising from this vexatious worm, must be painful in the highest extreme, when we know it is a worm which will never die, which will for ever hang at our heart, and sting our vitals in the most tender and sensible parts of them without intermission, as well as without end. Here on earth the stings and scourges of conscience meet with some intervals of relief, from necessary busi- ness which employs the mind, from gay company which diverts the heart, from the refreshments of nature by day, or from the sweet repose of the returning night. But in the world to come, every hour shall be filled up with these cutting sorrows, for there is no season of re- freshment, no diversion of mind, uo sleeping there. All PUNISHMENTS IN HELL, 369 things are for ever a^ake in that world. There are no shadows and darkness to hide us where this torment shall not find us, for it is bred and lives within. There is no couch there to lull the conscience into soft repose, and to permit the sufferer to forget his agonies. Ancient crimes shall rise up and stand for ever before the eyes of the sinner in all their glaring forms, and all their heinous aggravating circumstances. Tliese will sit heavy upon the spirit with teasing and eternal vexation. O dread- ful state of an immortal creature, which must for ever be its own tormentor, and shall know no relief through all the ages of its immortality ! Think of this bitter anguish of soul, O sinner, to guard thee from sin in an hour of strong temptation. II. Another spring of this torment will be the over' whelming sense of an angry God, and utter despair of his love which is lost for ever. It was the thought of the displeasure of God, which pierced the soul of David with such acute pain, when he remembered his sins ; Psalm li. 3. 4- ; My sin is ever before me. Against thee, against thee only have I sinned, and I have done this evil in thy sight. Antl again he pleads with God, Psalm vi. 1 ; O Lord, chasten me not in thine anger, nor vex me in thy sore displeasure. He could face an host of armed men without fear, but he could not face an angry God, whose loving kindness is life, and the loss of whose love is worse than death. Psalm Ixxvii. 3 ; 1 remem- bered God, said he, and was troubled ; that is, lest he should be favorable no more, and shut up his tender mer- cies in everlasting anger. This was the terror of that good man, under a deep sense of his crimes, and of God hiding his face from him; and this even while he was in the land of the living, and was not cast out beyond all hope. Rut when the grave shuts its mouth on the sinner, and he is thrust out into utter darkaess; where the light 47 370 THE NATURE OF THE of God's countenance never shines, nor will shine, how insupportable must such anguish be ? Here in this life perliaps a profane wre+ch has ima- gined he could live well enougli without God in the world, and was content to have nothing to do with hira in a way of worship or dependance here. He deter- mined with himself, that the less he could think of God, the better ; and so forgot his Maker days without num- ber. But in those regions of hell, whither the sinner sliall be driven, he can never forget an angry God, nor fly out of tlie reach of his terrors. ^^ I am now convinced,'' saitii he, " but too late, tliat happiness dwells in his presence, and rivers of pleasures flow at his right hand; but this happiness I shall never see, these streams of pleasure 1 shall never taste ; he is gone for ever with all his love and with all his blessings ; God is gone with all his graces and pardons beyond my reach. He stands afar oif from my groanings. He told me of it heretofore in the ministry of his word ; but, wretch tliat I was ! I would not hearken, I would not believe. I was invited by the Son of his love to receive his gospel, and to partake of forgiving mercy ; he stretched out his hands with divine compassion, and oifered to receive my soul to his grace, and to wash away my defilements with his own blood ; he beseeched me to repent and return to God, and assured me he would secure his Father's favor to me, and a place among the mansions of his glory. But cursed rebel that I M^as, to despise tliis salvation, and resist the offers of such love, and to renounce such divine compassion ! These offers of mercy are for ever finished ; I shall never see him more as surrounded with the blessings of his grace, but as the minister of his Fathei-'s justice, and the avenger of his abused mercy. There is no other Saviour, no other Intercessor, to procure divine favor for me : and PUNISHMENTS OP HFIJ,. S^l my hopes are overwhelmed and buried in the eternal despair of his love.'' III. There will be found also among the damned, a constant enmity, and malice, and hatred against the blessed God, which can never satisfy nor ease itself by revenge. It seems very strange indeed, that a creature should design revenge against his Maker ; but thus it is in these dismal regions of hell. Every wicked man is by nature at enmity with God, and in a state of rebellion ; and when this enmity is wrought up to malice, under a sense of his punishing hand, then arises that cursed and detestible desire in the soul of revenging itself against its Maker. The fallen angels, those wicked spirits, have found this dismal temper of mind reigning in them. They hate the blessed God with intense malice, because his governing justice sees fit to punish their pride and other iniquities ; and they would fain be revenged of liim by destroying mankind who were made after his image. Their malice cannot reach him in the heights of his glory ; but they can reach man his creature, made in his likeness ; and they began to take their revenge there near six thousand years ago. All the sins, and all the miseries of the sons and daughters of Adam, from the beginning of the world to this day, are owing to this madness of malice, this hatred of God in the hearts of evil angels, who were cast out from heaven and the re- gions of happiness. They began to exert this malice early ; and still they are everlasting tempters of men, in order to avenge themselves upon a righteous God. But alas ! what a wretched satisfaction must the damned spirits of men propose to themselves in such a wild and extravagant attempt? The very name and mention of this iniquity seems to put our souls and our ears to pain, while we dwell in flesh and blood ; but as cursed and hateful a temper as this is, it is the very spirit and temper of apostate angels ; and this will be S7f^ THE NATURE OF THE thy temper and tliy spirit, O wilful and impenitent sin- ner, when thou shalt have obstinately sinned thyself into damnation, and canst never deliver thyself from the punishing hand of God. Think, O my soul, at what a dreadful distance such creatures must be from every glimpse of peace and hap- piness, whose hearts are filled w itli such blasphemy and rage, and who w ould be attempting such vain and impi- ous efforts of mingled insolence and madness. Read, O ye foolish and wilful ti-ansgressors, read the temper and conduct of devils in their spite and opposition to every thing of God, through all the books of the Old Testament and the New, and remember and think, that such will your temper be, when you also shall be ban- ished from the presence of God for your wilful rebellions, as the fallen angels are, and be for ever shut out from all the blessings of his love, and all hope of his favor. IV. A further spring of continued torment is such fixed and eternal hardness of heart, as will never be soft- enedy such impenitence and ohstinacy of soul which will vever relent or submit. The hardest sinner here on earth may now and then feel a relenting moment ; and the most daring atiieist may sometimes have a softening tliought come across him, which may perhaps bring a tear into his eyps, and may form a good wish or two in liis soul, and wring a groan from his heart which looks like repentance ; but when we are dismissed from this body, and this state of trial and of hope, eternal [lardness seizes upon the mind. The neck is like an iron sinew hardened more, if I may so express it, in the fire of hell. The will is fixed in everlasting obstinacy against God, and against the glories of his holiness. If Moses and the prophets, if i hrjst and his apostles, in the ministry of the word, could not soften the heart of bold transgress- ors, what can be expected when all the means of grace, PUNISHMENTS OF HELL, 373 and the methods of divine compassion are vanished and gone for ever ? It is granted, indeed, there vvdll be bitter repentance among the damned in hell, and in^^ard vexation uf j-oul and self-cursing in abundance, for having plunged them- selves into this misery, and having abandoned all the otters of divine mercy. But it will be only such a re- pentance as Judas the traitor felt, when he rpjjented and hanged himself. This is a sort of madness of rage within them for having made themselves miserable. But there will be found no hatred of the evil of sin, as it is an offence against God, no painful and relenting sense of their iniquity, as it has dishonored God, and broken his law, no such sorrow for sin as is attended with an hearty aversion to it, and a desire to love God and ob,ey him ; but rather they will feel and nourish a growing aversion to God and his holiness. Ask yourselves, my young friends, did yo^i never feel your hearts indulging an angry and unrelenting mood, and stubborn in your wrath against a superior who had sharply reproved you ? Or have you never felt an ob- stinate and unreconcilable hour in your younger years, even against a parent who had severely corrected you ? Or have you not found at some seasons, your soul rising and kindling into violent resentment and a revengeful temper against your neighbor, upon some supposed aft ront, damage, or mischief, he had done you? Call these unhappy minutes to mind, and learn what hell is. Think into what a wretched case you would be plunged, if this wrath and stubbornness, this enmity and hardness should become immortal and unchangeable, though it were but against a neighbor. But if this obstinacy and stubborn hardness of soul were bent against God himself, so that you would never relent, never sincerely repent of your crimes, nor bow, nor melt, nor yield either to his majesty or his mercy, what would you think of your- 374i THE NATURE OP THE selves and of your state ? Would you not be wretched and horrible creatures indeed^ without the least reason to hope for favor and compassion at his hands? Such is the case probably of every damned sinner. Amazir>g scene of complicated misery and rebellion 1 A guilty spirit which cannot repent ! A rebellious spirit which cannot submit, even to God himself ! A liardened soul that cannot bend nor yield to its Maker ! Must not such a wretch be for ever tlie object of its own inward torment, as well as of divine punishment ? O the hope- less and dreadful state of every bold transgressor, that is gone down to death without true repentance ; for sincere and true repentance for having offended God, and ingen- uous relentiugs of heart for sin, are never found in those regions of future misery ! No kindly meltings of soul toward God, are ever known there. V. There wdll be also intense sorrow and wild impa- tience at the loss of present comforts, without any recom- pense , and without any relief If this world, O sinful creature, with the riches, or the honors, or the pleasures of it be all thy chosen happiness, what universal grief and vexation will overspread all the powers of thy nature, when thou shalt be torn away from them all, even from all thy happiness by death, and have nothing come in the room of them, nothing to relieve thy piercing grief, nothing to divert or amuse this vexation, nothing to sooth or ease this eternal pain at the heart? And yet farther, when thou shalt be as the prophet speaks, like a ivild hull in a net, struggling and tossing to and fro to free thyself on all sides, when thou shalt be racked with inward fretfulness and impatience, and full of the fury of the Lord that made thee, and the re- buke of that God that punishes thee ; Isa. li. 30 ; then shall thy heart, hard as it is in an obstinate course of sin, be ready to burst and break, not with penitence, but madness and over-swelling sorrows. And yet it must PUNISHMENTS OP IlfcLL. 37^ not break nor dissolve, but will remain firm and hard for ever to suifer these pangs. This is and must be an eternal heart-ache, for there are no broken hearts in hell in any sense whatsoever. There the eyes are weeping, and the hands are wringing, and the tongue almost dried with long wailings and outcries, and the teeth gnashing with madness of thought. This is our Saviour's fre- quent representation of hell, there shall be weeping and wailing; and gnashing of teeth ; and yet the heart ever living and ever obstinate, to supply fresh springs of these sorrows, and to feel the anguish of them all. VI. There will be also ras,ing desires of ease and pleasure ichich shall never be satisfied, together with perpetual disappointment and endless confusion thrown upon all their schemes and their efforts of hope. It is the nature of man, while it continues in being, that it must desire happiness, and make some efforts towards it. And some divines have supposed, that men of wicked sensuality and luxury in this world, have so drenched their souls in fleshly appetite by indulging their lusts, and placing their chief satisfaction and happiness therein, that they will carry this very temper of sensuality with them into the world of spirits ; and it is possible their raging appetites to this sensual happiness, may be in- creased while there are no objects to gratify them. Now if this be the case, it must be intense and constant misery to feel eternal hunger with no bread to relieve it ; keen desire of dainties with no luxurious dishes to please their humorous taste ; eternal thirst without one drop of wine or water to allay or cool it ; eternal fatigue and weari- ness without power to sleep, and eternal lust of pleasure without any hope of gratification. But if we should suppose these sensualities die together with the body, yet this is certain, the soul will have everlasting appetites of its own ; that is, the general de- sire of ease and happiness, and of some satisfying good : S76 ^ THE NATURE OF THE but God, who is the only true source of happiness to spirits, the only satisfying portion of souls, is for ever departed aud gone ; and thus tlie natural appetite of fe- licity will be ever wakeful and violent in damned spirits, while every attempt or hope to satisfy it will meet with perpetual disappointment. Milton, our English poet, has represented this part of the misery of devils in a beautiful manner. He supposes, that ever since they tempted man by sin^ by the forbid- den tree of knowledge, they are once a year changed into the form of serpents, and brought by millions into a grove of such trees, wiih the same golden appearance of fruit upon tliem. Aud while with eager appetite they seize those fair appearances to allay their thirst and hun- ger, instead of fruit they chew nothing but bitter ashes, and reject the hateful taste with spattering noise ; and still they repeat their attempts with shameful disappoint- ment, till they are vexed, are tormented, aud torn with meagre famine, and then are permitted to resume the shape of devils again. And why may we not suppose, that the crimes of which the wicked children of men have been guilty in the present life, may be punished with some such kind of pain and confusion, both of holy and soul, as is here represented in this poetic emblem of parable ? YII. Another misery of damned creatures is, that vexing envy which arises against the sairds in glory, and tvhich shall never be appeased or gratified. The blessed in heaven shall be for ever blessed, and the envy of devils and damned souls shall never hurt their felicity, nor see their joys diminished. This vile passion of those cursed spirits therefore against the blessed inhabi- tants of heaven, tlu)ugh it rage never so high, is only preying upon their own hearts, aud increasing their own inward anguish. Let us imagine how many thousand holy souls are PUNISHMENTS OP HELL. §77 arrived safe at paradise, who were surrounded with mean and low circumstances here upon earth, while their haughty lords, and their rich, insolent neighbors, have sinned themselves into hell. And do you think those children of pride can ever bear this sight without envy ? How many martyrs have ascended to glory from racks, and tortures, and fires, here upon earth, while their bloody and cruel persecutors have been working out their own damnation by these inhuman acts of murder and cruelty ? And will not these wretches, under their righteous sufferings and punishttients in hell, envy the creatures whom they have scorned, and oppressed, and murdered here on earth, when they shall see them placed on high seats in the kingdom of heaven, and themselves cast into utter darkness ? And wh.it does all this envy do but increase their own wretchedness ? They are distracted witii pride and rage, to think of these high f ivors of the blessed God bestowed on creatures whom they treated once with ut- most disdain. But their envy, like a viper, preys upon their own entrails, and shall never be allayed or made easy. They send a thousand curses up to the heavenly world ; but the saints are for ever secured in happiness, nnder the eye of God their heavenly Father, and the care of Jesus tlieir almighty friend. O what a painful plague must this envy be, when with all her envenomed whips and stings she does but scourge and torment the lieart where she dwells ? What an un- speakable torture must it be to feel this envy so violent and so constant, that it gives itself no ease through ever- lasting ages ? Who is there that dwells in flesh and blood can conceive or express the horror and the twing- ing agonies tliat arise from such a hateful passion, fer- menting and raging through all the powers of the soul ? VIII. The last thing 1 shall mention, as part of those punishments of hell which affect the spirit^ is a 48 378 THE NATURE OF THE perpetual expectation and dread of new and increasing punishments without ejid ; and it is highly probable, that this shall be tlie portion of multitudes. When the souls of the saints are released by death, and arrive at the blessed regions, they are not vested w^ith all their brightest glories in a moment, nor fixed in the highest point of knowledge and happiness at their first entrance; but as their knowledge and their love increases, so their capacities are enlarged to take in new scenes and new degrees of pleasure ; and it is proba!)le that their felicity shall be ever increasing. And in the same manner, it is not unlikely, that the increasing sins, the growing wick- edness, and mad rebellion of damned spirits, may bring upon them new judgments and more weighty vengeance. So it was with Pharaoh, the Egyptian tyrant, when he remained obstinate and rebellious against the messages of God by Moses, even while he and his nation lay un- der smarting scourges of the Almighty. How did his plagues increase witli his iniquities ? And he may be set before us as an emldera of sinners, and their suffer- ings, under the wrath of God in hell, as in Romans ix. 17, 18. Or perhaps as the wicked of this world when they die, have left evil and pernicious examples behind them, or have corrupted the morals of their neiglibor?: by their enticements, or their commands, or by their wicked influence of any kind, so tlieir punishment may be increased in proportion to the lasting elTects of their vile example, or their vicious influences. And perhaps too, there are none amons; all the ranks of the damned, Vi^hose souls will be filled so high with the dread and horror of increasing woes, as lewd and profane writers, profane and immoral princes, or cruel persecutors of re- ligion. Jeroboam, the king, not only sinned himself grievously, but ivho made Israel to sin, as the scripture frequently expresses it with an emphasis, by setting up PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 379 the idolatry of calves in the land ; i Kings xiv. and xv. and xvi. His ghost stood fj^ir for such an increase of tor- ment from age to age, as his idolatry prevailed further in the land. And all the wanton poets and the vile persecutors, whether of heathen or of christian name, whose writings, whose example, or whose laws have conveyed and propagated their wickedness from age to age after their decease, will be some of these wretched expectants of new and increasing punishment. Have a care, O ye witty and ye mighty sinners ! Have a care of setting vile temptations and bad examples be- fore the men of your age ! Have a care of spreading the contagion of your vices around jou, by the softness and force of your allurements ! Have a care of establishing iniquity by a law, and propagating loose and wicked opinions, or of encouraging persecution for conscience sake ! Take heed lest the cursed influence of your crimes should descend from generation to generation among the living, long after you are dead, and should call for new and sharper strokes from the punishing hand of the Almighty ! But suppose there were nothing else but the long dreadful view of the eternity of their present miseries, with an everlasting despair of ease or deliverance, this would add unspeakably to their torment. The constant sensation of what they feel now, and the dread of what they must feel; is sufficient to make tlieir wretchedness intolerable. If all these springs of misery, which I have already mentioned, are, and will be found in the souls of damned sinners, there is no need of more to make them exquisitely miserable. And yet, since their bodies shall be raised from the dust, in order to be joined with their souls in punishment, as they were united in sin, why may we not suppose, that the great God will create bodies for them of such an unhappy mould and contex- 380 THE NATURE OF THE ture, as shall be another perpetual source of pain and anguish ? What if their bodies shall be raised with all the seeds of disease in them, like the gout or the stone, or any more smarting malady ? And what if the smart of these bodily distempers should mingle with the raging passions of the mind, as far as it is consistent with im- mortality and everlasting duration? Who c>jn say, that when God exerts his power, and makes his icrath known, in punishing obstinate, rebellious, and impenitent sin- ners, as Romans ix. he will not frame such bodies for them to dwell in, as shall be a hateful burden, and an incessant plague to them through all ages of tneir dura- tion ? And perhaps these bodily pains may be also in- cluded in the metaphor of a gnawing worm I)red within them, it'hich shall never die, which shall never cease to fill them with grievous anguish. Here, perhaps, it may be inquired, are there not mul- titudes of men in vhis world, who are not sinners of the grosser kind, but have lived, in the main, in the practice of common social duties, and have maintained the usual forms of religion, according to t'.ie outward rules of the gospel, and the custom of their nation, bi-t they have been negligent indeed of any sincere repentance towards; God, and have been strangers to inward, vital religion throughout their whole course ? Shall these creatures, who seem to stand in a sort of indifferent character, who are out\vardly blameless, with regard to common mo- rality, and have exercised the common virtues of justice and benevolence towards their fellow-creatures, perhaps under the influences of education or custom, or perhaps by the effect that reason or philosophy, or otlier inward fears, have had toward the restraint of their passions and appetites ; I say, shall such sort of creatures as these be filled with those furies of rage and resentment against God, envy and malice toward their fellow-sinners, and all the vile and unsociable passions in these regions of PUNISHMENTS OF HF.LL. 381 misery, which they have never found working in them here on earth, or hut in a low degree ? Shall all the tor- ments and inward anguish of soul tiiat you have heen describing, fall upon tliis rank of sinners, whom the eye of the world could hardly distinguish from good men, and who were very far from the character of wicked ? *Bnsiver 1. That however there may seem to be three sorts of persons in our esteem, viz. the good, the had^ and the indifferent, yet the word of God seems to ac- knowledge but two sorts, viz. those who fear God and serve him, and those who fear him not ; Mai. iii. 18 ; those who have acted from principles of inward religion, or the love of God, and those who had no such principle within them. And therefore the scripture reveals and declares but two sorts of states in the future world, viz. that of rewards and punishments, or that of happiness and misery. And as God the rigliteons Judge is inti- mately acquainted with all the secret principles and workings of every heart, he alone knows who have practised virtue sincerely from pious principles, and who have had no such principles within them. He well distinguishes who they are that have complied with the rules of the dispensation under which they have lived, or who have not complied with it. And such as may have the good esteem of men, may be highly offensive to God, who knows all things, and may be worthy of his final punishment. The Judge of the whole earth will do right. ^ And since he has declared it to be his rule of judg- * It has been the opinion of some writers in older and in latter times, that the vast numbers of indifferent persons, who have neither been evidently lioly or evidently wicked, shall be sent to a new state of trial in the other world . but I can find nothing of this doctrine in the Bible, nor any hint of it, unless in that obscure t^xt of St. Peter . 1 Epistle iii. chapter 19, where Christ is said to go and preach to the spirits of those sinners who were drowned in the flood ofNoah, which may be construed to another sense with truth and justice. 1 383 THE NATURE OP THE ment, that lie will reward every one according to their icorksj Mu\ it shall be much more tolerable for some of tliose creatures than it shall be for others, by reason of their lesser crimes, or their nearer approaches to virtue and piety, so it is certain he will act in perfect justice and equity towards every criminal ; and none shall be punished above their demerits, though no impenitent sinner shall go unpunished. We do not therefore imagine, that every condemned criminal shall have the same degree of inward raging passions, the same madness and fury against God and their fellow-creatures, nor the same anguish of conscience as those who have been more grossly and obstinately wicked and vicious, and have wilfully refused and re- nounced the well known oflTers of grace and salvation. Tiiere are innumerable degrees of inward punishment and pain, according to the degrees of sin. Answer 2. It should be added too, that that world of punishment is also a world of increasing wickedness ; and those that have had some natural virtues, and some appearances of goodness here, may and will renounce it all in the world to come, where they find themselves punished for their impenitence and irreligion, and their criminal neglect of God and godliness. And the least and lightest of the punishments of damned souls will be terrible enough, and yet not surpass the desert of their offences. Tliey have been all in greater or less degrees, treasuring up food for this immortal worm, and fuel for this fire, which is unquenchable. Besides, it may be added here, that in tlireatenings the holy scripture generally expresses them in their highest degrees, and most formidable appearances, on purpose to secure men from coming near the peril and border of them. This shall suffice to explain the first part of the meta- phor in my text, that is, The worm that dieth not. PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 383 SECTION II. Tlie fire shall not be quenched. I proceed now to consider tlie second part of the de- scription of hell in the nature of it, as it is represented by our Saviour ; and that is, that the fire is never quenched. Fire signifies the medium or instrument of torture from without, wiiich God has threatened to employ in the punishment of guilty creatures, even as the gyiaicing worm signifies their inward torment. Fire applied to the sensible and tender parts of the flesh, gives the sharpest pain of any thing that comes within our com- mon notice ; and it is used in scripture to signify the punishments of damned sinners, and the wrath of God in the world to come. And perhaps that text is the foundation of it, Isai. xxx. last verse ; Tophet is or- dained of old ; he has made it deep and large ; the pile thereof is fire and much icood ; and the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it. Tiils tophet was a place in tlie valley of Hinnon, where children were wont to be bursit in sacrifice to the idid Moloch ; and from these Hebrew words, hell, in tie New Testament is called Geenna, because of the burn- ing torture and the terrible shrieks of dying children in this valley of Hinnon. This description of hell by fire is used by our Sav- iour and his apostles, in their speeches and writings on this subject. Hell fire is mentioned six times in six verses where my text lies ; the last sentence of judg- ment pa«>sed upon sinners, as it is represented hy our Saviour, is expressed in the same language ; Matt.- XXV. Depart, ye cursed, into everlastini^ fire. The apostle Paul, speaking of the return of Christ,- 3 Thess. i. 8, asserts, that he shall appear in fiamingfivef to take 384 THE NATUliE OF THE vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel. And in Rev. xiv. 10, 11, as well as in other parts of this book, the final punishments of sinners is represented hy Jive and brimstone, as the instruments of their torment. It is true, indeed, spirits or beings which have no body cannot feel burning by material fire, unless they are united to some sort of material veliicles ; but that God will use material fire to punish obstinate and rebell- ious sinners hereafter at the resurrection, is not improb- able, though it is very hard to say with full assurance. Since the bodies of the wicked are to be raised again, it is not at all unlikely that their habitation shall be a place of fire, and their bodies may be made immortal to endure the smart and torture without consuming. Did not this God, by his almighty power and mercy, preserve the bodies of Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego. in the burning furnace of Nebuchadnezzar, so that the fire had 110 power to consume or destroy them ? And cannot his power do tlie same thing under the influence of his justice as well as of his mercy ? May they not be maintained for ever in their existence, to endure the ap- pointed and deserved vengeance? If the blessed God has with much long suffering borne irith these vessels of wrathj under their repeated oppositions to his law and gospel, and they still go on in their vice, obstinacy, and impenitence, and Uavejitted themselves for destruction, surely he will make his wrath and power known in their punishment, as St. Paul expresses it, Rom. ix. ; and when the power and wrath of a God unite to punish a creature, how miserable must that creature be ? It is certain that God has been pleased in his word frequently to make use ofjire, brimstone, burning^smoak, darkness, and chains, and every thing that is painful and noisome to nature on earth, in order to represent the miseries that he has prepared for sinners in hell. And PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 385 we must suppose that all these metaphors, if they are but mere metaphors, carry with them a sense of most intense pain and anguish, with which God will afflict the bodies, as well as the spirits of those guilty creatures, who have rebelled against his majesty, rejected his mercy, and exposed themselves to his indignation. But what particular instruments and methods of punishment, what other elements or means of torture the great God will make use of to execute his sentence in this tremend- ous work, is more than we can now declare, because God has not fully declared it. And I pray God none of us may be ever doomed to learn it by terrible expe- rience. But if there be nothing but jire^ the anguish will be intolerable, as one of our poets expresses it, In liquid burnings, or on dry, to dwell. Is all the sad variety of hell. Or what if the Almighty, who has all nature, with all its powers, at his command, should employ other mate- rial instruments for the execution of his deserved wrath ? What if he should choose the alternate extremes of fire and frost, as some have imagined, to torment those im- penitent criminals ? Or what if the creatures which they have abused to their impious and brutish purposes, should be made instruments and mediums of their pun- ishment ? Wine may be rendered a frequent means of sickness, agony and pain to the drunkard, and meat and other dainties to the glutton, and gokl to the covetous wretches who made gold their god, that they may all remember their crimes in their sufferings. The wisdom of God will execute the sentence of his justice in the most honorable manner. And after al], if we call away our thoughts from fire, and every material instrument of pain, which ths great God may employ in punishing obstinate rebels, and survey only those acute and dreadful impressions of horror and anguish, which a just and holy God may 49 386 THE NATURE OF THE make on sinful spirits in an immediate manner in helly this would overwhelm our souls with insupportable ag- onies. Who knoics the power of thine anger 9 For according to thy fear, so is thy wrath, says Moses, Psalm xc. Our fears do not rise above those evils which the wrath of God will inflict. Who knows what are those arrows of the Mmighty, of which Job speaks. the poison whereof drank up his spirits, and those ter- rors of God which set themselves in array against him P Who knows what our Saviour felt in the hour of his agony and atonement for our sins, which made him sweat drops of blood ? And what sort of terrible im- pressions God himself may make of his own wratli and yengeance, on tlie heart of such criminals as wilfully reject his salvation, is beyond our thoughts to conceive, or our language to express. This much shall suffice concerning the metaphor of jire, and the hand of God himself in kindling this fire for the execution of his sentence against impenitents. But since I have entered so far into this sul)ject, I can- not think it proper entirely to finish it, without giving notice of some different and dreadful additions to their torment, which will arise from evil angels, and from their companions in sin and misery among the cliildrcn of men ; for in the agonies of our Saviour, men and devils joined together to afflict him, Avhen it pleased the Father to bruise him, and to make his soul an offering for our sins. I. Evil angels, wicked and unclean spirits, with all their furious disjwsitions and active power's, ivill in- crease the misery of the damned. They paved the way to hell for man, by the first temptation of our parents in paradise ; and they have been ever since busy in tempt- ing the children of men to sin, and they will be hereafter as busy in giving them torment. When these wicked spirits, O sinner, who have taken thee as a willing cap PUNISHMENTS OP HELL. 387 tive by their baits and devices in this world, when they have led thee down through the paths of vice to the re- gions of sorrow, they will begin tlien to insult thee with Iiateful reproaches, and to triumph over thee with inso- lence and scorn. When they have deceived thee on -earth, to thy own perdition, they will make thee the object of their bitter ridicule and mockery in hell. O could we turn aside the veil of the invisible world, and hold the bottomless pit open before you, what bitter groans of ghosts would you hear, not only oppressed and agonizing under the wrath of a righteous God, but also under the insults of cruel devils ? As there is joy among the angels of heaven when a sinner rejje^its, or when a soul arrives safely at those blessed mansions, so when a rebellious and obstinate criminal is sent down to hell, you would hear the triumphs of those malicious spirits over him, with the voice of insulting pride and hellish joy. And while they domineer over you, and tear you as roaring lions, that seek and tear their prey, you will curse yourselves a thousaud times, for hearken- ing to their deceitful allurements. You will vent your rage against yourselves, at the same time that they scoff at you as eternal fools, who have lost a God, and a heaven, and immortal happiness, by your own madness and folly in hearkening to their temptations. II. The mutual uphraidin2:s of fellow -sinners ancl fellow-sufferers among the children of men, will aggra- vate your tcretchedness day and night without end. Those who drew each other into foul iniquities, shall fill the ears of each other with loud and sharp reproaches for their mutual influence on both their ruin ; and shall charge their damnation, and all their heavy sorrows, as a heavy load on each other's souls. Some of those who have been joined in the nearest ties of kindred and friendship, while they dwelt in flesh and blood, shall be the terrible instruments of their keenest remorse and 388 THE NATURE OF THE vexation, and tease their spirits with endless upbraid- ings. Here the sons of pride, that most hateful iniquity, shall be overwhelmed with huge mortijfication and dis- dain. The mighty sinner shall be insulted by the meanest of the crowd ; and princes shall be bearded and aifronted by those gay slaves of the court, whom they once employed in flattering and adoring them. They were once vain enough to believe they were something more than mortal ; but now they are spurned by those very flatterers with a foot of contempt ; and their eternal pride still swelling, gives their own hearts new stings and twinges at every resentment. None but a proud and haughty creature here in this world, who has sometimes met with scorn and insult from his inferiors, can speak feelingly of the exquisite sensibility of these torments of a soul in hell. But besides this, there are many sinners who lived in malice, and w ho died with their hearts full of revenge against their fellow-sinners ; and when they shall meet them in those deplorable regions, how natural is it to suppose they will endeavor to execute this revenge upon them without end and without mercy ? For it may be easily supposed, that malice, revenge, and cruelty, which are the proper character of devils, shall not be abated among the children of men, when they are grown so near akin in their tempers to those evil spirits, and are now for ever ndngled amongst them. And yet further, who knows what the damned in hell shall endure from the endless brawls and bitter quarrels among themselves ? What new contentions will arise perpetually in such a country, where it is perhaps the practice and custom of the place, and the nature of the inhabitants, for the most part, to make every one of their fellows as uneasy and as miserable as they can ? O what mad and furious pride, and malice, and every hel- PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 389 lish passion, will be raging almost in every bosom against all those who are near them, and this in a dark prison where all are intensely tormented, and where there is no such thing as compassion or sincere love, nothing to sooth each other's sorrows, but every thing that may add to the smart and anguish ! O that the present survey of these horrors of soul, these complicated distresses and miseries from within us and without us, from every quarter of heaven and hell, from the gnawing worm within us, and from the fire of the wrath of God, and the mutual insults, railings and injuries of men and devils, might all lie with its due weight upon our spirits now, while we are in the land of hope ; that every one of us may be awakened to a timely concern about our highest interest, and hasten to make our escape as Lot did from Sodom, lest the sentence of death be pronounced upon us while we de- lay, and the fiery deluge overtake us. But here I would tarry a little to answer a repeated objection, viz. tiie terror of this outward punishment from the hand of Grod, which is described by avenging fire, is so severe and intolerable, that it awakens some lesser criminals to raise the same cavil against this un- quenchable fire, or God's punishing hand, as was raised before against the never-dying worm, or the inward an- guish of soul arising from its own conscience. It is possible some lesser sinner, who has had more appearances of piety or religion here on earth, may rise and say, you have set the punishments of sin in a most horrible and tremendous light, from this metaphor of fire, as well as from the deathless worp. But surely this cannot be the case, nor these the sufferings which God will inflict on every wretched creature in hell. Are not the punishments there proportioned to the offences ? What if these sharpest and deepest tortures and horrors should be the portion of the vilest criminals, tlie most 390 THE NATURE OF TIIE impious rebels against God, the profane and obstinate abusers of gracej the scoffers at Christ and his gospel, and the cruel persecutors of all the saints, yet will every soul who had not quite religion and holiness enough to reach heaven, *be thus terribly tormented in hell ? Does not Clirist himself tell us, and did you not allow before, that it siiall be more tolerable for some sinners than for others ? And will there be no easier abodes, no milder regions, no kinder and more favorable appointments for such as have many good wishes and hopes, many friend- ly exercises of virtue toward men, and some workings of imperfect piety toward God? To this I answer, as before, it is certain that every one shall be judged according to their works ^ by an un- erring rule of equity, and shall be punished according to the aggravation of their iniquities. But dost thou know, O sinner, how great is that punishment which the least transgression against the law of God deserves ? One sin- gle sin, which thou Avilt not part with, will create insuf- ferable misery. And though there may be other criminals there of much more heinous and aggravated guilt, pro- fanencss, and rebellion than thine is, yet if thy soul be filled with all that torment which one sin may create and deserve, there will be hell enough around thee to make thy distress too terrible for thee to bear. Besides, let it be remembered, that whatsoever ten- dencies toward piety, or appearances of goodness, might be found with thee in this world, all these will vanish and be lost, when once thy day of grace is finished, and all the means of grace and salvation are ended for ever. If (hou hast refused tlie proposals of mercy, and contin- ued in thy sins without repentance, and hast never accepted the salvation of Christ while it was offered, all the good that thou seemedst to have' shall be taken from thee ; Matt.f xxv. 29 : or rather tliy heart itself will i^row more hard, tby will more obstinate against God, PUNISHMENTS OF HELL, SQL and every evil passion will rise and prevail, and make thee perhaps as very a devil as thy companions in guilt and misery. It is for those who would not part with their beloved sins, which were as dear as rigid hands or as right eyes^ that tlie never-dying ivorm and the un- quenchable tire are prepared, as the context itself informs vis in this place. And as the worm of conscience, even for lesser sins, will gnaw thy heart witli intense anguish, so the ven- geance of divine fire will torment thee with exquisite pain, though thy pain and thy anguish shall not be equal to what greater criminals endure. Eut it is wise and kind in the blessed God to denounce the terrors and sanctions of his law in their utmost severity, to guard liis law the better against every transgression, and to frighten and secure his creatures from sin and punishment. Trifle not, therefore, O sinner, witli the means of mercy, and venture not upon little sins, in hope of little misery, nor dare to continue in an impenitent state with- out God, without Christ and his salvation, upon a foolish presumption that thy sins are but small, and thy punish- ment shall be less than others. For the least of those sorrows will be found greater than any mortal creature can bear, and therefore thou shalt be made immortal to suifer them. It is granted, there are many mansions in hell, as well as in heaven, but, as the lowest mansion in heaven is happiness, so the easiest place in hell is misery. There is another objection rises here, which it is ne- cessary to give some answer to ; viz. if the punishments of hell are so intense and terrible, betv/een the worm of conscience, the fire of God's anger, and the malice of evil spirits, surely it will work up human nature into ecstacy and madness ; it will take away all the regular exercise of our natural powers ; it will render us perhaps mere passive miserable beings, of keen sensations without rea- 393 THE NATURE OF THE soning. This is certain, that such and so various tor- tures would have that influence upon our natures at present, and why should it not hereafter ? And will the blessed God continue to punish creatures when their reason is lost ? What can such punishments avail ? I ansiver, surely God will not continue to punish mad- men ; therefore none of these torments shall extinguish our reason, or destroy our intellectual powers ; for it is as creatures of reason and free-will that sinners aretluis punished, and therefore tliese powers must remain in their proper exercise ; besides, the very operatians of these powers in self-condemnation, and self-upbraiding, are part of their punishment. But whether God will so fortify the natures of the damned, which probably shall not be made of flesh and blood, and enable them to bear such intense pain without distraction, or whether the highest extremes of their torment shall only be inflicted at some certain periods or intervals, so that they shall soon return to their reasoning powers again, with bitter remembrance of what passed, this matter is hard to de- termine ; and because it is unwritten and unrevealed, I am silent. But it still remains, that punishment shall be so intense and severe, as becomes a God of holiness and justice to inflict on rebellious and obstinate creatures. SECTION in. Hefleetions on the nature of these punishments. It is time now that we should proceed to form some special reflections on the nature of the punishments of hell, such as they have been describing in the foregoing discourse. The first is this, what dreadful and unknown evil is contained in the nature of sin which grows up into such misery, which breeds this stinging worm in the con- science^ which prepares the creature for such fiery tor- PUNISHMENTS OP HELL. 393 ments, and wliich provokes a God to inflict them ? The vessels of wrath have prepared themselves for it, as the apostle intimates, by their own sins, Rom. ix. 3S, they are jitted for destruction. Nor does all the intense and infinite anguish of this punishment exceed the desert of our sins. The great God, in a way of bounty, may often bestow upon us vastly beyond what our little services can ever pretend to have deserved, but he never punishes beyond our deserts. What a dangerous and pernicious mistake is it in the children of men to sport with sin, as with a liarmless thing? It is much safer sporting with a poisonous ser- pent, or with burniug firebrands. The serpent has many gay and pleasing colours on its skin, and appears a very charming creature, which tempts children and fools to play with it. And the same ignorance inclines them sometimes to sport with fire, because of its shining brightness ; and till they are burnt with the fire, or bit by the serpent, they will not forsake their foolish choice, nor be convinced of their danger. Such is the case and temper of sinful mortals. Their senses indulge the pleasing flatteries of sin, and are fond of its tempting amusements, till they feel the smart of the fire raging in their bosoms, and the adder stings them to death. Thus the wise man describes the flatteries of wine in the view of the drunkard ; Prov. xxiii. 31, 3^. But the same wise man pronounces every one afoul that makes a mode at sin, or trifles with so formidable a mischief; Prov. xiv. 9. How vain are the gay fancies of sinful men in the hour of temptation ; and how shocking and dreadful will be their disappointment ? They think the descrip- tions of sin, which are blown up and kindled into such terror by the lips of the preacher, are but as mockfire which never burns ; but the great day of vengeance, which makes haste towards them, w^ill terribly and eter- 50 394< THE NATURE OF THE nally convince them of the fatal mischief of it, by the various plagues that shall seize upon them. The living ivorm shall gnaw their consciences, and the fire of God will torment their spirits, and spread a raging anguish through their whole natures ; and every twinging accent of their pain shall teach them, but with a terrible and hopeless conviction, what U7ispeakahle evil is contained in sin. They will then find vf\mi a fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God, who has a right, and power to, and will punish ; Heb. x. 31. O that each of us might arrive at this holy wisdom, to learn the dreadful evil of sin from this Bible, this book of the divine law and grace, and not provoke the blessed God to teach us so necessary a lesson by the rod of his vengeance ! O that we could look upon every unlawful action, and particularly every sin against conscience, as the seed of that worm which will gnaw our souls in hell with intense pain, as part of that fuel which is kindling into a flame to torment our consciences for ever ; and thai under the powerful influences of these representations of sin, we might fly to the utmost distance from it with hor- ror, and make our safe escape ! Reflection II. If the punishments of liell, appointed by the blessed Gotl, carry so much terror in tliem, how much mistaken are the sinful children of men in the ideas which they form of the great and blessed God ? This representation of the vengeance of tlie Lord in hell, may be of use to refute such mistaken opinions. Some have framed a god for themselves ; not such as dwells in the heavens, not such as he has described him- self in his word ; but their vain imagination has raised up an idol made of mere goodness and mercy, witliout holiness and justice. It is their own self-love which forms this idle and foolish image of the God that made them, because they do not like to think of falling under the terror of his power. They venture to affront him to PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 395 his face ; they dare him to vengeance ; and as the writer of the book of Job expresses it, tJiey stretch out their hands against God ; they strengthen themselves against the Almighty ; they run upon him with insolence, and venture upon the thick bosses of his buckler ; Job xv. 25. There are multitudes in our day that are arrived at such a dreadful height of impiety, as to call upon him for the damnation of themselves, as well as of their friends, in sport and merriment. They will not believe that the blessed God will ever be found so severe and formidable as ■preachers describe him. And because judgment is not speedily executed against the men of iniquity, there- fore the sons of men have their hearts set in them to do mischief. J[Iadness is in their hearts ; Eccles. viii. 11, and ix. 3. Because God delays his indignation, they will not believe he lias any belonging to him, notwith- standing all the terrible words by which he is represented by the prophets, the apostles, and the Son of God him- self. And while they rush boldly on those crimes which God has severely forbidden, they are ready to think God is just such an one as themselves, regardless of vir- tue and government ; Psalm 1. SI. And because they make nothing of sin, they imagine God will make nothing of it. O that the sons of men would once learn to know God better, for there are many icho have not the true knowl- edge of God, I speak it to their shame, when they fancy he is all made up of gentleness and forbearance, without lioliness and justice ! Alas, sirs, these attributes are as necessary in a God, as giace and compassion. He is, and he must be a wise, a righteous Governor of the world ; and his wisdom requires that impenitent sinners should be punished, to secure the honor of his law, and to guard his gospel from contempt.* These awful per- * A governor made up of mere goodness and mercy, could be no governor at all ; for it is absurd to call tbat a government, where every subject may do 396 TKE NATURE OF THE fections of the blessed Grod are as necessary to vindicate liis authority and his government from insult and rebell- ion, as his goodness is needful to encourage sinful crea- tures to repent and return to their duty. The word of Ood expressly tells us, he is a God of holiness^ and a consuming fire ; Heb. xii. 2Q ; but there is many a sin- ner that will never learn this lesson till the torments of liell teach it him by dismal experience. They have trifled witli his majesty, and mocked at his threateniugs all their life, till at the moment of death he awakes like a lion, and tears tbeir spirits with everlasting anguisli. 1 might take notice also in this place, that there is another mistaken notion of God, into which some persons have unhappily fallen, as though God were the cause and author of sin, and have spoken unadvisedly with their lips, in such language as borders too near upon blas- phemy. But it is evident, that a God, who will punish the sins of men with such intense pain and torment, can never be so inconsistent with himself, as to be the author or cause of those sins. It is granted that his universal providence has a concern in every thing tliat is transacted among men ; but since he has informed us in what a dreadful manner he will execute his vengeance against sinners in the w orld to come, it is insolence and indignity against the blessed God, to represent him as introducing sin into our world. Let God be true, though every man he a liar ; let God be pure, and righteous, and holy, though every man be found guilty and criminal ; other- wise, how shall God judge the icorld ? How can he inflict such torments on rebellious creatures, if he con- what iniquity and mischief he pleases with impunit}'. The laws of such a government would cease to be laws, and become mere rules and directions for living, which every one might observe or not, just according to his incli- nation. To say that it became the wisdom of God to threaten offenders, but that his goodness will interpose in the end and hinder the punisliment, is to say, that God is not wise, for if he were, he would certainly have, taken care not to let those men into the secret. Bishop Hort's sermons, p. 315. d m PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 397 strain or influence them to practise this rebellion ? All opinions therefore, that allow of such an inference, as though God were the author of sin j must be pronounced false and pernicious to men, as well as injurious to the justice of God; for these notions throw a vile imputation on the blessed Grod, and charge him with heinous insin- cerity, to forbid the comraision of sin by all tliese terrors, and yet suppose hira to influence men to the practice of them. Reflection III. How reasoyiahle is it for us to believe, that such a hell as 1 have described, is prepared for im- 'penitent sinners, since there are so many appearances of the beginnings of it here on earth ; so many indications, and signs, and forerunners, of such misery and torment inflicted on sinful men ? Survey the remarkable execu- tions of God's judgments on the world in several ages and nations ; look back to our first parents, who were thrust out of paradise, the garden of pleasure, and ban- ished from the gates of it for ever, upon the account of the first sin ; and the entrance of it was guarded by a flaming sword to forbid their return. Behold the flood of watery vengeance in the days of Noah breaking up from the vast caverns of the earth, and pouring down from the windows of heaven to punish sin. Deep calls unto deep in tlie tremendous noise of these waterspouts, which spread death and desolation over the face of tlic whole earth, because all flesh had sinned against God their Creator. Turn your eyes to Sodom and Gomor- rha, and the cities of the plain, suffering the vengeance of heaven with lightning and devouring flre bursting from the clouds to punish the unnatural crimes of that country. See the fiery flying serpents, as the messen- gers of divine anger, to punish the rebellion of the Israelites in the wilderness. Mark what multitudes in the camp of Israel received their mortal sting, and v/ere given up to destruction and death. Cast your eyes 398 THE NATURE OF THE abroad over the nations^ and wliat records have we of all former ages, which do not manifest the vengeance of God pursuing the iniquities of men, by wars, and famines, and pestilences, and every thing that is bitter and dreadful to human nature. See Jerusalem, the city of God, all in flames, and the whole land of Judea laid desolate with deepest distress, diffused and reigning among all the inhabitants of it. Above a million of them were actually slaughtered and consumed by famine and sword, as a sacrifice to the anger of God, for their long provocations, and the cruel, barbarous murder of his Son Jesus. And when you have taken all these sur- veys, then tell me if such terrors of the Lord do not give us sufficient warning what unknown agonies and destruc- tions may be expected by obstinate and impenitent sin- ners from the hand of God, when the utmost limits of his patience restrain his wrath no longer, but his wisdom gives a loose to all his fiery indignation. To enforce this yet upon your hearts, think again of all the pains and torments of flesh and spirit, which arise from the distempers of body, and from tlie anguish of soul, even in this present state of trial, this land of hope, this season of divine long-suffering. Go to the hospi- tals where the gout, and stone, and rheumatism, and a thousand maladies torture the nerves and the joints of men with intolerable smart, and infer thence what God will inflict both on the flesh and spirit, or the soul and body of sinners, in the day of his complete vengeance, when his offers of mercy and the years of his grace are come to their last period. Go and survey the flelds of battle and slaughter, where tliousands of the dead and the dying are mingled in confused heaps, and groan out their souls in long anguish and extreme torture, with bruises and wounds, and all the smarting effects of the instruments of war. Now if all these things come under the conduct of divine providence in a sinful world, which PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 399 is yet in a way of hope, what may those resolved and obstinate rebels expect, when all the doors of hope are shut up for ever, and providence has nothing to do on earth or in hell, but to execute the vengeance of a God. Shall we take one step yet further, and think of the inward pangs of conscience, which some awakened criminals have felt in this life on the account of sin, when the arrows of God have been shot into their souls, and the poison thereof lies drinking up their spirits ? Think what dreadful ferments of passion, and rage, and hatred of God have been found in the hearts of some sinful creatures, when they have grown mad with re- venge against God, and against themselves, and envy against all their fellow-mortals, who are not in the same circumstances ; think yet again how terribly their misery must be aggravated, when the torture of everlasting despair attends all the rest of the pains and sorrows they suffer ; and then say, if the description of a future hell in the word of God may not be true and real. What anguish beyond all the power of present thought and language, may seize all the powers of wilful and impious rebels against the authority and the mercy of God, when all the stores of his vengeance that have been treasuring up for many years, shall be poured out upon them with- out any mitigation or mixture of mercy ? Reflection IV. It is matter of surprise, and great astonishment, that thousands and ten thousands of the sinful cliildren of men, from day to day, and from year to year, are walking on the borders of all this misery, and yet are so thoughtless and unconcerned about it. They carry peaceful and easy minds in the midst of this dreadful danger ; and while they have all the symptoms of the children of wrath upon tliem, they live without fear, and make no eflbrt toward their escape. Wretched creatures indeed ! who have a mortal disease upon them that will breed this growing worm of conscience, that 400 THE NATURE OF THE will grow up into all this anguish and distress, and yet are senseless of their own peril, unacquainted with their own state of soul, and are daily treading their earthly rounds of business and of pleasure with a merry heart. All the heavy artillery of divine vengeance is ready to be discharged upon them as soon as the door of death opens and lets them into the invisible world ; and yet they walk on fearless and joyful, and have no guard or defence from all this misery, besides their own vain presumption. Stupid creatures, to lie down at night, and awake in the morning witliin an inch of hell, and yet secure and fearless ! Tliey live without God in the world, and that even in this land of liglit and hope, where he offers to visit them with all his graces ; and yet they are hasting hourly to the eternal world, where they must meet and beliold him in all his terrors. Will nothing awaken you, O ye obstinate transgress- ors against God, ye obstinate rejecters of his grace and gospel ? Will nothing warn you to flee from the wrath to come ? But just thus it was in the days of Noah. The sinners of that generation would not hearken to that preacher of righteousness ; and even when they saw the clouds of heaven grow big and black over their heads, and the rain began to be poured down from the skies, little did they imagine that it would have drowned the earth, till they were overwhelmed with the rising destruction. And so shall it be in the days of the Son of man, when all the warnings of the preachers have been despised, and the tln-eatened vengeance of the book of God derided, when they have set up for bold and witty scotFers, and impudently demanded, ichere is the jiromise of his coming ? Then shall the great and ter- rible day of the Lord come, and pour out upon them the full measure of wrath and indignation. Is it not time, my friends, to bethink yourselves, whether this be your case ? Is it not time for every PUNISHMENTS IN HELL. 401 oue of US to examine our souls ? Am I exposed to this danger? Am I every moment on the brink of this misery, and yet content to continue so one night or one day longer? Can I ever hope to escape the fury of a God, while I thus abuse his patience ? Or can I have any expectation of living with him as my God hereafter, if I never seek after him here ? The face of God, as a stranger in tiie world to come, carries infinite terrors in it, and yet we are content to be strangers to him, and to live without his acquaintance. The wrath of God abides upon every man who is uiiregenerate in this life, and who has not trusted in the name of the Son of God ; John iii. 36 ; yet they are thoughtless of it, for they feel it not ; but the moment wheu they shall awake into the world of spirits, that wrath will be felt with sudden and dreadful anguish, as a most insupportable burden, and will crush all the powers of the soul into torment. Mejlection V. It deserves, and it demands our highest gratitude to the great God, our humblest acknowledg- ments, and our most exalted praises to his majesty and his mercy, that we who have long ago deserved this misery, are not yet plunged into the midst of it ; that we have not been entirely cat off from the land of hope, and sent down to this destruction. Blessed be the name and the grace of our God for ever and ever. While there are thousands, who have been sent down to the place of punishment, whence there is no redemp- tion, before they had continued so long in sin as many of us have done, what a peculiar instance is it of divine long-suffering and goodness, that we are not actually put under the sting of this living worm, under this fiery vengeance from the hand of God ? What was there in us that should secure us from this destruction, while we continued in our state of guilt, rebellion and impenitence? Have we not seen many sinners on our right hand, and on our left, cut off" in their sins, and to all appearance 5i 40^ THE NATURE OP TItE they seem to be sent down to tlie place of sorrows ? What is it but the special mercy and distinguishing favor of God that has dealt thus kindly with us, and spared and saved us, week after week, and month after month, while we continued in our iniquities, and has given us space for repentance and hope ? What shall we render to the Loi'd for all his patience and long suf- fering, even to this day ? How often have we incurred the penalty of the law of God, and the fiery sentence of condemnation by our repeated iniquities, both against the authority and the grace of God ? And yet we are alive in his presence, and are hearing the words of hope and salvation. O let us look back and shudder at the thoughts of that dreadful precipice, on the edge of which we have so long wandered. Let us fly for escape to the refuge that is set before us, and give a tliousand glo- ries to the divine jnercy that we are not plunged into this perdition. Reflection VI. Let us learn from this desciiption of hell, and our imminent danger of it, the infinite value and worth of the gospel of Christ; tiiis gospel which calls us aloud to fly from the wrath to come, and points out to us the only effectual way to escape it. What can all the riches of the Indies do to relieve us under the guilt and distress into which sin has brought us ? What can the favor of princes, and the flattering honors of the Avorld do to rescue us from this danger ? What can the highest gust of sensuality, and tlie most exquisite de- lights of flesh and blood do to secure us against this overwhelming misery ? It is only the gospel of the blessed Jesus is our refuge, and our safety from the tre- mendous destruction. What are the heights, and depths, and lengths of hu- man science, with all the boasted acquisitions of the brightest genius of mankind ? Learning and science can measure the globe, can sound the depths of the sea, can PUNISHMENTS IN HELL, 403 compass the heavens, can mete out the distances of the sun and moon, and mark out the path of every twink- ling star for many ages past, or ages to come ; but they cannot acquaint us with the way of salvation from this long, this endless distress. What are all the sublime reasonings of philosophers upon the abstruse and most difficult subjects ? What is the whole circle of sci- ences which human wit and thought can trace out and comprehend ? Can they deliver us from the guilt of one sin ? Can they free us from one of the terrors of the Almighty ? Can they assuage the torment of a wounded spirit, or guard us from the impressions of divine indig- nation ? Alas, they are all but trifles, in comparison of this blessed gospel, which saves us from eternal anguish and death. It is the gospel that teaches us the holy skill to pre- vent this worm of conscience from gnawing the soul, and instructs us how to kill it in the seed and first springs of it, to mortify the corruptions of the lieart, to resist the temptations of satan, and where to wash away the guilt of sin. It is this blessed gospel that clearly discovers to us how we may guard againstr the fire of divine wrath, or rather how to secure our souls from becoming the fuel of it. It is this book that teaches us to sprinkle the blood of Christ on a guilty conscience by faith, that is, by receiving him as sincere penitents, and thereby defends us from the angel of death and destruc- tion. This is that experimental philosophy of the saints in heaven, whereby they have been released from the bonds of their sins, have been rescued from the curse of the law, and been secured from the gnawing worm and the devouring fire. A serious meditation of hell in its exquisite pain and sorrow, will enhance our value of the salvation of Christ, and will exalt our esteem and honor of the love of God, who has delivered us from eternal death. If we will 4)04) THE NATURE OF THE, &c. but appoint our thoughts to dwell a little on the teiTors and vengeance from wliich the blessed Jesus has rescued lis by his glorious undertaking, if he will stretch the powers of our souls, and survey the lengths, and the breadths, and the depths of this distress and misery which we have deserved, this will discover to us the heights, and the depths, and the lengths of his love, who submitted himself to the curses of the law of Grod, and was made a curse for us, that he might redeem us to the possession of an eternal blessing ; Gral. iii. ^3. This M'ill shew us what exceeding riches of the grace of God have been laid out upon us for our salvation. This will spread before us the unmeasurable love of Jesus, which has brought him down from the bosom of his Father into such agonies as he sustained in the garden, and on the cross, that he might rescue us from the wrath to come. O what immense and endless debts of gratitude and love are due from every ransomed sinner, who has been re- leased from the bonds of his guilt, and from all this wretchedness, by the love of God the Father, and the grace of his Son Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and honor, and most exalted praise^ for ever and ever! Amen. DISCOURSE XIIL THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE PUN- ISHMENTS IN HELL. MARK ix. 46. Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. SECTION I. Arguments to 'prove the 'perpetuity of hell. WHEN the great and blessed God had a mind to make known his wisdom, his power, and his] goodness amongst creatures, he built this world as a tlieatre, in whicli those perfections of his nature might be displayed amidst the various work of his hands. He spread it round with the blessings of life and pleasure, he over- hung it with a canopy of skies and stars, arid placed the glorious bodies of the sun and moon there, to appear in there alternate seasons ; and even amidst the ruins which sin has brought into this world, yet still every eye may behold the traces of an almighty, an all -wise, and a bountiful God. When the same divine and sovereign Being designed to exalt and diffuse the wonders of his grace among the best of his creatures, he built a heaven for them, and furnished it with unknown varieties of beauty and bless- ing. And we would hope in our appointed season to be raised to this upper world, and there to behold the riches of divine magnificence and mercy, and to be sharers thereof among the rest of the happy inhabitants. But since sin and wickedness have entered into his creation of men and angels, he saw it necessary also to 406 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE display the terrors of his justice, and to make his wrath and indignation known amongst rebellious creatures, that he might maintain a just awe and reverence of his own authority, and a constant hatred of sin through all Jiis dominions. For this purpose he has built a hell, a dreadful building indeed, in some dismal region of his vast empire, where he has amassed togetliev all that is grievous and formidable to sensible beings ; and wicked spirits carry their own inward hell thither with them, a hell of sin and misery ; and though he has sent his own Son to acquaint us with the distresses and agonies of that doleful world, and to warn us of the danger of falling into it, yet if any of us should be so unhappy as to continue in an obstinate state of impenitence and diso- bedience to God, we shall be made to confess, by dread- ful experience, that not one half hath been told us. Therefore hath God set before us these terrors in his word, that we might fly from this wrath to come, and avoid these sufferings. And therefore do his ministers, by his commission, proceed to publish this vengeance and indignation of the Lord, that sinners might be awa- kened to lay hold on the hope that is set before them, and might be affrighted from plunging themselves into this pit of anguish, whence there is no redemption. We have taken a short survey of these miseries, in the kind and nature of them, in some former discourses, and we are now come to the last thing contained in our Saviour's description of hell, and that is the perpetuity of it. The misery is everlasting in both the parts of it, for their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. The arguments which shall be employed to prove it, are such as these. ^argument I. The express words of Christ and his apostles pronounce these punishments eternal ; and surely these words are given to be the foundation of our faith and practice, and the rules of our hope and fear^ PUNISHMENTS IN HELL. 40/ My text seems to carry plain and unanswerable evidence in it. Their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quench- ed. And it is many times repeated in this chapter, and that with a special accent on the eternal duration of it, to make that circumstance of it more observed, and to aggravate the terror. Such an awful repetition from the lips of the Son of God should make the sound of the vengeance dwell longer on the ear, and the threatening sink deeper into tlie soul. Let us next observe the final sentence which Christ, as Judge, pronounces against impenitent sinners among the sons of men, as well as against fallen spirits, in Matt. XXV. It is this, depart, ye cursed, into everlast- ing fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. And as soon as the sentence is pronounced, it is immediately ex- ecuted, as our Saviour foretels, in the last verse. These shall go away into everlasting punishment, and the righteous into life eternal. What he pronounces as a Judge, he foretels also as a prophet, that it shall be put in execution. The express word of God, in describing the punish- ment of sinners by the pen of his two apostles, Paul and John, declares the same thing ; S Thess. i. 9. They shall be jJunished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. And the book of tlie Revelation gives us assurance, that these miseries shall have no end. Rev. xiv. 10, 11 ; The antichristian idolaters, who worship the beast, shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation, and shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the Lamb; and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever. Jude, the apostle, bears his testimony in the same manner, verse 6 ; tlie damned spirits, who kept not their first station, are said to be cast down into hell, and bound in chains of everlasting darkness. Now, suppose a 408 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE man plimged into a pit of thick darkness, by the com- mand of God, and bound there with everlasting chains ; what hope can he ever have of deliverance ? And if Christ and his apostles, who were taught by him and by his blessed spirit, assert this punishment shall be eternal, who shall dare to contradict tliem ? Who is there so rash and confident as to say, "This torment shall not be everlasting, this worm one day shall die, and this fire shall be quenched?" Does it not ap- proach to the crime of contradicting the Almighty, and the true God ? Argument II. There is a sort of infinite evil in sin, arising from the consideration of the person against whom it is committed, that is, the great and blessed God ; for every crime, according to the law of nations, and the common sense of mankind, takes its aggravation from the dignity of the person offended, as well as from the heinousness of the act ; so reproaches or assaults against a king, or a father, are much more criminal and heinous than the same assaults or reproaches cast on an equal or an inferior ; but all sin being an offence against God, an infinite object, and a violation of his law, is a dishonor of infinite Majesty, an affront to the divine authority, and therefore its aggravations arise in that proportion to a sort of infinity, and require an equal punishment. But because the nature of a creature cannot suffer infinite punishment in the intenseness of the pain, therefore he must bear it to an injinite duration^ that is, to all ever- lasting. When divine justice pronounces a sentence against the sinner, equal to the demerit of sin, it must be infinite, that is, eternal ; and the sinner shall never be released from the prison and the punishment, till he has jJdid the utmost farthing ; Matt. ix. %o ; and till he has made satisfaction to God, equal to his demands, and the de- merit of the offence. PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 409 I know this argument is treated with much contempt and derision among those of the moderns, who would diminish the evil of sin, and shorten the punishment of it. But it is much easier to ridicule it than to answer it. A jest is no refutation. And after my best survey of it, I think, without prejudice or partiality, the force of it seems to me unanswerable as to the desert of sin ; and I am not ashamed to employ it in the support of this truth. It is but a very feeble opposition can be made to it by those who say, that if sin be counted an infinite evil, and must have infinite punishment, then all sins are equal, and will require equal punishment, for there are no different degrees in infinity, or in things which are infinite. But our'Saviour has taught us, that there are certainly various degrees of punishment as well as of sin. He assures us, that it shall he more tolerable for the inhab- itants of Sodom and Gomorrha, in the day of judgment, than it shall be for Capernaum and Bethsaida, where he had preached and wrought his wonders ; Luke x. 1:2, &c. and the reason is plain, viz. because the sins of Sodom were less than theirs. And it is very easy to answer this pretence or objec- tion about the equality of all sins ; for sins may have different degrees of guilt and aggravation as to the act, where the object is the same, whether this object be finite or infinite, as the murder of a father or a king, is a much greater crime than a reproach or slander cast on the same persons. So the wilful hatred of God, and blasphemy against him, with continued malice and pub- lic, violent opposition to his name, or law, or gospel, are far greater sins than a single neglect of his daily worship for fear of persecution, or a distrusting his prov- idence, tliough both have the same infinite Being, that 410 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE is, God, for their object ; and in this sense there is a sort of infinity in each of the crimes. And accordingly, punishments may be proportioned to every crime, for they may differ greatly in the degree of severity and torture, thougli they may be all equal or eternal in the duration ; Sodom and Gomorrha, Caper- naum and Bethsaida, may all suffer infinite or everlast- ing sorrow, and yet the degrees of their pain may be exceeding different all the while. They may have the same infinity of duration, though very different as to the intenseness or degree of the pain. Argument III. If the iniquities committed in this life were not punished with torment which is everlasting, yet the damned in hell are ever sinning against God ; and therefore they provoke the vengeance of God to continue his punishing hand upon them for ever. The law of God, in all its demands of duty, its prohibitions of sin, as well as in its sanctions of punishment, continues for ever in force in heaven, and earth, and hell ; and we see not how it can be abrogated where it arises from the very nature of God and a creature. And. cursed is he that continues not in all things which the law re- quires ; Gal. iii. Every new sin demands a new curse and a new punishment ; and there is no reason which forbids a righteous Governor to cease punishing, while the rebellious creature will not cease to offend ; and es- pecially while he maintains an everlasting enmity and rebellion against the law of God liis Creator. If there were any humble meltings of repentance in the guilty soul ; if there were any sincere mournings in the sinful creature for having offended his Maker ; if there were any softness of heart, relenting under a sense of the evil of sin, and returning to obedience and duty; even this would not oblige a righteous and wise Govern- or to forgive the criminal ; repentance is no compensation for a wilful offence ; nor is it thought unrighteous or PUNISHMENTS OP HELL. 411 unwise for a prince to punish even a penitent offender witli death. But let us propose the case in utmost favor to a sinner against the blessed God ; let us imagine that divine wis- dom and €livine mercy perhaps might be supposed to contrive and to offer some proposals to justice in a way of compassion, and might inquire whether the sentence of punishment could not be reversed, or the terror of it relieved, or some new state of trial proposed. Let it be added in favor of the criminal, that we do not find through all tlie book of God the actual practice of true repentance beginning among men, but it has been always followed with proportionable degrees of compassion from God. But on the other side, when there is notliing found in the heart of a sinner but obstinacy, and malice, and revenge, cursing and blasphemy against the Al- mighty, without the least moving or melting into a gen- uine penitence or holy sorrow, without any meek submission to the majesty and justice of God, or humble imploring his mercy, what reasonable hope can such wretches have, that their chains of darkness should be broken, and the prisoners released from the vengeance ? When they shall curse his justice, because it punislies their crimes, when they shall curse his mercy, because it did not save their souls, and curse and blaspheme the blood of the blessed Jesus, because it has not washed away their sins, what possible excuse can be made for such creatures ? Or what possible expectation can there be for such criminals, but an everlasting continuance of the fiery indignation ? Here it will be replied, but why should we suppose, and much more, why should we affirm, the damned will ■never repent ? Are they not free in the other world from this flesh and blood, wherein there are so many unruly passions and appetites ? Are they not far remote from all the temptations of flesh and sense, of iatemper- 41S THE ETERNAL DURATION OP THE ance, ambition, and covetousuess ? Have they not un- derstanding to see divine truths more clearly than in this world ? Have they not reason to distinguish good and evil, and free vi^ill to choose that which is good ? Will they not hate all sin, since they have been so long taught the mischief of sin by their sufferings ? And is there any thing titter than their agonies and torture by fire, to make men know and feel the dreadful evil of sinning against God, and awaken them to repentance ? To this I answer. Let us judge a little concerning the sinners in hell, by the pratice of sinners on earth. How many wretched creatures are there who have been long imprisoned, and perhaps punished for crimes against the State, and yet persist in their rebellious tem- per, and are never convinced they were in the wrong, so far as to change their treason into sincere submission, repentance, and obedience ? Was not Pharaoh, king of Egypt, an instance of the stubbornness and impenitence of human nature, when in opposition to ten dreadful plagues he would still pursue the flying Israelites, and destroy a people beloved of God ? Is not hardness and enmity against the governor often increased by the severe punishments that criminals lie under ? Have these pun- ishments any sufficient power to soften their hearts into true repentance? What though they do not live in the midst of sensual temptations, yet who knows how far their spirits, having been immersed in flesh and blood, may carry witli them inward raging appetites to those sinful sensualities and defiling pleasures, of which they are for ever deprived ? Let me ask again, have the devils ever repented in almost six thousand years ? Are they not the same en- emies to God, and his glory, and his image, through all ages ? And though the damned spirits of men are ab- sent from this world, and their evil companions on earth, yet are they not in the fittest company to teach them PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 413 pride, and rage, resentment and malice, and the most unfit to teach them Immility, repentance, and obedience to God ? And when they have perversely sinned away all the means of grace in this life, is it reasonable to ima- gine, that God will powerfully soften their hearts by his sovereign grace, since he has never given the least hint or instance of it in all the discoveries made in the Bible ? And has it not been often one way of God's punishing sinners here in this world, by letting them go on in their iniquity and madness to the end ? And why may not the wisdom and justice of God see it fit to treat sinners who have been incorrigible in this life, by the same method in the world to come ? ^argument IV. The natural effects and consequences of sin living in the soul, are misery and torment so long as the soul lives, that is, for ever. Sin, though it be a moral evil, as it is committed against God, yet it is such an enemy to- the nature of man, that where it has' estab- lished its habit and temper in the soul, it naturally pre- pares constant anguish of conscience, and certain misery. A wicked spirit all over averse to God and goodness, gone fi'om this world and all the soothing or busy amusements of it, intense in its desires of happiness, and yet a stranger to all that call make it truly happy, and at the same time shut out by God's righteous judgment, from all the means and hopes of grace, must needs be miserable, and has prepared a state of endless misery for itself, because its nature and duration are immortal. An nnholy creature who loves not God, and cannot delight in things holy and heavenly, but derives its chief joy from sinful pleasures, can never taste of felicity, can never relish the satisfactions that come from the knowl- edge, and love, and enjoyment of God ; and when it is torn away, and banished from all the sensible amuse- ments of this life, it must and will be a wretched creature iu the world of spirits; and that by the very course of 4il4 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE nature. And God cannot be obliged to change the es- tablished course of nature to relieve this misery which the sinner had wilfully brought on himself ; nor can God make him happy without giving him a new temper of holiness^ which he is not obliged to do by any perfection of his nature, or any promise of grace. If the souls of men are immortal, such will their 'pas- sions be, their desires, their fears, and their sorrows, ISfow their natural desires of happiness, as I have said, will be intense and strong, when God, the spring of all happiness, who hath been renounced aud abandoned by them, hath now for ever forsaken them, and separated himself from them. What can there remain for them but everlasting darkness and despair, without a dawn of hope through all the ages of eternity ? Tlieir guilty con- sciences, with the views of God's unchangeable holiness, will for ever fill tliem with new fears and terrors, what shall be the next punisliment they are to suffer. Such is the state of devils at this time, who expect a more dread- ful punishment at the great day, as several places of scrip- ture make evident. Their being immersed in the guilt of sin, and under the constant and tyrannical dominion of it, will overwhelm them with present grief, with cut- ting sorrows, and horror unspeakable, which will sink into the centre of their souls, and make them an eternal terror and plague to themselves. Again, let us consider their immortality of soul will be spent in thinking. And what comfortable or hopeful object is there in heaven, earth, or hell, on which they can fix or employ their thoughts for one moment, to give a short release from this extreme misery ? So that they are left in endless successions of most painful thoughts and passions from the very nature of things. Again, suppose tliis body of mine were by nature ira- mortal, and was designed by my Creator in its constitu- tion to live for ever ; and suppose by my own folly and PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 415 madness, my own wilful indulgence of appetite and pas- sion, I had brought some dreadful distemper into my flesh which was found to be incurable, whether it be the gout or the stone, or some more terrible malady of the nervous kind, must not tliis gout by necessity of nature, become an immortal gout ? Must not these distempers be immortal distempers, and create eternal pain? And is the God of nature bound to work a miracle to cure and heal these diseases which I have wilfully brought upon myself by my own iniquities, and that after many warn- ings ? Is it unrighteous in God to let me languish on amidst my agonies and groans as long as my nature con- tinues in being, that is to immortality ? And especially when there are valuable ends in divine providence, and God's goveniment of the world to be subserved, by suf- fering such wilful, rebellious, and impenitent creatures to become sacrifices to their own iniquities and his jus- tice, and perpetual monuments to other worlds of their own madness and his holiness. Such is the case of a sinful spirit ; and therefore a God of justice may pro- nounce upon it, and execute tlie eternal misery. SECTION n. The strongest and most plausible objections against the perpetuity of hell answered. 1 think these reasons, which have been given, are suflBcient to justify the ministers of the gospel in repre- senting the punishments of hell as everlasting. But man, sinful man, does not love to hear of this dreadful perpe- tuity of hell. They would fain find some period to these sorrows, they search on every side if there be no way of escape from this prison, no door of mercy, no cranny of hope left among the reasons of things, or among the at- tributes, or the transactions of the blessed God. And they are ever proposing some methods to cut shoit this 416 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE eternity, which scripture ascribes to the punishment of impenitent sinners. I shall endeavor therefore here to give a fair and plain answer to the strongest objections against this doctrine which I ever yet have met with. The first objection is raised from a criticism on the words of scripture. The Greek and Hebrew words, say they, which we translate eternal and everlasting, where the torments of hell are mentioned, are not always used for proper and complete eternity ; they sometimes signify only a long duration. So God gave Abraham and his seed the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession ; Gen. xvii. 8 ; but now the Turks possess it. Several of the statutes of the Levitical law were said to be ever- lasting ; Lev. xvi. 34. But they are all abolished in the gospel. The sons of Aaron had an everlasting priest- hood conferred upon them ; Exod. xl. 15. But this office is cancelled by the kingdom of the Messiah, and finished for ever. Besides, let it be remembered, say the objectors, that the Hebrew word D^l^; Olam, and the Greek Aiuv and Aiuveg signify only the various ages or periods of time Avhich belong to the duration of creatures, or to some constitutions of God concerning his creatures. And they should be translated an age, or ages, more properly than any thing else. And the adjective Aimiog, when applied to creatures, can relate only to these ages ; but these expressions were never designed to enter into God's own eternity, either before the existence of this world, or after the consummation of it ; upon which reason it is highly improper and absurd to assert, that the duration or punishment of creatures in hell shall be properly eternal, and equal to the duration of the blessed God himself. Now since every thing in God's transactions towards creatures is sometimes limited by these Aioovsg, or ages, which are periods of time that shall be finished, why may not the damnation and the sorroAVs of hell be PUNISHMENTS OP HELL. 417 also finislied and cancelled at a certain length of years, though the common words which we translate eternal and everlasting, be ascribed to them in scripture ? Answer 1. These are the same words both in Greek and Hebrew, by which God expresses his own eternity, which is absolute and complete without end. He is the everlasting God; Gen. xvi, 33. The eternal God, and his everlasting arms ; Deut. xxxiii. ^7 ; Rom. i. SO, and xvi. 26, and several other places. These are the words also by which the scripture expresses the duration of ihc felicities of heaven, and the eternal life and hap- piness of the saints ; Dan. xii. 2, Rom. vi. 23, John iii. 15, &c. Now why should we not suppose the same "Words to signify the same duration, when the Old or New Testament speaks of everlasting burnings as the vengeance of God against the wicked ; Isai. xxxiii. 14 ; or everlasting shame and contempt P Han. xii. 2. And especially where the joys of the saints, and the misery of sinners, are set in opposition to one another in the same text, as in Dan. xii. and Matt. xxvi. 45 ; The wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment, and the righteous into life eternal ? And yet further, when we iind this doctrine sufficiently confirmed by many other places of scripture which set forth the eternity of these torments ? I grant that tlie eternity of God him- self, before this world began, or after its consummation, has something in it so immense and so incomprehensible, that in my most mature thoughts I do not choose to enter into those infinite abysses ; nor do 1 think we ought usually, when we speak concerning creatures, to affirm positively, that their existence shall be equal to that of the blessed God, especially with regard to the duration of their punishment. Perhaps this sort of language may carry in it something beyond what we are called to dis- course about, at least in this mortal state ; and therefore such comparisons are more safely omitted. 53 418 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE But I would remark here still, that tlicse Aicovsg oi' ages, both of reward and punishment which are pro- nounced concerning saints or sinners, do but begin in their perfection at the end of this world ; and tlience it follows, that they must enter far away into the eternity of God's existence yet to come. And the saints will be made happy, and the sinners will be punished for long ages after the end of this world, and all the Aicovegj or ages of it. And though God, by his Spirit, has not been pleased to make this comparison expressly, nor assert our dura- tion commensurate with his own, yet he is pleased to express the duration of the punishment of sinners in the same common language and phrases, whereby he ex- presses his own duration, and tlie happiness of the saints ; and hereby he encourages us to express these punishments by the same common words in our lan- guage too, rather than venture to cut tlicm sliort by a Greek or Hebrew criticism, without any divine warrant or necessity.* Now are tliere any sinners so void of understanding, of so daring and desperate a mind, as to venture theiv eternal all upon such a poor criticism of words ? Even upon supposition these terms in the Greek and Hebrew might signify any long duration short of eternity, yet there is a terrible hazard in coniining tliera to this sense, since they do not denote a proper eternity, when they describe the duration of the blessed God ; and 1 think we may add also, the duration of the happiness of th? saints. * The Word aid toi perpetual, is also applied to the chains of devils, Jiidr. vi. as well as to God, liom. i. and however the word cctuv and uiavi^ may be used for ages or periods in this world, yet uicovs^ rtrjv etiavaiv or a^es of ages, is never applied in all the New Testament to any thing but God or Christ, ov the bles^eibiess of saints, or the punishment of sinners ,- and therefore we ma} well conclude, that all these four run into an eternity beyond all the supposes, periods of this world, and far beyond all our conception-? PUNISHMENTS OP HELL. 419 Besides, let it be remembered, that the other expres- sions of scripture, which denote and pronounce the per- petuity or eternity of these punishments, are not liable to tlie same criticism or ambiguity of a word. Their fire shall be unquenchable ^ or is not quenched, their worm dieth not. They have no rest day nor night ; they shall he tormented day and night for ever and ever ; Rev. XX. 10. These expressions seem to carry with them a more certain signification of the perpetual continuance of the punishment. Now can the tempter and tlie deceiver of souls have so unhappy an influence over you, as to persuade you to venture onward in the patlis of sin, to put oft* religion, and delay your repentance, and neglect the means of salvation, in hopes that hereafter this weak criticism, upon some of the threatenings, may take place before the Judge of the whole earth, and thus excuse or •save you ? Is not such a sorry refuge and presumption a dangerous and a dismal sign upon impenitent sinners, that sin and satan have darkened your understanding, and confounded your judgment, as well as hardened your hearts, in order to your everlasting destruction ? Answer 2. Suppose the punishments of hell continue only for a long time, and not for an endless immortality, yet this time would certainly be found exceeding long for sinners to bear the torment even according to their own criticisms. Let us consider this matter under some particulars. The Jewish dispensation which is some- times called everlasting, stood near about fifteen hundred years, from Moses to Christ ; and are ye content to lan- guish and groan under torments and miseries, for fifteen hundred years, merely to satisfy your vicious appetite of pleasure for a few days, or a few years, of this mortal life? Again. The rebellious sinners who were destroyed at the flood, and their spirits which were sent into the prison of hades or hell, were certainly confined there 4S0 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE four and twenty hundred years. And if they were re- leased then, as some imagine, by the preaching of Christ to them, it is a long and dreadful time to continue under the vengeance of God ; and is it worth while for any man to continue in sin on earth, and to venture this length of punishment in hell ? What I build these computations upon, are some ex- pressions of St. Peter, 1 Epistle iii. 19, 20, where Christ is said to preach unto the spirits in prison, which some time were disobedient, ivhen once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of JVoah. Some have supposed that this text informs us of Christ's descent into hell after his death, and then preaching to those rebels who were drowned in the flood, near two thousand four hun- dred years before, in order to awaken them to repent- ance and salvation ; whereas others think this text may be better expounded concerning the spirit of Christ given to Noah, which made him a preacher of righteousness, when he foretold and threatened a flood of waters, and called men to repentance. But if it should be granted that those rebellious spirits among the dead did all repent, and were delivered by this preachil^g of Clirist, would you choose to indulge the delights of sin for a short season^ and venture twen- ty-four hundred years of torment and anguish for it ? Yet further — The devils have lain under punislniient near six thousand years, viz. four thousand before Christ came, and almost two thousand years since, which may be thus computed from what St. Jude says of them. ^\\^ angels who kept not their first station, thej were cast into chains of darkness, probably before the creation of this our world, for they were fallen, and tempted Adam to sin as soon as this world was made. And they had been confined in these chains from that time about four thousand years before Clirist came, and are waiting still for yet sharper punishment at the judgment of the great PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 421 day ; Jude vi. ; and it is evident that they are conscious of this terror, and this future increase of punishment ; for they expostulated with our Saviour ; Matt. viii. 29 ; Art thou eome to torment us before the time P Now it is near two thousand years since Christ came ; and from the time of their sinning unto this day, it is almost six thousand years. And when the great day of judgment comes, their fiercer punishment is but then to begin. And are not the devil and his angels sentenced and con- fined to dwell together with the wicked children of Adam, when they shall be consigned at that dreadful day to the same everlasting fire and torment, which were prepared for those evil spirits ? And who knows when their torment will end? Now what folly and hardness of heart, or rather what madness is it for men to continue in their sins, to delay their return to God, and abandon the grace of the gospel, under this foolish flattery and wild presumption, that above six thousand years hence, perhaps a certain day may come when the worm of conscience will die, and the fire of hell will be quenched ? Such presumption is madness and distrac- tion rather than reasoning. The second objection is derived from the justice and equity of God. Surely may some person say, the j'jstice of God will proportion the punishment to tlie offence ; but since our sins are but the actions of mortal and short lived creatures, and are committed in a few years of time, why should the punishment be immortal, and the angels be lengthened out to eternity ? Can a righteous God pronounce such a severe and unjust sentence, and execute it in its full dimensions ? Answer. It is not the length of time which wicked men spent in committing their sins, nor the nature of the persons who have sinned, that determines the measures of punishment, but the dignity of that infinitely glorious Being, against whom sin is committed, that gives such a 42S THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE « iiigli aggravation as to require puuisliment without entl. * How many instances are there amongst men wherein offeiiilcrs against their neighbors, or against a magistrate, who spent but a few moments in tlic crime, yet are doom- ed to imprisonment for months and years ? And a lower degree of trespass against a king, which is sliort of high treason, is sometimes punished \\ itli confiscation of goods, and with poverty aud close imprisonment for life. And by the same reason, the sins of men being committed against a God of infinite majesty, require an endless punishment, as I have proved in the second argument ; and therefore divine justice pronounces or inflicts no longer penalty than the crimes of men deserve, according to their aggravations. If any sinners tarry then till they have paid the utmost farthing to divine justice, I grant God will release them, but he has given us no hope before. The tliird objection is drawn from the sovereignty and goodness of God. It is granted, say they, tliat the tlu'eatenings of eternal death are denounced against sin- ners in scripture, yet it is not necessary God should execute them to the full. When a laic is made the I threatenings of it only declare what punishment the of- fender shall be exposed to, and shall be obliged to bear when it is inflicted ; but these expressions in a law do not oblige the government to inflict that sentence with all its terrors. It is granted, that in the case of promises. truth and veracity oblige the promiser to fulfil them punctually, because the right of the thing promised passes over to that other person to whom the promise was made ; and he hath such a right to require it, that it is injustice to withhold it from him ; and therefore everlasting felicity must be given to the righteous. But in threatenings the case is otherwise ; for though the full punishment is due to sinners, yet they will never require the execution of it : and the goodness of God will incline him to relieve PUNISHMENTS OP HELL. 4i23 tlie sufferer, and to release him from the severity of such a punishment, wliere his veracity or truth, does not forbid it. To this I answer two ways. 1. I will not debate this point of law now, how far a governor of sovereign and absolute authority can dis- pense with his own thrcatenings, can omit the execution of them, relax the degree of threatened punishment, or shorten the duration of it. But let it be considered, tliat here is not only the threatening of a God;^ the universal Governor, but the prediction of this eternal punishment, by a God who cannot lie. God's own truth and veracity are concerned in this case, since his Son Jesus, wiio is the greatest of his messengers, together with the prophets and apostles, have in the name cf God often foretold, that these punishments shall be eternal. And therefore whatsoever an absolute governor might do, as to short- ening the punishment threatened^ in a way of mercy and relaxation, yet I cannot see how the trutli and veracity of God himself, or the veracity of his Sou Jesus Christ, who is the great Prophet, or the trutli of tlie rest of his prophets and messengers can be maintained, if this pun- ishment be not executed according to the many express predictions of it. These all agree to tell us by inspira- tion from heaven, in various forms of speech, that the torments of hell shall be everlasting ; and as I hinted before, the man Jesus who pronounces this eternal sen- tence as a Lo^d and a Judge, foretels it also as a Prophet, that the execution of it shall be to all everlasting. Answer 2. Obstinate and impenitent sinners have no reason to expect, that the goodness of God should release them from their miseries, since the justice and the holi- ness, the righteous government and authority of God in his law require and demand their due of honor, as well as his goodness. Do we not see these honors of divine justice, and of God's hatred of sin, have been continually 424 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF TtlE demanded aud executed in the infinite and innumerable evils, sorrows, miseries diseases and deaths,thatliave been spread over this world almost six thousand years because of sin ? Nor does his goodness forbid or hinder it. And let it be remembered too, that all this immense variety and long succession of plagues and terrors arose originally from the just indignation and resentment of God against one sin, even that of the first man. Who was it that burnt Sodom and Gromorrha with fire from heaven ? Who was it that chained fallen angels in dark- ness to a more terrible judgment ? Was it not a Grod of supreme goodness ? Who sent famines, and pestilences, and slaughters all over the earth in many distinct genera- tions, whereby mankind have been made abundantly wretched, and plunged into millions of distresses ? And yet the sroodness of God abides for ever. And while the great God is acting according to the glories of his nature and government, in punishing rebellious creatures, his goodness will feel no soft and sensible impressions from all their groans and outcries ; but if I may so express it, will be changed into just indignation witliout end. And the language of it to those impenitent wretches will be this, " because 1 have called and ye refused ; ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of ray reproof, I will laugh at your calamity, 1 will mock when your fear cometh ; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction as a whirlwind ; when distress and an- guish cometh upon you, then shall ye call jipon me, but I will not answer ; ye shall seek me early, but ye shall not find me ; for ye hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord. Ye would none of my counsels, ye despised all my rebukes ; therefore shall ye eat of the fruit of your own way, and be filled with your own de- vices ;" Prov. i. Take them, angels, " bind them hand and foot, aud cast them into everlasting fire and utter PUNISHMENTS OF HELL, 4g5 darkness ; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth ;" Matt. xxii. 13. Let us cease then to murmur against the threatenings and the transactions of the great God, till we are be- come fitter judges of his perfections and their demands. Let us cavil no more against his conduct and govern- ment, till we can teach him how far his punishing justice shall go in the execution of his threatenings, and till we can assign to liim the point and limit where liis good- ness shall interpose and restrain that justice. lihefoarth objection is derived from the rectitude of the nature of God^ or his common equity and mercy unit- ed, which has bt^.n represented in this manner. Sup- pose one of the damned spirits among mankind should address himself to the great Grod in such sort of language as this, "Lord, I was created by thy sovereign pleasure without my own will, I did not desire to be made, much less to be born in such a relation to Adam, whereby I brought a sinful nature into the world with me ; but I was united by thy power and pleasure to a body which had the seeds of sin and misery in it. There were strong appetites and violent passions mingled with my flesh and blood, which 1 myself had no hand in procur- ing ; they fermented in me with much vehemence, and I was tempted to many excesses. I made some resist- ance at first, and many times tried to subdue them, but I was overcome. At last I suffered myself to be carried aM^ay by the stream of tliese sinful affections and appe- tites, which 1 could not possibly avoid, nor easily sub- due. Is it agreeable to thine equity, O blessed God, to punish such a poor wretch with everlasting torments? And can thy mercy continue to see this my misery for ever and ever, and not help me ? I entreat thee, O thou almighty Author of ray being, to destroy and annihilate me utterly soul and body ; take away this being which I never asked nor desired ; nay, which I would not havi* 04 I 426 THE ETERNAL DUKATION OF THE ^ consented to accept among the sinful race of mankind, because in this track of generation and existence I stood much more likely to be miserable than to be happy." Answer 1. As for the reasonableness and ecjuity of the conveyance and communication of the original effects of the sin of Adam through every generation of man, it is granted there are some difficulties attending it ; but these are generally answered by the writers on that sub- ject ; and for me to divert from my present discourse, in order to debate this point here, would be too tedious. The equity of this wise and awful constitution of God has been lately vindicated in a large treatise on the ruin and recovery of mankind, especially in the second edition of that book. But it is enough for my present argument to say, that God himself will make the equity of his constitution to appear with much more evidence and conviction in the last great day, when millions of actual criminals shall stand before the judgment-seat, who owe the first spring of their sin and ruin to our common parent, and yet will fall under the righteous condemna- tion of the Judge. • Answer 2. When God decreed to give thee a being, ■ O sinner, and designed thee in his eternal ideas to be a man, placed among a thousand blessings of nature and providence, it was then a favor of thy Creator ; for thou wert designed also in this original divine idea,, to have full sufficiency of power to become wise and happy. It was also a favor from thy Creator, tSiat he took all these thy sufficieuces of power, and put them into the hand of one man, even the father of tliy race, because he was as wise, and holy, and as well able as any man of iiis pos- terity could be, to preserve his station in the favor of God, and to secure thy happiness together with liis own ; and he had much stronger obligations to obey his Ma- ker, and more powerful motives to secure thy happiness than thou thyself, or any single man could possibly luive, I PU^^SHMENTS OF HELL. 'iS7 because he was intrusted with the felicity of so many jiiillions of his own dear offspring, as well as his own. Now though Adam, thy first father, being thus furnished with sufficiences of power, and with the strongest obli- gations to preserve himself and thee, has actually sinned and ruined himself and his offspring; (this is indeed an unhappy truth ;) but the great God is not to blame, who has not only acted wisely, but kindly towards his crea- tures in this constitution, because so far as we can judge, it was much more probable that Adam would have maintained his innocence and his happiness, together with that of his offspring. tRgain. When the race of man was ruined, and God saw that every man would come into the world under unhappy circumstances of guilt and corruption of nature, 3ie provided a covenant of grace, and brought thee into some knowledge of it. And this had been effectual to have recovered and saved thee from the ruins of the fall, if thou hadst exerted all thy force, employed all thy nat- ural powers of understanding and will for this purpose, and used all thy diligence to follow the methods of his grace, and hadst sought earnestly for divine aids. For there is no man among the damned is able to say, / have done every thing that was in my power to do. No man shall be condemned for what was utterly impossible for liim to avoid. It is confessed indeed, thou art laid un- der some hardships and difficulties by the sin of thy first father ; yet it is thine own actual and personal crimes for which thou art here condemned at this judgment, wherein every one shall be judged and rewarded according to his works. It is for many wilful offences against the law of God, and for sinning against the offers of divine gi'ace ; it is for obstinacy against thy own conscience, and all the outward and inward monitions of tliy duty, that thou art fallen under this sentence, and because thou didst not labor and strive against sin, and resist it 438 THE ETERNAL DURATION OP THE even to the end of thy state of life and trial. Thou hast had many an inward reproof for sin, many a secret or public call to virtue, and perhaps loud and fair warn- ings of thy danger ; but thou hast turned a deaf ear to them all, and it is thy own folly, obstinacy, and iniquity, that have brought thee into this misery, and thou must eat the fruit of thy own works. If there should be any person found indeed among Jews, Gentiles or christians, who can justly complain, / have not had a fair and full state of trial, and yet I am condemned, I think we may grant that the righteous God will release such from their misery, after they have worn out a proper number of years in punishment pro- portionable to their past crimes ; and that there shall be a fair, and full, and proper state of trial appointed to them before they shall be utterly and irretrievably mis- erable. But if no such person be found there, if there be no such just complaint to be made among the millions of the damned, then they may be still continued in their prison and punishment without any imputation upon divine justice and equity. Jhiswer 3. Whensoever any such criminal in hell shall be found making such a sincere and mournful ad- dress to the righteous and merciful Judge of all, if at the same time he is truly humble and penitent for his past sins, and is grieved at his heart for having offended his Maker, and melts into sincere repentance, I cannot think that a God of perfect equity and rich mercy will continue such a creature under his vengeance ; but rather, that the perfections of God will contrive a way for escape ; though God has not given us here any revelation or dis- covery of such special grace as this. But on the other hand, whatever melting and moving speeches may be made by sinners here on earth, in com- passion to the sinners who are gone before them to hell, yet if no such person be ever found in hell, truly and PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 439 humbly repenting of his sins, nor have we any reason to think there ever will, why should a righteous God be obliged to cease punishing a rebel who only is vexed and raged under his own chains, and who continues in the spirit of obstinacy, and rebellion against God, and will not repent of it ? Objection the fifth is derived from the mercy and com^ 'passion of a Gody comj)ared with the mercy and com- passion of man. Surely the compassion of the ever- blessed God, who has described himself rich in mercy, abundant in goodness, and whose very name is love, 1 John iv. 8, must have transcendent tenderness and pity towards his creatures, the work of his hands, above all the compassions that any fellow-creature can express towards another. Now the very thought and name of eternal pun- ishments, or endless torment is such as seems to shock the nature of a good natured man ; and though he was never so much injured, yet he would never have a thought of wishing his enemy any kind of eternal punishment for it, much less of condemning him to everlasting misery, and supporting him in being on purpose to suffer it ; and therefore we cannot suppose that God will do it. This objection is further strengthened by an expres- sion of our Saviour himself, who says, Mark xviii. 19, There is none goody save one, that is God ; as much as to say, there is none equal or comparable in good- ness to God himself. And it is further supported still by the common notions which good men have of God ; those expressions in the apocryphal writings confirm it, 2 Esd. V. 33 ; " Then said the Lord unto me, thou art sore troubled in mind for Israel. Lovest thou that peo- ple more than he that made them ?" And in the same book, chapter viii. 47 ; Thou comestfar short, that thou shouldest be able to love my creature more than I. Now since no good man could wish such a curse or mischief to his worst and most wicked enemy, as torment without 430 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE end^ surelj^ we cannot conceive the great God will ever be so severe as to inflict it. Jinswer i. It is readily allowed, that God has more goodness than any creature ; but God has also more wisdom and knowledge, which concur with his good- ness in all his actions j and he forms a much juster judg- ment concerning the evil and demerits of sin and rebel- lion against himself, than it is possible for any creature to form. And I think I may boldly assert, none can know the complete evil of sin, or its lull desert, but that same glorious Being against wliom sin is committed, who knows well the dignity of his own nature and his own law, and what unspeakable injury is done thereto by the sins of men. Now his goodness in all his trans- actions must be re2;ulated and limited bv this infinite wisdom ; and if a man docs not see and consent to the just demerits of sin against his Maker, it is because he has less wisdom and knowledge than the great God has ; and his tenderness and compassion may run into very great excesses, and may be in some instances a sign of his weakness and folly, as well as of his goodness and pity, as I shall shew under tlie next answer. At present let us represent the case in a common in- stance. When criminals go to execution from month to month, or from year to year, in this great city ; and es- pecially if some of them have a handsome and agreea- ble appearance, and if they are Avringing tlieir hands with outcries, and vexing their own hearts, and are stung by their own consciences for their having brought this misery upon themselves, you will find several of the spectators of so tender a make as to grieve for tlie exe- cution of such criminals, and to wish in their hearts it was in their power to save them. And yet further, if there are numbers of these wicked creatures that are sent at once to the punishment of the sword or the gal- lowS;, there may be many of these spectators grieviiig PUNISHMENTS OF HELlr. 431 for tliem, and pitying them, and perhaps exclaiming against the severity of the law, and the cruelty of the judge, for condemning such malefactors to death. But do all these weepers and complainants judge justly of the case ? Do they consider how pernicious and ruinous a thing it would he to a government to let such traitors go unpunished ? JOo they know, that is a piece of clemency and goodness to the innocent to punish the wicked ? Or that it is a piece of necessary honor due to the laws^ to make those who insolently break them, sus- tain the penalty that the law has appointed ? Do they remember that the few good qualities, or supposed tal- ents, or fine appearances which these offenders are pos- sessed of, should outweigh the demands of the law and justice, the peace of the nation or kingdom, and the re- straint of others from the same crimes ? Answer 2. The goodness of God, the eternal Spirit, is a much superior thing to the tenderness and compas- sion of man dwelling in flesh and blood. Man grows compassionate by a sort of sympathy or sensation of the miseries which liis fellow-creatures endure ; and though this is exceeding useful for many purposes of human life, and therefore God planted it in our natures, yet it lias so much mixture of animal nature with it, that it fre- quently degenerates into weakness, fondness, and folly. And indeed, if every tender creature must be gratified in this weakness, and form the rules of government, there would never a malefactor fall under execution ; but the vilest criminals would be spared, though the government were ruined. On the other hand, the goodness or mercy of God is a sedate willingness or design to do good to creatures, and particularly to the miserable, but always according to the directions of wisdom and holiness. As God cannot have such anger, resentment, or cruelty in his nature, as man- kind may fall into when they are punishing offenders, 4*32 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE SO properly speaking, he has no such sort of passionate tenderness' and sympathy in sparing them. Though the words of greatest affection are sometimes used by the sacrpd writers to figure out the mercies of God to man, yet God both punishes and spares according to the calm and righteous exercises of his wisdom, and not under the influence of such passions as we feel. Since, therefore, the exercise of such sort of passions among men oftentimes appears to be the weakness of nature, joined with their ignorance of the rules of equity, is it reasonable that the great and all-wise God should make such creatures his patterns in the limitation of the exercises of his justice? Or that he should be as weak as they are, and as much moved to swerve from the rules of his own righteous government, by such a sort of ten- derness as ignorant, weak, and foolish man may some- times express towards criminals in tlieir deserved misery ? It is readily granted, that a wise and a good man may and ought to be sorry and grieved, that any of his fel- fow-creatures should be so vicious as to bring themselves under so severe a penalty by their own wilful crimes ; but still in their calmest and wisest thoughts they ac- knowledge the wisdom and equity of the government, in inflicting such penalties upon those who heinously offend ; and they acquiesce in the sentence and the ex- ecution. Our blessed Lord Jesus himself, who was the wisest and the best of creatures, looked upon the city of Jerusa- lem with an eye of compassion, and wept over it ; Luke xiii. 34* ; ^' O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would 1 have gathered thy children as a hen doth gather licr brood under her wings, and ye would not ? Therefore behold your house is left unto you desolate '' Let it be observed here, that our Saviour had the bowels. PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 433 and compassions^, and tenderness of the best of men ; but he still maintains the vindictive exercise of the gov- ernment of God. ^*' Your desolation must and shall come upon you, nor will I forbid or withhold it." And I am sure the human nature of our blessed Saviour was formed nearest to the image of God beyond any creature besides ; and as I have hinted before, it is he who is the supreme messenger of his Father's love, that has pro- nounced these eternal punishments upon impenitent sin- ners in many parts of his ministry. Ansicer 3. How far will these ohjectors permit, the justice of God to go in the punishment of impenitent sinners ? If eternal punishment must neither be threat- ened nor inflicted, lest divine goodness be injured, then all mankind, even the worst and vilest of criminals, must certainly be one day delivered from their miseries ; and thus the great God, who is infinitely offended, is bound to finish his wrath one day, and return in mercy to the offenders, whether they return to him by repent- ance or no. What ! May the criminal rebel creature with impudence and spite affront the Creator infinitely, and must not the Creator have a right to demand equal vengeance ? No ; he must not, according to these writers ; for if the essential goodness of God do certainly forbid eternal punishments, these absurdities, as gross as they appear, will be the necessary consequences of it. And tiiough the creature be not restrained from sinning, yet the blessed God will be utterly restrained from pun- ishing. And is this a doctrine fit to be believed by christians, or to l)e taught by those who have no com- mission for it from their Bible ? Or indeed, will the light of nature and reason ever justify and support this sort of pleading ? Objection the sixth is drawn from the wisdom of God in his government of the world. Surely, will the sinner say, it was for some valuable end that God at first pro- 55 434 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE nounced punishment to attend the sins of his creatures ; for lie does not afflict willingly, nor delight to grieve the children of men ; his design must be therefore one of these two things; either to correct, and reform the sinners whom he punishes, and reduce them to their duty, in order to partake of his mercy, or else it must be to maintain a jJublic monument and dejnonstration of his justice, and to support the authority of his law, and honor of his government, that he might deter other crea- tures from sinning against him. But when this world is come to its period, and his governing providence over it is finished, and all the means of grace are ended, the first end, viz. correction and reformation, ceases. Tlierc is no more hope of reforming such sinners as these. And what further need can there be of the secondary design of punishment, viz. the demonstration of his justice in so terrible a manner to restrain others from sinning, when the state of our trial is ended, and all mankind are sent either to heaven or hell ? Ansicer 1. 1 might here reply by way of concession, that if there were no other intelligent creatures to be witnesses of these eternal demonstrations of God's holi- ness, his justice, and his hatred of sin ; and if God him- self was tlie only Being who knew of these eternal pun- ishments, I acknowledge I cannot see sufficient reason for this endless duration of them ; I cannot give any probable account why creatures who are never to ])c cor- rected and reformed, should be tormented for ever in secret ; God perfectly knows his own holiness and jus- tice without such monuments of it ; and since he has as- serted this punishment, I think there must be some crea- tures to receive amoral influence from the Icnowledge of it. I answer secondly. When there is a representation made of the punishment of the worshippers of the beast in Rev. xiv 10, 11, tliat they shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is jioured out without mixture : PUNISHMENTS OP HELL. 435 and they shall he tormented with fire and brimstone ; and the smoke of their torment ascendeth for ever and ever, it is in the jtresence of the holy angels, as well as ia the jrresence of the Lamb. Angels and otlier innocent be- ings may improve such a sight to valuable purposes. Objection the seventh. When we remember that Jesus Christ himself hath assured us that but few shall he saved, and that the broad way is full of sinners run- ning down to destruction and death ; if we suppose these punishments to be endless, some will be ready to say, What ! shall the greatest part of God's creatures be made miserable for ever and ever ? Is this consistent with the wisdom and goodness of the blessed God, to form such an immense multitude of souls dwelling in bodies, to make them for ever miserable ? What will a God of goodness have to prove his goodness to his creatures, if far the greatest part of them are left in ever- lasting sorrows ? Answer. The far greatest part of the creation of God may be holy and happy still ; for this world of ours, even all mankind, is a very small portion of God's im- mense dominions ; and when the transactions of our earth, and God's present government of it shall be fin- ished, he has a thousand other dominions among the planets and stars, which has been proved by the reason of men to a great degree of probability ; and these he governs by righteous laws ; and though he has not re- vealed much of them to us in this life, yet he has dis- covered something of this kind in his own word. He lias acquainted us with his wise and righteous govern- ment over fallen angels, and what was their sin, viz. their pride and ambition, and what was their punishment for their first rebellion ; Jude vi. ; and this is done by the wisdom and mercy of God, to affright men from sin-, ning, while we behold how those fallen spirits are ex- posed and set forth as terrible examples for our warning. 436 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE And why may not the everlasting punishment of sinners among the children of men be made a standing mon- ument of God's justice, to deter many other worlds from offending him ? Other worlds, I say, of unknown crea- tures, which perhaps may inhabit the planetary globes rolling round the same sun as our earth does ; and their state of trial perhaps is not yet begun, or it may be half run out, and yet shall not be finished for some thousands of years ? Or perhaps there are other worlds of spirits, and in- Yisible, incorporeal, intelligent creatures, in a state of trial, may persevere in glorious innocence and complete happiness, to the eternal praise of their Maker's good- ness ; and may yet be kept in their constant duty and obedience, by having always in their view the eternal punishments of wicked men. See this sulnject treated of more at large in a book called The Strength and Weak- ness of Human Reason ; Sd edition, p. 288. The counsels of God are far above our reach ; and his dominions and governments are unknown to us. What if the great God will have creatures in some of his territories, who in themselves are weak and ready to fall, and may be deterred from sin and apostacy by such standing manifestations of his hatred of it, and his right- eous vengeance against it ? And since others have been monuments of warning to us, what if he please to make this wicked world of ours, when he has taken the few righteous out of it to heaven, 1 say, what if he please to make the rest an everlasting spectacle of his justice and holiness, to a hundred or a thousand other worlds, which may be utterly unknown to us ? And he may, for this end, reveal his transactions with mankind to those worlds, though he has not revealed much of their affairs io us. If I were to mention any other objection worthy of notice, I know of none but this, viz. some learned men PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 437 suppose it to have been the opinion of the primitive fathers, that souls departing from this worhl were sent into hades, or the state of the dead, where the righteous rested in a state of peace and hope, till the resurrection should bring them to heaven ; and the most wicked amongst mankind went also to hades, or this state of the dead, under a long and fearful expectation of the final punishments of hell. But that great multitudes who were of an indifterent character, and who were not so bad but they might be reclaimed, had another state of trial in hades, whither, they say, our Lord Jesus Christ at his death descended, and preached the gospel to them ; and many of them were recovered, and shall be hereafter raised to eternal life. The chief scripture whence they borrow this, is 1 Pet. iii. 19, SO ; of which we have spoken before ; and that at the great day of judgment, the incorrigible sinners should be sent with the devils into the punishment of fire, which, though it may last for a shorter or longer time, yet should destroy both their bodies and their souls for ever. To this I answer first. If this had been the doctrine of many ancient christians, yet unless they could bring plainer proofs of it from the word of Grod, than one diffi- cult and obscure text of St. Peter, there is no great rea- son for us to receive from them such traditions. The word of God is our only test of truth, and our instructor in matters of the invisible world. Answer 2. Though there might be a few of the early writers who seemed to incline to some of these opinions, yet this sense is drawn out from most of them by learned men with much difficulty, uncertainty, and conjecture. And there are many others of them who make the pun- ishments of hell as durable as the writers of later ages. Nor do they mention or allow of any such sort of pur- gatory for souls of an indifferent character as this objec- tion pretends. Those who look into their writings will 438 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE find abimdaiit evidence, that most of tliem talk of eternal pimishment by fire, in the very words and language of the New Testament, and in direct opposition to this doc- trine of temporal punishments in hell. 1 shall cite bnt two writers, one of which is the very earliest of the fathers, an acquaintance of St. Paul ; and that is Clemens the Roman, v.ho in the eighth section of his second epistle says thus : Let us tlierefore repent whilst we arc yet upon the earth ; for we are as clay in the hand of the artificer. For as the potter, if he makes a vessel, and it be distort- ed in his hands, or broken, again forms it anew ; but if lie hath gone so far as to throw it into the furnace of fire, he can no more bring any remedy to it. So we, whilst we are in this world, should repent Avitli our whole heart for whatsoever evil we have done in the flesh, while we liave yet the time of repentance, that we may be saved by the Lord. For after we shall have departed out of this world, we shall no longer be able either to confess our sins, or repent in the other." The English reader may find this in Archbishop Wake's translation of the most primitive fathers. Justin Martyr, who is also one of the most early writers, in the eighth section of his first ajjology, tells us, that Plato teaches that Radamanthus and Minos punish- ed the unrighteous who came before them ; and that ice christians say the same thing will be done, but it is by Christ; when their bodies are joined tcith their souls, and they shall be punished icith eternal punishment, and not for the period of a thousand years only, as Plato said. This same w riter also, in very many places of his works, talks o{ eternal punishments, and oi punishment for an endless age, and eternal fire, with eternal sensation or pain. Irensus also after him, as well as Ignatius and Poly- carp before him. speak of this fire which is not to be PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 489 quenched., and of death and punishmeni, not temporal, but eternal. So tliat it is really an imposition upon un- learned readers to pretend, that the doctrine wliicli denies the eternity of the punishments of hell, was the common sense of the primitive fathers, though it is granted that Origen and some others might be of this opinion. To conclude — Since the word of God has expressly assured us, that these punishments of sinful men shall be eternal, it is not for us to hearken to any otlier doctrines, and neglect what God has said, nor is it fit for us to dis- pute the wisdom and justice of divine conduct, nor to impeach his goodness. Let God be true, though every man be a liar ; let God be wise, though every man be a fool ; let God be just and righteous in all his ways, though man vainly murmur against him, and raise these noisy and feeble remonstrances against his judgments. The counsel of the Lord shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure, in the eternal manifestations of his justice as well as his grace. If there be any supposed incon- sistency or cloud of difficulty remaining on his conduct, he will clear it up to the satisfaction of every rational mind one day, and will bring the conscience of every condemned sinner to acknowledge the equity of his pro- ceedings. The whole creation shall tlien justify the final sentence of judgment on all the sons of men. I cannot finish this awful argument better tlian the apostle finishes the same sort of subject in the ninth and eleventh chapters to the Romans. '^' O man, who art thou that repliest against God? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, hath endured, with much long-suffering, the vessels of wrath, who have fitted themselves for destruction ? And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he hath afore prepared unto glory ? O the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowl- edge, ihe. justice and the goodness of 6ro^, how unsearch - 440 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE able are his judgments, and his ways past finding out? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things, to whom be glory fcr ever and ever. Amen." SECTION III. Reflections on the eternity of Punishment in Hell. As we have before drawn various inferences from the nature of those punishments tliat are prepared for sin- ners in the world to come, so there are other inferences and terrible reflections which may be derived from the duration or jjerpetuity of the torments of hell. Reflection I. What imspeakable anguish and torture doth this one circumstance add to every pain and sorrow of damned creatures^ that it is everlasting and has no end P What unknown twinges in the conscience doth this thought give to the gnawing of the cruel worm, viz. that it is a laorm that never dies ? What inconceivable force and sting of torment does this add to \\\^ flre of God's indignation in hell, that it is a flre which shall never be quenched f When one year of torment and sor- row is ended, or one thousand years are come to their period, the case of sinners is still much the same ; the vengeance remains still as heavy as ever, and seems as far off from its end. This dreadful price, which the jus- tice of God demands for the reparation of our offences against his law and his authority, is a price which crea- tures can never pay, for it is infinite ; and therefore when a finite creature begins to make payment thereof with his own sufferings, these sufferings must be everlasting. It is evident that one wilful sin is sufficient to sink creatures under the indignation of a God for six thousand years. I call the angels who sinned for witnesses to this truth. They were formed in holiness and in glory before the creation of this lower world ; and probably they sinned and fell before this creation too ; and they PUNISHMENTS OP HELU 441 are yet imprisoned and confined under jjerpetual chains of darkness, as the word of Grod tells us, and reserved to everlasting punishment at the judgment of the great day. And if thou, O sinner, among the sons of men, if thou diest in an unregenerate, unholy, and unpardoned state, the sins of thy whole life are charged upon thee, and tliou art daily treasuring up ivrath against the day of wrath, and thou shall not escape from this prison till thou hast paid the utmost farthing ; Rom. ii. 5 ; Matt. V. 26. If one sin deserves all this misery which has been described, what a dreadful reckoning will the sins of thy whole life come to, when every command of God which thou hast broken shall appear and demand repar- ation for its injured honor ? Remember^ O sinner, obsti- nate and rebellious, remember thou hast to do with a great and dreadful God, who has all thine iniquities ever before his eyes ; Isaiah Ivi. 5. Behold they are written hfore me, and I will recompence, saith the Lord, their iniquity into their bosom. He is a God that will never forget any one of thy crimes. Amos viii. 7 j The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, surely I ivill never forget any of their works. Though thou hast lost and forgot them, he will bring them again into thy con- science with a terrible remembrance; and when this God comes forth in a way of vengeance, every trans- gression and disobedience shaUreceive a just recompence of reward. Vengeance belongeth unto me, saith the Lord ; Heb. ii. 2. and x. 30. He that spared not his oini Son, when he laid on him the iniquity of us all, will never spare thee who art the personal and criminal transgressor. Eternal recompences are due to the de- mands of justice, and he will punish till full payment is made equal to tlie evil of sin, that is to all everlasting. Reflection II. What infinite and eternal concerns of men hang upon the short and slender thread of human .^6 442- TKE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE life P An eternal heaven or an eternal hell depend* on our good or ill behaviour in this short and mortal state. While life remains the sinner's hope remains ; lie abides on the stage of action^ and this is the state of trial for eternity. But as soon as tlie thread of life is broken, immediately ensues endless joy or endless sorrow. What a poor fleeting vapor, what a thin and frail bubble is this feeble and uncertain thing which we call life ? And yet what matters of immense importance de- pend upon it ? This present life is a prize put into our hands, for it is the only time given us to obtain deliver- ance and escape from eternal death. Life in this view, as mere a bubble and vapor as it is, carries in it some- thing of infinite and everlasting moment. But alas, how wretchedly does foolish and sinful mankind trifle and squander it away amidst a thousand vanities and imper- tinences, or saunter it out in sloth and laziness, with an utter disregard of the important eternity that depends upon it ? What multitudes are there that waste the golden hours of grace and the seasons of hope, iu pro- curing to themselves by their own wilful iniquities, a lengtli of damnation and everlasting despair ? Whilst we dwell here in the midst of the means of mercy and salvation, tlicre is hope that our sinful souls may be healed of that disease which is breeding the ever-knawing worm within us. We may prevent the fuel of divine wratli from kindling into a flame wliich cannot be quenched. But when once the clock of life has gone through its appointed spaces, and the last hojr strikes, whether it be three or five, whether at twelve, at noon, or at midnight, all liope is for ever gone ; we are plunged into the regions of death, despondency and darkness, and nothing remains but the actual torture of the worm of conscience to seize on us, and the fire of divine anger actually breaks out, which shall burn to the lowest hell. PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 443 O could we but behold ourselves iu tlie glass of wis- dom, while we are yet standing upon the slippery edge of this burning precipice, and playing with painted bub- bles there, or in warm pursuit of a flying shining feather along the brink of this burning torrent, what fools and madmen sliould we appear to be even in our own eyes ! And yet we go on to practice this folly, this madness, day after day, in spite of all the warnings of God and man, till at last our foot slips in some dreadful moment, and we vanish out of the sight of our companions, and are lost for ever. Keflection III. If the miseries of hell are eternal, how unreasonable a thing is it ever to suffer the loss of any jiossessions or joys which are temporal and perisli- ing. to come into competition ivith them P Surely there is nothing that belongs to time that should tempt us to run the risque of tlie sorrows of eternity, nor allure us to commit one sin against God, which is the fatal spring of such sorrows ! Stand still, O sinner, and hearken to tlie voice of wisdom. Do the pleasures of sense, or the gaities of sight, or the wealth or grandeurs of this life allure thee to make thy way boldly through any ineans toward the possession of them, think with thyself, is it by offending tlijs great and dreadful God ? And wilt thou dare to take one step towards these dangerous and deceitful vanities, and risque thine immortal welfare in the pursuit ? What a foolish bargain wilt thou make to gain the whole world of short lived perishing trifles, and to lose thy soul, in endless perdition ? Mark viii. 36. Dare any of us venture an eternal state of torment to gain the flattering and delusive joy of a short hour, or a winter's day ? What are all the gratifications of flesh and sense ? What are all the swelling titles of honor amongst men ? What are all the treasures of this perishing world ? How short is their duration, and how short is the pos- 444 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE session of them? All earthly felicities perish in tlip using, and are no sooner enjoyed but are quickly lost again, or expire in the enjoyment. But if the ruin of a soul, and a lost heaven, be the price of them, how mad is the pur- chase, and how wretched is the purchaser ? Retiection IV. How patiently sJiould ice bear all the labors and fatigues, the pains and miseries of this mor- tal life, when ive have any hope of our deliverance from the pains and sorrows of immortality P As for our maladies and sorrows here on earth, blessed be God they are not eternal. There are some intervals to re- lieve, and there is some period to finish them. When we ask a friend who is sick and in pain, ^^ how fare you P I am in pain now, says he, but I hope I shall be easy anon. I am sick to-day, but I trust 1 shall be in health tomorrow." This is a sweet mitigation of the present uneasiness, and gives relief to the patient. But how dreadful and piercing would these accents be, if we should hear our friend make this answer to us, " I am all over in extreme pain and anguish, and I shall never, never be eased of it. I lie under exquisite torment of the flesh, and horror in my soul, and I shall for ever feel this horror and this torment." Such is the case of the damned sinners in hell, and therefore there agonies are intolerable. But if you have any comfortable prospect of the par- don of sin, and a well grounded hope of eternal salva- tion through the blood of Christ, and by the rules and promises of the gospel, all the temporal toils and plagues that can possibly stand between us and heaven should be despised and disregarded by us, and we should learn to triumph over them with the victorious songs of thankfulness and praise. Blessed be the name of our God, though he has smitten us sorely, yet he has not given us over to everlasting death. Let our thoughts ascend to the heavenly regions, and PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 445 let US ask those who are arrived thither out of the land of temptation and conflict, out of these tabernacles of sin and sorrow ', let us ask them what gave them so divine a courage, and so firm a patience, in the midst of all their trials ? With one voice they will all make answer, it was the view of our deliverance from an eternal hell, and the hopes of obtaining salvation by Christ Jesus with eternal glory ; it is this that supported us under every burden, and bore us on with a spirit of faith and victory through every hardship on earth. It was for tliis we labored, and suifered, and counted not life, nor any of the blessings of it, dear to us, nor any of the sor- rows of it intoUerable, that we might escape the ever- lasting sorrows of a future state, and enjoy the bless- ings of life eternal. And, O may every one of us he the followers of those who through this faith and patience have obtained the •promised felicity ! May we also make our way, by the same motives, through the floods and the fires of afflic- tion and distress, to reach this everlasting heaven, and to escape everlasting burnings ! In order to confirm our patience, and to animate our zeal, let us survey the blessed example of St. Paul, who was reproached, who was buffetted, who was persecu- ted with stones, and whips, and scourges, and bore a thousand indignities, who was assaulted with endless strokes of injury and violence, and yet rejoiced in the midst of all his sufferings in the view of his eternal hope. The spirit of faith in the midst of all his sufferings taught him to sing this divine song, our light afflictions, which are hut for a moment, are working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, The suf- ferings of this present time are not worthy to he compar- ed with the glory that shall he revealed ; 2 Cor. iv. 17- Rom. viii. 18. Nor are they worthy to be compared with that exceeding and eternal weight of vengeance. 446 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE from which we are delivered by faith and patient obedi- ence to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Reflection Y. If the iniseries of hell are eternal, we can never have our deliverance from them made too se- cure. If the danger of any mischief, to which ^ve might be exposed, were but slight, and the duration of it short, there might be possibly some excuse for our delay to escape it. But wlien it is total and irrevocable ruin to which we are liable every moment, while we continue in a state of sin, we should fly with all the wings of our souls, and never be at ease or quiet till we are got with- out the reach of danger, and settled in a place of safety, or on the rock of our salvation. O could we but perceive a thousandth part of the hor- ror that is contained in an eternal hell, an eternal ban- ishment from the face and favor of God, and tlie eternal impressions of his anger, we should never give our- selves rest one moment, till we had returned to God by a sincere repentance, and were reconciled to him that made us ; till we fled for refuge to the blood of Jesus, and to his sanctifying grace, whicli is the only hope that is set before us. We should never give ourselves leave to lie down, or awake in quiet, while we were destitute of a saving interest in the salvation of Christ, and had attained to some clear evidence of it, and a well-ground- ed hope. Have we not sometimes felt the icorm of conscience begin to gnaw within us, and to prey upon our spirits after the commission of some sin ? And shall we not apply ourselves with all holy speed to the divine Phy- sician, wlio can kill this gnawing worm witliin us, and can heal tliose sinful maladies that are breeding it? Have we not sometimes felt the tlu'eatenings of tlie Avrath of God in his larw, like afire in our bones? With what infinite desire then, and what restless vehemence should we fly to the blood of Jesus, our great sacrifice, PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 447 which alone can quench the fiery indignation of God, and prevent it from growing up to an everlasting flame. Had we upon our spirits such a sense of the terrors of the Lord of liell, as his threatenings represent, we should never he satisfied with such cold, doubtful hopes of our deliverance from them, as thousands of nominal christians are contented with ; but we should make every needful and critical enquiry^, whether our repent- ance were sincere, whether our faith in Christ were un- feigned, whether our hopes had a solid foundation in the divine promise. We should search every power of our souls, and examine our hearts through every corner, whether sin be mortified there, whether the christian virtues are formed within us, and the divine image is begun to be stamped upon our minds. We should be restless and impatient in our inward searches, whether we are made new creatures, whether we are born of God, and become his children, and are secured by his gospel, from this everlasting vengeance. The degree and the infinite duration of this misery should appoint the proportion of our zeal and solicitude to escape it. A man who sees or feels his own house on fire under him, does not continue upon his bed of sloth, or sit amusing himself among the ornaments of his chamber, till the flames have broke through and seized him ; but with huge outcries he seeks for help, and flies in haste for his life, wheresoever he finds a way. Such should be the language, and such the activity of sinful creatures, to escape the wrath to come ; and such will be the out- cries of sinners when they are thoroughly awakened ; this language of every place, and every hour, will then be awakened ; what shall I do to he saved? Whither shall I fly for refuge P O blessed Jesus, receive me into thy protection, and be thou my deliverer. Give me leave to repeat this sort of expostulation with lingering and delaying sinners, or with drowsy and 448 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE formal christians. If you would set yourselves often in the blaze of these everlasting burnings, you would never satisfy yourselves with such cold, faint wishes, such lazy endeavors, such languid efforts of faith and repentance, to escape this fiery indignation that shall never be quenched. Nor would you content yourselves with dark and doubtful evidences of your interest in the love of God, and the grace of our Lord Jesus ; but you would be day and niglit busy with your own hearts, in the most intimate and careful search after converting grace and living Christianity. You would never be at rest till you felt the new nature working with power and briglit evidence within you, that you might be able to say, '^ we know there is no condemnation belongs to us, but that we are passed from death unto life." Let us proceed upon this subject, turning the discourse from ourselves to our friends, and say with what fervor of love, with what holy zeal and compassion, should we labor to save our friends and all that are dear to us, from this eternal destruction ? What words of fiery terror shall we clioose to awaken those who slumber on the edge of endless burnings ? What language of kind and tender passion shall we clioose to reach their hearts ? What phrases of melting pity to hasten tlieir escape from this precipice of burning ruin, or to pluck them as brands out of the fire, before it becomes un- quenchable? Knowing these terrors of the Lord, with what vehemence of zeal should we try to persuade men, our fellow mortals, that they would not venture into the midst of these miseries, and beseech them in the name of Christ, to be reconciled to God ? This was the prac- tice, and these the motives of the great apostle, as he describes them at tlie latter end of the fifth chapter in liis second epistle to the Corinthians. O with what force of ardent and active compassion should ministers preach both the curses of the law, and PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 449 the grace of the blessed gospel, to perishing sinners, and make haste to rescue their souls from this everlast- ing vengeance ? With what warm and solicitous zeal should they lay hold of thoee poor thoughtless wretches who are madly indulging their lusts and follies, and thereby preparing themselves to become fit fuel for this eternal fire ? They are forming themselves by their in"- iquitics to become vessels of this everlasting indignation. Let us seize tliem by some kind and constraining words of love, some outcries of compassion and fear, lest they rush into those flames which will never be quenched. Perhaps when they are summoned away from us by the stroke of death, they may leave us in the most uncom- fortable sorrows for our neglect, while they are suflTering the long endless punishment due to their own iniquities. Keflection VI. How unreasonable a thing is it for us ministers, who are charged and entrusted with the whole counsel of God for the salvation of men, to avoid the mention of these his eternal terrors in our sermons, and in our addresses to mortal creatures ! creatures who are daily preparing themselves for them by their sins, and are ready to plunge into the midst of them ! Has not our blessed Saviour made frequent mention of them in his gospel, and set them in their dreadful array before his hearers? Has he not expressed them in their strongest terms, and spread them in their most frightful colors, and set them in their full and everlasting extent, before the sinners which attended his ministry? And did he ever give any hint that they sliould be understood in a milder sense ? Have not the apostles followed their Lord in the same dreadful display of the sharp and ever-during punishments of hell? And have they taught us to qualify these terrors by gentler interpreta- tions of them ? And have not such kind of discourses been abundantly blessed in the providence of Grod, both 57 450 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE in ancient and later ages, to awaken and save inulti tudes of the sonls of men ? How many holy and happy spirits are now rejoicing before God, and before the throne of his love, and en- compassed with all the joys of immortality, who owe the beginnings of their repentance, and the first turn of their souls towards faith and salvation to such words of terror as these ? How many of the saints on high, have been first awakened from their deadly sleep in sin, by the ministrations of this eternal vengeance of God ? How many have been frighted out of their indolence at first, by the discovery of these everlasting horrors of conscience, and agonies of soul ? The dread of the worm tliat never dies, has aifrighted their consciences from a course of sin ; the fiery indignation which shall never be quenched, has flashed in their bosoms from the lips of tlie preacher, and lias set them all over trem- bling, and filled all their inward powers with dismay and anguish ; their tongue has broke into loud and earnest inquiries, Who shall deliver me from this eternal death ? How shall I escape this everlasting wrath to come ? And the Spirit of God by degrees has led them to Jesus, and his atoning blood, his gospel, his righteousness, and his converting grace, as the only way of deliverance and salvation. How unreasonable a thing is it for ministers in their preaching, to soften these terrors of the Lord, to cut short tiiese endless horrors and anguish, and to mitigate the miseries of hell and damnation, since even all that length and eternity in which Christ and his apostles preached these terrors, have not been suificient to reclaini mankind from their iniquities ; but multitudes of them, in the face of all these threatenings, still persist in the broad way to destruction and death ? Can we possibly do any honor to the ministry of our PUNISHMENTS OP HELL. 4)51 blessed Lord, or is there any real service done to the souls of men by our fond and vain reasonings to shorten these sorrows, and put a period to these threatened tor- ments ? Will the blessed Jesus, when he sits on the throne of judgment, give us thanks for running counter to the language of his own ministry, and for daring to contradict his denounced vengeance ? By the various expressions and representations of this matter in scripture, in such solemn and dreadful lan- guage, must 1 not suppose that th« blessed God, and our Lord Jesus Christ, designed and intended that man- kind should believe the pains and punishments of hell will be eternal ? Can I then be censured for endeavor- ing to establish and promote the awful doctrine which botli God the Father and his Son intended should be believed, and by which they designed to guard both the law and the gospel ? A doctrine which was left on re- cord to deter sinners from the paths of sin and destruc- tion, and to awaken the souls and consciences of men to repentance ? On the other hand, can those teachers be approved of God or good men, whose evident design is to lead the world to disbelieve this solemn and terri- ble warning of the great God ? Let us proceed in these enquiries, and address our- selves to those wicked and miserable creatures, wlio are actually suifering this divine vengeance. Let us ask them, how they approve of this sort of preaching which withholds from the eyes, and ears, and consciences of men, the most dreadful circumstance of these horrors ? Will any of the damned wretches of hell thank us for hiding so dreadful a part of these miseries from them ? Will they bless us for lessening the threatened curses and indignation of a God ? " No, says the condemned wretch, those preachers are worthy of my curses and not my thanks, w^ho abated tliese terrors of the Lord, and 452 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE shortened his threatened punishment ; for they persuad- ed me to hope tliere would be an end of my misery, and thereby tempted me to venture upon those sins which I should have renounced with abomination, had I believed the words of God, and these everlasting tor- ments. O cursed and cruel preachers, who, by soften- ing and curtailing the sentence of eternal misery, gave a sort of licence to my wickedness, and broke one of the strongest bars that restrained me from sinning ! It is by this sort of flattery they paved my way down to hellj and have brought me into this prison, this eternal an- guish, whence there is no release.''* Say, ye who preach that the gates of hell shall one day be opened to let out the prisoners, ye who tell sin- ners there is a time of release for them, say, do ye ex- pect to fright them out of their sins by lessening their fear of God and his wrath to come ? Do ye hope to bring obstinate and impenitent rebels to a more speedy remorse for sin, and to begin a life of holiness, by per- sua?liug them that these terrors of God shall have an end ? Can ye imagine that such vain tidings, such sooth- ing flattery, will ever melt them to re))entance and love, when all the grace of the gospel, mingled with the blood and tears of the Son of God will not do it ? Would not this manner of preaching rather encourage them to run on still in their rebellions, and make them more regard- less of their highest interest ? Would it not tempt them to give a loose to their vilest inclinations, and all the flagrant and abominable enormities of their own heart, when they shall be told that these punishments, which * Some of the ancients have called those preachers, who shorten the pains of hell, the merciful or compassionate doctors. And Dr. T. Burnet calls those merciless or uncompassionate, who preach the eternity of it. But I think it will appear one day, that those are truly the compassionate writers and teachers, who most effectually affright and prevent men from sin and damnation ; and those wlio have given wicked men hope of their release from hell, will be in danger of being charged with smoothing their way to this miser}', by softening the terrors of it. PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 453 the Bible calls everlastings shall one day come to an end? Besides, I believe it has been observed in every age, that the fears of this worm tvhich never dies, and this eternal fire which shall never he quenched, have been made abundantly useful in the providence of God to lay a powerful restraint on the unruly vices of some sinners, who have never been awakened and drawn into saving penitence, or reclaimed to a life of sincere holiness. And, if tlie restraint of this terror were taken away, tow much more would all iniquity abound among those who have no inward principle of goodness ? Let us proceed then to preach the same terror which the blessed Jesus thought not unworthy of liis ministry ; and may the providence and the grace of God give suc- cess to our labors, both for the restraining the extrava- gant vices of the wicked, for the saving conversion of many sinners, and for a guard and restraint to the young and wavering christians.* * The late Dr. Thomas Burnet, in his Latin treatise of the state of the dead, and those who rise again, opposes the doctrine of the eternity of future punishments, and shews who of the ancient fathers seem to be of th"e same opinion with him. But he tells us, tliat these ancient fathers, when they treated of this subject, often gave the same advice to others, which he himself gives in these words. " Whatsoever you determine within yourself, and in your own breast, concerning these punishments, whether they are eternal or no, yet you ought to use the common doctrine and the common language when you preach or speak to the people, especially those of the lower rank, who are ready to run headlong into vice, and are to be re- strained from evil only by the fear of punishment. And even among good christians there are infants to be nourished with milk ; nor is their diet to be rashly changed, lest through intemperance they fall into diseases." And he adds in the margin, " whosoever shall translate these sentiments Into our mother tongue, I shall think it was done with an evil design and to bad purpose." So that if this were a true doctrine, vet the learned author agrees, that neither the holy writers of the Bible, nor the fathers, think it proper that the bulk of the people should know it. But if it should not be translated, I would ask, why did the author write it and leave it to be pub- lished ? Did lie suppose all men and boys, who understood Latin, to be sufB- ciently guarded against the abuse of such an opinion ' 454? THE ETERNAL UUUAilON OF 'I'HE Notwithstanding all the express language of scripture on our side of the question, and all our arguments drawn from it ; yet there arc some of the reasoners and the disputers of this world, wlio will still suppose that it is more for the honor of God, and for the glory of our blessed Saviour, for ministers to dwell always upon the promises of the new covenant, and the riches of the grace of Christ, and the overflowing measures of the love of God, in order to save sinful men. '•^ Surely say they, preachers have tried long enough what tlie words of terror will do ; let us now allure sinful men to be re- conciled to God by a ministry of universal love and grace ; and let us see whether the boundless compas- sions of a God, in putting a final period to the miseries of his guilty creatures after a certain number of years, will not draw sinners with a sweeter violence to the love and obedience of their Maker, than all this doctrine of severity and terror.'" In the first place, 1 answer, that surel}^ Jesus liimself who is the prime minister of his Fatlier's kingdom, and the divinest messenger of his love, knew better than we do how to pay the highest honor to his heavenly Father, and to display his own grace. Surely he vras well ac- quainted with the best v, ay to begin with sinners, in or- der to their reconciliation to God, and knew also the most effectual avenues to the consciences of sinful creatures, incomparably beyond what any of us can pretend to. Had lie not as tender a sense of the honor of his Father's mercy, as warm a zeal for the glory of his own grace and gospel, and as wise and melting a compassion for the souls of men as the best of us can boast of? And yet he thought it proper to lay the foundation of his own and his apostles ministrations of grace, in this language of terror, in tliese threatenings of eternal punishment. And in tbe course of his providence throngliout all ages PUNISH^IENTS OF HELL. 455 Jie has, iu some measure, made this doctrine successful to recover souls from the snares of the devil, and to en- large his own lieavenly kingdom. Bat I answer further, it must be granted that the tem- pers of men are various, and it is possible tltat some may be of so ingenuous and refined a disposition, that the words of love and grace, without any terror, miglit reach their hearts, and through the influences of heaven, touch them eifectually. But as for tlic bulk of mankind, while they continue in their sins, daily experience con- vinceth us, that they are best awakened by the terrors of the Lord, by a representation of the gnawing icorm ttihich never dies, and i\\Q fire lahich shall not be quench- ed. I never knew but one person in the whole course of my ministry, who acknowledged that the first motions of religion in their own heart arose from a sense of the goodness of God, and that they were gently and sv/eetly led at first to this enquiry. What shall I render to the Lord icho hath dealt so hountifidhj ivith me 9 But I think all besides, who have come within my notice, have rather been first awakened, by the passion of fear, to fly from the wrath to come. If, therefore, we will practice, according to the ex- ample of Jesus, the greatest and the wisest prophet of his church, and his holy apostles, and the best of preach- ers in all ages who have followed him, if we would obey the dictates of long experience, and our best observation on the methods of converting grace, I think we must proceed to denounce these eternal terrors of the Lord against the transgressors of his law, and the despisers of his gospel. This seems to be the appointed and most ef- fectual way to rouse their consciences to seek a deliver- ance from the curses of the law, which carry in them everlasting punishment. This appears to be the first spring of religion in sinful men, and the first motive to 456 THE ETERNAL DURATION, &c, receive the glad tidings of salvation w hich are displayed in the New Testament. This spurs on their passions to escape the vengeance of God, by flying to his gospel, where there is rich and abundant grace to encourage the hope of rebellious creatures in their returns to God by Jesus Christ the Saviour. To Jesus, who is the awful messenger of his Father's terrors, and the prime minister of his love, be glory and honor to everlasting ages. Amen. i i \'m Sj^w^i -n