Meetness for Heaven Promoted, Title page – Author to the reader
Meetneſs FOR HEAVEN Promoted in ſome brief MEDITATIONS UPON COLOS. 1.12.
Diſcovering the nature and neceſſity of habitual and actual Meetneſs for Heaven here, in all that hope for Heaven hereafter.
Deſigned for a Funeral Legacy.
By O. H. an unworthy Miniſter of the Goſpel of Chriſt.
Pſal. 73.24. Thou ſhalt guide me with thy Counſel, and afterward received me to Glory.
Rev. 22.14. Bleſſed are they that do his Commandments that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the City.
London, Printed by J. R. for T. Parkhurſt at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapſide.
AN EPISTLE To my Dearly Beloved Hearers, Friends and Neighbours, and others that will be at the coſt to buy, or take the pains to read this ſmall Treatiſe.
Dearly Beloved,
A Deſire after Happineſs is ſo ingraven in the Nature of Man, that it was never put to the debate, whether he would be happy or no? This needs no choice; all are agreed in this as the end of a rational Agent: And therefore at laſt Felicity was accounted a Goddeſs among the Romans, and St. Auguſtine tells us, that Lucullus built her a Temple; only he wonders that the Romans that were worſhippers of ſo many Gods, had not given Divine Honour to Felicity ſooner; which alone would have ſufficed in ſtead of all the reſt of their Deities, which he reckons up, and ſaith at laſt of Numa, that having choſen ſo many Gods and Goddeſſes, 'tis ſtrange he neglected this; [An eam forte in tanta turbâ videre non potuit?] but though they at laſt had got a notion of Felicity, yet having no true Piety, that veneration ended in the greateſt miſery and infelicity, nothing but Wars enſued. Vid. Aug. de civit. Dei, lib 4. cap. 23.
This indeed is the caſe: All men would be happy, but few know the due object and true means leading to Happineſs; It is poſſible (as the ſame Father ſaith there) to find a man that is unwilling to be made King; [nullus autem invenitur, qui ſe nolit eſſe foelicem] that is, loath to be made happy: But indeed moſt men blunder in the dark, and few find the thing they ſeek: The ſame Father tells us, (de civ. Dei, lib 19. c. 1.) that Varro in his Book of Philoſophy, that had diligently ſearched the various Opinions of men about the chiefeſt good, reduceth them to two hundred eighty eight Sects or Sentences; [non quae jam eſſent, ſed quae eſſe poſſent?] and Auguſtine reduceth them to their ſeveral heads: But I paſs by Heathens that are bewildred in the dark, and know no better: Even profeſſing or pretended Chriſtians either do not underſtand, or will not embrace the way of Peace and Reſt. The Lord looked down from Heaven upon the Children of Men, to ſee if there were any that did underſtand and ſeek God. They are all gone aſide, they are altogether become filthy, there is none that doth good, no not one. Pſal. 14.2, 3. All mankind is degenerate; and few are regenerated: We ſet out for Hell as ſoon as we are born; and till converting Grace turn us Heaven-wards we go blindfold to the pit: The whole World lyeth in ignorance and wickedneſs. 1 Joh. 5.19. But no ſuch ignorance as that which is wilful. This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men love darkneſs rather then light, becauſe their deeds are evil; Joh. 3.19. No man periſheth but by his own will. Men will ſin, and love death rather then life. You will not come to me, (ſaith Chriſt) that you may have life. Joh. 5.40. He that rejecteth the means, rejecteth the end: All they that hate Chriſt, love death: Prov. 8.36. They do both, not directly, or deſignedly, but interpretatively, and conſequentially. Moſt men obſerve lying vanities, and ſo forſake their own Mercies. Jon. 2.8. as he leaves the East that goes to the Weſt: My people, ſaith God, have committed two evils, [Obſerve it; it's but one act, yet there's two evils in it, what are they?] they have forſaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out ciſterns, broken ciſterns, that can hold no water. Jer. 2.13. Oh what evil is in the bowels of one ſin! But eſpecially in the ſin of Ʋnbelief. The evil of ſin brings on the evil of puniſhment. Miſs of Heaven, and you purchaſe Hell. What mad man will refuſe this gift that is better then Gold? What beast will run into a pit or praecipice? But ſome men make a jeſt of Heaven; as that Biſhop, who, when one ſaid, I hope to ſee you at your Dioceſs ere long; replyed, I fear I ſhall be in Heaven before that time come: Others, like Martha, are ſo incumbred in the World, that they are ſtaked down to Terrene Objects; and Anſwer, as he that being asked, if he ſaw the Eclipſe, anſwered, No, I have ſo much buſineſs on Earth, that I have no leiſure to look up to Heaven: This is moſt mens eaſe. Alas, the World eats out many mens Religion, as the Sun ſhining eats out the fire: So that men are as dead to Religion, as if Heaven were but a dream; and as hot upon ſin, as if Hell had no fire, or were all vaniſht into ſmoke: Nay, it's well, if ſome look not on Heaven and Hell, as if they were but a Fable or Romance, a ſcarcrow to fright weak headed people, or the meer invention of deſigning Prieſts to keep men in awe: But they ſhall know one day to their coſt, that there is an Heaven by the loſs of it, and that there is an Hell by the torments of it: Let theſe ask the rich man in torment, whether there is an Hell or no? Targum ſaith, the diſpute betwixt Cain and Abel was, concerning a World to come: And indeed this is the Controverſie betwixt the faithful and unbelievers: Though the wicked ſay the Creed, wherein they profeſs a belief of the Reſurrection, Judgment, and Eternal Life; yet its but notional, not experimental, practical: They know nothing of it initially, inchoatively, by feeling the beginnings of it here, and living to the rates of it: It is to be feared that the greateſt part of Mankind will fall to the Devils ſhare: How little are men concerned about a future ſtate! How many put away from them the evil day! Some have a fooliſh imagination that Heaven is every where; that there is neither Heaven nor Hell but in a mans own Conſcience, and then they can ſhift well enough; for they can ſtop the mouth of a bawling Conſcience, and ſpeak Peace to themſelves: But how long will either of theſe laſt? When God arms a man against himſelf, he ſhall be a Magormiſſabib, a fear round about: Witneſs Cain, Saul, Judas, that thought Hell was eaſier then his own Conſcience, and therefore deſperately leapt into it; to the cruſhing of his Body, and the damning of his Soul: They ſhall find that there is an Heaven and Hell after this natural Life is ended. It is recorded of Peter Martyr, that he lying upon his Death-bed diſcourſed ſweetly of Heaven; Bullinger ſtanding by alleadged that in Phil. 3.20. Our Converſation is in Heaven: True, ſaid the ſick man, it is in Heaven, [ſed non in Coelo Brentii, quod nuſquam eſt,] not in the Heaven of Brentius; which is no where: There is doubtleſs a [Coelum Empyreum,] called a Third Heaven, or Paradice, into which Paul was wrapt in his Extacy, 2 Cor. 12.2, 4. into which Christ was carryed Body and Soul, Luke 24.51. The habitation of Gods Holineſs and Glory, Iſa. 63.15. Its true God himſelf is called Heaven, Dan. 4.26. The Heavens do rule. So Matth. 21.25. And its as true, God fills Heaven and Earth, Jer. 23.24. And its true, where the King is there is the Court: But yet God manifeſts himſelf far differently in all places; he is in Hell by the execution of his Juſtice, in Heaven by manifeſtation of his Grace, on Earth by diſplaying both, and his other Glorious Attributes, according to his infinite Wiſdom and Pleaſure.
But let vain Men pleaſe themſelves in their fond conceits; or deſperately leap into the other World, let you and me duely weigh the vaſt difference betwixt Graceleſs and Gracious Souls in this and in the other World, and though men will not believe, becauſe they ſee not any ſuch difference; yet a time is coming, when they ſhall return and diſcern betwixt the righteous and the wicked, between him that ſerveth God, and him that ſerveth him not. Mal. 3.18. Then all the World muſt be ranked into two Regiments, ſheep and goats; the one at Chriſts right hand, the other on his left; to the one he will ſay, come ye bleſſed, to the other go ye curſed. Mat. 25.32—46. They that love not to hear diſcriminating Truths here, ſhall meet with diſcriminating Acts at that day: And can we think that there will be ſuch a difference at that day, and is there none in this World? Yes certainly: Though all things come alike to all, as to common Providences in this World, Eccleſ. 9.2. yet Grace makes a difference in Perſons diſpoſitions here, and there will be a vast difference in Divine Dispenſations hereafter, much greater then betwixt a Man and a Bruit; yea, like that which is betwixt an Angel and a Devil. Oh that men would ſtudy and underſtand this now! Grace makes the difference now, and Glory compleats it.
1. In point of Aſſimilation: Gods Children are like their Father now, but ſhall be more like him at that day; 1 Joh. 3.2. Our former ſimilitude is from Faith, and ſo imperfect; but the latter is from immediate Viſion, and ſo perfect and compleat.
2. In point of Satisfaction: In this World the weary Soul is working towards its reſt, Pſal. 116.7. and doth by Faith enter into this reſt; Heb. 4.3. yet there is another remaining, ver. 9. Some ſatisfaction is in Ordinances, Pſal. 36.8. but more in that Bleſſed Morning, when Gods Children awake, Pſal. 17.15.
3. In point of Participation: For Gods Children are not tantalized, by beholding that they have no right to; no, they have Heaven by appropriation by Faith here, ſo Eph. 2.8. and by compleat poſſeſſion in the other World; abundant evidence of peculiar relation, Rev. 21.3.
4. In point of Fruition: Gods Children do enjoy fellowſhip with God already in this world; 1 Joh. 1.3. but alas, it is but through a glaſs darkly, but then face to face immediately; 1 Cor. 13.12. Now it is but rarely, but now and then, but then conſtantly and perpetually, as the Angels that always behold the face of our Father. Matth. 18.10. Their Eye is never off God, even when they are ſent on any Errands to Earth about the Saints: Its defective in degree here, but full and compleat above: Its oft obſtructed and obſcured here, but above this Glory ſhall be revealed in us, Rom. 8.18. and ſo never darkened or eclipſed with clouds of interpoſing guilt.
O ye Children of men, prove your Fathers will, and your ſelves Children; make ſure of this Inheritance; make no reckoning of the ſtuff of this World; for the good of the upper Country above is before you; Heaven will pay for all your loſſes, and countervail all your croſſes here: No matter how your Names are written on Earth, in Duſt or Marble, if they be written in Heaven. Some ſay this World is but a ſhadow of that above; look you for the lineaments of that Kingdom above, to be pourtrayed on you. Baſil aſſerted One Hundred Sixty Five Heavens. You muſt paſs by all the fancyed Heavens of Men, and look for a City that hath foundations, whoſe builder and maker is God. Heb. 11.10. Take this Kingdom of Heaven by violence. Matth. 11.12. Get a Copy of Grace in your hearts out of Scripture Records, the Court Rolls of Heaven; ſo you are ſure of it, and lay hold of Eternal Life. 1 Tim. 6.19. Heaven muſt be begun here, or never enjoyed hereafter. Holineſs of Heart and Life is like the Old Teſtament Tabernacle, an example and ſhadow of heavenly things. Happineſs is the injoyment of good, commenſurate to our deſires; and our deſires muſt be ſuited to that happineſs. Criticks obſerve, that the word [foreign] which ſignifies happineſs, is plural; not only denoting a confluence of many good things to make one happy, but becauſe there is an happineſs in this life, preparing for and anticipating the happineſs in the other. They differ not in kind but degree; that above is the ſame ſtate, but in an higher ſtature; the ſame Book but in a more correct Edition, and a larger Character. The Saints above differ from us as Man from a Child, as Noon ſun from the Morning light; we are in the ſame houſe, only they are got into the upper room; at the ſame feaſt only they are at the upper end of the Table. Let us make haſt after them: They were once as you are, groveling on this Dung-hill, but are exalted to the Throne; aſpire you to the ſame preferment: It may be had, it must be had or you are undone: Study the way of God, how this Inheritance is made over to the Sons of Men, and that is, 1. By Regeneration. Matth. 19.28.2. By Adoption. Romans 8.17.3. By Donation. Luke 12.32. 4. By right of Redemption. Joh… 10.28. Eph. 1.14. and they ſay, he that hath bought a Slave may diſpoſe of him as he pleaſe, by his will: Our Lord made his will thus, Joh. 17.24. Father, I will that where I am theſe may be alſo. Clear this and clear all, then you are ſafe; fail in this and you are undone.
But this is not all; you are not only to get and clear up a title to this Inheritance, but to preſs after a due meetneſs for it; and this is the deſign of this ſmall Treatiſe, which was (for the ſubſtance of it) Preached and Writ Thirty Five Years ago, and now reviſed and publiſhed upon theſe Conſiderations.
1. For my own help and furtherance in preparation for Heaven, having paſſed to the ſixtieth year of my Life, (the date of the Life of Paul the aged) within a few days; and my Lord only knows how ſoon my ſun may ſet, though I cannot ſay, my Natural Vigour either of Body or Mind is in the leaſt abated; but I am mortal, and am loath to be ſurprized unawares.
2. I ſee a great failure in my ſelf and other Chriſtians in this, that terminate our ſtudies and endeavours in getting a title, and then think all is well, we need no more; but ſurely there is much behind; we have abundance of work upon our hands for obtaining actual meetneſs, without which we cannot evidence our habitual meetneſs.
3. I never yet met with any Treatiſe upon this ſubject, though it be of great importance for every Chriſtian; ſurely Heaven is worth minding, and methinks Abrahams Query in another caſe ſhould be ours, Gen. 15.8. O Lord God, whereby ſhall I know that I ſhall inherit it?
4. I have obſerved a commendable practice of ſome Christians; which is, to order ſome Books to be diſtributed at their Funerals: The firſt that I knew of that nature was Mr. R. A. his Vindiciae Pietatis, and ſome other practical pieces, which by Gods Bleſſing have done much good: Such a Memorandum would I bequeath as my laſt Legacy to you, my dear People, amongſt whom I have laboured above thirty nine years in publick and private, ſerving the Lord in ſome meaſure of Integrity and Humility, with many Tears and Temptations, through variety of Diſpenſations, Excommunications, Baniſhments, Confiſcations and Impriſonments; but out of all theſe the Lord hath delivered me, and ſet my feet in a large place, and God that ſearcheth the heart knows what hath been my deſign in ſtudying, preaching, praying, preparing you a place to meet in to Worſhip God; and what are the agonies and jealouſies of my Spirit to this day, least I leave any of you unconverted, and ſo caſhiered from Gods preſence at the great day; and now at laſt I ſolemnly charge you before God, and the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, and the elect Angels, that you reſt not in a graceleſs ſtate another day, leſt that be the laſt day, and you be found unready: And I ſolemnly require you that have a principle of Grace, gird up your Loins, trim your Lamps, and obſerve theſe few Rules, and the diſpoſitions mentioned in this ſmall Treatiſe: I only hint further; Be much in the love of God: Dayly act Faith on Chriſt: Walk in the Spirit: Deſign Gods Glory: Intermit not holy duties: Be not content therein without communion with God: Mingle Religion with civil acts: Increaſe every Grace: Redeem time: Profitably converſe with Gods Children: Aim at perfection: Maintain tender Conſciences: Keep ſtrict accounts: Study the life of Heaven: Be ſtill doing or getting good: Set God before your eyes: Trample on worldly things: Live in dayly view of death: Be nothing in your own eyes: Be much in heavenly praiſes: Say, O Lord, who am I, and what is my Fathers houſe, that thou haſt brought me hitherto? What is man, what am I, the leaſt and worſt of the children of men, that the heart of God ſhould be working for me, and towards me, in infinite bowels of eternal love! That the Lord Jeſus ſhould ſhed his heartblood for me! That the holy Spirit ſhould take poſſeſſion of me! That God ſhould provide ſuch an inheritance for me! Aſſure me of it by precious Promiſes, ſeal it to me in his holy Supper! That ever God ſhould give me an heart to fear him: Heal ſo many backſlidings: Prevent total Apoſtacy: Pardon all my iniquities: Vouchſafe me ſuch large priviledges: Supply my wants: Hear my Prayers: Help me over ſo many a foul place in my journey: Brought me to the borders of Canaan: Given me ſo many foretaſts of the promiſed Land: Tells me the Jordan of death ſhall be driven back, and give me a ſafe paſſage to Heaven: O Bleſſed, bleſſed be God, all this is from ſovereign Grace: God doth what he pleaſeth: I would not exchange this hope for the worlds poſſeſſions: Eternity will be little enough to be taken up in the praiſes of rich grace. Thus the gracious Soul may quickly loſe it ſelf in theſe Divine Praiſes and Contemplations, as that zealous German Martyr, Giles Titleman, who in his Prayers was ſo ardent, kneeling by himſelf in ſome ſecret place, that he ſeemed to forget himſelf, being called many times to meat; he neither heard nor ſaw them that ſtood by him, till he was lift up by the Arms, and then gently he would ſpeak to them as one waked out of a deep ſleep: Oh that there were ſuch a ſpirit in Gods children! That our hearts were ſo intent on things above, as to paſs through the world as unconcerned in it! Then ſhall you be content to leave all, and go to Chriſt! Then will you not be afraid of the King of Terrors, though armed with Halberts, Racks, Fires, Gibbets; then will you have a brighter Crown, and higher degrees of Glory, and ſhall ſhine as the brightneſs of the Firmament, and as one Star differs from another in Glory, ſo you will be ſet in the higheſt Orb; and having had largeſt capacities on Earth, ſhall have fulleſt joys in Heaven: I will conclude with the bleſſed Apoſtles Prayer 1 Th. 3.12, 13. The Lord make you to increaſe and abound in love one towards another, and towards all men, even as we do towards you; to the end he may ſtabliſh your hearts unblameable in holineſs before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt with all his Saints: Amen and Amen, Thus prayeth
Your Servant in our deareſt Lord, Oliver Heywood. …
COLOS. 1.12. Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light.