237 4' 
 B33s 
 
 1906 I 
 
e^JPt. J. T, H068 
 lilYIITG FOR ETJSSHITY 
 
THE 
 
 W® MMST 
 
 LO.ND ON, 
 
 MILNER and COMPT 
 
 paternoster row. 
 
THE SAINTS’ 
 
 EYEKLASTING REST : 
 
 OB, 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 BLESSED STATE OETHE SAINTS 
 
 IN THBIE ENJOYMENT OP GOD IN HEAVEN. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 MY. RICHARD BAXTER. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 MILNEB AND COMPANY, LIMITED, 
 
 PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 

 PREFACE 
 
 BT THE COMPILER OP THIS ABBIDOMBMT. 
 
 Mr. Richard Baxter, the author of the Saints’ Rest, so well known 
 to the world by this, and many other excellent and useful writings, was 
 a learned, laborious, and eminently holy divine of the last age. He 
 was bom near Shrewsbury in 1616, and died at London in 1691, 
 
 His ministry, in an unsettled state^ was for many years employed 
 with great and extensive success, both in London, and in several parts 
 of the country ; but he was nowhere fixed so long, or with such entire 
 satisfaction to himself, and apparenLadvantage to others, as at Kidder- 
 minster. His abode there was indeed interrupted, partly by his bad 
 health, but chiefly by the calamities of a civil war, yet in the whole it 
 amounted to sixteen years ; nor was it by any means the result of his 
 own choice, or that of the inhabitants of Kidderminster, that he never 
 settled there again, after his going from thence in 1660. Before his 
 coming thither, the place was overrun with ignorance and profane- 
 ness ; but by a divine blessing on his wise and faithful cultivation, the 
 fruits of righteousness sprung up in rich abundance. He at first found 
 but a single instance or two of daily family prayer in a whole street , 
 and at his going away, but one family or two could be foimd in some 
 streets that continued to neglect it. And on Lord’s days, instead ot 
 the open profanation to which they had been so long accustomed, a 
 person in passing through the town, in the intervals of public worship 
 might overhear hundreds of families engaged in singing psalms, reading 
 the scriptures and other good books, or su^ sermons as they had wrote 
 down, while they heard them from the pulpit. His care of the souls 
 committed to his charge, and the success of his labours among them, 
 were truly remarkable ; for the number of his stated communicants 
 rose to six hundred, of whom, he himself declared, there were not 
 .welve concerning whose sincere piety he had not reason to entertain 
 good hopes. Blessed be God, the religious spirit which was thus hap- 
 pily introduced, is yet to be traced in the town and neighbourhood in 
 some degree : (Oh that it were in a greater !) and in proportion as that 
 spirit remains, the name of Mr. Baxter continues in the most honourable 
 and affectlon.ate remembrance. 
 
 As a writer, he has the approbation of some of his greatest contem 
 poraries^ who best knew riim, and were under no temptations to be 
 partial in his favour. — Dr. Barrow said, “ His practical writings were 
 never mended, and his controversial ones seldom confuted."— ^ith a 
 view to his casuistical writings, the Honourable Robert Boyle declared, 
 ” He was the fittest man of the age for a casuis^ because he feared no 
 man’s displeasure nor hoped for any man’s preferment.’’— Bishop Wil- 
 kins observed of him, “ that he had cultivated every subject he handled , 
 that if he had lived in the primitive times, he would nave been one ol 
 the fathers of the church ; and that it was enough for one age to pro- 
 duce such a person as Mr. Baxter.’’— Archbishop Usher had such high 
 thoughts of liim, that by his earnest importunity he put hiu* upon writ 
 ing jereial of his practical discourses, particularly that celebrated piece. 
 
Preface. 
 
 his Call to the Unconverted.— Dr. Manton, as he freely e«pressed it, 
 “ thought Mr, Baxter came nearer the apostolical writings than any 
 man in the age.” — And it is both as a preacher and a wTiter, that Dr. 
 Bates considers liim, when, in his funeral sermon for him, he says, “ In 
 his sermons there was a rare union of arguments and motives, to con- 
 vince the mind^ and gain the heart. All the fountains of reason and 
 persuasion were open to his discerning eye. There was no resitting the 
 force of his discourses, without denying reason and divine revelation. 
 He had a marvellous facility and copiousness in speaking. There was 
 a noble negligence in his style, for nis great mind coulif not stoop to 
 the affected eloquence of words ; he despised flashy oratory ! but his ex- 
 pressions were clear and powerful, so convincing the understanding, 
 so entering into the soul, so engaging the affections, that those were as 
 deaf as adders who were not farmed by so wise a charmer. He was 
 animated with the Holy Spirit, and breathed celestial fire, to inspire 
 heat and life iftto dead sinners, and to melt the obdurate in their frore;’ 
 tombs. His books, for their number, [which it seems was more that 
 one hundred and twenty,] and variety of matter in them, make a li- 
 brary. — They contain a treasure of controversial, casuistical, and prac 
 tical. divinity. — His books of practical divinity nave been effectual for 
 more numerous conversions of sinners to God, than any printed in our 
 time; and while thexhurch remains on earth, will be of continual effi- 
 cacy to recover lost souls. There is a vigorous pulse in them, that 
 keeps the reader awake and attentive.” — To these testimonies may not 
 improperly be added, that of the editors of his practical works in four 
 folio volumes ; in the preface to wliich they say, “ Perhaps there are no 
 writings amone us that have more of a trite Christian spirit, a greater 
 mixture of judgment and affection, or a greater tendency to revive pure 
 and undefiled religion ; that have been more esteemed abroad, or more 
 blessed at home, for the awakening the secure, instructing the ignorant, 
 confirming the wavering, comfortmg the dejected, recovering the pro- 
 fane, or improving such as are truly serious, than the practical works 
 of this author,”— Such were the apprehensions of eminent persons, who 
 were well acquainted with Mr. Baxter and his writings. It is therefore 
 the less remarkable that Mr. Addison, from an accidental and a very 
 imperfect acquaintance, but with his usual pleasantness and candour, 
 should mention the following incident: “I once met with a page of 
 Mr. Baxter, Upon the perus^ of it, I conceived so good an idea of the 
 author’s piety, that I bought the whole book.” 
 
 Whatever other causes might concur, it must chiefly be ascribed to 
 Mr. Baxter’s distinguishmg reputation as a preacher and a writer, that 
 presently after the restoration he was appointed one of the chaplains 
 :n ordinary to King Charles 11^ and preached once before him in that 
 capacity ; as also he had an offer made him by the Lord Chancellor 
 Clarendon, of the bishoprick of Hereford, which, in a respectful letter 
 to his Lordship, he sawjiroper to decline. 
 
 The Saints' Rest is deservedly esteemed one of the most valuable parts 
 of his practical works. He wrote it when he was far from home, with- 
 out any book to consult but his Bible, and in such an ill state of health, 
 as to be in continual expectatiorv of aeath for many months ; and there- 
 fore, merely for his own use, he fixed his thoughts on this heavenly sub- 
 ject, which (says he) hath more benefited me than all the studies of my 
 life.” At this time he could be little more than thirty years old. He 
 afterward preached over the subject in his weekly lecture at Kiddermin- 
 ster, and in 1650 he published it: and indeed it appears to have been 
 the first that ever he published of all his practical writings. Of this 
 book Dr. Bates says, “it was written by him when languishing m the 
 suspense of life and death, but has the signatures of his holy vigorous 
 mind. To allure our desires, he unveils tne sanctuary above, and difv 
 covers the glories and joys of the blessed in the divine presence, by a 
 light ao strong and lively, that all the glittering vanities of this world 
 
Preface, ▼. 
 
 vanish In tnat comparison, and a Miiccie believer will despise them^^ as 
 one of mature age does the toys and baubles of children. To excite 
 our fear, he removes the screen, and makes the everlasting fire of hell 
 so visible, and represents the tormenting passions of the damned in 
 those dreadful colours, that if duly considered, would check and control 
 the unbridled licentious appetites of the most sensual wfetch^.” 
 Heavenly rest is a subject, in its own nature so universally important 
 and interesting, and at the same time so truly engaging and delightful, 
 as sufficiently accounts for the great acceptance which this book has 
 met with ; anti partly also for the uncommon blessing which has at- 
 tended Mr. Baxter’s mamier of treating the subject, both from the pul- 
 pit and the press. For where are the operations of divine grace mow 
 reasonably to be expected, or where have they in fact been more fre- 
 
 J uently discerned, than in concurrence with the best adapted means? 
 
 .nd should it appear that persons of distinguishing judgment and piety 
 have expressly aseribed their first religious impressions to the hearing 
 or reading the important sentiments cofitained in thtf book ; or, after a 
 long series of years, have found it both the counterpart, and the im- 
 
 S rovement, of their own divine life, will not this be thought « consi- 
 erable recommendation of the book itself ? 
 
 Among the instances of persons that dated their true conversion from 
 hearing tne sermons on the Saints’ Rest, when Mr. Baxter first preached 
 them, was the Rev. Mr. Thomas Doolittle, M.A., who was a native of 
 Kidderminster, and at that time a scholar, about seventeen years old ; 
 whom Mr. Baxter himself afterward sent to Pembroke-Hall, in Cam- 
 bridge, where he took his degree. Before his going to the University, 
 he was on trial as an attorney’s clerk, and under that character, being 
 ordered by his master to write something on a Lord’s day, he obeyed it 
 h'ith great reluctance, and the next day returned home, with an earn- 
 est desire that he mignt rwt apply himself to any thing, as the employ- 
 ment of life, but serving Christ in the ministry of the gospel. His praise 
 is yet in the churches, for his pious and useful labours, as a minister, 
 a tutor, and a writer. 
 
 In the life of the Rev. Mr. John Janeway, Fellow of King’s College, 
 Cambridge, who died in 1R57, we are told, that his conversion was, in 
 a great measure, occasioned by his reading several parts of the Saints’ 
 Rest. And in a letter which he afterwards wrote to a near relative, 
 speaking with a more immediate reference to that part of the book 
 which treats of Heavenly Contemplation, he says, “ There is a duly, 
 which, if it were exercised, would dispel all cause of melancholy : I 
 mean, heavenly meditation, and contemplation of the things which 
 true Christian religion tends to. If we did but walk closely With God 
 one hour in a day in this duty, oh, what influence would itnaVe upon 
 the whole day besides, and, duly performed, upon the whole life ! 'This 
 duty, with its usefulness, manner, and directions^! knew in some mea- 
 sure before, but had it more pressed on me by Mr. Baxter’s Saints’ Ever- 
 lasting Rest, a book that can scarcely be overvalued, for which I have 
 cause for ever to bless God.” — This excellent young minister’s life is 
 worth reading, were it only to see how delightfully he was engaged in 
 heavenly contemplation, according to the directions in the Saints «Rest. 
 
 It was the example of heavenly contemplation, at the close of this 
 book, which the Rev. Mr. Joseph Alleifie, of Taunton, .so frequently 
 quoted in conversation with this solemn introduction, " Most divinely 
 s.ayp that man of God, holy Mr. Baxter.” 
 
 Dr. Bates, in his dedication of his funeral sermon for Mr. Baxter to 
 Sir Henry Ashnrst, Bart., tells that religious gentleman, and most dis- 
 tinguish^ friend and e.\ecutor of Mr. Baxter, “ >^e wasjnost worthy of 
 your higKst esteem and love , for the first impressions of heaven upon 
 your soul, were in eadin? his invAlaable book of the Saints’ Everlast- 
 ing Rest.” 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Cliapter. PAGE, 
 
 I. The Introduction to the WorJe^ with some Account 
 
 of the Nature of the Saints* Rest 1 
 
 II. The great Preparatives to the Saints* Rest 22 
 
 III. The Excellences of the Saints* Rest 33 
 
 IV. The Character of the Persons for whom this Rest 
 
 is designed 53 
 
 V. The Misery of those who Lose the Saints* Rest , , 73 
 
 VI. The Misery of those who , besides losing the Sai n ts* 
 
 Rest, lose the enjoyments of Time, and suffer 
 tho Torments of Hell 88 
 
 VII. The Necessity of Diligently Seeking the Saints* 
 
 Rest 104 
 
 VIII . How to Discern our Title to the Saints* Rest . . . 126 
 
 IX. The Duty of the People of God to excite bikers 
 
 to seek this Rest 149 
 
 X. T'he Saints* Rest not to he expected on Earth .... 173 
 
 XI. The Importance of Leading a Heavenly Lfe upon 
 
 Earth 196 
 
 XII. Directions how to live a Heavenly Life upon 
 
 Earth 219 
 
 XIII. The Nature of Heavenly Contemplation, with 
 
 the Time, Place, and Temper, fittest for it , . . , 242 
 
 XIV. WTiat use Heavenly Contemplation makes of Con<. 
 
 sideraiion. Affections, Soliloquy, and Prayer 257 
 
 XV. Heavenly Contemplation assisted by Sensible Ob- 
 
 jects, and guarded against a treacherous Heart 277 
 
 XVI. Heavenly Contemplation exemplified, and the 
 
 whole Work concluded ... • 297 
 
SAINTS’ EVERLASTING REST. 
 
 ** There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.— Heb. iv. 9. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Introduction to the TFork, with some Account of the 
 JV'ature of i?ie Saints' Rest. 
 
 It was not only our interest in God, and ac^aal enjoy- 
 ment of him, which was lost in Adam’s fall, but all 
 spiritual knov/ledge of him, and true disposition towards 
 such a felicity. When the Son of God comes with re- 
 covering grace, and discoveries of a spiritual and eternal 
 happiness and glory, he finds not faith in man to be- 
 lieve it. As the poor man, that would not believe any 
 one had such a sum as a hundred pounds, it was so far 
 above what himself possessed : so men wiK hardly now 
 believe there is such a happiness as once they had, 
 much less as Christ hath now procured. When God 
 would give the Israelites his sabbaths of rest, in a land 
 of rest, he had more ado to make them believe it, than 
 to overcome their enemies, and procure it for them. 
 And when they had it, only as a small intimation and 
 earnest of an incomparably more glorious rest through 
 Christ, they yet believe no more than they possess, but 
 say, with the glutton at the feast, “ Sure there is no other 
 heaven but thisl” Or, if they expect more by the 
 Messiah, it is only the increase of their earthly feli- 
 city. The apostle bestows most of this epistle against 
 this distemper, and clearly and largely proves, that the 
 
S Tho Nature of 
 
 end of all ceremonies and shadow s is to direct them to 
 Jesus Christ, the substance; and that the rest of sab- 
 baths, and Canaan, should teach them to look for a 
 farther rest, which indeed is their happiness. 
 
 My text is this conclusion after divers arguments ; a 
 conclusion, which contains the ground of all the be- 
 liever’s comfort, the end of all his duty and sufferings, 
 the life and sum of all gospel promises and Christian 
 privileges. What more welcome to men, under personal 
 afflictions, tiring duties, successions of sufferings, than 
 rest? It is not our comfort only, but our stability. 
 Our liveliness in all duties, our enduring tribulation, 
 our honouring of God, the vigour of our love, thank- 
 fulness, and all our graces, yea, the very being of our 
 religion and Christianity, depend on the believing, 
 serious thoughts of our rest. And now, reader, what- 
 ever thou art, young or old, rich or poor, I entreat thee, 
 and charge thee, in the name of thy Lord, who will 
 shortly call thee to a reckoning, and judge thee to thy 
 everlasting unchangeable state, that thou give not these 
 things the reading only, and so dismiss them with a 
 bare approbation; but that thou set upon this work, 
 and take God in Christ for thy only rest, and fix thy 
 heart upon him above all. May the living God, who is 
 the portion and rest of his saints, make these our carnal 
 minds so spiritual, and our earthly hearts so heavenly, 
 that loving him and delighting in him, may be the work 
 of our lives ; and that neither I who write, nor you 
 who read this book, may ever be turned from this path 
 of life ; ** lest a promise being left us of entering info 
 his rest, we should come short of it, through our own 
 unbelief or negligence !” Heb. iv. 1. 
 
 The saints* rest is the most happy state of a Christian 
 or it is the perfect endless enjo^ent of God by the 
 perfected saints, according to the measure of their c*»* 
 pacity, to which their souls arrive at death, and both 
 
(he Sfaints* Rest. 
 
 a 
 
 soul and body most fully after the resurrection and 
 final judgment. According to this definition of the 
 saints* rest, a larger account of its nature will be given 
 in this chapter ; of its preparatives, chap. ii. ; its ex - 
 cellences, chap. iii. ; and chap, iv., the persons for 
 whom it is designed. Farther to illustrate the subject, 
 some description will be given, chap, v., of their 
 misery who lose this rest; and, chap, vi., who also 
 lose the enjoyments of time, and suffer the torments 
 of hell. Next will be showed, chap, vii., the necessity 
 of diligently seeking this rest; chap, viii., how oui 
 title to it may discerned ; chap, ix., that they who dis. 
 cern their title to it should help those who cannot ; and 
 chap. X., that this rest is not to be expected on earth. 
 It will then be proper to consider, chap, xi., the im- 
 portance of a heavenly life upon earth ; chap, xii., how 
 to live a heavenly life upon earth; chap, xiii., tlie 
 nature of heavenly contemplation, with the time, place, 
 and temper fittest for it ; chap, xiv., what use heavenly 
 contemplation makes of consideration, affections, so- 
 liloquy, and prayer; and, likewise, chap, xv., how 
 heavenly contemplation may be assisted by sensible 
 objects, and guarded against a treacherous heart. Ilea 
 venly contemplation will be exemplified, chap, xvi., 
 and the whole work concluded. 
 
 There are some things necessarily presupposed in the 
 nature of this rest ; as, for instance, — That mortal men 
 are the persons seeking it; for angels and glorified 
 spirits have it already, and the devils and damned are 
 past hope — That they choose God only for their end 
 and happiness: he who takes any thing else for his 
 happiness, is out of the way the first step — That they 
 are distant from this end : this is the woful case of all 
 mankind since the fall. When Christ comes with re- 
 generating grace, he finds no man sitting still, but all 
 posting to eternal ruin, and making haste fowaras hell; 
 
4 
 
 T^e Nature of 
 till, by conviction, he first brings them to a stand, and 
 then, by conversion, turns their hearts and lives sin- 
 cerely to himself— This end, and its exellency, is sup- 
 posed to be known, and seriously intended. An 
 unknown good moves not to desire or endeavour. And 
 not only a distance from this rest, but the true know- 
 ledge of this distance, is also supposed. They that 
 never yet knew they were without God, and in the way 
 to hell, did never yet know the way to heaven. Can a 
 man find he hath lost his God and his soul, and not cry, 
 I am undone ? The reason why so few obtain this rest, 
 is, they will not be convinced that they are, in point of 
 title, distant from it ; and, in point of practice, contrary 
 to it. Who ever sought for that, which he knew not he 
 had lost ? They that be whole, need not a physician, 
 but they that are sick,** Matt. ix. 12. The influence of 
 a superior moving Cause is also supposed : else we shall 
 all stand still, and not move toward our rest. If God 
 move us not, we cannot move. It is a most necessarj’ 
 part of our Christian wisdom, to keep our subordination 
 to God, and dependence on him ; to be found in the 
 path where he walks, and where his Spirit usually 
 moves ; to take heed of being estranged or separated 
 from God; or slacking our daily expectations of re- 
 newed help ; or growing insensible of our need of the 
 continual influence of his Spirit. When once we begin 
 to trust to our stock of habitual grace, and to depend on 
 our own understanding or resolution, for duty and holy 
 walking, we are then in a dangerous declining state. 
 ** We are not sufficient of ourselves to think any thing 
 as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God,** 2 Cor 
 iii. 5. “Without me/* says Christ, “ye can do no 
 thing,** John XV. 5, 
 
 It is next supposed, that they who seek this rest, 
 have an inward principle of spiritual life. God does 
 not move men like stones, but he endows them with 
 
Saints’ Rest 
 
 3 
 
 life, not to enable them to move without him, but in 
 subordination to himself, the first mover. And, farther, 
 this rest supposes such an actual tendency of soul to- 
 wards it, as is regular and constant, earnest and labo- 
 rious. He that hides his talents, shall receive the wages 
 of a slothful servant. Everj'^ way leads not to this rest; 
 but He, whose goodness has appointed the end, has, in 
 his wisdom, and by his sovereign authority, appointed 
 the way. Our own invented ways may seem to us more 
 wise, comely equal and pleasant ; but that is the best 
 key that will open the lock, which none but that of 
 God’s appointing will do. O the pains and cost that 
 many an ignoraivb and superstitious soul is at for this 
 rest, but all in vain ! How many have a zeal of God, 
 but not according to knowledge; who, being ignorant 
 of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish 
 their own righteousness, have not submitted to the 
 righteousness of God ; nor known that “ Christ is the 
 end of the law for righteousness, to every one that 
 believeth,” Rom. x. 2—4. 
 
 Christ is the door, the only way to this rest. But 
 “ strait is the gate, and narrow is the way,” Mat. vii. 13 ; 
 and we must ” strive,” if we will ” enter ; for many will 
 seek to enter in, and shall not be able,” Luke xiii. 24 ; 
 which implies, ” that the kingdom of heaven suffereth 
 violence,” Matt, xi. 12. Nor will it bring us to the end 
 of the saints, if we ” begin in the spirit, and end in the 
 flesh,” Gal. iii. 3. ” He” only ” that endureth to the end 
 shall be saved,” Matt. xxiv. 13. And never did a soul 
 obtain rest with God, whose desire was not set upon 
 him above all things else in the world, ** Where your 
 treasure is, there will your heart be also,” Matt. vi. 21. 
 The remainder of our old nature will much weaken and 
 interrupt these desires, but never overcome them. And 
 considering the opposition to our desires, from the con- 
 trary principles in our nature, and from the weakness oi 
 
The Nature of 
 
 our graces, together with our continued distance froih 
 the end, our tendency to that end must be laborious, and 
 with all our might. All these things are presupposed, 
 in order to a Christian’s obtaining an interest in hea- 
 venly rest. 
 
 Now we have ascended these steps into the outward 
 court, may we look within the vail? May we show 
 what this rest contains, as well as what it presupposes? 
 Alas, how little know I of that glory ! The glimpse 
 which Paul had, contained what could not, or must 
 not, be uttered. Had he spoken the things of heaven, 
 in the language of heaven, and none understood that 
 language, what the better ? The Lord reveal to me what 
 I may reveal to you ! The Lord open some light, and 
 show both you and me our inheritance 1 Not as to 
 Balaam only, whose eyes were opened to see the goodli- 
 ness of Jacob’s tents, and Israel’s tabernacles, where he 
 had no portion, and from whence must come his own 
 destruction! Not as to Moses, who had only a disco- 
 very, instead of possession, and saw the land which he 
 never entered ! But as the pearl was revealed to the 
 merchant in the gospel, who rested not till he had sold 
 all that he had, and bought it ! and as heaven was opened 
 to blessed Stephen, which he was shortly to enter, and 
 the glory showed him which should be his own posses- 
 sion I The things contsuned in heavenly rest are such 
 as these : a ceasing from means of grace ; a perfect 
 freedom from all evils ; the highest degree of the saints’ 
 personal perfection, both of body and soul ; the nearest 
 enjoyment of God the chief good ; and a sweet and con- 
 stant action of all the powers of body and soul in this 
 enjoyment of God. 
 
 1. One thing contained in heavenly rest is, the ceasing 
 from means of grace. When we have attained the 
 haven, we have done sailing. When the workman re- 
 ceives his wages, it is implied he has done his work. 
 
the SainU' Rest. 
 
 7 
 
 When we are at our journey’s end, we have done with 
 the way. “ Whether prophecies, they shall fail ; whe- 
 ther tongues, they shall cease ; whether knowledge, it” 
 also, so far as it had the nature of means, ** shall vanish 
 away,” 1 Cor. xiil. 8. There shall he no more prayer, 
 because no more necessity, but the full enjoyment of 
 what we prayed for. Neither shall we need to fast, and 
 weep, and watch any more, being out of the reach of sin 
 and temptations. Preaching is done ; the ministry of 
 man ceaseth ; sacraments become useless ; the labourers 
 are called in, because the harvest is gathered, the tares 
 burned, and the work finished ; the unregenerate past 
 hope, and the saints past fear, for ever. 
 
 2. There is in heavenly rest a perfect freedom from all 
 evils. All the evils that accompanied us through our 
 course, and which necessarily follow our absence from 
 the chief good. Besides our freedom from those eternal 
 flames, and restless miseries, which the neglecters of 
 Christ and grace, must remedilessly endure; a woful 
 inheritance, which, both by birth and actual merit, was 
 due to us, as well as to them ! In heaven there is ” no- 
 thing that defileth,” or is unclean. All that remains 
 •‘without,” Rev. xxi. 27; xxii, 15. And doubtless 
 there is not such a thing as grief and sorrow known 
 there. Nor is there such a thing as a pale face, a languid 
 body, feeble joints, unable infancy, decrepit age, pec- 
 cant humours, painful or pining sickness, griping fears, 
 consuming cares, nor whatsoever deserves the name of 
 evil. ** We did weep and lament, when the world did 
 rejoice ; but our sorrow is turned into joy, and our joy 
 shall no man take from us,” John xvi. 20, 22. 
 
 3. Another ingredient of this rest is, the highest de- 
 gree of the saints* personal perfection, both of body 
 and soul. Were the glory ever so great, and themselves 
 not made capable of it, by a personal perfection suitable 
 thereto, it would be little to them, ” Eye hath not seen. 
 
8 The Nature of 
 
 nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of' 
 man the things which God hath prepared for them that 
 love him,” I Cor. ii, 9. For the eye of flesh is not ca- 
 pable of seeing them, nor this ear of hearing them, nor 
 this heart of understanding them. But there the eye, 
 and ear, and heart, are made capable ; else how do they 
 enjoy them ? The more perfect the sight is, the more 
 deli^tful the beautiful object. The more perfect the 
 appetite, the sweeter the food. The more musical the 
 ear, the more pleasant the melody. The more perfect 
 the soul, the more joyous those joys, and the more glo- 
 rious to us is that glory. 
 
 4. The principal part of this rest, is our nearest enjoy- 
 ment of God, the chief good. And here, reader, won- 
 der not if I be at a loss, and if my apprehensions re- 
 ceive but little of that which is in my expressions. If 
 ** it did not appear** to the beloved disciple, “ what we 
 shall be,** but only in general, that “ when Christ shall 
 appear, we shall be like him,** 1 John iii. 2, no wonder 
 if I know little. When I know so little of God, I can- 
 not much know what it is to enjoy him I If I know so 
 little of spirits, how little of the Father of spirits, or the 
 state of my own soul, when advanced to the enjojrment 
 of. him ? I stand and look upon a heap of ants, and see 
 them all with one view ; they know not me, my being, 
 nature, or thoughts, though I am their fellow-creature ; 
 how little then must we know of the great Creator, 
 though he with one view clearly beholds us alll A 
 glimpse the saints “ behold, as in a glass,** 2 Cor. iii. 18; 
 which makes us capable of some poor dark apprehen- 
 sions of what we shall behold in glory. If I should tell 
 a worldling what the holiness and spiritual joys of the 
 saints on ewth are, he cannot know, for grace cannot 
 be clearly known without grace ; how much less could 
 he conceive it, should I tell him of this glory I But to 
 the saints I may be somewhat more encouraged to 
 
t7te Rest, 9 
 
 speak ; for grace gives them a dark knowledge and a 
 slight taste of glory. If men and angels should study to 
 speak the blessedness of that state in one word, wh 't 
 could they say beyond this, that it is the nearest enjoy- 
 ment of God ? O the full joys offered to a believer in 
 that one sentence of Christ, “ Father, I will that those 
 whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that 
 they may behold my glory which thou hast given me, 
 John xvii. 24 — every word full of life and joy. If the 
 queen of Sheba had cause to say of Solomon’s glory, 
 “ Happy are thy men, happy are thy servants who stand 
 continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom,** 
 1 Kings X. 8; then surely they that stand continually 
 before God, and see his glory, and the glory of the 
 Lamb, are more than happy. To them will Christ 
 “ give to eat of the tree of life, and to eat of the hidden 
 manna ;** yea, he will ** make them pillars in the tem- 
 ple of God, and they shall go no more out; and he will 
 write upon them the name of his God, and the name 
 of the city of his God which is New Jerusalem, which 
 cometh down out of heaven from his God, and he will 
 write upon them his new name ; yea, more, if more 
 may be, he ** will grant them to sit with him on his 
 throne.** “ These are they which came out of great 
 tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made 
 them white in the blood of the Lamb; therefore are 
 they before the throne of God, and serve him day and 
 night in his temple; and he that sitteth on the throne 
 shall dwell among them ; the Lamb which is in the 
 midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them 
 unto living fountains of water ; and God shall wipe away 
 all tears from their eyes,** Rev. ii. 7, 17, ; iii. 12, 21 ; 
 vii. 14 — 17. O blind, deceived world 1 Can you show us 
 such a glory ? This is the city of our God, where ** the 
 tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with 
 them, and they shall be his people, and God himself 
 270 B 
 
10 
 
 The Kaiure oS 
 shall be with them, and be their God. The glory of 
 God shall lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 
 And there shall be no more curse ; but the throne of 
 God and of the Lamb shall be in it ; and his servants 
 shall serve him, and they shall see his face, and his name 
 ‘hall be in their foreheads. These sayings are faithful 
 md true, and the things which must shortly be done,” 
 "Rev. xxi. 3, 23 ; xxii. 3, 4, 6. And now we say, as Me- 
 phibosheth, ” Let” the world take all, for as much as 
 our Lord will come in peace,” 2 Sam. xix. 30. 
 
 ” Rejoice,” therefore, ” in the Lord, O ye righteous,” 
 and say with his servant David, * ‘ The Lord is the por- 
 tion of mine inheritance : the lines are fallen unto me 
 a pleasant places ; yea, I have a goodly heritage. I 
 have set the Lord always before me ; because he is at 
 my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore ray 
 heart is glad, and my glory rejoice th ; my flesh also 
 shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in 
 hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see cor- 
 ruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life ; in thy 
 presence is fulness of joy, at thy right hand there are 
 pleasures for evermore,” Ps. xxxiii. 1 ; xvi. 5, 6, 8—11. 
 What presumption would it have been once, to have 
 thought or spoken of such a thing, if God had not spo- 
 ken it before us I I durst not have thought of the saints* 
 preferment in this life, as scripture sets it forth, had it 
 not been the express truth of God. How indecent to 
 talk of being ” sons of God— speaking to him— having 
 fellowship with him — dwelling in him, and he in us,** 
 I John iii. 1 ; Gen. xviii. 27 ; 1 John i. 3 ; iv. 16 ; if this 
 had not been God’s own language 1 How much less durst 
 we have once thought of ” shining forth as the sun”— 
 of being ** joint-heirs with Christ”— of ‘‘judging the 
 world”— of ‘‘ sitting on Christ*s throne*’— of being ‘‘ one 
 in him and the Father,** Matt xiil. 43 ; Rom. viii. 17 ; 
 I Cor. vi. 2 ; Rom. iii. 21 ; John xvii. 21 ; if we had not 
 
the Saints' J^put. 11 
 
 all this from the mouth, and under the hand of God ! 
 But “ hath he said, and shall he not do it ? hath he spo- 
 ken, and shall he not make it good ?” Numb, xxiii. 19. 
 Yes, as the Lord God is true, “thus shall it be done to 
 the man whom“ Christ “ delighteth to honour,’’ Esther 
 vi. 11. Be of good cheer, Christian, the time is near 
 when God and thou shalt be near, and as near as thou 
 canst well desire. Thou shalt dwell in his family. Is 
 not that enough ? It is better to be a “ door-keeper in 
 the house of God, than to dwell in the tents of wicked- 
 ness,’’ Psa. Ixxxiv. 10. Thou shalt ever stand before 
 him. about his throne, in the room with him, in his 
 presence-chamber. Would thou yet be nearer? Thou 
 shalt be his child, and he thy Father ; thou shalt be an 
 heir of his kingdoni ; yea, more, the spouse of his Son. 
 And what more canst thou desire ? Thou shalt be a 
 member of the body of his son ; he shall be thy Head ; 
 thou shalt be one with him, who is one with the Father, 
 as he himself hath desired for thee of his Father, “ that 
 they all may be one, as thou. Father, art in me, and I 
 in thee, that they also may be one in us ; and the glory 
 which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may 
 be one, even as we are one ; I in them and thou in me, 
 that they may be made perfect in one, and that the 
 world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved 
 them as thou hast loved me,** John xviii. 21—23. 
 
 5. We must add, that this rest contains a sweet and 
 constant action of all the powers of the soul and body 
 in this enjoyment of God. It is not the rest of a stone, 
 which ceaseth from all motion when it attains the cen- 
 tre. This body shall be so changed, that it shall no 
 more be flesh and blood which, “ cannot inherit the 
 kingdom of God ; but a spiritual body,** 1 Cor, xv. 50. 
 We “sow not that body that shall be, hut God giveth 
 it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed hk* 
 own body,’’ ver. 37, 38. If grace makes a Christian 
 
\2 The Nature of 
 
 differ so much from what he was, as to say, ** I am not 
 the man I was ;** how much more will glory make us 
 differ I As much a body spiritual above the sun in glory, 
 exceeds these frail, noisome, diseased lumps of flesh, so 
 far shall our senses exceed those we now possess, 
 doubtless, as God advanceth our senses, and enlargeth 
 our capacity, so will he advance the happiness of those 
 senses, and fill up with himself all that capacity. Cer- 
 tainly the body should not be raised up and continued, 
 if it should not share in the glory. As it hath shared in 
 the obedience and sufferings, so shall it also in the bless- 
 edness. As Christ bought the whole man, so shall the 
 whole partake of the everlasting benefits of the pur- 
 chase. Certain it is, it shall be the everlasting work of 
 those blessed saints, to stand before the throne of God 
 God and the Lamb, and to praise him for ever and ever. 
 As their eyes and hearts shall be filled with the know- 
 ledge of his glory, so shall their mouths be filled with 
 his praise. Go on, thprefore, O ye saints! while you 
 are on earth, in that divine duty. Learn, 0 learn, that 
 saint-becoming work ; for, in the mouth of his saints, 
 his praise is comely. Pray, but still praise ; praise him 
 in the presence of his people, for it shall be your eter- 
 nal work: praise him, while his enemies deride and 
 abuse you ; you shall praise him while they shall be- 
 wail it and admire you. O blessed employment of a 
 glorified body, to stand before the throne of God and 
 the Lamb, and to sound forth for ever, “ Thou art wor- 
 thy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power. 
 Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, 
 and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and 
 glory, and blessing ; for thou hast redeemed us to God 
 by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and 
 people, and nation, and hast made us unto our God 
 kings and priests. Alleluia, salvation, and glory, and 
 honour, and power, unto the Lord our God. Alleluia, 
 
the Saints' Uest. 
 
 \t 
 
 for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.** O Christians, 
 this is the blessed rest ; a rest, as it were, without rest ; 
 for “ they rest not day and night, saying Holy, holy, 
 holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, is, and is to 
 come,** Rev, iv. 11 ; v. 12; vii. 10; xix. 1, 6; iv. 8. 
 And if the body shall be thus employed, O how shall 
 the soul be taken up I As its powers and capacities are 
 the greatest, so its actions are strongest, and its enjoy- 
 ments sweetest. As the bodily senses have their pro- 
 per action, whereby they receive and enjoy their ob- 
 jects, so does the soul in its own action enjoy its own 
 object, by knowing, remembering, loving, and delight- 
 ful joying. This is the soul’s enjoyment. By these 
 eyes it sees, and by these arms it embraces. 
 
 Knowledge of itself is very desirable. As far as the 
 rational soul exceeds the sensitive, so far the delights 
 of a philosopher, in discovering the secrets of nature, 
 and knowing the mystery of sciences, exceed the de- 
 lights of the glutton, the drunkard, the unclean,, and of 
 all voluptuous sensualists whatsoever. So excellent is 
 all truth. What then is their delight who know the 
 God of truth ? How noble a faculty of the soul is this 
 understanding! It can compass the earth ; it can mea- 
 sure the sun, moon, stars, and heaven ; it can foreknow 
 each eclipse to a minute, many years before. But this 
 is the top of all its excellency, that it can know God, 
 who is infinite, who made all these ; a little here, and 
 more, much more, hereafter. O the wisdom and good- 
 ness of our blessed Lord! He hath created the under- 
 standing with a natural bias and inclination to truth, as 
 its object; and to the prime truth, a&its prime object. 
 Christian, when, after long gazing heavenward, thou 
 hast got a glimpse of Christ, dost thou not sometimes 
 seem to have been with Paul in “the third heaven, 
 whether in the body or out,** and to have seen what is 
 “unutterable,” 2 Cor. xii. 2--4. Art thou not, with 
 
14 The Kalure ’>f 
 
 Peter, ready to say, “ Master, it is good to be here,** 
 Mark ix. 5. O that I might dwell in this mount ! O 
 that I might ever see what I now seel Didst thou 
 never look so long upon the Sun of righteousness, that 
 thine eyes were dazzled with his astonishing glory? 
 And did not the splendour of it make ail things below 
 seem black and dark to thee 1 Especially in thy day of 
 suffering for Christ, when he usually appears most ma- 
 nifestly to his people, didst thou never see one “ walk- 
 ing in the midst of the fiery furnace** with thee, like 
 the Son of God?” Dan. iii. 25. Believe me, Chris- 
 tians, yea, believe God ; you that have known most of 
 God in Christ here, it is as nothing to what you shall 
 know ; it scarcely, in comparison of that, deserves to 
 be called knowledge ; for as these bodies, so that know- 
 ledge must cease, that a more perfect may succeed, 
 ** knowledge shall vanish away. For we know in part, 
 but when that which is perfect is come, then that which 
 is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I 
 spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a 
 child ; but when I became a man I put away childish 
 things. For now we see through a glass, darkly, but 
 then face to face ; now I know in part, but then shall I 
 know even as also I am known,*’ 1 Cor. xiii. 8 — 12. 
 Marvel not, therefore, Christian, how it can be ” life 
 eternal, to know God, and Jesus Christ,** John xvii. 3. 
 To enjoy God and Christ, is eternal life ; and the soul’s 
 enjoying is in knowing. They that savour only of 
 earth, and consult with flesh, think it a poor happiness 
 to know God. But ‘‘we know that we are of God, 
 and the whole world lieth in wickedness ; and we know 
 that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an un- 
 derstanding, that we may know him that is true ; and 
 we are in htm that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. 
 This is the true God and eternal life,” 1 John v. 19, 20. 
 
 Tbe memorjr will not be idle, or useless, in this bless- 
 
the Saints* Rest, 
 
 15 
 
 0(1 work. From that height the saint can look behind 
 him and before him. And to compare past with present 
 things, must needs raise in the blessed soul an incon* 
 ceivable esteem and sense of his condition. To stand 
 on that mount, whence we can see the wilderness and 
 Canaan both at once ; to stand in heaven and look back 
 on earth, and weigh them together in the balance of a 
 comparing sense and judgment, how must it needs 
 transport the soul, and make it cry out, “ Is this tjic 
 purchase that cost so dear as the blood of Christ ? • No 
 wonder! O blessed price! and thrice blessed love, 
 that invented, and condescended ! Is this the end of 
 believing? Is this the end of the Spirit’s workings ? 
 Have the gales of grace blown me into such a harbour ? 
 Is it hither that Christ hath allured my soul ? O bless- 
 ed way, and thrice blessed end! Is this the glory 
 which the scriptures spoke of, and ministers preached 
 of, so much ? I see the gospel is indeed good tidings, 
 even tidings of peace and good things, tidings of great 
 joy to all nations ! Is my mourning, my fasting, my 
 sad humblings, my heavy walking, come to this ? Is 
 my praying, watching, fearing to offend, come to this? 
 Are all ray afflictions, Satan’s temptations, the world’s 
 scorns and jeers, come to this ? O vile nature, that 
 resisted so much, and so long, such a blessing! Un- 
 worthy soul, is this the way that thou earnest so unwil- 
 lingly to? Was duty wearisome ? Was the world too 
 good to lose ? Didst thou stick at leaving all, denying 
 all, and suffering anything, for this? Wast thou loath 
 to die, to come to this ? O false heart, thou hadst al- 
 most betrayed me to eternal flames, and lost me this 
 glory ! Art thou not now ashamed, my soul that ever 
 thou didst question that love which brought thee 
 hither ? that thou wast jealous of the faithfulness o< 
 thy Lord ? that thou suspectedst his love, when thou 
 ahouidst only nave suspected thyself ? That ever tho»' 
 
16 Nature of 
 
 didst quench a motion of his Spirit? and that thou 
 shouldst misinterpret these providences, and repine at 
 those ways, which have such an end? Now thou art 
 sufficiently convinced, that thy Redeemer was saving 
 thee, as well when he crossed thy desires, as when he 
 granted them ; when he broke thy heart, as when he 
 bound it up. No thanks to thee, unworthy self, for 
 this received crown ; but to Jehovah, and the Lamb, be 
 glory for ever.** 
 
 But, oh ! the full, the near, the sweet enjoyment, is 
 that of love : God is love, and he that dwelleth in 
 
 love, dwelleth in God, and God in him.** 1 John iv. 16. 
 Now the poor soul complains, “ Oh that I could love 
 Christ more I** Then, thou canst not choose but love 
 him. Now thou knowest little of his amiableness, and 
 therefore lovest little : then, thine eye will affect thy 
 heart, and the continual viewing of that perfect beauty 
 will keep thee in continual transports of love. Chris- 
 tians doth it not now stir up your love to remember all 
 the experiences of his love ? Doth not kindness melt 
 you, and the sunshine of divine goodness warm your 
 frozen hearts ? What will it do, then, when you shall 
 live in love, and have all in Him, who is all? Surely 
 love is both work and wages. What a high favour, that 
 God will give us leave to love him ! that he will be em- 
 braced by those who have embraced lust and sin before 
 him I But more than this, he returned love for love ; 
 nay, a thousand times more. Christian, thou wilt be 
 then brimful of love ; yet, love as much as thou canst, 
 thou shall be ten thousand times more beloved. Were 
 the arms of the Son of God open upon the cross, and an 
 open passage made to his heart by the spear, and will 
 not his arms and heart be open to thee in glory ? Did 
 he begin to love before thou lovedst, and will he not con. 
 tinue now ? Did he love thee, an enemy ? thee, a sin. 
 ner ? thee, who even loathedst thyself ; and own thee, 
 
the Saints' Rest. 
 
 17 
 
 when thou didst disclaim thyself? and will he not now 
 immeasureably love thee, a son ? thee, a perfect saint? 
 thee, who returnest some love for love? He that in 
 love wept over the old Jerusalem when near its ruin, 
 with what love will he rejoice over the new Jerusalem 
 in her glory ? Christian, believe this, and think on it : 
 thou shalt be eternally embraced in the arms of that 
 love, which was from everlasting, and will extend to 
 everlasting : of that love, which brought the Son of 
 God’s love from heaven to earth, from earth to the cross, 
 from the cross to the grave, from the grave to glory ; 
 that love, which was weary, hungry, tempted, scorned, 
 scourged, buffeted, spit upon, crucified, pierced ; which 
 did fast, pray, teach, heal, weep, sweat, bleed, die ; that 
 love will eternally embrace thee. When perfect created 
 love, and most perfect uncreated love, meet together, it 
 will not be like Joseph and his brethren , who lay upon 
 one another’s necks weeping ; it will be loving and re- 
 joicing, not loving and sorrowing. Yet it will make Sa- 
 tan’s court ring with the news, that Joseph’s brethren are 
 come, and that the saints are arrived safe at the bosom 
 of Christ, out of the reach of hell for ever. Nor is there 
 any such love as David’s and Jonathan’s breathing out 
 its last into sad lamentations for a forced seoaration. 
 Know this, believer, fo thy everlasting comfort, if those 
 arms have once embraced thee, neither sin nor hell can 
 »et thee thence for ever. Thou hadst not to deal with 
 an unconstant creature, but with him “with whom 
 is no variableness, nor shadow of turning,*’ James i. 17. 
 His love to thee will not be as thine was on earth to him, 
 seldom, and cold, up and down. He that would not 
 cease nor abate his love, for all thine enmity, unkind 
 neglects, and churlish resistances, can he cease to love 
 thee, when he hath made thee truly lovely ? He that 
 keepeth thee so constant in thy love to him, that thou 
 canst challenge “tribulation, distress, persecution. 
 
1« The Nature of 
 
 taine, nakedness, peril, or sword, to separate thy love 
 from Christ,** Rom. viii. 35, how much more will him- 
 self be constant ! Indeed, thou mayest be ** persuaded, 
 that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, 
 nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor 
 height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able 
 to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ 
 Jesus our Lord,** Rom. viii. 38, 39. And, now, are we 
 not left in the apostle’s admiration, “ W hat shall we say 
 to these things ? Rom. viii. 31. Infinite love must needs 
 be a mystery to a finite capacity. No wonder angels 
 desire to look into this mystery, 1 Pet. i. 12. And if it 
 be the study of saints here, to know “ the breadth, and 
 length, and depth, and height, of the love of Christ, 
 which passeth knowledge,** Eph. tii. 18, 19, the saints* 
 everlasting rest must consist in the enjoyment of God 
 by love. 
 
 Nor hath joy the least share in this fruition. It is 
 that which all the former lead to, and conclude in ; even 
 the inconceivable complacency which the blessed feel in 
 their seeing, knowing, loving, and being beloved of God. 
 This is the ** white stone, which no man knoweth, 
 saving he that receiveth it,** Rev. ii. 17. Surely this is 
 the joy which ** a stranger doth not intermeddle with,** 
 Prov. xiv. 10. All Christ*s ways of mercy tend to, and 
 end in, the saints* joys. He wept, sorrowed, suffered, 
 that they might rejoice ; he sendeth the Spirit to be 
 their Comforter ; he multiplies promises ; he discovers 
 their future happiness, “ that their joy may be full,” 
 J ohn xvi, 24. He opens to them the fountain of ” living 
 waters,** that they may “ thirst no more,** and that it 
 may “spring up in them to everlasting life,** John v. 
 10—41. He “ chastens them, that he may give them 
 rest,** Psa. xciv. 12, 13. He makes it their duty to 
 “ rejoice in him alway, and again’* commands them to 
 ** rejoice,** Phil. iv. 4. He never bring them into so 
 
19 
 
 ihe (9rtmts' Rest, 
 low a condition, wherein he doth not leave them more 
 cause of joy than sorrow. And hath the Lord such a 
 care Of our comfort here ? O what will that joy be, 
 where the Soul, being perfectly prepared for joy, and joy 
 prepared by Christ for the soul, it shall be our work, 
 our business, eternally to rejoice I It seems the saints* 
 joy shall be greater than the damned’s torment; for 
 their torment is the torment of creatures, “ prepared 
 for the devil and his angels,” Matt. xxv. 41 ; but our 
 joy is ** the joy of our Lord,” Matt. xxv. 21. The 
 same ** glory which the Father gave the Son, the Son 
 hath given them,” John xvii. 22, “to sit with him in 
 his throne, even as he is set down with his Father in his 
 throne,** Rev. iii. 21. Thou, poor soul, w'ho prayestfor 
 joy, waitest for joy, complainest for want of joy, longest 
 for joy ; thou then shalt have full joy, as much as thou 
 cansthold, and more than ever thou though test on, or 
 thy heart desired. In the meantime, walk carefully, 
 watch constantly, and then let God measure out to thee 
 thy times and degrees of joy. It may be he keeps them 
 till thou hast more need. Thou hadst better lose xhjv 
 comfort than thy safety. If thou shouldst die full o. 
 fears and sorrows, it will be but a moment, and they are 
 all gone, and concluded in joy inconceivable. As “the 
 joy of the hypocrite,” so the fears of the upright are 
 ” but for a moment.” God’s anger endure th but a mo- 
 ment; in his favour is life; weeping may endure for 
 a night, but joy cometh in the morning,” Job xx. 5; 
 Psa. XXX. 5. 0 blessed morning I Poor, humble, droop- 
 ing soul, how would it fill thee with joy now, if a voice 
 from heaven should tell thee of the love of God, the 
 pardon of thy sins, and assure thee of thy part in these 
 joys 1 What then will thy joy be, when thy actual pos- 
 session shall convince thee of thy title, and thou shalt 
 be in heaven before thou art well aware ? when the 
 angels shall bring thee to Christ ; and when Christ shall, 
 
20 
 
 The Mature qf 
 as- it were, take thee by the hand, and lead thee into 
 the purchased possession, bid thee welcome to his rest, 
 present thee unspotted before his Father, and give thee 
 a place about his throne ! Poor believer, what sayest 
 thou to such a day as this 1 Wilt thou not be almost 
 ready to draw back, and say, Whatl I, Lord? I, the 
 unworthy neglecter of thy grace, disesteemer of thy 
 blood, and slighter of thy love! must I have this glory ? 
 
 1 am utterly unworthy to be called a son 1 But Love 
 will have it so : therefore must thou enter into his joy. 
 
 And it is not tny joy only ; it is a mutual joy, as wel 
 as a mutual love. Is there joy in heaven at thy conver-. 
 sion, and will there be none at thy glorification? Will 
 not the angels welcome thee thither, and congratulate 
 thy safe arrival ?— Yea, it is the joy of Jesus Christ ; for 
 now he hath the end of his undertaking, labour, suffer- 
 ing, dying, when we have our joys ; ** when he is glori- 
 fied in his saints, and admired in all them that believe,” 
 
 2 Thess. i. 10; when ‘‘he sees of the travail of his 
 soul, and is satisfied,” Isa. liii. 11. This is Christ’s 
 harvest, when he shall reap the fruit of his labours ; and 
 it will not repent him concerning his sufferings, but he 
 will rejoice over his purchased inheritance, and his peo- 
 ple will rejoice in him. Yea, the Father himself puts 
 on joy too, in our joy. As we ‘* grieve his Spirit,” 
 Eph. iv. 30, and “weary him with our iniquities,” Isa 
 xliii. 24, so he is rejoiced in our good. Q how quickly 
 does he now spy a returning prodigal, even “ afar off!” 
 How does he “ run and meet him !” And with what 
 “compassion” does he fall on his neck, and kiss him, 
 and put on the best robe, and a ring on his hand, and 
 shoes on his feet, and kills the fatted calf, to eat and be 
 merry, Luke xv. 20—23. This is indeed a happy meet • 
 ing ; but nothing to the embracing and joy of that last 
 and great meeting. Yea, more ; as God doth mutually 
 love and joy, so he makes this bis rest, as it is our rest. 
 
the Saints* Hest, 51 
 
 What an eternal sabbalism, -wlittn the work of redemp- 
 tion, sanctification, preservation, glorification, is all 
 finished and perfected for ever 1 “The Lord thy God 
 in the midst of thee is mighty. He will save, He will 
 rejoice over thee with joy. He will rest in his love. He 
 will joy over thee with singing,'* Zeph. iii. 17. Well 
 may we then rejoice in our God with joy, and rest in 
 our love, and joy in him with singing. 
 
 Alas I my fearful heart scarcely dares proceed. Me- 
 thinks I hear the Almighty’s voice saying to me, “ Who 
 is this that darkeneth counsel by words without know- 
 ledge?’’ Job xxxviii. 2. But pardon thy servant, O 
 Lord, I have not pryed into unrevealed things. 1 be- 
 wail that my apprehensions are so dull, my thoughts so 
 mean, my affections so stupid, and my expressions so 
 low, and unbeseeming such a glory. “ I have” only 
 heard by the hearing of the ear.” O let thy servant 
 “ see thee,” and possess these joys ; and then shall I 
 have more suitable conceptions, and shall give thee full- 
 er glory ; I shall “ abhor” my present self, and disclaim 
 and renounce all these imperfections. “ I have uttered 
 that I understood not, things too wonderful for me, 
 which 1 knew not,” Job xlii. 3, 5, 6. Yet “ I believed, 
 and therefore have I spoken,” 2 Cor. iv. 13. What, 
 Lord, canst thou expect from dust but levity ? or from 
 corruption, but defilement ? Though the weakness and 
 irreverence be the fruit of mine own corruption, yet 
 the fire is from thine altar, and the work of thy com- 
 manding. I looked not into thy ark, nor put forth my 
 hand unto it, without thee. Wash” away these stains 
 also “ in the blood of the Lamb,” Imperfect, or none, 
 must be thy service here. O take thy Son’s excuse, 
 
 “ the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,” Mat 
 thew XXV’ 41 
 
22 
 
 The great Preparatii^e: tn 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The great Preparatives to the Saints* Best, 
 
 Thb passage cf Paradise is not now so blocked up, as 
 when the law and curse reigned. Wherefore, finding, 
 beloved Christians, ** a new and living way consecrated 
 for us, through the vail, that is to say, the fiesh of Christ, 
 by whieh** we may with ** boldness enter Into the ho- 
 liest,** I shall “ draw near with fuller assurance,** Heb. 
 X. 19, 20, 22. And, finding the “ fiaroing sword” re- 
 moved, shall look again into the paradise of our God. 
 And, because 1 know that this is no forbidden fruit,** 
 and withal that it is good for food, and pleasant to the 
 spiritual eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one’* 
 truly ‘‘ wise” and happy, I shall, through the assistance 
 of the Spirit, ” take and eat thereof* myself, ** and 
 give** to you, according to my power, that you may 
 ” eat.** The ” porch’* of this ” temple** is exceedingly 
 glorious, and ” the gate of it is called Beautiful.** Here 
 are four things, as the four corners of this porch. Here 
 is the most glorious coming and appearance of the Son 
 of God;— that great work of Jesus Christ, in raising our 
 bodies from the dust, and uniting them again to the 
 soul ; the public and solemn process at their judgment, 
 where they shall first themselves be acquitted and jus- 
 tified, and then, with Christ, judge the world ; together 
 with their solemn coronation, and receiving the king- 
 dom. 
 
 1. The most glorious coming and appearance of the 
 Son of God may well be reckoned unto his people*s glory. 
 For their sake he came into the world, sufiered, died, 
 rose, ascended, and for their sake it is that he will return. 
 To this end •* will Christ come again to receive his peo- 
 ple unto himeelf, that where he is, there they may be 
 
28 
 
 tlt£ JSairfs^ 
 
 also,** JoTin xiv, 3. The bridegioom’s departure was 
 not upon divorce. He did not leave us with a purpose 
 to return no more. He hath left us pledges enough to 
 assure us to the contrary. We have his word, his many 
 promises, his sacraments, which “ show forth his death 
 till he come,** 1 Cor. xi. 26 ; and his Spirit to direct, 
 sanctify, and comfort, till he return. We have frequent 
 tokens of love from him, to show us, he forgets not his 
 promise, nor us. We daily behold the forerunners of 
 his coming, foretold by himself. We see the ** fig-tree 
 putteth forth leaves,*’ and therefore “ know that sum- 
 mer is nigh,** Matthew xxiv. 32. Though the riotous 
 world “ say, My Lord delayeth his coming,” Matt. xxiv. 
 48 ; yet let the saints ” lift up their heads, for their re- 
 demption draweth nigh,** Luke xxi. 28. Alas, fellow- 
 christians, what should we do, if our Lord should not 
 return! What a case are we here left in! What! 
 leave us ” in the midst of wolves,** Matt. x. 16, and 
 ** among lions,** Psa. Ivii. 4, ” a generation of vipers,” 
 Matt. iii. 7, and here forget us? Did he buy us so dear, 
 and then leave us sinning, suffering, groaning, dying 
 daily, and will he come no more to us ? It cannot be. 
 This is like our unkind dealing with Christ, who, when 
 we feel ourselves warm in the world, care not for com- 
 ing to him ; but this is not like Christ’s dealing with us. 
 He that would come to suffer will surely come to tri- 
 umph. He that would come to purchase, will surely 
 come to possess. Where else were all our hopes ? What 
 were become of our faith, our prayers, our tears, and 
 our waiting ? What were all the patience of the saints 
 worth to them ? Were we not left ” of all men the most 
 miserable,” 1 Cor. xv. 19. Christians, hath Christ made 
 us forsake all the world, and be forsaken of all the 
 world? to hate all, and be hated of all ? and all this for 
 him, that we might have him instead of all ? And will 
 be, think you, after all this, forget us, and forsake us 
 
J54 The great Preparatives to 
 
 himself ? Far be such a thought irom our hearts ! But 
 why staid he not with his people while he was here 1 
 Why, was not the work on earth done ? Must he not 
 take possession of glory in our behalf ? Must he not in- 
 tercede with the Father, plead his sufferings, be filled 
 with the Spirit to send forth, receive authority, and sub- 
 due his enemies ? Our abode here is short. If he had 
 staid on earth, what would it have been to enjoy him for 
 a few days, and then die ? He hath more in heaven to 
 dwell among, even the spirits of many generations. He 
 will have us live by faith, and not by sight. 
 
 O fellow-christians, what a day will that be, when we 
 who have been kept prisoners by sin, by sinners, by 
 the grave, shall be fetched out by the Lord himself? 
 It will not be such a coming as his first was, in poverty 
 and contempt, to be spit upon, and buffeted, and cruci- 
 fied again. He will not come, O careless world, to be 
 slighted and neglected by you any more. Yet that 
 coming wanted not its glory. If “ the heavenly host,** 
 for the celebration of his nativity, must “ praise God,** 
 Luke ii. 13, 14; with what shoutings will angels and 
 saints “ at the day’* proclaim glory to God, peace and 
 good will towards men?” If a star must lead men 
 from remote parts of the world ” to come to worship a 
 child in a manger,” Matt. ii. 2 ; how will the glory of 
 his next appearing constrain all the world to acknow- 
 ledge his sovereignty! If, “riding on an ass,” he 
 enter Jerusalem with hosannas. Matt. xxi. 5—9; with 
 what peace and glory will he come toward the new 
 Jerusalem! If, when he was in the ‘'form of a ser. 
 vant,” Phil. iL 7. they cry out, “ What manner of 
 man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him ?” 
 Matt. vii. 27, what will they say when “ they shall 
 see him coming in his glory,” and the heavens and the 
 earth obey him? “Then shall all the tribes of tho 
 earth mourn,’* Matt. xxiv. 30. To think and speak of 
 
26 
 
 the Saints* Best. 
 
 that day with horror, doth well beseem the impeniceut 
 sinner, but ill the believing saint. Shall the wicked 
 behold him, and cry, “Yonder is he whose blood we 
 neglected, whose grace we resisted, whose counsels w ' 
 refused, whose government we cast off V* And shall 
 not the saints, with inconceivable gladness, cry, “Yon- 
 der is he whose blood redeemed us, whose Spirit cleans 
 ed us, whose law did govern us, in whom we trusted 
 and he hath not deceived our trust ; for whom we long 
 waited, and now we see we have not waited in vain ! 
 
 0 cursed corruption ! that would have had us turn to 
 the world and present things, say, * Why should we 
 wait for the Lord any longer V 2 Kings vi. 33. Now, 
 we see, * Blessed are all they that wait for him!’ ’* Isa. 
 XXX. 18. And now, Christians, should we not put up 
 that petition heartily, “Thy kingdom come? The 
 Spirit and the bride say. Come : and let him that hear- 
 eth,” and readeth, “ say. Come,” Our Lord himself 
 says, “ Surely, I come quickly ; Amen, even so come. 
 Lord Jesus,** Rev. xxii. 17, 20. 
 
 2. Another thing that leads to paradise, is that great 
 work of Jesus Christ, in raising our bodies from the 
 dust, and uniting them again unto the soul. A wonder- 
 ful effect of Infinite power and love! Yea, wonderful, 
 indeed, says unbelief, if it be true? What! shall all 
 these scattered bones and dust become a man ? Let me 
 with reverence, plead for God, for that power whereby 
 
 1 hope to arise. What beareth the massy body of the 
 earth ? What limits the vast ocean of the waters ? 
 Whence is that constant ebbing and fiowing of the 
 tides ? How many times bigger than all the earth is 
 the sun, that glorious body of light ? Is it not as easy 
 to raise the dead, as to make heaven, and earth, and all 
 of nothing? Look not on the dead bones, and dust, 
 and difficulty, but at the promise. Contentedly com- 
 mit these carcasses to a prison, that shall not long con- 
 
 270 c 
 
Tht irr^ar Preparathet to 
 
 taia them. Let us “lie down in peace,” and taiie 
 our rest ; it will not be an everlasting night, nor end- 
 less sleep. If “unclothing” be the thing thou fearest, 
 it is that thou !r-j,yest have better “clothing,” 2 Cor. 
 V. 4. If to be turned out of doors be the thing thou 
 fearest, remember, that when the “ earthly house of 
 this tabernacle is dissolved,” thou hast a building of 
 God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the hea- 
 vens,” 2 Cor. V. 1. Lay down cheerfully this lump of 
 “corruption ;” thou shall undoubtedly receive it au'ain 
 in “ incorruption.” Lay down freely this “terres- 
 trial,” this “ natural body ;” thou shait receive it 
 again a “ celestial,” a “ spiritual body.” Though 
 thou lay it down with great “dishonour;” thou shall 
 receive it in “glory.” Though thou art separated 
 from it through “weakness;” it shall be raised again 
 in mighty “power, in a moment, in the twinkling of 
 an eye, at the last trump ; for the trumpet shall sound, 
 and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we 
 shall be changed,” 1 Cor. xv. 42 — 44,52. “The dead 
 in Christ shall rise first. Then those who are alive 
 and remain, shall be caught up together with them in 
 the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air,” 1 Thess. iv. 
 16, 17. Triumph now, O Christian, in these promises ; 
 thou shall shortly triumph in their performance. “This 
 is the day which the Lord will make ; we shall rejoice 
 and be glad in it,” Ps. cxviii. 24. The grave, that could 
 not keep our Lord, cannot keep us. He arose for us, 
 and by the same power will cause us to arise. “ For, if 
 we believe that Jesus died, and rose again, even so 
 them also who sleep in Jesus, will God bring with 
 him,” 1 Thess. iv. 14. Can the head live and the body 
 or members remain dead 1 O write those sweet words 
 upon thy heart, Christian, “ Because I live, ye shall 
 live also,” John xlv. 19. A.s sure as Christ lives, we 
 shall live; assure as he is risen, we shall rise. Else 
 
tne Saints' TtM. 
 
 21 
 
 t!ie dead perish ; else what is our hope ? But we liave 
 a sure ground of hope. Besides this life, we have a life 
 that is hid with Christ in God ; and when Christ, who 
 is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear 
 with him in glory,** Col. iii. 3, 4. Let us never look at 
 the grave, hut let us see the resurrection beyond it. 
 Yea, let us ** be steadfast, immoveable, always abound- 
 ing in the work of the Lord, for as much as we know 
 that our labour is not in vain in the Lord,” 1 Cor. xv. 58. 
 
 3. Part of this prologue to the saints’ rest, is the public 
 and solemn process at their judgment, where they 
 shall first themselves be acquitted and justified, and 
 then with Christ judge the world. Young and old, of 
 all estates and nations, that ever were from the creation 
 to that day, must here come and receive their doom. 
 O terrible 1 6 joyful day ! Terrible to those who have 
 forgot the coming of their Lord I joyful to the saints, 
 whose waiting and hope was to see this day I Then 
 shall the world behold ** the goodness and severity of 
 God: on them who perish, severity; but’* to his 
 chosen '* goodness,** Rom. xi. 22. Every one must 
 give an account of his stewardship, Luke xvi. 2. Every 
 talent of time, health, reason, mercies, afflictions, 
 means, warnings, must be reckoned for. The sins of 
 5 0 uth, those which they had forgotten, and their secret 
 sins shall all be laid open before angels and men. They 
 shall see the Lord Jesus, whom they neglected, whose 
 word they disobeyed, whose ministers they abused, 
 whose servants they hated, now sitting to judge them. 
 Their own consciences shall cry out against them, and 
 call to their remembrance all their misdoings. Which 
 way will the wretched sinner look ? Who can conceive 
 the terrible thoughts of his heart? Now the world 
 cannot help him ; his old companions cannot ; the 
 saints neither can nor will. Only the Lord Jesus can; 
 sml, there is the misery, he will not. Time was, sinner. 
 
23 
 
 The. great Preparaihet to 
 when Christ would, and you would not; now, fain 
 would you, and he will not. It is in vain to cry “ to 
 the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from 
 the face of him that sitteth on the throne,” Rev. vi. 16 ; 
 tot thou hast the Lord of mountains and rocks for thine 
 enemy, whose voice they will obey, and not thine. ” 1 
 charge thee, therefore, before God, and the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead, at his 
 appearing, and his kingdom,” 2 Tim. iv. 1, thatthouset 
 thyself seriously to ponder on these things. 
 
 But why tremblest thou, O humble, gracious soul ? He 
 that would .lot lose one Noah in a common delilge, nor 
 overlook one Lot in Sodom, nay, that could do nothing 
 till he went forth ; will he forget thee at that day ? The 
 Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of tempta- 
 tions, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judg- 
 ment to be punished,” 2 Pet. ii. 9. He knoweth how 
 to make the same day the greatest terror to his foes, and 
 yet the greatest joy to his people. ‘‘ There is no con- 
 demnation to them that are in Christ ^esus, who walk 
 not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Who shall lay 
 any thing to the charge of God*s elect ?” Shall the law ? 
 ** The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made 
 them free from the law of sin and death.” Or, shall con- 
 science ? ‘ ‘ The Spirit itself beareth witness with their 
 Spirit that they are the children of God. It is God that 
 justifleth, who is he that condemneth 7” Rom. viii. 1, 
 J, 16, 33, 34. If our Judge condemn us not, who shall 1 
 He that said to the adulterous woman, ” Hath no man 
 condemned thee 7 neither do I,” John viii. 10, 11, will 
 say to us, more faithfully than Peter to him, ” Though 
 all men deny thee,” or condemn thee, ” I will not,** 
 Matt. xxvi. 33, 35 : having ” confessed me before men, 
 thee will I also confess before my Father who is in hea- 
 ven,” Matt. X. 32. 
 
 What inexpressible joy, that oui dear Lord, who 
 
29 
 
 the Sainin' Best. 
 loveth our souls, and whom our souls love, shall be our 
 Judge! Will a man fear to be judged by his dearest 
 friend? or a wife by her own husband? Christian, 
 did Christ come down, and suffer, and weep, and bleed, 
 and die for thee— and will he now condemn thee ? Was 
 he judged, condemned, and executed in thy stead— and 
 now will he condemn thee himself? Hath he done 
 most of the work already, in redeeming, regenerating 
 sanctifying, and preserving thee — and will he now un- 
 do all again? Well, then, let the terror of that day be 
 ever so great, surely our Lord can mean no ill to us in 
 all. Let it make the devils tremble, and the wicked 
 tremble ; but it shall make us leap for joy. It must 
 needs affect us deeply with the sense of our mercy and 
 happiness, to see most of the world tremble with terror, 
 while we triumph with joy ; to hear them doomed to 
 everlasting flames, when we are proclaimed heirs of the 
 kingdom ; to see our neighbours, that lived in the same 
 towns, came to the same congregation, dwelt in the same 
 houses, and were esteemed more honourable in the 
 world than ourselves, now by the Searcher of hearts 
 eternally separated. This, with the great magnificence 
 and dreadfulness of the day, the apostle pathetically 
 expresses : “ It is a righteous thing with God to recom- 
 pense tribulation to them that trouble you : and to you 
 who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus 
 shall be revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels, 
 in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know 
 not God, and that 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 ; when he shall come to be 
 glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them 
 that believe, in that day,** 2 Thess. i. 6-— 10. 
 
 Yet more*, we shall be so far from the dread of that 
 judgment, that ourselves shall become the judges. 
 
30 
 
 The great i^reparatives to 
 Christ will take his people, as it were, into commission 
 with himself, and they sha'il sit, and approve his righte- 
 ous judgment. “ Do you not know that the saints will 
 judge the world ?*’ Nay, “ know ye not that ye shall 
 judge angels ?** 1 Cor. vi. 2, 3. Were it not for the 
 word of Christ that speaks it, this advancement would 
 seem incredible, and the language arrogant. *‘Even 
 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied this, say- 
 ing, * Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand 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 
 their hard speeches, which ungodly sinners have spo- 
 ken against him,* *’ Jude 14, 15. Thus shall the saints 
 be honoured, “ and the upright shall have dominion in 
 the morning,” Psa. xlix. 14. O that the careless world 
 ” were wise, that they understood this, that they would 
 consider their latter end P* Deut. xxxii. 29 ; that they 
 would be now of the same mind as they will be, when 
 they shall see ” the heavens pass away with a gre4it 
 noise, and the elements melt with fervent heat, the 
 e^rth also, and the works that are therein, burnt up !” 
 when all shall be in fire about their ears, and* ail earthly 
 glory consumed. For ” the heavens and the earth, 
 which are now, are reserved unto fire against the day 
 of judgment, and perdition of ungodly men. Seeing 
 that these things shall be dissolved, what manner of 
 persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and 
 godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of 
 the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire, 
 shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with 
 fervent heat,** 2 Pet. iii. 7, 11, 12. 
 
 4. The last preparative to the saints* rest is their so- 
 emn coronation, and receiving the kingdom. For, ns 
 Christ, their Head, is annointed both King and Priest, 
 so un4er hiip are bis people made unto Qod both kinjjs 
 
the Saints* Best, SI 
 
 and priests, to reign, and to offer praises, for ever, Rer. 
 V. 10. “ The crown of righteousness, which was laid up 
 for them, shall, by the Lord the righteous Judge, be 
 given them at that day,** 2 Tim, iv. 8. They have been 
 
 faithful unto death,** and therefore, “ he will give them 
 a crown of life,** Rev. ii. 10. And according to the im- 
 provement of their talents here, so shall their rule and 
 dignity be enlarged. Matt. xxv. 21 — 23. They are not 
 dignified with empty titles, but real dominion. ** Christ 
 will grant them to sit with him in his throne,** Rev. iii. 
 21, and will give them power over the nations, even as 
 he received of his Father : and he will give them “ the 
 morning star,*’ Rev. ii. 26 — 28. The Lord himself will 
 give them possession with these applauding expressions : 
 “Well done, good and faithful servant, thou hast been 
 faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over 
 many things ; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord,** 
 Matt. xxv. 23. 
 
 And with this solemn and blessed proclamation shall 
 he enthrone them, “ Come, ye blessed of my Father, 
 inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the founda- 
 tion of the world,” Matt. xxv. 34. Every word full of 
 life and joy. “Come:” — this is the holding forth of 
 the golden sceptre, to warrant our approach unto this 
 glory. Come, now, as near as you will : fear not the 
 Bethshemite’s judgment ; for the enmity is utterly 
 “ abolished,” Eph. ii. 15. This is not such a “ come” 
 as we were wont to hear, “Come, lake up your cross, 
 and follow me,” Matt. xvi. 24. Though that was sweet, 
 yet this much more — “Ye blessed:” Blessed indeed, 
 when that mouth shall so pronounce us I For though the 
 world hath accounted us accursed, and we have been 
 ready to account ourselves so, yet certainly “ those 
 that he blessed are blessed ; and those whom he cursed 
 only are cursed, and his blessing cannot be reversed,” 
 M.nnb, Jcxii. 6;.wii, 20,-^“ Of my Father:” Rles'^ed 
 
Ttie g^eai Preparatit>es to 
 
 in the Father’s love, as well as the Son’s, for they ** are 
 one,” John x. 30. The Father hath testified his love in 
 their election, donation to Christ, sending of Christ, 
 and accepting his ransom, as the Son hath also testified 
 his. ” Inherit No longer bondmen, nor servants only, 
 nor children under age, who differ not in possession, 
 out only in title, from servants. Gal. iv. 1 — 7. But now 
 we are “ heirs of the kingdom,” James ii. 5, “ and joint- 
 heirs with Christ,” Rom. viii. 17. “ The kingdom 
 No less than the kingdom? Indeed, to be King of 
 kings, and Lord of lords, is our Lord’s own proper title ; 
 but to be ‘‘kings, and reign with him,” Rev. xix. 16; 
 XX. 6, is ours. The enjoyment of this kingdom is, as 
 the light of this sun, each has the whole, and the rest 
 never the less—" Prepared for you God is the Alpha, 
 as well as the Omega, of our blessedness. Eternal love 
 hath laid the foundation. He prepared the kingdom for 
 us, and then prepared us for the kingdom. This is the 
 preparation of his counsel and decree, for the execution 
 whereof Christ was yet to make a farther preparation — 
 ‘■‘For you:” Not for believers only in general, who, 
 without individual persons, are nobody ; but for you 
 personally. — " From the foundation of the world Not 
 only from the promise after Adam’s fall, but from 
 eternity. 
 
 Thus we have seen the Christian safely landed in 
 paradise, and conveyed honourably to his rest. Now 
 let us a little farther, in the next chapter, view those 
 mansions, consider their privileges, and see whether 
 there be any glory like unto this glory. 
 
the Saints' Rest. 
 
 ^3 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Excellences of the Saints* Rest. 
 
 Let us draw a little nearer, and see the peculiar excel- 
 lences this rest affordeth. The Lord hide us in the 
 clefts of the rock, and cover us with the hands of indul- 
 gent grace, while we approach to take this view 1 This 
 rest is excellent for being a purchased possession ; a 
 free gift ; peculiar to saints ; an association with saints 
 and angels ; yet deriving its joys immediately from 
 God ; and because it will be a seasonable, suitable, per- 
 fect, and eternal rest. 
 
 1. It is a most singular honour of the saints’ rest, to 
 be called the purchased possession,” Eph. i. 14. That 
 is, the fruit of the blood of the Son of God ; yea, the 
 chief fruit, the end and perfection of all the fruits and 
 efficacy of that blood. Greater love than this there is 
 not, to laj" down the life of the lover. And to have this 
 our Redeemer ever before our eyes, and the liveliest 
 sense and freshest remembrance of that dying bleeding 
 love still upon our souls ; how will it fill our hearts with 
 perpetual joy, to think that in the streams of this blood 
 we have swum through the violence of the world, the 
 snares of Satan, the seducements of flesh, the curse of 
 the law, the wrath of an offended God, the accusations 
 of a guilty conscience, and the vexing doubts and fears 
 of an unbelieving heart, and are arrived safe at the pre- 
 sence of God I Now, he cries tons, Is it nothing to 
 you ail, all ye that pass by ? Behold, and see if there 
 be any sorrow like unto my sorrow,” Lam. i. 12, and we 
 scarcely regard his mournful voice, or turn aside to 
 view his wounds. But then our perfected souls will 
 feel, and flame in love for love. With what astonishing 
 apprehensions will redeemed saints everlastingly behold 
 
S4 The F4xcellences of 
 
 Aheir blessed Redeemer 1 the purchaser and the price, 
 together with the possession ! Neither will the view of 
 his wounds of love renew our wounds of sorrow. He, 
 whose first words after his resurrection were to a great 
 sinner, “Woman, why weepest thou ?“ Johnxx. 15, 
 knows how to raise love and joy, without any cloud of 
 sorrow, or storm of tears. He that made the sacra- 
 mental commemoration of his death to he his church’s 
 feast will surely make the real enjoyment of its blessed 
 purchase, to be marrow and fatness ; and if it afforded 
 joy, to hear from his mouth. This is my body, which 
 is given for you, and this is my blood, which is shed 
 for you ; what joy will it afford to bee.., This glory is 
 the fruit of my body and my blood 1 And what a joy- 
 ful feast will it be, when we shall drink of the fruit of 
 the vine new with him in the kingdom of his Father, as 
 the fruit of his own blood 1 If any thing we enjoy was 
 purchased with the life of our dearest friend, how 
 highly should we value it I If a dying friend deliver us 
 but a token of his love, how carefully do we preserve it, 
 and still remember him when we behold it, as if his 
 own name were written on it! And will not, then, 
 the death of our Lord everlastingly sweeten our possess- 
 ed glory ? As we write down the price our goods cost 
 as ; 80 on our righteousness and glory w rite down the 
 price, the precious blood of Christ. His sufferings were 
 to satisfy the justice that required blood, and to bear 
 what was due to sinners, and so to restore them to the 
 life they lost, and the happiness they fell from. The 
 work of Christ’s redemption so well pleased the Father, 
 that he gave him power to advance his chosen, and give 
 them the glory which was given to himself, and all this 
 “ according to his good pleasure, and the counsel of his 
 will,” Eph. i. 9, 11. 
 
 2. Another pearl in the saints’ diadem is, that it is a 
 free gift. These two, purchasiid and free, are the chains 
 
the Saints^ Best. 
 
 35 
 
 of gold which make up the wreaths for the tops of the 
 pillars in the temple of God, 1 Kings vii. 16, 17. It was 
 dear to Christ, but free to us. When Christ was to buy, 
 silver and gold were nothing worth ; prayers and tears 
 could not suffice, nor any thing below his blood — But 
 our buying is receiving; we have it freely, “without 
 money, and without price,** Isa. Iv. 1. A thankful 
 acceptance of a free acquittance is no paying of the 
 debt. Here is all free : if the Father freely givr the 
 Son, and the Son freely pay the debt ; and if God freely 
 accepts that way of payment, when he might have re- 
 quired it of the principal ; and if both Father and Son 
 freely offer us the purchased life on our cordial accept- 
 ance, and if they freely send the Spirit to enable us 
 to accept, what is here, then, that is not free ? Oh 
 the everlasting admiration that must needs surprise 
 the saints to think of this freeness 1 “ What did the 
 Lord see in me, that he should judge me meet for such 
 a state ? — that I, who was but a poor, diseased, despised 
 wretch, should be clad in the brightness of this glory !— 
 that I, a creeping worm, should be advanced to this high 
 dignity! — that I, who was but lately groaning, weeping, 
 dying, should now be as full of joy as my heart can hold ! 
 yea, should be taken from the grave, where I was rot- 
 ting, and from the dust and darkness, where I seemed 
 forgotten, and be here set before his throne!— that 1 
 should be taken, with Mordecai, from captivity, and be 
 set next unto the king; and, with Daniel, from the den, 
 to be made ruler of princes and provinces ! Who can 
 fathom unmeasurable love?** When the self-accusing, 
 humble soul, who thought himself unworthy the ground 
 he trod on, and the air he breathed in ; unworthy to eat. 
 drink> or live ; when he shall taken up into this glory 1 
 He who durst not receive the sacrament, because he was 
 unworthy ; who durst scarcely come among or speak to 
 the imperfect saints on earth : or read, or hear, or pray, 
 
36 
 
 The Excellences oj 
 and call God Father 1 For this soul to find hImseL rapt 
 up into heaven, and closed in the arms of Christ, even in 
 a moment I Do but think with yourselves what the 
 transporting, astonishing admiration of such a soul wil 
 be I He that durst not lift up his eyes to heaven, hut 
 stood afar oflf*, smiting on his breast, and crying, God be 
 merciful to me a sinner ; now to be lifted up to heaven 
 himself 1 He who used to wonder how patience could 
 bear ■with him so long, and suffer him to live 1 How 
 then will his admiration be excited, when he shall find 
 that the unworthiness which he thought would have be- 
 reaved him of mercy shall not hinder his everlasting 
 salvation I Ah, Christian, there is no talk of our wor- 
 thiness or unworthiness. If worthiness were our con- 
 dition for admittance, we might sit down and weep with 
 St. John, because no man was found worthy. But 
 the Lion of the tribe of Judah is worthy, and hath pre- 
 vailed,** Rev. V. 4, 5, and by that title we must hold the 
 hxheritance. We shall offer there the offering that David 
 refused, even praise for “ that which cost us nothing,** 
 2 Sam. xxiv. 24. Here our commission runs, “ Freely 
 as ye have received, freely give,*’ Matt. x. 8, but Christ 
 has dearly bought, yet freely gives. 
 
 If it were only for nothing, and without our merit, the 
 wonder were great ; but it is moreover against our 
 merit, and against our long endeavouring our own ruin. 
 What an astonishing thought it will be, to think of the 
 unmeasurable difference between our deservings and 
 receivings! — between the state we should have been in, 
 and the state we are in ! — to look down upon hell, and 
 see the vast difference that grace hath made betwixt us 
 and them !— to see the inheritance there, which we 
 were born to, so different from that which we are adopt- 
 ed to ! What pangs of love will it cause within us, to 
 think, “ Yander was the place that sin would have 
 brought me to; but this is it that Christ hath brought 
 
mmts Hust* 3* 
 
 me to I Yonder death was the wages of my sin ; hut 
 this eternal life is the gift of God, through Jesus Christ 
 my Lord 1** Rom. vi. 23. “ Who made me to diflfer T 
 1 Cor. iv. 7. Was my heart naturally more ready foi 
 Christ than theirs ; or any whit better affected to the 
 Spirit’s persuasions ? Should I ever have begun to love 
 God, if he had not first loved me ; or ever have been 
 willing, if he had not made me willing ; or ever have 
 differed from others, if he had not made me to differ 1 
 Had 1 not now been in those flames, if I had had my 
 own way, and been let alone to ray own will 1 Should 
 I not have lingered in Sodom, till the flames had seized 
 on me, if God had not in mercy “brought me out?” 
 Gen. xix. 16. Doubtless this will be our everlasting 
 admiration, that so rich a crown should fit the head of 
 so vile a sinner ! that such high advancement, and such 
 long unfruitfulness and unkindness, can be the state of 
 the same person 1 and that such vile rebellions can con- 
 clude in such most precious joys ! But no thanks to us, 
 nor to any of our duties and labours, much less to our 
 neglects and laziness. We know to whom the praise is 
 due, and must be given for ever. Indeed, to this very 
 end it was, that infinite wisdom cast the whole design 
 of man’s salvation into this mould of purchase and free- 
 ness, that the love and joy of man might be perfected, 
 and the honour of grace most highly advanced ; that the 
 thought of merit might neither crowd the one, nor ob- 
 struct the other ; and that on these two hingos the gate 
 of heaven might turn. So then, let deserved be written 
 on the door of hell, but on the door of heaven and life, 
 
 THE FREE GIFT. 
 
 3. This rest is peculiar to saints, belongs to no other 
 of all the sons of men. If all Egypt had been light, the 
 Israelites would not have had the less ; but to enjoy that 
 light alone, while their neighbours lived in thick dark- 
 ness, must make them more sensible of their privilege. 
 
^ The Excellences of 
 
 Distinguishing mercy effects morp than any mercy. 
 If Pharaoh had passed as safely as Israel, the Red Sea 
 would have been less remembered. If the rest of the 
 world had not been drowned, and Sodom and Gomorrah 
 not burned, the saving of Noah had been no wonder, nor 
 Lot’s deliverance so much talked of. When one is en* 
 lightened, and another left in darkness ; one reformed, 
 and -another by his lust enslaved ; it makes the saints 
 cry out, “ Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself 
 to us, and not unto the world ?” John xiv. 22. When 
 the prophet is sent to one widow only, and she not an 
 Israelite ; and to cleanse one Naaman, a Syrian, of all 
 the lepers, Luke iv. 25—27, the mercy is more observ- 
 able. That will surely be a day of passionate sense on 
 both sides, when “ there shall be two in one bed,” and 
 ** two in the field, the one taken, and the other left,” 
 Luke xvii. 34, 36. The saints shall look down upon 
 the burning lake, and, in the sense of their own happi- 
 ness, and in the approbation of God’s just proceedings, 
 they shall rejoice, and sing, ‘‘Thou art righteous, O 
 Lord, who wast, art, and shalt be, because thou hast 
 judged thus,” Rev. xvi. 5. 
 
 4. But though this rest be proper to the saints, yet it 
 is common to all the saints; for it is an association of 
 blessed spirits, both saints and angels, a corporation of 
 perfected saints, whereof Christ is the Head ; the com- 
 munion of saints completed. As we have been together 
 in the labour, duty, danger, and distress ; so shall we 
 be in the great recompense and deliverance. As we 
 have been scorned and despised ; so shall we be owned 
 and honoured together. We, who have gone through 
 the day of sadness, shall enjoy together that day of glad- 
 ness. Those who have been with us in persecution and 
 prison, shall be with us also in that palace of consola- 
 tion. How oft have our groans made, as it were. Dne 
 sound ; our tears, one stream ; and our desires, one 
 
39 
 
 PpSt. 
 
 prayer 1 But now all our praises shall make Up one 
 melody ; all our churches, one church ; and all our- 
 selves, one body ; for we shall be all one in Christ, even 
 “as He and the Father are one,” John xvii. 21. *Tis 
 true, we must be careful not to look for that in the saints, 
 which Is alone in Christ. But if the forethought of ‘ * sit- 
 ting down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the 
 kingdom of heaven,” Matt. viii. 11, may be our lawful 
 joy ; how much more the real sight and actual posses- 
 sion 1 It cannot choose but be comfortable to think of 
 thgit day, when we shall join with Moses in his song, 
 with David In his psalms of praise, and with all the 
 redeemed in “ the song of the Lamb” for ever. Rev. xv. 
 3 ; when we shall see “ Enoch walking with Grod,” Gen. 
 V. 24; Noah enjoying the end of his singularity ; Joseph, 
 of his integrity ; Job, of his patience ; Hezekiah, of his 
 uprightness ; and all the saints “ the end of their faith,” 
 1 Pet. i. 9. Not only our old acquaintance, but all the 
 saints, of all ages, whose faces in the flesh we never saw, 
 we shall there both know and comfortably enjoy. Yea, 
 angels as well as saints, will be our blessed acquaintance, 
 fhose who now are willingly our “ ministering spirits,” 
 Heb. i. 14, will willingly then be our companions in joy. 
 They, who had such joy in heaven for our conversion, 
 Luke XV. 7. 10, will gladly rejoice with us in our glorifi- 
 cation. Then we shall truly say, as David, “I am a 
 companion of all them that fear thee,” Psa. cxix 63 ; 
 “ when we are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city 
 of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an in- 
 numerable company of angels, to the general assembly, 
 and church of the first-born who are written in heaven, 
 and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just 
 men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new 
 covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh 
 better things than that of Abel,” Heb. xii. 22 — 24, We 
 are come ttiithcr already, in respect of title, and of 
 
iO Excellences of 
 
 earnest and flrst-fruua ; but we shall then come into full 
 possession. If it be a happiness to live with the saints 
 in their imperfection, when they have sin to embitter, 
 as well as holiness to sweeten, their society ; what will 
 it be to live with them in their perfection, where saints 
 are wholly and only saints ! *Tis a singular excellence 
 of heavenly rest, that we are fellow-citizens with the 
 saints, and of the household of God,** Eph. ii. 19. 
 
 As another property of our rest, we shall derive its 
 joys immediately from God. Now we have nothing at 
 all immediately, but at the second or third hand, or how 
 many who knows ? from the earth, from man, from sun 
 and moon, from the ministration of angels, and from the 
 Spirit, and Christ. Though, in the hand of angels, the 
 stream savours not of the Imperfection of sinners, yet 
 it does of the imperfection of creatures ; and as it comes 
 from man, it savours of both. How “ quick and piercing 
 is the word in itself,** Heb. iv. 18. Yet many times it 
 never enters, being managed by a feeble arm. What 
 weight and worth is there in every passage of the bless- 
 ed gospel! Enough, one would think, to enter and 
 force the dullest soul, and wholly possess its thoughts 
 and affections ; and yet how oft does it fall as water upcn 
 a stone 1 The things of God which we handle, are di- 
 vine ; but our manner of handling is human. There is 
 little we touch, but we leave the print of our fingers be- 
 hind. If God speaks the word himself, it will be a 
 piercing, melting word indeed. The Christian now 
 knows by experience, that his most immediate joys arc 
 his sweetest joys; which have least of man, and are 
 most directly from the Spirit. Christians, who are much 
 In secret prayer and contemplation, are men of greatest 
 life and joy; because they have all more immediately 
 from God himself. Not that we should cast off hearing, 
 reading, and conference, or neglect any ordinance of 
 God : but to live above them, while we use them, is the 
 
41 
 
 thp Satmif'^ Rest 
 way of a Christian. There is joy in these remote re- 
 ceivings; but the “fulness of joy is in God’s” imme- 
 diate “ presence,” Psa. xvi. 11. We shall then have 
 light without a candle, and perpetual day without the 
 sun; for “ the city has no need of the sun, neither of 
 the moon, to shine in it, for the glory of God lightens it. 
 and the Lamb is the light thereof ; there shall be no night 
 there, and they need no candle, neither light, and they 
 shall reign for ever and ever,” Rev. xxi. 23; xxii. 
 5. We shall then have enlightened understandings with- 
 out scripture, and be governed without a written law ; 
 for the Lord will perfect his law in our hearts, and we 
 shall be all perfectly taught of God. We shall have joy, 
 which we drew not from the promises, nor fetched home 
 by faith or hope. We shall have communion without 
 sacraments, without “ this fruit of the vine, when Christ 
 shall drink it new with us in his Father’s kingdom,” 
 Matt. xxvi. 29, and refresh us with the comforting wine 
 of immediate enjoyment. To have necessities, but no 
 supply, is the case of them in hell. To have necessity 
 supplied by means of the creatures, is the case of us on 
 earth. To have necessity supplied immediately from 
 God, is the case of the saints in heaven. To have no 
 necessity at all, is the prerogative of God himself. 
 
 6. A farther excellence of this rest is, that it will be 
 seasonable. He that expects “ the fruit of his vineyard 
 at the season,” Mark xii. 2, and makes his people ** like 
 a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth 
 his fruit in his season,” Psa. i. 3, will also give them 
 the crown in his season. He that will have ‘ a word of 
 joy spoken in season, to him that is weary,” Isa. 1. 4, 
 will surely cause the time of joy to appear in the fittest 
 season. They that “ are not weary in well-doing, shall, 
 if they faint not, reap in due season,” Gal. vi. 9. If 
 God “ giveth rain” even to his enemies, “ both the 
 former and the latter in his season,” and “ reserveth 
 270 D 
 
The Excir^lences of 
 
 the appointed weeks of harvest,” and covenants that 
 “there shall be day and night in their season,” Jer. v. 
 24 ; then surely the glorious harvest of the saints shall 
 not miss its season. Doubtless, he that would not stay 
 a day longer than his promise, but brought Israel out of 
 Egypt on “ the self-same day when the four hundred 
 and thirty years were expired,” Exod. xii. 40, 41; nei- 
 ther will he fail of one day or hour of the fittest season 
 for his people’s glory. When we have had in this world 
 a long night of darkness, will not the day-breaking and 
 the rising of the Sun of righteousness, be then season- 
 able? when we have passed a long and tedious journey, 
 through no small dangers, is not home then seasonable ? 
 When we have had a long and perilous war, and received 
 many a wound, would not a peace, with victory, be sea- 
 sonable ? Men live in a continual weariness ; especially 
 the saints, who are most weary of that which the world 
 cannot feel: some weary of a blind mind; some of a 
 hard heart; some of their daily doubts and fears; some 
 of the want of spiritual joys; and some of the sense of 
 God’s wrath. And when a poor Christian hath desired 
 and prayed and waited for deliverance many years, is it 
 not then seasonable ? We grudge that we do not find a 
 Canaan in the wilderness, or the songs of Sion in a 
 strange land ; that we have not a harbour in the main 
 ocean, nor our rest In the heat of the day, nor heaven 
 before we leave the earth: and would not all this be 
 very unseasonable ? 
 
 7. As this rest will be seasonable, so it will be suit- 
 able. The new nature of the saints doth suit their 
 spirits to this rest. Indeed their holiness is nothing 
 else but a spark taken from this element, and by the 
 Spirit of Christ kindled in their hearts; the flame 
 whereof, mindful of its own divine original, eve-r tends 
 to the place from whence it comes. Temporal crowns 
 ard kingdoms could 4uit make a rest for saints. As thej 
 
the Saints' Best. 
 
 were not redeemed with so low a price,’* 1 Pet. i. 18, 
 neither are they endued with so low a nature. As God 
 will have from them a spiritual worship, suited to his 
 own spiritual being, he will provide them a spiritual 
 rest, suitable to their spiritual nature. The knowledge 
 of God and his Christ, a delightful complacency in that 
 mutual love, an everlasting rejoicing in the enjoyment 
 of-our God, with a perpetual singing of his high praises ; 
 this is a heaven for a saint. Then we shall live in our 
 own element. We are now as the fish in a vessel of 
 water, only so much as will keep them alive ; but what 
 is that to the ocean ? We have a little air let in unto us, 
 to afford ns breathing ; but what is that to the sweet and 
 fresh gcl?s upon Mount Sion 1 We have a beam of the 
 sun to lighten our darkness, and a warm ray to keep us 
 from freezing ; but then we shall live in its light, and be 
 revived by its heat for ever. As the natures of saints 
 are, such are their desires ; and it is the desires of oui re- 
 newed nature which this rest is suited to. Whilst our 
 desires remain corrupt and misguided, it is a far greater 
 mercy to deny them, yea, to destroy them, than to sa- 
 tisfy them. But those which are spiritual are of his 
 own “ planting,” and he will surely ” water” them and 
 “give the increase.” He quickened our hunger and 
 thirst for righteousness, that he might make us happy in 
 a full satisfaction. Christian, this is a rest after thy own 
 heart; it contains all that thy heart can wish; that 
 which thou longest, prayest, labourest for, there thou 
 shall find it all. Thou hadst rather have God in Christ, 
 than all the world : there thou shalt have him. What 
 woulcist thou not give for assurance of his love ? There 
 thou shalt have assurance without suspicion. Desire 
 what thou caftst, and ask what thou wilt, as a Christian, 
 and it shall be given thee, not only to half of the king- 
 dom, but to the enjoyment both of kingdom and King. 
 This is a lile of desire and prayer, but that is a life of 
 
44 The Excellence! oj 
 
 saiisfaction and enjoyment. This rest is very suitable 
 to the saints’ necessities also, as well as to their natures 
 and desires. It contains whatsoever they truly wanted j 
 not supplying them with gross created comforts, which 
 like Saul’s armour on David, are more burden than 
 l)enefit. It was Christ and perfect holinesg whicli they 
 most needed, and with these shall they be supplied. 
 
 8. Still more, this rest will be absolutely perfect. We 
 shall then have joy without sorrow, ana rest w’ithou 
 weariness. There is no mixture of corruption with our 
 graces, nor of suffering with our comfort. There are 
 none of those waves in that harbour, which now so toss 
 us up and down. To-day w'e are well, to-morrow sick ; 
 to-day in esteem, to-morrow in disgrace; to-day we 
 have friends, to-morrow none ; nay, we have wine ana 
 vinegar in the same cup. If “ revelations” raise us “ to 
 the third heaven,” ” tlie messenger of Satan” must pre- 
 sently ” buffet” us, and tne thorn of the flesh.” fetch 
 us down, 2 Cor. xii. 2, 7. But there is none of this in- 
 constancy in heaven. If” perfect love casteth out fear,” 
 1 John iv. 18, then perfect joy must needs cast out sor- 
 row, and perfect happiness exclude all the relics of mi- 
 sery. We shall there rest from all the evil of sin and of 
 suftering. 
 
 Heaven excludes nothing more directly than sin, whe- 
 ther of nature or of conversation. ” There shall in no 
 wise enter any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever 
 worketh abomination, or maketh a lie,” Rev. xxi. 27. 
 What need Christ at all have died if heaven could have 
 contained imperfect souls ? ” For this purpose the Son 
 of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works 
 of the devil,” 1 John iii. 8. Kis blood and Spirit have 
 not done all this, to leave us, after all, defiled. ” What 
 communion hath light wdth darkness? and what con- 
 cord hath Christ with Belial?” 2 Cor. vi. 15. Christian, 
 if thou be once in heaven, thoa shall sin no more. Is 
 
tne Saints' Rest. 45 
 
 rot tnis glad news to thee, who i*ast prayed and watched 
 against it so long ? I know, if it were offered to thy 
 choice, thou wouldst rather choose to be freed from sin, 
 than hare all the world. Thou shalt have thy desire. 
 That hard heart, those vile thoughts, which accompa- 
 nied thee to every duty, shall now be left behind for 
 ever. Thy understanding shall never more be troubled 
 with darkness. All dark scriptures shall be made plain ; 
 all seeming contradictions reconciled. The poorest 
 Christian is presently, there, a more perfect divine than 
 any here. O that happy day, when error shall vanish 
 forever! when our understanding shall be filled with 
 God himself, whose light will leave no darkness in us ! 
 His face shall be the scripture, where we shall read the 
 truth. Many a godly man hath here, in his mistaken 
 zeal, been the means of deceiving and perverting his 
 brethren, and, when he sees his own error, cannot 
 again tell how to undeceive them. But there we shall 
 conspire in one truth, as being one in Him who is the 
 truth. We shall also rest from all the sin of our will, 
 affection, and conversation. We shall no more retain 
 this rebelling principle, which is still drawing us from 
 God ; no more be oppressed with the power of our cor- 
 ruptions, nor vexed with their presence : no pride, pas- 
 sion, slothfulness, or insensibility, shall enter within 
 us ; no strangeness to God, and the things of God; no 
 coldness of affection, nor imperfection in our love ; no 
 uneven walking, nor grieving of the Spirit, no scandal- 
 ous action, nor unholy conversation t we shall rest from 
 all these for ever. Then shall our will correspond to the 
 Divine will, as face answers face in a glass; and from 
 which, as our law and rule, we shall never swerve. 
 
 “ For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceas- 
 ed from his own works, as God did from his,*’ Heb 
 iv. 10. 
 
 Our suff 'rings were but the consequences of our sin- 
 
4C The Excellences of 
 
 ning, and in heaven they both shall cease together. We 
 shall rest from all our doubts of God*s love. It shall no 
 more be said, that ** Doubts are like the thistle, a bad 
 weed, but growing in good ground.*** They shall now 
 be weeded out, and trouble the gracious soul no more 
 We shall hear that kind of language no more. What 
 shall I do to know my state ? How shall I know that 
 God is my Father ?— that my heart is upright ?— that 
 my conversion is true ? — that my faith is sincere ? lam 
 afraid my sins are un pardoned ; that all I do is hypo- 
 crisy ; that God will reject me ; that he does not hear 
 my prayers." All this is there turned into praise. We 
 shall rest from all sense of God’s displeasure. Hell shall 
 not be mixed with heaven. At times the gracious soul 
 remembered God, and was troubled ; complained, and 
 was overwhelmed, and refused to be comforted di- 
 vine ** wrath lay hard upon him, and God afflicted him 
 with all his waves,** Ps. Ixxvii. 2, 3; Ixxxviii. 7. But 
 that blessed day shall convince us, that, though God 
 * hid his face from us for a moment," yet " with ever- 
 lasting kindness will he have mercy on us," Is. liv. 8. 
 We shall rest from all " the temptations of Satan." 
 What a grief it is to a Christian, though he yield not to 
 the temptation, yet to be solicited to deny his Lord I 
 What a torment to have such horrid motions made to 
 his soul ; such blasphemous ideas presented to his ima- 
 gination! sometimes cruel thoughts of God, underva- 
 luing thoughts of Christ, unbelieving thoughts of scrip- 
 ture, or injurious thoughts of Providence ! to be tempt- 
 ed sometimes to turn to present things, to play with the 
 baits of sin, and venture on the delights of flesh, and 
 sometimes to atheism itself! especially when we know 
 the treachery of our own hearts, ready, as tinder, to take 
 Are, as soon as one of those sparks shall fall upon them ! 
 Satan hath power here to tempt us " in the wilderness,’* 
 
 • Dr. John Preaton. 
 
the Saints* Rest 
 
 47 
 
 but he entereth not the holy city he may set ns on 
 a pinnacle of the temple’’’ in the earthly “ Jerusalem,” 
 but the New Jerusalem he may not approach ; he may 
 take us up ” into an exceeding high mountain,” but 
 the ‘‘Mount Sion” he cannot ascend ; and if he could, 
 ” all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them,” 
 Matt, iv. 1, 5, 8, would be a despised bait to a soul pos* 
 sessed of the kingdom of our Lord. No, it is in vain for 
 Satan to offer a temptation more. All our temptations 
 from the world and the flesh shall also cease. Oh the 
 hourly dangers laatwe here walk ini Every sense and 
 member is a snare ; every creature, every mercy, and 
 every duty, is a snare to us. We can scarcely open our 
 eyes, but we are in danger of envying those above us, 
 or despising those below us ; of coveting the honours 
 and riches of some, or beholding the rags and beggary 
 of others with pride and unmercifulness. If we see 
 beauty, it is a bait to lust ; if deformity, to loathing and 
 disdain. 
 
 How soon do slanderous reports, vain jests, wanton 
 speeches, creep into the heart ! How constant and 
 strong a watch does our appetite require! Have wt 
 comeliness and beauty 1 What fuel for pride 1 Are we 
 deformed? What an occasion of repining! Have we 
 strength of reason and gifts of learning? O how prone 
 to be puffed up, to hunt after applause, and despise our 
 brethren! Are we unlearned ? How apt then to de- 
 spise what we have not 1 Are we in places of authority ? 
 How strong is the temptation to abuse our trust, make 
 our will our law, and cut out all the enjoyments of others 
 by the rules and model of our own interest and policy ! 
 Are we inferiors ? How prone to judge at others* pre- 
 eminence, and bring their actions to the bar of our judg- 
 ment ? Are we rich, and not too much exalted ? Are 
 we poor, and not discontented ? Are we not lazy in our 
 duties, or make a Christ of them ? Not that God hath 
 
The Excellences oj 
 
 made all these things our snares, but through onr own 
 corruption they become so to us. Ourselves are the 
 greatest snare to ourselves. This is our comfort, our 
 rest will free us from all these. As Satan hath no en- 
 trance there, so neither any thing to serve his malice! 
 but all these things shall join with us in the high praises 
 of our great Deliverer. 
 
 As we rest from the temptations, we shall likewise 
 from the abuses and persecutions, of the world. The 
 prayers of the souls under the altar will then be answer- 
 ed, and God will “ avenge their blood on them that 
 dwell on the earth,’* Rev. vi. 9, 10. This is the time 
 for crowning with thorns; that, for crowning with glo. 
 ry. Now, “ all that will livegodlyin Christ Jesus, shah 
 suffer persecution.” 2 Tim. iii. 12; then, they” that 
 suffered with him, shall be glorified with him,” Rom. 
 viiL 17. Now, we must ” be hated of all men for Christ’s 
 name’s sake,” Matt. x. 22 ; then, Christ ” will be ad- 
 mired in his saints” that were thus hated, 2 Thess. i. 10. 
 We are here ” made a spectacle unto the world, and to 
 angels, and to men ; as the filth of the world, and the 
 ofl&couring of all things,” 1 Cor. iv. 9, 13. Men ” sepa- 
 rate ns from their company, and reproach us, and cast 
 out our names as evil,” Luke vi. 22. 8ut we shall then 
 be as much gazed at for our glory ; and they will be shut 
 out of the church of the saints, and separated from us, 
 whether they will or not. We can scarcely pray in our 
 families, or sing praises to God, but our voice is a vexa- 
 tion to them ; how must it torment them then, to see us 
 praising and rejoicing, while they are howling and la- 
 menting 1 You, brethren, who can now attempt no work 
 of God, without losing the love of the world, consider, 
 you shall have none in heaven but will further your 
 work, and join heart and voice with you in your ever- 
 lasting ioy and praise. Till then, ” possess ye your 
 souls in patience,” Luke xxi. 19. Bind all reproaches 
 
(he Saints' IRen, 
 
 AS a crown to your heads. Esteem them greater riches 
 than the world’s treasures. It is a righteous thing with 
 God, to recompense tribulation to them that trouble 
 you; and to you who are troubled, rest with Christ,** 
 J&'Thess. i. 6, 7. 
 
 We shall then rest from aU our sad divisions, and un- 
 christian quarrels with one another. How lovingly do 
 thousands live together in heaven, who lived at variance 
 upon earth ? There is no contention, because none of 
 this pride, ignorance, or other corruption. There is no 
 plotting to strengthen our party, nor deep designing 
 against our brethren. If there be sorrow or shame in 
 heaven, we shall then be both sorry and ashamed, to re- 
 member all this carriage on earth ; as Joseph’s brethren 
 were to behold him, when they remembered their for- 
 mer unkind usage. Is it not enough that all the world 
 is against us, but we must also be against one another? 
 O happy days of persecution, which drove us together 
 in love, whom the sunshine of liberty and prosperity 
 crumbles into dust by our contentions ! O happy day 
 of the saints’ rest in glory, when, as there is one God, 
 one Christ, one Spirit, so we shall have one heart, one 
 church, one employment forever! 
 
 We shall then rest from our participation of our bre- 
 thren’s sufferings. The church on earth is a mere hos- 
 pital ; some groaning under a dark understanding, some 
 under an insensible heart, some languishing under un- 
 fruitful weak ness, and some bleeding for miscarriages 
 and wilfulness; some crying out of their poverty, some 
 groaning under pains and infirmities, and some bewail- 
 ing a whole catalogue of calamities. But a far greater 
 grief it is, to see our dearest and most intimate friends 
 turned aside from the truth of Christ, continuing their 
 neglect of Christ and their souls, and nothing will 
 awaken them out of their security; to look on an un- 
 godly father or mother, b-other or sister . wife or bus- 
 
50 
 
 The Excellences of 
 band, child or friend, and think how certainly they 
 shall be in hell for ever, if they die in their present un . 
 regenerate state : to think of the gospel departing, the 
 glory taken from our Israel, poor souls left willingly 
 dark and destitute, and blowing out the light that should 
 guide them to salvation ! Our day of rest will free us 
 from all this, ** and the days of mourning shall oe end- 
 ed : then thy people, 0 Lord, shall be all righteous ; 
 they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of thy 
 planting, the work of thy har*ds, that thou mayest be 
 glorified,’* Isa. lx. 20, 21. 
 
 Then we shall rest from ail our now personal suffer- 
 ings. This may seem a small thing to those who live in 
 ease and prosperity ; but to the daily afflicted soul it 
 makes the thoughts of heaven delightful. 0 the dying 
 life we now live ! as full of sufferings as of days and 
 hours 1 Our Redeemer leaves this measure of misery 
 upon us, to make us know for what we are beholden, 
 to mind us of what we should else forget, to be service- 
 able to his wise and gracious designs, and advantageous 
 to our full and final recovery. Grief enters at every 
 sense, and seizes every part and power of fiesh and spi- 
 rit. What noble part is there, that si>ffereth Its pain or 
 ruin alone? But sin and flesh, dust and pain, will all 
 be left behind together. O the blessed tranquillity of 
 that region, where there is nothing but sweet continued 
 peace 1 O healthful place, where none are sick! O 
 happy land, where all are kings 1 O holy assembly, 
 where all are priests 1 How free a state, where none 
 are servants, but to their supreme monarch ! The poor 
 man shall no more be tired of his labours ; “ no more 
 hunger or thirst,” cold or nakedness; no pinching 
 frosts, or scorching heats. Our faces shall no more be 
 pale or sad, no more breaches in friendship, nor parting 
 of friends asunder; no more trouble accompanying our 
 relations, nor voice of lamentation heard in our dwell- 
 
ihe Saints' Pest 
 
 51 
 
 Ings : ** God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes,** 
 Rev. vii, 16, 17. 0 my soul, bear with the infirmities ol 
 thine earthly tabernacle; it will be thus but a little 
 while ; the sound of thy Redeemer*s feet is even at the 
 door. 
 
 We shall also rest from all the toil of duties. The 
 conscientious magistrate, parent, and minister, cries 
 out, ** Oh the burden that lieth upon me !’* Every re- 
 lation, state, and age, hath variety of duties ; so that 
 every conscientious Christian cries out, “ Oh the bur- 
 den I Oh, my weakness that makes it burdensome 1’* 
 But our remaining rest will ease us of the burdens. 
 
 Once more, we shall rest from all these troublesome 
 afflictions, which necessarily accompany our absence 
 from God. The trouble that is mixed in our desires and 
 hopes, our longings and waitings, shall then cease. We 
 shall no more look into our cabinet, and miss cmr trea- 
 sure ; into our hearts, and miss our Christ ; no more seek 
 him from ordinance to ordinance; but all be concluded 
 in a most blessed and full enjoyment. 
 
 9. The last jewel of our crown is, that it will be an 
 everlasting rest. Without this, all were comparatively 
 nothing. The very thought of leaving it, would embit- 
 ter all our joys. It would be a hell in heaven, to think 
 of our once losing heaven ; as it would be a kind of 
 heaven to the damned, had they but hopes of once 
 escaping. Mortality is the disgrace of all sublunary 
 delights. How it spoils our pleasure, to see it dying in 
 our hands 1 But, O blessed eternity 1 where our lives 
 are perplexed with no such thoughts, nor our joys in- 
 terrupted with any such fears I where we shall be “pil- 
 lars in the temple of God, and go no more out,** Rev. 
 iii. 12. While we were servants, we held by lease, and 
 that but for the term of a transitory life ; “ but the son 
 abideth in the house for ever,** John viii. 35. Our 
 earthly paradise in Eden had a way out, but none, that 
 
52 The Excellences of 
 
 ever wo could find, in again ; but this eternal paradise 
 hath a way in, but no way out again : see Luke xvi. 26. 
 “Gray soul, let go thy dreams of present pleasures, 
 and loose thy hold of earth and flesh. Study frequently, 
 study thoroughly, this one word — eternity.** Whatl 
 live, and never die I ** Rejoice, and ever rejoice!** O 
 happy souls in hell should you but escape after millions 
 of ages ! O miserable saints in heaven, should you be 
 dispossessed, after the age of a million of worlds! This 
 word, everlasting, contains the perfection of their tor- 
 ment, and our glory. O that the sinner would study 
 this word, methinks it would startle him out of his dead 
 sleep ! O that the gracious soul would study it, me- 
 thinks it should revive him in his deepest agony !— And 
 must I, Lord, thus live for ever? Then will I also love 
 forever. Must my joys be immortal? and shall not 
 tny thanks be also immortal? Surely, if I shall never 
 lose my glory, I will never cease thy praises. If thou 
 wilt both perfect and perpetuate me and my glory ; as 1 
 shall be thine, and not my own, so shall my glory be thy 
 glory. And as thy glory was thy ultimate end in my 
 glory ; so shall it also be my end, when thou hast 
 crowned me with that glory which hath no end. “ Un- 
 to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise 
 God, be honour and glory, for ever and ever,** ITim. 
 i. 17. 
 
 Thus I have endeavoured to show you a glimpse of 
 approaching glory. But how short are my expressions 
 of its excellency ! Reader, if thou art a humble sin- 
 cere believer, and waitest with longing and labouring 
 for this rest, thou wilt shortly see and feel the truth of 
 all this : thou wilt then have so high an apprehension 
 of this blessed state, as will make thee pity the igno- 
 rance and distance of mortals and will tell thee, all 
 that is here said falls short of the whole truth a thousand- 
 fold. In the meantime, let this much kindle thy de- 
 
ih.fi Saints' f^fist 53 
 
 hires, and quicken thy endeavours. Up, and be doing ; 
 run, and strive, and fight, and hold on ; for thou hast a 
 certain, glorious prize before thee. God will not mock 
 thee ; do not mock thyself, nor betray thy soul by de- 
 laying, and all this thine own. What kind of men, dost 
 thou think, would Christians be in their lives and duties, 
 if they had still this glory fresh in their thoughts ? 
 What frame^oul-d their spirits be in, if their thoughts 
 of heaven were lively and believing? Would their 
 hearts be so heavy ? their countenances be so sad ? or 
 would they have need to take up their comforts from 
 below? Would they be so loath to suffer, so afraid to 
 die ; or would they not think every day a year, till they 
 enjoy it ? May the Lord heal our carnal hearts, lest we 
 “ enter not into the rest, because of unbelief,” Heh 
 iii. 19. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Tfif Character of the Persons for whom this rest is designed 
 
 While I was in the mount, describing the excellences 
 of the saints’ rest, I felt it was good being there, and 
 therefore tarried the longer ; and, was there not an ex- 
 treme disproportion between my conceptions and the 
 subject, much longer had I been. Can a prospect of 
 that happy land be tedious ? Having read of such a 
 high and unspeakable glory, a stranger would wonder 
 for what rare creature this mighty preparation should 
 be made, and expect some illustrious sun should break 
 forth. But, behold 1 only a shell-full of dust, animated 
 with an invisible rational soul, and that rectified with 
 as unseen a restored power of grace ; and this is the 
 creature that must possess such glory! Vou would 
 think it must needs be some deserving piece, or one that 
 brings a valuable nrice : but behold! one that bath no* 
 
54 The Character of the Tersomf 
 
 thing, and can deswrve nothing ; yea, that deserve? the 
 contrary, and would, if he might, proceed in that de- 
 serving ; but being apprehended by love, he is brought 
 to Himthat ** is all.” Col. iii. 11 ; and most aflfectionate- 
 ly receiving him, and resting on him, he doth, in and 
 through him, receive all this. More particularly, the 
 persons for whom this rest is designed, are — chosen of 
 God from eternity ; given to Christ, as their Redeemer ; 
 born again ; deeply convinced of the evil and misery of 
 a sinful state, the vanity of the creature, and the all-suf- 
 ficiency of Christ ; their will is renewed ; they engage 
 themselves to Christ in covenant; and they persevere 
 in their engagements to the end. 
 
 1. The persons for whom this rest is designed, vyhom 
 the text calls ” the people of God,” are ” the chosen of 
 God from eternity,” John xvii. 2. That they are but 
 a small part of mankind is too apparent in scripture and 
 experience. They are the ” little flock,” to whom ” it 
 is their Father’s good pleasure to give the kingdom,” 
 Luke xii. 32. Fewer they are than the world imagines ; 
 yet not so few as some drooping spirits think, who are 
 suspicious that God is unwilling to be their God, when 
 they know themselves willing to be his people. 
 
 2. These persons are given of God to his Son, to be 
 by him redeemed from their lost state, and advanced to 
 this glory. God hath given all things to his Son, but not 
 as he hath given his chosen to him, ” God hath given 
 him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal 
 life to as many as the Father hath given him,” John 
 xvii. 2. The- difference is clearly expressed by the 
 apostle. ” He hath put all things under his feet, and 
 gave him to be the Head over all things to the church,” 
 Eph. i. 22. And though Christ is, in some sense, ” a 
 ransom for all,” 1 Tim. ii. 6. yet not in that special 
 manner as for his people. 
 
 3. One great qualification of these persons Is, that 
 
53 
 
 who shah enjoy ihis Resh 
 they are ** born again,’* John iii. 3. To be the people 
 of God without regeneration, is as impossible as to be 
 the children of men without generation. Seeing we are 
 born God’s enemies, we must be new-born his sons, or 
 else remain enemies still. The greatest reformation of 
 life that can be attained to without this new life, 
 wrought in the soul, may procure our farther delusion, 
 but never our salvation. 
 
 4. This new life in the people of God discovers itself 
 by conviction, or a deep sense of divine things. As, 
 for instance, they are convinced of the evil of sin. The 
 sinner is made to know and feel, that the sin, which was 
 his delight, is a more loathsome thing than a toad or 
 serpent, and a greater evil than plague or famine ; being 
 a breach of the righteous law of the most high God, dis- 
 honourable to him, and destructive to the Sinner. Now , 
 the sinner no more hears the reproofs of sin, as words 
 of course ; but the mention of his sin speaks to his 
 very heart, and yet he is contented you should show 
 him the worst. He was wont to marvel, what made 
 man keep such a stir against sin ; what harm it was for 
 a man to take a little forbidden pleasure ; he saw no 
 such heinousness in it, that Christ must needs die for it, 
 and a Christless world, be eternally tormented in hell. 
 Now the case is altered, God hath opened his eyes to 
 see the inexpressible vileness of sin. 
 
 They are convinced of their own misery oy reason of 
 sin. They who before read the threats of God’s law as 
 men do the story of foreign wars, now find it their own 
 story, and perceive they read their own doom, as if 
 they found their names written in the curse, or heard 
 the law say, as Nathan, thou art the man,” 2 Sam. 
 xii. 7. The wrath of God seemed to him, before, but 
 as a storm to a man in a dry house, or as the pains of 
 the sick to the healtnful stander^by ; but now he finds 
 the disease is his own, and feels himself a condemned 
 
56 
 
 The CharacJer of the Persons 
 man, that he is dead and condemned in point of law, 
 and that nothing was wanting but mere execution, to 
 make him absolutely and irrecoverably miserable. This 
 is a work of the Spirit, wrought In some measure in all 
 the regenerate. How should he come to Christ for par- 
 don, that did not first find himsel/ guilty and condemn- 
 ed?— or for life, that never found himself spiritually 
 dead ? “ The whole need not a physician, but they that 
 are sick,** Luke v. 31. The discovery of the remedy 
 as soon as the misery, must needs prevent a great part 
 of the trouble. And perhaps the joyful apprehensions 
 of mercy may make the sense of misery sooner forgot- 
 ten. 
 
 They are also convinced of the creature*s vanity and 
 insufiiciency. Every man is naturally an idolater. Our 
 hearts turned from God in our first fall ; and, ever since, 
 the creature hath been our god. This is the grand sin 
 of nature. Every unregenerate man ascribes to the crea- 
 ture divine prerogatives, and allows it the highest room 
 in his soul ; or, if he is convinced of misery, he flies to 
 it as his saviour. Indeed, God and his Christ shall be 
 called Lord and Saviour; but the real expectation is 
 from the creature, and the work of God is laid upon it. 
 Pleasure, profit, and honour, are the natural man*s tri- 
 nity, and his carnal self is these in unity. It was our 
 first sin to aspire to be as gods ; and it is the greatest sin 
 that is propagated in our nature from generation to 
 generation., When God should guide us, we guide our- 
 selves ; when he should be our sovereign, we rule our- 
 selves ; the law which he gave us we find fault with; 
 and would correct, and, if we had the making of them, 
 we would have made otherwise ; when he should take 
 care of us, and must, or we perish, we will take care for 
 ourselves ; when we should depend on him in daily re- 
 ceivings, we had rather have our portion in our own 
 hands ; when we should submit to his providence, we 
 
who shall enjoy this Itest 
 
 usually quarrel at it, and think we could inake a better 
 disposal than God hath made. When we should study 
 and love, trust and honour God, we Study and love, 
 trust and honour our carnal selves. Instead of God, we 
 would have all men’s eyes and dependence on us, and 
 all men’s thanks returned to us, and would gladly be the 
 ®nly men on earth, extolled and admired by all. Thus, 
 we are naturally our own idols. But down falls this 
 Dagon, when God does once renew the soul. It is the 
 chief design of that great work, to bring the heart back 
 to God himself. He convinceth the sinner, that the 
 creature can neither be his God, to make him happy ; 
 nor his Christ, to recover him from his misery, and re- 
 store him to God, who is his happiness. God does this, 
 not only by his word, but by providence also. This Is 
 the reason why affliction so frequently concurs in the 
 work of conversion. Arguments which speak to the 
 quick will force a hearing, when the most powerful 
 words are slighted. If a sinner made his credit his god, 
 and God shall cast him into the lowest disgrace ; or 
 bring him, who idolized his riches, into a condition 
 wherein they cannot help him, or cause them to take 
 wing and fly away ; what a help is here to this work of 
 conviction ! If a man made pleasure his god, whatsoever 
 a roving eye, a curious ear, a greedy appetite, or a lust- 
 ful heart could desire, and God should take these from 
 him, or turn them into gall and wormwood ; what a help 
 is here to conviction 1 When God shall cast a man into 
 anguishing sickness, and inflict wounds on his heart, 
 and stir up against him his own conscience, and then, as 
 it were, say to him, “ Try if your credit, riches, or plea- 
 sures, can help you. Can they heal your wounded con- 
 science ? Can they new support your tottering taberna- 
 cle ? Can they keep your departing soul in your body 1 
 or save ycmfrom my everlasting wrath ? or redeem your 
 soul from eternal flames 1 Cry aloud to them, and see 
 270 E 
 
The Chaf after of the Persons 
 now whether these will be to you instead of God and 
 his Christ.** O how this works now with the sinner ! 
 Sense acknowledges the truth, and even the flesh is 
 convinced of the creature’s vanity, and our very deceiver 
 is undeceived. 
 
 The people of God are likewise convinced of the ab- 
 solute necessity, the full sufficiency, and perfect excel- 
 lency of Jesus Christ, as a man in famine is convinced 
 o/ tbe necessity of food ; or a man th.. is heard or read 
 his sentence of condemnation, of the absolute necessity 
 of pardon ; or a man that lies in prison for debt, is con- 
 vinced of his need of a surety to discharge it. Now the 
 sinner feels an insupportable burden upon him, and sees 
 there is i>one but Christ can take it off*. He perceives 
 the law proclaims him a rebel, and none but Christ can 
 make his peace. He is as a man pursued by a lion, that 
 must perish if he finds not a present sanctuary. He is 
 now brought to this dilemma; either he must have 
 Christ to justify him, or be eternally condemned ; 
 have Christ to save him, or burn in hell for ever ; 
 have Christ to bring him to God, or be shut out of his 
 presence .everlastingly. And no wonder if he cry, as the 
 martyr, “ None but Christ, none but Christ.” Not gold, 
 but bread will satisfy the hungry ; nor any thing but 
 pardon will comfort the condemned. ” All things are 
 counted but dung now, that he may win Christ ; and 
 what was gain, he counts loss for Christ,” Phil. iii. 7, 8. 
 As the sinner sees his misery, and the Inability of him- 
 self and all things to relieve him, so he perceives there 
 is no saving mercy out of Christ. He sees, though the 
 creature cannot, and himself cannot, yet Christ can. 
 Though the fig-leaves of our own unrighteous unrigh- 
 teousness are too short to cover our nakedness, yet the 
 righteousness of Christ is large enough ; ours is dispro- 
 portionate to the justice of the law, but Christ’s extends 
 to every tittle. Tf he intercede, there is no denial ; such 
 
who shall enjoy this "Rest. ^9 
 
 lathe dignity of his person, and the value of his merits, 
 that the Father grants all he desires. Before, the sinner 
 knew Christ’s excellency, as a blind man knows the 
 light of the sun ; but now, as one that beholds its glory. 
 
 5. After this deep conviction, the will discovers also 
 its change. As for instance — ^The sin, which the under- 
 standing pronounces evil, the will turns from with ab- 
 horrence. Not that the sensitive appetite is changed, 
 or any way made to abhor its object, except when it 
 would prevail against reason, and carry us to sin against 
 God, instead of making scripture the rule, and reason 
 the master, and sense the servant: this disorder and 
 evil the will abhors. The misery also which sin hath 
 procured, is not only discerned but bewailed. It is im» 
 possible that the soul should now look, either on its 
 trespass against God, or yet on its own self-procured ca- 
 lamity, without contrition. He that truly discerns that 
 he hath killed Christ, and killed himself, will surely in 
 some measure be “ pricked to the heart,” Acts ii. 
 
 If he cannot weep, he can heartily groan ; and his heart 
 feels what his understanding sees. The creature is re- 
 nounced as vanity, and turned out of the heart with dis- 
 dain. Not that it is undervalued, or the use of it dis- 
 claimed ; but its idolatrous abuse, and its unjust usurp- 
 ation. Can Christ be the way, where the creature is 
 the endl Can we seek to Christ to reconcile us to God, 
 while in our hearts we prefer the creature before him t 
 In the soul of every unregenerate man, the creature is 
 both God and Christ. Can Christ be believed in, where 
 our own righWousness, or any other thing, is trusted in 
 as our Saviour ? or doth God ever thoroughly discover 
 sin and misery, and take, the heart from all creatures 
 and self-righteou|}ness, and yet leave the soul unrenew- 
 ed 1 The truth is, where the work is sincere, there it is 
 entire ; and all these parts are truly wrought. As turn- 
 ing from the creature to God, and not by Christ, is no 
 
60 The Character of the Pertont 
 
 true turning ; so believing in Christ, while the creature 
 hath our hearts, is no true believing. Our aversion from 
 sin, renouncing our idols, and our right receiving Christ, 
 is all but one work, which God ever perfects where he 
 begins. At the same time the will cleaves to God the 
 Father, and to Christ. Having been convinced that no- 
 tliing else can be his happiness, the sinner now finds 
 it is in God. Convinced also, that Christ alone is able 
 and willing to make peace for him, he most afiection- 
 ately accepts of Christ for his Saviour and Lord. Paul’s 
 preaching was “ repentance toward God, and faith tow- 
 ard our Lord Jesus Christ,” Acts xx. 21. "And life 
 eternal” consists first in ” knowing the only true God, 
 and” then ” Jesus Christ whom he hath sent,” John 
 xvii. 3. To take the Lord for our God, is the natura. 
 part of the covenant ; the supernatural part is, to take 
 Christ for our Redeemer. The former is first necessary, 
 and implied in the latter. To accept Christ without af- 
 fection and love, is not justifying faith. Nor does love 
 follow as a fruit, but immediately concurs ; for faith is 
 the receiving of Christ with the whole soul. He that 
 loveth father or mother more than Christ, is not worthy 
 of him,” Matt. x. 37, nor is justified by him. Faith ac- 
 cepts him for Saviour and Lord ; for in both relations 
 will he be received, or not at all. Faith not only ac- 
 knowledges his sufferings, and accepts of pardon and 
 glory ; but acknowledges his sovereignty, and submits 
 to his government and way of salvation. 
 
 6. As an essential part of the character of God’s peo- 
 ple, they now enter into a cordial covenant with Christ 
 The sinner was never strictly, nor comfortably, in co- 
 »^enant with Christ till now. He is sure, by the free 
 offers, that Christ consents ; and now he cordially con- 
 sents himself, and so the agreement is fully made. 
 With this covenant Christ delivers up himself, in all 
 comfortable relations, to the sinner ; and the wuner de« 
 
ttl 
 
 who shall enjoy this Rest» 
 
 Hvers up nirnselC to be saved and ruled by Christ. Now 
 the soul resolutely concludes, “ 1 have been blindly led 
 by flesh and lust, by the world and the devil, too long, 
 almost to my utter destruction ; I will now be wholly at 
 the disposal of my Lord, who hath bought me with his 
 blood, and will bring me to his glory.** 
 
 7. I add, that the people of God perjsevere in this 
 covenant to the end. Though the believer may commit 
 sins, yet he never disclaims his Lord, renounces his 
 allegiance, nor repents of his covenant; nor can he 
 properly be said to break that covenant while that faith 
 continues which is the condition of it. Indeed, those 
 who have verbally covenanted, and not cordially, may 
 ** tread unde’* foot the blood of the covenant, as an un- 
 holy thing, wherewith they were sanctified,’* Heb. x. 
 29, by separation from those without the church ; but 
 the elect cannot be so deceived. Matt. xxiv. 24. Though 
 this perseverance be certain to true believers, yet it is 
 made a condition of their salvation ; yea, of their con- 
 tinued life and fruitfulness, and of the continuance of 
 their justification, though not of their first justification 
 itself, John xv. 4, 6, 9 ; viii. 31 ; Rev. ii. 25, 26 ; iii. 11, 
 12 ; Col. i. 23 ; Rom. xi. 22. But eternally blessed be 
 that hand of love, which hath drawn the free promise, 
 and subscribed and sealed to that which ascertains us, 
 both of the grace which is the condition, and the king- 
 dom which on that condition is offered. 
 
 Such are the essentials of this people of God : not a 
 full portraiture of them in all their excellences, nor all 
 the marks whereby they may be discerned. I beseech 
 thee, reader, as thou hast the hope of a Christian, or the 
 reason of a man, judge thyself, as one that must shortly 
 be judged by a righteous God, and faithfully answer 
 these questions. I will not inquire whether thou re- 
 member the time or the order of these workings of the 
 Spirit; there may be much uncertainty and mistake 
 
62 The Character of the Persons 
 
 in tliat : if thou art sure they are wrought In thee, the 
 matter is not so great, though thou know not when or 
 how thou earnest by them. But carefully examine and 
 inquire. Hast thou been thoroughly convinced of a 
 prevailing depravation, through thy whole soul t and a 
 prevailing wickedness through thy whole life ? and how 
 vile sin is? and that, by the covenant thou hast trans- 
 gressed, the least sin deserves eternal death? Dost 
 thou consent to the law, that it is true and righteous, 
 and perceive thyself sentenced to this death by it ? Hast 
 thou seen the utter insufficiency of every creature, 
 either to be itself thy happiness, or the means of remov- 
 ing this thy misery ? Hast thou been convinced, that 
 thy happiness is only in God, as the end, and in Christ, 
 as the way to him ? and that thou must be brought to 
 God through Christ, or perish eternally? Hast thou 
 seen an absolute necessity of thy enjoying Christ, and n 
 full sufficiency in him, to do for thee whatsoever thy 
 case requires ? Hast thou discovered the excellence of 
 this “ pearl,*’ to be worth thy “ selling all to buy it,” 
 Matt, xiii, 46. Have thy convictions been like those of 
 a man that thirsts ; and not merely a change in opinion, 
 produced by reading or education ? Have both thy sin 
 and misery been the abhorrence and burden of thy soul ? 
 If thou couldst not weep, yet couldst thou heartily groan 
 under the insupportable weight of both ? Hast thou 
 renounced all thine own righteousness ? Hast thou 
 ‘turned thine idols out of thy heart, so that the creature 
 hath no more the sovereignty, but is now a servant to 
 God and Christ? 
 
 Dost thou accept of Christ as thy only Saviour, and 
 expect thy justification, recovery, and glory, from him 
 alone? Are his laws the most powerful commanders of 
 • hy life and soul ! Do they ordinarily prevail against 
 the commands of the flesh, and against the greatost inte- 
 rest of ihj cred^o profit, pleasure, oi life? Has Christ 
 
wlt^ shall enjoy this Rest, SP. 
 
 the highest room in thy heart and affections, that though 
 thou canst not love him as thou wouldst, yet nothing 
 else is loved so much ? Hast thou to this end made a 
 hearty covenant with him, and delivered up thyself to 
 him ? Is it thy utmost care and watchful endeavour that 
 thou mayest be found faithful in this covenant and 
 though thou fall into sin, yet wouldst not renounce thy 
 bargain, nor change thy Lord, nor give up thyself to any 
 other government, for all the world? If this be truly 
 the case, thou art one of the people of God in ray text 
 and as sure as the promise of God is true, this blessed 
 rest remains for thee. Only see that thou •• abide in 
 Christ,*’ John xv. 4, and ** endure to the end,” Matt, 
 xxiv. 13 ; for, “ if any man draw back,*’ his ** soul shall 
 have no pleasure in him,” Heb. x. 38. But if no such 
 work be found within thee; whatever thy deceived 
 heart may think, or how strong soever thy false hopes 
 may be ; thou wilt find to thy cost, except thorough 
 conversion prevent it, that the rest of the saints belongs 
 not to thee. ” O that thou wert wise, that thou wouldst 
 understand this, that thou wouldst consider thy latter 
 end r* Deut. xxxii. 29 — that yet, while thy soul is in 
 thy body, and a price in thy hand,” Prov. Xvii. 16, 
 and opportunity and hope before thee, thine ears may 
 be open, and thy heart yield to the persuasions of God, 
 that so thou might rest among his people, and enjoy 
 ” the inheritance of the saints in light,” Col. i. 12* 
 
 That this rest shall be enjoyed by the people of God, 
 is a truth which the scripture, if its testimony be farther 
 needed, clearly asserts, in a variety of ways : as, for in- 
 stance, that they are ** foreordained to it, and it for 
 them. God is not ashamed to be called their God, for 
 he hath prepared for them a city,” Heb. xi, 16. They 
 are styled ” vessels of mercy afore-prepared unto glo^ 
 ry,” Rom. ix. 23. '* In Christ they have obtained an 
 iuheritance, being predestinated according to the pnr- 
 
64 The Character of the Persons. 
 
 pose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of 
 his own will,” Eph. i. 11. And who he did predes- 
 tinate thkm he also glorified,” Eom. viii.38. Who can 
 bereave his people of that rest which is designed for 
 them by God’s eternal purpose 1 Scripture tells us, they 
 are “redeemed to this rest. By the blood of Jesus we 
 have boldness to enter into the holiest,” Heb. x. 19 ; 
 whether that entrance means by faith and prayer here, 
 or by full possession hereafter. Therefore the saints in 
 heaven “sing a new song” unto Him who has “re- 
 deemed them to Gcd by his blood, out of every kindred, 
 and tongue, and people, and nation, and made them 
 kings and priests unto God,” Rev. v. 8, 10. Either 
 Christ, then, must lose his blood and sufferings, and 
 never “see of the travail of his soul,” or else “ there 
 remaineth a rest to the people of God.” In scripture 
 this rest is “ promised to them.” As the firmament 
 with stars, so are the sacred pages bespangled with these 
 divine engagements. Christ says “ Fear not, little 
 flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you 
 the kingdom,” Luke xii. 32. “I appoint unto you a 
 a kingdom, as, my Father hath appointed unto me ; 
 that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom,” 
 Luke xxii. 29, 30, &c. All the means of grace, the 
 operations of the Spirit upon the soul, and gracious 
 actings of the saints, every command to repent and be- 
 lieve, to fast and pray, to knock and seek, to strive and 
 labour, to run and fight, prove that there remains a rest 
 for the people of God. 
 
 The Spirit would never kindle In us such strong desires 
 after heaven, such love to Jesus Christ, if we should not 
 receive what we desire and love. He that” guides our 
 feet into the way of peace,” Luke ii 79, will undoubted- 
 y bring us to the end of peace. How nearly are the 
 means and end conjoined! “ The kingdom of heaven 
 suCVreth violence, and the violent take it by force,” 
 
who shall enjoy this Rest. OS 
 
 Matt. xi. 12. They that “ follow Christ in the regenera- 
 tion, shall sit upon thrones of glory,” Matt. xix. 28. 
 Scripture assures us, that the saints have the ** begin - 
 ings, foretastes, earnests, and seals,” of this rest here; 
 ** The kingdom of God is within them,” Luke xvii. 21, 
 Though they have not seen Christ, yet, loving him, and 
 believing in him, they rejoice with joy unspeakable and 
 full of glory ; receiving the end of their faith, even the 
 salvation of their souls,” 1 Pet, i. 8, 9. They ” rejoice 
 in hope of the glory of God,” Rom. v. 2. And does 
 God ” seal them with that holy Spirit of promise, which 
 is the earnest of their inheritance,” and will he deny 
 the full ” possession V* Eph. i. 13, 14. The Scripture 
 also mentions, by name, those who have entered” into 
 this rest; as Enoch, Abraham, Lazarus, the thief they 
 was crucified with Christ, &c. And if there be a rest 
 for these, surely there is a rest for all believers. But it 
 is needless to heap up scripture proofs, seeing it is the 
 very end of scripture, to be a guide to lead us to this 
 blessed state, and to be the charter and grant by which 
 we hold all our title to it. 
 
 Scripture not only proves that this rest remains for 
 the people of God, but also, that it remains for none but 
 them ; so that the rest of the world shall have no part 
 in it. ” Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord, 
 Heb. xii. 14. ” Except a man be bom again, he cannot 
 see the kingdom of God. He that believeth not the 
 Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on 
 him,” John iii. 3, 36. No whoremonger, nor unclean 
 person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any 
 inheritance in the kingdom of Christ, and of God,” 
 Eph. V. 5. ” The wicked shall be turned into hell, and 
 all the nations that forget God,” Psa. ix. 17. ‘‘They 
 all shall be damned, who believe not the truth, but have 
 pleasure in unrighteousness,” 2 Thess. ii. 12. ‘‘The 
 Lord Jesus shall come in flaming fire, to take vengeance 
 
GG The Character of the Persom 
 
 on them that know not God, and that 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,** 2 Thess, i. 7— 
 9. Had the ungodly returned before their life was ex- 
 pired, and been heartily willing to accept of Christ for 
 their Saviour and their King, and to be saved by him in 
 his way, and upon his most reasonable terms, they 
 might have been saved. God freely offered them life, 
 and they would not accept it. The pleasure of the flesh 
 seemed more desirable to them than the glory of the 
 saints. Satan offered them the one, and God offered 
 them Ine other, and they had free liberty to choose 
 which they would, and they chose “ the pleasures of 
 Jin for a season,** before the everlasting rest with Christ 
 And is it not a righteous thing that they should be de- 
 nied that which they would not accept? When God 
 pressed them so earnestly, and persuaded them so im- 
 portunately, to come in, and yet they would not, where 
 should they be but among the “ dogs without ?” Though 
 man be so wicked that he will not yield till the mighty 
 power of grace prevail with him, yet still we may truly 
 say, that he may be saved, if he will, on God’s terms. 
 His inability being moral, and lying in wilful wicked- 
 ness, is no more excuse to him, than it is to an adulterer, 
 that he cannot love his own wife, or to a malicious per- 
 son, that he cannot but hate his own brother : is he not 
 so much the worse, and deserving of so much the sorer 
 punishment ? Sinners shall lay all the blame on their 
 own wills, in hell for ever 1 Hell is a rationa. torment 
 by conscience, according to the nature of the rational 
 subject. If sinners could but then say. It was owing to 
 God, and not of us, it would quiet their consciences, and 
 ease their torments, and make hell to them to be no hell. 
 But to remember their wilfulness, will feed the fire, and 
 cause the worm of conscience “ never to die,’* Mark 
 ix. -14. 
 
67 
 
 who shall enjoy this Rest* 
 
 1 1 Is the will of God that this rest should yet remain 
 for his people, and not be enjoyed till they come tc 
 another world. Who should dispose of the creatures, 
 but he that made themt You may as Well ask, why 
 have we not spring and harvest, without winter? or, 
 why this earth below, and the heavens above, as why 
 we have not rest on earth ? All things must come to 
 their perfection by degrees. The strongest man must 
 first be a child. The greatest scholar must first begin In 
 his alphabet. The tallest oak was once an acorn. This 
 life ii our infancy; and would we be perfect in the 
 womb, or born at full stature ? If our rest was here, 
 most of God’s providences must be useless. Should God 
 lose the glory of his church’s miraculous deliverances, 
 and the fall of his enemies, that men may nave their 
 happiness here ? If we were all happy, innocent, and 
 perfect, what use was there for the glorious works of our 
 sanctification, justification, and future salvation ? If we 
 wanted nothing, we should not depend on God so close- 
 ly, nor call upon him so earnestly. How little would he 
 hear from us, if we had what we would have 1 God 
 would never have had such songs of praise from Moses 
 at the Red sea and in the wilderness, from Deborah and 
 Hannah, from David and Hezekiah, if they had been 
 the choosers of their own condition. Have not thine 
 ow'n highest praises to God, reader, been occasioned by 
 thy dangers or miseries ? The greatest glory and praise 
 God has through the world, is for redemption, reconci- 
 liation, and salvation by Christ; and was not man’s 
 misery the occasion of that? And where God loses 
 the opportunity of exercising his mercies, man must 
 needs lose the happiness of enjoying them. Where God 
 loses his praise, man will certainly lose his comforts. 
 O the sweet comforts the saints have had in return to 
 their prayers? How should we know what a tender- 
 hearted Father we have, if we had not, as the prodigul. 
 
G8 The Character of the Persone 
 
 been denied the husks of earthly pleasure and comforts 
 We should never have felt Christ’s tender heart, if we 
 had not felt ourselves weary and heavy laden, hungry 
 and thirsty, poor and contrite. It is a delight to a sol- 
 dier, or traveller, to look back on his escapes when they 
 are over ; and for a saint in heaven to look back on: his 
 sins and sorrows upon earth, his fears and tears, his 
 enemies and dangers, his wants and calamities, must 
 make his joy more joyful. Therefore the blessed, in 
 praising the Lamb, mention his redeeming them out of 
 every nation, and kindred, and tongue ; and so, out of 
 their misery, and wants, and sins, and making them 
 kings and priests to God. But if they had nothing but 
 content and rest on earth, what room would there have 
 been for these rejoicings hereafter 1 
 Besides, we are not capable of rest upon earth. Can 
 a soul that is so weak in grace, so prone to sin, so nearly 
 joined to such a neighbour as this flesh, have full content 
 and rest in such a case ? What is soul rest, but our 
 freedom from sin, and imperfections, and enemies ? 
 And can the soul have rest, that is pestered with all 
 these, and that continually ? Why do Christians so oft 
 cry out in the language of Paul, “ O wretched man that 
 I am, who shall deliver me ?” Rom. vii. 24. What 
 makes them press towards the mark, and run that they 
 may obtain, and strive to enter in, if they are capable 
 of rest in their present condition 1 And our bodies are 
 incapable, as well as our souls. They are not now those 
 sun-like bodies which they shall be, when “ this corrupt- 
 ible hath put on incorruption, and this mortal hath put 
 on immortality.” They are our prisons and our bur- 
 dens ; so full of inflrmities and defects, that we are fain 
 to spend most of our time in repairing them, and sup- 
 plying their continual wants. Is it possible tnat an im- 
 mortal soul should have rest in such a distempered noi- 
 some habitation? Surely these sickly, weary, loath- 
 
who shall enjoy this Rest, (>9 
 
 some bodies must be refined, before they can be capable 
 of enjoying rest. The objects we here enjoy, are insuf- 
 ficient to aflTord us rest. Alas I what is there in all the 
 world to give us rest ? They that have most of it, have 
 the greatest burden. They that set most by it, and re- 
 joice most in it, do all cry out at last of its vanity and 
 and vexation. Men promise themselves a heaven upon 
 earth ; but when they come to enjoy it, it flies from 
 them. He that has any regard to the works of the Lord, 
 may easily see that the very end of them is to take down 
 our idols, to make us weary of the world, and seek out 
 rest in him. Where does he cross us most, but where 
 we promise ourselves most content? If you have a 
 child you dote upon, it becomes your sorrow. If you 
 have a friend you trust, and judge unchangeable, he be- 
 comes your scourge. Is this a place, or state of rest ? 
 And as the objects we here enjoy are insufficient for our 
 rest, so God, who is sufficient, is here little enjoyed. It 
 is not here that he hath prepared the presence-chamber 
 of his glory. He hath drawn the curtain between us 
 and him ; we are far from him as creatures, and farther 
 as frail mortals, and farthest as sinners. We hear now 
 and then a word of comfort from him, and receive his 
 love-tokens, to keep up our hearts and hopes ; but this 
 is not our full enjoyment. And can any soul, that hath 
 made God his portion, as every one hath that shall be 
 saved by him, find rest at so vast a distance from him, 
 and so seldom and small enjoyment of him ? 
 
 Nor are we now capable of rest, as there is a worthi- 
 ness must go before it. Christ will give the crown to 
 none but the worthy. And are we fit for the crown, 
 before we have overcome ? or for the prise, before we 
 have run the race T or to receive our penny, before we 
 have wrought in the vineyard ? or to be rulers of ten 
 cities, before we have improved our ten talents 1 or to 
 enter into the joy of our Lord, before yr? well 
 
70 The Character of the Person$ 
 
 done as good and faithful servants? God will not alter 
 the course of justice, to give you rest before you have 
 laboured for the crown of glory, till you have overcome. 
 There is reason enough why our rest should remain till 
 the life to come. Take heed, then, Christian reader, 
 how thou darest to contrive and care for a rest on earth •, 
 or to murmur at God for thy trouble, and toil, and 
 wants in the flesh. Doth thy poverty weary thee? thy 
 sickness ? thy bitter enemies and unkind friends ? It 
 should be so here. Do the abominations of the times, 
 the sins of professors, the hardening of the wicked, all 
 weary thee ? It must be so while thou art absent from 
 thy rest. Do thy sins, and thy naughty distempered 
 heart, weary thee ? Be thus wearied more and more. 
 But under all this weariness, art thou willing to go to 
 God, thy rest? and to have thy warfare accomplished? 
 and thy race and labour ended ? If not, complain more 
 of thine own heart, and get it more weary, till rest seem 
 more desirable, 
 
 I have but one thing more to add, for the close of this 
 chapter, that the souls of believers do enjoy inconceiv- 
 able blessedness and glory, even while they remain 
 separated from their bodies. What can be more plain 
 than those words of Paul ? ** We are always confident, 
 knowing that whilst we are at home,** or rather so- 
 journing, in the body, we are absent from the Lord. 
 (For we walk by faith, not by sight. ) We are confident, 
 I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, 
 and to be present with the Lord,** 2 Cor. v. 6 — 8. Or 
 those ? ** I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire 
 to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better,** 
 Phil. L 23. If Paul had not expected to enjoy Christ 
 till the resurrection, why ahould he be in a strait, or 
 desire to depart? Nay, should he not have been loath 
 to depart upon the very same grounds? for while he 
 was in the flesh he enjoyed something of Christ. Plain 
 
w^o ,9hafl enjoy this Rest 71 
 
 enough is that of Christ to the thief, “ To-day shalt 
 thou be with me in paradise,*’ Luke xxiii. 4J. In the 
 parable of the rich man and Lazarus, it seems unlikely 
 Christ would so evidently intimate and suppose the 
 soul’s happiness or misery presently after death, if there 
 were no such matter, Luke xvi. 19—31. Our Lord’s 
 argument for the resurrection supposes that ** God, 
 being not the God of the dead, but of the living,” Matt, 
 xxii. 32, therefore Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were 
 then living, in soul. If the ” blessedness of the dead 
 that die in the Lord,” Rev. xiv. 13, were only in rest- 
 ing in the grave, then a beast or a stone were as blessed ; 
 nay, it were evidently a curse, and not a blessing. For 
 was not life a great mercy ? Was it not a greater mercy 
 to serve God and do good — to enjoy all the comforts of 
 life, the fellowship of saints, the comfort of ordinances, 
 and much of Christ in all — than to lie rotting in the 
 gravel Therefore some farther blessedness is there 
 promised. How else is it said, ** We are come to the 
 spirits of just men made perfect,” Heb, xii. 22, 23. 
 
 Surely, at the resurrection, the body will be mad^ 
 perfect as well as the spirit. Does not scripture tell us, 
 that Enoch and Elias are taken up already! And shwa 
 we think they possess that glory alone 1 Did not Peter, 
 James, and John, see Moses also with Christ on the 
 mount 1 Yet the scripture saith, Moses died. And is 
 it likely that Christ deluded their senses, in showing 
 them Moses, if he should not partake of that glory till 
 the resurrection 1 And is not that of Stephen as plain 
 as we can desire? “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,” 
 Acts vii. 59. Surely, if the Lord receive it, it is neither 
 asleep, nor dead, nor annihilated ; but it is where he is, 
 and beholds his glory. That of the wise man is of the 
 same import: “The spirit shall return unto God who 
 gave it,” Eccl. xii. 7. Why are we said to have eternal 
 life; and that to know God is life eternal; and that a 
 
72 T%e Character of the Persont 
 
 believer on the Son hath everlasting life 1 or how is the 
 kingdom of God within us ? If there be as great an in- 
 terruption of our life as till the resurrection, this is ho 
 eternal life, nor everlasting kingdom. The cities of 
 Sodom and Gomorrah are spoken of as ** suffering the 
 vengeance of eternal fire,** Jude, ver. 7, And if 4he 
 wicked already suffer eternal fire, then no doubt but 
 the godly enjoy eternal blessedness. When John saw 
 his glorious revelations, he is said to be “in the Spi- 
 rit,” and to be “ carried away in the Spirit,** Rev. i. 10; 
 iv. 2. And when Paul was “ caught up to the third 
 heaven,** he knew not, “ whether in the body, or out 
 of the body,’* 2 Cor. xii. 2. This implies that spirits 
 are capable of these glorious things, without the help of 
 their bodies. Is not so much implied, when John says, 
 “ I saw under the alter the souls of them that were slain 
 for the word of God ?’* Rev. vi. 9. When Christ says, 
 “ Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able 
 to kill the soul,” Matt. x. 28, does it not plainly imply, 
 that when wicked men have killed our bodies, that is, 
 have separated the souls from them, yet the souls are 
 still alive ? The soul of Christ was alive when his body 
 was dead, and therefore so shall be ours too. This ap- 
 pears by his words to the thief, “ To-day shalt thou be 
 with me in paradise ;** and also by his voice on the cross, 
 “ Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,” Luke 
 xxiii. 46. If the spirits of those that “ were disobedient 
 in the days of Noah, were in prison,” 1 Pet. iii. 19, 20, 
 that is, in a living and suffering state ; then certainly the 
 separate spirits of the just are in an opposite condition 
 of happiness. Therefore, faithful souls shall no sooner 
 leave their prisons of flesh, but angels shall be their con- 
 voy ; Christ, with all the perfected spirits of the just, 
 will be their companions ; heaven will be their resi- 
 dence ; and God their happiness. When such die, they 
 may boldly and believingly say, as Stephen, “ Lord 
 
who shall enjoy this Rest. 73 
 
 Jesus receive iny spirit;** and commend it, as Christ 
 did, into a Father’s hands. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Misery of those who lose the Saints' Rest. 
 
 If thou, reader, art a stranger to Christ, and to the holy 
 nature and life of his people, who are before described, 
 and shalt live and die in this condition, let me tell thee, 
 thou shalt never partake of the joys of heaven, nor have 
 the least taste of the saints’ eternal rest. I may say, as 
 Ehud to Eglon, “ I have a message to thee from God,** 
 Judges iii. 20 : that as the word of God is true, thou shalt 
 never see the face of God with comfort. This sentence 
 I am commanded to pass upon thee ; take it as Ihou wilt, 
 and escape it if thou canst. I know thy humble and 
 hearty subjection to Christ would procure thy escape ; 
 fte would then acknowledge thee for one of his people, 
 and give thee a portion in the inheritance of his chosen. 
 If this might be the happy success of my message, I 
 should be so far from repining, like Jonas, that the threat- 
 enings of God are not executed upon thee, that I should 
 bless the day that ever God made me so happy a messen- 
 ger. But if thou endest thy days in thine unregenerate 
 state, as sure as the heavens are over thy head, and the 
 earth under thy feet, thou shalt be shut out of the rest of 
 the saints, and receive thy portion in everlasting fire. I 
 expect thou wilt turn upon me, and say, When did God 
 show you the book of life, or tell you who they are that 
 shall be saved, and who shut out ? I answer, I do not 
 name thee, nor any other ; I only conclude it of the un- 
 regenerate in general, and of thee, if thou be such a one. 
 Nor do I go about to determine who shall repent, and 
 who shall not; much less, that thou shalt never repent. 
 I had rather show thee what hopes thou hast before thee, 
 270 V 
 
14 The 'M\s&ry of tJioae 
 
 if thou wilt not sit still and lose them. I would rathet 
 persuade thee to hearken in time, before the door is 
 shut against thee, than tell thee there is no hope of thy 
 repenting and returning. But if the foregoing descrip- 
 tion of the people of God does not agree with the state 
 of thy soul, is it then a hard question, whether thou 
 shalt ever be saved ! Need I ascend up into heaven to 
 know, that “ without holiness no man shall see the 
 Lord or, that only “ the pure in heart shall see GodIV 
 
 or, that “ ejtcept a man be born again, he cannot enter 
 into the kingdom of God?’* Need I go up into heaven 
 to inquire that of Christ which he came down to earth 
 to tell us— and sent his Spirit in his apostles to tell us— 
 and which he and they have left upon record to all the 
 world? And though I know not the secrets of thy 
 heart, and therefore cannot tell thee by name, whether 
 it be thy state or not ; yet. if thou art but willing and 
 diligent, thou mayest know thyself, whether thou art 
 an heir of heaven or not. 
 
 It is the main thing I desire, that if thou art yet miser- 
 able, thou mayest discern and escape it. But how canst 
 thou escape, if thou neglect Christ and salvation ? It is 
 as impossible as for the devils themselves to be saved. 
 Nay, God has more plainly and frequently spoken it in 
 scripture of such sinners as thou art, than he has of the 
 devils. Methinks a sight of thy case should strike thee 
 with amazement and horror. When Belshazzar “ saw 
 the fingers of a man’s hand that wrote upon the wall, 
 his countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled 
 him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his 
 knees smote one against another,” Dan. v. 5, 6. What 
 trembling then should seize on thee, who hast the hand 
 of God himself against thee, not in a sentence or two, 
 but in the very scope of the scriptures, threatening the 
 loss of an everlastiftg kingdom ? Because I would fain 
 have thee lay it to heart, I will show thee the nature of 
 tliV loss of heaven,— together with its aggravations. 
 
who lone ihe Sainis* Jtest. 
 
 -75 
 
 I. In their loss of heaven the ungodly lose—the saints' 
 personal perfection, — God himself, all delightful affec- 
 tions towards God,— and the blessed society of the 
 angels and saints. 
 
 1. The glorious personal perfection which the saints 
 enjoy in heaven, is the great loss of the ungodly. They 
 lose that shining lustre of the body surpassing the bright- 
 ness of the sun at noon-day. Though the bodies of the 
 wicked will be raised mote spiritual than they were 
 upon earth, yet that will only make them capable of the 
 more exquisite torments. They would be glad then, if 
 every member were a dead member, that it might not 
 feel the punishment inflicted on it ; and if the whole 
 body were a rotten carcass, or might lie down again in 
 the dust. Much more do they want that moral perfec- 
 tion which theblessed partake of , those holy dispositions 
 of mind ; that cheerful readiness to do the will of God ; 
 that perfect rectitude of all their actions. Instead of 
 these, they have that perverseness of will, that loathing 
 of good, that love to evil, that violence of passion, which 
 they had on earth. *Tis true, their understandings wil? 
 be much cleared by the ceasing of former temptation, 
 and experiencing the falsehood of former delusions. Bu» 
 they have the same dispositions still ; and fain would 
 they commit the same sins, if they could : they wan* 
 but opportunity. There will be a greater difference 
 between these wretches, and the glorifled Christians, 
 than there is betwixt a toad, and the sun in the Arma- 
 ment. The rich man's purple and fine linen, and sump- 
 tuous fare, did not so exalt him above Lazarus, while at 
 his gate full of sores. 
 
 2. They shall have no comfortable relation to Qod, 
 nor communion with him. As they did not like to re- 
 tain God in their knowledge ; but said unto himj, “ De- 
 part from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy 
 ways so God will abhor to retain them in his house- 
 
76 The Misery of those 
 
 hold. He will never admit them to the inheritance of 
 the saints, nor endure them to stand in his presence , 
 but will profess unto them^ '* I never knew you, depart 
 from me, ye that work iniquity.** They are ready 
 now to lay as confident claim to Christ and heaven, as 
 if they were sincere believing saints. The swearer, 
 the drunkard, the fornicator, the worldling, can say. Is 
 not God our FaiJ'her, as well as yours ? But when Christ 
 separates his followers from his foes, and his faithful 
 friends from his deceived flatterers, where then will be' 
 their presumptuous claim ? Then they shall find, that 
 God is not their Father, because they would not be his 
 people. As they would not consent that God, by his 
 Spirit, should dwell in them, so the tabernacle of wick- 
 edness shall have no fellowship with him, nor the wicked 
 inhabit the city of God. Only they that walked with 
 God here, shall live and be happy with him in heaven. 
 Little doth the soul know what a loss that soul hath 
 which loses God 1 What a dungeon would the earth be, 
 if it had lost the sun 1 What a loathsome carrion the 
 body, if it had lost the soul 1 Yet all these are nothing 
 to the loss of God. As the enjoyment of God is the 
 heaven of the saints, so the loss of God is the hell of the 
 ungodly ; and as the enjoyment of God is the enjoy- 
 ment of all, so the loss of God is the loss of all. 
 
 3. They also lose all delightful affections towards 
 God. That transporting knowledge ; those delightful 
 views of his glorious face ; the inconceivable pleasure 
 of loving him ; the apprehensions of his infinite love to 
 us ; the constant joys of his saints, and the rivers of 
 consolation with which he satisfies them. Is it nothing 
 to lose all this! The employment of a king in ruling a 
 kingdom, does not so far exceed that of the vilest slave, 
 as this heavenly employment exceeds that of an earthly 
 king. God suits men’s employment to their nature. 
 Your hearts, sinners, were never set upon God in your 
 
77 
 
 tpfio lose the Saints' Rest. 
 lives, never warmed with his love, never longed after 
 the enjoyment of him ; you had no delight in speaking 
 or hearing of him ; you had rather have continued on 
 earth, if you had known how, than be interested in the 
 glorious praises of God. Is it meet, then, that yoi 
 iould be members of the celestial choir? 
 
 4. They shall be deT)rived of the blessed society of 
 angels and glorified saints. Instead of being companions 
 of those spirits, and numbered with those triumphant 
 kings, they must be members of the corporation of hell, 
 where they shall have companions of a far different 
 nature and quality. Scorning and abusing the saints, 
 hating them, and rejoicing in their calamities, was not 
 the way to obtain their blessedness. Now you are shut 
 out of that company, from which you first shut out 
 yourselves; and are separated from them, with whom 
 you would not be joined. You could not endure them 
 in your houses, nor towns, nor scarcely in the kingdom. 
 You took them, as Ahab did Elijah, for the troubles 
 of the land, and, as the apostles were taken, for men 
 that turned the world upside down. If any thing fell 
 out amiss, you thought all was owing to them. When 
 they were dead or banished, you were glad they were 
 gone, and thought the country well rid of them. They 
 molested you by faithfully reproving your sins. Their 
 holy conversation troubled your consciences, to see 
 them so far excel you. It was a vexation to you, to 
 hear them pray or sing praises in their families. And 
 is it any wonder if you be separated from them here- 
 after ? The day is near when they will trouble you no 
 more. Betwixt them and you will be a great gulf 
 fixed.’* Even in this life, while the saints were mocked, 
 destitute, afflicted, tormented, and while they had their 
 personal imperfections; yet, in the judgment of the 
 Holy Ghost, they were such of whom the world was 
 not worthy,** Heb. xi. 36—38. Much more unworthy 
 will the world be of their hdiowship in glory. 
 
78 
 
 The Miitry of those 
 
 II, I know many will be ready to think, they could 
 spare these things in this world well enough, and why 
 may they not do without them in the world to come I 
 Therefore, to show them that this loss of heaven will 
 then be most tormenting, let them now consider— their 
 understandings will be cleared to know their loss — and 
 have more enlarged apprehensions concerning it — then 
 consciences will make a closer application of it to them- 
 selves — their affections will no longer be stupified— nor 
 their memories be treacherous. 
 
 1. The understanding of the ungodly will then be 
 cleared, to know the worth of that which they have lost. 
 Now they lament not their loss of God, because they 
 never knew his excellence ; nor the loss of that holy 
 employment and society, for they were never sensible 
 what they were worth. A man that has lost a jewel, 
 and took it but for a common stone, is never troubled 
 at his loss-; but when he comes to know what he lost, 
 then he laments it. Though the understanding of the 
 damned will not be sanctified, yet they will be cleared 
 from a multitude of errors. They now think that their 
 honours, estates, pleasures, health, and life, are better 
 worth their labour, than the things of another world ; 
 but when these things hare left them in misery, when 
 they experience the things which before they did but 
 read and hear of, they will be of another mind. They 
 would not believe that Water would drown, till they 
 were in the sea, nor the fire burn, till they were cast 
 into it; but when they feel, they will easily believe. 
 All that error of mind which made them set light by 
 God, and abhor his worship, and vilify his people, will 
 then be confuted and removed by experience. Their 
 knowledge shall be increased, that their sorrows may 
 be increased. Poor souls! they would comparatively 
 be happy, if their understandings were wholly taken 
 from them, if ihey had no more knowledge than idiots. 
 
79 
 
 tcho lose the Saints' Rest, 
 or brute beasts ; or if they knew no mo»« in hell, than 
 they did upon earth, their loss would less trouble them. 
 How happy would they then think themselves, if they 
 did not know there is such a place as heaven 1 Now. 
 when their knowledge would help to prevent their 
 misery, they will not know, or will not read and study 
 that they may know ; therefore, when their knowledge 
 will but feed their consuming fire, they shall know, 
 whether they will or not. They are now in a dead 
 sleep, and dream they are the happiest men in the 
 world ; but when death awakes them, how will their 
 judgment be changed in a moment 1 and they that would 
 not see, shall then see and be ashamed. 
 
 2. As their understanding will be cleared, so it will be 
 more enlarged, and made more capacious to conceive 
 the worth of that glory which they have lost. The 
 strength of their apprehensions, as well as the truth of 
 them, will then be increased. What deep apprehensions 
 of the wrath of God, the madness of sinning, the mUery 
 of sinners, have those souls that now endure this misery, 
 in comparison of those on earth, who do but hear of it I 
 Wliat sensibility of the worth of life has the condemned 
 man that is going to be executed, compared with what he 
 was wont to have in the time of his prosperity I Much 
 more will the actual loss of eternal blessedness make the 
 damned exceedingly apprehensive of the greatness of 
 their loss; and as a large vessel will hold more water 
 than a shell, so will their enlarged understandings con- 
 tain more matter to feed their torment, than their shal- 
 low capacity can now do. 
 
 3. Their consciences will also make a truer and closer 
 application of this doctrine to themselves, which will 
 exceedingly tend to increase their torment. It wili 
 then be no hard matter to them to say, This is my 
 ioss ! and this is my everlasting remediless misery!” 
 The want of this self-application is the main cause why 
 
80 The Misery of those 
 
 they are so little troubled now. They are hardly brought 
 to believe that there is such a state of misery ; but more 
 hardly to believe that it is likely to be their own. This 
 makes so many sermons lost to them, and all threaten- 
 ings and warnings in vain. Let a minister of Christ show 
 them their misery ever so plainly and faithfully, they 
 will not be persuaded they are so miserable. Let him 
 tell them of the glory they must lose, and the sufferings 
 they must feel, and they think he means not them, but 
 some notorious sinners. It is one of the hardest things 
 in the world to bring a wicked man to know that he is 
 wicked, or to make him see himself in a state of wrath 
 and condemnation. Though they may easily find, by 
 their strangeness to the new-birth, and their enmity to 
 holip.ess, that they never were partakers of them ; yet 
 they as verily expect to see God, and be saved, as if 
 they were the most sanctified persons in the world. How 
 seldom do men cry out, after the plainest discovery of 
 their state, “I am the man!** or acknowledge, that if 
 they die in their present condition, they are undone for 
 ever 1 But when they suddenly find themselves in the 
 land of darkness, feel themselves in scorching flames, 
 and see they are shut out of the presence of God for 
 ever ; then the application of God’s anger to themselves 
 will be the earsiest matter in the world ; they will then 
 roar out these forced confessions, “ Oh my misery ! 
 Oh my folly I Oh my irrecoverable loss !’* 
 
 4. Then will their aCections likewise be more lively, 
 and no longer stupified. A hard heart now makes hea - 
 ven and hell seem but trifles. We have showed them 
 everlasting glory and misery, and they are as men 
 asleep; our words are as stones cast against a wall, 
 which fly back in our faces. We talk of terrible things, 
 but it is to dead men ; we search the wound but they 
 never feel us ; we sppak to rocks rather than to men ; 
 the earth will as soon tremble as they. But when 
 
who ^ose the Saints* Rest. 
 
 81 
 
 these dead souls are revived, what passionate sensi- 
 bility I what working affections ! what pangs of horror ! 
 what depth of sorrow, will there then be ! How vio- 
 lently will they fly in their own faces 1 How will they 
 rage against their former madness I The lamentations 
 of the most affectionate wife for the loss of her husband, 
 or the tenderest mother for the loss of her children, 
 will be nothing to theirs for the loss of heaven. Oh the 
 self-aecusing and self-tormenting fury of those forlorn 
 creatures I How will they even tear their own hearts, 
 and be God’s executioner upon themselves I As them- 
 selves were the only meritorious cause of their sufferings, 
 so themselves will be the chief executioners Even 
 Satan, as he was not so great a cause of their sinning as 
 themselves, he will not be so great an instrument of their 
 torment. How happy would they think themselves 
 then, if they were turned into rocks, or anything that 
 had neither passion nor sense! How happy, if they 
 could then feel, as lightly as they were wont to hear I 
 if they could sleep out the time of execution, as they 
 did the time of the sermons that warned them of it I But 
 their stupidity is gone ; it will not be. 
 
 5. Their memories will moreover be as large and 
 strong as their understanding and affections. Could they 
 but lose the use of their memory, their loss of heaven, 
 being forgot, would little trouble them. Though they 
 would account annihilation a singular m.ercy, they can- 
 not lay aside any part of their being. Understanding, 
 conscience, affections, memory, must all live to tor- 
 ment them, which should have helped to their happi- 
 ness. As by these they should have fed upon the love 
 of God, and drawn forth perpetually the joys of his pre- 
 sence, so by these they must feed upon his wrath, and 
 draw forth continually the pains of his absence. T^ow, 
 they have no leisure to consider, nor any room in tlicir 
 memories for the things of another life ; but then, they 
 
82 The Misery of those 
 
 shall have nothing else to do ; their memories sh:ill have 
 no other employment. God would have had the doc- 
 trine of their eternal state “ written on the posts of their 
 doors, on their hands and hearts :** he would hare had 
 them mind it, ** and mention it when they lay down 
 and rose up, when they sat in their house, and when 
 they walked by the way ;** and seeing they rejected this 
 counsel of the Lord, therefore it shall be written always 
 before them in the place of their thraldom, that, which 
 way soever they look, they may still behold it. It will 
 torment them to think of the greatness of the glory they 
 have lost. If it had been what they could have spared, 
 or a loss to be repaired with any thing else, it had been 
 a small matter. If it had been health, or wealth, or 
 friends, or life, it had been nothing. But, oh, to lose 
 that“ exceeding eternal weight of glory 1’* 
 
 It will also torment them to think of the possibirlity 
 they once had of obtaining it. Then they will remem- 
 ber, “ Time was, when I was as fair for the kingdom as 
 others. I was set upon the stage of the world; if I had 
 played my part wisely and faithfully, I might now have 
 had possession of the inheritance. I might have been 
 among yonder blessed saints, who am now tormented 
 with these damned fiends. The Lord did ‘set before 
 me life and death and having chosen death, I deserve 
 to suffer it. ‘The prize’ was held out before me; if I 
 had ‘run well,* I might have ‘obtained* it; if I had 
 ‘ striven,* I might have had ‘ the victory ;* if I had 
 ‘ fought* valiantly, I had been * crowned.* ** It will yet 
 torment them to remember, that their obtaining the 
 crown was, not only possible, but very probable. It 
 will wound them to think, “ I had once the gales of the 
 Spirit ready to have assisted me. I was proposing to 
 be another man, to have cleaved to Christ, and forsook 
 the world. I was almost resolved to have been wholly 
 for God. 1 was once ever, turning from my base seduc- 
 
83 
 
 tpho lose the Saints* Rest 
 Ing lusts. 1 had cast off my old companions, and was 
 associating with the godly. Yet I turned back, lost my 
 hold, and broke ray promises. I was * almost persuaded 
 to be a real Christian,* yet I conquered those persua- 
 sions. What workings were in my heart, when a faith- 
 ful minister pressed home the truth ! O how fair was I 
 once for heaven 1 I almost had it, and yet I have lost 
 it. Had I ‘followed on to seek the Lord,* I had now 
 been blessed among the saints.’* It will exceedingly 
 torment them to remember their lost opportunities. 
 “ How many weeks, and months, and years, did I lose, 
 which if I had improved, I might now have been happy 1 
 Wretch that I was ! could I find no time to study the 
 work, for which I had all my time ? no time among all 
 ray labours, to labour for eternity ? Had I time to eat, 
 and drink, and sleep, and none to save my soul 1 Had 
 I time for mirth and vain discourse, and none for pray- 
 er t Could I take time to secure the world, and none to 
 try my title to heaven 1 0 precious time 1 I had once 
 enough, and now I must have no more. I had once sf 
 much, I knew not what to do with it ; and now it i . 
 gone, and cannot be recalled. O that I had but one o 
 those years to live over again ! How speedily would i 
 repent 1 How earnestly would I pray ! How diligently 
 would I hear I How closely would I examine my state I 
 How strictly would I live I But it is now too late, alas I 
 too late,** 
 
 It will add to their calamity to remember how often 
 they were persuaded to return. “ Fain would the min- 
 ister have had me escape these torments. With what 
 love and compassion did he beseech me 1 and yet I did 
 but make a jest of it. How oft did he convince mel 
 and yet I stifled all these convictions. How did he 
 open to me my very heart! and yet was loath to 
 know the worst of myself. O how glad would he have 
 been, if he could havp seen me cordially turn to Christ I 
 
B4 The Misery of those 
 
 My godly friends admonished me; they told me what 
 would come of my wilfulness and negligence at last : 
 but 1 neither believed nor regarded them. How long 
 did God himself condescend to entreat me ! How did 
 the “ Spirit strive” with my heart, as if he was loath to 
 take a denial ! How did “ Christ stand knocking,” one 
 sabbath after another, and crying to me, Open, sinner, 
 open tliy heart to thy Saviour, and I will come in, and 
 sup with thee, and thou with me 1 why dost thou delay ? 
 How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee ? 
 Wilt thou not be pardoned, and sanctified, and made 
 happy ? When shall it once be ?” Oh how the recol- 
 lection of such divine pleadings will passionately trans- 
 port the damned with self-indignation 1 “Must I tire 
 out the patience of Christ? Must I make the God of 
 heaven follow me in vain, till I had wearied him with 
 crying to me * Repent 1 return !’ O how justly is that 
 patience now turned into fury, which falls vpon me 
 with irresistible violence 1 When the Lord cried to me, 
 ‘ Wilt thou not be made clean ? when shall it once be V 
 my heart, or at least my practice, answered, * Never.* 
 And now, when I cry, How long shall it be till I am 
 freed from this torment ? how justly do I receive the 
 same answer, ‘ Never, never I’ ” 
 
 It will also be most cutting to remember on what easy 
 terms they might have escaped their misery. Their 
 work was not to remove mountains, nor conquer king- 
 doms, nor fulfil the law to the smallest tittle, nor satisfy 
 justice for all their transgressions. “ The yoke was 
 easy, and the burden light,” which Christ would have 
 kid upon them. It was but to repent, and cordially 
 accept him for their Saviour ; to renounce all other 
 happiness, and take the Lord for their supreme good ; 
 to renounce the world and the flesh, and submit to his 
 meek and gracious government; and to forsake the 
 ways of their own devising, and walk in his holy de- 
 
who loop the Saints* Rest, 8t 
 
 lightful way. ** Ah,” thinks the poor tormented wretch, 
 how justly do I suffer all this, who would not be at so 
 small pains to avoid it ? Where was my understanding, 
 when I called the Lord ‘ a hard master,’ and thought his 
 pleasant service a bondage, and the service of the devi 
 and the flesh the only freedom ? Was I not a thonsan( 
 times worse than mad, when I censured the holy wa^ 
 of God as needless preciseness ? when I thought the 
 laws of Christ too strict, and all too much that I did for 
 the life to come ? What would all sufferings for Christ 
 and well-doing have been, compared with these suffer- 
 ings that I must undergo for ever? Would not the 
 heaven, which I have lost, have recompensed all my 
 losses ? And should not all my sufferings have been 
 i:.ere forgotten ? What if Christ had bid me do some 
 great matter ; whether to live in continual fears and 
 sorrows, or to suffer death a hundred times over ; should 
 I not have done it ? How much more, when he only 
 said, * Believe and be saved. Seek my face, and thy 
 soul shall live. Take up thy cross, and follow me, and 
 I will give thee everlasting life.* Oh gracious offer I 
 Oh easy terms 1 Oh cursed wretch, that would uot be 
 persuaded to accept them !” 
 
 This also will be a most tormenting consideration — to 
 remember what they sold their eternal welfare for. 
 When they compare the value of the pleasures of sin, 
 with the value of the recompense of reward, how will 
 the vast disproportion astonish them 1 To think of the 
 low delights of the flesh, or the applauding breath of 
 mortals, or the possessing heaps of gold, and then to 
 think of everlasting glory 1 ” This is all I had for my 
 soul, my God, my hopes of blessedness 1” It cannot 
 possibly be expressed how these thoughts will tear his 
 very heart. Then will he exclaim against his folly. 
 
 Oh miserable wretch ! Did I set my soul to sale for 
 so base a price ? Did I part with ray God for a little 
 
Bfi The Misery of those 
 
 dirt and dross ; and sell my Saviour, as J udas, for a little 
 silver? I had but a dream of delight, for my hopes of 
 hea?en ; and now I am awakened, it is all vanished. 
 My morsels are now turned to gall, and ray cups to 
 wormwood. When they were past ray taste, the plea- 
 sure perished. And is this all that I have had for the 
 inestimable treasure? What a mad exchange did I 
 make I What if I had gained all the world, and lost my 
 soul I But, alas 1 how small a part of the world was it 
 for which I gave up my part in glory 1” 0 that sinners 
 would think of this when they are swimming in the 
 delights of the flesh, and studying how to be rich and 
 honourable in the world I When they are desperately 
 venturing upon unknown transgression, and sinning 
 against the checks of conscience ! 
 
 It will add yet more to their torment, when they con- 
 sider that they most wilfully procured their own de- 
 struction. Had they been forced to sin, it would much 
 abate the rage of their consciences ; or, if they were 
 punished for another man's transgressions ; or any other 
 had been the chief author of their ruin. But to think 
 it was the choice of their own will, and that none in the 
 world could have forced them to sin against their will ! 
 this will be a cutting thought. “ Had I not enemies 
 enough in the worid," thinks this miserable creature, 
 “ but I must be au enemy to myself ? God would never 
 give the devil, nor the world, so much power over me,, 
 as to force me to commit the least transgression. They 
 could but entice ; it was myself that yielded, and did 
 the evil. And must I lay hands upon ray own soul, and 
 embrue my hands in my own blood ? Never had I so 
 great an enemy as myself. Never did God offer any 
 good to my soul, but I resisted him. He hath heaped 
 mercy upon me, and renewed one deliverance after 
 anothor, to draw my heart to him ; yea, he hath gently 
 chastised me, and made me groan under the fruit of my 
 
ttfho lose the Saints* "Rest, 87 
 
 disobedience ; and though I promised largely in my 
 affliction, yet never was I heartily willing to serve him.” 
 Thus will it gnaw the hearts of these sinners, to remem- 
 ber that they were the cause of their own undoing, and 
 that they wilfully and obstinately persisted in their re- 
 bellion, and were mere volunteers in the service of the 
 devil. 
 
 The wound in their consciences will be yet deeper, 
 when they shall not only remember it was their own 
 doing, but that they were at so much cost and pains for 
 their own damnation. What great undertakings did they 
 engage in, to effect their ruin ; to resist the Spirit of 
 God; to overcome the power of mercies, judgments, 
 and even the word of God ; to subdue the power of 
 reason, and silence conscience 1 All this they under- 
 took and performed. Though they walked in continual 
 danger of the wrath of God, and knew he could lay them 
 in the dust, and cast them into heU, in a moment ; yet 
 would they run upon all this. Oh the labour it costs 
 sinners to be damned I Sobriety, with health and ease, 
 they might have had at a cheaper rate ; yet they will 
 rather have gluttony and drunkenness, with poverty, 
 shame and sickness. Contentment they might have, 
 with ease and delight ; yet they will rather have cove- 
 tousness and ambition, though it costs them cares and 
 fears, labour of body and distraction of mind. Though 
 their anger be self-torment, and revenge and envy con- 
 sume their spirits ; though uncleanness destroy their 
 bodies, estates, and good names ; yet will they do and 
 suffer all this, rather than suffer their souls to be saved. 
 With what rage will they lament their folly, and say — 
 
 ‘ Was damnation worth all my costs and pains ? Might 
 I not have been uamned on free cost, but I must pur- 
 chase it so dearly I I thought I could have been saved 
 I without so much ado ; and could I not have been de- 
 ; stroyed without so much ado ? Must I so laboriously 
 
B13 The Muery of those 
 
 work out my own damnation, when God commanded 
 me to work out my salration ? If I had done as much 
 for heaven, as I did for hell, I had surely had it, I 
 cried out of the tedious way of godliness, and the painful 
 course of self-denial ; and yet I could be at a great deal 
 more pains fbr Satan and for death. Had I loved Christ 
 as strongly as I did mj’ pleasures, and profits, and ho- 
 nours, and thought on him as often, and sought him as 
 painfully ; oh how happy had I now been ! But justly 
 do I suffer the flames of hell, for buying them so dear, 
 rather than have heaven when it was purchased to ray 
 hands !’* 
 
 O that God would persuade thee, reader, to take up 
 these thoughts now, for preventing the inconceivable 
 calamity of taking them up in hell, as thine own tor- 
 mentor 1 Say not that they are only imaginary. Read 
 what the rich man thought, “ being in torments^** Luke 
 xvi. As the joys in heaven are chiefly enjoyed by the 
 rational soul in its rational actings, so must the pains of 
 hell be suffered. As they will be men still, so will they 
 feel and act as men. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The misery of those who, besides losing the Saints* Rest, lose 
 the enjoyments of time, and suffer the torments of hell. 
 
 As “ godliness hath the promise of the life that now is, 
 arid of that which is to come ;** and if we “ seek first 
 the kingdom of God and his righteousness,** then “ all 
 meaner “ things shall be added unto us ;** so also are 
 the ungodly threatened with the loss both of spiritual 
 and temporal blessings; and because they sought not 
 first God’s kingdom and righteousness, therefore shall 
 they lose both it and that which they did seek, and 
 there shall be taken from them that little which they 
 
w7io lose the Saints' Best, 
 
 kavG. If they could but have kept their present enjoy- 
 ments, they would not have much cared for the loss of 
 heaven. If they had “ losband forsaken all for Christ,** 
 they would have found all again in him ; for he would 
 have been “ all in all** to them. But now they have 
 forsaken Christ for other things, they shall lose Christ, 
 and that also for which they sought him — even the en- 
 joyments of time — besides suffering the torments of 
 hell. 
 
 I. They shall lose the enjoyments of time ; particu- 
 larly their presumptuous belief of their interest in the 
 favour of God, and the merits of Christ — all their hopes' 
 — all their false peace of conscience — all their carnal 
 mirth — and all their sensual delights. 
 
 1. They shall lose their presumptuous belief of theit 
 interest in the favour of God, and the merits of Christ. 
 This false belief now supports their spirits, and defends 
 them from the terrors that would otherwise seize upon 
 them. Bui what will ease their trouble, when they 
 can believe no longer, nor rejoice any longer? If a 
 man be near to the greatest mischief, and yet strongly 
 believe that he is in safet}% he may be as cheerful as if 
 all were well. If there wanted no more to make a man 
 happy, than to believe that he is so, or shall be so, hap- 
 piness would be far more common than it is likely to 
 be. As true faith is the leading grace in the regenerate, 
 so is false faith the leading vice in the unregenerate. 
 Why do such multitudes sit still, when they might have 
 pardon, but that they verily think they are pardoned 
 already ? If you could ask thousands in hell, want 
 madness brought them thither? they would most of 
 them answer, “We made sure of being saved, till we 
 found ourselves damned. We would have been more 
 earnest seekers of regeneration, and the power of god- 
 liness, hut we verily thought we were Christians al- 
 ready. W e have flattered ourselves into these toTin ontSj 
 270 G 
 
90 The Misery of those 
 
 and now there is no remedy.” Reader, I must in faith- 
 fulness tell thee, that the confident belief of their good 
 state, which the careless, unholy, imhumbled multitude 
 so commonly boast of, will prove in the end but a soul- 
 damning delusion. There is none of this believing in 
 hell. It was Satan’s stratagem, that being blindfold, 
 they might follow him the more boldly; but then he 
 will uncover their eyes, and they shall see where they 
 are. 
 
 2. They shall lose also all their hopes. In this life, 
 though they were threatened with the wrath of God, 
 yet their hope of escaping it bore up their hearts. We 
 can now scarcely speak with the vilest drunkard or 
 swearer, or scoflfer, but he hopes to be saved for all this. 
 Oh happy world, if salvation were as common as this 
 hope 1 Nay, so strong are men’s hopes, that they will 
 dispute the cause with Christ himself at judgment, and 
 plead their “ having eaten and drunk in his presence, 
 and prophesied in his name, and in his name cast out 
 devils they will stiffly deny that ever they neglected 
 Christ in hunger, nakedness or prison, till he confutes 
 them with the sentence of their condemnation. Oh the 
 sad state of these men, when they must bid farewell to 
 to all their hopes I “ When a wicked man dieth, his 
 expectations shall perish ; and the hope of unjust men 
 perisheth,” Prov. xii. 7. “ The eyes of the wicked shall 
 fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be 
 as the giving up of the ghost,*’ Job xi. 20. The giving 
 up the ghost is a fit, but terrible, resemblance of a wick- 
 ed man’s giving up his hopes. As the soul departeth 
 not from the body without the greatest pain ; so doth 
 the hope of the wicked depart. The soul departs from 
 the body suddenly, in a moment, which hath there con- 
 tinued delightfully so many years ; just so doth the hope 
 of the wicked depart The soul will never more return 
 to live with the body in this world ; and the hope of the 
 
91 
 
 tcho lose the Samis* Hesf» 
 wicked takes an everlasting farewell of his soul. A mi- 
 racle of resurrection shall again unite soul and body, 
 but there shall be no such miraculous resurrection of the 
 hope of the damned. Methinks it is the most pitiable 
 sight this world affords, to see such an ungodly person 
 dying, and to think of his soul and his hopes departing 
 together. With what a sad change he appears in ano- 
 ther world I Then, if a man could but ask that hope- 
 less soul, “ Are you as confident af salvation as you 
 were wont to be V* what a sad answer would be return- 
 ed! 0 that careless sinners would be awakened to 
 think of this in time ! 
 
 Reader, rest not till thou can give a reason of all thy 
 hopes, grounded upon scripture promises ; that they 
 purify thy heart ; that they quicken thy endeavours in 
 godliness; that the more thou hopest the less thou sin- 
 nest, and the more exact is thy obedience. If thy 
 hopes be such as these, go on in the strength of the 
 Lord, hold fast thy hope, and ** never shall it make 
 thee ashamed. ” But if thou hast not one sound evi- 
 dence of a work of grace on thy soul, cast away thy 
 hopes. Despair of ever being saved, “ except thou be 
 born again ;** or of seeing God “ without holiness ;** or 
 having part in Christ, except thou “ love him above fa- ' 
 ther, mother, or thy own life.** This kind of despair 
 is one of the first steps to heaven. If a man be quite 
 out of his way, what must be the first means to bring 
 him in again ? He must despair of ever coming to his 
 journey’s end in the way that he is in, if his home be 
 eastward, and he is going westward. As long as he 
 hopes he is right, he will go on ; and as long as he goes 
 on hoping, he goes farther amiss : and when he despairs 
 of coming home, except he turn back, then he will re- 
 turn, and then he may hope. Just so it is sinner with 
 thy soul. Thou art bom out of the way to heaven, and 
 hast proceeded many a year ; thou goest on, and hopest 
 
02 The Misery of those 
 
 to be saved, because thou art not so bad as many others. 
 Except thou cast away these hopes, and see that thou 
 hast all this while been quite out of the way to heaven, 
 thou wilt never return and be saved. There is nothing 
 in the world more likely to keep thy soul out of heaven 
 than thy false hopes of being saved, while thou art out 
 of the way to salvation. See then how it will aggravate 
 the misery of the damned, that, with the loss of heaven, 
 they shall lose all that hope of it which now supports 
 them. 
 
 3. They will lose all that false peace of conscience, 
 which makes their present life so easy. Who would 
 think, that sees how quietly the multitude of the un- 
 godly live, that they must very shortly lie down in ever- 
 lasting flames ? They are as free from the fears of hell 
 as an obedient believer ; and, for the most part, have 
 less disquiet of mind than those that shall be saved. 
 Happy men, if this peace would prove lasting ! “ When 
 they shall say. Peace and safety ; then sudden destruc- 
 tion cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with 
 child, and they shall not escape,” 1 Thess. v. 3. O cruel 
 peace which ends in such a war I The soul of every 
 man by nature is Satan’s garrison ; all is at peace in 
 such a man till Christ comes, and gives it terrible alarms 
 of-judgment and hell, batters it with the ordnance of his 
 threats and terrors, forces it to yield to mere mercy, and 
 take him for its Governor ; then doth he cast out Satan, 
 ” overcome him, take from him all his armour, wherein 
 he trusted, and divide his spoils,” Luke xi. 22, and then 
 doth he establish a Arm and lasting peace. If, therefore, 
 thou art yet in that first peace, never think it will en- 
 dure. Can thy soul have lasting peace, in enmity with 
 Christ? Can he have peace, against whom God pro- 
 claims war ? I wish thee no greater good, than that God 
 break in upon thy careless heart, and shake theemut of 
 thy false peace, and make thee lie down at the feet of 
 
93 
 
 who lose the Saints' Rest. 
 
 Christ, and say, “ Lord, what wouldest thou have me to 
 do V* and so receive from him a better and surer peace, 
 which will never be broken off, but be the beginning of 
 thy everlasting peace, and not perish in thy perishing, 
 as the groundless peace of the world will do. 
 
 4. They shall lose all their carnal mirth. They will 
 themselves say of their laughter, “ It is mad, and of 
 their mirth, what doeth it?** Eccl. ii. 2. It was but 
 “ as the crackling of thorns under a pot.’* Eccl. vii. 6. 
 It made a blaze for a while, but it was presently gone, 
 and returned no more. The talk of death and judg- 
 ment was irksome to them, because it damped their 
 mirth. They could not endure to think of their sin and 
 danger, because these thoughts sunk their spirits. They 
 knew not what it was to weep for sin, or to humble 
 themselves under the mighty hand of God. They could 
 laugh away sorrow, and sing away care, and drive away 
 those melancholy thoughts. To meditate and pray, 
 they fancied, would be enough to make them miserable, 
 or run mad. Poor souls ? What a misery will that life 
 be, where you shall have nothing but sorrow, intense 
 heart-piercing multiplied sorrow ; when you shall nei- 
 ther have the joys of saints, nor your own former joys ! 
 Do you think there is one merry heart in hell ; or ^ne 
 joyful countenance or jesting tongue? You now cry, 
 A little mirth is worth a great deal of sorrow.** But, 
 surely, a little godly sorrow, which would have ended 
 in eternal joy, had been worth much more than all your 
 foolish mirth ; for the end of such mirth is sorrow. 
 
 5. They shall also lose all their sensual delights. That 
 which they esteemed their chief good, their heaven, 
 their god, must they lose , as well as God himself. What 
 a fall will the proud ambitious man have from the top of 
 his honours ! As his dust and bones will not be known 
 from the dust and bones of the poorest beggar, so nei- 
 ther will his soul be honoured or favoured more thao 
 
94 The Misery of fiiuse 
 
 theirs. What a number of the great, noble, and learned, 
 will be shut out of the presence of Christ 1 They shall 
 QOt find their magnificent buildings, soft beds, and easy 
 couches. They shall not view their curious gardens, 
 their pleasant meadows , and plenteous harvests. Their 
 tables will not be so furnished, noi^ attended. The rich 
 man is there no more clothed in purple and fine linen, 
 nor does he fare sumptuously every day. There is no 
 expecting the admiration of beholders. They shall 
 spend their time in sadness, and not in sports and pas- 
 times. What an alteration will they find ! The heat of 
 their lust will be then abated. How will it even cut 
 them to the heart, to look each other in the face 1 What 
 an interview will there then be, cursing the day that 
 ever they saw one another ! O that sinners would now 
 remember, and say, “ Will these delights accompany us 
 into the other world? Will not the remembrance of 
 them be then our torment ? Shall we then take this 
 partnership in vice for true friendship ? Why should 
 we sell such lasting, incomprehensible joys for a taste 
 of seeming pleasure? Come, as we have sinned to- 
 gether, let us pray together, that God would pardon us ; 
 ^and let us help one another toward heaven, instead of 
 l^^ping to deceive and destroy each other.’* O that 
 ^n. but knew what they desire, when they would so 
 fain V have all things suited to the desires of the flesh ? 
 It is b^^ desire their temptations to be Increased, and 
 their sn?^^® strengthened. 
 
 II Ag .the loss of the saints’ rest will be aggravated 
 by losing til® enjoyments of time, it will be much more 
 so by suflferxPS torments of hell. The exceeding 
 greatness of su®^ torments may appear by considering 
 the principal au^^®^ them, who is God himself ; the 
 place or state ot torment ; that these torments are the 
 fruit of divine veng^®®®® *. that the Almighty takes plea- 
 gvire in them ; that §atan and simu rs themselves shall 
 
who lose the Saints* Rest, 05 
 
 be God’s executioners; that these torments shall be 
 universal, without mitigation, and without end. 
 
 1. The principal author of hell-torments is God hhn- 
 ielf. As it was no less than God whom sinners had 
 offended, so it is no less than God who will punish them 
 for their offences. He hath prepared those torments for 
 his enemies. His continued anger will still be devour- 
 ing them. His breath of indignation will kindle the 
 flames. His wrath will be an intolerable burden to 
 their souls. If it were but a creature they had to do 
 with, they might better bear it. Woe to him that falls 
 under the strokes of the Almighty I It is a fearful 
 thing to fall into the hands of the living God,” Heb. x. 
 31. It were nothing in comparison to this if the world 
 were against them, or if the strength of all creatures 
 were tmited in one, to inflict their penalty. They had 
 now rather venture to displease God than displease a 
 landlord, a customer, a master, a friend, a neighbour, or 
 their own flesh; but then they will wish a thousand 
 times, in vain, that they had been hated of all the world, 
 rather than have lost the favour of God. What a con- 
 suming fire is his wrath I If it be kindled here but a 
 little, how do we wither like the grass ^ How soon doth 
 our strength decay, and turn to weakness, and our 
 beauty to deformity ! The flames do not so easily tun 
 through the dry stubble as the wrath of God will con- 
 sume these wretches. They that could not bear a prison, 
 or gibbet, or fire, for Christ, nor scarcely a few scoffs, 
 how will they now bear the devouring flames of divine 
 wrath ? 
 
 2. The place or state of torment is purposely ordained 
 to glorify the justice of God. WTien God would glorify 
 his power, he made the worlds. The comely order of 
 all his creatures declareth his wisdom. His providence 
 is shown in sustaining all things. When a spark of his 
 wrath kindles upon the earth, the whole world, except 
 
96 Tne Misery of thoss 
 
 only eight persons, are drowned; Sodom, Gomorrah, 
 Admah, and Zeboim, are burned with fire from heaven ; 
 the sea shuts her mouth upon some, the earth opens and 
 swallows up others ; the pestilence destroys by thou- 
 sands. What a standing witness of the wrath of God, 
 is the present deplorable state of the Jewsl Yet the 
 glorifying mercy and justice of God are intended most 
 eminently for the life to come. As God will then glorify 
 his mercy in a way that is now beyond the comprehen- 
 sion of the saints that must enjoy it ; so also will he 
 manifest his justice to be indeed the justice of God. 
 The everlasting flames of hell will not be thought too 
 hot for the rebellious ; and when they have there burned 
 through millions of ages, he will not repent him of the 
 evil which has befallen them. Woe to the soul that is 
 thus set up as a butt, for the wrath of the Almighty to 
 shoot at 1 and as a bush that must burn in the flames of 
 his jealousy, and never to be consumed 1 
 
 3. The torments of the condemned must be extreme, 
 because they are the effect of divine vengeance. Wrath 
 U terrible, but revenge is implacable. When the great 
 God shall say, “ My rebellious creatures shall now pay 
 for the abuse of my patience. Remember how I waited 
 your leisure in vain, how I stooped to persuade and en- 
 treat you. Did you think I would always be so slight- 
 ed V* Then will he be revenged for every abused mer- 
 cy, and for all their neglects of Christ and grace. O 
 that men would foresee this, and please God in prevent- 
 ing their own woe 1 
 
 4. Consider also, that though God had rather men 
 would accept of Christ and mercy, yet when they per- 
 sist in rebellion, he will take pleasure in their execution. 
 He say-s, “ Fury is not in me;** yet he adds, “ who 
 would set the briers and thorns^against me in battle ? I 
 would go through them, I would burn them frogethor.’* 
 Wretched creatures I when ** he that made them will 
 
trAo lose the Saints* Rest. 
 
 show them no favour/’ Isa. xxvii. 4, 11. “ As the Lord 
 regoiced over them to do them good; so the Lord will 
 rejoice over them to destroy them, and to bring them to 
 nought,” Deut. xxviii. 63. Woe to the souls whom 
 God rejoiceth to punish ! “He wDl laugh at their ca- 
 lamity, he will mock when their fear cometh 1 when 
 their fear cometh as desolation, and their destruction 
 cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish 
 cometh upon them,” Prov. i. 26, 27. Terrible thing, 
 when none in heaven or earth can help them but God, 
 and he shall rejoice in their calamity I Though scrip- 
 ture speaks of “ God’s laughing and mocking,” not 
 literally, but after the manner of men ; yet it is such 
 an act of God in tormenting the sinner, which cannot 
 otherwise be more fitly expressed. 
 
 5. Consider that Satan and themselves shall be God’s 
 executioners. He that was here so successful in draw- 
 ing them from Christ, will then be the instrument of 
 their punishment, for yielding to his temptations. That 
 is the reward he will give them for all their service— for 
 their rejecting the commands of God, forsaking Christ, 
 and neglecting their souls at his persuasion. If they 
 had served Christ as faithfully as they did Satan, he 
 would have given them a better reward. It is also most 
 j’ust, that they should be their own tormentors, that 
 they may see their whole destruction is of themselves ; 
 and then, of whom can they complain but themselves ? 
 
 6. Consider also that their torment will be universaL 
 As all parts have joined in sin, so must they all partake 
 in torment. The soul, as it was the chief in sinning, 
 shall be the chief in suffering ; as it is of a more excel- 
 lent nature than the body, so will its torments far exceed 
 bodily torments ; and as its joys far surpass all sensual 
 pleasures, so the pains of the soul exceed corporal pains. 
 U is not only a soul, but a sinful soul, that must suffer. 
 Fire will not bum, except the fuel be combustible ; but 
 
00 
 
 The Misery of those 
 if the wood be dry, how fiercely will it burn I The guilt 
 of their sins will be to condemned souls like tinder to 
 gunpowder, to make the fiames of hell take hold upon 
 them with fury. The body must also bear its part. The 
 body, which was so carefully looked to, so tenderly 
 cherished, so curiously dressed, what must it now en* 
 dure I How are its haughty looks now taken down ! 
 How little will those fiames regard its comeliness and 
 beauty ! Those eyes, which were wont to be delighted 
 with curious sights, must then see nothing but what 
 shall terrify them ; an angry God above them, with 
 those saints whom they scorned, enjoying the glory 
 which they have lost; and about them will be only 
 devils and condemned souls. How will they look back, 
 and say, “Are all our feasts, and games, and revels, 
 come to this ;** Those ears, which were accustomed to 
 music and songs, shall hear the shrieks and cries of their 
 condemned companions; children crying out against 
 their parents, that gave them encouragement and ex- 
 ample in evil ; husbands and wives, masters and ser- 
 vants, ministers and people, magistrates and subjects, 
 charging their misery upon one another, for discou ask- 
 ing in duty, conniving at sin, and being silent when 
 they should have plainly foretold the danger. Thus 
 will soul and body be companions in woe. 
 
 7. Far greater will these torments be, because without 
 mitigation. In this life, when told of hell, or conscience 
 troubled their peace, they had comforters at hand ; their 
 carnal friends, their business, their company, their 
 mirth. They could drink, play, or sleep away their 
 sorrows. But now all these remedies art vanished. 
 Their hard, presumptuous, unbelieving heart was a wall 
 to defend them against trouble of mind. Satan was 
 himself their comforter, as he was to our first mother : 
 “ Hath God said, ‘ Ye shall not eat ? ye shall not surely 
 die.’ Doth God tell you that you shall lie in hell? It 
 
who lose the Saints' Rest, 
 
 i? no such matter. God is more merciful. Or, if there 
 be a hell, what need you fear it 1 Are not you Chris- 
 tians 7 Was not the blood of Christ shed for you ?” 
 Thus, as the Spirit of Christ is the comforter of the 
 saints, so Satan is the comforter of the wicked. Never 
 was a thief more careful lest he should awake the peo- 
 ple when he is robbing the house, than Satan is not to 
 awaken a sinner. But when the sinner is dead, then Sa- 
 tan hath done flattering and comforting. Which way, 
 then, will the forlorn sinner look for comfort 7 They 
 that drew him into the snare, and promised him safety, 
 now forsake him, and are forsaken themselves. His 
 comforts are gone, and the righteous God, whose fore- 
 warnings he made light of, will now make good his 
 word against him, to the least tittle. 
 
 8. But the greatest aggravation of these torments will 
 be their eternity. When a thousand millions of ages 
 are past, they are as fresh to begin as the first day. If 
 there were any hope of an end, it would ease the damned 
 to foresee it ; but “forever,” is an intolerable thought. 
 They were never weary of sinning, nor will God be 
 weary of plaguing. They never heartily repented of 
 sin, nor will God repent of their suffering. They broke 
 the laws of the eternal God, anil therefore shall suffer 
 eternal punishment. They knew it was an everlasting 
 kingdom which they refused, and what wonder if they 
 are everlastingly shut out of it ? Their immortal souls 
 were guilty of the trespass, and therefore must immor- 
 tally suffer the pains. What happy men would they 
 think themselves, if they might have lain still in their 
 graves, or might but there lie down again I How will 
 they call and cry, O death 1 whither art thou now 
 gone 7 Now come and cut off this doleful life. O that 
 these pains would break my heart, and end my being ! 
 O that I might once at last die 1 O that I had never had 
 a bring 1” These groans will the thoughts of eternity 
 
100 The Misery of those 
 
 wring from their hearts. They were wont to think ser- 
 mons and prayers long ; how long then will they think 
 these endless torments 1 What a difference there is be- 
 twixt the length of their pleasures and their pains ! The 
 one continued hut a moment, the other endureth through 
 all eternity. Sinner, remember thy timo is almost gone. 
 Thou art standing at the door of eternity ; and death is 
 waiting to open the door and put thee in. Go, sleep out a 
 few more nights, and stir about a few more days on earth, 
 and then thy nights and days shall^end : thy thoughts, 
 and cares, and pleasures, shall be devoured by eternity ; 
 thou must enter upon the state which shall never be 
 changed. As the j oys of heaven are beyond our concep- 
 tion, so are the pains of hell. Everlasting torment is 
 inconceivable torment. 
 
 But methinks I see the obstinate sinner desperately 
 resolving, “ If I must be damned, there is no remedy. 
 Rather than live as the scripture requires, I will put it 
 to the venture ; I shall escape as well as the rest of my 
 neighbours, and we will even bear it as well as we can.*’ 
 Alas ! poor creature, let me beg this of thee, before thou 
 dost so flatly resolve, that thou wouldst lend me thy 
 attention to a few questions, and weigh them with the 
 reason of a man. Whfl art thou, that thou shouldst bear 
 the wrath of God ? Art thou a god, or a man ? What 
 ic thy strength ? Is it not the strength of wax, or stub- 
 ble, to resist the Are ; or as chaff to the wind; or as dust 
 before the flerce whirlwind ? If thy strength were as 
 iron, and thy bones as Orass, if thy foundation were as 
 the earth, and thy power as the heavens, yet shouldst 
 thou perish at the breath of his indignation : how much 
 more, when thou art but a piece of breathing clay, kept 
 a few days from being eaten with worms, by the mere 
 support and favour of HJ.m whom thou art thus resisting ' 
 Why dost thou trembh- at the signs of almighty powe 
 and wrath 1 at claps tf tnuuier or flashes of lightning ; 
 
who lose the Saints* Mesi. !0l 
 
 or that unseen power which rends in pieces the mighty 
 oaks, and tears down the strongest buildings ; or at the 
 plague, when it rageth around thee 1 If thou hadst seen 
 the plagues of Egypt, or the earth swallow up Dathan 
 and Abiram ; or Elijah bring fire from heaven to destroy 
 the captains and their companies, would not any of 
 these sights have daunted thy spirits 1 How then canst 
 thou bear the plagues of hell ? Why art thou dismayed 
 with such small sufferings as befall thee here ? A tooth- 
 ache ; a fit of the gout, or stone ; the loss of a limb, or 
 falling into beggary and disgrace? And yet all these 
 laid together will be one day accounted a happy state, in 
 comparison with that which is suffered in hell. Why 
 does the approach of death so much affright thee ? O 
 how cold it strikes to the heart I And would not the 
 grave be accounted a paradise, compared with that place 
 of torment which thou slightest? Is it an intolerable 
 thing to burn part of the body, by holding it in the fire ? 
 What then will it be to suffer ten thousand times more 
 for ever in hell ? Why does the thought or mentioii of 
 hell occasion any disquiet in thy spirits? And canst 
 thou endure the torments themselves ? Why doth the 
 rich man complain to Abraham ** of his torment in 
 hell?’* Or thy dying companions lose their courage, 
 and change their haughty language ? 
 
 Didst thou never see or speak with a man under de- 
 spair ? How uncomfortable was his talk ? How bur- 
 densome his life ? Nothing he possessed did him good ; 
 he had no sweetness in meat or drink ; the sight of 
 friends troubled him ; he was weary of life, and fearful 
 of death. If the misery of the damned can be endured, 
 why cannot a man more easily endure these foretastes 
 of hell? What if thou shouldst see the devil appear to 
 thee in some terrible shape ; would not thy heart fail 
 thee, and thy hair stand on end? And how wilt thou 
 endure to live for ever where thou shalt have no other 
 
102 The Misery of those 
 
 company but devils, and the damned, andshaltnot only 
 see them, but be tormented with them and by them T 
 Let me once more ask, if the wrath of God be so light, 
 why did the Son of God make so great a matter of it 1 
 When he, who was perfectly innocent himself, had 
 taken upon him the payment of our debt, and stood in 
 our room, and bore the punishment that we deserved, 
 it made him “ sweat as it were great drops of blood fall- 
 ing to the ground.** The Lord of life cried, “ My soul 
 is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death,** And on 
 the cross, “ My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken 
 me V* Surely if any one could have borne these suffer- 
 ings easily, it would have been Jesus Christ. He had 
 another measure of strength to bear it than thou hast. 
 Woe to thee, sinner, for thy mad security ! Dost thou 
 think to find that tolerable to thee, which was so heavy 
 to Christ? Nay, the Son of God is cast into a bitter 
 agony, and bloody sweat, only under the curse of the 
 law ;** and yet, thou feeble, foolish creature, makest 
 nothing to bear also the curse of the gospel, which re- 
 quires a ** much sorer punishment,** Heb. x. 29. The 
 good Lord bring thee to thy right mind by repentance. 
 
 And now, reader, I demand thy resolution ; what use 
 wilt thou make of all this ? Shall it all be lost upon 
 thee? or wilt thou consider it in good earnest ? Thou 
 hast cast away many a warning of God; wilt thou do 
 so by this also ? Take heed, God will not always stand 
 warning and threatening. The hand of vengeance is 
 lifted up, the blow is coming, and woe to him on whom 
 itlightethl Dost thou throw away the book, and say, 
 that it speaks of nothing but hell and damnation ? Thus 
 thou usestalso to complain of the preacher. But wouldst 
 thou not have us tell thee of these things ? Should we 
 not be guilty of the blood of thy soul, by keeping silent 
 that which God hath charged us to make known ? 
 Wouldst thou perish in ease and silence, and have us 
 
vfTlo lose the Saints' Rest. 103 
 
 to perish with thee, rather than displease thee, by speak- 
 ing the truth? If thou wilt be guilty of such inhuman 
 cruelty, God forbid that we should be guilty of such sot- 
 tish folly. This kind of preaching or writing is the rea- 
 dy way to be hated ; and the desire of applause is so na- 
 tural, that few delight in such a displeasing way. But 
 consider, are these things true, or are they not? If 
 they were not true, I would heartily join with thee 
 against any that frighten people without a cause. But, 
 if these threatenings be the word of God, what a wretch 
 art thou, that wilt not hear it, and consider it 1 If thou 
 art one of the people of God, this doctrine will be a 
 comfort to thee, and not a terror. If thou art yet un- 
 regenerate, methinks thou shouldstbe as fearful to hear 
 of heaven, as of hell, except the bare name of heaven or 
 or salvation be sufficient. Preaching heaven and mercy 
 to thee, is entreating thee to seek them and not reject 
 them ; and preaching hell is but to persuade thee to 
 avoid it. If thou wert quite past hope of escaping it, 
 then it were in vain to tell thee of hell ; but as long as 
 thou art alive, there is hope of thy recovery, and there- 
 fore all means must be used to awake thee from thy 
 lethargy. 
 
 Alas ! what heart can now possibly conceive, or what 
 tongue express, the pains of those souls, that are under 
 the wrath of God ? Then, sinners, you will be crying 
 to Jesus Christ, “ O mercy, 0 pity, pity on a poor soul P* 
 Why, I do now, in the name of the Lord Jesus, cry to 
 thee, “ O have mercy, have pity, man, upon thine own 
 soul I** Shall God pity thee, who will not be entreated 
 to pity thyself ? If thy horse see but a pit before him, 
 thou canst scarcely force him in ; and wilt thou so ob- 
 stinately cast thyself into hell, when the danger is fore- 
 told thee ? “ W^ho can stand before the indignation ol 
 the Lord ? and who can abide the fierceness of his an- 
 ger ?” Nah. i. 6. Methinks thou shouldst need no more 
 
104 The necessity of diligently 
 
 words, but presently cast away thy soul damning sins, 
 and wholly deliver up thyself to Christ. Resolve on it 
 immediately and let it be done, that I may see thy face 
 in rest among the saints. May the Lord persuade thy 
 heart to strike this covenant without any longer delay I 
 But if thou be hardened unto death, and there be no 
 remedy, yet say not another day but that thou wast 
 faithfully warned, and hadst a friend that would fain 
 have prevented thy damnation. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The necessity of diligently seeJcing the Saints* Rest. 
 
 Ip there be so certain and glorious a rest for the saints, 
 why is there no more industrious seeking after it ? One 
 would think if a man did but once hear ot such unspeak- 
 able glory to be obtained, and believed what he heard 
 to be true, he should be transported with the vehemency 
 of his desire after it, and should almost forget to eat or 
 drink, and should care for nothing else, and speak of 
 and inquire after nothing else, but how to get this trea- 
 sure. And yet people who hear of it daily, and profess 
 to believe it as a fundamental article of their faith, do as 
 little mind it, or labour for it, as if they had never heard 
 of any such thing, or did not believe one word they 
 hear. This reproof is ru jre particularly applicable to — 
 the worldly-minded- the profane multitude — the formal 
 professors — and even to the godly themselves. 
 
 1. The worldly-minded are so taken up seeking the 
 things below, that they have neither heart nor time to 
 seek this rest. O foolish sinners, who hath bewitched 
 you ? The world bewitches men into brute beasts, and 
 draws them some degrees beyond madness. See what 
 riding and running, what scrambling and catching for a 
 thing of nought, while eternal rest lies neglected I W hat 
 
, .ippktrnr (%e Saints'* JlesU lOS 
 
 ^ contriving and caring to get a step higher in the world 
 than their brethren, while they neglect the kingly dig- 
 nity of the saints 1 What insatiable pursuit of fleshly 
 pleasures, while they look on the praises of God, the joy 
 of angels, as a tiresome burden I What unwearied di- 
 ligence in raising their posterity, enlarging their pos- 
 sessions— perhaps for a poor living from hand to mouth ; 
 while the day of judgment is rapidly drawing near; 
 but how it shall go with them then, never puts them to 
 one hour’s consideration 1 What rising early, and sit- 
 ting up late, and labouring from year to year, to'raain- 
 tain themselves and children in credit till they die ; but 
 what shall follow after, they never think on I Yet these 
 men cry, “ May we not be saved without so much ado ?” 
 How early do they rouse up their servants to their la- 
 bour 1 But how seldom do they call them to prayer or 
 reading the scriptures ! What hath this world done for 
 its lovers and friends, that it is so eagerly followed, and 
 painfully sought after, while Christ and heaven stand 
 by, and few regard them ? or what will the world do 
 for them for the time to come 1 The common entrance 
 into it is through anguish and sorrow. The passage 
 through it is with continual care and labour. The pas- 
 sage out of it, is the sharpest of all. O unreasonable, 
 bewitched men 1 will mirth and pleasure stick close to 
 you ? Will gold add worldly glory prove fast friends to 
 you in the time of your greatest tier'd ? Will they hear 
 your cries in the day of your cai .iity ? At the hour of 
 death will they either answer or relieve you? Will 
 they go along with you to the other world, and bribe 
 the Judge, and bring you oflf clear, or purchase you a 
 place among the blessed ? Why then did the rich man 
 want a drop of water to cool his tongue ? Or are the 
 sweet morsels of present delight and honour of more 
 worth than eternal rest? and will they recompense the 
 loss of that enduring treasure ? Can there be the least 
 270 H 
 
IOC T*he Necessity of diligently 
 
 hope of any of these ? Ah, vile, deceitful world 1 Ho^ 
 oft have we heard thy most faithful servants at last 
 complaining, “Oh, the world hath deceived me and 
 undone me ! It flattered me in my prosperity, hut now 
 U turns me oflf in my necessity. If I had as faithfully 
 served Christ, as I have served it. He would not have 
 left me thus comfortless and hopeless.** Thus they 
 complain; and yet succeeding sinners will take no 
 warning. 
 
 2. As to the profane multitude, they will not be per- 
 suaded to be at so much pains for salvation, as to per- 
 form the common outward duties of religion. If they 
 have the gospel preached in the town where they dwell. 
 It may be they will give the hearing to it one part of the 
 day, and stay at home the other : or if the master come 
 to the congregation, yet part of his family must stay at 
 home. If they want the plain and powerful preaching 
 of the gospel, how few are there in a whole town, who 
 will travel a mile or two to hear abroad, though they will 
 go many miles to the market for provision for their bo- 
 dies 1 They know that the scripture is the law of God, 
 by which they must be acquitted or condemned in judg- 
 ment ; and that the man is blessed who delights in the 
 law of the Lord, and in his law doth meditate day and 
 night ; yet they will not be at pains to read a chapter 
 once a-day. If they carry a bible to church, and neg- 
 lect it all the week, this is the most use they make of 
 it. Though they are commanded to pray without ceas- 
 ing, and to pray always ; yet they will neither pray 
 constantly with their families, nor in secret. Though 
 Daniel would rather be cast to the lions, than forbear 
 praying three times a day in his house, where his ene- 
 n les might hear him ; yet these men will rather venture 
 to be an eternal prey to Satan, the roaring lion, than 
 thus seek their own safety. Or their cold and heartless 
 prayers invite God to a denial .• for among men it i^ ta* 
 
ieeTcing the saints* Rest, 107 
 
 ken for granted, that he who asks but slightly and sel- 
 dom, cares not much for what he asks. They judge 
 themselves unworthy of heaven, who think it is not 
 worth their more constant and earnest requests. 
 
 If every door was marked, where families do not, 
 morning and evening, earnestly seek the Lord in prayer, 
 that his wrath might be poured out upon such prayerless 
 families, our towns would be as places overthrown by 
 the plague ; the people being dead within, and the mark 
 of judgment without. I fear where one house would 
 escape, ten would be marked out for death ; and then 
 they might teach their doors to pray, '* Lord, have mer- 
 cy upon us,’* because the people would not pray them- 
 selves. But especially if we could see what men do in 
 their secret chambers, how few would you find in a 
 whole town that spend one quarter of an hour, morning 
 and night, in earnest supplication to God for their souls 1 
 O how little do these men set by eternal rest 1 Thus do 
 they slothfully neglect all endeavours for their own wel- 
 fare, except some public duty in the congregation, which 
 custom or credit engages them to. Persuade them to 
 read good books, learn the grounds of their religion in 
 their catechism, and sanctify the Lord’s day in prayer, 
 and meditation and hearing the word, and forbearing all 
 worldly thoughts and speeches ; and what a tedious life 
 do they take this to be 1 as if they thought heaven were 
 not worth taking so much pains about. 
 
 3. Another sort are formal professors, who will be 
 brought to any outward duty, but to the inward work of 
 religion they will never be persuaded. They will preach, 
 or hear, or read, or talk of heaven, or pray in their fa- 
 milies, and take part with the persons or causes that are 
 good, and desire to be esteemed among the godly : but 
 you can never bring them to the more spiritual duties— 
 as, to be constant and fervent in secret prayer and me- 
 ditation ; conscientious in self-examination ; heavenly 
 
108 The Necessity of diligently 
 
 minded ; to watch over their hearts, words, and ways ; 
 to mortify the flesh, and not make provision to falfil its 
 lust ; to love and heartily forgive an enemy, and prefer 
 their brethren before themselves ; to lay all they have 
 or do at the feet of Christ, and prize his service and fa- 
 vour above all ; to prepare to die, and willingly leave 
 all to go to Christ. Hypocrites will never be persuadea 
 to any of these. The superficial hypocrite may enter- 
 tain the gospel with joy, but it is only in the surface oi 
 the soul ; he never gives the seed any depth of earth : 
 it changes his opinion, but never melts and new-moulds 
 his heart, nor sets up Christ there in full power and au- 
 thority. As his religion lies most in opinion, so does 
 his chief business and conversation. He is usually an 
 ignorant, bold, conceited dealer in controversies, rather 
 than a humble embracer of known truth, with love and 
 obedience. By his slighting the judgments and persons 
 of others, and seldom talking with seriousness and hu- 
 mility of the great things of Christ, he shows that his 
 religion dwells in the brain, and not in his heart. The 
 wind of temptation carries him away as a feather, be- 
 cause his heart is not established with Christ in grace. 
 He never in private conversation humbly bewails his 
 soul’s imperfections, or tenderly acknowledges his un- 
 kindnesses to Christ ; but gathers his greatest comforts 
 from his being of such a judgment or party. 
 
 The like may be said of the worldly hypocrite, who 
 chokes the gospel with thorns of worldly cares and de- 
 sires. He is convinced that he must be religious, or he 
 cannot be saved ; and therefore he reads, and hears, and 
 prays, and forsakes his former company and courses ; 
 but he resolves to keep his hold of present things. His 
 judgment may say, God is the chief good ; but his heart 
 and affections never said so. The world hath more of 
 his affections than God, and therefore is his god. Though 
 he does not run after orinions and novelties, like the 
 
teeking the Joints' Rest 109 
 
 former, yet he will be of that opinion which will best 
 serve his worldly advantage. And as one whose spirits 
 are enfeebled by some pestilential disease, so this man's 
 spirits being possessed by the plague of a worldly dis- 
 position, how feeble is he in secret prayer ! how super- 
 ficial in examination and meditation ! how little in 
 heart watchings ! how nothing at all in loving and walk- 
 ing with God, rejoicing in him, or desiring him! So 
 that both these, and many other sorts of hypocrites, 
 though they will go with you in the easy outside of re- 
 ligion, yet will never be at the pains of inward and spi- 
 ritual duties. 
 
 4. And even the godly themselves are too lazy seekers 
 of their everlasting rest. Alas ! what a disproportion is 
 there between our light and heat! our profession and 
 prosecution 1 Who makes that haste as if it were for 
 heaven 1 How still we stand 1 How idly we work ! 
 How we talk, and jest, and trifle away our time ! How 
 deceitfully we perform the work of God ! How we hear, 
 as if we heard not ; and pray, as if we prayed not ; and 
 examine, and meditate, and reprove sin, as if we did it 
 not; and enjoy Christ, as if we enjoyed him not; as if 
 we had learned to use the things of heaven, as the apos- 
 tle teaeheth us to use the things of the world 1 What a 
 frozen stupidi ty hath benumbed us ! We are dying, and 
 we know it, 3 et we stir not; we are at the door of eter- 
 nal happiness or misery, and yet we perceive it not ; 
 death knocks, and we hear it not ; God and Christ call 
 and cry to us, To-day, if ye will hear my voice, har- 
 den not your hearts work while it is day, for the 
 night cometh when none can work. Now ply your bu- 
 siness, labour for your lives, lay out all your strength 
 and time, now or never ; — and yet we stir no more than 
 if we were half asleep. What haste do death and judg- 
 ment make I How fast do they come on! They are 
 almost at us, and yet what little haste wp make 1 lord. 
 
110 
 
 The Xecessiiy qf ditigently 
 what a senseless, earthly, hellish thing is a hard heart ! 
 Where is the man that is in earnest a Christian ? Me- 
 thinks men every where make but a trifle of their eter- 
 nal state. They look after it but a little, by the by ; 
 they do not make it the business of their lives. If 1 
 were not sick myself of the same disease, with what 
 tears should I mix this ink 1 with what groans should I 
 express these complaints 1 and with what heart grief 
 should I mourn over this universal deadness I ' 
 
 Do magistrates among us seriously perform their 
 work 1 Are they zealous for God ? Do they build up 
 his house 1 Are they tender of his honour 1 Do they 
 second the word ; and fly in the face of sin and sinners, 
 as the disturbers of our peace, and the only cause of all 
 our miseries 1 Do they improve all their power, wealth, 
 and honour, and all their influence, for the greatest ad- 
 vantage to the kingdom of Christ, as men that must 
 shortly give an account of their stewardship ? ~ 
 
 How few are those ministers that are serious in their 
 work 1 Nay, how greatly do the very best fail in this ! 
 Do we cry out of men’s disobedience to the gospel in 
 the demonstration of the Spirit, and deal with sin as the 
 destroying fire in our towns, and by force pull men out 
 of it? Do we persuade our people, as those should, 
 that know the terrors of the Lord ? Do we press Christ, 
 ind regeneration, and faith, and holiness, believing that, 
 without these, men can never have life ? Do our bow- 
 els yearn over the ignorant, careless, and obstinate mul- 
 titude ? When we look them in the face, do our hearts 
 melt over them, lest we should never see their faces in 
 rest ? Do we, as Paul, tell them weeping, of their fleshly 
 and earthly disposition ? and ** teach them publicly, and 
 from house to house,” at all seasons, and with many 
 tears ? And do we entreat them as for their soul’s sal- 
 ration ? Or rather, do we not study to gain the appro- 
 bation of critical hearers; as if a minister’s business 
 
teekin^ the Satnu* .test. Ill 
 
 were of no more weight but to tell a smooth tale for an 
 hour, and look no more after the people till the next 
 sermon 1 Does not carnal prudence control our fervour, 
 and make discourses lifeless, on subjects the most pierc- 
 ing ? How gently we handle those sins, which will so 
 cruelly handle our people’s souls I In a word, our want 
 of seriousness about the things of heaven, charms the 
 souls of men into formality, and brings them to this 
 customary careless hearing, which undoes them. May 
 the Lord pardon the great sin of the ministry in this 
 thing; and, in particular, my own 1 
 And are the people more serious than magistrates or 
 ministers ? How can it be expected 1 Reader, look but 
 to thyself, and resolve the question. Ask conscience, 
 and suifer it to tell thee truly. Hast thou set eternal 
 rest before thine eyes, as the great business thou hast to 
 do in this world? Hast thou watched and laboured, 
 with all thy might “ that no man take thy crown?” 
 Hast thou made haste, lest thou shouldst come too late, 
 and die before thy work be done? Hast thou pressed 
 on through crowds of opposition, “ towards the mark, 
 for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,” 
 still ** reaching forth to those things which are before ?” 
 Can conscience witness your secret cries, and groans, 
 and tears? Can your family witness, that you taught 
 them the fear of the Lord, and warned them not to go 
 to ” that place of torment ?” Can your minister wit- 
 ness that he has heard you cry out, ‘‘ What shall I do 
 to be saved?” and that you have followed him with 
 complaints against your corruptions, and with earnest 
 inquiries after the Lord? Can your neighbours about 
 you witness, that you reprove the ungodly, and take 
 pains to save the souls of your brethren ? Let all these 
 witnesses judge this day between God and you, whe- 
 ther you are in earnest about eternal rest. You can 
 tell by his work whether your servant has loitered. 
 
112 
 
 Jlte Necessity of diligently 
 though you did not see him; so you may by loohing at 
 your own work. Is your love to Christ, your faith, 
 your zeal, and your other graces, strong or weak ? What 
 are your joys ? What is your assurance 1 Is all in or- 
 der within you ? Are you ready to die, if this should 
 be the day ? Do the souls among whom you have con- 
 versed “ bless you ?’* Judge by this, and it will quick- 
 ly appear whether you have been labourers or loiterers. 
 
 O blessed rest, how unworthily art thou neglected I 
 O glorious kingdom, how art thou undervalued 1 Little 
 know the careless sons of men, what a state they set so 
 light by. If they once knew it, they would surely be 
 of another mind. I hope thou, reader, art sensible, 
 what a desperate thing it is to trifle about eternal rest ; 
 and how deeply thou hast been guilty of this thyself. 
 And I hope also, thou wilt not now suffer this conviction^ 
 to die. Should the physician tell thee, If you will 
 observe but one thing, I doubt not to cure your disease,” 
 wouldst thou not observe it 7 So I tell thee, if thou wilt 
 observe but this one thing for thy soul, I make no doubt 
 of thy salvation ; shake off thy sloth, and put to all thy 
 strength, and be a Christian indeed; I know not then 
 what can hinder thy happiness. As far as thou art gone 
 from God, seek him with all thy heart, and no doubt 
 thou Shalt find him. As unkind as thou hast been to 
 Jesus Christ, seek him heartily, obey him unreservedly, 
 and thy salvation is as sure as if thou hadst it already. 
 But, full as Christ’s satisfaction is, free as the promise 
 is, large as the mercy of God is; if thou only talk of 
 these, when thou shouldst eagerly entertain them, thou 
 wilt be never the better for them ; and if thou loiter, 
 when thou shouldst labour, thou wilt lose the crown. 
 Fall to work then speedily and seriously, and bless God 
 that thou hast yet time to do it. And to show that I 
 urge thee not without cause, I will here add a variety 
 of animating considerations Rouse up thy spirit, and. 
 
seeking the Saints* Best 113 
 
 QS Moses said to Israel, “ Set thy heart unto all the 
 words which I testify unto thee this day ; for it is not a 
 vain thing, because it is your life,** Deut. xxxii. 46, 47. 
 May the Lord open thy heart, and fasten his counsel 
 effectually upon thee 1 
 
 Consider how reasonable it is, that our diligence should 
 be answerable to the ends we aim at, to the work we have 
 to do, to the shortness and uncertainty of our time, and 
 to the contrary diligence of our enemies. The ends of 
 a Christian’s desires and endeavours are so great, that 
 no human understanding on earth can comprehend 
 them. What is so excellent, so important, or so neces- 
 sary, as the glorifying of God, the salvation of our own 
 and other men’s souls, by escaping the torments of hell, 
 and possessing the glory of heaven? And can a man be 
 too much affected with things of such moment ? Can 
 he desire them too earnestly, or love them too strongly, 
 or labour for them too diligently? Do we not know, 
 that if our prayers prevail not, and our labour succeeds 
 not, we are undone for ever ? 
 
 The work of a Christian here is very great and vari- 
 ous. The soul must be renewed ; corruptions must be 
 mortified; custom, temptations, and worldly interests, 
 must be conquered ; flesh must be subdued ; life, friends, 
 and credit mustbe slighted ; conscience, on good grounds 
 quieted ; and assurance of pardon and salvation attabi- 
 ed. Though God give us these without our merit, yet 
 he will not give them without our earnest seeking and 
 labour. Besides, there is much knowledge to be got, 
 many ordinances to be used, and duties to be perform- 
 ed : every age, year, and day ; every place we come to ; 
 every persox we deal with ; every change of our con- 
 dition ; still require the renewing of our labour : wives, 
 children, servants, neighbours, friends, enemies, all of 
 them call for duty from us. Judge then, whether men 
 that have so much business lying upon their hards 
 
114 The Necessity of diltgentiy 
 
 should not exert themselves ; and whether it be their 
 
 wisdom either to delay or loiter. 
 
 Time passeth on. Yet a few days, and we shall be 
 here no more. Many diseases are ready to assault ns. 
 We that are now preaching, and hearing, and talking, 
 and walking, must very shortly be carried, and laid in 
 the dust, and there left to the worms in darkness and 
 corruption ; we are almost there already ; we know not 
 whether we shall have another sermon, or sabbath, or 
 hour. How active should they be who know they have 
 so short a space for so great a work ! 
 
 And we have enemies that are always plotting and 
 labouring for our destruction. How diligent is Satan in 
 all kinds of temptation 1 Therefore, “ be sober, be vi- 
 gilant ; because your adversary the devil, as a roarings 
 lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour ; 
 whom resist steadfast in the faith,” 1 Peter v. 8, 9. How 
 diligent are all the ” ministers of Satan !” False teach- 
 ers, scoffers, persecutors, and our inbred corruptions, 
 the most busy and diligent of all 1 Will a feeble resist- 
 ance serve our turn ? Should we not be more active 
 for our own preservation, than our enemies are for our 
 ruin ? 
 
 It should also excite us to diligence, when we consider 
 our talents, and our mercies, our relations to God, and 
 the afflictions he lays upon us. The talents which we 
 have received are many and great. What people breath- 
 ing on earth have had plainer instructions, or more forc- 
 ible persuasions, or more constant admonitions, in sea- 
 son, and out of season ? — sermons, till we have been 
 weary of them ; and sabbaths, till we profaned them 7 
 excellent books, in such plenty that we knew not which 
 to read ? What people have had God so near them 1 or 
 have seen so much of Christ crucified before their eyes ? 
 or have had heaven and hell so onen unto them ? What 
 spo^d should such p^'^nle make for heaven! How should 
 
peeking the Saints' Rest, 115 
 
 tliey fly, that are thus winged I And how swiftly should 
 they sail, that have wind and tide to help them I A 
 small pleasure of grace beseems not such a people, nor 
 will an ordinary diligence in the work of God excuse 
 them. 
 
 All our lives have been filled with mercies. God 
 hath mercifully poured out upon us the riches of sea 
 and land, of heaven and earth. We are fed, and clothed 
 with mercy. We have mercies within and without. To 
 number them, is to count the stars, or the sands on the 
 sea-shore. If there be any difference betwixt hell and 
 earth, yea, or heaven and earth, then certainly we have 
 received mercy. If the blood of the Son of God be 
 mercy, then we are engaged to God by mercy. Shall 
 God think nothing too much, nor too good for us ; and 
 shall we think all too much that we do for him ? When 
 I compare my slow and unprofitable life, with the fre- 
 quent and wonderful mercies received, it shames me, it 
 silences me, and leaves me inexcusable. 
 
 Besides our talents and mercies, our relations to God 
 are most endearing. Are we his children, and do we 
 not owe him our most tender affections, and dutiful 
 obedience 1 Are we the spouse of Christ,** and should 
 we not obey and love him ? “ If he be a Father, where 
 is his honour ? and if he be a Master, where is his fear ?** 
 Mai. i. 6. “ We call him Master and Lord, and we say 
 well,** John xiii. 13. But if our industry be not an- 
 swerable to our relation, we condemn ourselves in say- 
 ing we are his children or his servants. How will the 
 hard labour, and daily toil, which servants undergo to 
 please their masters, judge and condemn those who will 
 not labour so hard for their great Master 1 Surely, there 
 is no master like him ; nor can any servants expect such 
 fruit of their labours as his servants. 
 
 And if we wander out of God*s way, or loiter in it, 
 how is every creature ready to be hi« rod, to reduce us. 
 
116 The Necessity of diligently 
 
 or put us on ! Our sweetest mercies will become our 
 sorrows. Rather than want a rod, the Lord will make 
 us a scourge to ourselves ; our diseased bodies shall make 
 us groan; our perplexed minds shall make us restless; 
 <mr conscience shall be as a scorpion in our bosom. And 
 is it not easier to endure the labour than the spur ? Had 
 we rather be still afflicted, than be up and doing ? And 
 though they that do most, meet also with afflictions ; 
 yet surely, according to their peace of conscience, and 
 faithfulness to Christ, the bitterness of their cup is 
 abated. 
 
 To quicken our diligence in our work, we should also 
 consider, what assistances we have, what principles we 
 proffess, and our certainty that we never can do too 
 much. For our assistance in the service of God, all the 
 world are our servants. The sun, moon, and stars, at- 
 tend us with their light and influence. The earth, with 
 all its furniture of plants and flowers, fruits, birds, and 
 beasts ; the sea, with its inhabitants ; the air, the wind, 
 the frost and snow, the heat and fire, the clouds and rain, 
 all wait upon us while we do our work. Yea. the 
 angels are all** our “ ministering spirits,** Heb. i. 14, 
 Nay more, the patience of God doth wait upon us ; the 
 Lord Jesus Christ waiteth, in the offers of his blood ; 
 the Holy Spirit waiteth, by striving with our backward 
 hearts ; besides the ministers of the gospel, who stufly 
 and wait,’ preach and wait, pray and wait, upon careless 
 sinners. And is it not an intolerable crime for us to 
 trifle, while angels and men, yea, the Lord himself, stand 
 by, and look on, and, as it were, hold us the candle while 
 we do nothing ? I beseech you, Christians, whenever 
 you are praying, or reproving transgressors, or upon 
 any duty, remember what assistances you have for your 
 work, and then judge how you ought to perform it. 
 
 The principles we profess are, that God is the chief 
 good ; that all our happiness consists in his Jove, and 
 
117 
 
 xeeh’vg the SfatnU'' llest, 
 therefore it should be valued and sought above all things ; 
 that he is our only Lord, and therefore chiefly to be 
 served ; that we must love him with all our heart, and 
 soul, and strength ; that our great business in the world 
 is to glorify God, and obtain salvation. Are these doc- 
 trines seen in our practice ? Or rather, do not our works 
 deny what our words confess ? 
 
 But, however our assistances and principles excite us 
 to our work, we are sure we can never do too much. 
 Could we do all, we are unprofitable servants,’* Luke 
 xvii. 10 ; much more when we are sure to fail in all. 
 No man can obey, or serve God too much. Though all 
 superstition, or service of our own devising, may be 
 called ** a being righteous over-much yet as long as 
 we keep to the rule of the word, we can never be righte- 
 ous too much. The world is mad with malice, when 
 they think, that faithful diligence in the service of Chris! 
 is foolish singularity. The time is near when they will 
 easily confess, that God could not be loved or served too 
 much, and that no man can be too busy to save his soul. 
 We may easily do too much for the world, but we can- 
 not for God. 
 
 Let us further consider, that it is the nature of every 
 grace to promote diligence, that trifling in the way to 
 heaven is lost labour, that much precious time is already 
 misspent, and that in proportion to our labour will be 
 our recompense. See the nature and tendency of every 
 grace. If you loved God, you would think nothing too 
 much that you could possibly do, to serve him and 
 please him still more. Love is quick and impatient, 
 active and observant. If you loved Christ, you would 
 keep his commandments, nor accuse them of too much 
 strictness. If you had faith, it would quicken and en- 
 courage you. If you had the hope of glory, it would, as 
 the spring in the watch, set all the wheels in your souls 
 going. 11 you had the fear of God, it would rouse yoo 
 
118 The Necessity nf dib'qerttly 
 
 out of your slothfulness. 1 you had zeal, it would in- 
 flame, and eat you up. In what degree soever thou art 
 sanctified, in the §ame degree thou wilt be serious and 
 laborious in the work of God. 
 
 But they that trifie, lose their labour. Many who, 
 like Agrippa, are but almost Christians, will find, in the 
 end, they shall be but almost saved. If two be running 
 in a race, he that runs slowest loses both prize and la- 
 bour A man that is lifting at a weight, ifheputnot 
 sufficient strength to it, had as good put none at all. 
 How many duties have Christians lost, for want of doing 
 them thoroughly! “Many will seek to enter in, and 
 shall not be able,” Luke ;sciii. 24, who, if they had 
 striven, might have been able. Therefore, put to a little 
 more diligence and strength, that all you have done 
 already be not in vain. 
 
 Besides, is not much precious time already lost ? With 
 some of us, childhood and youth are gone ; with some, 
 their middle age also; and the time before us is very 
 uncertain. What time have we slept, talked, and played 
 away, or spent in worldly thoughts and cares ! How 
 little of our work is done I The time we have lost can- 
 not be recalled ; should we not then redeem and improve 
 the little which remains 7 If a traveller sleep or trifie 
 most of the day, he must travel so much faster in the 
 evening, or fall short of his journey’s end. 
 
 Doubt not but the recompense will be according to 
 your labour. The seed which is buried and dead, will 
 bring forth a plentiful harvest. Whatever you do, or 
 suffer, everlasting rest will pay for all. There is no 
 repenting of labours or sufferings in heaven. There not 
 one says, Would I had spared my pains, and prayed 
 less, or been less strict, and done as the rest of my 
 neighbours did.” On the contrary, it will be their joy 
 to look back upon their labours and tribulations, and to 
 consider how the mighty power of God brought them 
 
11? 
 
 teeing i?ie Saints'* Rest, 
 through all. We may all say, as Paul, I reckon that 
 the sufferings,” and labours, “ of this present time, are 
 not worthy to he compared with the glory which shall 
 be revealed in us,” Rom. viii. 18. We labour but for a 
 moment, but we shall rest for ever. Who would not 
 put forth all his strength for one hour, when, for that 
 hour’s work, he may be a prince while he lives ? ** God 
 is not unrighteous, to forget our work and labour of 
 love.” Will not ” all our tears be wiped away,” and all 
 the sorrow of our duties be then forgotten 7 
 Nor does it less deserve to be considered, that striving 
 is the divinely appointed way of salvation, that all men 
 either do or will approve it, that the best Christians at 
 death lament their negligence, and that heaven itself is 
 often lost for want of striving, but is never had on easier 
 terms. The sovereign wisdom of God has made striving 
 necessary to salvation. Who knows the way to heaven 
 better than the God of heaven 7 When men tell us we 
 are too strict; whom do they accuse, God or us 7 If it 
 were a fault, it would lie in him that commands, not in 
 us who obey. These are the men that ask us, whether 
 we are wiser than all the world besides ; and yet they 
 will pretend to be wiser than God. How can they re- 
 concile their language with the laws of God 7 “The 
 kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent 
 take it by force,” Matt. xi. 12. “ Strive to enter in at 
 the strait gate ; for many will seek to enter in, and shall 
 not be able,” Luke xiii. 24. “Whatsoever thy hand 
 findeth to do, do it with thy might ; for there is no work, 
 nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave 
 whither thou goest,” Eccles. ix. 10. “ Work out your 
 own salvation with fear and trembling,” Phil. ii. 12. 
 “ Give diligence to make your calling and election sure,” 
 2 Pet. i. 10. “ If the righteous scarcely be saved, 
 
 where shall the ungodly and sinner appear,” 1 Pet. iv. 
 18, Let them bring all the seeming reasons they can 
 
l£0 The Necesstry ofditrgenify 
 
 against the holy violence of the saints ; this sufficeth me 
 to confute them all, that God is of another mind, and he 
 hath commanded me to do much more than I do ; and 
 though I could see no other reason for it, his will is rea- 
 wn enough. Who should make laws for us but he that 
 made us 1 And who should point out the way to hea- 
 ven, but he that must bring us thither? And who 
 should fix the terms of salvation, but he that bestows 
 the gift of salvation 7 So that let the world, the fiesh, 
 or the devil, speak against a holy laborious life, this is 
 my answer, God hath commanded it. 
 
 Nay, there never was, or will be, a man, but will ap- 
 prove such a life, and will one day justify the diligence 
 of the saints. And who would not go that way, which 
 every man shall finally applaud ? True, it is now a way 
 “every where spoken against.** But let me tell you, 
 most that speak against it, in their judgments approve 
 of it ; and those that are now against it, will shortly be 
 of another mind. If they come to heaven, their mind 
 must be changed before they come there. If they go 
 to hell, their judgment will then be altered, whether 
 they will or not. Remember this, that you love the 
 opinion and way of the multitude ; why then wdll you 
 not be of the opinion that all will be of? Why will 
 you be of a judgment, which you are sure, all of you, 
 shortly to change ? Oh that you were but as wise in 
 this, as those in hell ! 
 
 Even the best of Christians, when they come to die, 
 exceedingly lament their negligence. They then wish, 
 “ O that I had been a thousand times more holy, more 
 heavenly, more laborious, for my soul! The world 
 accuses me for doing too much, but my own conscience 
 accuses me of doing too little. It is far easier bearing 
 the scoffs of the world than the lashes of conscience. I 
 had rather be reproached by the devil for seeking sal- 
 vation, than reproved of God for neglecting it.** How 
 
seeldvg the Saints' Rest 121 
 
 do their failings thus wound and disquiet them, who 
 have been the wonder of the world for their heavenly 
 conversation ! it is for want of more diligence, that 
 heaven itself is often lost. When they that have “ heard 
 the word, and anon with joy received it, and have done 
 many things, and heard the ministers of Christ gladly,** 
 Matt. xiii. 20; Mark vi. 20, shall yet perish; should 
 not this rouse us out of our security? How far hath 
 many a man followed Christ, and yet forsook him when 
 all worldly interests and hopes were to be renounced I 
 
 God hath resolved, that heaven shall not be had on 
 easier terms. Rest must always follow labour. “ With- 
 out holiness no man shall see the Lord,** Heb. xii, 14. 
 seriousness is the very thing wherein consists our 
 sincerity. If thou art not serious, thou art not a Chris- 
 tian. It is not only a high degree in Christianity, but 
 the very life and essence of it. As fencers upon a stage 
 differ from soldiers fighting for their lives, so hypocrites 
 differ from serious Christians. If men could be saved 
 without this serious diligence, they would never regard 
 it ; all the excellences of God’s ways would never entice 
 them. But when God hath resolved, that, without 
 serious diligence here, you shall not rest hereafter, is it 
 not wisdom to exert ourselves to the utmost ? 
 
 But to persuade thee, if possible, reader, to be serious 
 in thy endeavours for heaven, let me add more con- 
 siderations. As for instance, consider, — God is in ear- 
 nest with you; and why should not you be so with 
 him ? In his commands, his threatenings, his promises, 
 he means as he speaks. In his judgments he is serious. 
 Was he not so, when he drowned the world? when he 
 consumed Sodom and Gomorrah? and when he scattered 
 the Jews? Is it time then to trifle with God? — Jesus 
 Christ was serious in purchasing our redemption. In 
 teaching, he neglected his meat and drink. In prayer, 
 he continued all night. In doing good, his friends 
 270 I 
 
193 The Mcesstty of diligently 
 
 thought him beside himselfir In suffering-, he fasted 
 forty days, was tempted, betrayed, spit upon, buffe ted, 
 crowned with thorns, sweat drops of blood, was cruci- 
 fied, pierced, died ; there was no jesting in all this. And 
 should not we be serious in seeking our own salvation ? 
 The Holy Spirit is serious in soliciting us to be happy. 
 His motions are frequent, pressing, and importunate. 
 He striveth with us. He iii grieved when we resist him. 
 And should not we be serious then in obeying, and 
 yielding to his motions. 
 
 God is serious in hearing our prayers, and bestowing 
 his mercies. He is afflicted with us. He regardeth 
 every groan and sigh, and puts every tear into his 
 bottle. The next time thou art in trouble, thou wilt 
 beg for a serious regard of the prayers. And shall we 
 expect real mercies, when we are slight and superficial 
 in the work of God ? The ministers of Christ are seri- 
 ous in exhorting and instructing you. They beg of God, 
 and of you; and long more for the salvation of your 
 souls, than for any worldly good. If they kill them- 
 selves with their labour, or suffer martyrdom for preach- 
 ing the gospel ; they think their lives are well bestowed, 
 so that they prevail for the saving your souls. And 
 shall other men be so painful and careful for your sal- 
 vation, and you be so careless and negligent of your 
 own ? How diligent and serious are all the creatures in 
 serving you! What haste makes the sun to compass 
 the world I The fountains are always flowing for thy 
 use; the rivers still running ; spring and harvest keep 
 their times. How hard does thine ox labour for thee 
 from day to day I How speedily does thy horse travel 
 wUh thee 1 And shalt thou only be negligent ? Shall 
 all these be so serious in serving thee, and thou so care- 
 less in thy service to God T 
 
 The servants of the world and the devil are serious 
 and diligent. They work as if they could never do 
 
seeMng tha Saints' Rest, 1153 
 
 fnougli. They make haste, as if afraid of coming to 
 hell too late. They beat down ministers, sermons, and 
 all before them. And shall they be more diligent«foT 
 damnation, than thou for salvation ? Hast thou not a 
 better master, sweeter employment, greater encourage- 
 ments, and a better reward ? Time was when thou wast 
 serious thyself in serving Satan and the flesh, if it be 
 not so yet. How eagerly didst thou follow thy sports, 
 thy evil company, and sinful delights ! And wilt thou 
 not now be as earnest and violent for God? You are to 
 this day in earnest about the things of this life. If you 
 are sick, or in pain, what serious complaints do you 
 utter ? If you are poor, how hard do you labour for a 
 livelihood I And is not the business of your salvation 
 of far greater moment? There is no jesting in heaven 
 or hell. The saints have a real happiness, and the 
 damned a real misery. There are no remiss or sleepy 
 praises in heaven, nor such lamentations in hell. All 
 there are in earnest. When thou, reader, shalt come 
 to death and judgment, O what deep, heart-piercing 
 thoughts wiTt^thou have of eternity 1 Methinks I fore- 
 see thee already astonished, to think how thou couldst 
 possibly make so light of these things. Methinks I 
 even hear thee crying out of thy stupidity and madness. 
 
 And now, reader, having laid down these undeniable 
 arguments, I do, in the name of God, demand thy reso- 
 lution — Wilt thou yield obedience or not? I am confi- 
 dent thy conscience is convinced of thy duty. Darest 
 thou now go on in thy common careless course, against 
 the plain evidence of reason and the commands of God, 
 and against the light of thy own conscience ? Darest 
 thou live as loosely, sin as boldly, and pray as seldom, 
 as before ? Darest thou profane the Sabbath, slight the 
 service of God, and think of thine everlasting state as 
 carelessly as before ? Or dost thou not rather resolve to 
 gird up the loins of thy mind, and se* *hyself wholly to 
 
The Necessity ofdittgehtiy 
 
 the work of thy salvation, and breakthrough the opposi- 
 tions, and slight the scoffs and persecutions of the world, 
 and lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so 
 easily beset thee, and run with patience the race that is 
 set before thee ?*’ I hope these are thy full resolutions. 
 Yet, because I know the obstinacy of the heart of man, 
 and because I am solicitous thy soul might live, I once 
 more entreat thy attention to the following questions; and 
 I command thee from God, that thou stifle not thy con- 
 science, nor resist conviction ; but answer them faith- 
 fully, and obey accordingly. If, by being diligent in 
 godliness, you could grow rich, get honour or prefer- 
 ment in the world, be recovered from sickness, or live 
 for ever in prosperity on earth ; what lives would you 
 lead, and what pains would you take in the service of 
 God 1 And is noi the saints* rest a more excellent hap- 
 piness than all this ? If it were felony to break the 
 sabbath, neglect secret or family worship, or be loose in 
 your lives, what manner of persons would you then be ! 
 And is not eternal death more terrible than temporal 1 
 If God usually punished with some present judgment 
 every act of sin, as he did Ananias and Sapphira, whafc 
 kind of life would you lead ? And is not eternal wrath 
 far more terrible 1 
 
 If one of your acquaintance should come from the 
 dead, and tell you he su&t'yed the torments of hell for 
 those sins you are guilty of ; what manner of persons 
 would you afterwards be 1 iiow much more should the 
 warnings of God affright you 1 If you knew that this 
 were the last day you had to live in the world, how 
 would you spend it I And you know not but it may be 
 your last, and are sure that your last is near. If you 
 had seen the general dissolution of the world, and all 
 the pomp and glory of it consumed to ashes, what would 
 such a sight persuade thee to do 7 Such a sight you 
 fheJl certainly see. If you had seen the judgment set, 
 
seeking the Saints'* Best. 125 
 
 and the books opened, and the wicked stand trembling 
 on the left hand of the Judge, and the godly rejoicing 
 on the right hand, and their different sentence pro- 
 nounced ; what persons would you have been aftersuch 
 sight I This sight you shall one day surely see. If 
 you had seen hell open, and all the damned there in 
 their ceaseless torments ; also heaven opened, as Ste- 
 phen did, and all the saints there triumphing in glory ; 
 what a life would you lead after such sights 1 These 
 you will see before it be long. If you had lain in hell 
 but one year, or one day, or hour, and there felt the 
 torments you now hear of ; how seriously would you 
 then speak of hell, and pray against it 1 And will you 
 not take God’s word for the truth of this, except you 
 feel it? Or if you had possessed the glory of heaven 
 but one year ; what pains would you take rather than 
 be deprived of such incomparable glory ! 
 
 Thus, I have said enough, if not to stir up the sinner 
 to a serious working out of his salvation, yet at least to 
 silence him, and leave him inexcusable at the judgment 
 of God. Only, as we do by our friends when they are 
 dead, and our words and actions can do them no good, 
 yet to testify our affections for them, w^e weep and 
 mourn ; so will I also do for these unhappy souls. It 
 makes ray heart tremble, to think how they will stand 
 before the Lord confounded and speechless I When he 
 shall say, “Was the world, or Satan, a better friend to 
 you than I ? or had they done for you more than I had 
 done? Try now whether they will save you, or re- 
 compense you for the loss of heaven, or be as good to 
 you as I would have been.** What will the wretched 
 sinner answer to any of this ? But though man will not 
 hear, we may hope in speaking to God. “ O thou that 
 didst weep and groan in spirit over a dead Lasarus, pity 
 these dead and senseless souls, till they are able to weep 
 and groan in pity to themselves I As thou ha>l bid thv 
 
I2<5 How to discern our Title 
 
 servants speak, so speak now thyself ; they wil* henr 
 thy voice speaking to their hearts, who will not hear 
 me speaking to their ears. Lord, thou hast long knock* 
 ed at these hearts in vain ; now break the doors and 
 enter in.*’ 
 
 Yet to show the godly T»hy they, above all men, should 
 be laborious for heaven, I desire to ask them, what man- 
 ner of persons should those be, whom God hath chosen 
 to be vessels of mercy ? who have felt the smart of their 
 negligence in their new birth, in their troubles of con- 
 science, in their doubts and fears, and in other sharp 
 afflictions ? who have often confessed their sins of neg- 
 ligence to God in prayer ? who have bound themselves 
 to God by so many covenants ? What manner of per- 
 sons should they be, who are near to God as the chil- 
 dren of his family 1 who have tasted such sweetness in 
 diligent obedience ? who are many of them so uncer- 
 tain what shall everlastingly become of their souls? 
 What manner of persons should they be in holiness, 
 whose sanctification is so imperfect ? whose lives and 
 duties are so important to the saving or destroying a 
 multitude of souls ? and on whom the glory of the great 
 God so much depends? — Since these things are so, I 
 charge thee, Christian, in thy Master’s name, to con- 
 sider and resolve the question, “ What manner of per- 
 sons ought we to be in all holy conversation and god- 
 liness?” And let thy life answer the question as well 
 thy tongue ? 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 How to discern our Title to the Saints' Rest. 
 
 Is there such a glorious rest so near at hand ? and shall 
 none enjoy it but the people of God ? What mean most 
 of the world thep, to live po contentedly without assu- 
 
to the Saints* IRest. 
 
 127 
 
 ranee of their interest in this rest, and neglect the try- 
 ing of their title to if ? When the Lord has so fully 
 opened the blessedness of that kingdom, which none 
 but obedient believers shall possess ; and so fully ex- 
 pressed those torments, which the rest of the world 
 must eternally suffer ; methinks they that believe this 
 to be certainiy true, should never be at any quiet in 
 themselves, till they were fully assured of their being 
 heirs to the kingdom. Lord, what a strange madness 
 is this, that men, who know they must presently enter 
 upon unchangeable joy or pain, should yet live as un- 
 certain what shall be their doom, as if they never heard 
 of any such state ; yea, and live as quietly and merrily 
 in this uncertainty, as if all were made sure, and there 
 were no danger I Are they awake or asleep 1 What do 
 they think on ? Where are their hearts ? If they have 
 but a weighty suit at law, how careful are they to know 
 whether it will go for or against them I If they were 
 to be tried for their lives at an earthly bar, how careful 
 would they be to know whether they should be saved 
 or condemned, especially if their care might surely save 
 them ! If they be dangerously sick, they will inquire 
 of the physician. What think you, sir, shall I escape or 
 not ? But in the business of their salvation, they are 
 content to be uncertain. If you ask most men ** a reason 
 of the hope that is in them,” they will say, “Because 
 God is merciful, and Christ died for sinners,” and the 
 like general reasons, which any man in the world may 
 give as well as they : but put them to prove their in- 
 terest in Christ, and in the saving mercy of God, and 
 they can say nothing to the purpose. If God or man 
 should say to them. What case is thy soul in, man 'i Is 
 it regenerate, sanctified, and pardoned, or not! He 
 would be ready to say, as Cain of Abel, “ * I know not, 
 am I my* soul’s * keeper ?* I hope well ; I trust God 
 with my soul ; I shall speed aa well a§ other men do ; I 
 
128 How to discern our Title 
 
 thank God, I never made any doubt of my salvation,* 
 Thou hast cause to doubt, because thou never dids 
 doubt ; and yet more, because thou hast been careless 
 in thy confidence. What do thy expressions discover, 
 but a wilful neglect of thy own salvation ? Asa ship- 
 master that should let his vessel alone, and say, “ I will 
 v^enture it among the rocks, and waves, and winds ; I 
 will trust God with it ; it will speed as well as other 
 vessels.*’ What horrible abuse of God is this! to pre- 
 tend to trust God, to cloak their own negligence I If 
 thou didst really trust God, thou wouldst also be ruled 
 by him, and trust him in his own appointed way. He 
 requires thee to give “ diligence to make thy calling 
 and election sure,** 2 Peter i. 10, and so to trust him. 
 He hath marked thee out a way in scripture, by which 
 thou art charged to search and try thyself, and mayest 
 arrive at certainty. Were he not a foolish traveller, 
 that would hold on his way, when he does not know 
 whether he is right or wrong ; and say, “ I hope I am 
 right ; I will go on, and trust God ?** Art thou not guilty 
 of this folly, in thy travels to eternity ? Not consider- 
 ing that a little serious inquiry, whether the way be 
 right, might save thee a great deal of labour, w'hich 
 thou hast bestowed in vain, and must undo again, or 
 else wilt miss salvation, and undo thyself. 
 
 How canst thou think or speak of the great God 
 without terror, as long as thou art uncertain whether he 
 be thy Father or thine enemy, and knowest not but all 
 his perfections may be employed agai’iSt thee? or of 
 Christ Jesus, when thou knowest not whether his blood 
 hath purged thy soul, whether he will condemn or acquit 
 thee in judgment ; nor whether he is the foundation of 
 thy happiness, or a stone of stumbling, to break thee, 
 and grind thee to powder ? How canst thou open the 
 bible, and read a chapter, but it should terrify thee ? 
 Methinks every leaf should be to thee as Belshazzar’s 
 
to the Saints* Rest, 
 
 12 ^ 
 
 writing on the wall, except only that which draws thee 
 to try and reform. If thou readest the promises, thou 
 knowest not whether they shall be fulfilled to thee. If 
 thou readest the threatenings, for any thing thou kiiow- 
 est, thou readest thy own sentence. No wonder thou 
 art an enemy to plain preaching, and sayest of the 
 minister, as Ahab of the prophet, “ I hate him, for he 
 doth not prophecy good concerning me, but evil.** How 
 canst thou without terror join in prayer 1 "When thou 
 receivest the sacrament, thou knowest not whether it 
 be thy bane or bliss. What comfort canst thou find in 
 thy friends, and honours, and houses, and lands, till thou 
 knowest thou hast the love of God with them, and shall 
 have rest with him when thou leavest them ? Offer a 
 prisoner, before he knew his sentence, either music, or 
 clothes, or preferment t what are they to him, till he 
 knows he shall escape for his life ? lor if he knows he 
 must die the next day, it will be small comfort to die 
 rich or honourable. Methinks it should be so with thee, 
 till thou knowest thine eternal state. When thou liest 
 down to take thy rest, methinks the uncertainty of thy 
 salvation should keep thee waking, or amaze thee in thy 
 dreams, and trouble thy sleep. Doth it not grieve thee 
 to see the people of God so comfortable in their way to 
 glory, when thou hast no good hope of ever enjoying it 
 thyself? How canst thou think of thy dying hour? 
 Thou knowest it is near, and there is no avoiding it, nor 
 any medicine found out that can prevent it. If thou 
 shouldst die this day, (and who knows what a day may 
 bring forth ?) thou art not certain whether thou shalt go 
 to heaven or hell. And canst thou be merry, till thou 
 art got out of this dangerous state ? What shift dost 
 thou make to preserve thy heart from horror, when thou 
 rememberest the great judgment-day, and everlasting 
 flames ? When thou hearest of it, dost thou not tremble 
 as Felix? If tne keepers shook, and became as dead 
 
130 How to discern our Title 
 
 men, when they saw the angel come and roll back the 
 stone from Christ’s sepulchre, how canst thou think of 
 living in hell with devils, till thou hast got some well 
 grounded assurance that thou shalt escape it ? Thy bed 
 is very soft, or thy heart is very hard, if thou canst sleep 
 soundly in this uncertain case. 
 
 If this general uncertainty of the world about their 
 salvation were remediless, then must it be borne as 
 ether unavoidable miseries. But, alasl the common 
 cause is wilful negligence. Men will not be persuaded 
 to use the remedy. The great means to conquer this 
 uncertainty is self-examination, or the serious and dili- 
 gent trying of a nian’s heart and state by the rule of 
 scripture. Either, men understand not the nature and 
 use of this duty, or else they will not be at the pains to 
 try. Go through a congregation of a thousand men, 
 and how few of them shall you meet with, that ever 
 bestowed one hour in all their lives in a close examina- 
 tion of their title to heaveri? Ask thine own con- 
 science, reader, when was the time, and where was the 
 place, that ever thou solemnly tookest thy heart to task, 
 as in the sight of God and didst examine it by scripture, 
 whether it be renewed or not ? whether it be set most 
 on God or the creatures, on heaven or earth ? and when 
 didst thou follow on this examination till thou hadst 
 discovered thy condition, and passed sentence on thy- 
 self accordingly ? But because this is a work of such 
 nigh importance, and so commonly neglected, I will 
 therefore show— that it is possible, by trying to come 
 to a certainty — what hinders men from trying and know- 
 ing their state; — then offer motives to examine — and 
 directions — together with some marks out of scripture, 
 by which you may try, and certainly know, whether 
 you are the people of God or not. 
 
 !• Scripture shows, that certainty of salvation may be 
 attained, and ought to be laboured for ; when it tells us 
 
!31 
 
 to the Saivts* Best. 
 
 80 frequently, that the saints before us have known 
 their justification and future salvation ; when it de- 
 clares, that “ whosoever believeth in Christ shall not 
 perish, but have everlasting life which it would be in 
 vain to declare, if we cannot know ourselves to be be- 
 Ik'vers or not ; when it makes such a wide difference 
 between the children of God, and the children of the 
 devil ; when it bids us “ give diligence to make our 
 calling and election sure;** and earnestly urges us to 
 examine, prove, and know our own selves, whether we 
 be in the faith, and whether Jesus Christ be in us, ex- 
 cept we be reprobates. Also when its precepts require 
 us to rejoice always, to call God our Father, to live in 
 his praises, to love Christ*s appearing, to wish that he 
 may come quickly, and to comfort ourselves with the 
 mention of it. But who can do any of these heartily, 
 that is not in some measure sure that he is the child of 
 God? 
 
 2. Among the many hinderances which keep men 
 from self-examination, we cannot doubt but Satan will 
 do his part. If all the power he hath, or all the means 
 or instruments he can employ, can do it, he will be sure 
 above all duties to keep you from this. He is loath the 
 godly should have that joy, assurance, and advantage 
 against corruption, which the faithful performance of 
 self-examination would procure them. As for the un- 
 godly, he knows if he should once earnestly examine, 
 they would find out his deceits, and their own danger, 
 and so be very likely to escape him. How could he get 
 so many millions to hell willingly, if they knew they 
 were going thither 7 And how could they avoid know- 
 ing it, if they did but thoroughly try ; having such a 
 clear light and sure rule in the scriptures to discover it ? 
 If the snare be not hid, the bird will escape it. Satan 
 knows how to angle for souls, better than to show them 
 the hook and line, or frighten them aw'ay with a noise. 
 
133 
 
 How to discern our Title 
 
 or with his own appearance. Therefore he labours to 
 keep them from a searching ministry ; or to keep the 
 minister from helping them to search ; or to take off the 
 edge of the word, that it may not pierce and divide ; or 
 to turn away their thoughts ; or to possess them with 
 prejudice. Satan knows when the minister hath pro- 
 vided a searching sermon, fitted to the state and necessity 
 of a hearer; and therefore, he will keep him away that 
 day, if it be possible ; or cast him into a sleep ; or steal 
 away the word by the cares and talk of the world ; or 
 some way prevent its operation. 
 
 Another great hinderance to self-examination arises 
 from wicked men. Their example ; their merry com- 
 pany and discourse; their continually insisting on world- 
 ly concerns ; their raillery and scoffs at godly persons ; 
 also their persuasions, allurements and threats, are each 
 of them exceedingly great temptations to security. God 
 doth scarcely ever open the eyes of a poor sinner, to see 
 that his way is wrong, but presently there is a multitude 
 of Satan’s apostles ready to deceive and settle him again 
 in the quiet possession of his former master. “ What !’* 
 say they, “ do you make a doubt of your salvation, who 
 have lived so well, and done nobody any harm ? God 
 is merciful ; and if such as you shall not be saved, God 
 help a great many ! What do you think of all your fore- 
 fathers ? And what will become of all your friends and 
 neighbours that live as you do ? Will they all be con- 
 demned ? Come, come, if you hearken to these preach- 
 ers, they will drive you out of your wits. Are not all 
 men sinners ? And did not Christ die to save sinners ? 
 Never trouble your head with these thoughts, and you 
 shall do well.” Oh how many thousands have such 
 charms kept asleep in deceit and security, till death and 
 hell have awakened them ? The Lord calls to the sinner, 
 and tells him, “The gate is strait, the way is narrow, 
 and few find it ; try and examine, give diligence to make ' 
 
135 
 
 to'iTie Saints* HesK 
 sure.” The world cries, Mever doubt, never trouble 
 yourselves with these thoughts. In this strait, sinner, 
 consider it is Christ, and not your forefathers, or neigh- 
 bours, or friends, that must judge you at last ; and it 
 Christ condemn you, these cannot save you : therefore 
 common reason may tell you, that it is not from the 
 words of ignorant men, but from the word of God, you 
 must fetch your hopes of salvation. When Ahab would 
 inquire among the multitude of flattering prophets, it 
 was his death. They can flatter men into the snare, 
 but they cannot tell how to bring them out. “ Let no 
 man deceive you with vain words, for because of these 
 things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of 
 disobedience ; be not ye therefore partakers with them,** 
 Eph. V. 6, 7, 
 
 But the greatest hinder »nces are in men’s own hearts. 
 Some are so ignorant, that they know not what self- 
 examination is, nor what a minister means when he 
 persuadeth them to try themselves ; or they know not 
 that there is any necessity for it ; but think that every 
 man is bound to believe that his sins are pardoned, whe- 
 ther it be true or false, and that it is a great fault to make 
 any question of it ; or they do not think that assurance 
 can be attained ; or that there is any great difference 
 between one man and another, but that we are all 
 Christians, and therefore need not trouble ourselves any 
 farther ; or at least they know not wherein the differ- 
 ence lies, 'fhey have as gross an idea of regeneration 
 as Nicodemus had. Some will not believe that God will 
 ever make such a difference betwixt men in the life to 
 come, and therefore will not search themselves whether 
 they differ here. Some are so stupified, say what we 
 can to them, that they lay it not to heart, but give us the 
 hearing, and there’s an end. Some are so possessed with 
 self-love and pride, that they will not so much as suspect 
 they are in danger, like a proud tradesman, who scorns 
 
1S4 tJow to dtscem ou¥ Title 
 
 iliu prudent advice of casting up his books ; as fond 
 parents will not believe or hear any evil of their children. 
 Some are so guilty, that they dare not try, and yet they 
 dare venture on a more dreadful trial. Some are so in 
 love with sin, and so dislike the way of God, that they 
 dare not try their ways, lest they be forced from the 
 course they love, to that which they loathe. Some are 
 so resolved never to change their present state, that they 
 neglect examination as a useless thing. Before they 
 will seek a new way when they have lived so long, and 
 gone so far, they will put their eternal state to the ven- 
 ture, come of it what will. Many men are so busy in 
 the world, that they cannot set themselves to the trying 
 their title to heaven. Others are so clogged with sloth- 
 fulness of spirit, that they will not be at the pains of an 
 hour’s examination of their own hearts. But the most 
 common and dangerous impediment is that false faith 
 and hope, commonly called presumption, which bears 
 up the hearts of the greatest part of the world, and so 
 keeps them from suspecting their danger. 
 
 And if a man should break through all these hinder- 
 ances,and set upon the duty of self-examination, yet 
 assurance is not presently attained. Too many deceive 
 themselves in their inquiries after it, through one or 
 other of the following causes ‘.—There is such confusion 
 and darkness in the soul of man, especially of an unre- 
 generate man, that he can scarcely tell what he doth, 
 or what is in him. As in a house, where nothing is in 
 its proper place, it will be difficult to find what is want- 
 ing ; so it is in the heart where all things are in disorder. 
 Most men accustom themselves to he strangers at home, 
 and too little observe the temper and motions of their 
 own hearts. Many are resolved what to judge before 
 they try. Like a bribed judge, who examines as if he 
 would judge uprightly, when he is previously resolved 
 Which way the cause shall go. Men are partial in their 
 
to (he Saivts' Best 185 
 
 own cause *. ready to think their great sins small, and 
 their small sins none ; their gifts of nature to be the 
 work of grace, and to say, “ All these have I kept from 
 my youth;** I am rich, and increased in goods, and 
 have need of nothing. Most men search but by halves. 
 If it will not easily and quickly be done, they are dis- 
 couraged, and leave off. They try themselves by false 
 marks and rules, not knowing wherein the truth of 
 Christianity doth consist; some looking beyond, and 
 some short, of the scripture standard. And frequently 
 they miscarry in this work, by attempting it in their 
 own strength. As some expect the Spirit should do it 
 without them, so others attempt it themselves, without 
 seeking or expecting the help of the Spirit. Both these 
 will certainly miscarry in their assurance. 
 
 Some other hinderances keep even true Christians 
 from comfortable certainty. As for instance— the weak- 
 ness of grace. Small things are hardly discerned. Most 
 Christians content themselves with a small measure of 
 grace, and do not follow on to spiritual strength and 
 manhood. The chief remedy for such would be to fol- 
 low on their duty, till their grace be increased. Wait 
 upon God in the use of his prescribed means, and he 
 will undoubtedly bless you with increase. O that Chris- 
 tians would bestow most of that time in getting more 
 grace, which they bestow in anxious doubtings whether 
 they have any or none ; and lay out those serious affec- 
 tions in praying for more grace, which they bestow in 
 fruitless complaints 1 I beseech thee, Christian, take 
 this advice as from God ; and then, when thou believest 
 strongly, and lovest fervently, thou canst no more doubt 
 of thy faith and love, than a man that is very hot can 
 doubt of his warmth, or a man that is strong and hearty 
 can doubt of his being alive. Christians hinder their 
 own comfort by looking more at signs, which tell them 
 what they are, than at precepts which tell them what 
 
136 How to discern our Title 
 
 they should do : as if their present case must needs be 
 their everlasting case ! and if they be now unpardoned, 
 there were no remedy. Were he not mad, that would 
 lie weeping because he is not pardoned, when his prince 
 stands by all the while offering him a pardon, and per- 
 suading him to accept of it? Justifying faith, Chris- 
 tian, is not thy persuasion of God’s special love to thee, 
 but thy accepting Christ, to make thee lovely. It is far 
 better to accept Christ as offered than spend so much 
 time in doubting whether we have Christ or not. 
 
 Another cause of distress to Christians is, their mis 
 taking assurance for the joy that sometimes accom- 
 panies it: as if a child should take himself for a son no 
 longer, than while he sees the smiles of his Father’s face, 
 or hears the comfortable expressions in his mouth ; and 
 as if the father ceased to be father, whenever he ceased 
 those smiles and speeches. The trouble of souls is also 
 increased by their not knowing the ordinary way of 
 God’s conveying comfort. They think they have no- 
 thing to do but to wait when God will bestow it. But 
 they must know, that the matter of their comfort is in 
 the promises, and thence they must fetch it as often as 
 they expect it, by daily and diligently meditating upon 
 the promises, and in this way they may expect the 
 Spirit will communicate comfort to their souls. The 
 joy of the promises, and the joy of the Holy Ghost, are 
 one. Add to this, their expecting a greater measure of 
 assurance than God usually bestows. As long as they 
 have any doubting, they think they have no assurance. 
 They consider not that there are many degrees of cer- 
 tainty. While they are here, they shall ** know but in 
 part.” Add also, their deriving their comfort at first 
 from insufficient grounds. This may be the case of a 
 gracious soul, who hath better grounds, but doth not see 
 them. As an infant hath life before he knoweth it, and 
 many misapprehensions of himself and other things, 
 
to the Saints* Rest. 13T 
 
 yet It will not follow that he hath no life. So when 
 Christians find a flaw in their first comforts, they are not 
 to judge it a flaw in their safety. 
 
 Many come under doubting, through the exceeding 
 weakness of their natural parts. Many honest hearts 
 have weak heads, and know not how to perform the 
 work of self-trial. They will acknowledge the promises, 
 and yet deny the apparent conclusion. If God do not 
 in some other way supply the defect of their reason, I 
 see not how they should have clear and settled peace. 
 One great and too common cause of distress is, the 
 secret maintaining some known sin. This abates the 
 degree of our graces, and so makes them more undls- 
 cernible. It obscures that which it destroys not ; for it 
 bears such sway, that grace is not in action ; nor seems 
 to stir, nor is scarcely heard speak for the noise of this 
 corruption. It puts out or dims the eye of the soul, and 
 stupifies it, that it can neither see nor feel its own con- 
 dition. But especially it provokes God to withdraw 
 himself, his comforts, and the assistance of his Spirit, 
 without which we may search long enough before we 
 have assurance. God hath made a separation between 
 sin and peace. As long as thou dost cherish thy pride, 
 thy love of the world, the desires of the flesh, or any 
 unchristian practice, thou expectest comfort in vain. 
 If any man “ setteth up his idols in his heart, and put- 
 teth the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his 
 face,** and cometh to a minister, or to God, to inquire 
 for comfort, instead of comforting him, God “ will 
 answer him that cometh, according to the multitude of 
 his idols,** Ezek. xiv. 3-— 9. 
 
 Another very great and common cause of the want of 
 comfort is, when grace is not kept in constant and lively 
 exercise. The way of painful duty is the way of full- 
 est comfort. Peace and comfort are Christ*s great en- 
 couragements to faithfulness and obedience ; and, there- 
 270 
 
How to discern our Title 
 
 fSb 
 
 fore, though our obedience does not merit them, yet 
 they usually rise and fall with our diligence in duty. 
 As prayer must have faith and fervency to procure its 
 success, besides the blood and intercession of Christ, so 
 must all other parts of our obedience. If thou grow 
 formal, and customary, and cold in duty, especially in 
 thy secret prayers to God, and yet findest no abatement 
 in thy joys, 1 cannot but fear thy joys are either carnal 
 or diabolical. Besides, grace is never apparent and sen- 
 sible to the soul, but while it is in action ; therefore 
 want of action must cause want of assurance. And the 
 action of the soul upon such excellent objects, naturally 
 bringeth consolation with it. The very act of loving 
 God in Christ is inexpressibly sweet. The soul that is 
 best furnished with grace, when it is not in action, is 
 like a lute well stringed and tuned, which while it lieth 
 still maketh no more music than a common piece of 
 wood ; but when it is handled by a skilful musician, the 
 melody is delightful. Some degree of comfort follows 
 every good action, as heat accompanies fire, and as 
 beams arid influence issue from the sun. A man that is 
 cold should labour till heat be excited ; so he that wants 
 assurance must not stand still, but exercise his graces 
 till his doubts vanish. 
 
 The want of consolation in the soul is also very com- 
 monly owing to bodily melancholy. It is no more won- 
 der for a conscientious man, under melancholy, to doubt, 
 and fear, and despair, than for a sick man to groan, or a 
 child to cry when it is chastised. Without the physL- 
 cian in this case, the labours of the divine are usually in 
 vain. You may silence, but you cannot comfort them. 
 You may make them confess they have some grace, and 
 yet cannot lying them to the comfortable conclusion. 
 All the good thoughts of their state which you can pos- 
 sibly help them to, are seldom above a day or two old. 
 They cry out of sin, and the wrath of God, when the 
 chief cause is in their bodily distemper. 
 
to tfie Saints* Rest. 
 
 139 
 
 S. As for motives to persuade to the duty of self-exa- 
 mination, I entreat you to consider the folio \ving:— To 
 be deceived about your title to heaven is very easy. 
 Many are now in hell that never suspected any falser 
 hoods in their hearts, that excelled in worldly wisdom, 
 and that lived in the clear light of the gospel, and even 
 preached against negligence in others. To be mistaken 
 in this point is also very common. It is the case of most 
 in the world. In the old world, and in Sodom, we find 
 none that were in any fear of judgment. Almost all men 
 among us verily look to be saved ; yet Christ tells us, 
 there be few that find the strait gate, and narrow way. 
 which leadeth unto life, Matt. vii. 14. And if such mul- 
 titudes are deceived, should not we search the more di- 
 ligently, lest we should be deceived as well as they ? 
 Nothing is more dangerous than to be thus mistaken. 
 If the godly judge their state worse than it is, the con- 
 sequences of this mistake will be sorrowful ; but the 
 mischief fio wing from the mistake of the ungodly is un- 
 speakable. It will exceedingly confirm them in the 
 service of Satan. It will render ineffectual the means 
 that should do them good. It will keep a man from 
 compassionating his own soul. It is in a case of the 
 greatest moment certainly, where everlasting salvaUon 
 or damnation is to be determined. And if you should 
 mistake till death, you are undone for ever. Seeing then 
 the danger is so great, what wise man would not follow 
 the search of his heart both night and day, till he were 
 assured of his safety ? Consider how small the labour of 
 this duty is, in comparison of that sorrow which follow- 
 eth its neglect. You can endure to toil and sweat from 
 year to year, to prevent poverty, and why not spend a 
 little time in self-examination, to prevent eternal mise- 
 ry ? By neglecting this duty, j^ou can scarcely do Sa- 
 tan a greater pleasure, nor yourself a greater injury. If 
 is the grand design of the devil, in all his temptations, 
 
140 Itow to aiscetn our Title 
 
 to deceive you, and keep you ignorant of your danger, 
 till you feel the everlasting flames ; and will you join 
 with him to deceive yourself? If you do this for him, 
 you do the greatest part of his work. And hath he de- 
 served so well of you, that you should assist him in such 
 a design as your damnation ? The time is nigh when 
 God will search you. If it be but in this life by afflic- 
 tion, it will make you wish that you had tried and 
 judged yourselves, that you might have escaped the 
 judgment of . God. It was a terrible voice to Adam, 
 “ Where art thou?** “ hast thou eaten of the tree ?** and 
 to Cain, “ Where is thy brother?** Men consider 
 not in their hearts that I,” saith the Lord, ** remember 
 all their wickedness ; now their own doings have beset 
 them about, they are before my face,** Hosea vii. 2. 
 
 Consider also what would be the sweet effects of this 
 self-examination. If thou be upright and godly, it will 
 lead thee straight towards assurance of God’s love ; if 
 thou be not, though it will trouble thee at present, yet 
 it will tend to thy happiness, and at length lead thee to 
 the assurance of that happiness. Is it not a desirable 
 thing to know what shall befall us hereafter ? especially 
 what shall befall our souls ? and what place and state we 
 must be in for ever ? And as the very knowledge itself 
 is desirable, how much greater will the comfort be of 
 that certainty of salvation ! What sweet thoughts wUt 
 thou have of God 1 All that greatness and justice, which 
 is the terror of others will be thy joy. How sweet may 
 be thy thoughts of Christ, and the blood he hath shed, 
 and the benefits he hath procured ! how welcome will 
 the word of God be to thee, and “ how beautiful the 
 very feet of those that bring it 1** How sweet will be the 
 promises, when thou art sure they are thine own. The 
 very threatenings will occasion thy comfort, to remen> 
 her that thou hast escaped them. What boldness and 
 comfort maj’cst thou then have in prayer, when thou 
 
to the Saints* Rest. 141 
 
 crmst say “ Our Father,” in full assurance 1 It will 
 make the Lord’s supper a refreshing feast to thy soul. 
 It will multiply the sweetness of every common mercy. 
 How comfortably mayest thou then undergo all afflic- 
 tions. How will it sweeten thy forethoughts of death 
 and judgment, of heaven and hell 1 How lively will it 
 make thee in the work of the Lord, and how profitable 
 to all around thee ! What vigour will it infuse into all 
 thy graces and affections 1 It will kindle thy repentance, 
 inflame thy love, quicken thy desires, and confirm thy 
 faith ; be a fountain of continual rejoicing, overflow thy 
 hoart with thankfulness, raise thee high in the delight- 
 ful work of praise, help thee to be heavenly-minded, 
 and render thee persevering in all. All these sweet ef- 
 fects of assurance would make thy life a heaven upon 
 earth. 
 
 Though I am certain these motives have weight of 
 reason in them, yet I am jealous, reader, lest you lay 
 aside the book, as if you had done, and never set your- 
 self to the practice of the duty. The case in hand is of 
 the greatest moment — whether thou shalt everlastingly 
 live in heaven or hell ! I here request thee, in behalf of 
 thy soul ; nay, I charge thee, in the name of the Lord, 
 that thou defer no longer, but take thy heart to task in 
 good earnest, and think with thyself, “ Is it so easy, so 
 common, and so dangerous, to be mistaken? Are there 
 so many wrong ways ? Is the heart so deceitful ? Why 
 then do I not search into every corner, till I know my 
 state? Must I so shortly undergo the trial at the bar 
 of Christ? and do I not presently try myself? What 
 a case were 1 in, if I should then miscarry ? May I 
 know by a little diligent inquiry now ? and do I stick 
 at the labour?” But perhaps tliou wilt say, “ I know 
 not how to do it.” In that I am now to give thee di- 
 rections; but, alas I it will be in vain, if thou art not 
 resolved to practise them. W;lt*hou, therefore, befor«» 
 
142 
 
 How to discern our Title 
 thou goest any further, here promise before the Lord, to 
 •et thyself upon the speedy performance of the duty, 
 according to the directions I shall lay down from the 
 word of God. I demand nothing unreasonable or im- 
 possible. It is but to bestow a few hours, to know what 
 shall become of thee for ever. If a neighbour, or 
 friend, desire but an hour’s time of thee in conversa- 
 tion, or business of any thing in which thou mayest be 
 of service, surely thou wouldst not deny it ; how much 
 less should thou deny this to thyself in so great an af- 
 fair 1 I pray thee take from me this request, as if, in 
 the name of Christ, I presented it to thee on my knees ; 
 and I will betake me on my knees to Christ again, to 
 beg that he will persuade thy heart to the duty. 
 
 4. The directions how to examine thyself are such a^ 
 these ‘.—Empty thy mind of all other cares and thoughts, 
 that they may not distract or divide thy mind. This 
 work will be enough at once, without joining others 
 with it. Then fall down before God in hearty prayer, 
 desiring the assistance of his Spirit, to discover to thee 
 the plain truth of thy condition, and to enlighten thee 
 in the whole progress of this work. Make choice of 
 the most convenient time and place. Let the place be 
 the most private ; and the time, when you have nothing 
 to interrupt you ; and, if possible, let it be the present 
 time. Have in readiness, either in memory or writing, 
 some scriptures, containing the descriptions of the 
 saints, and the gospel terms of salvation ; and convince 
 thyself thoroughly of their infallible truth. Proceed 
 then to put the question to thyself. Let it not be, whe- 
 ther there be any good in thee at ail ? nor, whether thou 
 hast such and such a degree and measure of grace? 
 Hut, whether such and such a saving grace be in thee, in 
 sincerity or not? If thy heart draw back from the 
 work, force it on. Lay thy command upon it, let rea- 
 son interpose, and use its authority. Yea, lay ths cem- 
 
to the Saints* Rest. 
 
 143 
 
 mand of God upon it, and charge il to obey upon pain 
 of his displeasure. Let conscience also do its office, till 
 thy heart be excited to the work. Nor let thy heart 
 trifle away the time, when it should he diligently at the 
 work. Do as the psalmist, “My spirit made diligent 
 search.” He that can prevail with his own heart, shall 
 also prevail with God. 
 
 If, after all thy pains, thou art not resolved, then seek 
 out for help. Go to one that is godly, experienced, able, 
 and faithful, and tell him thy case and desire his best 
 advice. Use the judgment of such a one as that of a 
 physician for the body ; though this can afford thee no 
 full certainty, yet it may be a great help to stay and di- 
 rect thee. But do not make it a pretence to put oflf thy 
 own self-examination : only use it as one of the last 
 remedies, when thy own endeavours will not serve. 
 When thou hast discovered thy true states pass sentence 
 on thyself accordingly ; either that thou art a true 
 Christian, or that thou art not. Pass not this sentence 
 rashly, nor yet with self-flattery, nor from melan- 
 choly terrors; but deliberately, truly, and according to 
 thy conscience, convinced by scripture and reason. 
 Labour to get thy heart affected with its condition, ac- 
 cording to the sentence passed on it. If graceless, think 
 of thy misery. If renewed and sanctified, think what 
 a blessed state the Lord hath brought thee into. Pursue 
 these thoughts till they have left their impression on 
 thy heart. Write this sentence at least in thy memory. 
 “ At such a time, upon thorough examination, I found 
 my state to be thus, or thus.” Such a record will be 
 very useful to thee hereafter. Trust not to this one dis- 
 covery, SQ as to try no more ; nor let it hinder thee in 
 the daily search of thy ways ; neither be discouraged 
 tf the trial must be often repeated. Especially take 
 heed, if unregenerate ^ not to conclude of thy future 
 ^tatcbythy present. Dr not say, “ Because lam un- 
 
144 
 
 Eou) to discern our Title 
 godly, I shall die so ; because 1 am a hypocrite, I shall 
 continue so.” Do uot despair. Nothing but thy un- 
 ^villingnes8 can keep thee from Christ, though thou hast 
 hitherto abused him, and dissembled with him. 
 
 5. Now let me add some marks by which you may try 
 your title to the saints* rest. I will only mention these 
 t wo— taMng God for thy cnief good— and heartily accept- 
 ing Christ for thy only Saviour and Lord. 
 
 Every soul that hath a title to this rest, doth place his 
 chief appiness in God. This rest consisteth in the full 
 and glorious enjoyment of God. He that maketh not 
 God his chief good and ultimate end, is in heart a pagan, 
 and a vile idplater. Let me ask then, Dost thou truly 
 account it thy chief happiness to enjoy the Lord in glo- 
 ry, or dost thou not? Canst thou say, “ The Lord is 
 my portion ? Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and 
 there is none upon earth I desire besides thee.** If thou 
 be an heir of rest, it is thus with thee. Though the flesh 
 will be pleading for its own delights, and the world will 
 be creeping into thine affections ; yet in thy ordinary, 
 settled, prevailing judgment and affections, thou pre- 
 ferrest God before all things in the world. Thou ma- 
 kest him the very end of thy desires and endeavours. 
 The very reason why thou hearest and prayest, and 
 desirestto live on earth is chiefly this, that thou mayest 
 seek the Lord, and make sure of thy rest. Though 
 thou dost not seek it so zealously as thou shouldst, yet 
 hath it the chief of thy desires and endeavours, so that 
 nothing else is desired or preferred before it. Thou 
 wilt think no labour or suffering too great to obtain it. 
 And though the flesh may sometimes shrink, yet thou 
 art resolved and contented to go through all. Thy es- 
 teem for it will also be so high, and thy affection to it so 
 great, that thou wouldst not exchange thy title to if, and 
 hopes of it , for any worldly good whatsoever. If God 
 should set before thee an eternity of earthly pleasure 
 
to the Saints* Rest. 
 
 145 
 
 on the one hand, and the saints* rest on the other* and 
 bid thee take thy choice ; thou wouldst refuse the world, 
 and choose the rest. 
 
 But if thou art yet unsanctified, then thou dost in thy 
 heart prefer thy worldly happiness before God ; and 
 though thy tongue may say, that God is thy chief good, 
 yet thy heart doth not so esteem him. For the world is 
 the chief end of thy desires and endearours. Thy very 
 heart is set upon it. Thy greatest care and labour is to 
 maintain thy credit, or fleshly delights. But the life to 
 come hath little of thy care or labour. Thou didst 
 never perceive so much excellency in that unseen glory 
 of another world, as to draw thy heart after it, and set 
 thee on labouring heartily for it. The little pains thou 
 bestowest that way, is but in the second place. God 
 hath but the world’s leavings; only that time and labour 
 which thou canst spare from the world, or those few, 
 cold, and careless thoughts, which follow thy constant, 
 earnest, and delightful thoughts of earthly things. Nei- 
 ther wouldst thou do any thing at all for heaven, if thou 
 knewest how to keep the world. But lest thou shouldst 
 be turned into hell, when thou canst keep the world no 
 longer, therefore thou wilt do something. For the same 
 reason, thou thinkest the way of God too strict, and 
 wilt not be persuaded to the constant labour of walking 
 according to the gospel rule ; and when it comes to the 
 trial, that thou must forsake Christ, or thy worldly 
 happiness, then thou wilt risk heaven rather than earth, 
 and so wilfully deny thy obedience to God. And cer- 
 tainly, if God would but give thee leave to live in health 
 and wealth for ever on earth, thou wouldst think it a 
 better state than rest. Let them seek for heaven that 
 would, thou wouldst think this thy chief happiness. 
 This is thy case, if thou art yet an unregenerate person, 
 and hast no title to the saints* rest. 
 
 And as thou takest God for thy chief good, so thou 
 
146 
 
 How to dUeem our Title 
 dost heartily accept of Christ for thy only Sayiour and 
 Lord» to bring thee to this rest. The former mark was 
 the sum of the first and great command of the law, 
 “ Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.*' 
 This second mavk, is the sum of the command of the 
 gospel, " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou 
 shalt be saved.** And the performance of these two is 
 the whole of godliness and Christianity. This is a de- 
 finition of faith. Dost thou find that thou art naturally 
 a lost condemned sinner, for thy breach of the first 
 covenant? and that Jesus Christ is the Mediator, who 
 hath made a sufSicient satisfaction to the law ? and, 
 hearing in the gospel that he is offered without excep- 
 tion unto all, dost thou heartily consent that Christ 
 alone shall be thy Saviour ? and no further trust to thy 
 duties and works, than as means appointed in subordi- 
 nation to him ? not looking at them as in the least 
 measure able to satisfy the curse of the law, or as a legal 
 righteousness, or any part of it? but content to trust thy 
 salvation on the redemption made by Christ ? Art thou 
 also content to take him for thy only Lord and King, to 
 govern and guide thee by his laws and Spirit? and to 
 obey him, even when he commandeth the hardest duties, 
 and those which most cross the desires of the flesh ? Is 
 It thy sorrow when thou breakest thy resolution herein ? 
 and thy joy when thou keepest closest in obedience to 
 him? Wouldst thou not change thy Lord and Master 
 for all the world? Thus it is with every true Christian. 
 But if thou be a hypocrite, it is far otherwise. Thou 
 mayest call Christ thy Lord and thy Saviour ; but thou 
 never foundest thyself so lost without him, as to drive 
 thee to seek him and trust him, and lay thy salvation 
 on him alone. At least thou didst never heartily con- 
 sent that he should govern thee as thy Lord, nor resign 
 up thy soul and life to be ruled by him, nor take his 
 word for the law of thy thoughts and actions. It is 
 
to the Saints* Best. 
 
 147 
 
 iikely thou art content to be saved from bell by Christ 
 when thou diest, but In the mean time he shall command 
 thee no further than will stand with thy credit, or plea- 
 sure, or other worldly ends. And if he would give thee 
 leave, thou hadst far rather live after the world and 
 flesh, than after the word and Spirit. And though thou 
 raayest now and then have a motion or purpose to the 
 contrary ; yet this that I have mentioned is the ordi- 
 nary desire and choice of thy heart. Thou art there- 
 fore no true believer in Christ ; for though thou confess 
 him in words, yet in “works” thou “ dost deny him, 
 being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every 
 good work reprobate.” This is the case of those who 
 shall be shut out of the saints* rest. 
 
 Observe, it is the consent of your hearts, or wills, 
 which I especially lay down to be inquired after. I do 
 not ask, whether thou be assured of salvation, nor 
 whether thou canst believe that thy sins are pardoned, 
 and that thou art beloved of God and Christ? These 
 are no parts of justifying faith, but excellent fruits of it, 
 and they that receive them, are comforted by them ; 
 and perhaps thou mayest never receive them whilst 
 thou livest, and yet be a true heir of rest. Do not say 
 then, “ I cannot believe that my sins are pardoned, or 
 that 1 am in God’s favour, and therefore I am no true 
 belirver.” This is a most mistaken conclusion. The 
 question is this, whether thou dost heartily accept of 
 Christ, that thou mayest be pardoned, reconciled to God, 
 and so saved? Dost thou consent that he shall be thy 
 Lord, who hath bought thee, and that he shall bring 
 thee to heaven in his own way ? This is justifying, 
 saving faith, and the mark by which thou must try thy- 
 self. Yet still observe, that all this consent must be 
 hearty and real, not feigned, or with reservations. It is 
 not saying, as that dissembling son, ** I go, sir,” and 
 went not. If any have more of the government of thee 
 
148 How to discern our Title 
 
 than Christ, thou art not his disciple. I am sure these 
 two marks are such as every Christian hath, and none 
 but sincere Christians. O that the Lord would now 
 persuade thee to the close performance of this seif-trial I 
 that thou mayest not tremble with horror of soul, when 
 the Judge of all the world shall try thee ; but be so 
 able to prove thy title to rest, that the prospect and 
 approach of death and judgment may raise thy spirits, 
 and fill thee with joy 1 
 
 On the whole, as ever Christians would have comforts 
 that will not deceive them, let them make it the great 
 labour of their lives to grow in grace, to strengthen and 
 advance the interest of Christ in their souls, and to 
 weaken and subdue the interest of the flesh. Deceive 
 not yourselves with a persuasion, that Christ hath done 
 all, and left you nothing to do. To overcome the world, 
 the flesh, and the devil, and in order to that, to stand 
 always armed upon our watch, and valiantly and pati- 
 ently to fight it out, is of great importance to our as- 
 surance and salvation. Indeed, it is so great a part of 
 our baptismal vow, that he who performeth it not, is no 
 more than a nominal Christian. Not to every one that 
 presumptuously believeth, but “ to him that overcom- 
 eth, will Christ give to eat of the hidden manna, and 
 will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new 
 name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that 
 receiveth : he shall eat of the tree of life, which is in 
 the midst of the paradise of God, and shall not be hurt 
 of the second death. Christ will confess his name be- 
 fore his Father, and before his angels, and make h’m 
 a pillar in the temple of God, and he shall go no more 
 out ; and he will write upon him the name of his God. 
 and the name of the city of his God, which is New 
 Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from his 
 God, and will write upon him his new name.** Yea, 
 “He will grant to him to sit with ''im on his throne. 
 
to Saints'* Rest. 149 
 
 even as he also overcame, and is set down with his Fa- 
 ther on his throne. He that hath an ear» let him 
 hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches/* Rev. ii. 
 7,31, 17;iii. 5, 12,21,22. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Duty of the People of God to excite others to seek this 
 Rest. 
 
 Hath God set before us such a glorious prize as the 
 saints’ rest, and made us capable of such inconceivable 
 happiness 1 Why then do not all the children of this 
 kingdom exert themselves more to help others to the 
 enjoyment of it? Alas, how little are poor souls about 
 us beholden to most of us! We see the glory of the 
 kingdom, and they do not ; we see the misery of those 
 that are out of it, and they do not ; we see them wan- 
 dering quite out of the way, and know, if they hold on, 
 they can never come there ; and they themselves discern 
 it not and yet we will not seriously show them their 
 danger and error, and help to bring them into the way, 
 that they may live. Alas, how few Christians are there 
 to be found, that set themselves with all their might to 
 save souls 1 No thanks to us, if heaven be not empty, 
 and if the souls of our brethren perish not for ever. 
 Considering how important this duty is, to the glory of 
 God, and the happiness of men, I will show — ^how ii is 
 to be performed ; why it is so much neglected ; and 
 then offer some considerations to persuade to it. 
 
 The duty of helping others to discern their title to 
 the saints* rest, doth not mean that every man should 
 turn a public preacher, or that any should go beyond 
 the bounds of their particular callings ; much less does 
 it consist in promoting a party spirit ; and least of all in 
 speaking against men’s faults behind their backs, and be 
 
150 ITktf Dvxy of (he People of Ood 
 
 silent before their faces. This duty is of another na- 
 ture, and consists of the following things in having 
 our hearts affected with the misery of our brethren’s 
 souls in taking all opportunities to instruct them in 
 the way of salvation — and in promoting their profit by 
 public ordinances. 
 
 Our hearts must be affected with the misery of our 
 brethren’s souls. We must be compassionate towards 
 them, and yearn after their recovery and salvation. If 
 we earnestly longed after their conversion, and our 
 hearts were solicitous to do them good, it would set us 
 on work, and God would usually bless it. 
 
 We must take all opportunities we possibly can, to 
 instruct them how to attain salvation. If the person be 
 ignorant, labour to make him understand the chief hap- 
 piness of man ; how far he was once possessed of it ; 
 the covenant of God then made with him ; how he broke 
 it ; what penalty he incurred ; and what misery he 
 brought himself into; teach him his need of a Re- 
 deemer ; how Christ did mercifull}’^ interpose, and bear 
 the penalty ; what the new covenant is ; how men are 
 drawn to Christ ; and what are the riches and privileges 
 which believers have in him. If he is not moved by 
 these things, then show him the excellency of the glory 
 he neglects ; the extremity and eternity of the tor- 
 ments of the damned; the justice of enduring them for 
 wilfully refusing grace ; the certainty, nearness, and 
 terrors of death and judgment ; the vanity of all things 
 below ; the sinfulness of sin ; the preciousness of Christ; 
 the necessity of regeneration, faith, and holiness, and 
 the true nature of them. If, after all, you find him 
 entertaining false hopes, then urge him to examine his 
 state; show him the necessity of doing so ; help him in 
 it ; nor leave him till you have convinced him of his 
 misery and remedy. Show him how vain and destruc- 
 tive it is to join Christ and his duties, to compose bis 
 
151 
 
 to excite others to seek thU Best. 
 justifying righteousness. Yet be sure to d^a^v him to 
 the use of all means ; such as hearing and reading the 
 word, calling upon God, and associating with the godly ; 
 persuade him to forsake sin, to avoid all temptations to 
 sin, especially evil companions, and to wait patiently on 
 God in the uSe of means, as the way in which God will 
 be found. 
 
 But because the manner of performing this work is of 
 great moment, observe therefore these rules: — Enter 
 upon it with right intentions. Aim at the glory of God 
 in the person’s salvation. Do it not to get a name or 
 esteem to thyself, or to bring men to depend upon thee, 
 or to get thee followers, but in obedience to Christ, in 
 imitation of him, and in tender love to men's souls. Do 
 not as those who labour to reform their children or 
 servants from such things as are against their own profit 
 or humour, but never seek to save their souls in the way 
 which God hath appointed. 
 
 Do it speedily. As you would not have them delay 
 their return, do not you delay to seek their return. 
 While you are proposing to teach and help him, he 
 goes deeper in debt ; wrath is heaping up ; sin taking 
 root ; custom fastens him ; temptations to sin multiply ; 
 conscience grows seared ; the heart hardened ; the de- 
 vil rules ; Christ is shut out ; the Spirit is resisted ; God 
 .s daily dishonoured ; His law violated ; He is without 
 a servant, and that service from him which he should 
 have ; time runs on ; death and judgment are at the 
 door ; and what if the man die, and drop into hell, while 
 you are purposing to prevent it ! If in the case of his 
 bodily distress, you must not say to him, *' Go, and come 
 again, and to-morrow I will give, when thou hast it by 
 thee how much less may you delay the succour of 
 his soul 1 That physician is no better than a murderer, 
 who negligently delayeth till his patient be dead, or past 
 cure. Lay by excuses then, and all your lesser business^ 
 
15B The Duty of fAe People of Qod 
 
 and ** exhort one another daily, while it is called to-day ; 
 lest any be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin,** 
 Heb. iii. 13. 
 
 Let your exhortation proceed from compassion and 
 love. To jeer and scofiT, to rail and vilify, is uot a- likely 
 way to reform men, or convert them to God. Go to 
 poor sinners with tears In your eyes, that they may see 
 you believe them to be miserable, and that you unfeign- 
 edly pity their case. Deal with them with earnest hum- 
 ble entreatings. Let them perceive it is the desire of 
 your hearts to do them good-; that you have no other 
 end but their everlasting happiness ; and that it is your 
 sense of their danger, and your love to their souls, that 
 forceth you to speak; even because you “know the 
 terrors of the Lord,** and for fear you should see them 
 In eternal torments. 
 
 Say to them, “ Friend, you know I seek no advantage 
 of my own. The method to please you, and keep your 
 friendship, were to soothe you in your way, or let you 
 alone ; but love will not mflfer me to see you perish and 
 be silent. I seek nothing at your hands, but that which 
 is necessary to your own happiness. It is yourself that 
 will have the gain and comfort, if you come to Christ.’* 
 if we were thus to go to every ignorant, wicked neigh- 
 bour, what blessed fruit should we quickly see 1 
 
 Do it with all possible plainness and faithfulness. Do 
 not make their sins less than they are, nor encourage 
 them in a false hope. If you see the case dangerous, 
 speak plainly : ** Neighbour, I am afraid God hath not 
 yet renewed your soul ; I doubt you are not yet reco- 
 vered * from the power of Satan to God.’ I doubt you 
 have not chosen Christ above all, nor unfeignedly taken 
 him for your sovereign Lord. If you had, surely you 
 durst not so easily disobey him, nor neglect his worship 
 in your family, and in public ; you could not so eagerly 
 follow the world, and talk of nothing but the things ol 
 
to excite othcT's to seek tMs !Res t% 
 
 tliti world. If you were in Christ, you would be a new 
 creature; old things would be passed away, and all 
 things would become new. You would have new 
 thoughts, new talk, new company, new endeavours, 
 and a new conversation. Certainly without these you 
 can never be saved. You may think otherwise, and hope 
 better as long as you will ; but your hopes will all de- 
 ceive you, and perish with you.** Thus must you deal 
 faithfully with men, if ever you intend to do them good. 
 It is not, in curing raen*s souls, as in curing their bodies, 
 where they must not know their danger lest it hinder 
 the cure. They are here agents in their own cure ; and 
 if they know not their misery, they will never bewail 
 it, nor know their need of a Saviour. 
 
 Do it also seriously, zealously, and effectually. La- 
 bour to make men know that heaven and hell are not 
 matters to be trifled with, or passed over with a few 
 careless thoughts. “ It is most certain, that one of these 
 days thou shalt be in everlasting joy or torment ; and 
 doth it not awaken thee 1 Are there so few that find 
 the way of life ? so many that go the way of death ? Is 
 it so bard to escape? so easy to miscarry ? and yet do 
 you sit still and trifle? What do you mean? The 
 world is passing away ; its pleasures, honours, and pro- 
 fits, are fading and leaving you ; eternity is a little be- 
 fore you; God is just and jealous ; his threatenings are 
 true ; the great day will be terrible ; time runs on ; your 
 life is Uncertain ; you arc far behind-hand ; your state 
 is dangerous ; if you die to-morrow, how unready are 
 you I With what terror will your souls go out of your 
 bodies ! And do you yet loiter ? Consider, God is all 
 this while waiting your leisure ; his patience beareth ; 
 his long-suffering forbeareth ; his mercy entreateth you ; 
 Christ offers you his blood and merits; the Spirit is 
 persuading; conscience is accusing; Satan waits to 
 have you; this is your time; now or never. Had you 
 270 L 
 
154 
 
 The Duty of the People of Ood 
 rather hum in hell, than repent on earth ? have deviis 
 your tormentors, than Christ your Governor 1 Will you 
 renounce your part in God and glory, rather than re- 
 nounce your sins 1 O friends, what do you think of these 
 things ? God hath made you men ; do not renounce your 
 reason where you should chiefly use it.” Alas 1 it is not a 
 few dull words between jest and earnest, between asleep 
 and awake, that will rouse a dead-hearted sinner. If a 
 house be on Are, you will not make a cold oration on the 
 nature and danger of Are, but will run and cry. Fire 1 fire I 
 To tell a man of his sins as softly as Eli did his sons, or 
 reprove him as gently as Jehoshaphat did Ahab, “ Let 
 not the king say so,” usually doth as much harm as 
 good. Loathness to displease men, makes us undo 
 li. m. 
 
 Yet, lest you run into extremes, I advise you to do it 
 with prudence and discretion. Choose the fittest sea- 
 son. Deal not with men when they are in a passion, or 
 where they will take it for a disgrace. When the earth 
 is soft, the plough will enter. Take a man when he is 
 under affliction, or newly impressed under a sermon. 
 Christian faithfulness requires us not only to do good 
 when it falls in our way, but to watch for opportunities. 
 Suit yourself also to the quality and temper of the per- 
 son. You must deal with the ingenious more by argu- 
 ment than persuasion. There is need of both to the 
 ignorant. The affections of the convinced should be 
 chiefly excited. The obstinate must be sharply reprov- 
 ed. The timorous must be dealt with tenderly. Love, 
 and plainness, and seriousness, take with all ; but words 
 of terror, some can scarcely bear. Use also the aptest 
 expressions. Unseemly language makes the hearers 
 loathe the food they should live by ; especially if they 
 be men of curious ears and carnal hearts. 
 
 Let all your reproofs and exhortations be backed with 
 the authority of God. Let sinners be convinced that you 
 
fo excite others to seeJc this ttesi, P'5 
 
 gppak not of your own head. Turn them to the t ery 
 chapter and verse where their sin is condemned, and 
 their duty commanded. The voice of man is contempt- 
 ible, but the voice of God is awful and terrible. They 
 may reject your words, that dare not reject the words 
 of the Almighty. 
 
 Be frequent with men in this duty of exhortation. If 
 we are “ always to pray and not to faint,** because God 
 will have us importunate with himself ; the same course, 
 no doubt, will be most prevailing with men. Therefore 
 we are commanded to “ exhort one another daily,** Heb. 
 iii. 13 ; and “ with all longsuffering,** 2 Tim. iv. 2. The 
 fire is not always brought out of the fiint at one stroke ; 
 nor men*s affections kindled at the first exhortation ; 
 and if they were, yet if they be not followed, they will 
 soon grow cold again. Follow sinners with your loving 
 and earnest entreaties, and give them no rest in their 
 sin. This is true charity, the way to save men’s souls, 
 and will afford you comfort upon review. 
 
 Strive to bring all your exhortations to an issue. If we 
 speak the most convincing words, and have all our care 
 over with our speech, we shall seldom prosper in our 
 labours ; but God usually blesses their labours, whose 
 very heart is set upon the conversion of their hearers, 
 and who are therefore inquiring alter the success of 
 their work. If you reprove a sin, cease not till the sin- 
 ner promise you to leave it, and avoid the occasions of 
 it. If you are exhorting to a duty, urge for a promise 
 to set upon It presently. If you would draw men to 
 Christ, leave not, till you have made them confess the 
 misery of their present unregenerate state, and the ne- 
 cessity of Christ, and of a change, and have promised 
 you to fall close to tne use of means. O that all Chris- 
 tians would take this course with all their neighbours 
 who are enslaved to sin, and strangers to Christ 1 
 
 Once more, be sure your example exhort as well as 
 
156 The Duly of ike People of God 
 
 youf words. Let them sec you constant in all the du- 
 ties you persuade them to. Let them see in your lives 
 that superiority to the world which with y6ur lips you 
 recommend. Let them see, by your constant labours 
 for heaven, that you indeed believe what you would 
 have them believe. If you tell others of the joys of 
 heaven, and yourselves do nothing but drudge for the 
 world ; if you are as eager to be rich, or as quarrelsome 
 with your neighbours, as others, who will believe what 
 you say 1 or who will be persuaded by you to seek ever- 
 lasting riches ? Let not men see you proud, while you 
 exhort them to be humble ; nor to have a seared con- 
 science in one thing, while you would have theirs ten- 
 der in another. A holy and heavenly life is a continual 
 pain to the consciences of sinners around you, and con- 
 tinually solicits them to change their course. 
 
 Besides the duty of private admonition, you must en- 
 deavour to help them to profit by the public ordinances. 
 In order to that, endeavour to procure for them faithful 
 ministers, where they are wanting. “ How shall they 
 hear without a preacher?** Rom. x. 14. Improve your 
 interest and diligence to this end, till you prevail. Ex- 
 tend your purses to the utmost. How many souls may 
 be saved by the ministry you have procured I It is a 
 higher and nobler charity than relieving their bodies. 
 What abundance of good might great men do, if they 
 would support, in academical education, such youth as 
 they have first careiully chosen, for their ingenuousness 
 and piety, till they should be fit for the ministry I and 
 when a faithful ministry Is obtained, help poor souls to 
 receive the fruit of it. Draw them constantly to attend 
 it Remind them often what they have heard, and, il 
 it be possible, let them hear It repeated in their families, 
 or elsewhere. Promote their frequent meeting together, 
 besides publicly in the congregation ; not as a separate 
 church, bu^ as a part of the church more diligent than 
 
to excite of?iers to seek this Best. J57 
 
 the rest in redeeming time, and helping the souls of each 
 other heavenward. Labour also to keep the ordinances 
 and ministry in esteem. No man will be much wrought 
 on by that which he despiseth. An apostle says, “We 
 beseech you, brethren, to know them who labour among 
 you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you ; 
 and to esteem them very highly in love for their works* 
 sake,*’ 1 Thess. v. 12, 13. 
 
 II. Let us now a little inquire, what may be the 
 causes of the gross neglect of this dutj’’ ; that the hinder- 
 ances being discovered, may the more easily be overcome. 
 One hinderance is, men’s own sin and guilt. They have 
 not themselves been ravished with heavenly delights ; 
 how then should they draw others so earnestly to seek 
 them ? They have not felt their own lost condition, nor 
 their need of Christ, nor the renewing work of the S{)irit ; 
 how then can they discover these to others ? They are 
 guilty, of the sins they should reprove, and this makes 
 them ashamed to reprove. Another is, a secret infidelity 
 prevailing in men’s hearts. Did we verily believe, that all 
 the unregenerate and unholy shall be eternally torment- 
 ed, how could wo hold our tongues, or avoid bursting into 
 tears, when we look them in the face ? especially when 
 they are our near and dear friends. Thus does secret 
 unbelief contract the vigour of each grace and duty. O 
 Christians, if you did verily believe that your ungodly 
 neighbours , wife, husband, or child, should certainly lie 
 for ever in hell, except they he thoroughly changed be- 
 fore death shall snatch them away, would not this make 
 you address them day and night till they were persuaded ? 
 Were it not for this cursed unbelief, our own and our 
 neighbours’ souls would gain more by us than they do. 
 
 These attempts are also much hindered by our want 
 of charity and compassion for men’s souls. We look on 
 miserable souls, and pass by, as the priest and Levite by 
 the wounded naan. What though the sinner, w'oundf^ 
 
168 The Duty of the People of God 
 
 by sin, and captivated by Satan, do not desire thy help 
 himself ; yet his miseries cry aloud. If God had not 
 heard the cry of our miseries, before he heard the cry of 
 our prayers, and been moved liy his own pity before he 
 was moved by our importunity, we might long have 
 continued the slaves of Satan. You will pray to God for 
 them, to open their eyes, and turn their hearts; and 
 why not endeavour their conversion, if you desire it ? 
 And if you do not desire it, why do you ask it ? Why 
 do you not pray them to consider and return, as well as 
 pray God to convert and turn them 1 If you should see 
 your neighbour fallen into a pit, and should pray to God 
 to help him out, but neither put forth your hand to help 
 him, nor once direct him to help himself, would not any 
 man censure you for cruelty and hypocrisy 1 It is as 
 true of the soul as of the body. If any man “ seeth his 
 brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of com- 
 passion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him ?” 
 Or what love hath he to his brother’s soul 1 
 
 We are also hindered by a base, man-pleasing dispo- 
 sition. We are so desirous to keep in credit and favour 
 with men, that it makes us most unconscionably neglect 
 our known duty. He is a foolish and unfaithful physi- 
 cian, that will let a sick man die for fear of troubling 
 him. If our friends are distracted, we please them in 
 nothing that tends to their hurt. And yet when they 
 are beside themselves in point of salvation, and in their 
 madness posting on to damnation, we will not stop them, 
 for fear of displeasing them. How can we be Christians, 
 that “love the praise of men more than the praise of 
 God V* For if we “ seek to please men, we shall not be 
 the servants of Christ.” 
 
 It is common to be hindered by sinful bashfulness. 
 VVhen we should shame men out of their sins, we are 
 ourselves ashamed of our duties. May not these sinners 
 cpndemn us, when they blush not to swear, be drunk, gr 
 
to excite others to seek this Rest 159 
 
 neglect the worship of God ; and we blush to tell them 
 of it, and persuade them from it? Bashfulness is un- 
 seemly in oases of necessity. It is not a work to be 
 ashamed of, to obey God in persuading men from their 
 sins to Christ. Reader, hath not thy conscience told 
 thee of thy duty many a time, and put thee on to speak 
 to poor sinners; and yet thou hast been ashamed to 
 open thy mouth, and so let them alone to sink or swim 1 
 O read and tremble, “Whosoever shall be ashamed of 
 me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful ge- 
 neration, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, 
 when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with the 
 holy angels,” Mark viii, 38. 
 
 An idle and impatient spirit hindereth us. It is an 
 ungrateful work, and sometimes makes men *our ene- 
 mies. Besides, it seldom succeeds at the first, except it 
 be followed on. You must be long teaching the igno- 
 rant, and persuading the obstinate. We consider not 
 what patience God used towards us when we were in our 
 sins. Woe to us, if God had been as impatient with us, 
 as we are with others. Another hinderance is self-seek- 
 ing. “ All seek their own, not the things which are 
 Jesus Christ’s,” Phil. ii. 21, and their brethren’s. 
 
 With many, pride is a great impediment. If it were 
 to speak with a great man, and it would not displease 
 him, they would do it ; but to go among the poor, and 
 take pains with them in their cottages, where is the 
 person that will do it? Many will rejoice in being in- 
 strumental to convert a gentleman, (and they have good 
 reason,) but overlook the multitude, as if the souls of 
 all were not alike to God. Alas, these men little con- 
 sider how low Christ stooped to us? Few rich, and 
 noble, and wise, are called. It is the poor that receive 
 the glad tidings of the gospel. And with some, their 
 ignorance of the duty hindereth them from performing 
 it. Either they know it uot to be a duty# or at least not 
 
160 The Duty of the People of God 
 
 to be their duty. If this be thy case, reader, I am in 
 hope thou art now acquainted with thy duty, and wilt 
 set upon it. 
 
 Do not object to this duty, that you are unable to 
 manage an exhortation; but either set those on the 
 work who are more able, or faithfully and humbly use 
 the small ability you have, and tell them, as a weak man 
 may do, what God says in his word. Decline not the 
 duty, because it is your superior who needs advice and 
 exhortation. Order must be dispensed with in cases of 
 necessity. Though it be a husband, a parent, a minis- 
 ter, you must teach him in such a case. If parents were 
 in want, children must relieve them. If a husband be 
 sick, the wife must fill up his place in family affairs. If 
 the rich are reduced to beggary, they must receive 
 charity. If the physician be sick, somebody must look 
 to him. So the meanest servant must admonish his 
 master, and the child his parent, and the wife her hus- 
 band, and the people their minister; so that it be done 
 when there is real need, and with all possible humility, 
 modesty, and meekness. 
 
 Do not say, “This will make us all preachers;*' for 
 every good Christian is a teacher, and hath a charge of 
 his neighbour’s soul. Every man is a physician, when 
 a regular physician cannot be had, and W’hen the hurt 
 is so small that any man may relieve it ; and m the same 
 cases every man must be a teacher. 
 
 Do not despair of success. Cannot God give it? And 
 must it not be by means ? Do not plead, it will only be 
 casting pearls before swine. When you are in danger 
 to be torn in pieces, Christ would have you forbear ; but 
 what is that to you, who are in no such danger? As 
 long as they will hear, you have encouragement to 
 speak, and may not cast them off as contemptible 
 swine. Say not, “ It is a friend on whom I much de- 
 pend, and by telling his sin and misery, I may lose hio 
 
161 
 
 to excite others to seek this Best, 
 love, and be undone.” Is his love more to be valued 
 taan his safety 1 or thy own benefit by him, than the 
 salvation of his soul? or wilt thou connive at his dam- 
 nation, because he is thy friend? Is that thy best re- 
 quital of his friendship ? Hadst thou rather he should 
 burn in hell for ever, than thou shouldst lose his favour, 
 or the maintenance thou hast from him ? 
 
 III. But that all who fear God may be excited to do 
 their utmost to help others to this blessed rest, let me 
 entreat you to consider the following motives. As, for 
 instance — not onl}^ nature, but especially grace, disposes 
 the soul to be communicative of good. Therefore to 
 neglect this work is a sin both against nature and grace. 
 Would you not think him unnatural, that would suffer 
 his children or neighbours to starve in the streets, while 
 he has provision at hand ? And is he not more unna- 
 tural, that will let them eternally perish, and not open 
 his mouth to save them ? An unmerciful, cruel man, is 
 a monster to be abhorred of all. If God had bid you 
 give them all your estates, or lay down your lives to save 
 them, you would surely have refused, when you will not 
 bestow a little breath to save them. Is not the soul of a 
 husband, or wife, or child, or neighbour, worth a few 
 words ? Cruelty to men’s bodies is a most damnable 
 sin ; but to their souls much more, as the soul is of 
 greater worth than the body, and eternity than time. 
 Little know you what many a soul may now be feeling 
 in hell, who died in their sins, for want of your faithful 
 admonition. 
 
 Consider what Christ did towards the saving of souls. 
 He thought them worth his blood ; and shall we not 
 think them worth our breath ? W’ill you not do a little, 
 where Christ hath done so much? Consider what fit 
 objects of pity ungodly souls are. They are dead In 
 trespasses and sins, have not hearts to feel their miseries 
 nor to pity themselves. If others do not pity them, 
 
162 The Dniy of the Feople. 
 
 they will have no pity ; for it is the nature of their dis- 
 ease to make them pitiless to themselves, yea, their own 
 most cruel destroyers. 
 
 Consider, it was once thine own case. It was God’s 
 argument to the Israelites, to be kind to strangers, be- 
 cause themselves had been strangers In the land of 
 Egypt. So should you pity them that are strangers to 
 Christ, and to the hopes and comforts of the saints, be- 
 cause you were once strangers to them yourselves. 
 
 Consider your relation to them. It is thy neighbour, 
 thy brother, whom thou art bound to love as thyself. 
 “ He that loveth not his brother whom he seeth daily, 
 doth not love God whom he never saw.” And doth he 
 love his brother, that will see him go to hell, and never 
 hinder him ? 
 
 Consider what a load of guilt this negiect lays upon 
 thine own soul. Thou art guilty of the murder and 
 damnation of all those souls whom thou dost thus ne- 
 glect ; and of every sin they now commit ; and of all the 
 dishonour done to God thereby ; and of all those judg- 
 ments which their sins bring upon the town or country 
 where they live. Consider what it will be, to look upon 
 your poor friends in eternal flames, and to think that 
 your neglect was a great cause of ih If you should 
 there perish with them, it would be no small aggrava- 
 tion of your torment. If you be in heaven, it would 
 surely be a sad thought, were it possible that any sorrow 
 could dwell there, to hear a multitude of poor souls cry 
 out for ever, ” Oh, if you would but have told me 
 plainly of my sin and danger, and set it home, I might 
 have escaped all this torment, and been now in rest I” 
 What a sad voice would this be 1 
 
 Consider what a joy it will be in heaven, to meet 
 those there, whom you have been the means to bring 
 thither ! To see their faces, and join with them for ever 
 Ip the praises of God, whom you were the happy in 
 
to exctie others to geek this Rest, 163 
 
 ttruments of bringing to the knowledge and obedience 
 of Jesus Christ! 
 
 Consider how many souls you may have drawn into 
 the way of damnation, or hardened in it. We have had 
 in the days of our igno-rance, our companions in isin, 
 whom we enticed, or encouraged. And doth it not be- 
 come us to do as much to save men, as we have done to 
 destroy them? 
 
 Consider how diligent are all the enemies of these 
 poor souls, to draw them to hell. The devil is tempting 
 them day and night; their inward lusts are still Working 
 for their ruin ; the flesh is still pleading for its delights ; 
 their old companions are increasing their dislike of holi- 
 ness: and, if nobody be diligent in helping them to 
 heaven, what is likely to become of them ? 
 
 Consider how deep the neglect of this duty w'^ill wound, 
 when conscience is awakened ; when a man comes to 
 die, conscience will ask him, “What good hast thou 
 done in thy lifetime ? The saving of souls is the greatest 
 good work; what hast thou done towards it? How 
 many hast thou dealt faithfully with?” I have often 
 observed that the consciences of dying men very much 
 wounded them for this omission. For my own part, 
 when I have been near death, my conscience hath ac- 
 cused me more for this than for any sin : it would bring 
 every ignorant profane neighbour to my remembrance, 
 to whom I never made known their danger. It would 
 tell me, “ Thou shouldst have gone to them in private, 
 and told them plainly of their desperate danger, though 
 it had been when thou shouldst have eaten or slept, if 
 thou hadst no other time.” Conscience would remind 
 me how at such or such a time I was in company with 
 the ignorant ; or was riding by the way with a wilful 
 sinner, and had a fit opportunity to have dealt with him, 
 but did not ; or at least did it to little purpose. The 
 Lord grant I may better obey conscience while I huvp 
 time, that it may have less to accuse me of at death 
 
164 Ihe Dufy of fne People of God 
 
 Consider what a seasonable time you now have for 
 this work. There are times in which it is not safe to 
 speak, it may cost you your liberties or your lives. 
 Besides, your neighbours will shortly die, and so will 
 you. Speak to them, therefore, while you may. 
 
 Consider, though this is a work of the greatest charity, 
 yet every one of you may perform it, the poorest as 
 well as the rich. Every one hath a tongue to speak to a 
 sinner. 
 
 Once more consider the happy consequences of this 
 work, where it is faithfully done. You may be instru- 
 mental in saving souls, for which Christ came down and 
 died, and in which the angels of God rejoice. Such 
 souls will bless you here and hereafter. God will have 
 much glory by it. The church will be multiplied and 
 edified by it. Your own souls will enjoy more improve- 
 ment and vigour in a divine life, more peace of con- 
 science, more rejoicing in spirit. The setting forth of 
 Christ in his fulness to others, will warm your own 
 hearts, and stir up your love ; and the opening of the 
 evil and danger of sin to others, will increase your 
 hatred of it and much engage 3 ’ourselves against it. Of 
 all the personal mercies that I ever received, next to 
 the love of God in Christ to my own soul, I must most 
 joyfully bless him for the plentiful success of my en 
 deavours upon others, O what fruits then might I 
 have seen, if I had been more faithful 1 I know we 
 need be very jealous of our deceitful hearts in this 
 point, lest our rejoicing should come from our pride. 
 Naturally we would have the praise of every good work 
 ascribed to ourselves: yet to imitate our Father in 
 goodness and mercy, and to rejoice in the degree of 
 them we attain to, is the duty of every child of God. I 
 therefore tell you my own experience to persuade you, 
 that if you did but know w'hat a joyful thing it is, you 
 would follow it night and day through the greatest dis- 
 couragements. 
 
165 
 
 to excite others to seeh this Best, 
 
 Up then, every one that hath a tongue, and is a uer- 
 vant of Christ, and do something of your Master’s work. 
 Why hath he given you a tongue, but to speak in his 
 service 1 And how can you serve him more eminently, 
 than in saving souls? He that will pronounce you 
 blessed at the last day, and invite you to the kingdom 
 prepared for you,” because you fed him, and clothed 
 nim, and visited him, in his poor members, will surely 
 pronounce you blessed for so great a work as bringing 
 souls to his kingdom. He that saitb, ” The poor you 
 have always with you,” hath left the ungodly always 
 with you, that you might still have matter to exercise 
 your charity upon. If you have the hearts of Chris- 
 tians, or of men, let them yearn towards your ignorant, 
 ungodly neighbours. Say, as the lepers of Samaria, 
 
 We do not well ; this day is a day of good tidings, and 
 we hold our peace.” Hath God had so much mercy on 
 you, and will you have no mercy on your poor neigh- 
 bours ? But as this duty belongs to all Christians, so 
 especially to some, according as God hath called them 
 to it, or qualified them for it. To them therefore I will 
 more particularly address the exhortation. 
 
 God especially expects this duty at your hands to 
 whom he hath given more learning and knowledge, and 
 endued with better utterance, than your neighbours. 
 The strong are made to help the weak ; and those who 
 see must direct the blind. God looketh for this faithful 
 improvement of your parts and gifts, which, if you neg- 
 lect, it were better you had never received them ; for 
 they will but aggravate your condemnation, and be as 
 useless to your own salvation, as they were to others. 
 
 All those that are particularly acquainted with some 
 ungodly men, and that have peculiar interest in them, 
 God looks for this duty at your hands. Christ himself 
 did eat and drink with publicans and sinners; but it 
 was only to be their Physician , and not their companion. 
 
166 The Duty of the People of God 
 
 Who knows but God gave you interest in them to this 
 end, that you might be the means of their recovery T 
 They that will not regard the words of a stranger, may 
 regard a brother, or sister, or husband, or wife, or near 
 friend : besides that, the bond of friendship engageth 
 you to more kindness and compassion than ordinary. 
 
 Physicians who are much about dying men, should in 
 a special manner make conscience of this duty. It is 
 their peculiar advantage, that they are at hand; that 
 they are with men in sickness and dangers, when the 
 ear is more open, the heart less stubborn, than in time 
 of health ; and that men look upon their physician as a 
 person in whose hand is their life ; or, at least, may do 
 much to save them ; and therefore they will the more 
 regard his advice. You that are of this honourable pro- 
 fession, do not think this a work beside your calling, as 
 if it belonged to none but ministers ; except you think 
 it beside your calling to be compassionate, or to be Chris- 
 tians. O help, therefore, to fit your patients for heaven 1 
 And whether you see they are for life or death, teach 
 them how to live and die, and give them some physic 
 for their souls, as you do for their bodies. Blessed be 
 God, that very many of the chief physicians of this age 
 have, by their eminent piety, vindicated their profes- 
 sion from the common imputation of atheism and pro- 
 faneness. 
 
 Men of wealth and authority, and that have many 
 dependents, have excellent advantages for this duty. O 
 what a world of good might lords and gentlemen do, if 
 they had but hearts to improve their influence over 
 others ! Have you not all your honour and riches from 
 God ? Doth not Christ say, “ Unto whomsoever much 
 is given, of him shall be much required V* If you speak 
 to your dependents for God and their souls, you may be 
 regarded, when even a minister is despised. As you 
 ralue the honour of God, your own comfort, and the 
 
to excite others to see^ this Rest. 167 
 
 salvation of souls, improve your influence over tenants 
 and neighbours ; visit their houses ; see whether they 
 worship in their families ; and take all opportunities to 
 press them to their duty. Despise them not. Remem- 
 ber, God is no respecter of persons. Let men see that 
 you excel others in piety, compassion, and diligence in 
 God’s work, as you do in the riches and honours of the 
 world. I confess you will by these means be singular, 
 but them you will be singular in glory ; for few of the 
 mighty and noble are called. 
 
 As for the ministers of the gospel, it is the very work 
 of their calling, to help others to heaven. Be sure you 
 make it the main end of your studies and preaching. He 
 is the able, skilful minister, that is best skilled in the art 
 of instructing, convincing, persuading, and consequently 
 of winning souls ; and that is the best sermon that is 
 best in these. When you seek not God, but yourselves, 
 God will make you the most contemptible of men. It 
 is true of your reputation, what Christ says of your 
 life, “ He thatloveth it, shall lose it.** Let the vigour 
 of your persuasions show, that you are sensible on how 
 weighty a business you are sent. Preacn with that 
 seriousness and fervour, as men that believe their own 
 doctrine, and that know their hearers must be prevailed 
 with, or be damned. 
 
 Think not that all your work is in your studies and 
 pulpit. You are shepherds, and must know every sheep, 
 and what is their disease, and mark their stray ings, and 
 help to cure them, and fetch them home. Learn of Paul, 
 not only to teach your people publicly, but ** from house 
 to house.** Inquire how they grow in knowledge and 
 holiness, and on what grounds they build their hopes of 
 salvation, and whether they walk uprightly, and perform 
 the duties of their several relations. See whether they 
 worship God in their families, and teach them how to do 
 it. Be familiar with them, that you may maintain your 
 
168 
 
 The Thiiv nf the People of God 
 interest in them, aud improve it all for God. Know of 
 them liow they profit by public teaching. If any too 
 little savour the things of the Spirit, let them be pitied, 
 but not neglected. 
 
 If any walk disorderly, recover them with diligence 
 and patience. If they be ignorant, it may be your fault 
 as much as theirs. Be not asleep while the wolf is 
 waking. Deal not slightly with any. Some will not 
 tell their people plainly of their sins, some because they 
 are great men, and some because they are godly ; as if 
 none but the poor and the wicked should be dealt 
 plainly with. 
 
 Yet labour to be skilful and discreet, that the manner 
 may answer to the excellency of the matter. Every 
 reasonable soul hath both judgment and affection ; and 
 every rational, spiritual sermon, must have both. Study 
 and pray, and pray and study, till you are become 
 “ workmen that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing 
 the truth ;** that your people may not be ashamed, nor 
 weary in hearing you. 
 
 Let your conversation be teaching, as well as your 
 doctrine. Be as forward in a holy and heavenly life, 
 as you are in pressing others to it. Let your discourse 
 be edifying and spiritual. Suffer any thing, rather than 
 the gospel and men’s souls should suffer. Let them see 
 that you use not the ministry only for a trade to live 
 by ; but that your hearts are set upon the welfare of 
 souls. 
 
 Whatsoever meekness, humility, condescension, or 
 self-denial, you teach them from the gospel, teach it 
 them also by your undissembled example. Study and 
 strive after unity and peace. If ever you would pro- 
 mote the kingdom of Christ, and your people’s salvation, 
 do it in a way of peace and love. It is as hard a thing 
 to maintain in your people a sound understanding, a 
 tender conscience, a lively, graiious heavenly frame of 
 
169 
 
 {o excite others to seek this Rest, 
 spirit, and an upright life, amidst contention, as to keep 
 your candle lighted in the greatest storms. “ Blessed is 
 that servant, whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall 
 find so doing.** 
 
 All you whom God hath entrusted with the care of 
 children or servants, I would also persuade to this great 
 work of helping others to the heavenly rest. Consider 
 what plain and pressing commands of God require this 
 at your hands. These words thou shalt teach diligently 
 
 unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou 
 sittestin thy house, and when thou walkestby the way, 
 and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up,** 
 Deut. vi. 6, 7. “Train up a Child in the way he should 
 go, and when he is old he will not depart from it,** 
 Prov. xxii. 6. “Bring up your children in the nurture 
 and admonition of the Lord,*’ Eph. vi. 4. Joshua 
 resolved, that “ he and his house would serve the Lord.** 
 Josh. xxiv. 15. And God himself says of Abraham, 
 “ I know him, that he will command his children, and 
 his household after him, an’d they shall keep the way of 
 the Lord,” Gen. xviii. 19. Consider, it is a duty you 
 owe your children in point of justice. From you they 
 received the defilement and misery of their nature ; and 
 therefore you owe them all possible help for their re- 
 covery. Consider, how near your children are to you. 
 They are parts of yourselves. If they prosper when 
 you are dead, you take it as if you lived and prospered 
 in them ; and should you not be of the same mind, for 
 their everlasting rest? otherwise you will be witnesses 
 against your own souls. Your care, and pains, and cost 
 for their bodies, will condemn you for your neglect of 
 their precious souls. Yea, all the brute creatures may 
 condemn you. Which of them is not tender of their 
 young ? 
 
 Consider, God hath made your children your charge, 
 and your servants too. Every one will confess they are 
 270 M 
 
110 The Duty of the People of God 
 
 the minister’s charge. And have not you a greatei 
 charge of your own families, than any minister can 
 have of them ? Doubtless, at your hands God will re- 
 quire the blood of their souls. It is the greatest charge 
 you were ever intrusted with; and woe to you, if you 
 suffer them to be ignorant or wicked, for want of your 
 instruction or correction. Consider, what work there 
 is for you in their dispositions and lives. There is not 
 one sin, but thousands. There are hereditary diseases, 
 bred in their nature. The things you must teach them 
 are contrary to the interests and desires of their flesh . 
 May the Lord make you sensible what a work and 
 charge lieth upon you ! 
 
 Consider what sorrows you prepare for yourselves by 
 the neglect of your children. If they prove thorns in 
 your eyes, they are of your own planting. If you 
 should repent and be saved, is it nothing to think of 
 their damnation, and yourselves the occasion of it ? 
 But if you die in your sin, how will they cry out against 
 you in hell, “All this was owing to you; you should 
 have taught us better, and did not ; you should have 
 restrained us from sin, and corrected us, but did not.** 
 What an addition will such outcries be to your misery I 
 
 On the other side, think what a comfort you may 
 have, if you be faithful in this duty. If you should not 
 succeed, you have freed your own souls, and have peace 
 in your own consciences. If you do, the comfort is in- 
 expressible, in their love and obedience, their supply- 
 ing your wants, and delighting you in all your remaining 
 path of glory. Yea, all your fa raily may fare the better 
 for one pious child or servant. But the greatest joy 
 will be, when you shall say, “ Lord, here am I, and the 
 children thou hast given me,** and shall joyfully live 
 with them for ever. 
 
 Consider how much the welfare of church and state 
 depends on this duty. Good laws will not reform us 
 
to excite otfiers to seek this Rest, 271 
 
 if reformation begin not at home. Most of this is your 
 work; and if this is left undone, and they come to 
 ministers, ignorant, and hardened in their sins, what 
 can a minister do ? whereas, if they came trained up in 
 the principles of religion, and the practice of godliness, 
 and were taught the fear of God in their youth ; oh what 
 an encouragement would this be to ministers, and how 
 would the world go on in their hands I I tell you seri- 
 ously, that this is the cause of all our miseries in church 
 and state, even the want of a holy education of children. 
 
 I also entreat parents to consider what excellent ad- 
 vantages they have for saving their children. They are 
 with you while they are tender and flexible. You have 
 a twig to bend, not an oak. You have the young plants 
 of sin to pluck up, and we the deep-rooted vices. The 
 consciences of children are not so seared with a custom 
 of sinning, and long resisting grace, as others. You 
 have the soft and tender earth to plough in, and we have 
 the hard and stony ways, that have been trodden on by 
 many years of evil. We have a double task : first to 
 unteach them, and then to teach them better ; but you 
 have but one. None in the world have such interest in 
 their affections as you have You have also the greatest 
 authority over them. Their whole dependence is upon 
 you, for a maintenance. You best know their temper 
 and inclinations. And you are ever with them, andean 
 never want opportunities ; especially you mothers re- 
 member this, who are more with your children while 
 young, than their fathers. What pains are you at foi 
 their bodies I What do you suffer to bring them into 
 the world 1 And will you not be at as much pains for 
 the saving of their souls ? Your affections are tender, 
 and will it not move you to think of their perishing for 
 ever 1 I beseech you, for the sake of the children of 
 your bowels, teach them, admonish them, watch over 
 them, and give them no rest till you have brought them 
 to Christ, 
 
11f2 The Duty of the People of Gkid 
 
 I shall conclude with this earnest request to all Chris- 
 tian parents that read these lines.; that iliey would have 
 compassion on the souls of their poor children, and be 
 faithful to the great trust that God hath put on them. 
 If you cannot do what you would for them, yet do what 
 you can. Both church and state, city and country, 
 groan under the neglect of this weighty duty. Your 
 children know not God nor his laws, but “ take his name 
 in vain,** and slight his worship, and you neither in- 
 struct them nor correct them ; and therefore God cor- 
 rects both them and you. You are so tender of them, 
 that God is the less tender both of them and you. Won- 
 der not, if God make you smart for your children*s 
 sins ; for you are guilty of all they commit, by your 
 neglect of your duty to reform them. Will you resolve, 
 therefore, to set upon this duty, and neglect it no long- 
 er? Remember Eli. Your children are like Moses in 
 the bulrushes, ready to perish if they had not help. As 
 ever you would not be charged before God as murderers 
 of their souls, nor have them cry out against you in 
 everlasting fire, see that you teach them how to escape 
 it, and bring them up in holiness, and the fear of God. 
 
 I charge every one of you, upon your allegiance to 
 God, as you will very shortly answer the contrary at 
 your peril, that you will neither refuse nor neglect this 
 most necessary duty. If you are not willing to do it, 
 now you know it to be so great a duty, you are rebels, 
 and no true subjects of Jesus Christ. If you are willing, 
 but know not how, I will add a few words of direction 
 to help you. Lead them, by your example, to prayer, 
 reading and other religious duties. Inform their under* 
 standings. Store their memories. Rectify their wills. 
 Quicken their affections. Keep tender their consciences. 
 Restrain their tongues, and teach them gracious speech. 
 Reform and watch over their outward conversation. 
 To these ends, get them bibles and pious books, and see 
 
173 
 
 to encite ethers to seelc this Rest, 
 
 that they read them. Examine them often what they 
 learn ; especially spend the Lord’s day in this work, and 
 suffer them not to spend it in sports or idleness. Show 
 them the meaning of what they read or learn. Keep 
 them out of evil company, and acquaint them with the 
 godly, and fail not to make them learn their catechism. 
 Especially show them the necessity, excellency, and 
 pleasure of serving God ; and labour to fix it upon their 
 hearts. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Saints* Rest is not to he expected on Earth, 
 
 We are not yet come to our resting-place. Doth it re- 
 main ? How great then is our sin and folly, to seek and 
 expect it here ! Where shall we find the Christian that 
 deserves not this reproof ? We would all have continual 
 prosperity, because it is easy and pleasing to the flesh ; 
 but we consider not the unreasonableness of such desires. 
 And when we enjoy convenient houses, goods, lands, 
 and revenues ; or the necessary means God hath ap- 
 pointed for our spiritual good ; we seek rest in these 
 enjoyments. Whether we are in an afflicted or prosper- 
 ous state, it is apparent, we exceedingly make the crea- 
 ture our rest. Do we not desire creature enjoyments 
 more violently, when we want them, than we desire 
 God himself ? Do we not delight more in the possession 
 of them, than in the enjoyment of God 1 And if we lose 
 them, doth it not trouble us more than our loss of God ? 
 Is it not enough, that they are refreshing helps in our 
 way to heaven, but they must also be made our heaven 
 itself ? Christian reader, I would as willingly make thee 
 sensible of this sin, as of any in the world, if I could tell 
 how to do it ; for the Lord’s greatest quarrel with us is 
 in this point. In order to this, I most earnestly beseech 
 
174 The Sainisi* Best is not to be 
 
 thee to consider, — ^the reasonableness of present afflic* 
 tion — and the unreasonableness of resting in present 
 enjoyment ; — as also of our unwillingness to die, that we 
 may possess eternal rest 
 
 1. To show the reasonableness of present afflictions, 
 consider .—they are the way to rest,— they keep us 
 from mistaking our rest— and from losing our way to it,— 
 they quicken our pace towards it, — they chiefly incom- 
 mode our flesh,— and under them God’s people have 
 often the sweetest foretastes of their rest. 
 
 1. Consider, that labour and trouble are the common 
 way to rest, both in the course of nature and of grace. 
 Can there possibly be rest without weariness ? Do you 
 not travail and toil first, and rest afterwards ? The day. 
 for labour is first, and then follows the night for rest. 
 Why should we desire the course of grace to be perverted, 
 any more than the course of nature ? It is an established 
 decree, “ that we must through much tribulation enter 
 into the kingdom of God,” Acts xiv. 22. And that il 
 we suffer, we shall also reign with Christ,” 2 Tim. ii. 12. 
 And what are we, that God’s statutes should be reversed 
 for our pleasure ? 
 
 2. Afflictions are exceedingly useful to us, to keep us 
 from mistaking our rest. A Christian’s motion towards 
 heaven is voluntary, and not constrained. Those means, 
 therefore, are most profitable, which help his under- 
 standing and will. The most dangerous mistake of our 
 souls is, to take the creature for God, and earth for hea- 
 ven. What warm, affectionate, eager thoughts have we 
 of the world, till afflictions cool and moderate them ! 
 Afflictions speak convincingly, and will be heard when 
 preachers cannot. Many a poor Christian is sometimes 
 bending his thoughts to wealth, or flesh-pleasing, or 
 applause ; and so loses his relish of Christ, and the joy 
 above ; till God break in upon his riches, or children, 
 or conscience, or health, andbreak down his mountain 
 
175 
 
 expected on earth. 
 which he thought so strong. And then, when he lieth 
 in Manasseh’s fetters, or is fastened to his bed with 
 pining sickness, the world is nothing, and heaven is 
 something. If our dear Lord did not put these thorns 
 under our head, we would sleep out our lives, and lose 
 our glory. 
 
 3. Afflictions are also God’s most effectual means to 
 k eep us from losing our way to our rest. Without this 
 hedge of thorns, on the right hand and on the left, we 
 should hardly keep the way to heaven. If there be but 
 one gap open, how ready are we to find it, and turn out at 
 it ! When we grow wanton, or worldly, or proud, how 
 doth sickness, or other affliction reduce us 1 Every chris« 
 tian as well as Luther, may call affliction one of his best 
 schoolmasters ; and with David may say, ** Before I was 
 afflicted, I went astray: but now have I kept thy word,” 
 Psalm cxix. 67. Many thousand recovered sinners !E.ay 
 cry, “O healthful sickness! O comfortable sorrows I 
 O gainful losses ? O enriching poverty 1 G blessed t^y. 
 that ever I was afflicted !” Not only the green pastures, 
 and still waters, but the rod and staff the}' comfort us. 
 Though the word and Spirit do the main work, yet suf- 
 fering so unbolts the door of our heart, that the word 
 hath easier entrance. 
 
 4. Afflictions likewise serve to quicken our pace in 
 the way to cur rest. It were well if mere love would 
 prevail with us, and that we were rather drawn to hea- 
 ven, than driven. But seeing our hearts are so bad, that 
 mere y will not do it ; it is better to be put on with the 
 sharp est scourge, than loiter, like the foolish virgins, 
 till the door is shut. O what difference is there, betwixt 
 our prayers in health, and in sickness ; betwixt our 
 repentings in prosperity and adversity I Alas ; if we did 
 not sometimes feel the spur, what a slow pace would 
 m ost of us hold toward heaven ! Since our vile natures 
 require it. why should we be unwilling that God should 
 
178 The Saints* Rest is not to he 
 
 do us good by sharp means ? Judge, Christian, whether 
 thou dost not go more watchfully and speedily in the 
 way to heaven, in thy sufferings than in thy more pleas- 
 ing and prosperous state. 
 
 5. Consider further, it is but the flesh that is chiefly 
 troubled and grieved by afflictions. In most of our 
 sufferings the soul is free, unless we ourselves wilfully 
 afflict it. “ Why then, 0 iny soul, dost thou side w'ith 
 this flesh, and complain as it complaineth ? It should be 
 thy work to keep it under, and bring it into subjection ; 
 and if God do it for thee, shouldstthou be discontented ] 
 Hath not the pleasing of it been the cause of almost 
 all thy spiritual sorrows? Why, then, may not the 
 displeasing of it further thy joys 1 Must Paul and Silas 
 not sing, because their feet are in the stocks ? Their 
 spirits were not imprisoned. Ah, unworthy soul ! is 
 this thy thanks to God for preferring thee so far before 
 thy body ? When it is rotting in the grave, thou shalt 
 be a companion of the perfected spirits of the just. In 
 the mean time, hast thou not consolation which the flesh 
 knows not of? Murmur not then at God’s dealings with 
 thy body ; if it were for want of love to thee, he would 
 not have dealt so by all his saints. Never expect thy 
 flesh should truly expound the meaning of the rod. It 
 will call love, hatred ; and say, God is destroying, when 
 he is saving. It is the suffering party, and therefore not 
 fit to be the judge. Could we once believe God, and 
 judge of his dealings by his word, and b}^ their usefulness 
 to our souls, and reference to our rest, and could w’e 
 stop our ears against all the clamours of the flesh, then 
 we should have a truer judgment of our afflictions. 
 
 6. Once more consider, God seldom gives his people 
 so sweet a foretaste of their future rest, as In their deep 
 afflictions. He keeps his most precious cordials for the 
 time of our greatest faintings and dangers. He gives 
 them, when he knows they are needed, and will be 
 
expected on earth. 1T7 
 
 valued ; and when he is sure to be thanked for them, and 
 his people rejoiced by them. Especially when our suf- 
 ferings are more directly for his cause, then he seldom 
 fails to sweeten the bitter cup. The martyrs have pos- 
 sessed the highest joys. When did Christ preach such 
 comforts to his disciples, as when their hearts were sor- 
 rowful at his departure ? When did he appear among 
 
 them, and say. Peace be unto you, but when they were 
 shut up for fear of the Jews! When did Stephen see 
 heaven opened, but when he was giving up his life for 
 the testimony of Jesus? Is not that our best state, 
 wherein we have most of God ? Why else do we desire 
 to come to heaven ? If we look for a heaven of fleshly 
 delights, we shall And ourselves mistaken. Conclude 
 
 then, that affliction is not so bad a state for a saint, in his 
 way to rest Are we wiser than God ? Doth he not 
 know what is good for us as well as we ? Or is he not as 
 careful of our good, as we of our own ? Woe to us, if he 
 were not much more so ! and if he did not love us better 
 than we love either him or ourselves I 
 
 Say not, “ I could bear any other affliction better 
 than this.” If God had afflicted thee where thou canst 
 bear it, thy idol would neither have been discovered nor 
 removed. Neither say, ” If God would deliver me out 
 of it, I could be content to bear it.” Is it nothing that 
 he hath promised it shall work for thy good? Is it not 
 enough that thou art sure to be delivered at death ? Nor 
 let it be said, “If my affliction did not disable me for 
 duty, I could bear it. ” It doth not disable thee for that 
 duty which tendeth to thy own personal benefit, but is 
 the greatest quickening help thou canst expect. As for 
 thy duty to others, it is not thy duty when God disables 
 thee. Perhaps thou wilt say, “ The godly are my af- 
 flicters ; if it were ungodly men, I could easily bear it.” 
 Whoever is the instrument, the affliction is from God, 
 ai d the deserving cause thyself; and is it not bette<r to 
 
178 The Saints^ Rest is not to be 
 
 look more to God and thyself S Didst thou not know 
 that the best men are still sinful in parti Do not 
 plead, “If I had hut that consolation, which you say 
 God reserreth for suffering times, I should suffer more 
 contentedly; but I do not perceive any such thing.’* 
 The more you suffer for righteousness* sake, the more 
 of this blessing you may expect ; and the more you suf- 
 fer for your own evil-doing, the longer it will be before 
 that sweetness comes. Are not the comforts you desire 
 neglected or resisted 7 Have your afldictions wrought 
 kindly with you, and fitted you for comfort? Have 
 they humbled you 1 Have they brought you to a faith- 
 ful confession, and reformation of your beloved sin, and 
 made you sit close to your neglected duties 1 Have they 
 weaned ^our hearts from their former idols, and brought 
 them unfeignedly to take God for their portion and their 
 rest 1 If this is not done, how can you expect comfort 1 
 Should God bind up the sore while it festers at the bot- 
 tom 1 It is not mere suffering that prepares you for 
 comfort, but the success and fruit of sufferings upon 
 your hearts. 
 
 II. To show the unreasonableness of resting in pre- 
 sent enjoyments, consider — it is idolizing them;— it 
 contradicts God’s end in giving them it is the way to 
 have them refused, withdrawn, or imbittered to be 
 suffered to take up our rest here, is the greatest curse 
 it is seeking rest where it is not to be found : the crea- 
 tures without God, would aggravate our misery and 
 to confirm all this, we may consult our own and others* 
 experience. 
 
 1. It is gross idolatry to make any creature or means 
 our rest. To be the rest of the soul is God’s own pre- 
 rogative. As it is apparent idolatry to place our rest in 
 riches or honours, so it is but a more refined idolatry to 
 take up our rest in excellent means of grace. How ill 
 must our dear Lord take it, when we give him cause to 
 
€xpec9ed on earth, 179 
 
 complain, as he did of our fellow-idolaters, My peo- 
 ple have been lost sheep, they have forgotten their 
 resting place,** Jer. i. 6. My people can find rest in any 
 thing rather than in me. They can delight in one ano- 
 ther, but not in me. They can rejoice in my creatures 
 and ordinances, but not in me. Yea, in their very la- 
 bours and duties they seek for rest, but not in me. They 
 had rather be any where than be with me. Are these 
 their gods ? Have these redeemed them ? Will these 
 be better to them than I have been, or than I would be ?** 
 if yourselves have a wife, a husband, a son, that had 
 rather be any where than in your company, and be ne- 
 ver so merry as when furthest from you, would you not 
 iake it ill 1 So must our God needs do. 
 
 2. You contradict the end of God in giving these en- 
 joyments. He gave them to help thee to him, and dost 
 thou take up with them in his stead 1 He gave them to 
 be refreshments in thy journey, and wouldst thou dwell 
 in thy inn, and go no further? It may be said of all our 
 comforts and ordinances, as it is said of the Israelites, 
 “ The ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them, 
 to search out a resting place for them,*’ Numb. x. 33. 
 So do all God’s mercies here : they arc not that rest, as 
 John professed he was not the Christ; but they are 
 voices crying in this mldemess, to bid us prepare, for 
 the kingdom of God, our true rest, is at hand. There- 
 fore, to rest here, were to turn all mercie.s contrary to 
 their ends, and to our own advantage, and to destroy 
 ourselves with that which should help us. 
 
 3. It is the way to cause God, either to deny the mer- 
 cies we ask, or to take from us those we enjoy, or at 
 least imbitter them to us. God is no where so jealous as 
 here. If you had a servant, whom your wife loved bet- 
 ter than yourself, would you not take it iij of such a 
 wife, and rid your house of such a servant ? So if the 
 Lord see you begin to settle in the world, and say, ** Here 
 
180 The Saints' Rest is not to he 
 
 1 will rest;** no wonder if he soon in his jealousy im- 
 settie you. If he loves you, no wonder if he takes that 
 from you with which he sees you are destroying your- 
 selves. It hath been my long observation of many, that 
 when they have attempted great works, and have just 
 iinished them; or have aimed at great things in the 
 world, and have just obtained them ; or have lived in 
 much trouble, and have just overcome it, and begin to 
 look on their condition with content, and rest in it ; they 
 are then usually near to death or ruin. When a man is 
 once at this language, “ Soul, take thine ease ;** the 
 next news usually is, “ Thou fool, this night,** or this 
 month, or this year, ** thy soul shall be required, and 
 then whose shall these things be ?” What house is there 
 where this fool dwelleth not ? Let each of us consider 
 whether it be not our own case. Many a servant of God 
 hath been destroyed from the earth, by being over-va- 
 lued and overloved. I am persuaded our discontents 
 and murmurings are not so provoking to God, nor so 
 destructive to us, as our too sweet enjoying, and resting 
 in a pleasing state. If God hath crossed you in wife, 
 children, goods, friends, either by taking them away, or 
 the comfort of them ; try whether this be not the cause ; 
 for wheresoever your desires stop, and you say, “ Now 
 I am well ;** that condition you make your god, and en- 
 gage the jealousy of God against it. Whether you be 
 friends to God or enemies, you can never expect that 
 God should suffer you quietly to enjoy your idols. 
 
 4. Should God suffer you to take up your rest here, it 
 is one of the greatest curses that could befall you. It 
 were better never to have a day of ease in the world ; 
 for then weariness might make you seek after the true 
 rest. But if you are suffered to sit down and rest here, 
 a restless wretch you will be through all eternity. To 
 have their portion in this life, is the lot of the most mi- 
 serable perishing sinners. Doth it become christianti 
 
esp^cted on earth, 181 
 
 then to expect so much here 1 Our rest is our heaven ; 
 and where we take our rest, there we make our heaven. 
 And wouldst thou have but such a heaven as this ? 
 
 5. It is seeking rest where it is not to be found. Your 
 iabour will be lost ; and, if you proceed, your soul’s 
 eternal rest too. Our rest is only in the full obtaining 
 of our ultimate end. But that is not to be expected in 
 this life ; neither is rest therefore to be expected here. 
 Is God to be enjoyed in the best church here, as he is in 
 heaven ? How little of God the saints enjoy under the 
 best means, let their own complainings testify. Poor 
 comforters are the best ordinances, without God. Should 
 !i traveller take up his rest in the way ? no, because his 
 home is his journey’s end. When you have all that 
 creatures and means can afford, have you that which 
 you believed, prayed, and suffered for ? I think you 
 dare not say so. We are like little children strayed from 
 home, and God is now fetching us home, and we are 
 ready to turn into any house, stay and play with every 
 thing in our way, and sit down on every green bank, 
 and much ado there is to get us home. 
 
 We are also in the midst of our labours and dangers 
 and is there any resting here ? What painful work doth 
 lie upon our hands 1 Look to our brethren, to our souls, 
 and to God ; and what a deal of work, in respect to each 
 of these doth lie before us I And can we rest in the 
 midst of all our labours 1 Indeed we may rest on earth, 
 as the ark is said to have rested in the midst of Jordan ; 
 a short and small rest : or as Abraham desired the angelf 
 to turn in, and rest themselves in his tent, where they 
 would have been loath to have taken up their dwelling 
 Should Israel have fixed their rest in the wilderness, 
 among serpents, and enemies, and weariness, and fa- 
 mine 7 Should Noah have made the ark his home, and 
 have been loath to come forth when “ the waters were 
 assuaged 7” Should the mariner choose his dwelling on 
 
188 The Saints' Rest is not to he 
 
 the sea, and settle his rest in the midst of rocVs, and 
 sands, and raging tempests? Should a soldier rest in 
 the thickest of his enemies ? And are not Christians 
 such travellers, such mariners, such soldiers? Have 
 you not fears within, and troubles without? Are we 
 not in continual dangers ? We cannot eat, drink, sleep, 
 labour, pray, hear, or converse, but in the midst of 
 snares ; and shall we sit down and rest here ? O Chris- 
 tian, follow thy work, look to thy dangers, hold on to 
 the end, win the field, and come off the ground, before 
 thou think of a settled rest. 
 
 Whenever thou talkest of rest on earth, it is like Peter 
 on the mount, thou knowest not what thou sayest. If, 
 instead of telling the converted thief, “ This day shalt 
 thou be with me in paradise,** Christ had said, he should 
 rest there on the cross ; would he not have taken it for a 
 derision ? Methinks it should be ill resting in the midst 
 of sickness and pains, persecutions, and distresses. But 
 if nothing else will convince us, yet surely the remain- 
 ders of sin, which do so easily beset us, should quickly 
 satisfy a believer, that here is not his rest. I say there- 
 fore to every one that thinketh of rest on earth, “Arise 
 ye, and depart, for this is not your rest, because it is 
 polluted,** Micah ii. 10. These things cannot in their 
 nature be a true christian*s rest. They are too poor, to 
 make us rich ; too low, to raise us to happiness ; too 
 empty, to fill our souls ; and of too short continuance, 
 to be our eternal content. If prosperity, or whatsoever 
 we here desire, be too base to make gods of, they are 
 too base to be our rest. The soul*s rest must be suffici- 
 ent to afford it perpetual satisfaction. But the conten 
 which creatures afford, waxes old, and abates after 
 short enjoyment. If God should rain down angels* food, 
 we should soon loathe the manna. If novelty support 
 not, our delights on earth grow dull. All creatures are to 
 us . as the fiowers to the bee ; there is but little honey oa 
 
expected on earth, 183 
 
 any one, and therefore there must be a superficial taste, 
 and so to the next. The more the creature is known, 
 the less it satisfieth. Those only are taken with it, who 
 see no further than its outward beauty, without discern- 
 ing its inward vanity. When we thoroughly know the 
 condition of other men, and have discovered the evil as 
 well as the good, and the defects as well as perfections, 
 we then cease our admiration. 
 
 6. To have creatures and means without God is an 
 aggravation of our misery. If God should say, “ Take 
 my creatures, my word, my servants, my ordinances, 
 but not myself ;** would you take this for happiness ? 
 If you had the word of God, and not the Word, which 
 is God ; or the bread of the Lord, and not the Lord, who 
 is the true bread; or could cry with the Jews, “The 
 temple of the Lord,” and had not the Lord of the tem- 
 ple ; — this were a poor happiness. Was Capernaum the 
 more happy or the more miserable, for “seeing the 
 mighty works which they had seen, and hearing the 
 words of Christ which they did hear?** Surely that 
 which aggravates our sin, and misery, cannot be our 
 rest. 
 
 7. To confirm all this, let us consult our own and 
 others* experience. Millions have made trial, but did 
 any ever find a sufficient rest for his soul on earth? 
 Delights I deny not but they have found, but rest and 
 satisfaction they never found. And shall we think to 
 find that which never man could find before us ? Ahab’s 
 kingdom is nothing to him, without Naboth*s vineyard ; 
 and did that satisfy him when he obtained it? Were 
 yon, like Noah’s dove, to look through the earth for a 
 resting-place, you would return confessing, that you 
 could find none. Go ask honour. Is there rest here ? 
 You may as well rest on the top of tempestuous moun- 
 tains, or in .Etna’s fiames. Ask riches. Is there rest 
 here ? Even such as is in a bed of thorns. If you in- 
 
184 ■ The Saints' 2esi is not be 
 
 quire for rest of worldly pleasures ; it is such as the 
 fish hath in swallowing the bait : when the pleasure is 
 sweetest, death is nearest. Go to learning, and even to 
 divine ordinances, and inquire whether there your souls 
 may rest? You might indeed receive from these an 
 olive-branch of hope, as they are means to your rest, 
 and have relation to eternity; but in regard of any 
 satisfaction in themselves, you would remain as restless 
 as ever. How well might all these answer us, as Jacob 
 did Rachel, Am I in God’s stead,” that you come to 
 me for soul-rest? Nor all the states of men in the 
 world ; neither court nor country, towns or cities, shops 
 or fields, treasuries, libraries, solitude, society, studies, 
 or pulpits, can afford any such thing as this rest. If you 
 could inquire of the dead of all generations, or of the 
 living through all dominions, they would all tell you, 
 “Here is no rest.” Or if other men’s experiences move 
 you not, take a view of your own. Can you remember 
 the state that did fully satisfy you, or, if you could, 
 will it prove lasting ? I believe we may all say of our 
 earthly rest, as Paul of our hope, “If it were in this 
 life only, we are of all men the most miserable.” 
 
 If then either scripture, or reason, or the experience 
 of ourselves, and all the world, will satisfy us, we may 
 see there is no resting here. And yet how guilty are the 
 ;enerality of us of this sin I How many halts and stops 
 lo we make, before we will make the Lord our rest 1 
 How must God even drive us, and fire us out of every 
 condition, lest we should sit down and rest there ! If he 
 give us prosperity, riches, or honour, we do in our 
 hearts dance before them, as the Israelites before their 
 calf, and say, “ These are thy gods,” and conclude, 
 “ It is good to be here.” If he imbitter all these to us, 
 how restless are we till our condition be sweetened, that 
 we may sit down again, and rest where we were 1 If he 
 proceed in the cure, and take the creature quite away, 
 
m 
 
 expected on earth, 
 then how do we labour, and cry, and pray, that Go<\ 
 would restore it, that we may make it our rest again I 
 And while we are deprived of our former idol, yet rather 
 than come to God, we delight ourselves in the hope ot 
 recovering it, and make that very hope our rest; or 
 search about from creature to creature, to find out some- 
 thing to supply the room ; yea, if we can find no supply, 
 yet we will rather settle in this misery, and make a rest 
 of a wretched being, than leave all, and come to God I 
 O the cursed averseness of our souls from God I 
 If any place in hell were tolerable, the soul would 
 rather take up its rest there, than come to God. Yea, 
 when he is bringing us over to him, and hath convinced 
 us of the worth of his ways and service, the last deceit 
 of all is here, we will rather settle upon those ways that 
 lead to him, and those ordinances that speak of him, and 
 those gifts which flow from him, than we will come en- 
 tirely over to himself. Christian, marvel not that I 
 speak so much of resting in these ; beware lest it prove 
 thy own case. I suppose thou art so far convinced of 
 the vanity of riches, honour, and pleasure, that thou 
 canst more easily disclaim these, and it is well if it be 
 so ; but the means of grace thou lookest on with less 
 suspicion, and thinkest thou canst not delight in them 
 too much, especially seeing most of the world despise 
 them, or delight in them too little. I know they must 
 be loved and valued, and he that delighteth in any 
 worldly thing more than in them, is not a Christian. But 
 when we are content with ordinances without God, and 
 had rather be in a sermon than in heaven ; and a mem- 
 ber of the church here, than of the perfect church above ; 
 this is a sad mistake. So far let thy soul take comfort 
 in ordinances, as God doth accompany them ; remem- 
 bering that this is not heaven, but the first-fruits. 
 “ While we are present in the body, we are absent from 
 the Lord and while we are absent from him, we are 
 270 N 
 
186 ITic Saints' Rtsi not to he 
 
 absent from our rest. If God were as willing to bp ab- 
 absent from us, as we are from him, and as loath to be 
 our rest, as we to rest in him, we should be left to aa 
 eternal restless separation. In a word, as you are sen- 
 sible of the sinfulness of your earthly discontents, so be 
 you also of your irregular satisfaction, and pray God to 
 pardon them much more. And, above all the plagues 
 on this side hell, see that you watch and pray against 
 settling any where short of heaven, or reposing your 
 souls on any thing below God. 
 
 III. The next thing to be considered is, our unrea- 
 sonable unwillingness to die, that we may possess the 
 saints* rest. We linger, like Lot in Sodom, till, “ the 
 Lord being merciful unto us,*’ doth pluck us away against 
 our will. I confess that death of itself is not desirable ; 
 but the soul’s rest with God is, to which death is the 
 common passage. Because we are apt to make light of 
 khis, let me set before you its nature and remedy in a 
 variety of considerations : as, for instance, — 
 
 It has in it much infidelity. If we did but verily be- 
 lieve that the promise of this glory is the word of God, 
 and that God doth truly mean as he speaks, and is fully 
 resolved to make it good ; if we did verily believe, that 
 there is indeed such blessedness prepared for believers ; 
 surely we should be as impatient of living, as we are 
 now fearful of dying, and should think every day a year 
 till our last day should come. Is it possible that we can 
 truly believe, that death will remove us from such misery 
 to such glory, and yet be loath to die ? If the doubts of 
 our own interest in that glory make us fear, yet a true 
 belief of the certainty and excellency of this rest would 
 make us restless till our title to it be cleared. Though 
 there is much faith and Christianity in oui mouths, yet 
 there is much infidelity and paganism in our hearts, 
 which is the chief cause that we are so loath to die. 
 
 It is also much owing to the coldneas of our love. If 
 
eTpected on eart*. lb", 
 
 we love our friend, we love his company ; his presence 
 IS comfortable, his absence is painful ; when he comes 
 to us, we entertain him with gladness ; when he dies, 
 we mourn, and usually over-mourn. To he separated 
 from a faithful friend, is like the rending a member from 
 our body. And \Vould not our desires after God be such 
 if we really loved him? Nay, should it not be much 
 more than such, as he is above all friends most lovely 1 
 May the Lord teach us to look closely to our hearts, and 
 take heed of self-deceit in this point! Whatever we 
 pretend, if we love either father, mother, husband, wife, 
 child, friend, wealth, or life itself, more than Christ, we 
 are yet none of his sincere disciples. When it comes 
 to the trial, the question will not be. Who hath preached 
 most, or talked most; but. Who hath loved most? 
 Christ will not take sermons, pra3’^ers, fastings ; no, nor 
 the giving of our goods, nor the burning of oUr bodies, 
 instead of love. And do we love him, and yet care not 
 how long we are from him ? Was it such a joy to Jacob, 
 to see the face of Joseph in Egypt ? and shall we be con- 
 tented without the sight of Christ in glory, and yet say 
 we love him ? I dare not conclude that we have no love 
 at all, when we are so loath to die ; but I dare say, 
 were our love more, we should die more willingly. II 
 this holy flame were thoroughly kindled in our breast, 
 we should cry out with David. “ As the hart panteth after 
 the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. 
 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God; when 
 shall I come and appear before God ?** 
 
 By our unwillingness to die, it appears we are little 
 weary of sin. Did we take sin for the greatest evil, we 
 should not be willing to have its company so long. “ O 
 foolish, sinful heart ! hast thou been so long a cage of 
 all unclean lusts, a fountain incessantly streaming forth 
 the bitter waters of transgression, and art thou not yet 
 weary ? Wretched soul I hast thou been so long wound- 
 
The Saints' Rest not to he 
 
 ed in all thy faculties, so grievously languishing in all 
 thy performances, so fruitful a soil of all iniquities, and 
 art thou not yet more weary? Wouldst thou still lie 
 under thy imperfections ? Hath thy sin proved so pro- 
 fitable a commodity, so necessary a companion, such a 
 delightful employment, that thou dost so much dread 
 the parting day ? May not God justly grant thee thy 
 wishes, and seal thee a lease of thy desired distance from 
 him, and ** nail thy ears to these doors of misery, and 
 exclude thee eternally from his glory V* 
 
 It shows that we are insensible of the vanity of the 
 creature, when we are so loath to hear or think of a re- 
 moval. “ Ah foolish, wretched soul I Doth every pri- 
 soner groan for freedom ? and every slave desire his ju- 
 bilee ? and every sick man long for health ? and every 
 hungry man for food ? and dost thou alone abhor deli- 
 verance ? Doth the sailor wish to see land ? Doth the 
 husbandman desire the harvest, and the labourer to re- 
 ceive his pay ? Doth the traveller long to be at home 
 and the racer to win the prize, and the soldier to win the 
 field ? and art thou loath to see thy labours finished '/ 
 and to see the end of thy faith and sufferings T Have 
 thy griefs been only dreams ? If they were, yet me- 
 thinks thou shouldst not be afraid of waking. Or is if 
 not rather the world’s delights, that are all mere dreams 
 and shadows ? Or is the world become of late more 
 kind ?** We may, at our peril, reconcile ourselves to 
 the world, but it will never reconcile itself to us. ** O 
 unworthy soul ! who hadst rather dwell in this land of 
 darkness, and wander in this barren wilderness, than be 
 at rest with Jesus Christ I who hadst rather stay among 
 the wolves, and daily suffer the scorpion’s stings, than 
 praise the Lord with the host of heaven I” 
 
 This unwillingness to die doth actually impeach us of 
 high treason against the Lord. Is it not a choosing of 
 earth before him, and taking present things for our ha-, - 
 
expected on earth. 139 
 
 plness, arul consnquently making them our very god I 
 If we did indeed make God our end, our rest, our por- 
 tion, our treasure, how is it possible but we should de- 
 sire to enjoy him ? It moreover discovers some dissi- 
 mulation. Would you have any man believe you, when 
 you call the Lord your only hope, and speak of Christ 
 as all in all, and of the joy that is in his presence ; and 
 yet would endure the hardest life, rather than die, and 
 enter into his presence ? What a self-contradiction is 
 this, to talk so hardly of the world and the flesh, to 
 groan and complain of sin and suflering ; and yet fear 
 no day more than that which we expect should bring our 
 final freedom. 
 
 What hypocrisy Is this, to profess to strive and fight 
 for heaven, which we are loath to come to 1 and spend 
 one hour after another in prayer, for that which we 
 would not have 1 Hereby we wrong the Lord and his 
 promises, and disgrace his ways in the eyes of the 
 world. As if we would persuade them to question whe- 
 ther God be true to his word or not ; whether there be 
 any such glory as the scripture mentions. When they 
 see those so loath to leave their hold of present things, 
 who have professed to live by faith, and have boasted 
 of their hopes in another world, and have spoken dis- 
 gracefully of all things below in comparison of tnings 
 above, how doth this confirm the world in their unbe- 
 lief and sensuality I ** Surely,*’ say they, “ if these 
 professors did expect so much glory, and make so light 
 of the world, as they seem, they would not themselves 
 be so loath to change.** O how are we ever able to re- 
 Dair the wrong which we do to God and souls, by this 
 this scandal! And what an honour to God, what a 
 strengthening to believers, what a conviction to unbe- 
 lievers, would it be, if Christians, in this, would an- 
 swer their professions, and cheerfully welcome the new® 
 of rest. 
 
190 
 
 faints' R^stnot to he 
 
 I t also evidently shows, that we have spent much time 
 to little purpose. Have we not had all our lifetirce to 
 prepare to die 1 so many years to make ready for one 
 hour, and are we so unready and unwilling yet ? What 
 have we done ? Why have we lived ? Had we any 
 greater matters to mind ? Would we have wished foi 
 more frequent warnings 1 How oft hath death entereo 
 \he habitations of our neighbours ? how oft hath it 
 knocked at our own doors 1 How many distempers have 
 vexed our bodies, that we have been forced to receive 
 “the sentence of death!” And are we unready and 
 unwilling, after all this 1 O what careless, dead-hearted 
 sinners, unworthy neglecters of God’s warnings, faithless 
 betrayers of our own souls, are we ! 
 
 Consider, not to die, is never to be happy. To escape 
 death, is, to miss of blessedness, except God should 
 translate us, as Enoch and Elijah ; which he never did 
 before or since. “ If in this life only we have hope in 
 Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” If you would 
 not die, and go to heaven, what would you have more 
 than an epicure or a beast 1 Why do we pray, and fast, 
 and mourn ? Why do we suffer the contempt of the 
 world? Why are we Christians, and not pagans and 
 infidels; if we desire not the life to come? Wouldst 
 thou lose thy faith and labour, Christian ? all thy du- 
 ties and sufferings, all the end of thy life, and all the 
 blood of Christ, and be contented with the portion of a 
 worldling or a brute ? Rather say, as one on his death- 
 bed, when he was asked whether he was loath to die or 
 not, “ Let him be loath to die, who is loath to be with 
 Christ.” 
 
 Is God willing, by death, to glorify us, and are we un- 
 willing to die, that we may be glorified ? Methinks, if 
 a prince were willing to make you his heir, you would 
 jcarcely be unwilling to accept it ; the refusing such a 
 iindness utould discover ingratitude and un worthiness. 
 
expected on earth. IVl 
 
 As God hath resolved against them that make excuses 
 when they should come to Christ ; “ None of those men, 
 which were bidden, shall taste of my supper so is it 
 just with him to resolve against us, who frame excuses 
 when we should come to glory. 
 
 The Lord Jesus Christ was willing to come from hea- 
 ven to earth for us, and shall we be unwilling to remove 
 from earth to heaven for ourselves and him ? He might 
 have said, “ What is it to me, if these sinners suffer 1 If 
 they value their flesh above their spirits, and their lusts 
 above my Father’s love ; if they will sell their souls for 
 nought, who is it fit should be the loser 1 Should I, 
 whom they have wronged 1 Must they wilfully trans- 
 gress my law, and I undergo their deserved pain ? Must 
 I come down from heaven to earth, and clothe myself 
 with human flesh, be spit upon and scorned by man, 
 and fast, and weep, and sweat, and sufler, and bleed, 
 and die a cursed death ; and all this for wretched worms, 
 w ho would rather hazard their souls, than forbear one 
 forbidden morsel ? Do they cast away themselves so 
 slightly, and must I redeem them so dearly V* Thus 
 we see that Christ had reason enough to have made him 
 unwilling ; and yet did he voluntarily condescend. But 
 we have no reason against our coming to him ; except 
 we will reason against our hopes, and plead for a perpe- 
 tuity of our own calamities. Christ came down to fetch 
 us up ; and would we have him lose his blood and la- 
 bour, and go again without us ? Hath he bought our rest 
 at so dear a rate 1 Is our inheritance “ purchased with 
 Ills blood V* And are we, after all this, loath to enter ? 
 Ah, sirs, it was Christ, and not we, that had cause to 
 be loath. May the Lord forgive, and heal this foolish 
 ingratitude. 
 
 Do we not combine, with our most cruel foes, in their 
 most malicious designs, while we are loath to die, and 
 go to heaven? What Is the devil’s daily business? Is 
 
193 
 
 The Saints* Best not to he 
 it not to koep our souls from God? And shall vre be 
 content with this ? Is it not the one half of hell, which 
 we wish to ourselves, while we desire to be absent from 
 heaven? What sport is this to Satan, that his desires 
 and thine, Christian, should so concur? that when he 
 sees he cannot get thee to hell, he can so long keep thee 
 out of heaven, and make thee the earnest petitioner for 
 it thyself 1 O gratify not the devil so much to thy own 
 injury I Do not our daily fears of death make our lives 
 a continual torment? Those lives which might be full 
 of joy, in the daily contemplation of the life to come, 
 and the sweet delightful thoughts of bliss; how do we 
 fill them up with causeless terrors 1 Thus we consume 
 our own comforts, and prey upon our truest pleasures. 
 When we might lie down, and rise up, and walk abroad, 
 with our hearts full of the joys of God, we continually 
 fill them with perplexing fears I For he that fears 
 dying, must be always fearing ; because he hath always 
 reason to expect it. And how can that man’s life be 
 comfortable, who lives in continual fear of losing his 
 comforts? 
 
 Are not these fears of death, self-created sufferings ? 
 As if God had not inflicted enough upon us, but we 
 must inflict more upon ourselves. Is not death bitter 
 enough to the flesh of itself, but we must double and 
 treble its bitterness? The sufferings laid upon us by 
 God, do all lead to happy issues ; the progress is, from 
 tribulation to patience, from thence to experience, and 
 so to hope, and at last to glory. But the sufferings w'e 
 make for ourselves, are circular and endless, from sin 
 to suffering, from suffering to sin, and so to suffering 
 again; and not only so, but they multiply in their 
 course ; every sin is greater than the former, and so 
 every suffering also : so that except we think God hath 
 made us to bo our own tormentors, we have small reason 
 to nourish our fears of dei«.th. 
 
103 
 
 expe.tea mi earth. 
 
 And arc thej not useless, unprofitable fears? As all 
 our care “ cannot make one hair white or black,” nor 
 ” add one cubit to our stature so neither ca*n our Tear 
 prevent our sufferings, nor delay our death one hour ; 
 willing, or unwilling, we must away. Many a man’s 
 fears have hastened his end, but no man’s ever did avert 
 it. It is true, a cautious fear, concerning the danger 
 after death, hath profited many, and is very useful to 
 the preventing of that danger; but for a member of 
 Christ, and an heir of heaven, to be afraid of entering 
 his own inheritance, is a sinful, useless fear. And do 
 not our fears of dying ensnare our souls, and add 
 strength to many temptations ? What made Peter deny 
 his Lord ? What makes apostates, in suffering times, 
 forsake the truth? Why doth the green blade of un- 
 rooted faith wither before the heat of persecution? 
 Fear of imprisonment and poverty may do much, but 
 fear of death will do much more. So much fear as we 
 hare of death, so much cowardice we usually have in 
 the cause of God ; besides the multitude of unbelieving 
 contrivances, and discontents at the wise disposals of 
 God, and hard thoughts of most of his providences, 
 which this sin doth make us guilty of. 
 
 Let us further consider, what a competent time most 
 of us have had. Why should not a man, that would die 
 at all, be as willing at thirty or forty, if God see fit, as 
 at seventy or eighty? Length of time doth not con- 
 quer corruption ; it never withers nor decays through 
 age. Except we receive an addition of grace, as well as 
 time, wc naturally grow worse. 
 
 “ O rhy soul, depart in peace ! As thou wouldst not 
 desire an unlimited state in wealth and honour, so desire 
 it not in point of time. If thou wert sensible, how little 
 thou deservest an hour of that patience which thou hast 
 enjoyed, thou wouldst think thou hast had a large part. 
 Is it not divine wisdom that sets the bounds ? God will 
 
194 
 
 I'he S' I hits* Hest ts not to be 
 
 honour himself by various persons and several ages, and 
 not by one person or age. Seeing thou hast acted thy 
 own part, and finished thine appointed course, come 
 down contentedly, that others may succeed, who must 
 have their turns, as well as thyself. Much time hath 
 much duty. Beg, therefore, for grace to improve it 
 better; but be content with thy share of time. 
 
 “Thou hast, also, had a competency of the comforts 
 of life. God might have made thy life a burden, till 
 thou hadst been as weary of possessing it, as thou art 
 now afraid of losing it. He might have suffered thee to 
 have consumed thy days in ignorance, without the sav- 
 ing knowledge of Christ *, but he hath opened thine eyes 
 in the morning of thy days, and acquainted thee, be- 
 times, with the business of thy life. Hath thy heavenly 
 Father caused thy lot to fall in Europe, not in Asia, 
 Africa, or in America; in England, not in Spain or 
 Italy? hath he filled up all thy life with mercies, and 
 dost thou now think thy share too small? What a 
 multi tude of hours of consolation, of delightful sabbaths, 
 of pleasant studies, of precious companions, of wonder- 
 ful deliverances, of excellent opportunities, of fruitful 
 labours, of joyful tidings, of sweet experiences, of aston- 
 ishing providences, hath thy life partaken of! Hath 
 thy life been so sweet, that thou art loath to leave it ? 
 Is that thy thanks to Him, who is thus drawing thee to 
 his own sweetness ? O foolish soul I would thou wert 
 as covetous after eternity, as thou art for a fading, 
 perishing life ; and after the presence of God in glory, 
 as thou art for continuance on earth I Then thou wouldst 
 cry, “ Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry 
 the wheels of his chariot ?’* How long. Lord 1 how 
 long ! 
 
 “ What, if God should let thee live many years, but 
 deny thee the mercies thou hast hitherto eujoyed ? 
 Might he not give thee p'fp as he gave the murmuring 
 
*txx>eclcd on earth. 
 
 fSTaelitos quails ? He might give thee life, till thou art 
 weary of living, and as glad to be rid of it as Judas, or 
 Ahithophel ; and make thee like many miserable crea- 
 tures in the world, who can hardly forbear laying violent 
 hands on themselves. Be not, therefore, so importunate 
 for life, which may prove a judgment instead of a bless- 
 ing. 
 
 “How many of the precious servants of God, of all 
 ages and places, have gone before theel Thou art not 
 to enter an untrodden path, nor appointed first to break 
 the ice. Except Enoch and Elijah, which of the saints 
 have escaped death ? And art thou better than they 1 
 There are many millions of saints dead, more than now 
 remain on earth. What a number of thine own bosom 
 friends, and companions in duty, are now gone, and 
 wny shouldst thou be so loath to follow 1 Nay, hath 
 not Jesus Christ himself gone this way ? Hath he not 
 sacrificed the grave to us, and perfumed the dust with 
 his own body, and art thou loath to follow him too ? 
 Rather say, as Thomas, ‘ Let us also go, that we may 
 die with him. ’ “ 
 
 If what hath been said, will not persuade, scripture 
 and reason have little force. I have said the more on 
 this subject, finding it so needful to myself and others ; 
 finding among so many Christians, who could do and 
 suffer much for Christ, so few that can willingly die ; 
 and of many, who have somewhat subdued other cor- 
 ruptions, so few have got the conquest of this. I per- 
 suade not the ungodly from fearing death : it is a wond er, 
 rather, that they fear it no more, and .spend not their 
 days in continual horror. 
 
ItKi 
 
 The Importance of leadin' 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The Importance of leading a Heavenly Life upon Earth, 
 
 is there such a rest remaining for us T Why then arc 
 our thoughts no more upon it ? Why are not our hearts 
 continually there? Why dwell we not there in con- 
 stant contemplation ? What is the cause of this neg- 
 lect ? Are we reasonable in this, or are we not ? Hath 
 the eternal God provided us such a glory, and promised 
 to take us up to dwell with himself ; and is it not worth 
 thinking on ? Should not the strongest desires of ouf 
 hearts be after it ? Do we believe this, and yet forget 
 and neglect it ? If God will not give us leave to approach 
 this light, what means all his earnest invitations ? Why 
 doth he so condemn our earthly-mindedness, and com- 
 mand us to set our affections on things above ? Ah, vile 
 hearts ! If God were against it, we were likelier to be 
 for it; but when he commands our hearts to heaven, 
 then they will not stir one inch : like our predecessors, 
 the sinful Israelites, when God would have them march 
 for Canaan, then they mutiny, and will not stir; but 
 when God bids them not go, then they will be presently 
 marching. If God say, “ Love not the world, nor the 
 things of the world ;” we dote upon it. How freely, 
 bow' frequently, can we think of our pleasures, our 
 friends, our labours, our flesh and its lusts ; yea, our 
 wrongs and miseries, our fears and sufferings! But 
 where is the Christian whose heart is on his rest t What 
 is the matter ? Are we so full of joy, that we need no 
 more? Or is there nothing in heaven for our joyous 
 thoughts ? Or rather are not our hearts carnal and stu- 
 pid ? Let us humble these sensual hearts, that Iiave in 
 them no more of Christ and glory. If this world was 
 the only subject of our discourse, all would count us 
 
a Heavenly Life upon Earth, 19? 
 
 ungodly ; why then may we not call our he arts ungodly, 
 that we have so little delight in Christ and heaven ? 
 
 But I am speaking only to those whose portion is in 
 heaven, whose hopes are there, and who have forsaken 
 all to enjoy this glory : and shall I be discouraged from 
 persuading such to be heavenly-minded? Fellow- 
 christians, if you will not hear and obey, who will? 
 Well may we be discouraged to exhort the blind, un- 
 godly world, and may say, as Moses did, Behold the 
 children of Israel have not hearkened unto me, how 
 then shall Pharoah hear me ?" 1 require thee, reader, 
 as ever thou hopest for a part in this glory, that thou 
 presently take thy heart to task, chide it for its wilful 
 strangeness to God, turn thy thoughts from the pursuit 
 of vanity, bend thy soul to study eternity, busy it about 
 the life to come, habituate thyself to such contempla- 
 tions, and let not those thoughts be seldom and cursory, 
 but bathe thy soul in heaven’s delights ; and if thy back- 
 ward soul begin to flag, and thy thoughts to scatter, call 
 them back, hold them to their work, bear not with 
 their laziness, nor connive at the least neglect. And 
 when thou hast, in obedience to God, tried this work, 
 got acquainted with it, and kept a guard on thy thoughts 
 till they are accustomed to obey, thou wilt then find 
 thyself in the suburbs of heaven, and that there is in- 
 deed, a sweetness in the work and way of God, and that 
 the life of Christianity is a life of joy. Thou wilt meet 
 with those abundant consolations which thou hast pray- 
 ed, panted, and groaned after, and which so few Chris- 
 tians do ever here obtain, beoause they know not this 
 way to them, or else make not conscience of walking it 
 it. Say not, “ We are unable to set our own hearts or 
 heaven ; this must be the work of God only. *’ Thougl 
 God be the chief disposer of your hearts, yet next unde 
 him you have the greatest command of them yourselves. 
 Though without Christ you can do nothing, yet undei 
 
198 
 
 The Importance of leading 
 him you may do much, and must, or else it will he un- 
 done, and yourselves undone through your neglect. 
 Christians, if your souls were healthful and vigorous, 
 they would perceive incomparably more delight and 
 sweetness in the believing joyful thoughts of your fu- 
 ture blessedness, than the soundest stomach finds in its 
 food, or the strongest senses, in the enjoyment of their 
 objects ; so little painful would this work be to you. 
 
 But because I know, while we have flesh about us, 
 and any remains of that carnal mind which is enmity 
 to God and to this noble work, that all motives are little 
 enough, I will here lay down some considerations, 
 which, if you will deliberately weigh, with an impar- 
 tial judgment, I doubt not but they will prove eflTectua\ 
 with your hearts, and make you resolve on this excel- 
 lent duty. More particularly consider : — It will evi- 
 dence your sincere piety *, it is the highest excellence of 
 the Christian temper; it is the way to live most com- 
 fortably ; it will be the best preservative from tempta- 
 tions to sin ; it will enliven your graces and duties ; it 
 will be your best cordial in all afflictions ; it will render 
 you most profitable to others ; it will honour God ; with- 
 out it, you will disobey the commands, and lose the most 
 gracious and delightful discoveries of the word of God ; 
 it is also the most reasonable to have your hearts with 
 God, as his is so much on you— and in heaven, where 
 you have so much interest and relation ; besides, there 
 is nothing besides heaven worth setting your hearts 
 upon. 
 
 1. Consider, a heart set upon heaven will be one of 
 the most unquestionable evidences of your sincerity, 
 aiid a clear discovery of a true work of having grace upon 
 your souls. You are often asking, “ How shall we 
 know that we are truly sanctified ?** Here you have a 
 a sign infallible, from the mouth of Jesus Christ him- 
 self; “ Where your treasure is, there will your heart be 
 
199 
 
 a Heavenly Life upon Earth. 
 also,*’ Matt. vi. 21. God is the saints’ treasure and hap- 
 piness ; heaven is the place where they must fully en- 
 joy him. A heart therefore set upon heaven, is a heart 
 set upon God ; and, surely, a heart set upon God through 
 Christ, is the truest evidence of saving grace. When 
 learning will be no proof of grace ; when knowledge, 
 duties, gifts, will fail ; when arguments from thy tongue 
 or hand may be confuted ; yet then will this from the 
 bent of thy heart prove thee sincere. Take a poor Chris- 
 tian, of a weak understanding, a feeble memory, a stam- 
 mering tongue ; yet his heart is set on God, he hath 
 chosen him for his portion, his thoughts are on eternity, 
 his desires there ; he cries out, “ O that I were there 1” 
 he takes that day for a time of imprisonment, in which 
 he hath not had one refreshing view of eternity. I had 
 rather die in this man’s condition, than in the case of 
 him who hath the most eminent gifts, and is most ad- 
 mired for his performances, while his heart is not thus 
 taken up with God. The man that Christ will find out 
 at the last day, and condemn for want of a w'edding 
 garment, will be one that -wants this frame of heart. 
 The question will not then be. How much have you 
 known, or professed, or talked ? but, how much have 
 you loved, and where was your heart 1 Christians, as 
 you would have a proof of your tide to glory, labour to 
 get your hearts above. If sin and Satan keep not your 
 affections from thence, they never will be able to keep 
 away your persons. 
 
 2. A heart in heaven, is the highest excellence of your 
 Christian temper. As there is a common excellence, by 
 which Christians differ from the world ; so there is this 
 peculiar dignity of spirit, by which the more excellent 
 differ from the rest. As the noblest of creatures^ so the 
 noblest of Christians, are they whose faces are set most 
 direct for heaven. Such a heavenly saint, who hath 
 been rapt up to God in his contemplation, and is newly 
 
200 The Importance of leading 
 
 come down from the views of Christ, what discoverios 
 will he make of those superior regions I how high and 
 sacred in his discourse 1 Enough to convince an under- 
 standing hearer, that he had seen the Lord, and that no 
 man could speak such words, except he had been with 
 God. This, this is the noble Christian. The most fa- 
 mous mountains and trees are those that reach nearest 
 to heaven ; and he is the choicest Christian, whose heart 
 is most frequently and most delightfully there. If a 
 man have lived near the king, or hath seen the sultan of 
 of Persia, or the great Turk, he will be thought a step 
 higher than his neighbours. What then shall we judge 
 of him that daily travels as far as heaven, and there hath 
 seen the King of kings, hath frequent admittance into 
 the divine presence, and feasteth his soul upon the tree 
 of life ? For my part, I value this man before the no- 
 blest, the richest, the most learned in the world. 
 
 3. A heavenly mind is the nearest and truest way to a 
 life of comfort. The countries far north are cold and 
 frozen, because they are distant from the sun. What 
 makes such frozen uncomfortable Christians, but their 
 living so far from heaven ? And what makes others so 
 warm in comforts, but their living higher, and having 
 nearer access to God ? When the sun in the spring draws 
 near our part of the earth, how do all things congratulate 
 its approach I The earth looks green, the trees shoot 
 forth, the plants revive, the birds sing, and all things 
 smile upon us. If we would but try this life with God, 
 and keep these hearts above, what a spring of joy would 
 be within us 1 IIo w should we forget our winter sorrows 1 
 How early should we rise to sing the praise of our great 
 Creator I 0 Christian, get above. Those that have been 
 there, have found it w'arraer ; and I doubt not but thou 
 hast sometimes tried it thyself. When have you the 
 largest comforts 1 Is it not w'hen thou hast conversed 
 with God. and talked with the inhabitants of the higher 
 
a Hmrenly Life upon £arth. 201 
 
 MTorld, and viewed their mansions, and filled thy soul 
 with the fore-tho«<:;hts of glory ? If thou knowest by 
 experience what this practice is, I dare say thou know- 
 est what spiritual joy is. If, as David professes, “the 
 light of God’s countenance more gladdens the heart than 
 corn and wine then surely they that draw nearest, 
 and most behold it must be fullest of these joys. Whom 
 should we blame, then, that we are so void of consola- 
 tion, but our own negligent hearts ? 
 
 God hath provided us a crown of glory, and promised 
 to set it shortly on our heads, and we will not so much 
 as think of it ; he bids us behold and rejoice, and we 
 will not so much as look at it ; and yet we complain for 
 want of comfort. It is by believing that we are filled 
 with joy and peace, and no longer than we continue our 
 believing. It is in hope the saints rejoice, and no longer 
 than they continue hoping. God’s spirit worketh our 
 comforts, by setting our own spirits on work upon the 
 promises, and raising our thoughts to the place of our 
 comforts. As you would delight a covetous man by show- 
 ing him gold; so God delights his people by leading 
 them, as it were, into heaven, and showing them him- 
 self, and their rest with him. He does not cast in our 
 joys while we are idle, or taken up with other things. 
 He gives the fruits of the earth when w^e plough, and 
 sow, and weed, and water, and dung, and di ess, and with 
 patience expect his blessing ; so doth he give the joys 
 of the soul. I entreat thee, reader, in the name of the 
 Lord, and as thou valuest the life of constant joy, and 
 that good conscience which is a continual feast, to set 
 upon this work seriously, and learn the art of heaven’y- 
 mindedness, and thou shaltfind the increase a hundred- 
 fold, and the benefit abundantly exceed thy labour. But 
 this is the misery of man’s nature : though every man 
 naturally hates sorrow, and loves the most merry and 
 joyful life, yet few love the way of joy, or will endure 
 270 o 
 
t02 The Importance of leading 
 
 the pains by which it is obtained ; they will take the 
 next that comes to hand, and content themselves with 
 earthly pleasures, rather than they will ascend to hea- 
 ven to leek it ; and yet when all is done, they must have 
 it there, or be without it. 
 
 4. A heart in heaven will be a most excellent preserv- 
 ative against temptations to sin. It will keep the heart 
 well employed. When we are idle, we tempt the devil 
 to tempt us; as careless persons make thieves. A heart 
 in heaven can reply to the tempter as Nehemiah did, 
 
 I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come.” It 
 hath no leisure to be lustful or wanton, ambitious or 
 worldly. If you were but busy in your lawful callings, 
 j ou would not be so ready to hearken to temptations; 
 much less if you were also busy above with God. Would 
 a judge be persuaded to rise from the bench, when he 
 is sitting upon life and death, to go and play with chil- 
 dren in the streets ? No more will a Christian, when he 
 is taking a survey of his eternal rest, give ear to the al- 
 luring charms of Satan. The children of that kingdom 
 should never have time for trifles, especially when they 
 are employed in the affairs of the kingdom; and this 
 employment is one of the saints’ chief preservatives 
 from temptations. 
 
 He who hath a heavenly mind is the freest from sin, 
 because he hath truer and livelier apprehensions of spi- 
 ritual things. He hath so deep an insight into the evil 
 of sin, the vanity of the creature, and the brutishness of 
 sensual delight, that temptations have little power over 
 him. In vain the net is spread,” says Solomon, ” in 
 the sight of any bird.” And usually in vain doth Satan 
 lay his snares to entrap the soul that plainly sees them. 
 Earth is the place for his temptations, and earth the or- 
 dinary bait ; and how shall these ensnare the Christian 
 wno hath left the earth, and walks with God t Is con- 
 verse with wise and learned men the wav to make one 
 
o Heavenly Life upon Earth. 203 
 
 tiise? much more is converse with God. If travellers 
 return home with wisdom and experience, how much 
 more he that travels to heaven 1 If our bodies are suit- 
 ed to the air and climate we must live in; his under- 
 standing must be fullest of light, who lives with the 
 Father of lights. 
 
 The men of the world, that dwell below, and know 
 no other but earthly conversation, no wonder if their 
 understanding is darkened, and Satan takes them cap- 
 tive at his will. How can worms and moles see, whose 
 dwelling is always in the earth? While this dust is in 
 their eyes, no wonder they mistake gain for godliness, 
 sin for grace, the world for God, their own will for the 
 law of Christ, and, in the issue, hell for heaven. But 
 when a Christian withdraws himself from his worldly 
 thoughts, and begins to converse with God in heaven, 
 mcthinks he is as Nebuchadnezzar, taken from the beasts 
 of the field to the throne, and his reason returneth unto 
 him. When he hath had a glimpse of eternity, and looks 
 down on the world again, how doth he charge with folly 
 his neglect of Christ, his fieshly pleasures, his earthly 
 cares! How doth he say to his laughter. It is mad ; and 
 to his vain mirth. What doth it? How doth he verily 
 think there is no man In bedlam so truly mad as wilful 
 sinners, and unworthy slighters of Christ and glory ! 
 This makes a dying man usually wiser than others, be- 
 cause he looks on eternity as near, and hath more heart- 
 piercing thoughts of it, than he ever had in health and 
 prosperity. Then many of the most bitter enemies of 
 the saints have their eyes opened, and, like Baalim, cry 
 out, “ O that I might die the death of the righteous, and 
 that ray last end might be like his 1’* Yet let the same 
 men recover, and lose their apprehensions of the life to 
 come, and how quickly do they lose their understand- 
 ing with it 1 Tell a dying sinner of the riches, honours 
 or pleasures of the world, and would he not answer. 
 
SI04 The importance oj teading 
 
 ** What is all this to me, who must presently appear be- 
 fore God, and give account of all my life ?’* Christian, 
 if apprehending the nearness of eternity will work such 
 strange effects upon the ungodly, and make them so 
 much wiser than before ; O what rare effects would it 
 produce in thee, if thou couldst always dwell in the views 
 of God, and lively thoughts of thy everlasting state 1 
 Surely a believer, if he improves his faith, may ordi- 
 narily have more quickening apprehensions of tTie life 
 to come, in the time of his health, than an unbeliever 
 bath at the hour of his death. 
 
 A heavenly mind is also fortified against temptations, 
 because the affections are thoroughly prepossessed with 
 the high delights of another world. He that loves roost, 
 and not he that only knows most, will most easily resist 
 the motions of sin. The will doth as sweetly relish 
 goodness, as the understanding doth truth ; and here 
 lies much of a Christian’s strength. When thou hast 
 had a fresh delightful taste of heaven, thou wilt not so 
 easily be persuaded from it. You cannot persuade a 
 child to part with its sweetmeats, while he hath the taste 
 in his mouth. 0 that you would be much in feeding on 
 the hidden manna,” and be frequently tasting the de- 
 lights of heaven 1 How would this confirm thy resolu- 
 tions, and make thee despise the fooleries of the world, , 
 and scorn to be treated with such childish toys 1 If the \ 
 devil had set upon Peter in the mount of transfiguration, 
 when he saw IVloses and Elias talking with Christ, would 
 he so easily have been drawn to deny his Lord 1 What, 
 with all that glory in his eye? No. So, if he should 
 set upon a believing soul, when he is taken up in the 
 mount with Christ, what would such a soul say ? ” Get I 
 thee behind me, Satan ; wouldst thou persuade me hence 
 with trifling pleasures, and steal my heart from this my 
 rest? Wouldst thou have me sell these joys for no- 
 thing ? Is there any honour or delight like this ? or can 
 
a llcareyily Life upon Earth, 201^ 
 
 t?iat DC profit for which I must lose this ?” But Satan 
 stays till we are come down, and the taste of heaven is 
 out of our mouths, and the glory we saw is even forgot- 
 ten, and then he easily deceives our hearts. Though the 
 Israelites below, eat, and drink, and rise up to play be- 
 fore their idol, Moses in the mount will not do so. Oh, 
 if we could keep the taste of our souls continually de- 
 lighted with the sweetness above, with what disdain 
 should we spit out the baits of sin 1 
 Besides, whilst the heart is set on heaven, a man is 
 under God’s protection. If Satan then assault us, God 
 is more engaged for our defence, and will doubtless stand 
 by us, and say, “ My grace is sufficient for thee.** When 
 a man is in the way of God’s blessing, he is in the less 
 danger of sin’s enticing. Amidst thy temptations, Chris- 
 tian reader, use much this powerful remedy ; keep close 
 to God by a heavenly mind ; follow your business above 
 with Christ, and you will find this a surer help than any 
 other. “ The way of life is above to the wise, that he 
 may depart from hell beneath,” Prov. xv. 24. Remem- 
 ber that ” Noah was a just man, and perfect in his gene- 
 ration for he ” walked with God ;’* and that God said 
 to Abraham, “ Walk before me, and be thou perfect.** 
 The diligent keeping your hearts in heaven, will main- 
 tain the vigour of all your graces, and put life into all 
 j’^ouf duties. The heavenly Christian is the lively Chris- 
 tian. It is our strangeness to heaven that makes us so 
 dull. How will the soldier hazard his life, and the ma- 
 riner pass through storms and waves, and no difficulty 
 keep them back, when they think of an uncertain pe- 
 rishing treasure ! What life, then, would it put into a 
 Christian’s endeavours, if he would frequently think of 
 his everlasting treasure I We run so slowly, and strive 
 so lazily, because we so little mind the prize. Observe 
 but the man who is much in heaven, and you shall see 
 he is not like other Christians; there is something of 
 
206 
 
 The Importance of leading 
 what he hath seen above, appeareth in all his duty and 
 conversation. I f a preacher, how heavenly his sermons ! 
 If a private Christian, what heavenly converse, prayers, 
 and deportment ! Set upon this employment, and others 
 will see “ the face” of your conversation ” shine,” and 
 say. Surely he hath been “with God in the mount.” 
 But if you lie complaining of deadness and dulness, that 
 you cannot love Christ, nor rejoice in his love, that you 
 have no life in prayer, nor any other duty ; and yet neg- 
 lect this quickening eraplojnnent ; you are the cause of 
 jmur own complaints. Is not thy live hid with Christ 
 in God? Where must thou go, but to Christ, for it? 
 and where is that, but to heaven, “ where Christ is ?” 
 “ Thou wilt not come to Christ, that thou mayest have 
 life.” 
 
 If thou wouldst have light and heat, why art thou no 
 more in the sunshine? If thou wouldst have more of 
 that grace which flow's from Christ, why art thou no 
 more with Christ for it ? Thy strength is in heaven, and 
 thy life is in heaven, and thence thou must daily fetch 
 it, if thou wilt have it. For want of this recourse to 
 heaven, thy soul is as a lamp that is not lighted, and thy 
 duties as a sacrifice which hath no fire. Fetch one coal 
 daily from this altar, and see if thy offering will not 
 burn. Light thy lamp at the flame, and feed it daily 
 with oil from thence, and see if it will not gloriously 
 shine. Keep close to this reviving fire, and see if thy 
 affections will not be warm. In thy want oflove to God, 
 lift up thy eye of faith to heaven, behold his beauty, 
 contemplate his excellences, and see whether his amia- 
 b’eness and perfect goodness will not ravish thy heart. 
 As exercise maintaineth appetite, strength, and vigour 
 of body ; so these heavenly exercises will quickly cause 
 the increase of grace and spiritual life. Besides, it is 
 not false or strange fire, which you fetch from heaven 
 for your sacrifices. The zeal which is kindled by your 
 
a Heavenly Ltje upon Earth, 20^ 
 
 Dieditalions on heaven, is most likely to be a heavenly 
 zeal. Some men’s fervency is drawn from books, and 
 some from the sharpness of affliction, and some from 
 the month of a moving minister, and some from the at- 
 tention of an auditory ; but he that knows this way to 
 heaven, and derives it daily from the true fountain, 
 shall have his soul revived with the water of life, and 
 enjoy that quickening which is peculiar to the saints. 
 
 “ By this faith thou mayest offer Abel’s sacrifice, more 
 excellent than” that of common men, and by it obtain 
 witness that thou art righteous, God testifying of thy 
 gifts,” that they are sincere. When others are ready, 
 like Baal’s priests, to cut themselves, because their sa- 
 crifices will not burn, thou mayest breathe the spirit of 
 Elijah, and, in the chariot of contemplation, soar aloft, 
 till thy soul and sacrifice gloriously flame, though the 
 flesh and the world should cast upon them all the water 
 of their opposing enmity. Say not. How can mortals 
 ascend to heaven 1 Faith hath wings, and meditation is 
 its chariot. Do you but see how a little piece of glass, 
 if it does but rightly face the sun, will so contract its 
 beams and heat, as to set on fire that to which it is di- 
 rected, which without it would have received but little 
 warmth. Faith is a burning-glass to thy sacrifice, and 
 meditation sets it to the face of the sun ; only take it 
 not away too soon, but hold it there awhile, and thy 
 soul will feel the happy effect. 
 
 Reader, art thou not thinking, when thou seest a lively 
 Christian, and hearest his lively fervent prayers, and 
 edifying discourse, '* O how happy a man is this! O 
 that my soul were in this blessed condition ! Why, I 
 here advise thee from God, set thy soul conscientiously 
 to this work, wash thee frequently in this Jordan, and 
 thy leprous dead soul will revive, ** and thou shalt 
 know that there is a God in Israel,” and that thou 
 mayest live a vigorous and joyful life, if thou dost not 
 vrilfully neglect thy own mercies. 
 
208 The Importance of leading 
 
 The frequent believing views of glory are the most 
 precious cordials in all afflictions. These cordials, by 
 cheering our spirits, render our sufferings far more easy ; 
 enable us to bear them with patience and joy ; and so 
 strengthen our resolutions, that we forsake not Christ 
 for fear of trouble. If the way be ever so rough, can it 
 be tedious, if it lead to heaven 1 O sweet sickness, 
 reproaches, imprisonments, or death, accompanied with 
 these tastes of our future rest I This keeps the suffer- 
 ing from the soul, so that it can only touch the flesh. 
 Had it not been for that little (alas I how little!) taste 
 which I had of rest, ray sufferings would have been 
 grievous, and death more terrible. I may say, “ I had 
 fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the 
 Lord in the land of the living,** “ Unless” this promised 
 rest ‘‘ had been ray delight, I should then have perislieJ 
 in mine affliction. One thing have I desired of the 
 Lord, that will I seek after ; that I may dwell in the 
 house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the 
 beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. For 
 in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion ; 
 in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me. He 
 shall set me upon a rock. And now shall mine head 
 be lifted up above mine enemies round about me. There- 
 fore will I ofler in his tabernacle sacrifice of jo}'^; I will 
 sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord,” Psa. xxvii. 
 13 ; cxix. 92 ; xxvii. 4 — 6. All sufferings are nothing to 
 us, so far as we have these supporting joys. When 
 persecution and fear have ‘‘ shut the doors,*’ Christ can 
 “come in, and stand in the midst, and say to his dis- 
 ciples, Peace be unto you.” Paul and Silas can be in 
 heaven, even when they are ” thrust into the inner 
 prison,” their bodies scourged with ** many stripes,** 
 and ‘‘their feet fast in the stocks.” The martyrs find 
 more rest in their flames, than their persecutors in 
 their pomp and tyranny j because they foresee the 
 
a Heavenly Life upon Earth. 2U*j 
 
 flames they escape, and-the rest which their fiery chariot 
 is conveying them to. If “ me Son of God” w'ill “ walk 
 with U8,” we are safe ” in the midstof’ those ‘‘ flames,” 
 which shall devour them that cast us in. Abraham 
 ** went out” of his country, “not knowing whither he 
 went;” because “he looked for a city which hath 
 foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Mc>ses 
 esteemed “the reproach of Christ greater riches than 
 the treasures in Egypt,” because “he had respect unto 
 the recompense of rew'ard.” “ He forsook Egypt, not 
 fearing the wrath of the king;” because “Vie endured 
 as seeing him who is invisible.” “ Others were tor* 
 tured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain 
 a better resurrection.” Even “Jesus, the author and 
 finisher of our faith, for the joy that was set before him, 
 endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down 
 at the right hand of the throne of God.” This is the 
 noble advantage of faith, it can look on the means and 
 end together. 
 
 This is the great reason of our impatience, and cen- 
 suring of God, because we gaze on the evil itself, but 
 fix not our thoughts on the objects beyond it. They 
 that see Christ only on the cross, or in the grave, do 
 “ shake their heads,” and think him lost; but God saw 
 him dying, buried, rising, glorified, and all this at one 
 view. Faith will in this imitate God, so far as it hath 
 the glass of a promise to help it. We see God burying 
 us under ground, but we foresee not the spring, when 
 we shall all revive. Could we but clearly see heaven, 
 as the end of ail God’s dealings w'ith us, surely none of 
 his dealings could be grievous. If God wculd once 
 raise us to this life, we should find, that though heaven 
 and sin are at a great distance ; yet heaven and a prison, 
 or banishment, heaven and the “ belly of a whale,” or n 
 “ den of lions,” heaven ana consuming sickness, or in- 
 vading death, are at no such distance. But as “ At:^ 
 
?I0 'fhe Importance of leading 
 
 ham saw Christ’s day, and rejoiced j so we, in our forlorn 
 state, might see that day when Christ shall give us rest, 
 and therein rejoice. 2 beseech thee, Christian, for the 
 honour of the gospel, and for thy soul’s comfort, be not 
 to learn this heavenly art, when in thy greatest ex- 
 tremity thou hast most need to use it. He that, with 
 Stephen, “ sees the glory of God, and Jesus standing on 
 the right hand of Grod,” will comfortably bear the 
 shower of stones. “ The joy of the Lord is our strength,” 
 and that joy must be fetched from the place of our joy ; 
 if we walk without our strength, how long are we likely 
 to endure 1 
 
 7. He that hath his conversation in heaven is a profit- 
 able Christian to all about him. When a man is in a 
 strange country, how glad is he of the company of one 
 of his own nation 1 How delightful is it to talk of their 
 own country, their acquaintance, and afiairs at home 1 
 With what pleasure did Joseph talk with his brethren, 
 and inquire after his father, and his brother Benjamin ! 
 Is it not so to a Christian, to talk with his brethren that 
 have been above, and inquire after his Father, and Christ 
 his Lord! When a worldly man will talk of nothing 
 but the world, and a politician of state affairs, and a 
 mere scholar of human learning, and a common professor 
 of his duties ; the heavenly man will be speaking of 
 heaven, and the strange glory his faith hath seen, and 
 our speedy and blessed meeting there. Oh, how re- 
 freshing and useful are his expressions ! How his words 
 pierce and melt the heart, and transform the hearers 
 into other men! How doth his doctrine “drop as the 
 rain, and his speech distil as the dew, as the small rain 
 upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass, 
 while his lips publish the name of the Ljrd, an-d ascribe 
 greatness unto his God !” Is not his sweet discourse of 
 heaven, like the box of precious ointment, which, being 
 ” poured on the head of Christ, filled the house with the 
 
a Heavenly Life upon Earth, 211 
 
 odour?” All that are near may be refreshed by it. 
 Happy the people that have a heavenly minister ! Happy 
 the children and servants that have a heavenly father or 
 master! Happy the man that hath a heavenly compa- 
 nion, who will watch over his ways, strengthen him 
 when weak, cheer him when drooping, and comfort him 
 with the comfort wherewith he himself hath been so 
 often comforted of God ! This is he that will be always 
 blowing at the spark of thy spiritual life, and drawing 
 thy soul to God, and will say to thee, as the Samaritan 
 woman, Come and see one that hath told me all that 
 ever I did 1” One that hath loved our souls to the death ! 
 “ Is not this the Christ !’* Is not the knowledge of God 
 and him, eternal life ! Is it not the glory of the saints, 
 to see his glory ? 
 
 Come to this man’s house, and sit at his table, and he 
 will feast thy soul with the dainties of heaven t travel 
 w'ilh him by the way, and he will direct and quicken 
 thee in thy journey to heaven ; trade with him in the 
 world, and he will counsel thee to buy ‘‘the pearl of 
 great price.” If thou wrong him, he can pardon thee, 
 remembering that Christ hath pardoned his greater 
 offences i if thou be angry, he is meek, considering the 
 meekness of his heavenly pattern : or, if he fall out with 
 you, he is soon reconciled, when he recollects that in 
 heaven you must be everlasting friends. 
 
 This is a Christian of the right stamp, and all about 
 him are the better for him. How unprofitable is the 
 society of all other sorts of Christians in comparison 
 with this I If a man should come from heaven, how 
 would men long to hear what reports he would make of 
 the other world, and what he had seen, and what the 
 blessed there enjoy ! Would they not think this man 
 the best companion, and his discourse the most profit- 
 able ? Why then do you value the company of saints 
 no more, and inquire no more of them, and relish their 
 
212 
 
 The fmportance of leading 
 discourses no better ? For every saint shall go to heaven 
 in person, and is frequently there in spirit, and hath 
 often viewed it in the glass of the gospel. For my part, 
 
 I had rather have the company of a heavenly-minded 
 Christian, than of the most learned disputants, or princely 
 wOrnmanders. 
 
 8. No man so highly honoureth God, as he whose con- 
 versation is in heaven. Is not a parent disgraced, when 
 his children feed on husks , are clothed in rags, and 
 keep company with none but rogues and beggars ? Is 
 it not so to our heavenly Father, when we, who call 
 ourselves his children, feed on earth ; and the garb of 
 our souls is like that of the naked world ; and our hearts 
 familiarly converse with, and cleave to the dust, rather 
 than stand continually in our Father’s presence 1 Surely 
 we live below the children of a king, not according to 
 the height of our hopes, nor the provision of our Fa- 
 ther’s house, and the great preparations made for his 
 saints. It is well we have a Father of tender bowels, 
 who will own his children in rags. It is w'ell that the 
 foundation of God standeth sure, and that the Lord 
 knoweth them that are his ; or he would hardly take us 
 fer his own, so far do we live below the honour of saints. 
 If he did not first challenge his interest in us, neither 
 ourselves, nor others, could know us to be his people. 
 But when a Christian can live above, and rejoice his 
 soul with the things that are unseen ; how is God ho- 
 noured by such a one ! The Lord will testify for him, 
 “ This man believes me, and takes me at my word ; he 
 rejoiceth in my promise, befcTre he hath possession ; he 
 can be thankful for what his bodily eyes never saw ; his 
 rejoicing is not in the flesh ; his heart is with me; he 
 loves my presence; and he shall surely enjoy it in my 
 kingdom for ever.” Blessed are they that have not 
 seen, and yet have believed.” ” Them that honour me, 
 1 will honour.” How did God esteem himself honoured 
 
u iicaveruy LfJ^ ui^on Earth. 213 
 
 by Caleb and Joshua, when they went into the promised 
 land, and brought back to their brethren a taste of the 
 fruits, and spake well of the good land, and encouraged 
 the people 1 What a promise and recompense did they 
 receive I 
 
 9. A soul that doth not set its affections on things 
 above, disobeys the commands, and loses the most gra- 
 cious and delightful discoveries of the word of God. 
 The same God that hath commanded thee to believe, 
 and to be a Christian, hath commanded thee to “seek 
 those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on 
 the right hand of God,” and to “ set your affections on 
 things above, not on things on the earth,” Col. iii. 1, 2. 
 The same God that hath forbidden thee to murder, steal, 
 or commit adultery, hath forbidden thee the neglect of 
 this great duty ; and darest thou wilfully disobey him ? 
 Why not make conscience of one, as well as the other? 
 He hath made it thy duty, as well as the means of thy 
 comfort, that a double bond may engage thee not to 
 forsake thy own mercies. Besides, what are all the 
 most glorious descriptions of heaven, all those disco- 
 veries of our future blessedness, and precious promises 
 of our rest, but lost to thee ? Are not these the stars in 
 the firmament of scripture, and the golden lines in that 
 book of God ? Methinks thou shouldst not part with 
 one of those promises, no, not for a world. 
 
 As heaven is the perfection of all our mercies, so the 
 promises of it in the gospel are the very soul of the gos- 
 pel. Is a comfortable word from the mouth of God of 
 such worth, that all the comforts in the world are no- 
 thing to it? And dost thou neglect and overlook so 
 many of them ? Why should God reveal so much of his 
 counsel, and tell us beforehand of the joys we shall 
 possess, but to make us know it for our joy ? If it had 
 not been to fill us with the delights of our foreknown 
 blessedness, he might have ke])t his purpose to himself. 
 
2 14 The Im portance of leading 
 
 and never have let us know it till we come to enjoy it. 
 Yea, when he had got possession of our rest, he might 
 still have concealed its eternity from us, and then the 
 fears of losing it would have much diminished the sweet- 
 ness of our joys. But it hath pleased our Father to open 
 counsel, and let us know the very intent of his heart, 
 that our joy might be full, and that we might live as the 
 heirs of such a kingdom. And ^hall we now overlook 
 all ? Shall we live in earthly cares and sorrows, and 
 rejoice no more in these discoveries, than if the Lord 
 had never written them ? If thy prince had but sealed 
 thee a patent of some lordship, how oft wouldst thou 
 cast thine eye upon it, and make it thy delightful study 
 till thou shouldst come to possess the dignity itself? 
 And hath God sealed thee a patent of heaven, and dost 
 thou let it lie by thee, as if thou hadst forgotten it? O 
 that our hearts were as high as our hopes, and our hopes 
 as high as these infallible promises! 
 
 10. It is but right that our hearts should be on God, 
 when the heart of God is so much on us. If the Lord 
 of glory can stoop so low, as to set his heart on sinful 
 dust, methinks we should easily be persuaded to set our 
 hearts on Christ and glory, and ascend to him, in our 
 daily affections, who so much condescends to us. Chris- 
 tian, dost thou not perceive, that the heart of God is 
 set upon thee, and that he is still minding thee with 
 tender love, even when thou forgettest both thyself and 
 him? Is he not following thee with daily mercies, 
 moving upon thy soul, providing for thy body, preserv- 
 ing both ? Doth he not bear thee continually in the 
 arms of his love, and promise that “ all things shall 
 work together for thy good,** and suit all his dealings to 
 thy greatest advantage, and ** give his angels charge 
 over thee ?** And canst thou be taken up with the joys 
 below, and forget thy Lord, who forgets not thee? 
 Unkind ingratitude ! When he speaks of his own kind 
 
a Heavenly Life upon Barth. tl5 
 
 ness for us, hear what he says, “ Zion said, The Lord 
 hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. 
 Can a woman forget her sacking child, that she should 
 not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, 
 they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I 
 have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy 
 walls are continually before me,** Isai. xlix. 14—16. 
 But when he speaks of our regards to him, the case is 
 otherwise. “ Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a 
 bride her attire ? yet my people have forgotten me days 
 without number,” Jer. ii. 32. As if he should say, 
 
 You will not rise one morning, and forget your vanity 
 of dress; and are these of more worth than 5 ’^our God, 
 of more iraportanc,’' than your eternal life? And yet 
 you can forget these day after day.** Let us not give 
 God cause thus to expostulate with us. Rather let our- 
 souls get up to God, and visit him every morning, and 
 our hearts be towards him every moment. 
 
 11. Should not our interest in heaven, and our relation 
 to it, continually keep our hearts upon it? There our 
 Father keeps his court. We call him, ‘‘Our Father 
 who art in heaven.** Unworthy children t that can be 
 so taken up in their play, as to be mindless of such a 
 Father. There also is Christ our Head, our Husband, 
 our Life ; and shall we not look towards him, and send 
 to him, as oft as we can, till we come to see him face to 
 face ? Since ” the heavens must receive him until the 
 limes of restitution of all things ;** let them also receive 
 our hearts with him. There also is ** New Jerusalem, 
 which is the mother of us all,** Gal. iv. 26. And there 
 are multitudes of our elder brethren. There are our 
 friends and old acquaintance, whose society, in the flesh, 
 we so much delighted in, and whose departure hence 
 we so much lamented 1 and is this not attractive to oui 
 thoughts? If they were within our reach on earth, 
 should we not go and visit thei ? and why not oftenei 
 
216 
 
 The Importance of leading 
 visit them in spirit, and rejoice beforehand to think of 
 meeting them there ? “ Socrates rejoiced that he should 
 die, because he believed he should see Homer, Hesiod, 
 and other eminent persons. How much more do I re- 
 joice said a pious old minister, “ who am sure to see 
 Christ my Saviour, the eternal Son of God in his assumed 
 flesh ; besides so many wise, holy, and renowned pa- 
 triarchs, prophets, apostles,” &c. A believer should 
 look to heaven, and contemplate the blessed state of 
 the saints, and think with himself, ” Though I am not 
 yet so happy as to be with you, yet this is my dally 
 comfort, you are my brethren and fellow'-members in 
 Christ, and therefore your joys are my joys, and your 
 glory, by this near relation, is my glory ! especially 
 while I believe in the same Christ, and hold fast the 
 same faith and obedience, by which you were thus 
 dignified, and rejoice in spirit with you, and congratu- 
 late your happiness in my daily meditations.” 
 
 Moreover, our house and home is above, ” For we 
 know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were 
 dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made 
 with hands, eternal in the heavens.” Why do w'e then 
 look no oftener towards it, and “groan, earnestly de- 
 siring to be clothed upon with our house which is from 
 heaven V* 2 Cor. v. 1, 2. If our home were far nearer, 
 surely we should remember it because it is our home. 
 If you w’ere banished into a strange land, how frequently 
 would your thoughts be at home ! And why is it not 
 thus in respect to heaven ? Is not that more truly and 
 properly our heme, where we must take up our ever- 
 lasting abode, than this, which we are every hour ex- 
 pecting to be separated from, and to see no more ? 
 
 We are strangers, and that is our country. We are 
 heirs, and that is our inheritance ; even ” an inheritance 
 incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, 
 reserved in heaven for us,” 1 Peter i. 4. We are here 
 
217 
 
 a Heaveniy Life upon Earth, 
 
 In continual distress and want, and th ore lies our sub- 
 stance; eren “abetter and an enduring substance,*’ 
 Ileb, X. 34. Yea, the very hope of our souls is there ; 
 all our hope of relief from our distresses ; all our hope 
 of happiness, w’hen here we are miserable : all this 
 hope is “ laid up for us in heaven,” Col. i. 5. Why be- 
 loved Christians, have we so much interest, and so few 
 thoughts there ? so near relation, and so little affection ? 
 Doth it become us to be so delighted in the company of 
 strangers, as to forget our Father and our Lord ? or to 
 be so well pleased with those that hate and grieve us, 
 and forget our best and dearest friends 1 or to be so fond 
 of borrowed trifles, as to forget our own possession and 
 treasure] or to be so much impressed with tears and 
 wants as to forget our eternal joy and rest ? God usually 
 pleads his propriety in us ; and thence concludes he will 
 do us good, even because we are his own people, whom 
 he hath chosen out of all the world : why then do we 
 iiOt plead our interest in him, and so raise our hearts 
 above ; seeing he is our own God, and because the place 
 is our own possession 1 Men commonly over-love and 
 over-value their own things, and mind them too much. 
 O that we could mind our own inheritance, and value 
 it half as much as it deserves 1 
 12. Once more consider, there is nothing but heaven 
 worth setting our hearts upon. If God have them not, 
 who shall? If thou mind not thy rest, what wilt thou 
 mind? Hast thou found out some other god ? Or some- 
 thing that will serve thee instead of rest? Hast thou 
 found on earth eternal happiness ? Where is it ? What 
 is it made of? Who was the man that found it out? 
 W^ho was he that last enjoyed it? W’here dwelt he? 
 What was his name ? Or art thou the first that discovered 
 heaven on earth? Ah, wretch 1 trust not to thy disco- 
 veries, boast not of thy gain, till experience bid thee 
 boast. Disquiet not thyself in looking for that which 
 270 P 
 
‘>18 
 
 The Importance of leading 
 is not on earth ; lest, with the loss of thy soul, thou 
 learn by experience what thou mightest have learned 
 on easier terms ; even by the warnings of God in his 
 word, and the loss of thousands of souls before thee. 
 If Satan should take thee up the ** mountain’* of tempt- 
 ation, “and show thee all the kingdoms of the world, 
 and the glory of them;’’ he could show thee nothing 
 that is worthy thy thoughts, much less to be preferred 
 before thy rest. Indeed, so far as duty and necessity 
 require it, we must be content to mind the things be- 
 low; but who is he that contains himself within the 
 compass of those limits ? And yet if we ever so dili- 
 gently contract our cares and thoughts, we shall find the 
 least to be bitter and burdensome. 
 
 Christian, see the emptiness of all these things, and 
 the preciousness of the things above. If thy thoughts 
 should, like the laborious bee, go over the world from 
 flower to flower, from creature to creature, they would 
 bring no honey or sweetness home, save what they ga- 
 thered from their relation to eternity. Though every 
 truth of God is truly precious, and ought to be defend- 
 ed, yet even all our study of truth should be still in re- 
 ference to our rest: for the observation is too true, 
 that the lovers of controversies in religion have never 
 been warmed with one spark of the love of God.” As 
 for minding the “ affairs of church and state,” so far 
 as they illustrate the providence of God, and tend to the 
 settling of the gospel and the government of Christ, and 
 consequently to the saving our souls, and those of our 
 posterity, they are well worth our diligent observation ; 
 but these are only their relation to eternity. Even all 
 our dealings in the world, our buying and selling, our 
 eating and drinking, our building and marrying, ou' 
 peace and war, so far as they relate not to the life to 
 come, but tend only to the pleasing of the flesh, are not 
 worthy the frequent thoughts of a Christian. And now 
 
a Heavenly Life upon Earth, 219 
 
 doth not thy conscience say, that there is nothing but 
 heaven, and the way to it, that is worth minding ? 
 
 Now, reader, are these considerations weighty, or not . 
 Have I proved it thy duty to keep thy heart on things 
 above, or have I not ? If thou say. Not, I am confident 
 thou contradictest thy own conscience. If thou acknow- 
 ledge thyself convinced of the duty, that very tongue of 
 thine shall condemn thee, and that confession be plead- 
 ed against thee, if thou wilfully neglectest such a con- 
 fessed duty. Be thoroughly willing, and the work is 
 more than half done. I have now a few plain directions 
 to give you for your help in this great work ; but, alas, it 
 is vain to mention them, except you be willing to put 
 them in practice. However, I will propose them to thee, 
 and may the Lord persuade thy heart to the work ! 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Directions how to live a Heavenly Life upon Earth, 
 
 As thou valuest the comfort of a heavenly conversation 
 I must here charge thee from God, to avoid carefully 
 some dangerous hinderances; and then, faithfully and 
 diligently to practice such duties as will especially as- 
 sist thee in attaining to a heavenly life. 
 
 I. The hinderances to be avoided with all possible 
 care, are, living in any known sin, an earthly mind, the 
 company of the ungodly, a notional religion, a proud 
 and lofty spirit, a slothful spirit, and resting in mere 
 preparations for this heavenly life, without any ac- 
 quaintance with the thing itself. 
 
 1. Living in any known sin is a grand impediment to 
 a heavenly conversation. What havoc will this make 
 in thy soul I O the joys that this hath destroyed ! the 
 ruin it hath made among men’s graces 1 the soul-strength- 
 ening duties it hath hindered I Christian reader, art 
 
Directions Mw to lead 
 
 220 
 
 thou one that has used violence with thy conscience ? 
 Art thou a wilful neglecter of known duties, either pul> 
 lio or private, social or secret ? Art thou a slave to thy 
 appetite, or to any other commanding sense ? Art thou 
 a proud seeker of applause ? Art thou a peevish and 
 passionate person, ready to take fire at every word, or 
 look, or supposed slight ? Art thou a deceiver of others 
 in thy dealings, or one that will be rich, right or wrong ? 
 If this be thy case, I dare say, heaven and thy soul are 
 very great strangers. These beams in thine eyes will 
 not suffer thee to look to heaven ; they will be a cloud 
 between thee and thy God. When thou dost but attempt 
 to study eternity, and gather comforts from the life to 
 come, thy sin will presently look thee in the face, and 
 say, “ These things belong not to thee. How shouldst 
 thou take comfort from heaven, who takest so much 
 pleasure in the lusts of the fiesh V* How long will this 
 damp thy joys, and make the thoughts of that day and 
 state, become thy trouble, apd not thy delight I Every 
 wilful sin will be to thy comforts, as water to the fire ; 
 when thou thinkest to quicken them, this will quench 
 them. It will utterly indispose and disable thee, that 
 thou canst no more ascend m divine meditation, than a 
 bird can fly when its wings are clipped. 
 
 Sin cuts the verj’^ sinews of this heavenly life. O man ! 
 what a life dost thou lose! What daily delights dost 
 thou sell for a vile lust ! If heaven and hell can meet 
 together, and God become a lover of sin, then maycst 
 thou live in thy sin, and in the taste of glory ; and have 
 a conversation in heaven, though thou cherish thy cor- 
 ruption. And take heed lest it banish thee from heaven, 
 as it does thy heart. And though thou be not guilty, 
 and knowest no reigning sin in thy soul, think what a 
 sad thing it would be, if ever this should prove thy 
 case. Watch, therefore; especially resolve to keep 
 thyself from the occasions of sin, and out of the way 
 
a Umvenly Life riprm t:arth. 321 
 
 of temptntion. WTiat need have we daily to pray, 
 “ Lead us not into temptation, but deliver ils from 
 evil r* 
 
 2. An earthly mind is another hinderance to be care- 
 fully avoided. God and mammon, earth and heaven, 
 cannot both have the delight of thy heart. When the 
 heavenly believer is blessing himself in his God, and 
 “ rejoicing in hope’* of the glory to come ; perhaps thou 
 art blessing thyself in thy worldly prosperity, and re- 
 joicing in hope of thy thriving here. When he is com- 
 forting his soul in the view of Christ, of angels, and 
 saints, whom he shall live with for ever ; then thou art 
 comforting thyself with thy wealth, in looking over thy 
 bills and bonds, thy goods, thy cattle, or thy buildings, 
 and in thinking of the favour of the great, of the plea- 
 sure of a plentiful estate, of larger provision for thy 
 children after thee, of the advancement of thy family, 
 or the increase of thy dependents. If Christ pronounced 
 him a fool that said, “ Soul, take thine ease, thou hast 
 enough laid up for many years how much more so 
 art thou, who knowingly speakest in thy heart the same 
 words ? Tell me, what difference between this fool’s 
 expressions and thy affections 1 
 
 Remember, thou hast to do with the Searcher of 
 Hearts. Certainly, so much as thou delightest, and 
 takest up thy rest on earth, so much of thy delight in 
 God is abated. Thine earthly mind may consist with 
 thy outward profession and common duties ; but it can- 
 not consist with this heavenly duty. Thou thyself know- 
 est how seldom and cold, how cursory and reserved, thy 
 thoughts have been of the joys above, ever since thou 
 didst trade so eagerly for the world. O the cursed mad- 
 ness of many that seem to be religious 1 They thrust 
 themselves into a multitude of employments, till they 
 are so loaded with labour, and clogged with care, that 
 their souls are as unfit to converse with God, as a mau 
 
m 
 
 Directions how to lead 
 
 to walk with a mountain on his back ; and as unapt to 
 soar in meditation, as their bodies to leap up to the sun ! 
 And when they have lost that heaven upon earth, which 
 they might have had, they take up with a few rotten 
 arguments to prove it lawful ; though, indeed, they 
 cannot. 
 
 I advise thee, Christian, who hast tasted the pleasures 
 of a heavenly life, as ever thou wouldst taste of them 
 any more, avoid this devouring gulph of an earthly 
 mind. If thou once come to this, that thou “wilt be 
 rich,** thou fallest into temptation and a snare, and into 
 many foolish and hurtful lusts,** 1 Tim, vi. 9. Keep 
 these things loose about thee, like thy upper garments, 
 that thou mayest lay them by whenever there is need ; 
 but let God and glory be next thy heart. Ever remem- 
 ber that “ the friendship of the world is enmity with 
 God. Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the 
 world, is the enemy of God,** James iv. 4. “ Love not 
 world, neither the things that are in the world. If any 
 man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him,** 
 I John ii. 15. This is plain dealing, and happy he that 
 faithfully receives it I 
 
 3. Beware of the company of the ungodly. Not that 
 I would dissuade thee from necessary converse, or from 
 . doing them any office of love ; especially, not from en- 
 deavouring the good of their souls, as long as thou hast 
 any opportunity or hope ; nor would I have thee con- 
 clude them to be dogs and swine, in order to evade the 
 duty of reproof: nor even to judge them such at all, as 
 long as there is any hope for the better : much less can 
 I approve of their practice, who conclude them dogs and 
 swine, before ever they faithfully and lovingly admon- 
 ish them, or perhaps before they have known them, or 
 spoken with them. But it is the unnecessary society of 
 ungodly men, and too much familiarity with unprofila- 
 ble companions, that I dissuade you from. 
 
c tleavenly Life upon Earth. 223 
 
 Not only the openly profane, the swearer, the drunk- 
 ard, and the enemies of godliness, will prove hurtful 
 companions to us, though these indeed are chiefly to 
 be avoided; but too frequent society with persons 
 merely civil and moral, whose conversation is empty 
 and unedifying, may much divert our thoughts from 
 heaven. Our backwardness is such, that we need the 
 most constant and powerful helps. A stone, or a clod, 
 is as fit to arise and fly in the air, as our hearts are 
 naturally to mote toward heaven. You need not hin- 
 der the rocks from flying up to the sky, it is sufficient 
 that you do not help them. And surely if our spirits 
 have not great assistance, they may easily be kept from 
 soaring upward, though they never should meet with 
 the least impediment. O think of this in the choice of 
 your companj' ! When your spirits are so disposed for 
 heaven, that you need no help to lift them up, but, as 
 flames, you are always mounting, and carrying with 
 you all that is in your way ; then you may indeed be 
 less careful of your company ; but till then, as you 
 love the delights of a heavenly life, be careful herein. 
 What will it advantage thee in a divine life to hear 
 how the market goes, or what the weather is, or is like 
 to be, or what news is stirring ? This is the discourse 
 of earthly men. 
 
 What will it conduce to the raising thy heart Godward, 
 to hear that this is an able minister, or that an eminent 
 Christian, or this an excellent sermon, or that an excellent 
 book, or to hear some difficult but unimportant contro- 
 versy ? Yet this, for the most part, is the sweetest dis- 
 course thou art like to have from a formal, speculative, 
 dead-hearted professor. Nay, if thou hadst been newly 
 warming thy heart in the contemplation of the blessed 
 joys above, would not this discourse benumb thy affec- 
 tions, and quickly freeze thy heart again ? I appeal to 
 the judgment of any man that hath tried it, and mak- 
 
224 
 
 JDirecHons how to lead 
 
 eth observations on the frame of his spirit. Men can- 
 not well talk of one thing and mind another, especially 
 things of such different natures. You, young men, who 
 are most liable to this temptation, think seriously of 
 what I say. Can you have your hearts in heaven, 
 among your roaring companions in an ale-house or 
 tavern T Or when you work in your shops with those 
 whose common language is oaths, “ filthiness, or foolish 
 talking, or jesting?” Nay, let me tell you, if you 
 choose such company when you might have better, and 
 find most delight in such, you are so far from a heavenly 
 conversation, that as yet you have no title to heaven at 
 all, and in that state shall never come there. If you*’ 
 treasure was there, your heart could not be on things so 
 distant. In a word, our company will be a part of our 
 happiness in heaven, and it is a singular part of our 
 lurtherance to it, or hinderance from it. 
 
 4. Avoid frequent disputes about lesser truths-, and 
 a religion that lies only in opinions. They are usually 
 least acquainted with a heavenly life, who are violent 
 disputers about the circumstantials of religion. He 
 whose religion is all in his opinions, will be most fre- 
 quently and zealously speaking his opinions; and he 
 whose religion lies in his knowledge and love of God 
 and Christ, will be most delightfully speaking of that 
 happy time when he shall enjoy them. He is a rare 
 and precious Christian, who is skilful to improve well- 
 known truths. Therefore let me advise you, who aspire 
 after a heavenly life, not to spend too much ot your 
 thoughts, your time, your zeal, or your speech, upon 
 disputes that less concern your souls ; but wnen hypo- 
 crites are feeding on husks or on shells, do you feed on 
 the joys above. I wish you were able to defend every 
 truth of God, and to this end would read and study ; 
 but still I would have the cnlef truths to be chiefly 
 •tudied. and none to cast out jour thougnts of eternity. 
 
a Hearenly Life upon Earth, 5f25 
 
 The least controverted points are usually most weif'hty, 
 and of most necessary frequent use to our souls. There- 
 fore study well such scripture precepts as these: “ Him 
 that is weak in the faith, receive ye, but not to doubt- 
 ful disputations/* Rora. xiv. 1. “ Foolish and unlearned 
 questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. 
 And the servant of the Lord must not strive,” 2 Tim. ii. 
 23, U4, ” Avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, 
 
 and contentions, and strivings about the law, for they 
 are unprofitable and vain,** Tit. iii. 9. ‘‘ If any man 
 
 teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, 
 even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the doc- 
 trine which is according to godliness ; he is proud, 
 knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes 
 of words ; whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil 
 surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, 
 and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is god- 
 liness ; from such withdraw thyself,” 1 Tim. vi. 3 — 5. 
 
 5. Take heed of a proud and lofty spirit. There is 
 such an antipathy between this sin and God, that thou 
 wilt never get thy heart near him, nor get him near thy 
 heart, as long as this prevaileth in it. If it cast the 
 angels out of heaven, it must needs keep thj^ heart from 
 heaven. If it cast our first parents out of paradise, and 
 separated between the Lord and us, and brought his 
 curse on all the creatures here below, it wdll certainly 
 keep our hearts from paradise, and increase the cursed 
 separation from our God. Intercourse with God will 
 keep men low, and that lowliness will promote their 
 intercourse. When a roan is used to be much with God, 
 and taken up in the study of his glorious attributes, he 
 abhors himself in dust and ashes? and that self-abhor- 
 rence is his best preparative to obtain admittance to 
 God again. Therefore after a soul-humbling day, or la 
 times of trouble, when the soul is lowest, it useth to 
 have freest access to God. and savour most of the uio 
 
T)frections 7iow to lead 
 
 above. The delight of God is in *‘hira that is poor, 
 and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at his word,*’ Isa. 
 Ixvi. 2 ; and the delight of such a soul is in God ; and 
 where there is mutual delight, there will be freest ad- 
 mittance, heartiest welcome, and most frequent con- 
 verse. But God is so far from dwelling in the soul that 
 is proud, that he will not admit it to any near access 
 “ the proud he knoweth afar off,” Ps. cxxxiii. 6j God 
 resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble,” 
 1 Pet. V. 5. 
 
 A proud mind is high in conceit, self-esteem, and 
 carnal aspiring ; a humble mind is high, indeed, in God’s 
 esteem, and in holy aspiring. These two sorts of high- 
 raindedness are most of all opposite to each other, as we 
 see most wars are between princes and princes, and not 
 between a prince and a ploughman. Well then, art 
 thou a man of worth in thine own eyes? Art thou 
 delighted when thou hearest of thy esteem with men, 
 and much dejected when thou hearest that they slight 
 thee? Dost thou love those best who honour thee, and 
 think meanly of them that do not, though they be other- 
 wise men of godliness and honesty? Must thou have 
 thy humours fulfilled, and thy judgment be a rule, and 
 thy word a law, to all about thee ? Are thy passions 
 kindled, if thy word or will be crossed? Art thou 
 ready to judge humility to be sordid baseness, and 
 knowest not how to submit to humble confession, when 
 thou hast thou sinned against God, or injured thy bro- 
 ther? Art thou one that lookest strange at the godly 
 poor, and art almost ashamed to be their companion 1 
 Canst thou not serve God, In a low place, as well as a 
 high ? Are thy boastings restrained more by prudence 
 or artifice, than humility? Dost thou desire to have 
 all men’s eyes upon thee, and to hear them say, ” This 
 is he ?” Art thou unacquainted with the deceitfqlnest 
 and wickedness of thy heart ? Art thou more ready to 
 
a Heavenly Life upon Earth. 221 
 
 defend thy innocence, than accuse thyself or confess 
 thy fault ? Canst thou hardly bear a close reproof, or 
 digest plain dealing ? 
 
 If these symptoms be undeniably in thy heart, thou 
 art a proud person. There is too much of hell abiding 
 in thee, to have any acquaintance with heaven ; thy 
 soul is too like the devil, to have any familiarity with 
 God. A proud man makes himself his god, and sets up 
 himself as his idol ; how then can his affections be set on 
 God ? How can he possibly have his heart in heaven 1 
 Invention and memory may possibly furnish his tongue 
 with humble and heavenly expressions, but in his spirit 
 there is no more heaven than there is humility. I speak 
 the more of it, because it is the most common and dan- 
 gerous sin, and most promotes the great sin of infidelity. 
 
 O Christian 1 if thou wouldst live continually in the 
 presence of thy Lord, lie in the dust, and he will thence 
 take thee up. "Learn of him to be meek and lowly, 
 and thou shalt find rest unto thy soul," Matt. xi. 29. 
 Otherwise thy soul will be " like the troubled sea, when 
 it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt," 
 Isa. Ivii. 20 ; and instead of these sweet delights in God, 
 thy pride will fill thee with perpetual disquiet. As he 
 " that humbleth himself as a little child," shall hereafter 
 " be greatest in the kingdom of heaven," Matt, xviii. 4, 
 so shall he now be greatest in the foretastes of that king- 
 dom. " God dwells with a humble and contrite spirit, 
 to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the 
 heart of the contrite ones," Isa. Ivii. 15. Therefore 
 " humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he 
 shall lift you up," James iv. 10. And when " others are 
 cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up, and 
 he shall save the humble person," Job. xxii. 29. 
 
 6. A slothful spirit is another impediment to this hea- 
 venly life. And I verily think, there is nothing hinders 
 .tmore than this, in men of a good understanding. If 
 
Directions how to lecul 
 
 22»j 
 
 it were only the exercise of the boay, moving of the 
 lips, and bending of the knee, men would as commonly 
 step to heaven, as they go to visit a friend ; but to separ- 
 ate our thoughts and affections from the world, to draw 
 forth all our graces, and increase each, and hold them 
 to it till the work prospers in our hands ; this, this is 
 the difficulty. 
 
 Reader, heaven is above thee, and dost thou think to 
 travel this steep ascent without labour and resolution? 
 Canst thou get that earthly heart to heaven, and bring 
 that backward mind to God, while thou liest still, and 
 takest thine ease ? if lying down at the foot of a hill, 
 and looking toward the top, and wishing we were there, 
 would serve the turn, then we should have daily travel- 
 lers for heaven. But “ the kingdom of heaven suffereth 
 Violence, and the violent take it by force,** Matt. xi. 12. 
 There must be violence used to get these first-fruits, as 
 well as to get the full possession. Dost thou not feel it 
 so, though I should not tell thee? Will thy heart get 
 upwards, except thou drive it? Thou knowest that 
 heaven is all thy hopes; that nothing below can yield 
 thee rest ; that a heart, seldom thinking of heaven, can 
 fetch but little comfort thence ; and yet dost thou not 
 lose thy opportunities, and lie below, when thou shouldst 
 walk above and live with God ? Dost thou not commend 
 the sweetness of a heavenly life, and judge those the best 
 Christians who use it, and yet never try it thyself? As 
 the sluggard that stretches himself on his bed, and cries, 
 O that this were working 1 so dost thou t^lk, trifle, and 
 live at thine ease, and say, O that I could get my heart 
 to heaven I How many read books and hear sermons, 
 expecting to hear of some easier way, or to meet with a 
 shorter course to comfort than they are ever likely to 
 find in scripture ? Or they ask for directions for a hea- 
 venly life, and if the hearing them wi.!! serve, they wiii 
 be heavenly Christians ! but if we show them their work. 
 
a Heavenly Life upon Earth, 229 
 
 and tell them they cannot have these delights on easier 
 terms, then they leave us, as the young man left Christ, 
 sorrowful. 
 
 If thou art convinced, reader, that this work is neces- 
 sary to thy comfort, set upon it resolutely ; if thy heart 
 draw back, force it on with the command of reason ; 
 if thy reason begin to dispute, produce the command of 
 God, and urge thy own necessity, with the other consi- 
 derations suggested in the former chapter. Let not such 
 an incomparable treasure lie before thee, wdth thy hand 
 in thy bosom ; nor thy life be a continual vexation, when 
 it might be a continual feast, only because thou wilt not 
 exert thyself. Sit not still with a disconsolate spirit, 
 while comforts grow before thine eyes, like a man in the 
 midst of a garden of flowers, that wdll not rise to get 
 them, and partake of their sweetness. This I know, 
 Christ is the fountain ; but the w.ell is deep, and thou 
 must most assuredly get forth this water before thou 
 canst be refreshed by it. I know, so far as you are 
 spiritual, you need not all this striving and violence; 
 but in part you are carnal, and, as long as it is so, there 
 is need of labour. It was a custom of the Parthians, not 
 to give their children any meat in the morning, before 
 they saw the sweat on their faces with some labour. 
 And you shall find this to be God’s usual course, not to 
 give his children the taste of his delights, till they begin 
 to sweat in seeking after them. Judge, therefore, whe- 
 ther a heavenly life, or thy carnal ease, be better ; and 
 as a wise man, make thy choice accordingly. Yea, let 
 me add for thy encouragement. Thou needest not em- 
 ploy thoughts more than thou dost; it is only to fix 
 them upon better and more pleasant objects. Employ 
 but as many serious thoughts every day upon the excel- 
 lent glory of the life to come, as thou now dost on 
 worldly affairs, yea, on vanities and impertinences, and 
 thy heart will soon be at heaven. 
 
Directions how to lead 
 
 230 
 
 On the whole, it is “ the field of the slothful, that is 
 all grown over with thorns and nettles ; and the desire 
 of the slothful killeth his joj^s, for his hands refuse to 
 labour ; and it is the slothful man saith. There is a lion 
 in the way, a lion is in the streets. As the door turneth 
 upon its hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed. The 
 slothful hideth his hand in his bosom, it grieveth him to 
 bring it again to his mouth,” though it be to feed himself 
 with the food of life, Prov. xxiv. 30, 31 ; xxi. 25 ; xxvi. 
 13 — 15. What is this but throwing away our consola- 
 tions, and consequently the precious blood that bought 
 them ? For ‘* he that is slothful in his work is brother 
 to him that is a great waster,” Prov. xviii. 9. Apply 
 this to thy spiritual work, and study well the meaning 
 of it. 
 
 7. Contentment with the mere preparatives to this 
 heavenly life, while we are utter strangers to the life 
 itself, is also a dangerous and secret hinderance : when 
 we take up with the mere study of heavenly things, and 
 the notions of them, or the talking with one another 
 about them ; as if this were enough to make us heavenly. 
 None are in more danger of this snare, than those who 
 are employed in leading the devotion of others, especially 
 preachers of the Gospel. O how easily may such be 
 deceived I While they do nothing so much as read and 
 study of heaven ; preach and pray, and talk of heaven ; 
 is not this the heavenly life 1 Alas I all these are but 
 mere preparations. This is but collecting the materials, 
 not erecting the building itself: it is but gathering the 
 manna of others, and not eating and digesting it ourselves. 
 
 As he that sits at home may draw exact maps of coun- 
 tries, and yet never see them, nor travel towards them ; 
 so may you describe to others the joys of heaven, and 
 yet never come near it in your own hearts. A blind 
 man, by learning, may dispute of light and colours ; so 
 may you set forth to others that heavenly light, which 
 
a Heavenly Life upon Earth, 231 
 
 never enlightened your own souls, and bring that fire for 
 the hearts of your people, which never warmed your own 
 hearts. What heavenly passages had Balaam in his pro- 
 phecies, yet how little of it in his spirit 1 Nay, we are 
 under a more subtle temptation than any other men, to 
 draw us from this heavenly life. Studying and preach- 
 ing of heaven more resembles a heavenly life, than 
 thinking and talking of the world does ; and the resem- 
 blance is apt to deceive us. This is to die the most mi- 
 serable death, even to famish ourselves, because we have 
 bread on our tables ; and to die for thirst while we draw 
 water for others, thinking it enough that we have daily 
 to do with it, though we never drink for the refreshment 
 of our own souls. 
 
 II. Having thus showed thee what hinderances will 
 resist thee in the work, I expect that thou resolve against 
 them, consider them seriously and avoid them faithfully, 
 or else thy labour will be in vain. I must also tell thee, 
 that I here expect thy promise, as thou valuest the de- 
 lights of these foretastes of heaven, to make conscience 
 of performing the following duties ; the reading of which, 
 without their constant practice, will not bring heaven 
 into thy heart. Particularly, be convinced that heaven 
 is the only treasure and happiness ; labour to know that 
 it is thy own ; — and how near it is ; — frequently and 
 seriously talk of it ; endeavour to raise thy affections 
 nearer to it in every duty ; — to the same purpose improve 
 every object and event ; be much in the evangelical work 
 of praise ; — possess thy soul with believing thoughts of 
 the infinite love of God ; — carefully observe and cherish 
 the motions of the Spirit of God nor even neglect the 
 due care of thy bodily health, 
 
 1. Be convinced that heaven is the only treasure and 
 happiness, and labour to know what a treasure and 
 happiness it is. If thou do not believe it to be the chief 
 good, thou wilt never set thy h^^rt upon it : and this 
 
232 
 
 Directions now to lead 
 
 conviction must sink into thy affections ; for if it be Oniy 
 a notion, it will have little efficacy. If Eve once sup- 
 poses she sees more worth in the forbidden fruit, than 
 in the love and enjoyment of God, no wonder it has 
 more of her heart than God. If your judgment once 
 prefer the delights of the flesh, before delight in the pre- 
 sence of God, it is impossible your heart should be in 
 heaven. As it is ignorance of the emptiness of things 
 below, that makes men so over-value them ; so it is ig- 
 norance of the high delights above, which is the cause 
 that men so little mind them. If you see a purse of 
 gold, and believe it to be but counters, it will not entice 
 your affections to it. It is not the real excellence of a 
 thing itself, but its known excellence, that excites de- 
 sire. If an ignorant man see a book containing the se- 
 crets of arts and sciences, he values it no more than a 
 common piece, because he knows not what is in it ; but 
 he that knows it, highly values it, and can even forbear 
 his meat, drink, and sleep, to read it. As the Jews 
 killed the Messiah while they waited for him, because 
 they did not know him ; so the world cries out for rest, 
 and busily seeks for delight and happiness, because 
 they know it not ; for did they thoroughly know what 
 it is, they could not so slight the everlasting treasure. 
 
 2. Labour also to know that heaven is thy own hap- 
 piness. We may confess heaven to be the best condi- 
 tion, though we despair of enjoying it ; and we may de- 
 sire and seek it, if we see the attainment but probable ; 
 but we can never delightfully rejoice in it, till we are in 
 some measure persuaded of our title to it. WTiat com- 
 fort is it to a man that is naked, to see the rich attire of 
 others? What delight is it for a man that hath not a 
 house to put his head in, to see the sumptuous buildings 
 of others ? Would not all this rather Increase his an- 
 guish, and make him more sensible of his own misery ? 
 So, for a man to know the excellences of heaven, and 
 
a Heavenly Life upon Earth. 233 
 
 not know whether ever he shall eujuy them, may raise 
 desire, and urge pursuit, but he will have little joy. 
 Who will set his heart on another man’s possessions? 
 If your houses, your goods, your cattle, your children, 
 w^ere not your own, you would less mind them, and less 
 delight in them. O Christian! rest not, therefore, till 
 you can call this rest your own: bring thy heart to the 
 bar of trial; set the qualifications of the saints on one 
 side, and of thy soul on the other, and then judge how 
 nearly they resemble. Thou hast the same word to 
 judge thyself by now, as thou must be judged by at the 
 great day. Mistake not the scripture’s description of a 
 saint; that thou neither acquit nor condemn thyself 
 upon mistakes. For, as groundless hopes tend to confu- 
 sion, and are the greatest cause of most men’s damna- 
 tion ; so groundless doubts tend to, and are the great 
 cause of, the saints* perplexity and distress. Therefore 
 lay thy foundation for trial safely, and proceed in the 
 work deliberately and resolutely, nor give over till thou 
 canst say, either thou hast, or thou hast not yet, a title 
 to this rest. Oh 1 if men did truly know God was their 
 Father, and Christ their own Redeemer and Head, and 
 that those are their own everlasting habitations, and 
 that there they must abide and be happy for ever ; how 
 could they choose but be transported with the fore- 
 thoughts thereof? If a Christian could but look upon 
 sun, moon, and stars, and reckon all his own in Christ, 
 and say, ** These are the blessings that my Lord hath 
 procured me, and things incomparably greater than 
 these ;” what holy raptures would his spirit feel I 
 The more do they sin against their own comforts, as 
 well as against the grace of the gospel, who plead for 
 their unbelief, and cherish distrustful thoughts of God, 
 and injurious thoughts of their Redeemer ; who represent 
 the covenant as if it were of works, and not of grace ; 
 and Christ as an enemy*^ rather than a Saviour ; as if he 
 270 Q 
 
834 
 
 Directions Tiow to lead 
 were willing they should die in their unbelief, when he 
 nath invited them so often, and so atFectionately, and 
 suflered the agonies that they should suffer. Wretches 
 that we are I to be keeping up jealousies of our Lord, 
 when we should be rejoicing in his love. As if any man 
 could choose Christ, before Christ hath chosen him, or 
 any man were more willing to be happy, than Christ is 
 to make him happy. Away with these injurious, if not 
 blasphemous, thoughts 1 if ever thou hast harboured 
 such thoughts in thy breast, cast them from thee, and 
 take heed how thou ever entertainest them more. God 
 hath written the names of his people in heaven, as you 
 use to write your names, or marks, on your goods; 
 and shall we be attempting to raze them out, and to 
 write them on the gates of hell ? But blessed be “ God, 
 wliose foundation standeth sure,** 2 Tim. ii. 19 ; and who 
 “ keepeth us by his power through faith unto salva- 
 tion,” 1 Pet. i. 5. 
 
 3 Labour to apprehend how near thy rest is. What 
 we think near at hand, we are more sensible of, than 
 that which we behold at a distance. When judgments 
 or mercies are far off, we talk of them with little con- 
 cern ; but when they draw close to us, we tremble at 
 or rejoice in them. This makes men think on heaven 
 so insensibly, because they conceit it at too great a dis- 
 tance ; they look on it as twenty, thirty, or forty years 
 off. How much better were it to receive ‘‘ the sentence 
 of death in ourselves,*’ 2 Cor. i. 9, and to look on eter- 
 nity as near at hand 1 While 1 am thinking and writ- 
 ing of it, it hasteth near, and I am even entering into it 
 before I am aware. While thou art reading this, who- 
 ever thou art, time posteth on, and thy life will be gone, 
 
 as a tale that is told.** If you verily believed you 
 should die to-morrow, how seriously would you think 
 of heaven to-night 1 When Samuel had told Saul *‘ To- 
 njorrow shall thou be with me ;’* this struck him to the 
 
a IJeaverivy Life upon Earth, 235 
 
 heart. And if Christ should say to a belienng soul, 
 To-raorrow shall thou be with me, this would bring him 
 to heaven beforehand. Do but suppose that you are 
 still entering into heaven, and it will greatly help you 
 more seriously to mind it. 
 
 4. Let thy eternal rest be the subject of thy frequent 
 serious discourse ; more especially with those who can 
 speak from their hearts, and are seasoned themselves 
 with a heavenly nature. It is pity Christians should 
 ever meet together, without some talk of their meeting 
 in heaven, or of the way to it, before they part : it is 
 pity so much time is spent in vain conversation, and 
 useless disputes, and not a serious word of heaven among 
 
 them. Methinks we should meet together on purpose, 
 to warm our spirits with discoursing of our rest. To 
 hear a Christian set forth that blessed, glorious state, 
 with life and power, from the promises of the gospel, 
 methinks should make us say, “ Did not our heartburn 
 within us, while he opened to us the scriptures V* Luke 
 xxiv. 32. If a Felix will tremble, when he hears his 
 judgment powerfully represented, why should not the 
 believer be revived, when he hears his eternal rest de- 
 scribed? Wicked men can be delighted in talking to- 
 gether of their wickedness ; and should not Christians, 
 
 then, be delighted in talking of Christ ? and the heirs of 
 heaven in talking of their inheritance ? This may make 
 our hearts revive, as it did Jacob’s to hear the message 
 that called him to Goshen, and to see the chariots that 
 should bring him to Joseph. O that we were furnished 
 with skill and resolution, to turn the stream of men’s 
 common discourse to these more sublime and precious 
 things I And when men begin to talk of things unpro- 
 fitable, O that we could tell how to put in a word for 
 heaven, and say, as Peter of his bodily food, ** Not so, 
 for I have never eaten any thing that is common or un- 
 clean,” O the good that we might both do and receive 
 
236 
 
 T irectiom how to lead 
 
 by this course ! Had it not been to deter us from un- 
 profitable conversation, Christ would not have talked ol 
 OUT “ giving an account of every idle word in the day of 
 judgment,*’ Matt, xii, 36. Say then, as the psalmist, 
 when you are in company, “ Let my tongue cleave 
 to the roof of my mouth, if I prefer not Jerusalem 
 above my chief joy,” Psa. cxxxvii. 6. Then you shall 
 find it true, that ” a wholesome tongue is a tree of life,” 
 Prov. XV. 4. 
 
 5. Endeavour, in every duty, to raise thy affections 
 nearer to heaven. God’s end in the institution of his 
 ordinances was, that they should be as so many steps to 
 advance us to our rest, and bj^ which, in subordination 
 to Christ, we might daily ascend in our aff< ctions. Let 
 this be thy end in using them, and doubtless they will 
 not be unsuccessful. How have you been rejoiced by 
 a few lines from a friend, when you could not see him 
 face to face 1 And may we not have intercourse with 
 God in his ordinances, though our persons be yet so 
 far remote? May not our spirits rejoice in reading 
 those lines, which contain our legacy and charter for 
 heaven ? With gladness and triumph may we read the 
 expressions of divine love, and hear of our celestial 
 country, thouu'h we have not yet the happiness to be- 
 hold it 1 Men that are separated by sea and land, can 
 by letters carry on great and gainful trades ; and may 
 not a Christian, in the wise improvement of duties, drive 
 on this happy trade for rest 1 
 Come then, renounce formality, custom, and applause, 
 and kneel down in secret or public prayer, with hope 
 to get thy heart nearer to God before thou risest up. 
 When thou openest thy bible, or other book, hope to 
 meet with some passage of divine truth, and such bless- 
 ing of the Spirit with it, as will give thee a fuller taste 
 of heaven. When thou art going to the house of God, 
 say, ” 1 hope to meet with somewhat uom God to raise 
 
237 
 
 a Heaven fy Life upon Tlarth. 
 my affections, before I return; I hope the Spirit will 
 give me the meeting, and sweeten my heart with those 
 celestial delights ; I hope Christ will ‘ appear to me in 
 that way, and shine about me with light from heaven,* 
 let me hear his instructing and reviving voice, and cause 
 the * scales to fall from mine eyes,* that I may see more 
 of that glory than I ever yet saw. I hope, before I re- 
 turn, my Lord will bring my heart within a view of rest, 
 and set it before his Father’s presence, that I may re- 
 turn as the shepherds, from the heavenly vision, ‘ glori- 
 fying and praising God for all the things 1 have heard 
 and seen.*” When the Indians first saw that the English 
 could converse together by letters, they thought there 
 was some spirit enclosed in them. So would by-standers 
 admire when Christians have communion with God in 
 duties, what there is in those scriptures, in that sermon, 
 in this prayer, that fills their heart so full of joj’, and so 
 transports them above themselves. Certainly God would 
 not fail us in our duties, if we did not fail ourselves. 
 Remember, therefore, always to pray for your minister, 
 that God would put some divine message into his mouth, 
 which may leave a heavenly relish on your spirit. 
 
 6. Improve every object and every event, to remind 
 thy soul of its approaching rest. As all providences and 
 creatures are means to our rest, so they point us to that 
 as their end. God*s sweetest dealings with us at the 
 present, would not be half so sweet as they are, if they 
 did not intimate some further sweetness. Thou takest 
 but the bare earnest, and overlookest the main sum, 
 when thou receives! thy mercies, and forgettest thy 
 crown. O that Christians were skilful in this artl You 
 can open your bibles; learn to open the volumes of 
 creatures and providences, to read there also of God and 
 glory. Thus we might have a fuller taste of Christ and 
 heaven in every common meal, than most men have in 
 a sacrament. If thou prosner in the world, let it make 
 
238 
 
 DirecUons how to lead 
 
 thee more sensible of thy perpetual prosperity. If thou 
 art weary with labour, let it make the thoughts of thy 
 eternal rest more sweet. If things go cross, let thy 
 desires be more earnest to have sorrows and sufferings 
 for ever cease. Is thy body refreshed with food, or 
 sleep? remember the inconceivable refreshment with 
 Christ. Dost thou hear any good news ? remember 
 what glad tidings it will be, to hear the trump of God, 
 and the applauding sentence of Christ. Art thou de- 
 lighted with the society of the saints? remember what 
 the perfect society in heaven will be. Is God com- 
 municating himself to thy spirit ? remember the time of 
 thy highest advancement, when both thy communion 
 and joy shall be full. Dost thou hear the raging noise 
 of the wicked, and the confusion of the world ? think of 
 the blessed harmony in heaven. Dost thou hear the 
 b'mpest of war ? remember the day, when thou shalt 
 be in perfect peace, under the wings of the Prince of 
 Peace for ever. Thus, every condition and creature, 
 affords us advantages for a heavenly life, if w'e had but 
 hearts to improve them. 
 
 7. Pe much in the angelical work of praise. The 
 more heavenly the employment, the more will it make 
 the spirit heavenly. Praising God is the work of angels 
 and saints in heaven, and will be our own everlasting 
 work ; and if we were more in it now, we should be 
 more like what we shall be then. As desire, faith, and 
 hope, are of shorter continuance than love and joy ; so 
 also preaching, prayer, and sacraments, and all means 
 for expressing and confirming our faith and hope, shall 
 cease, when our triumphant expressions of love and joy 
 shall abide for ever. The liveliest emblem of heaven 
 that I know upon earth, is, when the people of God in 
 deep sense of his excellence and bounty, from hearts 
 abounding with love and joy, join together, both in 
 lieart and voice, in the cheerful and melodious singing 
 
« tZemeniy Life upon EariK 23(> 
 
 of bis praises. These delights, like the testimony of 
 the Spirit, witness themselves to be of God, and brinR 
 the evidence of their heavenly parentage along with 
 them. 
 
 Little do we know how we wrong ourselves by shut- 
 ting out of our prayers the praises of God, or allowing 
 them so narrow a room as we usually do, while we are 
 copious enough in our confessions and petitions. Reader, 
 I entreat thee, remember this ; let praises have a larger 
 room in thy duties ; keep matter ready at hand to fee«l 
 thy praise, as well as matter for confession and petition 
 To this end, study the excellences and goodness of tht 
 Lord, as frequently as thy own wants and unworthincss 
 the mercies thou hast received, and those which are pro- 
 mised, as often as the sins thou hast committed. “ Prais« 
 is comely for the upright.” ” Whoso oflfereth prais< 
 glorifieth God.” “Praise the Lord, for the Lord is 
 good ; sing praises unto his name ; for it is pleasant,” 
 Psa. xxxiii. 1 ; 1. 23 ; cxxxv. 3. “ Let us offer the sa- 
 crifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of 
 our lips, giving thanks to his name,” Ileb. xiii. 15. Ha(t 
 not David a most heavenly spirit, who was so much ii. 
 this heavenly work 1 Doth it not sometimes raise out 
 hearts, when we only read the song of Moses, and the 
 psalms of David ? How much more would it raise and 
 refresh us, to be skilful and frequent in the work our- 
 selves. 
 
 Oh the madness of youth, that lay out their vigour of 
 body and mind upon vain delights and fleshly lusts, which 
 are so unfit for the noblest work of man 1 And oh, the 
 sinful folly of many of the saints, who drench their 
 spirits in continual sadness, and waste their days in 
 complaints and groans, and so make themselves, both in 
 body and mind, unfit for this sweet and heavenly work ! 
 Instead of joining with the people of God in his praises, 
 they are questioning their worthiness, and studying 
 
240 
 
 Directions hotp to teaa 
 
 tlieir miseries; and so rob God of his glory, and them- 
 selves of their consolation. But the greatest destroyer 
 of our comfort in this duty, is our taking up with the 
 tune and melody, and suffering the heart to be idle, 
 which ought to perform the principal part of the work, 
 and use the melody to revive and exhilarate itself. 
 
 8. Ever keep thy soul possessed with believing thoughts 
 of the infinite love of God. Love is the attractive of 
 love. Few so vile, but will love those who love them. 
 No doubt it is the death of our heavenly life, to have 
 hard thoughts of God, to conceive of him as one that 
 would rather damn than save us. This is to put the 
 blessed God into the similitude of Satan. When ou; 
 ignorance and unbelief have drawn the most deformed 
 picture of God in our imaginations, then we complain 
 that we cannot love nim, nor delight in him. This is 
 the case of many thousand Christians. Alas, that we 
 should thus blaspheme God, and blast our own joys! 
 Scripture assures us, that “ God is love,” 1 John. iv. 16 
 that ” fury is not in him,” Isa. xxvii. 4. that ” he hat)' 
 :io pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the 
 wicked turn from his way and live,” Ezek. xxxiii. 11. 
 
 luch more hath he testified his love to his chosen, and 
 nis full resolution effectually to save them. O that we 
 «ould always think of God, as we do of a friend ; as of 
 one that unfeignedly loves us, even more than we do 
 ourselves ; whose very heart is set upon us to do us good, 
 and hath therefore provided for us an everlasting dwell- 
 ing with himself ; it would not then be so hard to have 
 our hearts ever with him I Where we love most heartily, 
 we shall think most sweetly and most freely. 1 fear 
 most Christians think higher of the love of a hearty friend, 
 than of the love of God ; and what wonder then if they 
 love their friends better than God, and had rather live 
 with them tha'u with God 1 
 
 9. Carefully observe and cherish the motions of the 
 
a Heavenly Life upon Earth, 24\ 
 
 Spirit of God. If ever thy soul get above this earth, arc 
 get acquainted with this heavenly life, the Spirit of God 
 must be to thee, as the chariot to Elijah ; yea, the very 
 living principle by which thou must move and ascend. 
 O then, grieve not thy guide, quench not thy life, knock 
 not off thy chariot- wheels 1 You little think how much 
 the life of all your graces, and the happiness of your 
 souls, depend upon jmur ready and cordial obedience to 
 the Spirit. When the Spirit urges thee to secret prayer, 
 or forbids thee thy known transgressions, or points out 
 to thee the way in which thou shouldst go, and thou 
 wilt not regard, no w'onder if heaven and thy soul be 
 strange. If thou wilt not follow the Spirit, while it 
 would draw thee to Christ and thy duty; how should it 
 lead thee to heaven, and bring thy heart into the pre- 
 sence of God ? What supernatural help, what bold access, 
 shall the soul find in its approaches to the Almighty, 
 that constantly obe5^s the Spirit! And how backward, 
 how dull, how ashamed, will he be in these addresses, 
 who hath often broken away from the Spirit that would 
 have guided him ! Christian reader, dost thou not feel 
 sometimes a strong impression to retire from the world, 
 and draw near to God? Do not disobey, but take the 
 ofier, and hoist up thy sails while this blessed gale may 
 be had. The more of this Spirit we resist, the deeper 
 will it wound ; anf^. the more we obey, the speedier will 
 be our peace. 
 
 10. I advise thee, as a farther help to this heavenly 
 life, not to neglect the due care of thy bodily health. 
 Thy body is a useful servant, if thou give it its due, and 
 no more than its due ; but it is a most devouring tyrant 
 if thou suffer it to have what it unreasonably desires ; 
 and it is as a blunted knife, if thou unjustly deny it what 
 is necessary to its support. Whon we consider how 
 frequently men offend on both extremes, and how few 
 use their bodies aright, we cannot wonder if they be much 
 
242 The Nature of 
 
 hindered in their converse with heaven. Most men ar 
 slaves to their appetite, and can scarcely deny anything 
 to the flesh, and are therefore willingly carried by it to 
 their sports, or profits, or vain companions, when they 
 should raise their minds to God and heaven. As you 
 love your souls, “ make not provision for the flesh, to 
 fulfil the hists thereof,” Rom. x,iii. 14 ; but remember, 
 “to be carnally minded, is death; because the carnal 
 mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the 
 law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that 
 are in the flesh cannot.please God. — Therefore, brethren, 
 we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 
 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die ; but if ye 
 through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye 
 shall live,” Rom. viii. 6 — 8, 12, 13. There are a few, 
 who much hinder their heavenly joy, by denying the 
 body its necessaries, and so making it unable to serve 
 them : if such wronged their flesh only, it would be no 
 great matter ; but they wrong their souls also ; as he 
 that spoils the house, injures the inhabitants. When 
 the body is sick, the spirits languish, how heavily do we 
 move in the thoughts and joys of heaven 1 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The N'ature of heavenly Contemplation ^ with the Time, 
 Place, and Temper fittest for it, 
 
 Oncb more I entreat thee, reader, as thou makest con- 
 science of a revealed duty, and darest not wilfully resist 
 the Spirit; as thou valuest the high delights of a saint, 
 and the Koul-ravishing exercise of heavenly contempla- 
 tion — t:iat thou diligently study and speedily and faith- 
 fully practise, the following directions. If, by this 
 means, thou dost not find an increase of all thy graces, 
 and dost not grow beyond the stature of common chris- 
 
243 
 
 . yiearenly Contemplation, 
 tians, and art not made more serviceable in thy place, 
 and more precious in the eyes of all discerning persons ; 
 if thy soul enjoy not more communion with God, and 
 thy life be not fuller of comfort, and hast it not readier 
 by thee at a dying hour ; then cast away these direc- 
 tions, and exclaim against me for ever as a deceiver. 
 
 The duty which I press upon thee so earnestly, and in 
 the practice of which I am now to direct thee, is, “ the 
 set and solemn acting of all the powers of thy soul, in 
 meditation upon thy everlasting rest.’* More fully to 
 explain the nature of this duty, I will here illustrate a 
 little the description itself,— then point out the fittest 
 time, place, and temper of mind for it. 
 
 I. It is not improper to illustrate a little the manner 
 in which we have described this duty of meditation, or 
 the considering and contemplating of spiritual things 
 It is confessed to be a duty by all, but practically denied 
 by most. Many that make conscience of other duties, 
 easily neglect this ; they are troubled if they omit a ser- 
 mon, a fast, or a prayer in public or private ; yet were 
 never troubled that they had omitted meditation perhaps 
 all their lifetime to this very day ; though it be that 
 duty, by which all other duties are improved, and by 
 which the soul digesteth truths for its nourishment and 
 comfort. Its was God’s command to Joshua, “ This 
 book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but 
 thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thon 
 maj’^est observe to do according to all that is writtee 
 therein,” Josh. i. 8. As digestion turneth food into 
 chyle and blood, for vigorous health ; meditation turns 
 the truths received and remembered into warm affec- 
 tion, firm resolution, and holy conversation. 
 
 This meditation is the acting of all the powers of the 
 soul. It is the work of the living, and not of the dead. 
 It is a work of all others the most spiritual and sublime, 
 and therefore not to be well performed by hearts that 
 
244 The Nature of 
 
 are merely carnal and earthly. They must necessarily 
 have some relation to heaven, before they can familiarly 
 converse there. I suppose them to be such as have a 
 title to rest, when I persuade them to rejoice in the me- 
 ditations of rest. And supposing thee to be a Christian, 
 I am now exhorting thee to be an active Christian. It is 
 the work of the soul I am setting thee to, for bodily 
 exercise doth here profit but little. And it must have all 
 the powers of the soul to distinguish it from the common 
 meditation of students ; for the understanding is not 
 the whole soul, and cannot do the whole work. As in 
 the body, the stomach must turn food into chyle, and 
 prepare it for the liver, the liver and spleen turn it into 
 blood, and prepare it for the heart and brain ; so in the 
 soul, the understanding must take in truths, and prepare 
 them for the will, and that for the affections. Christ 
 and heaven have various excellences, and therefore God 
 nath formed the soul with different powers for appre- 
 hending those excellences. What the better had we 
 been for odoriferous flowers, if we had no smell ? Or 
 what good would language or music have done us, if we 
 could not hear ? Or what pleasure should we have 
 found in meats and drinks, without the sense of taste ? 
 So, what good could all the glory of heaven have done 
 us, or what pleasure' should we have had in the perfec- 
 tions of God himself, if we had been without the affec- 
 tions of love and joy ? And what strength or sweetness 
 canstthou possibly receive by thy meditations on eter- 
 nity, while thou dost not exercise those affections of the 
 soul, by which thou must be sensible of this sweetness 
 and strength? It is the mistake of Christians, to think 
 that meditation is only the work of the understanding 
 and memory ; when every school-boy can do this, or 
 persons that hate the things which they thir.k on. So 
 that you see there is more to be done than barely to 
 remember and think of heaven; as some labours not 
 
heavenly Contemplation, S^c. 245 
 
 only stir a hand, or a foot, but exercise the whole body ; 
 S 9 doth meditation the whole soul. 
 
 As the affections of sinners are set on the world, and 
 turned to idols, and fallen from God, as well as their 
 understanding ; so must their affections be reduced to 
 God, as well as their understanding ; and as their whole 
 soul was filled with sin before, so the whole soul must 
 be filled with God now. See David’s description of the 
 blessed man, His delight is in the law of the Lord, and 
 in his law doth he meditate day and night,” Psa. i. 2. 
 
 This meditation is set and solemn. As there is so- 
 lemn prayer when we set ourselves wholly to that duty ; 
 and ejaculatory praj’er, when, in the midst of other 
 business, we send some short requests to God, so also 
 there is solemn meditation, when we apply ourselves 
 wholly to that work ; and transient meditation, when, 
 in the midst of other business, we have some good 
 thoughts of God in our minds. And as solemn prayer 
 is either set, in a constant course of duty, or occasional, 
 at an extraordinary season ; so also is meditation. Now, 
 though I would persuade you to that meditation which 
 is mixed with your common labours, and also that which 
 special occasions direct you to ; yet I would have you 
 likewise make it a constant standing duty, as you do by 
 hearing, praying, and reading the scriptures; and no 
 more intermix other matters with it, than j’’Ou would 
 with prayer, or other stated solemnities. 
 
 This meditation is upon thy everlasting rest. I would 
 not have you cast off your other meditations ; but surely 
 as heaven hath the pre-eminence in perfection, it should 
 have it also in our meditation. That which shall make 
 us most happy when we possess it, will make us most 
 joyful when we meditate upon it. Other meditations 
 are as numerous as there are lines in the scripture, or 
 creatures in the universe, or particular providences in 
 the government of the world. But this is a v/alk to 
 
«48 The Tfaiure of 
 
 Mount Sion; from the kingdoms of this world, to the 
 kingdom of saints ; from earth to heaven ; from time to 
 eternity ; it is walking upon sun, moon, and stars, in the 
 garden and paradise of God. It may seem far off, but 
 spirits are quick; whether in the body or out of the 
 body, their motion is swift. You need not fear, like the 
 men of the world, lest these thoughts should make you 
 mad. It is heaven, and not hell, that I persuade you to 
 walk in. It is joy, and not sorrow, that I persuade you 
 to exercise. I urge you to look on no deformed objects, 
 but only upon the ravishing glory of saints, and the un- 
 speakable excellences of the God of glory, and the 
 beams that stream from the face of his Son. Will it 
 distract a man to think of his only happiness 1 Will it 
 distract the miserable to think of mercy, or the prisoner 
 to foresee deliverance, or the poor to think of approach- 
 ing riches and honour? Methinks it should rather make 
 a man mad, to think of living in a world of woe, and 
 abiding in poverty and sickness, among the rage of 
 wicked men, than to think of living with Christ in bliss. 
 “ But wisdom is justified of all her children,** Luke vii. 
 35. Knowledge hath no enemy but the ignorant. This 
 heavenly course was never spoken against bj^ any, but 
 those that never knew it, or never used it. I fear more 
 the neglect of men that approve it, than the opposition 
 or arguments of any against it. 
 
 II. As to the fittest time for this heavenly contempla- 
 tion, let me only advise that it be — stated, frequent, and 
 seasonable. 
 
 1. Give it a stated time. If thou suit thy time to the 
 advantage of the work, without placing any religion in 
 the time itself, thou hast no need to fear superstition. 
 Stated time is a hedge to duty, and defends it against 
 ir.any temptations to omission. Some have not their 
 time at command, and therefore cannot set their hours ; 
 and many are so poor, that the necessities of their 
 
24V 
 
 heavenly Contemplation, ^c, 
 families deny them this freedom : such persons should 
 be watchful to redeem time as much as they can, and 
 take their vacant opportunities as they fall, and es- 
 pecially join meditation and prayer as much as they 
 can, with the labours of their callings. Yet those who 
 have more time to spare from their worldly necessities, 
 and are masters of their time, I still advise to keep this 
 duty to a stated time. And, indeed, if every work of 
 the day had its appointed time, we should be better 
 skilled, both in redeeming time, and in performing 
 duty. 
 
 2. Let it be frequent as well as stated. How often it 
 should be I cannot determine, because men’s circum- 
 stances differ. But, in general, scripture requires it to 
 be frequent, when it mentions meditating day and night. 
 For those, therefore, who can conveniently omit other 
 business, I advise that it be once a-day at least. Fre- 
 quency in heavenly contemplation is particularly im- 
 portant. 
 
 1. It prevents a shyness between God and thy soul. 
 Frequent society breeds familiarity, and familiarity in- 
 creases love and delight, and makes us bold in our ad- 
 dresses. The chief end of this duty is to have acquaint- 
 ance and fellowship with God, and therefore if thou 
 come but seldom to it, thou wilt keep thyself a stranger 
 still. When a man feels his need of God, and must seek 
 his help in a time of necessity, then it is great encourage- 
 ment to go to a God we know, and are acquainted with. 
 ** Ohr* saith the heavenly-minded Christian, “ I know 
 both whither I go, and to whom. I have gone this way 
 many a time before now. It is the same God that 1 
 daily converse with; and the way has been my daily 
 walk. God knows me well enough, and I have som»i 
 knowledge of him.** 
 
 On the other side, what a horror and discouragement 
 will it be to the soul, when it is forced to fly to God in 
 
2ih The l^ature of 
 
 straits to think, “ Alas! 1 know not whitrter to go! 1 
 never went the way before. I have no acquaintance at 
 the court of heaven. My soul knows not that God to 
 whom I must speak, and I fear he will not know my 
 soul.** But especially when we come to die, and must 
 immediately appear before this God, and expect to 
 enter into his eternal rest, then the difference will 
 plainly appear; then what a joy will it be to think, ** I 
 am going to the place that I daily conversed in ; to the 
 place from whence I tasted such frequent delights; to 
 that God whom I have met in ray meditation so often. 
 My heart hath been at heaven before now, and hath 
 often tasted its reviving sweetness ; and if my eyes were 
 so enlightened, and my spirits so refreshed, when I had 
 but a taste, what will it be when I shall feed on it freely !** 
 On the contrary, what a terror will it be to think, “ I 
 must die, and go I know not whither; from a place 
 where I am acquainted, to a place where I have no 
 familiarity or knowledge !’* It is inexpressible horror 
 to a dying man, to have strange thoughts of God and 
 heaven. I am persuaded the neglect of this duty com- 
 monly makes death, even to godly men, so unwelcome 
 and uncomfortable. Therefore I persuade to frequency 
 in this duty. And as it will prevent shyness between 
 thee and God. so also, 
 
 2. It will prevent unskilfulness in the duty itself. How 
 awkwardly do men set their hands to a work they are 
 seldom employed in ! Whereas frequency will habituate 
 thy heart to the work, and make it more easy and de- 
 lightful. The hill which made thee pant and blow at 
 first going up, thou mayest easily run up, when thou 
 art once accustomed to it. 
 
 3. Thou wilt also prevent the loss of that heat and 
 life thou hast obtained. If thou eat but once in two or 
 three days, thou wilt lose thy strength as fast as it come.s. 
 If in holv meditation thou get near to Christ, and warm 
 
heavenly Contem'platioii.,9ic, 24V 
 
 thy heart with the fire of love, and then come but 
 seldom, thy former coldness will soon return ; especially 
 as the work is so spiritual, and against the bent of de- 
 praved nature. It is true, the intermixing of othei 
 duties, especially secret prayer, may do much to the 
 keeping thy heart above ; but meditation is the life of 
 most other duties, and the view of heaven is the life 
 of meditation. 
 
 3. Choose also the most seasonable time. All things 
 are beautful and excellent in their season. Unseason- 
 ableness may lose the fruit of thy labour, may raise 
 difficulties in the work, and may turn a duty to a sin. 
 The same hour may be seasonable to one, and unseason- 
 ble to another. Servants and labourers must take that 
 season which their business will best afford ; either 
 while at work, or in travelling, or when they lie awake 
 in the night. Such as can choose what time of the day 
 they will, should observe, when they find their spirits 
 most active and fit for contemplation, and fix upon that 
 as the stated time. I have always found that the fittest 
 time for myself is the evening, from sun-setting, in the 
 twilight. I the rather mention this, because it was the 
 experience of a better and wiser man ; for it is expressly 
 said, “ Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the 
 even-tide,” Gen. xxiv. 23. The Lord’s day is exceed- 
 ingly seasonable for this exercise. When should we 
 more seasonably contemplate on rest, than on that day 
 of rest which typifies it to us ? It being a day appro- 
 priated to spiritual duties, methinks we should never 
 exclude this duty which is so eminently spiritual, I 
 verily think this is the chief work of a Christian sab- 
 bath, and most agreeable to the design of its positive 
 institution. What fitter time to converse with our 
 Lord than on the Lord’s day 7 What fitter day to ascend 
 to heaven, than that on which he arose from earth, and 
 fully triumphed over death and hell 
 
 270 R 
 
850 The J^ature of 
 
 The fittest temper for a true Christian is, like John, 
 to be ** in the Spirit on the Lord’s day,” Rer. i. 10. 
 And what can bring us to this joy in the Spirit, but the 
 spiritual beholding of our approaching glory 1 Take 
 notice of this, you that spend the Lord’s day only in 
 public worship ; your allowing no time to private duty, 
 and therefore neglecting this spiritual duty of meditation, 
 is very hurtful to your souls. You also that have time 
 on the Lord’s day for idleness and vain discourse, weVt 
 you but acquainted with this duty of contemplation, 
 you would need no other pastime ; you would think 
 the longest day short enough, and be sorry that the 
 night had shortened you pleasure. Christians, let hea- 
 ven have more share in you sabbaths, where you must 
 shortly keep your everlasting sabbath. Use your sab- 
 baths as steps to glory, till you have passed them all, 
 and are there arrived. Especially you that are poor, 
 and cannot take time in the week as you desire, see that 
 you well improve this day ; as your bodies rest from 
 their labours, let your spirits seek after rest from God. 
 
 Besides the constant seasonableness of every day, and 
 particularly every Lord’s day, there are also more pecu- 
 liar seasons for heavenly contemplation. As for in- 
 stance, 
 
 When God hath more abundantly warmed thy spirit 
 with fire from above, then thou mayest soar with greater 
 freedom. A little labour will set thy heart a-going at 
 such a time as this ; whereas at another time thou may- 
 est take pains to little purpose. Observe the gales of 
 the Spirit, and how the Spirit of Christ doth move thj 
 spirit. “Without Christ we can do nothing;** and 
 therefore let us be doing while he is doing ; and be sure 
 not to be out of the way, nor asleep, when he comes. 
 When the Spirit finds thy heart, like Peter, in prison, 
 and in irons, and smites thee, and says, “ Arise up 
 quickly, and follow me;” be sure thou then arise, and 
 
heavenly Contem'plationy^jC, 251 
 
 follow, and thou shalt find chy “ chains fall off,** and 
 all “ doors will open,** and thou wilt be at heaven be 
 fO|re thou art aware. 
 
 Another peculiar season for this duty is, when thoi 
 art in a suffering, distressed, or tempted state. When 
 should we take our cordials, but in times of fainting ? 
 When is it more seasonable to walk to heaven, than 
 when we know not in what corner of the earth to live 
 with comfort ? or when should our thoughts converse 
 more above, than when they have nothing but grief be- 
 low ? W'here should Noah’s dove be but in the ark, 
 when the waters cover all the earth and she cannot find 
 rest for the sole of her foot ? What should we think on, 
 but our Father’s house, when we have not even the husks 
 of the world to feed upon 1 Surely God sends thy af- 
 fiictions for this very purpose. Happy art thou, poor 
 man, if thou make this use of thy poverty ; and thou 
 that art sick, if thou so improve thy sickness I It is 
 seasonable to go to the promised land, when our burdens 
 are increased in Egypt, and our straits in the wilderness. 
 
 Reader, if thou knewcst what cordial to thy griefs the 
 serious views of glory are, thou wouldst less fear these 
 harmless troubles, and more use that preserving reviving 
 remedy. ** In the multitude of my troubled thoughts 
 within me,** saith David, “thy comforts delight my 
 soul,** Psa. xciv. 19. “I reckon,** said Paul, ** that 
 the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be 
 compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us,** 
 Rom. viii. 18. “For which cause we faint not, but 
 though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is- 
 renewed day by day. For our light aflliction, which h 
 but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding 
 and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the 
 things which are seen, but at the things which are not 
 seen ; for the things which are seen, are temporal ; but 
 the things which are not seen are eternal,” 2 Cor. iv. 
 16-18. 
 
25S The Nature of 
 
 And another season peculiarly fit for this heavenly 
 duty is, when the messengers of God summon us to die. 
 When should we most frequently sweeten our souls with 
 the believing thoughts of another life, than when we 
 find that this is almost ended? No men have greater 
 need of supporting joys, than dying men, and those 
 joys must be fetched from our eternal joy. As heavenly 
 delights are sweetest, when nothing earthly is joined 
 with them, so the delights of dying Christians are often- 
 times the sweetest they ever had. What a prophetical 
 blessing had dying Isaac and Jacob, for their sons! 
 With what a heavenly song, and divine benediction, did 
 Moses conclude his life! What heavenly advice and 
 prayer had the disciples from their Lord, when he was 
 about to leave them ! When Paul was ** ready to be 
 offered up,” what heavenly exhortation and advice did 
 he give to the Philippians, Timothy, and the elders of 
 Ephesus! How near to heaven was John in Patmos, 
 but a little before his translation thither! It is the 
 general temper of the saints, to be then most heavenly, 
 when they are nearest heaven. 
 
 If it be thy case, reader, to perceive thy dying time 
 draw on, O where should thy heart now be, but with 
 Christ 1 Methinks thou shouldst even behold him stand- 
 ing by thee, and should bespeak him as thy Father, thy 
 Husband, thy Physician, thy Friend. Methinks thou 
 shouldst, as it were, see the angels about thee, waiting 
 to perform their last office to thy soul ; even those angels 
 which disdained not to ” carry into Abraham’s bosom” 
 the soul of Lazarus, nor will disdain to conduct thee 
 thither. Look upon thy pain and sickness as Jacob did 
 on Joseph’s chariots, and let thy “ spirit revive” within 
 thee, and say, ” It is enough,” Christ ” is yet alive;” 
 ** because he lives, I shall live also !” John xiv. 19. Dost 
 thou need the choicest cordials ? Here are choicer than 
 the world can afford; here are all the joys of heaven. 
 
heavenly ContempXat<on^ S^c. 253 
 
 eren the vision of God and Christ, and whatsoever the 
 blessed here possess. These dainties are offered thee 
 by the hand of Christ ; he hath written the receipt in 
 the promises of the gospel ; he hath prepared the ingre- 
 dients in heaven ; only put forth the hand of faith, and 
 feed upon them, and rejoice and live. The Lord saith 
 to thee, as to Elijah, “ Arise and eat, because the journey 
 is too great for thee.** Though it be not long, yet the 
 way is miry ; Therefore obey his voice, arise and eat, 
 “ and in the strength of that meat’* thou mayest “ go to 
 the mount of God and, like Moses, “ die in the mount 
 whither thou goestup;” and say, as Simeon, “Lord, 
 now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace ; for mine 
 eye’’ of faith “ hath seen thy salvation,** Luke ii. 29, 30. 
 
 III. Concerning the fittest place for heavenly con- 
 templation, it is sufficient to say, that the most conveni- 
 ent is some private retirement. Our spirits need every 
 help, and to be freed from every hinderance in the work. 
 If in private prayer, Christ directs us to “ enter into our 
 closet, and shut the door,’* that “ our Father may see 
 us in secret,*’ Matt. vi. 6 ; so should we do in this medi- 
 tation. How often did Christ himself retire to some 
 mountain., or wilderness, or other solitary place 1 I give 
 not this advice for occasional meditation, but for that 
 which is set and solemn. Therefore withdraw thyself 
 from all society, even the society of godly men, that 
 thou mayest awhile enjoy the society of thy Lord. If a 
 student cannot study in a crowd, who exerciseth only 
 his invention and memory ; much less shouldst thou be 
 in a crowd, who art to exercise all the powers of thy 
 soul, and upon an object sc far above nature. We are 
 fled so far from superstitious solitude, that we have even 
 cast off the solitude of contemplative devotion. We 
 seldom read of God’s appearing by himself, or by his 
 angels, to any of his prophets or saints in a crowd, but 
 frequently when they w^ere alone. 
 
154 The Nature of 
 
 But observe for thyself what place best agrees with 
 thy spirit; whether within doors or without. Isaac’s 
 example, in ** going out to meditate in the field,” will, 
 1 believe, best suit with most. Our Lord so much used 
 a solitary garden, that even Judas, when he came to 
 betray him, ** knew” where to find him : and though he 
 took his disciples thither with him, yet he ” was with- 
 drawn from them” for more secret devotions, John xviiL 
 1, 2; Luke xxii. 41 : and though his meditation be not 
 directly named, but only his praying, yet it is very clearly 
 implied ; for ” his soul is” first made ** sorrowful” 
 with the bitter meditations on his sufferings and death, 
 and then he poureth it out in prayer, Mark xiv. 34, 35. 
 So that Christ had his accustomed place, and conse- 
 quently accustomed duty, and so must we ; he hath a 
 place that is solitary, whither he retireth himself, even 
 from his own disciples, and so must we ; his meditations 
 go further than his words, they affect and pierce his 
 heart and soul, and so must ours. Only there is a wide 
 difference in the object : Christ meditates on the suffer- 
 ings that our sins had deserved, so that the wrath of his 
 Father passed through all his soul ; but we are to medi- 
 tate on the glory he hath purchased, that the love of the 
 Father, and the joy of the Spirit, may enter at our 
 thoughts, revive our affections, and overflow our souls. 
 
 IV. I am next to advise thee concerning the prepara- 
 tion of thy heart for this heavenly contemplation. The 
 success of the work much depends on the frame of thy 
 heart. When man’s heart had nothing in it to grieve the 
 Spirit, it was then the delightful habitation of his Maker. 
 God did not quit his residence there, till man expelled 
 him by unworthy provocations. There was no shyness 
 or reserve, till the heart grew sinful, and too loathsome 
 a dungeon for God to delight in. And were this soul re- 
 duced to its former innocency, God would quickly re- 
 turn to his former habitation ; yea, so far as it is renew- 
 
heavenly Contemplation, ^e. 255 
 
 ed and repaired by the Spirit, and purged from its lusts, 
 and beautified with his image, the Lord will yet ac- 
 knowledge it his own. Christ will manifest himself 
 unto it, and the Spirit will take it for his temple and 
 residence. So far as the heart is qualified for convers- 
 ing with God, so far it usually enjoys him. Therefore, 
 
 “ with all diligence keep thy heart, for out of it are thet 
 issues of life,” Prov. iv. 23. More particularly, 
 
 1. Get thy heart as clear from the world as thou canst. 
 Wholly lay by the thoughts of thy business, troubles, 
 enjoyments, and every thing that may take up any room 
 in thy soul. Get it as empty as thou possibly canst, 
 that it may be the more capable of being filled with 
 God. If thou couldst perform some outward duty with 
 a piece of thy heart, while the other is absent, j^et this 
 above all I am sure thou canst not. When thou shalt 
 go into the mount of contemplation, thou wilt be like 
 the covetous man at the heap of gold.w’ho, when he 
 might take as much as he could, lamented that he was 
 able to carry no more ; so thou wilt find as much of God 
 and glory as thy narrow heart is able to contain, and 
 almost nothing to hinder thy full possession, but the in- 
 capacity of thy own spirit. Then thou wilt think, ” O 
 that this understanding, and these affections, could con- 
 tain more I It is more my unfitness than anything else, 
 that even this place is not my heaven. ‘ God is in this 
 place, and I knew it not.* This * mount is full of char- 
 iots of fire ;* but mine eyes are shut, and I cannot see 
 them. O the words of love Christ hath to speak, and 
 the wonders of love he hath to show, but I cannot bear 
 them yet! Heaven is ready for me, but my heart is 
 unready for heaven. 
 
 Therefore, reader, seeing thy enjoyment of God in 
 this contemplation, much depends on the capacity and 
 disposition of thy heart, seek him here, if ever, with all 
 thy soul. Thrust not Christ into ** the stable and the 
 
25fy 
 
 The Nature of 
 manner,’* as if thou hadst better guests for the chief 
 rooms. Say to all thy worldly business and thoughts, 
 as Christ to his disciples, “ Sit ye here, while 1 go and 
 pray yonder,** or as Abraham to his servants, when he 
 went to offer Isaac, “ Abide ye here, and I will go 
 yonder and worship, and come again to you.** Even as 
 the priests thrust king Uzziah out of the temple, where 
 he presumed to burn incense, when they saw the leprosy 
 upon him ; so do thou thrust those thoughts from the 
 the temple of thy heart, which have the badge of God’s 
 prohibition upon them. 
 
 2. Be sure to set upon this work with the greatest so- 
 emnity of heart and mind. There is no trifling in holy 
 things. “ God will be sanctified in them th at come nigh 
 him,” Lev. x. 3. These spiritual, excellent, soul-rais- 
 ing duties, are, if well used, most profitable ; but when 
 used unfaithfully, most dangerous. Labour, therefore, 
 to have the deepest apprehensions of the presence of 
 God, and his incomprehensible greatness. If Queen 
 Esther must not draw near, till “ the king hold out the 
 sceptre ;’* think, then, with what great reverence thou 
 shouldst approach Him, who made the worlds with the 
 word of his mouth, who upholds the earth as in the 
 palm of his hand, who keeps the sun, moon, and stars 
 in their courses, and who sets bounds to the raging sea. 
 Thou art going to converse with Him, before whom the 
 earth will quake, and devils do tremble, and at whose 
 bar thou and all the world must shortly stand, and be 
 finally judged. O think ! “ I shall then have lively ap- 
 prehensions of his majesty. My drowsy spirits will then 
 be awakened, and my irreverence be laid aside ; and 
 why should I not now be roused with the sense of his 
 greatness, and the dread of his name possess my soul 1’* 
 
 Labour also to apprehend the greatness of the work 
 vhich thou attemptest, and to be deeply sensible both 
 of its importance and excellency. If thou w'ert pleading 
 
heavenly Contemplation, ^c. 257 
 
 for tny life at the bar of an earthly judge, thou wouldst 
 be serious, and yet that would be a trifle to this. If thou 
 wert engaged in such a work as David against Goliah„ 
 on which the welfare of a kingdom depended ; in itself 
 considered, it were nothing to this. Suppose thou wert 
 going to such a wrestling as Jacob’s, or to see the sight 
 which the'three disciples saw on the mount, how serious- 
 ly, how reverently, wouldst thou both approach and be- 
 hold I If hut an angel from heaven should appoint to 
 meet thee, at the same time and place of thy contem- 
 plations ; with what dread w’ouldst thou be filled I Con- 
 sider then with what a spirit thou shouldst meet the 
 Lord, and with what seriousness and awe thou shouldst 
 daily converse with him. Consider also the blessed is- 
 sue of the word, if it succeed ; it will be thy admission 
 into the presence of God, and the beginning of thy eter- 
 nal glory on earth ; the means of making thee live above 
 the rate of other men, and fixing thee in the next room 
 to the angels themselves, that thou mayst both live and 
 die joyfully. The prize being so great, thj^ preparation 
 should be answerable. There is none on earth live such 
 a life of joy and blessedness, as those who are acquainted 
 with this heavenly conversation. The joys of all other 
 men are but like a child’s play, a fool’s laughter, or asick 
 man’s dream of health. He that trades for heaven is the 
 only gainer, and he that neglects it is the only loser. 
 IIow seriously, therefore, should this w'ork be done ! 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 H^hat use heavenly Contemplation makes of Consider 
 Affections, Soliloquy, and Prayer. 
 
 liAViNQ set thy heart in tune, we now come to the 
 music itself. Having got an appetite, now approach to 
 the feast, and delight thy soul as wdth marrow and fat- 
 
258 Heavenly Contemptation 2 >romoted 
 
 ness. *• Come, for all things are now ready.** Heaven 
 and Christ, and the exceeding weight of glory, are be- 
 fore you. Do not make light of this invitation, nor 
 begin to make excuses; what ever thou art, rich or 
 poor, though in alms-houses or hospitals, though in 
 highways and hedges, my commission is, if possible, to 
 “ compel you to come in ;** and blessed is he that 
 shall eat bread in the kingdom of Godl** The manna 
 lieth about your tents, walk out, gather it up, take it 
 home, and feed upon it. In order to this, I am only to 
 direct you how to use your consideration and affections, 
 your soliloquy and prayer, 
 
 I. Consideration is the great instrument by which 
 this heavenly work is carried on. This must be volun- 
 tary, and not forced. Some men consider unwillingly; 
 so God will make the wicked consider their sins, when 
 he shall set them in order before their eyes,** Ps. 1. 21, 
 22 ; so shall the condemned consider of the excellency 
 of Christ, whom they once despised ; and of the eternal 
 joys, which they have foolishly lost. Great is the power 
 which consideration hath for moving the affections, 
 and impressing things on the heart; as will appear by 
 the following particulars. 
 
 1. Consideration, as it were, opens the door betweei? 
 the head and the heart. The understanding having re- 
 ceived truths, lays them up in the memory, and con- 
 sideration conveys them from thence to the affections. 
 What excellency would there be in much learning and 
 knowledge, if the obstructions between the head and 
 heart were but opened, and the affections did but cor- 
 respond to the understanding I He is usually the best 
 scholar, whose apprehension is quick, clear, and te- 
 nacious; but he is usually the best Christian, whose 
 apprehension Is the deepest, and most affectionate, and 
 who has the readiest passage, not so much from the ear 
 to the brain, as from that to the heart And though the 
 
hy rcligioun Affeciion^, 
 
 Spirit be the principal cause; yet, on our part, this 
 oassage must be opened by consideration. 
 
 2. Consideration presents to the atfections those things 
 which are most important. The most delightful object 
 does not entertain where it is not seen, nor the most 
 joyful news affect him that does not hear it ; but con- 
 sideration presents to our view those things which were 
 as absent, and brings them to the eye and ear of the 
 soul. Are not Christ and glory affecting objects ? Would 
 they not work wonders upon the soul, if they were but 
 clearly discovered, and our apprehensions of them 
 were in some measure answerable to their worth ? It 
 
 consideration that presents them to us : this is the 
 Christian’s perspective, by which he can see from earth 
 to heaven. 
 
 3. Consideration also presents the most important 
 things in the most affecting way. Consideration reasons 
 the case with a man’s own heart. When a believer 
 would reason his heart to heavenly contemplation, how 
 many arguments offer themselves from (Jod and Christ, 
 from each of the divine perfections, from our former 
 and present state, from promises, from present sufferings 
 and enjoyments, from hell and heaven 1 Everything 
 offers itself to promote our joy, and consideration is the 
 hand to draw them all out ; it adds one reason to another, 
 till the scales turn ; this it does, when persuading to joy, 
 till it hath silenced all your distrust and sorrows, and 
 your cause for rejoicing lies plain before you. If ano- 
 ther’s reasoning is powerful with us, though we are 
 not certain whether he intends to inform or deceive u«, 
 how much more should our own reasoning prevail with 
 us, when we are so well acquainted with our own inten- 
 tions! Nay, how much more should God’s reasoning 
 work upon us, which we are sure cannot deceive, or be 
 deceived I Now, consideration is but the reading over, 
 and repeating God’s reasons to our hearts. As the 
 prodigal had many and strong reasons to plead with 
 
2€0 IJparrnhj Contemptatton promoted 
 
 himself, why he should return to his “ father’s house,** 
 so have we to plead with our affections, to persuade 
 them to our Father’s everlasting mansion. 
 
 4. Consideration exalts reason to its just authority. 
 It helps to deliver it from its captivity to the senses, and 
 and sets it again on the throne of the soul. When rea- 
 son is silent, it is usually subject ; for when it is asleep, 
 the senses domineer. But consideration awakens our 
 reasen, till, like Samson, it rouses up itself, amd breaks 
 the bonds of sensuality, and bears down the delusions 
 of the flesh. What strength can the lion exert while 
 asleep 1 What is a king when deposed from his throne, 
 more than another man ? Spiritual reason excited by 
 meditation, and not by fancy or fleshly sense, must judge 
 of heavenly joys. Consideration exalts the objects of 
 faith, and comparatively disgraces the objects of sense. 
 The most inconsiderate men are the most sensual. It is 
 too easy and common to sin against knowledge, but 
 against sober, strong, persevering consideration, men 
 seldom offend. 
 
 5. Consideration makes reason strong and active. Be- 
 fore it was as a standing water, but now as a stream, 
 which violently bears down all before it. Before it was 
 as the stones in the brook, but now like that out of 
 David’s sling, which smites the Goliah of our belief in 
 Xhe forehead. As wicked men continue wicked, be- 
 cause they bring not reason into act and exercise ; so 
 godly men are uncomfortable, because they let their 
 reason and faith lie asleep, and do not stir them up to 
 action by this work of meditation. What fears, sorrows, 
 and joys, will our very dreams excite 1 How much 
 more then, would serious meditation affect us. 
 
 6. Consideration can continue and persevere in this 
 rational employment. Meditation holds reason and 
 faith to their work, and blows the fire till it thoroughly 
 burns. To run a few steps will not get a man heat, 
 but walking an hour may ; and though a sudden occa- 
 
2C1 
 
 hy reagtous affections. 
 
 ^ional thought of heaven will not raise our affections to 
 any spiritual heat, yet meditation can continue our 
 thoughts till our hearts grow warm. Thus you see the 
 powerful tendency of consideration to produce this great 
 elevation of the soul in heavenly contemplation. 
 
 II. Let us next see how this heavenly work is pro- 
 moted by the particular exercise of the affections. It is 
 by consideration that we first have recourse to the 
 memory, and from thence take those heavenly doctrines 
 which we intend to make the subject of our meditation ; 
 such as promises of eternal life, descriptions of tne 
 saints* glory, the resurrection, &c. We then present 
 them to our judgment, that it may deliberately view 
 them over, and take an exact survey, and determine 
 uprightly concerning the perfection of our celestial 
 happiness, against all the dictates of flesh and sense, 
 and so to magnify the Lord in bur hearts, till we are 
 filled with a holy admiration. 
 
 But the principal thing is to exercise, not merely our 
 judgment, but our faith in the truth of our everlasting 
 rest ; by which I mean, both the truth of the promises, 
 and of our own personal interest in them, and title to 
 them. If we did really and firmly believe, that there is 
 such a glory, and that within a few days our eyes should 
 behold it, oh what passions would it raise within us ! 
 What astonishing apprehensions of that life would it 
 produce ! What love, what longings, would it excite 
 within us I Oh how it would actuate every affection ! 
 How it would transport us with joy, upon the least as- 
 surance of our title! Never expect to have love and 
 joy move when faith stands still, which must lead the 
 way. Therefore daily exercise faith, and set before it 
 the freeness of the promise, God’s urging all to accept 
 it, Christ’s gracious disposition, all the evidences of the 
 love of Christ, his faithfulness to his engagements, a-n-d 
 the evidences of his love in ourselves; lay all these 
 
269 Heavenly Contemplation promoted 
 
 together, and think whether they do not testify t>ie 
 good will of the Lord concerning our salvation, and 
 may not properly be pleaded against our unbelief. Thus 
 when the judgment hath determined, and faith hath ap- 
 prehended, the truth of our happiness, then may our 
 meditation proceed to raise our affectione, and particu- 
 larly, — love — desire — hope— courage, or boldness— and 
 joy. 
 
 1. Love is the first affection to be excited in heaven- 
 ly contemplation ; the object of it is goodness. Here, 
 Christian, is the soul-reviving part of thy work. Go to 
 thy memory, thy judgment, and thy faith, and from 
 them produce the excellences of thy rest ; present these 
 to thy affection of love, and thou wilt find thyself, as it 
 were in another world. Speak out, and love can hear. 
 Do but reveal these things, and love can see. It is the 
 brutish love of the world that is blind ; divine love is 
 exceedingly quick-sighted. Let thy faith take hold of 
 thy heart, and show it the sumptuous buildings of thy 
 eternal habitation, and the glorious ornaments of thy 
 Father's house, even the mansions Christ is preparing, 
 and the honours of bis kingdom ; let thy faith lead thy 
 heart into the presence of God, and as near as thou 
 possibly canst, and say to it, “ Behold the Ancient of 
 days, the Lord Jehovah, whose name is, I AM. This 
 is He who made all worlds with his word, who upholds 
 the earth, who rules the nations, who disposes of all 
 events, who subdues his foes, who controls the swelling 
 waves of the sea, who governs the winds, and causes the 
 sun to run its race, and the stars to know their courses ; 
 this is he who loved thee from everlasting, formed thee 
 in the womb, gave thee this soul, brought thee forth, 
 showed thee the light, and ranked thee with the chief 
 of his earthly creatures ; who endued thee with thy un- 
 derstanding, and beautified thee with his gifts; who 
 maintains thy life and all its comforts, and distinguishes 
 
by religious Affections, 262 
 
 thee from the most miserable and vilest of men. Here 
 is an object worthy of thy love 1 Here shouldst thou 
 even pour out thy soul in love 1 Here it is impossible 
 for thee to love too much I This is the Lord who hath 
 blessed thee with his benefits, * spread thy table in the 
 sight. of thine enemies, and made thy cup overflow ! * 
 This is he whom angels and saints praise, and the 
 heavenly hosts for ever magnify I ** Thus do you ex- 
 patiate in the praises of God, and open his excellences 
 to thine heart, till the holy fire of love begins to kindle 
 in thy breast. 
 
 If thou feelest thy love not yet bum, lead thy heart 
 farther, and show it the Son of the living God, whose 
 name is, “ Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the 
 everlasting Father, the Prince of peace ; ’* show it the 
 King of saints on the throne of his glory, “ the First and 
 the Last; who is, and was, and is to come; who liveth, 
 and was dead, and, behold, he lives for evermore who 
 hath made thy peace by the blood of his cross, and 
 hath prepared thee with himself a habitation of peace. 
 His ofiice is the great Peace-maker. His kingdom is the 
 kingdom of peace; His gospel is the tidings of peace ; 
 His voice to thee now, is the voice of peace: draw near, 
 and behold him. Dost thou not hear his voice 1 He that 
 bade Thomas come near, and see the print of the nails, 
 and put his finger into his wounds ; He it is that calls to 
 thee, “ Come near, and view the Lord thy Saviour, and 
 be not faithless, but believing; Peace be unto thee, fear 
 not, it is I.** Look well upon him. Dost thou not 
 know him t 
 
 It is he who brought thee up from the pit of hell, re- 
 versed the sentence of thy condemnation, bore the curse 
 which thou shouldst have borne, restored thee to the 
 blessings thou hadst forfeited, and purchased the ad- 
 vancement which thou must inherit for ever. And dost 
 thou not yet know him ? His hands were pierced, his 
 
5Jo4 Heavenly ContempiaUon promo ea 
 
 head, his side, his heart, were pierced, that by these 
 marks thou mightest always know him. Dost thou not 
 remember when he found thee lying in thy blood, and 
 took pity on thee, and dressed thy wounds, and brought 
 thee home, and said unto thee, Live? Hast thou for- 
 gotten since he wounded himself to cure thy wounds, 
 and let out his own blood, to stop thy bleeding ? 
 
 If thou knowest him not by the face, the voice, the 
 hands, thou mayest know hin> by the heart ; that soul- 
 pitying heart is his ; it can be none but his ; love and 
 compassion are its certain signatures; this is he, who 
 chose thy life before his own ; who pleads his blood be- 
 fore his Father, and makes continual intercession for 
 thee. If he had not suffered, what hadst thou suffered ? 
 There was but a step between thee and hell, when he 
 slept in, and bore the stroke. And is not here fuel 
 enough for love to feed on ? Doth not thy throbbing 
 heart stop here to ease itself, and, like Joseph, seek for 
 a place to weep in ? Or do not the tears of thy love 
 bedew these lines ? Go on then, for the field of love is 
 large ; it will be thy eternal work to behold and love ; 
 nor needest thou want work for thy present meditation. 
 
 Kow often hath thy Lord found thee, likeHagar, sit- 
 ting, and weeping, and giving up thy soul for lost, and 
 he opened to thee a well of consolation, and also opened 
 thine eyes to see itl How often, in the posture of 
 Elijah, desiring to die out of thy misery, and he hath 
 spread thee a table of unexpected relief, and sent thee 
 on his work refreshed and encouraged 1 How often, in 
 the case of the prophet’s servant, crying out, “ Alas 1 
 what shall we do, for a host doth encompass us ; and he 
 hath opened thine eyes, to see more for thee than against 
 thee !’* How often, like Jonah, peevish, and weary of 
 thy life, and he hath mildly said. Dost thou well to be 
 angry with me, or murmur against me ? How often nath 
 he set thee on watching and praying, repenting and be- 
 
hy religious Affections. 265 
 
 ieving, ond when he hath returned, hath found thee 
 asieep, and yet hath covered thy neglect with a mantle 
 of love, and gently pleaded for thee, that the spirit is 
 willing, hut the flesh is weak 1 Can thy heart be cold 
 when thou thinkest of this ? Can it contain, when thou 
 rememberest those boundless compassions ? 
 
 Thus reader, hold forth the goodness of Christ to thy 
 heart; plead thus with thy frozen soul, till with David, 
 thou canst say, “ My heart was hot within me : while I 
 was musing, the fire burned.” If this will not rouse up 
 thy love, thou hast all Christ’s personal excellences to 
 add, all his particular mercies to thyself, all his sweet 
 a! d near relations to thee, and the happiness of thy 
 everlasting abode with him. Only follow them close to 
 thy heart. Deal with it, as Christ did with Peter, when 
 he thrice asked him, ” Lovest thou me?” till he was 
 grieved, and answered, Lord, thou knowest that I 
 love thee I” So grieve and shame thy heart out of its 
 stupidity, till thou canst truly say, “I know, and my 
 Lord knows, that I love him.” 
 
 2. The next affection to be excited in heavenly con- 
 templation, is desire. The object of it is goodness con- 
 sidered as absent, or not yet attained. If love be hot, 
 desire will not be cold. Think with thyself, ‘‘What 
 have I seen? O the incomprehensible glory 1 O the 
 transcendent beauty ! O blessed souls that now enjoy 
 it ? who see a thousand times more clearly what I have 
 seen at a distance, and through dark interposing clouds ! 
 What a difference between my state and theirs 1 I am 
 sighing, and they are singing. I am oflfending, and they 
 are pleasing God. I am a spectacle of pity, like a Job 
 or a Lazarus, but they are perfect, and w'ithout bi^emish. 
 1 am here entangled in the love of the world, while they 
 are swallowed up in the love of God. They have none 
 of my cares and fears ; they weep not in secret ; they 
 languish not in sorr-ws; these tears are ‘ wiped away 
 270 S 
 
200 Heavenly Contemplation promoted 
 
 from thek eyes.* O happy, a thousand times happy 
 SDUls ! 
 
 Alas! that I must dwell in sinful flesh, when my 
 brethren and companions dwell with God! How far 
 out of sight and reach of their high enjoyment do 1 here 
 live ! What pool feeble thoughts have I of God ! What 
 cold affections toward him ! How little have I of that 
 life, that love, that joy, in which they continually live ! 
 IIow soon doth that little depart, and leave mein thicker 
 darkness I Now and then a spark falls upon my heart, 
 and while I gaze upon it, dies, or rather my cold heart 
 quenches it. But they have their light in his light, and 
 drink continually at the spring of joys. Here we are 
 vexing each other with quarrels, when they are of one 
 heart and voice, and daily sound forth the halleluiahs of 
 heaven with perfect harmony. O what a feast hath my 
 faith beheld, and what a famine is yet in my spirit! O 
 blessed souls ! I may not, I dare not, envy your hap- 
 piness ; I rather rejoice in my brethren’s prosperity, 
 and am glad to think of the day when I shall be admitted 
 into your fellowship. I wish not to displace you, but 
 to be so happy as to be with you. Why must I stay, 
 and weep, and wait? My Lord is gone. He hath left 
 this earth, and is entered into his glory ; my brethren 
 are gone; my friends are there; my house, my hope, 
 my all is there. When I am so far distant from my God, 
 wonder not what aileth me, if I now complain; an 
 ignorant Micah will do so for his idol, and shall not my 
 soul do so for the living God? Had I no hope of en- 
 joyment, I would go hide myself in the deserts, and lie 
 and howl in some obscure wilderness, and spend my 
 days in fruitless wishes ; but since it is the land of my 
 promised rest, and the state I must myself be advanced 
 to, and my soul draws near, and is almost at it, I will 
 love and long, I will look and desire, i will be breathing. 
 How long, Lord ? how long wilt thou suffer this soul to 
 
by religious Affccttmt, 9fft 
 
 pant and groan, and not open to him who waits, and 
 longs to be with thee V* 
 
 Thus, Christian reader, let thy thoughts aspire, till 
 thy soul longs, as David, “ O that one would give me to 
 drink of the wells of salvation I” And till thou canst 
 say as he did, “ I have longed for thy salvation, O 
 Lord!’* And as the mother and brethren of Christ, 
 when they could not come at him because of the mul- 
 titude, sent to him, saying, “ Thy mother and brethren 
 stand without, desiring to see thee ;** so let thy message 
 to him be, and he will own thee; for he hath said, 
 “ They that hear my word, and do it, are my mother 
 and my brethren.’* Luke viii. 20, 21, 
 
 3. Another atfection to be exercised in heavenly con- 
 templation, is hope. This helps to support the soul 
 under sufferings, animates it to the greatest difficulties, 
 gives it firmness in the most shaking trials, enlivens it 
 in duties, and is the very spring that sets all the wheels 
 a-going. Who would believe or strive for heaven, if 
 it were not for the hope that he hath to obtain it 1 Who 
 would pray, but for the hope to prevail with God? If 
 your hope dies, your duties die, your endeavours die, 
 your joys die, and your souls die. And if your hope 
 be not in exercise, but asleep-, it is next to dead. 
 
 Therefore, Christian reader, when thou art winding 
 up thy affections to heaven, forget not to give one lift to 
 thy hope. Think thus, and reason thus, with thy own 
 heart, ** Why should I not confidently and comfortably 
 hope, when my soul is in the hands of so compassionate 
 a Saviour? and when the kingdom is at the disposal of 
 so Dountiful a God? Did he ever discover the least 
 backwardness to my good, or inclination to ray ruin ? 
 Hath he not sworn, that ** he delights not in the death 
 of him that dieth, but rather that he should repent and 
 live?* Have not all his dealings witnessed the same ? 
 Did he not warn me of my danger, when I never feared 
 
5C8 Heavenly Contemplation promoted 
 
 it, because he would have me escape it ? Did he not 
 tell me cf my happiness, when I had no thoughts of it, 
 because he would have me enjoy it? How often hath 
 he drawn me to himself, and his Christ, when I have 
 drawn backward! How hath his Spirit incessantly 
 solicited my heart! And would he have done al-1 this. 
 If he had been willing that I should perish? If my 
 soul were in the hands of ray mortal foes, then indeed 
 there were small hopes of my salvation ; yea, if it were 
 wholly in my own hands, my flesh and my folly would 
 betray it to damnation t but have 1 as much cause to 
 distrust God, as to distrust my foes, or to distrust my- 
 self ? Surely not, 
 
 “ Should I not hope, if an honest man had promised 
 me something in his power? And shall I not hope, 
 when 1 have the covenant and oath of God ? It is true, 
 the glory is out of sight; we have not beheld the man- 
 sions of the saints ; but is not the promise of God more 
 certain than our sight ? We must not be saved by sight, 
 but by hope, and * hope that is seen is not hope ; for 
 what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we 
 hope for what we see not, then do we w’ith patience wait 
 for it,* Rom. viii. 24, 25. I have been ashamed of my 
 hope in an arm of flesh, but hope in the promise of God 
 * maketh not ashamed,* Rom. v 5. In my greatest suf- 
 ferings I will say, * The Lord is my portion, therefore 
 will I hope in him ; the Lord is good unto them that wait 
 for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a 
 man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation 
 of the Lord. For the Lord will not cast off for ever. 
 But though he cause grief, yet wdll he have compassion, 
 according to the multitude of his mercies,* Lam. iii. 
 24 — 26, 31, 32. Though I languish and die, yel will I 
 hope ; for ‘ the righteous hath hope in his death,* Prov. 
 xiv. 32. Though I must lie down in dust and darkness, 
 yet there ‘ my flesh shall rest in hope,* Psa. xvi. 9. And 
 
by riagtotis jrj^ctfome, 263 
 
 when my flesh hath nothing to rejoice in, yet will I hold 
 fast ‘ the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the en«l,’ Ileb 
 iii. 6, for ‘ the hope of the righteous shall be gladness, 
 Prov. X. 28. 
 
 “ Indeed, if I was myself to satisfy divine justice, then 
 there had been no hope I but Christ hath ‘ brought in a 
 better hope, by the which we draw nigh unto God,’ H< b. 
 vii. 19. Or, if I had to do with a feeble creature, they 
 were small hope ; for how could he raise this body from 
 the dust, and lift me above the sun ? But what is this 
 to the almighty power, which made the heavens and the 
 earth out of nothing ? Cannot that power which raised 
 Christ from the dead, raise me ; and that which hath 
 glorified the Head, glorify also the members ? ‘ Doubt- 
 less, by the blood of his covenant, God will send forth 
 his prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water ;* there- 
 fore will I ‘ turn to the strong hold, as a prisoner of 
 hope,’ ” Zech. ix. 11, 12. 
 
 4. Courage or boldness is another affection to be exer- 
 cised in heavenly contemplation. It leadeth to resolu- 
 tion, and concludeth in action. When you have raised 
 your love, desire, and hope, go on, and think thus with 
 yourself, “ Will God indeed dwell with men 1 And is 
 there such a glory within the reach of hope ? Why then 
 do I not lay hold upon it ? Where is the cheerful vigour 
 of ray spirit ? Why do I not “ gird up the loins of ni}' 
 mind?” 1 Pet. i. 13. Why do not I set upon my ene- 
 mies on every side, and valiantly break through all 
 resistance ? What should stop me, or intimidate me ? 
 Is God with me, or against me, in the work? Will 
 Christ stand by me, or will he not ? ” If God and Christ 
 be for me, who can be against me ?” Rom. viii. 3-1. In 
 the work of sin, almost ail things are ready to help us, 
 and only God, and his servants are against us, yet how 
 ill doth that work prosper in our hands ! But in my 
 course to heaven, almost all things are against me, but 
 
2“D Hear only Contemplatrrm promoted 
 
 Goil is for iiie ; and therefore how happily doth the 
 
 work succeed ! 
 
 “ Do I set upon this work in my own strength, or 
 rather in the strength of Christ my Lord ? And * cannot 
 I do all things through him that strengthens me V Phil, 
 iv. 13. Was he ever foiled by an enemy ? He hath 
 indeed been assaulted, but was he ever conquered ? Why 
 then doth my flesh urge me with the difficulties of the 
 work J Is any thing too hard for Omnipotence 7 May 
 not Peter boldly walk on the sea, if Christ gives the 
 word of command? If he begin to sink, is it from the 
 weakness of Christ, or the smallness of his faith 7 Do I 
 not well deserve to be turned into hell, if mortal threats 
 can drive me thither 7 Do I not well deserve to be shut 
 out of heaven, if I am frightened from thence with the 
 reproach of tongues 7 What if it were father, or mother, 
 or husband, or wife, or the nearest friend I have in the 
 world, if they may be called friends that would draw me 
 to damnation ; should I not forsake all that would keep 
 me from Christ? Will their friendship countervail the 
 enmity of God, or be any comfort to my condemned 
 soul 7 Shall I be yielding to the desires of men, and only 
 harden myself against the Lord 7 Let them beseech me 
 upon their knees, I will scorn to stop my course to be- 
 hold them ; I will shut my ears to their cries. Let tin m 
 flatter or frown ; let them draw out tongues and swords 
 against me ; I am resolved in the strength of Christ to 
 break through, and look upon them as dust ; if they 
 would entice me with preferment, even with the king- 
 doms of the world ; I will no more regard them than the 
 dung of the earth. O blessed rest 1 O glorious state ! 
 Who would sell thee for dreams and shadows 7 Who 
 would be enticed or affrighted from thee 7 Who would 
 hot strive, and fight, and watch, and run, and that with 
 violence, even to the last breath, in order to obtain thee? 
 Surely none but those that kuow thee not, and believe 
 not thy glory.*’ 
 
271 
 
 ty religious Jffectiom, 
 
 5, The last affection to be exercised In heavenly con- 
 templation is joy. Love, desire, hope, and courage, all 
 tend to raise our joy. This is so desirable to every man 
 by nature, and so essentially necessary to constitute our 
 happiness, that I hope I need not say much to persuade 
 you to any thing that would make your life delightful. 
 Supposing you, therefore, already convinced, that the 
 pleasures of the flesh are brutish and perishing, and that 
 your solid and lasting joy must be from heaven, instead ol 
 persuading, I shall proceed in directing. Reader, if thou 
 hast managed well the former work, thou art got within 
 sight of thy rest ; thou believest the truth of it ; thou 
 art convinced of its excellency ; thou art fallen in love 
 with it; thou longest after it; -thou hopest for it ; and 
 thou art resolved to venture courageously for obtaining 
 it. But is there any work for joy in this 1 We delight 
 in the good we possess ; it is present good that is the 
 object of joy ; and thou wilt Say, “ Alas ! I am yet 
 without it.” But think a little further with thyself, Is 
 it nothing to have a deed of gift from God? Are his 
 infallible promises no ground of joy ? Is it nothing to 
 live in daily expectation of entering into the kingdom ? 
 Is not my assurance of being hereafter glorified, a suffi- 
 cient ground for inexpressible joy ? Is it not a deligfit to 
 the heir of a kingdom, to think of what he must soon 
 possess, though at present he differs little from a servant ? 
 Have we not both command and example, for ‘ rejoicing 
 in hope of the glory of God ?’ ” Rom. v. 2 ; xii. 12. 
 
 Here then, reader, take thy heart once more, and 
 carry it to the top of the highest mount ; ” show it the 
 kingdom of Christ, and the glory of it,” and say to it, 
 
 All this will thy Lord give thee,* who hast ‘ believed 
 in him,* and been *a worshipper of him.* * It is the 
 Father’s good pleasure to give thee this kingdom,* Luke 
 xii. 32. Seest thou this astonishing glory which is above 
 thee ? All this is thine own, inheritance. This crown is 
 
272 Heavenly Contempmtton promoted 
 
 thine, these pleasures are thine, this eompany, 
 beautiful place, all are thine ; because thou art Christ’s, 
 and Christ is thine ; when thou wast united to him thou 
 hadst all these with him,” 
 
 Thus take thy heart inlo ** the land of promise;” 
 show it the pleasant hills, and fruitful valleys ; show it 
 the clusters of grapes which thou hast gathered, to con- 
 vince it that it is a blessed land, flowing with” better 
 than ‘‘ milk and honey :” enter the gates of the ” holy 
 city,” walk through the streets of the New Jerusalem. 
 ” Walk about Zion, and go round about her; tell the 
 towers thereof ; mark well her bulwarks; consider her 
 palaces ; that thou mayest tell it to” thy soul, Psa. 
 xlviii. 12, 13. ” Hath” it not ” the glory of God, and” 
 is not ” her light like a stone most precious, even like 
 a jasper stone, clear as crystal?” See the ” twelve 
 foundations of her walls, and in them the names of the 
 twelve apostles of the Lamb. And the building of tht 
 walls of it are of jasper ; and the city is pure gold, like 
 unto clear glass ; and the foundations are garnished 
 with all manner of precious stones. And the twelve 
 gates are twelve pearls, every several gate is of one pearl, 
 and the street of the city is pure gold, as it were trans- 
 parent glass. There is no temple in it ; for the Lord God 
 Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple of it. It hath 
 no need of the sun, neither of the moon, in it, for the 
 glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light 
 thereof ; and the nations of them who are saved, shall 
 walk in the light of it. These sayings are faithful and 
 true ; and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his 
 angels,” and his own Son, ” to show unto, his servants 
 the things which must shortly be done,” Bev. xxi. 11— 
 24 ; xxii. 6. 
 
 Say now to all this, This is thy rest O my soul. And 
 this must be the place of thy everlasting habitation. 
 Let all the sons of ‘ Zion rejoice, let the daughters of 
 
273 
 
 "by religious AJfections, 
 
 Jerusalem bo glad ; for great is the Lord, and greatly to 
 be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of hia 
 holiness ; beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole 
 earth, is mount Zion, God is known in her palaces 
 for a refuge,” Psa. xlviii. 11, 1 — 3. 
 
 Yet proceed on : the soul that loves, ascends fre- 
 quently, and runs familiarly through the streets of the 
 “ heavenly Jerusalem,” visiting the patriarchs and pro- 
 phets, saluting the apostles, and admiring the armies of 
 martyrs ; so do thou lead on thy heart as from street to 
 street; bring it into the palace of the “ great King;” 
 lead it, as it were, from chamber to chamber. Say to 
 it, “ Here must I lodge : here must I live ; here must I 
 praise; here must I love and be beloved. I must short- 
 ly be one of this heavenly choir, and be better skilled 
 in the music. Among this blessed company must I take 
 up my place; my voice must join to make up the me- 
 lody. My tears will then be wiped away ; my groans 
 be turned to another tune; my cottage of clay be 
 changed to thispalace; my prison-rags to these splendid 
 robes ; and my sordid flesh shall be put off, and such a 
 sun- like spiritual body be put on : ‘for the former things 
 are* here ‘passed away,’ Kev. xxi. 4. ‘ Glorious things 
 are spoken of thee, 0 city of God I’ Psa. Ixxxvii. 3. 
 
 “When Hook upon this glorious place, what a dung- 
 hill and dungeon methinks is earth ; O what difference 
 betwixt a man feeble, pained, groaning, dying rotten in 
 the grave, and one of these triumphant, shining saints ! 
 Here shall I ‘drink of the river of pleasures, the 
 streams whereof make glad the city of God,’ Psa. xxxvi, 
 1 ; xlvi. 4. Must Israel under the bondage of thelaw^ 
 ‘ serve the Lord with joyfulness, and with gladness of 
 heart, for the abundance of all things ?’ Deut. xxviii. 
 47. Surely I shall serve him with joyfulness and glad- 
 ness of heart, for the abundance of glory. Did per- 
 secuted saints ‘takejoyfully the spoiling of their goods?’ 
 
274 Heavenly Contemplation promoted 
 
 Heb. X. 34. And shall not I take joyfully such a full 
 reparation of all my losses? Was it a celebrated ‘ day 
 wherein the Jews rested from their enemies,* because it 
 ‘was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from 
 mourning into a good day ? * Esth. ix. 22. What a day 
 then will that be to my soul, whose rest and change will 
 be inconceivably greater! ‘When the wise men saw 
 the star* that led to Christ, ‘ they rejoiced with exceed- 
 ing great joy, * Matt. ii. 10 : but I shall shortly see him, 
 who is himself ‘ the bright and morning star,* Rev. 
 xxii. 16. 
 
 “ If the disciples ‘ departed from the sepulchre with 
 great joy,’ when they had but heard that their Lord 
 ‘ was risen from the dead,* Matt. xxvm. 7, 8, what will 
 be my joy, when I shall see him reigning in glory, and 
 myselfraised to a blessed communion with him ? Then 
 shall 1 indeed have ‘ beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for 
 mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of 
 heaviness ; * and ‘ Zion* shall be ‘ made an eternal ex- 
 cellency, a joy of many generations,’ Isa. Ixi. 3 ; lx. 15. 
 WTiy then d'o I not arise from the dust, and cease my 
 complaints? Why do I not trample on vain delights, 
 and feed on the foreseen delights of glory ? Why is not 
 my life a continual joy, and the savour of heaven per- 
 petually upon my spirits ?” 
 
 Let me here observe, that there is no necessity to ex- 
 ercise these affections either exactly in this order, or all 
 at one time. Sometimes one of thy affections may need 
 more exciting, or may be more lively than the rest ; or, 
 if thy time be short, one may be exercised one day, 
 and another upon the next; all which must be left to 
 thy prudence to determine. Thou hast also an op- 
 portunity, if inclined to make use of it, to exercise 
 opposite and more mixed affections ; such as hatred of 
 sin, which would deprive thy soul of these immortal 
 jojs*. godly fear, lest thou shouldsi abuse thy mercy; 
 
by religious >^Jfections» 275 
 
 goclly shame and grief, for having abused it ; unfeigned 
 repentance; self-indignation; jealousy over thy heart; 
 and pity for those who are in danger of losing these im- 
 mortal joys. 
 
 in. We are also to take notice, how heavenly con- 
 templation is promoted by soliloquy and prayer. 
 Though consideration be the chief instrument in this 
 work, yet by itself, it is not so likely to affect the heart. 
 In this respect contemplation is like preaching, where 
 the mere explaining of truths and duties is seldom at- 
 tended with such success, as the lively application of 
 them to the conscience ; and especially when a divine 
 blessing is earnestly sought for, to accompany such ap- 
 plication. 
 
 1. By soliloquy, or a pleading the case with thyself, 
 thou must in thy meditation quicken thy own heart. 
 Enter into a serious debate with it. Plead with it in 
 the most moving and affecting language, and urge it 
 with the most powerful and weighty arguments. It is 
 what holy men of God have practised in all ages. Thus 
 David, “ Why art thou cast down, O my soul ! and why 
 art thou disquieted within me ? Hope thou in God, for 
 1 shall yet praise him, who is the health of my counten- 
 ance, and my God,** Psa. xlii. 11. And again, “ Bless 
 the Lord, O my soul! and all that is within me, bless 
 his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul I and forget 
 not all his benefits,” &c. , Psa. ciii. 1 — 5. This soliloquy 
 is to be made use of according to the several affections 
 of the soul, and according to its several necessities. It 
 is a preaching to one*s self: for as everj' good master oi 
 father of a family is a good preacher to his own family ; 
 so every good Christian is a good preacher to his own 
 soul. Therefore the very same method which a minis- 
 ter should use in his preaching to others, every Christian 
 should endeavour after in speaking to himself. Observe 
 the matter and manner of the most heart-affecting 
 
S7tJ Heavenhj Contemplation promoted 
 
 minister; let him be as a pattern for your imitation ; 
 ami the same way that he takes w'ith the heart of his 
 people, do thou also take with thy own heart. Do this 
 in thy heavenly contemplation ; explain to thyself the 
 things on which thou dost meditate ; confirm thy faith 
 in them from scripture ; and then apply them to thy- 
 self, according to their nature, and thy own necessity. 
 There is no need to object against this, from a sense of 
 tby own inability. Doth not God command thee to 
 “ teach the scriptures diligently unto thy children, and 
 talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when 
 thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, 
 and when thou risest up 1 ” Deut. vi. 7. And if thou 
 must have some ability to teach thy children, much 
 more to teach thyself ; and if thou canst talk of divine 
 things to others, why not also to thine own heart? 
 
 2. Heavenly contemplation is likewise promoted, by 
 speaking to God in prayer, as well as by speaking to 
 ourselves in soliloquy. Ejaculatory prayer may very 
 properly be intermixed with meditation, as a part of 
 the duty. How often do we find David, in the same 
 psalm, sometimes pleading with his soul, and some- 
 times with God. The apostle bids speak to ourselves 
 “ in psalms, and hyransj and spiritual songs,” Eph. v. 
 19 ; and no doubt we may also speak to God in them. 
 This keeps the soul sensible of the Divine presence, and 
 tends greatly to quicken and raise it. As God is the 
 highest object of our thoughts, so our viewing of him, 
 speaking to him, and pleading with him, more elevates 
 the soul, and excites the affections, than any other part 
 of meditation. Though we remain unaffected while we 
 plead the case with ourselves ; yet, when we turn our 
 speech to God, it may strike us with awe ; and the ho- 
 liness and majesty of Him whom we speak to, may 
 cause both the matter and words to pierce the deeper. 
 
 When we read, that ‘‘Isaac went out to meditate in 
 
by relioious Affectiom, 277 
 
 the field,” the margin says, “ to pray ;** for the Hebrew 
 word signifies both. Thus in our meditations, to mter- 
 mix soliloquy and prayer — sometimes speaking to our 
 hearts, and sometimes to God, is, I apprehend, the 
 highest step we can advance in this heavenly work. 
 Nor should we imagine it will be as well to take up with 
 prayer alone, and lay aside meditation ; for they are 
 distinct duties, and must both of them be performed. 
 We need one as well as the other, and therefore shall 
 wrong ourselves by neglecting either. Besides, the 
 mixture of them, like music, will be more engaging ; as 
 the one serves to put life into the other. And bur speak- 
 ing to ourselves in meditation, should go before our 
 speaking to God in prayer. For want of attending to 
 this due order, men speak to God with far less reverence 
 and affection than they would speak to an angel, if he 
 should appear to them ; or to a judge, if they were 
 speaking for their lives. Speaking to the God of hea- 
 ven in prayer is a weightier duty than most are aware 
 of. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Heavenly Contemplation assisted by sensible Objects, and 
 guarded against a treacherous Heart. 
 
 The most difficult part of heavenly contemplation, is to 
 maintain a lively sense of heavenly things upon our 
 hearts. It is easier merely to think of heav.en a whole 
 day, than to be lively and affectionate in those thoughts 
 a quarter of an hour. Faith is imperfect, for we are 
 renewed but in part ; and goes against a world of resist- 
 ance ; and being supernatural, is prone to decline and 
 languish, unless it be continually excited. Sense is 
 strong, according to the strength of the flesh ; and being 
 natural, continues while nature continues. The objects 
 of faith are lar off, but those of sense are nigh. We 
 
278 Heavenly Contemplation 
 
 must go as far as heaven for our joys. To rejoice in 
 what we never saw, nor ever knew the man that did see, 
 and this upon a mere promise in the bible, is not so 
 easy as to rejoice in what see and possess. It must 
 therefore be a point of spiritual prudence, to call in 
 sense to the assistance of faith. It will be a good work, 
 if we can make friends of these usual enemies, and make 
 them instruments for raising us to God, which are so 
 often the means of drawing us from him. Why hath 
 God given us either our common senses, or their com- 
 mon objects, if they might not be serviceable to his 
 praise ? Why doth the Holy Spirit describe the glory 
 of the New Jerusalem, in expressions that are even 
 grateful to the flesh ? Is it that we might think heaven 
 to be made of gold and pearl ? or that saints and angels 
 eat and drink ? No, but to help us to conceive them as 
 we are able, and to use these borrowed phrases as a 
 glass, in which we must see the things themselves im- 
 perfectly represented, till we come to an immediate and 
 perfect sight. And besides showing how heavenly 
 contemplation may be assisted by sensible objects, this 
 chapter will also show how it may be preserved from a 
 wandering heart. 
 
 I. In order that heavenly contemplation may be as- 
 sisted by sensible objects, let me only advise — to draw 
 strong suppositions from sense — and to compare the 
 objects of sense with the objects of faith, 
 
 1. For the helping of thy affections in heavenly con- 
 templation, draw as strong suppositions as possible from 
 thy senses. Think on the joys above, as boldly as 
 scripture hath expressed them. Bring down thy con- 
 ceptions to the reach of sense. Both love and joy ar? 
 promoted by familiar acquaintance. W’hen we attempt 
 to think of God and glory, without the scripture manner 
 of representing them, we are lost, and have nothing to 
 fix our thoughts upon ; we set them so far from us, that 
 
279 
 
 assisted by sensible Objects, 
 our thoughts are strange, and we are ready to say, What 
 is above us is nothing to us. To conceive of God and 
 glory, only as above our conception, wilj beget but little 
 love; or as above our love, will produce but little joy. 
 Therefore put Christ no farther from you than he hath 
 put himself, lest the divine nature be again inaccessible. 
 Think of Christ, as in our glorified nature. Think of 
 glorified saints, as men made perfect. Suppose thyself 
 a companion with John in his survey of the New Jeru- 
 salem, and viewing the thrones, the majesty, the hea- 
 venly host, the shining splendour, which he saw. 
 Suppose thyself his fellow-traveller into the celestial 
 kingdom, and that thou hadst seen all the saints in their 
 ** white robes,*’ with “ palms in their hands ;’* and that 
 thou hadst heard those " songs of Moses and of the 
 Lamb.” If thou hadst really seen and heard these 
 things, in what a rapture wouldst thou have been 1 And 
 the more seriously thou puttest this supposition to thy- 
 self, the more will thy meditation elevate thy heart. 
 
 Do not, like the papists, draw them in pictures ; hut 
 get the liveliest picture of them in thy mind that thou 
 possibly canst, by contemplating the scripture account 
 of them, till thou canst say, ” Methinks 1 see a glimpse 
 of glory ! Methinks I hear the shouts of joy and praise, 
 and even stand by Abraham and David, Peter and Paul, 
 and other triumphant souls 1 Methinks I even see the 
 Son of God appearing in the clouds, and the world 
 standing at his bar, to receive their doom ; and hear him 
 say, * Come, ye blessed of my Father ;* and see them go 
 rejoicing into the joy of their Lord I My very dreams 
 of these things have sometimes greatly affected me, and 
 should not these just suppositions much more affect me ? 
 What if I had seen, with Paul, those unutterable things ! 
 Or, with Stephen, had seen heaven opened, and Christ 
 silting at the right hand of God I Surely that one sight 
 wa? worth his storm of stones. What if 1 had seen, a? 
 
280 
 
 TJeareniy Contemplation 
 Micaiah did, the Lord sitting upon his throne, and all the 
 host of heaven standing on his right hand, and on hi? 
 left ! Such things did these men of God see ; and I 
 shall shortly see far more than ever they saw, till they 
 were loosed from flesh, as I must be.’* Thus you see 
 now it excites our afiections in this heavenly work, if 
 we make strong and familiar suppositions from oiir 
 Dodily senses, concerning the state of blessedness, as the 
 Spirit hath in condescending language expressed it. 
 
 2. The other way in which our senses maj" promote 
 this heavenly work is, by comparing the objects of sense 
 with the objects of faith. As, for instance : — You may 
 strongly argue with your hearts from the corrupt de- 
 lights of sensual men, to the joys ab >ve. Think with 
 yourselves ; “ Is it such a delight to a sinner to do wick- 
 edly 1 And will it not be delightful indeed to live with 
 God ? Hath the drunkard such delight in his cups, that 
 the fears of damnation will not make him forsake them ? 
 Will the whoremonger rather part with his credit, estate, 
 and salvation, than with his brutish delights? If the 
 way to hell can afford such pleasure, what then are the 
 pleasures of the saints in heaven ? If the covetous man 
 hath so much pleasure in his wealth, and the ambitious 
 man in places of power and titles of honour ; w’hat then 
 have the saints in everlasting treasures, and in heavenly 
 honours, where we shall be set above principalities and 
 powers, and be made the glorious spouse of Christ ? How 
 delightfully will the voluptuous follow their recreations 
 frcm morning to night, or sit at their cards and dice 
 nights and days together 1 Oh the delight we shall have 
 when we come to our rest, in beholding the face of the 
 living God, and in singing forth praises to him and the 
 Lamb I” 
 
 Compare also the delights above, with the lawful and 
 moderate delights of sense. Think with thyself, “ How 
 flw'eet is food to my taste* when i am hungry ; especially 
 
assisted by sensible Objects. 281 
 
 if it be, as Isaac said, * such as I love,* which my tem- 
 perance and appetite incline to ! What delight, then, 
 must my soul have in feeding upon ‘Christ, the living 
 bread,* and in * eating with him at his table in his king- 
 dom 1’ Was a ‘ mess of pottage* so sweet to Esau in his 
 hunger, that he would buy it at so dear a rate as his 
 birth-right?* How highly then should I value this 
 never-perishing food 1 How pleasant is drink in the 
 extremity of thirst, scarcely to be expressed; enough 
 to make the * strength of Samson revive 1* O how de- 
 lightful will it be to my soul to drink of that * fountain 
 of living water, which whoso drinketh it shall thirst no 
 more 1* How delightful are grateful odours to the 
 smell 1 or music to the earl or beautiful sights to the 
 eye ! What fragrance then hath ‘ the precious ointment 
 which is poured on the head of our glorified Saviour, 
 and which must be poured on the head of all his saints, 
 and will fill all heaven with its odour! How delightful 
 is the music ‘of the heavenly hostl* How pleasing 
 will be those real beauties above I How glorious the 
 ' building not made with hands,* the house that God 
 himself dwells in, the walks and prospects in ' the city 
 of God,’ and the celestial paradise 1” 
 
 Compare also the delights above, with those we find 
 in natural knowledge. These are far beyond the de- 
 lights of sense; but how much farther are the delights 
 of heaven! Think then, “Can an Archimedes be so 
 taken up with his mathematical invention, that the 
 threats of death cannot disengage him, but he will die 
 in the midst of his contemplations? Should 1 not be 
 much more taken up with the delights of glory, and die 
 with these contemplations fresh upon my soul; es- 
 pecially when my death will perfect my delights, while 
 those of Archimedes die with him ? W’hat exquisite 
 pleasure is it to dive into the secrets of nature, and find 
 out the mystery of arts and sciences ; especially if we 
 £70 T 
 
282 Heavenly Contemplation 
 
 make a new discovery in any one of thorn ! What high 
 delights are there then in the knowledge of God and 
 Christ! If the face of human learning be so beautiful, 
 as to make sensual pleasures appear base and brutish ; 
 how beautiful is the face of God! When we meet with 
 some choice book, how could we read it day and night, 
 almost forgetful of meat, drink, or sleep 1 What de- 
 lights are there then at God’s right hand, where we shall 
 know in a moment all that is to be known 1” 
 
 Compare also the delights above with the delights of 
 morality, and of the natural affections. What delight 
 had many sober heathens in the rules and practice of 
 mural duties, so that they took him alone for an honest 
 man who did well through the love of virtue, and not 
 merely for fear of punishment ; yea, so much valued 
 was this moral virtue, that they thought man’s chief 
 happiness consisted in it. Think then “ What excel- 
 lency will there be in our heavenly perfection, and in 
 that uncreated perfection of God which we shall be- 
 hold ! What sweetness is there in the exercise of na- 
 tural love, whether to children, parents, yoke-fellows, 
 or intimate friends! Does David say of Jonathan, * Thj 
 love to me wa« wonderful, passing the love of women V 
 Did ' the soul of Jonathan cleave to David?’ Had Chrisi 
 himself one disciple whom he especially loved, and who 
 was wont to lean on his breast ? If then the delights of 
 close and cordial friendship be so great, what delight 
 shall we have in the-friendship of the Most High, and in 
 our mutual witimacy with Jesus Christ, and in the dearest 
 love of the saints ! Surely this will be a stricter friend- 
 ship, and these moiie lovely and desirable friends, than 
 ever the sun beheld ; and both our affections to our 
 Father and Saviour, and especially theirs to us, will be 
 such as we never knew here. If one angel could destroy 
 a host, the affections of spirits must .also be proportion- 
 ably stronger, so that we slull then love a thousand times 
 
28 o 
 
 assisted hy sensible Objects, 
 
 more ardently than we can now. As all the attributes 
 and works of God are incomprehensible, so is this ol 
 love : he will love us infinitely beyond our most perfect 
 love to him. What then will there be in this mutual 
 love r 
 
 Compare also the excellencies of heaven with those 
 fjlorious works of creation which our eyes now behold. 
 What wisdom, power, and goodness are manifested 
 therein ! How does the majesty of the Creator shine in 
 this fabric of the world ! “ His works are great, sought 
 out of all them that have pleasure therein.” What 
 divine skill in forming the bodies of men or beasts : 
 What excellency in every plant! What beauty in 
 flowers! What variety and usefulness in herbs, fruits, 
 and minerals 1 What wonders are contained in the 
 earth and its inhabitants ; the ocean of waters, with its 
 motions and dimensions ; and the constant succession 
 ' of spring and autumn, of summer and winter ! Think 
 then, If these things, which are but servants to sinful 
 man, are so full of mysterious worth, what is that place 
 where God himself dwells, and which is prepared for 
 just men made perfect with Christ! What glory is 
 there in the least of the stars ! What a vast resplendent 
 body is yonder moon, and every planet ! What an incon- 
 ceivable glory hath the sun ! But all this is nothing to 
 the glory of heaven. Yonder sun must there be laid 
 aside as useless. Yonder is but darkness, to the lustre 
 of my Father’s house. I shall myself be as glorious as 
 that sun. This whole earth is but my Father’s footstool. 
 This thunder is nothing to his dreadful voice. These 
 winds are nothing to the breath of his mouth. If the 
 sending rain, and making the sun to rise on the just, 
 and on the unjust, be so wonderful ; how much more 
 wonderful and glorious will that sun be, which must 
 shine on none but saints and angels 1 ** 
 
 Compare also the enjoyments above, with the wonders 
 
284 Heav€7ilij Conteniplatton 
 
 of providence in the church and world. Would it not 
 be an astonishing sight to see “ the sea stand as a wall 
 on the right hand and on the left, and the dry land 
 appear in the midst, and the people of Israel pass safely 
 througli, and Pharaoh and his host drowned?*’ or to 
 have seen the ten plagues of Egypt? or the rock gush- 
 ing forth streams, or manna and quails rained from 
 heaven? or the earth opening, and swallowing up the 
 wicked?” But we shall see far greater things than 
 these; not only sights more wonderful, but more de- 
 lightful, there shall be no blood, nor wrath, interming- 
 led, nor shall we cry out, as the men of Beth-shemesh, 
 •• Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God?** 
 How astonishing, to see the sun stand still in the firm- 
 ament ; or the dial of Ahaz go back ten degrees I But 
 we shall see when there shall be no sun ; or rather shall 
 behold for ever a sun of infinitely greater brightness. 
 What a life should we live, if we could have drought or 
 rain at our prayers ; or have fire from heaven to destroy 
 our enemies, as Elijah had ; or raise the dead, as Elisha ; 
 or miraculousl}’^ cure diseases, and speak all languages, 
 as the apostles 1 Alas ! these are nothing to the wonders 
 we shall see and possess with God : and all of them 
 wonders of goodness and love! We shall ourselves be 
 the subjects of more wonderful miracles than any of 
 these. Jonah was raised but from a three day’s burial 
 in the belly of a fish ; but we shall be raised from many 
 year’s rottenness and dust ; and that dust exalted to the 
 glory of the sun ; and that glory perpetuated through 
 eternity. Surely, if we observe but common provi- 
 dences ; as, the motions of the sun ; the tides of the sea ; 
 the standing of the earth ; the watering it with rain, as 
 a garden ; the keeping in order a wicked confused 
 world, with many others ; they are all admirable. But 
 what are these to the Sion of God, the vision of the 
 Divine Majesty, and the order of the heavenly hosts? 
 
assisted hy sensible Objects. 285 
 
 Add to these, those particular providences which 
 thou hast thyself enjoyed and recorded through thy life, 
 and compare them with the mercies thou shall have 
 above. Look over the mercies of thy youth and riper 
 age, of thy prosperity and adversity, of thy several 
 places and relations; are they not excellent and in- 
 numerable, rich and engaging ? How sweet was it to 
 thee, when God resolved thy doubts; scattered thy 
 fears; prevented the inconveniences into which thy 
 own counsel would have cast thee ; eased thy pains ; 
 healed thy sickness; and raised thee up, as from death 
 and the grave I Think then, “ Are all these so sweet 
 and precious, that without them my life would have 
 been a perpetual misery 1 Hath his providence on earth 
 lifted me so high, ‘ and his gentleness made me great V 
 How sweet then will his glorious presence be ! How 
 high will his eternal love exalt me I And how great 
 shall I be made in communion with his greatness I If 
 my pilgrimage and warfare have such mercies, what 
 shall I find in my home, and in my triumph I If God 
 communicates so much to me while I remain a sinner ; 
 what will he bestow when I am a perfected saint I If I 
 have had so much at a distance from him ; what shall 1 
 have in his immediate presence, where 1 shall ever stand 
 before his throne I’* 
 
 Compare the joys above, with the comforts thou hast 
 here received in ordinances. Hath not the Bible been 
 to thee as an open fountain, flowirjg with comforts day 
 and night? What suitable promises have come into 
 thj’' mind ; so that with David, thou mayest say, “ Un- 
 less thy law had been my delight, i should then have 
 perished in mine affliction 1” Think then, “ If his word 
 be so full of consolations, what overflowing springs shall 
 we find in God himself I If his letters are so comforta- 
 ble, what will the glories of his presence be I IT the 
 promise is so sweet, what will the performance be I If 
 
28G Heavenly Contemplation 
 
 the testament of our Lord, and our charter for the king- 
 dom, be so comfortable, what will be our possession of 
 the kingdom itself 1’* Think farther : *• What delights 
 have I also found in the word preached I When I have 
 sat under a heavenly, heart-searching teacher, how hath 
 my heart been warmed 1 Methinks I have felt myself 
 almost in heaven. How often have I gone to the con- 
 gregation troubled in spirit, and returned joyful I How 
 often have I gone doubting, and God hath sent me home 
 persuaded of his love in Christ ! What cordials have I 
 met with, to animate me in every conflict ! If but the 
 f«ce of Moses shine so gloriously, what glory is there in 
 the face of God ! If * the feet of them that publish 
 peace, that bring good tidings of salvation, be beautiful ;* 
 how beautiful is the face of the Prince of peace I If this 
 treasure be so precious in earthen vessels ; what is that 
 treasure laid up in heaven 1 Blessed are the eyes that 
 see what is seen there, and the ears that ear the things 
 that are heard there. There I shall hear Elijah, Isaiah, 
 Jeremiah, John, Peter, Paul ; not preaching to gainsay- 
 ers, in imprisonment, persecution, and reproach ; but 
 triumphing in the praises of Him that hath raised them 
 to honour and glory.** 
 
 Think also— “ What joy is it to have access and ac- 
 ceptance in prayer ; that I may always go to God, and 
 open my case, and unbosom my soul to him, as to my 
 most faithful friend! But it will be a more unspeakable 
 joy, when 1 shall receive all blessings without asking, 
 and all my necessities and miseries will be removed, 
 and when God himself will be the portion and inheri- 
 tance of my soul.’* As for the Lord’s supper, “What 
 a privilege is it to be admitted to sit at his table, to 
 have his covenant sealed to me there ! But all the life 
 and comforts there is to assure me of the comforts here- 
 after. O the difierence between the last supper of 
 Christ on earth, and the marriage supper of the Lamb 
 
assisted by sensible Objects, 287 
 
 dt the great day ! Then his room will be the glorious 
 heavens; his attendants, all the hosts of angels and 
 saints; no Judas, no unfurnished guest, comes there; 
 but the humble believers must sit down by him, and 
 their feast will be their mutual loving and rejoicing.’* 
 Concerning the communion of saints, think with thy- 
 self, ** What a pleasure is it to live with intelligent and 
 heavenly Christians 1 David says of such, * They were 
 all his delight.* O what a delightful society then shall I 
 have above 1 Had I but seen Job on the dunghill, what 
 a mirror of patience 1 and what will it be to see him in 
 glory 1 How delightful to have heard Paul and Silas 
 singing in the stocks ! How much more to hear them 
 sing praises in heaven I What melody did David make 
 on his harp ! but how much more melodious to hear 
 that sweet singer in the heavenly choir I What would 
 I have given for an hour’s free converse with Paul, when 
 he was just come down from the third heaven I But I 
 must shortly see those things myself, and possess what 
 I see.” 
 
 Once more, think of praising God in concert with his 
 saints. ” What if I had been in the place of those shep- 
 herds, who saw, and heard, the heavenly host singing, 
 
 ‘ Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good 
 will towards men 1* But 1 shall see and hear more glo- 
 rious things. How blessed should I have thought myself, 
 had I heard Christ in his thanksgivings to his Father I 
 How much more, when I shall hear him pronounce me 
 blessed I If there was such joy at * bringing back the 
 ark,* or at ‘ rebuilding the temple;* what will there be 
 in the ‘New Jerusalem I* If ‘the earth rent,* when 
 the people rejoiced at Solomon’s coronation ; what a 
 joyful shout will there be at the appearing of the King 
 of the church 1 If, ‘ when the foundations of the earth 
 w**relaid, the morning stars sang together, and all the 
 sons of God shouted for joy ;* what a joyful song will 
 
Heavenly Contemplation 
 
 thore be, when the world of glory is both founded and 
 finished, when the top-stone is laid, and when ‘ the holy 
 city is adorned as the bride, the Lamb’s wife !* ** * 
 Compare the joy thou shalt have in heaven, with what 
 the saints have found in the way to it, and in the fore- 
 tastes of it. When did God ever reveal the least of hira- 
 Belf to any of his saints, but the joy of their hearts was 
 answerable to the revelation? In what an ecstasy was 
 Peter on the mount of transfiguration I “ Master,” say* 
 he, it is good for us to oe here ; let us make three ta* 
 bernacles; one for thee ; and one for Moses, and one 
 for ^lias.” As if he had said, O let us not go down 
 again to yonder persecuting rabble ; let us not return to 
 our mean and suffering state. Is it not better to stay 
 here, n-ow we are here ? Is not here better company, 
 and sweeter pleasure ?” How was Paul lifted up with 
 what he saw I How did the face of Moses shine, when 
 he had been talking with God ! These were all extraor- 
 dinarj’ foretastes ; but little to the full beatifical vision. 
 How often have we read and heard of dying saints who 
 have been as full of joy as their hearts could hold ; and, 
 when their bodies felt the extremity of sickness and 
 pain, have had so mucli of heaven in their spirits, that 
 their joy hath far exceeded their sorrows 1 If a spark of 
 this fire be so glorious, even amidst the sea of adversity, 
 what then is glory itself ? O the joy that the martyrs 
 have felt in the flames 1 They were flesh and blood as 
 well as we ; it must therefore be some excellent thin>d' 
 that filled their spirits with joy, while their bodies were 
 burning 1 
 
 Think, reader, in thy meditations, Surely it mus! 
 be some wonderful foretaste of glory that made the 
 flames of the fire easy, and the king of terrors welcome. 
 What then is glory itself! What a blessed rest, when 
 the thoughts of it made Paul ‘ desire to depart, and be 
 with Christ;’ and makes the saints never think them- 
 
289 
 
 afs?3ie({ by sens Cl) Cc Objects, 
 seWes well, til] they are dead ! Shall Saunders embrace 
 the stake, and cry, ‘Welcome cross!’ and shall not 1 
 more delightfully embrace my blessedness, and cry, 
 ' Welcome crown ]’ Shall Bradford kiss the fagot ? and 
 shall not I kiss the Saviour ? Shall another poor martyr 
 rejoice to have her foot in the same hole of the stocks, 
 in which Mr. Philpot’s had been before her ; and shall 
 not I rejoice, that my soul shall live in the sa-me place 
 of glory, where Christ and his apostles have gone before 
 me ? Shall fire and fagot, prisons and banishment, cruel 
 mockings and scourgings, be more welcome to others, 
 than Christ and glory to me ? God forbid.” 
 
 Compare the glory of the heavenly kingdom, with 
 the glorj'' of the church on earth, and of Christ in his 
 state of humiliation If Christ suffering in the room of 
 sinners had such excellency, what is Christ at his Fa. 
 ther’s right hand ? If the church, under her sins and 
 enemies, have so much beauty, what will she have at the 
 marriage of the Lamb ? Mow wonderful was the Son of 
 God in the form of a servant ! When he was born, a new 
 star must appear, and conduct strangers to worship him 
 in a manger ; heavenly hosts with their songs must 
 celebrate his nativity; while a child, he must dispute 
 with doctors ; when he enters upon his office, he turns 
 water into wine; feeds thousands with a few loaves and 
 fishes ; cleanses the lepers, heals the sick, restores the 
 lame, gives sight to the blind, and raises the dead. How 
 wonderful then in his celestial glory ! If there be such 
 ‘‘cutting down of boughs, and spreading of garments, 
 and crying Hosanna,” for one that ‘‘ comes into Jeru- 
 salem riding on an ass,” what will there be when he 
 comes with his angels in his glory 1 
 If they that heard him ‘‘preach the gospel of the 
 kingdom,” confess, ‘‘ Never man spake like this man 
 they, then, that behold his majesty in his kingdom, will 
 say, “ There was never glory like this glory.” If, when 
 
290 Heavenly Oontemptatton 
 
 his enemies -came to apprehend him, “they fell to the 
 ground;** if, when he is dying, “ the earth quakes, the 
 vail of the temple is rent, the sun eclipsed, the dead 
 todies of the saints arise,*’ and the standers«by acknow- 
 edge^ “ Verily this was the Son of God oh what a day 
 «rill it be, when the dead must all arise, and stand before 
 him ; when he “ wull once more shake, not the earth 
 only, but the heavens also ;** when this sun shall be taken 
 out of the firmament, and be everlastingly darkened with 
 his glory ; and w'hen every tongue shall confess him to 
 be Lord and King 1 If, when he rose again, death and 
 the grave lost their power ; if angels must “ roll away 
 the stone,’’ terrify “ the keepers’’ till they are as dead 
 men,’’ an-d send the tidings to his disciples ; if he ascend 
 to heaven in their sight ; what power, dominion, and 
 glory, is he now possessed of, and which we niust for 
 ever possess with him ! 
 
 When he is gone, can a few poor fishermen and tent- 
 makers cure the lame, blind, and sick, open prisons, 
 destroy the disobedient, raise the dead, and astonish 
 their adversaries? What a world will that be, when 
 every one can do greater works than these 1 If the 
 preaching of the gospel be accompanied with such power 
 as to discover the secrets of the heart, humble the proud 
 sinner, and make the most obdurate tremble ; if it can 
 nrake men “ burn their books, sell their lands, bring in 
 the price, and lay it down at the preacher’s feet if it 
 can convert thousands, and “ turn the world upside 
 down if its doctrine, from the prisoner at the bar, 
 can make the judge on the bench tremble ; if Christ and 
 his saints have this power and honour, in the day of their 
 abasement, and in the time appointed for their suffering 
 and disgrace ; what then will they have in their absolute 
 dominion, and full advancement, in their kingdom of 
 glory ? 
 
 Compare the glorious change thou shall nave at last, 
 
assisted by sensible Objects, 291 
 
 with the gracious change which the Spirit hath here 
 wrought on thy heart. There is not the smallest sincere 
 grace in thee, but is of greater worth than the riches of 
 the Indies ; not a hearty desire and groan after Christ, 
 but is more to be valued than the kingdoms of the world, 
 A renewed nature is the very “ image of God ; Christ 
 dwelling in us ; and the Spirit of God abiding in us 
 it is a beam from the face of God ; “ the seed of God re- 
 maining in us the only inherent beauty of the rational 
 soul : it ennobles man above all nobility ; fits him to 
 understand his Maker’s pleasure, do his will, and receive 
 his glory. If this “grain of mustard-seed” be so pre- 
 cious, what is “ the tree of life in the midst of the para- 
 dise of God 1” If a spark of life, which will but strive 
 against corruptions, and flame out a few desires and 
 groans, be of so much worth ; how glorious then is the 
 fountain of this life 1 If we are said to be like God, when 
 we are pressed down with a body of sin ; surely we 
 shall be much more like God, when we have no such 
 thing as sin within us. Is the desire after, and love of 
 heaven so excellent; what then is the thing itself ? Is 
 our joy in foreseeing and believing so sweet; what will 
 be the joy of full possession ? How glad is a Christian 
 when he feels his heart begin to melt, and be dissolved 
 with the thoughts of sinful unkindness! Even this 
 sorrow yields him joy. O what then will it be, when 
 we shall know, and love, and rejoice, and praise in the 
 highest perfection ! 
 
 Think with thyself, “ What a change was it, to be 
 taken from that state wherein I was born, and in which 
 I was riveted by custom, when thousands of sins lay 
 upon my score ; and if I had so died, I had been damned 
 forever! What an astonishing chan<:e, to be justified 
 from ail these enormous crimes, and freed from an these 
 frarfui plagues, and made an heir of heaven ! How 
 often. When 1 have thoui^ht of my regeneration, have 1 
 
29? Heavenly Contemplation 
 
 cried out, O blessed day ! and blessed be the Lord that 
 ever I saw it ! How then shall I cry out in heaven, O 
 bleissed eternity I and blessed be the Lord that brought 
 me to it I Did the angels of God rejoice to see my con- 
 version? Surely they will congratulate my felicity in 
 my salvation. Grace is but a spark raked up in the 
 ashes, covered with flesh from the sight of the world, 
 and sometimes covered with corruption from my own 
 sight ; but my everlasting glory will not be so clouded, 
 nor my light be ‘ under a bushel, but upon a hill,* even 
 mount Sion, the mount of God.* ** 
 
 Once more, compare the joys which thou shalthave 
 above, with those foretastes of it which the Spirit hath 
 given thee here. Hath not God sometimes revealed 
 himself extraordinarily to thy soul, and let a drop of 
 glory fall upon it? Hast thou not been ready to say, 
 “ O that it might be thus with my soul continually 1’* 
 Didst thou never cry out with the martyr, after thy 
 long and mournful expectations, “ He is come. He is 
 come!** Didst thou never, under a lively sermon of 
 heaven, or in thy retired contemplations on thatblessed 
 state, perceive thy drooping spirits revive, and thy de- 
 jected heart lift up the head, and the light of heaven 
 dawn on thy soul ? Think with thyself, “ What is this 
 earnest, to the full inheritance 1 Alas, all this light, 
 that so amaze th and rejoiceth me, is but a Candle lighted 
 from heaven, to lead me thither through this world of 
 darkness ! If some godly men have been overwhelmed 
 with joy till they have cried out, ‘ Hold, Lord, stay thy 
 hands ; I can bear no more !’ what then will be my joys 
 In heaven, when my soul shall be so capable of seeing 
 and enjoying God, and though the light be ten thousand 
 times greater than the sun, yet my eyes shall be able 
 for ever to behold it 1’* Or, if thou hast not yet felt 
 these sweet foretastes, (for every believer hath not felt 
 them,) then make use of such delights as thou hast felt. 
 
assisted by sensible phjecis. 20b 
 
 In order the better to discern what thou shalt hereafter 
 feel. 
 
 II. I am now to show how heavenly contemplation 
 may be preserved from a wandering hearts Our chief 
 work is here to discover the danger, and that will direct 
 to the fittest remedy. The heart will prove the greatest 
 hinderance in this heavenly employment; either, by 
 backwardness to it ; — or, by trifling in it or, by fre- 
 quent excursions to other objects or, by abruptly 
 ending the work before it is well begun. As you value 
 the comfort of this work, these dangerous evils must be 
 faithfully resisted. 
 
 1. Thou wilt find thy heart as backward to this, I 
 think, as to any work in the world. O what excuses 
 will it makel What evasions will it find out! What 
 delays and demurs, when it is ever so much convinced 1 
 Either it will question, whether it be a duty or not; or, 
 if it be so to others, whether to thyself. It will tell thee, 
 “This is a work for ministers that have nothing else to 
 study; or for persons that have more leisure than thou 
 hast.’* If thou be a minister, it will tell thee, “ This is 
 the duty of the people ; it is enough for thee to meditate 
 for their instruction, and let them meditate on what 
 they have heard.” As if it were thy duty only to cook 
 their meat, and serve it up, and they alone must eat it, 
 digest it, and live upon it. If all this will not do, thy 
 heart will tell thee of other business, or set thee upon 
 some other duty ; for it had rather go to any duty than 
 this. Perhaps it will tell thee, “ Other duties are greater, 
 and therefore this must give place to them, because thou 
 hast no time for both. Public business is more im- 
 portant; to study and preach for the saving of souls, 
 must be preferred before these private contemplations.” 
 As if thou hadst not time to care for thy own salvation, 
 for looking after that of others ; or thy charity to others 
 were so great, that it obliges thee to neglect thy own 
 
29 i Heavenly Contemplation 
 
 eternal welfare ; or as if there were any better way to fit 
 us to be useful to others, than making this proof of our 
 doctrine ourselves. Certainly heaven is the best fire to 
 light our candle at, and the best book for a preacher to 
 study ; and if we would be persuaded to study that more, 
 the church would be provided with more heavenly lights ; 
 and when our studies are divine, and our spirits divine, 
 our preaching will also be divine, and we may be called 
 divines indeed. 
 
 Or, if thy heart have nothing to say against the work, 
 it will trifle away the time in delays, and promise this 
 day, and the next, but still keep off from the business ; 
 or, it will give thee a flat denial, and oppose its own 
 unwillingness to thy reason. All this I speak of the 
 heart, so far as it is still carnal ; for I know, so far as it 
 is spiritual, it will judge this the swe.test work in the 
 world. 
 
 What is now to be donel Wilt thou do it, if I tell 
 theet Wouldst thou not say in a like case, “ W’hat 
 should I do with a servant that will not work ? or with 
 a horse that will not travel ? Shall I keep them to look 
 at?’* Then faithfully deal thus with thy heart; per- 
 suade it to the work, take no denial, chide it for its 
 backwardness, use violence with it. Hast thou no com- 
 mand of thy own thoughts ? Is not the subject of thy 
 meditations a matter of choice, especially under this 
 conduct of thy judgment ? Surely God gave thee, with 
 thy new nature, some power to govern thy thoughts. 
 Art thou again become a slave to thy depraved nature ? 
 Resume thy authority. Call in the Spirit of Christ to 
 thine assistance, who is never backward to so good a 
 work, nor will deny his help in so just a cause. Say to 
 him, “ Lord, thou givest my reason the command of my 
 thoughts and affections ; the authority I have received 
 over them is from thee ; and now behold they refuse to 
 obey thine authority : thou commandest me to set them 
 
assisted by sensible Objects. 295 
 
 to the work of heavenly meditation, hut they rebel, and 
 stubbornly refuse the duty. Wilt thou not assist me to 
 exercise that authority which thou hast given me 1 O 
 aend down thy Spirit, that I may enforce thy commands, 
 and effectually compel them to obey thy will I” Thus 
 thou shalt see thy heart will submit, its resistance be 
 overcome, and its backwardness be turned into cheerful 
 compliance. 
 
 2. Thy heart will also be likely to betray thee by tri- 
 fling when it should be effectually meditating. Perhaps 
 when thou hast an hour for meditation, the time will be 
 spent before thy heart will be serious. This doing of 
 duty, as if we did it not, ruins as many as the omission 
 of it. Here let thine eye be always upon thy heart. 
 Look not so much to the time it spends in the duty, as 
 to the quantity and quality of the work that is done. 
 You can tell by his work, whether a servant hath been 
 diligent. Ask yourself, “ What affections have been 
 yet exercised ? How much am I yet got nearer to hea- 
 ven?’* Think not, since thy heart is so trifling, it is 
 better to let it alone : for, by this means, thou wilt cer- 
 tainly banish all spiritual obedience; because the best 
 hearts, being but sanctified in part, will resist so far as 
 they are carnal. But rather consider well the corruption 
 of thy nature ; and that its sinful indispositions will not 
 supersede the commands of God, nor one sin excuse 
 for another; and that God has appointed means to excite 
 our affections. This self- reasoning, self-considering duty 
 of heavenly meditation, is the most singular means both 
 to excite and increase love. Therefore stay not from 
 the duty, till thou feelest thy love constrain thee, any 
 more than thou wouldst stay from the fire till thou 
 feelest thyself warm ; but engage in the work, till love 
 is excited, and then love will constrain thee to further 
 duty. 
 
 3. The heart will also be making excursions from thy 
 
2«6 Heavenly Contemplation 
 
 hcavenl}’ meditation to other objects. It will be turning 
 aside, like a careless^ servant, to talk with every one that 
 passeth by. When there should be nothing in thy mind 
 but heaven, it will be thinking of thy calling, or thy 
 afflictions, or of every bird, or tree, or place, thouseest. 
 The cure is here the same as before ; use watchfulness 
 and violence. Say to thy heart, “ What ! did I come 
 hither to think of ray worldly business, of persons, 
 places, news, or vanity, or of anything but heaven, be 
 it ever so good? ‘ Canst thou not watch one hour?* 
 Wouldst thou leave this world, and dwell for ever with 
 Christ in heaven, and not leave it one hour to dwell with 
 Christ in meditation? Is this thy love to thy friend? 
 Dost thou love Christ, and the place of thy eternal, 
 blessed abode, no more than this?’* If the ravening 
 fowls of wandering thoughts devour the meditation in- 
 tended for heaven, they devour the life and joy of thy 
 thoughts ; therefore drive them away from thy sacrifice, 
 and strictly keep thy heart to the work. 
 
 4. Abruptly ending thy meditation before it is well be- 
 gun, is another way in which thy heart will deceive 
 thee. Thou mayest easily perceive this in other duties. 
 In Secret prayer, is not thy heart urging thee to cut it 
 short, and frequently making a motion to have done ? 
 So, in heavenly contemplation, thy heart w’ill be weary 
 of the work, and will stop thy heavenly walk before 
 thou art well warm. But charge it in the name of God 
 to stay, and not do so great a w'ork by halves. Say to 
 it, “ Foolish heart! if thou beg awhile, and goest away 
 before thou hast thy alms, is not thy begging a lost la- 
 bour ? If thou stoppest before (he end of thy journey, 
 is not thy travel lost? Thou earnest hither in hope to 
 have a sight of the glory which thou must inherit ; and 
 w’ilt thou stop when thou art almost ai the top of the 
 hill, and turn back before Ihou hast taken a survey ? 
 Thou earnest hither in hope to speak with God. and wilt 
 
assisted hy tensihle Objects. 297 
 
 ihou go before Itiou hast seen him ? Thou earnest to 
 bathe thyself in the streams of consolation, and to that 
 end didst unclothe thyself of thy earthly thoughts, and 
 wilt thou only touch the bank, and return? Thou 
 earnest to spy out the land of promise ; go not back 
 w'ithout one cluster of grapes, to show thy brethren for 
 their encouragement. Let them see that thou hast 
 tasted of the wine, by the gladness of thy heart ; and 
 that thou hast been anointed with the oil, by the cheer- 
 fulness of thy countenance ; and hast fed of the milk 
 and honey by the mildness of thy disposition, and the 
 sweetness of thy conversaiiqn. This heavenly fire 
 w'ould melt thy frozen heart, and refine and spiritualize 
 it; but it must have time to operate.** Thus pursue 
 the work till something be done, till thy graces be in 
 exercise,' thy affections raised, and thy soul refreshed 
 with the delights above; or, if thou canst not obtain 
 those ends at once, be the more earnest at another time. 
 “ Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when he cora- 
 eth shall find so doing.** 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Heavenly Conlemplatim exempUJicd, and the tchole work 
 co7icluded. 
 
 And now reader, according to the above directions, 
 make conscience of daily exercising thy graces in me- 
 ditation as well as prayer. Retire into some secret 
 place, at a lime the most convenient to thyself, and lay- 
 ing aside all worldly thoughts, with all possible serious- 
 ness and reverence, look up toward heaven ; remembei 
 there is thine everlasting rest ; study its excellency and 
 reality, and rise from sense to faith, by comparing the 
 heavenly with the earthly joys ; then mix ejaculations 
 with thy soliloquies ; till, having pleaded the case re- 
 270 V 
 
298 
 
 Jin Example of 
 verently with God, and seriously with thy own heart, 
 thou hast pleaded thyself from a clod to a flame, from a 
 forgetful sinner, and a lover of the world, to an ardent 
 lover of-God, from a fearful coward to a resolved Chris- 
 tian, from an unfruitful sadness to a joyful life ; in a 
 M'ord, till thou hast pleaded thy heart from earth to hea- 
 ven, from conversing below to walking with God ; and 
 till thou canst lay thy heart to rest, as in the bosom of 
 Christ, by some such meditation of thy everlasting rest 
 as is here added for thy assistance. 
 
 “Rest I How sweet the sound! It is melody to my 
 ears 1 It lies as a reviving cordial at my heart, and from 
 thence sends forth lively spirits, which beat through all 
 the pulses of my soul ! Rest, not as a stone rests on the 
 earth, nor as this flesh shall rest in the grave, nor such a 
 rest as the carnal world desires. O blessed rest I when 
 we ‘ rest not day and night, saying. Holy, holy, holy, 
 Lord God Almighty.* When we shall rest from sin, but 
 not from worship ; from suffering and sorrow, but not 
 from joy ! O blessed day ! When I shall rest with God ! 
 when I shall rest in the bosom of my Lord ! when I shall 
 rest in knowing, loving, rejoicing, and praising I when 
 my perfect soul and body shall together perfectly enjoy 
 the most perfect God ! when God, who is love itself, shall 
 perfectly love me, and rest in his love to me, as I shall 
 rest in my love to him ; and rejoice over me with joy, 
 and joy over me with singing, as I shall rejoice in him ! 
 
 ** How near is that most blessed joyful day I It comes 
 apace. ‘ He that shall come, will come, and will not 
 tarry.* Though my Lord seems to delay his coming, 
 yet a little while, and he will be here. What are a few 
 hundred years, when they are over ? How surely wih 
 his sign appear I How suddenly will he seize upon the 
 careless world, even * as the lightning cometh out of the 
 east, and shineth unto the west 1’ He who is gone 
 hence, shall so come. Methinks i hear hU trumpet 
 
heavenly Meditation. 299 
 
 sound ! Methinks I see him coming with clouds, with 
 his attending angels, in majesty and in glory I 
 
 “ O secure sinners I What now will ye do ? Where 
 will you hide yourselves ? What shall cover you ? 
 mountains are gone ; the heavens and the earth, which 
 were, are passed away; the devouring fire hath con- 
 sumed all except yourselves, who must be the fuel for 
 ever. O that you could consume as soon as the earth : 
 and melt away as did the heavens ! Ah, these wishes 
 are now but vain 1 The Lamb himself would have been 
 your Friend ; he would have loved you, and ruled you, 
 and now have saved 3’ou ; but you would not then, and 
 now it is too late. It is too late to cry, ‘ Lord, Lord ;* 
 too late, too late, man ! Why dost thou look about ? 
 Can any save thee ? Whither dost thou run ? Can any 
 hide thee ? O wretch, thou hast brought thyself to this ! 
 
 ** Now, blessed saints, that have believed and obeyed ! 
 This is the end of faith and patience. This is it for 
 which you prayed and waited. Do you now repent 
 your sufferings and sorrows, your self-denying and holy 
 walking ? Are your tears of repentance now bitter or 
 sweet? See how the Judge smiles upon youl there is 
 love in his looks ; the titles of Redeemer, Husband, 
 Head, are written in his amiable shining face. Hark, 
 he calls you ; he bids you stand here ‘ on his right hand ;* 
 fear not, for there * he sets his sheep.* O joyful sen- 
 tence I * Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the 
 kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the 
 world.* He takes you by the hand, the door is open, 
 the kingdom is his, and therefore yours ; there is your 
 place before his throne ! the Father receives you as the 
 spouse of his Son, and bids you welcome to the crown 
 of glory. Ever so unworthy, you must be crowned. 
 This was the project of free redeeming grace, the purpose 
 cf eternal love. O blessed grace ! O blessed love ! O 
 how love'and joy will rise! Bull cannot express it, 1 
 cannot conceive it* 
 
300 
 
 yin Example of 
 
 ** This is that joy which was procured hy sorrow, that 
 crown which W'as procured by the cross. My Loid 
 wept, that now ray ‘tears might be wiped away;’ he 
 bled, that I might now rejoice ; he was forsaken, that 
 I might not now be forsaken ; he then died, that I might 
 now live. O free mercy, that c^Lft e;calt so vile a wretcli I 
 Free to me, though dear to Christ! Free grace, that 
 hath chosen me, when thousands were left. When my 
 companions in sin must burn in hell, I must here rejoice 
 in rest ! Here must I live with all these saints I O 
 comfortable meeting of my old acquaintance, with w'hora 
 I prayed, and wept, and suffered, and spoke often of this 
 day and place ! I see the grave could not detain you ; 
 the same love hath redeemed and saved you also. 
 
 “ This is not like our cottages of clay, our prisons, 
 our earthly dw'ellings. This voice of joy is not like our 
 old complaints, our impatient groans and sighs ; nor this 
 melodious praise like the scoffs and revilings, or the 
 oaths and curses, which we heard on earth. This body 
 is not like that we had, nor this soul like the soul we 
 had, nor this life like the life we lived. We have changed 
 our place and state, our clothes and thoughts, our looks, 
 language, and company. Before, a saint was weak and 
 despised; so proud and peevish, we could often scarcely 
 discern his graces: but now how glorious a thing is a 
 saint 1 Where is now their body of sin, which wearied 
 themselves and those about them ? W'here are now our 
 different judgments, reproachful names, divided spirits, 
 exasperated passions, strange looks, uncharitable cen- 
 sures? Now we are all of one judgment, of one name, 
 of one heart, house, and glory. O sweet reconciliation ! 
 Happy union! Now the gospel shall no more De dis- 
 honoured through our folly. No more, my soul, shall 
 thou lament the sufferings of the saints, or the church’s 
 ruins, nor mourn thy suffering fr’ends, nor weep over 
 their dying beds, or their graves. Thou shalt nevei 
 
heaverdy Meditation. 831 
 
 suffer thy old temptations from Satan, the world, or thy 
 own flesh. Thy pains and sickness are all cured ; thy 
 body shall no more burden thee with weakness and 
 weariness; thy aching head and heart, thy hunger and 
 thirst, thy sleep and labour, are all gone. 
 
 “ O what a mighty change is this I From the dung- 
 hill, to the throne from persecuting sinners, to praising 
 saints ! From a vile body, to this which ‘ shines as the 
 brightness of the firmament I’ From a sense of God’s 
 displeasure, to the perfect enjoyment of him in love ! 
 From all my doubts and fears, to this possession, which 
 puts me out of doubt ! From all my fearful thoughts of 
 death, to this joyful life ! Blessed change 1 Farewell, 
 sin and sorrow, for ever: farewell, my rocky, proud, 
 unbelieving heart; my worldly, sensual, carnal heart: 
 and welcome now my most holy, heavenly nature. 
 Farewell, repentance, faith, and hope ; and welcome 
 love, and joy, and praise. I shall now have my harvest, 
 without ploughing or sowing ; my joy, without a preach- 
 er, a promise! even all from the face of God himself. 
 Whatever mixture is in the streams, there is nothing 
 but pure joy in the fountain. Here shall I be encircled 
 with eternity, and ever live, and ever praise the Lord. 
 My face will not wrinkle, nor my hair be gray ; ‘ for 
 this corruptible* shall have ‘ put on incorruption, and 
 this mortal immortality,* and ‘ death shall be’ swallowed 
 np in victory. O death, where is’ now * thy sting! O 
 grave, where is thy victory !* The date of my lease Will 
 no more expire, nor shall I trouble myself with thoughts 
 of death, nor lose my joys through fear of losing them. 
 When millions of ages are passed, my glory is but be- 
 ginning ; and when millions more are passed, it is no 
 nearer ending. Every day is all noon, every month is 
 harvest, every year is a jubilee, every age is full man- 
 hood, and all this is one eternity. O blessed eternity ! 
 the glory of my glory ! the perfection of my perfection 1 
 
803 
 
 An Example of 
 “ Ah drowsy, earthly hearti how coldly dost thou 
 think of this reviving day 1 Hadst thou rather sit down 
 in dirt, than walk in the palace of God? art thou now 
 remembering thy worldly business, or thinking of thy 
 lusts, earthly delights, and merry company ? Is it 
 better to be here, than above with God ? Is the com- 
 pany better ? Are the pleasures greater ? Come away : 
 make no excuse, nor delay. God commands, and I 
 command thee ; gird up thy loins ; ascend the mount ; 
 look about thee with faith and seriousness. Look not 
 back upon the way of the wilderness ; except it be to 
 compare the kingdom with that howling desert, more 
 sensibly to perceive the wide difference. Yonder is thy 
 Father’s glory ; yonder, O my soull must thou remove, 
 when thou departest from this body ; and when the 
 power of thy Lord hath raised it again, and joined thee 
 to it; yonder, must thou live with God forever. There 
 is the glorious new Jerusalem, the gates of pearl, the 
 foundation of pearl, the streets and pavement of trans- 
 parent gold. That sun which lighteth all this world, 
 will be useless there; even thyself shall be as bright as 
 yonder shining sun. God will be the sun, and Christ 
 the light, and in his light shalt thou have light. 
 
 “ O mj soul ! dost thou ‘ stagger at the promise of 
 God through unbelief?’ I much suspect thee. Didst 
 thou believe indeed, thou wouldst be more affected with 
 it. Is it not under the hand, and seal, and oath of God ? 
 Can God lie ? Can he that is truth itself be false ? What 
 need hath God to flatter or deceive thee ? Why should 
 he promise thee more than he will perform ? Dare not 
 to charge the wise, almighty, faithful God with this. 
 IIow many of the promises have been performed to thee 
 in thy conversion! Would God so powerfully concur 
 with a feigned word I O wretched heart of unbelief? 
 Hath God made thee a promise of rest, and wilt thou 
 come short of it? Thine eyes, thy ears, and all thy 
 
303 
 
 heavenly jyieuitacton, 
 senses, may prove delusions, sooner than a promisr of 
 God can delude thee. Thou maytst be surer of tha! 
 which is written in the word, than if thou didst see it 
 with thine eyes, or feel it with thy hands. Art thou 
 sure thou art alive, or that this is earth thou standest on, 
 or that thine eyes see the sun ? As sure is all this glory 
 to the saints ; as sure shall I be higher than yonder stars, 
 and live for ever in the holy city, and joyfully sound 
 forth the praise of my Redeemer; if I be not shut out 
 by this ‘ evil heart of unbelief,’ causing me to ‘ depart 
 from the living God.* 
 
 And is this rest so sweet and so sure? Then what 
 means the careless world ? Know they what they neg- 
 lect ? Did they ever hear of it, or are they yet asleep, 
 or are they dead? Do they certainly know that the 
 crown is before them, while they thus sit still, or follow 
 trifles? Undoubtedly they are beside themselves, to 
 mind so much their provision by the way, when they 
 are hasting so fast to another world, and their eternal 
 happiness lies at stake. Were there left one spark of 
 reason, they would never sell their rest for toil, nor 
 their glory for worldly vanities, nor venture heaven for 
 sinful pleasure. Poor men I O that you would once 
 consider what you hazard, and then you would scorn 
 these tempting baits I Blessed for ever be that love 
 which has rescued me from this bewitching darkness ! 
 
 Draw yet nearer, O my soul 1 with thy most fervent 
 love. Here is matter for it to work upon, something 
 worth thy loving. O see what beauty presents itself! 
 Is not all the beauty in the world united here ? Is not 
 all other beauty but deformity ? Dost thou now need 
 to be persuaded to love ? Here is a feast for thine eyes, 
 and all the powers of thy soul ; dost thou need entrea- 
 ties to feed upon it ? Canst thou love a little shining 
 earth, a walking piece of clay ? And canst thou not love 
 that God, that Christ, that glory, which is so truly and 
 
501 
 
 An Exampm o f 
 immeasurably lovely ? Thou cansst love thy friend be- 
 caose he loves thee; and is the love of thy friend like 
 the love of Christ ? Their weeping or bleeding for thee, 
 does not ease thee, nor stay the course of thy tears and 
 blood ; but the tears and blood that fell from thy Lord 
 have a sovereign healing virtue. 
 
 “ O my soul ! if love deserves, and should beget love, 
 what incomprehensive love is here before thee! Pour 
 out all the store of thy affections here, and all is too lit- 
 tle. O that it were more! O that it were many thou- 
 sand times more ! Let Him be first served, that served 
 thee first. Let Him have the first-born, and strength of 
 thy sout, who parted with strength and life in love to 
 thee. O my soul, dost thou love for excellency 1 Yon- 
 der is the region of light! This is the land of darkness. 
 Yonder twinkling stars, that shining moon, and radiant 
 sun, are all but lanterns hung out of thy Father’s house, 
 to light thee while thou walkest in this dark world ; but 
 how little dost thou know the glory and blessedness that 
 are within! Dost thou love for suitableness] What 
 person more suitable than Christ] His Godhead and 
 humanity, his fulness and freeness, his willingness and 
 constancy, all proclaim him thy most suitable friend. 
 What state more suitable to thy misery than mercy ? or 
 to thy sin and pollution, than honour and perfection 1 
 What place more suitable to thee than heaven] Does 
 this world agree with thy desires ] Hast thou not hat.' 
 a sufficient trial of it, or dost thou love for interest and 
 near relation ] Where hast thou better interest tnan in 
 Iveaven, or nearer relation than there ] 
 
 “Dost thou love for acquaintance and familiarity 1 
 Though thine eyes have never seen thy Lord, yet thou 
 hast heard his voice, received his benefits, and lived in 
 his bosom : He taught thee to know thyself and him ; 
 he opened thee that first window through which thou 
 sawest into heaven. Hast thow forgotten when thy heart 
 
firavenly Mediation. SOO 
 
 was canOess, and he awakerieU it ; hard, and he softened 
 If ; stubborn, and he made it yield ; at peace, and he 
 troubled it ; whole, and he broke it ; and broken till he 
 healed it again ? Hast thou forgotten the times when he 
 found thee in tears ; when he heard thy secret sighs and 
 groans, and left all to come and comfort thee ; when he 
 took thee, as it were, in his arms, and asked thee, * Poor 
 Boul, what ails thee? Dost thou weep, when I have 
 wept so much? Be of good cheer; thy wounds are 
 saving, and not deadly ; it is I have made them, who 
 meant thee no hurt ; though 1 let out thy blood, 1 will 
 not let out thy life.* I remember his voice. How gently 
 did he take me up 1 How carefully did he dress my 
 wounds! 
 
 “ Methinks I hearhiin still saying to me, * Poor sinner, 
 though thou hast dealt unkindly with me, and cast me 
 off; yet I will not do so by thee. Though thou has set 
 light by me and all ray mercies, yet they and myself are 
 all thine. What wouldst thou have that 1 can give thee ? 
 And what dost thou want that 1 cannot give thee t 11 
 anything I have will please ihee, thou shalt have it. 
 Wouldst thou have pardon? 1 freely forgive thee all 
 the debt. Wouldst thou have grace and peace ? Thou 
 shall have them both. Wouldst thou have myself? 
 liehold, 1 am thine — thy Friend, thy Lord, thy Brother, 
 Husband, and Head. Wouldst thou hare the Father? 
 1 will bring the to him, and thou shalt have him, in and 
 by me.* 
 
 •* These W'ere my Lord’s reviving words. After all 
 when I was doubtful of his love, methinks 1 yet remem- 
 ber his overcoming arguments. * Have I done so much, 
 sinner, to testify my love, and yet dost thou doubt ? 
 Have 1 offered thee myself and love so long, and yet 
 dost thou question my willingness to be thine ? At what 
 learer rate should I tell thee that 1 love thee? Wilt 
 ihounot believe my bitter p<f.ssion proceeded from love 
 
ZOH An Example of 
 
 Have I made myself in the gospel a lion to thine ene- 
 mies, and a lamb tx> thee, and dost thou overlook my 
 lamb-like nature 1 Had I been willing to let thee perish, 
 what need I have done and suffered so much? what 
 need I follow thee with such patience and importunity ? 
 Why dost thou tell me of thy wants ? have I not enough 
 for me and thee ? Or of thy unworthiness? for if thou 
 wert thyself worthy, what shouldst thou do with my 
 worthiness ? Did I ever invite, or save the worthy and 
 the righteous ? or is there any such upon earth ? Had-;t 
 thou nothing? art thou lost and miserable, helpless and 
 forlorn? Dost thou believe I am an all-sufficient Sa« 
 viour, and wouldst thou have me ? Lo, I am thine, take, 
 me ; if thou art willing, I am ; and neither sin nor Satan 
 shall break the match.* 
 
 “These, O these, were the blessed words which his 
 Spirit from his gospel spoke unto me, till he made me 
 cast myself at his feet, and cry out, ‘My Saviour, and 
 my Lord, thou hast broken, thou hast revived my heart ; 
 thou hast overcome, thou hast won my heart ; take it, 
 it is thine ; if such a heart can please thee, take it; if it 
 cannot, make it such as thou wouldst have it.* Thus, O 
 my soul! mayest thou remember the sweet familiarity 
 thou hast had with Christ ; therefore, if acquaintance 
 will cause affection, let out thy heart unto him. It is he 
 who hath stood by the bed of sickness, hath eased thy 
 pains, refreshed thy weariness, and removed thy fears, 
 lie hath been always ready when thou hast earnestly 
 sought him; hath met thee in public and private; hath 
 been found of thee in the congregation, in thy house, in 
 thy closet, in the field, in thy waking nights, and in thy 
 deepest dangers. 
 
 “ If bounty and compassion oe an attractive of love, 
 how unmeasurably then am I bound to love him I All 
 the mercies that have filled up my life, all the places 
 that ever I abode in, all the societies and persons I havo 
 
heavenly MeditaliL^i 307 
 
 been conversant with, all my employments and rela- 
 tions, every condition I have been in, and every change 
 I have passed through, all tell me, that the fountain is 
 overflowing goodness. Lord, what a sum of love am 1 
 indebted to thee I And how does my debt continually 
 increase I How should I love again for so much love I 
 But shall I dare to think of requiting thee, or recom- 
 pensing all thy love with mine ? Will my mite requite 
 thee for f'y golden mines ; my seldom wishes, for thy 
 constant bounty : mine, which is nothing, or not mine, 
 for thine wdiich is infinite, and thine own 7 Shall I dare 
 to contend in love with thee ; or set my borrowed lan- 
 guid spark against the Sun of love? Can I love as high, 
 as deep, as broad, as long, as Love itself; as much as he 
 that made me, and that made me love, and gave me all 
 that little which I have 7 As I cannot match thee In the 
 works of power, nor make, nor preserve, nor rule the 
 worlds; no more can I match thee in love. No, Lord, 
 
 I yield; I am overcome. 0 blessed conquest 1 Go on 
 victoriously, and still prevail, and triumph in thy love. 
 The captive of love shall proclaim thy victory; when 
 thou leadest me in triumph from earth to heaven, from 
 death to life, from the tribunal to the throne ; myself, 
 and all that see it, shall acknowledge thou hast prevailed 
 and all shall say, * Behold, how he loved him !* 
 
 “ Yet let me love in subjection to thy love ; as thy re- 
 deemed captive, though not thy peer. Shall 1 not love 
 at all, because I cannot reach thy measure 7 O that 1 
 could feelingly say, ‘ I love thee,* even as I iove my 
 friend, and myself 1 Though I cannot say, as the apostle 
 ‘ Thou knowest that I love thee ;* yet I can say, Lor-d, 
 thou knowest that I would love thee. I am angry with 
 my heart, that it doth not love thee ; I chide it, yet it 
 doth not mend: 1 reason with it, and would fain per- 
 suade it, yet I do not perceive it stir; 1 rub and chufe it 
 in the use of thy ordinances and yet 1 feel it not warm 
 
208 
 
 An Example of 
 
 'within me. Unworthy soul? Is not thine eye now \ 
 upon the only lovely object? Art thou not now be- I 
 holding the ravishing glory of the saints ? And dost thou 
 not love ? Art thou not a rational soul, and should not 
 reason tell thee, that earth is a dungeon to the celestial 
 glory ? Art thou not thyself a spirit, and shouldst thou 
 not love God, who is a Spirit, and the Father of spirits ? 
 Why dost thou love so much thy perishing clay, and 
 love no more the heavenly glory ? Shalt thou love when 
 thou comest there ? when the Lord shalt take thy car- ■ 
 cass from the grave, and make thee shine as the sun in 
 glory for ever and ever, shalt thou then love, or shalt 
 thou not ? Is not the place a meeting of lovers ? Is not 
 the life a state of love ? Is it not the great marriage-day 
 of the Lamb ? Is not the employment there the work of 
 love, where the souls with Christ take their fill? O 
 then, my soul, begin it here 1 Be sick with love now, 
 that thou mayest be well with love there. Keep thysell 
 now in the love of God ; and let neither life, nor death, 
 nor anything, separate thee from it; and thou shalt be 
 kept in the fulness of love for ever, and nothing shall 
 imbitter or abate thy pleasure ; for the Lord hath pre- 
 pared a city of love, a place for communicating love to 
 his chosen, and they that love his name shall dwell 
 therein. 
 
 “ Awake then, O my drowsy soul I To sleep under 
 the light of grace is unreasonable, much more in the 
 approach of the light of glory. Come forth, my dull 
 congealed spirit, thy Lord bids thee rejoice, and again 
 rejoice. Thou hast lain long enough in thy prison of 
 flesh, where Satan hath been thy jailer, cares have been 
 thy irons, fears thy scourges, and thy food the bread 
 and water of affliction ; where sorrows have been thy 
 lodging, and thy sins and foes have made the bed, and 
 an unbelieving heart hath been the gates and bars that 
 have kept thee in ; the Angel of the covenant now c%il8 
 
heavenly Meditation. 309 
 
 thee, and strikes thee, and bids thee arise, and follow 
 him. Up, O my soul I and cheerfully obey, and thy 
 bolts and bars shall all fly open. Follow the Lamb 
 whithersoever he goeth. Shouldst thou fear to follow 
 such a Guide T Can the sun lead thee to a state of dark- 
 ness 1 Will he lead thee to death, who died to save tlvee 
 from it ? Follow him, and he will show thee the para- 
 dise of God ; he will give thee a sight of the new Jeru- 
 salem, and a taste of the tree of life. Come forth, my 
 drooping soul, and lay aside thy w'later dress ; let it be 
 seen by thy garments of joy and praise, that the spring 
 is come ; and as thou now seest thy comforts green, 
 thou shalt shortly see them white and ripe for harvest, 
 and then thou shall be called to reap, and gather, and 
 take possession. Should 1 suspend and delay my joys 
 till then ? Should not the joys of the spring go before 
 the joys of harvest ? Is title nothing before possession ? 
 Is the heir in no better a state than a slave ? 
 
 “My Lord hath taught me to rejoice in hope of his 
 glory ; and how to see it through the bars of a prison ; 
 for when I am persecuted for righteousness’ sake, he 
 commands me to rejoice and be exceedingly glad, be- 
 cause my reward in heaven is great. I know he would 
 have my jo 3 ^s exceed my sorrows, and as much as he 
 delights in the humble and contrite, he yet more de- 
 lights in the soul that delights in him. Hath my Lord 
 spread me a table in this wilderness, and furnished it 
 with the promises of everlasting glory, and set before»me 
 angels’ food? Doth he frequently and importunately 
 invite me to sit down, and feed, and spare not? Hath 
 he, to that end, furnished me with reason, and faith, and 
 a jo 3 "ful disposition ; and is it possible that he sliould 
 be unwilling to have me rejoice ? Is it not his command, 
 to de.ight thyself in the Lord ; and his promise, to give 
 thee the desires of thine heart ? Art thou not charged 
 to rejoice evermore ; yea, to sing aloud, and shout for 
 
310 
 
 Jln Example of 
 joy? Why should I then be discourag('d ? My God Is 
 •w illing, if I were but willing. He is delighted with my 
 delights. He would have it in my constant frame, and 
 daily business, to be near him in my believing medita- 
 tions, and to live in the sweetest thoughts of his good- 
 ness. O blessed employment, fit for the sons of God , 
 But thy feast, my Lord, is nothing to me without an 
 appetite : thou hast set the dainties of heaven before me 
 but, alas 1 I am blind, and cannot see them ; I am sick, 
 and cannot relish them ; I am so benumbed, that I cannot 
 put forth a hand to take them. 1 therefore humbly beg 
 this grace, that as thou hast opened heaven to me in thy 
 word, so thou wouldst open mine eyes to see it, and my 
 heart to delight in it ; else heaven will be no heaven to 
 me. O thou Spirit of life, breathe upon thy graces in 
 me ; take me by the hand, and lift me from earth, that 
 I may see what glory thou hast prepared for them that 
 love thee I 
 
 Away then, ye soul-tormenting cares and fears, ye 
 heart-vexing sorrows : at least forbear a little while ; 
 itand by ; stay here below, till I go up, and see my rest. 
 The way is strange to me, but not to Christ. There was 
 the eternal abode of his glorious Deity ; and thither hath 
 he also brought his glorified flesh. It was his work to 
 purchase it: it is his to prepare it, and to prepare me 
 for it, and bring me to it. The eternal God of truth hath 
 given me his promise, his seal and oath, that, * believing 
 in Christ, I shall not perish, but have everlasting life. ^ 
 Thither shall my soul be speedily removed, and my body 
 very shortly follow. And can my tongue say, that 1 
 shall shortly and surely live with God, and yet my heart 
 not leap within me ? Can 1 say it with faith and not 
 with joy ? Ah 1 faith, how sensibly do I now perceive 
 thy weakness 5 But though unbelief darken ray light, 
 and dull ray life, and suppress my loys, it shall not be 
 able to conquer and destroy me ; though it envy ah my 
 
fiearcnly Moditalion. 311 
 
 comforts, yet some, in spite of it, I shall here receive ; 
 and if that did not hinder, what abundance might I have 1 
 The light of heaven would shine into my heart; and I 
 might be almost as familiar there, as I am on earth. 
 Come away, then, my soul ; stop thine ears to the igno- 
 rant language of infidelity; thou art able to answer all 
 its arguments ; or if thou art not, yet tread them under 
 thy feet. Come away ; stand not looking on that grave, 
 nor turning those bones, nor reading thy lesson now in 
 the dust ; those lines will soon be wiped out. But lift 
 up thy head, and look to heaven, and see thy name m 
 golden letters, written ‘before the foundation of the 
 world, in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain.* 
 
 “ What if an angel should tell thee, that there is a 
 mansion in heaven prepared for thee, that it shall cer- 
 tainly be thine for ever ; would not such a message make 
 thee glad ? And dost thou make light of the infallible 
 word of promise, which was delivered by the Spirit, 
 and even by the Son himself? Suppose thou hadst seen 
 a fiery chariot come for thee and fetch thee up to heaven, 
 like Elijah ; would not this rejoice thee ? But thy Lord 
 assures thee, that the soul of a Lazarus hath a convoy of 
 angels to carr5^ it into Abraham’s bosom. Shall a drunk- 
 ard be so merry among his cups, or the glutton in his 
 delicious fare, and shall not I rejoice who must shortly 
 be in heaven ? Can meat and drink delight me when 1 
 hunger and thirst '! can I find pleasures in walks and 
 gardens, and convenient dwellings ? can beautiful objects 
 delight mine eyes ; or grateful odours my smell ; or 
 molody my ears ? and shall not the forethought of celes- 
 tial bliss delight me ? 
 
 “ Methinks among my books 1 could employ myself 
 in sweet content, and bid the world farewell, and pity 
 the rich and the great that know not this happiness ; 
 what then will my happiness in heaven be, wnere my 
 knowledge will be perfect ? If ‘ the queen of Sheba 
 
832 
 
 Jtn Kxampte o] 
 came from the utrnost parts of the earth to hear the 
 wisdom of Solom )n.* and see his glory ; how cheerfully 
 should I pass from earth to heaven, to see the glory of 
 the eternal majest3% and attain the height of wisdom, 
 compared with which the most learned on earth are but 
 fools and idiots ? What if God had made me commander 
 of the earth ; what if I could remove mountains, heal 
 diseases with a word or a touch, or cast out devils; 
 should I not rejoice in such privileges and honours as 
 these ? and shall I not much more rejoice that my name 
 is written in heaven ? 
 
 ** I cannot here enjoy my parents, or my near and be- 
 loved friends, without some delight ; especially when 1 
 did freely let out my affection to ray friend, how sweet 
 was that exercise of my love ! O w'hal will it then be 
 to live in the perpetual love of God ! * For brethren to 
 dwell together in unity here, how good and how pleasant 
 it is !* To see a family live in love ; husband and wife, 
 parents, children, and servants, doing all in love to one 
 another ; to see a town live together in love, without 
 any envyings, brawlings, or contentions, law-suits, fac- 
 tions, or divisions, but every man loving his neighbour 
 as himself, thinking they can never do too much for one 
 another, but striving to go beyond each other In love ; 
 how happy, how delightful a sight is this ! O then, what 
 a blessed society will the family of heaven be, and those 
 peaceful inhabitants of the new Jerusalem, where there 
 is no division, nor differing judgments, no disaffection 
 nor strangeness, no deceitful friendship, no, not one 
 unkind expression, nor an angry look or thought ; but 
 all are one in Christ, who iS one with the Father, and 
 all live in the love of him, who is love itself 1 Tbe soul 
 is not more where it lives than where it loves. How 
 near then will my soul be united to God, when I shall 
 lo heartily, strongly, and incessantly love him 1 Ah 
 wretched unbelieving heart, that can think of such n 
 
heavenly Meditation, 316 
 
 day, and work, and life, as this, with such low and fee- 
 ble joys! But my future enjoyments will be more 
 lively ! 
 
 “ How delightful is it to me to behold and study these 
 inferior works of creation I What a beautiful fabric do 
 we here dwell in ; the floor so dressed with herbs and 
 flowers, and trees, and watered with springs and rivers ; 
 the roof so wide expanded, so admirably adorned ! W'hat 
 wonders do sun, moon and stars, seas and winds contain ! 
 And hath God prepared such a house for corruptible 
 flesh, for a soul imprisoned; and doth he bestow so 
 many millions of wonders upon his enemies 1 O what 
 a dwelling must that be, which he prepares for his dear- 
 ly beloved children ! and how will the glory of the new 
 Jerusalem exceed all the present glory of the creatures ! 
 Arise then, O my soul, in thy contemplation; and lei 
 thy thoughts of that glory as far exceed in sweetness thy 
 thoughts of the excellences below ! Fear not to go out 
 of this body, and this world, when thou must make so 
 happy a change ; but say, as one did when he was dy- 
 ing, I am glad, and even leap for joy, that the time is 
 come, in which that mighty Jehovah, whose majesty, 
 in my search of nature, I have admired, whose good- 
 ness I have adored, whom by faith I have desired and 
 panted after, will now show himself to me face to face, 
 “ How wonderful also are the works of providence! 
 How aelightful to see the great God interest himself in 
 the safety and advancement of a few humble, praying, 
 but despised persons ; and to review those special mer- 
 cies with which my own life hath been adorned and 
 sweetened ! How often have my prayers been heard, 
 my tears regarded, my troubled soul relieved ! How 
 often hath my Lord bid me * be of good cheer !* What 
 a support are these experiences, these clear testimonies 
 of my Father’s love, to my fearful unbelieving heart ! 
 O then, what a blessed day will that be, when I shall 
 2/0 X 
 
314 
 
 An Example of 
 have all mercy, perfection of mercy, and fully enjoy the 
 Lord of mercy ; when I shall stand on the shore, and 
 ook back on the raging seas I have safely passed ; when 
 I shall review my pains and sorrows, my fears and tears, 
 and possess the glory which was the end of all! If one 
 drop of lively faith was mixed with these considera- 
 tions, what a heaven-ravishing heart should I carry 
 within me 1 Fain would ‘ I believe ; Lord help my un- 
 belief.* 
 
 “ How sweet, O my soul, have ordinances been to 
 thee ! What delight hast thou had in prayer, and 
 thanksgiving, under heavenly sermons, and in the so- 
 ciety of saints, and to see ‘ the Lord adding to the church 
 such as should be saved ! * How can my heart then con- 
 ceive the joy which I shall have to see the perfected 
 church in heaven, and to be admitted into the celestia* 
 temple, and with the heavenly host praise the Lord for 
 ever ! If the word of God was sweeter to Job than his 
 necessary food ; and to David, than honey and the ho- 
 neycomb ; and was the joy and rejoicing of Jeremiah’s 
 heart; how ble5sed a day will that be when we shall 
 fully enjoy the Lord of this word, and shall no more 
 need these written precepts and promises, nor read any 
 book but the face of the glorious God 1 If they that 
 heard Christ speak on earth, * were astonished at his 
 wisdom and answers, and wondered at the gracious 
 words which proceeded out of his mouth ;* how shall 1 
 then be affected to behold him in his majesty ! 
 
 ** Can the prospect of this glory make others welcome 
 the cross, and even refuse deliverance ; and cannot it 
 make thee cheerful under lesser sufferings? Can it 
 sweeten the flames of martyrdom ; and not sweeten thy 
 life, or thy sickness, or thy natural death ? Is it not 
 the same heaven which they and I must live in ? Is not 
 their God, their Christ, their crown, and mine, the 
 same 1 And shall 1 look upon it with an eye so dim, a 
 
"heavenly Meditation, 81S 
 
 heart so dull, a countenance so dejected ? Some small 
 foretastes of it have I myself had ; and how much more 
 delightful have they been, than any earthly things ever 
 were ; and what then will the full enjoyment be! 
 
 ** What a beauty is there here in the imperfect graces 
 of the Spirit! Alas! how small are these fo what we 
 shall enjoy in our perfect state ! What a happy life 
 should I here live, could I but love God as much as I 
 would; could I be all love, and always loving! O my 
 Boull what wouldst thou give for such a life? Had 1 
 such apprehensions of God, such knowledge of his word, 
 as I desire; could I fully trust him in all my straits; 
 could I be as lively as I would in every duty ; could 1 
 make God my constant desire and delight i I would not 
 envy the world their honours or pleasures. What a 
 blessed state, O my soul I wilt thou shortly be in, when 
 thou shalt have far more of these than thoU canst now 
 desire, and shalt exercise thy perfected graces in the 
 immediate vision of God, and not in the dark, and at 
 a distance, as now ! 
 
 Is the sinning, afflicted, persecuted Church of Christ, 
 so much more excellent than any particular gracious 
 soul ? What then will the church be, when it is fully 
 gathered and glorified; when it is ascended from the 
 valley of tears to Mount Sion ; when it shall sin and 
 suffer no more ! The glory of the old Jerusalem will be 
 darkness and deformity to the glory of the new. What 
 cause shall we have then to shout for joy, when we shall 
 see how glorious the heavenly temple is, and remember 
 the meanness of the church on earth !** 
 
 •* But, alas ! what a loss am 1 at in the midst of my 
 contemplations ? I thought my heart had all the while 
 attended, but I see it doth not. What fife is there In 
 empty thoughts and words, without affections? Neither 
 God nor 1 find pleasure in them. Where nast thou been, 
 unworthy heart, while i waa opening to thee the ever 
 
S16 An Example of 
 
 lasting treasures? Art thou not ashatned to complain 
 so much of an uncomfortable life, and to murmur at God 
 for filling thee with sorrows ; when he in vain offers thee 
 the delights of angels ? Hadst thou now but followed 
 me close, it would have made thee revive, and leap for 
 joy, and forget thy pains and sorrows. Did I think 
 my heart had been so backward to rejoice ? 
 
 “ Lord thou hast reserved my perfect joy for heaven ; 
 therefore help me to desire till I may possess, and let 
 me long when I cannot, as I would,rejoice. O my soul, 
 thou knowest to thy sorrow, that thou art not yet at tb J 
 rest. When shall I arrive at that safe and quiet bar. 
 hour, where there are none of these storms, waves, and 
 dangers ; when I shall never more have a weary, restless 
 night nor day ! Then my life will not be such a mixture 
 of hope and fear, of joy and sorrow; nor shall flesh and 
 Spirit be combating within me ; nor faith and unbelief, 
 humility and pride, maintain a continual conflict. O 
 when shall I be past these soul-tormenting fears, and 
 cares, and griefs ? When shall I be out of this soul- 
 contradicting, ensnaring, deceitful flesh ; this corrupt- 
 ible body, this vain vexatious world ? Alas, that I 
 must stand and see the church and cause of Christ tossed 
 about in contention, and made subservient to private 
 interests, or deluded fancies ! There is none of this 
 disorder in the heavenly J erusalem ; there I shall find 
 a harmonious consent of perfected spirits, in obeying 
 and praising their everlasting King. O how much bet- 
 ter to be “ a door-keeper** there, than the commander 
 of this tumultuous world ! Why am I no more weary 
 of this weariness ? Why do I so forget my resting- 
 place ? 
 
 "Up then, O my soul, in thy most raised and fervent 
 desires ! Stay not till this flesh can desire with thee ! 
 expect not that sense should apprehend thy blessed 
 object, and tell thee when and what to desire. Doth 
 
heavenly Medilaiton. M7 
 
 not the dulness of thy desires after rest, accuse tho» 
 of most detestable ingratitude and folly 1 Must thy 
 Lord procure thee a rest at so dear a rate, and dost thou 
 no more value it? Must he go before to prepare so 
 g’orious a mansion for such a wretch, and art thou loath 
 to go and possess it? Shall the Lord of glory be desirous 
 of thy company, and thou not desirous of his ? Must 
 earth become a very hell to thee, before thou art willing 
 to be with God ? 
 
 ** Behold the most lovely creature, or the most desi- 
 rable state, and tell me, where wouldst thou be, if not 
 with God ? Poverty is a burden ; riches a snare ; sick- 
 ness unpleasing; health unsafe; the frowning world 
 • bruises thy heel ;* the smiling world stings thee to the 
 heart; so much as the world is loved and delighted in, 
 it hurts and endangers the lover ; and if it may not be 
 loved, why should it be desired ? If thou art applauded, 
 it proves the most contagious breath ; if thou art vilified, 
 or unkindly used, methinks this should not entice thy 
 love. If thy successful labours, and thy godly friends, 
 seem better to thee than a life with God, it is time for 
 God to take them from thee. If thy studies have been 
 sweet, have they not also been bitter? And, at best, 
 what are they to the everlasting views of the God of 
 truth ? Thy friends here have been thy delight ; and 
 have they not also been thy vexation and grief? They 
 are gracious, and are they not also sinful ? They are 
 kind, and are they not soon displeased? They are 
 humble, but, alas, how proud also I Their graces are 
 sweet, and their gifts helpful ; but are not their corrup- 
 tions bitter, and their imperfections hurtful ? And art 
 thou so loath to go from them to thy God ? 
 
 O my soul, iook above this world of sorrows ! Hast 
 thou so long felt the smarting rod of affliction, and no 
 better understood its meaning ? Is not every stroke to 
 drive the hence ? Is not its voice, like that to £lijah| 
 
318 
 
 Jn Example oj 
 • What doost thou here V Dost thou forget thy Lord’i 
 prediction, * In the world j'e shall have tribulation, in 
 me ye may have peace** Ah ! my dear Lord, I feel thy 
 meaning; it is written in my flesh, engraved in my 
 bones. My heart thou airaest at; thy rod drives, thy 
 silken cord of love draws ; and all to bring it to thyself. 
 Lord can such a heart be worth thy having. Make it 
 w'orthy, and then it is thine ; take it to thyself, and then 
 take me. ThiS clod hath life to stir, but not to rise. 
 As the feeble child to the tender mother, it looketh up 
 to thee, and stretcheth out the hands, and fain would 
 have thee take it up. Though I cannot say, * My soui 
 longeth after thee ;* yet I can say, 1 long for such a 
 heart. 'The spirit is willing, the flesh is weak.* My 
 spirit cries, * Let thy kingdom come,* or let me come to 
 thy kingdom ; but the flesh is afraid thou shouldst hear 
 iny prayer, and take me at my word. O blessed be thy 
 grace! which makes use of my corruptions to kill them- 
 selves ; for I fear my fears, and sorrow for my sorrows, 
 and long for the greater longings ; and thus the painful 
 means of attaining my desires, increase my weariness, 
 and that makes me groan to be at rest, 
 
 " Indeed, Lord, my soul itself is in a strait, and what 
 to choose I know not ; but thou knowest what to give ; 
 * To depart and be with thee, is far better.* But to abide 
 in the flesh seems needful. Thou knowest 1 am not 
 weary of thy work, but of sorrow and sin ; 1 am willing 
 to stay while thou wilt employ me, and despatch tl;e 
 work thou hast put into my harKls : but, I beseech thee, 
 stay no longer when this is done; and while 1 must he 
 here, let me be still amending and ascending; make me 
 still better, and f^ke me at the best. 1 dare not be so 
 impatient, as to importune to cut off my time, and 
 snatch me hence unready; nor would 1 stay when my 
 work is done ; and ▼emain here sinning, while ray bre- 
 thren are triumphing. Thy footstep« bruise this worm. 
 
nearemy Meditation, 3iy 
 
 vrliHc those stars shine in the firmament of glory. Y^t 
 I am thy child as well as they ; Christ is my Head as 
 well as theirs ; why is there then so great a distance T 
 Butl acknowledge the equity of thy ways; though we 
 are all children, yet 1 am the prodigal, and therefore 
 more fit in this remote country to ‘ feed on husks,* while 
 they are * always with thee,* and possess thy glory. 
 They were once themselves in my condition, and 1 shall 
 shortly be in theirs. They were of the lowest form, be- 
 fore they came to the highest ; they suffered before they 
 reigned ; they * came out of great tribulation, who are 
 now before thy throne ;* and shall not 1 be content to 
 come to thy crown as they did ; and to ‘ drink of their 
 cup,* before I ‘ sit with them in the kingdom?* 
 
 *• Lord, I am content to stay thy time, and go thy way, 
 so thou wilt exalt me also in thy season, and take me 
 into thy barn, when thou seest me ripe. In the mean 
 time I may desire, though 1 am not to repine ; I may 
 believe and wish, though not make any sinful haste: 
 I am willihg to wait for thee, but not to lose thee ; and 
 when thou seest me too contented with thine absence, 
 then quicken my languid desires, and blow up the dying 
 spark of love ; and leave me not till I am able unfeign- 
 edly to cry out, * As the hart panteth after the water- 
 Drooks, so panteth my soul after thee, 0 God. My soul 
 thirsteth for God, for the living God ; when shall 1 come 
 and appear before God ? My conversation is in heaven, 
 front: whence I look for the Saviour.* My affections 
 are * ser on things above, where Christ sitteth, and my 
 life is hid. I walk by faith, and not by sight; willing 
 rather to be absent from the body and present with the 
 Lord.* 
 
 “ What interest hath this empty world in mel and 
 what is there in it that may seem so lovely, as to entice 
 my aesrres from my God, or make me loath to come 
 away 1 Methiuks when 1 look upon U with a deiiber-ato 
 
8i0 Jn Example of 
 
 eye, it is a howling wilderness, and too many of Its in- 
 habitants are untamed monsters: 1 can view all its 
 beauty as deformity; and drown all its pleasure in a 
 few penitent tears; or the wind of a sigh will scatter 
 them away. O let not this flesh so seduce ray soul, as 
 to make it prefer this weary life before the joys that are 
 about thy throne I And though death itself be unw'el- 
 come to nature, yet let thy grace make thy glory appear 
 to me so desirable, that the king of terrors may be the 
 messenger of my joy. Let not my soul be ejected by 
 violence, and dispossessed of its habitation against its 
 w'ill; but draw it to thyself by the secret power of thy 
 love, as the sunshine in the spring draws forth the 
 creatures from their winter cells ; meet it half way and 
 entice it to thee, as the loadstone doth the iron, and as 
 the greater flame attracts the less I Dispel therefore the 
 clouds that hide thy love from me ; or remove the scales 
 that hinder mine e5'es from beholding thee; for the 
 beams that stream from thy face, and the foretaste of 
 thy great salvation, and nothing else, can make a sotil 
 unfeignedly say, * Now let thy servant depart in peace.* 
 •* But it is not thy ordinary discoveries that will here 
 suflice; as the work is greater, so must thy help be. 
 O turn these fears into strong desires, and this loathness 
 to die into longings after thee ! While I must be absent 
 from thee, let my soul as heartily groan, as my body 
 doth under its want of health! If I have any moie 
 time to spend on earth, let me live as without the world 
 in thee, as I have sometimes lived as without thee in the 
 world! While I have a thought to think, let me not 
 forget thee; or a tongue to move, let me mention thee 
 with delight ; or a breath to breathe, let it be after thee, 
 and for thee ; or a knee to bend, let it daily bow at thy 
 footstool ; and when by sickness thou confinest me, do 
 thou ‘ make my bed, number my pains, and put ati my 
 tears into thy outtie.* 
 
heaveiuy Medilation. 821 
 
 *• As my flesh desired what my spirit abhorred, so 
 Qow let my spirit desire that day which my flesh ab- 
 horreth ; that my friends may not with so much sorrow 
 wait for the departure of my soul, as my soul with joy 
 shall wait for its own departure! Then ‘let me die 
 the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like 
 his ;* even a removal to that glory that shall never end ! 
 Then let thy convoy of angels bring my departing soul 
 among the perfected ‘spirits of the just,* and let me 
 follow my friends that have died ‘ in Christ* before me ; 
 and while my sorrowing friends are weeping over my 
 grave, let my spirit repose with thee in rest ! and while 
 my corpse shall lie rotting in the dark, let my soul be in 
 ‘the inheritance o^ the saints in light!* O thou that 
 ‘numberest the very hairs of my head,* number all the 
 days that my body lies in the dust ; and thou that 
 ‘ writest all my members in thy book,* keep an account 
 of my scattered bones t 
 
 “ O my Saviour, hasten the time of thy return ; * send 
 forth thy angels,* and let that dreadful, joyful trumpet 
 sound ! Delaj' not, lest the living give up their hopes ; 
 delay not, lest earth should grow like hell, and thy 
 church, by division, be all crumbled to dust ; delay not, 
 lest thy enemies get advantage of thy flock, and lest 
 pride, hypocrisy, sensuality, and unbelief prevail against 
 thy little remnant, and share among them thy whole 
 inheritance, and when thou comest thou find not faith 
 on the earth ; delay not, lest the grave should boast of 
 victory, and, having learned rebellion of its guest, should 
 refuse to deliver thee up thy due ! O hasten that great 
 resurrection-day, when thy command shall go forth, 
 and none shall disobey ! when ‘ the sea and the earth 
 shall yield up their hostages, and all that steep in the 
 grave shall awake, and the dead in Christ shall rise 
 hrst;* when the seed which tnou sowest corruptible 
 dhail come forth incorruptibio ! and nrares that leceived 
 
Co7)cltiston, 
 
 32*3 
 
 rottenness and dust shall return thee glorious stars and 
 suns 1 Therefore dare 1 lay down my carcass in the 
 dust, intrusting it, not to a grave, but to thee; and 
 therefore my flesh shaii rest in hope, till thou shalt raise 
 it to the possession of everiasting rest. Return, O 
 Lord, how long 1 O let thy kingdom cornel Thy 
 dt^solate bride saitn, Come ! for thy Spirit within her 
 saith, Come ; and teacheth her thus to ‘ pray with 
 groanings which cannot be uttered V yea, the whole 
 creation saith, Come ; * waiting to be delivered irom the 
 bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the 
 children of God thou thyself hast said, * Surely 1 come 
 quickly. Amen. Even so, come. Lord Jesus !* ** 
 
 Thus, reader, I have given thee my best advice for 
 maintaining a heavenly conversation. If thou canst not 
 thus meditate methodically and fully, yet do it as thou 
 canst; only be sure to do it seriously and frequently. 
 Be acquainted with this heavenly work, and thou wilt, 
 in some degree, be acquainted with God ; thy joys will 
 be spiritual, prevalent, and lasting, according to the 
 nature of their blessed object ; thou wilt have comfort 
 In afe and death : when thou hast neither wealth, nor 
 health, nor the pleasure of this world, yet wilt thou 
 have comfort; without the presence, or help of any 
 friend, without a minister, without a book, when all 
 means are denied thee, or taken from thee, yet mayest 
 thou have vigorous, real comfort. Thy graces will be 
 mighty, active, and victorious; and daily joy, which is 
 thus fetched from heaven, will be thy strength. Thou 
 wilt be as one who stands on the top of an exceeding 
 high mountain ; he looks down on the world as if it 
 were quite below him; fields and woods, cities and 
 towns, seem to him but little spots. Thus despicably 
 wilt thou look on all things here below. The gr<*atest 
 princes will seem but as grasshoppers ; the busy, con- 
 tentious covetous world, but as a heap of ants. Men s 
 
Conclusion. 
 
 323 
 
 threatonings will be no terror to thee; nor the honours 
 of this world any strong enticement : temptations will 
 be more harmless, as having lost their strength ; and 
 afflictions less grievous, as having lost their sling; and 
 every mercy will be better known avid relished. It is 
 now, under God, in thy own choice, whether thou wilt 
 live this blessed life or not ; and whether all this pains 
 I have taken for thee shall prosper or be lost. If it be 
 lost through thy laziness, thou thyself wilt prove the 
 greatest loser. O man! what hast thou to mind, but 
 God and heaven 1 Art thou not almost out of this world 
 already? Dost thou not look every day, when one 
 disease or other will let out thy soul? Does not the 
 grave wait to be thine house ; and worms to feed upon 
 thy face and heart ? VV hat if thy pulse must beat a few 
 strokes more I what it thou hast a little longer to breathe, 
 before thou breathe out thy last! a few more nights to 
 sleep, before thou sleepest in the dust ! Alas ! what will 
 this be, when it is gone? And is it not almost gone 
 already? Very shortly thou wilt see thy glass run out, 
 and say to thyself, "My life is done ! My time is gone ! 
 *Tis past recalling ! There’s nothing now but heaven 
 or hell before me I’* Where then should thy heart be 
 now, but in heaven ? Didst thou know what a dreadful 
 thing it is, to have a doubt of heaven when a man is 
 dying, it W'ould rouse thee up. And what else but doubr 
 can that man do, that never seriously thought of heaven 
 before ? 
 
 Some there be that say, " It is not worth so much 
 time and trouble, to think of the greatness of the joys 
 above ; so that we can make sure they are ours, we know 
 they are great.” But as these men obey not the com- 
 mand of God, which requires them to have “ their conver- 
 sation in heaven,” and to “ set their affections on things 
 above ;” so they wilfully make their own lives misersu 
 ble, by refusing the delights which God hath set before 
 
Cuncfuston, 
 
 324 
 
 them. And if this were all, it were a small matter : hut 
 see what abundance of other mischiefs follow the neg- 
 lect of these heavenly delights ! This neglect will damp, 
 if not destroy, their love to God ; will make it unplea- 
 sant to them to think or speak of God, or engage Ln his 
 service ; it tends to pervert their judgments concerning 
 the ways and ordinances of God ; it makes them sensual 
 and voluptuous; it leaves them under the power of 
 every affliction and temptation, and is a preparative to 
 total apostasy ; it will also make them fearful and un- 
 willing to die. For who would go to a God or a place, 
 he hath no delight in ? Who would leave his pleasure 
 here, if he had not better to go to 1 Had I only pro- 
 posed a course of melancholy, and fear, and sorrow, 
 you might reasonably have objected. But you must 
 have heavenly delights, or none that are lasting. God 
 is willing j’ou should daily walk with him, and fetch in 
 consolations from the everlasting fountain ; if you are 
 unwilling, even bear the loss ; and when you are dying, 
 seek for comfort where you can get it, and see whether 
 fleshly delights will remain with you ; then conscience 
 will remember in spite of you, that you were once per- 
 suaded to a way for more excellent pleasures, pleasure's 
 that would have followed you through death, and have 
 lasted to eternity. 
 
 As for you whose hearts God hath weaned from all 
 things here below, I hope you will value this heavenly 
 life, and take one walk every day in the new Jerusalem. 
 God is your love and your desire; you would fain be 
 more acquainted with your Saviour ; and I know it is 
 your grief, that your hearts are not nearer to him, and 
 that they do not more feelingly love and delight in him. 
 O try this life of meditation on your heavenly rest. 
 Here is the mount on which the fluctuating ark of your 
 souls may rest. Let the world see by your heavenly 
 lives that religion is something more than opinions and 
 
Contlu3*on. 32.T 
 
 disputes, or a talk of outward duties. If ever a Christian 
 is like himself, and answerable to his principles and 
 profession, it is when he is most serious and lively in 
 this duty. 
 
 As Moses, before he died, went up into mount Nebo, 
 to take a survey of the land of Canaan ; so the Chris- 
 tian ascends the mount of contemplation, and by faith 
 surveys his rest. He looks upon the glorious mansions, 
 and says, “ Glorious things are deservedly spoken of 
 thee, thou city of God !” He hears, as it were, the 
 melody of the heavenly choir, and says, “ Happy is the 
 people that are in such a case ; yea, happy is that peo- 
 ple, whose God is the Lord !” He looks upon the glori- 
 ous mansions, and says, Glorious things are spoken 
 of thee, thou city of God !’* He hears, as it were, the 
 melody of the heavenly choir, and says, Happy is the 
 people that are in such a case ; yea, happy is that peo- 
 ple whose God is the Lord !*’ He looks upon the glo- 
 rified inhabitants, and says, “ Happy art thou, O Is- 
 rael ; who is like unto thee, O people, saved by the 
 Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of 
 thine excellency T* When he looks upon the Lord 
 himself, who is their glory, he is ready, with the rest, 
 to fall down and worship him that liveth for ever and 
 ever, and say, “ Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, 
 who was, and is, and is to come ! Thou art worthy, O 
 Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power T* When 
 he looks on the glorified Saviour, he is ready to say 
 Amen, to that new song, *' Blessing, and honour, and 
 glory, and power, he unto him that sitteth upon the 
 throne, and unto the Lamb lor ever and ever : For thou 
 wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, 
 out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and na- 
 tion ; and hast made us unto our God, kings and priests !’* 
 When he looks back on the wi.iderhess of this world, he 
 blesses the believing, patient, despised saints ; he pities 
 
326 
 
 Conclusion, 
 
 the ignorant, obstinate, miserable world ; and for himself 
 he sa5'«, as Peter, “ It is good to be here ;** or, as Asaph, 
 “ It is good for me to draw near to God, for, lo, they 
 that are far from thee shall perish.** Thus, as Daniel in 
 his captivity, daily opened his window towards Jerusa- 
 lem, though far out of sight, when he went to God in his 
 devotions, so may the believing soul, in this captivity of 
 the flesh, look towards “Jerusalem which is above.** 
 And as Paul was to the Colossians, so may the believer 
 be with the glorified spirits, ‘ though absent in the flesh, 
 yet with them in the spirit, joying and beholding their 
 heavenly order.* And as the lark sweetly sings, while 
 she soars on high, but is suddenly silenced when she 
 faMs to the earth ; so is the frame of the soul most de- 
 lightful and divine, while it keeps in the views of God 
 by contemplation, Alas, we make there too short a stay, 
 fall down again, and lay by our music I 
 But, “ O thou, merciful Father of spirits, the attractive 
 of Jove, and ocean of delights, draw up these drowsy 
 hearts unto thyself, and keep them there till they are 
 spiritualized and reflned ; and second thy servant’s weak 
 endeavours, and persuade those that read these lines to 
 the practice of this delightful, heavenly work 1 O suffer 
 not the soul of thy most unworthy servant to be a 
 stranger to those joys, which he describes to others ; but 
 keep me, while I remain on earth, in daily breathings 
 after thee, and in a believing, affectionate walking with 
 thee 1 And when thou comest, let me be found so doing ; 
 not serving my flesh, nor asleep with my lamp unfur- 
 nished ; but waiting and longing for my Lord’s return I 
 Let those who shall read these heavenly directions, not 
 merely read the fruit of my studies, but the breathing 
 of my active hope and love ; that if my heart were open 
 to their view, they might there read the same most 
 deeply engraven with a beam from the face of the Son of 
 God ; and not find vanity, or lust, or pride within, when 
 
Conclusion^ 
 
 3-jl 
 
 the words of life appear withered ; that so these lines 
 may not witness against me ; but, proceeding from the 
 heart of the writer, may be effectual, through thy grace, 
 upon the heart of the reader, and so be the Saviour of 
 life to both! Amen.** 
 
 Gloey be to God xn the highest, on baeth 
 
 IrSACE, GOOD WILD TOWAEDS HEN, 
 
 MILNER & CO., LIMITED, PRINTERS, HALIFAX. 
 

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 was first printed in the year 1736. 
 
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 snares and besetments that surround him while 
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 of faith possessed by the Divinely enlightened 
 can see, and the mind of him who has “ laid 
 up his treasures in heaven” can understand ; 
 portions of comfort for the saints who are in 
 affliction are dispersed through the various 
 pages of these two companion volumes ; and 
 how to meet and successfully combat all the ad- 
 verse circumstances which would confound and 
 worry the child of Satan, but which will 
 enable the child of God to know experimentally 
 the truth of that precious and cheering 
 promise; — “That all things work together for 
 good to them that love God, to them who 
 are the called according to His purpose.” 
 
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