Mount Pisgah, Part 3 · Section 3
Ever with the Lord.
Adam by that firſt candle which God lighted in his firſt creation, clearly ſaw in what his ſummum bonum did confiſt, and for a moment enjoyed it; but the Angel, who kepe not his firſt eſtate, envying his happineſs, Ad ſolamen calomitat is ſuae, incipit perditus pordere.well remembring the method of his own apoſtacy, tempts him by the ſame medium of pride to caſt himſelf down from the pinnacle of happineſs, whereon he ſtood, whereby himſelf fell down from heaven; and the temptation unhappily took, for while Adam was ambitious to be a ſun, he miſerably put out his candle, and ſo loſt his way and himſelf too, ſince which time none of his unhappy poſterity could ever (by the help of that ſnuff which remained) find their way again to true happineſs.
How miſerably did the great Sophi…s of the world, the Philoſophers, foreign. Rom. 21. In their ratiocinations.thoſe Secretaries of Nature, the reputed Maſters of Knowledge and Learning, cum ratione inſanire! and in the Apoſtles language, Grow vain in their imaginations, and their fooliſh heart was darkened! How did they weary themſelves with the blind Sodomites to grope out the door which openeth to happineſs, but loſt themſelves inſtead of finding the truth?
Varro the learnedſt of the Romans maketh report of no leſs than two hundred and eighty Opinions (in his time) concerning mans chiefeſt good, Aul. Gol.each differing from the other, and all from the truth, as Baſilis is reported to have aſſerted one hundred ſixty five Heavens.
To this very day we ſee all the ſons and daughters of Adam ſeeking for happineſs, but few or none finding what they ſeek for, all agree in the notion, but they differ in the object. People generally go for happineſs to the worlds Trinity.
Scil. The luſt of the fleſh, 1 John 2.16.
Scil. The luſt of the eyes, 1 John 2.16.
Scil. The pride of life, 1 John 2.16.
But alas! Nihil dat, quòd non bob….theſe have it not to give; men would fain ſqueeze that out of the world which God never put into it. As an evidence whereof it is highly obſervable, that the wiſdom of God (who beſt knows the worth of things) hath not (in that Scripture, 1 John 2.16.) dignified theſe elements of the world, with thoſe innocent titles of their primitive inſtitution, pleaſures, riches, honours, but calls them by the odious names, which the firſt apoſtacy, and the habitual degeneracy of nature hath juſtly impoſed, the luſt of the fleſh inſtead of pleaſures, the luſt of the eyes inſtead of riches, and the pride of life inſtead of honours; in which reſpect the Apoſtle denieth them their original from the Father, and ſends them to fetch their pedigree from a lower extraction, nim. from the world, ver. 16.
And behold! if theſe objects, which contain in them the utmoſt latitude of all worldly excellency (and that in their puris naturalibus) were never ordained by the great and wiſe Creator, for any higher ſervice than of the inferiour part of man, the ſenſitive part (wherein he differs little from the beaſts that poriſh) now, when by the malice of the Devil, and the corruption of mans heart, they are debauched and poyſoned into ſo many ſnares and temptations, how totally (I ſay) uncapable are they become, of being an adequate bleſſedneſs for immortal ſouls.
Such of the ſons and daughters of Adam, as have had the candle of the Lord (which was put out by the fall) lighted anew by the Sun of Righteouſneſs, are mightily enabled by the irradiation of the Holy Ghoſt, to diſcern the airineſs and emptineſs of all ſublunary and elementary happineſs, and to make choice of more ſolid, ſuperceleſtial excellencies for their ſummum bonum, to ſing with the ſweet ſinger of Iſrael.
In thy preſence is fulneſs of joy, Pſal. 16.….and at thy right hand there are pleaſunes for evermore.
Moſes in the Old Teſtament, and Paul in the New, ſtand as two pillars of fire, to light men the way to true bleſſedneſs.
Moſes was courted by all the honours, pleaſures and treaſures of Egypt, to eſpouſe them as his ultimate and ſupreme beatitudes, but he ſhakes them off all (as once Paul the Viper into the fire) not leſs full of poyſon than that venomous beaſt was.Acts 28.…4.
Firſt, Pride of life, the honour and grandeur of Phara…h's Court came to do him homage; every one in the Kings Court (for there he was brought up) bowed the knee, and ſaluted Moſes by the Prince-like title of the Son of Pharaoh's Daughter, which ſignified no leſs than Heir apparent to the Crown of Egypt, Pharach having then no other Child but that only Daughter, nor ſhe, but Moſes, whom ſhe had adopted to be her Son from the Cradle of Bul ruſhes; yet all this glory did Moſes, when he came to years (able to make his own choice) refuſe, by faith ſeeing what an hollow inſignificant advancement this was; i… was not the Egyptian Monarchy which could make Moſes happy, eſpecially in the terms he muſt take it, namely, to turn Egyptian, and forſake the ſociety of Gods people; no, ſaid Moſes, I'le have none of it; to ſuffer with Gods people here, and to reign with God hereafter, is a felicity infinitely to be preferr'd before all the Empires in the world.
This temptation failing, next ſucceeded, in the ſecond place, Pleaſure, called by the Apoſtle the luſt of the fleſh, with her face painted, her locks curled, breaſts naked, and impudently ſollicits Moſes his embraces. All the beauties of the Kings Court, delicious fare, raviſhing muſick, beautiful gardens, ſtately walks, fruitful orchards, pools of water, princely ſports and paſtimes; in a word, all the delights of the ſons of men, the ſenſual fruitions of an Egyptian Paradiſe; if theſe can make Moſes happy, they are at his ſervice, he may be where he will, and do what he pleaſe: oh dangerous temptation! Did it not take? What's the reaſon? Why, faith here alſo ſtept in to Moſes his reſcue; Moſes by his piercing eye of faith did quickly diſcern a double blemiſh in the face of pleaſure, though it was never ſo artificially painted: i. e.
Firſt, They were but the pleaſures of ſin, fit for nothing but to defile the ſoul, and to render it unmeet for communion with God, wherein conſiſts the higheſt felicity of the humane or of the Angelical nature: ſenſitive pleaſures have more of dregs, intellectual more of the quinteſſence; the pleaſure of the Bee is more refined than the pleaſure of a Swine.
2. Again, another fault he finds in pleaſures is, their brevity; as they were the pleaſures of ſin, foreign.ſo they were but for a ſeaſon; as impure as they were they had no duration, they periſh in the uſing, ſo ſoon doth the pleaſure of an Epicure wither, he eats, and drinks, and dieth before his morſel or his draught be ſwallowed. The pleaſure of taſt is but in fine polati, juſt when it is going off.Anacreon in the midſt of his cups was choaked with the husk or kernel of a grape, ſo did Epicurus himſelf dye with a cup of wine at his mouth; and this was the end of their ſummum bonum; the ſweeteſt pleaſures are the ſhorteſt. Moſes his Spirit was to auguſt to be filled with a little poyſoned air. But.
3. This offer alſo thus deſpiſed, the Mammon of Egypt preſents its ſelf to Moſes; (money may tempt him that is not taken with beauty:) What ſay you Moſes, all the treaſures of Egypt attend your Highneſs, ready to make you one of the richeſt Monarchs in the world, for ſo at that time Egypt was for Jewels, Gold, Silver, precious Stones, all the peculiar treaſure of Kings, the moſt opulentous of all Kingdoms round about, the very Magazine of the world, Moſes need never to fear being poor any more: Is not this enough to make a man happy? No, not a Moſes: Inſatiabilu divitiarum gurges. Tacit. Germana iſta beſtia non curat pecunia….a covetous Mammoniſt might have taken it down with a grateful ſwallow; ſuch an one as Felix was, that infatiable gulf of riches, as the Hiſtorian calls him—but Moſes (as the Papiſts once ſaid of Luther) could not be caught with money: The reproach of Chriſt was a mountain of infinitely more valuable, invaluable treaſure, eſteeming the reproach of Chriſt, i. e. Chriſt in the promiſe, or the reproach of the Church, which is Chriſt myſtical, 1 Cor. 12.12. Oh, ſaith Moſes, let me be counted worthy to ſuffer reproach for Chriſt and his peoples ſake, and I deſire no more riches in the world: How ſo? Moſes faith did clearly out-bid all the proffers of Egypt, he looks within the vail, Heb. 11.26.fixing his eye upon the recompence of neward, and there he diſcovered ſuch honours, pleaſures, treaſures as eye never ſaw, 1 Cor. 2.9.ear never heard, nor can enter into the heart of man, in compariſon whereof, all the preferments, delights and riches of Egypt were but as ſo many gilded erowns, painted banquets, inſignificant cyphers, ten thouſand of which in the ſumma totalis, make juſt nothing.
Thus Moſes turns his back upon the world and all her glittering elements, Valde proteſtot… ſon monon ito ſetiori à Deo.proteſting as it were (as it is ſaid of Luther) that God ſhould not turn him off with theſe things, he had weighed them in the ballance of faith, and found them too light to make a ſummum bonum of, there wanted ſomething within.foreign.
Such an account doth the Apoſtle Paul, that Evangelical Moſes, bring in concerning the whole viſible world, when it was as it were ſet forth to ſale in all its ſplendour and gallantry, to what Merchants would bid for it, Paul would offer nothing, but paſſeth by in an holy ſcorn, and will not ſo much as caſt an eye upon it;Oculo irrotorto. 1. Cor. 4.13.
We look not at the things which are ſeen, but at the things which are not ſeen.
How much doth the judgment of Saints differ from the judgment of the men of the world, the foreign, things which fall under ſight and ſence were Paul's nothings, but they are the men of the worlds only ſolid ſubſtances and realities, è contra, the foreign, inviſible things of eternity, they were in the holy Apoſtle his eſtimation, the only entities and real beings, but in the judgment of the men of the world, they are the only chimera's and ſhadows, which have no more being than what they have in the fancy: ſo far were the things of the world from being able to make up an happineſs for a rational Creature, that the Apoſtle accounts them not worth a look, unleſs it be of contempt and deriſion, which account that ye may know did not proceed from pride and ſingularity, but from a well-informed judgment, he gives us the ground or reaſon of it, ſcil. the periſhing nature of things viſible, they are foreign, but for the preſent moment, as Moſes (even now) ſum'd them up, for a ſeaſon, (and how ſhort a ſeaſon no man can tell.) Pſal. 14.1.Well hath holy David called the Atheiſt a fool, The fool hath ſaid in his heart there is no God. And why ſayes he ſo? Becauſe he cannot ſee God: a fool indeed! If God could be ſeen, he were not God, whatever falls under ſight and ſenſe to be ſure is ſubject to mutation: Is this a fit thing to make a beatitude of? No, upon this very account the wiſe man calls off our eyes and hearts from all ſublunary fruitions, as moſt inſufficient to make up a felicity for a Creature, which God hath ennobled with a rational faculty, wilt thou ſet thine eyes upon that which is not? Mark, Prov. 23.9.the moſt proper title which the wiſdom of God can give theſe ſeen things is, a non-entity, the world in all its ruffe and bravery is nothing elſe but a ſpectrum, an apparation, a meer non ens, a great, goodly, gilded nothing, and why ſo, but upon the account of their lubricity and fickleneſs, there is no more ſtaying of them, than of the running ſtream, or wind, or bird in the air, for riches verily make themſelves wings; riches, i.e. whatever it is which men make their confidence, they make themſelves wings; a metaphor from a bird in the neſt, it is hatched naked, yet feathers out of the very nature of the bird, if no hand take it out of the neſt, yet in ſhort time it will take wings and fly away; juſt ſo it is with riches (of what ſpecies ſoever) if the plunderer or oppreſſours, the thief, fire, inundations, &c. give them no wings, they will quickly give themſelves wings, and take their ſlight towards heaven from whence they came.
And are theſe the things which are proper to make up to a man a ſtanding, holding ſelicity?
No, ſaith the Apoſtle, the things which are not ſeen are eternal. God, and Chriſt, and the Holy Ghoſt, and Angels, and the Spirits of juſt men made perfect, and Heaven, and Glory, &c. theſe are the only beatifying objects, as being only of a pure, ſpiritual, fixed, immutable nature, the things that are not ſeen are eternal, and upon that account only able to conſtitute an adequte bleſſedneſs for an immenſe and an immortal ſoul, an intellectual being.
Corporeal delights like ſo many ſparks may make a crack and vaniſh; Sapientl nihil eſt magnum cui nota eſt aeternitotu magnitudo. Luth.nothing can ſeem great and excellent to him that knows the infinite vaſtneſs of eternity. Ever with the Lord, here's a ſummum bonum for an heaven-born ſoul: this Moſes kept his eye upon, and therefore all terreſtrial felicities were but as ſounding braſs, and a tinckling cymbal, much noiſe, but no harmony, he ſaw him that is inviſible, an elegant contradiction, q. d. he ſaw him that could not be ſeen, he ſaw him by an eye of faith, whom he could not ſee by an eye of ſence, and ſo did Saint Paul, and ſo did all his fellow Apoſtles and Saints, We look on the things which are not ſeen, i. e. we look on them, and them, and them alone as our ultimate, unmixt and ſupreme good. Men and women, who have none but eyes of fleſh, ſuch as beaſts have, may chuſe their good as beaſts do by ſight and ſence, but man that is in honour and underſtands not, is like the beaſts that periſh, Pſal. 49.12.
Man that underſtands not what a bubble, what a ſhadow, Ratio humans tantum in praeſenti ſta… haeret, nihil aliud audit, ſentit, intelligit, vider, cogitat. Luth. in Iſai. 54.7.what a dream all ſublunary glory is; man that underſtands not what immarceſſible Crowns of glory are prepared for them that love God, this man ſhall be like the beaſts that periſh, he ſhall have the burial of an aſs, though he hath ſwayed a Scepter, he ſhall fall like a brute into the ditch and dye there; though he hath flouriſhed like a green Bay-tree, rottenneſs ſhall be upon his root, and his bloſſom ſhall go up into ſmoak.
Be wiſe now therefore O ye Kings, and be inſtructed O ye people of the earth, ſpend not your ſtrength in vain, and your labour for that which ſatisfieth not, ſtrive not to force that out of the Creature, which God never put in; you may as well extract fire out of the Ocean, mollifie rocks into ſyrup, waſh the Ethiopian white, as ſqueeze happineſs out of mortality.
Behold! vaſt ſums are required to make up a ſummum bonum, ſcil.
Goodneſs, Fulneſs, Sutableneſs and Immutability.
Find me ſuch a Creature under the Moon, Pſal. 47.4. Lam. 3.24.and do with it what you pleaſe: but ſaith the Church, Lord, thou ſhalt chuſe our inheritance for us; yea, the Lord is my portion, ſaith my ſoul. It is impoſſible to churn happineſs out of a Cheſt of gold, it will never come, you can never make immarſible crowns of fading flowers.
Or, I will tell you when pleaſures, profits, honours, will make you bleſſed, when you can ſow your fields with Grace, and fill your barns with ſheaves of Saffron, when the Lord Jeſus is your wine, the Word of God your bread, the boſom of Chriſt your bed of love, the honour of Chriſt your trade, the graces of the Spirit your gold, then and not till then, you may write happineſs upon theſe things. Theſe are the pleaſures which are for evermore, this is the enduring ſubſtance, theſe the Crowns that wither not, here you may find that which your ſoul ſeeketh for; here is the mine, here is the vein, here the ſpring of happineſs, Ever with the Lord.
Looſe not, I beſeech you, eternal glory for a flaſh of impure joy, ſell not an eternal inheritance cheaper than ever Eſau ſold his birth right, for one draught of ſwill out of the ſwine-trough of ſenſual pleaſures,
The Devil offers you the glory of the world, God offers eternal glory; put not a ſcorn upon Gods offers, nor a cheat upon your own ſouls: the Devils offers are not only inconſiderable, but fraudulent, he offers that which is none of his own to give [the world] or if it were, it would be inſinitely too ſhort of the price he will have for it, your precious and immortal ſouls; What ſhall a man give in exchange for his ſoul? And ſuppoſe thou ſhouldſt repent of thy bargain, the Devil will not repent of his, nor will he ſell as he buyeth; ſhouldſt thou ſay to him, here Devil, take the world and give me my ſoul again, I repent, he'd but laugh at thee, and ſay as the Prieſts ſaid to Judas,
See thou to that, what is that to me? thou hadſt what thou agreed'ſt for, I have done thee no wrong.
The ſinners feaſt is ſoon ſerved in, but the Meſſengers of divine Juſtice are preparing the reckoning, and then are ready to take away: And how ſad will the cataſtrophe of that pleaſure be, when the ſting of the ſhot muſt ſurvive in Conſcience of the ſinner to all eternity? Glorified Saints are entertained upon freecoſt, no affeighting thoughts need diſcompoſe them ſo as to break any one draught of thoſe pleaſures wherewith their cup runs over, or to hinder the pleaſing ſwallow of thoſe delicate morſels wherewith their table is full fraught, no army of evils or of devils can break in upon them, to make them forſake their Nuptial feaſt; ſenſitive pleaſure is contracted to the narrow point of a foreign, for the ſenſe hath no delight but by the enjoyment of the preſent object, and indeed ſo is glorified pleaſure too, but with this difference, that Heavens foreign is eternity it ſelf, They ſhall ever be with the Lord.
Oh what a prodigious forfeiture of reaſon is this, for the momentany ſatisfaction of a ſordid luſt, to looſe eternal cohabitation with God, this tranſcendent beatitude, ever with the Lord! Yea, to plunge ones ſelf into that oppoſite gulf of miſery, never with the Lord, but to be puniſhed with everlaſting deſtruction from the preſence of the Lord, 2. Theſ. 1.9.and from the glory of his power.
The life from God, the life with God, the life of God can never expire.
Chriſtians, here is your ſummum bonum, chuſe it, and your ſouls ſhall live.
Uſe the ſecond. It may ſerve in the next place, Ʋſe 2 not only to inform the erroneous judgment, 2. It ſhews how much we are concern'd to ſecure our intereſt in this bleſſed ſtate.but alſo to awaken the ſleepy Conſcience. Is this heaven? Is this the ſummum bonum of immortal ſouls? Then oh how much is every one of us concern'd to ſecure our intereſt in this glory? What a folly is it for men to take ſuch indefatigable puns to make ſure an earthly inheritance, to run from Lawyer to Lawyer to attend eary in the morning, and late at night, to give ſee upon fee, to ſpend half a patrimony or an eſtate to ſecure the reſt, and as if heaven and the beatifical viſion were the only trivial, worthleſs thing, a meer accident that might adeſſe or abeſſe ſine ſubjecti interitu, be preſent or abſent without the leaſt prejudice (at all) to a mans happineſs, I ſay, to take up that upon truſt, and to leave this ever with the Lord, upon a peradventure? Oh unſpeakable folly and madneſs!
Oh that the ſons of the earth ſhould thus ſhame the heirs of heaven, Hab. 2.6.that an earthly inheritance ſhould be more valu…d by ſenſe than the heavenly is by faith, more care taken to be ſure of dirt and dung, thick clay, than of that which is infinitely more valuable than c…ral or pearls, whoſe price is above rubies, 1 Pet. 1.18, 19as bought not with ſilver and gold, but with the precious blood of Jeſus Chriſt, as of a Lamb without blemiſh and without ſpot.
Were this errour the fruit only of incapacity, as it is in little Infants, that cannot judge what belongs to their preſent or future good, verily it were a thouſand pities, an infelicity upon the humane nature to be lamented with tears of blood; but that rational Creatures, furniſhed with ſuch noble faculties, for ſuch divine and heavenly purpoſes, ſhould through a mere brutiſh ſenſuality be ſo willingly content to remain at ſuch uncertainties, is the moſt dreadful prodigy that can poſſibly enter into the heart of man!
That adult perſons grown up to maturity ſhould deſpiſe their birth-rights, and deſperately neglect to look into their writings, which relate to ſuch an immortal eſtate, argues not only the woful degeneracy of the humane nature, how rife and pregnant the ſeeds both of ignorance and atheiſm are therein, but even a judicial blaſt upon their underſtandings, as if the God of Heaven had given them up to the God of the world, 2 Theſ 1.9.to blind the eyes of them which believe not, leſt the light of the glorious Goſpel of Chriſt, who is the Image of God, ſhould ſhine unto them.
Oh that men would conſider ſeriouſly, what avail will it be at death and judgment, to have had aſſurance of many large earthly poſſeſſions while they lived, and then to have neither ſcrip nor ſcrol (as we ſay) to ſhew for heaven (that bleſſed inheritance of the Saints in light) when they come to dye! to be able to ſay now, my houſe and my land, and my ſilver, and my crown, and my kindom, but not then, my Lord and my God, my heaven and my inheritance! I have beſtowed all my time and ſtrength to aſſure my earthly poſſeſſions, but now I can keep theſe no longer, and can call nothing mine own but the dungeon of darkneſs, there to be ſtaked down to eaſeleſs and endleſs torments, or at beſt to cry out with that heathen Emperour, Animula, Adrianus Imp.blandula, vagula, quo vadis neſcio, I know not whither thou art going, O my precious darling, my never dying ſoul!
Confident and preſumptuous ſuppoſals may quiet and ſatisfie the ſleepy and ſlothful Conſcience in fair weather, but in the hour of temptation, Mat. 7.27.when the rain ſhall deſcend, and the floods come, and the winds blow, then theſe fooliſh confidences will fall, becauſe they were built upon the ſand, and great will be the fall thereof.
Then when in hell the miſerable ſoul, made now as ſenſible as formerly it was ſecure, ſhall from thence lift up its eyes, and ſee Abraham, and Iſaac, and Jacob, and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God, and it ſelf thruſt out, what furious and fiery reflexions will then rend and vex the Conſcience, and the ſinner cry out with horrour, O damned wretch that I am, I might have had pardon and glory as well as others, I had as many means and motives, I had as much need as they, it was as much my concern as any others, but I trifled and took up all upon truſt, and would not give diligence to the full aſſurance of hope to the end, oh now a thouſand worlds, if I had them, for a may be, which once I had; oh for one of thoſe dayes of grace which I then ſinned away, and idled out in the purſuit of vanity, for one of thoſe tenders and offers of ſalvation, which then purſued me, and I would not hearken, but thought I might have had heaven time enough when I had done with the world; but now I ſee how miſerably I have mocked God, and deceived my ſelf, the day of grace is now gone, and the time of peace is at its full ſtop and period, and inſtead of ever with the Lord, here I muſt lye and boil and broil in theſe flames with the Devil and reprobate ſpirits for ever.
Oh that ſinners would therefore in this their day be wiſe, As I In…ew a prophane wretch in Kent, who lived in all kind of wickedneſs and debauchery againſt the moſt paſſionate and compaſſionate cautions and expoſtulations of his godly Miniſter, and would not hearken to him; when he came to dye, he ſent for his Miniſter, who coming and asking him why he had ſent for him, replyed, only this, Oh Sir, my time is done, and my mork a not begun! and ſo died.and know the things which belong unto their peace, before they be hid from their eyes.
Conſider as Motives.Motives to labour for Aſſurance. 1. It may be attained.
Firſt, Heaven way be made ſure; aſſurance may be attained.
1. God commands it: Phil. 2.12. 2 Pet. 1.10. Heb. 6.11.Work out your ſalvation with fear and trembling: Give all diligence to make your calling and election ſure: We deſire that every one of you do ſhew the ſame diligence to the full aſſurance of hope. And God doth not command impoſſibility; the Law indeed did, but he giveth more grace; Jam. 4.6.God in the Goſpel giveth what he commandeth: To which end
2. It is obſervable, that what is a precept in one place, is a promiſe in another, that if the command find work, the promiſe may find ſtrength: Hence, His Commandments are not grievous, 1 John 5.3. Phil. 4.13.and I can do all things through Chriſt that ſtrengtheneth me.
So run the promiſes, Mat. 7.7. Auguſtine deſired no more of God, but d… Domini quod jubes, & jube quod vis.Ask and it ſhall be given you, ſeek and ye ſhall find, knock and it ſhall be opened unto you: A multiplied uſe of Goſpel means, will bring in a multiplied increaſe of Goſpel grace and ſtrength.
3. Many of the Saints of God have attained aſſurance of their ſalvation: holy Paul, in the name of himſelf and his fellow Saints, 2 Cor. 5.1.could ſay, We know — we have an houſe not made with hands, eternal in the heavens; not we hope only, but we know: So the Diſc…ple of love, 1 John 3.14. We know we have paſſed from death to life, and God hath given us eternal life, Chap. 5.11.not only will give, but hath given, as ſure as if we were there already: and thus in many Scriptures more.
Now this is certain, what hath been may be, what ſome of the Saints have attained, and not only by ſpecial prerogative, others may attain alſo, provided they be not ſlothful, Heb. 6.11. curn. 12.but followers of them, who through faith and patience inherit the promiſes. Thus heaven may be made ſure.
But on the other ſide, The world nor any part of it can be made ſure.earth cannot.
1. It is not all the enſuring Offices in the world, nor all the Law or Lawyers in Weſtminſter-hall, that can make an undefeazable entail to ſecure an inheritance upon the third or ſecond generation; not only in reſpect of the brevity and uncertainty of mans life, the great mutability in the Creature, the wiles and frauds of men who are cunning to deceive, but even in regard of the methods and intricacies of the Law it ſelf; 1 Tim. 6.17. foreign.hence the Apoſtle calls all ſublunary poſſeſſions uncertain riches, to which he oppoſeth the living God: God only is immortal, not mutable; all the things in the world which men make their riches, are uncertain, heaven only by a true Coperniciſme is fixed, the earth moveable and unſtable.
2. And God would have it ſo. God hath on purpoſe filled the whole Creation with emptineſs and vanity, that the heart of man might not be enſnared and beguiled with it; for ſaith God, Prov. 23.….wilt thou ſet thine eyes upon that which is not? How not?
Not that which it appears to be, a meer non-ens, a nothing.
Not that which the heart of man promiſes to it ſelf from it, happineſs and ſatisfaction, nothing leſs —
Not fixed and durable, for riches verily make themſelves wings, and fly away, as an Eagle towards heaven, (Supra.)from whence they came: God gave them, and when he calls them they take wings and are gone in a moment, they cannot be ſecured; as good ſecure the bird upon the wing, as go about to ſecure the world, in any of the elements thereof.
3. God would have us ſit looſe from the Creature; here God would have us contented to be at uncertainties, Matth. 6. ver. 25.
Take no thought for your life.
34. Take no thought for to morrow.
In the concerns of the preſent life, God would have us live at an holy kind of adventure, and leave all to providence, i. e. as to the iſſues and events of things.
But oh how are men turned Gods antipodes! What cannot be made ſure, and God would not have to be ſure, that vain man would make ſure, and that which may be made ſure, which God commands us to make ſure, and what the Saints have made ſure, this and this only, he takes upon truſt, and leaves it upon: Why nots and peradventures. Thus man ſtands (as one ſaith) upon his head, and ſhakes his heels againſt heaven. It is a Lamentation, and ſhall be for a Lamentation,
A ſecond Conſideration may be this: Motive 2.To get aſſurance of heaven, is a work never unſeaſonable, but never more ſeaſonable than in times of danger and uncertainty, when all ſublunary things are in a doubtful and wavering condition; in ſuch a juncture of time, he that can ſecure heaven by making his calling and election ſure, he is like the Philoſophers good man, foreign.four-ſquare, caſt him which way you will, he alwayes falls upon a ſquare, he is built upon a Rock and cannot be ſhaken, or though he be moved, he cannot be removed, but ſtands like a pillar in the Temple of God, even like thoſe pillars in Solomon's Temple, Jachin and Boaz, ſtability and ſtrength.
This is the moſt important buſineſs incumbent on us, and it being about an Inheritance which is fixed and ſure; it is both our duty and our wiſdom to be ſo too; uncertainty in things of uncertainty is no ſoleciſme, but to be uncertain in things of greateſt aſſurance and permanency is an intollerable ſhame: Heaven ſecur'd, our work is done, a man may ſit down and ſing a requiem to his own ſoul (in an holy ſecurity, Rora hora, brevis mora, O ſiduraſſet!ſaying) Soul, thou haſt goods laid up for many years, for years of eternity, eat, drink, and be merry, and not fear the rebuke of O thou fool!
The joy of the Lord enters into the ſoul, before the ſoul entreth into the Lords joy, the Inheritance ſafe, a man may well be merry, for he can never be miſerable.
He that is ſure of Heaven knoweth alſo, that whatever he hath, more or leſs in this life, he hath it as,
The fruit of Gods everlaſting-electing love.
The purchaſe of Chriſts blood.
With Gods love, as well as with Gods leave.
By promiſe as well as by providence.
As part of his childs portion, in earneſt of what is to come.
He knoweth that whatever befalls him on this ſide heaven,
Honour or diſhonour,
Good report or bad report,
Health or ſickneſs,
Proſperity or adverſity,
Peace or perſecution,
Life or death;
All ſhall work together for good, his beſt, his ſpiritual, his eternal good, Rom. 8.28.
Who but a mad man would leave ſuch an eſtate upon uncertainties? The world may call him (if they will) a wiſe man, but a greater fool goeth not about the ſtreets with a whisk and a batible.
And truly without this, a man cannot rationally take any delight in theſe inferiour enjoyments, this will be a care at the bottom, yea, it is well now, but what it will be hereafter to all eternity, I know not.
Conſider in the third place: Motive 3.The more wiſdom any have attained to, the greater hath been their care and diligence to ſecure to themſelves an intereſt in this future bleſſedneſs. Witneſs holy David and Paul, Porphyry ſaith of Photin…, that he was foreign:whoſe indifferency about the preſent, and contention about the future eſtate, was ſuch, as if they had forgotten they were in the body; Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I deſire beſides thee; ſo ſings David, Pſal 73.25. And, I forget the things that are behind, and preſs toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Chriſt Jeſus; ſo profeſſeth holy Paul, Phil. 3.13, 14. Oh happy ſecurity! they were careleſs of the world, that they might ſecure themſelves of heaven!
Fourthly and laſtly conſider, Motive 4.That diſappointment is the moſt afflicting evil, that a rational Creature is capable of: And there be three Aggravations which render it intolerable.
Firſt, The more precious the concernment, the more grievous the diſappointment, to be diſappointed of a common preferment is very vexatious, what is it then to be diſappointed of a Crown, a Kingdom.
Secondly, The higher the confidence of ſpeeding, the deeper the anxiety of diſappointment: to come to the Church door in expectation of a rich and honourable match, and when hands come to be joyned, then to be rejected, this is enough to diſtract.
Thirdly, The leſs hope of recovery, the fadder and more killing is the diſappointment; to be caſt in a Suit of Law for an Inheritance which is uncapable of a ſecond trial, is enough to put a man beſides himſelf.
Behold (oh precious ſouls) diſappointment at the day of Judgment, falls under the terror of this threefold aggravation, and that in the moſt dreadful notion that tongue can expreſs, or heart conceive.
1. Here diſappointment is in a matter of no leſs value than a Crown, a Kingdom.
A Crown of
Righteouſneſs, 2 Tim. 4.8.
Life, Rev. 2.10.
Glory, 1 Pet. 5.4.
A Kingdom of
God, Luke 13.28, 29.
Heaven, Matth. 5.3.
Our Lord and Saviour Jeſus Chriſt, 2. Pet. 1.11.
Oh how dreadful will that diſappointment be, eſpecially with that addition, Everlaſting kingdom?
2. This will be the diſappointment of higheſt confidences and preſumption. None are ſo confident of beaven, as thoſe who have nothing to ſhew for their right to it: moſt Chriſtians (promiſcuouſly ſo caled) think themſelves as ſure of heaven as if they were there already: and oh when theſe ſhall come and knock at the door with their bold Lord, Lord, Mat. 7.21, 22, 23. cum Luke 13.16, 27.open to us, crying loud, and pleading hard, what they have done, how they have preach'd, and pray'd, and received Sacraments, and (poſſibly) converted others, expecting now to have the door opened, and ready to ſet foot over the threſhold of heaven, and ſhall then be thruſt back with that terrible blaſt, I never knew you, depart from me; Oh what ſhame and confuſion will this diſappointment fill their faces and conſciences with for ever! Surely this will be the very emphaſis of damnation, to have been within a ſtep of ſalvation and yet miſs!
3. And all this without the leaſt hope of ſpeeding or ſpeaking to Chriſt any more for ever about the matter of ſalvation.
Now therefore fear, and tremble, and pray that this may not be the portion of your cup from the hand of the Lord.
Another Conſideration may be, This will make you Motive 5.fruitful in the work of Grace. Chriſtians that make their calling and election ſure, will and cannot but be fruitful in good works, for by theſe you muſt maintain your aſſurance, as being the fruits and evidences of your ſalvation.