Practical Discourses Volume 2, Discourse 8
JOHN III.16.
— But have everlasting Life.
I Am now upon the last Branch of the Text; which is to shew you the great Goodness of God to us in promising to us such a vast Reward upon our performing such an easie Condition as our believing in Jesus Christ; in which Reward there is first, the privative Part of it, or the Misery it rescues us from, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish; Secondly, the positive, or the Happiness it instates us in, but have everlasting Life. In the management of which I shall do these two Things;
1. Shew you why this Reward is termed Everlasting Life.
2. How unspeakably good God hath been to us in proposing to us such a vast Reward.
1. Why this Reward is stiled by the Name of Everlasting Life; For it is very usual with Scripture to express all the Blessings it promises to Men by the Name of Life; for thus by Life the Old Testament very frequently expresses those temporal Blessings, which are therein promised and proposed: So Deut. xxx.15. See, I have set before thee this day, Life and Good, and Death and Evil; in which he plainly refers to those temporal Blessings and Curses, which he had proposed to, and denounced against them, Chap. xxviii. for so v.19. of this Chapter he explains himself, I call Heaven and Earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you Life and Death, Blessing and Cursing: Therefore chuse Life, that both Thou and thy Seed may live. So Levit. xviii.5. Ye shall keep my Statutes and my Judgments: Which if a Man do, he shall live in them; that is, he shall enjoy all those temporal Blessings, which I have therein promised: For so Ezek. xx.21. their living in them is opposed to his pouring out temporal Judgments upon them. And hence the Statutes of the Mosaic Law are called the statutes of Life, in which whosoever walks, shall surely Live, and not Die, Ezek. xxxiii.15. And as these temporal Blessings promised in the Old Testament are commonly expressed by Life, so those eternal Blessings promised in the New Testament are very frequently expressed by Life also. So Mat. xviii.8. It is better for thee to enter into Life halt or maimed, rather than having two Hands or two Feet, to be cast into everlasting Fire. So also Mat. xix.17. If thou wilt enter into Life, keep the Commandments. And Joh. iii.36. He that believeth on the Son, hath everlasting Life: And he that believeth not the Son, shall not see Life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. And because the Blessings which the Gospel proposes are not temporal but eternal; therefore that Life by which they are expressed is stiled eternal, everlasting, and immortal: For so 2 Tim. i.10. We find Life and Immortality joyned together; and Rom. vi.22. Ye have your fruit unto Holiness, and the end everlasting Life; and Vers. 23. The gift of God is eternal Life. Now that it is not called eternal Life merely as it is a State of endless Being and Existence, is evident; because Being and Existence are indifferent Things abstracted from all sense of Happiness and Misery; but eternal Life is proposed to us as a Thing that is infinitely desirable in self, as being the Crown and Reward of all our Obedience; for which Reason it is called the crown of Life, Jam. i.12. And therefore the Reason why the everlasting Blessings of the Gospel are expressed by Life are,
First, Because of the inestimable Worth and Value of Life.
Secondly, Because Life is the Root of all our Sense of Pleasure and Happiness.
Thirdly, Because it is the Principle of all our Activity.
1. The everlasting Blessings of the Gospel are called Life, because Life is the most inestimably precious of all the Blessings we enjoy. For without Life there is nothing can be a real Blessing to us, nothing that we can tast, relish, or enjoy: And this the Devil knew well enough when he pronounced so confidently, Skin for Skin, yea all that a Man hath will he give for his Life, Job ii.4. Now it is usual with Scripture to describe the Blessings of the future State by Things that are of the greatest Value among Men, by Riches and Treasure, by a Crown and a Kingdom, by a Paradise, or a Garden of Pleasure; but as if all these were too faint and dim to represent the true Value of that blessed State, it is stiled Life also, which is much more valuable than either, yea than all those Things together. And hence the Apostle calls it a more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory, 2 Cor. iv.17.
2. It is called Life, because Life is the Root of all our Sense of Pleasure and Happiness. For without Life we are nothing else but a Lump of stupid and insensible Flesh, incapable of perceiving either Pleasure or Pain. So that all Sensation being founded in Life, and all Pleasure a sweet and grateful Sensation; by a very easie Figure the natural Effect and Operation of Life is expressed by Life. And indeed all the Advantage of living consists in living in a Sense of Pleasure; and therefore it hath been very much disputed among Philosophers, whether this temporary State of ours, in which there is so great an Intermixture of Pain with Pleasure, and Misery with Happiness, doth not better deserve the Name of Death than Life; and those of them who thought it more liable to Misery than Happiness, affirmed it to be a State of Death, and strictly maintained this Paradox, that at our Birth we die into a worse State than Non-existence, and at our Death are born into a true and proper State of Life. But they who counted our present Life to be intermixt with more Pleasure than Misery, esteemed our present Existence a Priviledge deserving the Name of Life; which is an Argument that both placed all the Priviledge of living in those pleasant Perceptions that are founded in it. And thus also according to the Scripture Philosophy to live, as it imports Advantage to us, is to live in a State of Joy and Pleasure; so Psal. xxii.26. The meek shall eat and be satisfied: They shall praise the Lord that seek him; your Heart shall live for ever, that is, you shall so abound with Matter of Joy and Praise that your Hearts shall be satisfied and contented for ever. So Joh. xiv.19. Because I live, ye shall live also; that is, because I rise from the Dead and live for ever, ye shall rejoyce and be glad. So also 1 Thes. iii.8. For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord; that is we rejoyce in your Constancy and Perseverance, for so it follows immediately after, For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before God? How properly therefore may the future State be expressed by Life, since 'tis the proper Scene of Happiness where Joy and Pleasure doth for ever abound; where there is an inexhaustible Spring of pure unmingled Delights issuing forth in Rivers of Pleasure from God's right Hand for ever? So that if there be any Thing worthy of the Name of Life, it is the blisful State of those happy Souls above, who live in the continued Sense of all those unspeakable Joys and Comforts that an everlasting Heaven imports.
3dly, And lastly, it is called Life, because Life is the Principle of all Activity. 'Tis this that inlivens all our Instruments of Action, and communicates Motion to all our Faculties and Powers. And hence the State of Heaven may well be called the State of Life, because 'tis a State of the highest Activity, wherein all our Faculties act with unspeakable Vigour, are freed from all that Weight of Sin and Matter that here do continually clog and incumber them, and entertained with such agreeable Objects as do perpetually imploy and exercise them to the utmost of their Strength and Activity: Where infinite Truth and infinite Goodness being always in our View and Prospect, will continually draw forth the utmost Force of our Vnderstandings, Wills, and Affections in the most rapturous Contemplation, Fruition, and Embracements of that all-glorious Object in which we behold them; So that we shall not only Act suitably to the Genius of our rational Natures, but in every Act shall exert our utmost Activity, and know, and love, and rejoyce, and delight as much as ever we are able. Wherefore since in that blessed State we shall be all Life and Spirit and Wing, since all our rational Faculties shall be most incessantly and vigorously imployed about the most agreeable and consentaneous Objects, we being converted as it were into pure Acts of Knowledge, and Love, and Joy, and Satisfaction; our State and Condition may be very well expressed by Life, which is a most vigorous Principle of Activity. So that as Life is the most inestimable Jewel we have, as it is the Root of all our Sense of Pleasure, and the Principle of all our Activity, it doth most properly express the infinite Value, Pleasure, and Activity of that blisful State which God hath prepared to reward our Obedience. And so I have done with the First Thing proposed, which was to shew you for what Reason the eternal Rewards of the Blessed are so frequently expressed by everlasting Life.
2. I proceed now to shew you in the second Place, how unspeakably good God hath been to us in proposing such a vast Reward upon the Performance of such an easie Condition. In the Management of which I shall first discourse of this Reward absolutely, and shew you how great it is in it self. Secondly, comparatively, and shew you how great it is in Respect of the Condition upon which it is promised.
1. We will consider it absolutely how great it is in its self. And here I do not pretend to give you a perfect Map of all the Beatitudes of that heavenly State; for that is a Talk fit only for an Angel, or a glorified Spirit; all I aim at is to give you such an imperfect Account of it as God hath thought fit to impart to Mortals in the Scripture, which though it fall infinitely short of the Thing it self, yet is doubtless the best and utmost that our narrow Capacities can bear. In short therefore concerning this blessed State, God hath revealed to us, that it includes these six Things:
1. A perfect Freedom from Evil and Misery.
2. A most intimate Enjoyment of himself.
3 A most endearing Fruition of our glorified Saviour.
4. A most delightful Conversation with Angels and glorified Spirits.
5. The infinite Glory and Delightfulness of the Place, wherein all these Felicities are to be enjoyed.
6. The endless Duration of this most blessed and happy State.
1. Everlasting Life includes a most perfect Freedom from Evil and Misery. For so we find the State of the Blessed in Heaven described, that they hunger no more, neither thirst any more; that the Sun lights not on them, nor any heat, that is, that they are no longer liable to the scorching Heats of Persecution; but that God hath wiped away all tears from their Eyes, Rev. vii.16.17. And hence also Heaven is called a State of Rest, Heb. iv.9, 11. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest: Which denotes this State to be a perfect Sabbath, and Jubile of Redemption from all Evil and Misery. For as soon as the Souls of good Men depart out of this corporeal State in which they now live, they are immediatly released from all those bodily Passions of Hunger, and Thirst, and Pain, and Diseases whereunto they are now liable by Reason of their Vnion with the Body; and having in a great Measure conquered their Wills while they were in the Body, and subdued them to the Will of God, they shall immediately commense into an high Degree of Perfection. For being freed from the Incumbrances of Flesh and Blood, from the Importunities of their bodily Passions and Appetites, and the Temptations of Sensuality that do now continually sollicit them, they shall no longer be liable to those Irregularities of Affection that do here disturb the Tranquility of their Minds; and their Actions and Affections being always regulated by their Reason, their Consciences shall be no longer bestormed with those Terrors and Affrightments, which nothing but the Sense of Guilt can suggest to them; but enjoy a perpetual Calm and Serenity. And being thus freed from all Evils and Disquietudes both from within and without, they shall be at perfect Ease, and for ever enjoy a most undisturbed Repose. O blessed Day, when I shall take my Leave of Sin and Misery for ever, and go to those calm and blisful Regions, whence Sighs and Tears and Sorrows and Pains are banished for ever more!
2. Everlasting Life includes a most intimate Enjoyment of God ▪ For God being a rational Good, is capable of being enjoyed by rational Beings no otherwise than by Knowledge, and by Love, and by Resemblance; all which Ways he hath promised that we shall enjoy him, when once we are arrived into that blisful State. For as for the Knowledge of him St. Paul tells us, that whereas now we see through a Glass darkly; we shall then see him Face to Face: And whereas now we know in part, then we shall know even as also we are known, 1 Cor. xiii.12. and St. John tells us, that we shall see him as he is, 1 John iii.2. Which expressions must needs import such a Knowledge of him as is unspeakably more distinct and clear than any we enjoy in this present State. For then the Eyes of our Minds shall be so invigorated that we shall be able to gaze on the Sun without dazling, to contemplate the pure and immaculate Glory of the Divinity without being confounded with its Brightness; and our Understandings shall be so exalted that shall we see more at every single View than we do now in Volumes of Discourse; and the most tedious Trains of Inference and Deduction. And enjoying a most perfect Repose both from within and without, we shall have nothing to disturb or divert our greedy Contemplations, which having such an immense Horizon of Truth and Glory round about them, shall still discover farther and farther, and so entertain themselves with everlasting Wonder and Delight. For what an infinite Pleasure will that all-glorious Object afford to our raised Minds, which then shall no longer labour under the tedious Difficulties of Discourse, but like transparent Windows shall have nothing to do but only to receive the Light, which freely offers it self unto them, and shines for ever round about them; when every new Discovery of God, and of those bottomless Secrets and Mysteries of his Nature shall enlarge our Capacities to discover more, and still new Discoveries shall freely offer themselves as fast as our Minds are enlarged to receive them! This doubtless will be a Recreation to our Minds infinitely transcending all that we can conceive or imagin of it, especially considering that all our Knowledge shall terminate in Love, that sweet and grateful Passion that sooths and ravishes the Hearts, and dissolves it into Joy and Pleasure: For God being infinitely good and amicable, the more we know him the more Cause and Reason we have to love him. When therefore we are arrived to that Degree of Knowledge which the beatifical Vision implies, we shall find our Hearts inflamed with such a vehement Love to him as will issue into an unspeakable Delight and Satisfaction, and even overwhelm us with Extasies of Joy and Complacency, for if those divine Illapses, those more immediate Touches and Sensations of God, which Good Men do sometimes experience in this Life, do so affect and ravish them that they are even forced into Triumphs and Exultations; how will they be wrapt and transported in that State of Vision, when they shall see him so immediately, and love him so vehemently, and their Souls shall be nothing else but entire Globes of Light and Love, all irradiated and inflamed with the immediate Effluvia's of the Fountain of Truth and Goodness? But alas! As these Joys are too big for mortal Language to express, so are they too strong for frail Mortality to bear; and if we but for one Day or Hour should see God, and love him as those glorified Spirits do, we should questionless die with an Extasy of Pleasure, and our glad Hearts being tickled with such insupportable Joys, by endeavouring to enlarge themselves to make Room for them, all would quickly stretch into a Rupture. But then as our Knowledge of God shall terminate in the Love of him, so both together shall terminate in our Resemblance of his Perfections; for having so immediate a Prospect of his Beauties, and being so infinitely enamoured with them, with what inexpressible Vigour must we imitate and transcribe them? And our Imitation being invigorated with such a clear Knowledge and such a vehement Love, cannot fail of producing the described Resemblance; so that the more we know God, the more we shall love him; and the more we know and love, the more we shall imitate and resemble him. So that then both our inward Motions and outward Actions will be all most pure and perfect Imitations of God which will produce such an exact Agreement between his Original and our Copy, that whilst we interchangably turn our Eyes to God and our selves, and compare Beauty with Beauty, it will fill our Minds with unspeakable Content to see how the Image answers to the Prototype, what a sweet Harmony and Agreement there is between his Nature and our own. For if from our Love of God there must necessarily result to us such ineffable Joy and Complacency, what a ravishing Delight will it afford us to see the Signatures of those adorable Beauties for which we love him, stampt and impressed upon our own Natures; when the Glory that shines about, and inflames us, shall shine into us and become our own; and those amiable Ideas of him which are impressed upon our Understanding, shall stamp our Wills and Affections with their own Resemblance! For so the Apostle tells us it shall be, 1 John iii.2. For when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. Lord, how must our Souls be enlarged and widened to be able to contain all those mighty Joys that must necessarily spring from our Fruition of thee! And to what a Degree of Happiness shall we be advanced, when we shall be entertained with all the delights that the Enjoyment of an infinite Good can afford us, and have Hearts great enough to contain them all without being overcharged with their Weight and Number!
3dly, Everlasting Life includes a most endearing Fruition of our glorified Saviour. And certainly this is none of the smallest Ingredients of that blisful State, that we shall ever be with our blessed Lord; as the Apostle expresses it, 1 Thes. iv.17. For herein it is evident the same Apostle placed one great Advantage of his future State; for so he tells us, he had a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better, Phil. i.23. And indeed 'tis impossible but it must be a vast Addition to the Happiness of all vertuous and grateful Souls to see this blessed Friend and Benefactor, who came down from the Bosom of his Father, and for their Sake exposed himself to a miserable Life, and shameful Death; to see him sitting at his Father's right Hand crowned with Majesty and Honour, surrounded with the whole Choir of Angels and Saints, like a Sun in the midst of a Circle of Stars. How must it needs rejoyce the Hearts of all the Lovers and Followers of this blessed Lamb, to see such a happy Change of his Circumstances! To see him that was formerly despised and spit on, and so unworthily treated by an ill-natured World, adored and worshiped, praised and admired by all the Court of Heaven, and celebrated with the Songs of Cherubins and Seraphims, of Arch-angels and Angels, and the Spirits of just Men made perfect; to behold him, that hung upon the Cross, and poured out his Blood there in Groans, and Agonies meerly to make miserable Sinners happy, advanced to the highest Pitch of Splendor and Dignity, and made Head and Prince of all the Hierarchy of Heaven. Verily methinks though I were excluded from that happy Place, and had only the Priviledge to look in and see my blessed Lord and Saviour, it would be a most heavenly Consolation to me to behold the Glory and Honour and Happiness with which he is surrounded, though I were sure never to partake of it; and the Communion I should have in the Joys of my Master, the sweet Sympathy in all his Pleasures would be a Heaven at second Hand to me, and I should feel my self unspeakably happy in being a Spectator of his Felicity and Advancement. But Oh! When that dear and blessed Person shall not only permit me to see his Glory, but introduce me into it; when his blessed Mouth shall bid me Welcome, and pronounce my Euge bone Serve! well done Good and Profitable Servant, enter into thy Masters Joy; when I shall not only see his beloved Face, but be admitted into his sweet Conversation, and dwell in his Arms and Embraces for ever; when I shall hear him record the wondrous Adventures of his Love, through how many woful Stages he past to rescue me from endless Misery; how will my Heart spring with Joy and burn with Love, and my Mouth overflow with Praises and Thanksgivings? O blessed Jesu! How happy will the Day be when I who am loaded with so many vast Obligations to love thee, shall be introduced into thy Presence, to see thy Glories, and Sympathize in thy Joys, as thou didst in my Miseries; to thank and praise thee Face to Face for all those Wonders of Love with which thou hast obliged me, and to bear a Part in that heavenly Song, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing; who hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, our of every Kindred, and Tongue, and People and Nation, Rev. v.9, 12.
4thly, Everlasting Life includes a most delightful Conversation and Society with Angels and glorified Spirits. For when we come to the City of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, the Apostle tells us, what our Society will be, viz. an innumerable company of Angels, the general Assembly and Church of the first-born, God the judge of all, the Spirits of just Men made perfect, and Jesus the Mediatour of the new Covenant, Heb. xii.22, 23, 24. Lord, what glorious Society is here! Society in which there is nothing intermingled, but what is Heavenly and Divine; it being altogether composed of the best and wisest and noblest Beings in the World. For as for the blessed Saints and Angels, they are all most perfectly refined from all that Folly and Peevishness, Disguize and Dissimulation which is the Bane of humane Conversation; their Understandings are exceeding large and comprehensive, and their Charity and Goodness is full as extensive as their Knowledge: And in such a Conjunction of Wisdom with Goodness, what an excellent Society must there needs be produced? For as their great Goodness must needs render their Conversation most free and amiable, so must their great Knowledge and Wisdom render it no less profitable and delightful; and as the latter must needs instruct them in all the wise Arts of Endearment, so the former must needs oblige them to use and improve them to the utmost. O how heavenly therefore must their Conversation needs be, whilst 'tis thus managed by pure Wisdom and most perfect Love; whilst the most glorious Knowledge is the Scope, and the most ardent Friendship the Law of all their Converse! Who would not be willing to leave a foolish, froward, and ill-natured World, for the blessed Society of those wise Friends, and perfect Lovers? And what greater Happiness can we desire, than to spend an Eternity in such sweet Conversation! Where we shall hear the deep Philosophy of Heaven freely communicated in the wise and amicable Discourses of Angels and glorified Spirits, who mutually impart the Treasures of each others Knowledge without any Reserve or Affectation of Mystery, and freely philosophize without wrangling Disputes, or peevish Contentions for Victory; where Wisdom is the Entertainment, and Love and mutual Endearments the Welcome; where there is Harmony without Discord, Communication without Disputes, and everlasting Discourse without Wrangling. O happy Day! When I shall depart from this impertinent and unsociable World, and all my good old Friends that are gone to Heaven before me, shall meet me on the Shores of Eternity, and congratulate my Arrival to that blessed Society! Where I shall freely converse with the Patriarchs and Prophets, the Apostles and Martyrs, and be most intimately acquainted with all those brave and generous Souls, who have recommended themselves to the World by their glorious Examples; where Angels and Arch-angels shall be my familiar Friends, and all those illustrious Courtiers of the great King of Heaven shall own me for their Brother, and bid me welcome to their Masters Joy, and none will disdain my Company though never so much above me in Glory and Perfection; but from the highest to the lowest will all receive and entertain me with the tenderest Indearments of heavenly Lovers.
5thly, Everlasting Life includes also the infinite Glory and Delightfulness of the Place wherein all these Felicities are to be enjoyed. For though the very State of the Blessed be sufficiently glorious to transform the most dismal Place into a Paradise, and to create a Heaven in the darkest Dungeon of Hell; yet such hath been the Goodness of God, that he hath prepared a Place proportionably glorious to that blessed State; which according to the Sciripture Account is the highest Heaven, or the upper and purer Tracts of the Aether. For so our Saviour tells the penitent Thief, to day shalt thou be with me in Paradise, Luk. xxiii.43. and where this Paradise is St. Paul informs us, 2 Cor. xii. for Vers. 2. he tells us of his being caught up to the third Heaven, which in the 4th Vers. he calls Paradise, where he heard unspeakable Words. Now that by the Third Heaven he means the uppermost, viz. that Heaven of Heavens which is the Throne of God's most glorious Residence, where Jesus sits at his right Hand among the holy Miriads of Angels and glorious Spirits, is evident from this; because according to the Jewish Philosophy, to which he here alludes, Heaven was divided into three Regions, viz. the Cloud-bearing, Star-bearing, and Angel-bearing Region, the last of which they called the Third Heaven, in which they placed the Throne of the Divine Majesty. And that by Paradise he means the same Place is as evident, because by this Name the Jews, in whose Language he speaks, were wont to call it the Third Heaven, or Angel-bearing Region. And hence Rab. Menachem on Leviticus, tells us it is apparent that the Reward of our Obedience is not to be enjoyed in this Life; Verum post dissolutionem Justus adipiscitur Regnum quod dicitur Paradisus, fruiturque conspectu divino; i. e. but after Death the Just shall obtain that Kingdom which is called Paradise, and there enjoy the beatifical Vision. And 'tis very usual for them to express the Blessings of the future Life by enjoying the Delights of Paradise; and therefore is this heavenly Region of Angels called by the Name of Paradise in Allusion to the earthly Paradise of Eden, denoting to us, that as that was the Garden of this lower World, which of all other Places did most abound with Pleasures and Delights; so this is the Paradise of the whole Creation, the most fruitful and delightful Region within all this boundless Space of the World. Nor indeed can it be imagined to be otherwise, it being the Imperial Court which the great Monarch of the World hath chosen for his special Residence, and which he hath prepared to receive and lodge the glorified humane Nature of his own eternal Son, and to entertain his Friends and Favourites for ever. For if these Out-Rooms of the World are so royal and magnificent, how infinitely splendid must we needs imagin the Presence-Chamber of the great King to be, the Glory of whose Presence will render it more lightsome and illustrious than the united Beams of ten thousand Suns. And therefore though the Scripture hath nowhere given us an exact Description of this glorious Place, because indeed no humane Language can describe it; yet since God hath chosen it for the everlasting Theater of Bliss and Happiness, we may reasonably conclude that he hath most exquisitely furnished it with all Accomodations requisite for a most happy and blisful Life, and that the House is every way suitable to the Entertainment. Whensoever therefore a pure and vertuous Soul gets free from this Cage of Flesh, away it flies under the Conduct and Protection of Angels through the Air and Aether beyond the Firmament of Stars, and never stops till it is arrived to those blessed Abodes, where God and Jesus, Saints and Angels dwell; where being come, with what unspeakable Delight will it contemplate that Scene of Things? When all of a suddain it shall see it self surrounded with an infinite Splendor and Brightness, so that which way soever it casts its Eyes, it is entertained with new Objects of Wonder and Delight; then shall it say, as the Queen of Sheba did of Solomon's Court, alas! How faint and dim, how short and imperfect were all humane Conceits and Descriptions of this blessed Place! For though I have heard great and mighty Things of it, yet now I find that not one Half of its real Glory and Magnificence hath ever been reported to me.
6thly, And lastly, Everlasting Life includes the endless Duration of this most blessed and happy State. Thus Joh. vi.27. he calls his Doctrine the meat which endureth unto everlasting Life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you; and Vers. 40. he tells them that this was the will of his Father, that every one that believeth on him, might have everlasting Life; and Vers. 47. Verily verily I say unto you, he that believeth on me, hath everlasting Life; and Vers. 51, 54, 58. he promises them that upon their believing in him, they should live for ever. But because Everlasting Life, and For ever, doth in Scripture sometimes signify a long, but not an endless Duration; therefore he hath taken Care to express this Article in such Words as must necessarily denote an endless Duration of Bliss; for he not only tells them, Chap. vi.50. that they who believed his Doctrine, should not die, but that whosoever liveth, and believeth in him, shall never die, Joh. xi.26. yea, and not only so, but that they should never see death, Joh. viii.51. that is, should never come within Ken or Prospect of it: Nay, and Luk. xx.36. he tells them, neither can they die any more; for they are equal to the Angels. If then our future Life be so everlasting as that it neither can nor shall be terminated by Death, it must necessarily be a Life without End; whose Duration is parallel to Eternity. Now what a mighty Addition must this needs make to the Joys of the Blessed, to consider that they are such as shall never expire; when the Soul shall reflect upon her happy State, and think thus with her self, O blessed, for ever be a good God! I am as happy now as ever my Heart can hold; every Part of me is so thronged with Joy, that I have no room for any more; and that which compleats and crowns them all, is that they shall be renewed to all Eternity, and Millions of Millions of Ages hence be as far from a period as they were the first moment wherein I enjoyed them. For our Lives and our Happiness shall be co-eternal to one another, our God shall live for ever, and we shall live for ever to enjoy him, and in the Enjoyment of such an infinite Good we need not doubt to find Variety enough still to renew our Joys, and to keep them fresh and flourishing for ever. For as we shall always know God, so we shall always know him more and more, and every new Beauty that infinite Object discovers to us will kindle a new Flame of Love, and that a new Rapture of Joy, and that a new Desire of knowing and discovering more, and so for ever round again there will be knowing and loving and rejoycing more and more to all Eternity. For so immense will our Happiness be, that we shall need as well as desire an Eternity to enjoy it fully, and after millions of Ages are spent in the Enjoyment of it, we shall still renew our Fruition with the same fresh enravishing Pleasures as when we first possessed and enjoyed it; for as new Pleasures will still present themselves unto us, so when we have enjoyed them never so long we shall still be at an infinite Distance from any End of our Enjoyment. So that our Happiness consisting of an infinite Variety of Pleasures extended to an infinite Duration, we shall neither be cloyed with the Repetition of it, nor tormented with the Fear of losing it.
And now you see how vast and immense the Reward of our obediential Belief of our Saviour is; I need not tell you that 'tis a plain and apparent Instance of God's great Love and good Will to the World; For 'tis indeed such a transcendent Instance, as may justly astonish the whole Creation, and put both Heaven and Earth into an Extasy to see the benevolent Father of the World project such mighty Entertainments for such undeserving Children, and prepare such a Heaven of boundless and endless Pleasure to treat such a Company of wretched sinful Worms. O thou infinite Love and Goodness! How can we sufficiently admire and praise thee, that from such a Depth of Sin and Misery hast projected to raise us to such an Height of Glory and Felicity? But this will yet more evidently appear, if from the absolute Consideration of this Reward we descend to the comparative; which was,
2. The second thing we proposed to discourse of, viz. to shew how vast this Reward is in Respect of the Condition or Consideration upon which it is promised and proposed. And this I shall endeavour to make appear to you in these seven Particulars:
1. The Condition is due, but the Reward is free and arbitrary.
2. The Condition is no ways advantageous to God, but the Reward is infinitely advantageous to us.
3. The Condition is small, and easie to be performed; but the Reward is immense and boundless.
4. In performing the Condition God operates more than we; but in receiving the Reward we only are concerned.
5. The Condition is momentary and temporal, but the Reward is eternal.
6. In the performance of the Condition, there are great Intermixtures of Pleasure with our Labour, but in the Reward there is not the least Intermixture of Misery with Happiness.
7. The Condition admits of Intermissions of Labour, but in the Reward there are no Intermissions of Happiness.
1. The Condition is due, but the Reward is free and arbitrary. For God being our Creator we ow all our Powers of Action to him; and from this absolute Propriety that he hath in our Powers, he derives an immutable Right to all the possible Service we can render him; so that whilst he enjoyns us nothing but what is possible, he only requires what is his Due, and what we cannot withold without a most injust Invasion of his Right and Property. For he being the Supreme Proprietor of all our Powers and Faculties, must needs have an eternal Right to imploy and exercise them as he pleases; because by so doing he only uses his own Goods to his own Ends and Purposes, which every Proprietor hath an unquestionable Right to do; so that to substract our Powers from his Use and Service, is to embezzle our Masters Goods, and commit dow right Theft and Robbery. Wherefore, since in the Condition of our Salvation he hath required nothing of us but what is possible for us to do, this he might have demanded as a just Debt, without offering us any Reward for the Payment of it; but that he should give us a Heaven only for giving him his Due, and bestow upon us for paying what we owed him, infinitely more than the whole Debt amounts to, is an Expression of Love beyond all Comparison. When he might have justly sent us into this Theater to act what Part soever he pleased, have endeared our Duty to us by nothing but its appendent Delights, and when we had done, remanded us back into our Primitive Non-entity; yet that he should recompense the bare Discharge of that Duty we own him with the Reward of such an immortal Bliss, is such a stupendous Height of Goodness, as not only puzzles our Conceit, but out-reaches our Wonder and Admiration.
2dly, The Condition is no ways advantageous to God, but the Reward is infinitely advantageous to us; for he is so infinitely happy in the Enjoyment of himself and his own Perfections, that all the Services of Men and Angels can make no Addition to his Felicity; which depends wholly upon the infinite Goodness and Perfection of his own Nature, and is not derived either in whole or in Part from the Tributes or Free-will Offerings of his Creatures. For can a Man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that we are righteous? Or is it gain to him that we make our ways perfect, Job. xxii.2, 3? No certainly; when he had nothing but himself to contemplate and love, his Happiness was the same as it is now among all the Praises and Services which he receives from the World of Angels and of Men; and if they should revolt from him, or relapse into Non-Entity again, he would still remain the same most happy Being that now he is, and ever was. For all true Happiness being founded in Perfection, it it is impossible that any Being that is infinitely perfect in himself should become either more or less happy by any Thing that happens from without him. So that as to the Happiness of God, it is the same Thing whether we obey, or disobey him; so that whatsoever Condition he imposes on us, our Performance of it is but just like bringing Wax to a dying Father, which he requires not to inrich himself, but only to seal away Fortunes to his Children. And that he imposes this Condition on us rather than another, is not because it is most advantageous to him, but because it is most conducive to our Welfare and Happiness: So free and uninterested is his Love and Goodness to us, that upon Considerations no ways advantageous to himself, he promises infinite Advantages to us; for 'tis we reap all the Profit as well of the Condition as of the Reward appendent to it, and he promises us Heaven upon Terms, that carry Heaven in the Performance of them. For first the Condition perfects our Natures, and then the Reward beatifies them; for there is nothing in the Condition of the Christian Covenant but what our own Self-love rightly directed would oblige us to; nothing but what tends to our good, and is highly conducive to our Perfection and Happiness. So that whatsoever Advantages accrue either from the Condition, or the Reward annexed to it, they all redound to our selves▪ So infinitely bountiful is our blessed Master, that with vast Wages he hires his Servants to a Work that is a noble Reward to it self; and courts them with the Promise of Heaven to be kind and merciful to themselves. O thou boundless and bottomless Love! What Tongue is able to express thy Beneficence, that hast prepared and promised a Heaven of endless and ravishing Joys and Pleasures only to tempt and bribe thy Creatures to do what is good for themselves; and without any Prospect of Self-advantage hast obliged us to be our own Benefactors by promising to reward us for being so, with a most glorious and blisful Immortality?
3dly, The Condition is small, and easie to be performed; but the Reward is immense and boundless. For what doth the Lord our God require of us, bot only to act like Men, and follow the Prescriptions of Right Reason? Which, if there had never been any Law given to the World, nor any Reward annexed to the keeping it, would have prescribed to us to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present World; for prescinding from all Obligations of Law and Conscience, to do thus becomes all reasonable Natures, and is much more for their Interest and Happiness than the contrary. And is this so hard a Restraint to be confined to do nothing but what becomes us, and with-hold from nothing but counter-mining our own Happiness? But then, if we consider how our Duty is sweetned over with Pleasure, encouraged with the Smiles of God, and backt with the Approbations of our own Consciences; with what gentle Mitigations it is required, with what puissant Motives it is inforced, and with what powerful Grace it is assisted and promoted; we must needs acknowledge it to be a most gracious, easie, and gentle Yoke. But if we measure it by the Vastness of the Reward, I confess it looks like some great and mighty Thing. For if we value God's Bounty by our own, we cannot but conclude that sure he would never have made such vast Preparations for our Happiness, nor planted such a Paradise of Pleasures to entertain us, but upon some mighty Condition to be performed on our Part. And indeed had he imposed the hardest Condition in the World, sent us to row in the Gallies, or dig in the Mines for a thousand Years together; such a vast Reward would have been sufficient to have rendred it not only tollerable, but easie and delightful. But that he should promise us such a mighty Recompence as the Joys of an everlasting Heaven includes, a Recompence as large as our utmost Capacities, and as lasting as our longest Duration; and this upon no other Condition but our sincere Belief of, and Obedience to his Gospel, whose Precepts are all natural and easie, and pregnant with unspeakable Pleasure and Delight; is such a Prodigy of Goodness as we can never sufficiently admire and adore: That meerly for believing a Revelation, of whose Truth we have such convincing Evidence, and practising suitably to our Belief, we should from wretched mortal Worms, be advanced to an equal Pitch of Bliss and Glory with immortal Angels, and live as happily for ever as all the Joys of Heaven can make us, is doubtless such an Instance of Love and Bounty as could only proceed from infinite Goodness.
4thly, In performing the Condition, God operates more than we; but in receiving the Reward we only are concerned. For to our sincere Belief and Obedience of the Gospel, it is plain, that God contributes much more than we; for besides that he is the Author of all those Faculties by which we do believe and obey him, of all those Evidences by which we are convinced of the Truth of his Gospel, and of all those Motives by which we are animated in our Obedience to it; besides all which, I say, he is also the Author of all that inward Grace and Assistance by which our pious Endeavours are excited and crowned with a blessed Success. And considering how much all these Things do operate upon our Performance of the Gospel-Condition, it is not only true that without God's Grace we should never have performed it, but also that in our Performance of it, that is the main and principle Agent; and no Man ever yet became a hearty Believer and Disciple of Jesus, but was much more beholding to the Grace of God, than to his own Activity and Endeavour. And hence we are said to be created in Christ Jesus unto good works, Eph. ii.10. not but that God exacts the Concurrence of our Endeavours with his Grace, and that in the Performance of the Gospel-condition as well as in any other Affair of our Lives. For it is the Blessing of the Lord that makes Men rich as well as Good, and we may as well expect that he should make us rich without Industry, as good without Diligence and Endeavour; But when we have done our utmost, 'tis to the Grace of God as to the principal Cause that all our good is to be attributed. But yet though 'tis he that works this Condition in us, that is the Author and Finisher of our Faith; yet the Reward doth wholly redound to ourselves, as if we had been the Authors and Finishers of all; and though he hath the greatest Share in the Work, yet he substracts nothing at all from the Wages, but pays us infinitely more than the utmost Merit of the Work amounts to. He gives us Faith, and then he crowns his own Gift with Glory, and Honour, and Immortality. He sows and cultivates our Nature, that we may reap the Crop and Harvest. So infinitely liberal is our blessed Master as to reward his Servants for his own Work, to undergo the greatest Part of their Labour, and when 'tis done, to pay them Ten Thousand Fold for it.
5thly, The Condition is momentary and temporal, but the Reward is eternal. It is but a little little while that the Labour of our Duty lasts; for Constancy and Perseverance, will soon render it natural and easie; and if it did not, yet Death will quickly put an end to all; and within these very few Days or Years we shall see an everlasting Period of all the Pains of our Watchfulness, of all the Severities of Mortification, and of all the Sorrows of Repentance; but then the Reward abides to all Eternity, and lasts out to a never-ending Duration. So that though we shall soon see an End of our Work, yet the Wages is so vast that we shall be spending on it for ever; and Myriads of Myriads of Ages hence shall be rejoycing in the Fruits of our present Labour and reaping the blisful Effects of our Faith and Obedience to the latest Moment of Eternity. O thou liberal Rewarder of Men! Who can sufficiently admire thy Goodness, that remuneratest our short Pains with endless Pleasures, and exchangest with us an Eternity of Happiness for the Labour and Service of a Moment? For when we are arrived into that vast Eternity of Bliss, all the Pains we have taken in our Voyage thither will hardly bear the Proportion of a single Vnite to an infinite Sum; for what are twenty or thirty Years, but a moment to Ten Thousand Thousand? and what are Ten Thousand Years, but a moment to an endless Eternity? So that methinks, when I consider that after Ten, or Twenty, or Thirty Years Service, I shall be allowed an Eternity to spend in the most ravishing Joys and Pleasures, and live as happily for ever, as God and an everlasting Heaven can make me; the Bounties of my blessed Master appear in such a prodigious Bulk to me, that I am even confounded at the Prospect of them; and all this Time I have to spend in Religion, in Prayer and Watchfulness, in subduing my Passions and Appetites, and contending with my own Inclinations seems nothing to me; but like a little Rivulet, is swallowed up in that boundless and bottomless Duration, where it loses it self, and is no more remembred by me.
6thly, In the Performance of the Condition there are great Intermixtures of Pleasure with our Labour; but in the Reward, there is not the least Intermixture of Misery with Happiness. That Man must be very much unexperienced in a Christian Life, who thinks it a melancholy, sower, and rigorous Thing; for besides that, it freely indulges to us all the innocent Gratifications of our Senses, and all the Refreshments of honest Mirth and moderate Recreation; it hath so many choice and peculiar Pleasures of its own, as are sufficient to endear it unto all wise Men, though it had no other Reward to recommend it: For all the Acts and Functions of it being most agreeable to humane Nature, must needs be highly grateful to it. For what can be more agreeable to a reasonable Nature, than to adore and love, to praise and confide in the Fountain of its Being and Happiness? And being so agreeable, how can they but abound with Pleasure and Delight? What can be more suitable to a sociable Nature than to be kind and obliging, courteous and beneficent to all we converse with? and being so suitable, how is it possible but it should be sweet and delightsome? In a word, what can be more convenient to a Nature that is compounded of an immortal Spirit and a mortal Body, than to keep the Body in Subjection to the Mind, and Govern its Appetites and Passions by the Rules of Reason and Sobriety? and being so convenient, what Content and Satisfaction must there needs accrue from it? For the Pleasure of every Being consists in acting agreeably to its own Nature; and therefore since to act religiously is so agreeable to the Nature of Man, it is impossible but it must be pleasant, especially considering how much it conduces to the Tranquility of our Minds, and the Peace of our Consciences, and the Advancement of our Interests in both Worlds: All which being considered, I dare boldly affirm, that if there were no other Reward of a religious Life, but only its own appendent Delights, yet this were enough to recommend it unto any wise Man; and that there never was any Man whatsoever that made a through Experiment of it, but found it far more pleasant and agreeable to him, than the most jovial Course of Wickedness and Impiety. And yet to this pleasant Life it is, that the good God doth tempt and invite us by the Promise of a Heaven of Pleasures; and though the Life he wooes us to hath Joy and Bliss enough in it to compensate all the Toil and Labour of it, yet to oblige us hereunto, he hath made it a most certain Passage to a Life of pure and unmingled Bliss, that hath not the least Alloy of Misery in it: For from that most blissful Region all Pain and Sorrow, Trouble and Vexation, are banished for evermore. There are no Winter-Frosts of Grief to nip or blast its everlasting Spring of Joy; no Clouds to darken or overcast its Light; but we shall know without Mistake, love without Jealousie, obey without Reluctancy, praise without Complaint or Murmuring, and rejoice for ever without Sighing or Disturbance. Lord! what amazing Bounty is this, that thou shouldst crown the most pleasant Life upon Earth with a most pure and unmingled Life of Pleasures in Heaven, and make one Paradise the Reward of another? How deeply art thou concerned in our Welfare, that to oblige us to live happily here, hast prepared a Heaven of pure and endless Happiness to entertain us hereafter?
7thly and lastly, The Condition admits of Intermissions of Labour; but in the Reward there are no Intermissions of Happiness. The Performance of the Condition doth not so wholly take up our Lives, as to admit of no Interruptions; for besides that it not only permits, but requires us to mind our secular Business and Affairs; and is so far from interfering with the Work of our Callings, that it promotes and furthers it; it doth not so wholly ingross our Time, as not to allow us a sufficient Season for our Rest and Recreation; so that we may perform all that it includes or requires, without breaking of a Nights Rest, or abridging our selves a Meals Meat, or retrenching from our Mirth and Diversions, any further than Reason and Sobriety requires; and consequently abstracted from the Work of our Callings; which though it be included in this Condition, yet even our temporal Interest obliges us to follow, 'tis by so much the smallest Portion of our Lives which we are obliged to spend in the Exercise of our Religion. And if we would make but moderate Retrenchments from that Time we spend either in doing nothing, or nothing to the Purpose; and together with that reprieve those precious Moments we squander away in serving and pampering of our Lusts; we might serve God faithfully every Day, and yet have as much Time remaining to do our Business, and enjoy our Pleasures as now: We might every Morning say our Prayers, renew our Resolutions, and arm our selves with Considerations against the Temptations of the Day; and every Night review the Actions of the Day, confess and lament the Defects of them, and recommend our selves to God's Grace and Protection for the future; and when all this is done, have as much Time as ever we had before to mind our Affairs, and divert our selves. Nay, so far would this be from any ways hindring our Business or Diversion, that the sweet Sense of having done our Duty, would make us much more chearful in the one, and give us a far sweeter Relish of the other. So far is Religion from inslaving us to an uninterrupted Toil and Labour, that it doth not only allow us all the Intermissions that our secular Business, Reflection, and Pleasure requires; but also sweetens them to us, and renders them much more grateful. But as for the Reward which Religion draws after it, that excludes all Intermissions of Happiness. For in that most blissful State our Life will be all but one continued Act of Joy, and to eternal Ages there shall not be one Moment wherein we shall either be sensible of Pain, or insensible of Pleasure and Happiness. For as our Happiness will always abound with fresh Pleasures, so our Faculties will never be cloyed with the Enjoyment of them; for those Pleasures being pure, rational, and spiritual, will be so far from spending and weakning our Powers, that they will every Moment strengthen and improve them. So that whereas our Pleasures here consisting in a vehement Motion, are very transient, and quickly slip away, and we must rest a while before we can renew them, and begin the Motion again; those heavenly Pleasures are such as will indeed most vehemently affect and move, but never weary the Faculties of the Enjoyer. For still the more we know the more we shall love; and the more we love, the more we shall rejoice; and the more we rejoice, the more we shall know and love: And so in this sweet but endless Circle, we shall move round for ever without Weariness, and be so far from spending our Vigour, that every Moment of Eternity we shall improve it by Exercise and Motion. So that as our Happiness will always abound with new Pleasures without any Discontinuance or Intermission, so our Faculties will always renew their Strength and Vigour by Enjoyment. And as there will be no Pause between one Joy and another, but they will come so thick upon us for ever, that the Follower will always tread on the Foregoers Heels; so one will still make Room for another, and those that are present will inlarge our Capacity to receive all those that are immediately to follow. And thus shall we spend an Eternity without the least Intermission of Joy and Pleasure; for we shall always know, and always love, and always praise the Author of our Happiness; and always have a fresh Sense of his Goodness soothing and ravishing our Hearts, and filling them with ineffable Joys, without any Ceasing or Interruption. O blessed God! what an amazing Demonstration is this of thy Love and Goodness to thy Creatures, that for a Work in which there are so many Pauses and daily Intermissions of Labour, thou shouldst crown us with a Reward, that to all Eternity is one continued Scene of Happiness without the least Gap or Interruption? So that whether you consider this Reward absolutely, and in its self, or comparatively with the Condition whereunto it is annexed, you see it is a most glorious Instance of God's unspeakable Goodness towards us: And now I shall conclude this Argument with a few practical Inferences from the whole.
I. I infer how much Reason we have to be contented and satisfied under all the present Afflictions of this Life. For shall we receive so much good at the Hands of God as Everlasting Life implies, and not be contented to receive some Evil, when our good Father hath provided for us a Crown of endless Bliss and Glory hereafter? With what Conscience or Modesty can we complain of those little paternal Castigations he inflicts on us here? especially considering that the great Design of all his present Severities is to prepare and discipline us for that heavenly State; that by all these dismal Providences he is only training us up for a Crown; fitting, instructing and disposing us to reign with him in Glory for ever? Can any Thing be unwelcom to us that is in Order to so blessed an End? Can any Physick be nauseous or distastful that is prescribed to recover us into such an happy Immortality? No doubtless; every Thing that leads Heavenwards, though never so grievous, is a Blessing, and all those kind Severities that tend to our eternal Welfare, are Favours for which we are bound to praise and adore the Goodness of Heaven for ever. When therefore we find our selves inclined to complain under our present Pressures and Afflictions, let us lift up our Eyes to yonder blessed Regions, and consider the Joys and Pleasures, the Crowns and Triumphs that do there await us; and how necessary these bitter Trials are to prepare us for, and wast us to them: And if this doth not stop our Mouths, and silence our Complaints for ever; nay, if it doth not cause us to rejoice in our Tribulations, and to thank God for them on our bendid Knees; if it doth not make us chearfully submit and say, Vre, Seca, Vulnera, Lord! cut, or wound, or burn me; if thou seest fit, strip me of all my dearest Comforts; handle me as severely as thou pleasest, so I have my Fruit unto Holiness, and my end everlasting Life; we are infinitely foolish and ungrateful. For 'tis but a little while e're all these Storms will clear up into an everlasting Calm; e're all these dismal Clouds will vanish, and an everlasting Day break forth upon us, whose Brightness shall never be obscured with the least Spot or Relique of Darkness. And when that blessed Time comes, Lord! how trifling and inconsiderable will all our present Griefs appear? With what Contempt shall we reflect upon our present Cowardise and meanness of Spirit, that would not bear without Murmuring with a few Inconveniences on the Road to such an immortal Heaven of Pleasure? Wherefore if our Voyage be not so pleasant as we would have it, yet let us remember 'tis not long; we have but a short Days Sail to an Eternity of Happiness; and when once we are landed on that blessed Shore, with what ravishing Content and Satisfaction shall we look back on the rough and boisterous Seas we have past, and for ever bless the Storms and Winds that drave us to that happy Port! Then will the Remembrance of these light Afflictions serve only as a Toil and Anti-mask to our Happiness, to set off its Joys, and render them more sweet and ravishing. Let us therefore comfort our selves with these Things; and when at any Time our Spirits are sinking under any worldly Trouble or Affliction, consider that while we have a Heaven to hope for, we can never be miserable; for so long as we are guarded with this mighty Hope, our Mind will be impregnable against all foreign Events, and maugre all Afflictions from without, its Serenity will shine as undisturbedly as the Lights of Pharos in the midst of Storms and Tempests.
II. Hence I infer, what a vast deal of Reason we have to slight and contemn this World. For it is plain, that we are born to infinitely greater Hopes than any this World can propose to us, even to the Hopes of everlasting Life: And being so, methinks our Ambition should soar as high as our Hopes, and disdain such low and ignoble Quarries, as the Pleasures, and Profits, and Honours of this Life. Certainly Sirs, we mistake the Scene of our Eternity, or imagine that it is removed from Heaven to Earth; and so we are to enjoy our everlasting Life below; or else we are most strangely besotted, who when we are born to live for ever above in the most ravishing Glory and Happiness, can suffer our selves to doat upon this World, and to be so strangely bewitched as we are by its deluding Vanities. O! could we but stand a while in the Mid-way between Heaven and Earth, and at one Prospect see the Glories of both, how faint and dim would all the Splendors of this World appear to us in Comparison with those above? How would they sneak and disappear in the Presence of that eternal Brightness, and be forced to shroud their vanquished Glories, as Stars do when the Sun appears? And whilst we interchangably turned our Eyes from one to t'other, with what Shame and Confusion should we reflect upon the wretched groveling Temper of our own Minds? what poor mean-spirited Creatures we are to satisfy our selves with the impertinent Trifles of this World, when we have all the Joys of an everlasting Heaven before us, and may, if we please, after a few Moments Obedience be admitted into them, and enjoy them for evermore? Ah! foolish Creatures that we are, thus to prefer a far Countrey, where we live on nothing but Husks, before an everlasting Festivity, that is celebrated in our Father's House! where the meanest Creature hath Bread enough, and to spare: To chuse Nebuchadnezzar's Fate, and leave Crowns and Scepters, and live among the salvage Herds of the Wilderness! Could the blessed Saints above divert so much from their more happy Employments, as to look down a little from their Thrones of Glory, and see how busy poor Mortals are in scrambling for this wretched Pelf, which within a few Moments they must leave for ever; how they jostle, and rencounter, defeat, defraud, and undermine one another; what a most ridiculous Spectacle would it appear to them? with what Scorn would they look on it; or rather, with what Pity, to see a Company of heaven-born Souls, capable of, and designed for the same Glory and Happiness with themselves, groveling like Swine in Dirt and Mire; one priding it self in a gay Suit, a nother hugging a Bag of glistering Earth, a third stewing and dissolving it self in Luxury and Voluptuousness, and all imployed at that poor, and mean, and miserable Rate, as might justly make these blessed Spirits ashamed to own their Kindred and Alliance? To tell you truly and seriously my Thoughts, I cannot imagine, but if when we are thus extravagantly concerned about the pitiful Trifles of this World, the blessed Spirits do see and converse with us, it is a much more ludicrous and ridiculous Sight in their Eyes, to see us thus sillily concerned and imployed, than it would be in us to see a Company of Boys with mighty Zeal and Concern wrangling and crying, striving and scrambling for a Bag of Cherry-stones. Wherefore in the Name of God, Sirs, let us not expose our selves any longer to the just Derision of all the World, by our excessive Dotage upon the trifling Vanities of this Life; but let us seriously consider that we are all concerned in Matters of much higher Importance, even in the unspeakable Felicity of an everlasting Life.
3dly. Hence I infer how unreasonable it is for good Men to be afraid of Dying, since just on t'other side the Grave you see there is a State of endless Bliss and Happiness prepared to receive and entertain them; so that to them Death is but a dark Entry out of a Wilderness of Sorrow into a Paradise of eternal Pleasure. And therefore if it be an unreasonable Thing for sick Men to dread their Recovery, for Slaves to tremble at their Jubilee, or for Prisoners to quake at the News of a Goal-delivery; how much more unreasonable is it for good Men to be afraid of Death, which is but a momentary Passage from Sickness, Labour, and Confinement to eternal Health, and Rest, and Liberty? For God's sake consider, Sirs, what is there in this World that you have Reason to be fond of, what in the other that you need be afraid of? Suppose that now your Souls were on the Wing mounting upwards to the celestial Abodes, and that at some convenient Stand between Heaven and Earth, from whence you might take a Prospect of both, you were now making a Pause to survey and compare them with one another; that having viewed over all the Glories above, and tasted the beatifical Joys, and heard the ravishing Melodies of Angels, you were now looking down again with your Minds filled with these glorious Ideas, upon this miserable World, and that all in a View you beheld the vast Numbers of Men and Women that at this Time are fainting for Want of Bread, of young Men that are hewn down by the Sword of War, of Orphans that are weeping over their Fathers Graves, of Mariners that are shrieking in a Storm, because their Keel dashes against a Rock, or bulges under them; of People that are groaning upon Sick-Beds, or racked with Agonies of Conscience; that are weeping with Want, mad with Oppression, or desperate by too quick a Sense of a constant Infelicity: Would you not, do you think, upon such a Review of both States be infinitely glad that you are gone from hence, that you are out of the Noise and Participation of so many Evils and Calamities? Would not the sight of the Glories above and the Miseries beneath you make you a Thousand Times more fearful of returning hither than ever you were of going hence? Yes doubtless it would. Why then should not our Sense of the Misery here, and our Belief of the Happiness there, produce the same Effect in us, make us willing to remove our Quarters, and exchange this Wilderness for that Canaan? 'Tis true indeed, the Passage from one to t'other is commonly very painful and grievous; but what of that? In other Cases we are willing enough to endure a present Pain in order to a future Ease; and if a few mortal Pangs will work a perfect Cure on me, and recover me into everlasting Bliss and Life, methinks the Hope of this blessed Effect should be sufficient to sweeten and indear that Agony, and render it easy and desirable. But alass! To die is to leave all our Acquaintance, to bid adieu to our dearest Friends and Relations, to pass into an unknown State, to converse with Strangers whose Laws and Customs we are not acquainted with; why now all that looks sad in this is a very great mistake; for I verily hope that I have more Friends and Acquaintance and Relatives in Heaven than I shall leave behind me here on Earth, and if so, I do but go from worse Friends to better; for one Friend there is worth a Thousand here in Respect of all those endearing Accomplishments that render a Friend a Jewel. But if I die a good Man I shall carry into Eternity with me the Genius and Temper of a glorified Spirit, and that will recommend me to the Society of Heaven, and render the Spirits of those just Men, whose Names I never heard of, as dear Friends to me in an Instant as if they had been my ancient Cronies and Acquaintance. But why should I grieve at parting with my Friends below, when I shall go to the best Friend I have in all the World; to God my Father, to Jesus my Redeemer, and to the Holy Ghost my constant Comforter and Assistant. And what though the State and the Laws and Customs of it be in a great Measure unknown to me? Yet what I know is infinitely desirable, from whence I may reasonably infer that what I know not is so too; and if I have but the Temper of Heaven, I am sure I shall easily comply with the heavenly Laws and Customs of it. So that in the whole, I cannont imagine why any good Man that seriously believes the Doctrine of a blessed Immortality, and hath a just well-grounded Hope of being made Partaker of it at the Expiration of this mortal Life, should be so loath to leave this wretched World, and expire into that blessed Eternity. I do not deny, but the Circumstances of our Affairs in this Life are many times such as may justly excuse even a good Mans Willingness to die; some great Opportunities of doing Good may present themselves, and invite him to stay a little longer; or his having begun his Repentance late, or not having made a competent Provision for his Family may for a Time justify his Unwillingness to depart; and render it both excusable and reasonable. But unless it be in these excepted Cases, methinks I can hardly reconcile our Hopes of Happiness with our Fear of Death. For when I am verily persuaded that Death is only a narrow Stream running between Time and Eternity, and I see my God and my Saviour with Crowns of Glory in their Hands beckoning to me from the farther Shoar, and calling to me to come over and receive those happy Recompences of my Industry and Labour, that I like a naked timorous Boy should stand shivering on this Bank of Time, as if I were afraid to dip my Foot in that cold Stream of Fate, which as soon as I am in I am past, and in the Twinkling of an Eye will land me on eternal Bliss, is such an extravagant Inconsistency, as (if I did not feel it in me) I should never believe I could be guilty of.
4thly. And lastly, Hence I infer what a vast deal of Reason we have to be diligent and industrious in Religion, since God hath proposed such a vast Reward to us to encourage and animate our Industry. How can we account any Work hard, of which Heaven is the Wages? How can we faint in our Christian Race when we see the Crown of Glory hanging over the Goal? Methinks this should be enough to infuse Life and Spirit into the most crest-fallen Souls, to make Cripples run, and to convert the most sneaking Coward into a bold and magnanimous Hero. For how much Pains do we ordinarily take upon far less Hopes? in Hope of a little transitory Wealth which we know we shall enjoy but a few years, and then part with for ever, we thrust our selves into a perpetual Croud and Tumult of Business, where with vast Concern and Thoughtfulness, with eager and passionate Prosecutions, with endless Brauls and Contentions, with jostling and rencountring one another, we toil and weary our selves, and make our Lives a constant Drudgery: And shall we flag when Heaven is the Object of our Prosecutions, who are so active in the Pursuit of Trifles? Whensoever therefore we find our Endeavours in Religion begin to jade and droop, let us lift up our Eyes to the Crown of Glory, and if we are capable of being moved by Objects of the greatest Value, that must infuse new Vigour into us, and make us all Life and Spirit, and Wing. For what though my Way lies up the Hill, and leads me along through Thorns and Precipices; so that I am fain to sweat at every Step; and every Ascent is a Toil to me: Yet when I am up, I am sure to be entertained with such pleasant Gales and glorious Prospects, as will fully recompence all my Toil in climbing thither. There with an over-joyed Heart I shall sit down and bless my Labours: Blessed be you my bitter Agonies and sharp Conflicts, my importunate Prayers, and well-spent Tears; for now I am fully repaid for you all, and do reap ten thousand Times more Joys from you than ever I endured Pains. For what are the Pains of a Moment to the Pleasures of an Eternity? Wherefore hold out my Faith and Patience yet a little longer, and your Work will soon be at an end; and after a few laborious Week-days, you shall keep an everlasting Sabbath. What though my Voyage lie through a stormy Sea, yet 'tis to the Indies of Happiness; and a few Leagues farther lies the blessed Port, where I shall be crowned as soon as I am landed. Go on therefore, O my Soul, with thy utmost Courage and Alacrity; for let the Winds bluster, and the Waves swell never so much, yet thou canst not miscarry, unless thou wilt. Thou art not like other Passengers left to the Mercy of Wind and Weather, but thy Fate is in thy own Hands; and if thou wilt but have thy Fruit unto Holiness, thy End shall be everlasting Life.