CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY ER.OM Beqiiest of ROffRR P. CLARK 1940 Cornell University Library BX5207.W34 A2 1857 Life and choice worlcs of Isaac Watts / b olln 3 1924 029 455 676 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029455676 i!:^.AA\a.:- \kfAV\ ■■!r'''r>s, III),, (ID o THE LIFE choice; tv^orks ISAAC WATTS, D.D. BY D. A. HARSHA, AITTHOB OF "EMINENT OSAT0B8 AND STATESMEN," ETC., ETC. NEW YORK: DERBY & JACKSOSr, 119 NASSAU STREET. 1857. Entered, according to Act of CongreBB, in tlie year 18CT, hy DERBY & JACKSON, In the Clerk*s Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. STEEEOTYPKD BY THOMAS Jl. SMITH, 82 & 84 Beekman St. PREFACE. In preparing a series of volumes to be styled the Standaed Library or Saoeed Olassios, containing, in a form adapted for popular use, the best works of eminent divines, with memoirs of their hves, notices of their writings, and estunates of their genius, we believe that we render an acceptable service to the Christian public. For what person, whose heart glows with love and gratitude to the Author of the Christian revelation, does not feel a deep mterest in the hves and writings of such venerated divines as Taylor, Howe, Baxter, Owen, Watts, Doddridge, Puller, Hall, Ohahners, Edwards, D wight, and others of kindred spirit? Their ^™«se is m the gospel throughout aU the churches; and their lofty genius and fervent piety will excite the admiration of the Christian world in all future ages. It is certainly delightful, as well as profitable, for the Christian in his pilgrimage, frequently to review the hves and study the practical and devotional works of these zealous ambassadors of Christ, who through faith and patience are now inheriting the promises. In addition to the biographical sketches, our selection will comprise many valuable treatises not readily accessible. The principal object, in the present series, will be the collection of such matter only as shall be highly conducive to the mental, moral, and rehgious improvement and elevation of readers of all evangehcal denominaticms. This volume, which is the first in the series, contains the life and choice works of Isaac Watts. In the biographical memoir, we have endeavored to present, in a clear, succinct, and chronological order, the leading incidents in his long and useful life. Solicitous to render tlie memoir as interesting as possible to the Christian reader, we have carefully consulted the best authorities on the subject, such as Mihier's Life, Timnes, mid Gorrespondence of Watts; the Memoirs of Watts by Gribbons, Burder, Johnson, and Southey ; and Wihnoits Limes of the English Sacred Poets. The " choice works" which have been selected, are the Discourses on Death and Heaven — Discourses on the Love of Q-od, etc. — An Exhort- VI PREFACE. ation to Ministers — Select Sermons — Miscellaneous Thouglits — 'and Poems. In.the opinion of the excellent Dr. Doddridge, these are the most ad- mirable works of their author. " I most admire," says he, " the first volume of his sermons — Death aiid Heaven — the Love of God — and Humble Attempt — ^not to mention his incomparable Lyric Poems, Psalms and Hymns." In a, letter to a friend, the saintly James Heevey thus highly commends the smatt volume of Dr. Watts on The Love of ■ God, and Us Influence on the Passions : " This is indeed a most excel- lent book, happily calculated for usefulness. If you have never seen it, you have a pleasure yet to come, and I would by aU means advise you to get it." And the late venerated William Jay, of Bath, once re- marked, in relation to the sermons of Watts, which he always highly valued : " They are truly beautiful sermons. His ' Inward Witness to Christianity,' his 'Hidden Life of a Christian,' his 'Peace in Death,' his 'No Night in Heaven,' and 'No Pain among the Blessed,' his 'Joy at the Eesurrection,' are among the sweetest and most profitable sermons in our language." Every intelligent, pious, and discriminating person, who is well acquainted with the sermons of our most celebrated divines and those of Dr. Watts, will, we think, readily coincide in this opinion of Mr. Jay. It is particularly interesting to know that the book on "Death and Heaven " was a favorite with Doddridge while suffering under his fatal disease, in a foreign land ; and that it soothed and cheered his spirit within a short period of his death. This single statement of its useflil- ness to one of the most distinguished and pious servants of Christ should commend it to the careful attention of every Christian pilgrim, steadily approaching the river of death, and expecting an eternity or glory beyond the shores of time. The believer will find, in the present selection, much to sustain and soothe him while journeying through the sorrows and conflicts of the Christian course, and to enliven his pathway to that better land where there is no night, no pain, no tears, no death, — where the wicked cease from trouhling, amd where the weary are at rest. In the hope that it may prove acceptable to clergymen, instructive to Christian families, and interesting to all readers, the first volume of the Standard Library of Sacred Classics is now offered to the pubhc. Argtle, N, T., Jwne, 1857. CONTENTS »« ♦ ■« PAoa IDFB OP ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 11 DEATH AND HEAVEN. MSCOXJRSB I. The Conquest over Death, 1 Cor., xv. 26 53 DISCOURSE II. The Happiness op Sep abate Spieits, Heb., lii. 23 15 DISCOURSES ON THE LOVE OF GOD, AND ITS IN- FLrENCE ON THE PASSIONS. DISCOURSE I. The Affectionate an» Supebmb Lote of God, Mark, xii. 30 153 DISCOURSE II. DrviNB Love is the Commanbino Passion 164 vail CONTENTS. DISCOURSE III. TABS The Use op the Passions m Rblision. 183 DISCOURSE IV. Infekenoes pkom the Usefulness op the Passions 199 DISCOURSE T. The Abuse op the Passions in Rbli&ion 211 DISCOURSE VI. The AppbctIonatb Oheistian Vindicated, and the Sincere Soul Compoeted under his' Complaints op Deadnbss, etc 230 DISCOURSE VIX OP ExoiTiNa THE Devout Appections 241 ■ AN EXHORTATION TO MINISTERS. Sec. I. — Op a Minister's Personal Religion 262 " 11. — Op a Minister's Private Studies 265 " . III. — Op Public Ministrations 294 " IV. — Op the Conversation op a Minister 298 " V. — A Solemn Enporobmbnt op these Exhortations on THE Conscience 304 SELECT SERMONS. SERMON I. The End op Time, Rev., x. 5, 6 315 CONTENTS. IX SERMON II. PAGE No Pain amons the Blessed, Eov., xxi. 4 333 SERMON III. No Night dt Heaten, Rev., xxi. 25 363 SERMON IV. Safety in the Urate, and Joy at the Resueeection, Job, xiii. 14, 15. . 3^7 SERMON T. The Death of Kjndred Improved, 1 Cor., iii. 22 391 SERMON TI. Death a Blessing to the Saints, 1 Cor., iii. 22 407 SERMON TIL The Hidden Life of a Oheistlan — ^The First Part, Col., iii. 3 425 SERMON Vin. The Hidden Life of a Christian — ^Thb Second Part, Col., iii. 3 443 MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS. A. Meditation for the First of Mat 465 Divine Goodness in the Creation 467 Distant Thunder 469 Vanity Inscribed on all Things 470 X CONTENTS. PAGB The Eake Refoembd in the House of Mourning 4T3 Thou hast Received Gifts fob Men, Ps , Ixviii. 18 480 Bills of Exchange 482 Praise Waiteth for Thee, God, in Zion, Pa., Ixv. 1 484 THAT I Knew Where I might Find Him, Job, xxiiL 3 487 POEMS. Divine Judgments 493 The Day of Judgment 495 Breathing toward the Heavenly Country. 49G LIFE OF ISAAC WATTS, D. D. Isaac Watts was born on the l'7th of July, 1674, at South- ampton, England. He was the eldest of nine children. His father was a man of piety, intelhgenee, and respectability. He presided over a flourishing boarding-school at Southampton. In his religious sentiments he was warmly attached to the Dissenters, and during the persecution in the reign of Charles the Second, was imprisoned for his non-conformity. While thus suflfering on account of his religious opinions, his wife is said to have often sat on a stone near the prison-door, with the poet, then an infant, at her breast. He lived to a good old age, and had the high gratification of witnessing not only the literary celebrity of his son, but also the triumph of religious liberty. It is worthy of mention here that he possessed some poetical talents, and at the age of eighty-five, composed several verses on sacred subjects, which are simply and piously expressed. In noticing the leading events in the life of Dr. Isaac Watts, it will be interesting to advert to his early mental culture. Like many other persons of uncommon genius, he was distinguished for his in- tellectual precocity, and early thirst for knowledge. Before he could speak plain, we were told that he would say, when money was given to him, — "A book ! a book ! — buy a book !" When only four years of age, he commenced the study of Latin, which he pro- secuted with success under the direction of his father. He was soon afterwards placed under the care of the Rev. John Pinhome, prin- cipal of a grammar-school at Southampton, where he received the rudiments of his classical education. While at this school he de- voted the mpst of his time to the study of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and French, in which he made commendable proficiency. 12 LIFE OP WATTS. The poetical geniua of Watts was developed at an early age. With Milton, Cowley, and Pope, lie may be said to have " lisp'd in numbers." When only seven or eight years of age he composed devotional verses which did honor to his poetical talents. The un- common vigor, of intellect which he so early evinced, attracted the notice of several benevolent persons, who generously offered to de- fray the expenses of his education in one of the English univer- sities ; but Watts respectfully declined the offer, stating that he was determined to take his lot with the dissenters. In 1690, in his sixteenth year, he was sent to London, and placed under the care of the Eev. Thomas Eowe, pastor of a dissenting congregation in that city, and principal of an institution, the object of which was to prepare students for the ministry. Here he applied himself with unremitting industry to study, and obtained a thorough academic education. Among his fellow-students at this academy, were Hughes, the poet, author of the Siege of Damascus, and several papers in the Spectator, Tatler, and Guardian ; Say, vyhose poems and essays were published after his death ; and Hort, afterwards Archbishop of Tuam. Fully aware of the importance of early forming an easy and cor- rect style, the attention of Watts was now particularly turned to the art of composition : and, as an evidence of his industry and ability, we have several Latin essays on philosophical, moral, and theological subjects, which he composed while residing in the aca- demy of Mr. Rowe. These academic efforts, in the opinion of Dr. Johnson, show a degree of knowledge, both philosophical and theological, such as very few attain by a much longer course of study. As a specimen of his style of composition and of thought, at this early period of his literary career, we select a passage from the first Essay, — Whether the doctrine of justification hy faith alone tends to licentiousness. Speaking of that divine principle which purifies the heart of man, and draws him near to God, he justly and forcibly remarks—" The love of Christ, manifested in free justifica- tion without works, more effectually and sweetly binds the soul to obedience, than any rigid measures which the fear of punishment LIFE OF WATTS. 13 can use. The natures of believers are, as it were, refined; they are heaven-born, ingenuous, and easily wrought upon by love. It is a common truth, that nothing is done by hatred and fear, which might not eflfectually and pleasantly be performed by love. The effects of pure love are exceedingly great. We seldom, if ever, read of any who, out of mere fear of hell, would endure the greatest miseries of life. But how many thousands, being fortified with love to their Redeemer, have joyfully undergone severe torments rather than part with their obedience and holiness, notwithstanding they hoped not to be saved by them ! Now the greater the love which is expressed towards us, the stronger are our engagements to love again. Consider, then, how incomparably greater is that love which appears in Christ's giving us himself and his righteousness freely, and completing by himself the work of our redemption, than if he had only entreated the Father to relax the first covenant, and put us into a possibility of acquiring heaven by our own obedience. 2. Cor. V, 14 : ' The love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, th«n were all dead.' That love is a far more efficacious principle than fear, appears also from the first epistle of John. The whole letter of that beloved disciple breathes nothing but love and holiness. The first is the principle of the latter. He had learned and felt the power of love in the bosom of his Jesus, and recommended that sovereign antidote against sin, that cordial to revive dying holiness, to all the followers of his loving Saviour. Heaven is a state of most perfect holiness, and the immediate created principle of it is perfect love, as seems to be implied in 1. John iv. 18, and 1. Cor. xiii. 8 — 13." In his early school-boy days Watts adopted those useful methods of study which contributed so largely to his mental improvement, and which we cannot too strongly commend to those who would aspire to the higher walks of literature. His plan was to abridge or enlarge the most valuable works he read, in order that their con- tents might be more deeply impressed upon his memory. He epitomized several works which were highly popular and useful in his day, such as Golems Court of the Gentiles ; a treatise of Lewis de la Forge on the human mind, (fee. He also enlarged and im- proved the Westminster Greek Grammar by additions from the 14 LIFE OF WATTS. worts of Dr. Busby and Mr. Leeds. The plan which he adopted of interleaving books, and writing down the opinions of other writers on the same topics, he found to be eminently useful as af- fording a more comprehensive view of any subject. But those who wish to learn the process by which Dr. Watts attained his literary fame will do well to study with care his admirable treatise on the Improvement of the mind. It was during his academic course that Watts cultivated with great care his poetical talents. In his Miscellanies, he modestly alludes to his being a " maker of verses" from the age of fifteen to that of fifty. At the age of seventeen, he wrote verses of consider- able excellence, several of which were included in his ITorce LyricfS. The Latin ode in honor of the Rev. John Pinhome, his early teacher, of whom he always " retained a grateful and aifec- tionate remembrance," is a meritorious performance for a youth of twenty. It discovers a true, poetical genius, as weE as an intimate acquaintance with the most distinguished poets of Greece and Rome. The lines, addressed to his brother, written about this time, are also graceful and elegant in their construction. But the unwearied perseverance and intemperate ardor with which Watts pursued his studies during his academic course, and his neglect of necessary exercise and repose, greatly impaired his constitution, and probably gave rise to those severe sufierings which he subsequently endured. In after life, he deeply regretted the course which he had pursued in youth, of contracting his needful sleep in order to devote more time to study. Alluding to the irreparable injury which his constitution received by the intem- perate mental exertions of his early life, he has the following remaiks in one of his sermons : — " Midnight studies are preju- dicial to nature. A paiuful experience calls me to repent of the faults of my younger years ; and there are many before me have had the same call to repentance." The venerable Dr. Owen was accustomed to say, that he would gladly part with all the learning he had acquired by sitting up late at study in younger life, if he could but regain the health he had lost by it. la his nineteenth year. Watts united himself to the church of which his instructor, Mr. Rowe, was pastor. His piety, like LIFE OF WATTS. 15 his genius, was early manifested. With regard to the commence- ment of his religious impressions, he might have adopted the beautiful language of Mrs. Rowe : — " My infant hands were early lifted up to Thee, and I soon learned to know and acknowledge the God of my fathers." Having completed his academic course in 1694, at the age of twenty, he returned to his father's house at Southampton, where he remained tWo years, prosecuting those studies more intimately connected with the sacred office for which he was quahfying himself. During this period, he composed the greater part of his hymns, and probably several pieces in Ms Miscellanies. A great portion of his time was now devoted to reading, meditation, and prayer. After again leaving the parental home in 1696, he resided the five succeeding years in the family of Sir John Hartopp, at Stoke Newington, as tutor to his son. This distinguished family deserves a notice in this sketch. Sir John Hartopp, one of the brightest ornaments in the Church, was a .decided Non-conformist, steadily adhering to the dissenting interest when " the throne, the church, and the nobility were most hostile to it." It is said that the fines imposed upon him and a few others on account of religious principles, amounted at one time to six or seven thousand pounds.* This eminently pious man was a warm, personal Mend and correspondent of the great Dr. Owen ; a regular attendant upon his ministry, and a member of his church. To him the Christian public are indebted for the preservation of many of Owen's sermons which he wrote down in short hand when delivered. He also furnished many materials for a Life of this prince of English divines. He had a taste for literary pursuits, and was versed in many of the sciences ; but the Bible was his " chief study and divinest delight." That he might better under- stand the text of the Scriptures, he commenced the study of He- brew, when past the age of fifty, and retained a knowledge of the Greek language to the latest period of life. In the reign of Charles the Second, he was three times returned to Parliament. He lived to the great age x>f eighty-five, and died in the Christian's hope of a happy immortality. . * Noble's Mem., ii. 333—348. 16 LIFE OF WATTS. Lady Hartopp possessed the character of a truly amiable and pious person. The funeral sermons of these excellent individuals, which Dr. Watts preached, form his invaluable work on Death and Heaven — a favorite book with many pious readers. The residence of Watts in the Hartopp family was always re- membered by him with peculiar affection. Long afterwards he remarked — "I can not but reckon it among the blessings of Heaven, when I review those five years of pleasure and improve- ment, which I spent in his family in my younger part of life. And I found much instruction myself where I was called to be an instructor." In that pious and intelligent family he enjoyed rare opportunities for mental, moral, and spiritual improvement. Besides attending faithfully to his duties as teacher, he applied himself to the study of the Scriptures in the original languages, and the best Biblical commentaries. In the early discipline of his mind, it seems that the one grand object of his life was ever kept in view — that of preaching the glorious gospel of Christ — and that all his studies were made subservient to his noble purpose. On the l7th of July, 1698, at the age of twenty-four, he preached his first sermon, while residing in the family of Sir John Hartopp ; and in the same year, was chosen assistant to Dr. Isaac Chauncy, pastor of the Independent Church in Mark Lane, Lon- don. Soon after his connection with Dr. Chauncy, in this capacity, his public labors were interrupted by a dangerous illness that con- tinued five months ; during which painful season, he learned that " patience in suffering was a part of christian duty no less impor- tant than activity in labor." On his recovery he immediately re- sumed his ministerial labors ; and vyhen Dr. Chauncy resigned his pastoral charge in 1702, he was chosen to succeed him. After serious deliberation he accepted the call, and addressed a letter to the congregation, from which the following is an extract : "Bbkthren, — " You know the constant aversion I have had to any proposal of a pastoral office, for these three years. You know, also, that since you have given me a unanimous call thereto, I have proposed LIFE OF WATTS. 17 several methods for your settlement without me ; but your choice and your affections seemed to be stiU unmoved. I have objected my own indisposition of body ; and I have pointed to three divines, members of this church, whose gifts might render them more proper for instructors, and their age for government. These things I have urged till I have provoked you to sorrow and tears, and till I myself have been almost ashamed. But your perseverance in your choice, your constant profession of edification by my ministiy, the great probability you show me of building up this famous and decayed church of Christ, and your prevailing fears of its dissolu- tion if I refuse, have given me ground to believe that the voice of this church is the voice of Christ. And to answer this call I have not consulted with flesh and blood ; I have laid aside the thoughts of myself to serve the interest of our Lord. I have given up my own ease for your spiritual profit and your increase. I submit my inclination to my duty ; and in hopes of being made an instrument to build up this ancient church, I return this solemn answer to your call, — ^that, with a great sense of my own inability in mind and body to discharge the duties of so sacred an office, I do, in the strength of Christ, venture upon it ; and in His name I accept your call, promising in the presence of God and his saints, my ut- most diligence in all the duties of a pastor, so far as God shall en- lighten and strengthen me. And I leave that promise in the hands of Christ, our Mediator, to see it performed by me unto you, through the assistance of his grace and spirit." It will be remembered that the church, to which Mr. Watts was now called, was the same of which the celebrated' Dr. John Owen had formerly been pastor. Shortly after his entrance upon his duties as sole pastor of this church, Mr. Watts was seized with a dangerous illness from which, after a long confinement, he but slowly recovered. So feeble was his health, at this period, that the congregation thought it necessary to provide an assistant ; and appointed the Rev. Samuel Price to that work, in 1703. The connection thus formed between Dr. Watts and Mr. Price continued more than forty years, and was re- 18 LI PE O r WATTS. garded by each as a "peculiarly happy event." The sincerest friendship existed between them through life. While gradually recovering his strength, he addressed the follow- ing letter to his sisters, Sarah and Mary Watts, which expresses, in simple and afiFectionate terms, the language of his heart.* •'June 15, 1704." " Dear Sisters, Eead the love of my heart in the first line of my letter and believe it. I am much concerned to hear of my mother's continued weakness. We take our share in these painful disorders of nature, which afflict her whom we honor and love. I know also that your hurries of business must be more than doubled thereby ; but we are daily leaving care and sin behind us. The past temptations shall vex us no more : the months which are gone return not, and the sorrows which we hourly feel lessen the decreed number. Every pulse beats a moment of pain away, and thus by degrees we arrive nearer to the sweet period of life and bliss. Bear up, my dear ones, though the ruffling storms Of a vain vexing world, tread down the cares. Those ragged thoma which lie across the road, 'Sot spend a tear upon them. Trust me. Sisters, The dew of eyes will make the briers grow ; Nor let the distant phantom of delight Too long allure your gaze or swell your hope To dangerous size. If it approach your feet, And court your hand, forbid th' intruding joy To sit too near your heart. Still may our souls Claim kindred with the skies, nor ttiiy with dust Our better-born affections, leave the globe A nest for worms, and hasten to our home. O, there are gardens of th' immortal kind, Which crown the heavenly jEden's rising hills With beauty and with sweets. No lurking mischief Dwells in the fruit, nor serpent twines the boughs ; The branches bend laden with life and bliss * This letter, greatly enlarged, is inserted in the Lyric Poems. It is there addressed to Sarissa, his sister Sarah, probably after the death of his sister Mary. LI F E O F W A TTS. 19 Eipe for the taste, but 'tis a steep ascent ; Hold fast the golden chain* let down from heaven, 'Twill help your feet and wings. I feel its force Draw upward : fastened to the heavenly gate. It guides the way unerring, fiajppy clue Through this dark wild. "Twas wisdom's noblest work. All joih'd by poVr divine, and every link is love. " Sisters, Accept the sudden rapture kindly. The muse is not awake every day. If she has a moment's release from the lethargy, see, 'tis devoted to serve and please you." (fee. In 1'705, at the age of thirty-one, Mr. Watts published his first ■work with the following title : " Horse Lyriose. Poems, chiefly of the Lyric kind ; in three books : sacred to devotion and piety — to virtue, honor, and friendship — ^to the memory of the dead." This work, in the opinion of Dr. Johnson, entitled its author to an honorable place in the temple of the " English Poets." It was received with the highest favor, both in great Britain and America, and procured for the author the esteem and fiiendship of many eminent literary characters^. Eight editions were issued before the death of the author. There is much to admire, as well as to criticise, in the Lyric Poems ; but on the whole, they exhibit a high order of merit, and few works on sacred poetry are more worthy of frequent perusal. They will long continue to delight the Christian on his way to im- mortality, and to elevate his views above the fugitive scenes of earth to the unending joys of heaven. In reviewing the Horae Ly- ricse, a modem critic has beautifully remarked, — " There are touches of poetry scattered through these pages, which, simple as childhood, are also as charmiDg."f Many of the Lyric Poems are expressed in a glowing, copious, and elegant diction. As a choice specimen of tlieir style, and of the pious sentiment which prevails through them, we offer a few lines. The poem entitled, Launching into Eternity, is a good specimen of graceful, flowing rhythm, and appropriate imagery. We may * The gospcL t Literary Gazette. 20 LIFE OF WATTS. here observe that a number of the Lyric Poems are imitations of the odes of Casimire Sarbiewski, of Poland, whom "Watts styles the noblest Latin poet of modern times * It waa a brave attempt I advent'rous he, Who iu the first ship broke the unknown sea : And leaving his dear native shores behind, Trusted his life to the licentious -wind. I see the surging brine : the tempest raves He on the pine-plani rides across the waves, Exultmg on the edge of thousand gaping graves: He steers the winged boat, and shifts the sails, Con(iuerB the flood, and manages the gales. Such is the soul that leaves this mortal land. Fearless when the great Master gives command. Death is the storm : she smiles to hear it roar, And bids the tempest waft her from the shore : Then with a sHlful helm she sweeps the seas. And manages the raging storm with ease ; (Her faith can govern death), she spreads her wings Wide to the wind, and as she sails she sings. And loses by degrees the sight of mortal things. As the shores lessen, so her joys arise. The waves roU gentler, and the tempest dies, Now vast eternity fills all her sight. She floats on the broad deep with infinite delight, The seas for ever calm, the skies for ever bright. In his poem entitled, A Song to creative Wisdom, our poet soars on a lofty strain, and his flight is nobly sustained. The lines which we select are the most graceful, harmonious, and elevated. Eternal Wisdom, thee we praise, Thee the creation sings ; With thy loud name, rooks, hills, and seas, And heaven's high palace rings. * Casimire was born in 1547. Grotius and D. Heinsius affirm him to be equal to Horace. He was so partial to Virgil, that he began to imitate him in an epic poem, called the " Lesicade," in twelve books, but his death at Warsaw, in 1690, prevented the completion of the work. His epigrams are much inferior to his odes. The best edition of his poems is that of Pa- ris, in V159. LIFEOFWATTS. 21 Thy hand how^ -wide it spread the sky, How glorious to behold 1 Ting'd with a blue of heavenly dye, And starr'd with sparkling gold. There thou hast bid the globes of light Their endless circles run ; There the pale planet rules the night, And day obeys the sun. The noisy winds stand ready there Thy orders to obey : With Bounding wings they sweep the air. To make thy chariot way. There, like a trumpet, loud and strong. Thy thunder shakes our coast : While the red lightnings wave along. The banners of thine host. The poem on Divine Judgments, in Pindaric measure, is justly admired. We give the concluding lines which breathe the most exalted piety. for a message from above To bear my spirit up ! Some pledge of my Creator's love, To calm my terrors and support my hope ! Let waves and thimders mix and roar, Be thou my God, and the whole world is mine : While thon art Sov'reign, I'm secure ; I shall be rich till thou art poor ; For aU I fear, and all I wish, heav'n, earth, and hell, are thine. One of the most highly finished of the Lyric Poems is that on God's Dominion and Decrees, in the first book. It has been par- ticularly admired for its sublimity of thought ; indeed, as Mr. Bur- der observes, nothing uninspired can be more sublime than this hymn, particularly from the seventh verse. Keep silence, all created things, And wait your Maker's nod : The muse stands trembling while she sings The honors of her God. 22 LIFEOF WATTS. Life, death, and hell, and worlds unknown Hang on his firm decree : He sits on no precarious throne. Not borrows leave to be. Th' Almighty voice bid ancient night Her endless realm resign, And lo, ten thousand globes oif light In fields of azure shine. Now wisdom, with superior sway. Guides the vast moving frame. Whilst all the ranks of being pay Deep reverence to his name. He spake ; the sun obedient stood And held the falling day : Old Jordan backward drives his flood. And disappoints the sea. Lord of the armies of the sky, He marshals all the stars ; Red comets lift their banners high, And wide proclaiin his wars. Chained to his throne a volume lies. With all the fates of men, With every angel's form and size Dratra by the Eternal pen. His Providence unfolds the book. And makes his counsels shine : Each opening leaf, and every stroke, Fulfils some deep design.' Here he exalts neglected worms To sceptres and a crown ; Anon the following page he turns, And treads the monarch down. Not Gabriel asks the reason why. Nor God the reason gives ; Nor dares the favorite angel pry Between the folded leaves. LIFEOFWATTS, 23 My God, I never longed to see My fete with curious eyes. What gloomy lines are writ for me, Or what bright scenes shall rise. lu thy fair book of life and grace May I but find my name, Recorded in some humble place Beneath my Lord the Lamb. The success which attended the publication of the Lyric Poems induced Mr. Watts to prepare his Hymns and Songs for the press. They were first published in 1707, and have since been issued in numerous editions, and scattered by tens of thousands through the Christian world. They have cheered the heart of many a weary Christian pilgrim, when oppressed with the cares and sorrows of life, and "animated the praises of thousands on their dying beds."* Many beautiful lines occur in the collection. What, for exam- ple, can be more soothing and cheering than the well-known stanza in the hymn entitled, Christ s presence makes death easy. Jesus can make a dying bed, Feel soft as downy pillows are, While on his breast I lean my head, And breathe my life out sweetly there. This will recall to mind another verse of a similar nature, in the hymn entitled The Song of Simeon ; or, Death made desirable. How often have these lines fallen, in accents of triumph, from the lips of the pious, in the last, solemn hour of life ! How often have they made bright the dying eye, and cheered the departing soul ! * The sufiferer, to whom wearisome nights and days have been appointed, has been carried forward by gleams of future blessedness, which brighten upon the strains of Watts, in holy triumph and calm exultation, to the land where the weepers cease to weep ; while thousands on the verge of death's dark river, have cheered surviving friends and sorrowing relatives, with tidings of the " sweet fields beyoild the swelling flood," which have " stilled its tossing, hushed its roar," and which have broke upon their ravished vision as they entered into the joy of their Lord. — Milner. 24 LIFBOrWATTS. Jesus, the vision of thy face Hath overpowering charms, Scarce shall I feel death's cold embrace If Christ be in my arms. In the hymn entitled, The hope of heaven our support under trial on earth, the poet has admirably hinted at the felicity of the ran- somed soul when admitted into the Paradise of God. There shall I bathe my weary soul In seas of heavenly rest, And not a wave of trouble roll Across my peaceful breast. Seldom has a poetical exclamation been more happily introduced than the one which occurs in the hymn on the Characters of Christ, borrowed from inanimate things in Scripture. These magnificent lines can hardly be repeated without thrilling the refined and pious mind. O let me climb those higher skies, Where storms and darkness never rise I There he displays his powers abroad. And shines and reigns th' incarnate God. The last verse of the hymn from which we have just quoted contains two of the smoothest lines that have, perhaps, ever been penned. After recounting some of the glories of Christ's person the poet concludes thus : — If or earth, nor sea, nor sun, nor stars, Nor heaven his full resemblance bears ; His beauties we can never trace, Till we behold him face to face. Another verse, similar to this, in sweetness and smoothness, is found in the hymn entitled, A vision of the Kingdom of Christ among men. His mm, soft hand shall vnpe the tears From every weeping eye, And pains, and groans, and griefs, and fears. And death itself shall die. LIFE OF -WATTS. 25 Doddridge relates a striking instance of the effect produced by the use of one of the Hymns of Watts in public ■worship. In a letter to his friend, the author, he says — " I was preaching to a large assembly of plain country people, at a village, when, after a sermon from Hebrews vi. 12, we sung one of your hymns, (which, if I remember right, was the 140th of the second book,) and in that part of the worship, I had the satisfaction to observe tears in the eyes of several of the people : after the service was over, some of them told me that they were not able to sing, so deeply were their minds affected ; and the clerk in particular said he could hardly utter the words as he gave them out." The hymn referred to is one of the finest in the collection. Give me the wings of faith to rise Within the vail, and see The saints above, how great their joys, How bright their glories be. Once they were mourning here below, And wet their couch with tears ; They wrestled hard as we do now, With BIDS, and doubts, and fears. I ask them whence their victory came. They, with united breath, Ascribe their conquest to the Lamb, Their triumph to his death. They marked the footsteps that he trod, (His zeal inspired their breast,) And following their incarnate God, Possess the promised rest. Our glorious Leader claims our praise, For him our pattern given, While the long cloud of witnesses Show the same path to Heaven. On his recovery from the disease which attacked him in 1'703, Mr. Watts continued to officiate as pastor, without any material interruption, till 1712, when he was seized with a violent fever- which brought him to the brink of the grave, and left him in a 2 26 LIFBOTTTATTS. State of nervous debility, which, for some years, " incapacitated him for the functions of his office," and from which he never entirely recovered. It is pleasing to contemplate the happy and heavenly frame of mind that characterized this pious man amidst the afflictions he was called to endure. The following beautiful lines,. which were penned during this severe and protracted illness, breathe the most exalted piety, and indicate a very calm and cheerful state of mind, such as the religion of Jesus alone can produce in afflictive cir- cumstances. Yet gracious God, amidst these storms of nature Thine eyes beheld a sweet and secret calm, Eeign through the realms of coDScienee : All within Lies peaceful and composed. 'Tis wondrous grace Keeps off thy terrors from this humble bosom, Though stained with sins and follies, yet serene In penitential peace and cheerful hope, Sprinkled and guarded with atoning blood. Thy vital smiles, amidst this desolation. Like heavenly sun-beams hid behind the clouds, Break out in happy moments, with bright radiance Cleaving the gloom : the fair celestial light Softens and gilds the horrors of the storm, And richest cordials to the heart conveys. glorious solace of 'immense distress, A conscience and a God 1 A friend at home, ^nd better friend on high ! This is my rock Of firm support, my shield of sure defence Against infernal ari'ows. Rise, my soul. Put on thy courage : Here 's the living spring Of joys divinely sweet and ever new, A peaceful conscience, and a smiljpg heaven. These lines admirably display the peaceful, cheerful and submis- sive spirit of a Christian in seasons of affliction. Though he may be in the midst of sorrow and gloom, yet he can adopt the language of the sacred penmen — " Though I wait in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me : thou shalt stretch forth thy hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. — I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God ; for LIFEOF WATTS. 27 he liath clothed me with the garments of salvation; be hath covered me with the robes of righteousness." Watts was accustomed to remark — " I know not but my days of restraint and confinement by affliction may appear my brightest days, when I come to take a review of them in the light of heaven." In a letter to a minister in affliction, he has expressed similar feel- ings in the following beautiful and consoling terms. — " It is my hearty desire for you, that your faith may ride out the storms of temptations, and the anchor of your hope may hold, being fixed within the vail. There sits Jesus our forerunner, who sailed over this rough sea befoi* us, and has given us a chart, even his word, where the shelves and rocks, the fierce currents and dangers, are well described ; and he is our pilot, and will conduct us to the shores of happiness. I am persuaded, that in a future state we shall take a sweet review of those scenes of providence, which have been involved in the thickest darkness, and trace those footsteps of God when he walked with us through the deepest waters. This will be a surprising delight to survey the manifold harmony of clashing dispensations, and to have those perplexing riddles laid open to the eyes of our souls, aod read the full meaning of them in set characters of wisdom and grace." On his again recovering strength Mr. Watts composed a Hymn in which he acknowledges his gratitude to God for healing mercy. What mortal voice, Or mortal hand, can render to my God The tribnte due ? What altars shall I raise ! What grand inscription to proclaim his mercy In living lines ? Where shall I find a victim Meet to be offered to his sovereiga love, And solemnize the -worship and the joy ? It is worthy of particular notice here that the illness of Mr. Watts in 1712, was the means of introducing him to Sir Thomas Abney. Invited by this gentleman to try the effect of a change of air at his house at Theobalds, he gladly complied with the request, and went there, intending to stay only a week : the remainder of his hfe, however, — a period of thirty-six years, was passed in the Abney family. This happy circumstance was, in the opinion of 28 LIFEOFWATTS. Watts himself a sufficient compensation for all the sufferings he endured in his painful illness. Thus often has it been found that sorrow is the mother of blessings. It was a noble and generous principle which prompted Sir Thomas Abney to take Mr. Watts, in a very languishing state, to his own house, and supply him with all that could contribute to his comfort and enjoyment. An allusion to so generous and excellent an individual is very appropriate here. Sir Thomas Abney was a man of great wealth, commanding influence, and remarkable piety. It is stated that he was one of the wealthiest and most considerable persons attached to the dissenters, in whose priAciples he had been educated. King William knighted him; and he was elected sheriff of London and Middlesex in 1693; and also served the office of Lord Mayor of London in IVOO. Of his scrupulous attention to his religious duties the following anecdote is related. On the evening of the day upon which he entered on the mayoralty, he withdrew " silently after supper from the public assembly at Guild- hall, went to his own house, performed family worship there, and then returned to the company." By the amiable and pious family of Sir Thomas Abney, Dr. Watts was ever treated with the utmost kindness "as a friend, attention as an invalid, and respect as a divine." His long and happy residence in this family is thus appropriately commented on by his first biographer. Dr. Gibbons — " Here, he enjoyed the uninterrupted demonstrations of the truest friendship. Here, with- out any cares of his own, he had every thing which could contri- bute to the enjoyment of life, and favor the unwearied pursuits of his studies. Here he dwelt in a family which, for piety, order, harmony, and every virtue, was a house of God. Here he had the privilege of a country recess, the fragrant bower, the spreading lawn, the flowery garden, and other advantages to soothe his mind, and aid his restoration to health ; to yield him, whenever he chose them, most grateful intervals from his laborious studies, and enable him to return to them with redoubled vigor and delight. Had it not been for this happy event, he might, as to outward view, have feebly, it may be painfully, dragged on through many more years of languor and inability for public service, and even for profitable study ; or LIFE OF WATTS. 29 perhaps might have sunk into his grave, under the overwhelming load of infirmities, in the midst of his days : and thus the church and the world would have been deprived of those many excellent sermons and works which he drew up and published during his long residence in this family. In a few years after his corning hither, Sir Thomas Abney dies; but his amiable consort survives, who shows the Doctor the same respect and friendship as before : and most happily for him, and great numbers besides, (for as her riches were great, her generosity and munificence were in full pro- portion,) her thread of life was drawn out to a great age, even beyond that of the Doctor's. And thus this excellent man, through her kindness, and that of her daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Abney, who in a like degree esteemed and honored him, enjoyed all the benefits and felicities he experienced at his first entrance into this family, till his days were numbered and finished, and, like a shock of corn in its season, he ascended into the regions of perfect and immortal life and joy." After his coming to the family of Sir Thomas Abney, we have but little of interest to contemplate in the life of Watts, except a brilliant literary career. His life, like that of many other literary men, furnishes comparatively few novel or exciting biographical incidents for the narrator. In the language of Goldsmith, " The life of a scholar seldom abounds with adventure — ^his fame is acquired in solitude." In the Abney family. Watts continued to discharge his pastoral duties, with considerable interruption, how- ever, till the close of his life. He was often unable to preach, and frequently, when he did appear in the pulpit, " his exertions were followed by such weakness and pain, that he was obliged to retire immediately to bed, and have his room closed in darkness and silence." In his delightful residence at Theobalds, while pursuing the even tenor of his way, he planned and executed a large num- ber of his literary performances. In 1719, he published his Imitations of the Psalms of David, of which four thousand copies were sold within the first year of their publication. It is supposed to have been about this time that he produced his Divine and Moral Songs for Children, which have been " the 30 L I FB O F W ATTS. delight of infant minds from that day to the present, and probably will be for ages to come." A pious clergyman writes—" I have seen the sweet delight and joy with which they have been read by many of the young. On the hearts of five children in my own connections they have, by the blessing of God, made deep impres- sions ; and one of these the other day died comfortably, repeating them within a few minutes before his departure." Numerous other examples of a similar nature might be cited if our limits permitted. There is a rich vein of poetry running through these songs ; and they have been long and justly admired for thpir intrinsic merits. " They present the happiest specimen, in any language, of reUgion and morahty recommended to the infant mind through the medium of verse. The diction is familiar and elegant, without being either too common or refined; and the imagery is wisely chosen from objects and scenes continually before the eye. In this manner has the writer obtained for himself a place in our hearts, among the most cherished remembrances of childhood. The bee, that hums hy us on the summer grass, recalls him to the memory ; and we can not think upon our mothers without recollecting Watts."* The success of these Songs has been wonderful. They have at- tained an immense circulation, and are admired wherever they are known. " The number of copies that have been circulated through- out the world, must amount to many millions ; upwards of thirty editions, in this country [England] are regularly kept in print ; and upon a moderate computation, the average annual sale in England only can not be less than eighty thousand. It was stated some years ago, upon authority, that two institutions, the Society for Promoting Religious Knowledge among the Poor, and the Re- ligious Tract Society, had distributed upwards of one hundred thousand."f In a specimen of moral songs appended to the collection, we have a very fine poem on A Summer Evening, which we are happy to introduce in this sketch. It deserves to live in the mem- ory of every Christian. So much admired was this poem, that its * Willmott's Lives of the Englisli Saered Poets, t Milaer's Life and Times of Watts. LIFEOFWATTS. 31 author was asted by his biographer, Dr. Gibbons, why he did not include it in his Lyric Poems ? to which he replied, that it was not composed when that work was published. How fiae has the day been 1 how bright was the eun 1 How lovely and joyful the course that he run ! Though he rose in a mist when his race he begun, And there followed some droppings of rain 1 But now the fair traveler's come to the West, His rays are all gold, and his beauties are best ; He paints the sky gay as he sinks to his rest, And foretells a bright rising again. Just such is the Christian : his course he begins. Like the sun, in a mist, when he mourns for his sins, And melts into tears : then he breaks out and shines. And travels his heavenly way; But when he comes nearer to finish his race, Like a fine-setting sun he looks richer in grace, And gives a sure hope at the end of his days, Of rising in brighter array. In 1'721, Mr. "Watts published the first volume of his sermons ; and, in dedicating them to his congregation, he forcibly remai-ks : " You know it has always been the business of my ministry to convince and persuade your souls into practical godliness, by the clearest and strongest reasons derived from the gospel, and by all the most moving methods of speech of which I was capable ; but still in an humble subserviency to the promised influences of the Holy Spirit. I ever thought it my duty to press the conviction with force on the conscience, when light was first let into the mind. A statue hung round with moral sentences, or a marble pillar with divine truths inscribed upon it, may preach coldly to the under- standing, while devotion freezes at the heart : but the prophets and apostles were hurning and shining lights ; they were all taught by inspiration to make the words of truth glitter like sunbeams, and to operate like a hammer, and a fire, and a two-edged sword* The movements of sacred passion may be the ridicule of an age which pretends to nothing but calm reasoning. Life and zeal in the min- * 2 Cor. iv. 4 — 6 ; John, v. 35 ; Jer. xxiii. 29 ; Heb. iv. 12. 32 LIFE or WATTS. istry of the word may be despised by men of lukewarm and dying religion : fervency .of spirit in the service of the Lord* may be- come the scoff and jest of the critic and the profane : but this very life and zeal, this sacred fervency, shall still remain one bright character of a Christian preacher, till the names of Paul and Apol- los perish from the church ; and that is, till this Bible and these heavens are no more." The sermons of Dr. Watts, notwithstanding their occasional redundancy of expression, and prolixity in arrangement, have always enjoyed a high place in the literature of the pulpit. They abound in glowing exhibitions of evangelical truth, happy illus- trations of their subject, and striking appeals to the conscience. Few sermons are more deserving of frequent or careful perusal ; and we trust that the Christian reader will not fail to make himself familiar with them. They are admirably adapted to promote the grand end of preaching — the exhibition of Christ, and Him cru- cified. They are, indeed, full of the precious consolations of the glorious gospel, and shine " with a mild and comforting light, that warms while it brightens.'' Mr. Burder has thus very appropriately characterized the dis- courses of Dr. Watts : — " In reviewing them, it may be justly re- marked, that they possess uncommon excellence, and in some respects, notwithstanding the many volumes of sermons since pub- lished, have never been exceeded, or even equalled. The beautiful perspicuity and simplicity of their style render them familiar to the meanest capacities. Their originality of thought, and the happy illustrations that abound in them, discover the genius of the writer ; but the fervor of his exhortations, his close addresses to the conscience, and the rich veins of evangelical truth and Chris- tian experience in every discourse, show the Christian divine in full proportion."! Under the title of " Death and Heaven," Mr. Watts published, in 1722, his excellent funeral discourses in memory of Sir John and Lady Hartopp. They appeared from the press in a considerably enlarged form. Immediately on their publication, they received * Acts xviii. 26 ; Rom. xii. 11. f Memoirs of Watts, prefixed to the London edition of his works. LIFE OP WATTS. 33 tte highest commendation of the Christian public, and, at once, became a favorite with many pious readers. They may justly be placed among the choicest theological productions of their author.* The celebrated Prof. Frank, of Germany, was so much pleased with them that he procured a translation into the German lan- guage; and his successor, in the professorship of divinity. Dr. Rambaoh wrote a highly commendatory notice of the work, in which he says : — " Though the first sermon contains many elegant passages worthy to be read, yet the latter seems to be a more elaborate piece, because it sets the doctrine of eternal life in a greater light, and enriches it with many probable inferences drawn from the word of God. He proposes his excellent thoughts in most emphatical terms, in that beautiful order, and with such a vi- vacity of style, that he keeps the reader in a continual attention, and an eager desire to read on. It is plain the author's mind was so taken up with the beauty of heaven, that his mouth could not hut speak from the abundance of his heart. There is a secret unc- tion in his expressions, which leaves a sweet savor in the reader's heart, and raises in him a desire after the blessed society he speaks of. And though the reader should not entirely agree with the au- thor's notions, yet he will not peruse this treatise without a partic- ular edification and blessing. I can not deny but the author's conjectures may be sometimes carried a little too far, but that doth not prejudice the subject in the least. Besides, he is generally so happy as to find some arguments for his probable notions in the word of God, and to answer very dexterously all the objections that can be made against him. " May the ever-living God give a blessing to this work, and * Both of WattB' sermons abound -with passages of considerable beauty ; a vein of ardent piety runs throughout ; the style is more than usually sprightly and vivacious ; the fancy of the writer is evidently on the wing, and his imagination excursive, yet it does not attract from the highway of truth, nor betray into error and inconsistence. It has, indeed, been ob- jected that some of his views of the station, employment, and happiness of perfected spirits are not expressly sanctioned by the sacred page ; yet they harmonize with the general tenor of its brief and brilliant revelations, and are certainly supported by the inferential evidence of the Scriptures, — Muriel's Life and Urnes of Watts. 2* 34 LIFEOFWATTS. grant that those sweet and relishing truths proposed in these leaves may make such an impression upon the minds of the readers as those noble truths deserve. May he prevent all the abuse of this delightful subject, and never permit it to be turned info a mere dry or fruitless speculation ; but may he inflame every reader with a holy desire after a blessed eternity, and rouse and excite all those that have not begun yet to tread the path of Salvation, to enter into the same without delay, that they may not rest in a mere delightful prospect of the land of Canaan, nor be for ever excluded by their unbelief from the eternal enjoyment of it." In the year 1722, Mr. Watts also published his work on The Christian Doctrine of the Trinity, — a production of much merit. It presents an able defense of the doctrine of the Trinity, and is almost entirely free from those heterodox opinions which charac- terize some of the author's later publications on the same subject. In 1'723, he published a second volume of sermons on the Christian Morals, which are among the best ever written on the subject, and worthy of the careful perusal of every professor of Christianity. In 1724, appeared his Treatise on Logic, which met with a favor- able reception, and was soon introduced as a text-book into the University of Oxford, and other literary Institutions. Lord Bar- rington, who highly prized the work, remarked — " I intend, as some have done Erasmus, or a piece of Cicero — ^to read it over once a year." In 1725, Mr. Watts produced his Elements of Geography and Astronomy, which, in consequence of the rapid advances in the knowledge of those sciences, may now be numbered among the least important of his publications. In 1728, he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from the Universities of Edinburgh and Aberdeen. " Academical honors," in the language of Dr. Johnson, " would have more value, if they were always bestowed with equal judgment." About this time, Dr. Watts published his Catechisms which are so favorably known wherever the English language is spoken. In mentioning his prose and poetical compositions for children, Dr. JohnsQi) observes with admiration ; — " He condescended to lay LIFEOPWATTS. 35 aside tbe scholar, the philosopher, and the wit, to write little poems of devotion, and systems of instruction, adapted to their wants and capacities, from the dawn of reason through its gradations of advance in the morning of life. Every man acquainted with the common principles of human action, will look with veneration on the writer, who is at one time combating Locke, and at another time making a catechism for children in their fourth year. A vol- untary descent from the dignity of science is perhaps the hardest lesson that humility can teach." In 1730, Dr. Watts published his work entitled, A Short View of the Whole Scripture History, written in the form of question and answer, — an interesting book which should be placed in the hands of young persons. Lord Barrington, in a letter to the au- thor, speaks of it as " a book very instructive and entertaining to people of all ages and conditions," and adds, that he will keep a copy in his " nursery, hall, and parlor." In 1731, appeared another useful publication of Dr. Watts, en- titled, An Humble Attempt towards the revival of Practical He- ligimi among Christians. The first part of this treatise, — which is by far the more valuable, — is a serious exhortation to ministers. It was prepared for the ordination of Rev. John Oakes ; but was not delivered, in consequence of the illness of Dr. Watts on the day appointed for that purpose. This address we regard as a very choice and appropriate one. It can not be too strongly com- mended to the attention of every theological student and clergy- man. The remaining portion of the work contains the substance of several discourses deliveied- to his congregation in London, and designed particularly for the use of the dissenters. Another publication in the year 1731, was his Essay on the Strength and Weakness of Human Season. He manages the discussion of this subject, in the opinion of Dr. Johnson, with his usual ability and tact. His Philosophical Essays on various Subjects ; and his System^ of Ontology, were published in 1733 ; and in the following year, ap- peared bis third volume of sermons, and an admirable little work entitled, Miscellaneous Thoughts, in Prose and Verse. We would call the special attention of the young reader to these Thoughts, 36 LIFEOFWATTS. many of which are highly beautiful, and well calculated to afford a person of fine taste and genuine piety, rich entertainment and in- struction. In specifying some of the choicest of them, we would include those pieces on. Distant Thunder — Meditation for the first of May — Divine Goodness in the Creation — The Midnight Elevation, — and Searching after God. The last mentioned essay contains a fine specimen of sacred poetry which the Christian may repeat with renewed admiration. What can be more easy in style, or sublime in thought, than these lines in which the pious author soars in al- most inimitable strains ? My God, I love and I adore : But souls that love would know thee more. "Wilt thou for ever hide, and etand Behind the labors of thy hand ? Thy hand unseen sustains the poles. On which this huge creation roUs : The starry arch proclaims thy pow'r. Thy pencil glows in ev'ry flow"? : In thousand shapes and colors rise Thy painted wonders to our eyes ; While beasts and birds with lab'ring throats. Teach us a God in thousand notes. The meanest pin in nature's frame, Marks out some letter of thy name. Where sense can reach or fancy rove, From hill to hiU, from field to grove. Across the waves, around the sky. There's not a spot, or deep, or high. Where the Creator has not trod. And left the footsteps of a God. Probably in 1735, Dr. Watts published his excellent treatise, — The Redeemer and Sanctifier ; — a small volume which may be studied with profit. The year 1736, was to him a season of painful illness, as we learn from a beautiful poem in the Hemnants of Time ; — " Com- plaint and hope under great pain, 1736." In what a sweet and tender strain are these lines expressed ! And who can read them without emotion ? LirKOlTWATTS. 37 Lord, I am pain'd ; but I resign To tby superior will : 'Tis grace, 'tis wisdom all divine Appoints the pains I feel. Dark are thy ways of providence, While those that love thee groan : Thy reasons lie concealed from sense, Mysterious and unknown. Yet nature may have leave to speak, And plead before her God, Lest the o'er-burden'd heart should break Beneath thy heavy rod. Will nothing but such daily pain Secure my soul from hell ? Canst thou not make my health attain Thy kind designs as well ? How shall my tongue proclaim thy grace While thus at home confined? What can I write, while painful flesh Hangs heavy on the mind ? These groans and sighs, and flowing tears Give my poor spirit ease. While every groan my Father hears, And every tear he sees. Is not some smiling l.our at hand With peace upon its wings! Give it, God, thy swift command. With all the joys it brings. We may here observe that some of the most affecting lines Dr. Watts ever wrote flowed from his pen during seasons of affliction. In 1736, or the year following, the death of Dr. Watts's father occurred. He had come to his grave in " a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season." Two days, before this event the poet addressed to his venerable parent the following beautiful letter, which will be read with interest : 38 LIFE or WATTS. " Honored and Dear Sib, " 'Tis now ten days since I heard from you, and learned by my nephew that you had been recovered from a very threatening ill- ness. When you are in danger of life, I believe my sister is afraid to let me know the worst, for fear of affecting me too much. But as I feel old age daily advancing on myself,* I am endeavoring to be ready for my removal hence : and though it gives a shock to nature, when what has been long dear to one is taken away, yet reason and religion should teach us to expect it, in these scenes of mortality, and a dying world. Blessed be God for our immortal hopes through the blood of Jesus, who has taken away the sting of death ! What could such dying creatures do without the comfort of the Gospel ? I hope you feel those satisfactions of soul on the borders of life, which nothing can give but this Gospel, which you taught us all in our younger years. May these divine consolations support your spirits, under all your growing infirmities, and may our blessed Saviour form your soul to such a holy heavenly frame, that you may wait with patience amidst the languors of life, for a joyful passage into the Land of Immortality. May no cares nor pains rufiBe nor afflict yom' spirit. May you maintain a constant serenity at heart, and sacred calmness of mind, as one who has long passed midnight, and is in view of the dawning day ! The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let the garments of light be found upon us, and let ns lift i,p our heads, for our redemption draws nigh. Amen." In lYSY, Dr. Watts published his admirable treatise on Humil- ity, as exemplified in the Character of St. Paul ; and two years afterwards, appeared one of his most useful and important publica- tions ; — The World to Come ; or discourses on the joys or sorrows of departed souls at death, and the glory or terror of the resur- rection. This work contains sermons preached on different occa- sions. The invaluable discourse on the " End of Time" has been translated into most European languages, and often printed separ- ately as a tract. The whole work is full of rich, evangelical in- struction, touching pathos, and solemn appeal. It is admirably * Dr. Watts was now in his sixty-third year. LIFEOFWATTS. 39 calculated to alarm the unconverted, arouse the indiiFerent, and animate the believer. The author sets forth, in the most impress- ive manner, the joys and sorrows of the world to come, and calls upon us, in forcible language, to choose the path of life, and avoid that of death. This book has cheered the last hours, of many a timid Christian pilgrim, by its transporting exhibitions of the sub- lime joys that await the believer in mansions of glory ; when brought to dwell for ever with Immanuel, in whose presence is full- ness of joy ; at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore. In relation to this work Dr. Coleman, of Boston, wrote to the author, as follows : — " I think you never wrote, nor did I ever read, discourses more adapted to young and old, high and low. In such a frame one would wish to expire : I am ready to say on it, It is finished — yet may you live to add more." In 1741, Dr. Watts published the first part of his treatise on The Improvement of the Mind ; a book, which, as the author in- forms us, had been the labor of twenty years.* This work, which has met with such universal approbation, is, perhaps, the most use- ful production of the kind in the English language; Two of the most eminent critics of their age have expressed very favorable opinions of its merits. Says Dr. Johnson : — " Few books have been perused by me with greater pleasure than his ' Improvement of the Mind,' of which the radical principles may, indeed, be found in Locke's ' Conduct of the Understanding ;' but they are so ex- panded and ramified by "Watts, as to confer upon him the merit of a work in the highest degree useful and pleasing. Whoever has the care of instructing others may be charged with deficience in his duty if this book is not recommended." The celebrated Robert Hall, with his characteristic modesty, gives the following estimate : " I very highly approve of Dr. Watts' works in general, and par- ticularly that on the ' Improvement of the Mind.' The book needs no recommendation ; it may be considered as an English classic, which it would be nearly as absurd for any living author to recom- mend, as the papers of Addison, or the poetry of Milton. It has already received the most distinguished applause from Johnson, in * The second part, wLich is inferior to the first, was left in manuscript, and published by the editors of his works, Dra. Jennings and Doddridge. 40 LIFEOFWATTS. the most popular of all his works. This applause is fresh in the mind of every man of reading. What consummate vanity would it betray in me, to add my recommendation to a work which has re- ceived the imprimatur of that great dictator in the republic of let- ters !" Such are some of the principal works of Dr. Watts, with the date of their publication. There are a few of his writings whose precise date of publication can not now be ascertained, such as his Essay on the Huin and Recovery of Mankind ; his Discourses on the Passions, which form one of the best philosophical essays on that subject in our language ; and his Discourses on the Love of God, which are among the choicest of his productions. They are written in a glowing and perspicuous style, and abound in beautiful and soul-stirring passages. His Remnants of Time Employed, in Prose and Verse, published since his decease, deserve commendation. Like his Miscellaneous Thoughts, they contain many delightful sentiments. In the Essay on Eedemption, we have a verse which, for its beauty and sublimity will ever be admired by the lovers of sacred poetry. After com- posing several pleasing lines on his lofty theme, the author adds : — " If I could pursue all the wondrous achievements of a dying and a risen Saviour in verse, as fast and as far as nfiy thoughts sometimes attempt to trace them, I should lengthen this ode to many stanzas, and yet at last I should lose both my thoughts and my verse amongst the unknown wonders of his glory, and the ages of eter- nity. Who shall fulfill this boundless song ? What vain pretender dares f The theme surmounts an angel's tongue. And Gabriel's harp despairs. In the spring of 1'739, Dr. Watts was seized with a paralytic at- tack, which, probably, in some degree, impaired his intellectual powers, and from which he but slowly recovered. His latest publications were on the Trinitarian controversy. His work entitled, " The Glory of Christ as God-man, displayed in three Discourses," which was published towards the close of 1746, when he was over seventy years of age, was among his last literary per- LIFEOrWATTS. 41 formances for the press. In this work he strongly advances his fanciful scheme of the pre-existeace of Christ's human soul. It has been well said that Watts studied the doctrine of the Trinity, as some Indian devotees are said to have contemplated the sun, till their own sight was darkened.* The last illness of Dr. Watts is said to have been rather a decay of nature, worn out by infirmity and labor, than any particular dis- ease. He ceased to breathe on the 25th of November, 1748, in the T 5th year of his age. Calmly and peacefully, and "in sure and certain hope" of a glorious immortality did his weary, longing spirit leave its feeble earthly tenement, and wing its way to God, Among his last expressions were- the following. He was often heard to say, — " I bless God I can He down with comfort at night, not being solicitous whether I wake in this world or another." — " I should be glad to read more, yet not in order to be confirmed more on the truth of the Christian religion, or in the truth of its promises, for I believe them enough to venture an eternity on them." — " I would be waiting to see what God will do with me. It is good to say as Mr. Baxter, ' What, when, and where God pleases.' If God should raise me up again I may finish some more of my papers, or God can make use of me to save a soul, and that will be worth living for. If God has no more service for me to do, through grace, I am ready. It is a great mercy to me that I have no manner of fear or dread of death : I could, if God please, lay my head back and die without terror, this afternoon or night. My chief supports are from my view of eternal things, and the interest I have in them : I have no fear of dying ; it would be my greatest comfort to lie down and sleep and wake no more." When he found his spirit tending to impatience, and ready to repine at the afflictive dispensations of Providence, he would thus restrain him- * Happy had it been for him, if he, who humbled his mind to the eom- . position of songs and speUing-booka for children, had applied to his own case our Saviour's words, and in this instance become as a little child him- self! Happy had it been, because, during the whole course of his innocent, and otherwise most peaceful life, he seems never to have been assailed by any other temptation than this ' of the inteUeot, never to have been beset with any other troubles than those in which his own subtlety entangled him. — Dr. Southey's Memoir of Watts. 42 LIFEOrWATTS. self, — " The business of a Christian is to hear the will of God as well as to do it. If I were in health I could only be doing that, and that I may do now. The best thing in obedience is a regard to the will of God, and the way to that is to get our inclinations and aversions as much mortified as we can." Having mentioned the observation of an aged minister, how " the most learned and knowing Christians, when they come to die, have only the same plain promises of the gospel for their support, as the common and unlearned," — he added, " and so I find it. It is the plain promises of the gospel that are my support ; and I bless God that they are plain promises, that do not require much labor and pains to under- stand them ; for I can do notliing now but look into my Bible for some promise to support me, and live upon that." Thus sustained in the last hour of his earthly pilgrimage, the pious Watts cheer- fully resigned his spirit into the hands of his Creator. And in contemplating such a happy, death-bed scene, we may truly " The chamber where the good man meets his fate, Is privileged beyond the common walk of virtuous life Quite on the verge of heaven." Dr. "Watts, though not seemingly insensible to female charms, was never married. In early life he is said to have formed an at- tachment for the amiable, accomplished, and talented Miss Eliza- beth Singer, afterwards the celebrated Mrs. Eowe. Dr. Colman, of Boston, who was personally acquainted with this lady, as well as with Dr. Watts, used to relate an anecdote which Would show that the attachment was mutual. According to his statement, Watts, after considerable procrastination, at length ventured to de- clare his attachment to Miss Singer, and to solicit her hand in marriage. The answer she gave must have been extremely morti- fying to him. She replied that she had long been expecting his addresses, but, on the preceding day, had given her consent to the solicitation of Mr. Rowe. Dr. Watts never formed a second at- tachment. We may add that the sincerest friendship existed be- tween him and Mrs. Eowe through life; and that, on the sudden death of the latter in 1737, a letter — one of the last of her literary LIFE OF WAT T S. 43 performances — was found in her cabinet, addressed to him, accom- panied by the manuscript of her " Devout Exercises" for revision. Our limits will permit only a brief delineation of the character of Dr. Watts. Some of his most prominent qualities, however, will be mentioned. 1. In his physical conformation, he can not be said to have been as highly favored as many others. He measured only about five feet in height, and was of a slender form. His complexion was pale and fair, his eyes small and gray, but when animated, became piercing and expressive ; his forehead was low, his cheek bones rather prominent ; but his countenance was, on the whole, by no means disagreeable. His voice was pleasant, but weak. A stranger would, probably, have been most attracted by his piercing eye whose very glance was able to command attention and awe. An anecdote, in relation to his diminutive and unprepossessing appearance may here be repeated. On one occasion, when he hap- pened to be in a hotel with some friends, a gentleman asked rather contemptuously, — " What ! is that the great Dr. Watts ?" Over- hearing the question. Dr. Watts immediately turned towards him, and repeated the following lines from his Lyric Poems, which are said to have produced a silent admiration, — Were I so tall to reach the pole, Or grasp the ocean with my span, I must he measured by my soul, The mind's the standard of the man. 2. Though not distinguished for any great oratorical powers, yet Dr. Watts possessed many excellences as a preacher. In the pulpit he made use of little gesture, and was seldom vehement, but still there was a peculiar charm about his discourses, which ren- dered them effective, and secured a crowded congregation.* His great excellence may be said to have consisted in an earnest and solemn manner, remarkable freedom of address, a correct enunoia- * His sermons had all the advantages that could be given them, by an impressive elocution, and a manner of delivery which with curious felicity seems to have been at the same time elaborately studied, yet earnestly sin- cere. — Br. Bouthey. 44 LIFEOFWATTS. tion, an easy style, an elegant taste, a glowing exhibition of divine truth, and a serious appeal to the conscience. At the close of his more weighty sentences, he was in the habit of making a short pause, in order to produce a deeper impression upon his hearers, by affording them an opportunity for reflection. In his preparation for the pulpit, he wrote only the heads and particulars of his dis- courses ; and in delivering them, was but little confined to his notes.* 3. With regard to his style of composition, we may observe that it is remarkable for its perspicuity. This has ever been regarded as the first excellence of vrriting or speaking. " Perspicuity," says Quintilian, " is the. first excellence in oratory ; and by how much a person is deficient in genius, by so much let him endeavor to ele- vate and enlarge himself by this beauty of language."f An easy style is also an attainment of great excellence ; and the writings of Dr. Watts fully evince that he was master of such a style. It has been admirably said that his discourses are like streams flowing from a mountain, or rays descending from the sun. There is nothing like labor or study in the construction of his sen- tences, but he seems to write in the same language in which he would have spoken to you. Some of his other prominent qualities as a writer may be enu- merated, such as dignity, harmony, ardor, copiousness of ideas, originaUty of thought, and a happy mode of describing or illustrat- ing his subject. The merit of a graceful writer has been awarded to him by Dr. Johnson. "He was one of the first authors that taught the Dissenters to court attention by the graces of language. Whatever they had among them before, whether of learning or acuteness, was commonly obscured and blunted by coarseness and inelegance of style. He showed them, that zeal and purity might be expressed and enforced by polished diction." * It is no wonder that a man so richly furnished with gifts and graces, was an admired preacher ; when he spoke, such strains of truly Christian eloquence flowed from his lips, and these so apparently animated with zeal for God and the most tender concern for souls and their everlasting salva- tion, as one would think could not be easily slighted or resisted. Br. Jen- nings. \ Institutes of Oratory, 1, 2, & S. LIPEOFWATTS. 45 The principal faults of Ms style consist in redundant phrases, and in the use of some expressions not exactly agreeable to the critical taste of the present age.* 4. He possessed a fertile genius, a lofty imagination, a ready con- ception, a retentive memory, and a mind amply stored with the rich treasures of human and divine learning. It has been beautifully remarked, that he had the copious and heavenly knowledge of the divine, the clear perception and patient thinking of the philosopher, and the rich imagination and sublime rapture of the poet. The versatility of his genius and the variety of his attainments have excited unqualified admiration. " His soul was too large and noble to be confined within narrow limits. He could not be con- tent to leave any path of learning untried, nor to rest in total igno- rance of any science, the knowledge of which might be for his own improvement, or might in any way tend to enlarge his capacity of being useful to others. Hence, he investigated theology in all its branches — he examined nature in all her works — and he pursued philosophy in her profoundest mysteries. He has written for child- hood, youth, maturity, and hoary hairs — he has instructed the sage, the Christian, and the ' multitude who keep holy days' — he has benefitted all ages, and been taught to speak in almost all lan- guages."f 5. He was, through life, a most diligent and successful student, and a devout admirer of the works of nature. He loved to con- template the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Deity, as dis- played in the manifold works of creation ; while he always looked, with the eye of a Christian philosopher, "through nature" up to nature's God. The acquisition of knowledge seems to have been the one grand object which he constantly kept in view. Few persons have sought after learning with greater avidity, or improved to better advantage the golden hours of life. His industiy, in this respect, was truly * His style is harmonious, florid, poetical, and pathetic ; — ^but too diffuse, too many words, — especially in Ms later works, — ^and his former are too much loaded with epithets. — Yet on the whole he is an excellent writer.— AU that he has written is well worth reading. — Doddridge. \ Mibier's Life and Times of Watts. 46 LIFE OF WATTS. indefatigable. " In his study, his delightful recess, his terrestrial paradise, he was always enlarging his stores of knowledge, or pre- paring them for a communication to the world. His conversation was such as in all respects became the man of wisdom, the man of God. His observations on others were deep and penetrating, and it is probable their excellence or defects furnished him with hints for several papers in his Miscellanies in which the different charac- ters of mankind are delineated, but so as to guard against any per- sonal offense in a single instance. When he went abroad among the scenes of rural verdure, beauty and fruitfulness, like the bee in its industrious ranges for celestial sweets, he was solicitous to gather fresh food for heavenly contemplation, or fresh materials and orna- ments for future compositions. The pastures covered with flocks and herds, the fields waving with the ripening harvests, the groves resounding with the melody of the birds enlivened his praises, and he saw, heard, and confessed his God in all. The sMes by day struck his soul with admiration of the immense power, wisdom, and goodness of their divine Author ; the moon, and starry train by night increased his conceptions of Deity ; and, in the open manu- script of God, the wide extended heavens, he read the letters of his great and wonderful name with profound homage and veneration. All that met his eye or ear was laid, as it were, under a perpetual tribute to yield him improvement, and consecrate and enrich his moments of leisure and necessary cessation from his studies ; and in short, nature was only a scale to his devout soul by which to ascend to the knowledge and adoration of God."* 6. As a poet, he has been highly applauded. If his life had been devoted to the cultivation of his poetical talents, he would, probably, have occupied the front rank among the most illustrious poets of the world. But it must be remembered, in estimating his poetical character, that he studied the art of poetry, principally, as the amusement of a man of letters. His chief excellencies consist in his great variety of powers, his originality of conception, and his admirable skill in design ; while the principal errors in some of his poems, are a faulty versification, inelegant construction, and prosaic phraseology. Cowper, who was an ardent admirer of his poetry, * Gibbon's Memoirs of Watts. LIFBOFWATTS. 47 c6nsidered him to be endowed with true poetical ability ; careless, indeed, and for the most part inattentive to those niceties which constitute elegance of expressionj but frequently sublime in his con- ceptions, and masterly in his execution. And Dr. Johnson says : " His judgment was exact, and he noted beauties and faults with very nice discernment ; his imagination, as the ' Dacian Battle' proves, was vigorous and active, and the stores of knowledge were large by which his fancy was to be supphed. His ear was well tuned, and his diction was elegant and copious." But the same critic fails to appreciate the beauties of religious poetry ; for, in relation to the pious strains of Watts, he singularly, adds : " His devotional poetry is, like that of others, unsatisfactory. The paucity of its topics enforces perpetual repetition, and the sanctity of the matter rejects the ornaments of figurative diction.* It is sufficient for Watts to have done better than others what no man has done well." These remarks of Johnson have often been controverted, and ably refuted. They are roost satisfactorily dis- proved by Milner, in his lAfe and Times of Watts. "The objection advanced against sacred poetry," he remarks, " on account of the ' paucity of its topics,' may be satisfactorily refuted by every Chris- tian, who examines into his own experience, unfolds the volume of revelation, and looks abroad upon the fields of nature. Instead of religion being confined and limited in its range, it embraces as many subjects as the rays of light that are continually streaming around us, or the moments that compose the sum total of our ex- istence. To the man of contemplative piety, the whole visible crea- tion becomes one great temple; to him the floods clap their hands; the trees of the field rejoice and are glad; and the mountains break forth into singing, in adoration of the supreme Intelligence. Every sun that shines, and every star that twinkles — every forest that waves, and every ocean that roars — every mountain that rises, and every valley that sweeps — leads him to the Creators footstool ; and from every part of the earth's surface, there ascends, to the eye of faith, a mystic ladder reaching up to heaven, and the 'Lord God is above it.'. As Watts beautifully sings in one of his Lyrics: * Johnson seems to have forgotten, as Dr. Southey well observes, that of all poetry, inspired poetry is the most figurative. 48 L I F B OF W A T T S . What are my eyes, but aids to see The glories of the Deity Inscrib'd with beams of light On flowers and stars ? "E from the book of nature we turn to the book of God, the marvels of near six thousand years are presented to our attention, each bearing a sacred impress, supplying an infinite variety of sub- jects, adapted to the epic, tragic, and sentimental muse. Eeligion embraces all the perfections and works of Deity — creation, provi- dence, and redemption — angelic visitations to the tents of eastern patriarchs — the incarnation, life, miracle, death, and resurrection of Christ — the gorgeous visions which flit like shadows in the mysteri- ous twilight of the Apocalypse — the solemnities of universal judg- ment — the glorious heights of heaven — and the dark abysses of the unfathomed pit. The Bible must become a sealed book to the Christian, the memory of his own experience fly forgotten as a dream, and the bright and beautiful world become a. blank, before he can complain of the paucity of devotional topics.'' 7. Above all. Dr. Watts will ever be distinguished for his fervent and exalted piety. His piety was conspicuously manifested in his daily walk and conversation ; ■ and it glows on almost every page of his works. It has attracted the particular notice of the great English critic. " The truth is, " says Johnson, " that whatever he took in hand was, by his incessant solicitude for souls, converted to Theology. As piety predominated in his mind, it is diffused over his works : under his direction it may be truly said, Theologioe Philisophia ancillatur, philosophy is subservient to evangelical instruction : it is difficult to read a page without learning, or at least wishing, to be better. The attention is caught by indirect in- struction, and he that sat down only to reason is on a sudden com- pelled to pray." In concluding our brief review of the life, character, and vmtings of the eminently pious Watts, we would add the beautiful enco- miums of two good j udges. In the language of his first biographer, Dr. Gibbons ;— "Perhaps very few of the descendents of Adam have made nearer approaches to angels in intellectual powers and divine LIFBOP-WATTS, 49 dispositions than Dr. Watts ; and among the numerous stars which have adorned the hemisphere of the Christian Church he has shone and will shine an orb of the first magnitude." Dr. Vicesimus Knox, so favorably know in the republic of letters, thus expresses himself, in his Christian Philosophy : — " For my own part, I can not but think this good man approached as nearly to Christian perfection as any mortal ever did in this sublunary state ; and, therefore, I consider him as a better interpreter of the Chris- tian doctrine than the most learned critics, who, proud of their reason and their learning, despised or neglected the very life and soul of Christianity, the living, everlasting Gospel, the supernatural influ- ence of divine grace : and be it ever remembered, that Dr. Watts v as a man who studied the abstrusest sciences, and was as well qualified to become a verbal critic, or a logical disputant on the Scriptures, as the most learned among the doctors of the Sorboune, or the greatest proficients in polemical divinity. I mention this circumstance for the consideration of those who insinuate that the doctrines of grace can not be entertained but by ignorant, as well as fanatical persons, by persons uninitiated in the mysteries of philosophy." 3 CHOICE WORKS IS^^C ^WA.TTS, D.D. DEATH AND HEAVEN; OK, THE LAST ENEMY CONQUERED, AND SEPARATE SPIRITS MADE PERFECT: WITH AW AOCOTJMT OF THE EIOH ' VARIETY OP THEIR EMPLOYMENTS AND PLEASURES : ATTEMPTED IN TWO FUNERAL DISCOURSES, IN MEMORY OP SIR JOHN HARTOPP AND HIS LADY. DISCOUKSE I. THE CONQUEST OVER DEATH, DESCRIBED IN A rUNEEAt DISCOUESE IN MEMOET OF THE LADT HAKTOPP. THE INTRODUCTION. I PERSUADE myself that none of you are unacquainted with that mournful providence that calls me to the' service of this day.* The words which were borrowed from the lips of the dying, I am desired to improve for the instruction and comfort of those that live. They are written in 1 Cor. xv. 26 : — "the last enemy that SHALL BE DESTROYED, IS DEATH.'' When a nation hath lain for whole ages under the power of some mighty tyrant, and has suffered pei-petual ravages from his hands, what gladness runs through the land, at the sure prediction of his ruin ! aud how is every inhabitant pleased while he hears of the approaching downfall of his great enemy ! " For this is he that has slain ray fa,ther or my mother, my children, or my dearest rel- atives, and is still making havoc of the remnant of my friends, while I myself stand in hourly danger." This pleasure grows up into more perfect joy, when we are assured this is the last ty- rant that shall arise, the last enemy that shall afflict us ; for he shall have no successor, and we shall be for ever free. Such should be the rejoicing of all the saints, when they hear so desirable and divine a promise as the words of my text ; The last enemy that shall he destroyed, is death. To improve this glorious proposition, let us consider these four things, with a reflection or two upon each of them : I. How death appears to be an enemy to the saints. II. Why it is called the last enemy, or the last that shall be destroyed. III. How it is to be destroyed, and what are the steps or grad- ual efforts towards its destruction. IV. What are the advantages that the saints receive by the destruction of this last enemy. * Kov. 9, 1111, the lady Hartopp died, and this discourse was delivered at Stoke Newingtoo, Ifov. 25, following. 54 CHOICE woEKS or Section I. — ^death an enemy even to good men. The first enquiry is, how, or in what sense death appears to be an enemy to the saints ? That it is in general an eneray to human nature, is sufficiently evident from its first introduction into the world; for it was brought in as an execution of the 'first threaten- ing given to Adam in paradise, Qen. ii. IV. In the day thou eat- est thou shalt die. It came in as a punishment for sin, and every punishment in some respect opposes our interest and our happi- ness. When it seized on man at first, and planted the seeds of mortality in his nature, he then began to be deprived of that peace and health, that vigor and immortality which he possessed before his fall, till at last it brought him down to the dust ; and ever since, all the sons of Adam have found and felt it an enemy to their na- tures. To sinners, indeed, it is an enemy in a more dreadful sense, and its attendants are more terrible a thousand fold. For, besides all the common miseries of the flesh which they sustain, it delivers over their spirits into everlasting misery ; it finishes their reprieve and their hope for ever ; it plunges them at once into all the ter- rors of a most awakened conscience, and cuts them off from all the amusements and cares of this fife, which laid their guilt and their conscience asleep for a season. Death consigns over a sinner to the chains of the grave, and the chains of hell together, and binds and reserves him a prisoner of despair for the most complete torments of the second death. But I would confine my discourse here, only to believers, for it is with respect to them this chapter is written. I know death is often called their friend, because it puts an end to their sins and sor- rows ; but this benefit arises only from the covenant of grace, which sanctifies it to some good purposes to the children of God. It is constrained to become their friend in some instances, contrary to its own nature and its original design : But there is reason enough, if we take a survey of its own nature, and its present ap- pearances, to call it an enemy still, upon these following accounts : 1. Death has generally many terrible attendants and forerun- ners when it comes ; terrible to nature and the fiesh of the most exalted Christians. Here, should I begin to describe the long and dismal train of death, the time would fail me. Shall I mention the sickness and the pain, the sharp anguish of the body, and sometimes the sharp- er methods of medicine to relieve it, all which prove useless and vain in that day : Shall I recount the tedious and uneasy hours, ISAACWATTS, D. D. 55 the tiresome and sleepless nights, when the patient longs for the slow return of the morning ; and still when the light breaks, he finds new uneasiness, and wishes 'for the shadow and darkness again ? Shall I speak of the dulness of the natural spirits, and the clogs that.hang heavy upon the soul in those hours ; so that the better part of man is bound and oppressed, and shut up, and cannot exert itself agreeable to the character of an intellectual being 1 Besides, all the designs of the mind are interrupted and broken in death ; all that the saint intended to do for God, is cut off at once, and his holy purposes are precluded, which often adds to the trouble of a dying Christian : Psalm cxlvi. 4. When man re- turns to his earth, in that very day his thoughts perish. Shall I put you in mind of the sighs ' and sorrows of dearest friends that stand around the bed all in tears, and all despairing ? Shall I speak of the last convulsions of nature, the sharp conflict of the extreme moments, and the struggling and painful efforts of departing life, which none can know fully but those that have felt them, and none of the dead come back to give us an account ? Is it possible for us to survey these scenes of misery, and not to be- lieve that the hand of an enemy has been there ? The bodies of the saints are the temples of the Holy Ghost, and the members of Christ ; 1 Cor. vi. 16, 19. Death murders these bodies, these members of the Lord, and ruins these temples to the dust, and may well be called their enemy upon this account. 2. Death acts like an enemy, when it makes a separation between the soul and the body. It divides the nature of man in halves, and tears the two constituent parts of it asunder. Though this becomes an advantage to the soul of the saint through the covenant and appointment of grace, yet to have such an inti- mate union dissolved between flesh and spirit carries something of terror in it; and there may be an innocent reluctance in the nature of the best Christian against such an enemy as this : therefore St. Paul, in 2 Cor. v. 4, does not directly desire to be unclothed, but rather to be clothed upon, that mortality might he swallowed up of life ; that is, to be translated at once into an immortal state. The soul and body have been long acquainted with each other, and the soul has performed almost all its operations by the use of the senses and the limbs : It sees by the eye, it hears by the ear, it acts by the hands, and by the tongue it converses. Now to be separated at once from all these, and to be at once conveyed into a new strange world, a strange and unknown state both of being and 66 CHOICE WOKKS OF action, has something in it so sui-piisiug, that it is a little frightful to the nature of man, even when he is sanctified and fitted for heaven. And as the soul is dismissed by death into a state of separation, so the body, like a fallen tabernacle, is forsaken, lies uninhabited and desolate. Shall I lead your thoughts back to the bed where your dear relatives expired? and give you a sight of the dead, whose beauty is turning apace into corruption, and all the loveliness of countenance fled for ever ? The body, that curious engine of divine workmanship, is become a moveless lump : Death sits heavy upon it, and the sprightlioess and vigor of life is perished in every feature and in every limb? Shall we go down to the dark chambers of the grave, where each of the dead lie in their cold mansions, in beds of darkness and dust ? The shadows of a long evening are stretched over them, the curtains of a deep midnight are drawn around them, the worm lies under them, and the worm covers them. A saint is no more exempted from all these fiightful attendants of death than a sinner is. Those eyes that have been perpetually lifted up to the God of heaven in prayer, lie closed under ground. That tongue that has spoken much for God in the world, lies sileat in death. Those hands that have ministered to the necessities of the saints, and those feet that have gone often to the house of God, death has confined tl^em in his chains. Those natural powers that have been active in the service of the gospel, can speak, can move, can act no more. But I need not recite these things to you, the images of them are too fresh and painful, and sit too heavy upon your remembrance. 3. Death is an enemy to the saint, so far as it hinders him from the enjoyment of his perfect heaven, for it keeps one part of him in the grave for many years or ages. Let us think of the dust of the ancient martyrs, the dust of the apostles, and the holy prophets : Let us look many ages backward to the dust of David, and Abraham, and Noah, to the dust of Adam, the first of men : How long have their souls waited in heaven, as it were in a widowed estate ? How. long has their flesh been mingled with common earth, and laid confined under the bands of death, useless to all the glorious purposes of their forma- licm an 1 their being? A tedious extent of time ! Four or five thousand years, whei-ein they have done nothing for God in the body, and in the body received nothing from God ? For death hinders a believer from some of the business of heaven, and some of the blessedness of it. 1. From some of the business of heaven : It is only the soul that ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 57 is then received to glory, and dwells there alone for a season, while death keeps the body piisoner in the grave; it is only the soul that glorifies its Maker in that upper world, the world of spirits, for the flesh lies silent in the dust : The grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee, O Lord; /samA xxxviii. 18. The body is redeemed with the blood of Christ, as well as the soul, but death puts fetters upon it, and forbids it to serve its Redeemer. 2. The believer is restrained also by death from some of the blessedness of heaven ; it is only the soul enjoys the delight, and that too only in its abstracted nature, and pure intellectual capacity; it is cut oflf by death from all that rich variety of pleasure which rises from its communion with so noble a frame as the body of man is. It has no senses to receive the satisfactions that arise from the material part of heaven : It has no eyes to behold the glorified flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ; no ears to hear his voice; no tongue to converse with its Saviour. And though we are sure there is a holy correspondence between Christ Jesus and separate souls, for we are said to be present with the Lord, when we are absent from, the body ; 2 Cor. v. 8. yet this correspondence cannot be so com- plete and glorious, as it shall be, when with our eyes we shall see God in the form of a man. 3. It is granted, that the separate heaven of souls is abundant pleasure beyond what we can now conceive or express ; and our friends, departed in the faith, enjoy the delightful presence of their Lord, and the heavenly converse of their fellow-spirits. That honored and deceased saint, whom we this day mourn, dwells with that Jesus with whom she had long been acquainted ; She converses with him in heaven, whom she loved much upon earth : She finds herself safe for ever in his hands, to whose care she committed her immortal concerns ; and she rejoices in the sight of him above, with whom she heM many hours of sweet correspondence by faith here below. Doubtless also, she holds sweet conversation with the holy souls that went to heaven before her. A soul so greatly desirous of spiritual discourse as she was, so constantly prepared for pious conference and mutual communications of sacred know- ledge, must needs enjoy that privilege, and that pleasure, in that upper world, where there is nothing all round her, but what is holy and divine. But it is certain she cannot enjoy that perfection of humble society with Christ in his glorified human nature, nor with fellow-saints, while she is deprived of one part of herself, h§r body lying silent and moveless in the prison of the grave ! and she yet waits for the more complete satisfaction of all her hopes, when death her last enemy shall be destroyed, and her body redeemed 58 CHOICE WORKS OP from the dust, together with the bodies of all the saints. This leads me to the next particular : 4. Death is an enemy to believers, because it divides them for a season from the company of their known and valuable friends, and parts the dearest relatives asunder. Though dying saints be transmitted into better company, even to the spirits of the just made perfect, yet it is a mournful thought to be separated so long from those whom they loved with so strong and just an aifection. It adds a sharpness even to the last agonies, when we think we must leave parents, children, or friends behind us, whom we love so tenderly ; that we must leave them amidst the sorrows and the temptations, of a vain world and a corrupt age ; that we must leave them struggling with all the difBculties, the hardships, and the dangers that attend a Christian in his travels through this wilderness, and not see their faces again in the flesh, nor converse with them in the manner we were wont to do, tiU the heavens be no more. Upon this account also death is a worse enemy to those that survive, for they sustain the biggest loss : It deprives them of their dear and delightful relatives without any recompense, for the world grows so much the more undesirable to a saint by ,the death of every friend. Children are torn away from tiie embraces of their parents, and the wife is seized from the bosom. This is, at it were, tearing the flesh asunder of those whose hearts are joined ; this gives occasion to bitter sorrows, to long and heavy complaints. How suddenly are we sometimes deprived' of the desires of the eyes, and the coniforts of life, the ornaments and the supports of our earthly state ? And we have lost all their love, and their counsel, and their care ; all their sweet sympathy of joys and sorrows, all their agreeable conversation and heavenly advice. What a tedious way have we to walk through without such, a guide or helper 2 We have lost the benefit of their watchful eye, their holy jealousy for our souls, their fervent and daily prayers. But there are records in heaven, where all the prayers of the saints are kept ; and God often turns over his register, and, in distant successive years, pours down blessings upon the posterity, and multiplies his graces amongst them, in answer to the requests that were offered up on earth by the saints that are now with God. 5, The last reason I shall mention to prove death an enemy to the saints, is the terror that it fills the mind with long before-hand. There are but few that, in their best estate on earth are got quite above these terrors, and there are none can say, I have been always free from theni j so that in the younger days of their Christianity ISAAC WATTS, D. D, 59 at least, all have been afraid of death ; and these fears are enemies to our peace. Some spend all their lives in this bondage of fear^ and that upon different accounts. A Christian of weaker faith cries out within himself, "How shall 1 pass that awful moment that sets my soul naked before the eyes of a holy God, when I know not whether I am clothed with the righteousness of his Son or no, whether I shall stand the test in that day ? I dread that solemn, that important hour that shall put me into an unchangeable state of miseries that are infinite, or of infinite blessedness. How shall I, that am a sinner, stand before that tribunal and that Judge, in whose sight no mortal can be in- nocent f My evidences for heaven are dark and cloudy, that I can- not read them ; they have been ofteu sullied with fresh guilt, and I doubt whether I am new born or no, or reconciled to God. And what if I should be mistaken in this afiair of the greatest moment 1 The mistake can never be rectified ; therefore I shake at the thoughts of death, that hour of decision ; for my faith is weak." Another saint of a strong and lively faith, but of a timorous temper, cries out, " How shall I bear the agonies and the pang's of death ? I am not afraid to enter into eternity ; the grace of Christ, and his gospel, have given me hope and courage enough to be dead ; but I am still afraid of dying ; it is a hard and painful work, how shall I sustain the sharp conflict ? I shiver at the thoughts of ven- turing through that cold flood that divides betwixt this wilderness and the promised land." Another Christian is too much unacquainted with the world of of spirits, with the nature of the separate heaven, with the particular business and blessedness of holy souls departed ; and he is afraid to venture out of this region of flesh and blood, into a vast and un- known world. Though he has good hope through grace, that he shall arrive safe at heaven ; yet the heavenly country is so unknown a land, and the valley of entrance to it so dark, that he fears to pass into it through the shadow of death. Another is terrified at the thoughts of death, because he knows not how to part with his dear relatives in the flesh, and to leave them exposed to an unkind age and a thousand dangers. " If I had none to leave behind me, I could die with cheerfulness ; but while I think of such a separation, the thought of death has terror in it." Thus upon various accounts a good man may have fearful ap- prehensions of dying ; and that which" carries so much terror about it, may well be called an enemy. / 60 CHOICE ■WORKS OP Before we proceed any further, let us mate two reflections on the first general head : I. If death be an enemy to the best of men in so many respects, then we may infer the great evil of sin : For it was sin that brought death into this our world; Bom. v. 12. By one man sin entered into the world, and death hy sin ; and so death passed upon all, for that all have sinned. We are too ready to conceive a slight opinion of the evil of sin, because it is so common to the best of men, and so constant an at- tendant on human nature daily and hourly ; we entertain too gentle and harmless thoughts of it, because its biggest evil is of a spiritual kind, and invisible ; we see not that infinite Majesty which it dis- honors, that spotless holiness of God which it offends, the glory and perfection of that law which is broken by it ; We can take but short and scanty notices of the injury that it does to God the su- preme Spirit, while we are shut up in tabernacles of flesh. But here in these scenes of death, we may survey the sensible and mighty injury that sin has done to the nature of man, and thence inter how ofiensive it is to God. By our eyes and our ears, we may be terribly convinced, that it is no little evil that could occasion such spreading and durable mischief. We cannot frame a just notion of what man was in his state of perfect innocency, in his original beauty, and honor, and immortal frame ; and therefore we cannot so well judge of the vastness of the loss which we sustain by sin : but we can see and feel the for- midable attendants on death, and learn and believe that it is a root of unknown poisoned bitterness, that has produced such cursed fruit : Especially if we remember that all the sorrows before de- scribed, fall upon the saints themselves, even where sin is pardoned, and death has lost its sting. But if we descend in contemplation to the endless and unknown misery that waits upon the death of a sinner, and say, all these are the effects of sin ; how inexpressibly dreadful will the cause appear? The wise man has pronounced them fools, by inspiration, that make a mock at such mischief; Prov. xiv. 9. II. We may here learn the greatness of the love of Christ, that would venture into the land of death, and conflict with this mighty enemy, and yield to the power of it for a season, for our sakes. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends ; John xv. 13. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he died for us ; 1 John iii. 16. Rom. v. 3. Many terrible attendants of death did our Lord meet and struggle with beyond what an^ of his sfiints can feel. Death, like a liort, ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 61 ran furious upon him, as it does upon a sinner, its proper prey. He met death in its full strength and dominion, for he had all our sins upon him ; and death had its own sharp sting when our Lord en- tered the combat. There was the wrath of God which was threat- ened in the broken law to mingle with his pangs and agonies of nature : This made his soul exceeding sorrowful / all his inward powers were amazed, and his heart oppressed with heaviness ; Mark xiv. 33, 34. He was almost overwhelmed in the garden, before the thorns or the nails came near him ; and on the cross he complains of the forsakings of God his almighty fiiend, when death his mighty enemy was just upon him ; and all this, saith he, to every believer, I bore for thy sake : My love was stronger than death. Section H. — death is the last enemt I PBOCBED now to the second general proposed, and that is to en- quire, in what sense death is said to be the last enemy, or the last that shall be destroyed : For we may join this word last, either to death, or to destruction ; and in each sense it affords comfort to the saints. 1. It is the last enemy that the saints have to grapple with in this world. The three great adversaries of a Christian are the flesh, the world, and the devil, and they assault him often in this life. Death comes behind, and brings up the rear ; the saint combats with this enemy, and finishes all the war. Every believer has listed himself under the banner of- Christ, who is the Captain of his Salva- tion. When he first gives himself up to the Lord, he renounces every thing that is inconsistent with his faith and hope, he aban- dons his former slavery, undertakes the spiritual warfare, and enters the field of battle. It is a necessary character of the followers of Christ, that they fight with the flesh, subdue corrupt nature, sup- press their irregular appetites, give daily wounds to the body of sin; CoZ. iii. 5. ^o»i. viii. 13. They fight against this world ; they refuse to comply with the temptations of it, when it would allure them astray from the path of duty ;. they defy its frowns and dis- couragements, and break through all its oppositions in their way to heaven ; James iv. 4. They resist Satan when he tempts them to sin, and vanquish him by the sword of the Spirit, the sword of God ; Eph. iv. 11, 12, lY. and when he accuses them, and attempts to bring terror into their souls, they overcome him, and cast him down hy the blood of the Lamb ; Rev. jdi. 10, 11. They are made conquerors over these adversaries in the strength of Christ. Now 62 CHOICE WORKS OF the pangs of death are the last troublers of their peace ; death is the last enemy that attacks them, and some have very terrible con- flicts with it. It was in these agonies, in this sharp contention, the words of my text were uttered by that honored saint whose memory will be always precious, and whose loss we this day mourn. This cheer' ful language of hope, among many other scriptures, broke out from her lips. Thus lively was her faith in a dying hour. Methinks I hear her speaking the words with a firm trust in the promise; The last enemy that shall he destroyed is death. And this encour- aged her onward through the few remaining struggles of life and pain. It is as if she had said, " I have given myself up long ago to Christ, I engaged myself young in his service, I have fought with sin, I have learned to subdue flesh and sense, and to live by the faith of the Son of God : I have not courted the flatteries of the world, the vain shows of life ; and I have been enabled to despise the frowns of it, and been kept stedfast in my profession, in the most discouraging and the darkest times. Through the grace of Christ / have overcome the evil one / there remains but one enemy more, whose name is death ; and I trust in the same grace still to obtain complete victory." Eejoice, ye dear relatives, let all the friend* of the deceased rejoice, her name is now written down in heaven amongst the overcomers. 2. Death may be called the last enemy, because it is not utterly destroyed till the resurrection, till Christ hath done all his work upon earth, till he has subdued all his other adversaries, and made use of death as his slave, to destroy many of themj It is in this sense especially that the words of my text are written by St. Paul ; 1 Cor. XV. 24, 25. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father ; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and all power ; for he must reign ' till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed, is death. With reg;ird to each particular Chris- tian, all other enemies are destroyed when he dies, for whither he goes, they cannot come ; he puts ofi" the body of flesh and of sin to- gether ; he leaves every corruption behind him, when he ascends to the company of the spirits of the just made perfect. The smiles and the frowns of this vain and vexing world, are too far off to in- fluence the inhabitants of heaven ; and Satan, the tempter and ac- cuser, is for ever forbid entrance at the gates of that holy city. But death holds one part of the saint in his prison, the grave : And though the departed soul has overcome the terrors of this enemy, and triumphs in this expression, death, where is thy sting? yet I S A A C W A T T S , D. D. 03 the body is confined as a prisoner under bis power : But the hour is coming, when those that are dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and live. All the prisons of the saints shall be broke to pieces, and burnt up, and the keeper destroyed for ever. Let us make these two reflections on the second general head of this discourse : I. What abundant encouragement may we derive from hence, to e^ngage us betimes in a war with all the other enemies of our salvation, that having overcome them, we may be assured death is the last enemy we shall meet with : And then also we may face death with a braver courage, may conflict with it with better suc- cess, may vanquish it by a lively faith, and rejoice in the prospect of its final destruction. The same armor of God, the same divine weapons, and the same almighty assistances by which we have subdued our former adversaries, sin, Satan, and the world, shall be suflScient to gain this conquest too. We cannot begin the holy warfare too soon ; none of us are too young to be assaulted by death ; but let it come never so early in the morning of our days, it is the last enemy that we can fear, if we are listed in the army of Christ, and have begun the glorious war. I would address myself to the younger branches of the mourning house, and say, have ye had such a noble example of victory over sin and death in vain? Will ye basely submit to the slavery of the flesh, and yield tamely to the oppositions of this world, which were so bravely resisted by her that is gone before you ? Will ye love this world, which is at enmity with God, and has ever been at enmity with ail the saints ? Are ye content to have your names for ever excluded from that honorable list of conquerors, where the names of your ancestors shine before the throne of God, and are recorded with honor in the memory of his churches ? Think how dreadful a moment that will be, when you shall look death in the face, if ye have not begun to wage war with sin and Satan before ! How dreadful to have many enemies at once assaulting you ! the lusts of your own heart, raging, desires after the enjoyments of this world, the horrors of conscience, the buffetings of the devil, and the pangs of death. What will ye do in the day of such a visita^ tion ? And remember, that though death be the last enemy of the saints, it is not thus with sinners ; it does but transmit them into the world of damned spirits, where enemies multiply upon them, and grow more outrageous. Besides the bitter anguish of their own conscience, they have the wrath of a God whom they have long provoked, and the malice of evil angels th«ir tormentors, to conflict with to all eternity. But we hope better things of you, 64 CHOICE ■W^OEKS OP and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak ; Heb. vi.9. II. What divine comfort is there in my text for aged Christiaiis and dying saints, who have been watchful and vigorous in their war with sin, and gained many victories over this world and Satan, who is called the god of it ! What a delightful view such persons have, when upon the borders of life ! Bear up with divine bold- ness, ye heirs of glory, for you have but one adversary more to fight with : Let your faith and patience, and holy courage, hold out a little longer, and victory and triumph are yours for ever. There is no enemy lies in ambush behind the tomb ; when you have passed the bars of death, you are out of the reach of all ad- versaries. Beyond the grave, the coast is all clear for ever : the country flows with rich and untasted pleasures ; every inhabitant is an inward friend ; and peace, and joy, and love smile in every countenance. Will an old saint complain that he finds many in- firmities attend his age, that his senses are feeble, that his eyes are dim, that Satan now and then arises from hell, and casts a gloom and darkness around his soul, and buffets him sorely in that dark- ness ? Will he complain that his natural spirits are heavy, that the world is troublesome to him, and every thing in life painful ? Methinks it is a consolation equal to all these sorrows, that he is just entering into the last field of battle ; the last hour of contro- versy is begun ; a few strokes more will decide the strife, and make him an eternal conqueror. Behold, I come quickly, saith our Lord, hold fast that which thou hast gained, ,that no man take thy crown J Rev. iii. 11. Section III. — the destruction of death. The third thing we are to inquire is, how death is destroyed, and what are the steps, or gradual efibrts, towards its destruction. The person that has this honor put upon him to subdue this universal tyrant is our Lord Jesus Christ ; so the words inform us all round my text. Though his mediation for sinners was sufficient to have prevailed with God to destroy death at once, yet it was agreed upon in the eternal counsels, that for wise ends and pur- poses it should be done by degrees. His blood was of sufficient value to have procured for his elect a deliverance from every enemy at once, and a translation to heaven as soon as they were born ; but it was wisely concerted betwixt the Father and the Son, that we should pass through temptations, difficulties, and death it- self; that by feeling the sharp assaults of our enemies, we might ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 65 De better acquainted with the greatness of our salvation, and pay a larger tribute of thants and honors to our deliverer. The steps whereby death is destroyed,, are these : 1. It is subdued by the death of Christ ; its sting was then taken away, that is, the guilt of sin ; 1 Cor. xv. 56, 57. The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law ; hut thanks be to God who givetk us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Which verses may thus be explained : Death was the punishment threatened by the law of sin ; but Christ, as our surety, having sustained the execution of that threatening, and answered tlie law by a satisfaction equal to the offence, death has no more power over him. God has raised him up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holdenofit; Acts ii. 24. And as Christ by his dying is said to finish trans- gression, and make an end of sin, because he has taken away its power to condemn believers, though he has not yet utterly de- stroyed its being, so he is said to have abolished death ; 2 Tim. i. 10. Because he has so far diminished, and made void its power, that it shall not do any final mischief to the saints. It is like a serpent whose sting is taken away, and whose teeth are broken out ; it may fright us, and do us some injury, but it cannot inflict a venomous or fatal wound. Now the believer, by a lively faith, shares in this victory of Christ over death, and gives thanks to God for it. He knows that though it may hurt his body, and bring it down to the grave lor a season, yet it cannot send the soul to destruction, nor confine the body to the dust any longer than Christ shall permit. 2. Death is taken captive and enslaved by Christ at his resur- rection and ascension, and made to serve his holy purposes ; Psalm Ixviii. 18. Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive. This is spoken of our Lord Jesus, who has taken into his own dominion death and the devil, who led the world captive. The enemy is not escaped out of the hands of this conqutror, but is put under his yoke, and constrained into his service. Death, in its first character, was the very threatening and curse of the law of God, and includes in it all misery : but Christ having borne the cui'se, has redeemed his people from it; Gal. iii. 13. And now he has taken as many as he pleases of the threatenings and terrors of the law into his own new covenant, the covenant of grace ; and has sanctified their nature, and made them blessings to the saints ; he has turned the curse into a blessing ; Deut. xxiii. 5 ; so that afflictions, and pains, and sorrows, and death itself, are no longer,a 60 C II O I C E W O R K S O F curse to them, for they are ordained by the wisdom and grace of Christ to promote their best interest. Death, in its original design, was the under-servant of God's avenging justice ; it was the jailor to bring _ the_ soul out of the body before the divine tribunal, there to receive its condemnation to hell. It was the executioner both to torment and to destroy the flesh, and send the spirit into everlasting misery. But Christ having answered all the demands of this avenging justice, has also purchased the sovereignty over death ; and though sometimes, when it seizes a saint, it may for the present signify his displeasure, as in 1 Cor. xi. 30, yet it always fulfills the designs of his love, and conveys them into his own delightful presence ; therefore, as soon as we are absent from the body, we are said to be present with the Lord ; 2 Cor. v. 8 ; and when we depart from the flesh, it is to be with Christ ; Phil. i. 23. Death was ordained at first to be a slave to Satan, by the righteous appointment of God, both death and the devil are executioners of his wrath ; and Satan is said to have some power over death ; Heb. ii. 14. But Christ, by dying, has subdued Satan, spoiled him of his destroying weapons, has made void his authority, especially with regard to believers ; he has taken death out of his power, and manages it himself ; and thus he de- livers them who through fear of death were held in a long and painful bondage ; ver. 15. It is in such views of these that the apostle says to the Corinth- ian believers, all things are yours, things present, and things to come, this world in the joys and sorrows of it, life and death, all are yours, and ye are Christ's ; 1 Cor. iii. 22, 23. You have an interest and a share in the possessions and the power of Christ over all things so far as may promote your happiness ; Christ makes all things, even death itself, work together for the good of his people; Horn. viii. 28. By death he puts an end to the body of sin, and fiees the soul from all those ruffling passions, those inquietudes of the blood, and disorders of nature ; those strong and perverse ap- petites that cost the Christian so much toil to subdue, and brought him so often under guilt, darkness, and sorrow. By death he de- livers the believer from the pains and infirmities of the body, the perpetual languishings of a weakly constitution, and the anguish of acute diseases. He constrains death to give the weary saint release fiom all the miseries of the present state, and to hide him from the fury of the oppressor. The grave is God's hiding place from the storms and tumults of the world ; there the weary are at rest, and the wicked cease from troubling : and instead of consigning us over to the full malice of the devil, death is made a means to con- ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 67 vey us away from all his assaults, and translate us into that coun- try, where he has no power to enter. And when the soul is dis- missed into the bosom of a reconciled God, by the ministry of death, the body is put to rest in the grave ; the grave, which is sanctified into a bed of rest for all the followers of Christ, since the Lord and Master has Iain there. In the gospel of Christ, the name of death is altered into sleep. Christ, who has subdued it, seems- to have given it this new name, that it might not have a frightful sound in the ears of his beloved. Though it was sometimes called sleep in the Old Testament, yet that chiefly regarded the silence, and darkness, and inactivity of that state ; whereas in the New Testament, and in the xiith of Daniel, it is called sleep, to denote that there is an awaking-time. The ancient Christians, upon this account, called the church-yard, where they buried the dead, %oijii7yT^ptov, a sleeping-place. And though the grave may be termed the prison of death, yet death is not the lord of the prison ; he can detain the captives there but during the pleasure of Christ, for he who is alive for evermore, has the keys of death and hell, that is, of the separate state ; Rev. i. 18. Now this is the true reason why Christians have spoken so many kind things of death, which is the king of terrors to a natural man. They call it a release from pain and sin, a messenger of peace, the desired hour, and the happy moment. All this is spoken while they behold it with an eye of faith in the htods of Christ, who has subdued it to himself, and constrained it to serve the designs of his love to them. 3. When it has done all Christ's work, it shall be utterly de- stroyed. After the resurrection, there shall be no more dying. The saints shall rise immortal, and dwell in heaven for ever, in the complete enjoyment of all that is included in the name of lifb. As the angel in prophecy lifts up his hand, and swears hy him that lives for ever and ever, that time shall he no longer ; Eev. x. 6. So Christ Jesus, the Lord of angels, shall, as it were, pronounce with a sovereign voice, that death shall be no more. He shall send the great archangel with the trumpet of God ; it shall sound through the deepest caverns of the grave, and shall summon death from its inmost recesses. The tyrant shall hear and obey, and restore all his captives out of prison ; the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and live, John v. 25, 28, 29. They that have done good unto the resvrrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. After this our Lord has no employment for death, his slave ; the bodies of men shall die no more : There shall be no more any state of separation between the 68 CHOICE WORKS OF flesh and spirit; Bev. xx. 14. And death and hell, or Hades, were cast into the lake of fire; that is, there shall be no more death, no grave, no separate state of souls, all these shall be for ever de- stroyed. I. We may infer from this third general head, the great power and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ ; we may learn the honor that is due to him from mortals ; it is he that hath subdued death, and that by his own dying. A wonderous method of victory ! a sur- prizing conquest ! and he lives for ever to destroy it in his ap- pointed time. How great and honorable must he be in the eyes of all mankind, who has vanquished so universal a conqueror? How desirable is his person, and how delightful the sound of his name to every believer ! for he suppresses all their enemies and shall destroy them even to the last. How well does he fulfil the great engagement! Hosea xiii. 14. I will ransom them from the power of the grave : I will redeem them from death ; death, I will be thy plagues ; grave, I will he thy destruction ; repentance shall he hid from mine eyes. Let us salute him the Prince of life, Acts iii. 15, and adore him under that character. He dispossesses death of all its dominions. He approves himself a complete Sa- viour of all his saints, and a Redeemer of his captive friends. II. We may learn also from this head of discourse, the power and excellency of the gospel of Christ, for it discovers to us how this great enemy is vanquished, and when it shall be destroyed; and thus it lays a foundation for courage at death, and gives us assurance of a joyful rising-day. Death being abolished by the mediation of Christ, immortality and life are hrought to light by his gospel ; 2 Tim. i. 10. That is, there is a brighter discoveiy of the future state, and of everlasting happiness, than ever before was given to the world. Here, in the name of Christ, and of his gospel, we may give a challenge to all other religions, and say, which of them has borne up the spirit of man so high above the fears of death as this has done ? or has given us so fair, so rational, and so divine an account how death has been overcome by one man, and how by faith in his name we may all be made overcomers ? How vain are the trifles with which the heathen priests and their prophets amused the cred- ulous multitude ? What silly and insipid fables do they tell us of souls passmg over in a fen-y-boat to the other worid, and describe the fields of pleasure, and the prisons of pain in that country of ghosts and shadows, in so ridiculous a manner, that the wise men of their own nations despised the romance, and few were stupid enough to believe it all. If we consult the religion of their philos- ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 69 opHers, they give us but a poor, lame, and miserable account of tbe state after death. Some of them denied it utterly, and others rave at random in mere conjectures, and float in endless uncertainties. The courage which some of their heroes professed at the point of death, was rather a stubborn indolence, than a rational and well- founded valor ; and not many arrived at this hardiness of mind, except those that supposed their existence ended with their life, and thought they should be dissolved into their first atoms. Aristotle, one of the greatest men amongst them, tells us that futurity is un- certain, and calls death the most terrible of all terribles. If we search into the religion of the Jews, which was a scheme of God's own contrivance and revelation to men, we find the afiairs of a future world lay much in the dark ; their consciences were not so thoroughly purged from the guilt of sin, but that some terrors hung about them, as appears from Heb. x. 1, 2, 3, and having so faint and obscure notices of the separate state of souls, and of the resurrection, these were the persons, who in a special manner, through the fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage; Heb. ii. 15. But Christianity lays a fair and rational foundation for our confidence and triumph in the dying hour. It shews how guilt is removed by an all-sufficient sacrifice ; and makes it evident that no hell, no vengeance, no shadows of misery await the believer in that invisible world. This makes the Christian venture into it with a certain boldness, and a becoming presence of mind. The doctrine of Christ shews us how the sting of death is taken away, and calls us to fight with a vanquished enemy, a serpent without a sting; it gives us assurance that we shall rise again from the dust with bodies fresher and fairer, glorious in their frame, and4heir constitution immortal ; for death shall be no more. Exalted by so sublime a hope, what is there in death sufficient to depress our spirits, if our faith were but equal to this admirable doctrine ? The holy apostles are witnesses, the noble army of martyrs are witnesses, and many a saint in our day is a witness to this truth, and gives honor to this gospel. How many thousands have met death, and all its fi'ightful attendants, with a steady soul, and a serene counte- nance, and have departed io heaven with songs of praise upon their lips, a smile upon their face, and triumph in their eyes ? And this was not owing to any extravagant flights of enthusiasm, nor the fires of an inflamed fancy, but it has been performed often, and may be done daily by the force of a regular faith, on the most solid and reasonable principles, for such are the principles of the gospel of Christ. yo choicb works of Section IV. — blessings gained by the destruction of DEATH. The fourth and last general head of discourse, is an inquiry into the advantages which the saints receive by the destruction of this last enemy. This is a large and endless field, for it includes a great part of the happiness of the final heaven. But I shall at- tempt to mention briefly a few of the benefits that attend my text, and that without a nice distinction of particulars. When death is destroyed, we shall share in the joy and triumph of Christ for absolute conquest over all his enemies ; for there is scarce any glory given to Christ, considered as man, but the saints are said to be humble partners in it, or at least to enjoy the re- semblance. Is he appointed the Judge of all? It is promised also to the saints that they shall judge angels, and the twelve tribes of Israel. Do we suffer with him ? we shall also reign with him. If we conquer death by faith, we shall rise and triumph. Here we labor and fight with many adversaries, and we think we have routed them, but they rally again, and give us fresh vexa- tion, so that we hardly know how to attempt a song of victory on this side the grave. Besides, death still remains for our trial and conflict ; but there we shall rejoice over all our enemies, sub- dued, destroyed, and abolished for ever. Then God will be all in all to his saints. This is a consequent which St. Paul mentions in the verses where my text is : God will manage the affairs of his heavenly kingdom in a more immediate way than he has managed his kingdom on earth. Christ having destroyed all the enemies of his church, and presented it safe be- fore the Father, has finished all those divine purposes for which the mediatorial kingdom was entrusted with him ; then he shall resign his commission to the Father again ; and the ever blessed God shall, in a more immediate and absolute manner, reign over all the creation. He shall more immediately impress devils and damned spirits with a sense of infinite wrath ; and with a more immediate sense of his love and eternal favor, shall he for ever bless all the inhabitants of heaven. So much as this seems to be implied in the words of the apostle, 1 Cor. xv. 24, 25, &c. But it is impossible that in this state we should know either the full ex- tent, or the just limitations of that promise, Qod shall he all in all. Our honored and departed friend had these words dwelling upon her heart ; these were often in her lips in the days of her faith and hope, and in the hours of her passage through the dark valley : She enjoys part of the pleasure of them in her present ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 71 heaven, and with pleasure she expects the more absolute accom- plishment, when the resurrection shall complete the blessedness of all the saints. Another consequent of the destruction of death, is the employ- ment of all the powers of human nature in the service of God, and they shall be neither weak nor weary. For all the inconveni- ences that attend mortality shall be swallowed up aad lost for ever. Alas, how poor and imperfect is the service which our bodies yield to God in this world ! How heavily do our souls complain of the clog of this flesh, and move onwajds heavily in the dis- charge of duty ! and in the grave the body is quite cut off from all service. But when death shall be dispossessed, when we shall arise from the dust, and put on bodies of glory, then with our whole natures, and with all their powers, we shall do honor to God our Creator, our Redeemer, and our King. The time will come when we shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, and the refresh- ments of sleep shall be no more necessary to support life. When death shall be destroyed, sleep, the image and picture of death, shall be destroyed too. There shall be nothing that looks like death in all that vital world, that world of immortality. We shall serve the Lord day and night in his temple ; that is continually, for there shall be no night there ; Eev. vii. 16, 16. and xxii. 25. Then we shall taste all the true blessedness that human nature is capable of, and that without danger of excess or sin. When God first united these two pieces of his workmanship, the soul and body, and composed a man, he designed him the subject of various pleas- ures, wherein each part should have been subservient to the other, to render the felicity of the creature perfect. It is sin and death that have entered into our natures, and prevented this noble design in our present state ; but the counsel of the Lord shall stand. And when he raises up the body from the grave, it shall leave all the seeds of death behind it. The faculties and the senses shall awake in all their original sprightliness and vigor, and our future heaven shall be furnished with objects suited to entertain those powers, and to convey intense pleasure to glorified minds without danger of satiety or weariness. When the time comes that there shall be no yiore death, God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes ; there shall be no sorrow nor crying, nor any more pain ; for the former things are passed away, and he that sits upon the throne shall say, behold I make all things new ; Rev. xri. 4, 5. Then shall we enjoy the constant society of our best friends and dearest acquaintance ; those that have arrived at the New Jerusar 72 CHOICE WORKS OF lem themselves, and have assisted us in our travels thither. And we shall delightfully entertain and be entertained with the mutual narratives of divine grace, and the wise and holy methods of provi- dence, whereby we have laeen conducted safe through all the fa- tigues and dangers of the wilderness to that heavenly country. And tfiat which shall add an unknown relish to all the former blessings, is the full assurance that we shall possess them for ever ; for every one of our enemies are then destroyed, and the last of them is death. Here on earth it is a perpetual pain to the mind to think that those whom we love are mortal ; the next moment may divide them from us far as the distance of two worlds. They are seized on a sudden from our eyes, and from our embraces ; and this thought allays the delight that we take in their company, and di- minishes the joy ; but in that world all our friends are immortal ; we shall ever be with the Lord, and ever with one another too ; 1 Thess. iv. 17. May I be permitted here to make a short reflection on that mournful providence that has joined two lovely relatives in death,* and given occasion for the sad solemnities of this day ? The pious mother led the way to heaven but a few days before the pious daughter followed, each of them the parent of a reputable family, and the descendants from a progenitor,f whose name is in honor among the chuiches. As mutual affection joined their habitations in life, so the care of surviving friends has laid them to rest in their beds of earth together. We trust they are also joined in the world of blessed spirits on high, and they shall be joined again in the world of glorified saints in the morning of the resurrection. Death, their common enemy, has taken them both captives together ; has bound in his chains the mother and the daughter ; but they are prisoners of hope, and together they shall obtain a glorious re- 1 would copy a line from that most beautiful elegy of David, and apply it here with more justice than the Psalmist could to Saul and Jonathan, 2 Sam. i. 23. Lovely and pleasant were they in their lives, and in death they were not divided. Silent were they, and retired from the world, and unknown except to their intimate friends ; but God was a witness of their hours of divine retirement. * The Lady Hartopp, daughter of Charles Fleetwood, Esq., and wife to Sir John Havtopp, of Newington, Baronet, died November 9, 1711. Mrs. Gould, their daughter, and wife to Mr. Gould, now Sir Nathaniel Gould, of Newington, died six days after, viz. November 15, and left their households behind them oppressed with double sorrows. f Charles Fleetwood, Esq., of Norfolk. ISAACWATTS, D. D. .VS The graxies of Christianity, and the virtues of domestic life, which are the proper ornaments of the sex, were the marks of their ut- most aim and ambition ; nor did they seek the flatteries of the court or the city, nor affect the gaities of a degenerate age. Hum- ble they were, and averse from public show and noise ; nor will I disturb their graves by making them the subject of public praise. In the hearts of their families, their memory, their image, and theiv example will live. Oh may the brightest and best parts of their image and example live in the character and practice of all that are left behind ! What a dreadful and overwhelming thought is it to suppose, that any of that honored and numerous household should be divid- ed asunder at the last day ! Give all diligence then, my worthy friends, to mahe your calling and your election sure ; devote your- selves to the God of your predecessors ; trust in the same Saviour ; tread in the same paths of holiness ; and pursue the same glory. What a joy will it be to that pious lady that is gone before, to find, that those that were dear to her as her own soul have over- come sin and death, and in a blessed succession arrive at the same heaven ! Let me entreat you to give her this satisfaction, and not disappoint her prayers and her hopes. Let your venerable surviv- ing parent, who is now confined at home under sorrows and sharp pains, obtain this pleasure. Let that dear partner of her joys and cares behold the power of religion appearing and reigning in all your hearts before his eyes are closed in death. Give both of them this consolation at the appearance of Christ, that they may say. '■'■Lord, here we are, and the children that thou hast given us. Here we are with our ancestors, and our ofispring, and our kindred around us, adoring thy rich grace together, and entering together into the state of perfect glory which thou hast prepared." It remains only that I should propose some reflections on the last head of discourse for the meditation of this whole assembly, and especially for those that are engaged in the spiritual warfere, and proceed to daily conquests. Shall death, with all its attendants, be destroyed for ever ? And are these the blessings that shall succeed ? Then enter into this joy beforehand by a lively faith, and begin the song of triumph — death, where is thy sting, grave, where is thy victory ? 1 Cor. XV. 55. Rejoice not over me, mine enemy, when I shall fall I shall arise ; Mic. vii. 8. After you have fought many battles with Satan, subdued many sins, and encountered a thousand temptations with success, perhaps you find new adversaries still arising ; look ^forward then to this 74 ISAAC WATTS, D.D. joyful hour, and say, " But I shall one day be for ever free from all these toils and labors of war, for all my enemies shall be overcome, since death, the last of them, shall be subdued." When you feel the infirmities of this mortal body hang heavy upon your spirits, and damp your devotion, read the words of this" promise, and re- joice, " These pains and these languors of nature shall one day vanish and be no more ; for death, with all its train, must be des- troyed." When some of your dearest friends are seized by this tyrant, and led away to the grave in his chains, while you are wounded to the very soul, remember that Christ, your Captain and your Saviour, shall revenge this quarrel upon your last enemy ; for he has ap- pointed the hour for his destruction. Mourn not, therefore, for the dead, as those that sorrow without hope, for those that sleep in Je- sus, the Lord shall bring viith him when he comes ; 1 Thess. iv. 13. And he shall join you together in a blessed and durable friendship, where it shall be eternally impossible for enemies to break in upon your peace ; for death, the last of them, shall be then destroyed. And the Lord has left us this comfort in the end of his sacred writings, Surely I come quickly. Let each of us with a cheerful heart reply, even so, come. Lord Jesus. Amen. DISCOURSE 11. THE HAPPINESS OF SEPARATE SPIRITS, &o. ATTEMPTED IN A FUNEBAL DISCOUBSB IN UEMOKY OF SIE JOHN HAETOPP. THE INTRODUCTION. It is a solemn and mournful occasion that lias brought me to this place this day.* Divine Providence, and the will of surviving rela- tives, call me to pay the last sacred and pious respect to the memory of the deceased, a worthy gentleman, and an excellent Christian, who has lately left our world in a good old age. It is something more than ten years since I was engaged in the same service to the memory of his honored and pious lady, when, by a double and painful stroke, the mother and the daughter were joined in death ; when the two kindred families were smitten in the tenderest part, and each of them sustained a loss that could never be repaired.f This town was the place which they aU had honored with their habitation, and spent the largest part of their lives amongst you ; but they are now become inhabitants of the heavenly city, they dwell in the world of blessed spirits, and I would lead your devoutest thoughts to follow them thither. Come then, let our meditations take their rise from the words of the great apostle, in Jleb. xii. 23. "the spirit of just men MADE PERFECT." It is a much sweeter employment to trace the souls of our departed friends into those upper and brighter regions, than to be ever dwelling upon the dark prospect, and fixing our eyes upon death, and dust, and the grave ; and that not only because it gives us a comfortable view of the persons whom we mourn, and thus it reheves our most weighty and smarting sorrows, but because it leads us to consider our own best interest, and our highest hopes, * Sir John Hartopp died April 1, 1'722, in the 85t,h year of his age; and the substance of this discourse was delivered briefly at Stoke Newington, April 15, following. f See a particulaa* account of the foregoing discourse in the margiap.'r2. 76 CHOICE WORKS OF and puts us in mind of the communion ttat we have with those blessed spirits in heaven, while we belong to the church on earth. We are come, says the apostle, verse 22. We, in the gospel st^te, are come to mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, to the innumer- able company of angels, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. What sort of communion it is that good men here below maintain with those exalted spirits, is not my present business to describe; therefore I apply myself immediately to the words of my text, and confine myself to them only. And here I shall consider these four thi?igs : I. Who are particularly designed by the spirits of the just ; and here I shall make it evident the apostle intends not merely the spirits of good men, but such good spirits as are dismissed fi'om their mortal bodies. n. We shall inquire wherein consists the perfection to which they have arrived, and what are the excellencies in which they are made perfect. III. What sort of perfection it is they enjoy, and what are the peculiar characters of it. IV. How they arrive at this perfect state, and what influence the dismission from their bodies has towards their attainment of it. And then conclude with a few remarks for our instruction and practice, suitable to the present providence. Section I. — of the spirits of the just. Our first inquiry is, whom are we to understand by the spirits of the just here spoken of? The name of just or righteous men, taken in a large and general sense, as it is often used in Scripture, signifies all those who fear and love God, and are accepted of him. In the New Testament they are frequently called saints, believers, or children of God: but in both parts of the Bible they are often described by the name of just or righteous, and they are properly called so upon these three accounts : I. Their persons are made righteous in the sight of God, having _ their sins forgiven, and their souls justified through the death and righteousness of Jesus Christ. So the word is used, Rom. v. 19. By the obedience of one shall many he made righteous. They have seen themselves all guilty and exposed to the wrath of God, they have fled to lay hold on the hope set before them, they have mourned before God, and been weary of sin, they have received the great atonement, they have committed their case by a living faith to Jesus the righteous, the surety and the Saviour of perishing sinners ; and ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 77 ttat God liath received them into his favor, and has imputed righteousness to them, even that God who is just, and the justifier of them that believe in Jesus. Now this sense cannot reasonably be excluded from the character of a saint, though the word right- eous is more frequently taken in the following senses. II. Their natures are made righteous, and sanctified by the Spirit of grace. They have a principle of grace and holiness wrought in them ; so the world signifies, Eph. iv. 24. The new man, which is created after the image of God, in righteousness and true holi- ness. They were once sinners, disobedient and unholy, as they were born into this world ; but they are born again, and made new creatures by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Their imderstand- ings are enlightened to see the dreadful evil of sin, and a divine beauty of holiness. Their wills are turned fi'ora folly and vanity, from the love of earth, and sense, and sin, to a holy contempt of the world, and a hatred of all that is sinful ; from a neglect of religion to desires after God, and a delight in him; from a mere formal profession of the gospel, to the faith and love of Christ, and a zealous pursuit of holiness ; and they place their highest hopes and their joys in things divine, spiritual, and eternal. III. Their lives are idghteous, and comfoimable to the will of God revealed in his word. So the term righteous signifies, 1 John iii. Y. He that doeth righteousness is righteous. The just man makes it the business of his life to do works of righteousness, taken in the largest sense ; to worship God, to seek his glory, to obey his will, which is the rule of righteousness ; to do him all the service on earth that his station and circumstances admit ot^ and to deal faithfully and justly among men, and to do them all the good that lies in his power. These are the just men whose spirits are spoken of in my text. Now it is evident the apostle here means their spirits which are in heaven, and departed from these mortal bodies, because the train of blessed companions, which he describes just before, leads our thoughts to the invisible world. If we can suppose any part of these two verses to refer to earth and our present stale, it must be when he says, ye are come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, that is, to the visible church of Christ under the gospel dispensation. But then he adds, you are come also to the heavenly Jerusalem, which may probably include all the inhabitants of heaven in general ; and, descending to particulars, he adds, to an innumerable company of angels, and to the general assembly and church of the first-born, who are writ- ten in heaven : whereby we must understand the whole invisible 18 CHOICE WORKS OF churcli of God among men, if we do not confine it to those who are already of the church triumphant. And next he leads us to God, the Judge of all, and to spirits of just men made perfect; that is, Spirits released from flesh and blood, who have stood before God their Judge, and are determined to a state of perfection in heaven. Besides, when St. Paul speais of fellow-Christians here on earth, it is not his manner to call them spirits, but men, or brethren, or saints, &c. ; therefore, by the naked and single term spirits, he dis- tinguishes these persons from those who dwell in mortal bodies, and raises our thoughts to the world of blessed souls, released from the wretched ties and bondage of flesh and blood, the spirits of good men departed fi-om this earth, and dwelling in the better regions of heaven. I would here take notice also, that the apostle perhaps in this place chooses rather to call them just or righteous men, which is a term used frequently both in the Old and New Testament, that he might include the patriarchs and the Jewish saints as well as the souls of departed Christians. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Noah, Daniel, and David, Job, Moses, and Elijah, dwell in that happy world, with a thousand other spirits of renown in the ancient church, as well as the spirits of those that have seen the Messiah, and believed in Jesus of Nazareth. What a noble and wonderous assembly ! What an amazing and blissful society of human souls, gathered from various nations, and from all ages, and joined together in the heavenly Jerusalem, the family of God above ! I shall proceed now to the second thing I proposed. Section II. — of theie perfection in knowledge, holiness, AND JOY. The second enquiry is this, wherein consists the perfection at which these spirits are arrived ? The word perfect cannot be taken here in its most extensive, ab- solute, and sublime sense, for in that sense it can belong only to God ; he is and must be the sum and centre of all perfection for ever : All excellency and all blessedness in a supreme degree meet in him ; none besides him can pretend to absolute perfection. Nor is the word used here in its most sublime sense, in which it may be applied to a creature ; for when the spirits of just men are made never so perfect, the blessed soul of our Lord Jesus Christ will be ISAAC WATTS, D.D. VD more perfect than they ; for in all thinge he must have the pre-em- inence ; Col. i. 18. Perfection, therefore, is taken in a comparative sense here, as in many other places of Scripture. So St. Paul calls those Christians on earth perfect, who are advanced in knowledge and Christianity far above their fellows ; as in 1 Oor. ii. 6. / speak wisdom among them that are perfect. Phil. iii. 16. Let as many as are perfect he thus minded. So that blessed souls above are only perfect in a comparative sense. They are advanced in every excellency of na- ture, and every divine privilege, far above all their fellow-saints here on earth. I desire it also to be observed here,, that the word perfection doth not generally imply another sort of character than what a man possessed before, but a far more exalted degree of the same character which he was before possessed of. The perfection, then, of the spirits of the just in heaven, is a glorious and transcendant degree of those spiritual and heavenly qualifications and blessings which they enjoyed here on earth in a lower measure ; implying also a freedom from all the defects and disorders to which they were here exposed, and which are inconsistent with their present felicity. If I were to branch it into particulars, I would name but these three, viz. 1. A great increase of knowledge, without the mixture of en'or. 2. A glorious degree of holiness, without the mixture of the least sin. 3. Constant peace and joy, without the mixture of any sorrow or uneasiness. Let us consider them distinctly. 1. A great increase of knowledge, without the mixture of error ; and in this sense it is perfect knowledge. Part of the happiness of spirits consists in contemplation ; and the more excellent the object is which we contemplate, and the more perfect our acquaintance with it, the greater is our happiness. Therefore the knowledge of God, the infinite and eternal Spirit, is the true felicity of all the ranks of created spirits in the upper and lower worlds. What unknown and unrivalled beauties are con- tained in the attributes of his nature ! What a heavenly pleasure is it to lose ourselves amongst the boundless perfections of his self- sufBciency and eternal existence, his wisdom, his power, his justice, his hoHaess, his goodness, and his truth ! And what a divine har- mony amongst them all ! How does the philosopher entertain and feast himself with daily discoveries of new wonders amongst the works of God, and beholds the print of the hands of his Creator on them all ! What superior 80 CHOICE WORKS OF glories are seen by the inquiring Christian amongst the greater •wonders of his grace ! and he receives the discovery of them with superior delight, for his eternal life is in them. John xvii. 3. This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. To know the Father and the Son, according to the revelation which they have given of them- selves in the gospel, is not only the way to obtain life eternal, and consequently the business of the saints below, but the knowledge of this Son and this Father in their natural glories, in their per- sonal characters, in their sublime and mysterious relations to each other, and in their most amazing contrivances and transactions for the recovery of lost sinners, may be matter of the most pleasing enquiry and delicious contemplation to the angels themselves, 1 Pet. i. 12. These are the things which the angels desire to look into. And the spirits of the just made perfect are employed in the same dehghtful work, for which they have much more concern, and a dearer interest in it. We know something of God by the Ught of nature. The reason that is within each of us shines like a slen- der candle in a piivate room, and gives us some twinkling and un- certain notions of our Creator. The notices that we obtain by the light of grace, or the gospel here on earth, are far brighter and surer, like the moon at midnight shining upon a dark world, or like the rise of the morning star, and the dawning of the day. But the knowledge which departed spirits obtain of their Creator and their Redeemer in the hght of glory, is as far superior to that of nature and grace, as the lustre of the meridian sun exceeds the pale moon-beams, or the glimmering twilight of the morning. This is what the apostle describes, 1 Cor. xiii. 9, 10, 11, 12. For we know hut in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, 1 put away childish things. For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face : Now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known. The imperfection of our knowledge in this world consists much in this, that we are liable to perpetual mis- takes. A thousand errors stand thick around us in our enquiries after truth, and we stumble upon error often in our wisest pursuits of knowledge ; for we see hut through a glass darkly, hut then we shall know even as we are known, and see face to face ; that is, we shall have a more immediate and intuitive view of God and Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, without such mediums as are now necessary for our instruction. We shall know them in a manner something ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 81 akin to the way whereby God knows us, though not in the same degT'ee of perfection, for that is impossible. Yet in these respects our knowledge shall bear some resemblance to the knowledge of God himself, viz. that it shall be not merely a rational knowledge, by inferences drawn from his works, nor merely a knowledge by narration, or report and testimony, such as we now enjoy by his word, but it shall be such a sort of knowledge as we have of a man when we see his face, and it shall also be a certain and unwavering knowledge, without remaining doubts, without error or mistake. happy spirits, that are thus divinely employed, and are entertain- ing themselves and their fellow-spirits with those noble truths and transporting wonders of nature and grace of God and Christ, and things heavenly, which are all mystery, entanglement, and confu- sion to our thoughts in the present state ! n. This perfection consists in a glorious degree of holiness, with- out the mixture of the least sin ; and in this sense it is perfect holiness. All holiness is contained and summed up in the love and delight- ful service of God and our fellow-creatures. When we attempt to love God here on earth, and by the alluring discoveries of grace try to raise our affections to things of heaven, what sinful damps and coldness hang heavy upon us? What counter-allurements do we find towards sin and the creature, by the mischievous influences of the flesh and this world ? What an estrangedness from God do the best of Christians complain of? And when they get nearest to their Saviour in the exercises of holy love, they find perpetual reason to mourn over their distance, and they cry out often with pain at their hearts, " What a cursed enemy abides still in me, and divides me from the dearest object of my desire and joy ]" But the spirits of the just made perfect have the nearest views of God their Father and their Saviour ; and as they see them face to face, so, may I venture to express it, they love them with a union of heart to heart ; for he that is joined to the Lord in the nearest union in heaven, may well be called one spirit with him, since the apostle says the same thing of the saints on earth, 1 Oor. vi. 17. As our love of God is imperfect here, so is all our devotion and worship. While we are in this world, sin mingles with all our religious duties : We come before God with our prayers and our songs, but our thoughts wander from bim in the midst of worship, and we are gone on a sudden to the ends of the earth. We go up to his tem- ple, and we try to serve him there an hour or two ; then we return 82 CHOICE WORKS OF to the world, and we almost forget the delights of the sanctuary, and the God we have seen there. But the spirits of the just made perfect are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple ; Eev. vii. 15. And though they may not be literally engaged in one everlasting act of worship, yet they are ever busy in some glorious services for him. If they should be sent on any message to other worlds, yet they never wander from the sight of their God : For if the guardian angels of children always behold the face of our heavenly father, Matt, xviii. 10, even when they are employed in their divine errands to our world, much more may we suppose the spirits of just men made perfect never lose the blissful vision, whatsoever their employments shall or can be. And as our acts of worship on earth and converse vnth God are very imperfect, so is our zeal and activity for God extremely de- fective ; but it shall be ever bright and burning in the upper world. When we would exert our zeal for God on eartb, how many cor- rupt affections mix with that zeal and spoil it ! Dead flies, that cause that noble ointment to send forth a stinking savor ! How much of self, and pride, and vain ambition too often mingle with our desires to serve Christ and his gospel ! Some have preached Christ out of vain glory, or envy ; and a mixture of those vices may taint our pious ministrations. When we seem to drive furiously, like Jehu to the destruction of the priests and the wor- ship of Baal, too often the wildfire of our lusts and passions, our envy and wrath, and secret revenge join together to animate our chariot-wheels. When we are ready to say witb him, come, and see my seal for the Lord, perhaps God espies in our hearts too mucb of the same carnal mixture ; for Jehu exalted the true God, that he might establish himself a king; 2 Kings x. 16. But the spirits of the just are perfect in zeal, and pure from all mixtures. Their very natures are like the angels ; they are so many flames of sacred and unpolluted fire, the ministers of God that do his pleasure, and then hide their faces behind their wings ; when they have done all for God, they fall down and confess they are nothing. Temptation and sin have no place in those happy regions. These are the evils that belong to earth and hell ; but within the gates of heaven nothing must enter that tempteth, nothing that defileth; Eev. xxi. 27. It is the mixture of sinful thoughts and idle words, sinful actions and irregular afiections, that makes our state of holi- ness so imperfect here below. We groan within ourselves, being burdened; we would be rid of these criminal weaknesses, these guilty attendants of our lives : But the spirits above are under a sweet necessity of being for ever holy ; their natures have put on ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 83 perfection ; the image of God is so far completed in them, that nothing contrary to the divine nature remains in all their frame, for they see God in all the fairest beauties of his holiness, and they adore and love. They behold him without a veil, and are changed into the same imaffe, from glory to glory ; 2 Cor. iii. 10. If these words are applicable to the state of grace, much more to that of glory. They see Christ as he ia, and they are made completely like him, 1 John iii. 2, which is true concerning the state of sepa- rate spirits, as well as the hour of resurrection. As their love to God is perfect, so is their love to all their fellow- saints. We try to love our feUow-creatures and fellow-Christians here on earth ; but we have so many corrupt passions of our own, and so many infirmities and imperfections belong to our neighbors also, that mutual love is very imperfect. Love is the fulfilling of the law ; Rom. xiii. 10. But we shall never fulfil that law perfectly till we are joined to the spirits of the just in glory, where there is no inhabitant without the flame of sacred love, no single spirit un- lovely or unbeloved. In those happy mansions there is no envy raised by the perfec- tions or the honors of our neighbor spirits ; no detracting thought is known there, no reproachful word is heard in that country ; and perhaps no woid of reproach is to be found in the whole heavenly language. Malice and slander, and the very names of infamy, are unknown in those regions ; and wrath and strife are eternal stran- gers. No divided opinions, no party quarrels, no seeds of discord are sown in heaven. Our little angry jars and contentions have no place there, and the noise of war and controversy ceases for ever. There are no offences given, and none are taken in that world of love. Neither injury nor resentment is ever known or practised there, those bitter and fatal springs of revenge and blood. Universal benevolence runs tbrough the whole kingdom ; each spirit wishes well to his neighbor as to himself; and till we arrive there, we shall never be made perfect in love, nor shall we see the blessed characters of it described in the Scriptures fully copied out in living examples. In that holy world dwells God himself, who is original love ; there resides our Lord Jesus Christ, who is love incarnate ; and from that sacred head flows an eternal stream of love through ev- ery member, and blesseth all the inhabitants of that land with its divine refreshments. Holiness is perfect among the spirits of the just, because love is perfect there. Objection. But are there not several graces and virtues that be- 84 CHOICE ■WORKS OF long to the saints on earth that are finished at death, and can have no room in heaven ? How then can perfection of holiness in heaven consist in an increase of the same graces we practised on earth ? Answer. Yes ; there are several such virtues and such graces as faith and repentance, and godly sorrow, patience, and forbear- ance, love to enemies, and forgiveness of injuries, &c. But all these arise from the very imperfection of our present state, from the sins and follies of ourselves or our fellow-creatures. Faith arises from the want of sight ; repentance from the returns of guilt ; godly sorrow from the workings of sin in us. Patience owes its very na- ture and exercise to the afflictions we sustain from the hand of God ; and forbearance and forgiveness respects the injuries that. we re- ceive from our fellow-creatures. But in heaven faith, so far as it regards the absence of God and Christ, is lost in sight and enjoy- ment, as the light of a glimmering taper is lost in the blaze of sun- beams. Repentance of old sins, so far as it is attended with any painful or shameful passions, ceases for ever in heaven, and there is no new guilt for us to repent of; there shall be no evil working in us to give pain to the spirit; no affliction from God to demand a patient submission ; no injuries from men to be borne or forgiven. But there is the same pious temper still continues in the spirits of the just made perfect, which was the spring of those graces on earth ; and could the objects or occasions of them return, every spirit there would exercise the same grace, and that in a more glo- rious and perfect manner, for theif very natures are all over holy. III. The last thing I shall mention, wherein the perfection of the saints above consists, is, their constant peace and exalted joy, with- out any mixt^ure of sorrow or uneasiness ; and this is joy and peace in perfection. If our knowledge, our love, and our holiness are imperfect on earth, our joys must be so. The mistakes and the follies to which we are liable here below, the guilt that pains the conscience, and the sin that is restless and ever working within us, will bring forth fruits of present sorrow, where they do not produce the fruit of eternal death. A saint in this world will groan under these bur- dens ; and it is divinely natural for him to cry out, wretched man ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? Rom. vii. 24. Thus there are many things that are within us, and that belong to us in this world, that forbid the perfection of our joys. And be- sides all these, we are attached and tied down to many other un- easinesses while -yve dwell on earth. ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 85 This world is a fair theatre of the wisdom and power of God, but it is hung round and ■ replenished with temptations to fallen man, proper for a state of trial; soft and flattering temptations, that by the senses are ever drawing away the soul from God and heaven, and breaking in upon its divine repose and joy ; and while we are surrounded with a thousand dangers, we can not be said to dwell in perfect peace. The follies and the crimes of others afflict the soul of a good man, and put him to pain, as the righteous soul of Lot was vexed in Sodom from day to day with their unlawful deeds ; 2 Pet. ii. 8. The greater vexations, and the little teazing accidents of life that attend us, disturb the sacred rest of the saint, and ruffle or wound his spirit. And the best of men on this ac- count are sometimes ready to cry out with David, Psalm cxx. 5. 6. Wo is me that I sojourn in Meshech, and dwell in the tents ofK.e- dar : My soul hath long dwelt with them that hate peace. that I had wings like a dove, for then would I fly away, and be at rest ; Psalm Iv. 6. And sometimes God himself is absent from the soul that longs after him ; he hides his face, and then who can behold it ? We are smitten with a sense of sin, and the conscience is restless. We wander from thing to thing in much confusion of spirit ; we go from providences to ordinances, from one word in the Bible to an- other, from self-examination and inward guilt to the blood of Christ, and the mercy of the Father ; and it may be outward sorrows fall on us at the same time, guilt and judgment attend us at once : The deep of affliction calls to the deep of sin at the noise of the floods of divine anger. Psalm xlii. Y. We are kept in the dark for \ a season, and we see not the light of his countenance, nor know our"' own interest in his love. We go forward, as Job did, but he is not there ; and backward, but we cannot perceive him, &c. All the comfort that a good man hath at such a season is to appeal to God that he Tenoweth the way that I take ; when he hath tried me, I humbly hope / shall come forth as gold ; Job. xxiii. 8, 9, 10. But the spirits of the just made perfect are in peaceful and joy- ous circumstances. They know God, for they see his face ; they know that they love him, for they feel and enjoy it as the warmest and sweetest affection of their hearts ; and they are sure God loves them too, for every moment they taste his love, and live upon it in all the rich varieties of its manifestation. Oh ! what unknown and endless satisfactions of mind arise from the full assurance of the love of God 1 What tongue can express, or what heart can conceive the sacred pleasure that fflls every soul in heaven under the immediate impressions of divine love ! When 86 CHOICE WOBKS OF the poor, trembling, doubting believer, that knew himself to be in- finitely unworthy of the favor of God, or of the meanest place in his house, shall be acknowledged as a son in the midst of his Father's court on high, and amongst millions of congratulating angels. No cloud shall ever interpose, no melancholy gloom, no shadow of darkness shall ever arise in these regions ; for the countenance of God, like the sun in its highest strength, shall shine and smile upon them for ever. And through the length of all their immor- tality, there shall not be the least interruption of the sweet inter- course of love on God's side or on theirs. In that world there is no sorrow, for there is no sin ; the inhab- itants of that city, of the heavenly Jerusalem, shall never say I am sick ; for the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their in- iquity ; Isaiah xxxiii. 24. When the righteous are dismissed from this flesh they enter into peace, their bodies rest in their beds of earth, and their spirits walk in heaven, each one in his own upright- ness ; Isaiah Ivii. 2. And as there is no sin within them to render them uneasy, so there is no troublesome guest, no evil attendant without them, that can give them fear or pain ; no sinners to vex them, no tempter to deceive them, no spirit of hell to devour or destroy; Isaiah xxxv. 9, 10. iVb lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there ; but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of (he Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads ; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away, God himself shall never be absent, and then they cannot be un- happy. They behold his face in righteousness, and they are satisfied when they awake with his likeness ; Psalm xvii. 15. When they leave this world of dreams and shadows, and awake into that bright world of spirits, they behold the face of God, and are made like him, as well as when their bodies shall awake out of the dust of death in the morning of the resurrection, formed in the image of the blessed Jesus. That glorious scripture, in Hev. xxi. 3, 4, be the sense of it what it will, can never be fulfilled in more glory on earth than belongs to the state of heaven. The tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself sJiall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor. crying, neither shall there be any more pain ; for the former things are passed away. The saints above see their blessed Lord and Saviour in all his ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 87 exalted glories, and they are with him where he is, according to his own prayer, and his own promise, John xvii. 24. and xiv. 3. They are absent from, the body, and present with the Lord. They have esteemed him on earth above all things, and longed after the sight of his face, whom having not seen they loved ; 1 Pet. i. 8. but now they behold him, the dear Kedeemer that gave his life and blood for them, they rejoice with joy much more unspeakable and full of superior glory. Thus I have shewn wherein this perfection of spirits in heaven consists. It is a high and glorious degree of all those excellencies and privileges they were blessed with on earth, without any mixture of the contrary evil. It is a perfection of knowledge, holiness, and joy. And canst thou hear of all this glory, my soul, and meditate of all this joy, and yet cleave to earth and the dust still ? Hast thou not often mourned over thy ignorance, and felt a sensible pain in tbe narrowness, the darkness, and the confusion of thy ideas, after the utmost stretch and labor of thought? How little dost thou know of the essence of God, even thy God, and how little of the two united natures of Jesus, thy beloved Saviour? How small and scanty is thy knowledge of thyself, and of all thy fellow-spirits, while thou art here imprisoned in a cottage of clay? And art thou willing to abide in this dark prison still, with all thy follies and mistakes about thee ? Does not the land of light above invite thy longing, and awaken thy desires ; those bright regions where knowledge is made perfect, and where thy God and thy Redeemer are seen without a veil. And is not the perfect holiness of heaven another allurement to thee, O my soul? Dost thou not stretch thy wings for flight at the very mention of a world without temp- tation and without sin ? How often hast thou groaned here under the burden of thy guilt, and the body of death ? How hard hast thou wrestled with thy inbred iniquities ? An hourly war, and a long, toilsome conflict ! How hast thou mourned in secret, and complained to thy God of these restless inward enemies of thy peace ? And art thou so backward still to enter into those peace- ful regions, where these enemies can never come, and where battle and war are known no more, but perfect and everlasting holiness adorns the inhabitants, and crowns of victory and triumph. Oh the shattered and imperfect devotion of the best saints on earth ! Oh the feeble fluttering efforts of praise ! What poor hallelujahs we send up to heaven on notes of discord, and, as it were, on broken strings ? Art thou not willing, O my soul, to honor thy God and thy Saviour with sweeter harmony ? And yet 88 CHOICE WORKS OF what a reluctance dost thou shew to enter into that world of joy and praise, because the dark shadow of death hangs over the passage ? Come, awake, arise, shake off thy fears ; and let the sense and notice of what the spirits of the just above enjoy, raise thy courage, and excite thee to meet the first summons with sacred delight and rap- ture. But I fear I have dwelt too long upon these three last particulars, because they are matters of more obvious notice, and more frequent discourse ; yet they are so entertaining, that I knew not how to leave them. But I would not spend all my time on common topics, while I am paying honor to the memory of an uncommon Christian. I proceed therefore to the next general head. Section IIL — of the various kinds and degrees op the employments and pleasuees of heaven. Having shewn that by the spirits of just men in my text we are to understand the souls of all the pious and the good that have left the body ; and having described their perfection as a state of complete knowledge, holiness, and joy ; the third thing I am to con- sider is, what sort of perfection this is, or what are some of the special characters of it. And here I beg your attention to some pleasing speculations which are agreeable to the word of God, and to the nature and reason of things, and which have often given my thoughts a sacred entertainment. I. It is such a perfection as admits of great variety of employments and pleasures, according to the various turn and genius of each par- ticular spirit. For the word perfection does not necessarily imply a state of universal and constant uniformity. That the mind of every man here on earth has a difierent turn of genius, and peculiar manner of thought, is evident to every wise observer. And why should not every pious mind or spirit caiTy to heaven with it so much of that turn and manner as is natural and innocent? I grant it is a possible thing, that many different geniuses of men on earth may perhaps be accounted for by the different constitution of the body, the frame of the brain, and the various texture of the nerves, or may be ascribed to the coarser or finer blood, and corporeal spirits, as well as to different forms of education and custom, &c. These may be able to produce a wonderous variety in the tempers and turns of inclination, even though all souls were originally the same : But I dare not assert that there is no difference betwixt the souls themselves, at their ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 89 first creation and union with the body. There are some considera- tions would lead one to believe, that there are real diversities of genius among the spirits themselves in their own nature. God, the great Creator, hath seemed to delight himself in a rich variety of productions in all his worlds which we are acquainted with. Let us make a pause here, and stand still and survey the overflowing riches of his wisdom, which are laid out on this little spot of his vagt dominions, this earthly globe on which we tread ; and we may imagine the same variety and riches overspreading all those upper worlds which we call planets or stars. What an amazing multiplicity of kinds of creatures dwell on this earth ? If we search the animated world and survey it, we shall find there ar.e some that fly, some that creep or slide, and some walk on feet or run ; and every sort of animals clothed with a pro- per covering, some of them more gay and magnificent in their at- tire than Solomon in all his glory ; and each of them furnished with limbs, powers, and properties fitted for their own support, con- venience and safety. How various are the kinds of birds and beasts that pass daily before our eyes. The fields and the woods, the forests and the deserts, have their different inhabitants. The sav- age and the domestic animals how numerous they are! and the fowl both wild and tame ! What riches of dress and drapery are provided to clothe them in all their proper habits of nature ? What an infinite number of painted insects fill the air, and overspread the ground ? What bright spangles adorn their little bodies and their wings when they appear in their summer liveiy ? What interwoven streaks of scarlet beauty mingled with green and gold ? We behold a strange profusion of divine wisdom yearly in our own climate in these little animated crumbs of clay, as well as in the animals of larger size. And yet there are multitudes of new strange creatures that we read of in the narratives of foreign countries ; and what a vast profusion of entertainments for them all ? How are the moun- tains and meadows adorned with a surprising plenty of grass and herbs, fruits and flowers, almost infinite, for the use of man and meaner animals ? In the world of waters a thousand unknown creatures swim and sport themselves, and leap with excess of lite even in the freezing seas. Millions of inhabitants range through that liquid wilderness with swiftest motion, and in the wonders of their frame and nature proclaim the skill of an Almighty Maker. Others of the watery kind are but half alive, and are tossed from place to place by the heaving ocean. Think of the leviathan, the eel, and the oyster, and tell me if God has not shewn a rich variety of contrivance in them : 00 CHOICE WORKS OF And as various as their nature is, so various ij tlie means of their life; proper beds of lodging are provided for them, and variety of food suited to uphold every nature. Mankind is a world of itself, made up of the mingled or united natures of flesh and spirit. What an infinite difference of faces and features among the sons and daughters of men ? And how much more various are the turns of their appetites, tempers, and inclina- tions, their humors and passions ? And what glorious employment hath divine wisdom ordained for itself, in framing these millions of creatures with understandings and wills of so inconceivable a variety, so vast a difference of genius and inclination, to be the subjects of its providential government ? And what a surprising harmony is there in the immense and incomprehensible scheme of divine coun- sels, arising from the various stations and businesses of men so in- finitely diversified and distinct from one another, and centering in one great end, the divine glory ? An amazing contrivance, and a design worthy of God. Now is the pure intellectual world alone destitute of this delight- ful variety ? Is the nature of spirits utterly incapable of this diver- sity and beauty, without the aids of flesh and blood ? Hath the wis- dom of God displayed no riches of contrivance there ? And must there be such a dull uniformity no where but in the country where spirits dwell, spirits the noblest parts of God's creation and dominion ? Has he poured out all the various glories of divine art and workman- ship in the inanimate and brutal or animal world, and left the higher sort of creatures all of one genius, and one turn and mould, to re- plenish all the intellectual regions ? Surely it is hard to believe it. In the world of angels we find various kinds and orders. St. Paul tells us of thrones, and dominions, and principalities / Col. i. 16. and St. Peter speaks of angels, and authorities, and powers ; 1 Pet. iii. 22; and in other parts of the word of God we read the names of an archangel, a seraph, and a cherub. And no doubt, as their degrees and stations in the heavenly world difier from each other, so their talents and genius to sustain those different stations are very various, and exactly suited to their charge and business. And it is no improbable thought, that the souls of men differ from each other as much as angels. But if there were no difference at first betwixt the turn and ge- nius of different spirits iu their original formation, yet this we are sure of, that God tlesigned their habitation in flesh and blood, and their passage through this world as the means to form and fit them for various stations in the unknown world of spirits. The souls of men having dwelt many years in particular bodies, have been influ- ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 91 enced, and habituated to particular turns of thought, both accord- ing to the various constitutions of those bodies, and the more va- rious studies, and businesses, and occurrences of life. Surely then we may with reason suppose the spirits departing from flesh to carry with them some bent and inclination towards various pleas- ures and employments. So we may reasonably imagine each sin- ful spirit that leaves the body, to be more abundantly inilamed with these particular vices which it indulged here, whether ambition, or pride, or covetousness, or malice, or envy, or aversion to God, and to all goodness ; and their various sorts of punishments may arise from their own variety of lusts, giving each of them a peculiar in- ward torment. And why may not the spirits of the just made per- fect have the sarme variety of taste and pleasure in that happy world above, according as they are fitted for various kinds of sacred enter- tainments in their state of preparation, and during their residence in flesh and blood ? He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God • 2 Cor. v. 5. In the world of human spirits made perfect, David and Moses dwell : Both of them were trained up in feeding the flocks of their fathers in the wilderness, to feed and to rule the nation of Israel, the chosen flock of God. And may we not suppose them also trained up in the arts of holy government on earth, to be the chiefe of some blessed army, some sacred tribe in heaven ? They were di- rectors of the forms of worship in the church below under divine inspiration : And might not that fit them to become leaders of some celestial assembly, when a multitude of the sons of God above come at stated seasons to present themselves before the throne ? Both of them knew how to celebrate the praise of their Creator in sacred melody ; but David was the chief of mortals in this harmo- nious work : And may we not imagine that he is or shall be a mas- ter of heavenly music, before or after the resurrection, and teach some of the choirs above to tune their harps to the Lamb that was slain ? But to come down to more modern times, is there not a Boyle,* and a Ray,f in heaven ? Pious souls who were trained up in sanc- tified philosophy ; and surely they are fitted beyond their feUow- * The honorable Robert Boyle, Esq., a most pious enquirer into nature, and an improver of the experimental philosophy. f Mr. John Ray, one of the ministers ejected for nonconformity, 1662, he employed most of his studies afterwards in the cultivation of natural philo- sophy, in collections and remarks on the variety of plants, birds, beasts, fishes, (fee, and wrote several treatises to improve natural philosophy in the service of religion. 92 CHOICE WORKS OF saints, to contemplate the wisdom of God in the works of Iiis hands. Is there not a More,* and a Howe,f that have exercised their minds in an uncommon acquaintance with the world of spirits ? And doubtless their thoughts are refined and improved in the upper woi-ld, and yet still engaged in the same pursuit. There is also a Goodwin, J and an Owen,§ who have laid out the vigor of their enquiries in the glories and wonders of the person of Christ, his bloody sacrifice, his dying love, and his exalted station at the right hand of God. The first of these, with a penetrating genius, traced out many a new and uncommon thought, and made rich discover- ies by digging in the mines of Scripture. The latter of them hum- bly pursued and confirmed divine truth ; and both of them were eminent in promoting faith and piety, spiritual peace and joy, upon the piinoiples of grace and the gospel. Their labors in some of these subjects, no doubt, have prepared them for some correspond ent peculiarities in the state of glory. For though the doctrines of the person, the priesthood, and the grace of Christ, are themes which all the glorified souls converse with and rejoice in ; yet spi- rits that have been trained up in them with peculiar delight for forty or fifty years, and devoted most of their time to these blessed contemplations, have surely gained some advantage by it, some peculiar fitness to receive the heavenly illuminations of these mys- teries above their fellow-spirits. There is also the soul of an ancient Eusebius, || and the later spi- rits of an Usher,^ and a Burnet,** who have entertained themselves and the world. with the sacred histories of the church, and the wonders of divine providence in its preservation and recovery. There is a Tillotson, f | that has cultivated the subjects of holiness, * Dr. Henry More, a great searcher into the world of spirits, and a pious divine of the church of Eugland. f Mr. John Howe, a name well known and highly honored for his saga- city of thought, his exalted ideas, and converse with the spiritual world, as appears in his writings. i Dr. Thomas Goodwin. And § Dr. John Owen, two famous divines of prime reputation among the churches of the last century. II Eusebius, one of the fathers of the Christian church, who wrote the history of the primitive ages of Christianity. ^ Dr. John Usher, in the last century archbishop of Armagh, whose chronological writings and his piety have rendered his name honorable in the world. ,. ** Dr. Gilbert Bumet, late bishop of Salisbury, whose serious religion^ and zeal to promote it among the clergy, made hun almost as famous as his History of the English Reformation. ff ThenamesofDr Jonh Tillotson, late archbishop of Canterbury ; and oi I S A A C W A T T S, D. D. 93 peace, and love, by his pen and his practice : There is a Baxter,* that has wrought hard for an end of controversies, and labored with much zeal for the conversion of souls, though with much more suc- cess in the last than in the first. Now though all the spirits in heaven enjoy the general happiness of the love of God and Christ, and the pleasurable review of provi- dence ; yet may we not suppose these spirits have some special cir- cumstances of sacred pleasure, suited to their labors and studies in their state of trial on earth ? For the church on earth is but a training-school for the church on high, and as it were a tiring- room in which we are dressed in proper habits for our appearance and our places in that bright assembly. But some will reprove me here, and say, what must none but ministers, and authors, and learned men, have their distinguished rewards and glories in the world of spirits? May not artificers, and traders, and pious women, be fitted by their character and conduct on earth for peculiar stations and employments in heaven ? Yes doubtless, their zeal for the honor of God, their fervent love to Christ, their patience under long trials, and the variety of their graces exercised according to their stations on earth, may render them peculiarly fitted for special rewards on high : The wisdom of God will not be at a loss to find out distinguishing pleasures to re- compense them all ; though where the very station and business of this life is such as makes a nearer approach to the blessedness and business of heaven, it is much easier for us to guess at the nature of that future recompense. Let me ask my own soul then, " Soul, what art thou busy about ? What is thy chief employment during thy present state of trial ? I hope thou art not makiug provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof ; for then thou art fit for no place in heaven, the doors will be for ever shut against thee. But what special works of the Spirit art thou engaged in ? Dost thou redeem what hours thou art able, from necessary businesses of life, to do more immediate ser- vice for God, to converse with things heavenly ? Art thou seeking to gain a proper meetness for the sublimer employments of that upper world, and a relish of the most refined pleasures." But I proceed to the second particular : II. The perfection of the spirits above, not only admits of a rich variety of entertainments, according to the various relish and in- clination of the blessed, but it is such a perfection as allows of differ- * Mr. Richard Baxter, a divine of great note among the Protestant dis' eenters, need no further paraphrase to make them knoTvn. 94 CHOICE WORKS OF ent degrees even in the same blessedness, according to the different capacities of spirits, and their different degrees of preparation. The word perfection does not always require equality. , If all the souls in heaven were of one mould, and make, and in- cllaation, vet there may be different sizes of capacity even in the same genius, and a different degree of preparation for the same de- lights and enjoyments ; therefore though all the spmts of the just were uniform in their natures and pleasures, and all perfect, yet one spirit may possess more happiness and glory than another, because it is more capacious of intellectual blessings, and better prepared for them. So when vessels of various size are thrown into the same ocean, there will be a great difference in the quantity of the liquid which they receive, though all might be full to the brim, and all made of the richest metal. Now there is much evidence of this truth in the holy Scripture. Our Saviour intimates such differences of rewards in several of his expressions. Matt. xix. 28. He promised the apostles, that they shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And it is probable, this may denote something of superior honor or dig- nity above the meanest of the saints. And even among the apos- tles themselves he seems to allow of a difference ; for though he would not promise James and John to sit next to him, ore his right hand and his left in his kingdom, Matt. xx. 20, &c., yet he does not deny that there are such distinct dignities, but says. It shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of his Father ; verse 23. Again our Lord says, Matt. x. 41, 42. he that receives a prophet, and entertains him as a prophet, shall have a prophefs reward : and he that entertains a righteous man, agreeable to his character, and from a real esteem of his righteousness, shall have a righteous maifCs reward : And even the meanest sort of entertainment, a cup of cold water given to a disciple, for the sake of his character, shall not go without some reward. Here are three sorts or degrees of reward mentioned, extending to the life to come, as well as to this life : Now though neither of them can be merited by works, but all are entirely conferred by grace, yet, as one observes here, " The Lord hath fixed a proportion between the work and the reward ; so that as one has different degrees of goodness, the other shall have different degrees of excellency." Our Saviour assures us, that the torments of hell shall admit of various degrees and distinctions ; some will be more exquisite and terrible than others : It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Go- morrah in the day of judgment, who never sinned against half so much light, than it shall be for Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Caper- ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 95 Daum, where Christ himself had preached his gospel, and con- firmed it with most evident miracles ; Matt. xi. 21 — 24. And the servants who did not the will of their Lord, shall be beaten with more or fewer stripes, according to their different degrees of knowledge and advantages of instruction ; Luke xii. 47, 48. Now may we not, by a parallel reasoning, suppose there will be various orders and degrees of reward in heaven, as well as punishment in hell ; since there is scarce a greater variety among the degrees of wickedness among sinners on earth, than there is of hohness among the saints ? When the apostle is describing the glories of the body at the great resurrection, he seems to represent the differences of glory that shall be conferred on different saints, by the difference of the great luminaries of heaven ; 1 Cor. xv. 41, 42. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars ; for one star differs from another in glory : So also is the resurrection of the dead. The prophet Daniel led the way to this description, and the same Spirit taught the apostle the same language ; Dan. xii, 2, 3. And many of them, that sleep in the dust of the earth, shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting con- tempt ; and they that he wise shall shine, with common glory, as the brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn many to righteousness, shall have a peculiar lustre, as the stars, for ever and ever. And if there be a difference in the visible glories of the saints at the resurrection, if those who turn many to righteousness shall sparkle in that day with brighter beams than those who are only wise for their own salvation, the same reason leads us to be- lieve a difference of spiritual glory in the state of separate spirits, when the recompense of their labors is begun. So, 1 Cor. iii. 8. He that planteth, and he that watereth, are one, and every man shall receive his own reward, according to his own labor. If all be rewarded alike, the apostle would not have said, each man shall receive according to his own labor. Surely, since there is a distinction of labors, there will be a distinction of rewards too. And it is with this view that the same apostle exhorts the Co- rinthians, 1 Epist. XV. 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Now that great labor and diligence, that steadfastness in profession, and that zeal in practice, to which the apostle exhorts them, might 96. CHOICEWORKSOF seem to be in vain, if those who were far less laborious, less zeal- ous, and less steadfast, should obtain an equal recompense. It is upon the same principle that he encourages them to holy patience under afflictive trials; 2 Cor. iv. 17, when he says, our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory ; while we look not to the things that are seen, and temporal, but to things invisible and eternal. Now if the saint, who was called to heaven almost as soon as he was made a Christian, and went through no sufferings, should possess the same weight of glory with the martyrs and con- fessors, under the long and tedious train of cruelties which they sustained from men, or painful trials from the hand of God, I can- not see how their afflictions could be said to work for them a far more exceeding weight of glory. He urges them also to great degrees of liberality from the same motive ; 2 Cor. ix. 6. This I say, he that soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly ; and he which soweth bountifully, shall also reap bountifully. Which words may reasonably be construed to signify the blessings of the life to come, as well as the blessings of the present life ; for this apostle, speaking of the same duty of liberality, expresses the same encouragement under the same metar phors ; Gal. vi. 6, 7, 8, 9. Let him, that is taught in the word, communicate to him that teacheth in all good things. Be not de- ceived, Ood is not mocked ; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap : For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reaji corruption ; but he that soweth to the spirit, shall of the spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well-doing ; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. When God distri- butes the riches of his glory amongst the saints in heaven, he pours them out in a large and bountiful manner upon those who have distributed the good things of this life bountifully to the poor ; but he rewards the narrow-souled Christian with a more sparing hand. With the same design does the apostle encourage Christians to great watchfulness against sin and heresy, as well as ministers to a solicitous care of their doctrine and preaching; 1 Cor. iii. 12 — 15. If any man build gold, silver, or precioiJs stones, upon the true foundation Jesus Christ, and raise a glorious superstructure of truth and holiness, he shall receive a reward answerable to his skill and care in building ; for his work shall stand, when it is tried by the fire of the judgment-day : But if he build wood, hay, arui stubble upon it, evil inferences, and corrupt practices, or trifles, fruitless controversies, idle speculations, and vain ceremonies, his works shall be burnt, and he shall suffer loss, shall obtain a far ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 97 less recompense of his labor : Yet, since he has laid Christ for the foundation, and has taught and practised the fundamental doc- trines and duties of Christianity, though mingled with much folly and weakness, he himself shall be saved ; yet in so hazardous a manner as a man that is saved by fire, who loses all his goods, and just escapes with his life. When you hear St. Paul or St. John, speaking of the last judg- ment, they give hints of the same distinction of rewards ; 2 Cor. V. 10. For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or had. Eph. vi. 8. What- soever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he he bond or free ; Kev. xxii. 12. And behold, I come quickly ; and my reward is with me, to give every man ac- cording as his work shall be. Though the highest and holiest saint in heaven can claim nothing there by the way of merit, for it is our Lord Jesus Christ alone who has purchased all those un- known blessings, yet he will distribute them according to the dif- ferent characters and degrees of holiness which his saints possessed on earth ; and those larger degrees of holiness were also the free gift of God our Saviour. I have often represented it to my own thoughts under this com- parison. Here is a race appointed ; here are a thousand diflferent prizes, purchased by .some prince, to be bestowed on the racers : And the prince himself gives them food and wine, according to what proportion he pleases, to strengthen and animate them for the race. Each has a particular stage appointed for him, some of shorter, and some of longer distance. When every racer comes to his own goal, he receives a prize in most exact proportion to his speed, diligence, and length of race : And the grace and the justice of the prince shine gloriously in such a distribution. Not the fore- most of the racers can pretend to have merited the prize ; for the prizes were all paid for by the prince himself; and it was he that appointed the race, and gave them spirit and strength to run ; aiid yet there is a most equitable proportion observed in the reward, according to the labors of the race. Now this similitude represents the matter so agreeably to the apostle's way of speaking, when he compares the Christian life to a race ; 1 Cor. 3d. 24, &c. Gal. v. v. Philip, iii. 14. 2 Tim. iv.. 7. Heh. xii. 1. that I think it may be called almost a scriptural description of the present subject. The reason of man and the light of nature entirely concur with Scripture in this point. The glory of heaven is prepared for those who are prepared for it in a state of grace ; Bom. ix. 23. It is 5 98 CHOICEWORKSOF God who makes each of us meet for our own inheritance among the saints in light ; Col. i. 12. And then he bestows on us that in- heritance. As grace fits the soul for glory, so a larger degree of grace ad- vances and widens the capacity of the soul, and prepares it to re- ceive a larger degree of glory. The work of grace is but the means, the reward of glory is the end : Now the wisdom of God always fits and adjusts the means in a due proportion, to answer the end he designs, and the same wisdom ever makes the end an- swerable to the means he useth ; and therefore he infuses more and higher glories into vessels more enlarged and better prepared. Some of the spirits in heaven may be trained up by their sta- tions and sacred services on earth for more elevated employments and joys on high. Can we imagine that the soul of David, the sweet psalmist, the prophet, and the king of Israel, is not fitted by all his labors and trials, all his raptures of faith, and love, and zeal, for some sublimer devotion and nobler business than his own in- fant child, the fruit of his adultery ? And yet our divines have generally placed this child in heaven, because David ceased to mourn for him at his death, and said that he himself should go to him ; 2 Sam. xii. 20, 23. Beborah, the prophetess, judged Israel, she animated their armies, and sung their victories : Is not Debo- rah engaged in some more illustrious employment among the heavenly tribes, than good Dorcas may seem to be capable of, whose highest character upon record is, that she was full of alms- deeds, and made coats and garments for the poor ; Acts ix. 36, 39. And yet perhaps Dorcas is prepared too for some greater enjoy- ments, some sweeter reHsh of mercy, or some special taste of the divine goodness above Rahab the harlot ; Rahab, whose younger character was lewd and infamous, and the best thing that we read of her is, that her faith under the present terror of the armies of Israel taught her once to cover and conceal their spies : And un- less she made great advances afterwards in grace, surely her place is not very high in glory. • The worship of heaven, and the joy that attends it, may be ex- ceedingly different in degrees, according to the different capacity of spirits ; and yet all- may be perfect and free from sinful defects. Does not the sparrow praise the Lord its Maker upon the ridge of a cottage, chirping in its native perfection ? and yet the lark ad- vances in her flight and her song as far above the sparrow, as the clouds are above the house-top. ■ Surely superior joys and glories must belong to superior powers and services. ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 99 Can we think that Abraham and Moses, who were trained up in converse with God face to face, as a man converses with his friend, and who followed him through the wilderness and unknown countries_ in a glorious exercise of faith, were not prepared for a greater intimacy with God, and nearer views of his glory in heaven, than Samson and Jephthah, those rude heroes, who being appoint- ed of God for that service, spent their days in bloody work, in hew- ing down the Philistines and the Ammonites ? For we read little of their acquaintance with God, or converse with him, beside a pe- tition now and then, or a vow for victory and for slaughter ; and we should hardly have charity enough to believe they were saved, if St. Paul had not placed them among the examples of faith ifi his eleventh chapter to the Hebrews. Can we ever believe that the thief upon the cross, who spent his life in plundering and mischief, and made a single though sincere profession of the name of Jesus just in his dying hour, was prepared for the same high station and enjoyment in paradise, so near the right hand of Christ, as the great apostle Paul, whose prayers and sermons, whose miracles of labor and suflfering, filled up and finished a long hfe, and honored his Lord and Saviour more than all the twelve apostles besides ? Can we imagine that the child that is just born into this world under the friendly shadow of the covenant of '^ace, and weeps and dies, and is taken to heaven, is fit to be possessor of the same glories, or raised to the same degree there, as the studioug, the laborious, and the zealous Christian, that has lived above fourscore years on earth, and spent the greatest part of his life in the studies of religion, the exercises of piety, and the zealous and painful services of God and his country ? Surely, if all these which I have named must have equal knowledge and joy in the future world, it is hard to find how such an exact equity shall be displayed in the distribution of final rewards, as the word of God so frequently desctibes. Objection. But in the parable of the laborers hired to work in the vineyard. Matt. xx. 9, 12. does not every man receive his penny, they who were called at the first and third hour, and they who were called at the last ? Were not their rewards all equal, those who had wrought hut one hour, and those who had home the hurden and heat of the day ? Answer. It is not the design of this parable to represent the final rewards of the saints at the day of judgment, but to -shew that the nation of the Jews, who had been called to be the people of God above a thousand years before, and had borne the burden and heat of the day, that is, the toil and bondage of many cere- monies, should have no preference in the esteem of God above the 100 CHOICE WORKS OP gentiles, who were called at the last hour, of at the end of the Jewish dispensation ; for it is said, verse 16, the last shall be first, and the first last; that is, the gentiles, who waited long ere the gospel was preached to them, shall be the first in receiving it; and the Jews, to whom itvwas first offered, from an inward scorn and pride shall reject it, or receive it but slowly : And Christ adds this confirmation of it, for many be called, but few chosen ; that is, though multitudes of Jews were called to believe in Christ, that few accepted the call. There is another reason why this parable cannot refer to the final rewards of heaven; because, verse 11, it is said. Some of them murmured against the good man of the house. Now there shall be no envy against their fellow-saints, nor murmuring against God in the heavenly state. But the Jews, and even the Jewish converts to Christianity, were ready often to murmur that the gospel should be preached to the gentile world, and that the heathens should be brought into privileges equal to themselves. Tlus it sufficiently appears, from the frequent declarations of Scripture, as well as from the reason and equity of things, that the rewards of the future world shall be greatly distinguished, according to the different degrees of hpliness and service for God, even though every spirit there shall be perfect; nor is there any just and reason- able objection against it. Is it certain then that heaven has various degrees of happiness in it, and shall my spirit rest contented with the meanest place there, and the least and"lowest measure ? Hast thou no sacred ambition in thee, O my soul, to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Or dost thou not aspire, at least, to the middle ranks of glorified saints, though perhaps thou mayest despair of those most exalted stations which are prepared for the spirits of chief renown, for Abraham and Moses of ancient time, and for the martyrs and the apostles of the Lamb? Wilt thou not stir up all the vigor of nature and grace within thee, to do great service for thy God and thy Saviour on earth, that thy reward in heaven may not be small ? Wilt thou not run with zeal and patience the race that is set before thee, looking to the brightest cloud of witnesses, and reaching at some of the richer prizes ? Eemember that Jesus thy Judge is com- ing apace: He has rewards with him of every size, and the lusire and weight of thy crown shall most exactly correspond to thy sweat and labor. But I must not dwell always on this head : I proceed therefore to the next. HI. The spirits of the just in heaven enjoy such a perfection as ISAAC WATTS, D.B. 101 is consistent with perpetual changes of business and delights, even in the same person or spirit. They may be always perfect, but in a rich and endless variety. It is only God who possesses all possible excellencies, and powers, and happinesses at once, and therefore he alone is incapable of change: But creatures must possess and enjoy their delights in a succession, because they cannot possess and enjoy all that they are capable of at once. And according to this consideration, the heavenly state is represented in Scripture in various fornis, both of business and blessedness. Sometimes it is described by seeing God; Matt. v. 8. by beholding him face to face/ 1 Cor. xiii. 12. by being present with the Lord ; 2 Cor. v. 8. by being where Christ is to behold his glory ; John xvii. 24. Sometimes the saints above are said to serve him as his servants ; JRev. xxii. 3. Sometimes they are represented as wor- shipping before the throne, as being fed with the fruits of the tree of life, and drinking the living fountains of water; Hev. vii. 15, 17. and xxii. 1, 2. And let it be noted, that twelve manner of fruits grew on this tree, and they were new every month also. Some- tinies they are held forth to us as singing a new song to God, and to the Lamb; Eev. xiv. 3. And at another time they are described as wearing a crown of righteousness and glory, of sitting on the throne of Christ, of reigning for ever and ever, and ruling the nations with a rod of iron ; 2 Tim. iv. 8. 1 Pet. v. 4. Eev. xxii. 5. Eev. ii. 26, 27. And in another place, our happiness is represented as sitting down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven; Matt. viii. 11. Now surely this rich variety of language, whereby the heavenly state is proposed to us in Scrip- ture, must intend a variety of entertainments and employments, that may in some measure answer the glory of such expressions. It is not only the powers of our understanding that shall be regaled and feasted in those happy regions with the blissful vision of God and Christ, but our active powers shall doubtless have their proper entertainments too. When angels are so variously and delightfully employed in service for God, in his several known and unknown worlds, we cannot suppose the spirits of just men shall be eternally confined to a sedentary state of inactive contempla^ tion. Contemplation indeed is a noble pleasure, and the joy of it rises high when it is fixed on the sublimest objects, and when the faculties are all exalted and refined. But surely such a sight of God and our dear Eedeemer, as we shall enjoy above, will awaken and animate all the active and sprightly powers of the soul, and 102 CHOICE WORKS OP set all the springs of love and zeal at work ia the most illustrious instances of unknown and glorious duty, I confess heaven is described as a place of rest, that is, rest from sin and sorrow, rest from pain and weariness, rest from all the toil- some labors and conflicts that we endure in a state of tiial ; but it can never be such a rest as lays all our active powers asleep, or riders them useless in such a jntal and active world. It would diminish the happiness of the saints in glory to be unemployed there. Those spirits who have tasted unknown delight and satis- faction in many long seasons of devotion, and in a thousand pain- ful services for their blessed Lord on earth, can hardly bear the thoughts of paying no active duties, doing no work at all for him in heaven, where business is all over delight, and labor is all enjoy- ment. Surely his servants shall serve him there, as well as worship him. They shall serve him perhaps as priests' in his temple, and as kings, or viceroys, in his wide dominions ; for they are made kings and priests unto God for ever ; Bev. v. 10. But let us dwell a little upon their active employments, and per- haps a close and attentive meditation may lead us into an unex- pected view and notice of their sacred commissions and embassies, their governments, and their holy conferences, as well as their acts of worship and adoration. That heaven is a place or state of worship, is certain, and beyond all controversy ; for this is a very frequent description of it in the word of God. And as the great God has been pleased to appoint different forms of worship to be practised by his saints, and his churches under the different economies of his grace, so it is pos- sible he may appoint peculiar forms of sacred magnificence to at- tend his own worship in the state of glory. Bowing the knee, and prostration of the body, are forms and postures of humility prac- tised by earthly worshippers. Angels cover their faces and their feet with their wings, and cry, holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts! Isaiah, vi. 2, 3. But what unknown and illustrious forms shall be consecrated by the appointment and authority of Christ for the un- bodied or the bodied saints in heaven to adorn their sacred offices, is above our reach to describe or to imagine. Let us consider now what parts of worship the blessed are em- ployed in. The various parts of divine worship that are practised on earth, at least such as are included in natural religion, shall doubtless be performed in heaven too ; and what other unknown worship of positive and celestial appointment shall belong to the heavenly ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 103 state, is as much above our present conjecture, as the forms of it are. Heaven is represented as full of praises. There is the most glo- rious and perfect celebration of God the Father and the Saviour in the upper world : And the highest praise is offered to them with the deepest humility. The crowns of glory are cast down at their feet, and all the powers and perfections of God, with all his labors of creation, his cares of providence, and the sweeter mysteries of his grace, shall furnish noble matter for divine praise. This work of praise is also exhibited in Scripture, as attended with a song and heavenly melody. What there is in the world of separate spirits to answer the representations of harps and voices, we know not. It is possible that spirits may be capable of some sort . of harmony in their language, without a tongue, and without an ear ; and there may be some inimitable and transporting modulations of divine praise, without the material instruments of string or wind. The soul itself, by some philosophers, is said to be mere harmony ; and surely then it will not wait for it till the body be raised from the dust, nor live so long destitute of all melodious joys, or of that spiritual pleasure which shall supply the place of melody, till our organs of sense shall be restored to us again. But is all heaven made up of praises ? Is there no prayer there ? Let us consider a little : What is prayer, but the desire of a created spirit, in an humble manner made known to its Creator ? Does not every saint above desire to know God, to love and serve him, to be employed for his honor, and to enjoy the eternal continuance of his love and its own felicity ? May not each happy spirit in heaven exert these desires in a way of solemn address to the divine Majesty ? May not the happy soul acknowledge its dependence in this manner upon its Father and its God ? Is there no place in the heart of a glo- rified saint for such humble addresses as these ? Does not every separate spirit there look and long for the resurrection, when it is certain that embodied spirits on earth who have received the first- fruits of grace and glory, groan within themselves, waiting for the redemption of the body ? Rom. viii. 23. And may we not suppose each holy soul sending a sacred and fervent wish after this glorious day, and lifting up a desire to its God about it, though without the uneasiness of a sigh or a groan ? May it not, under the influence of divine love, breathe out the requests of its heart, and the expres- sions of its zeal for the glory and kingdom of Christ ? May not the church above join with the church below in this language, Father, thy kingdom come, thy will he done on earth as it is in heaven ? Are not the souls of the martyrs that were slain repre- 104 CHOICE WORKS OF sented to us as under the altar, crying with a loud voice, how lonff, Lord, holy and true? Eev. vi. 9, 10. This looks lite the voice of prayer in heaven. Perhaps you will suppose there is no such service as hearing sermons, that there is no attendance upon the word of God there. But are we sure there are no such entertainments ? Are there no lectures of divine wisdom and grace given to the younger spirits there, by spirits of a more exalted station ? Or may not our Lord Jesus Christ himself be the everlasting teacher of his church ? May he not, at solemn seasons, summon all heaven to hear him publish some new and surprising discoveries, which have never yet been made known to the ages of nature or of grace, and are reserved to entertain the attention, and exalt the pleasure of spirits advanced to glory ? Must we learn all by the mere contemplation of Christ's person ? Does he never make use of speech to the in- struction and joy of saints above ? Moses and Elijah came down once from heaven to make a visit to Christ on mount Tabor, and the subject of their converse with him was his death and departure from this world; Imke ix. 31. Now since our Lord is ascended to heaven, are these holy souls cut off from this divine pleasure ? Is Jesus for ever silent ? Does he converse with his glorified saints no more ? And surely if he speak, the saints will hear and attend. Or it may be that our blessed Lord, even as he is man, has some noble and unknown way of communicating a long discourse, or a long train of ideas and discoveries to millions of blessed spirits at once, without the formalities of voice and language ; and at some peculiar seasons he may thus instruct and delight his saints iu heaven. Thus it appears there may be something among the spirits of the just above, that is analagous to prayer and preaching, as well as praise. O how gustful are the pleasures of celestial wor- ship ! What unknown varieties of performance, what sublime ministrations there are, and glorious services, none can -tell. And in all this variety, which may be performed in sweet succession, there is no wandering thought, no cold affection, no divided heart, no Ustless or indifferent worshipper. What we call rapture and ecstasy here on earth, is perhaps the constant and uninterrupted pleasure of the church on high in all their adorations. But let the worship of the glorified spirits be never so various, yet I cannot persuade myself that mere direct acts or exercises of what we properly call worship, are their only and everlasting work. The Scripture tells us, there are certain seasons when the angels, those sons of God, came to present themselves before the Lord ; ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 105 Job i, 6, and ii. 1. It is evident then, that the intervals of these seasons are spent in other employments : And when they present themselves before God, it does not sufficiently appear that mere adoration and praise is their only business at the throne. In the very place which I have cited, it seems more natural to suppose, that these angelic spirits came thither rather to render an account of their several employments, and the success of their messages to other worlds. And why may we not suppose such a blessed variety of employment among the spirits of men too ? This supposition has some countenance in the holy Scripture. The angel or messenger who appeared to St. John, and showed him various visions, by the order of Christ, forbids the apostle to worship him, for I am thy fellow-servant, said he, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayvngs of this book ; Rev. xxii. 8, 9. These words naturally lead one to think, that though he appeared as a messenger from Christ, and in the form of an angel, yet he was really a departed saint, a brother, a fellow-prophet, perhaps the soul of David, or Isaiah, or Moses, who would count it an honor, even in their state of glory, to be thus employed by their exalted Lord ; and they also keep or observe, and wait for the accomplishment of the sayings of that book oi the Revelations, as well as the churches of the brethren, the saints on earth. I freely allow immediate divine worship to take up a good part of their everlasting day, their sabbath ; and therefore I suppose them to be often engaged, millions at once, in social worship ; and sometimes acting apart, and raised in sublime meditation of God, or in a fixed vision of his blissful face, with an act of secret adora- tion, while their intellectual powers are almost lost in sweet amaze- ment : Sometimes they are entertaining themselves and their fellow- spirits with the graces and glories of the man Christ Jesus, the Lamb that was slain, in the midst of the throne ; But at other times they may be making a report to him of their faithful execu tion of some divine commissipn they received from him, to be ful- filled either in heaven or in earth, or in unknown and distant worlds. There may be other seasons also when they are not immediately addressing the throne, but are most delightfully engaged in re- counting to each other the wondrous steps of providence, wisdom, and mercy, that seized them from the very borders of hell and des- pair, and brought them through a thousand dangers and difficult- ies to the possession of that fair inheritance. When the great God shall unravel the scheme of his own counsels, shall unfold every 5* 106 CHOICE WOHKS OF part of his mysterious conduct, and set before them the reason of every temptation they grappled with, and of every sorrow they felt here on earth, and with what divine and successful influence they all wrought together to train them up for heaven, what mat- ter of surprising delight and charming conversation shall this fur- nish the saints with in that blessed world ? And now and then, in the midst of their sacred dialogues, by a sympathy of soul they shall shout together in sweet harmony, and join their exalted songs to him that sits upon the throne and to the Lamb. " Not unto us, Lord, not unto us, but to thy power, to thy wisdom, and to thine abounding mercy, be renown and honor to everlasting Nor is it improper or unpleasant to suppose, that among the rest of their celestial conferences, they shall shew each other the fair and easy solution of those difficulties and deep problems in di- vinity, which had exercised and perplexed them here on earth, and divided them into little angry parties. They shall look back with holy shame on some of their learned and senseless distinctions, and be ready to wonder sometimes what trifles and impertinences had engaged them in dark and furious disputes. Darkness and entan- glement shall vanish at once from many of those knotty points of controversy, when they behold them in the light of heaven : And the rest of them shall be matter of delightful instruction for supe- rior spirits to bestow upon those of lower rank, or on souls lately arrived at the regions of light. In short, there is nothing written in the books of nature, the records of providence, or the sacred volumes of grace, but may minister materials at special seasons for the holy conference of the saints on high. No history nor pro- phecy, no doctrine nor duty, no command nor promise, nor threat- eniug in the Bible, but may recal the thoughts of the heavenly inhabitants, and engage them in sweet conversation. All things that relate to the affairs of past ages and past worlds, as well as the present regions of light and happiness where they dwell, may give them new themes of dialogue and mutual intercourse. And though we are very little acquainted, whilst we are on earth, with any of the planetary worlds besides that which we in- ! habit, yet who knows how our acquaintance may be extended here- -^J after, amongst the inhabitants of the various and distant globes? And what frequent and swift journeys we may take thither, when we are disencumbered of this load of flesh and blood, or when our bodies are raised again, active and swift as sunbeams? Sometimes we may entertain our holy curiosity there, and find mUHons of new discoveries of divine power and divine contrivance in those un- ISAAC ■WATTS, D. D. ■ 107 known regions ; and bring back from thence new lectures of divine wisdom, or tidings of the affairs of those provinces, to entertain our fellow-spirits, and to give new honors to God the Creator and the Sovereign. So a pious traveller in our lower world visits Africa or both the Indies : At his return he sits in a circle of attentive admirers, and recounts to them the wondrous products of those climates, and the customs and manners of those distant countries : He gratifies their curiosity with some foreign varieties, and feasts their eyes and their ears at once : Then at the end of every story he breaks out into holy language, and adores the various riches and wisdom of God the Creator. To proceed yet one step farther. Since there are different de- grees of glory, we may infer a variety of honors as well as dehghts prepared for the spirits of the just made perfect. Some part of the happiness of heaven is described in Scripture by crowns and thrones, by royalty and kingly honors : Why may we not, then suppose that such souls, whose sublimer graces have prepared -them for such dignity and office, may rule the nations, even in a literal sense ? Why may not those spirits that have passed their trials in flesh and blood, and come off conquerors, why may they not sometimes be appointed visitors and superin- tendants over whole provinces of intelligent beings in lower re- gions, who are yet laboring in their state of probation? or perhaps they may be exalted to a presidency over inferior ranks of happy spirits, may shine bright amongst them as the morning star, and lead on their holy armies to celestial work or worship. The Scrip- ture itself gives us a hint of such employments in the angelic world, and such presidencies over some parts of our world, or of their own. Do we not read of Gabriel and Michael, and their management of the affairs of Persia, and Greece, and Judah, ia the book of Daniel ? And it is an intimation of the same hierarchy, when some superior angel led on a multitude of the heavenly host to sing a hymn of praise at Bethlehem, when the Son of God was born there ; Zuke ii. 9, 13. Now if angels are thus dignified, may not human spirits unbodied have the same office ? Our Saviour, when he rewards the faithful servant that had gained ten pounds, bids him take authority over ten cities ; and he that had gained five, had five cities under his government ; Luke xix. 17, &c. So that this is not a mere random thought, or a wild invention of fancy, but patronised by the word of God. . Among the pleasures and engagements of the upper world, ^ there shall be always something new and entertaining ; for the works and the dominions of God are vast beyond all our compre- 108 CHOICE WORKS OF hension. And what a perpetual change, what a glorious but im- proving rotation of businesses and joys shall succeed one another through the ages of eternity, we shall never know till we come among them. This thought leads me to the last particular, vis. IV. The perfection which the blessed spirits enjoy, gives room for large additions and continual/ improvement. Their knowledge and their joy may be called perfect, because there is no mixture of error or sorrow with it ; and because it is sufficient every moment for the satisfaction of present desires, with- out an uneasiness of mind. But it may be doubted whether any creature ever was, or ever will be so perfect, that it is not capable of addition or growth in any excellency or enjoyment The man Christ Jesus, in his present glorified state, has not such a perfection as this. He waits daily to see his Father's promises fulfilled to him ; he waits till all tJiings are put under him, and his enemies he made his actual footstool : But we know that all things are not yet put under him ; Heb. ii. 8, that is, all the na- tions are not yet subject to his spiritual kingdom, nor become obe- dient to his gospel. As fast as his kingdom grows on earth, so fast his honors and his joys arise ; and he waits still for the com- plete union of all his members to himself the sacred head : He waits for the morning of the resurrection, when he shall be glori- fied in the bright and general assembly of his saints, and admired in all them that believe ; 2 Thess. i. 10. O that illustrious and magnificent appearance ! That shining hour of jubilee, when the bodies of millions of saints shall awake out of the dust, and be released from their long dark prison ! When they shall encompass and adore Jesus their Saviour and their God, aud acknowledge their new life and immortal state to be owing to his painful and shameful death : When Noah, Abraham, and David, and all his pious progenitors, shall bow and worship Jesus their Son and their Lord : When the holy army of martyrs, springing from the dust vpith palms of victory in their hands, shall ascribe their conquest and their triumph to the Lamb that was slain : When he shall present his whole church before the presence of his, own and his Father's glory, without spot, and faultless, with exceed- ing joy ! Can we imagine that Christ himself, even the man Jesus, in the rnidst of all this magnificence and these honors, shall feel no new satisfaction, and have no reUsh of all this joy, above what he possessed while his church lay bleeding on earth, and this illustrious company were buried under ground in the chains of death ? And yet you will say Christ in heaven is made perfect in knowledge and in joji l^ut tiis perfection admits of improvement. ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 109 . Now if tte head be not above the capacity of all growth and addition, surely the members cannot pretend to it. But I shall propose several more arguments for this truth in the following sec- tion. Section IV. — oi" the incbeasb op the saints above in know- ledge, HOLINESS, AND JOY. That there is, and hath been, and will be continual progress and improvement in the knowledge and joy of separate souls, may be easily proved many ways, vig., from the very nature of human rea- son itself; from the narrowness, the weakness and limitation even of our intellectual faculties in their best estate ; from the immense variety of objects that we shall converse about ; from our peculiar concern in some future providences, which it is not likely we should know before they occur ; and from the glorious new scenes of the resurrection. 1. We may prove the increase of knowledge amongst the blessed above, from the very nature of human reason itself, which is a fac- ulty of drawing inferences, or some new propositions and conclu- sions, from propositions or principles which we knew before. Now surely we shall not be dispossessed of this power when we come to heaven. What we learn of God there, and the glories of his na- ture, or his works, will assist and incline us to draw inferences for his honor, and for our worship of him. And if we could be sup- posed to have never so many propositions, or new principles of know- ledge, crowded into our minds at the first entrance into heaven, yet surely our reasoning faculty would still be capable of making some advance by way of inference, or building some superstructure upon so noble a foundation. And who knows the intense pleasure that will arise perpetually to a contemplative mind, by a progressive and infinite pursuit of truth in this manner, where we are secure against the danger of all error and mistake, and every step we take is all light and demonstration. Shall it be objected here, that our reason shall be, as it were, lost and dissolved in intuition and immediate sight, and therefore it shall have no room or place in that happy world ? To this I would reply, that we shall have indeed much more ac- quaintance with spiritual objects by immediate intuition, than we ever had here on earth ; blit it does not follow thence, that we shall lose our reason. Angels have immediate vision of God and divine things ; but can we suppose they are utterly incapable of drawing an inference, either for the improvement of their know- ledge, or the direction of their practice ? When they behold 110 CHOICE WORKS OF any special and more curious piece of divine -workmanship, can they not further infer the exquisite skill or wisdom of the Creator ? And are thpy not capable of concluding, that this peculiar iustance of divine wisdom demands an adoring thought ? Thus in tuition, or immediate sight in a creature, does not utterly exclude and forbid the use of reason. I reply again, can it ever be imagined, that being released from the body, we shall possess in one moment, and retain through every moment of eternity, all the innumerable ranks, and orders, and num- bers of propositions, truths and duties, that may be derived in a long succession of ages by the use of our reasoning powers ? But this leads me to the second argument, viz. 2. The weakness and narrowness of human understandings, in their best estate, seem to make it necessary that knowledge should be progressive. Continual improvement in knowledge and delight among the spirits of the just made perfect, is necessary for ^e same reason ' that proved their variety of entertainments and pleasures, viz., be- cause creatures cannot take in all the vast, the infinite variety of conceptions in the full brightness and perfection of them at once, of which they are capable in a sweet succession. Can we ever per- suade ourselvesj that all the endless train of thoughts, and ideas, and scenes of joy, that shall ever pass through the mind of a saint through the long ages of eternity, should be crowded into every single mind, the first moment of its entrance into those happy re- gions? And is a human mind capacious enough to receive, and strong enough to retain such an infinite multitude of ideas for ever ? Or, is this the manner of God's working among his intellectual creatures ? Surely God knows our frame, and pours in light and glory as we are able to bear it. Such a bright confusion of notions, images, and transports, would probably overwhelm the most exalt- ed spirit, and drown all the noble faculties of the mind at once. As if a man who was born blind, should be healed in an instant, and should open his eyes first against the full blaze of the noon- day sun ; this would so agitate the spirits, and confound the organs of sight, as to reduce the man back again to his first blind- ness, and perhaps might render him incurable for ever. 3. This argument wiU be much strengthened, if we do but take a short view of the vast and incomprehensible variety of objects that may be proposed to our minds in the future state, and may feast our contemplation, and improve our joy. The blessed God himself is an infinite being: His perfections and glories are unbounded : His wisdom, his holiness, his goodness ISAACWATTS, D. D. Ill his faithfulness, his power and justice, his all-sufficiency, his self- origination, and his unfathomable eternity, have such a number of rich ideas belonging to each of them, that no creature shall ever fully understand. Yet it is but reasonable to believe, that he will communicate so much of himself to us by degrees, as he sees neces- sary for our business and blessedness in that upper world. Can it be supposed that we should know every thing that belongs to God all at once, which he may discover to us gradually as our capa- cities improve 3 Can we think that an infant soul, that had no time for improvement here, when it enters into heaven shall know every thing concerning God, that it can ever attain to through all the ages of its immortality ? When a blessed spirit has dwelt in heaven a thousand years, and conversed with God and Christ, angels and fellow-spirits, during all that season, shall it know nothing more of the nature and wondrous properties of God, than it knew the first moment of its arrival there ?* But I add further, the works of God shall doubtless be the mat- ter of our search and delightful survey, as well as the nature and properties of God himself. His works are honorable and glorious, and sought out of all that have pleasures in them; Psalm cxi. 2, 3, In his works we shall read his name, his properties, and his glories, whether we fix our thoughts on creation or providence. The works of God and his wonders of creation in the known and unknown worlds, both as to the number, the variety, the vastness of them, are almost infinite ; that is, they transcend all the limits of our ideas, and all our present capacities to conceive. Now there is none of these works of wonder, but may administer some enter- tainment to the mind of man, and may richly furnish him with new matter for the praise of God in the long successions of eter- nity. There is scarce an animal of the more complete kind, but would entertain an angel with rich curiosities, and feed his contemplation for an age. What a rich and artful structure of flesh upon the solid and well-compacted foundation of bones! What curious joints and hinges, on which the limbs are moved to and fro ! What an inconceivable variety of nerves, veins, arteries, fibres, and little invisible parts, are found in every member ! What various fluids, blood and juices, run through and agitate the innumerable slender tubes, the hollow tubes and strainers of the body ! What * God himself Bath infinite goodnees in him, which the creature cannot take in at once ; they are taking of it in eternally. The saints see in God still things fresh, which they saw not in the beginning of their blessedness. — Dr. T. Goodwin. 112 CHOICE WORKS OF millions of folding doors are fixed within, to stop those red or trans- parent rivulets in their course, either to prevent their return back- wards, or else as a means to swell the muscles and move the limbs ! What endless contrivances to secure hfe, to nourish nature, and to propagate the same to future animals ! What amazing lengths of holy ipeditation would an angel run upon these subjects! And what subhme strains of praise would a heavenly philosopher raise hourly to the Almighty and All-wise Creator! And all this from the mere brutal world ! But if we survey the nature of man, he is a creature made up of mind and animal united, and would furnish still more numerous and exalted materials for contemplation and praise ; for he has aU the richest wonders of animal nature in him, besides the unknown mysteries of mind or spirit. Surely it will create a sacred pleasure in happy souls above, to leavn the wonders of divine skill exerted and shining in their own formation, and in the curious workman- ship of those bodily engines in which they once dwelt and acted. Then let them descend to herbs and plants. How numerous are all the products of earth upon her green surface, and all within her dark bowels ! All the vegetable and the mineral kingdoms ! How many centuries would all these entertain a heavenly enquirer ! The worlds of air, and the worlds of water, the planetary and the starry worlds, are still new objects rich with curiosities ; these are all monuments of divine wisdom, and fit subjects for the contempla- tion of the blessed. Nor can we be supposed to have for ever dona with them all when we leave this body, and that for two reasons : One is, because God has never yet received the honor due to his wisdom and power, displayed in the material creation, from the hands or tongues of men. And the other is, because the spirits of the just shall be joined to bodies again, and then they, shall cer- tainly have necessary converse with God's material works and worlds ; though perhaps they have more acquaintance with them now in their separate state than we are apprised of And besides all these material works of God, what an unknown variety of other wonders belong to the world of pure spirits which lie hid from us, and are utterly concealed behind the veil of flesh and blood ! What are their natures, and the reach of their powers! What ranks and orders they are distributed into ! What are their governments, their several employments, the different customs and manners of life in the various and most extensive regions of that intellectual world ! What are their messages to our earth, or the other habitable globes, and what capacities they are endowed with to move or influence animate or inanimate bodies ! All these and ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 113 a thousand more of the like nature, are made known doubtless to the inhabitants of heaven. These are things that belong to the provrnras of light and immortality, but many of them are mysteries to us who dwell in these tabernacles ; they lie far beyond our ken, and are wrapped up in sacred darkness, that we can hardly do so much as shoot a guess at them. Now can we suppose that the meanest spirit in heaven has a full and entire survey of all these innumerable works of God, froin the first moment of its entrance thither, throughout all the ages of im- mortality, without the change of one idea, or the possibility of any improvement? This would be to give a sort of omniscience to every happy spirit, which is more than is generally allowed to the man Christ Jesus. And if there be such a thing as degrees of glory among the saints above, we may be well assured that the lowest rank of blessed spirits is not advanced to this amazing de- Is there no new thing, neither under nor above the sun, that God can entertain any of his children with in the upper world, through- out the infinite extent of all future ages ? Are they all made at once so much like God as to know all things ? Or if each of them have their stinted size of knowledge, or their limited number of ideas at their first release from their body, then they are everlast- ingly cut ofi' from all the surprises of pleasure that arise from new thoughts, and new scenes, and new discoveries. Does every saint in heaven read God's great volume of nature through and through the first hour it arrives there ? Or is each spirit confined to a cer- tain number of leaves, and bound eternally to learn nothing new, but to review perpetually his own limited lesson ? Dares he not, or can he not, turn over another leaf, and read his Creator's name in it, and adore his wisdom in new wonders of contrivance ? These things are improbable to ' such a high degree, that I dare almost pronounce them untrue. The book of providence is another volume wherein God writes his name too. Has every single saint such a vast and infinite length of foreknowledge given him at his first admission into glory, that he knows beforehand all the future scenes of providence, and the wonders which God shall work in the upper and lower worlds ? I thought the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root and the offspring of David, had been the only person in heaven or earth that was worthy to take the book, and loose the seven seals thereof; Rev. v. 6. Surely the meanest of the saints does not foreknow all those great and important counsels of God which our Lord Jesus Christ is entrusted with. And yet we may venture to say, that the spirits 114 CHOICE W O E K B OF of the just in heaven shall know those great and _ important events that relate to the church on earth, as they arise in succeggive sea- sons, that they may give to God, and to his Son Jesus Christ revenues of due honor upon this account, as I shall prove immedi- ately. And indeed if the limits of their knowledge in heaven were so fixed at their first entrance there, that they could never be ac- quainted with any of these successive providences of God after- wards, we here on earth have a great advantage above them, who see daily the accomplishment of his divine counsels, and adore the wonders of his wisdom and his love ; and from this daily increase of knowledge we take our share in the growing joys and blessings of Zion. But this thought leads me to the fourth argument for the increase of knowledge in heaven. 4. There have been, and there are, many future providences on earth, and transactions in heaven, in which the spirits of the just have a very great and dear concernment, and therefore they must know them when they come to pass ; and yet it is by no means probable, that they are known in all their glorious circumstances beforehand by every spirit in heaven. Let us descend a little to some particular instances, and see whether we cannot make it appear from Scripture, with most con- vincing evidence, that the saints in heaven obtain some additions to their knowledge, by the various new transactions in heaven and in earth. When our- blessed Lord had fulfilled his state of sorrows and sufferings on earth, and ascended into heaven in his glorified human nature, with all the scars of honor, and the ensigns of victory about him ; when the Lamb appeared in the midst of the throne with the marks of slaughter and death upon him, and presented himself before God in the midst of angels and ancient patriarchs, with the accomplishment of all the types and promises about him written in letters of blood ; did not those blessed angels, did not the spirits of those patriarchs, learn something more of the mysteries of our redemption, and the wondrous glories of the Redeemer, than what they were acquainted with before ? And did not this new glorious scene spread new ideas, new joys and wonders through all the heavenly world ? Can the principalities and powers in heavenly places gain by the church on earth any farther discoveries of the manifold wisdom of God? Eph. iii. 10. And can we believe that when Christ, the head of the church, entered into heaven in so illustrious a manner, that these powers, principalities, ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 115 and blessed spirits, got no brighter discoveries of divine wisdom ? To what purpose do they look and ^ly into these things, 1 Pet. i. 12, if after all theii' searches they make no advances in knowledge? And must angels be the only proficients in these sublime sciences, ■while human spirits make no improvement? Can it be supposed that those ancient fathers, Abraham, Isaac, "and Jacob, to whom the promises were made, that all the nations should be Messed in their seed, had no transporting pleasures when they first beheld that promised seed crowned with all his glory ; when they saw their Son Jesus ascending on high, and leading captivity captive, and the chariots of God that attended him were twenty thousand, even an innumerable company of angels; Psalm Ixviii. lY, 18. If upon this occasion we may talk in the language of mortals, may we not suppose those ancient fathers raising themselves-on high, and overlooking the walls of paradise, to gaze downward upon this ascending triumph? May we not imagine them speaking thus to each other in the holy transport : " And is this our great descendant ? Is this our lofig-expected ofispring ? How divine his aspect ! How godlike his air ! How glorious and adorable all the graces of his countenance ! Is this, saith holy David, my Son and my Lord ? the king of glory, for whose admission I called the gates of heaven to he lifted up, and opened the everlasting doors for him in an ancient song ? Is this the man whose hands and whose feet they pierced on earth, as I once foretold by the spirit of prophecy ? I see those blessed scars of honor ; how they adorn his glorified limbs ! I acknowledge and adore my God and my Saviour. I begun his triumph once on my harp in a lower strain, and I behold him now ascending on 'high : Awake my glory, he comes, he comes, with the sound of a trumpet, and with the pomp of shouting angels ; sing praises, all ye saints, unto our God, sing praises, unto our king, sing praises. Is this, saith Isaiah, the child horn of whom I spoke ? ' Is this the Son given of whom I pro- phesied ? I adore him as the mighty God, the Father of ages, and the Prince of peace. I see the righteous branch, adds the prophet Jeremy, the righteous branch from the stem of David, from the root of Jesse. This is the king whom I foretold should reign in righteousness : The Lord my righteousness is his name, I rejoice at his appearance, the throne of heaven is made ready for him. This, saith Daniel, is the Messiah, the Prince, who was cut off, hut not for himself: The seventy weeks are all fulfilled, and the work is done. Se hath finished transgression, and made an end of sin, and hath hrought in everlasting righteousness for all his people. But was this the person, saith Zachary the prophet, whom they 116 CHOICE WORKS OF sold for thirty pieces of silver ? Vile indignity and impious mad- ness! Behold he now appears like the man who is fellow, or companion to the Lord of hosts. It is he, saith Malachi, it is he, the messenger of the covenant, who came suddenly to his own temple. There I held him in my withered arms, saith aged Simeon, and rapture and prophecy came upon me at once, and I expired in joy and praises. And we hope our mother Eve stood up among the rest of them, and beheld and confessed the promised seed of the woman. " blessed Saviour, that didst break the head of the serpent, though thy heel was bruised, and hast abolished the mischief that my folly and his temptation had brought into thy new created world !" Now could we ever suppose all this to be" done in the upper regions, with no new smiles upon the countenances of the saints, no special increase of joy among the spirits of the just made per- fect ? God himself stands in no need of the magnificence of these transactions : Christ Jesus receives the new honors, and all the old inhabitants of heaven taste new and unknown satisfaction in the honoi's they pay to their exalted Saviour. Some of the ancients were of opinion, that the souls of the fathers before the ascension of Christ were not admitted into the holy of holies, or the blissful vision of God ; but that it was our Lord Jesus, our great High- priest, at his ascent to the throne, led the way thither : He rent the veil of the lower heaven, and carried with him the armies of the patriarchal souls into some upper and brighter, and more joy- ful regions, whereas before they were only admitted into a state of peace and rest. Whether this be so or no the Scripture does not sufficiently declare : But whatsoever region of heaven they were placed in, we may be well assured, from the very nature of things, that such transactions as the triumphant ascent of Christ, could never pass through any of the upper worlds without enlarging the knowledge and the joy of the blessed inhabitants. When our Lord Jesus Christ sat down at the right hand of God, he prevailed to open that book of divine counsels and decrees, Bev. V. 5. and to acquaint himself with all the contents : And this was necessary that he might manage and govern the affairs of the church and the world in the several successive ages, according, to the counsels of the Father. He therefore; and he alone among creatures, knows the evd from the beginning, as I hinted before. But as the seals of this book are opened by degrees, and the coun- sels of God are executed in the lower worid, doubtless the angels \ that are ministers of the providence of Christ carry tidings to heaven of all the greater changes that relate to the church ; and ISAAC WATTS, D.D. llY Jesus the Son of God, the King of saints and of nations, receives the shouts and honors of the heavenly world, as fast as the joyful tidings arrive thither. Nor is this spoken by mere conjecture, for the Scripture informs us of the certainty of it. We have frequent accounts in the book of Revelations of new special honors that were paid to him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb, at certain special periods of time. When he first took upon him the execution of his Father's de- crees, the living creatures and elders fell down before the Lamb, and they sung a new song, saying, thou art worthy to take the hook, and to open the seals thereof ; and ten thousand times ten thousand angels echoed to the song with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb that was slain, &c. ; Rev. v. 8, 9, 11. So when the ser- vants of God were sealed in their foreheads, the innumerable mul- titude of saints shouted salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb ; Rev. vii. 3, 9, 10. So when the seventh angel sounded, there were great voices in heaven, saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever y and the four-and-twenty elders fell upon their faces, and worshipped and gave thanks; Bev. xi. 15, 16. Again, when the old dragon and his angels were cast out of heaven, there was a loud voice, saying, now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ : for the accuser of our brethren is cast down ; Rev. xii. 9, 10. So upon the fall of Babylon, chap.xiv. and the victory of the saints, chap. xv. and the final destruction of anti-christ, chap. xix. there are new honors done by the saints to God the Father, and his Son Jesus. There are new songs ad- dressed to them at these surprising revolutions on earth, these won- drous turns of judgment on the world, and mercy to the church ; all which supposes that the heavenly inhabitants are acquainted with them, and thus their knowledge and their joys increase. Objection. But does not the prophet Isaiah say, in the name of the church of Israel, Abraham is ignorant of us, and Israel ac- knowledges us not ? Isaiah Ixiii. 16. Answer 1. The words knowledge and acknowledgment often sig- nify a friendly and beneficial care manifested in special acts of kindness and benefits conferred. Therefore the tribe of Levi is said neither to have seen his father or his mother, nor to acknowl- edge his brethren, nor to know his own children ; Deut. xxxiii. 9. because the sons of Levi slew every man his brother, and every man his neighbor, to execute the vengeance of the Lord upon 118 CHOICE WORKS OF them ; Exod. xxxii. 26 — 29. So Abraham and Israel in heaven, in the same sense, know not their posterity on earth, when they approve of the anger of God let out upon them, and afford them no defence. This interpretation perfectly agrees with the context. But it does not follow, that Abraham and Israel were utterly unac- quainted with all the greater events of providence towards the Jewish nation, though perhaps they might not know the lesser and more minute circumstances of their afflictions or their dehver- ances. Answer 2. If we could suppose that the souls of the ancient pa- triarchs were ignorant of the affairs of their posterity before the coming of the Messiah, yet since Christ in our nature now dwells in the midst of them, and has taken the book of divine counsels into his own hands, since the great God-man rules all things in the upper and lower worlds, it is not probable that Abraham and Israel are so ignorant of the affairs of the church as they were in the days of Isaiah. And not only the greater and more extensive dispensations that attend the church on earth are made known to the spirits of the just made perfect, but even some lesser and particular concerns are very probably revealed to them also. Is it not said, that when one sinner on earth repents, there is joy among the angels in heaven ? Luke xv. 7, 10. For every such con- vert is a new trophy of divine grace. And when the spirits of the just in heaven shall, in successive seasons, behold one and another of their old relatives and acquaintance on earth entering in at the gates, and received into heaven, can we imagine there is no new joy amongst them ? Do the pleasures of angels increase when they see a man brought into the state of grace, and shall not the souls of men testify their exultation and delight, when they see one of their fellow-souls, perhaps a dear and intimate friend, translated to the state of glory ! Surely every increase of that happy world shall diffuse increasing joy through the holy ones that dwell iu it: and those shall have the sweetest taste of this joy that had the dearest concern in it. Oh the transporting and celestial gratula- tions that pass between two souls of intimate endearment at their first meeting there ! The last argument that I shall use, and it is also the last in- stance I shall mention, wherein the knowledge and the pleasure of glorified saints must receive addition and improvement is, the greatf' resurrection-day. The spirits of men are formed on purpose for union with bodies, and if they could attain complete happiness in the highest degree ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 119 without them, what need would there be of new-creating their bod- ies from the dust ? Upon this supposition the resurrection itself must seem to be almost in vain. But it is evident, from the word of God, that the spirits of the just, with all the perfections that be- long to a separate state, wait yet for greater perfection when their bodies shall be restored to them ; for as they suffered pain and ag- ony in the body, they shall have a recompense of pleasure too. All the days of their appointed time they wait, till this blessed change shall come ; Job xiv. 14. God shall call, and the dust of the saints shall answer ; God the Creator will have a desire again to the work of his own hands, verse 16; and the happy souls will have a desire to be rejoined to their old companions. O glorious hour ! O blessed meeting-time ! A magnificent and divine spectacle, worthy to attract the eyes of all the creation ! When the long-divided parts of human nature shall be united with unknown powers and glories ! When these bodies shall be called out of their long dart dungeon, all fashioned anew, and all new dressed in immortality and sunbeams ! When these spirits shall as- sume and animate their limbs again, exulting in new life and ever- lasting vigor ! Now can we suppose it possible that all this vast and amazing change shall be made by the conflagration of the earth and the lower heavens, by the awful and illustrious splendors and solemni- ties of the last judgment, by the bodies of millions of saints and sinners rising into a painful or joyful immortality, and yet no new ideas hereby communicated to the happy spirits ; no increase of their knowledge, or improvement of their joys ? Shall the apostles and the prophets, the confessors and the mar- tyrs, stand at the right hand of Christ, and be owned and acknowl- edged by him with divine applause in the sight of the whola crea- tion, and yet have no new transports of pleasure running through their souls ? Shall they be absolved and approved by the voice of God, with thousands of applauding angels, in the face of heaven, earth, and hell, and all this without any advancement of their knowledge or their blessedness ? Shall St. Paul meet the Thessa- lonian converts in the presence ofhis Lord Jesus, those souls who were once his labor and his hope, and shall they not at that day appear to be his glory and his joy ? Does not he himself tell them so in his first epistle, chap. ii. verses 19, 20. And can we believe that he or they shall be disappointed ? Shall that great ajiostle see the immense fruits of his labors, the large harvest of souls which he gathered from many provinces of Europe and Asia, all appearing at once in their robes of light and victory, 120 CHOICE WORKS OF and shall he feel no new inward exultations of spirit at such a sight ? And doubtless many thousand souls, whom he never knew on earth, shall be made known to him at that day, and own their conversion to his sacred writings. And shall all this make no ad- dition to his pleasures ? The very mention of so absurd a doctrine refutes and condemns itself. The saints at that day shall, as it were, be brought into a new world, and he that sits upon the throne shall make all things new; and as he crowns his happy followers with new and unknown blessings, so. shall he receive the homage of new and unknown praises. This is a new heaven and a new earth indeed, beyond all our present apprehensions ; and the magnificent language of pro- phecy shall be fulfilled in its utmost force and brightness. Doubtless there are pleasures to be enjoyed by complete human nature, by imbodied souls, which a mere separate spirit is not ca- pable of. Is it not part of the blessedness of human spirits to en- joy mutual society, and hold a pleasing correspondence with each other? But whatsover be the means and methods of that cor- respondence in a separate state, surely it wants something of that complete pleasure and sensible intimacy which they shall be made partakers of, when they shall hold noble communion in their bod- ies raised from the dust, and refined from every weakness. Is it not the happiness of the saints in heaven to see their glorified Saviour ? But even this sight is and must be incomplete, till they are endued with bodily organs again. What converse soever the spirits of the just have with the glorified man Jesus while they are absent from the body, yet I am persuaded it is not, nor can it be, so full and perfect in all respects as it shall be at the general resurrection. They cannot now see him face to face in the literal sense, and they wait for this exalted pleasure, this immediate beatifio sight. Job himself yet waits, though the worms have destroyed his body, till that glorious hour when in his flesh he shall see God, Job xix. 26 ; even God his Redeemer, who shall stand at the last day on the earth, verse 25. Not only all the saints on earth who have received the first fruits of the Spirit wait for the adoption, that is, the redemption of the body, Rom. viii. 23 ; but the saints in heaven also live there, waiting till the body be redeemed from the grave, and their adoption shall appear with illustrious evidence : Then they shall all look like the sons of God, like Jesus, the first beloved and the first born. The spirits above, how perfect soever they are in the joys of the separate state, yet wait for those endless scenes of un- known delight that shall succeed the resurrection. ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 121 And there is abundant reason for it to be drawn from the word of God ; for the Scripture speaks but very little concerning the blessedness of separate souls, in comparison of the frequent and large accounts of the glory and triumph that shall attend the sound of the last trumpet, and the great rising day. It is to this blessed hour that the apostles in their writings are alway directing the hope of the saints. They are ever pointing to this glorious morning, as the season when they shall receive their reward and their prize, their promised joy and their crown ; as though all that they had received before in their state of separation were hardly to be named in comparison of that more exceeding and eternal weight of additional glory. What new kinds of sensations shall entertain us in that day, what a rich variety of senses we shall enjoy, what well-appointed and immortal organs we shall be furnished with, instead of our present feeble eyes and ears, and what glorious and transporting objects shall surround us in those unknown worlds, and fill the enlarged powers of the soul with sensible as well as intellectual delights : These are wonders too sublime even for our present conjecture, and are all reserved in the counsels of God, to com- plete the final felicity of the saints. Thus we have made it ap- pear, that the knowledge and joy that belongs to the spirits of the just made perfect, may admit of large increase. But can their holiness be increased too ? Can perfect holiness receive any improvement ? I will not assert any thing in this matter, lest, the manner of expression should ofiend weaker minds : But I desire leave to enquire, whether those who have the brightest and fullest visions of him are not most transformed into his image, and made most nearly like to him ? Now if the separate spirits in heaven are ad- vanced to different degrees of divine knowledge, may they not in this sense have different degrees of holiness too ? Is it not possible that one saint should love God more intensely than another, and be more impressed with his likeness as he beholds more of his beauty ? Is it not possible that a soul shall grow in the strength and fervor of its love and zeal for God, and be more exactly assimilated to him as it gets nearer to God, and grows up into higher measures of ac- quaintance with him? Has not the angel Gabriel, the apostle Paul, and the glorified human nature of Christ in any respect more of holiness or love, or likeness to God, than the meanest saint or angel in heaven ? Is not their sublimer knowledge and nearness to God attended with proportionable rays of divine sanc- tity and glorj- ? Is not the divine image in these cvalted saints 6 122 CHOICE WORKS OP more complete tLan in the very lowest ? And yet we may boldly assert, that the meanest saint or angel there is so perfect in holi- ness, as to be free from all sin : There is nothing to be found in any spirit there contrary to the nature or the will of God. So a soul released from the body may perhaps grow in likeness and love to God perpetually, and yet it may have bo sinful defects either in its love or conformity to God from the first moment of its entrance into heaven. I shall first illustrate this by two similitudes, and then propose a rational and clear account of it in a way of argument. When the distant morning sun shines on a piece of polished metal, the metal reflects the face of the sun in perfection, when the sun first rises on it. But the same instruments conaing di- rectly under the meridian sunbeams, shall reflect the same image brighter and warmer : And yet every moment of this reflection, from the morning to the highest noon, shall be perfect, that is, without spot, without blemish, and without defect. Such perhaps, is the holiness of all the saints in heaven. Or shall I rather borrow a similitude from Scripture, and say, the holiness of the spirits in heaven is compared to fine linen ? liev. xix. 8. The fine linen clean and white is the righteousness of the saints, to diKatu^ara t&v dyiuv. Now, though a garment may be perfectly clean without the least spot or stain, yet fine linen may grow whiter hourly, as it is bleached by the constant influence of the heavens. So though every spirit be perfectly cleansed and purified from all sin and defilement, yet it is not impossible that the degrees of its grace and holiness, or conformity to God, may grow brighter, and much improve by nearer approaches to God, longer acquaintance with him, and the continued influences of his majesty and love. Now let me propose a rational account of this matter to the consid- eration of those whose minds are raised above common prejudices. The holiness of an innocent creature consists in attaining the knowledge of the nature and will of God, according to the utmost of ils own present capacity, and the means of discovery which it enjoys, and in the various exercises of love to God in an exact pro- portion to its knowledge ; or, to express it briefly, thus, an innocent creature is perfectly holy when it Imows and loves God to the ut- most reach of its present powers. If this be done, there is no sin- ful defect, no guilty imperfection ; and yet there may be almost an infinile difierence in the various degrees of power and capacity, of knowledge and love, amongst innocent spirits : One spirit may be formed capable of knowing much more of his Maker than another, ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 123 and may be favored with richer discoveries. Now if every new divine discovery raise an equal proportion of love in the soul, then is it possible that any soul might be perfectly holy at its first entrance into heaven, and yet may make sublime advances in holiness hourly. Can we suppose that innocent Adam, at his very formation in paradise, knew all the wonders of divine wisdom and goodness that ever he was designed to attain had he lived sinless and immortal ? And then can we believe, since his knowledge of his Maker's good- ness and wisdom was to receive continual advances, that he should admire him no more, and love him no better, after a thousand years converse with him, thaa he did at his first creation ? Now the case of the saints in heaven is much the same. The rule and measure of their duty is their knowledge, and the rule and measure of their knowledge is their own capacity, and their means of dis- covery. They never fall short of their duty, and therefore they have no sin : And thus their holiness may be every moment per- fect, and yet perhaps every moment increasing, as their capacities are enlarged, and receive new discoveries through all the ages of their immortality. Happy souls, whose aspiring knowledge, and love, and zeal, move onward hourly, and get still nigher to their God ! Surely while they behold his face in the unveiled beauties of his holiness, they shall love him with warmer zeal, and be more abundantly satisfied with his likeness ; Psalm xvii. 15. After all that I have said on the subject, some will insist on this ob- jection, viz., Can there be any such thing as imperfection in heaven? Is it not said to be a perfect state ? Now if the spirits above be always growing in excellency and hohness, then they are always defective, and eternally imperfect; which is very hard^sto suppose concerning the saints in glory, and contrary to the very expression and letter of my text. The answer to this is very easy to all that will give their reason leave to exercise itself upon just ideas, and to think and argue be- yond the chime of words. Perfection, as I told you before, is not to be taken here in an absolute, but in a comparative sense. Nothing is absolutely per- fect but God ; and, in comparison of God, the highest and most exalted of all creatures is, and will be, eternally imperfect and de- fective : The heavens are not pure in his sight, and he charges his angels with folly ; Job iv. 18. Even the man Chiist Jesus shall for ever fall short of the perfection of the divine nature to which he is united, and in this sense will be imijerfect for ever. But where any creature has attained to such exalted degrees of excellency as 124 CHOICE WORKS OF are far superior to -what others have attained, it is the custom of the Scripture to call them perfect, and that with a design to do honor to their character : So Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generation; Gen. vi. 9. Job also has this honor done him, he was perfect and upright; Job i. 1. And the saints on earth are called perfect in many parts of the word of God, even while they are here on earth, and have many defects and imperfections. So, though it be literally true that the saints in heaven are continually imperfect in comparison of God and Christ, and of what they them- selves shall farther attain, yet the Scripture, which delights to do honor to them, chooses rather to call them perfect, because of the sublime degree of excellencies they possess above their fellow-saints on earth : And it is not fit for us to degrade them in our common language by the diminishing and abasing names of defect and im- perfection, though their present perfection and excellency admits of everlasting increase. If any man, after he has read this treatise thus far, and has duly weighed all the former arguments, can see force enough in this last objection to baffle or destroy them all, or can find terror enough in the mere sound of the word imperfect to forbid his assent, I desire he may not be disturbed in the possession of his own sentiments, till the sweet and surprising sensations of ever-growing felicity con- vince him that heaven is a place of glorious improvement. This shall suffice for the third general head of my discourse, wherein I hare shewn, that the perfection of the spirits of the just is such a perfection as admits of a rich variety of employments and pleasures, according to the various taste and inchnation of the blessed ; it allows of their difierent degrees of felicity, according to their different capacities and preparations : It furnishes each blessed spirit with a irequent change of pleasures, and it gives' room for perpetual increase. Section V. — of the means op attaining this perfection. Mt fourth and last enquiry is this, how do these good spirits of just men arrive at this perfection ? I answer, by the death of the body, and their departure from flesh and blood. You will ask, what reasons are there why their departure from the body should bring them into this perfect state ? I will content myself to men- tion these four : I. Because atdeath their state of trial is ended, and the time of recompense begins by divine appointment : Now all their imper- fections must end with their state of trial. ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 125 This is the account of things in the Scripture, Heh. ix. 27. It is appointed for all men once to die, and after death the judgment. At the hour of death those words are spoken aloud in the most dreadful or most delightful language, Hev. xxii. 11. Jle that is unjust or filthy, let him be so still : He that is righteous and holy, let him be so still. And then upon the determination of the state, the reward or recompense follows, verse 12. My reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall he. Many in- conveniences and imperfections, and difiSculties, are proper for a state of trial, and by these methods we are trained up for glory. Christ himself was ignorant of many things in the day of his trial ; his knowledge on earth was imperfect, and his joys were so too ; for he grew in wisdom and knowledge, he was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. Though he were a Son, yet he learned obedience by the things that he suffered, and the Captain of our Salvation was made perfect through sufferings; Heb. v. 8, and ii. 10. But when the time of probation and suffering ceases, then perfection is come, and glory appears. Hail, blessed spirits above, who have passed your state of trial well ! You have run the laborious race under many burdens, and you have Teceived the prize. You have fought with mighty ene- mies, you have overcome a thousand difficulties, and you enjoy the crown. No more shall you complain of the mixture of error with your knowledge ; no more shall you groan under the per- plexities of thought, the tumults of passion, the burdens of in- dwelling iniquity, nor cry out because of oppressing enemies or sorrows. The hour of your trial is finished. You have been sincere and faithful in your imperfect services, and you are arrived at the world of perfection. II. At the hour of death the spirits of the just leave all the natural and the sinful infirmities of flesh and blood behind them, which are the causes and springs of a thousand imperfections. The very natural circumstances and necessities of the body, and the inconveniences that attend it in this frail state, do very mijph em- barrass and clog the spirit in its pursuit of knowledge, or holiness, or divine joy. The flesh is a dark covering to the soul ; it beclouds our ideas, confuses our conceptions, and prevents a clear and distinct knowl- edge of a thousand objects. It is a dull dark tabernacle for a spiidt's residence. It has windows indeed to let in light, but those very windows, like painted or curled glass, too often discolor the objects, or distort the shape of them. These very senses of ours frequently impose upon us in the searches after truth, and rep- 126 CHOICE WORKS OP resent things not as they are in themselves, and in their own nature, but as they are useful and hurtful to us ; and often we pass a fnlse judgment on the nature of things by their influence, and are led into many mistakes in our enquiries after know- ledge. Our fancy or imagination raises up false images of things, and we forsake the solid and real truth to follow the shapes, and colors, and appearances of it painted upon fancy. From our very infancy, our souls are imposed upon by the animal ; we draw in early many false judgments, and establish them daily. We are nursed up in prejudice against a hundred truths, both in the philosophical, the moral, and the religious life ; and it is the labor of an age even for a wise and good man to wear off a few of them, and to judge with any tolerable freedom, evidence, and certainty. A great part of our life is spent in sleep, wherein the soul is bound up from exerting any regular thoughts, confined every night to a periodical delirium, subjected to all the fluttering tyranny of the animal spirits, and dragged away into all the wild wanderings of dreaming nature ; and indeed the thoughts of many of us al- ways, and of all of us sometimes, even when we are awake, are but little better, because we perpetually dance after the motions of passion and fancy, and our reason seldom judges without them. Alas ! how imperfect is the best of us in knowledge here ! But knowledge is not the only good of which the body deprives the spirit. The necessities of the body, hunger and thirst, weakness, and weariness, and drowsy spirits, sit very heavy upon the soul, and hinder it in the pursuit of holy and heavenly thoughts, break off many a divine meditation, and interrupt and spoil many a delightful piece of worship. In sickness or in old age, what long and weighty troubles, what tiresome infirmities clog the soul, and what restless pains of nature overwhelm the spirit, and forbid the lively exercises of devotion ! And then also the sinful appetites and perverse afiections of nature are very much seated in flesh and blood ; so much, that the apostle in many places calls the principles of sin by the general name of flesh. Read the latter end of the seventh chapter of his epistle to the Romans. How doth he complain of the flesh and members of the body, which are fatal instruments of sin and Satan ! Read the black catalogue of iniquities, Oal. v. 19, 20, 21, and hear them called the works of the flesh. Pride and malice, and envy, and lust, and covetousness, and wrath, and revenge, are fouQd secretly working in flesh and blood. Oh ! how much are ISAAC WATTS, D. D. I2l the springs of these sinful evils seated in the very composition of depraved animal nature ! And how is the poor laboring spirit of a saiut dreadfully betrayed thereby into frequent actual guilt, even notwithstanding all its care and watchfulness ! wretched men that we are ! who shall deliver us ! Blessed be God, there is a time of release. And as our knowledge and our holiness are rendered very imperfect, by reason of these sensible and corrupt engines of flesh and blood, so are the joys and satisfactions of the soul perpetually impaired and diminished hereby. The heart of the saint is in pain to feel sin working in it, and the conscience complains under the anguish of guilt. Blessed be God for the balm that is found in the blood of Christ to ease the anguish of conscience ! Besides, what spirit can enjoy perfect peace, while it is tied to so many thousand nerves, each of which may become an instrument of intense pain and torture? And the body itself has sharp humors enough in it to corrode those nerves, and fill the indwelling spirit with agonies. What millions of seeds of painful disease lurk in animal nature, that render this body a most uncomfortable dwelling! And how many thousand strokes and accidents are we liable to from abroad, whence new pains and sorrows are derived to the soul! The wind and the weather, the rain and the hail, and the scorching sun, the air, the water, and fire, and every element, may afflict the animal, and pain the unhappy spirit. But happy souls, that are free from all the cumbersome and mischievous influences of flesh and blood ! from these instruments of iniquity, and . springs of deadly guilt and torment ! Happy souls, that are released from sick and languishing bodies, from feeble and burdensome limbs, and all the tiresome and painful dis- orders of dying nature! that are raised beyond the reach and injury of all these lower elements, these mediums of disease and pain! Rejoice and triumph, ye prisoners newly discharged; ye feel the pleasurable truths that we guess at, but ye feel and enjoy them with a relish of sublime pleasure beyond all our conjectures. Rejoice and exult in your new liberty, like a bird released from the im- prisoning cage, and sing with sweetest notes to the praise of your Redeemer. O worship and serve him in the full freedom of all your active powers; attend at his feet with intense delight, and love him with joy unspeakable, and full of glory. III. By the death of the body, and their release from it, these spirits of the just are free from all the tempting powers and the sin- ful influences of earth and hell. This world of sensible allurements, and this world of sinful men, 128 CHOICE WORKS OF hatli a mighty influence on the spirits of the saints while they dwell in flesh and blood. How often are we deceived into practices of iniquity by the enticing vanities of this life? How often tempted by evil companions, by flattering mischiefs, and ensnaring circum- stances? And many times too the fear of men, and the terror of their threatenings, fright us to a neglect of duty, or hurry us into the commission of some active iniquity. Sometimes the pleasing enjoy- ments of life tie our hearts to the creature by the bands of excess- ive love ; and sometimes the injjiries a,nd reproaches we receive from them kindle our fiery passions, and rouse up our sinful wrath and revenge. This world also is much under the evil influences of the prince of darkness ; he is called the God of this world : It is greatly given up to the ravages of the roaring lion, and he worries the spirits of the saints while they dwell within his territories, though he is not sufiered to destroy and devour them. But at the mo- ment of death the happy spirit is released from the senses, and thereby from the impressions of all sensible things. All the flat- tering vanities of this lower world have no more power to entice the soul, than the grossest sensualities could entice a pure angel. Sinful companions can no more invite, and threatening tyrants have no more power to terrify. The spirit is then got out of the territories of Satan ; he is, prince of the power of the air, but his dominion reaches no farther. The heaven where Christ is, never admits him. Michael with his avr- gels hath cast out the old dragon and his angels, and there is no more place found for them there. Happy spirits, delivered and secured from the devil and the world at once, and from all their tempting and destructive influences ! Now when a sanctified soul is thus released both from its union t6 sinful flesh and blood, and from all possible assaults of the pow- ers of earth and hell, it may be worth our enquiry, whether this release be not sufficient of itself to render the work of sanctifica- tion complete, and bring it to a state of perfection, supposing still the ordinary concurrence or influence of the sanctifying spirit? Or whether there must be any immediate, almighty and present change wrought in the soul by a new and extraordinary influence of the blessed Spirit at the very moment of death, by which sano- tifioation is at once completed. Which of these is true I know not. I confess this last has generally been the opinion of our pro- tesLant writers ; and perhaps it may be the truth : But the Scrip- ture is silent. Who can tell therefore whether a holy soul, that hath received ISAAC WATTS, D, D. 129 the divine seed of grace, which is called the divine nature, and is regenerated, and renewed, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, hath not all its remaining sins and inoiperfections owing to its bonds of sinful flesh and blood ? And whether its compliance with so many temptations, is not to be attributed to its close attachments to cor- rupt animal nature and sensible things ? And therefore whether this sanctified nature would not become completely free from sin, when it is freed from all the influence of a tempting body and a tempting world ? Whether the divine bent and bias that is given it by the Spirit of God at first conversion, and by which it main- tains continual opposition to sinful flesh, would not mate its own way toward perfection without new and extraordinary operations ? Whether this would not be suiBcient to cause the soul for ever to ascend naturally toward God in desire, and love, and dehght, when all clogs and embarrassments are removed ? So a vessel filled with upper air, and dragged down by some heavy weight to the bottom of the sea, labors and wrestles with the uneasy burden, and hath a perpetual tendency toward this upper region : But if the weight be once taken off, it immediately of itself rises through the water, and never ceases its motion till it come to the surface. I confess this is a nicer speculation, and of doubtful evidence ; though when St. Paul lays his sinful compliances and captivity so much to the charge of his flesh and members in the vii. chapter to the Eomans, and in other places of his writings, one would be ready to think St. Paul was of this opinion. However, this we are sure of, that a sanctified soul released from the body shall be made free from every sin, and its absence from flesh and the world have a large, if not a sufficient influence to efiect this freedom. And if we should grant it, that a soul just dismissed from this world is not perfectly sanctified by the mere influence of this re- lease ; yet this perfection is sufficiently secured by its dismission from flesh ; for when absent from the body, it is present with the Lord : And this leads me to the next particular, vie. iV. At death the spirits of the just, released from bodies, enter into another state, a difierent world, where they have a thousand advantages for improvement in knowledge, and advances in holi- ness and joy, vastly beyond what any thing in this world could furnish them with. They see God, and are for ever with him. They behold him face to face, as I have before explained it, in a more immediate and intuitive manner ; and doubtless such a sight fills the spirit with a clearer and brighter idea of the nature and attributes of God, than 6* 130 CHOICE WORKS OF all the former lessons it had learned in the books of nature and of Scripture could ever give it. They see our Lord Jesus Christ, our glorified Saviour, in such a way and manner as glorified separate spirits can converse with spi- rits imbodied ; and one such view as this will perhaps lead us into more intimate acquaintance with his human nature and his united Godhead, than many years of converse with him by all the medi- ums of ordinances, those divine glasses wherein we see him darkly, as the apostle speaks, and whereby God and Christ represent and manifest themselves to saints on earth. And as our knowledge shall receive immense and surprising im- provements by these new methods of discovery, so I think it shall in due proportion advance our holiness or conformity to God the Father, and his brightest image Christ Jesus : for we cannot be- hold them in such a manner without a glorious transformation into their hkeness, as I have hinted already. When a soul, that hath a new nature given it by sanctifying grace, is placed in the immediate view and presence of God the most holy, it will ever be growing into a greater degree of near- ness and love, and it will be powerfully changed more and more into the likeness of God himself, as a needle when placed within the reach of a loadstone's attractive power, ceases not its motion till it be joined in perfect union, and itself acquires the virtues of that wonderful mineral. Nor is it possible in heaven that we should advance in knowl- edge and holiness without an equal improvement in felicity and joy. On earth indeed we are told, he that will live godly, shall suffer persecution ; Anihethat increases knowledge, increases sor- row ; 2 Tim. iii. 12. and Ecdes. i. 18. But as heaven is high above the earth, so are the customs and the blessings of that state superior to this ; for there are no present sorrows to be known, nor any future to be feared : And holiness has no enemy there. All things round the saint shall have a tendency to promote his bless- edness. The spirit of a good man released from the body, and ascending to heaven, is surrounded with thousands and tens of thousands of blessed spirits of the human and angelic order : When it gets within the confines of the heavenly country, it sweetly and insen- sibly acquires the genius and temper of the inhabitants ; it breathes, as it were, a new air, and lives, and thinks, and acts just as they do. It shines and burns with new degrees of knowledge, zeal, and love, and exults in the transporting communications of the same joy. IJow vastly shall our understandings be improved by the ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 181 kind narratives and instructions of the saints that arrived at heaven before us, and by converse with the ministering angels. You will say, perhaps, that we shall have no need of their teach- ing when we get to heaven, for we shall be near to God himself, and receive all immediately from him. But hath the Scripture any where excluded the assistance of our fellow-spirits ? God can teach us here on earth immediately by his own Spirit, without the use of books and letters, without the help of prophets and ministers, men of like passions with ourselves ; and yet he chooses rather to do it iu an instrumental way, and makes his creatures in the lower world the means of our instruction under the superior influence of his own Spirit : And why may he not use the same methods to communicate knowledge to the spirits that newly arrive at that upper world ? There we shall see the patriarchs of the old world, and prophets of the old dispensation, as well as the apostles and evangelists of Christ and his gospel. There we shall be ■ conversant with those blessed angels whom he lias used as ministers of his vengeance, or his mercy, to persons and churches, families and nations ; and they will not be unwilling to inform us of those great and surprising tran- sactions of God with men. There we shall find a multitude of other eminent, saints before and after Christ. Adam doubtless will take a peculiar pleasure in acquainting all his happy posterity with the special form and terms of the covenant of innocency ; he shall tell us the nature of the trees of knowledge and of life, and how fatally he fell, to the ruin of his unborn ofi- spring. Unhappy father, deriving iniquity and death down to his children ! But with what immense satisfaction and everlasting sur- • prise he views the second Adam, his Son and his Saviour, and stands iu adoration and transport, while he beholds millions of his seed that he once ruined, now raised to superior glories above the pro- mises of the law of works, by the intervening influence of a Mediator ? Enoch, the man that walked with God, and Elijah, the great re- former, shall instruct us how they were translated to heaven, and passed into a blessed immortality without calling at the gates of death. Ifoah will relate to his sons among the blessed, what was the wickedness of the old world before the flood, that provok- ed God their Maker to drown them all : he shall entertain us with the wonders of the ark, and the covenant of the rainbow in all its glorious colors. Abraham the father of the faithful, and the friend of God, shall talk over again with us his familiar converse with God and angels in their frequent ajDparitions to him, and slial| Ml v(9 132 CHOICE WORKS OF how much the promised seed transcends all the poor low ideas he had of him in his obscure age of prophecy. For we cannot suppose that all intimate converse with our father Abraham shall be for- bidden us, by any of the laws or manners of that heavenly country, since heaven, itself is described by our sitting down as at one table with Abraham, and dwelling in his bosom ; Matt. viii. 1 1 ; and Luke xiv. 15 ; and xvi. 23. There Paul and Moses shall join together to give us an account of the Jewish law, and read wondrous and entertaining lectures on the types and figures of that economy, and still lead our thoughts to the glorious antitype with surprising encomium? of the blessed Jesus. Paul shall unfold to us the dark places of his own writings, better than he himself once understood them ; and Moses shall be- come an interpreter of his own law, who Imew so little of the mys- tery and beauty of it on earth himself. There we shall acquaint ourselves with some of the ancient fa- thers of the Christian church, and the martyrs, those dying cham- pions of the faith and honors of the Christian name. These will recount the various providences of God to the church in their sev- eral ages, and shew the visions of St. John in the book of the Rev- elation, not in the morning twilight of prophecy, but as in the light of noon, as a public history, or as an evening rehearsal of the transactions of the day. The witnesses themselves shall tell us how they prophesied in sackcloth, and were slain by the man of sin ; how they rose from the dead in three days and a AaZ/5,,and how the church was at last reformed from the popish mysteries of iniquity and superstition. Cranmer and Ridley, Calvin and Luther, and the rest of the pious reformers, shall make known to us the labors and sufferings of their age, and the wonders of pure Christianity rising as it were out of the grave, and throwing off the chains, the darkness and defilements of Antichrist : And those holy souls who labored in the reformation of Great-Britain, while they relate the transactions of their day, shall perhaps enquire and wonder why their succes- sors put a stop to that blessed work, and have made no further pro- gress in a hundred and fifty years. Did one of the elders near the throne give notice to the apostle John concerning the martyrs; Rev. vii. 14. These are they which came out of great tribulations, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb ; and shall we liot sup- pose that the happy spirits above tell one another their victories over sin and temptation, and the powers of this world ? Shall not the martyrs who triumphed in their own blood, and overcame Satan and 4-ntichrist by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 133 their testimony, shall they not make it known to the inhabitants of the upper world, and tell it to the honor of Christ their Captain and their King, how th6y fought, and died, and conquered ? Me- thinks I hear these noble historians rehearsing their sacred tragedy ; how they entertain a bright circle of listening angels and fellow- spirits with their own glorious and dreadful story, dreadful to sutt'er, and glorious to relate 1 Shall it be objected here, that all the glorified saints cannot be supposed to maintain immediate discourse with those blessed an- cients ? Can those ancients be imagined to repeat the same stories perpetually afresh, to entertain every stranger that is newly arrived at heaven 1 I answer, that since one single spirit, dwelling in flesh, can com- municate his thoughts immediately to five or six thousand hearers at once by his voice, and to millions more successively by books and writings, it is very unreasonable to suppose, that spirits made perfect and glorified have not a "power of communicating their thoughts to many more thousands by immediate converse ; and it is past our reach to conceive what unknovra methods may be in use amongst them, to transmit their ideas and narratives in a much swifter succession, than by books and writings, through all the courts of heaven, and to inform all the new comers, without put- ting each happy spirit to the everlasting labor of a tiresome repeti- tion. Though every saint in heaven should not be admitted to immediate and speedy converse with these spirits of renown in past ages, yet doubtless these glorious minds have communicated their narratives, and the memoirs of their age, to thousands of that bless- ed world already, and from them we may receive a repetition of the same wonders with faithfulness and exact truth. History and chronology are no precarious and uncertain sciences in that coun- try. _ ' It is very probable indeed, that we shall have more intimate nearness to, and more familiar communion with those spirits that were of the same age and place with ourselves, and of the same church or family ; for we can more delightfully expatiate in our converse with them about the^ame providences and the same methods of grace, and agreeably entertain and improve each other with notices' of the afiairs of the upper and lower worlds. Nor must we suppose such sort of historical converse among the blessed spirits is merely designed to fill the mind with new and strange ideas. This pleasure, considered by itself, is not sacred enough for the spirits of the just made perfect. There is not a narrative in the world, but shall disclose some wondrous instances 134 CHOICE WORKS OP of divine wisdom or mercy, power or faithfulness, patience and for- giveness, or wrath and justice. The speaker shall feel the workings of all proper reverence, zeal and love, and every hearer shall be impressed with correspondent affections, and join in adoration and holy wonder. And while we speak of the means and advantages that glorified spirits enjoy for their improvement in all the parts of their felicity, surely we may expect the greatest and the best assistances, even those of the Holy Spirit, to render all these means more effectual. Is he not promised to abide with us, to be in us, and dwell with us for ever? John xiv. 16, 17. Is he not represenied as dwelling in the spirits of the just made perfect, when it is said, the Spirit that dwelleth in them shall raise their mortal bodies from the dead ? Rom. viii. 11. May we not then reasonably infer, that that glorious Spirit, who bath been our enlightener, our comforter, and our sanctifler on earth, will be our perpetual enlightener, our eternal sanctifier, and our everlasting comforter? He that hath so won- derfully begun the divine worJc in us, and laid foundations of joy in knowledge and holiness, will he not finish and perfect his own work, and add the top-stone to crown the heavenly building ? O blessed state of spirits discharged from the prison of flesh and this world ! this wicked world, where Satan the evil spirit has so wide a range, and so poisonous an influence, and where sinful men swarm on every side, and bear the largest sway ! What divine ad- vantages are you possessed of, for the improvement of all your sacred excellencies and joys ! When we can raise our thoughts a little, and survey your privileges, we feel somewhat of an inward wish to dwell among you, and send a breathing meditation, or a glance of warm desire towards your world and your society. We poor pris- oner-spirits, when we hear such tidings from the country at which you are arrived, we stretch our wings a little, and are ready to wish for the flight. But God our sovereign must appoint the hour; he sees that we are not yet refined enough. Keep our souls, O Father, in this erect posture, looking, reaching, and longing for the celestial world, till thou hast completely prepared us for the promised glory, and iten give us the joyful word of dis- mission. Thus I have endeavored to make it appear, on what accounts a dismission from the body is both the season when, and the means whereby the spirits of the just arrive at this perfectioij. Their state of trial is ended at death, and therefore all inconveniences and imperfections must cease by divine appointment: By death the soul is released from all the troublesome and tempting influences of ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 135 flesh and blood; it is delivered from this sinful world, it is got beyond the reach of Satan the tempter and the tormentor : and it is surrounded with a thousand advantages for improvement in knowledge, holiness, and joy. Section VI. — remarks on the foregoing discourse. I. Are the spirits of the just made perfect at the death of the body ? Then we may be assured that they neither die nor sleep ; for sleep and death are both inconsistent with this state of perfec- tion which I have described. The dead saints are not lost nor extinct. They are not perished out of God's world, though they are gone from ours. They are no more in the world that is en- lightened by the sun and moon, and the glimmering stars ; but they themselves shine gloriously, like stars of different magnitude, in the world where there is no sun, nor is there any need of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of &od enlightens it, and the Lamb is the everlasting light thereof ; Rev. xxi. 23. They are lost from earth, but they are found in heaven. , They are dead to us at present, but they are alive to God their Father, and to Jesus their Saviour ; they are alive to the holy angels, and all their fellow-saints in that upper world. If there had been any such thing as a soul sleeping or dying, our Saviour would never have argued thus with the Sadducees, Luke XX. 37, 38, nor have proved the doctrine of the resurrection from the doctrine of the separate state of souJs. It is as. if he had said, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are dead long ago ; but God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob still. Now Ood is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living ■ therefore the souls of those patriarchs are yet alive, for they all Uve to God in the separate state, and they shall appear in their complete human nature, soul and body, at the resurrection. This is the language and the force of our Saviour's argument, and therefore I must be- Ueve the soul of Abraham is alive now. When Jesus promised the penitent thief upon the cross, Luke xxiii. 43. This day shalt thou he with me in Paradise, can we persuade ourselves that he intended no more than that the* thief should be with him in the grave, or in a state of indolence and snsensibility ? Does he not assure him in these words, that there is a state of happiness for spirits dismissed from the body, whither the soul of our Lord Jesus was going, and where the dying penitent should find him ? So when the infidel Jews stoned Stephen the fiist martyr, Acts. vii. 59, while he expressed his faith and hope in these words, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, was this spirit of his to 136 CHOICE WORKS OF be laid asleep till the resurrection? Can we suppose the dying saint would have made such a request upon so lethargic a principle, and in the view of such a stupid state 1 No, surely ; for he expected, and desired, and prayed to be received to dweR where Christ is, and to behold that glory which he had a glimpse of in the agonies of death. Would the apostle Paul have been so willing to he absent from the body, where he did much service for his Saviour, if he had not a joyful view of being present with the Lord ? As he expresses it, 2 Gor. V. 8. What doth he mean by this blessed language of pres- ence with the Lord, if his soul was to he asleep in a senseless and inactive state, till the second coming of Jesus? Or would he have told the Philippians, chap. i. verse 23, that he had a desire to de- part, and to he with Christ, which is far hetter, if he had hoped for no advantage for his spirit by it, but a mere stupid indolence and rest in the silent grave ? Besides, we are told of rebellious spirits that are in prison; 1 Pet. iii. 19, 20, and of Sodom and Gomorrah, suffering the ven- geance of eternal fire ; Jude verse 7. Whether this be material fire, or merely a metaphor to express torment, is not necessary to enquire here : But surely we can never imagine that the justice of God has provided the prison of hell and fiery torments for the souls of the wicked, separate from bodies, and yet that the mercy and goodness of God has provided no heaven of happiness for the spirits of those that have loved, honored, and obeyed him all the days they dwelt in the flesh. There is then, there is certainly a state of happiness prepared for holy souls immediately after death. When we think of our pious friends departed, our foolish imagination is too ready to indulge and improve our sorrow. We sit solitary in the parlor and the chamber, we miss them there, and we cry, " They are lost." We retire melancholy to the closet, and bewail a lost father, or lost mother, or perhaps a nearer and dearer relative. We miss them in our daily conversation, we miss them in all their friendly offices, and their endearing sensible characters, and we are ready to say again, " Mas 1 they are lost." This is the language of flesh and blood, of sense and fancy. Come, let our faith teach us to think and speak of them under a more cheerful and a juster representation : They are not utterly lost, for they are present with Christ and with God. They are departed our world, where all things are imperfect, to those upper regions where light and perfection dwell. They have left their offices and stations here among us, but they are employed in a far diviner manner, and ISAAC WATTS, D. D. JSl have new stations and nobler offices on nigh. Their places on earth indeed know them no more, but their places in heaven knew them well, even those glorious mansions that were prepared for them from the foundation of the world. Their place is empty in the earthly sanctuary, and in the days of solemn assembly, but they appear above in the heavenly Jerusalem as fair pillars and orna- ments in the temple of God on high, and shall for ever dwell with him there. It is a very natural enquiry now, But where are these places of blessed spirits ? What part of the creation is it, in wluch they have their residence : Is it above or below the sun ? Is their habitation in any of the planetary or starry worlds ? Or are they fled beyond them all ? Where is the proper place of their pres- ence ? Let me propose a brief answer to these curious questions in a few propositions. 1. The chief properties of spirits are knowledge and activity; and they are said to be present there, where they have an imme- diate perception of any thing, and where they lay out their imme- diate activity or influence. So our souls are said to be present with our bodies, because they have immediate consciousness or knowledge of what relates to the body, and they move it, and act upon it, or influence it, in an immediate manner. 2. God, the infinite Spirit, has an immediate and universal presence ; that is. He is immediately conscious of and acquainted with every thing that passes in all the known and unknown parts of the creation, and by his preserving and governing power man- ages all things. Wheresoever he displays his glory to separate spirits, that is heaven ; and where he exerts his vengeance, that is hell. 3. Finite spirits have not such an immediate and universal pres- ence. Their knowledge and their activity are confined to certain parts of the creation : And wheresoever they are, if they are under the immediate influences of divine glory, they are in heaven ; if of his vengeance, they are in hell. 4. They are usually represented as having some relation to a particular place or places ; because, while we dwell in flesh and blood, we know not how to conceive of their presence so well in any other way ; and therefore they may be described in Scripture, or in common discourse, as being in heaven, and above the heavens, and in the third heaven, and as coming down to earth, &c., accord- ing as they are supposed to put forth any actions there, or to have an immediate cognizance of things that are done in those places ; 138 CHOICE WORKS OF for the chief notion we have of the presence of spirits, is their im- icediate consciousness, and their immediate agency. 5. But if they are provided with any subtle ethereal bodies, which are called vehicles, in and by which they act as soon as they leave flesh and blood, then they may properly be said to reside in those places where their vehicles are, even as our souls at present are said to be in a room, or a closet, or a field, because our bodies are there, in and by which they act. 6. There must be some place where the glorified body of Christ is, and the souls of departed saints are, in some sense, with him. There Enoch and Elijah are in their immortal bodies, and other saints who rose at the resurrection of Christ. They may be, for ought we know, in or among some of the planets, or amongst the stars, though the distance of the stars is so prodigious and amaz- ing, according to the exactest calculations of the new philosophy, that if the motion of a spirit or glorified body were no swifter than that of a cannon-bullet, they would not get so far as the stars in a thousand ages ; nor would the journey of so swift a traveller to any of the planets, except the moon, cost less than the labor of several years. 7. These things are so puzzling to our reason, so confound our imagination, and so far transcend the reach of our present faculties to enquire and determine, that it is sufficient for us to know and believe, that the spirits of the just made perfect have an existence under the blissful influences of the grace and glory of God. And though we freely speak of them, and the Scripture leads us to con- ceive of them, as dwelling in a world of light, and in some special place of magnificence and apartments of glory, or as moving from one place to another, yet perhaps it is to be understood chiefly in condescension to the weakness of our present capacities, or in rela- tion to vehicles to which they may be united. But our ignorance in these matters shall be no hinderance to our arrival at heaven, if we tread the paths of faith and holiness, though we know not in what part of the creation it lies. I proceed to the second remark. II. If all the spirits of the just that depart from this world are made perfect, then there is much better company above than there is below. The society in heaven is much more agreeable than the best society on earth. Here we meet with a multitude of sinners; they are ready to mingle in all the afi'airs of life, and sometimes hypocrites join with us in the sacred ordinances of the sanctuary. The apostle himself hath told us, that in the civil concerns of this life we cannot avoid ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 13& them ; for if we will keep no company with sinners, we must have nothing to do in this world, we must needs go out of it ; 1 Cor. v. 10. But in the world above there are nothing but saints ; no in- habitant there but what is holy. There are no persons there that will tempt or defile us, or lead us astray from the paths of purity or peace. Holiness to the Lord is inscribed on every soul there ; nor is there one Oanaanite in that upper house of the Lord of hosts ; Zech. xiv. 21. But this is not all. For there are many of the saints themselves here on earth, that mate but very indiflferent companions. Some of them are shamefully ignorant, imprudent, and foolish ; and we have much ado to bear with their folly. Some of them are mo- rose and contentious, captious and peevish, envious and censorious, and ready to take offence on the slightest occasions ; a look or a smile placed wrong shall disoblige them, a mistaken word shall affront them for a month, and it is very hard work to humor and please them : Or we ourselves perhaps are foolish and imprudent, we are peevish and resenting, and our fellow-Christians have as much to do to bear with us or to please us. There are some per- sons, concerning whom we have reason to hope, that their hearts in the main are right with God, but either by the iniquity of their animal natures, or the power of their temptations, they look so like the men of this world, that it is hard to distinguish them, and their society is dangerous, or at least very unprofitable and unde- sirable. Some of us fall into gross mistakes, and lead our friends into error, and hand in hand we forsake the truth. Some of us are melancholy, and sit in darkness ; then we spread a gloom and heaviness over all our conversation, and banish all the joys of earth and heaven ; or at best it may be, and in our sprightly days, we fill up the visiting hour with trifles and impertinences, and there is little of heavenly conversation among us. Poor low grovelling sub- jects furnish our tongues, and entertain our ears, because we are so very imperfect here on earth in knowledge, in holiness, or in divine joy. But what a glorious difference is there in the society above, where we may be secure from all mistake andfalsehood, from all impertinence and folly in the longest discourse or conference ! for every spirit there is so perfect in knowledge as to be free from error, and has so divine a turn of mind, that nothing relishes but what is holy and heavenly. No quarrels, no complaints are found there to embit- ter our converse, to diminish the pleasure of society, or to draw the heart away from God. If we would kapw what the society of heaven is, let us renew the 140 CHOICE WORKS OF memoiy of the wisest and toliest, the kindest and the best com- panions that we were ever acquainted with here on earth ; let us reo- oilect the most pleasing hours that we ever enjoyed in their so- ciety ; let us divest them of all their mistakes and weaknesses, of all their sins and impeifections ; and then by faith and hope let us di- vest ourselves of all our own guilt and follies too ; let us fancy our- selves engaged with them in dehghtful discourse on the most divine and most affecting subjects, and our hearts mutually raising each other near to God, and communicating mutual joys. This is the state of the blessed, this the conversation of heaven, this and more than this shall be our entertainment when we arrive at those happy regions. This thought would very naturally lead me. to the mention of our honored and departed ■friend, but I withhold myself a little, and must detain your expectation till I have made a remark or two more. in. Are the spirits of the just, who are departed from earth, made perfect in heaven ; then they are not the proper subjects for our perpetual sorrows and endless complaints. Let us moderate our grief, therefore, for th§tt very providence that has fixed them in perfect holiness and joy. We lament their absence, and our loss indeed is great ; but the spirit of Christian friendship should teach us to rejoice in their ex- altation. Is it no pleasure to think of them as released from all the bonds of infirm nature, from pains of mortality, and the disquiet- udes of a sinful world ? Is it not better to hft our eyes upward, and view a parent or a beloved friend adorned with perfect grace and complete in glory, exulting in the fulness of joy near the throne of God, than to behold him laboring under the tiresome disorders of old age, groaning under the anguish and torment of acute dis- tempers, and striving with the troublesome attendants of this sin- ful and painful state ? Do we profess fondness and affection for those that are gone, and shall we not please ourselves a little in their happiness, or at least abate our mom'ning ? Doth not St. Paul tell the Corinthians, this is what we wish, even your perfection ? 2 Cor. xiii. 9 ; and should not saints in the lower world take some satisfac- tion when a fellow-saint is arrived at the sum of his own wishes, even perfect holiness and joy on high ? But I correct myself here ; nature must have its way and be in- dulged a little ; let it express its sensible pain at the loss of such endearments. A long separation from those who are so near akin to us in flesh and blood, will touch the heart in a painful place, and awaken the tenderest springs of sorrow. The sluices must be al- ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 141 lowed to be held open a little ; nature seems to demand it as a debt to love, and grace does not utterly forbid it. "When Lazarus died, Jesus groaned and wept ; John xi. 33, 35. Yet let not sorrow triumph and reign, and like a flood break over all its bounds ; rather give the stream of it a little diversion into a better channel. Come, let us take the advice whieh our blessed Saviour gives to the daugh- ters of Jerusalem, who attended him to his cross with tears, Luke xxiii. 28. Weep not for me, hut if you must weep, do it for yourselves and your children ; because you are still left in the valley of sin and sorrow, while the saints departed are arrived at the land of peace, and their feet stand upon the mountains of paradise. Could the voice of those blessed spirits made perfect reach our ears, we should hear them speak in the language of their Lord, " Weep not for us, but for yourselves ; you are still encompassed with temptations and diflSculties, we have surmounted them all : You are wrestling with many errors, and entangled in dark and noisy controversies ; we are perfect in knowledge, and see divine mysteries in a divine light : You are laboring in the race ; we are crowned, and have received the prize : You are striving in the field of battle, and we well remember the toilsome and painful conflict ; we pity you, and cal^you rather to weep for yourselves than for us ; we have finished all the war through divine grace, and are secure in the city of triumph : You are yet travelling through the valley of tears ; we are refreshing ourselves in the gardens of pleas- ure, and on hills of everlasting gladness. Hold on with courage, and faith, and patience; there are mansions of joy prepared for you also, and we wait your happy arrival." IV. Are the spirits of just men in heaven made perfect in the same excellencies and privileges which they possessed on earth ? Then if our curiosity or our love has a mind to know what are the circumstances of our pious friends departed, or how they are employed above, let us review what they were here below, and how they employed themselves when they were with us ; for, as I told you, in this life we are trained up for the life of glory : We shall then be advanced to a glorious and transcendent degree of the same graces ; and there will be something in the future state of re- wards answerable and correspondent to the present state of labor and trial. This thought necessarily calls our meditations backward a little, to take a short survey of some peculiar characters of our excellent friend departed, that we may learn to rejoice in the present per- fection of his graces and glories. 142 CHOICE WORKS OF Section VIE. — the chaeactek of the deceased. When I name Sir John Hartopp, all that knew him will agree that I name a gentleman, a scholar, and a Christian ; and neither of these characters, in the best and most valuable sense of them, could forsake him at his entrance into heaven. He shone with eminence among persons of birth and title* on earth ; while his obliging deportment and affable temper rendered him easy of access to all his inferiors, and made him the delight of all his friends. Thoua;h he knew what was due to his quality in this world, yet he affected none of the grandeurs of life, but daily practised condescension and love, and secured the respect of all, without assuming a superior air. Then surely he carried this temper with him to the upper world, where gentleness and good- ness reign in the highest perfection ; and doubtless he practises now all the same graces of conversation among the blessed spirits there, but in a far superior manner, according to the unknown laws and customs of that region of light and love. He had a taste for universal learning, and ingenious arts were his delight from his youth. He pursued knowledge in various forms, and was acquainted with many parts of human science. Mathematical speculations and practices wer? a favorite study with him in his younger years ; and even to his old age he maintained his acquaintance with the motions of the heavenly bodies, and light and shade whereby time is measured; And may we not sup- pose that there are entertainments amongst the works of God on high to feast the spirits of such a genius ? May they not in that upper region look down and survey the various contrivances of di- vine wisdom, which created all things in these lower worlds in number, weight, and measure ? May not our exaUed friend give glory there to his Maker, in the contemplation of the same heavenly bodies, though he dwells in the region where night and shadows are never known, and above the need or use of sun- beams. But the book of God was his chief study and his divinest de- light. His Bible lay before him night and day, and he was well ac- quainted with the writers that explained it best. He was desirous of seeing what the Spirit of God said to men in the original lan- guages. For this end he commenced some acquaintance with He- brew when he was more than fifty years old : And that he might" * His grandfather, Sir Edward Hartopp, was created a baronet by King James I. 1619, which was but a few years after the first institution of that order. ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 143 be capable of judging of tbe true sense of any text in the New Testament, he kept his youthful knowledge of the Greek language in some measure even to the period of his life. But earthly languages are of little use in heaven. There are too many defects and ambiguities in them to express the bright, the couiplet«, and the distinct ideas of separate spirits. We may allow our learned friend, therefore, to be divested of these when he dropped mortality. Now he is out of the body, and caught up to dwell in paradise, where Saint Paul made heretofore a short visit, 2 Cor. xii. 2, 4, he hears and he speaks those unspeakable words it is not possible for a mortal tongue to utter. The things of heaven are not to be expressed in any foreign language. Among the various themes of Christian contemplation, he took peculiar pleasure in the doctrines of grace, in the display of the glories of the person of Christ, God in our nature, and the won- drous work of redemption by his cross. He adored him as his Lord and his God : And while he trusted in his righteousness as the great Mediator, and beheld him as his crucified Saviour, he was ever zealous to maintain the honors due to his divine nature and Majesty. And we may be sure this is a study in which he is still engaged, and he spends the days of his eternity in the pleasurable contemplations of his glorified Redeemer, and the sacred mysteries of his cross, and his throne, which things the angels desire to pry into. His practice in life was agreeable to his Christian principles, for he knew that the grace of God, that brings salvation to men, teaches them to deny all ungodliness, and to live sober, righteous and reli- gious lives, that in all things they may adorn the doctrine of Qod their Saviour. Now that this part of his character is continued and exalted in the region of the blessed spirits, is too evident to need any amplification or proof; for holiness in every part of it is made perfect there, and all under the sweet constraint of love. His conversation was pious and learned, ingenious and instructive : He was inquisitive into the affairs of the learned world, the progress , of arts and sciences, the concerns of the nation, and the interest of the church of Christ : And upon all occasions was as ready to communicate as he was to enquire. What he knew of the things of I God or man, he resolved not to know them only for himself, but for the benefit of all that had the honor of his acquaintance. There are many of his friends that will join with me to confess, how often we have departed from his cqjjnpany refreshed and ad- vanced in some useful knowledge. And I cannot but reckon it among the blessings of heaven, when I review those five years of 144 CHOICE WORKS OF pleasure and improvement, which I spent in his family in my younger part of life ; and I found much instruction myself, where I was called to be an instructor. Nor can I think such enquiries and such communications as are suitable to the affairs of the upper world, are unpractised among the spirits of the just men made perfect there ; for man is a socia- ble creature, and enjoys communion with his fellow-saints there, as well as with his Maker and his Saviour. Nor can the spirit of our honored and departed friend be a stranger to the pleasures of soci- ety amongst his fellow-spirits in those blessed mansions. His zeal for the welfare of his country, and of the church of Christ in it, carried him out to the most expensive and toilsome services in his younger and his middle age. He employed his time, his spirits, his interest and his riches, for the defence of this poor nation, when forty years ago it was in the utmost dan- ger of popery and ruin.* And doubtless the spirits of the just in heaven are not utterly unacquainted with the affairs of the king- dom of Christ on earth. He rejoices and will rejoice among his fellow-saints, when happy tidings of the militant church, or of the religious interests of Great Britain, are brought to the upper world by ministering angels. He waits there for the full accom- plishment of all the promises of Christ to his church, when it shall be freed from sins and sorrows, from persecutions and all mixtures of superstition, and shall be presented to the Father, a glorious church without spot or wrinkle, in perfect beauty and His doors were ever open, and his carriage always friendly and courteous to the ministers of the gospel, though they were dis- tinguished among themselves by names of different parties : for he loved all that loved our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. He chose indeed to bear a part in constant public worship with the Pro- testant Dissenters, for he thought their practice more agreeable to the rules of the gospel : He joined himself in communion with one of their churches, which was under the pastoral care of the reve- rend Dr. John Owen, where he continued an honorable member under successive pastors till the day of his death. Nor was he ashamed to own and support that despised interest, nor to frequent those assemblies, when the spirit of persecution raged highest in the days of king Cliarles and king James the Second. He was a * He was throe times ohdften i-epreaentative in parliament for his county of Leicestershire, in those years when a sacred zeal for liberty and religion strove hard to bring in the bill of exclusion, to prevent the Duke of Torlt, afterwards King James II. from inheriting the crown of England. ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 145 present refuge for the oppressed, and the special providence of Grod secured him and his friends from the fury of the oppressor. He was always a devout and diligent attendant on public ordinances till these last years of his hfe, when the infirmities of age growing upon him, confined him to his private retirements. But if age confined him, death gave him a release. He is ex- alted now to the church in heaven, and has taken his place in that glorious assembly, where he worships among them before the throne : There he has no need to relieve his memory by the swift- ness of his pen, which was his perpetual practice in the church on earth, and by which means he often entertained his family in the evening worship on the Lord's-day with excellent discourses ; some of which he copied from the lips of some of the greatest preachers of the last age : There his unbodied spirit is able to sustain the sublimest raptures of devotion, which run through the worshippers in that heavenly state ; though here on earth I have sometimes seen the pious pleasure too strong for him ; And while he has been reading the things of God to his household, the devotion of his heart has broken through his eyes, has interrupted his voice, and commanded a sacred pause and silence. He enjoyed an intimate friendship with that great and venerable man Dr. Owen, and this was mutually cultivated with zeal and de- light on both sides, till death divided them. The world has already been acquainted, that it is to the pious industry of Sir John Hartopp, that we are indebted for many of those serihons and discourses of the Doctor's, which have lately been published in folio. A long and familiar acquaintance enabled him also to furnish many memoirs or matters of fact, toward that brief account of the Doctor's life, which is prefixed to that volume, though it was drawn up in the present form, with various enlargements, by another hand. Now can we suppose two such souls to have been so happily intimate on earth, and may we not imagine they found each other among the brighter spirits on high ! May we not indulge ourselves to believe, that our late honored friend hath been congratulated upon his arrival by that holy man that assisted to direct and lead him thither ? Nor is it improbable that he has found other happy souls there, who were numbered among his pious acquaintance on earth. Shall I mention that excellent man, Sir Thomas Abney, who was his late forerunner to heaven, and had not finished two months there before Sir John Hartopp's arrival! Happy spirits ! May I congratulate your meeting in the celestial regions ? But the world and the churches mourn your absence ; and the Protestant Dissenters lament the loss of two of their fairest ornaments and honors. 1 146 CHOICE WORKS OF And is there not the same reason to believe, that our departed friend hath by this time renewed his sacred endearments with those kindred spirits, that were once related to him in some of the nearest bonds of flesh and blood ? There they rejoice together in unknown satisfaction, they wait and long for the arrival of those whom they . left behind, and for whose immortal welfare they had a solicitous concern in the state of their mortality. This thought opens my way to address the posterity, the Mndred, and the friends of the deceased, in the fifth remark. Section VIII. — an address to the friends and relatives of THE deceased. V. If the perfection of blessed spirits above consists in a glorious increase of those virtues and graces which were begun below, let us see to it then, that those graces and those virtues are begun in us here, or they will never be perfected in us hereafter. If our spirits have nothing of that divine righteousness wrought in them on earth, we can never be admitted into the company of the spirits of the righteous made perfect in heaven. It is an old saying among divines, but it is a most rational and a certain truth, that grace is glory begun, and glory is but grace perfected. The saints above have the same divine nature, the same sanctified inclinations, and are engaged in many of the same sacred employments with the saints below, but all in a superior degree, and in a more transcend- ent manner. As for you, my fi-iends, who have the happiness and honor to be descended from such parents, or to be nearly related to such saints, you have seen the virtues and graces, the exemplary character and piety of them who are gone before ; you have had many bright and shining examples in your family ; you are the children of the blessed of the Lord, and may you for ever be blessed with them ! And in order to it, see that you are made hke them now, that ye may he followers of them, who through faith and patience inherit the promises. This is a proper season to examine yourselves, and call your souls to account in such language as this : My father, my mother, my honored and superior kindred are gone to glory : Their graces are perfected, and are not mine begun ? What, have I no evidences for heaven yet ready ? no exercises of faith, of love, of repentance, of true holiness ? Are they arrived at heaven, and am I not yet travelling in the same road ? They were convinced of sin, and the danger of eternal death, so as to give themselves no rest till they found salvation. Have I ever been convinced of the sin of my nature, and the guilt of my life? ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 147 Have I beheld, myself exposed to tlie anger of God, and in danger of everlasting misery, so as to cry out with myself. What shall I do to he saved ? They have seen Jesus the Son of God, the all-suflBcient Saviour, and have committed their souls by humble faith into his hands, to obtain pardon for the sake of his atonement, to be justified thffough his righteousness, to be renewed and made holy by the grace of his Spirit, and to be preserved to eternal glory. Now what have 1 seen of the excellency, or all-sufiBciency, or necessity of Christ as a Mediator 3 Have I been persuaded to trust in him for my accept- ance with God, to give my soul up to him as my guide, guard, and ruler, to be formed after his image, and to venture all my im- mortal concerns with him, to be brought safe to heaven ? Have I ever received him as my Lord and my Saviour, under those con- descending characters and offices which he sustains for a sinner's salvation ? They have believed in him while he was unseen, and they loved him, though they saw him not ; they rejoiced in him. as their all, and they knew not how to live without him. How is it with my soul in this respect ? Do I love Jesus the Lord 2 Is he the desire of my heart, and the delight of my life ? Though they were kept by the grace of God from the pollutions of the world, and upheld their unblemished character to the last, yet they« found sin to be their most dangerous enemy ; they have felt it bitter and painful to their souls, and they long groaned under it as their daily burden. What is my grief? what my chief sorrow? Do I groan in this tabernacle being burdened, because of this inward enemy ? And do I long to be rid of it ? Are my sinful affections like a pain at my heart, and do the workings of sin within me awaken my continual repentance ? They maintained a sacred ten- derness of conscience, and were afraid to indulge themselves in that company, in that practice, and in those liberties of life which have often proved a dangerous snare to souls. Now can I appeal to God, who sees my heart, that I am cautious and watchful against every snare, that I stand afar off from every temptation, and abstain from all appearance of evil ? They took sweet pleasure in retirement, in prayer, and other holy exercises : This was the refreshment of their hearts, and the throne of grace was their refuge under every distress and difficulty. Let me ask my heart, what is my pleasure, my inward delight ? Do I find a sweet relish in devotion ? And when outward troubles perplex me, do I make the mercy-seat my speedy and constant refuge ? They lived upon their Bible, they counted the gospel their treasure, and the promises and the words of God written there, were more valuable 148 ISAAC WATTS, D.D. to them than all their outward riches. But what is my life? What is my treasure ? What is my hope ? Do I count heaven and the gospel my chief inheritance ? Do I converse much with my Bible, and find food and support there ! Do I look at things unseen and eternal, and feed and rest upon the promised glories of another world, when I meet with disappointments here ? They had a large share of Christian experience, a rich stock of divine and spiritnsd observations, by much converse with God and with their own souls. What have I got of this kind for the support of my soul? or are all these strange things to me? Believe me, my dear and honored friends, these are matters of infinite importance; I am sure you will think so one day : And I trust and persuade myself, you think them so now. I cannot give myself leave to imagine that you put these thoughts far from yoii. Some of you have made it appear that they lie next your heart, and that your souls are deeply engaged in the ways of God and goodness. Oh that every one of you would give the same comfort and joy to your friends ! Be not satisfied with a mere negative holiness, and unspotted character in the eyes of the world ; but let the world know that you dare be re- ligious, and profess universal piety in a degenerate age. Let those that honor the memory of your parents, and love your souls, rejoice in your public Christianity. Let them know, that there are the foundations of heavenly glory laid within you all, and the blessed work begun on earth, that shall surely be made perfect among the spirits of the just in heaven. And methinks I would not have you contented with the lowest seat there ; but stir up yourselves to a most unwearied pursuit of holiness in the sublimer degrees of it. And thus laboring in the Christian race, contend for some of the brighter prizes, some of the 'richer crowns of glory. Be not satisfied to sit at a great distance below your parents departed, even in the heavenly country : But strive with a holy ambition that you may come near them, that the whole family together may arrive at some superior degrees of bless- edness. And oh may divine grace grant me the pleasure to be a witness to your exalted stations, and to worship and rejoice amongst you there ! Amen. DISCOURSES OF THE LOYE OF GOD, AND ITS INFLUENCE ON ALL THE PASSIONS: "WITH A DISCOTBKT OF THE BIGHT USB AlfD ABITSB OE" THEM IN MATTERS OB RBLIGIOK * A DEVOUT MEDITATION IS ANNEXED TO EACH DISCOXTESE. PREFACE. In the first edition of these discourses, "the Doctrine of the Passions" stood as an introduction to them, wherein their general nature was explained, their various kinds reduced to some regular order, the uses of them in hu- man life represented, and moral and divine rules were proposed for the government of these natural and active powers. This little treatise has been much enlarged, and printed by itself, imder a distinct title, vie., " The Doctrine of the Passions explained and improved." These " Discourses of the Love of God, and the Use and Abuse of the Passions in Religion " now follow; and since there are readers of a different taste, who have desired each of them alone, they may now choose for themselves, or they may order the bookseller to join them together, if they please. Many years are now passed since the general design of both these trea- tises was formed, and some brief sketches of them were drawn, which had lain by me in long silence among other papers. That which inclined me at last to draw up these discourses of the "Use of the Passions in Religion" into a more regular form, was the growing deadness and degeneracy of our age in vital religion, though it grew bright in rational and polite learning. There are too many persons who have imbibed, and propagate this notion, that it is almost the only business of a preacher to teach the necessary doc- trines and duties of our holy religion, by a mere explication of the word of God, without enforcing these things on the conscience by a, pathetic address to the heart ; and that the business of a Christian in his attendance on ser- mons, is to learn what these doctrines and duties are, without taking any pains to awaken the devout sensations of hope and fear, and love and joy, though the God of nature hath ordained them to be' the most effectual allurements or spurs to duty in this present animal state. We are often told, that this warm and affectionate religion belongs only to the weaker parts of mankind, and is not strong and manly enough for persona of sense and good reasoning. But where the religions use of the passions is renounced and abandoned, we do not find this cold and dry reasoning sufficient to raise virtue and piety to any great and honorable degree, even in their men of sense, without the assistance of pious affections. On the other hand, it must be acknowledged also, there have been many 152 PREFACE. persons who have made their religion to consist too much in the working of their passions, without a due exercise of reason in the things of God. They have contented themselves with some devout raptures without seeking after clear conceptions of divine things, or building their faith and hope, and practice, upon a just and solid foundation of sacred knowledge. Whatsoever is vehement, if it hath but the name of God annexed to it, they are ready to think and call sacred and divine. This sort of religion lies very much exposed to all the wild temptations of fancy and enthusiasm : A great deal of the bigotry of the world, and the madness of persecution may be ascribed to this unhappy spring. I thought it necessary, therefore, to speak of the abuse of the passions, as well as the use of them, and to guard against mistakes on both sides. As a foundation for these discourses, I chose to treat of the love of God, which in a sovereign manner rules and manages, awakens or suppresses all the other passions of the soul. The whole train of affections, both the pain- ful and the pleasant ones, are under the power and regulation of love. In my pursuit of this subject, I have endeavored to avoid aU extremes ; that is, neither to turn reUgiou into a matter of speculation or cold reasoning, nor to give up the devout Chi-istian to all wandering fooleries of warm and ungoverned passion. I hope I have maintained the middle way, which, as it is most agreeable to the holy Scripture, and to the genius of Christianity, so it has produced the noblest fruits of righteousness in every age. On this account I may presume, that the track which I have pursued wiU give no just offence to the wisest and the best of Christians. In order to make this work more serviceable to the purposes of practical godliness, I have endeavored to form a pathetic meditation upon the argu- ment of each discourse, that I might, as far as possible, exemplify the prac- tice of those things which I recommend to the world, and assist the devout reader to make a present use of them toward his advancement in the Christian life. DISCOURSE I. THE APFEOTIOlfATE AND SUPREME LOVE OF GOD. "Thou Bhalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,"— Mask 3di. 80. Among all the teachers of religion that have been sent from God to men, the most eminent and illustrious are Moses and Christ ; Moses, the servant of the living God, and Christ, Ms only-begotten Son. Both of them lay the foundation of all true religion in the unity of God, and both of them make our religion to consist in love. Thus saith Moses in the sixth of Deuteronomy, whence my text is cited, and thus saith the blessed Jesus in the place where my text lies, ITear, Isrml, the Lord our God is one Lord. Thou shalt love him with all thy heart. It is no wonder that all the powers of our natures, with all the. utmost extent of our capacities, must be devpted to the love and service of this God, since there is but one, since he is God alone, and there is none besides him. Isaiah xliv. 6. He must reign over the heart and the soul, over all our intellectual and our bodily powers, supreme, and without a rival. Though the bve of our neighbor is required both by Moses and Christ, as a necessary part of our reh'gion, yet it must never stand in competition with the love of our God. Some suppose the supreme and intense degree of this love, to be the whole design of Christ, in recommending the love of God to us in all these four expressions. Thou shalt love the Lord thy Ood with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength, vis-., to intimate in general that all the fa- culties of nature should be employed in the love and service of God, with the greatest intenseness and- full vigor of exercise. But if we should distinguish these sentences, according to the different powers of nature, into so many different significations, I think they may be most naturally thus explained : God must be loved with all the mind, that is, he must stand highest in the esteem of the judgment : he must be loved with aU the soul, that is, with the strongest attachment of the will to him : he must be loved with all the heart, that is, with the warmest and sincerest affection : and he must be loved with all the strength, that is, this love must 154 CHOICE ■WORKS OF he manifested by the utmost exercise and activity of all the inferior powers. The heart, in the langus^e of Scripture, and in the common sense of men, is the seat of the passions, that is, of fear, hope, love, hatred, joy, sorrow, shame, desire, and such like, which are usualljr called the passions or affections of the heart. I shall not stand in this place to give a more exact or philosophioal account of them, having done that in another treatise.* If it be enquired why the heart is said to be the seat of the passions, there is this good reason for it, viz., It is by sensible effects on the heart, that several of the affections do chiefly exert and manifest themselves ; and it was chiefly for this reason that Jewish philosophy gave the soul of man its chief residence in the- heart, and made it to be the seat of the The heart also in Scripture, and in almost all nations and lan- guages, is used to express or imply sincerity ; what is done from the heart is done sincerely, perhaps, because the passions are naturally sincere, and are not so easy to be disguised as the outward actions of men. Now since it is my design to treat of the exercises of the passions, or affections of the heart in the affau-s of reUgion, I have chosen this sentence as the foundation of my discourses. The plain and obvious proposition contained in the words is this, vis. : " The Lord our God is the proper object of our most sincere af- fection, and our supreme love." It is not enough for the eye to be lifted up io him, or the knee to bow before him ; it is not enough for the tongue to speak of him, or the hand to act for his interest in the world ; all this may be done by painted hypocrites, whose rehgion is all disguise and vanity : but the heart, with all the in- ward powers and passions, must be devoted to him in the first place: this is religion indeed. Tbe great God values not the service of men, if the heart be not in it : The Lord sees and judges the heart; he has no regard to outward forms of worship, if there be no inward adoration, if no devout affection be employed therein. It is there- fore a matter of infinite importance, to have the whole heart engaged steadfastly for God. If this be done we shall have a suf- ficient evidence in ourselves, that we are truly religious, and are beloved of God. In treating this subject, I shall consider these seven things : I. What is presupposed and implied in the affectionate and su- preme love of God. II. What will be the effects of this supreme love to God on all f The Doetriue of the Passions. ISAAC ■WATTS, D. D. 155 the other passions, or how this divine passion will engage all the rest of the affectionate powers in the interests of religion. III. Of what use and importance the passions are in religion, and what advantage is to be derived from them. IV. How far the passions may be abused, even in religious con- cerns, or what is the irregular use of them, and how their efforts should be limited and restrained. — Under each of these heads I shall propose some useful reflections. V. We shall show how the affectionate Christian may be vin- dicated, against the cavils and reproaches of men, in his warmest exercises of devotion. VI. What relief or comfort may be given to humble and sincere Christians, who complain that they feel but very low degrees of this affectionate love to God, or of the exercise of pious passions, either in public worship, or in their devout retirements. VII. What are the most proper and effectual methods of excit- ing and engaging the affections in religion. Of each of these in their order. First, "What is presupposed and implied in the supreme and affectionate love of God 3" I answer, these five things.* I. Some good degrees of the knowledge of God, and such an acquaintance with him, as may raise the highest esteem of him in our mind. It is impossible that we should love any thing that we know not ; and it is not to be expected that we should love God supremely or with all our heart, if we have not known him to be more excellent, and more desirable than all other things we are acquainted with. We must have the highest opinion of his trans- cendent worth, or we cannot love him above all things. It is granted, we may love or delight in some objects of an inferior nature, as they are instruments of our health or ease, or comfort ; so we are said to love our habitation and our food, because they minister to our conveniency or support in the present life. We may love some poor worthless wretches with good-will and compas- sion, because we design to bestow some benefits upon them. We love our country and our kindred with a sort of natural attachment of the heart, because they belong to ourselves, and we are, as it were, of a piece with them. We love our friends because we esteem * I might have described the affectionate love of God here by the love of esteem, the love of benevolence, and the love of oomplaoenoy, according to the distributions of love in the " Treatise of the Passions," mentioned in the preface ; but I choose rather in this place to show what acts or opera- tions of the understanding and will are presupposed and included in the 18ve of God: the more affectionate operations of it are reserved to ilie next discourse 156 CHOICE WORKS OF them possessed of some valuable properties, and able to confer benefits on us, or to relieve our wants: But unless we see the great and blessed God, as a being possessed of the highest excellencies, and capable of bestowing on us the richest benefits ; unless we see him as an all-sufficient good, we shall never love him with our whole heart : The affection to so unseen and spiritual a being as God is, can never rise high where the esteem is but low : Where the love ought to be superior to all other loves, the esteem must be transcendent. n. The affectionate and supreme love of God presupposes some hope of an interest to be obtained in his favor, and the highest advantages to be derived from him. If I lie down in despair of his mercy, I cannot look on God, even in all his supreme excel- lencies, with an eye of love. The devil, the worst of creatures, knows more of the transcendent glory and worth of the great God, than the wisest and the best of mortals here on earth : But he knows there is no hope for him to obtain an interest in his favor, and theref(^'e he continues in his old enmity. His rebeUion has cut him off from all expectation of divine mercy, and therefore he can- not love this God of infinite excellency. A dreadful state indeed for an intelligent being, that he cannot love what he knows to be in- finitely amiable ! Hope is the most alluring spring of love. Terror and slavish fear stand opposite to this holy affection : Such fear has torment in it, and so far as we fear God as an enemy, we are not made perfect in his love ; 1 John iv. 18. We love him, because we hope that he has, or he will love us : It is the assurance, or at least the ex- pectation of some interest in God, that engages the most affectionate love : And, perhaps, the words of my text may have some reference hereto, when it is said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God. When we believe or hope that the Lord is our God, we cannot but love him. HI. This love of the heart implies a strong inclination of the will toward God, a steady bent of soul toward this blessed Author of our being and happiness : It implies a choice of him above and beyond all things else, as our most desirable portion and our eternal good. If any thing in this world be the chosen portion of our souls, if any thing beneath and besides God be made our chief hope, our support, and our life, our hearts will run out in strongest affections toward it, for it is our chief happiness ; and then we can never love God as it becomes a creature to love his Creator. The holy Psalmist was a most affectionate lover of his God, and how often does he call him the portion of his inheritance, his refuge, ISAAC WATTS, D. D, 157 and his hope? Psalm xvi. 5. cxlii. 6, and in Psalm Ixxiii. 26. J%OM art the strength of my heart, and my portion for even Blessed saint ! He had chosen God for his eternal all. Under this head I should add also, that where the will is thus attached to God, the soul will exert itself in continual wishes for the honor of God in the world : It is the nature of love to wish well, and to do good to the beloved object ; and since God can receive no other good from us, but the manifestation of his ex- cellencies and honors among men, we shall eamestiy seek and wish this glory of God, if we are sincere lovers of him. IV. This affectionate and supreme love of God includes in it an outgoing of the heart after him, with most intense longings, and most pleasing sensations : This is what we are wont to call more eminently the love of desire, and the love of delight, which I shall speak of more at large in the following discourse. The heart of a sincere good man is restless till it find God, that is, till it obtain a solid hope and persuasion of his love, a growing conformity to him, and constant delight in him. The heart is not easy without God : It acquiesces and rests in him alone. If I have God for my friend, and my everlasting portion, I have all : If he be absent, that I knew where I might find him! Job xxiii. 3. And if he manifest his presence with his divine influences, " Come back, my soul, from amongst the creatures ; come back, and return to God thy rest ;'' Psalm cxvi. 7. V. Where the love of God reigns in the affections it will command all the other powers of nature, and all the rest of the passions, to act suitably to this sovereign and ruling affection of love : The eye will often look up to God in a way of faith and humble dependence : The ear will be attentive to his holy word : The hand will be lifted up to heaven in daily requests : The knees will be bended in humble worship : all the outward powers will be busy in doing the will of God, and promoting his glory : He that loves God, will keep his commandments, and fulfil every present duty with delight : He will endeavor to please God in all his actions, and watch against and avoid whatsoever may offend him. And while the several outward powers are thus engaged, all the inward affections of nature will be employed in correspondent exercises. Supreme love will govern all the active train of human passions, and lead them captive to cheer- ful obedience. This brings me to the next thing I proposed : But before I enter upon it I would make these four reflections, which will conclude the present discourse. Reflection I. How vain are all their pretences to love God who 158 CHOICE WORKS OF know little or nothing of him, who are neither acquainted with the glorious perfections of his nature, nor with the wondrous dis- coveries of his grace ! Love must be founded in knowledge. How vain are their pretences to love God with all their heart, and in a supreme degree, who never saw him to be a being of transcendent worth, of surpassing excellency, and capable of making them for ever happy ; who value their com, and their wine, and their oil, their business, their riches, or their diversions more than Grod and his love ! How senseless and absurd is the pretence to love God above all things, if we do not resolve to live upon him as our hope and happiness ; if we do not choose him to be our God and our All, our chief and all-sufficient portion in this world, and that to come ! Where, the idea of God as a being oi supreme excellence doth not reign in the mind, where the will is not deter- mined and fixed on God, as our supreme good, men are strangers to this sacred and divine affection of love. Till this be done, we cannot be said to love God with all the heart. Eeflectiou H. How necessary and useful a practice it is for a Christian to meditate often on the transcendent perfection and worth of the blessed God, to survey his attributes, and his grace in Christ Jesus, to keep up in the mind a constant idea of his supreme excel- lence, and frequently to repeat and confirm the choice of him, as our highest hope, our portion, and our everlasting good! This will keep l£e love of God warm at the heart, and maintain the divine affection in its primitive life and vigor. But if our idea of the adorable and supreme excellence of God grow faint and feeble, and sink lower in the mind ; if we lose the sight of his amiable glories, the sense of his amazing love in the gospel, his rich promises and his alluring grace, if our will cleave not to him as our chief good, and live not on him daily as our spring of happiness, we shall abate the fervency of this sacred passion, our love to God will grow cold by degrees, and suffer great and guilty decays. Reflection HI. How greatly and eternally are we indebted to Jesus the Son of God, who has revealed the Father to us in all his most amiable characters and glories, and brought him, as it were, within the reach of our love ! The three great springs of love to God are these : a clear discovery of what God is in himself; a lively sense of what he has done for us ; and a well-grounded hope of what he will bestow upon us. All these are owing chiefly to oui blessed Jesus. Let us consider them distinctly ; 1. It is he, even the beloved Son of God, who lay in the bosom of the Father, who has made a fuller and brighter discovery to us what God is, what an admirable and transcendent Being, a Spirit ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 169 glorious in all perfections. It is true, the light of nature dictates some of these things to us, and the ancient prophets have given further manifestations. But none knows the Father so as the Son does, and those to whom the Son will reveal him. Matt. xi. 27. That blessed person, who is one with the Father, must know him best. That illustrious man, who is so intimately united to God, and in whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Col. ii. 9. He whose name is, Emmanuel, God with us, Matt. i. 23, or God manifest in the flesh, 1 Tim. iii, 16, he must know the Father with such an exquisite knowledge, as far transcends the reach of all our ideas. Let it be noted also, that the blessed Jesus came down from heaven not only to shew God all-glorious to men, but to make him appear all-lovely and desirable in the eyes of sinners, by represent- ing him in all the wonders of his compassion and forgiving mercy. Even a great, a just, and a holy God, is lovely and amiable in the sight of guilty creatures, when he is willing to reconcile the world to himself in and by his Son Jesus Christ, not imputing to them their iniquities ; 2 Oor. v. 19. Such a sight of God is the first attractive of our love. 2. It is the Son of God who came to inform us what God has done for us, and thereby to engage our love. The reason of man, and our daily experience, teach us that he is the author of our being and our blessings ; He causes the sun to shine, and, his rain to de- scend on the earth ; Matt. v. 45. He gives us fruitful seasons, and fills our hearts with food and gladness ; Acts xiv. 17. But it is Jesus who has told us the eternal counsels of his Father's love, and what kind designs he formed for our recovery from sin and hell, when, in his own fore-knowledge, he beheld us fallen and miserable : He has told us what eternal and unfailing provision God has made for us, by giving us into the hands of his Son, even into those hands where he has entrusted the infinite concerns of his own honor ; and that he appointed his Son to redeem our lives, by his own bloody death. This is love glorious indeed, and fit to allure and kindle our warmest afiections to God. It is the blessed Son of God himself, who, by his Father's appointment, has suffered agonies and sorrows of unknown kinds, unknown degrees, for us. He poured out his own soul to death to secure us from the deserved wrath and ven- geance of God ; he sustained many a painful stroke, to make a way for us to partake of his Father's meroy, and to render the offended Majesty of heaven a proper and more engaging object of our love. 3. Again, it is this same glorious person, the Son of God, who 160 CHOICE WOKKS OP has informed us at large, not only what God has already done, but •what he will do for us ; and has given us the hope of everlasting blessings. He has confirmed all the words of grace that God spake to men by angels and prophets in former ages ; and he has added many a rich and most express promise of a glorious resurrection, and a future state, and set them before us in a divine light, beyond what the prophets or the angels ever knew in ancient times : He has assured returning sinners of the pardon of highest crimes, and the most aggravated iniquities ; and he has secured the everlasting fevor and presence of God to all his followers ; for by the Father's appointment he is gone to prepare manswns oi glory for them, that where he is they may be also ; that they may dwell with him, and with his Father for ever. Thus it appears that our everlasting thanks and praises are due to the blessed Jesus, who has laid the foundation of love between an offended God and his guilty creature, man. He has revealed the great God to us, has told us what he is, and has set him before us, in his most amiable glories ; He -has taught us what wonders of mercy God hath wrought for us aheady, and what blessings he will bestow on us, through the future ages of eternity : And thus he hath opened all the springs of love to allure our hearts to God. What Christian can withhold his love and praise from so worthy, so divine a benefactor ? Eeflection IV. I may therefore well add, in the last place, that no person in heaven or earth was so proper to recommend to us this divine virtue, the love of Qodt, as Christ Jesus, our Saviour, who speaks the words of my text : he who was himself the be- loved Son of God, the first favorite of heaven, the highest object of his Father's love, and the best and most perfect lover of his Father : He who was the great peacemaker between God and sinners, the chief minister and messenger of his Father's love to men. If he had not undertook to make peace, we had stiU continued children of wrath, and in the same state with fallen angels, who are never invited to return to the love of God. There is no prophet, no mes- senger sent to require or charge them to love God, for there is no priest or peacemaker appointed for them. Who is so fit a person to urge upon our consciences this blessed command of love to God, as he who came to redeem us from our state of rebellion and enmity, to deliver us from the anger of God, and the curse of the law, and everlasting death ? Who can give us such pathetic motives, and so powerful a charge to love the Lord our Ood with our whole heart, as he who came to write his Father's love to us in lines of blood, even his own blood ? He whose heart ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 161 was pierced for the sake of siniiil men ; he who came to seal the covenant of love between God and man with the anguish of his soul, and the blood of his heart ! How all-glorious and well-chosen is this messenger of the love and precepts of God ! this blessed Prophet, who is sent from God to recommend to us the eternal duty of divine love ; who is also our great High Priest to reconcile us to God 1 Yet how little success has the message had on the hearts of men ! What a sad and just occasion of shame and holy mourning ! Forbid it, O God,- that such a messenger and such a message should be sent from heaven in vain ! Meditation. " What shall I do to become a true lover of God ? Since I know there is but one God, I would give up my whole heart to him alone ; I would fain have him reign in my affections supreme and without a rival. But let me recollect myself a little, and let me not deny what God and his grace have wrought in my soul. Do I not love him sincerely, and above all things ? Am I not possessed of those qualifications which are contained and implied in the aflfectionate and supreme love of God ? Let me run over them in meditation and self-enquiry. "Have I not beheld him as the first and the best of beings? Have I not seen him most glorious in himself, and worthy of the highest esteem and love ? Am I not deeply convinced and firmly persuaded that he is the only all-sufiicient good ? That he is the overflowing spring of grace and blessedness? Have I not been taught to see the vanity and emptiness of all things beneath and besides God, and that without him I can never arrive at true happiness? Has he not the most transcendent place in my esteem 8 Yes, Lord, through thy grace I can say, the creatures are nothing iifccomparison of thee ; nor can any thing appear in my eyes more lovely and more desirable than God and his love. " Again : have I not been invited and raised by thy grace to some humble hope of thy fevpr ? Hast thou not revealed thyself, in thy word, as a God condescending to be reconciled to sinners, willing to be reconciled to me ? As a God willing to make creatures happy, even everjj,creature that desires to centre itself in God, and take up its rest in him : O that sublime, that most excellent, that supreme Being, the holy and blessed God ! How merciful ! How com- passionate ! Have I not seen him in his word descending within the reach of my hope ? And have I not rejoiced to think that he gives me leave to hope in him, as an eternal portion for my soul, and that he holds out the arm of his love to receive me ? " May I not proceed yet further, O my God ? Has not my will 162 CHOICE WORKS OF been dra^wn powerfully toward thee, and made choice of thee as my everlasting good ? Have I not turned my back upon creatures at thy call, and divided myself from every thing, that I might be more nearly united to thee? Have I not renounced them all, that I might be entirely the Lord's I Does not my soul with firm purpose cleave to thee, as my immortal portion, and my ever-during inheritance ? " Yet again, O my Lord, does not my heart sometimes go out after thee, with most pleasing sensations ! that I could say it never wandered ! But I humbly hope it will never, never be at rest while absent from God. Sometimes, like the needle that is feebly touched with the sovereign influence of the loadstone, it may be drawn aside by other influences, and it is too ready to wander from the beloved point : But may I not appeal to thee, O my God, that, like the needle, it is ever restless tiU it point to thee again, to thee, the object of my strongest desire, and my supreme love? " Are not my flesh and spirit, with all their active powers, under the command of this divine principle, this holy fire of love ? Does not this heavenly afiection reign in my soul over all my faculties, all my senses, and all my passions ! Are not all my little affairs in this world, and all my more important concerns, regulated and governed by this holy love ? Canst thou bear the thought, my soul, of acting contrary to this inward vital and reigning principle ? Are not all my mortal interests subdued and devoted to divine love, and all my immortal interests united and summed up in it ? Whom have I in heaven, O Lord, but thee, and what is there on earth that I desire in comparison of thee? Psalm Ixxiii. 25. " These eyes of miue, whither shall they look but toward thee ? These feet, whither shall they go but on thy messages ? What shall these hands do, but the work which thou appointest them ? What is there that my tongue is employed in, with so much de- light, as in speaking of thee, and to thee, my Lwd, and my God ? All that I am, and all that I have, is thine for ever and ever : Am I not then a sincere lover ? " Blessed be the name of Jesus, the Son of God, and ipy Saviour, that has descended from heaven to dwell with dust and ashes, that he might bring such worthless wretches as we are within the at- tractive force of divine love : Our sins stood between God and man like a wall of dreadful separation ; but by his glorious atonement he has removed the bar, and made the way of access to God free and open, that God and man might be united in the bond of per- petual love : He called sinners by his own voice, and he calls them ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 163 still by the words of his gospel, to partake of this privilege. blessed Messenger of divine love ! And he sends down his own Spirit from heaven, where he dwells, to make us willing to partake of this felicity, and to draw our hearts near to God. Come, O Divine Spirit, come, dwell in this heart of mine, as an unchange- able principle of holy love ! Guard my heart from all meaner allurements and influences, while I am travelling through the dan- gerous region of this world, till I am arrived beyond, the reach of danger, t3l I rest for ever in the bosom of God, my supreme love, and my everlasting all." DISCOURSE 11. DIVINE LOVE IS THE COMMAJSTDING PASSIOIT. Havino declared at large, in the former sermon, what is implied in the supreme love of God ; the second general head of discourse requires me to shew, how this one passion of divine love will in- fluence all the other affections of the heart. The whole world are witnesses to this effect of love in the common affairs of mankind ; and this powerful passion still retains its own nature and sovereignty over the rest, when God is the object of it, which will appear in the following instances : I. If the soul be warmed with divine love, "the various discoveries that God makes of himself to us, will not only be matter of frequent contemplation, but of pleasing wonder." Admiration or wonder is a noble passion, arising from the view of something that is new and strange, or upon the notice of some rare and uncommon object: Now when so glorious and transcendent a Being, as the great and blessed God, becomes the object of our notice and our love, with what pleasure do we survey his glories, which are so rare, so un- common, that there are none to compare with them 1 We shall meditate on the surprising discoveries that he has made of himself, till we find new matter of holy admiration in all of them. Sincere and fervent love is ever finding some new beauties and wonders in the person so much beloved. The lover of God traces the footsteps of infinite wisdom and all- sufficient power, in the works of nature and providence : When lie beholds the heavens, the works of the fingers of God, and the moon and stars which he has created, Psalm viii. 3, he first observes their immense vastness, their order and beauty, and wonders at the skill and divine contrivance of him that made them : O Lord, how great, how manifold are thyworJcs! In wisdom hast thou made them all; Psalm civ. 24. And then he wonders again at the con- descending goodness of God to his little creature, man : Lord, what is man, that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man, that thou shouldst visit him? Psalm viii. 4. The loving-kindness of God has many admirable circumstances in it, as well as his wisdom and power ; and therefore the royal Psalmist calls it marvellous ; ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 165 Psalm xxxi. 21, and spends many a psalm in the devout admira- tion of it. Many of the providences of God are surprising : He alone doth great wonders ; Psalm cxxxvi. 4. In the heavens and in the earth he doth things unsearchable, marvellous things without number ; Joh V. 9. The soul that loves God will recall his ancient wonders with sweet delight, Psalm Ixxvii. 11, and will take notice of all his marvellous ways in his present conduct of the world and the church. There is sufficient matter in God, for the pleasurable and ever- lasting entertainment of this holy passion: He is an immense ocean of glories and wonders. There is nothing in God but what would be marvellous and astonishing to us, if we had our eyes divinely enlightened, and our hearts fired with divine love. Every creature has something in it that surpasses our knowledge, and commands our admiration : But what are all these in comparison of God, the all-wise and almighty artificer, who made them all by his wisdom, and the breath of his mouth ? The soul that loves God is ready to see and take notice of God in every thing : He walks through the fields, he observes the Wonders of divine work- manship in every diflferent tree on his right hand and on his left, in the herbs and flowers that he treads with his feet, in the rich diversity of shapes and colors and ornaments of nature : He be- holds and admires his God in them all. He sees the birds in their airy flight, or perched upon the branches, and sending forth their various melody : He observes the grazing flocks, and the larger cattle in their difierent forms and manners of life ; he looks down upon little insects, and takes notice of their vigorous and busy life and motions, their shining bodies, and their golden or painted wings ; he beholds and he admires his God in them all : In the least things of nature, he can read the greatness of God, and it is what of God he finds in the creature that renders creatures more delight- ful to him. Creatures are but his steps to help him to rise toward God. If it were possible for our admiration, to run through and finish all the mai"vellous things of nature and providence, there would remain still a vast field of wonders in his word, in his law, in his gospel, in his transactions of grace with the children of men. David, that intense lover of God, was ever meditating on his statutes, his word, his testitnonies ; he searched wondrous things out of his law ; Psalm cxix. 18, and ever found something in them worthy of his high esteem, and his holy joy, how I love thy law I it is my meditation all the day. I have seen an end of all perfection, but thy commandments are exceeding broad; Psalm cxix. 96, 97. But above all, the riches of mercy manifested in 166 CHOICE WORKS of the gospel, awaken and raise the holy aoul to a sublime degree of astonishment. This is the Lord's doing indeed, and it is marvellous in our eyes ; Psalm cxviii. 23. This was the mystery that was hid in God, and kept secret since the world began ; it was concealed from ages and generations, and is now made manifest, to the intent that now unto principalities and powers of heaven, as well as men on earth, might he made known by the church, the manifold, the amazing wisdom of God ; Rom. xvi. 25. Ephes. iii. 9. There is enough in this gospel to raise the wonder even of the sinners that refuse it : Hear, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish ; Acts xiii. 41. Much more will it seize and employ the admiring powers of every holy soul that has tasted of the love of God, and been partaker of this salvation. There is a divine and tenfold pleasure attends this exercise of sacred admiration, while the soul, in the language of faith and love, can say, Thou art the God, who alone doest wonders, and thou art my God for ever and ever. I might add after all, there is yet still another world of wonders to employ the lover of God, and that is, the person of his Son Jesus Christ our Saviour. There God discovers himself in his fullest grace and wisdom, in his highest power and perfection. The attributes of the Father shine transcendently glorious in his Son, and become the object of love and wonder to men and angels. He is the fairest image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature; Col. i. 16. Se is the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person; Heb. i. 3. All the marvellous things that God the Father ever wrought, it was in and by his Son. Did he create all things out of nothing ? It was by Jesus Christ; Eph. iii. 9. Does he govern the world with amazing wisdom ? It is by making his Son Jesus the Governor and Lord of all things. Does he redeem and save guilty sinners from ever- lasting misery ? These wonders of mercy are transacted by the cradle and the cross of Jesus, by the death and the life of Christ, by the sorrows, the sufferings, and the victories of the Son of God. His name is called Wonderful ; Isaiah ix. 6. For he who is the child born, is also the mighty God : The infent of days is the ever- lasting Father, the first and the last, the beginning and the end of all things. What sublime and sacred raptures of love and wonder join together, when a devout Christian contemplates his God.in bis nature, in his providences, in all his works, in the pages^ of Ills holy book, and in the face of his Son the blessed Jesus !"* But I have dwelt too long amidst these divine wonders : the follow- ing particulars must be more briefly handled. n. Divine love will command the affection of holy desire. A ISAAC WATTS, D.r. 167 sense of the favor of God, and the influences of his grace, will be the matter of our most intense wishes and importunate requests. We shall long for the presence of God above all things, both here and hereafter. This was the fixed desire, this the passionate aspir- ation of the holy Psalmist: Psalm cxix. 58. I entreated thy favor with my whole heart. What warm and pathetic language breaks from the lips of this great saint, this sublime lover of God, in the xlii, Ixiii, and Ixxxiv. Psalms 1 Ify soul lonffeth, yea, fainteth for the courts of the Lord, my heart and my flesh cry out for the liv- ing God. As the hart panteth after water-brooks, so doth my soul after thee, God. Marly, God, will I seek thee, for thy loving- kindness is better than life. When he dwells in his own palace he longs for the divine presence ; Psalm ci. 2 : J will walk within my house with a perfect heart ; when wilt thou come unto me ? But his eminent desire is to dwell for ever in the sanctuary : One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may ever abide in his house, there to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire and converse with him in his holy temple ; Psalm xxvii. 4. O happy soul, where all these active springs of passion are touched and influenced by divine grace ! Hunger and thirst, and all the longing powers and appetites of animal nature, are too few and too feeble to express the holy desires of a soul breathing after the presence of its God. m. When the love of God reigns in the heart, all the joys and pleasures of the man will unite and centre in God. It will be our sweetest satisfaction, and most exalted delight, to have God ever near us, and to be ever near to God. As absence from God is a pain at the heart of a lively Christian, fired with divine love, so his glorious presence is his chief joy. With what affectionate language does the holy soul of David rejoice in God, as his God, and how does he employ the charming arts of poesy and music to express his own joys and the praises of his almighty Friend ! One must run through a multitude of his Psalms to copy out the bright ex- pressions of holy delight which he found in the love of God ; even the prospect and hope of waiting on him in his holy temple, fills his spirit with sacred pleasure ; Psalm xliii. 4 : 1 will go to the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy, yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, God, my God. Psalm Ixiii. 5, 6. When I remember thee on my bed, and m,editate on thee in the night watches, my soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips. This joy which is derived from the love of God, is supreme over all oliier joys, and independent of other comforts ; When all 108 CHOICE WORKS OF the nether springs of delight among creatures are dried up, this is a fountain of eternal pleasure, a spring of overflowing delight. Hah. iii. 17-19 : Tkmigh the fig-tree shall not blossom, and there shall be no fruit in the vine, though the fiM shall yield no meat, and the flock shall be cut off from the fold, yet the Lord is my strength, I will r^oice in the Lord, and joy in the God of my sal- vation. IV. Where the love of God prevails in the heart, every thing that belongs to God, his word, his institutions, his church and peo- ple, will in some proportion be the objects of our choice and love, of our holy desires and delight. Has God condescended to give us his word, to write a book of knowledge and grace for the use of men ? How much delight will the holy soul take in reading and_ hearing the blessed words of this book ! A flame of heavenly love kindled in the heart, will engage us to converse often with those divine notices of himself, which God has sent us from heaven. Our delight will be placed in the law, and gospel of our God, and therein shall we meditate day and night ; Psalm i. 2. how I love thy law, says David, it is my meditation all the day ; and in the night he remembers the name of God ; Psalm cxix. 65, 97. Has the great God built a temple for himself on earth, even the assemblies of the saints ? Has he appointed methods of worship in which men shall address his Majesty, and whereby he will make them partakers of his love ? How desirous is the lively Christian to attend on all these methods of divine appointment, to abide in the sanctuary, to frequent the house of prayer, and wait for the manifestations of the power and glory of God 1 / have loved the habitation of thy house, says David, and the place where thy honor dwelleth; Psalm xxvi. 8. How amiable are thy tabernacles, Lord of Hosts/ Ixxxiv. 1. Has God raised up children for himself out of the sons and daughters of fallen Adam ? Then every one that loves God, will love his offspring too ; 1 John v. 1. This is one of the chief evi- dences of a sincere love to God, when we love his people, and those who bear his image, without the narrow view of a sect or party, or particular tribe of such a name. The saint loves all the saints, and the Christian loves all Christians ; those who are most like to God are the excellent of the earth, in whom is all his delight; Psalm xvi. 2. And therefore he pities them under all their sorrows, and he reUeves their wants according to his power, because they stand in so near a relation to the God whom he loves, and bear his lovely image; 1 John iii. 16, 17. Has the great and glorious God one peculiar Son, his first-bom, ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 169 his only-begotten, who bears his perfect image, and whom he loves above all the rest ? this also is the chief object of a Christian's love. Not father nor mother, son nor daughter, nor the wife of the bosom, lies so near the heart of a Christian, as the Son of God doth. He not only bears the nearest resemblance to God, but he is one viith God ; in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead hodily ; Col. ii. 9. He is Emmanuel, God with us ; Matt. i. 23. God mani- fested in the flesh ; 1 Tim. iii. 16. There is more of the power and wisdom, there is more of the majesty and mercy of God shines through the human nature of his Son Jesus, than in all the millions of men and angels, and all the worlds of unknown creatures that God ever made : and therefore the sanctified affectibns of the soul go forth in the strongest manner towards Jesus, the Son of God : He is in their eyes the chiefest of ten thousand, altogether lovely. V. Where the passion of divine love reigns gloriously in the heart, every creature separated from God will fall under a holy neglect and contempt. Nothing will serve or satisfy the good man, in the room and place of his God. All things, when laid in the balance, are lighter than vanity ; they are, in his esteem, like a small dust of the earth before a mountain, or the drop of a bucket, when compared with the ocean; Isaiah xl. 15. The language of such a soul is, whom have I in heaven hut thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee ; Psalm Ixxiii. 25. Crea- tures, with all their attractives and allurements, have no power to charm his heart away from God : The divine lover is crucified to the world ; it is like a dead thing to him, tasteless, disrelishing, worthless and vain : There is a vast emptiness, and wide and uni- versal desolation in the world, if the soul see not God in it. Business and diversions, cities and palaces, with their various ornaments, fields and groves, spring, summer and autumn, with all their flowery beauties, and their tasteful blessings, are some of the delights of the sons of men : Books and learning, and polite com- pany, and refined science, are the more elegant joys of ingenious spirits : These things are the enticing gratifications of the senses of tihe mind of man : They are all innocent in themselves, they may be sanctified to divine purposes, and afibrd double satisfaction if God be amongst them : But if God be absent, if he hide his face, or frown upon the soul, not palaces, nor groves, nor fields, not busi- ness nor diversions, not all the flowery or tasteful blessings of spring or summer, not the more refined joys of books and learning, and elegant company, not all the rich provisions of nature or art, can entertain or refresh, can satisfy or please the soul of a Christian, who is smitten with the love of his God. 8 170 CHOICE WORKS OF I add further, if the affectionate Christian find not God even in his church and ordinances ; if his mind be not raised to heavenly objects in the house of God, and in his sacred institutions, they are all empty and unsatisfying ; there is no life nor pleasure in them : A hypocrite is content with outward forms, and is well pleased with having paid his devoirs, and made his appearance in the church ; but the heart that loves God sincerely, cannot be satisfied with mere bodily devotion, nor with any pictures, shadows, or emblems of divine things, unless God, who is the life, the spirit, and the sub- stance, be there, and manifest himself in a way of mercy ; unless God fill his own institution with his own presence, that is, with the influences of his grace, with the enlightening, the sanctifying, and the comforting operations of his own Spirit. VI. The love of God prevailing in the heart, will awaken zeal and activity, and holy delight, not only in the duties of worship, but in all manner of services for God in the world. Can I do any thing for God whom I love ? saith the Christian, that shall be my joyful work. There is no labor or fatigue too much to sustain, no suffering too hard to endure, for the sake of God, who is so su- premely beloved. What shall I do to honor the King of heaven, and to render him honorable in the earth ? How shall I spread his glory before the eyes of men, who in himself is so transcendently glorious ? and what shall I vender to the Lord my God, for the mul- titude of mercies which he has conferred upon me ? Psalm cxvi. 13. Divine love will make the law of God dehghtful in the practice of it, and none of his precepts will be a burden to the affectionate and lively Christian ; 1 John v. 3. This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments ; and his commandments are not grievous. The soul that loves God will be always aspiring after greater de- grees of holiness, because it renders the man more like God : It is commonly said of friendship or sincere love, that it either finds or makes persons like to each other. Love to God is an assimilating principle ; it works more and more, till we are transformed by de- grees into his image : And if we are affectionate lovers of God, we shall never be perfectly pleased with ourselves till we are delivered from the bondage of this sinful flesh, till we wake out of this dull and stupid state, into the world of spirits made perfect, and are there satisfied with the likeness of God. This heavenly delight shall be yet more exalted when our bodies shall be raised in the likeness of our glorified Redeemer, and our flesh and soul together shall be made to resemble the holy Jesus in greater perfection, who is the first and the nearest image of God. With what a gust of sacred pleasure does the beloved disciple express himself; 1 John iii. 1, 2. ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 171 We shall be like him, when we shall see him as he is ; and when with David we wake out of the dust of death, we shall see the face of God in righteousness, and be satisfied with his complete like- ness; Psalm xvii. 15. VII. Every thing that offends or dishonors the blessed God, will be a matter of hatred and aversion to the divine lover : And every- thing whereby God has been offended in time past, will be the occasion of shame and grief. / hate vain thoughts, saith holy David, but thy law do J love ; Psalm cxix. 113. Sin is the object of constant hatred in all its views, because it is contrary to the na- ture, the will, and the law of God, who is the supreme object of love : The good man is exceeding fearful of doing any thing that may offend or displease his God. When his soul looks back upon his own sins, he finds abundant matter for sorrow and holy shame, for self-resentment aod pious indignation. " how hateful have all my sinful thoughts been ! My proud, my angry, and my revenge- ful thoughts ! That covetousness, that malice and envy, which have been working in my heart ! Those wandering imaginations which have called me away from the blessed God, even from the midst of his worship ! How vile and guilty is my tongue, because of the foolish, and passionate, and sinful words that I have spoken ! What a multitude of evil actions hiive been scattered up and down throughout my life, and intermixed with my behavior towards God and man 1" All these create bitter uneasiness and pain in the remembrance, because they are offences against a God who is supremely beloved. What holy confusion, what meltings of heart in secret sorrow, do the true lovers of God feel, after they have in- dulged temptation, fallen under some more grievous sin, defiled their consciences, and dishonored their God ? What pangs of in- ward remorse, and what sincere indignation against themselves ? And as an evidence of their love to God, they sometimes see reason to confess and bewail their folly, even in the sight of men. Holy David was not backward upon such occasions, to confess his grief for having offended his God : We may read the mournings of his love, in his penitential Psalms, particularly Psalm li. 3, 4, 17 ; and he offers a broken and a contrite heart in sacrifice to that God whom he had offended. A true and affectionate lover of God is pained at the heart, and feels a sensible inward sorrow to see how iniquity abounds in tha land, to behold the laws of God broken by his fellow-creatures, and his holy name blasphemed. / beheld the transgressors, and I wa& grieved, because they kept not thy word : Rivers of tears run down my eyes, because men break thy holy law ; Psalm cxix. 136, 158. 172 CHOICE WORKS OT VIII. Every thing that has a tendency to divide the soul from God is matter of religious jealousy and holy fear. Divine love hath its jealousies : If we love God with intense affection we shall feel an inward anxiousness and solicitude, lest our hearts depart from the living Ood, and lest God should hide himself in his dis- pleasure from our souls. This is what holy David is ever afraid of, and begs that God would not hide himself in anger. The apostle Jude, verse 21, bids us keep ourselves in the love of God : The holy soul will watch against every thing that may begin a separation or break the divine friendship, and it grows jealous of every thing that comes too near the heart. W.hen the true lover of God is deeply engaged in the businesses of the present world, he manages them with a pious caution, lest his soul should be immersed and drowned with overwhelming cares, or overladen with increasing riches ; he is watchful, and afraid lest the dust and rubbish of this world should bury the holy seed in the heart, should obstruct the growth of religion, should carry off the thoughts from God to idols of gold and silver, and thus defile the soul. If he has any share amongst the honors and equipages, the gay diversions and pleasures of life, he is afraid lest they should fill his heart with vanity, lest they should tincture his spirit with sensuality and intemperance, and thus take away the taste and relish of divine love. If Providence call him sometimes into vain and wicked company, he is afraid of tarrying too many hours in the midst of them, lest evil communications should cor- rupt good manners ; 1 Cor. xv. 33, and therefore he will not stand among the counsels of the ungodly, nor walk in the way where sin- ners dwell ; Psalm i. 1. He shuns them as a pestilence, because their ways are contrary to the pure and holy nature of that God whom he loves. Those studies, those employments, those recreations and amuse- ments, which make the heart forget God, or withhold it too long from him, are uneasy and painful to a soul inflamed with divine love. As it is the language of the sinner who is weary of God, When will the new moon be over, and the sabbath be done, that I may return to my trade and my labor, to my buying and selling, and the daily business of this dying life ? So the sincere lover of God is ready to say. What, nothing but business and labor for the bfead that perisheth ? Nothing but buying and selling, and seek- ing gold and silver, food and raiment ? Alas, how unhappily am I detained all the day from my God by these embarrassments ! When will the evening come, and the season of pious retirement? ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 173 When will tbe sabbath appear, that I may spend my hours with God, and begin to try what heaven is ! IX. Where the divine principle of the love of God reigns in the heart, all sinful passions toward God and men will be subdued by it. 1. Toward God. One would think, indeed, that man should not dare to indulge any sinful passion toward his Maker ; but so corrupt are our hearts, that we dislike the holy nature of God, we are displeased with his will, and his holy commandments are griev- ous to us, till the love of God subdue this inward aversion of the heart to holiness, and reconcile us to the law of God by the con- straining influence of divine love. Again, we are ready to repine at the hand of the Lord, to mur- mur against heaven, and to quarrel with our Maker, when we meet with disappointments in our affairs : We are inclined to grow peev- ish and fretful against Providence, when we lose some desirable comfort, or sustain some heavy sorrow, or long and tiresome sick- ness ; but holy love silences every murmur, and quashes every re- pining thought. Where the love of God prevails, aflBictive scenes of life will never awaken resentment against heaven, but always meet with patient submission. The sacred lover is not angry with his God when he smites him, for he ever supposes there is a just reason for every stroke of his Father's rod : " Either," says he, " my sins have deserved his correcting hand, or these sorrows are sent to examine what grace there is in my heart, and to make trial of my faith : Still I am persuaded there is love at the bottom of all these troubles, and it is the hand of love that smiths me ; for my Saviour hath said it. Rev. iii. 19. As many as I love, I rebuke and chas- ten ; and the holy apostle assures us, Heh. xii. 6., that God corrects ev&ry son whom he receives. 2. Divine love mortifies and subdues our disorderly and sinful passions toward our fellow-creatures ; Wrath, revenge, malice, envy, are all subdued and kept under by this sovereign principle of divine love. The soul, in whom this sacred passion keeps a constant flame, is not easily roused to a wrathful or resenting temper, by the affronts and injuries we sustain from men. The lover of God is meek and gentle under many insults and reproaches : He can for- bear and forgive, for he knows that his God hath borne long with him, and forgiven him ten thousand provocations. Thus the sov- ereignty of divine love appears, in that it can suppress as well as raise the other passions. X. Where divine love reigns in eminent degrees, there will be an humble, holy desire to pass even through death itself to meet 174 CHOICE WORKS OF with God, the supreme object of love, and to dwell for ever in his presence. If faith be not too feeble, or the frailties of animal nature too prevalent, the divine lover will encounter death with courage, and with sacred joy, because it will bring him to the enjoyment of his God. When the dust returns to earth, the soul of every man returns to God as a judge, and the soul of a good man to God as a friend, and Father, and rewarder ; Eccles. xii. 7. If we are absent from the body, we shall be present with the Lord ; 2 Cor. v. 8. In this view of things, the holy lover is ready to say, What is there in death so terrible, that the presence of Christ, and the enjoyment of my God, has not something infinitely more delightfal to over- balance it ? Love is stronger than death. The love of God has been found stronger in a holy soul than all the pangs and terrors of death, even a death of violence and mar- tyrdom. The one influences and impels toward heaven more powerfully than the other can terrify or discourage. United faith and love have passed through fires of torment, and seas of blood, in order to see God, and dwell with him in his heavenly habitation. This leads to the next particular. In the last place I add, that as hell will be matter of utmost aversion and holy fear to a sincere lover of God, because it is an everlasting separation from God, so heaven wiU be the object of de- sire and joyfiil hope, because there God manifests himself to all that love him in his highest glory and richest grace. The soul that loves God with warm affection, cannot bear those dreadful words, 2 Thess. i. 9. of being punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. To be without God in the world, during the short space of our continuance here, is a very formidable and grievous thing to the good man ; but to be cursed and condemned to depart from God for ever, this is the very hell of hell, if I may so express it, in the esteem of the soul that loves God : To be di- vided for ever from God, the spring of life and love, and all happi- ness ; to be separated for ever from God, the infinite and the all-suffi- tient good ; to be thrust out for ever from the presence of God, the most lovely and the best of beings ; to see him no more, to love him no more, and to be for ever banished from his love ; the very thought of it gives the holy soul more anguish than it is able U) bear. On the other hand, heaven, which is the dweUing-place of the Most High, is the mark which the good man ever aims at, that he may see God face to face. When his love rises high, he is ever breathing passionately after this blessedness, and Uves with delight upon the promises which give him this joyiful hope. Blessed are ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 175 the pure in heart, for they shall see God ; Matt. v. 8. The good man's affections are set on the things above, where Christ is at the right hand of God ; Col. iii. 1, 2. His treasure is on high, and his heart is there also ; Matt. vi. 21. If we love God with all the heart, we shall keep heaven always in our eye. The foretaste of it will be our present comfort and support ; the thoughts of being for ever with God, will sweeten all the sorrows of life, will take away the bitterness of affliction, and ease the pains of death. As Jacob cheerfully sustained a hard servitude of seven years in Ghaldea, through heat and cold, through frosts and wind, and sunbeams, for the love of Rachel, so the Christian endures all the labors and con- flicts, all the fatigues and distresses of life in this lower world with patience, and with holy pleasure, in hope to dwell for ever with God, whom his soul loves supremely above all creatures. Thus I have finished the second general head which I proposed ; and produced a variety of instances, wherein this sacred and sov- ereign affection of divine love commands and influences, excites or subdues the other passions of nature, and makes them all subserv- ient to its own great designs, that is, to the honor and to the en- joyment of God, the object of this divine affection. Before I proceed to the third general head, I shall endeavor to improve this discourse by these three useful reflections : Reflection I. " How happy and easy a rule is here given us to examine how stands our love to God, and whether we love him with all our heart f'' Are the other passions of nature influ- enced by this love ? Surely it is impossible for us, in this present state of flesh and blood, to love God with our whole hearts, and yet to feel no sensible workings of fear or hope, desire or anger, in correspondence with this holy passion : To have no pleasures nor sorrows, no holy longings, nor holy joys, acting in. concert with this principle of divine love. Believe me, sirs, there are no outward actions, no visible attend- ances on public worship, no bodily services, no costly sacrifices, can so happily evidence our sincere love to God, as the steady and con- stant workings of the other inward powers of nature, in conformity to this holy principle. A hundred outward plausible actions may be the cloak of vice, the disguise of hypocrisy. Vain Pharisees may make broad their phylacteries, may tithe their herds and their flocks as well as mint and cummin, may give much alms, or build hospitals and churches 5 but the various inward affections of nature can never be kept in any regular and steady exercise of piety, by all the toil and skill of a hypocrite. And on the other hand, if the heart be thoroughly devoted to the love of God, this love will IVS CHOICE WORKS OF reign sovereign among the other passions. The other passions will obey love, and we may judge by their obedience how far the love of God prevails. Eeflection 11. " If mankind be examined by this rule, how few sincere lovers of God will be found among them 1" It is a vain thing for a man to say, " I love God with all my heart," when his strongest desires and his most relishing joys centre in meaner ob- jects ; when his highest hopes and his most painful fears, his deep- est anxieties and disquietudes of mind, are always raised and sunk again by the things of this world only, and the changing scenes of this mortal state. Alas ! how few are there whose love to God does not fall under some just suspicion, when brought to this test ! Let us survey the world round about us, and observe what it is that influences the various passions of men, even those who are called Christians, and would be thought the disciples of Christ. Some have their hearts so filled with, the business of this life, and the love of money, as their chief idol, that all their desires, their fears and their hopes, and the perpetual course and labor of all their powers, keep this point ever in view and in waim pursuit : The disappointment of a small sum, the loss of a few pounds, will hang upon their spirits with a constant heaviness, and create them more pain than twenty sins against God their Maker. What shall we think of these people, who love riches so well, that if their hands and their heads would hold out, and daylight would last, they would never be weary of this chase, nor require cessation or respite ? Does the love of God appear as the supreme and reigning passion in such earthly souls as these ? There have been some in all ages, and there are the successors of them in our day, who have loved gold and silver with so warm a passion, even to the very end of life, that if they could but have contrived how to carry it away with them to the other world, there would have been but little silver, and scarce any gold, left in our world long ere this time. This has employed their morning thoughts and evening affections, their earnest wishes, and their busy fingers day and nighty so as to leave little room for the love of God and religion. Others there are who make honor and esteem, or perhaps the grandeur, and pomp, and equipage of life, the chief object of their love. Their hopes and cares, their desires and enquiries are. How shall I shine among men, and make a figure in the world ? Eveiy gay gilded thing they see raises their wishes : Ambition, honor, and applause, engage their whole souls : A fancied contempt or neglect of them stirs their jealousy, and awakens all their uneasy passions. They mourn more, and are more inwardly and deeply ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 177 vexed for one reproachful ward from men, than for all their own affronts to the great and blessed God. Can the love of God reign in a heart so puffed up and filled with self and vanity ? There are others again, whose idol is pleasure and vain delight. A round of pleasing amusements, a succession of sensualities, is their chief good : This employs their constant contrivances, this engages their hopes and fears, and every passion. They spend their anxious enquiries upon the gratification of appetite, humor and fancy: What shall I eat, and what shall I drink ? How shall I dine ele- gantly, and regale myself at the table ? What are the most luxuri- ous dishes in season, and where shall 1 find gay or merry company in the evening? The tavern or the meaner drinking-house, the comedy or the ball, and every place of pastime, whether lawful or unlawful, detain their souls as well as their bodies, and engage their thoughts long beforehand. Does the sincere love of God reign in such sort of spirits ? These are the things that busy and engross the daily passions of men, and scarce a small corner of their hearts is left for God and religion. But let us remember, God is an all-glorious and sovereign Being, his holy jealousy forbids him to accept of a corner of the heart. He refuses and disdains every lover that does not give up his whole self to him with all his powers. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul : Every affection must and will be employed in a pious manner, where divine love is, as it always ought to be, the supreme passion. But, alas ! how few souls are thus moulded and refined ; how few are regulated and governed by so divine a principle ! Man is the crea- ture of God, and owes his all to him ; but the creature man does not love his Creator. Reflection HI. If divine love be so sovereign and ruling an affec- tion, then " the best and noblest method for governing all the pas- sions, is to get the love of God rooted in the heart, and to see that it maintain its supreme dominion there." What uneasy crea- tures are we made by our various passions. How often do they disquiet and torment the soul ! How headstrong is their violence, hke a horse unbroken and untamed ! How sudden are their starts ! Their motions how wild and various ! And how unruly are their efibrts ! Now if one had but one sovereign bridle, that could reach and manage them all ; one golden rein that would hold in all their unruly motions, and would also excite and guide them at pleasure ; what an invaluable instrument would this be to mortals ! Surely such an instrument is the love of God, such an invaluable regulator 178 CHOICE WORKS OF of all the passionate powers ; and it will have this eflFect, where it is strong and supreme, as it ought to be. You that are daily disturbed and led astray by rising passions of various kinds, come to the lectures of the gospel, come to the doctrine of the blessed Jesus : Come, see the love of God displayed in its most surprising and powerful colors ; come, learn to love your Maker, dressed in the riches of his grace : And may your souls be fired with divine love, till all your carnal fetters are melted off; till you exult in a divine liberty ; till you lead captivity captive, and reign and triumph over all your vicious affections, which had so often before disquieted and enslaved you. And here again we may take up a melancholy complaint, how few are there who are taught to regulate their passions by divine love ! What wild work do these unruly powers make among man- kind ! How dreadfully do they carry away multitudes into mis- chief and ruin for want of this holy government ! How very few have attained this heavenly gift, this sacred principle, this golden rein of universal influence, that would hold in, and guide and man- age all the passions to glorious advantage ! Meditation. " But it is time now, O my soul, to call thy thoughts away from the multitudes of mankind, and to look carefully into thyself. There is reason enough for grief and lamentation indeed, if we survey the thousands round about us, who are mere slaves to their earthly passions, who let them loose among creatures, and shew very few tokens and evidences of a supreme love to their Creator : But would it not be matter of far more painful, more penetrating and inward sorrow, if thou shouldst carry this evidence, this test of divine love, into thy own retirements, and shouldst hardly be able to prove thyself a lover of God ? Awake, awake to the Work, O my heart ! Enquire, examine, and take a strict account how are thy passionate powers employed. Go over thy various affections, and enquire of all of them, how stands thy love to God ? " Admiration is described as the first of the passions ; It arises on the notice of something new, or rare and uncommon : But it never ceases nor is lost in the contemplation of God, whose glories are infinite, and in whom the holy soul always finds something new and wondrous. He is a rare and uncommon object indeed, for there is but one such being in heaven and earth ; there' never was but one from all eternal ages past, nor ever will be but one to all future eternal ages. " Hast thou seen him, my soul, so as to love him ? then thy work of pleasing contemplation and wonder will be still renewed : Among creatures we go on to adnjire what we love, but the love of the ISAAC WATTS, D.B. 179 Creator will lead us to everlasting admiration. And if thou lovest him, thou wilt ever find something new and wondrous in him, as thy knowledge of him increases. Ask thyself, then, hast thou seen the glories and the graces of thy God, so as to wonder at the infinite variety of his wisdom, the greatness of his majesty, and the conde- scensions of his mercy ? Are his displa3fs of glory in nature and providence, in the Bible and in the church, and especially in his beloved Son Jesus, the matter of thy joyful meditation and high esteem ? Does a sense of his transcendent grandeur and goodness strike thee, as it becomes a creature to be stricken with the ideas of a God, that is, with a holy veneration and with an awful delight ? The love of so sublime and infinite a Being is naturally turned to pleasing adoration, and becomes an act of noble worship : But when earthly lovers adore their meaner objects, to express the strength of their love, they turn idolaters, and afijfont God their Maker. Remember, my soul, God alone must be adored. " But proceed now, and ask, how stand thy desires and wishes ? Is the favor, the presence, and the enjoyment of God, the object of thy strongest desires, and of thy constant pursuit ? Dost thou long after a sense of the pardon of sin, the love of God, and a prepara- tion to' dwell for ever with him, above all things besides ? Yet further inquire, what is thy heart's chief delight : Are those the sweetest seasons of life, when thou art brought nearest to God in the temper of thy spirit, in the lively hope of his love, and in humble converse with him ? Are the secret hours of retirement dear and delightful to thee, above all human society ? Are the workings of thy heart, in warm and affectionate devotion, thy sweetest pleasures ? Can it be that ever I should love God supremely, and yet not find my converse with him to be my supreme joy ? " Again : Are the things that relate to God and eternity the ob- jects of my choice and love, above and beyond the things that relate to men and this life ? What value hast thou, O my soul, for the Bible, the book of God ? His words will be treasured up in the heart, and will become the sweet entertainment of thy solitary hours, if God himself has the highest room in thy affections. Let me enquu'e again, how stand my desires toward the sanctuary, to- ward the places and seasons of divine worship ? " Am / glad when they say unto me, Come, let us go up to the house of God ?" Psalm cxxii. 1. Are the courts of Zion my delight, because the blessed God manifests his power and glory there ? Do I love the saints of God ? Is the company of lively Christians refreshing and entertaining to me, above all the idle discourse of the world, or the vain merriments or more polite amusements of the' age ? Do J 180 CHOICE WORKS OP loot upon the children of God with a peculiar respect, with an eye of distinguishing love, and that for this reason, because they stand related to God, and bear his image ? Do I feel a sympathy with them in their sorrows ? Do I pity and relieve from my very heart the poor in this world, who are the sons and daughters of the most high God ? And is Jesus the supreme Son of God, the highest in my esteem, and the dearest to my heart ? " Ask yet again, O my soul ; is every thing little and contemptible in thy eyes, in comparison of the things of God ? Can any thing fill up the room and place of God ? Or canst thou say all things are emptiness and vanity where God is not? When St. Austin, who was exceeding fond of the writings of Cicero, the Roman orator, came to taste the pleasures of religion, by the knowledge of Christ, the writings even of Cicero lost their relish with him, because he found not Christ there. How stands it now with thee, in respect of some of thy dearest delights of nature ? Are they all placed, as they ought to be, in thy esteem, infinitely below God ? Are thy best earthly joys empty and unsatisfying without God? Canst tliou say, in the language of the apostle, and assume his triumph. Yea doubtless^ and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, by whom we are brought near to God the Father? Phil.m.S. " Enquire yet again, does thy love to God awaken and employ thy zeal and holy activity for his honor ? Art thou soHcitous to keep all his commandments, and hereby manifest thy love ? There is no evidence of the love of God can be suflSoient or sincere, if this be wanting. Dost thou seek to grow more and more like to God ? Dost thou breathe earnestly after greater conformity to Jesus, the first and the brightest image of the Father ? Is it a pain to thee to find thyself so unlike him, whom thou lovest supremely ? Love will create hkeness. " Let us examine thee now, my heart, how stand thy uneasy and painful affections ? Hast thou a rooted hatred of every sin ? Hast thou an inward avereion to every thing that displeases God ? Dost thou look back on thy own former transgressions with holy shame and sincere sorrow ? Art thou covered with an inward blush at the recollection of thy past follies ? Are thy sins thy heaviest burden, and thy most uneasy load ? Has thy sincere and unfeigned repent- ance been manifested by all the proper passions that attend a peni- tent, by self-abasement and inward confusion, by mourning in secret, and a holy displicency and resentment against thyself and thy folly ? And is it a grief and pain to thee, to see and hear others transgress against thy God, and affront his law and his love? ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 181 " Seek yet further : Hast thou a watchful jealousy over thyself, lest thou wander from God ? A constant solicitude of mind, lest thou offend and displease him whom thou lovest supremely ? Dost thou stand afar off from every temptation, as one afi-aid to be de- filed with sin, and dishonor thy God ? Art thou cautious of that company, of that business, of that diversion or delight which has before ensnared thee, and broke thy holy intercourse with God ? " Ask again, my heart, hast thou subdued thy uneasy passions of anger, frowardness, and resentment, against God and against man, by the overcoming influence of divine love ? Hast thou a submis- sive and humble carriage under hard providences and sore disap- pointments from the hand of God ? Dost thou love him so well, as not to murmur at his holy conduct, nor quarrel with his govern- ment? And hast thou acquired the sacred power and skill of suppressing thy wrath and revenge against men, by the constrain- ing influence of the love of God ? Dost thou forbear and forgive those who offend thee, from a sweet sense of the forbearing and forgiving love of Gbd towards thee ? If thy love to God has yet done little of this service, if it has not begun to make thee meek and mild, and dispassionate under aifSictions from the hand of God, or the affi'onts of men, it has not acquired any great prevalence in thee, and there is too much reason to suspect the sincerity of it. " Come yet further, O my soul, take a step forward, and look towards death and eternity. Art thou willing to cross the dark valley, in order to dwell with thy beloved ? I grant nature has its frailties and fears ; I grant also, that the want of assurance of salva- tion damps the wings of the soul, which would be stretched forward to the enjoyment of God in the heavenly country : I would put the ques- tion therefore in a gentle and favorable manner : Hast thou any desire to leave this sinful world, to quit all thy dearest hopes and interests here, for the sake of dweUing with God on high ? Suppose thou hadst a steady hope of his love, and the pains of death were miti- gated, hast thou an inward breathing and tendency towards the happiness that arises fi-om the presence of God ? O blessed souls, whose love is risen to so transcendent a degree, that they are not afraid even of the sharpest pangs, and the terrors of death ! They can venture with pleasure to cross the swellings of Jordan, that they may enter into the promised land, and dwell in the city of their God. " What is it, O my heart, what is it in the word hell that strikes thee with so much horror? Is it the thought of an endless sepa- ration from thy God ? What is it that makes the' name of heaven carry so pleasing a sound? Is it because thy God dwells there in 182 CHOICE WORKS OF ISAAC WATTS, D. D. his fairest glory, and in his richest grace ? The mere dread of hell as a place of sorrow and pain, and the desire of heaven as a mere state of rest from trouble, and of some sort of unknown happiness, are no manner of evidences of any love to God, much less of a su- preme love, such as God requires. The passions of nature may be awakened by natural self-love at the views of heaven and heU, when set merely in this light : But it is the hope of being for ever with the Lord, that is the chief allurement of heaven in the eye of the sa- cred lover ; and it is the eternal absence of God gives hell its black- est colors, and its most formidable appearances. "Hast thou, my soul, run over all thy passions in this en- quiry 1 and what is tiie result of thy labor ? Canst thou stand this test ? Art thou a lover of God with all thy heart ? If thou find this divine principle, this sovereign and holy affection reigning within thee, bless the distinguishing grace of God, who has kindled this heavenly flame, and cherish it with perpetual care. Set a guard upon every affection, lest it wander from its duty. O may divine love maintain its rightful dominion, and universal sove- reignty in my soul. Let me keep God always near me, and watch against the seducing influence of tempting creatures, that I may ever preserve the love of God in its supreme fervency, and its unri- valled influences : Then my whole nature, with all its powers, shall be thine, O my God, for ever and ever." Amen. DISCOURSE III. THE USE OF THE PASSIONS IN RELIGION. We have seen already what is included in " loving God with the heart, and how this divine love will influence all the other affec- tions into a suitable and correspondent exercise." "We proceed now to the third general head of discourse, and that is, to shew the use of the passions in religion, or what advantage may be obtained by them, or expected from them in the Christian life : And here we shall find the advantages of them so great and numerous, as will render it necessary for every one who professes serious religion, to have the affections of his soul engaged in it. Advantage I. " The passions being duly awakened, will set the powers of the understanding at work, in the search of divine truth and religious duty, and render the knowledge of God exceeding de- sirable to sinful men." We are by nature thoughtless of God and divine things : A little, a very little general knowledge of religion satisfies our desires, because we imagine it is suflScient for our ne- cessities. The bulk of mankind have their passions touched with earthly things, and they are ever enquiring who viU shew us where corn and wine, the pleasures of sense, the possessions of this world, honors or preferments, are to be gotten ? Too many are ready to join with the profane wretches, who are described in Job xxi. 14. They say unto God, depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways ; we do not want to know much of God, nor what is our duty to him. But when the arrows of conviction strike through the soul, when the heart is awakened to a pathetic sense of sin, and the fear of divine vengeance possesses and torments the spirit, then it is the most importunate enquiry of the heart and the lips, What shall we do to he saved ? Acts xvi. 30. How shall we escape the wrath to come ? How is the governing justice of the great God to be satisfied for our offences ? What is the way to be made partakers of his par- doning mercy ? Wherewith shall I appear before the Lord, and in what manner shall / bow myself, and worship the Most High God? Micah vi, 6. This was the language of the awakened jailer, who had just before scourged the saints of the Lord, the holy apostles ; 184 CHOICE WORKS OF Acts xvi. 30. This was the earnest cry of the crucifiers of Christ himself, at St. Peter's sermon, when they were priclced to their heart ; Acts ii. 3 "7. This is the language of nature convinced of sin, and the danger of divine indignatioQ. St. Paul learned all the terrors of the Lord, and felt all his painful passions in an uproar, when he was struck down to the dust, with the dreadful and over- whelming glory in his way to Damascus; Acts ix. 3. And with what intense and hasty zeal did he make this enquiry, Lord, whit wilt thou have me to do ? verse 6. And when he had learned the knowledge of Christ, as the only way to the favor of God and sal- vation, how highly doth he value it ! Phil. iii. 8. Tea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. If I am awakened to a sense of sin, and fear the anger of God, I shall long to know the awful extent of his power, and the terrible effects of his anger, as well as the methods of obtaining his grace. If I love him, I shall spend many pleasant hours of enquiry into his amiable excellencies. Each pious passion will promote its peculiar enquiries. Fear and love wUl wander with holy awe and delight among his glories, and be ever pursaing further knowledge of his perfections ; If I love God with warm and devout affection, I shall rejoice daily to find new discoveries of his unsearchable wisdom, his all-sufiicient power, his immense goodness, and the unbounded riches of his grace : I shall trace his wondrous footsteps through this beautiful creation, and endeavor to find his way in the tract of daily providences : I shall sm'vey him and his attributes in his book of grade, and dwell upon his divine features in Jesus the image, and the brightness of his glory ; Heb. i. 3, and I shall search fiirther continually into the knowledge of Christ, who is God manifest in the flesh : I shall dig in the mines of Scripture for treasures of di- vine knowledge, and never grow weary of the work. I shall be always enquiring, " What I shall do to please and serve him," who is the object of my highest love ; and how I shall obtain stronger sensations and assurances of his favor, and dwell for ever in his presence, who is the hfe and the joy of my soul. We long stiU to know more of this transcendent Being whom we love : It is this divine passion that animates these enquiries after the knowledge of God ; and this shall render them infinite and everlasting, because God the object of them is everlasting and infinite. n. " The affections being once engaged, will keep the soul fixed to divine things. The sense of them is impressed deeper on the mind, by the exercise of devout passions, and it will abide there much longer." Even where reason is bright, and the judgment ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 185 clear, yet it will be ineffectual for any valuable purposes, if religion reach no farther than the head, and proceed not to the heart : It will have but little influence, if there are none of the affections en- gaged. Notions of religion in the understanding, without any touch upon the passions, have been compared to the stars in a winter midnight, bright and shining, but very cold ; or rather to the meteor which is called a shooting-star, which vanisLes quickly, and is lost in darkness. Suppose we are convinced by calm reasoning of the being of a God, of the duties which we owe our Creator, of his government of the world, and of his final judgment ; suppose we are led into a demonstration or evident proof, that we are guilty creatures, having broken the laws of God, and that there is no salvation for us, but in and by a Mediator ; suppose we are really convinced in our judgment, that there is a Heaven or a hell that awaits our departure from this world ; that we must die shortly, and that we are for ever miserable without pardoning mercy, and sanctifying grace ; all this is valuable in its kind, and is necessary in order to salva- tion : But if all this knowledge make no impression on the affec- tions, it is not hkely to abide with us, nor to do us much good : Knowledge wears off the mind, if never used. Cold, unaffecting notions, will have no powerful influence to reform our lives. Every new scene of business or pleasure brushes off these thoughts of re- ligion from our souls, where they have not been let into the heart, nor possessed the passions : They vanish like the morning dew, or like an early cloud that passes away ; Hosea vi. 4. It is one great end and design of the passions, to fix the atten- tion strongly upon the objects of them, to settle the thoughts with such intenseness and continuance on that which raises tbem, that they are not easily shaken off. What we fear or desire, what we love and hope for, what we lament or rejoice in, wiU seize and busy our minds, and take them up perpetually, notwithstanding the importunities of other businesses or cares : The passions are su- premely importunate, and will be heard. Now if the passions are strongly engaged for God, the world will have little power to call off the heart from religion. Suppose two preachers were desired to minister to the same auditory, on a day of fasting or praise, and on the same subject too. One of them has all the beauty, force, and skill of clear and calm reasoning ; the other not only instructs well, but powerfully moves the affections with sacred oratory : Which of these two will best secure the attention of the people, and guard them from drowsiness or wandering ? Surely he that touches the heart will fix the eyes 186 CHOICE WORKS OF and the ears and all the powers ; while he that merely endeavors to inform the head, will find many wandering eyes, and some sleepers. Suppose two persons have heard the same discourse from the pulpit, which was both rational and pathetic. One of them is pleased with the fine reasoning of the preacher, and hath his judg- ment convinced of the necessity and importance of the duty which he is exhorted to practice, and goes no further ; the other hath also felt the very same conviction of his understanding by force of argument; and at the same time finds his soul touched inwardly with an emotion of the lively passions ; he is awakened and sm'- prised with an awful concern about his past neglects, and a holy fear of divine anger ; he is struck to the heart with sentiments of piety ; he is grieved and ashamed at his folly, he is filled with zeal and holy purposes : Pray which of these two will have the dis- course dwell most upon their hearts ; 'which is Uke to remember this sermon longest, and which is most likely to put it in practice ? This leads me to the third particular. III. " All the duties of holiness are rendered much easier, and temptations to sin much weaker, when religion hath taken hold of the heart, and the passions of the soul are engaged in it." Passion animates all the inferior powers of nature, and strengthens them all in their operation. It is a sort of life and fire within the hearts of men, which God the Creator hath ordained to be ever ready there, to give force and spirit for present action. He knew our nature wanted this spur, this inward spring of activity. Suppose we had been left merely to the exercise of our reason and judgment, to inform us when it was proper to eat and drink, without having any such appetites as thirst and hunger : It is possible indeed that lite might have been maintained, but we should have been often ready to neglect the proper seasons of food, and nature would have been supported but in a feeble and languishing manner, without such regular and constant nourishmeut as we want, and that too without any sensible delight. But the keen appetites of hunger and thirst are implanted in our very natures, to awaken us to take our solid and liquid food, and that with constancy and natural pleasure. It is for the same end, that all the passions were wrought into our constitution by our great Creator, that we might have some more vigorous principles than the mere power of reasoning, to animate us to activity on all just and proper oc- casions. Suppose I were told that my house was a-fire at midnight, and my cold reason informed me, that in a little time I and my goods might be consumed, it is probable I should think of using some ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 187 method to save myself : But the passion of surprise and fear exerts itself in a moment, and hurries me out to make an immediate es- cape. Fear was wrought into human nature for such purposes as these. In such a fright we can almost move mountains, and per- form wonders, to the utmost limits of the strength of man, in order to save ourselves or om- dear relatives from the flames. Cold reasoning without passion, would have no such sovereign and pow- erful efiects. Thus it is in things of religion. A cold information that misery will be the consequent of sin, or even a rational conviction of the distant danger of hell, without the passion of fear, would never animate a man to cry out with such importunate enquiries, " "What shall I do to escape everlasting burnings ?" It is this pas- sion of fear that constrains him to fly for his life to the hope that is set before him in the gospel, and to make his escape as Lot did from Sodom, without looking back on the allurements of sin. I might give instances of the like kind in the afl'ection of divine love. I may learn by reason that God is to be honored and obeyed, because he is my Creator and my Lord : I may be convinced of the beauty of virtue, and the excellency of religion, and that all the precepts of it are reasonable ; yet these precepts will carry but a feeble sway with them, and have a.very imperfect influence on my practice, in opposition to all my carnal interests and corrupt incli- nations, if I have nothing to move me but the mere use of my reason, teUing me it is a proper thing to obey the great God. This will not do the work, if I have no affectionate love to God as a Father and a Saviour. It is a knowledge and belief of the truth of the gospel, joined with love to Chiist my Eedeemer, that makes me zealous to fulfil every duty. Christianity itself is thus excel- lently described by the apostle ; it is faith working by love ; Gal. V. 6. A mere knowledge of any person will not make us grow hke him, but love hath an assimilating and transforming power : The divine afl'ection of love will work perpetually within us, and never cease till it has made us like our beloved object, till it has made us holy as God is holy, and formed heaven within us. And when this warm love to God our Maker, and to Jesus our Saviour, is joined to a lively hope of everlasting happiness, how do these united passions invigorate the soul in duty, and bear down all temptations before them? Great is the constraining power of these divine affections, hope and love : They break through all ob- stacles that stand in the way of salvation : When they are united together they arise to holy joy ; and among the saints of the Old Testament, as well as the New, the joy of the Lord was their 188 CHOICE WORKS OF Strength to fulfil all tte duties of religion and righteousness; Nehem. viii. 10. This sacred temper of mind carried out the patri- archs of old, and the heroes of the ancient church, to obey the call of God with courage, to leave their own native country and their friends, to wander through the earth as strangers and pilgrims, and to Uve upon a naked promise : This taught Moses to esteem the re- proach of Christ, and the hope of the Messiah, greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt : This enabled the pious Jews to work wonders of righteousness, to venture into the dens of lions, to dare the edge of the sword, and combat the violence of fire ; to eudure the trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, to pass through showers of stones, and engines of torture, despising death in its most fright- ful forms, and not oficepting deliverance. These are the wonders which are ascribed to faith in the eleventh chapter to th^ Hebrews : But it was faith animated by divine love ; it was faith rising high in the hope of a better resurrection. A naked and simple belief of things unseen would scarce have wrought these amazing effects in human nature, without some warm and joyful efforts of the affec- tions of hope and love. Behold the hero of the gospel, St. Paul, that little contemptible figure of a man bearing down all opposition before him in his sacred course of zeal and duty. Under this influence he can tri- umph over all the formidable things of nature, and the terrors of this world ; Bom. viii. 35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ ? Who shall divide our hearts trom him ? Who shall make us weary of his service, or tempt us away from the faith and obedience of his gospel ? Shall tribulation, shall distress, shall persecution, shall famine or nakedness, or peril or sword ? As it was written of the saints in former ages, so shall it be fulfilled again in our &gQ,for thy sake we can bear killing all the day long ; the sheep of Christ can stand the axe, or the knife of slaughter : In all these things we are more than conquerors, through the grace of Christ that hath loved us. Every holy martyr hath made it appear, that love is stronger than prisons, or death : It hath its flames that are superior to common fire, and can overcome all the terrors of men. When this divine love and hope have possessed the spirit, what poor and paltry things- are all the allurements of flesh and sense ? How feeble and insufficient are all the gay and glittering appear- ances of nature in this world, all the flatteries of pride and sensu- ality, to draw the heart away from God ? The holy soul can boldly withstand all the enticements of sin, when divine grace hath seized the affections, and got possession of those sprightly and active powers. ISAAC WATTS 189 What tte nerves and spirits are to animal nature, the same thing are the passions to the soul : They are its very nerves and spirits, its most vigorous and unwearied springs of action, both in the zealous discharge of every duty, and the firm resistance of every tempta- tion to sin. These active springs set all nature at work in the afiairs of grace. The sanctified affections are so great a part of the new creature, that the very graces of the Holy Spirit are called by their names. What is divine love, religious fear, and heavenly hope ? What is a sacred contempt and disdain of sensual vanities, and an immortal aversion to sin, and utter abhorrence of it ? What are holy desires, penitent sorrows, and spiritual joys? What is all this blessed catalogue of the fruits of the Spirit, but the passions of nature refined and renewed by grace. It is the influence of religion on the passions, that doth in a great measure make the difference between the true Christian and the mere outward professor : The mere professor may know as much of the doctrines of religion, and of the duties of it, as the most religious man; but he doth not fear and love, and desire and hope, and mourn and rejoice, as the true Christian doth. If a bare rational knowledge of divine things were sufficient to make a true disciple of Christ, the greatest student in divinity, and especialy the sharpest critic in Scripture, would be the best Christian : But it is not always found so ; critics and students, rich in knowledge, may have cold hearts, and lie dead in a state of sin. IV. " The practices of religion are not only rendered easy, by having the affections employed in it, but they become pleasant and delightful, and every sin is more painful to the soul where the pas- sions are engaged for God." If the Christian be employed in holy meditation, how does the soul that loves God travel with delight over the various scenes of his glory, in the lower and the upper vrorlds ! How does he dwell upon the majesty and the mercy of his heavenly Father ; upon the excellencies of Christ the Saviour, upon his offices and his dignities from day to day ! How pleasura/- bly doth the mind diffuse itself in contemplation upon his pre-exist- ent state, when he dwelt in the Father's bosom ; his condescending incarnation and coming into flesh and blood, the labors and sorrows of his lite, the anguish and amazing love of his death, the glory of his resurrection, the honors paid him at his ascent to the throne of God in heaven, the efficacy of his intercession, and the joyful and dreadful appearance of the great JuiJge, when he shall come in the clouds of heaven to he admired of his saints, and to give vengeance and destruction to those who have ridiculed and rejected the gospel 190 CHOICE WOEKB OF of his grace ? How are the thoughts fixed on the sacred theme, ■without an inclination to rove and go astray ? How are the powers of imagination deyoutly employed, when the holy passions aie roused into activity, when our fear, our hope, our love, our joy, are all in happy exercise ? But if these are absent, and we are left merely to rational enforcements of duty on the mind, without love or af- fection in the heart, with what a cold indifference do we set about the work ! How fluttering are our thoughts 1 How wandering are our hearts ! And every flying fancy calls us away, and scatters our powers among a thousand vanities. I might instance in the duty of prayer or praise, when the love of the heart flames out into holy desires, how ready and eager is the soul to seek the Lord ! Not the slj^dows and silence of the mid- night, not the early business and cares of the morning, can with- hold the good man from calling upon his God ? With my soul have I desired thee in ike night, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early ; Isaiah xxvi. 9. and I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried to the Lord ; Psalm, cxix. 147. Or if the heart be warmed with a sense of divine mercy, and kindled into religious joy, how gloriously does the tongue break forth into praises ! Bless the Lord, my soull and all that is within me bless his holy name: Bless the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits : Psalm ciii. 1, 2. Seven times a-day will I praise thee : My heart is fixed, God, my heart is fixed : I will sing and give praise : Awake, my tongue, my glory, awake to the joyful work ; Psalm Ivii. 7, 8. While the pious affections are duly engaged in prayer, even a common Christian is enabled to make divine work of it : Our minds never want matter, nor our tongues expression. Sense and lan- guage ai'e very much at the call of the devout passions, where the mind is tolerably furnished with the principles of religion ; and then the soul converses with its Maker with unknown delight. But when we are impelled by a mere precept, commanding us to our knees, . and conscience goads us oil as it were to the task and drudgery of prayer, without any devout affection, how cold is the heart ! How languid the worship ! How dry the mind ! How scanty the language ! The invention and the hps strive and labor, and all to little purpose. In such a case, I cannot but think that well-composed forms of devotion may be useful helps to awaken the drowsy powers, and to call up sleeping religion. But where these powers are awake and lively, such helps are less needful in our ; praying seasons. The same experiment may be repeated in reading the word of God. How full of sweetness and holy pleasure are the discoveries ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 191 and the promises of the Bible, when devout affections are at wort ! How sweet are the histories of Abraham and David, the prophecies of Isaiah, and the predictions that point to Christ ! How glorioiis the epistles of Peter and Paul ! How divinely pleasing is the gospel of John, and the dying discourses and prayer of our Saviour in the xiv. xv. xvi. and xvii. chapters of this evangelist ! How full of rapture and holy transport are the Psalms of David ! We enter into his spirit, and we feel his divine sentiments and joys. But what a deadness, what a dryness overspreads even the most delicious and heavenly parts of those divine writings; what an in- sipid and tasteless thing is the gospel itself, when the holy pas- sions are all asleep! So it is in hearing sermons: When our sacred affections are awaie, we dwell on the lips of the minister, as on the lips of an angel of God : Every sentence seems to come from heaven ; and even a feeble teacher, with all his infirmities, at such a season seems like a divine messenger, and raises your atten- tion and dehght. But the cause is within yourselves, the activity of your devout affections under the influence of divine grace. Is not benevolence and kindness to our fellow-creatures, liberality to the poor, and especially to our fellow-Christians, another part of. our religion? Pure religion and undefiled — is this, to visit the fatherless and the widow in their affliction ; James i. 27. He that loves God must love his brother also ; 1 John iv. 21. But how can we fulfil the several duties of help and relief, defence and con- solation to our brethren, if we do not indulge the warm and tender affections of pity, and sympathy, and love ? The bounty of the hands, even to the most distressed object, will be but scanty and small, if there be no compassion in the heart : But when we love our brethren for God's sake, and excite in our hearts all the friendly and compassionate affections towards the poor and the miserable, then covetousness and self love lie down vanquished, and have no power to withhold the hand from a liberal distribution of blessings to those that are in need. Compassion melts the heart, and makes the hands flow with bounty and relief. I might give other instances also of the same happy effect of holy passions, in the more difficult duties of religion, in mortifica- tion of most beloved sins, as well as in denying our most darling interests for the sake of Christ. " How sweet is it," saith St. Aus- tin, " under the power of divine love, how sweet is it to abstain from all the old, sweet, and sinful delights of the flesh 1" Herein is our love to God manifested, that we keep his commandments ; and none of his commands are grievous ; 1 John v. 3. And as the duties of religion are fulfilled with unisual delight, so 102 CHOICE WORKS OF every sin becomes more painful to the heart, ■vvhen the passions are divinely tinctured. The very dwelling of sinful principles in the heart, the working of unruly appetites and unholy inclinations, and the first motions of pride, and wantonness, and malice, and envy, and love of the world, are all grievous to a soul whose affections are renewed and sanctified. Every compliance with temptation breaks in upon the sweet serenity and peace of the spirit, and gives it great disquietude. Read the case of the holy Psalmist and of St. Peter, after their foUyi Thus it is in some measure with every sin- cere and lively Christian ; nor is the spirit ever at rest after any remai'kable sin, till that sin hath been made bitter to the soul, and till the soul has made fresh and warm application to the throne of grace, by humble repentance and faith in the blood of sprinkling. It is a known doctrine, both in the Jewish and Christian church, that not only the pleasant, but the painful and uneasy passions of the heart are consecrated to divine purposes. Sorrow for sin, and deep mourning, teach us powerfiilly that it is an evil and bitter thing to forsake the Lord our God ; and in this manner our wick- edness is appointed to correct us, and our baokslidings to reprove us; Jer. ii. 19. By grief of the soul, and by the sadness of the countenance arising from it, Solomon tells us, the heart is made better ; Eccles. vii. 3. When holy David began to be sorry for his sin, when he watered his couch with his tears, when his eye was consumed with grief, and he roared by reason of the disquietness of his heart, Psalm vi. 3, 6, 7, he was then under the workings of recovering grace. When St. Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians made them sorry for their connivance at the incestuous iniquity of one of their members, he tells them in his second letter, how necessary this sorrow was, this godly sorrow, which worketh re- pentance unto salvation. What a train of holy passions attend it ! What indignation against sin, and the sinner ! What holy fear of defilement by communion with such a crime, or the indulgence of it ! What vehement desire after cleansing and forgiving grace 1 What revenge against such foul iniquity ! What zeal to approve themselves clear before God and man! 2 Cor. vii. 9, 10, 11. The blessed God does not willingly afflict and grieve the children of men; Lam. iii. 33, and he would not have made the sorrows and the bitter groans of repentance so necessary a part of the Chris- tian life, had he not known the painful passions of nature to have so happy an influence in the kingdom of his grace. By this anguish of the conscience, by these afflictions of the spirit, God carries on his own designs of mercy, and makes the soul partaker of his holiness ; Heb. xii. 10. ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 193 V. " To emplay the passions for God, is to take a most powerful engine of misohief out of the hand of sin and Satan, and to reduce it to the obedience of Christ." It is the recovery of a considerable part of human nature out of dismal captivity and bondage. The passions are the warmest and strongest powers of the soul : They are the artillery whereby man wages war either for or against heaven. The passions by nature are devoted to the service of sin, and engaged on the devil's side in his wars against the Almighty, and they are charged with the seeds of impious fire and thunder : But when divine grace hath taken hold of them, and employed them on the side of God and religion, it is like seizing the cannon of the enemy from their old batteries, and planting them in new bulwarks, to make war upon the devil and all his army. Fearful and impious work do the passions make, when they are engaged on the side of the flesh, the world, and the devil. What bold contempt of God, and all that is holy ! What unruly violence of love to vanity and sensual pleasure ! What mad delight in sin ! What impetuous desires of forbidden objects ! What malice boils in the heart against our neighbor, upon every supposed injury ! What wicked envy fi-ets and rages in the soul at the welfare of others ! What wrath, and indignation, and revenge, are continually ready to be in arms ! And how do these hellish passions employ the tongue in slander and lies, and sometimes imbrue the hands in mischief and blood ! Now what a glorious victory is it to have the vicious affections entirely subdued, and the otljer powers of nature, which had been usurped by hell, seized and retained, and conse- crated to the God of heaven, and become instruments of holiness and peace ! To have these engines of iniquity become happy me- diums of adoration and service to God, and hourly benefits to men ! O blessed and divine change ! O the sovereign power of converting grace ! VI. " I might add in the next place, that when the passions are sanctified and formed to a divine temper, it gives the gospel of Christ credit and honor in the world, in that it can triumph over the strongest powers of corrupt nature, and subdue them to the service of God and religion." With what wicked violence were the passions of Paul engaged against the cause of Christianity, when, to use^his own expressions, he was exceedingly mad against the saints, compelled them to blaspheme, and persecuted them to strange cities ; Acts xxvi. 11. When he breathed out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord ; Acts ix. 1. Now to have this man changed from a lion to a lamb, from a persecutor to a preacher of the gospel ; to hear this man propagating that 9 194 CHOICE WOEKS OF gospel with zeal, which he so lately endeavored to destroy with fiiry, what divine honors this event gave to the religion of Christ, when it was but young in the world ? And as there were multi- tudes of such instances in those primitive days, so I hope they are not utterly wanting now. There are, I hope, in our age, in this city, and even in this assembly, some Christians that can bear sacred witness to the divine power of the gospel in this respect. One can say, " how fond was I of vanity and sensual pleasure ! Eegardless of God, and thoughtless of religion, with an aversion to all that was virtu- ous and holy. But, through the grace of God, the object of my love is changed ; I deUght now in the things of God ; I love his word, his people, himself, and his Christ, above all things in the world !" Another can say, " I was greedy of money, and ambitious of vain-glory." Another confesses, " I was fretful and quarrelsome ; I was malicious and envious ; I was wrathful and resenting ; and my ungodly passions were ever ready to rise and ferment against my fellow-creatures : But now, through the influence of grace, I find my chief ambition is to be a child of God, and to exceed others in holiness : I covet the riches of grace, and the benefits of the gos- pel, above all other treasures : Now I am angry at myself because of sin, and angry at sinners when they dishonor God and my Saviour; I love my Lord Jesus, who hath procured forgiveness for me ; and I would love all men, and forgive them for Jesus' sake." It is a public glory brought to the gospel of Christ, when our devout and pious passions surmount all the carnal afiections of the heart; when the fear of God rises so high, and grows so strong in the soul, as to subdue and overcome all other fears : And if we fear God sincerely, we need fear nothing else. It is very honora- ble to Christ and his religion, when the love of God and of Jesus Christ, the Saviour, flames high above all other loves, and makes us forego and forget every thing which might be dear and valuable to us before, if it stands in competition with God, the supreme ob- ject of our love. When the Christian can rejoice, and say, " I love . my father and my mother, my wife and children, with as true and tender an affection as ever I did ; but I love God and my Eedeemer with a more sublime passion. Neither father nor mother, nor dear young children, nor the wife of the bosom, shall withhold me from my duty to God ; and, through the__aids of divine grace, I would be ready to ofier myself, with all my interest in them, as a sacrifice to the love of Christ." It is glorious indeed to see the devout passions so much tran- ISAAC WATTS, D . D . 195 scend all other passions and appetites, all other fears, loves, and de- sires, as that they all melt away and vanish before the power of divine fear and divine love. To see all our fondest desires, and our warmest passions for creatures languish and sint, and die under the present influences of devout affection, as the light of a candle vanishes and is lost in the midst of sunbeams, or as the noise of a shaking leaf dies and is unheard in the midst of thunder: _0_ happy souls, who have arrived at this sublime degree of Christianity ! Thither let our hearts aspire daily, and never cease our holy labors and prayers till we love, tiU we fear, till we desire God in this glorious and intense degree. VII. In the last place, I add, " the sanctified passions render us so much the more conformable to the blessed Jesus, and fitter for his presence and enjoyment in heaven." As the Son of God put on our flesh and blood, so he assumed the various powers and prop- erties of human nature, the appetites and passions of mankind : He endured hunger and thirst, he had fear and love, hope and joy ; nor were the more troublesome affections of anger and sorrow left out of his constitution, but they were all innocent and holy ; they were never tainted with sin as ours are ; they had no -corrupt mix- tures to defile his soul. Om- passions are like water with mud at the bottom ; when they are moved, they too frequently raise the mud, and betray their impurity : But the passions of Christ were ever pure ; like water from the clearest fountain in a glass of crys- tal, which, though it be never so much agitated, is still unpolluted. These pathetic powers of his holy soul were ever engaged in the interest of religion, and employed for pious purposes. He loved God his Father with the most perfect and intense affection ; and he let the world know that. he loved the Father; John xiv. 31. He rtyoiced in spirit, when he gave thanks to God; Luke x. 21, and when God hid his face from him, and forsook him, his soul was ex- ceeding sorrowful even unto death; Matt. xxvi. 38. He was grieved and angry with the hypocrites and blasphemers of his day, and looked round upon them with wralJi and holy indignaticm ; Mark iii. 5. How pathetic and vehement was his zeal for his Father's honor, when he scourged out the buyers and sellers from the tem- ple ? The zeal of the house of God consumed and wasted his spirits, as it is said ; John ii. 17. He loved his church with most astonishing fervor, for his love was stronger than death ; Eph. iv. 25. And greater love hath no man than this, that one should lay down his life for another ; John xv. 18. How passionately did he mourn at his own foresight of the dismal distress of his enemies at Jerusalem ! " He looked upon the bloody city with tender compas- 196 CHOICE WORKS OF sion, and wept over it, with the tears of gi-ief and love ;" Luke xix. 41. And what divine passions were exercised in his devout re- tirements, what holy fervors in the wilderness and upon midnight mountains, is only known to God, and to ministering angels. Thus it appears, that the more our affections are tinctured with piety and goodness, and the warmer is their engagement in the things of God, the more nearly shall we imitate our glorious Re- deemer, O divine pattern, beyond all our imitation ! But blessed are those who are the nearest copiers of it. But you will enquire, " How will this exercise of devout passion fit us the more for the heavenly world ?'' Angels are not clothed with flesh and blood as we are, and the spirits of the departed saints have left this part of their nature behind them in the grave. What efforts of passion, therefore, can there be among the inhabitants of heaven ? To this I answer, that though spirits departed, and angels, can have no such ferments of animal nature, as go to make up those principles and powers, which we call the passions in this mortal state, yet there is something akin to them, which may be called affections in the very nature of every intelligent creature : Spirits which have no relation to flesh can fear and hope, can love and desire, can rejoice and grieve, and that in strong and intense degrees ; otherwise there would be no hell for the separate souls of the wicked, and for the punishment of devils ; nor would there be a heaven for the reward of the spirits of just men made perfect : There cannot be a heaven without pleasure, nor a hell without grief and anguish : Since therefore there is, and must be something of pure affection in separate spirits that bears a correspondence with our passions in this mortal state, we may be well assured, that the more these passions are refined and sanctified, and the more they are engaged about divine objects, in a proper manner, accord- ing to the will of God, we shall thereby acquire a greater meetness for the business and blessedness of heaven, and be better prepared for the exercise of those more spiritual affections which belong to the saints departed, and to the nappy inhabitants of the intellectual world. The holy apostle teaches us this doctrine in that sweet period of Scripture, 1 Pet. i. 3, 6, 8, When we are begotten again to a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, therein we greatly ryoice ; and the joy surmounts all our present heaviness, and bears us in conquest and triumph through our manifold temptations : It gives us a transporting view of praise, honor, and glory, at the appearance of our Lord Jesus ; whom hav- ing not seen we love ; in whom though now we see him not, yet be- ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 197 Ueving, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory ; or, as it is in the origina], with unspeakable and glorified joy. You see here, that the three blessed affections of hope, love, and joy, bring the soul to the confines of the heavenly world, set him as it were at the gates of paradise, fill the heart with those divine sensations which are near akin to the joys of glorified spirits. Thus, by the exercise of the holy passions in a sublime degree, " we are come to the spirits of the just made perfect, and almost admitted into the glorious presence of Jesus, our adored Mediator; Heb. xii. 23, 24. Let us awake, let us arise, let us sha,ke ourselves out of the dust of this earth, and dress our souls in these beautiful garments : Let us long and breathe after these sacred sensations of refined pleasure, to which the church itself is too much a stranger in our degenerate times. These are fair emblems and sweet foretastes of those un- known " pleasures which flow from the right hand of God without ceasing, and run, like rivers, an everlasting course, through all the ages of eternity;" Psalm xvi. 13. Meditation. " How glad am I to find that not only mj udder- standing and my will, but that all my passions may be made serviceable to God and religion, to my noblest designs, and my eterna,l interest ! I am sure some of them have had an unhappy influence to lead me astray from my God, and my duty, and I am greatly pleased to hear that they are capable of being reduced to the service of my Maker, and become instruments of holiness and peace. Descend, divine Spirit, descend into my heart ! Take hold of these active and sprightly powers of my nature, and bind them to thy eternal service. Awaken my fear of the majesty and the justice of God, that I may seek earnestly what I shall do to please him, and how I may obtain his fevor : And let my fear be constant and restless till my feet are led into the paths of salvation, and I feel the constraining power of divine love. " Let my devout passions be ever awake and lively when I hear the things of God spoken, or when I read, of the momentous con- cerns of religion, and a life to come. Then the sacred truths and duties of Christianity shall be impressed deep on my memory, and written there as with a pen of diamond, never to be blotted out. O may the warm passions melt my soul to tenderness, and make me susceptive of every holy impression ! May this heart of mine, this table of stone, be softened by devout affection, till all the necessary and important parts of religion are written there in lasting charac- ters ! May my heart, O Lord, receive the stamp of thy gospel with all its sacred lineaments, till I am become a new creature, trans- formed into the image of the Son of God ! 198 CHOICE WORKS OF ISAAC WATTS, D.D. " How easy will all the duties of holiness become, and all my temptations to sin how weai and ineffectual, if the passionate powers of my nature are warmly engaged for God ! How delight- ful and pleasant shall I then find even the difficult practices of religion ! How hate&l will every sin be in my eyes, and how pain- ful to my heart, when divine love as a sovereign has taken posses- sion of it, and set all the train of affections at wort there in its own service ! No more shall I complain of weariness, or be tired of religious worship : I shall say in my heart no more, when will the sabbath be over ? Nor cut short my prayers and meditations, to gratify the flesh, and obey its corrupt influence. If I am winged with holy passion, I shall climb over mountains of difficulty in my way to heaven, or remove hills of temptation that obstructed my course : Divine love, as well as faith, can remove mountains. " O how happy shall I be when all my passions are sanctified 1 They have been, and I mourn to speak it, they have been wretched engines of mischief in the hand of sin and Satan : They have defiled my soul shamefully ; they have broken the law of my God ; they have abused his grace and his gospel, dishonored my Saviour, and grieved his Holy Spirit. When shall these powers of my nature be rescued from their sinful slavery, and be devoted to purposes divine and heavenly? that my fear and my love, my anger and my desire, my grief and ray joy, were all pointed to their proper objects, that they might never more break out in an unruly manner to dishonor God, or to awaken sharp anguish in my conscience ! I would watch, I would pray, I would labor, and wrestle day and night against the body of sin that dwells in me. O for the sovereign influence of almighty grace, to correct all the disorders of my soul, and to turn every passion of my nature into a principle of hoHness ! Let the blessed gospel of Christ obtain this triumph over me : Let the gos- pel subdue these rebellious powers to the obedience of my Lord and Saviour : May the gospel have the glory of so divine a change ! " Come, blessed Saviour, set thy holy example before me, in a more illustrious and transforming light : Let all the devout passions of zeal and love, which reigned in thy heart, reign also in mine : O that I might copy out the wonders of thy zeal for the honor of God, and thy love to the race of man ! With what a divine vehe- mence were thy holy affections engaged in worship ! But alas, how cold are all my attempts of devotion ! Kindle, O Jesus, the sacred fire within me: Let it melt down my heart, and mould me into thy likeness. Let my soul be made up of divine love, as a happy pre- parative for the joys of heaven, and the everlasting presence of God, and my Saviour." Amen. DISCOURSE IV. mFBEENCBS FROM THE USEFULTJESS OF THE PASSIONS. The last discourse has informed us, that the Passions are not useless things, even in the important affairs of reUgion and godli- ness. We have seen how many and glorious are the advantages that we may derive from the right use of the affections in the Christian hfe. Let us not suffer so momentous a theme to pass away, without drawing some inferences or remarks from it. Eemark I. May the passions of our nature be made so service- able to the interests of our rehgion, then " surely the doctrine of the stoics is a very unreasonable opinion, for it teaches us to sup- press all our passions entirely, and, if possible, to root them out of our natures." It is evident from what we have heard, that our pursuit of the important things of religion, in this present state, would be very faint and cold, and feeble, if it were not animated by some of these vigorous principles, these affectionate powers and sensations : And shall we abandon and destroy all the assistants to piety and goodness, which are wrought into the very frame of our beings ? It is granted, that our passions in this fallen state have their un- happy share of the general corruption of our nature : It is granted they are sometimes made the mischievous incentives to vice, and lead us astray from the path of holiness ; and if they could never be reformed, they ought to be rooted out. But when they are once sanctified by a touch of the finger of God, and tinctured with a savor of piety, they become very pleasant and powerful springs of duty, both to God and man. A holy fear of the great God our Creator, and a solicitous con- cern what shall become of us when we die, is the first and most general spring of religion : This wakens us to enquire " what we must do to please the God that made us." When we arrive at some comfortable hope of our acceptance with God, then divine love promotes our piety and virtue : Then religion works within us by nobler principles, and it is advanced to higher degrees, than a mere principle of fear could raise it : All the passions of the man are subject to the government of holy love, and are employed by it 200 CHOICE WORKS OF for teavenly purposes. When we love God supremely, we shall love men also, who are made after the image of God : From a due benevolence to men spring a thousand words and deeds of charity and pity, and godlike goodness. When our refined afiections work in this manner toward God and men, we come by degrees to de- light in all that is holy'; we arrive at the true taste of religious pleasures, and make near approaches to the joys of the upper world, where holiness and pleasure are perfect and everlasting. Thus it may be said, that after some general foundations laid in the knowledge of God and ourselves, " Religion begins in fear, it is carried on by love, and it ends in joy," Erroneous and unhappy is that philosophy that would banish these aflfections from human nature, which have so powerful an influence on the religious life, and assist our preparation for death and heaven. n. " How happily has the blessed God suited his various revela- tions in Scripture to the powers of our nature ?" How well are they fitted to work upon our affections, and to engage those active powers of the soul in the interests of religion and godliness ! God himself, by his own methods of address to men, from one end of Scripture to the other, proves the truth of this discourse, and the advantage of the passions in things of religion. If God speaks of himself, how bright are the displays of his majesty and grandeur, to awaken our reverence and religious fear ? He is tJie Holy One that inhabits eternity, who created all things by his word, the Lord of lords, and King of Icings : He speaks, and the earth trembles, and the pillars of heaven are astonished at his reproof ; Job ix. 6. xxvi. 11. He is a God fearful, or tremendous even in his praises ; Exod. xv. 11. How surprising are the discoveries of his power and knowledge, to raise our wonder ! He ranks the stars in their order, and calls them, all by their names, and not one fails to appear at his call ; Psalm cxlvii. 4. His eye surveys all the creation, and knows the thoughts of the heart afar off; Psalm cxxxix. 2. He takes up the isles as a little thing ; Isaiah xl. 15. Jle touches the mountains and they smoke; Psalm civ. 32. Who can stand before him, or lift up the hand against him and prosper ? If he manifest the riches of his mercy and goodness, how is the divine language suited to strike upon all the springs of our hope and love, and to allure our hearts to him ? How excellent is thy loving kindness, God / Psalm xxxvi. 7. In his favor is life, and his love is better than life ; Psalm Ixiii. 3. He has so magnified his love towards us, and the exceeding riches of his grace, that while we were enemies and rebels, he sent his Son to die, in order to re- deem us from death. ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 201 If he reveal to us Christ Jesus, his beloved Son, in what a glorious light does he place him before our eyes, to command our veneration and honor, our faith and our fervent affection ? He is the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person ; Heb. i. 3. He was with God before the foundation of the world, tor by him the worlds were created ; John i. 3. He is the man in whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily ; Col. ii, 9. He is God manifest in the flesh ; 1 Tim. iii. 16. He came down from the Father's bosom, not to condemn the world, but to expose his own life and blood for our sakes, to make his soul an offering for our sins, and to sustain unknown anguish and sorrows, in the room and stead of such rebels as we are. If he opens heaven in the gospel, and brings life and immortality to light, v/hat thrones of glory,v/}iat crowns of righteousness does he set before us ! What mansions of paradise, what rivers of pleasure flowing from the throne of God, what rich fruits of the tree of life, what blissful visions in the presence of God and Christ, what blessed society of angels and holy souls are described, as the enjoyments of this heaven, on purpose to draw out our strongest desires towards it, and raise our joyful hope and our warmest zeal in the pursuit of it ! When he gives us a view of hell, how dreadful are the execu- tions of divine wrath described there ! What a gnawing worm in the conscience that never dies, what a fire that is never quenched / What burning lakes of fire and brimstone, kindled by the breath of an angry God ! What troops of devils and damned spirits must be our companions there, and the smoke of their torment ascending for ever and ever ! Rev. xiv. ii. How happily are these divine de- scriptions suited to awaken us out of security, and to excite us to passion of fear in the highest degree, that knowing the terrors of the Lord, we may stir up all our powers to flee from the wrath to come, and seek reconciliation to God by the blood of Christ. If sin be mentioned in Scripture, in what odious colors is it set . before us ! It was sin that ruined' our first parents, and drove them out of paradise, and spread death and misery through all this lower world : It is the unrighteousness of men that has awakened and revealed the wrath of God, in all the terrible instances of it, from the ancient apostasy and fall of angels in heaven, to the final de- struction of this world by fire, and the punishment of men and devils in hell for ever : And all this that sin might appear ex- ceeding sinful, and raise in us the highest hatred and utmost aversion. The great and blessed God, who formed us at first, perfectly knows our frame ; he is well acquainted with all the powers and 9* ' • 202 CHOICE WORKS OF passions of human nature, and the design and use of them all : And therefore when he wrote these holy messages to us by his apostles and his prophets, he does not only reveal things to our understandings, which reason could not find out, and then leaves us to make the best of them ; but he warmly and powerfully ad- dresses himself to the affectionate principle within us, in order to make the discoveries of his grace pierce deeper into our souls, that he might recover us from our guilt and misery, and persuade us to partake of his salvation. in. We may learn from this discourse, "how much it is the business of a minister of the gospel to engage the affections of his hearers, and to bring them over to the sei-vice of God and religion." It is granted that the first work is to inform the understanding, to teach mankind what they are to believe concerning the great God, and what duties they owe to him. To this end the preacher must not only draw his doctrines from the light of nature, but from the word of God, and bring them down to the capacities of his hearers. It is his constant business to explain the word of God to men, to propose the naked truth with the strongest reasons to support it : He must endeavor to strike light into the mind, and convince the reason and judgment of men ; he must make it appear that they are guilly before God, and that there is no way of relief or hope but in and by Jesus, the great Mediator, and thus lead sinful and perishing men into the knowledge and faith of Christ, as an all- sufficient Saviour : All this is a necessary and indispensable part of his work, but it is not the whole of it. When the understanding is enlightened, the passions must also be addressed ; for God has wrought these powers into human nature, that they might be the vital and vigorous springs of actions and duties. If the judgment be never so much convinced, yet while the af- fections remain unmoved, the work of religion will be begun with difficulty, and will drive on but very heavily. This the prophets and the apostles well knew ; aftd the great God, who employed , them, knew it too ; and therefore he sent them armed with the powers of natural and divine oratory, to reach the inmost affections, to penetrate the heart, and to raise holy commotions in the very centre of the soul. What mean all the promises of the gospel, but to work upon our hope, and to raise our highest expectations ? What means the dreadful language of so many severe threatenings, but to shake us out of our security, and to rouse our fears ? If there had been no such principles as hope and fear in man, I am persuaded there would scarce have been any such things as prom- ises and threatenings in the book of God. The word of the Lord ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 203 is compared to a fire and a hammer, Jer. xxiii. 29. Is not my word nice as a fire, saith the Lord, and like a hammer that hreaketh the rock in pieces ? And it ought to be delivered and pronounced by the preachers of it in such a manner as may break the rocky hearts of stubborn sinners, as may fright them from their beloved in- iquities, by the terror of everlasting burnings. The holy Scriptures is a cabinet of divine curiosities, full of ad- mirable allurements to invite and entertain awakened minds : It should be so happily unfolded and displayed by the preachers of it, as to represent in a noble manner the amazing grace and love of God, and the blessings of the gospel ; and that with such a holy fervor, as to light up a divine flame of desire, hope and love, in the souls of all that hear it. To what purpose were the fancies of the holy writers enriched from heaven, with so bright and various a treasure of sacred images, but to raise the devout passions of their readers, by flashing upon their imagination with divine light ? Their words are sunbeams, that not only diffuse a sacred illumina- tion around the eye of the soul, but kindle the heart into life and zeal. To what end doth all the pomp of oratory display itself in their writings ? To what end do they use all the arts of trope and figure, all the beauteous, the alluring, and the terrible colors that nature can afford, and that metaphor can borrow ? Is it not all with a design to strike the soul of man in its most passionate powers, and spread vital religion through the inmost recesses of the heart ? Let the ministers of the word, who are zealous for the honor of God, for the glory of Christ, and for the success of their labors ; read the writings of the holy prophets night and day, and make them their pattern, transferring the beauties of the law to the minis- try of the gospel. The prophets do not merely tell us in a dry and cold manner, that sin is an evil thing, but they terribly denounce the thunder of the wrath of God against it, and pour down his vengeance on the heads of guilty rebels, to work upon our fear, to affright us from sin, and hasten us to fly to the arms .of divine mercy. Nor do they merely say to us, that God is merciful ; but in a most delightful and inviting manner, they display the bound- less mercies of God, and the workings of his bowels of compassion, in all the pathetic language of tenderness, as though he were made of flesh and blood as we are. When our blessed Lord himself came down on earth, to become a preacher of his Father's wrath and mercy, what eternal woes does he denounce against hypocrites and impenitent wretches ? How gently does he invite the weary and heavy-lader^ sinner^ p 204 CHOICE WORKS OF come to him, that they may find rest! Matt. xi. 28. How widely does lie unfold the gates of his Father's mercy, and that even to murderers and adulterers, and thieves and blasphemers, that_ sin- ners of the largest size may enter in and be partakers of divine salvation. How happily does St. Paul imitate his blessed Master ! Knowing the terrors of the Lwd, he persuaded mew, and he be- seeches them, in the most endearing language, in Christ s stead, to be reconciled to God; 2 Cor. v. 11, 18 — 20. In what pathetic language doth he set before us the glorious love of God, in con- triving the recovery of fallen men, and providing grace for them in Christ Jesus, before the world began ; and saving them by such a surprising method of mingled severity and mercy, as the death and agonies of his most beloved Son ! And all this to melt or soften our affections into repentance, love and gratitude 1 How wonder- fully do the sacred writers attack the passions on all sides, if by any means they may save a soul from hell ! Happy preachers, who ap proach this divine pattern ! Can any of us now content ourselves to bring cold and languid discourses into the pulpit, vpith this Bible under our hands ? Will not all the sacred fervors of these inspired preachers reproach us to our faces, while we read and explain their sermons 3 Shall we go on to affect a calm and stupid politeness of phrase, in the very face of these warm and heavenly orators ? Can we be content any longer to be the cold and lifeless rehearsers of the great and glorious things of our religion ? Can we go on to speak to perishing sinners, who lie drowsy and slumbering on the brink of hell, in so soft, so calm, and gentle a manner, as though we were afraid to awaken them ? What shall we say to these things ? Does divine love send dream- ing preachers to call dead sinners to life ? Preachers that are (soiitent to leave their hearers asleep on the precipice of eternal destruc;ion? Have they no such thing as passion belongs to them ? Have they no pity ? . Have they no fear ? Have they no sense of the worth of souls ? Have they no springs of affection within them ? Or do they think their hearers have none ? Or is passion so vile a power, that it must be all devoted to things of flesh and sense, and must never be applied to objects divine and heavenly ? Who taught any of us this lazy and drowsy practice ? Did God or his prophets, did Christ or his apostles, instruct us in this modish art of still life, this lethargy of preaching, as it has been called by a late writer ? Did the great God ever appoint statues for his ambassadors, to invite sinners to his mercy ? Words of grace, written upon brass or marble, would do the work almost as well. Where the preachers become stone, no wonder if the hearers are moveless: But let ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 205 the ministers of the living word, who address men upon matters of infinite concernment, shew, if possible, that they are infinitely con- cerned about them. This leads my thoughts to the next remark. rV. " How kindly has the grace and wisdom of God dealt with us, in appointing men of like passions with ourselves to become his ministers and our teachers in the things of religion !" Men, who have the same natural afiections, who can feel within themselves all the train of devout passions, and express it in their holy ministrations ! Men, who are subject to the same sins and follies, and are capable of the same religious fear and penitent sorrow ! Men, who stand in need of the same salvation, and must be trained up to heaven by the exercise of the same faith, and love, and hope. If angels had been made the only messengers of the gospel, angels, who have no flesh and blood, no communion in the same animal nature, no share of our fears and sorrows, no interest in the same redeeming mercy and pardon, they could not have expressed all the same passions, nor given us such an example of them in themselves. But a minister of the word, taken from among men, has been in a sinful state, and is now become a sincere Christian, or he should be so. He is supposed to have bis own soul filled with love to God ; he has felt his own fears awakened by the terrors of the Lord, and the threatenings of eternal misery ; he has found his trembling soul encouraged to hope by the rich promises of grace ; he has felt his own hatred rising against sin, his delight raised by the views and expectations of the favor of God, and eternal happiness in his presence. How well is such a teacher suited to set the terrors of hell, the evU of sin, and the riches of divine grace, in Christ Jesus, before the eyes of sinful men, who have the same natural passions with himself; and to turn these afiectionate powers of his hearers into a rehgious channel, by rep- resenting these awful objects in a pathetic manner 1 The preacher should be an example to the hearers, and then he preaches with most power and success. It is a well-known sapng, " If you would draw out my tears, you must first weep yourself." How cold and dull, and unaffected with divine things, is mankind by nature ! How careless and indolent is a whole assembly, when the preacher appears like a lifeless engine, pronouncing words of law or grace ! When he speaks of divine things in such a dry, in such a cold and formal manner, as though they had no influence on his own heart ! When the words freeze upon his lips, the hearts of hearers are freezing also : But where we find devout affection min- gled with solid argument in the discourse, there the lips of tiie preacher seem to speak light and life at once, and he helps to 206 CHOICE WORKS OF communicate the holy passion all around him, by feeling it first himself. And here I am sure, we, who are honored with this sacred employment, have reason to examine our hearts, to reflect on our indolence, our lifeless conduct, and our cold labors in the pulpit ; and mourn to think how imperfectly and how ineffectually we per- form the awful work of the ministry. And shall our own affections still be so unraised and unmoved, while we speak of the great and momentous things of Grod, and Christ and religion, of death and judgment, of heaven and hell? Shall we always preach with such a deadness of spirit, and such a shameful absence of divine feiTor? May the blessed God forgive your preacher, and may you forgive him ; and may sovereign grace raise a warm flame of vital religion in his heart,, and communicate it to all your souls ! V. If the passions are so useful in the solemn affairs of religion, " there is yet farther occasion to admire the wisdom and grace of God, that he has appointed several such institutions or parts of worship to belong to our holy religion, as are suited to work upon our senses, and thereby to awaken pious passions within us !" Besides the voice of public prayer, and the affectionate speech and language of preaching the gospel, we are also taught and exhorted to sing the praises of God with holy melody. What a multitude of exhortations are found in the book of Psalms, to make a joyful noise unto the Lord, and to sing new songs before him in the kingdom of the Messiah. The advice of St. Paul in the New Testament echoes to the harp of David, and calls upon us to speak to one another, as well as to ourselves, in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, and to sing and make melody with grace in our hearts to the Lord ; Eph. v. 19. and' Col. iii. 16. St. James gives the same encouragement : If any be merry or cheerful, let this pas- sion of joy express itself in a devout manner, by singing' psalms ; James v. 13. How happily suited is this ordinance to give a loose to the devout soul in its pious and cheerful affections ! What a variety of sanctified desires, and hopes and joys, may exert them- selves in this religious practice, may kindle the souls of Christians into holy fervor, may raise them near to the gates of heaven, and the harmony of the blessed inhabitants there ! Nor are pious sor- rows utterly excluded from this ordinance : There are tunes and songs of mournful melody to solace the humble penitent, and to give a sweetness to his tears. And besides all this, there are the two glorious and sacred ordinan- ces of baptism and the Lord's-supper, wherein divine things are exhib- ited to us in a sensible manner by figures and emblems which are ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 207 designed to impress animal nature, and by the eyes to awaken the passions of the heart. How proper an emblem is baptism to repre- sent our being washed in the blood of Christ ? And the pouring out of water on the face or head, how well is it suited to represent the pouring out of the Spirit of God on men, and by this means to awaken the holy affections of hope and joy 1 How happily is the LorcPs-supper contrived by divine wisdom to represent the death and love of our blessed Saviour, and the benefits that we de- rive from his sufferings ? Jesus Christ cracified is evidently set forth before our eyes ; Gal. iii. 1. He is represented even in his bleeding and dying love, while the bread is broken, and the wine poured out before us. O how should we loose the springs of pious passion at such a season I How should our love to our Redeemer kindle and rise high at the sight of the sufferings of the Son of God, who took our flesh and blood, that he might be capable of dyiog ; that his flesh might be torn, and cut and bruised, that his blood might be spilled for our sakes, that he might bear such agonies as belonged to sinful creatures, with a gracious design to deliver us from misery and everlasting death. For ever blessed be the name of Jesus, who has suffered such pangs and sorrows in our stead, and blessed be his wisdom and grace who has appointed the continual repetition of such an ordinance, such a lively memorial of his dpng love, to touch all the springs of religious affection within us. VI. Since the passions of human nature have so considerable an influence in matters of religion, then we justly infer, that youth is the proper time to set about the important work of religion, when the passions are warm, and lively, and active. After we have been well instructed in the principles of Christianity, if we can but engage these sprightly powers of our natures betimes, on the side of God and.godliness, we lay a happy foundation for the practice of piety all our lives. It is of admirable and unknown advantage, to have all the passions of the heart tinctured deep with heaven and religion in our early days. By this means virtue and piety will be fixed and rooted in the soul ; it will stand the blasts of violent temptation, and bring forth the divine fruits of holiness through the following years. We shall be better prepared to combat every op- position ; we shall be better secured against the snares that beset our youth ; we shall resist the gay allurements of the world, and the flattering vanities that attack our senses and our souls in this dangerous season of life. It is the great cunning and the design of the devil and the world to work upon the warm passions of youth, to engage them in the service of sin and folly : Happy are those who are possessed of a divine antidote against this poison ! 208 CHOICE WOEKS OF who have their passions all watchful and armed, ready to resist the assaults of hell, and to disappoint every attack that is made on virtue and religion ! VII. Is there so much advantage to be expected from the pas- sions in the practice of religion ? Then " how much do we lose both of the profit and the pleasure of religion, for want of the en- gagement of our passions therein !" Therefore it is that virtue and godliness seem to carry with them so dull and heavy an aspect in the world ; therefore they appear so little inviting, because there are so few Christians, in this degenerate age, that have these afiectionate powers of the soul deeply tinctured with the things of God. _ We live at a poor, low, cold rate, when we only talk of Christianity as a matter of dispute, and practise the outward devoirs and ceremonies of it as a matter of custom and form, while the heart and the passions of it have little share in our Christianity. If our love and desire, our hope and our joy, are all laid out on the things of sense and time, and we leave only a few cold reasonings to be employed in the most awful and sublime things of God, and heaven and eternity, it is no wonder we find so httle of the pleasure of godliness, and that re- ligion gains so little reputation, and so few followers. Oh ! what blessed lives did the primitive disciples of Christ enjoy ! What di- vine satisfaction, what heavenly glory, what convincing power at- tended their practice, when their whole souls, with all their afiections, were devoted to God and Christ, and engaged in the afiiairs of the upper world ! They lived on earth like the children of heaven, and brought a foretaste of the pleasures of the upper world into these lower regions. Oh! when shall these holy seasons return again? When shall the noble principles of the Christian faith animate all the powers of nature, and make us live as becomes the followers and the worshippers of the holy Jesus. Meditation. " Many and useful are the lessons which I have now learned from the happy influence of the passions, in the import- ant afiairs of my salvation. Blessed be God that I was not born in heathenism, and left merely to the teachings of the philosophers. Even the stoics, who were some of the best of them, deprive us of all the advantage of pious afiections, and all the pleasurable sensa- tions that may be derived from reUgion ; while they teach us to root the passions, if possible, out of our natures. My soul shall mourn in secret for my sins, and be ashamed of my follies : My heart shall fear and love the Lord my God, and rejoice and hope in Jesus my Saviour : My spirit, with all its warmest affections, is thine, O my God, forever and ever ! " Let all the sects of philosophy hide their heads, and lie silent ; ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 209 give me the Bible, where God himself speaks to me by his prophets and apostles : How divinely excellent are their writings ! With what sovereign influence do they address my fear and my hope, by the discoveries of a hell and a heaven ! How powerfully do they awalcen my repentance for past sins, and melt my soul into holy sorrow ! In what an illustrious light do they set the majesty of the blessed God, and command my humble adoration 1 How do they dis- play the wonders of his wisdom, and the riches of his. grace in Christ Jesus, to attract all my powers of desire and love ! What a blessed foundation have the Scriptures laid for an infinite variety of devout inferences and pathetic meditations, suited to my own case ? There I find the divine truths that can relieve my soul under every distress ; and there I learn the affectionate and devout method of applying them. In every needful hour I will go to the Book of God : God and his holy Book are my life, and my exceeding joy : Let my soul abide and live upon the divine variety of awful and transporting objects, which are set before me in those sacred pages. Let me be taught with sacred skill to spread abroad my thoughts on the right hand and on the left, and to expatiate on these holy and heavenly themes : They are fountains of life, and every stream flows with holiness and consolation. Oh ! may all my affections be under the command and influence of these sacred writings ; and while they give me intense delight, let them animate me to uncom- mon zeal in the practice of every duty ! "And why should not our ministers, in all their labors of the sanctuary, imitate their inspired predecessors, the apostles and the prophets, in raising the pious passions of all that hear them ? Why should they not talk to men in such warm and pathetic language as God himself uses ? Doth not the great God, the Author of our nature, tnow what methods are most effectual to fill our hearts with divine sentiments, to draw us near to himself, and prepare us for heaven ? Has he condescended to give us so many glorious patterns of preaching in this world, and shall not all that are employed in the divine word copy out the spirit and fervor, the life and power of these inspired examples ! may this dull and heavy heart of mine ever enjoy the happiness of a fervent and lively ministry, that may not only enlighten my understanding, but warm my heart 1 " And since God has ordained that I should be instructed in di- vine things by men of lite passions with myself, may those whom Providence has appointed to instruct me be also examples of pious affection ; that while I see their hearts filled with religious fear, and ' holy love, and joy in the Lord, I may also be smitten with the same religious passions, may catch the same holy fire, and find all the 210 CHOICE WORKS OF ISAAC WATTS, D. D. train of sprightly and devout sensations conveyed to the very centre of my soul 1 " Blessed be the wisdom and grace of my God, that has added sensible signs and emblems to the articles of the Christian faith. Let me remember, that I was washed with water in the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit ; and let me be ever jealous, lest I defile myself again: And when I attend the sacred institu- tion of the Supper, let all the springs of pious passion be let loose, while I view the Son of God suffering for my sins : Let me feel the meltings of holy sorrow, and the highest and strongest efforts of gratitude and love to that glorious and divine Person who gave himself to death for me. " Have I heard that youth is a proper season for lively religion, because the passions of nature are then vigorous ; Lord, seize all my affectionate powers in this season of youth, and sanctify them to thyself. Prevent the influence of the wicked world by the early impressions of thy grace, that I may resist the vain allurements of flesh and sense, by having those sprightly powers of nature engaged first on the side of religion. Or if my years of youth have enjoyed this rich and divine favor, I would remember the early loving^ kindness of my God, and praise his name in my advanced years with joy and thankfulness. " Grant, O Lord, that I may never lose the pleasure of religion, by suffering my affections to grow cold and languid. Quicken this lifeless spirit of mine by daily influences from above : Shine upon my soul, O Sun of Righteousness; awaken my drowsy powers to active piety and zeal, and let all my passious conspire with my reasoning faculties to promote the interests of religion in my own heart and life, and to diffuse the savor of godliness all around me." Amen. DISCOURSE V. THE ABUSE Ol' THE PASSIONS IN EELIGION. In the two last discourses we learned the use of the passions in matters of religion, and what advantages may be expected from them in the Christian life : We proceed now to the fourth general ; and that is, to enquire into the abuse of the passions in religious concerns, or when the exercise of our aifections, in the things of God, may be pronounced irregular, and in what manner they should be hmited and restrained, and put under better con- duct. Abuse I. Then are the passions irregularly exercised, "when we suifer them to influence our opinions in religion, and to determine our judgment in any points of faith or practice." The passions were made to be servants to reason, to be governed by the judg- ment, and to be influenced by truth ; but they were never given to us to decide controversies, and to determine what is truth, and what is error. Even the best affections, and those that seem to have a strong tendency toward piety, are not always safe guides in this respect ; yet they are too often indulged to sway the mind in its seai'eh after truth or duty, as I shall mate it appear in several instances : 1. Suppose a person should be exceedingly afiected with the un- limited goodness and abounding grace of God ; if, by this pious afi'ection towards God and his goodness, he is persuaded to think that God has no such severe vengeance for sinful and rebel creatures, and that he will not destroy such multitudes of mankind in hell as the Scripture asserts, or that their punishment shall not be so long and so terrible as God has expressly declared ; here the pas- sion of love and esteem for the divine goodness acts in an irregular manner, for it takes ofl' the eyes of the soul irom his awful holi- ness and his strict justice, and the unknown evil that is in sin. It prevents the mind from giving due attention to God's express woi'd, and to those perfections of the divine nature, and his wise and righteous government, which may demand such dreadful and eter- nal punishment, for the rebellion of a creature against the infinite dignity of its Creator and Governor. 2. Suppose a Christian has most powerful impressions made on 212 CHOICE WORKS OF the passion of fear, by the tremendous ideas of God's majesty, and his punishing justice, and thence he concludes that the great God will pardon no wilful sins, that he will forgive no repeated iniqui- ties, no sins after baptism and the Lord's-supper, or after vows or solemn engagements, that he will have no mercy upon apostates, even though they turn to him by repentance ; this is yielding up truth to the passion of fear, and an abuse of our religious dread of the majesty of God ; for such an opinion runs counter to the great design of the gospel, which assures us that Christ came to save the chi^ of sinners ; 1 Tim. i. 15, to remove the guilt of wilful and re- peated sins, and to provide forgiveness for some of the most profli- gate rebels, even for all that renounce their rebellion. 3. Some pious persons have had such an affectionate zeal to honor God, that they have been led by this passion to contrive various forms of service and ceremony, gay and costly rites, with long and painful exercises of devotion which God never appointed, and have introduced a number of them into his worship. A child- ish fondness to please the great God with bodily services has tempted them to forget his own divine prerogative to prescribe how men should worship him. They have been blinded with this sort of fondness for ceremony, in such a degree, as to lead them far astray from the divine simplicity of worship which the New Testament has appointed. 4. Some persons, out of a passionate desire to honor Christ, and ascribe the whole train of their blessings and salvation to him, have been tempted to think that they are to do nothing toward their own salvation, but to lie still and be saved without any labor or care of their own ; so that they have sought no more after sanctifi- cation and holiness in themselves, than they have sought to make atonement for their own sins. But this zeal has much darkness in it, and betrays them into a gross mistake, as though they could not ascribe their salvation sufficiently to Christ, unless they fancied that he came to save them in their sins, rather than to save them from sin. 5. It is possible that a person may have so high an esteem and so excessive a love for some near relation, some Christian friend, some wise and pious minister of the gospel, that he sees no fault in them : He imitates all their practice, as though they were perfect patterns ; he receives all their opinions for certain and divine truths, and believes every thing which they teach, as though they were infallible, without comparing it with the Bible, which is the only test of truth in matters of revealed religion. This affection of love to ministers or Christians is certainly irregular, when it tempts us ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 213 to set up their judgments, their practices, and their dictates, in the room of the word of God. 6. Again, it is the same culpable indulgence of our passions to sway our Judgment, and bias our understanding, when our souls are warmed with the holy fire of love and devotion under a par- ticular sermon, and we cry out, " This is the best sermon that ever was preached, or the finest that ever was composed." Or, perhaps, your devout afiections flag and languish under a sermon ; you sit indolent and unmoved, and then the sermon goes for a poor dry discourse, and the man that delivered it for a dull and heavy preacher. Each of these hasty and irregular judgments, built on the passions, is very common to Christians, and ought to be cor- rected. 1. I might add another instance akin to the last ; and that is, when our devout affections of fear and hope, of holy love and heavenly delight, are raised in a place of public worship, whether at the established church, or among the several denominations of the Protestant dissenters, and immediately we conclude, " This is the right mode of worship, this is most agreeable to the gospel, and these people are the only true church of Christ." How weak is this reasoning ! And yet how many are there who have been de- termined, both in their opinion and practice, for or against such a particular community of Christians, or mode of worship ; and that for their whole lifetime, merely by the effects that one or two attendances at such a particular place of worship have had on their afiections. These arguments, drawn from the passions, have been often em- ployed to support idolatry and transubstantiation, and all the wild inventions of men in the worship of God. What sighs and tears, what warm afieotions of sorrow and joy, have been sometimes pro- duced by some ingetiious orators in the Roman church, in their sermons at Lent, when they have held up a crucifix before the face of the people in the midst of their discourse. While they set forth the sufferings of our Saviour in the most pathetic language, the preachers have fallen down on their knees, and embraced and adored the wooden image : The natural affections of the hearers have been awakened in a very sensible manner, and being mingled with some thoughts of Christ and religion, they have fallen down and worshipped the idol, and have imagined all this to be pure devotion and piety towards God and his Son Jesus ; and after all, they have made their Uvely passions a suflBcient argument that God approved all their fooleries, though, in his own word, he hath ex- pressly forbidden the worship of images. 214 CHOICE -VVOBKS OF I have read of another instance, when a poor devout creature hath come to the sacrament of the mass of the Komish church, and her passions being raised to a rapturous degree, as she thought, by the presence of Christ there, under the form of the consecrated wafer, she hath boldly declared, " should all the men on earth, and all the angels in heaven, join together to assure me, that God him- self was not there, I would not believe them, for I have seen him, and felt his divine presence." What a wretched and mischievous abuse of passion is this, when persons shall suffer it to lead them to such unwarranted and sinful modes of worship, and persuade them to believe such strange doctrines, as are not only contrary to the express word of God, but a perfect contradiction to nature, sense, and reason ! Instances of this kind might be still multiplied. I have mentioned these few only, to make it appear how unreason- able a thing it is to form our opinions in religion by the influence of the passions. II. Then must the affections in matters of religion be pronounced irregular, '' when they run before the understanding, or when they rise higber toward any particular object than the judgment di- rects." As in the foregoing particular, I told you that the passions were not designed to be directing powers of the soul, in the search of truth or duty ; so neither are they made to rule all within us ; but they are to be governed by reason and understanding : And in whatsoever instances they assume a superiority over the understand- ing, or run before it, they are excessive and irregular. Let us enter into a few particulars : 1. Some persons, as soon as they begin to find further light dawning upon their minds, and are let into the knowledge of some doctrine or sentiment which they knew not before, immediately set their zeal to work : Their zeal is all on a flame to propagate and promote this new lesson of truth, before their own hearts are well established in it, upon solid reasonings, and before they have considered whether it be a doctrine of great importance, and whether it merit such a degree of zeal. How common a case is it among Christians, and too often found among ministera of the gos- pel, to give a loose to their affections at the first glimpse of some pleasing opinion, or some fresh discovery of what they call truth. They help out the weakness of the proof by the strength of their passions, and by the pleasure they take in the opinion they have einbi'aced. This confirms their assent too soon, and they growv deaf to the ai-guments that ai'e brought to oppose it. They con- strue every text in the Scripture to support this doctrine, they bring in the prophets and apostles to maintain it. They fancy they see ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 215 it in a thousand verses of their Bibles, and they pronounce all men heretics that dare maintain the contrary opinions. Their conduct in this matter is so vehement, as though every gleam of light were suflScient to determine their faith, because it happens to fire their afiections ; they grow so warm about it, as though every opinion in religion were fundamental ; and so fiery is their zeal, as though every mistake deserved the severest censures. Nor is this the case of the Christians only, with relation to the new opinions they receive : There are too many who take up most of their articles of faith at first without due examination, and with- out sufficient argument: Their veneration for great names, or their afiection to a particular party, has determined their opinions long ago : Their passions and other prejudices have formed their schemes of doctrines, with the neglect or abuse of their under- standings, and yet they pronounce as positively upon truth and error, as though they were infallible. Happy are those whose faith is built on better foundations 1 2. Again, there are some persons, when they begin to be con- vinced that such a particular practice is culpable or unlawful, their indignation is too soon awakened, and rises too high ; immediately they condemn it, as inconsistent with salvation : Their hatred of it grows as violent as if it were blasphemy or idolatry : They are ready to break out into hard speeches and railing accusations against all that practise it, and pronounce them apostates and sin- ners of the first rank. The sudden rise and warmth of their pas- sions does not sufier them to consider, that there are some faults and follies that a good Christian may be guilty of through igno- rance or inadvertence ; there are some sins that do not carry in them such malignity and poison as to destroy all our Christ- ianity. 3. There have been some weak Christians, when they have heard a sermon, or read a discourse full of sublime language and mysterious darkness, and especially, if the style and manner has been very pathetic, that have been raptured and transported, as though it contained the deepest sense, the noblest truths of religion, and the highest discoveries of grace and the gospel : Whereas, perhaps, there may be scarce any thing in it which has a just agreement with refwon or Scripture ; but when well examined, it proves to be a mere jargon of wotds, a mixture of unintelligible and unmeaning sounds, with some affectionate airs among them, whereby their passions were» fired, and that without knowledge, and beyond all reason : And it is well, if after these flashes of af- fection and violent transports, they are not deluded into shameful 216 CHOICE WORKS OF iniquities. This has been the case of some high pretenders in elder and later days. They have spoken great swelling words of vanity, they are murmurers and complainers against the common rank of Christians, but they walk after their own ungodly lusts ; they turn the grace of God into lasciviousness, and they allure others into lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, and while they promise liberty, they are the servants of corruption ; 2 Peter ii. 18, 19. and Jude, verses 4, 16, 18. 4. This irregular exercise of the affections running before reason, is eminently exemplified also in another weak sort of people, who are very sincere in the main, but if they read an-awful and terrible threatening, or if they hear it pronounced in the pulpit with a just degree of authority and proper accent, their fears are raised in an excessive manner, and their soul is filled with long sorrows and doubtings : Or, if they happen to read or hear a sentence of com- fort, they are transported with sudden joy, and rise almost to as- surance of the love of God : They give themselves up to sudden efforts of passion before they suffer themselves to enquire accord- ing to scriptural grounds, whether this text of threatenings, or whether the other sentence of comfort, do really belong to them or no. There are many other cases, wherein it is evident, that the affec- tions in the things of religion get the start of the understanding, and run far before it. But I proceed, III. It is a very gross abuse of the affections, " when we en- courage them to rise high, and grow very warm about the lesser things of religion, and yet are content to be cold and indifferent in matters of the highest importance." There are too many Chris- tians whose warmest zeal is employed about the mint, the anise, and the cummin of Christianity ; Matt, xxiii. 23, and have few passions awakened or engaged in the weighty things of the law, or the gos- pel. They are furiously intent upon speculative notions, and some peculiar opinions, that distinguish the little parties of Christendom, and crumble the church to pieces : Their fears, their hopes, their wishes, their desires, their grief and joy, are all employed in party quarrels and in a strife of words : But they are thoughtless and in- dolent about the momentous duties of love to God, and Christ, of justice to men, of charity to fellow-creatures and fellow-Christians. So a sickly fancy is fond of trifles, and careless of solid treasures : So children have their little souls wrapped up in painted toys, while the matters of manly life and necessary business awaken no desire, no delight in them. Suppose a man mourns to see the church of England lose ground ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 217 in the nation, or to see the assemblies of Protestant dissenters grow thin and decrease, and yet he finds not his soul grieved, and his heart mourn over the atheism and profaneness of the land, the drunkenness and lewdness, the growing heathenism and infidelity of the age : Or suppose a Christian triumphs to see the controversy about baptism well managed, and his joys arise, according as his own opinion is bravely supported, while at the same time he takes little pleasure to hear of the conversion of a sinner, or that a wicked family is grown religious. What shall we think of such a person ? Is not his religion in a childish and sickly state ? Are not his passions, even about religious objects, managed in a very irregular manner, and worthy of just and severe reproof ? IV. There is also another evil conduct of the affections in the matters of religion ; and that is, " when they express themselves in an improper or indecent manner, and especially in such a way as is unnatural and uninstituted, foolish and ridiculous, savage and barbarous, contrary to the dictates of reason and human nature, or the word of God." Take, for instance, some of the persecuters and idolaters, the bigots and enthusiasts of the church of Rome. And I wish such persecution and bigotry, enthusiasm and idolatry, were never found .among any other sects of Christians. 1. With what furious and burning barbarity do popish persecu- tors express their zeal for their religion ? They arm their tongues and their pens with bitter reproaches and gall against those who divide from their communion, .and would reform their gross cor- ruptions ; and they still profess it is out of love to Christ, and to the souls of men, that they imprison, cut, burn, torment, and de- stroy their fellow-Christians. my soul^ come not into their secrets, nor learn such unrighteous and bloody zeal ! 2. Survey popish idolaters. They imagine they can never shew their affectionate devotion to Christ sufficiently, without making images of a crucified man, and placing them continually in their sight, in order to pay their worship to Christ by these unappointed mediums. Sometimes they wear these little idols in their bosom, near their heart, and then they think they manifest how much their heart loves him. They kiss these wooden baubles, or their silver figures, with a strange childish fondness, and sometimes be- dew them with their tears, to shew their inward affection to Jesus, their Saviour. There may be much animal passion, much com- motion of nature and the flesh in these practices, with very little spiritual love. Sometimes they make pictures even of God the Father, and then perform their devotions toward them with for- bidden ceremonies, and break God's second commandment to ex- 10 218 CHOICE WORKS OF press their love to Mm. Strange and preposterous expressions of love, to practise what he forbids so often in his word, and that up- on severe penalties ! 3. Turn your eyes now to the Eomish enthusiasts. God forbid that I should so condemn all that are educated in that chjirch, as though there was no sincere devotion among them, though the church itself is abominably corrupt: But it is well known, that when some of these devotees have fancied themselves pos- sessed with such a sublime love to God, that they have thrown themselves into odd postures and strange disorders of body, and appeared more like distracted persons than sober Christians, as though it must be something not human that must express their divine affections. Others have imagined they could never do nor suffer enough to manifest the inward fire of that love to God which dwelt in their heart, and they have contrived what torments they should inflict upon themselves, as they used to express it, for the love of God. Others to shew their sorrow for having offended him, have not only worn sackcloth upon their skin, but they have scourged them- selves, till they have been covered with blood, they have bound themselves with vows to travel barefoot, and to make long and te- dious pilgrimages to distant lands. Some have sent themselves to death by voluntary starving ; others have 4;ortured and destroyed themselves with excessive thirst ; and either made their bodies mis- erable, or put an end to life to show their love to God. These are wild and frantic superstitions indeed, extravagant methods of expressing any devout passion, and most of them utterly unlawful. Let us remember, that the religion which God teaches, has nothing in it contrary to the light of nature ; nor must our inward piety break in upon the rules of reason and decency, when we would express it by any outward signs. There are some religious affections, which are very properly ex- pressed and manifested in the common way, whereby nature usually expresses those inward sensations of the soul. Godly sorrow na- turally vents itself in groans and tears : Psalm vi. 6. Holy joy sometimes by a smile of the countenance, and often by the voice of saored melody : And this not only appears in the example of the royal Psalmist, but in the precepts of the New Testament ; IJph. v. 19. James v. 13. If any he merry let him sing psalms. Pious and earnest desires of the presence of God, and of his favor, are sig- nified by stretching of the arm towards him, or lifting up the eyes and hands to him ; Psalms Ixviii. 31. and xxviii. 2 aud cxxi, 1, 2. ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 219 Repentance and shame is naturally signified by downcast eyes or blushing; Luke xviii. 13. Ezra ix. 6. Some of the stronger outward appearances, and vehement tokens of inward holy passion, are indeed rather to be indulged in private than in public worship : but in all our behavior in this respect, let us take heed that the inward affection is sincere, and is the real spring of all the outward signs and expressions. Let us see to it, that we indulge not that practice which our Saviour so much con- demns in the hypocrites of his day ; Matt. vi. 16. Let us make no sad faces, nor put on dismal airs, nor smite the breast with the hand, and disfigure our countenances, merely to make the world believe that we are penitents ; Nor let us make ourselves remarkable in public and mixed company, by turning up our eyes to heaven, to tell the world how often we pray in the midst of our secular afiairs ; though secret prayer may and ought to be sometimes rising to God, and we may lift an eye to him, while we are among men : Nor in public worshi p should we use frequent and loud groanings, to per- suade our neighbors that we are more deeply affected with divine things than they; though devoted afiection will sometimes vent a groan or a sigh. But above all let us take heed lest we make use of these outward colors and forms of passion to cover the want of inward devotion and piety. We should always make our religion appear to the world with a natural and becoming aspect ; and in a decent dress to invite, and not forbid those who behold us. Let us take care that we do not disguise our holy Christianity, nor make it look like an irrational thing, by unmanly or unbecoming sounds or ges- tures ; lest we thereby expose ourselves to the charge of hypocrisy, and give up our holy profession to the ridicule and contempt of the profane world. V. It is an irregular management in the affairs of religion, or an abuse of devout passions, " when we content ourselves with the ex- ercise of these inward and affectionate sensations of the mind, while they have no influence on the holiness of our conversation." Consider, my friends, what were the passions made for? Not merely "for the pleasure of human nature, but to give it vigor and power for useful actions. I have but a poor pretence to be a sin- cere lover of Christ, if I rejoice to hear his name repeated often in a sermon, and say never so many affectionate things of him in the language of the book of Canticles, and yet take no care to keep his commandments : Whereas this is the appointed way wherein Christ has required his disciples to manifest their love to him ; John xiv. 15. If ye love me, keep my commandments ; chap. xv. 14. Then 220 CHOICE WORKS OF are ye my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. In vain do I pretend to- pious sorrows, in vain do I mourn for some great and grievous sin, in my secret retirements, or in public worship, if my life be spent among the gay follies and vanities of the world ; if I run into new temptations whensoever the world beckons to me, and follow every son of mirth that waves the hand of invitation. True Christianity, where it reigns in the heart, will make itself appear in the purity of life. We should always suspect those flat- teries of affection, those sudden inward sensations of sorrow or delight, which have no power to produce the fruits of holiness in oar daily conversation. The fruits of the Spirit are found in the life and the heart together, as they are described ; Gal. v. 22. Love to God and man, joy in holy things, peace of conscience, and peace with all men, as far as possible, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, that is, faithfulness, meekness, temperance, and particularly a cruci- fixion of all sinful affections. Let us never content ourselves with any exercise of lively devotion, unless we feel our corrupt affections in some measure subdued thereby. O how shameiful a sight is it, and what a reproach to the profes- sion of the gospel, to see a Christian just come from church and holy ordinances, where his devout affections have been raised, and immediately to find him breaking out into vain, earthly merriment, and carried away with idle and sensual discourse ! What a scan- dal is it to our religion, to see some zealous professors coming down from their closet, where they fancy they have been favored with holy raptures, and enjoyed much converse with God ; where they think they have exercised repentance and love, and holy desires, and yet immediately fall into a fit of rage against their servants or children for mere trifles, and express their wrath in very unchristian language and indecent behavior. This is an open contradiction to their profession ; and the shop, and the parlor, or perhaps the kitchen, gives the lie to the pretences of the closet. O glorious evidences of a disciple of Christ, where all the pious passions join to resist every temptation ! Where divine love keeps warm at the heart, where it purifies the whole behavior, and exalts the life of men near to the life of angels ! VI. That must certainly be a culpable conduct, with regard to our religious affections, " when they are suffered to entrench upon other duties either to God or man, and withhold us from the proper business of our place and station in the world." Though devout passions should be indulged at proper seasons, yet they should not BO far govern all the powers of nature, and engross the moments of ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 221 life, as to make us neglect any necessary work, to which the prov- idence of God hath called us. This is the case, when persons find so much sweetness in their religious retirements, that they dwell there too many hours of the day, and neglect the care of their families, the conduct of their children and servants, and other necessary duties of life, and let all things run at random in their household, under the excuse of re- ligion and converse with God : Though I must confess this is so uncommon a fault in our godless and irreligious age, that it may almost pass without censure. It is the same culpable conduct, when Christians experience a sacred and affectionate relish of public ordinances, and they are tempted to run from sermon to sermon, from lecture to lecture, in order to maintain their spiritual pleasure with a slight and careless performance of relative duties. It is yet more criminal in persons of low circumstances in the world, who would spend all their time in hearing or reading good things, or at some religious assemblies or conferences, while they grossly and grievously neglect their common duties of providing for themselves and their children. They are ready to expect that the rich should maintain them, while they make their devout affections an excuse for their shameful idleness and sloth. Let us remember there is a time for working as well as a time for praying, or hearing : Every thing is beautiful in its season ; Eccles. iii. 11. This sort of excessive and irregular affection appears also emi- nently, when, out of pity to the poor, or love to the pubhc worship of God, dying persons leave vast legacies to the building of churches and hospitals, and endow almshouses liberally, while their near kindred, and perhaps their own descendants, are in a starving condition, or want the conveniencies of life. He that takes no care of his nearest relations living or dying, is in that re- spect worse than an infidel. God does not love robbery for burnt- offering, nor does he permit us to abandon our natural affection to our fellow-creatures, to shew our love or zeal for our Creator in such instances as these : VII. Religious passion is then certainly exercised in a vciy ir- regular and criminal manner, " when we suffer it to degenerate iuto carnal and vicious affections, and, as the apostle expresses it in another place, when we begin in the Spirit and end- in the flesh ; Gal. iii. 3. Examples of this kind are too common in the present age of Christians. 1. Zeal may turn into wrath and fury. A high veneration for the glorious truths of the gospel, and a warm zeal for the defence 222 CHOICE WORKS OF of them, has too often degenerated into malice and indignation against those who differ from us in religious sentiments ; and that too in matters which are of small importance to practical godliness. Pious zeal against dangerous errors is a just and laudable thing, when it carries moderation and good temper with it, and does not break out into wrath and malignity against the persons of those who are unhappily betrayed into those mistakes : But it becomes a guilty passion, and hateful in the eyes of God our Saviour, when it breaks all the bonds of charity and Christian love. The flaming bigot and the persecutor come in naturally at every turn, for their share of this caution and reproof, as abusers of the passions in the things of God and religion. When we come sometimes into worshipping assemblies, where a man of burning zeal leads the worship, we find the wildfire of his own passions spreading through the whole congregation. Is it not a shameful thing to hear the preacher railing against his brethren, because they difier a little from him, and will not use some un- scriptural modes of expression, or will not admit some favorite ex- plications of a verse of Scripture, or will not consent to practise some lesser forms and rites of worship ? And it is a matter of equal shame to see many persons, who imagine themselves to be Christians of the first rank, take a malicious pleasure to hear such scurrilous reproaches and public railings against their fellow-Chris- tians, and curses denounced against them, because they difier in ceremonies and phrases. And the crime is certainly the greater, if these opinions and forms, wherein they disagree, are but of small importance. This is a wretched abuse of passion in the things of God ; and yet so deceitful m the; heart of man, and so given up to self-fiattery, that perhaps both the preacher and the hearers vainly presume they are expressing a sacred love for divine truth, and pay- ing sublime service to God, and their Saviour. "What madness is mixed with mistaken zeal ! . 2. There is another instance of the abuse of the passions, which is very near akin to this, and may stand next in rank ; and that is, when we behold the vices of men with holy aversion and hatred, and immediately transfer this hatred to their persons, whereas we ought to pity and pray for them : Or when we see a fellow-Chris- tian fall into sin, and because we hate the sin, we hate the sinner too, and sufier our hatred to grow into disdain and irreoonoileable enmity, and that even though the offender has given signs of sin- cere repentance. This is not Christian zeal, but human corruption ; and such criminal indulgence of the passions, which ought to be mortified, if ever we would be imitators of the holy Jesus : He ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 223 hated even the least sin, but loved and saved the greatest of sinners, and delighted to receive penitents to his love. 3. It is a culpable exercise of the passions, when holy emulation degenerates into envy. At first we admire the virtues of others, we respect their persons highly, we imitate their conduct, and as- pire after the same degrees of piety and goodness ; we have a holy ambition to equal them in every grace, and in every virtue, and if possible to exceed them ; all this is right and worthy of praise ; but when I fall short of the attainments of my neighbor, and envy him on the account of his superior character ; when I feel an inward displeasure against my brother, because his gifts or graces shine brighter than mine, then the holy aflfection degenerates, and becomes a lust of the fiesh, instead of & fruit of the Spirit. 4. I might give another instance also of this kind; and that is, when love to fellow- Christians begins on a spiritual account, be- tween persons of different sexe.», and there is a mutual delight in each other's company and pious conversation ; but without great watchfulness, this Christian love may be in danger of degenerating into vicious desires and corrupt passions. 5. It may be worth our notice also, that there is another danger of the degeneracy of a devout passion, when persons of a pious and cheerful spirit have taken great delight in singing the praises of God, and meet together at the stated seasons for this purpose ; but in time, this has sensibly sunk into the pleasure of the ear, into a mere natural relish of harmony, and delight of sounds well con- nected. This may have easily happened, when fine instruments of church music have been used to assist psalmody, or when persons pride themselves in too nice and delicate a skill in singing, or too exquisite a taste in harmony, even though the words which they sing may be holy and religious. To guard against these dangers, let Christians frequently enter into their own hearts, and endeavor, as far as possible, to examine their spirit and conscience, to distinguish between their inward workings of piety, and the mere exercises of animal nature, or the \^orkings of corrupt affection, and set a constant guard upon their hearts in this respect. Vni. The last thing I shall mention, wherein some Christians are guilty of an irregular conduct, with regard to their affections in matters of religion, is this, " when they hve entirely by their de- vout passions, and make these the only rules of self-enquiry con- cerning their temper, their habitual state of soul, and their pre sent frame of spirit, and concerning every thing that belongs to their Christianity." Such persons have little regard to the growth of 224 CHOICE WOBES OF their tnowledge, the improvement of tbeir understanding in the things of God, the steady and feed bent of their will toward re- ligion, and the constant regular course of a holy conversation. They seem to make all their reUgion consist in a few warm and pious affections. There are two sorts of persons subject to this mistaie. 1. Awakened sinners, who feel their passions of fear and desire excited by some convincing sermon, or awful providence, and the rich doctrines of grace suited to their case and state, raise in them some hopes of heaven, and sensitive commotions of joy. This may continue for many months, and incline them to infer that they are converted from sin to God ; and being also in a great measure re- formed in their hves, they imagine they are new creatures, and aB is safe for eternity : Whereas they never had a heart fixed in the love of God, and in the hatred of every sin ; they never became hearty and resolved Christians ; and in a little time their devout passions die, and all their religion vanishes, for it had no root. 2. There are also some real converts, who are but weak, and live too much by their passions. If their hope, and desire, and delight, are but engaged and raised high in their secret retirement, or in public worship, then they are good Christians indeed, in a heavenly state, and they think exceeding well of themselves : But if at any time there is a damp upon their passions, through the indisposition of their animal nature, when they feel not a great degree of animal fervor powerfully assisting their pious exercises, they are ready to pronounce against themselves ; they sink into great despondencies, and imagine they have no true grace. Such Christians as these live very much by sudden fits and starts of devotion, without that uniform and steady spring of faith and holiness, which would render their religion more even and uniform, more honorable to God, and comfortable to themselves. They are always high on the wing, or else lying moveless on the ground : They are ever in the heights or the depths, travelling on bright moun- tains with the songs of heaven on their lips, or groaning and labor- ing through the dark valleys, and never walking onward, as on an even plain, toward heaven. There is much danger, lest such sort of professors as these two, which I have mentioned, should deceive themselves, if not in judg- ing of the truth of their graces, yet, at least, in their opinion, of the strength or weakness of them, for they judge merely by their affections. Let us watch against this danger, and remember, that though the passions are of excellent use in religion, yet they were never designed to stand in the place of reason or judgment, or to ISAAC WATTS, D.D, 225 supply the room of an enlightened understanding, a sanctified will, and a conversation attended with all the fruits of holiness. Thus I have finished what I designed to' say concerning the abuse of the passions in religion. The remarks which I shall make on this head of discourse are these three : I. " Those Christians are best prepared for the useful and pious exercises of their passions in religion, who have laid the foundations of it in a regular knowledge of the things of God." Let your un- derstanding, therefore, be fiilly persuaded of the necessity and excel- lency of religion, of the duties you owe to God, as your Maker and Governor ; let all your reasoning powers be convinced of the evil of sin, of the holiness and justice of God, of the danger of eternal death, of the rehef and hope that is held forth in the gospel of Christ, of the necessity of faith and holiness, in order to eternal happiness ; and amidst all the workings of devout afiections, main- tain a constant exercise of your reason and judgment. The Scrip- ture itself was not given us to make the use of our reason needless, but to assist its operations, and to render it more successful- in our enquiries into the things of our everlasting welfare. Knowledge and afiection should go hand in hand in all the affairs of rehgion : The more we know of God and the things of the upper world, we shall have the strgnger spring for our holy passions, and a more secure guard against any excesses and irregularities in the exercise of them. II. " As it is the business of a preacher to assist the devout pas- sions, so it is part of his work to guard his hearers against the abuse of them." We have granted and maintained, that it is the business of every sacred orator to raise the afiections of men to- ward the things of God : Let him therefore manage his divine arguments in such a manner as to awaken the fears, the hopes, the desires, the penitent sorrows, and the pious joys, of the whole assembly, in a sublime degree ; but, in order to secure them from excesses and iiTCgularities of every kind, let him lay the founda- tions of their religion in clear ideas of divine things, and in a just and proper exphcation of the holy Scriptures. When he has a mind to lead his hearers into any particular re- ligious sentiments, which he firmly beheves to be true, and which he supposes useful to their edification, let him not begin with their passions, and address himself to them in the first place : He must not artfully practise upon these warm and animal powers, before he has set these doctrines or sentiments of his in a fair and convincing hght before the eye of their understanding and their reasoning faculties : The afiections are neither the guides to truth, nor the 10* 226 CHOICE WORKS OF judges of it ; nor must the preacher set them to their sprightly and fervent wort, till he has informed the mind by clear explication and sincere argument. The sun in the heavens gives us a fair docu- ment in this case : His light comes before his heat: The dawn of the morning grows up by degrees, and introduces the fervors of noon. So let the preacher diffuse his light over the assembly, be- fore he kindle their warm affections. Let him convince their rea^ son and judgment of the truth of every article of religion which he persuades them to beUeve ; let him show the duty and the necessity of every part of holiness which he prescribes for their practice. Let him imitate that noble pattern of divine oratory, Apollos at Ephesus, who was an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures, he was fervent in spirit, and could raise the passions of those that heard him, yet he was willing to kindle the flame of his own ora- tory by the light of his own understanding, and when he himself had learned the way of Ood more perfectly, he mightily convinced the Jews by divine argument, and showed them hy the Scriptures, that Jesus was the Christ ; Acts xviii. 24, 28. Then there was a proper way made for his following zeal and fervor to display themselves. in." If the passions are of such eminent service in religion, and yet they are in danger of unruly excesses, " how much need have we to beg earnestly at the throne of grace, that they may be all sanctified ?" It is only the sanctifying influence of the blessed Spirit, that can excite them in a due degree, and can give them proper limits and regulations. It is nothing but divine grace can raise them to a due height on all just occasions, and yet preserve them from any irregular conduct and unhappy effects. In this sinful state of corrupt nature, we are averse to the things of God : Our passions are violent toward sensible objects, but are hardly moved by the most important discoveries in religion. It is God alone who can correct and change their corrupt bias, and give them a divine tendency. They are so ready to take a wrong turn, and sometimes to make wide mischief, even in the matters of re- ligion, that God alone can keep them constant in their right situa- tion and course. They are living wheels of strong and powerful movement in human nature, but they make wi-etched work if they are not put in motion by a regular and happy spring. They are glorious and noble instruments of religion, when under good con- duct, but they are ungovernable and mischievous powers when they go astray ; and they are also too prone to wander from their proper place and duty. L^t it, therefore, be the matter of our daily prayer, that we may be " ganctifled throughout in body, soul, and ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 227 spirit ;" 1 Thess. v. 23, and that every faculty of our nature may lend its proper aid to the kingdom of grace within us, till we are trained up by the piety of this present state, and made fit for the unknown exercises of a sublimer sort of devotion in the kingdom of glory. Meditation. " What a wide and unhappy ruin has the fall of man spread over all the powers of our souls ! Our understanding is darkened, our will grown perverse, and our passions corrupt and irregular in their exercises ; and even when they are engaged about the things of God, their conduct is not always wise and holy. We have seen what glorious instruments they are, when managed by the hands of divine grace, to promote piety and goodness : But if they are left to themselves, they will sometimes make wild mischief, even in the sacred concerns of religion. " Guard and secure me, O my God, against those false lights which my affections may cast upon the objects I converse with, and so delude my judgment. Suffer me not to be imposed on by the false colors, in which my passion may happen to dress up error, and make it look like truth. Let my judgment be always directed steadily by the reason of things and the discoveries of thy word, and not by the delusive flatteries of the passions. • Let me remem- ber that these were not given for my guides in the search of duty or truth ; they were not made to teach me what is false and what is true, but to awaken me with the greater zeal to pursue truth, and to practise whatever I learn to be my duty. " May I be so happy as always to lay solid reason and Scripture for the foundation, whence my devout affections may take their rise, and ascend high toward God ! Let them never flutter in the dark, nor break away from the government of my under- standing ; that if, at any time, my conscience calls me to account for the warmest and boldest flighte of my pious affections, I may be able to support and justify them all upon the foot of reason, and by the divine examples and encouragements of the word'of God.. " K, at any time, my zeal has been too fervent about the lesser matters of Christianity, while it has been cold and listless in the things of the highest importance, I would take shame to myself in the sight of God and men. Blessed Jesus, never suffer my anx- ieties, my fears, my desires, my joys to rise, but in due proportion to the worth and importance of their objects. Let my name never be numbered among those men of irregular zeal, who strain at a, gnat, and swallow a camel ; Matt, xxiii. 24. When I read or hear of the idolaters and the bigots of the ohurqh of Rc)ncte, in vvha^ a 228 CHOICE WORKS OF strange childisli manner, and with what ridiculous fopperies they express their love to God and Christ, and to saints departed ; when I read how they scourge their bodies to shew their sorrow for sin, and put their flesh to torments which God never appointed nor re- quired ; when I have been told how they cut and burn and destroy their fellow-Christians, animated by a supposed zeal for God and his church, I bless God that I have been taught better methods of expressing my devout affections. Oome not, O my soul, into their secrets, to their assemblies he thou not united ; Gen. xlix. 6. Nor let my religion make me sour and unsociable ; nor let me indulge awkward gestures, or put on a distorted countenance, nor appear with any unmanly or unbecoming airs, to express the inward work- ings of my heart. I am afrMd of all those outward forms which would turn piety into contempt before an ungodly world, who take all occasions to ridicule things sacred. " I would remember that religion does not consist in a warm flash of affection, or in sudden efforts of devout joy, where holiness has no settled root in the heart, nor any visible fruits in the con- versation. Let me be all of a piece, and if my Christianity raises my pious passions in the church, or in the closet, may the same Christian spirit be found in all my daily behavior : May it regu- late my words, and adorn my actions, that God, angels, and men may see the golden thread of religion running through my heart and life, in a uniform manner, in all times, places, and stations. Never let my devotions break in upon any part of other neces- sary duties which I owe to God or man : The great God does not permit sacrifice to stand in the room of works of mercy, nor will he allow of robhery for a hurnt-offering. Eemember this, my soul! " Help me, O my God, to keep up my pious affections to their own character, and let them not degenerate into a vicious or crim- inal temper of mind. Suffer not my zeal against error to turn into fury against a mistaken brother. Teach me to pity the man, while I endeavor to cure his unhappy mistakes by the only method which Christ has appointed, by gentle reasoning, by arguments drawn from Scripture, by the winning arts of love and goodness, and by earnest prayer for his recovery from the error of his way. Let me watch against every instance wherein holy affections may be cor- rupted, and turned into vice or folly. " Though I desire to have my passions deeply tinctured by the things of God, yet I would not live entirely by the efforts of devout passion, nor judge of my state and frame merely by these sorts of emotion, It is possible that sudden flashes of affection may some- ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 229 times deceive our judgment, and make us determine suddenly and unjustly, concerning ourselves and our state Godward. Let my re- ligion and love to God be deeply rooted in the mind, and in the principles of solid Imowledge; let my will be strongly and un- changeably inclined towards God and things heavenly ; and let my love and hope, my desire, my sorrow, and my joy, be all awake and engaged, in proper seasons, to promote the divine work withiu me, and make blessed advances daily toward the world of perfec- tion." Amen. - DISCOURSE YI. THE AFFECTIONATE CHRISTIAN TINDICATBD, AND THE SIN- CERE SOUL COMFORTED UNDER HIS COMPLAINTS OF DEAD- NESS, &c. We have seen what are the various advantages that may be de- rived from the exercise of the passions in the concerns of religion ; and we have taken notice of the irregularities to which they are liable, and have endeavored to guard against the abuse of them. We proceed now to the fifth general head of discourse which was proposed, and that is, to vindicate the affectionate Christian from the unjust reproaches of men, in his warmest exercises of love to God and devotion. Surely one would think there appears suflBcient reason for pious souls to indulge their most lively affections in wor- ship, and that without any abuse of their reason, or abasement of their religion. These inward sensations of holy delight, these secret joys which a stranger intermeddles not with, these experi- mental parts of godliness, may be set in a rational light, and be justified to the understanding of men. What is there in all this account of a Christian's love to God, and the regulated exercise of pious passions, that is not agreeable to solid reason, and to the natural notions that we have of God and our duty, as well as to the brighter discoveries we have by divine revelation? What is there in all these workings of a-holy soul, but what is the just and proper result of the nature of man, as an inferior spirit, in the present circumstances of flesh and blood, meditating on God, the in- finite and supreme Spirit, with a lively hope of his favor and acceptance ? Will the deist and the infidel tell me, that " this is all mechaui- cal religion, the mere effect of animal nature, the visionary scenes of fancy, and the boilings of a warm imagination ?" Will they laugh at all this account, and say, " there is nothing in it but the passionate ferments of flesh and blood, which we mistake for a reasonable religion and worship?" I would enter the lists with them, even upon the foot of reason, and justify these sensations of experimental Christianity, by a few plain and gradual steps of argument. ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 231 1. Is not the great God the Creator and supreme Governor of all things ? Is he not the most glorious and most excellent Spirit? Is he not a Being of infinite majesty, of holiness, and of mercy ? Is he not a God of awful sovereignty, a wise ruler, and righteous judge ? Is he not kind and compassionate toward his humble and obedient creatures ? Is he not a fountain of eternal blessedness, and an all-sufficient and everlasting good to those that seek and serve him ? Is he not a God that hath terrors to vindicate his government, and to punish those that break his law ? Is not this the God that the wiser and better sort of heathens acknowledged, and do acknowledge, as well as the Christians ? 2. Is not the mind of man made capable, in some measure, of knowing this God ? And are we not bound to acquaint ourselves with him ? Is not man therefore bound to get these notions and ideks of the attributes of God his Maker represented to his mind in the truest, the fairest, and the strongest ligbt ? Or are the faint- est and feeblest notions of our Creator the best ? Are we not under an obligation sometimes to recollect these ideas of God ; when we come to converse humbly with him ? Should we not endeavor to bring them fresh and strong into our memory, and to make his majesty and his mercy, as it were, present to our souls, by the fullest and brightest conceptions we can form, when we come to worship before him, when we address him with prayer for any blessing that we want, or when we praise him for any mercies that we have received from, him ? 3. Ought not this knowledge, this holy remembrance of God, to influence the other powers of our nature ? Doth not conscience itself tell the deist, that his own sentiments of so glorious a Being demand his highest honor, and his humblest worship ? Do not his own thoughts require of him a behavior agreeable to all those high conceptions which he hath of the perfections of the divine nature ? Are not our minds bound to think of him with high esteem ? Are not our wills bound to resolve upon obedience to this wise and holy Governor, and to submit with patience to all his providences ? Are not our eyes made to contemplate his works, and ought we not to give him the honor of his wisdom and power, that formed this world of wonders which our eyes behold : And are not our tongues obliged to speak honorably of him, and to render him a just revenue of praise 1 Is it not our duty to offer the tribute of our lips in thaiifulness for a thousand blessings we receive from his bounty and beneficence ? 4. Are not our passions or affections a particular power of human nature that owes God some honor, as well as the understanding or 232 CHOICE WOliKS OF will, the eyes and the tongue ? Were not these affectionate powers made to be excited by thoughts of the mind, and to be exercised agreeably to the judgment and conscience? Or are the passions the only powers of our nature that owe no homage to the God that made them, and must not be employed in his service ? Many of the affections are pleasing to nature in their various exercises, and can they not have leave to be employed in piety ? Must religion be made so dry and tasteless and melancholy a thing as to forbid all pleasure ? Have we not permission to love God, the most amia- ble Spirit, whose perfections and glories surpass all created beings 1 Must we never take delight in God, the Author of our nature, and the source of eternal blessedness ? Is religion the only thing whence all pleasing affection must be for ever banished and ex- cluded ? And must I withhold all these pleasant and powerful sensations of nature from intermingUng with the things of God ? Hath my wise and merciful Creator given me such a feculty as admiration, and may I admire the heavens and the earth, the fishes, the beasts, and the birds, and not admire that aU-wise and almighty Being that made me and them ? May I lay out my wonder on any thing or on every thing besides the great God who created all these wonders ? Hath he formed my soul to de- light and love, and hath he confined these sweet and pleasurable capacities only to be employed about creatures, when the Creator himself is infinite and supreme in loveliness ? WiU not this most amiable of Beings expect that I should love himself, and give me leave to maike him my delight ? Is it lawful for me to fear a lion or an adder, a whirlwind or a flash of lightning, and may I not indulge a holy and solemn dread of that glorious Being that made lightnings and whirlwinds, adders and lions, and has unknown thunders in reserve for profane sinners f Doth he give me leave to mourn and weep for the loss of my ease, or my health, or my friends, and may 1 never indulge my sorrow to arise for all my multiplied' offences against his law, my former rebellions against his government, and my refusals of his grace ? Thus far I have begged leave for the passions to assist religion, and I think reason gives an ample permission. But I may rise to bolder language here, and pronounce my argument with stronger force, if I should resume the first part of this head of reasoning, and make all these enquiries turn upon the point of obligation and duty. Since I know this God to be infinite in goodness, and the author of all my comforts, am I not bound to love him with all my strength, and with all my soul ? If he is a Being of sovereign power, holiness and justice, ought I not always to fear before him, and to grieve ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 233 heartily that I have offended against his holy laws ? Is it not my duty to mourn for sin, and to be ashamed of my unnatural and un- reasonable conduct ? And doth not God require that I should rejoice before bira with thankfulness, when I have some hope that he hath accepted my submission, pardoned my sin, and holds me in his favor and love ? But let me proceed yet farther in this argument, and say, have not my passions themselves been too often engaged in folly and sin ? And must they do nothing for the interests of religion and virtue ? Hath not the great and blessed God been affronted and dishonored by these warm and active powers of my nature? And may not he make some reprisals on them, by leading them captive by his grace, and devoting them to his own service ? Must the passions, which have been defiled with so much iniquity, and which have helped to defile the soul, never be refined ? Never be sancti- fied ? Never attempt to restore that tribute of honor and obedience to the great God, of which they have long defi-auded him ? Have I loved vanity ? Have I delighted in sin ? Has my desire, my hope and my joy, been heretofore employed on criminal objects ? And must these affections of desire and hope, of love and delight, be forbid to pursue objects divine and heavenly, and be for ever ex- eluded from all pious employment ? Have I grieved for the loss of a sinful pleasure, or been angry with my brother, and hated him without a cause ? And ought I not to turn the stream of my wrath . and hatred against my sins, and to give a loose to the passion of grief and pious sorrow for my guilty behavior toward God and man ? Are these faculties of my nature capable of sinning only, and inca^ pable of practising virtue and goodness ? Or is it not lawful to attempt to employ them in the service of religion ? Let the deists, and the men of cold philosophy, tell me, that virtue and piety, and goodness, consist only in sublime ideas of God, and in a will devoted to him ; and that it is only the pure affections of the mind or spirit that are to be exercised toward God and religion ; but the motions of flesh and blood must have nothing to do here, nor pas- sions of the animal have any part or share in l£e religion of the man. To such objectors I would reply thus : 5. Is it possible that the purest affections can be exerted in any vigorous efforts in our present state of mortahty, but flesh and blood will feel and follow them a little ? Can these sublime ideas of the blessed God, and these pure and spiritual affections, be raised to any high degree, but the powers and passions of animal nature will be suitably touched and moved, at least in some degree, accord- ing to the natural temper 2 All persons are not equally capable of 234 CHOICE WOKKS OF warm affection, and vigorous ferments of blood ; But there is not a son or daughter of Adam without some degree of these natural emotions. They have been felt by wise and holy men, that have lived in all ages of the world ; and it must be so, in some measure, while we are such a composition of flesh and spirit. I grant, indeed, that some such cold and indifferent worshippers as can make this objection, whose religion consists only in a phi- losophical thought of the great God, and a devout wish perhaps once iu a week or two, may not feel any of these sensible effects in animal nature. Those also may be excepted who are brought up in a mere round of forms, and never say their prayeres but at the sound of a bell and a public hour; I except also those popish devotees, who mutter over their Latin service, their " paternosters" and "ave marias" by tale, and drop their beads to count their prayers right, and to secure themselves from mistaking the number. AH these sorts of worshippers may join in the same opinion, and renounce their affections in their religion, and that for this reason, because they have not religion enough to employ them. But where a constant and supreme love to God is the real spring that moves us to our duties, the rest of the natural passions will have some correspondent share in the work. And it is a very false way of judging for these kinds of people, to compare all men with them- selves, and make their cold indifference and their lazy practice the standing model of the religion of all mankind. Let us suppose for once, that we were confined to the mere religion of nature ; hath it not been sufficiently proved, that reason and the light of nature provide for the passions some share of employment, even in natural religion ? And it is to be feared, that it is not merely the unbelief of Christianity, but the want of serious inward religion of any kind, that inclines the infidels of our age to oppose and ridicule the exercise of devout affection. Is not the book of Psalms a noble and sublime collection of lyric poesy ? Are not several parts of these sacred odes confined to such notions and practices in religion, as the light of nature and reason dictates ? Now if these persons had true piety at heart, one would tliink they should rejoice in these sprightly and pious composures, and use them as a help to raise their souls to God, their Creator, in love and praise. Will they make this excuse, that the language is too warm, too much animated and pathetic, that there is too much of the beauty of metaphor, too many bright images that strike power- fully upon the passions, whereas the religion of nature, in their opinion is a more calm and sedate thing ? Surely it is much to be feared and suspected, that their prayers and their praises, and all ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 235 their pretences to piety, will go but a little way to raise their souls to heaven, when their modes of worship cannot bear the language of such devout affection, and admit of no elevations above calm ideas and sedate indolence. But I return to my vindication of the affectionate Christian, in his warmest exercises of devout passion. I might proceed much further on this point, and say, when the affections are impressed and awakened to a powerful exercise by divine truths will not these lively powers have a farther and a reflexive influence on the mind and the will ? Do they not sensi- bly impress the ideas of divine things with much stronger force on the mind ? Do they not set all the affairs of religion in a more lovely and attractive light ? Do they not confirm the will in all its holy resolutions for God and heaven ? Have they not often been found to stamp divine things on the memory and conscience with more lasting efficacy ? Do not the devout passions awaken the latent images of fancy, and dress all the chambers of the soul with divine ideas and ornaments ? And have they not by this means assisted the soul to maintain its constant converse with heaven ? Is it not in the power of the sacred passions to raise and brighten the language of the tongue, as well as command the tears of the eye- lids and the smiles of the countenance ? Are not our hope and our fear given us to be living spurs to duty, and wakeful guards against temptation and disobedience ; and do they not often em- ploy the hands and the feet, direct the eyes, and awaken the voice ? Will not holy love and joy give a lively and pleasing motion to the blood and spirits ? And the hope of having sin forgiven, and our souls made for ever happy, excite a thousand pleasures in human nature ? Will it not fill the soul with overflowings of gratitude, and make the lips abound in expressions of joy and praise ? And will not these be attended with a peaceful and pleasing aspect, and establish a sweet serenity- in the heart and eyes? And all concur to maintain religion in the power and the joy of it ? Christians, be not afraid of professing the pleasures of religion ! These men of pretended reason are vanquished at their own wea- pons, when they dare deride your converse with God, and fight against the inward power of your devotions. Be ye convinced therefore, and be established in this truth, that it is not the warmest exercise of our affections that can be ridiculous in religion, when they are excited by a just apprehension of divine things: But then it is, the passions are justly censured, when they are indulged to raptures in the confusion and darkness of the mind ; when they flut- ter and make a tumult in the twilight of the understanding, or when they are raised high by mere enthusiasm and the visions of fancy, 236 CHOICE woKKS or without the solid foundation of knowledge and judgment to sup- port them, as I have shewn in a foregoing discourse. Cfive diligence, therefore, O my frienJs, to improve in the know- ledge of God the Father, and in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ! Maintain your humble converse witli heaven, labor and strive in meditation and prayer, till you get near the seat of God, and find sweet access to his throne, through the blood of Christ and the aids of the blessed Spirit : Awaken all the springs of holy love and di- vine joy. These sacred pleasures will animate you to every duty, will be a guard to your souls against temptation, and give you courage to stand the ridicule of an unbelieving age ; These divine refreshments, like the heavenly manna, will support your spirits through all the wilderness, and make your travels easy and delight- ful. These will lead you on with joy to the promised land, and pre- pare you to dwell for ever with that God, with whom you have here enjoyed so long and blessed a correspondence. — We proceed now to the sixth general. Since it appears to be a matter of such importance to have the affections engaged in the affairs of religion, some humble and sincere souls may be ready to pronounce hard things concerning themselves, and conclude they have no true rehgion, because they feel their affeclions but little moved : We proposed, therefore, that the sixth general head of discourse should offer some " consolations to such honest and humble Christians, who endeavor to love and serve the Lord their God with all their powers, but find very little of this exercise of the pious passions in comparison with what others feel." Let me address such persons as these in the following manner ; I. Since you doubt whether you love God with all your heart, that is, with jour warmest affections, " search and enquire with holy fear, and with the greater dihgence, whether you love him with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength" Do you love him with all your mind ? Have you the highest esteem of him in your judgment as the most excellent and best of Beings, and as your only sufficient good ? Do you Ivoe him with all your soul ? Have you chosen him for your eternal portion both in this world and that which is to come ? Is your will firmly resolved for God and religion ? Are you sincerely willing to forsake every sin and to return to God, to give up yourself to him as your Lord and Ruler, and receive him as your God and reconciled Father, according to the discoveries of his grace in Christ Jesus ? Do you love him with all your strength ? Do you desire to obey and serve him all your days ? Do you worship him with holy diligence, and promote his honor in the world, according to the utmost of your capacity ? ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 237 If you find these things wrought in you, and done by you, you have abundant reason to take comfort in this evidence of your Chris- tianity. Where the mind and will are sincerely engaged on the side of God and religion in this manner, the love of the heart is not utterly wanting ; the affections must be in some measure sanctified, though perhaps you may not feel so frequent, so powerful, and so lively an exercise of them as other Christians may enjoy. These things are a better proof of true faith and real piety, than a sudden flash of affection can be, where these more steady operations of the mind and will are wanting. n. Though all the sons and daughters of Adam have some de- grees of passion in their very frame and nature, yet remember that the temper of all men is not equally affectionate. Consider now and enquire, whether your temper has so much of these affectionate principles wrought in it as some of your neighbors may possess : .There are some of a much calmer and more sedate constitution; their passions of desire and joy, of fear and hope, of sorrow and anger, are seldom moved about earthly things ; and then it is no wonder that they are not so sensibly impressed with things heavenly. God requires no more than he gives ; where he has wrought these pa- thetic principles in the constitution, he requires the exercise of them in the things of religion : But where persons are of a more dispas- sionate and a calmer frame, there God will require less of the sen- sible exercises of affection in the Christian life. 2 Cor. viii, VI. If there he a willing mind, it is accepted according to what a man has, and not according to what he has not. I confess, if you have warm and lively passions for all other things, and none at all for God and religion and heavenly objects ; if your fear, joy, sorrow, and desire are vigorous in their emotions, and are immediately raised by the affairs and occurrences of this life, and yet lie always asleep with regard to divine things, it is a very bad sign indeed, and has a very unfavorable aspect on the case of your soul : For where much is given, much shall be required ; Luke xiv. 48. III. " Consider what is your present stage of life : Are you in the flower of youth, when all the powers of nature are active, when the passions are warm and lively ? Or are you in the decay of nature, and on the verge of life ? Is old age coming upon you, or is it al- ready come, when the animal powers are weakened, when the opera- ations of flesh and blood are more languid ?" An old man cannot have those lively passions and appetites with regard to sensible things as belong to the years of youth, and vigor of nature. Old Barssillai could not feel his desires awakened and tempted to dwell at court 238 CHOICB WOBKS OF by all the dishes of a royal table, or the sprightly music, or the rich entertainments there; 2 Sam. xix. 35. And therefore it is no wonder if the devout passious be then more languid and unmoved. An aged Christian may have the most fixed resolution for God, and the firmest principles of piety rooted in his soul ; he may do much service for God, and in this sense may flourish and bring forth fruit in old age ; Psalm xcii. 14. and may have great advancements in real godliness, though there may be few such sensible evidences of it given to himself or to his neighbors, in the lively motion of his pathetic powers. But on the other hand, it is a very sad and melancholy symptom, if the evil passions of covetousness, of anger, of revenge, of envy, reign and exert themselves with violence in old age, while there is little or nothing of warm afiection exercised in the things of religion. IV. " Let humble and sincere Christians remember also for their encouragement, that though spiritual things may be the chief object, of our hope and desire, yet our passions may not always be so power- fully impressed by them, as they are by 'sensible and carnal things, and the reason is, because they are spiritual and invisible." The passions which are wrought into our present frame, belong partly to animal nature as well as to the mind ; and therefore the things of sense are nearer akin to them : They touch and strike our passions sooner, and awaken them to more vivacity, and en- gage them with more vehemence than things which are unseen. The passions are certain principles in man which depend much on flesh and blood ; and therefore they are more naturally impressed by things that strike our eyes and our ears, and by them find a way to our hearts. It is possible that God and heaven may be really more beloved than men and this earth, though the animal pow- ers of joy, hope, fear and desire, may not be so sensible and vehe- ment in their operations toward spiritual, absent, and future objects, as towards things present and sensible. There is not therefore suf- ficient ground to conclude that we do not love God above creatures, because we sometimes feel the more passionate exercises and com- motions of flesh and blood about creatures, than we do about God himself : And indeed were it not for this reasonable salvo, this spring of consolation, a multitude of Christians would be ready to give themselves up to despair, and I doubt there would be very few of us who would not have reason to suspect the truth and power of our inward religion. i Yet I cannot conclude without this observation: In the last place, that " what comfortable evidences soever of our love to God may be derived from the high esteem of hira in our minds, and ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 239 tbe attachment of our wills to him, yet these evidences and com- forts will be greatly brightened and increased by feeling the aflfeo- tionate love of God in the heart." To love the Lord our God wilh all the mind, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, be- comes more glorious when it influences the affectionate powers of the heart to join in the practice of religion. It is granted, that the mere flashes of sudden passion in a devout moment, without a settled supreme esteem of God in the mind, with- out a firm attachment of the will to him, and careful obedience to his commands, will yield but small and feeble consolation in a time of trial and enquiry : The hearers who receive the word, like seed in stony ground, are said to receive it with joy, but their rehgion was but a flash ; it endured but for a short season ; it sprung up on a sudden and quickly withered, because it had no root in the understanding and the will; Matt. xiii. 20, 21. Yet it is better, infinitely better, to find and feel that we love God with all our powers ; we should therefore use all proper methods to stir up our drowsy afiections, and engage them in divine things, that we may live in the pleasures of godliness, as well as in the power of it, and have our hopes rising high, and approaching to the joys of heaven, while we dwell here on earth. What these proper methods are, whereby the devout passions may be raised, will be the subject of our next enquiry. Meditation. " It is strange that any person should cavil against the exercises of the warmest affections of man in the things that relate to the great God, and in matters of our own immortal in- terest. It is strange to hear any dispute arise against the engage- ment of our strongest and most sprightly powers in the service of the best of Beings, and our eternal friend. Oh ! may I know hioj, and love him, and fear him, and delight in him, as becomes a crea- ture to fear and to love a God, that is, in a supreme degree. In vain shall the world assault me with their keenest reproaches, in vain shall a bantering and Godless age attempt to laugh me out of countenance for indulging the divine sensations of religion. Let them tell me, " It is mere animal nature, and the caprices of flesh and blood," let them charge me with enthusiastioal folly, and fever- ish heats of religion, I dare pronounce boldly, in the face of ridicule and scandal, that the prudent affectionate Christian, in his devoutest hours, does nothing beneath the dignity of reason, nor unbecoming the character of the wisest of men. I have David and the prophets, I have Christ and liis apostles engaged on this side of the question by their own practice, and I shall count it my honor to be an hum- ble imitator of such blessed patterns. 240 CHOICE WORKS OF ISAAC WATTS, D. D. " Oh ! mav I find' the secret joys of religious retirement, joys which a stranger intermeddles not with ! Jlay I feel some pious affection animating me to all the duties of the Christian life! May I see myself rising high above earthly things with holy con- tempt, mounting as on eagles' wings toward heaven ; and then I shall not be frighted nor discouraged at all the arrows of reproach that are shot against me. The affectionate Christian has much more reason on his side than all those indolent worshippers, those dry and joyless creatures, those cold pretenders to religion, who have renounced their affections in the things of God, and creep on at a low and grovelling rate, feeding on some natural truths and specu- lations vpithout life, power, or pleasure. " But if I find my natural temper has very little of the pathetic composition in it, and that my affections by nature are not so vig- orous as those of my neighbor ; if I feel the more vehement efforts of love and fear, and holy sorrow, and pious pleasure, sink and de- cline, through the decay of nature or growing age, I will comfort myself with this, that it is the desire of my soul to have all its pow- ers and passions engaged for God in their most vital and active ex- ercises. " If at any time I am so unhappy as to feel my affections exert themselves in a more vigorous manner toward the objects of flesh and sense which are present, than they do toward things absent, divine and heavenly, I would mourn over the frailty of human na- ture, in this present state, where we are so much attached to the things of this body. I will endeavor through divine grace to love the Lord my God with all my mind, and with all my soul, to raise him higher in the esteem of my judgment, and to cleave to him more firmly by a resolute bent of my will, to abide -daily with him, and live upon him, as my all-suflScient and everlasting good, that I may attain some comfortable establishment in the hope of his love : And when my flesh and heart, and all my animal powers shall fail me, I may still rejoice in having God for my God, who will be the strength of my heart, the life of my spirit, and my portion, for ever;" Psalm Ixxiii. 26. Amen. DISCOURSE VII. MEANS OF EXCITING THE DEVOUT AFFECTIONS. We are now come to the last thing designed in these discourses, and that is to propose a " few proper methods, whereby the aflfec- tions of nature may be awakened and employed in the Christian life." Take them in the following order : I. See to it that the leading and ruling faculties of the soul, vis. the understanding and the will, be deeply and firmly engaged in religion. Let the mind be well furnished with divine knowledge, and the will be as resolutely bent for God and heaven. Where the understanding has but a poor and scanty furniture of the things of God, the pious affections will have the fewer springs to raise them : And if our ideas of divine things are obscure and confused, our passions are in great danger of running wildly astray, and of being led away by every delusion. Seek therefore not only a large and plenteous acquaintance with the things of God, but endeavor, as far as possible, to get clear and distinct conceptions of them, that the pious passions may have solid ground whence to take their rise. And then let your will be steadily set for God without weak- ness or wavering. If the resolves and purposes of the heart be feeble and doubtful, the affections will never rise to any high de- gree in a regular or lasting manner. But I have said so much on these points that I shall not enlarge here. If the mind and wiU are sanctified, it is certain, according to the very frame of our natures, that the passions wiU in some degree follow the influence of these governing faculties. Why is it our passions are suddenly alarmed and so warmly influenced by the things of this world ? It is because our minds have too high a value for them, our wills are too much attached to them, we place our happiness too much in them ; Matt vi. 21. Where the treasure is, the heart will be also ; the heart with all its passions. Why are our desires, our longings, our fears and hopes, our sorrows, joys, and resentments, so keen, and so intense about the things of life ? It is because these things are too much esteemed as our treasure, our portion, our inheritance. If God be our portion, Christ our life, and heaven our inheritance and our home, then our affections 11 242 CHOICE WOBKS OF will be set on the things that are above, where Christ is at the right hand of God ; Col. iii. 1, 2. II. " Engage the most powerful and governing passion for God, that is, the passion of love :" All the train of aflections will obey ifs ruling power and influence, they will all follow its motions and sovereign dictates, as was made evident in the second discourse on this su^ect. And we have shewn you before, that in order to ex- cite divine love in our hearts, we must meditate frequently on these things, viz. what the great and blessed God is in himself, what he has done for us, what he daily does for us, and what he has prom- ised to do, both in this life arid the life to come. Never be easy, or at rest, therefore, if you find your love to God flag and languish, for then the other affections will grow cold and lifeless in religion. Take all opportunities to warm your heart with this sacred passion, and to fekindle the fire of divine love within you, when at any time you find it declining. III. " Watch carefully against the too strong attachment of your affections to creatures :" Remember that this world is at enmity with God ; James iv. 4. If any man love this world, the love of the Father is not in him ; 1 John ii. 15. ViThere the love of the world is habitually prevalent, the love of God is not found ; for God is the supreme good, and the most lovely of beings, and he counts that love as nothing which is not supreme. No man can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and mammon y Matt, vi. 25, that is, the true God and the god of riches : And we may say, by the same rule,- you cannot love the true God and the god of honor and ambition, or the god of sensuality and carnal pleasure. A God carries a supreme idea, and demands all the soul. Not only unlawful objects and sinful pleasures, but even sensible delights, possessions, and enjoyments, which are lawful, take too fast hold on the heart, and draw it away from God. Remember that the creatures around you have this advantage, that while God is a spirit, an unseen being, the creatures are ever striking upon our eyes or ears ; they are ever making their court to our senses and appetites, and have a thousand ways to insinuate themselves into the heart. The world, and the flattering enjoyments of it, are suited to work upon flesh and blood, and to draw off the soul from God its centre and its rest : They are ever near at hand on all occasions, and they are ready sometimes to say. Where is your God? Keep your God, therefore, always near you, and watch against the pleasing flattery of alluring creatures, lest your heart cleave too fast to them, and be thereby divided from your God. Amidst all the endearing relations and engaging businesses of ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 213 life, single yourselves as much as possible for God, and let not many things dwell too near your soul, lest you lose the sight of your heavenly Father, and the pleasing sensations of his love. Where the love of sensible things prevails, it draws with it all the long train of hopes and fears, of desires, joys, and sorrows ! of pain- ful heartaches, and fond wishes, and keen resentments. Thus the affectionate powers of nature are carnalized, are tinctured deep with the things of earth, and become too much estranged from God and heaven. Whensoever you find a tempting creature tak- ing too fast hold of your passions, set a guard of sacred jealousy upon it ; keep your heart at a holy distance from that creature, lest it twine about your inmost powers, and draw them off from their allegiance and duty to God your Creator. The love of God is a flower of divine original, and of the growth of paradise ; if the Holy Spirit has planted it in your heart, let not any other love be planted too near it, nor too much nourished, lest it draw away the vital moisture, and cause the love of God to languish and wither. IV. Be not slight and careless in secret religion. Let private devotion, reading, meditation, prayer, have a proper share of your time allotted them. In pious retirements you may indulge all the holy passions with much greater freedom : You may there give a loose to all the devout aftections of the soul, in the warmest exer- cises and expressions : You may say a thousand things to God in secret, which are not proper for pubho worship : You may pour out your souls before him in the strongest and most pathetic senti- ments of holy desire and divine joy : You may tell him all the in- ward pains of your conscience, the secret anguish and shame of your heart, because of your past offences : You may sigh deeply, and blush before him, and dissolve your eyes into tears : You may tell him in secret how intense are your desires to taste and be assured of his love, and to be formed after his image : You may rejoice in his sight with pious exultations and triumph, in hope of bis eternal presence in the upper world. Such exercises as these will keep all the passions in an habitual practice of religion, and maintain inward piety in the life and power of it. V. Converse much with those pai'ts of our holy religion, and with those books of Scripture which are suited to awaken your warmest affections. Let your thoughts take occasion, from the various occurrences in nature and providence, to meditate on the glorious perfections of God, the wonders of his wisdom in contriv- ing the several parts of the creation, so happily fitted to answer his great designs. Think on his amazing power, that could form all things by his word, and bring a whole world into being at his will. 244 CHOICE WORKS or Awaken your souls, to admire the wide-spreading influence of his sovereignty and government, who manages the immense afiairs of the upper and the lower worlds, the nations of men, and the armies of angels, and yet extends his care to every one of us in particular, and even to the meaner figures of flies and worms. Think on the infinite extent of his knowledge, that he is acquainted not only with every creature he has made, but with every thought that passes through our hearts, with all our most secret actions and purposes. This will awaken in you a holy fear of his majesty, and you will dread the thoughts of sinning against him, since it never can be concealed from his notice ; and while you think on his omnipre- sence, you may rejoice in him as your guardiam and defence through all times and places where or whensoever it is possible for danger to attend you. Meditate on his boundless goodness : Our Qod is love, and all nature is filled with the blessings of his bounty. He has overspread the skies with light, and covered the earth with food for man and beast. Of what a vast and surprising extent is the whole family of creatures which are maintained out of the stores of God ! What a transcendent veneration should we have of that goodness which satisfies the craving appetites of millions daily and hourly ! Besides these general efiects of the divine goodness, it is proper to have the memory furnished with particular instances of protections, deliverances, escapes from danger, rich and unmerited blessings, which we ourselves have enjoyed, that we may awaken our grati- tude, rekindle our dying love, and exalt our hearts and our voices in praise. Nor is it less useful to meditate sometimes on the sins and follies of mankind, that we may admire the patience of a God so aflfronted and so abused : Nor is it less needful to recollect our own follies and our guilt, that we may keep holy repentance in its lively exercises ; for the spring of godly sorrow should never be dried up while we dwell in these regions of sin and defilement. Then the astonishing designs of divine mercy towards guilty creatures call for a due share of our meditations : Designs of mercy in the heart of God, counsels of peace transacted with his Son Jesus Christ be- fore the world began, in order to rescue mankind from the ruins oi nature, and to raise up a chosen seed for his own glory out of the rebellious race of Adam. Here the thoughts of a Christian should spread themselves abroad, and give a loose to holy contemplation and wonder. Let us run back to ancient ages, and view Jesus the Son of God, the brightness of his Father's glory, in his pre-existent state of I'ight and happiness, before he visited us in flesh ; lleb. i. 3. There he ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 245 dwelt in the bosom of the Father, before he made our world, or ap- peared in it : We should trace his various appearances to the patriarchs, and his conduct of the church through many ages, under the name of the angel of God's presence, under the character of the King of Israel : We should meditate on his wondrous condescen- sions to become incarnate, to dwell in such feeble flesh and blood as ours is, to be compassed about with infirmities, to sustain per- petual labors and sorrows, fatigues and reproaches, through the course of a mortal life, to bear those unknown agonies in the gar- den, and. on the cross, which were the price of our pardon, and the means of his atonement for our guilt. What amazing love is this ! How divine ! How unsearchable ! It has heights and lengths, and breadths and depths in it, that pass all our knowledge ; Eph. iii. 18, 19. and demand our devoutest praises. Trace .him from the cross to the tomb, follow him through the regions of the dead, be- hold him in the power and glory of his resurrection, see him as- cending on a bright cloud to heaven, attended with the chariots of God, which are twenty thousand, even unnumbered thousands of angels; Psalm Ixviii. 18, view him sitting on the right hand of God, making intercession there for sinners, rebels, enemies, that they may be divinely transformed into saints, children, friends. Sur- vey him at the head of all principalities and powers, ruling all things according to his Father's decrees, for the glory of his Father, and for his own glory, as well as for the eternal welfare of his church. What bright and vigorous contemplations, what enter- taining ideas, what efforts of pious passion may be raised by a sanctified mind travelling such a spacious round of divine wonders ! Enter into yourselves, think what once you were, corrupt, abom- inable, unclean, unholy : Eemember the distinguishing grace of God, whereby you were awakened to a sense of your sin and dan- ger, and were taught to fly for refuge to Jesus, your all-sufiScient hope. Think on your iniquities all pardoned ; think of your gar- ments and soul washed white in the blood of the Lamb ; think on the powerful influences of the Spirit, that hath changed your vile nature, and made it holy, that has guarded you from a thousand temptations, and is training you up to everlasting blessedness. Which of the passions is there that would lie cold and silent under the lively sentiments of such a various and important scene of things ? But I proceed to the second part of this fifth direction, and that is, "we may have our devout_ passions quickened by converse with those parts of the Holy Bible which contain the most affecting sub- jects, and express them in the most pathetic manner." Read some 246 CHOICE WORKS or of the wonders of mercy and love in the transactions of God with his ancient people, how he rescued them from the midst of barba- rous nations and hostile armies ; how he brought them out of bond- age and brick-kilns, by a mighty and miraculous effort of power and grace ; how he led them through seas dry-shod, and com- manded rivers to cleave asunder, and leave a path for their march ; how he visited them after by missionary angels, and sometimes in his own royal person ; for they saw the God of Israel ; Exod. xxiv. 10. Read and meditate the vengeance and the terrible destruction executed on the old world that was drowned in the flood ; J;he deluge of wrath that fell on Sodom and Gomorrah, which perished by divine lightning ; for the Lord rained down fire and brimstone from the Lwd out of heaven upon ikem, ; Gen. xix. 24. Head the ten plagues of Egypt, and the desolations that were sometimes spread over rebellious Israel, and sometimes over the heathen na- tions by an angry God, in the writings of Moses, and the Book of Judges. Eead the soft and melting language of divine mercy, in- viting sinners to return to God by Isaiah, the evangelic prophet. Survey the promises that are big with blessings, that contain par- don, and righteousness, and grace, and life, and salvation,. and glory in them ; and let the pious affections of hope and love break out and diffuse themselves with sweet delight. Bead the history of the hfe and death of our blessed Lord, which is made up of love and wondei^ and look into some of the more affectionate para- graphs of St. Paul, and the pathetic parts of all the sacred epistles. Biit above all, for this purpose, I must recommend the specimens of divine meditation and divine worship, the complaints, the suppli- cations, and the songs of praise which are offered to God by holy men in the Old Testament and in the New. You find some of these in the books of Moses, Ezra, Job^ Daniel, and other prophets ; especially the Psalms of David : A rich and heavenly treasure is this ; a repository, or an altar of sacred fire. The people of God, in all succeeding ages, have had recourse to it, both as an example and a spring of most lively and exalted devotions. Choose a psalm suited to your own case, and frame, and temper ; compare your hearts with the Psalmist, and your circumstances with his j lift up your souls to God in the words of David, or imitate his language where his words do not so perfectly express your case. Enter into his spirit, form and model your pious affections by that illustrious pattern, and be sure to bring Christ and the sweet discoveries of grace, and the blessings of 9ie gospel, into this sort of devotion. David himself, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, practised this, though in a more obscmo manner, and in the style of pro- ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 247 pbeoy : And in the midst of such a dark dispensation, surrounded ■with types and shadows, we find surprising efforts of fear and love, of joy and wonder, of desire and hope, of faith and adoration, and praise, how unspeakably glorious and entertaining would it be to us, if we had a book of such holy melody, such harmonious wor- ship, written by divine influence in the language of Christ and his gospel, interlined with the blood of the Son of God, adorned and enlivened with the grace and glory of a rising and reigning Saviour, and animated and enriched with the Holy Spirit, and the blessings of the New Testament ? Perhaps this is too sublime a privilege, too high a favor for the church to expect or enjoy in this corrupted and degenerate state : Perhaps we must wait for such a seraphic volume till we are raised to join the songs and harps of the heav- enly Jerusalem ; or at least till the happy time of the restitution of all things, when a new heaven and a new earth shall introduce such a state of things among men as shall be near akin to the glory of the upper world. But it is time now to go on to the next particular. VL " When you find a devout passion arising in your heart, in- dulge and cherish it, if there be a convenient season." Take heed that you do not banish the holy thought, or suppress the sacred affection. Do not immediately plunge yourself, without necessity, into the businesses of life, or any vain amusements, lest you damp the wing of your holy desires, which would bear you upward to God ; quench not those seeds of divine and heavenly fire which God has kindled in your souls. When the quickening Spirit takes hold of your heart, take care that you do not refuse to follow him : Resist not the motions of the blessed Spirit, lest he retire grieved, and it may. be long ere he return; 1 Thess. v. 19. Uph. iv. 30. When the blessed God, does, as it were, take you by the hand, and lead you aside from the world, to converse with himself; when your blessed Saviour doth, if I may so express, touch the springs of devotion within you, and as it were invite and beckon you to holy fellowship with him, have a care that you do not turn rudely away from him, and renounce his invitations. Let such sacred seasons, such heavenly moments, be duly valued and improved. Let pious affections be indulged and promoted, unless plain and necessary business call you away at that time to other engage- ments. But if it should happen that the providence of God and your duty demand your thoi^hts and your hands to be employed in secular affairs, when you feel a devout passion arising, you may in Bome measure remedy this inconvenience, by the following advice : 248 CHOICE WORKS or Vn. " Endeavor to keep up a constant savor of religion in the midst of the businesses and cares of this life." While you are travelling through the wilderness of this world, walk always with God : Bo every thing in the rmme of Ood, as under the influence of his command, and with a design for his glory : And let your soul go forth often toward him in short and holy exercises ; this will keep the devout affections awake and active. K you have found God in the closet, or in the church, carry him with you into the things of the world, into the shop and the family, so far as a proper attention to your daily business will permit. Suffer no long intermissions of your heavenly work, lest your pious afiections grow cold. Let your thoughts in short intervals of worship go out to- ward God. Never let an hour pass, if possible, without some devout aspirations toward heaven. In the evening watches, at midnight, and at the dawn of the morning, the holy Psalmist sent up his thoughts to God ; and he was often breathing out his soul toward him amidst the affairs of the day ; Psalm Ixiii. 6. / will meditate on thee in the night watches. Psalm xxv. 5. Thou art the God of my salvation, on thee do I wait all the day. O blessed souls, who imitate the practice of that sublime saint, the man after God's own heart ! Vm. " Confine not your rehgion always to your thoughts." Sometimes, perhaps, while you are musing, the fire will hum, as David found it ; Psalm xxxix. 3. Then speak with your tongue to God, or to man, as David did, who was most exquisitely skilled iu all the holy methods of a devout life, and was the noblest pattern of sacred fervor. Gain some acquaintance with lively Christians : Mutual conversation shall raise the divine flame higher, like united torches which increase each other's blaze. Sharpen your desires, and kindle your hopes and joys, by mutual and holy discourse. Borrow a coal from the altar of the sanctuary, from the ordinances of public worship, and warm your own hearts, by endeavoring to warm the heart of your neighbor. Speak to one another of the heavenly world, till each of you find your wings stretched for the flight, and you long for the divine summons. Mix your flames of celestial love, as angels do, and let them spire upward, and point towards Jesus, your beloved. Man is a social creature and his pas- sious were made to be raised by converse. Break therefore through the reproach and shame of a degenerate age, and aspire to the life and discourse, and joy of angels. IX. " Seek earnestly the influences of the quickening Spirit." Without him you can do nothing. It is the Spirit of God who raises dead sinners at first into a divine life, and he puts all the ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 249 languid springs of life into new motion. Those vigorous and active powers of the soul, which have so strong an influence to promote the vivacity and beauty of true religion, are under his government, and they want a divine touch from his Snger to quicken and ac- celerate their motions. It is he who awakens our fear, who excites our hopes, who kindles our love and desire to things holy and heavenly ; and it is he who exalts our spiritual joys. How often does the pious Psalmist cry out for quickening grace in the cxix. Psalm, and for the continued influences of the Holy Spirit, in other parts of his devotional writings ? The whole church prays for the same quickening operations, Psalm Ixxx. 11. Quicken us, Iiord, so will we call upon thee. Let this be the matter of our daily and importunate requests to heaven. And let us remember too, that un- der the gospel, Christ is the spring of our life ; he is appointed by the Father to bestow his Spirit : He himself is called our life ; Col. iii. 3. He himself is a quickening Spirit; 1 Cor. xv. 45. AU the principles of our holiness must be derived from him, as our head of vital influence. X. The last thing I shall propose, in order to keep the devout passions awake and lively in religion, is to live much in the faith of UDseen things, and to daily die. Set yourselves continually as on the borders of the grave and the invisible world : This was St. Paul's practice; 1 Cor. xv. 31. I protest by our* rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus, our Lovd, I die daily : And his daily living in the views of death, had a happy influence to maintain his rejoic- ing in Christ. If you constantly look on yourselves as dying crea- tures, and place yourselves on the borders of eternity, you will then take leave daily of sensible things, and live by the faith of things in- visible. You will then behold God as ever near you, God, the Judge of all, the everlasting hope and the portion of his saints : You will be very unwilling to have your heart absent from God, while you look at death as just at hand. Then the blessed Jesus, both as a Saviour and as a Judge, will be much on your thoughts. " Am I ready to appear before my Judge ? Have I any strong and secure evidences that Jesus is my Saviour V Then the gates of heaven will be ever as it were open before you, and the glories of it always within your view: You will think much of the heavenly world, with all its holy inhabitants, with its divine enjoyments, with its everlasting freedom from temptation, * Most of the Greek copies, as well as our own translation, read it yow re- joicing ; but it is hard to make sense of it, wi'cliout changing the word your into our, which in the Greek is but the small change of one letter ; and one or more manuscript copies have the word ow, and support this alteration 11* 250 CHOICE WORKS OF and sin, and sorrow, with its delightfid business, and its unknown pleasures. Then this world will be as a dead thing in your eyes; it will have very little power to work on your passions, and to draw you aside from God : He will be your love and your all. The strength of faith and the views of death will command your fears, and hopes, and desires, and confine them to' the things of religion. Then you will be ever solicitous to brighten your evidences for heaven, to keep your hopes firm and unshaken, by often reviewing the grounds and foundations of them : And your spirit will be solicitous to be found ready at all hours for the call and summons into the upper ■world. Every power of nature, and every passion will be kept in its light frame and posture, under the influence of such an expecta- tion. You will hate every sin, and abhor the thoughts of it, lest your souls be defiled afresh, when they are just called to depart : You will keep your desires of God always warm, and set a guard on your love, lest it sufier and decay : You will raise your thoughts to a continual delightful converse with heavenly things, and enter into the spirit of joy and praise. O blessed souls, who daily practise this sort of departure from the body, and anticipate the pleasures of the heavenly state ! Who love the blessed God, and delight in him here on earth, as far as mortality will admit, and are breathing after the more consummate holiness and joy of paradise ! This was the frame and temper, this the devout language of Armelle Nicholas, a poor servant maid, who had spent more than thirty years of her life in the constant exercise of diviue love. " God has sent me," says she, " into this world but to love himself, and through his great mercy I have loved him so much, that I cannot love him more, after the manner of mortals : I must go to him that I may love him after the manner of the blessed." Meditation. " I have learned so much of religion, as to know that it does not consist in vehement commotions of animal nature, in sublime raptures and ecstasies : We may be sincere Christians in the exercises of repentance and faith, and in the practice of holy obedience, without any overwhelming sorrows or transporting joys. Yet since the various afiections of fear and hope, love and sorrow, de- sire and delight, belong to my nature, I am sure they ought to be all engaged in some measure in the service of God and religion : And J have been taught in this discourse by what methods it may be ob- tained. Let me now recollect these advices briefly,in order to practise." And first, " I will endeavor that the ruling powers of my soul, the understanding and the will, be employed in these aflfairs of everlast- ing importance, O may ray memory be richly furnished with ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 251 treasures of divine knowledge; may I be fully convinced of the necessity and worth of true religion ! May I have the most exalted esteem of God and tilings heavenly ! May these be the objects of my dearest choice ! May my will be firmly determined to fix on these as my highest portion, and my everlasting all ! And can I go thus far without making God the supreme object of my love 3 Can I cboose him with all his excellencies, his graces, and his glories, as my all-suflScient happiness, and live upon him as such, and yet not love him ? I think this is impossible. Let me then cherish and im- prove this divine principle of love ; and divine love will govern all the other passions of nature, will employ them in their proper work, and distribute to them their several offices in the religious life. Love is the sovereign and commanding passion. But what shall I do, O Lord, to love thee more ? How shall I kindle this divine flame ? How shall I nourish it and raise it high ? I meditate on the wonders of thy nature, the extent of thy goodness, and the riches of thy mercy, and yet how little do I love thee ! I review the sweet variety of blessings that I have received from thy hand in this life, and the surprising transactions of thy condescending grace, which relate to the life to come, ' and yet how little do I love thee !' I behold Jesus thy Son sent out of thy own bosom to take flesh and blood, and to dwell among sinners, even Jesus, the Son of thy highest love, sent down to earth to be made a sacrifice, and to die for the sake of such guilty wretches as I am, an amazing instance of thy love to us, ' and yet how little do I love thee !' I read in thy word what thou hast done for me in ancient times and ages, long before I was born ; and what thou wilt do for me in worlds and ages beyond death and time, and yet I am ashamed to think ' how little I love thee !' My thoughts run from one eternity to another, and trace the various and transcendent wonders of thy love in the several periods of time ; glorious and astonishing instances of the compassion of a God to a worthless creature, to a worm, to a dust, an atom of being, yea worse, to a sinner, a rebel that deserves thy immortal hatred, ' and yet how little do I love thee !' I wander in meditation through the various fields of nature and grace, and methinks I see my God in all of them, diffusing -the unbounded riches of his wisdom and love through them all : I endeavor to take my warmest passions with me, while I rove among the unknown scenes of thy power and goodness, and yet, O my God, after all, I am forced to confess, ' how exceeding little it is that I love thee !' Lord, it is thy own work to turn a heart of stone into flesh, to make it. feel all the tender im- pressions of divine love, and to kindle the celestial principle of life and love within me. Come down from ofl high, fhoii ^oyeyeign of 252- CHOICE WOKKS OF all Nature ; come down into my heart, take possession of it foi thyself, and let it ever bum and breathe towards thee, and send up the perpetual incense of holy desire and love. " I will set a watch upon my eyes and my ears, and all the avenues of sense and appetite, that the creatures may not enter in too far, and dwell too near my heart, which I have given up to God. I would place a sacred guard upon it, to keep off every rival. I know the danger that arises from flattering objects of flesh and sense : If they but once gain admittance into the heart, they are ever busy to take too fast hold there. Many of the weeds of this wilderness have gay and flattering blossoms, and if once they are permitted to creep into the soul, they twine about every passion, and root themselves there, to the certain prejudice of divine love. Alas, for that holy plant ! That flower of heavenly original ! How the noxious weeds of this world choak its growth, and cause it to decay and languish ! Oh ! may all the tempting trifles and vain de- lighte of this life stand aloof from my heart, for I have devoted it to God for a habitation. Keep your distance, ye dangerous crea- tures, from the gates of this temple where my God dwells. There let him dwell alone, and reign over all my powers for ever. " I would seek after my God in his public ordinances ; I would seek after him daily in my secret retirements ; I would give my pious passions a greater loose where no eye beholds me, where no ear can take notice of me. Oh ! may these retiring hours be the special seasons for the lively exercise and the increase of my devout affections ! There I can tell my God all my heart in private groans and private rejoicings. He shall know what my sighs mean, what are my fears and my painful sorrows : There I can blush before him for my secret sins, and open the floods of holy mourning : There I can pour out into his ear my bitter complaints of the rising corruptions of my heart : I can lament over the vanity of my thoughts, and spread my unknown temptations before his eyes. I can lay myself low at his feet in the dust, and tell him with humble confusion of face and soul how much I have received from him, how much I have done against hirh, and how little I have loved him. " In these secret chambers of retirement, I may join the ex- ercises of an active faith and a cheerful hope, with the sighs and tears of penitence : There I can breathe out my most vehement de- sires after the presence of my God, and after the sweeter sensations of his love. My flesh and my heart may pant and cry out after God, the living God, and say when shall I come and appear before him! Psalm xlii. 1, 2. When shall I be made more entirely like him ? When shall these days of sin and temptation, these ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 253 tedious seasons of absence and distance from God, come to a final period, never, never to return again ? The lonely and retired de- votions of a Christian may lead him near the walls of paradise, and the seats of the blessed, almost within the sound of their songs and praises. In a solitary cell, in a field remote from cities and men, or in a grove, such as Abraham planted, we may call upon the name of the Lord, the everlasting God ; Gen. xxi. 33. There we may send up our souls towards heaven in most pathetic breath- ings of love and joy : The heart and the tongue may rejoice to- gether in God our Saviour, while none but the trees and the skies bear witness to the hidden pleasures of our religion, and the sweet sensations of a conscience at peace with God : The trees in all their lovely bloom and verdure, and the skies in a cloudless and serene season, are happy emblems of such a conscience, serene and bloom- ing with life and glory. When the sun and daylight are with- drawn, we may talk over our hopes and our holy joys to the silence of the moon and the midnight stars : Silent are they, and secure witnesses of those divine delights, to which the noisy and the busy world are too much strangers, and which the public must not know. There we may make our boast aloud in the name of Jesus, as our Saviour and our beloved : We may reckon up before him who sees all things our fairest evidences of an interest in his love, and may glory in the hope of his salvation : Surely when all the pleasing passions of nature are excited into such a just and lively exercise on divine objects, the power and the pleasure of religion within us will acquire thereby a lasting strength. " In order to carry on this happy work, I am directed to con- verse much with those parts of Christianity, which are suited to raise the most sprightly afiections. I have done it, O Lord, and yet I feel my heart too little warmed and raised ! But I would re- peat the holy work ; it is all duty, and it should be all delight : I would repeat it, till I find the sacred fire kindle and glow within. I would run over again that vast and extensive field of wonders. Again, let me survey the sublime glories of thy majesty, thy power, thy wisdom, thy goodness, all unsearchable and all infinite. I would dwell upon them till I am lost in this boundless ocean of Godhead, and swallowed up in adoration and wonder. Then would I recall my past days of life, and bring past years back to my re- membrance. With a sacred solemnity would I revolve in my heart the multitude of my transgressions, and the multitude of divine mercies, till my soul be melted into repentance and love : There is an unknown pleasure in the tears of pious love and holy mourning. I would read the astonishing history of the love of Christ, and trace 254 CHOICK WOKKS OF the divine path of it down from his Father's bosom to his state of infancy, to the manger, and the stable at Bethlehem : I would fol- low this golden track of love through the weaknesses, the fatigues, and sorrows of a life of poverty and reproach : I would trace it on the midnight mountains of prayer, and through the sohtary wilder- ness, the stage of his sore temptations : I follow the shining thread of this unwearied love, till it brought him to sustain unknown agonies in the garden, and nailed him to the cursed tree : I behold him there groaning and expiring under the weight of my sins: Amazing spectacle ! What will awaken devout passion, if such varied scenes of divine love and divine sorrow cannot do it ? " Let me borrow those blessed patterns of warm and living de- votion, which David has left us, and tune the songs of Zion to the name of Jesus : The sweetest songs, and the sweetest name will happily unite and increase the divine harmony. Oh ! when shall I feel the ardent desires, the penitent sorrows, the holy wishes, and pious elevated joys of the ancient Psalmist ? Oh ! for the return of the same Spirit that gave the soul and the harp of David, these sacred and immortal elevations. When I find a divine influence reaching my heart, and raising a devout passion there, I would hold fast and cherish the heavenly sunbeam, till I feel the holy warmth diffused through all my powers : Nor would I willingly suffer the tides of business or care in this world to quench the spark which was kindled from above. I would keep up the savor of divine things among the common affairs of this life. A present God in the midst of the labors of this world, will sweeten and sanc- tify them all, and bring heaven down to earth. " Suffer me not, my God, to bury all my religion within me. Let my tongue communicate some of the wonders of thy mercy, and be the lively instrument of thy praise : Give courage and wis- dom, that I may know when and how to divert vain discourse, and may dare to speak for God. Oh ! when shall the time be, that they which fear the Lord, shall speak often one to another? Mai. iii. 16. and warm each other's hearts with heavenly conversation ? When shall the blessed Spirit revisit the forsaken churches, and dwell again in the degenerate families of Christians ? While we feel our hearts heavy, and our affections cold and languid in the things of God, we toil and heave in vain without this Spirit. We flutter upon the ground, and make attempts to rise heavenward: but, alas ! we grovel and groan under our impotence, till the Spirit gives us an eagle's wing to mount us up toward the heavenly world. With all our pious endeavors, let us join our efforts of im- portunate request for the return of the quickening Spirit, and his IBAAC WATTS, D.D... 255 vital influences. Oh ! that I might live much in the faith of unseen things, and set myself continually as on the borders of death. Turn aside the veil, O blessed Jesus, that I may look into the unseen world ! Or give the eyes of my faith vigor enough to pierce through the veil, and see my God and my Saviour. And may this blessed sight maJi:e a divine impression upon all the powers of my nature, such as may awaken every vigorous and pleasing passion of the heart, such as may engage me to keep my hopes always awake, my evidences for heaven unspotted, and my desires ever breathing toward thy presence, my Saviour, and my God ! If my pious pas- sions were iu their warmest exercise, I should be ever ready to obey the divine order for my removal hence : I should receive the mes- senger death with a smile on my countenance, and follow the an- gel with a cheerful step, while he leads me away from a world of sin, sorrow, and darkness, to the regions of life and joy. " O happy country, where sorrow and sin have no place, where my spirit in its inmost powers shall feel an eternal spring ! While we dwell in this world, it is all winter with us : We behold the sun as afar off, and receive but feeble influences. But in the world on high, all things around us are full of life and love : There are no gloomy hours, no chilling blasts, no cold and cloudy seasons. There no damp shall hang upon the wing of my devout affections, no waters shall ever quench the fervor of them. There I shall be for ever ascending nearer to God the centre of my soul, and all my motions will be swifter too. Every power within me shall feel stronger influences of his love, when I am got so far within the divine attraction. Then t shall complain no longer of absence and distance, nor feel any more eclipse of the face of my God ; but I shall be perpetually receiving a full efflux of light and love from the eternal Sun of grace and glory. I shall spend the ages of my endless existence in a rich variety of sublime duties, and sublime delights ; such delights and such duties as are, and must be un- known, till we put off these coarse and cumberous garments of flesh and blood, these veils that enwrap our souls in darkness. Happy shall I be indeed, when all the troublesome and disquieting influences of flesh and blood shall cease : All ray painful and un- easy passions shall be for ever banished : Grief, and fear, and anger, shall vex my spirit no more. Animal nature must be buried in the dust, and all the ferments and emotions of it shall cease for ever. " But must I then lose all those kindly ferments of nature too, all those pleasing emotions, which in this present state add fresh vigor and delight to the soul in the exercise of its best attections, 256 CHOICE WORKS OF love and joy ? If all these must be lost, who can inform me what shall come in the room of them ? Surely love and joy are immortal things ; they were made for heaven, and cannot die, nor shall their vigor be diminished in a world that was built for happiness. What strange unknown powers then shall be given to separate spirits, whereby these divine affections shall be invigorated, and raised to nobler degrees of exercise ? Or shall my separate spirit, when it is divested of every clog, and exulting in complete liberty, use all its own affectionate powers in a nobler and more perfect manner, when I shall see the divine objects of them face to face ? Surely the holy souls that are dismissed from flesh, shall be richly furnished with all necessary faculties, for their own felicity. Every saint in glory shall find full satisfaction, and intense delight, when all its best affections are united and employed on the most lovely and desirable objects ; when they are all fixed on God their supreme good, and on Jesus, the most perfect, and most divine image of the Father. " Jesus, together with the Father, shall be the object of our con- templation and love. And at the same time his holy soul, with all its pure affections, rejoicing in its own nearness to God, shall be the pattern of our heavenly joy. lin them, says our blessed Lord, / in them, and thou in me, that they all may be made perfect in one ; John xvii. 23. And we are told — We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is ; 1 John iii. 2. " These are the sweet notices of our future felicity, that he has given us to cheer our he.arts in the present state of faith and labor : These are the bright, but distant glimpses of those entertainments which are prepared for us in our Father's house. These are little prospects of those rivers of pleasure, that run between the hills of paradise, and make glad the new Jerusalem, the city of our God : Such joys as these await us on high. Do we not feel our hearts pant and point upward ? These are the joys of divine love ; the very faith and hope of this blessedness, the slight glimpses and fore- tastes of it here on earth, have something in them unspeakable and full of glory : But the complete relish and fruition of it is reserved for heaven, and for heavenly inhabitants to know and enjoy. There, and there only, are such immediate and rich profusions of divine love, as the heart of man in this mortal state, is neither pure enough to partake of, nor large enough to conceive. We must die, we must die out of this world, to learn perfectly what those pleasures are ; nor can we know them but by enjoyment. Missionary angels could not make us understand them, nor a visit from departed saints, Earthly languages were not made to express the fulness of ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 257 these celestial sensations : The ideas of paradise demand unutter- able words ; nor are spirits dwelling in flesh either fit or able to hear them. We must die then, to learn how these blessed ones love God, and how God loves the blessed. Oh ! when will the happy day arrive ? When will the hour shine out upon us, and the bright moment appear ? It is coming, it is coming, as fast as time can roll away, and the sun and moon can finish their ap- pointed periods. " Come, my soul, rouse thyself from thy dull and lethargic tem- per ; shake off the dust of this earth, that hangs heavy upon thy better powers. Hast thou not been long weary of such cold and frozen devotion, as is practised in this earthly state ? Hast thou not long complained of loving thy God so little, and of tasting so little of his love ? Come, raise thyself above these dull and despic- able scenes of flesh and sense, above all that is not immortal. lift up thy head with cheerfulness and eager hope ; look out with long- ing eyes, beyond the shadowy region of death, and salute the dawning of thy eternal day : Stretch out thy arms of intense desire, and send a flight of devout wishes across the dark valley, to meet the approaching joys of immortality." AN EXHORTATION TO MINISTERS. AN EXHOKTATION TO MINISTERS. When true religion falls under a general and remarkable decay, it is time for all that are concerned to awaken and rouse themselves to fresh vigor and activity, in their several posts of service. If the interests of piety and virtue are things fit to be encouraged and maintained in the world, if the kingdom of the blessed God among men be worthy to be supported, surely it is a necessary and becoming zeal for every one who hath the honor to be a minister of this kingdom, to take alarm at the appearance of such danger ; and each of us should enquire. What can I do to strengthen the things which remain and are ready io die, as well as to recover what is lost ? Let my brethren, therefore, in the min- istry, forgive me, if I presume at this season to set before them a plain and serious exhortation. It was prepared for a public so- lemnity, wherein an esteemed young friend and brother entered into the ministerial office ; and upon this account I have used much more freedom in the language than I could ever pretend to justify on any other occasion. It was in the name of my reverend breth- ren then present, as well as in my own, that the exhortation ad- dresses him in the manner following : You have this day devoted and dedicated yourself to the service of Christ in the ministry of the gospel, and particularly for the edi- fication of this church. Your brethren in the ministry have also done all that they can do toward the dedicating and devoting you to the same sacred service, by the various solemn transactions of the day ; and now we entreat, we exhort, we charge you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the words of the great apos- tle, that you take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you fulfil it; Col. iv. 17. While we are endeavor- ing to press this charge on your conscience, we would speak also, each of us, to our own souls, and renew the awful charge upon ourselves. We would call to mind our own vows and engagements this day, and revive our decaying and dying zeal in this sacred and important service. What I have to say on this subject, shall be contained under four general heads : I. Take heed to your own personal religion, as absolutely neces- sary to the right discharge of the ministerial office. 262 CHOICE WORKS OF II. Take heed to your private studies and preparations for pub- lic service. III. Take heed to your public labors, and actual ministrations in the church. IV. Take heed to your conversation in the world, and especially among the fiock of Christ over which you preside. Bear with me while I enlarge a little upon each of these. Section I. — ot a minister's personal religion. I. Take heed to your own personal religion, especially to the work of God in yotir own heart, as absolutely necessary to the right discharge of the ministerial work. Surely there is the high- est obligation on a preacher of the gospel to beUeve and practise what he preaches. He is under the most powerful and sacred en- gagements to be a Christian himself, who goes forth to persuade the world to become Christians. A minister of Christ who is not a hearty believer in Christ, and a sincere follower of him, is a most shameful and inconsistent character, and forbids in practice what he recommends in words and sentences. But it is not enough for a minister to have a common degree of piety and virtue, equal to1;he rest of Christians ; he should transcend and surpass others. The leaders and officers of the army under the blessed Jesus should be more expert in the 'Christian exercise, and more advanced in the holy warfare, than his fellow-soldiers are supposed to be ; 2 Cor. vi. 4. In all things approving ourselves (saith the apostle) as the ministers of God in much patience, etc., and I may add, in much of every Christian grace. A little and low degree of it is not sufficient for a minister ; see therefore not only that you practice every part and instance of piety and virtue which you preach to others, but abound therein, and be eminent beyond and above the rest, as your station in the church is more exalted, and as your character demands. The world expects more from you, your own conscience requires more of you, and Christ your Lord both requires and expects much more religion to. be found in you, who are the leader, than in the rest of the flock, since your advantages are much superior to most of theirs. Your time and life are in a special manner devoted to the things of God and religion, and the heavenly world : Your par- ticular calling as a minister is much nearer aJdn to your general calling as a Christian, than that of the rest of mankind ; and you ought to improve it for the advancement of your Christianity. You are more disengaged from the busy cares and embarrassments ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 263 of this life than other Christians, that you may have your heart and soul more entirely employed in things that relate to the life to come. Your daily duty calls you to be more conversant with the word of God, with the rules of piety, and the gospel of salvation : The precepts which require universal godliness, and the promises that encourage it, are better known to you, and your mind is better fur- nished with them, or at least it should be so. You are obliged to copy out the life of Christ more exactly, that you may be an exam- ple to the flock in every thing that is holy. Your temptations to a vain and worldly spirit, and a sensual temper of mind, are much fewer than those of many other men, whose hearts and hands are necessarily busied in the affairs of the world, and who are more frequently constrained into the company of sinners. Now since your helps in the way to heaven, both as to the knowledge and practice of duty, are much greater than what others enjoy, and your obstacles and impediments are in some instances less than theirs, it will be a shameful thing in you, as it is a matter of shame to aoy of us, to sink below the character of other Chris- tians in the practice of our holy religion, or even if we do not excel the most of them, since our obligations to it, as well as our advan- tages for it, are so much greater than others. Take heed therefore, to your own practical and vital religion, as to the truth, reality, and evidence of it, as to the liveliness and power of it, as to the growth and increase of it. I. Take heed to your own practical religion, to the truth and reality of it, and the clear and undoubted evidence of it in your own conscience. Give double diligence to make your calling and election sure. See to it with earnest solicitude, that you be not mistaken in so necessary and important a concern ; for a minister who preaches up the religion of Christ, yet has no evidence of it in his own heart, will lie under vast discouragements in his work ; and if he be not a real Christian himself, he will justly fall under double damnation. Keep a constant holy jealousy over your own soul, lest while you preach to the eternal salvation of others, yourself become a cast-away, or disapproved of God, and for ever banished from his presence ; 1 Gor. ix. 27.. Call your own soul often to ac- count ; examine the temper, the frame, and the motions of your heart with all holy severity, so that the evidences of your faith in Jesus, and your repentance for sin, and your conversion to God, be many and fair, be strong and unquestionable ; that you may walk on with courage and joyful hope toward heaven, and lead on the flock of Christ thither with holy assurance and joy. 264 CHOICE WOEKS OF n. Take heed to your own religion, as to the liveliness and power of it. Let it not be a sleepy thing: in your bosom, but sprightly and active, and always awake. Keep your own soul near God in the same way in which you first came near him, i. e. by the media- tion of Jesus Christ. Let no distance or estrangement grow between God and you, between Christ and you. Maintain much con- verse with God by prayer, by reading his word, by holy meditation, by heavenly-mindedness, and universal hoUness in flie frame and tem- per of your own spirit. Converse with God and with your own soul in the duties of secret religion, and walk always in the world as under the eye of God. Every leader of the flock of God should act as Moses did, should live as seeing him that is invisible ; Heb. xi. 27. in. Take heed to your personal religion, as to the growth and increase of it. Let it be ever upon the advancing hand. Be ten- derly sensible of every wandering aflfection toward vanity, every deviation from God and your duty, every rising sin, every degree of growing distance from God. Watch and pray much, and cx)n- verse much with God, as one of his ministering angels in flesh and blood, and grow daily in conformity to God and your blessed Saviour, who is the first minister of his Father's kingdom, and the fairest image of his Father. Such a conduct will have several happy influences towards the fulfilling of your ministry, and will render you more fit for every part of your pubhc ministrations. 1. Hereby you will improve in your acquaintance with divine things, and the spiritual parts of religion, that you may better teach the people both truth and duty. Those who are much with God may expect and hope, that he will teach them the secret of his covenant, and the ways of his mercy, by communications of divine light to their spirits. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will shew them his covenant ; Psalm xxv. 14. Luther used to say, that he got more knowledge in a short time by prayer sometimes, than by the study and labor of muny hours. 2. Hereby you will be more fit to speak to the great God at all times, as a son with holy confidence in him as your father, and you will be better prepared to pray with and for the people. You will have an habitual readiness for the work, and increase in the gift of prayer. You will obtain a treasure and fluency of sacred language, suited to address God on all occasions. Hereby you wll gain a freedom and interest in the throne of grace, and become a more powerful intercessor for your people, under the influence of Jesus the great Intercessor, who is ever near the throne ; and be sure you improve your interest in heaven, for the edification of those committed to your care. ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 265 3. Hereby you will be kept near to the spring of all grace, to the fountain of strength and comfort in your work : You will be ever deriving fresh anointings, fresh influences, daily lights and pow- ers, to enable you to go through all the difficulties and labors of your sacred office. 4. Hereby, when you come among men in your sacred ministra- tions, you will appear, and speak, and act like a man come from God ; like Moses with a lustre upon his face, when he had con- versed with God ; like a minister of the court of heaven employed in a divine office ;like a messenger of grace who hath just been with God, and received instructions frorn him ; and the world will take cognizance of you, as they did of the apostles, that they were men who had been with Jesus ; Acts iv. 13. 6. This will better furnish you for serious converse with the souls and consciences of men, by giving you experimental acquaintance with the things of religion, as they are transacted in the heart. You will learn more of the springs of sin and holiness, the work- ings of nature and grace, the deceitfulness of sin, the subtilty of temptation, and the holy skill of counterworking the snares of sin, and the devices of Satan, and all their designs to ruin the souls of men. You will speak with more divine compassion to wretched and perishing mortals ; with more life and power to stupid sinners ; with more sweetness and comfort to awakened consciences, and with more awful language and influence to backsliding Christians. You will hereby learn to preach more powerfully in all respects for the salvation of men, and talk more feelingly on every sacred sub- ject, when the power, and sense, and life of Godliness are kept up in your own spirit. Then on some special occasions it may not be improper to boiTow the language of David the prophet, and of St. Paul and St. John, two great apostles, though it may be best in public to speak in the plm'al number. We have believed, therefore we have spoken ; what we have heard and learned from Christ, we have declared unto you ; what we have seen and felt, we are bold to speak ; attend and we will tell you what God has done for our souls. You may then at proper seasons convince, direct, and com- fort others by the same words of hght and power, of precept and promise, of joy and hope, which have convinced, directed and com- forted you ; a word coming from the heart will sooner reach the heart. Section H. — of a minister's private stcdies. The second general head of exhortation relates to your own private studies: Take heed to these, that you may better fulfil 12 266 CHOICE WORKS OF your ministry. Give yourself (saith St. Paul to Timothy) to read- ing, to meditation, that your profiting may appear to all ; 1 Tim. iv. 13, 15. Tliese private studies are of various tinds, whether you consider them in general, as necessary to furnish the mind with knowledge, for the oflBce of the ministry ; or in particular, as neces- sary to prepare discourses for the pulpit. 1st. Those general studies may be just mentioned in this place, which furnish the mind with knowledge for the work of a minister ; for though it is known you have passed through the several stages of science in your younger years, and have made a good improve- ment in them, yet a review of many of them will be found needful, and an increase in some (so far as leisure permits) may be proper and useful, even through the whole course of life. Among these, some are necessary to improve the reasoning faculty, to teach us to distinguish truth from falsehood, and to judge aright concerning any subjects that are proposed to us; such are the art of logic, which gives us rules for judging and reasoning, and some of the speculative principles of the mathematics, particularly the demon- strations of geometry, and the inferences or corollaries that are drawn from them, wherein we have the clearest and fairest examples to teach us reasoning by the practice of it. And as all arts and sciences have a connection with and in- fluence upon each other, so for a divine as well as for a physician, it is needful there should be some knowledge of nature and the powers of it in the heavens and earth, in the air and water, that we may thereby learn and teach more of the glories of our Creator, and more easily distinguish between what is natural and what is miraculous. This will enable us also to think and speak more justly almost upon any subject which occurs in our private read- ing, in our pubfic ministry, or in our daily conversation ; and pffl' ticularly it is useful, if not necessary for a minister to have some acquaintance with human nature, in the two constituent parts of it, soul and body, and in the powers and passions of mankind, that we may better distinguish how far particular actions ai'e natural and mechanical, and how far they are voluntary and moral, vir- tuous or sinful ; how far they are influenced by flesh and blood, and how far they are under the government of the will, which is of great importance in order to judge right in many cases of con- science, and to give directions for the moral or religious life. It is needful also, and of considerable moment, that a divine should be acquainted with the arts of method and of oratory ; the one to range our thoughts and discourses in due order, and to set the things of God before men in the plainest, the most conspicuous ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 267 and convincing light ; and the other to win upon the hearts of the hearers, and to lead them by a sweet and powerful influence on their affections, into the love and practice of religion. There are other parts of science which are necessary for ministers to be well acquainted with, and particularly those which are the foundations of all religion ; such as the knowledge of God and his attributes by the light of nature and reason, the knowledge of man as a creature of God, in his natural dependence upon his Creator, and in his moral relations both to God and his fellow-creatures, together with the obligations to duty which are derived thence, and which branch themselves into all the parts of morality and religion. It is requi- site to have some acquaintance also with the heathen writers, the folly and madness of pagan idolatry, the history and the customs of ancient ages and nations, and the history of the church of the Jews and of Christians, in order to establish our faith in the doc- trines of Christianity, and to prove the religion of Christ to be divine, and that the Bible is the word of God. When this great point is once settled, then our chief business will be to understand thjs Bible, and to find out the meaning of the holy Scriptures ; and for this end (as well as for the reading of ancient heathen authors) it is requisite that we should have some skill in the tongues ; and particularly those wherein the Scriptures were written, viz. Hebrew and Greek, that we may be able at least to judge a little for ourselves, concerning the translation of any text in our language. For this pui'posealso some knowledge of the customs of the ancients, both Jews and Pagans, is necessary, in order to give us a juster idea of many things recorded in Scripture ; and we should get some acquaintance with geography and chronol- ogy, which will be of great service to set before our eyes the distant places and times wherein those ancient affairs were transacted, which the Scripture relates, and without which the history of Scripture, as well as gome of the prophecies, can never be well understood. Nor is it an unprofitable study to read some of the writings of the fathers, who lived in the very first ages of Christianity, that we may know the sentiments and customs of those who lived nearest to the days of the apostles ; this may give a little light to some ex- pressions and phrases used in Scripture, and enable us sometimes better to understand what the evangelists and apostles wrote. But it must be confessed, that immediately after the apostolic age, and indeed before the apostles were dead, there were so many corrup- tions and mistakes both in faith and worship, so many fancies and inventions of men crept into the church, that there is scarce one ancient writer perfectly free, and not one of them to be entirely 268 CHOICE WORKS OF trusted, as a directer of our consciences, or as a regulator of our be- lief or practice. St. Paul iimself tells us that in his days tU mystery of iniquity began to work ; 2 Thess. ii. 7. The fathers, as theyare called, have many weak and fanciful things in their writings ; it is the Bible alone that must be our guide ; the word of the Lord is pure and perfect. Above all things therefore, the constant reading and study of the holy Scriptures are necessary, in order to a larger and more com- plete acquaintance with our divine religion. Here our faith and conscience may rest safely, in all our enquiries about matters of belief or practice. The doctrines, the commands, the typas and histories, the prophecies, the promises and threatenings of the word of God, are the brightest and noblest part of the knowledge of a minister. These are the things that are able to make us and our hearers wise unto salvation, and to furnish the man of God for every good word and work ; 2 Tim. iii. 15, 16. Let us never imagine we know enough of divine things, while we dwell in flesh and blood. God and Christ, and the things of heaven, are fruitful and inexhaustible subjects of our enquiry and . knowledge ; they are so in this world, and they will be so for ever in the world to come. The angels of God pry further into them, nor shall the sons of men ever know them to perfection. These will be the glorious objects of everlasting study, and everlasting entertainment. I might add in the last place, that there are some other parts of human knowledge, which, though they are not necessary, yet are greatly ornamental to a minister, in the present age, which is so much enriched with knowledge, vis. some farther acquaintance with modern geography, the nations and kingdoms of this world ; some general view of astronomy, the appearances, and seeming or real motions of the sun and moon, stars and planets, and of this earth, which is now generally agreed to be one of the planetary worlds ; to which we may join some skill in philology, criticism on the writings of men as well as on Scripture, and various parts of science which go under the name of the belles lettres, or polite learning. These are such sort of accomplishments of the mind as will embellish the character of the minister, and render his person and his labors more acceptable to the world. But amongst all these enquiries and studies, and these various improvements of the mind, let us take heed that none of them carry our thoughts away too far from our chief and glorious de- sign, that is, the ministry of the gospel of Christ. Let none of them intrench upon those hours which should be devoted to our study of the Bible, or preparations for the pulpit : and wheresoever ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 269 we find our inclinations too much attached to any particular hu- man science, let us set a guard upon ourselves, lest it rob us of our diviner studies, and our best improvement. A minister should remember, that himself, with all his studies, is consecrated to the service of the sanctuary : Let every thing be done therefore with a view to our great end : Let all the rest of our knowledge be like lines drawn from the vast circumference of universal nature, point- ing to that divine centre, Qod and religion ; and let us pursue every part of science with a design to gain better qualifications thereby for our sacred work. Forgive me, my friends, that I have dwelt so long on these general preparations for the work of the ministry. Though they are learned at the academy, yet I can by no means think it proper they should be left there and forgot- ten. 2nd. I come to speak of those particular studies which are pre- paratory for the public work of the pulpit ; and here when you retire to compose a sermon, let your great end be ever kept in view, i. e., to say something for the honor of God, for the glory of Christ, for the salvation of the souls of men ; and for this purpose a few rules may perhaps be of some service. One great and general rule is, ask advice of Heaven by prayer about every part of your pre- paratory studies ; seek the direction and assistance of the Spirit of God, for inclining your thoughts to proper subjects, for guiding you to proper Scriptures, and framing your whole sermon both as to the matter and manner, that it may attain the divine and sacred ends proposed. But I insist not largely on this here, because prayers for aids and counsels from Heaven belong to every pai-t of your work, both in the closet, in the pulpit, and in your daily con- versation. The particular rules for your preparatory work may be such as these : I. In choosing your texts, or themes of discourse, seek such as are most suited to do good to souls, according to the present wants, dangers, and circumstances of the people ; whether for the instruc- tion of the ignorant ; for the conviction of the stupid and senseless ; for the melting and softening of the obstinate ; for the conversion of the wicked ; for the edification of converts ; for the comfort of the timorous and mournful ; for gentle admonition of backsliders, or more severe reproof. Some acquaintance with the general case and character of your hearers is needful for this end. II. In handling the text, divide, explain, illustrate, prove, con- vince, infer, and apply in such a manner, as to do real service to men, and honor to our Lord Jesus Christ. Do not say within your- self how much or how elegantly I can talk upon such a text, but 270 CHOICE WORKS OP what can I say most usefully to those who hear me, for the instrao- tion of their minds, for the conviction of their consciences, and for the persuasion of their hearts ? Be not fond of displaying your learned criticisms in clearing up the terms and phrases of a text, where scholars only can be edified by them ; nor spend away the precious moments of the congregation, in making them heai- you explain what is clear enough before, and hath no need of explain- ing ; nor in proving that which is so obvious that it wants no proof. This is little better than trifling with God and man. Think not, how can I make a sermon soonest and easiest ? but how can I make the most profitable sermon for my hearers ; not what fine things I can say, either in a way of criticism or philosophy, or in a way of oratory and harangue, but what powerful words I can speak to impress the consciences of them that hear with a serious and lasting sense of moral, divine, and eternal things. Judge wisely what to leave out as well as what to speak. Let not your chief design be to work up a sheet, or to hold out an hour, but to save a soul. in. In speaking of the great things of God and religion, remem- ber you are a minister of Christ and the gospel, sent to publish to men what God has revealed by his prophets and apostles, and by his Son Jesus ; and not a heathen philosopher to teach the people merely what the light of reason can search out : You are not to stand up here as a professor of ancient or modem philosophy, nor an usher in the school of Plato or Seneca, or Mr. Locke ; but as a teacher in the school of Christ, as a preacher of the New Testa- ment. You are not a Jewish priest, to instruct men in the precise niceties of ancient Judaisms, legal rites and ceremonies ; but you are a Christian minister; let Christianity, therefore, run through all your composures, and spread its glories over them ail. It is granted, indeed, that reasonings ti-om the light of nature have a considerable use in the ministry of the gospel. It is by the principles of natural religion, and by reasoning from them on the wonderful events of prophecy and miracle, &c. that we ourselves must learn the truth of the Christian religion, and we must teach the people to build their faith of the gospel on just and rational gi'ounds ; and this may perhaps, at some time or other, require a few whole discourses on some of the principal themes of natural religion, in order to introduce and display the religion of Jesus. But such occasions will but seldom arise in the course of your ministry. It is granted also that it is a very useful labor sometimes in a sermon, to shew how far the 'light of nature and reason will carry us on in search of duty and happiness ; and then to mauifcst ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 2'71 how happily the light of Scripture supplies the deficiencies of it ; that the people may know how greatly they are indebted to the peculiar favor of God for the book of divine revelation. And yet further, since the whole of natural religion is contained and included in the gospel of Christ, it is proper sometimes to show that reason as well as Scripture confirms the same doctrines, and obliges us to practise the same duties. It is certain also that human reason, though it could not discover the religion of Christ, yet it is able to point out many admirable glories and divine con- descendencies in this religion when it is discovered. It is good to impress the conscience, as well as instruct the understanding, by the two great lights that God has given us, viz. reason and revela- tion. Two such pillars will support the structure of religion better than one. And when we happen to hear any of our brethren occasionally insisting on the themes of natural religion, and enforc- ing the belief of truths, or the practice of duties, by the principles of reason, let Us candidly suppose they are pursuing some of these designs which I have now mentioned, and that the principles and topics of revelation and Christianity are in reserve, to be displayed at large in their following sermons. In general it is most safe and honorable for a minister of Christ, to make the gospel appear to be the reigning principle in his dis- courses, and make his hearers see how gloriously it has improved the religion of nature. If you speak Of our natural knowledge of the attributes of God, and the truths of religion that reason dic- tates, show how they are all exalted, how brightly they shine in the gospel of Christ, and what new discoveries and new glories relating to them are derived from the Holy Scriptures. If you speak of the duties which men owe to God, or to one another, even those which are fouod out by reason and natural conscience, show how the gospel of Christ hath advanced and refined everything that nature and reason teach us : Enforce these duties by motives of Christianity, as well as by philosophical arguments drawn from the nature of things : Stir up the practice of them by the examples of Christ and his apostles, by that heaven and that hell which are revealed to the world by Jesus Christ our Saviour : Impress them on the heart by the constraining influence of the mercy of God and the dying love of our Lord Jesus Christ, by his glorious appear- ance to judge the living and the dead, and by our blessed hope of attending him on that day. These are the appointed arguments of our holy religion, and may expect more divine success. When you have occasion to represent what need there is of diligence and labor in the duties of holiness, show also what aids 2T3 CHOICE WORKS OF are promised in the gospel, to humble and feeble souls who are sensible of their own frailty to resist temptations, or to discharge religious and moral duties ; and what influences of the Holy Spirit may be expected by those who seek it. Let them know that Christ is exalted to send forth his Spirit, to bestow repentance and sancti- fication as well as forgiveness ; tor without him we can do nothing ; Acts V. 31. John xv. 5. As there are seasons and times proper to impress the mind with the glories of God our Creator, and to enforce the duties of mo- rality, to teach men to govern their unruly appetites and passions, to bind all the rules of virtue on the consciences of men, and press them with zeal and fervor, according to the example of the apostles in the New Testament ; so there are times and seasons to treat more at large on the peculiar truths of revelation and the glories of Christianity, both for the honor of our Saviour, and for the wel- fare of souls. For this reason they are so largely insisted on by the holy writers, those blessed patterns of our ministry. There must be some seasons allotted to the descriptions of the sinful and miserable state of mankind as revealed in Scripture ; to the dignity of the person of Christ the Redeemer, the only begotten Son of God, and the Son of Man ; to the covenant of grace, of pardon and salvation made with men, in and through this glorious Media- tor ; to the incarnation, life and death, the sacrifice and atonement, the resurrection, intercession, and universal government and lord- ship of Jesus Christ, and his coming to judge the world at the last day; and to the appointed methods of our participation of the blessings which he bestows. These illustrious doctrines are big with a thousand duties both to God and man ; all the practices of faith and love, repentance and imiversal holiness flow from them by plain and easy deduction ; all the sacred rules of piety and vir- tue, sobriety, justice and goodness, the holy skill of living and dying in the love and favor of God, are the most natural and happy inferences from these sublime truths of our religion. We preach the gospel in a very defective manner, if we neglect the moral or divine duties which are derived from the faith of Christ. If you would raise the hearts of your hearers to a just and high esteem of this gospel of grace, and impress them with an awfol sense of the divine importance and worth of it, be not afraid to lay human nature low, and to represent it in its ruins by the fall of the first Adam. It is the vain exaltation of ruined nature, that makes the gospel so ■much despised in our age. Labor, therefore, to make them see and feel the deplorable state of mankind as described in Scripture, that by one man sin entered into the world, ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 273 and death hy sin, and a sentence of death hath passed upon all men, for that all have sinned ; let them hear and know that Jews and Gentiles are all under sin, that there is none righteous, no, not one ; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may ap- pear guilty before Ood. Let them know that it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps ; that we are not sufficient of ourselves to think any good thing ; that we are without strength, alienated from the life of God through the ignorance and darkness of our understandings, and are by nature children of disobedience, and children of wrath ; that we are unable to recover ourselves out of these depths of wretch-edness without the condeBcensions of divine grace, and that the gospel of Christ is introduced as the only sov- ereign remedy and relief under all this desolation of nature, this overwhelming distress ; neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved ; Acts iv. 12. And they that wilfully and ob- stinately reject this message of divine love, must perish without remedy and without hope ; for there remains no more sacrifice for sin, hut a certain fearful expectation of vengeance ; Heb. x. 26. By this conduct you will approve yourself to be a faithful messen- ger of Christ in good earnest, a minister of the New Testament, and a workman that needs not to be ashamed, if you take special seasons to discover to men what the word of God reveals concern- ing their misery, and declare to them the whole counsel of God for their salvation. I entreat you, my dear friend and brother, to get it deeply impressed on your heart, that as (I believe) your real and sincere design is to save the souls of men from sin and eternal death, so it is the gospel of Christ which is the only instrument whereby you can ever hope to attain this blessed end ; and that for two reasons : 1. It is this gospel which, in its own nature, is most happily suited in all the parts of it to this great design ; and no other schemes which the wit or reason of man can contrive are so : It is the voice of pardoning grace and reconciliation to God by Jesus Christ, that powerfully allures and encourages the awakened sin- ner, to return to his duty to God and his Maker : It is the promise of divine assistance to enable us to mortify sin, and to practise holi- ness, which animates the feeble creature to attempt it : It is the attractive view of heavenly blessedness as revealed in the gospel, that invites the soul onward to make its way through all the dan- gerous enticements and terrors of this world, which is at enmity with God. The divine fitness of this gospel of grace, to restore fallen man to the favor and image of his Maker, is so vaiious and 12* 274 CHOICE WORKS OF astonishing, that to describe it in all instances would require a large volume. And 2. As the gospel is so happily suited to attain these ends, so it is the only effectual means that God has appointed, in the lips of his ministers, for this purpose. It is with these wondrous dis- coveries of this gospel, that he furnished the minds and lips of the fishermen and illiterate persons, when he sent them forth to con- vert and save a perishing world. These were the sacred weapons with which they were armed, when our exalted Saviour gave them commission to travel through the dominions of Satan, which were spread over the heathen countries, and to raise up a kingdom for himself amongst them. It was with, principles, rules, and motives, derived from this gospel, that they were sent to attack the reign- ing vices of mankind, to reform profligate nations, and to turn them from dumb idols to serve the living God. And though St. Paul were a man of learning above the rest, yet he was not sent to preach tTie enticing words of man^s wisdom, nor to talk as the disputers of the age and phUosophere did in their schools ; but his business was to preach Christ crucified : Though this doctrine of the cross and the Son of God hanging upon it, was a stumbling block to the Jews, and the Greeks counted it foolishness, yet to them that were called, both Jews and Greeks, this doctrine was the power of God, and the wisdom of God for the salvation of men. And therefore St. Paul determined to know nothing anumg them, in com- parison, of the doctrine of Christ and him crucified. These were the weapons of his warfare, which were mighty through God to the pulling down of the strong holds of sin and Satan in the hearts of men, and brought every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. It was by the ministration of this gospel that the fornica- tors were made chaste and holy, and idolaters became worshippers of the God of heaven ; that thieves learned honest labor, and the covetous were taught to seek treasure in heaven ; the drunkards grew out of love with their cups, and renounced all intemperance ; the revilers governed their tongues and spoke well of their neigh- bors, and the cruel extortioners and oppressors learned to practise compassion and charity : These vilest of sinners, these children of hell, were made heirs of the kingdom of heaven, being washed, being sanctified, being Justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God ; 1 Cor. vi. 9, &c. Had you all the refined science of Plato or Socrates, all the skill in morals that ever was attained by Zeno, Seneca or Epictetus ; were you furnished with all the flowing oratory of Cicero, or the thunder of Peniostheues ; were all these talents and excellencies ISAAC W ATTS, D. D. 276 united in one man, and you were the person so richly endowed, and could you employ them all in every sermon you preach, yet you could have no reasonable hope to convert and save one soul in Great Britain, where the gospel is published, while you lay aside the glorious gospel of Christ, and leave it entirely out of your discourses. Let me proceed yet further and say, had you the fullest acquaintance that ever man acquired with all the principles and du- ties of natural religion, both in its regard to God and to your fellow- creatures, had you the skill and tongue of an angel to range all these in their fairest order, to place them in their fullest light, and to pronounce and represent the whole law of God with such force and splendor to a British auditory, as was done to the Israelites at Mount Sinai, you might perhaps lay the consciences of men under deep conviction, /or hy the law is the knowledge of sin : But I am fully persuaded you would never reconcile one soul to God, you would never change the heart of one sinner, nor bring him into the favor of Grod, nor fit him for the joys of heaven, without this blessed gospel which is committed to your hands. The great and glorious God is jealous of his own authority, and of the honor of his Son Jesus ; nor will he condescend to bless any other methods for obt£iining so divine an end, than what he him- self has prescribed ; nor will his Holy Spirit, whose office is to glorify Christ, stoop to concur with any other sort of means for the saving of sinners, where the name and offices of his Son, the only appointed Saviour, are known, and despised, and neglected. It is the gospel alone that is the power of God to salvation. If the pro- phets will not staTid in his counsel, nor cause the people to hear his words, they will never be able to turn Israel from the iniquity of their VMys, nor the evil of their doings ; Jer. xxiii. 22. Perhaps it may be said in opposition to this advice, that the pe- culiar doctrines and discoveries of the gospel of Christ, were necessary to be published in a more large and particular manner, at the first institution of our religion, and to be insisted upon with greater frequency among the Jews, and especially among the Gen- tiles, who before were unacquainted with the name, the history, and the several offices of the blessed Jesus ; but there is no such need of repeating them in Christian countries, where people are trained up from their infancy to know Jesus Christ the Son of God, the Saviour of the world : And therefore it is more needful in our land to preach upon the natural duties of piety toward God, of justice and truth, and goodness toward our neighbor, and self- government and sobriety with regard to ourselves. And this may be done with good success among the people, upon the plain prin- 276 CHOICE WORKS OF ciples and motives which arise from the very nature of things, from the beauty and excellency of virtue, and its tendency to make all men happy, and the natural deformity of vice, and the mischiefs that attend it. But give me leave to answer this objection with these three or four inquiries : First, Was it not the special design of these doctrines of Christ, when they were first graciously communicated to the world, to re- form the vices of mankind which reason could not reform, and to restore the world to piety and virtue, for which the powers of rea- son appeared so feeble and impotent? The nations of the earth had made long and fruitless essays, what the light of nature and philosophy would do, to bring wandering, degenerate man back again to his Maker : Fruitless and long essays indeed, when, after some thousands of years, the world, who had forgotten their Maker and his laws, still ran further from God, and plunged themselves into all abominable impieties and corrupt practices ! Now, if the all-wise God saw the gospel of Christ", to be so fit and happy an instrument for the recovery of wretched man to religion and mor- ahty ; if he furnished his apostles with these doctrines for this very purpose, and pronounced a blessing upon them as his own appoint- ment, why should we not suppose, that this gospel is stiU as fit in its own nature for the same purposes, as it was at first ? And why , may we not hope, the same heavenly blessing, in a great mea- sure to remain upon it, for these purposes, to the end of the world ? While we introduce these divine topics, drawn from the gospel of Christ, to enforce piety and virtue upon the consciences of men, God forbid that we should abandon those arguments, drawn from the nature of things, and from human reason : The gospel does by no means exclude them, but clears, and enlightens, and advances them all, and gives them tenfold power for the purposes for which they are designed. The blessed apostles themselves sometimes made use of them ; and they may be spread abroad in a rich va- riety by every preacher of the gospel to much better purpose, than a Seneca, or an Epictetus could display them. All kinds of efforts are necessary, and every sort of weapon may be used in its proper place, to make assaults upon the kingdom of Satan in the hearts of men ; but it is evident, that the divine principles and motives of Christianity were sent us down from heaven, as more sovereign remedies for the mortal diseases of the soul, and far more effectual for the reformation of mankind. Secondly, If the beautiful ideas of virtue and religion, and the natural tendency of it to make men happy, be such sufficient mo- tives to enforce the practice of it, I would inquire, why was not the ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 2l1 Gentile world reformed without the gospel ? Why were the polite and knowing nations so abominably and almost universally sunk into shameful vices? Why did not the self-sufBoient reward of virtue constrain greater numbers of mankind to change their man- ners, and to practise good morality ? If this had been the best and most effectual way of changing the hearts and of reforming the profligate lives of men, why was not St. Paul sent only or chiefly with these principles and instructions of reason, to talk of the divine beauty of religion and excellency of virtue amongst them, and the advantages that it brought into human society and private lifel What need was there that he should be commissioned to preach the doctrine of the cross of Christ, and the love of the Son of God descending from heaven to die for sinners ? What makes him dwell so much upon the recovery of a sinful world to God, by the atonement and sufferings of the blessed Jesus, as a means and motive to persuade sinners to forsake their sins, and to be reconciled to God ? Why are the evangelic topics so often in- sisted on, and represented in lively language, for the encourage- ment of virtue and piety, and as a guard against sin ? What need had he of the history of a crucified Son of God rising from the dead, ascending to heaven, sitting at the right hand of God, inter- ceding for sinners, and governing the world, in order to reform mankind from vice and impiety ? Why does the Scripture tell us, that the hearts of men are to be purified by faith, that believing on the Son of God is the way to get the victory over the world ? What need was there that St. Paul should teach us, that our sms are to be mortified in us by the assistance of the Holy Spirit ; or that St. Peter or St. John should tell us, that we must be born again, and made new creatures by the word of God, and by this blessed Spirit and his influences? Were all these doctrines so needful in the primitive days, and attended with such illustrious and divine success, and are they grown useless and needless now ? Let me enquire, in the third place. Are all the hearers that make up our public assemblies so well acquainted with the doctrines of Christ and the gospel in our day, that they have no need to be taught them ? Have they all enjoyed so happy an education from their infancy, as to understand the principles of the Christian reli- gion, and the peculiar articles of the faith, which are so necessary to restore sinners to a divine life ? Do they so much as know that they are by nature dead in trespasses and sins ? And do they know how to apply those vital truths to the blessed purposes of godliness? I am sure when we make particular enquiries, we find many of them ignorant enough both of themselves and their 278 CHOICE WORKS OF Saviour, and they have need to he taught the first principles of the oracles of God, and the faith of Jesus. Shall I enquire yet farther, Is this a day when we should leave the peculiar articles of the religion of Christ out of our ministra- tions, when the truth of them is boldly called in question, and denied by such multitudes who dwell among us ? Is this a proper time for us to forget the name of Christ in our public labors, when the witty talents and reasonings of men join together, and labor hard to cast out his sacred name with contempt and scorn ? Is it so reasonable a practice in this age, to neglect these evangelic themes, and to preach up virtue, without the special principles and motives with which Christ has furnished us, when there are such numbers amongst us who are fond of heathenism, who are endeavoring to introduce it again into a Christian country, and to spread the poison of infidelity through a nation called by his name ? If "this be our practice, our hearers will begin to think indeed that infi- dels may have some reason on their side, and that the glorious doctrines of the gospel of Christ are not so necessary as our fathers thought them, while they find no mention of them in the pulpit, no use of them in our discourses from week to week, and from month to month, and yet we profess to preach for the sal- vation of souls. Will this be our glory to imitate the heathen philosophers, and to drop the Gospel of the Son of God ? To be complimented by unbelievers as men of superior sense, and as deep reasoners, while we abandon the faith of Jesus, and starve the souls of our hearers, by neglecting to distribute to them this bread of life which came down from heaven? O let us who are his minis- ters remember the last words of our departing Lord, Go, preach the gospel to every nation : He that helieveth and is baptized shall he saved ; and he that helieveth not shall be damned ; and lo, I am with youalway, to the end of the tvorld j Mark xvi. 15, 16. Matt, xxviii. 20. Let us fulfil the command, let us publish the threaten- ing with the promise, and let us wait for the attendant blessing. Wheresoever this gospel is pubHshed, with clear and proper evi- dence, the belief of it is made necessaiy to salvation, and it is part of the commission of ministers to make known this to the 2)eople ; nor is there any thing else which can stand in the room and stead of this gospel, or attain those happy purposes for which this holy institution was designed. Unless, therefore, you have such a high esteem for the gospel of Christ, and such a sense of its divine worth and power, as to take it along with you when you desire to save souls, you had better lay down the ministry and abandon your sacred profession; for you will but s'pend your ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 279 strength for nought, and waste your breath in vain declamations : You will neither save your own soul, nor them that hear you ; and you will have a terrible account to give at the last day, what you have done with this gospel which was entrusted with you for the salvation of men : You have hid this divine talent in the earth, you have traded entirely with yourowa stock, you have compassed your- self about with sparks of light of your own Jcindling, and you must lie down in sorrow with eternal loss. Forgive me, my dear brother and friend, and you, my beloved and honored brethren in the ministry, forgive me, if I have indulged too much vehemence in this part of my discourse ; if I have given too great a loose to pathetic language on this needful subject. I doubt not but your own consciences bear me witness, that this elevar ted voice is not the voice of reproof, but of friendly warning ; and, I persuade myself, that you all join with me in this sentiment, that if ever we are so happy as to reform the lives of our hearers, to convert their hearts to God, and to train them up for heaven, it must be done by the principles of the gospel of Christ. On the occasion of such a head of advice, therefore, I assure myself you will forgive these warm emotions of spirit. Can there be any juster cause or season to exert fervor and zeal, than while we are pleading for the name, and honor, and kingdom of our adored Jesus 3 Let him live, let him reign for ever on his throne of glory ; let him live upon our lips, and reign in all our ministrations : Let him live in the hearts of all our hearers ; let him live and reign through Great Britian, and through all the nations, till iniquity be subdued, till the kingdom of Satan be destroyed, and the whole world are become willing subjects to the sceptre of his grace 1 Thus have I finished my third exhortation relating to -the preparation of your sermons for the pulpit. IV. In addressing your discourse to your hearers, remember to distinguish the different characters of saints and sinners, the con- verted and the unconverted, the sincere Christian and the formal professor, the stupid and the awakened ; the diligent and back- sliding, the fearful or humble soul, and the obstinate and presump- tuous ; and in various seasons introduce a word for each of them. Thus you will divide the word of God aright, and give to every one their portion ; 2 Tim. ii. 15. The general way of speaking to all persons in one view, and under one character, as though all your hearers were certainly true Christians, and converted already, and wanted only a little farther reformation of heart and life, is too common in the world ; but I think it is a dangerous way ofpreach- ing : It hath a powerful and unhappy tendency to lull unregenerate 280 CHOICE WORKS OF sinners asleep in security, to flatter and deceive them with dreams of happiness, and make their consciences easy without a real con- version of heart to God. Let your hearers know that there is a vast and unspeakable difier- ence betwixt a saint and a sinner, one in Christ, and one out of Christ ; between one whose heart is in a state of corrupt nature or unrenewed, and one that is in a state of grace, and renewed to faith and holiness ; between one who is only horn of the fiesh, and is a child of wrath, and one who is horn again, or horn of the Spirit, and is become a child of God, a member of Christ, and an heir of heaven. Let them know that this -distinction is great and neces- sary ; and it is not made (as some have imagined) by the water of baptism, but by the operations of the word and Spirit of God on the hearts of men, and by their diligent attendance on all the appointed means and methods of converting grace. It is a most real change, and of infinite importance, and however it has been derided by men, it is glorious in the eyes of God, and it will be made to appear so at the last day in the eyes of men and angels ; but it will bring with it infinite terror to those, who thought themselves safe in a common careless profession of Christianity, without any inward and divine change of heart. That little treatise, written by the learned Mr. John Jennings, concerning the preaching of Christ and experimental preaching, has many valuable hints relating to these two last parti- culars of my exhortation. V. Lead your hearers wisely into the knowledge of the truth, and teach them to build their faith upon solid grounds. Let them first know why they are Christians, that they may be firmly estab- lished in the belief and profession of the religion of Christ ; that they may be guarded against all the assaults of temptation and infidelity in this evil day, and may be able to render a reason of the hope that is in them ; furnish them with arguments in op- position to the rude cavils and blasphemies which are frequently thrown out in the world against the name and doctrines of the holy Jesus. Then let the great, the most important, and most necessary ar- ticles of our religion, be set before your hearers in their fairest light. Convey them into the understandings of those of meanest capacity, by condescending sometimes to plain and familiar methods of speech ; prove these important doctrines and duties to them by all proper reasons and arguments ; but as to the introducing of con troversies into the pulpit, be not fond of it, nor frequent in it : In your common course of preaching avoid disputes, especially about things of less importance, without an apparent call of Providence. ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 281 Religious controversies, frequently introduced without real neces- sity, have an unhappy tendency to hurt the spirit of true godliness both in the heai'ts of preachers and hearers ; 1 Tim. iv. T. And have a care of laying too much stress on the peculiar notions, and terms, and phrases of the little sects and parties in Christianity ; take heed that you do not mate your hearers bigots and un- charitable, while you endeavor to make them knowing Christians. Establish them in all the chief and most important articles of the gospel of Christ, without endeavoring to render those who differ from you odious in the sight of your hearers. Whensoever you are constrained to declare your disapprobation of particular opinions, keep up and manifest your love to the persons of those who espouse them, and especially if they are persons of virtue and piety. VI. Do not content yourself to compose a sermon of mere doc- trinal truths and articles of belief, but into every sermon (if possible) bring something practical. It is true, knowledge is the foundation of practice ; the head must be furnished with a degree of knowl- edge, or the heart Cannot be good : But take heed that dry specu- lations and mere schemes of orthodoxy do not take up too large a part of your composures ; and be sure to impress it frequently on your hearers, that holiness is the great end of all knowledge, and of much more value than the sublimest speculations ; nor is there any doctrine but what requires some correspondent practice of piety or virtue. And among the practical parts of Christianity, sometimes make it your business to insist on those subjects which are inward and spiritual, and which go by the name of experi- mental religion. Now and then take such themes as these, viz. the first awakenings of the conscience of a sinner by some special and awful providence, by some particular passages in the word of God, in pious writings or public sermons, the inward terrors of the mind, and fears of the wrath of God, which sometimes accompany such awakenings : the temptations which arise to divert the mind from them, and to soothe up the sinner in the course of his iniquities ; the inward conflicts of the spirit in these seasons, the methods of relief under such temptations, the arguments that may fix the heart and will for God, against all the enticements and oppositions of the world ; the labors of the conscience fluctuating between hope and fear ; the rising and working of indwelling sin in the heart ; the subtle excuses framed by the flesh for the indulgence of it ; the peace of God derived from the gospel allaying the inward terrors of the soul under a sense of guilt ; the victories obtained over strong corruptions and powerful temptations, by the faith of unseen things, 282 CHOICE WORKS OP by repeated addresses to God in prayer, by trusting in Jesus the great Mediator, who is made of God to us wisdom and righteous- ness, sanctification and redemption. While you are treating on these subjects, give me leave to put you again in mind, that it will sometimes have a very happy in- fluence on the minds of hearers, to speak what you have learned from your own experience, though there is no need that you should tell them publicly it is your own : You may inform them what you borrowed from your own observation, and from the experience of Christians, ancient or modern, who have passed through the same ' trials, who have wrestled with the same corruptions of nature, who have grappled with the same diflBculties, and at last have been made conquerors over the same temptations. As face answers face in the glass, so the heart of one man answers to another ; and the workings of the different principles of flesh and spirit, coiTupt na- ture, and renewing grace, have a great deal of resemblance in the hearts of difierent persons who have passed through them. This sort of instruction, drawn from just and solid experience, will ani- mate and encourage the young Christian, that begins to shake off the slavery of sin, and to set his face towards heaven : This will make it appear, that religion is no impracticable thing ; it will establish and comfort the professors of the gospel, and excite them with new vigor to proceed in the way of faith and holiness ; it will raise a steadfast courage and hope, and will generally obtain a most happy efiect upon the souls of the hearers, beyond all that you can say to them from principles of mere reasoning and dry speculation; and especially where you have the concurrent experience of any scriptural examples. VII. Whether you are discoursing of doctrine or of duty, take great care that you impose nothing on your hearers, either as a matter of faith or practice, but what your Lord and Master Jesus Christ has imposed. These are the limits of the commission which Christ gave to the first ministers of the gospel; Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. Oo disciple all nations, baptizing them who are willing to become my disciples, and teach them to observe whatsoever I have com- manded you. He has not given leave to his ministers, whether separate in their single congregations, or united in synods or coun- cils, the least degree of power to appoint one new article of faith, nor to enjoin any new sort of devotion or practice, nor to impose any one rite or ceremony of worship but what he himself has framed and enjoined. And yet, to our universal reproach, there is scarce any party of Christians but hath been too ready to impose some doctrines upon the belief of their proselytes which Christ has ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 283 not imposed, or to require of them some practices or some absti- nences about meats or days, or things indifferent, which Christ has not required. It is this assuming power that has turned Christi- anity into a hundred shapes, and every one of them in some degree unlike the glorious gospel. It is this has brought in all the super- stitions and fooleries, the splendid vanities, the useless austerities, and the childish trifles of the Greet and Romish churches ; and it is this has too far corrupted the purity, and defaced the. beauty of most of those churches who boast of reformation, and wear the Protestant name. Now to discourage and deter us all from such presumption, let us remember that this imposing spirit has generally found it ne- cessary to support its commands with penalties and persecutions. Hence proceed the imprisonments and the murders, the cruelties, the tortures, and the wild and bloody fuiy that has ravaged the nations of Christendom, and cast a foul and lasting blot and infamy upon the religion of the blessed Jesus. Blessed Jesus ! when shall this stain be washed out from thy religion, and this scandal die ? If we survey the persecuting laws and edicts that have been framed and executed in Great Britain, or in foreign nations, in ancient or later times, we shall seldom find that the plain and explicit doctrines and duties of the gospel have been guarded with these terrors ; but it is the wretched inventions of men, it is the institutions of priests, or the appointments of kings (all which have been mere additions to the word of God), that have had the honor, shall I say, or the infamy to be thus guarded with bloody severities, and with engines of death. It is the absolute determination of men upon some points which Christ has not plainly determined ; it is some forms of pre- tended orthodoxy which Scripture knows nothing of, or at least which the word of God has not made necessary to our faith ; it is some ceremonies or modes of worship which Christ and his apostles never commanded, that have generally been the shameful occasion of excommunications and prisons, of banishments and martyrdoms. See to it therefore with a holy and religious care, when you dictate any thing to your hearers as necessary to be believed or practised, that you have the plain and evident direction of Scripture to sup- port you in it. It is this corrupt mixture of human opinions, and human forms of divine service, that has so disguised the pure religion of the gospel, as to tempt the deist to renounce it entirely. The pure religion of Jesus has divine charms in it, and is, like the author, altogether lovely ; but when on one hand it is corrupted and debased, by new doctrines foisted into our creeds, and new mysteries 284 CHOICE WORKS OP whicli men have invented to overload our faith; when it is incumbered by new rituals of worship, or imposed rules and prac- tices on the Other hand, which the holy Scripture hath not enjoined ; when men make articles of faith, which are no \\ here plainly revealed ; when they pronounce that to be a sia which God halh no where forbidden, and appoint that to be a duty which God hath never commanded (which I take to be the very nature of superstition), it casts such a veil of deformity over the beauties of the gospel, that it is -no wonder if the men of reason start at it, and pronounce against it. While we hold forth this confused mass and mixture of things divine and human, and call it the reUgion of Christ, we tempt the men of infidelity to establish themselves in their unbelief; and they will hardly now give a favorable hearing to the pure doc- trine of the gospel, because they have been so much disgusted with the sight of it, in a corrupt and superstitious dress. But in this state of frailty and imperfection, dangers attend us on either hand. As we must take heed that we do not add the fancies of men to our divine religion, so we should take equal care that we do not curtail the appointments of Christ. With a sacred vigilance and zeal, we should maintain the plain, express, and necessary articles, that we find evidently written in the word of God, and sufier none of them to be lost through our default. The world has been so long imposed upon by these shameful additions of men to the gospel of Christ, that they seem now to be resolved to bear them no longer. But they are unhappily running into another extreme ; because several sects and parties of Christians have tacked on so many false and unbecoming ornaments to Christianity, they resolve to deliver her from these disguises ; but while they are paring off all this foreign trumpery, they too often cut her to the quick, and sometimes let out her life-blood (if I may so express it), and maim her of her very limbs and vital parts. Because so many irrational notions and follies have been mixed up with the Christian scheme, it is now a modish humor of the age to renounce almost every thing that reason doth not discover, and to reduce Christianity itself to little more than the light of nature and the dictates of reason. And under this sort of influence, there are some who are believers of the Bible and the divine mission of Christ, and dare not renounce the gospel itself; yet they interpret some of the peculiar and express doctrines of it into so poor, so narrow, and so jejune a meaning, that they suffer but little to remain beyond the articles of natural religion. This leads some of the learned and polite men of the age to explain away the sacrifice and the atone- ment made for our sins by the death of Christ, and to bereave our ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 285 religion of the ordinary aids of the Holy Spirit, both which are so plainly and expressly revealed, and so frequently repeated in the New Testament, and which are two of the chief glories of the blessed gospel, and which perhaps are two of the chief uses of those sacred names of the Son and the Holy Spirit, into which we are baptized. It is this very humor that persuades some persons to reduce the injury and mischief that we have sustained by the sin and fall of Adam, to so slight a bruise and so inconsiderable a wound, that a small matter of grace is needful for our recovery ; and accordingly they impoverish the rich and admirable remedy of the gospel to a very culpable degree, supposing po more to be neces- sary for the restoration of man, than those few ingredients, which in their opinion, make up the whole composition. Hence it comes to pass, that the doctrine of regeneration, or an entire change of corrupt nature by a principle of divine grace, is almost lost out of their Christianity; or at least they suppose renewing grace and sanctification by the Holy Spirit, and his assistances, to carry nothing more in them than the outward divine messages and dis- coveries of grace, made and attested by the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit to the Christian world. This is a dangerous extreme on the other hand ; I hope it will never obtain amongst us Protestant dissenters ; but since it is a fashionable error, you ought to set a stricter guard against it. As he that adds or takes away from the words of the prophecy in the latter end of the hook of God, is left under a curse; Rev. xxii. 18. 19. so we should set a holy guard upon ourselves, lest we add any thing to the gospel of Christ ; or take any thing from it, lest we expose ourselves to the same divine indignation. To avoid both these extremes, permit »ihe to give this general word of advice, and may God enable me to take it myself, vis. That in all our ministrations we keep a constant and religious eye upon the holy Srcipture, that in the necessary and most important points of doctrine or duty, we may teach our hearers neither more nor less than the Scripture teaches. Our great business is to expound Scripture, and enforce the word of God upon the minds and hearts of men ; When therefore we explain the great and necessary points of the gospel contained in any one Scripture, let us do it as much .as possible by bringing other pai-ts of Scripture into the same view, that the word of God may be a comment on itself. When we have occasion to make inferences from it, let us take care that the connection of them be strong and evident, and that they lie not far off at a distance, for in very distant inferences we are more liable to mistake. When we are delivering our own best opinions con- 286 CHOICE WOEKS ov ceming divine subjects, and giving our advice upon matters wliich are not evidently and so expressly revealed, let us practice the modesty of the blessed apostle, 1 Cor. vii. 6, 10, 12, 25, &o. / speak this by permission or advice, and not of commandment :* It is I speak it, and not the Lord : I have no plain commandment of the Lord about it, yet I ffive my judgment as one that has obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful : I suppose, therefore, that in the present case, this is good to be practised, or that to be avoided : Judge ye within yourselves, whether what I speak he agreeable to the word of God ; 1 Cor. xi. 13. Vni. Remember that you have to do with the understandJog, reason, and memory of man, with the heart and conscience, with the will and affections ; and therefore you must use every method of speech which may be most proper to engage and employ each of these faculties, or powers of human nature, on the side of religion, and in the interests of God and the gospel. Your first business is with the understanding, to make eveu the lower parts of your audi- tory know what you mean. Endeavor, therefore, to find out all the clearest and most easy forms of speech, to convey divine truths, into the minds of men. Seek to obtain a perspicuous style, and a clear and distinct manner of speaking, that you may effectually im- press the understanding, while you pronounce the words ; that you may so exactly imprint on the mind of the hearers the same ideas which you yourself have conceived, that they may never mistake your meaning. This talent is sooner attained in younger years, by having some judicious friend to hear or read over your discourses, and inform you where pafspicuity is wanting in your language, and where the hearers may be in danger of mistaking yom" sense. For want of this, some young preachers have fixed themselves in such an obscure way of writing and talking, as bath very much prevented their hearers from obtaining distinct ideas of their dis- course. And if a man gets such an unhappy habit, he will be sometimes talking to the air, and make the people stare at him, as though he was speaking some unknown language. Remember you have to do with the reasoning powers of man, in * I know these expressions of the apostle have another turn given them by some judicious commentators, viz. that the apostle had sufBcient proof of the dii-ectiona which he pronounces strongly to be the commands of Christ from other places of Scripture ; but that these which he expresses so cau- tiously, were directions which Christ had not elsewhere given us, but were made known to him by his own special inspiration. I am not fully assured which is the true sense, but I rather think it is to be understood, as St. Paul's own private sense of things, who was a man favored with many inspiration. ISAAC WATTS, .D. D. 287 preaching the gospel of Christ; for though this gospel be revealed from heaven, and could never be discovered by all the efforts of human reason, yet itj is the reason of man must judge of several things relating to it, vis. It is reason must determine whether the evidence of its heavenly original be clear and strong : It is reason must judge whether such a doctrine or such a -duty be contained in this gospel, or may be justly deduced from it : It is the work of human reason to compare one Scripture with another, and to find out the true sense of any particular text by this means : And it is reason also must give its sentence, whether a doctrine, which is pretended to be contained in Scripture, be contrary to the eternal and unchangeable relations and reasons of things; and if so, then reason may pronounce that this doctrine is not from God, nor can be given us by divine revelation. Reason, therefore, hath its office and proper province, even in matters of revelation ; yet it must always be confessed, that some propositions may be revealed to us fi-om heaven, which may be so far superior to the limits and sphere of our reasoning powers in this present state, that human reason ought not to reject them, because it cannot fully understand them, nor clearly and perfectly reconcile them, unless it plainly see a nat- ural absurdity in them, a real impossibility, or a plain inconsistence with other parts of divine revelation. Well then, since you have to do with reasonable creatures in your sacred work, let your manner of speaking be rational, and your arguments and inferences just and strong, that you may ef- fectually convince your hearers of the truth of what you deliver, in your ministrations of the gospel. And in your representation of things to the reason and understanding of men, it would sometimes be of special advantage to have some power over the fancy or im- agination : Tliis would help us to paint our themes in their proper colors, whether of the alluring or the forbidden kind. And now and then we should make use of both, in order to impress the idea on the soul with happier force and success. When you would describe any of the personal or social virtues of hfe, so as to enforce their practice, set yourself to display the beauties and excellencies of them, in their own agreeable and lovely forms and colors. But do not content yourself with this alone : This is not sufficient to allure the degenerate and sensual mind of man to practise them. Few persons are of so happy a disposition, and so refined a genius, as to be wrought upon by the mere aspect of such inriting qualities. Endeavor, therefore, to illustrate the virtues by their contrary vices, and set forth these moral mischiefe both in their deformities and their dangerous consequences, before 288 CHOICE WORKS OF the eyes of your hearers. Think it not enough to represent to them the shining excellencies of humihty and bene/olence, of justice, and veracity, gratitude, and temperance ; but produce to sight the vile features of pride, envy, malice, spite, knavery, falsehood, revenge, sensuahty, luxury, and the rest of that cursed train, in their proper places and seasons. Make it evident, how contrary they are both to the law of God and the gospel of Christ ; describe them in all their several forms, shapes, and appearances ; strip them of their false pretences and disguises ; shew how they insinuate and exert themselves in diflferent occurrences of life, and different constitutions; and pursue them so narrowly, as it were, with a hue and cry, with such exact descriptions, that if any of these vices are indulged by your hearers, they may be found out by strict self-examination, that the consciences of the guilty may be laid under conviction of sin, and be set in the way of repentance and reformation. Whensoever any vice has found the way into our bosoms, and make its nest there, its proper and evil features and characters had need to be marked out by the preacher with great accuracy, that it may be discovered to our consciences in order to its destruction ; for these wretched hearts of ours are naturally so fond of all their own inmates, that they are too ready to hide their ill qualities from our own sight and conviction, and thus they cover and save them from the sentence of mortification and death, which is denounced against every sin in the word of God. And let the preacher and the hearer both remember, that sin must be pursued to the death, or else there is no life to the soul. It is only the Christian who hy the Spirit mortifies the sinful deeds of the body, has the promise of sal- vation and life; Rom. viii. 13. It vfould be a happy thing, if this vivacious and sprightly power of the fancy, which too often becomes an ingenious and successful tempter of the soul to guilt, mischief and ruin, might, by the art of the preacher, be gained over to the interests of virtue and goodness, and employed for God and salvation. Think farther, that you should take some care also to engage the memory, and to make it serve the purposes of religion. Let your reasonings be never so forcible and convincing, let your language be never so clear and intelligible, yet if the whole discourse glide over the ears in a smooth and delightful stream, and if nothing be fixed in the memory, the sermon is in great danger of being lost and fruitless. Now to avoid this danger, I would recommend to you the care of a clear and distinct method, and let this method appear to the hearers, by the division of your discourses into several plain and distinct particulars, so that the whole may not be a mere ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 289 loose harangue, without evident members and discernible rests and pauses. Whatsoever proper and natural divisions belong to your subject, mark them out by the numbers 1st, 2d, 3d, &c. This will afford you time to breathe, in the delivery of your discourse, and give your hearers a short season for recollection of the particulars which have been mentioned before. But in this matter take care always to maintain a happy medium, so as never to arise to such a number of particulars as may make your sermon look like a tree full of branches in the winter, without the beautiful and profitable appearance of leaves and fruit. Cast the scheme of your discourse into some distinct general heads, and lesser subdivisions in your first sketches and rudiments of it : This will greatly assist you in the amplification ; this will help you to preserve a just method throughout, and secure you from repeating the same thoughts too often : This will enable you to commit your sermon to your own memory the better, that you may deliver it with ease, and it will greatly assist the understanding as well as the memory of all that hear you. It will furnish them with matter and method for an easy recollection at home, for meditation in their devout retirement, and for religious conference or rehearsal after the public worship is ended. Consider again, your business is with the consciences, and wills, and affections of men. A mere conviction of the reason and judg- ment, by the strongest arguments, is hardly sufficient, in matters of piety and virtue, to command the will into obedience ; because the appetites of the flesh and the interests of this world are engaged on the opposite side. It is a very common case with the sons and daughters of Adam, to see and know their proper duty, and to have the reasons that enforce it fresh in their memory ; and yet the powerful efforts of the fiesh and the world withhold the will from the practice, forbid its holy resolutions for God and heaven, or keep them always feeble, doubtful and wavering. The God of na- ture, therefore, has furnished mankind with those powers which we call passions, or affections of the heart, in order to excite the will with superior vigor and activity to avoid the evil and pursue the good. Upon this account, the preacher must learn to address the passions in a proper manner, and I cannot but think it a very im- peifect character of a Christian preacher, that he reasons well upon every subject, and talks clearly upon his text, if he has nothing of the pathetic in his ministraiions, no talent at all to strike the pas- sions of the heart. Awaken your spirit, therefore, in your compositions, contrive all lively, forcible, and penetrating forms of speech, to make your 13 290 CHOICE WORKS OF words powerftil and impressive on the hearts of your hearers, when light is first let into the mind. Practise all the awful and solemn ways of address to the conscience, all the soft and tender influences on the heart. Try all methods to rouse and awaken the cold, the stupid, the sleepy race of sinners ; learn all the language of holy jealousy and terror, to affright the presumptuous ; all the compas- sionate and encouraging manners of spealang, to comfort, encour- age, and direct the awakened, the penitent, the willing, and the humble ; all the winning and engaging modes of discourse and expostulation, to constrain the hearers of every character to attend. Seek this happy skill of reigning and triumphing over the hearts of an assembly ; persuade them with power to love and practise all the important duties of godliness, in opposition to the flesh and the world ; endeavor to kindle the soul to zeal in the holy warfare, and to make it bravely victorious over all the enemies of its salva- tion. But in all these efforts of sacred oratory, remember still you are a minister of the gospel of Christ ; and as your style must not affect the pomp and magnificence of the theatre, so neither should you borrow your expressions or your metaphors from the coarsest occupations, or any of the mean and uncleanly occurrences in life. Swell not the sound of your periods with ambitious or pedantic phrases ; dress not your serious discourses to the people in too glittering array, with an affectation of gaudy and flaunting orna- ments, nor ever descend to so low a degree of familiarity and meanness, as to sink your language below the dignity of your sub- ject or your office. IX. As the art of reasoning, and the happy skill of persuasion, are both necessary to be used in framing your discom'ses, so both of them may be borrowed in a good measure from the holy Scrip- tures. The word of God will furnish you with a rich variety of forms both to prove and persuade. Clear instruction, convincing argument, and pathetic address to the heart, may be all drawn from the sacred writers. Many fine strokes of true logic and rhetoric are scattered through that divine book, the Bible : Words of force and elegance to charm and allure the soul, glitter and sparkle like golden ore in some peculiar parts of it. You may find there noble examples of the awful and compassionate style, find inimitable patterns of the terrible and the tender. Shall I therefore take the freedom once again to call upon you to remember that you are a minister of the word of God, a professor and preacher of the Bible, and not a mere philosopher upon the foot of reason, nor an orator in a heathen school ? I am not here directing you to compose your whole sermons of nothing else but a perpetual ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 291 connection of texts of Scripture ; nor to spend the whole hour in running from one text to another, as a concordance, or the margin shall point them out. Persons of low degrees of learning, who give themselves up to this method, have frequently introduced portions of Scripture in their discourses, in a sense which the holy writers never thought of, and which the Spiiit of God never de- signed ; and yet if a learned man would happily explain the more diflScult parts of the word of God, perhaps it would be generally best done, and especially in the pulpit, by comparing them with other texts which are more plain and easy. Scripture is the best interpreter of itself. As for argument to confirm a doctrine or enforce a duty, you may borrow much of this from the word of God. It is true, when we speak of those subjects which belong to natural rehgion, we may very properly bring arguments from the nature of God and man, and from the reason of things, to shew how necessary and reasonable it is to believe such a truth, or to practise such a vir- tue ; nor is the Scripture itself barren of such reasonings, and even in the peculiar articles of Christianity, it is a most excellent and useful design, now and then, to shew how consistent and harmoni- ous they are with reason, and how worthy of our faith and practice, since the word of God has revealed them, though they could not be found out by the light of nature. Yet these arguments, if they are long and labored, and not immediately apprehended by the mind, are much more proper to be communicated to the world by writing than by speaking ; there the reader may review and dwell upon an argument till he has grasped the whole chain, and admits all the connected inferences, and sees undoubted evidence of the conclusion : But reasonings in the pulpit, for the most part, should be short and easy, that they may strike conviction into the mind almost as soon as they strike the ear, unless your hearers were all men of learning and refined education. But the bulk of our auditors, whether in the city or country, are not much profited by sermons merely made up of rational proofe of any doctrine or duty, deeply and laboriously deduced from the original springs and prime nature of things. They do not find their minds so much enlightened, nor their hearts warmed by the tedious train of connected inferences that are fetched from distant principles of nature and philosophy. This method, I confess, may entertain a few of the more rational, the more learned, or more polite persons in an auditory, who can survey and comprehend the sense of such discourses, and feel the force of such long chains of argumentation ; and these persons, I own, ought to have due re- 292 CHOICE WORKS OF spect paid them in some parts of our ministry. Yet it is not the great business of a preacher of the gospel only to please the few, but to become all things to all men, and, if possible, to win a multitude of souls to Christ. The generality of our hearers have their lives filled up with the business of their station, and have little leisure or advantage to improve their understandings in the art of deep reasoning. These will yawn and nod, and grow weary of the sermon ; nor will such a preacher (though his discourses are never so much labored) profit the assembly, any more than please them, if he goes on resolutely in this way : Such a minister will quietly despise his hearers, and they will soon be tired with their preacher ; anc^ if some providence does not remove him to another congregation, or if he does not betate himself to some other business of life, he will be tempted to forsake the Protestant- dissenters, and throw himself into the established church, when he has persuaded his conscience to comply with the imposed terms of ministerial con- formity. I grant it is necessary to use good reason through your whole dis- course, and connect all the parts of it with justice : But, as I hinted before, let your arguments to prove any point be generally short and easy, and within the grasp of a common understanding : Remember that a few plain and obvious reasonings, from familiar and well-known principles, and some clear and well-chosen texts of Scripture, with a word or two to explain or apply them to the understanding and conscience of men with light and zeal, will impress the judgment and pierce the heart with more speedy and powerful conviction ; and our hearers, who regard a plain scriptural argument as the word of the living God, will much more readily receive it, and submit much sooner to the force and authority of it. Thus saith the pro- phet, or thus saith the apostle, carries greater weight with it, both to convince and to persuade, than a long series of demonstrations from remote principles, though they should be firm and strong as those of Euclid or Sir Isaac Newton. And as for bright, warm, and pathetic language, to strike the imagination or to affect the heart, to kindle the divine passions or to melt the soul, there is none of the heathen orators can better furnish you than the moving expostulations of the ancient prophets, the tender and sprightly odes of holy David, or the afi'ectiouate part of the letters of St. Paul, which even his enemies in the church of Corinth confess to be powerful. The Eastern writers, among whom we number the Jews, were particularly famous for hvely ora- tory, for bright images, and bold animated figures of speech. Could I have heard Isaiah or Jeremy pronouncing some of their ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 293 sermons, or attended St. Paul in some of his pathetic strains of preaching, I should never mourn a want of acquaintance with Tully or Demosthenes. A preacher whose mind is well stored and enriched with the divine sense and sentiments, the reasoning and the language of Scripture (and especially if these are wrought into his heart by Christian experience), supposing his other talents are equal to those of his brethren, will always have a considerable advantage over them in composing such discourses as shall be most popular and most useful in Christian assemblies ; and he may better expect the presence and blessing of God, to make his word triumph over the souls of men, and will generally speak to their hearts with more power for their eternal salvation. Shew me one sinner turned to God and holiness by the labors of a Christian preacher, who is generally entertaining the audience with a long and weighty chain of reasoning from the principles of nature, and teaching virtue in the language of heathen philosophy : And I think I may under- take to shew you ten who have been convinced and converted, and have become holy persons and lively Christians by an attendance upon a scriptural, afiectiouate, and experimental ministry : The whole assembly hang attentive upon the lips of a man who speaks to the heart as well as the understanding, and who can enforce his exhortations from a manifold experience of the success of them. They delight to hear the preacher whose plate and powerful ad- dresses to the conscience, and whose frequent methods of reason- ing in the pulpit, have been drawn from what they themselves have read in Scripture concerning God and man, sin and duty, our misery and divine mercy, death, resurrection, judgment, heaven, and hell. They attend with holy reverence and affection on such a minister, whose frequent arguments both in points of doctrine and practice is. Thus saith the Lord. X. Be not slothful or negligent in your weekly preparations for the pulpit : Take due time for it. Begin so early in the week that you may have time enough before you to finish your preparations well, and always allow for accidental occurrences, either from indis- position of body, from interruptions by company, from unforeseen business or trouble, &c. that you may not be reduced to the neces- sity of hurrying over your work in haste at the end of the week, and serving God and the souls of men with poor, cold, and care- less performances. Remember that awful word, though spoken on another occasion, Jer. xlviii. 10. Cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord deceitfully. Manage so as to leave generally the Saturday evening, or at least the Lord's-day morning, entire for the 294 CHOICE WORKS OF review and correction of your discourse, and for your own spiritual improvement by the sermon wliicli you have prepared for the people. If it should happen that the mere providence of God, without any neglect of yours, has hindered you from making so good a pre- paration as you designed, you may with courage, and hope of divine assistance, venture into the assembly with more slender and imperfect furniture : But if your conscience tells you that your preparations are very slight, and the neglect is all your own, you have less reason to expect aids from above without great humiliation for your negligence. And what if God should forsake you so far" in die pulpit, as to expose you to public shame, and thus punish you for your carelessness in the midst of the congregation ? Study your matter well by meditation and reading, and comparing Scriptures together, till you have gotten it completely within your grasp and survey : Then if you should happen to be so situated in preaching, that you could not refresh your memory by the inspec- tion of your paper every minute, yet you will not be exposed to hurry and confusion ; a ready thought will suggest something per- tinent to your purpose. Let your preparations be usually so perfect that you may be able to fill up the time allotted for the discourse with solid sense and proper language, even if your natural spirits should happen to be heavy and indisposed at the hour of preaching, and if your mind Ihould have no new thoughts arising in the dehvery of your discourse. Labor carefully in lie formation of your sermons in younger years : A habit of thinking and speaking well, procured by the studies of youth, will make the labor of your mid- dle age easy, when perhaps you will have much less time and leisure. This shall suffice for the second general head, which exhorts you to take heed to your private studies, both those which may mrnish you for the work of the ministry in general, and those which are necessary to your particular preparations for the pulpit. Section IIL — of public ministrations. We proceed now to the third general head, and that is, Take heed to your public labors and ministrations in the church, which may be done by attending to the following pai-ticulars : I. Apply yourself to your work with pious delight ; not as a toil and task, which you wish were done and ended, but as a matter of inward pleasure to your own soul : Enter the pulpit with the so- lemnity of holy joy, that you have an opportunity to speak for tho honor of God, and the salvation of men. Then you will not preach ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 295 or pray with sloth or laziness, with coldness or indifference : We do not use to be slothful and indifferent in the pursuit of our joys, or the relish of our chosen pleasures. Stir up yourself to the work with sacred vigor,- that the assembly may feel what you speak. But if you deliver the most solemn and lively composures like a man that is half asleep, it will be no wonder if your hearers slumber. A dull preacher makes a drowsy church. II. Endeavor to get your heart into a temper of divine love, zeal- ous for the laws of God, affected with the grace of Christ, and com- passionate for the souls of men. With this temper engage in pub- lic work. Let your frame of spirit be holy with regard to your own inward devotion, near to God, and delighting in him ; and let it be zealous for the name of Christ, and the increase of his king- dom. O pity perishing sinners when you are sent to invite them to be reconciled to God. Let not self be the subject or the end of your preaching, but Christ and the salvation of souls. We preach not ourselves, saith the apostle, but Christ Jesus the Zard, and our- selves your servants for Jesui sake ; 2 Cor. iv. 6. Speak as a dying preacher to dying hearers, with the utmost compassion to the ignorant, the tempted, the foolish, and the obstinate ; for all these are in danger of eternal death. Attend your work with the utmost desire to save souls from hell, and enlarge the kingdom of Christ your Lord. Go into the public assembly with a design (if God please) to strike and persuade some souls there into repentance, faith, holiness and salvation. Go to open blind eyes, to unstop deaf ears, to make the lame walk, to make the foolish wise, to raise those that are dead in trespasses and sins to a heavenly and divine life, and to bring gTiilty rebels to return to the love and obedience of their Maker, by Jesus Christ, the great Reconciler, that they may be pardoned and saved. Go to diffuse the savor of the name of Christ and his gospel through a whole assembly, and to allure souls to partake of his grace and glory. III. Go forth in the strength of Christ, for these glorious effects are above your own strength, and transcend all the powers of the brightest preachers. Be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus ; 2 Tim. ii. 1. Without him we can do nothing ; John xv. 5. Go with a design to work wonders of salvation on sinful creatures, but in the strength of Jesus, who hath all power given him in heaven and earth, and hath promised to be with his ministers to the end of the world ; Matt, xxviii. 20. Pray earnestly for the promised aids of the Spirit, and plead with God who hath sent you forth in the service of the gospel of his Son, that you may not return empty, but bring in a fair harvest of converts to heaven. It is the Lord 296 CHOICE WORKS OP of the harvest who only can give this divine success to the labor- ers. He that planteth is nothing, and he that watereth is noth- ing, hut all our hope is in God, who giveth the increase ; 1 Cor. iii. Y. rV. Get the substance of your sermon, which you have prepared for the pulpit, so wrought into your head and heart by review and meditation, that you may have it at command, and speak to your hearers with freedom; not as if you were reading or repeating your lesson to them, but as a man sent to teach and persuade them to faith and holiness. Deliver your discourses to the people like a man that is talking to them in good earnest about their most im- portant concerns, and their everlasting welfare ; like a messenger sent from heaven who would fain save sinners from hell, and allure souls to God and happiness. Do not indulge that lazy way of reading over your prepared paper, as a schoolboy does an oration out of Livy or Cicero, who has no concern in the things he speaks. But let all the warmest zeal for God, and compassion for perishing men, animate your voice and countenance ; and let the people see and feel, as well as hear, that you are speaking to them about thi ng s of infinite moment, and in which your own eternal interest lies as well as theirs. V. If you pray and hope for the assistance of the Spirit of God in every part of your work, do not resolve always to confine your- self precisely to the mere words and sentences which you have written down in your private preparations. Far be it from me to encourage a preacher to venture into public work without due pre- paration by study, and a regular composure of his discourse. We must not serve God with what cost us nothing. All our wisest thoughts and cares are due to the sacred service of the temple : But what I mean is, that we should not impose upon ourselves just such a number of pre-composed words and lines to be delivered in the hour, without daring to speak a warm sentiment that comes fresh upon the mind. Why may you not hope for some lively turns of thought, some new pious sentiments which may strike light and heat, and life into the understandings and the hearts of those that hear you 1 In the zeal of your ministrations, why may you not expect some bright, and warm, and pathetic forms of argument and persuasion, to offer themselves to your lips, for the more power- ful conviction of sinners, and the encouragement and comfort of humble Christians ? Have you not often found such an enlarge- ment of thought, such a variety of sentiment and freedom of speech, in common conversation upon an important subject, beyond what you were apprized of beforehand ? And why should you forbid ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 297 yourself this natural advantage in the pulpit, and in the fervor of sacred ministrations, where also you have more reason to hope for divine assistance ? Besides, for us who are Protestant dissenters, and confine our- selves to no set forms of prayer, it seems more um'easonable to con- fine our lips constantly and precisely to the words written in our papers in the work of preaching. Do we plead so earnestly for the liberty of prayer, and yet never give our spirits a hberty to express their present warm, lively, and affectionate thoughts, in ministering the gospel of Christ under the hopes of his assistance? Why must we never dare to add any thing to our premeditated notes in speaking to the people, while we take this freedom in speaking to the blessed Giod ? As there has been many a fervent and devout petition offered to God iu our addresses to him which has not been thought of before, so many a sentence that was never written has been delivered in our addresses to the people with glorious success ; it has come more immediate and warm fi'om the heart, and may have been blessed of God to save a soul. VI. Here would be a proper place to interpose a few directions concerning elocution, and the whole manner of delivery of your discourse to the people ; which includes both a voice, gesture, and behavior suited to the subject and design of every part of the ser- mon. But the rules that are necessary for this part of our work are much better derived from books written on this subject, from an observation of the best preachers, in order to imitate them, and an avoidance of that which we find offensive when we ourselves are hearers. Besides, as I have had an opportunity sometimes, my dear brother, of attending your performances in public, I think I may be bold to say, that in this, as well as in several other parts of your ministration, you stand in no need of any advice I can give. But since you have called me at present to this service, I have en- deavored to fulfil it. If I had a design to go through the whole of the ministerial oflBce, I should here also find a proper place to speak of the manner of your performance of public prayer, of your direction of the person who leads that part of worship which is called psalmody, and in your ministration of the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's-supper ; but this would require much more time, and my chief design was to put you in mind of a few useful things which relate to preaching. I proceed, therefore, to the last particular. Vn. Be very solicitous about the success of all your labors in the pulpit. Water the seed sown, not only with pubhc but secret prayer. Plead with God importunately, that be would ppt suffer you 298 CHOICE WORKS OF to labor in vain. Be not like that foolish bird tbe Ostrich, which lays her eggs in the dust, and leaves them there, regardless whether they come to life or not : God hath not given her understanding ; Job xxxix. 14-17. But let not this folly be your character or prac- tice : Labor, and watch, and pray, that your sermons and the fruit of your studies may become words of divine life to souls. It is an observation of pious Mr. Baxter's, which I have read somewhere in his works, that he has never known any considerable success from the brightest and noblest talents, nor the most excel- lent kind of preaching ; and that even where the preachers them- selves have been truly reUgious, if they have not had a soUcitous concern for the success of their ministrations. Let the awful and important thoughts of souls being saved by my preaching, or left to perish and be condemned to hell by my negligence, I say, let this awful and tremendous thought dwell ever upon your spirit. We are made watchmen to the house of Israel, as EzeKel was ; Ezek. iii. 1 7, etc., and if we give no warning of approaching dan- ger, the souls of multitudes may perish through our neglect, hut the Mood of souls will be tenibly required at our hands. Section IV. — of the conversation of a minister. We are come now to the fourth and last thing which I proposed, in order to the fulfilling of your ministry, vis. Take heed to your whole conversation in the world ; let that be managed not only as becomes a professor of Christianity, but as becomes a minister of the gospel of Christ. Now, amongst other rules which may ren- der your conversation agreeable to your character, I entreat you to take these few into your thoughts : L Let it be blameless and inoffensive. -Be vigilant, be temperate in all things, not only as a soldier of Christ, but as an under-leader of part of his army. £e temperate, and abstain sometimes even from lawful delights, that you may make the work of self-denial easy, and that you may bear hardship as becomes a soldier ; 2 Tim. ii. 3, 4. Be watchful or vigilant, lest you be too much entangled with the affairs of this life, that you may better please him who has chosen you for an oflBcer in his battalions, and that you may not be easily surprised into the snares of sin. Guard against a love of pleasure, a sensual temper, an indulgence of appetite, an exces- sive relish of wine or dainties ; this cai'nalizes the soul, and gives occasion to the world to reproach us but too justly. Watch carefully in all your conduct that you give no offence, as far as possible, neither to /«w or Gentile, nor to the church of God, ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 299 that so the ministry may not be blamed ; 1 Cor. x. 32. 2 Cor. vi. 3. Maintain a holy jealousy over yourself and your conduct, that the name of Christ and his gospel suffer not the reproach of tongues and impious blasphemies through your means. Oh, how dreadful is the mischief that a scandalous minister does to the gospel of our blessed Lord ! What a fearful train of consequences may attend his indulgence of any sinful appetite, or any single criminal action, even though it be not repeated ! What a fatal stumbling-block does he lay before the feet of saints and sinners ! He turns away the heart of sinners from God and religion, who perhaps begin to think of setting their faces toward heaven : He discourages the hearts of young Christians, and weakens the hands of all the friends of Christ. Woe he to the preacher by whom such offences com£. JL. Let your conversation be exemplary in all the duties of holi- ness and virtue, in all the instances of worship and piety toward God, and in those of justice, honor, and hearty benevolence toward men. Be forward and ready to engage in every good word and work, that you may be a pattern and a leader of the flock, that you may btf able to address the people committed to your care in the language of the blessed apostle. Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ ; 1 Cor. xi. 1. Brethren, be followers toe/ether of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an examr- pie. For our conversation is in heaven ; Phil. iii. 1 7-20. Those things which ye have both learned and received, and heard and seen in me, do you practise, and the God of peace be with you ; Phil. iv. 9. HI. Let your conversation be grave and manly, yet pleasant and engaging. Let it be grave, nranly, and venerable : Remember your station in the church, that you sink not into levity and vain tiifling, that you indulge not any ridiculous humors, or childish follies below the dignity of your character ; Keep up the honor of your office among men by a remarkable sanctity of manners, by a decent and manly deportment. Remember that our station does not permit any of us to set up for a buffoon ; nor will it be any glory to us to excel in farce and comedy. Let others obtain the honor of being good jesters, and of having it in their power to spread a laugh round the company when they please : But let it be our ambition to act on the stage of life as men who are de- voted to the service of the God of heaven, to the real benefit of mankind on earth, and to their eternal interests. Yet there is no need that your behavior should have any thing stiff or haughty, any thing sullen or gloomy in it : There is an art of pleasing in conversation that will maintain the honor of a 300 CHOICE WORKS OF superior office -without a morose silence, without an affected stiff- ness, and without a haughty superiority. A pleasant story may proceed without offence from a minister's lips ; but he should never aim at the title of a man of mirth, nor abound m such tales as carry no useful instruction in them, no lessons of piety, or wisdom, or virtue. Let a cheerful freedom, a generous friendship, and an innocent pleasure, generally appear on your countenance ; and let your speech be ever kind and affectionate. Do not put on any for- bidding airs, nor let the humblest soul be afraid to speak to you. Let your whole carriage be civil and affable ; let your address to men be usually open and free, such as may allure persons to be open and free with you in the important concerns of their souls. Seek as far as possible to obtain all your pious designs, by soft and gentle methods of persuasion. If you are ever called to the unpleasing and painful work of re- proof, this may be done effectually upon some occasions without speaking a word. When vicious, or uncleanly, or unbecoming speeches arise in public conversation, a sudden silence, with an assumed gravity, will often be a sensible and a suffioifent reproof. Or where words of admonition may not be proper, because of the company, sometimes a sudden departure may be the best way to acquaint them with your disapprobation. But there are cases wherein such a tacit rebuke is not sufficient to answer your char- acter and your office. Sometimes it is necessary for a minister to bear a pubUc and express witness against shocking immorality, or against vile and impious discourse. Yet in general it must be said, if a reproof can he given in secret, it is best and most likely to prevail upon the offender, because it less irritates his passions, nor awakens his pride to vindicate himself, and to despise all re- proof. Whensoever Providence calls you to this work, make it appear to the transgressor, that you do it with regret and pain ; let him see that you are not giving vent to your own wrath, but seeking his interest and welfare ; and that were it not for the honor of God, and for his good, you would gladly excuse yourself from the un- grateful task ; and that it is a work on which your spirit takes no delight. If the case and circumstances require some speeches that are awful and severe, let it appear still that your love and pity are the prevailing passions, and that even your anger has something divine and holy in it, as being raised and pointed against the sin rather than against the sinner. Study to make the whole of your carriage and discourse amongst men so engaging, as may invite strangers to love jfou, and alluj-e then} to love rgligion for your sake. ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 301 rV. In order to attain the same end, let your conversation be attended with much self-denial and meekness ; avoid the character of a humorist, nor be unreasonably fond of little things, nor peevish for the want of them. Suppress rising passion early. If you are providentially led into argument and dispute, whether on themes of belief or practice, be very watchful lest you run into fierce con- tention, into angry and noisy debate. Guard against every word that savors of malice, or of bitter strife ; watch against the first stirrings of sudden wrath or resentment ; bear with patience the contradiction of others, and forbear to return railing for railing. A minister must he gentle, and not apt to strive, hut meekly instruct- ing gainsayers. He should never be ready either to give or take oftence, but he should teach his people to neglect and bury resent- ment, to be deaf to reproaches, and to forgive injuries by his own example, even as God has forgiven all of us. Let us imitate his divine pattern, who cancels and forgives our infinite ofiences for the sake of Jesus Christ. A hishop must not be a brawler or a striker ; 1 Tim. iii. 3. but such as the apostle was, gentle among the people, even as a nurse cherishes her children ; and being affec- tionately desirous of their welfare, we should be willing to impart not only the gospel of God to them, but any thing that is dear to us, for the salvation of their souls ; 1 Thess. ii 7, 8. Never sufier any difierences (if possible) to arise between you and any of the people who are committed to your care, or attend on your ministrations : This will endanger the success of your best labors among them, and for this reason, though you visit families with freedom, yet avoid all unnecessary enquiries into their domestic afiairs by a prying curiosity ; the pleasure of such secrets will never pay for the danger that attends them, and your own busi- ness is suflBcient for you. Avoid entering into any of the little private and personal quarrels that may arise among them, unless Providence give you an evident call to become & peacemaker : But even in this blessed work there is some danger of disoUiging one side or the other ; for though both sides are often to blame, yet each supposes himself so much in the right, that your softest and most candid intimation of their being culpable, even in little things, will sometimes awaken the jealousy of one or both parties against you ; this will tend to abate their esteem of you, and give a cold- ness to their attention on your sacred services. We had need he vnse as serpents in this case, and harmless as doves ; Matt. x. 16. V. Let your conversation be as fruitful and edifying as your station and opportunities will allow. Wheresoever you come, endeavor (if possible) that the world may be the better for you. If it be the 302 CHOICE -WORKS OF duty of every Christian, mucli more is it tbe indispensable duty of a minister of Christ, to take heed that no corrupt communication proceed out of his mouth, but that which is good for edification, that it may minister grace to the hearers ; Eph. \y. 29. In your private visits to the members of your flocks, or to the houses of those who attend on your ministry, depart not (if possible) without putting in some word for God and religion, for Christ and his gospel : Take occasion, from common occurrences that arise, artfully and insensi- bly to introduce some discourse of things sacred. Let it be done ■with prudence and holy skill, that the company may be led into it ere they are aware. The ingenious Mr. Norris's little Discourse of Religious Conversation, and Mr. Matthew Henry's Sermon of Friendly Visits, have many excellent and valuable hints in them for our use. It is to be confessed, that the best of ministers and Christians sometimes fall into such company, that it is hardly possible to speak a word for God ajid the gospel among them. Try then whether you can lead the discourse to some useful theme in mat- ters of science, art, and ingenuity, or to rules of prudence, morality, or human conduct. There is a time of keeping silence, and re- straining our lips as with a bridle, even from every thing that is piously good, while some sort of wicked men stand before us ; Psalm xxxix. i 2. The best men are sometimes dumb with silence, and dare not speak of God or religion, lest they should cast their pearls before swine, and give their holy things to dogs ; and lest they should pro- voke the unclean or the envious animals to foam out their impurities or to turn again and rend them. But I doubt this caution has been carried much farther by our own cowardice, carnality of spirit, than David ever practised it in the xxxix. Psalm, or than Jesus Christ, meant it in the vii. of Matthew. Let us take heed then that we abuse not this prudent caution to a manifest neglect of our duty, and to withhold our lips from the things of God, where Providence gives us a fair opportunity to speak of them. Now and then take occasion to speak a kind and religious word to the children of the household ; put them in mind of avoiding some childish folly, or of practising some duty that belongs to their age. Let your memory be well furnished with words of Scripture, suited to the several ages of mankind, as well as to the various occasions of life, that out of the abundance of the heart your mouth may speak to the advantage of all that hear you, and particularly improve the younger parts of mankind, who are the hopes of the next generation. Make the lambs of the flock love you, and hear your voice with delight, that they may grow up ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 303 under your instruction, to fill up the room of their fathers when they are called away to heaven ; Nor let servants be utterly ne- glected, where Providence may afford you an opportunity to speak a word to their souls. Learn what are the spiritual circumstances of the families whom you visit,, and address them with a word in season, 'where you can have proper opportunity. Converse personally with them (if you can) about their eternal concerns. Let the ease and gentleness of your addresses to them, in a natural and familiar way, take off all that shy and bashful tincture from their minds, that is ready to prevent their uttering a word about the concern of their souls. Enquire tenderly into their state with regard to God : Draw sin- ners by words of compassion to repent of their crimes, to return to God, and to trust in Jesus the Saviour. Teach Christians sincerely to love and practise duty, and to endure with honor the trials of . life. Teach them to be sick and die as becomes the disciples of Christ. Treasure up your own experiences of divine tilings, not only as matters of delightful review in your own retirements, and for the encouragement of your own hope, but as lessons to be taught your people upon all proper occasions. Whether you are afflicted, or whether you are comforted, let it he for their consola- tion and salvation ; 2 Cor. i. 6. A minister, whose business and known employment is to speak of the things of God, should never be ashamed to impart divine knowledge, or to exhort to holiness with his lips, and to preach the word of the gospel of grace, whether the world calls it in season or out of season / 2 Tim. iv. 1. He that has the happy talent of par- lor preaching, has sometimes done more for Christ and souls in the space of a few minutes, than by the labor of many hours and days in the usual course of preaching in the pulpit. Our character should be all of a piece, and we should help forward the success of our public ministrations by our private addresses to the hearts and consciences of men, where Providence favors us with just occasions. In order to promote this work of particular watchfulness over the flock of Christ, where he has made you a shepherd and over- seer, it is useful to keep a catalogue of their names, and now and then review them with a pastoral eye and affection. This will awaken and incline you to lift up proper petitions for each of them, so far as you are acquainted with their circumstances in body or mind. This will excite you to give thanks to God on ac- count of those who walk as become the gospel, and who have either begun, or proceeded and increased in the Christian life and temper by your ministry : You will observe the names of the neg- 304 CHOICE WORKS OF ligent and backsliding Cliristians, to mourn over them, and ad- monish them : You will be put in. mind how to dispose of your time in Christian visits, and learn the better to fulfil your whole ministry among them. I shall enlarge no further in the enumeration of our duties, which would easily swell into a volume, if they were set before our eyes in their full extent : But in general I say, these are the methods whereby we must take heed to ourselves, if we would fulfil the ministry that we have received of Christ. To supply what I have omitted, read frequently, and with holy attention, the epistles of Paul to Timothy and Titus, which will furnish you richly with directions for your work ; and I would recommend to you the ex- amples of St. Paul and Timothy, as they are put well together in a little book by the Reverend Mr. Murray, which was printed but a few years ago. And as the account of the lives of many an- cient ministers may furnish us with patterns for our imitation, so the life of the late venerable Dr. Cotton Mather, of New England, has many excellent hints in it for this purpose ; Chap. ii. Sect. 1. and Chap. vi. Section V. — a solemn enforcement op these exhortations ON THE CONSCIENCE. The things which I have spoken hitherto have been a display of the best methods I can think of, for the execution of the sacred of- fice of the ministry : And so far as they are conformable to the word of God, we may venture to say these are your duties, my dear brother, and these are ours. It remains now to be considered, in what manner shall we enforce them on our own consciences, and on yours. What solemn obtestations shall I use to press these mo- mentous concerns on all our hearts? What pathetic language shall I choose, what words of awful efficacy and divine fervor, which may first melt our spirits into softness, and then imprint the duties upon them with lasting power ? We exhort and charge you, we exhort and charge ourselves, by all that is serious and sacred, by all that is important and everlasting, by all the solemn transactions be- tween God and man which are past, and by all the more solemn and awful scenes which are yet to come, by all things in our holy religion which are dreadful and tremendous, and by all things in this gospel which are glorious and amiable, heavenly and divine ; we charge you by all that is written in this book of God, accordiug to which we shall be judged in the last day, by all the infinite and astonishing glories and terrors of an invisible world and an unseen ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 305 eternity, we charge and exhort you, we exhort and charge ourselves, that we all take heed to the ministry which we have received of the Lord Jesus that we fulfil it. But let us descend to more particular forms of solemn exhortation, which perhaps may strike our con- sciences in a more sensible manner, and print the duties deeper up- on our hearts. First then, we exhort and charge you, we charge and exhort our own souls, by all the ancient transactions between God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ, for the salvation of sinful men, by all the eternal counsels of peace that passed between them to re- cover lost mankind to the favor and image of his Maker, that we preach this gospel with faithfulness, and be instant in the sacred work. It is the effect of these divine counsels that we publish to sinners ; it is the merciful product of this sacred covenant of re- demption that we are sent to proclaim to a lost world : This is the gospel that is put into our hands : God grant we may speak as be- comes creatures entrusted with messages of such a heavenly original, with affairs of such divine solemnity. Secondly, We exhort and charge you, and we would charge our- selves to fulfil our ministry, by the invaluable treasure of this gos- pel which is put into our hands, by that word of life which is com- mitted to our ministration. Let us speak with such a serious zeal as becomes the oracles of God and the embassies of his mercy, with such compassion to dying souls as is manifested in this gospel of love, with such inward fervor and holy solicitude for the success of our labors, that if it were possible, not the soul of one sinner within the reach of our preaching might miss of this pardoning mercy and eternal joy. Oh let us not dare to trifle with God or men : Let us not dare be cold and lifeless in pronouncing the words of everlasting life, nor lazy nor indolent in carrying these eiTands of divine love to a lost and perishing world. Thirdly, We charge and beseech you, and we charge ourselves, by the mercies of the living God, which we hope both you and we have tasted, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, which we hope we have felt and received, that you and we proclaim these mercies with a sacred zeal, and that in the name of God and of our Lord Jesus, we offer them to a miserable world with holy importunity. If ever we have known this wondrous compassion of God to our- selves, if ever we have tasted that the Lord is gracious, let us remember the relish we have had of this infinite comi^assion and condescending grace, when we were perishing under the power and guilt of sin; and with an imitation of that divine piety, let us entreat sinners to be saved. Let us remember all the alluring 306 CHOICE WORKS OF charms, the heavenly sweetness of forgiving, sanctifying, and saving grace ; and do our utmost to set them all before sinners in the most inviting light, that we may ^vin sinful men to accept of the same salvation. Fourthly, We exhort and charge you, and we charge ourselves, by the dear and glorious name of our blessed Jesus, whose servants we are, whose name we bear, whose authority gives us commission, and who hath chosen us to be the ministers of his grace, the mes- sengers of his dying love to the sons of men : We charge and beseech you to take care of the honor of his name in your minis- trations, for we are sent forth to display before the eyes of the world the unsearchable riches of Christ. We are entrusted to spread abroad the honor of his name ; O let us labor and strive that our zeal bear some proportion to the dignity of our trust, and let us tate heed that we do nothing unworthy of our great and glorious Master in heaven, who dwells at the right hand of God ; nothing unworthy of thatholy and illustrious name, in which we are sent forth to preach this gospel, and to enlarge his kingdom. He has set us up as lights upon a hill in this sinfiil world, this benighted part of his dominion ; let us burn and shine to his honor. He has assumed and placed us as stars in his right hand ; let us shine and burn gloriously, that we may give light to a midnight world. O that we may point out to them the morning star, that we may bring them under the beams of the rising sun of righteousness, and guide them in the way to the hills of paradise and everlasting joy ! Fifthly, We beseech and charge you, while we charge ourselves, by the inestimable value of the blood of Christ, which purchased this salvation, that you and we display this illustrious and costly purchase to sinful perishing creatures ; this precious blood, which is sufficient to redeem a world from death, and which is the price of all our infinite and everlasting blessings, demands that we pub- lish and offer them in his name, with holy zeal and solicitude to sinful men. Oh may our heart and our lips join to proclaim this redemption, this salvation, these everlasting blessings, with such a devout and sacred passion as becomes the divine price that was paid for them ! Let us not be found triflers with the blood of Christ, nor let us bring cold hearts and dead affections, when we come to set before sinners the rich and inestimable stream of that life and blood that comes warm from the heai-t of the dying Son of God. Let perishing creatures know that it cost the Prince of Glory such a dreadful price as this to redeem them from eternal misery ; and at the same time let our own spirits feel the power- ful workings of gratitude to the divine friend that bled and died ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 307 for US, and let our language make it appear that we speak what we feel. Sixthly, We entreat you with all tenderness, and with holy .solemnity and fear, we charge you, and we charge ourselves, by the invaluable worth of perishing souls, that we fulfil all our min- istry with a concern of heart equal to so important a case. How can we dare to speak with lifeless lips, with cold language, or a careless air, when we are sent to recover immortal souls from the brink of everlasting death ? Oh let it never be said that such or such a soul was lost for ever through our carelessness, through our coldness, through our sinful sloth in publishing the offers of recov- ering grace ! How tremendous and painful will such a thought be to our hearts ! How dreadful the anguish of it to the awakened conscience of a drowsy preacher. Seventhly, We charge you solemnly, and we charge ourselves, by the honor that Christ has done to us in times past, and has done to you this day, by the dignity of that office with which we have been formerly invested, and which you have this day received, that neither you nor we do any thing unbecoming this honorable char- acter. Does Jesus, the divine Shepherd, appoint us under-shepherds of his flock : are we constituted stewards in his house, to dispense the mysteries of his grace, and the good things of his gospel ; are we the messengers of our risen Lord to a dying world ; are we the ministers of our exalted Saviour in his kingdom here below ; are we the stars in his right hand ; are we the earthly angels in his churches ? Oh let us take heed that we do nothing to disgrace the titles of dignity and honor which he has put upon us in his word ; Let us remember that every dignity brings an equal duty with it : and by fulfilling the various and difficult duties of our holy station, let us make it appear that our office was not conferred upon us in vain. It behoves us well to remember, that a blemish upon the name of a minister, arising from his own criminal conduct, brings a foul and lasting scandal upon the office itself, and upon the gos- pel of our glorified Lord, in whose name we act : And he will not fail to resent it. Eighthly, We exhort and charge you therefore, my dear brother, by all the sacred solemnities of this day, by the vows of God which you have this day taken upon yourself, and the bond wherewith you have hound your soul ; and we would each of us charge our own consciences, by our own former solemn vows, that neither you nor we ever suffer ourselves to forget or disregard our holy and pow- erful engagements ; that we be awake at all times to fulfil our work, and that we never indulge low and triffing thoughts of what has 308 CHOICE WORKS OF formerly appeared to us, and what this day appears to you of such awful importance. Oh let us ever refresh upon our spirits the serious and important transactions of that day, wherein we gave 'up our- selves to Christ, in the sacred service of his church. Let us often review the vows of these remarkable seasons of our life, and renew and confirm them before the Lord. Ninthly, We charge you, and we charge ourselves, by the decaying interest of religion, and the withering state of Christianity at this day, that we do not increase this general and lamentable decay, this growing and dreadful apostasy, by our slothful and careless management of the trust that is commited to us. It is a divine interest indeed, but declining ; it is a heavenly cause, but among us it is sinking and dying. O let us stir up our hearts, and all that is within us, and strive mightily in prayer and in preaching to revive the work of God, and beg earnestly that God, by a fresh and abundant effusion of his own Spirit, would revive his own work among us ! Revive thy own work, Lord, in the midst of these years of sin and degeneracy, nor let us labor in vain. Where is thy seal, Lord, and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and thy mercies? Are they restrained ? let us rouse our souls with all holy fervor to fulfil our ministry, for it will be a dreadful reproach upon us, and a burthen too heavy for us to bear, if we let the ■causa of Christ and godliness die under our hands for want of a lively zeal, and pious fervor and faithfulness in our ministrations. Tenthly, We entreat, we exhort and charge you, and we charge ourselves, by the solemn and awful circumstances of a dying bed, and the thoughts of conscience in that important hour, when we shall enter into the world of spirits, that we take heed to the min- istry which we have received : Surely that hour is hastening upon us, when our heads will lie upon a dying pillow. When a few more mornings and evenings have visited our windows, the shadows of a long night will begin to spread themselves over us : In that gloomy hour, conscience will review the behavior of the days that are past, will take account of the conduct of our whole lives, and will par- ticularly examine our labors and cares in our sacred office. Oh may we ever dread the thoughts of making bitter work for repent- ance in that hour, and of treasuring up terrors for a death bed by a careless and useless ministry ! Eleventhly, We exhort, and charge you, and we charge ourselves, hy our gathering together before the throne of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the solemn account we must there give of the ministry with which he hath entrusted us, that we prepare by our present zeal and labor to render that most awful scene peaceful to our soula^ ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 309 and the issue of it joyful and happy. Let us look forward to that illustrious and tremendous appearance, when our Lord shall come with ten thousand of his holy angels to enquire into the conduct of men, and particularly of the ministers of his kingdom here on earth. Let us remember that we shall be examined in the light of the flames of that day. What we have done with his gospel which he gave us to preach ? What we have done with his promises of rich salvation, which he sent us to offer in his name ? What is be- come of the souls committed to our care ? O that we may give up our account with joy and not with grief, to the Judge of the living and the dead, in that glorious, that dreadful and decisive hour 1 Twelfthly, We charge and warn you, my dear brother, and we warn and charge ourselves, by all the terrors written in this divine book, and by all the indignation and vengeance of God, which we are sent to display before a sinful world ; by all the torments and agonies of hell, which we are commissioned to denounce against impenitent sinners, in order to persuade men to turn to God, and receive and obey the gospel, that we take heed to our ministry that we fulfil it. This vengeance and these terrors will fall upon our souls, and that with intolerable weight, with double and immortal anguish, if we have trifled with these terrible solemnities, and made no use of these awful scenes to awaken men to lay hold of the offered grace of the gospel. Knowing therefore the terrors of the Lord, let us persuade men, for we must all stand before the judg- ment seat of Christ, to receive according to our work ; 2 Cor. v. 10, 11. In the last place, We entreat, we exhort and charge you, by all the joys of paradise, and the blessings of an eternal heaven, which are our hope and support under all our labors, and which in the name of Christ we offer to sinful perishing men, and invite them to partake thereof: Can we speak of such joys and glories with a sleepy heart and indolent language ? Can we invite sinners who are running headlong into hell to return and partake of these fehci- ties, and not be excited to the warmest forms of address, and the most lively and engaging methods of persuasion ? What scenes of brightness and delight can animate the lips and language of an orator, if the glories and the joys of the Christian heaven and our immortal hopes cannot do it ? We charge and entreat you there- fore, and we charge ourselves, by the shining recompences which are promised to faithful ministers, that we keep this glory ever in view, and awaken our dying zeal in our sacred work. There is a crown of righteousness laid up for those who have fought the good fight, who have finished their course, who have kept the faith ; 2 310 CHOICE WORKS OF Tim. iv. 7. There is a glmy which is to be revealed, a crown of glory which fadeth not away, prepared for every under-sheplierd, who shall feed the flock of God under his care, and be found faith- ful in his work ; when the great Shepherd shall appear, he himself will bestow it upon them. O let us look up continually to this immortal crown ? Let us shake ofi' our sluggishness, and rouse all our active powers at the prospect of this felicity. Let us labor and strive with all our might, that we may become possessors of this bright reward. Before we conclude this exhortation, let us try to enforce it still with more power, by considering in whose presence are these so- lemnities transacted, and these charges g^ven. We exhort and charge you then, in the presence of this church, who hath called you to minister to them in holy things, and who give up their souls this day to your care, to your instructions, to your conduct in the ministrations of the gospel. We charge and exhort you that you take the oversight of them with all humility and dihgenee, and sacred delight, that you make the life of their souls your perpetual care, that none of them may be lost through your default. We exhort and charge you in the presence of this whole assem- bly, who are met together to behold and hear our faith and order in the gospel. They are witnesses of the solemn obligations you have this day laid yourself under, and will be called as witnesses against you in the day of Christ, if you take no care to perform your sacred vows. We exhort and charge you, in the presence of the holy and elect angels, who are continually waiting in tJieir ministry on the saints in the church, and viewing with delight the ministration of the gospel of Christ, their Lord and ours, as it is managed by the hand of men. They see, they hear, and they will bear record against you ; a dreadful record of broken vows and faithless promises, if you are found careless and unfaithful. Forgive me, dear brother, forgive the solemn language of these exhortations ; we hope, we believe, we are persuaded your heart is right with God, and you will be found faithful in that day, and that men and angels will be witnesses of your zeal and your labors in the sacred work. But we also feel so much coldness in our own spirits, that we have need to address you and ourselves in most solemn and awful language. We charge you then finally, in the presence of God, the great God, the all-knowing and almighty, the universal Governor and Judge, and our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom he hath committed all judgment, wiAo hath eyes as a flame of fire to see through our hearts and souls ; we charge you, and we charge ourselves, under ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 31] the all-seeing eye of the great God, and of his Son Jesus our Lord, that with holy care and diligence both we and you fulfil the work of our ministry with which Christ hath entrusted us, that we may approve ourselves to him in zeal, and faithfulness, and love ; in zeal for his honor and his gospel, in faithfulness to our sacred commis- sion, and in love and pity to the souls of men. If sinners vpill con- tinue obstinate and impenitent, after all our pious cares, labors and prayers, their blood will never lie at our door ; our work is left with the Lord, and our judgment and reward with our God ; Isaiai xlix. 4. But if it be possible, we should with utmost earnestness and compassion seize the souls of sinners who are on the very bor- ders of hell, we should pluck them like brands out of the fire, and save them from burning ; Jude verse 23. O may the Spirit of ttie blessed God favor us with his divine aids, that we may bring home many wanderers to the fold of Christ, the great Shepherd; that we may rescue many souls from death, who may be our joy, our crown, our glory in the day of the Lord Jesus ! May this be your happiness, my dear brother, may this be mine ! May this be the happiness of every one of us who min- ister in holy things, through the abounding grace of Christ and the influences of his Spirit : And may it be the happiness of all who in different places attend our constant holy ministrations, and particularly of all that hear us this day, to stand and appear with us before the judgment-seat of Christ with mutual delight and joy : And may each of us who preach and hear, receive our proper portion of the everlasting recompence and glory which shall be assigned to those who are faithful, by Jesus, our Saviour and our Judge to whom be dominion and praise for ever and ever. Amen. SELECT SEEMONS. SERMON I. THE END OF TIME. " And the angel, which I saw stand upon the sea, and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, that there should be time no longer." — Ret. x. 5, 6. This is the oath, and the solemn sentence of a mighty angel, who came down from heaven, and, by the description of him in the first verse, he seems to be the angel of God's presence, in whom is the name of God, even our Lord Jesus Christ himself, who pro- nounced, and sware, that time should be no longer; for all seasons and times are now put into his hand, together with the book of his Father's decrees ; Hev. v. 7, 9. What special age or period of time, in this world, the prophecy refers to, may not be so easy to determine; but this is certain, that it may be happily applied to the period of everj' man's life ; for whensoever the term of our continuance in this world is finished, our time, in the present circumstances and scenes that attend it, shall be no more. We shall be swept ofi' the stage of this visible state into an unseen and eternal world : Eternity comes upon us at once, and all that we enjoy, all that we do, and all that we suffer in time, shall be no longer. Let us stand still here, and consider, in the first place, what awful and important thoughts are contained in this sentence, what solemn ideas should arise to the view of mortal creatures, when it shall be pronounced concerning each of them, that time shall be no more. L " The time of the recovery of our nature from its sinful and wretched state shall be no longer." We come into this world fallen creatures, children of iniquity, and heirs of death ; we have lost the image of God, who made us, and which our nature en- joyed in our first parents ; and, instead of it, we are changed into the image of the devil, in the lusts of the mind, in pride and malice, in self-sufficiency and enmity to God ; and we have put on also the image of the brute, in sinful appetites and sensualities, and in the lusts of the flesh ; nor can we ever be made truly happy, till the image of the blessed God be restored upon us ; till we are 316 CHOICE W0BK8 OF made holy, as he is holy ; till we have a divine change passed upon us, whereby we are created anew, and reformed in heart and practice. And this life is the only time given us for this important change. If this life be finished before the image of God be restored to us, this image will never be restored ; but we shall bear the likeness of devils for ever ; and perhaps the image of the brute too, at the resurrection of the body, and be farther off from God, and all that is holy, than ever we were here upon earth. Of what infinite importance is it then, to be frequently awaken- ing ourselves, at special seasons and periods of life, to enquire, whether this image of God is begun to be renewed, whether we have this glorious change wrought in us, whether our desires and delights are fixed upon holy and heavenly things, instead of those sensual and earthly objects, which draw away all our souls from God and heaven. Let it appear to us as a matter of utmost mo- ment to seek after this change ; let us pursue it with unwearied labors, and strivings with our own hearts, and perpetual importun- ities at the throne of grace, lest the voice of him who swears that there shall be time no longer, should seize us in some unexpected moment, and lest he swear in his wrath concerning us. Let him that is unholy he unholy still, and let Mm that is filthy be filthy still ; Rev. xxii. 1 1 . n. When this sentence is pronounced concerning us, " the sea- son and the means of restoring us to the favor and love of God shall be no longer." "We are bom children of wrath, as well as the sons and daughters of iniquity ; Eph. ii. 3. We have lost the original favor of our Maker and are banished from his love, and the superior blessings of his goodness ; and yet, blessed be the Lord, that we are not at present forever banished beyond all hope : This time of life is given us to seek the recoveiy of the love of God, by returning to him according to the gospel of his Son : Now is par- don and peace, now is grace and salvation preached unto men, to sinful wretched men, who ai'e at enmity with God, and the objects of his high displeasure ; now the voice of mercy calls to us. This is the accepted time, this is the day of salvation ; 2 Cor. vi. 2. To- d^-y if ye villi hear his voice, let not your hearts be hardened to re- fuse it; Heb. iii. 15. Now the fountain of the blood of Christ is set open to wash our souls from the guilt of sin; now all the springs of his mercy are broken up in the ministrations of the gos- jiel ; now God is in Christ, reconciling sinners to himself; 2 Cor. v. 19, and he has sent us his ministers to intreat you in Christ s steud, be ye reconciled to God; and we beseech xjou in his name, continue not one day or one hour longer in your enmity and rebel- ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 317 lion, but be ye reconciled to God your Creator, and accept of his offered forgiveness and grace, verse 20. The moment is hastening upon us, when this mighty angel, who manages the affairs of the kingdom of providence, shall swear con- cerning every unbelieving and impenitent sinner, that the " time of offered mercy shall be no longer, the time of pardon and grace and reconciliation shall be no more :" The sound of this mercy reaches not to the regions of the dead ; those who die before they are rec- onciled, they die under the load of all their sins, and must perish for ever, without the least hope or glimpse of reconciling or forgiv- ing grace. III. At the term of this mortal life, " the time of prayer and repentance and semce for God or man in this world shall be no longer." Eccles. ix. 10. There is no work nor device, nor knowl- edge, nor wisdom, in the grave whither thou goest, whither we are all hastening. Let every sinful creature therefore ask himself, " Have I never yet begun to pray 3 Never begun to call upon the mercy of the God that made me ? Never begun to repent of all my crimes and follies ? Nor begun in good earnest to do service for God, or to honor him among men ?" Dreadful thought indeed ! When, it may be, the next hour we may be put out of all capacity and opportunity to do it for ever ! As soon as ever an impenitent sin- ner has the veil of death drawn over him, all his opportunities of this kind are for ever cut off; He that has never repented, never prayed, never honored his God, shall never be able to pray or repent, or do any thing for God or his honor through all the ages of his future immortality : Nor is there any promise made to re- penting or returning sinners in the other world, whither we are hastening. As the tree falls, when it is cut down, so it lies, and it must for ever lie ; pointing to the north or the south, to hell or heaven ; £!ccles. ix. 3. And, indeed, there is no true prayer, no sincere repentance can be exercised after this life ; for the soul that has wasted away all its time given for repentance and prayer, is at the moment of death left under everlasting hardness of heart ; and whatsoever enmity against God and godliness, was found in the heart in this world, is increased in the world to come, when all manner of softening means and mercies are ever at an end. This leads me to the next thought. IV. " How wretched soever our state is at death, the day of hopa is ended, and it returns no more." Be our circumstances never so bad, yet we are not completely wretched while the time of hope remains. We are all by nature miserable by reason of sin, but it 318 CHOICE WOEKS OF is only despair can perfect our misery. Therefore fallen angels are sealed up under misery, because there is no door of hope opened for them. But in this life there is hope for the worst of sinful men : There is the word of grace and hope calling them in the gospel ; there is the voice of divine mercy sounding in the sanctuary, and blessed are they that hear the joyful sound; Psalm Ixxxix. 15. But if we turn the deaf ear to the voice of God and his Son, and to all the tender and compassionate entreaties of a dying Saviour, hope is hastening to its period ; for this very angel will shortly swear, that this joyful sound shall be heard no longer. He comes now to the door of our hearts, he sues there for ad- mittance, "open unto me and receive me as your Saviour and your Lord, give me and my gospel free admission, and I will come in and bestow upon you the riches of my grace and all my salvation : Open your hearts to me with the holy desires and humble submis- sion of penitence, and receive the blessings of righteousness and pardon and eternal life." He now invites you to return to God, with an acknowledgment and renunciation of every sin, and he offers to take you by the hand, and introduce you into his Father's presence with comfort : This is a day of hope for the vilest and most hateful criminals ; but if you continue to refuse, he will shortly swear in his wrath, you shall never enter into his kingdom, you shall never take of the provisions of his grace, you shall never be partakers of the blessings purchased with his blood. Heb. iii. 11-18. I sware in my wrath, saith the Lord, they shall not enter into my rest. Oh the dreadful state of sinful creatures, who continue in such obstinacy, who waste away the means of grace and the seasons of hope, week after week and month after month, till the day of grace and hope is for ever at an end with them ? Hopeless creatures ! Under the power and plague of sin, under the wrath and curse of God, under the eternal displeasure of Jesus, who was once the minister of his Father's love, and they must abide under all this wretchedness through a long eternity, and in the land of everlast- ing despair. But I forbear that theme at present, and proceed. V. At the moment of our death, " the time of our preparation for the hour of judgment, and for the insurance of heaven and happiness, shall be no longer." Miserable creatures that are sum- moned to die thus unprepared ! This life is the only time to pre- pare for dying, to get ready to st^nd before the Judge of the whole earth, and to secure our title to the heavenly blessedness. Let my heart enquire, " Have I ever seriously begun to prepare for a dying hour, and to appear before the Judge of all 3 Have I ever con- ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 319 cerned myself in good earnest, to secure an interest in tlie heavenly inheritance, when this earthly tabernacle shall be dissolved ? Have I ever made interest for the favor of God, and a share of the iuherit- ance of the saints by Jesus the Mediator, while he afforded life and time ?" Death is daily and hourly hastening upon us : Death is the king of terrors, and will fulfil all his name to every soul that is unpre- pared. It is a piece of wisdom then for every one of us, since we must die, to search and feel whether death has lost its sting or no : Whether it be taken away by the blood of Christ ? Is this blood sprinkled on my conscience, by the humble exercise of feith on a dying Saviour ? Are the terrors of death removed, and am I prepared to meet it by the sanctifying influences of the blessed Spirit ? Have I such an interest in the covenant of grace as takes away the sting of death, as turns the curse into a blessing, and changes the dark scenes of dfeth into the commencement of a new and everlasting life ? This is that preparation for dying for which our time of life was given us, and happy are those who are taught of God to make this use of it. Judgment is making haste towards us : months and days of di- \'ine patience are flying swift away, and the last great day is just at hand : Then we must give an account of all that has been done in the body, whether it has been good or evil ; 2 Cor. v. 10. And what a dismal and distressing surprise will it be, to have the Judge come upon us in a blaze of glory and terror, while we have no good account to give at his demand ? And yet this is the very end and design of all our time, which is lengthened out to us on this side the grave, and of all the advantages that we have enjoyed in this life, that we may be ready to render up our account with joy to the Judge of all the earth. Heaven is not ours by birth and inheritance, as lands and houses on earth descend to us from our earthly parents. We, as well as they, are by nature unfit for heaven, and children of wrath; but we may be born again, we may be born of God, and become heirs of the heavenly inheritance through Jesus Christ : We may be re- newed in the temper and spirit of heaven ; and this life is the only season that is given us for this important change : Shall we let our days and years pass away, one after another in long succession, and continue the children of wrath still? Are we contented to go on this year as the last, without a title to heaven, without a divine temper, and without any preparation for the business, or the bles- sedness of that happy world ? VI. When this life comes to an end, " the time of all our earthly 320 CHOICE -WORKS OF comforts and amusements shall be no more." We shall have none of these sensible things around us to employ or entertain our eyes or our ears, to gratify our appetites, to soothe our passions, or to support our spirits in distress. All the infinite variety of cares, labors, and joys, which surround us here, shall be no more ; life with all the busy scenes, and the pleasing satisfactions of it dissolve and perish together : Have a care then that you do not make any of them your chief hope, for they are but the things of time, they are all short and dying enjoyments. Under the various calamities of this life we find a variety of sensible reliefs, and our thoughts and souls are called away from their sorrows, by present business, or diverted by present pleasure ; but all these avocations and amusements will forsake us at once, . when we drop this mortal tabernacle ; we must enter alone into the world of spirits, and live without them there. Whatsoever agonies or terrors, oi*huge distresses we may meet with in that unknown region, we shall have none of these sensible enjoyments to soften and allay them, no drop of sweetness to mix with that bitter cup, no scenes of gaiety and merriment to relieve the gloom of that utter darkness, or to sooth the anguish of that eternal heart-ache. O take heed, my friends, that your souls do not live too much on any of the satisfactions of this life, that your af- fections be not set upon them in too high a degree, that you make them not your idols and your chief goad, lest you be left helpless and miserable under everlasting disappointment, for they cannot follow you into the world of souls ; they are the things of time, and they have no place in eternity. Eead what caution the apos- tle Paul gives us, in our converse with the dearest comforts of life ; 1 Cor. vii. 29. The time is short ; and let those who have the largest affluence of temporal blessings, who have the nearest and kindest relatives, and the most endeared friendships, be mortified to them, and be in some sense, as though they had them not, for ye can- not possess them long. St. Peter joins in the same sort of advice ; 1 Peter iv. 7. The end of all things is at hand, therefore be ye sober, be ye moderate in every enjoyment on earth, and prepare to part with them all, when the angel pronounces, that time shall be no longer : His sentence puts an effectual period to every joy in this life, and to every hope that is not eternal. Thus we have taken a brief survey, what are the solemn and awfiil thoughts, relating to such mortal creatures in general, which are contained in this voice or sentence of the angel, that time shall be no longer. In the Second place, let us proceed further and enquire a little, " what ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 321 are those terrors which will attend sinners, impenitent sinners, at the end of time ?" I. " A dreadful account must be given of all this lost and wasted time." When the Judge shall ascend his throne in the air, and all the sons and daughters of Adam are brought before him, the grand enquiry will be, what have you done with all the time of life in yonder world ? " You spent thirty or forty years there, or perhaps seventy or eighty, and I gave you this time with a thousand op- portunities and means of grace and salvation ; what have you done with them all? How many Sabbaths did I afford you? How many sermons have ye heard ? How many seasons did I give you for prayer and retirement, and converse with God and your own souls ? Did you improve time well? Did you pray? Did you converse with your souls and with God? Or did you suffer time to slide away in a thousand impertinences, and neglect the one thing necessary ?" n. " A fruitless and bitter mourning for the waste and abuse of time," will be another consequence of your folly. Whatsoever satis- faction you may take now, in passing time away merrily and without thinking, it must not pass away so for ever. If the ap- proaches of death do not awaken you, yet judgment will do it. Your consciences will be worried with reflections on your foolish conduct. Oh 1 could we but hear the complaints of the souls in hell, what multitudes of them would be found groaning out this dismal note, " how hath my time been lost in vanity, and my soul is now lost for ever in distress :" How might I have shone among the saints in heaven, had I wisely improved the time which was given me on earth, given me on purpose to prepare for death and heaven ? Then they will for ever curse themselves, aiid call themselves eternal fools, tor hearkening to the temptations of flesh and sense, which wasted their time and deprived them of eternal treasures. III. Another of the terrors, which will seize upon impenitent sinners at the end of time, will be endless despair of the recovery of lost time, and of those blessings, whose hope is for ever lost with it. There are blessings offered to sinful, miserable men in time, which will never be offered in eternity, nor put within their reach for ever. The gospel hath no calls, no invitations, no en- couragements, no promises for the dead, who have lost and wasted their time, and are perished without hope. The region of sorrow, whither the Judge shall drive impenitent sinners, is a dark and desolate place, where light and hope can never come ; but fruitless repentance, with horrors and agonies of soul, and doleful despair reign through that world, without one gleam of light, or hope, or 14* 322 CHOICE WORKS or one moment of intermission. Then will despairing sinners gnaw their tongues, for anguish of heart, and curse themselves with long execrations, and curse their fellow-sinners, who assisted them to waste their time, and to ruin their souls. IV. The last terror I shall mention, which will attend sinners at the end of time, is, " an eternal suffering of all the painful and dis- mal consequences of lost and wasted time." Not one smile from the face of God for ever, not one glimpse of love or mercy in his countenance, not one word of grace from Jesus Christ, who was once the chief messenger of the grace of God, not one favorable regard from all the holy saints and angels; but the fire and brim- stone burn without end, and the smoke of this their torment will ascend for ever and ever, before the throne of God and the Lamb ; Eev. xiv. 11. Who knows how teen and bitter will be the agonies of an awakened conscience, and the vengeance of a provoked God, in that world of misery ? How will you cry out, " Oh ! what a wretch have I been, to renounce all the advices of a compassionate Father, when he would have persuaded me to improve the time of youth and health ! Alas, I turned a deaf ear to his advice, and now time is lost, and my hopes of mercy for ever perished. How have I treated with ridicule, among my vain companions, the compas- sionate and pious councils of my aged parents, who labored for my salvation ? How have I scorned the tender admonitions of a mother, and wasted that time in sinning and sensuality, which should have been spent in prayer and devotion ? And God turns a deaf ear to my cries now, and is regardless of all my groanings." This sort of anguish of spirit, with loud and cutting complaints, would destroy life itself, and these inward terrors would sting their souls to death, if there could be any such thing as dying there. Such sighs, and sobs, and bitter agonies would break their hearts, and dissolve their being, if the heart could break or the being could be dis- solved : But immortality is their dreadful portion : immortahty of sorrows, to punish their wicked and wilful abuse of time, and that waste of the means of grace they were guilty of in their mor- tal state. I proceed in the last place, to consider what reflections may be made on this discourse, or what are some of the profitable lessons to be learned from it. Reflection I. We may learn, with great evidence, the inestimable vt ?'-th and value of time, and particularly to those who are not pre- pared toi c'ernity. Every hour you live is an hour longer given jjrou to prepare tor tl^'ing, and to save a soul. If you were but ap- ISAAC WATTS, D,D. 323 prized of tlie worth of your own souls, you would better know the worth of days and hours, and of every passing moment, for they are given to secure your immortal interest, and save a soul from ever- lasting misery. And you would be zealous and importunate in the prayer of Moses, the man of God, upon a meditation of the short- ness of life ; Psalm xc. 12. So teach us to number our days, as to apply our hearts to wisdom ; that is, so teacb us to consider, how few and uncertain our days are, that we may be truly wise in pre- paring for the end of them. It is a matter of vast importance, to be ever ready for the end of time, ready to hear this awful sentence, confirmed with the oath of the glorious angel, that time shall be no longer. The terrors, or the comforts of a dying bed depend upon it : The solemn and de- cisive voice of judgment depends upon it : The joys and sorrows of a long eternity depend upon it : Go now, careless sinner, and, in the view of such sins as these, go and trifle away time, as you have done before ; time, that invaluable treasure ! Go and venture the loss of your souls, and the hopes of heaven, and your eternal hap- piness, in wasting away the remnant hours or moments of life : But remember the awful voice of the angel is hastening towards you, and the sound is just breaking in upon you, that time shall be no longer- Eefleotion 11. " A due sense of time, hastening to its period, will furnish us with perpetual new occasions of holy meditation." Do I observe the dechning day, and the setting sun, sinking into darkness ? So dechnes the day of life, the hours of labor, and the season of grace : O may I finish my appointed work with honor ere the hght is fled ! May I improve the shining hours of grace ere the shadows of the evening overtake me, and my time of work- ing is no more ! Do I see the moon gliding along through midnight, and fulfill- ing her stages in the dusky sky ? This planet also is measuring out my life, and bringing the number of my months to their end. May I be prepared to take leave of the sun and moon, and bid adieu to those visible heavens, and all the twinkling glories of them ! These are all but the measures of my time, and hasten me on towards eternity. Am I walking in a garden, and stand still to observe the slow motion of the shadow upon a dial there? It passes over the hour lines with an imperceptible progress, yet it will touch the last line of day-light shortly : So my hours and my moments move onward with a silent pace ; but they will arrive with certainty at the last limit, how heedless soever I am of their motion, and liow 324 CHOICE WORKS or thoughtless soever I may be of the improvement of time, or of the end of it. Does a new year commence, and the first morning of it dawn upon me ? Let me remember, that the last year was finished, and gone over my head, in order to make way for the entrance of the present : I have one year the less to travel through this world, and to fulfil the various services of a travehng state : May my diligence in duly be doubled, since the number of my appointed years is diminished ! Do I find a new birth-day, in my survey of the calendar, the day wherein I entered upon the stage of mortality, and was born into this world of sins, frailties, and sorrows, in order to my probation for a better state ? Blessed Lord, how much have I spent already of this mortal life, this season of my probation, and how little am I prepared for that happier world ! How unready for my dying moment ! I am hastening hourly to the end of the life of man, which began at my nativity : Am I yet born of God ? Have I be- gun the life of a saint ? Am I prepared for that awful day, which shall determine the number of my months on earth ? Am I fit to be born into the world of spirits through the straight gate of death! Am I renewed in all the powers of my nature, and made meet to enter into that unseen world, where there shall be no more of these revolutions of days and years, but one eternal day fills up all the space with divine pleasure, or one eternal night with long-and de- plorable distress and darkness ? When I see a friend expiring, or the corpse of my neighbor con- veyed to the grave : Alas ! their months and minutes are all deter- mined, and the seasons of their trial are finished for ever ; they are gone to their eternal home, and the estate of their souls is fixed un- changeably : The angel that has sworn, their " time shall be no longer" has concluded their hopes, or has finished their fears, and, according to the rules of righteous judgment, has decided their misery or happiness for a long immortality. Take this warning, my soul, and think of thy own removal ! Are we standing in the church-yard, paying the last honors to the relics of our friends ? What a number of hillocks of death ap- pear all around us ! What are the tomb-stones but memorials of the inhabitants of that town, to inform us of the period of all their lives, and to point out the day, when it was said to each of them, your " time shall he no longer^ O may I readily learn this impor- tant lesson, that my turn is hastening too ! Such a httle hillock shall shortly arise for me, on some unknown spot of ground, it shall cover this flesh and these bones of mine in darkness, and shall ISAAC WATTS, D. B. 325 hide them from the light of the sun, and from the sight of man, till the heavens be no more. Perhaps some kind surviving friend may engrave my name, with the number of my days, upon a plain, funeral stone, without orna- ment, and below envy : There shall my tomb stand, among the rest, as a fresh monument of the frailty of nature, and the end of time. It is possible some friendly foot may, now and then, visit the place of my repose, and some tender eye may bedew the cold memorial with a tear : One or another of my old acquaintance may, possibly, attend there, to learn the silent lecture of mortality from my grave-stone, which my lips are now preaching aloud to the world : And if love and sorrow should reach so far, perhaps, while his soul is melting in his eyelids, and his voice scarce finds an utterance, he will point with his finger, and show his compan- ion the month, and the day of my decease. Oh that solemn, that awful day, which shall finish my appointed time on earth, and put a full period to all the designs of my heart, and all the labors of my tongue and pen ! Think, O my soul ! that while friends or strangers are engaged on that spot, and reading the date of thy departure hence, thou wilt be fixed under a decisive and unchangeable sentence, rejoicing in the rewards of time well improved, or sufiering the long sorrows which shall attend the abuse of it, in an unknown world of happi- ness or misery.. Eeflection HI. We may learn, from this discourse, " the stupid folly and madness of those who are terribly afraid of the end of time, whensoever they think of it, and yet they know not what to do with their time, as it runs off daily and hourly." They find their souls unready for death, and yet they live from year to year, without any further preparation for dying: They waste away their hours of leisure in mere trifling, they lose their seasons of grace, their means and opportunities of salvation in a thoughtless and shameful manner, as though they had no business to employ them in ; they live as though they had nothing to do with all their time but to eat and drink, and be easy and merry. From the rising to the setting sun, you find them still in pursuit of impertinences ; they waste God's sacred time, as well as their own, either in a lazy, indolent, and careless humor, or in following after vanity, sin, and madness, while the end of time is hastening upon them. What multitudes are there of the race of Adam, both in higher and in lower ranks, who are ever complaining they want leisure ; and when they have a release from business, for one day or one 326 CHOICE WORKS OF hour, they hardly know what to do with that idle day, nor how to lay out one of the hours of it for any valuable purpose ! Those in higher station, and richer circumstances, have most of their time at their own command and disposal ; but, by their actual disposal of it, you plainly see they know not what it is good for, nor what use to make of it ; they are quite at a loss how to get rid of this tedious thing called time, which lies daily as a burden on their hands. Indeed, if their head ache, or their face grow pale, and a physican feel their pulse, or look wishfully on their counteiance, and especially if he should shake his head, or tell them his fears, that they will not hold out long, what surprise of soul, what agon- ies and terrors seize them on a sudden, for fear of the end of time ! For they are conscious how unfit they are for eternity : Yet when the pain vanishes, and they feel health again, they are as much at a loss as ever what to do with the remnant of life. O the painful and unhappy ignorance of the sons and daughters of men, that are sent hither on a tiial for eternity, and yet know not how to pass away time ! They know not how to wear out hfe, and get soon enough to the end of the day : They doze their hours away, or saunter from place to place without any design or meaning : They enquire of every one they meet what they shall do to kill time, as the French phrase is, because they cannot spend it fast enough : They are perpetually calling in the assistance of others, to laugh, or sport, or trifle with them, and to help them oft with this dead weight of time, while, at the same moment, if you do but mention the end of time, they are dreadfully afraid of com- ing near it. What folly and distraction is this ? What sottish inconsistency is found in the heart and practice of sinful men ; JSccles. ix. 3. " The heart of the jons of men is full of evil ; mad- ness is in their heart while they live, and after that, they go down to the dead." Oh that these loiterers would once consider that time loiters not ! days and hours, months and yeai-s loiter not ; each of them flies away with swiftest wing, as fast as succession admits of, and bears them onward to the goal of eternity. If they delay and linger among toys and shadows, time knows no delay ; and they will, one day, learn by bitter experience, what substantial, important, and eternal blessings they have lost by their criminal and shameful waste of time. The apostle Peter assures them, 2 Peter ii. 3. though they slumber and sleep in a lethargy, of sin, so that you cannot awaken them, yet " their judgment lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not." The awful moment is hastening upon them, which shall teachthera terribly the true value of ti^ne. Then ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 327 they would give all the golden pleasures, and the riches, and the grandeur of this world, to purchase one short day more, or one hour of time, wherein they might repent and return to God, and get within the reach of hope and salvation : But time, and salvation, and hope, are all vanished and fled, and gone out of their reach for ever. Eefiection IV. Learn, from such meditations as these, " the rich mercy of God, and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in giving us so long a warning, before he swears that time shall he no more." Every stroke of sickness is a warning-piece, that life is coming to its period : Every death among our friends and acquaintance is another tender and painful admonition, that our death also is at hand : The end of every week and every dawning Sabbath is another warning ; every sermon we hear of the shortness of time and the uncertainty of hfe is a fresh intimation, that the great angel will shortly pro- nounce a period upon all our time. How inexcusable shall we be, if we turn the deaf ear to all these warnings ? St. Peter advises us to '■''count the long-suffering of the Lord for salvation" 2 Peter iii. 15. and to secure our eternal safety, and our escape from hell dur- ing the season of his lengthened grace. Alas ! How long has Jesus, and his mercy, and his gospel waited on you, before you began to think of the things of your everlasting peace ? And if you are now solemnly awakened, yet how long has he waited on you with fresh admonitions and with special provi- dences, with mercies and judgments, with promises and invitations of grace, with threatenings and words of terror, and with the whis- pers and advices of his own Spirit, since you began to see your dan- ger ? And, after all, have you yet sincerely repented of sin ? Have you yet received the oftered grace ? Have you given up yourselves to the Lord, and laid hold of his salvation ? This is the accepted time, this is the day of salvation; 2 Cor. vi. 2. To-day if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts ; Heb. iii. 7-11. It is never said through all the Bible, that to-morrow is the day of grace, -or to-morrow is the time of acceptance. It is the present hour only that is offered. Every day and every hour is a mercy of unknown importance to sinful men : It is a mercy, O sinners, that you awaked not this morning in hell, and that you were not fiied without remedy beyond the reach of hope and mercy. Reflection V. Learn from this discourse what " a very useful practice it would be, to set ourselves often beforehand as at the end of time ;" to imagine om'selves just under the sound of the voice of this mighty angel, or at the tribunal of Christ, and to call our souls to a solemn account in what manner we have passed away all our leisure time hitherto ; I mean, all that time which 328 CHOICE WORKS OF hath not been laid out in the necessities of the natural life, for its support and its needful refreshment, or in the due and proper em- ployments of the civil life ; both these are ailowed and required by the God of nature, and the God of providence, who governs the world ; but what hast thou done, O man ! O woman ! what hast thou done with all the hours of leisure which might have been laid out on far better employments, and to far nobler purposes ? Give me leave to enter into particulars a httle, for generals do but seldom convince the mind, or awaken the conscience, or affect the heart. 1. Have you not slumbered or squandered away too much time without any useful purpose or design at all ? How many are there that when they have morning hours on their hands, can pass them off on their beds, and lose and forget time in a little more sleep and a little more slumber ; a few impertinences, with breakfast and dressing, wear out the morning without God. And how many af- ternoon and evening hours are worn away in such sauntering idle- ness as I have described, that when the night comes, they cannot review one half hour's useful work, from the dawn of the morning to the hour of rest. Time is gone and vanished, and as they knew not what to do with it while it was present, so now it is past they know not what they have done with it : They keep no account of it, and are never prepared to come to a reckoning : But will the great Judge of all take this for an answer to such a solemn en- quiry ? 2. Have you never laid out much more time than was needful in recreations and pleasures of sense ? Recreations are not unlawful, so far as they are necessary, and proper to relieve the fatigue of the spirits, when they are tired with business or labor, and to prepare for new labors and new businesses : But have we not followed sports without measure and without due limitation ? Hath not some of that very time been spent in them which should have been laid out in preparing for death and eternity, and in seeking things of far higher importance ? 3. Have you not wasted too much time in your frequent clubs, and what you call good company, and in places of public resort ? Hath not the tavern, or the coffee-house, or the ale-house seen and known you from hour to hour for a whole evening, and that some- times before the trade or labors of the day should have been ended? And when your Bible, and your closet, or the devotion of your family, have sometimes called upon your conscience, have you not turned a deaf ear to them all ? 4. Have not useless and impertinent visits been made to no good purpose, or been prolonged beyond all necessity or improve- ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 329 ment ? When your conversation runs low, even to the dregs, and both you and your friends have been at a loss what to say next, and knew not how to fill up the time, yet the visit must go on, and time must be wasted. Sometimes the wind and the weather, and twenty insignificancies, or, what is much worse, scandal of persons or families, have come in to your relief, that there might not be too long a silence ; But not one word of God or goodness could find room to enter in, and relieve the dull hour. Is none of this time ever to be accounted for ? And will it sound well in the ears of the great Judge, " We ran to these sorry topics, these slanderous and backbiting stories, because we could not tell what to talk of, and we knew not how to spend our time ?" 5. Have you not been guilty of frequent, and even perpetual delays or neglects of your proper necessary business in the civil life, or in the solemn duties of religion, by busying yourselves in some other needless thing, under this pretence, " It is time enough yet?" Have you learned that important and eternal rule of prudence, " never delay till to-morrow what may be done to-day ; never put off till the next hour what may be done in this ?" Have you not often experienced your own disappointment and folly by these de- lays ? Aid yet have you ever so repented, as to learn to mend them ? Solomon tells us, Eccles. iii. 1. There is a time for every purpose, and every work, under the sun ; a proper and agreeable time for every lawful work of nature and hfe ; and it is the busi- ness and care of a wise man to do proper work in proper time ; but when we have let slip the proper season, how often have we been utterly disappointed ? Have we not sustained great incon- veniences ? And sometimes it hath so happened, that we could never do that work or business at all, because another proper season for it hath never offered : Time hath been no more. Felix put off his discourse with Paul about ^q faith of Christ and right- eousness, and judgment to come, to a more convenient time, which probably never came, Acts xxiv. 25. And the word of God teaches us, that, if we neglect our salvation in the present day of grace, the angel, in my text, is ready to swear that time shall he no longer. Here permit me to put in a short word to those who have lost much time already. my friends 1 begin now to do what in you lies to regain it, by double diligence, in the matters of your salvation, lest the voice of the archangel should finish your time of trial, and call you to judg- ment before you are prepared. 330 CHOICE WORKS OF What time lies before you for this double improvement God only knows : The remnant of the measure of your days is with him, and every evening the number is diminished : Let not the rising sun upbraid you with continued negligence. Remember your former abuses of hours, and months, and years, in folly and sin, or at best, in vanity and trifling : Let these thoughts of your past conduct lie with such an effectual weight on your hearts, as to keep you ever vigorous in present duty. Since you have been so lazy and loitering in your Christian race in time past, take larger steps daily, and stretch all the powers of your souls to hasten towards the crown and the prize. Hearken to the voice of God in his word, with stronger attention and zeal to profit : Pray to a long-suffering God with double fervency ; cry aloud, and give him no rest, till your sinful soul is changed into penitence, and renewed to holiness, till you have some good evidences of your sincere love to God, and unfeigned faith in his Son Jesus. Never be satisfied till you are come to a well-grounded hope, through grace, that God is your friend, your reconciled Father, that, when days and months are no more, you may enter into the region of everlasting light and peace. But I proceed to the last general remark. " Leam the unspeak- able happiness of those who have improved time well, and who wait for the end of time with Christian hope." They are not afraid, or, at least, they need not be afraid, of the sentence nor the oath of this mighty angel, when he lifts up his hand to heaven, and swears with a loud voice, there shall be time no more. O blessed creatures ! Who have so happily improved the time of life and day of gi'ace, as to obtain the restoration of the im^e of God, in some degree, on their souls, and to recover the favor of God through the gospel of Christ, for which end time was bestowed upon them : They have reviewed their foUies with shame in the land of hope; they have mourned and repented of sin, ere the season of repentance was past, and are become new creatures, and their lips and their lives declare the divine change. They have made preparation for death, for which purpose life and time were given. Happy souls, indeed, who have so valued time as not to let it run off in trifles, but have obtained treasures more valuable than that time which is gone, even the riches of the covenant of grace, and the hopes of an eternal inheritance in glory ! Happy such souls, indeed, when time is no more with them 1 Their happiness begins when tlie duration of their mortal life is finished. Let us survey this their happiness in a few particulars. The time of their darknesses and difficulties is no longer : The time of painful ignorance and error is come to an end ; You shall ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 331 wander no more in mistake and folly ; you shall behold all things in the light of God, and see him face to face, who is the original beauty, and the eternal truth. You shall see him without veils and shadows, without the reflecting glass of his word and ordinances, which at best gives us but a faint glimpse of him, either in his nature or wisdom, his power or goodness. You shall see him in himself, and in his Son Jesus, the brightest and fairest image of the Father, and shall know him, as you are known; 1 Cor. xiii. 10, 12. There is no more time for temptation and danger : When once you are got beyond the limits of this visible world, and all the enticing objects of flesh and sense, there shall be no more hazard of your salvation, no more doubting and distressing fears about your interest in your Father's love, or in the salvation of his beloved Son. ^ There is no more time nor place for sin to inhabit in you : The lease of its habitation in your mortal body must end, when the body itself falls into the dust : You shall feel no more of its powerful and defiling operations, either in heart or life for ever. The time of conflict with your spiritual adversaries is no longer. There is no more warfare betwixt the flesh and spirit, no more com- bat with the world and the devil, who, by a thousand ways, have attempted to deceive you, and to bear you ofi' from your heavenly hope. T'our warfare is accomplished, your victory is complete, you are made overcomers through him that has loved you. Death is the last enemy to be overcome ; the sting of it is already taken away, and you have now finished the conquest, and are assured of the crown ; 1 Cor. xv. 56, 6Y. The time of your distance and absence from God is no more. The time of coldness and indiflerence, and the fearful danger of backslidings, is no more : You shall be made as pillars in the tem- vle of your God, and shall go no more out : He shall love you like a God, and kindle the flames of your love to so intense a degree, as is only known to angels, and to the spirits of the just made per- fect. There is no more time for you to be vexed with the society of sinful creatures : Your spirit within you shall be no more ruflBed or disquieted with the teasing conversation of the wicked, nor shall you be interrupted in your holy and heavenly exercises by any of the enemies of God and his grace. The time of your pairful labors and sufferings is no more. Rev. xiv. 13. Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, for they rt^t from all their labors that carry toil or fatigue with them. There shall he no more complaints nor groans, no sorrow or crying ; the 332 CHOICE WORKS OF ISAAC WATTS, D.D. springs of grief are for ever dried up, neither shall there be any more pain in the flesh or the spirit. God shall wipe away all tears from your eyes, and death shall be no more ; liev. xxi. 4. It is finished, said our blessed Lord on the cross : It is finished, may every one of his followers say at the hour of death, and at the end of time ; My sins and follies, my distresses and my sufierings, are finished for ever, and the mighty angel swears to it, that the time of these evils is no longer ; they are vanished, and shall never return. O happy souls, who have been so wise to count the short and uncertain number of your days on earth, as to make an early provision for a removal to heaven ! Blessed are you above all the powers of thought and language. Days, and months, and years, and all these short and painful periods of time, shall be swallowed up in a long and blissful eternity ; the stream of time which has run between the bants of this mortal life, and bore you along amidst many dangerous rocks of temptation, fear, and sorrow, shall launch you out into the ocean of pleasures which have no period : those felicities must be everlasting, for duration has no limits there ; time with all its measures, shall be no more. Amen. SERMON II. NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. " Neither shall there be any more pain." — ^Ret. xxi. 4. There have been some divines in ancient times, as well as in our present age, wLo suppose this prophecy relates to some glorious and happy event here on earth, wherein the saints and faithful fol- lowers of Christ shall be delivered from the bondage and miseries to which they have been exposed in all former ages, and shall enjoy the blessings which these words promise. Among these writers, some have placed this happy state before the resurrection of the body ; others make it belong to that first resurrection which is spoken of in Rev. xx. 6. But let this prophecy have a particular aspect upon what earthly period soever, yet all must grant it is cer- tainly true concerning the heavenly state ; from these felicities, taken in a literal sense, these figurative expressions are derived, to foretel the happiness of any period of the church in this world ; and in this sense, as part of our happiness in heaven, I shall under- stand the words here, and propose them as the foundation of my present discourse. Among the many things that make this life uncomfortable, and render mankind unhappy here below, this is one that has a large influence, namely, that in this mortal state we are all liable to pain, from which we shall be perfectly delivered in the life to come. The Greek word which is here translated pain, signifies also toil and fatigue and excessive labor of the body, as well as anguish and vex- ation of the spirit : But since in the. two other places of the New Testament where it is used, the wor^ more properly signifies the pain of the body, I presume to understand it chiefly in this sense also in my text. I need not spend time in explaining what pain is, to persons who dwell in flesh and blood : There is not one of you in this as- sembly but is better acquainted with the nature of it by the sense of feehng, than it is possible for the wisest philosopher to inform you by all his learned language. Yet that I may proceed regu- larly, I would just give you this short description of it. " Pain is an uneasy perception of the soul, occasioned by some indisposition 334 CHOICE WORKS OP of the body to wWch it is united ;" whether this arise from some disorder or malady in the flesh itself, or from some injury received from without by wounds, bruises, or any thing of the like kind. Now this sort of uneasy sensations is not to be found or feared in heaven. In order to make our present meditations on this part of the blessedness of heaven useful and joyful to us while we are here on earth, let us enquire : I. What are the evils or grand inconveniences that generally flow from the pains we suffer here ; and as we go we shall survey the satisfactions which arise by our freedom from them all in heaven. II. What just and convincing proofs may be given that there are no such uneasy sensations to be felt in heaven, or to be feared after this life. in. What are the chief reasons or designs of the blessed God in sending pain on his creatures in this world ; and at the same time I shall shew that pain is banished from the heavenly state, because God has no such designs remaining to be accomplished in that world. IV. What lessons we may learn from the painful discipline which we feel while we are here,, in order to shew there is no need of such discipline to teach us those lessons in heaven. Let us address ourselves to mate these four enquiries in their order. Section I. — First. " What are the evils which flow from pain, and usually attend it in this life ; and all along as we go we shall take a short view of the heavenly state, where we shall be released from all these evils and inconveniences." 1. "Pain has a natural tendency to make the mind sorrowful as well as the body uneasy." Our souls are so nearly united to flesh and blood, that it is not possible for the mind to possess perfect happiness and ease, while the body is exposed to so many occa- sions of pain. It is granted, that natural courage and strength of heart may prevail in some persons to bear up their spirits under long and intense pains of the flesh ; yet they really take away so much of the ease and pleasure of life, while any of us lie under the acute sensations of them. Pain will make us confess that we are flesh and blood, and force us sometimes to cry out and groan. Even a stoic, in spite of all the pride of his philosophy, will some- times be forced, by a sigh or a groan, to confess himself a man. What are the greatest parts of the groans and outcries, that are heard all round this our globe of earth, but the efiect of pain, either felt or feared ? ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 335 But in heaven, where there is no pain, there shall be no sighing or groaning, nor any more crying, as my text expresses. There shall be nothing to make the flesh or the spirit uneasy, and to breat the eternal thread of peace and pleasure that runs through the whole duration of the saints : Not one painful moment to interrupt the everlasting felicity of that state. When we have done with earth and mortality, we have done also with sickness and anguish of nature, and with all sorrow and vexation for ever. There are no groans in the heavenly world to break in upon the harmony of the harps and the songs of the blessed ; no sighs, no outcries, no anguish there to disturb the music and the joy of the inhabitants. And though the soul shall be united to the body new-raised from the dead, to dwell for ever in union, yet that new-raised body shall have neither any springs of pain in it, nor be capable of giving anguish or uneasiness to the indwelling spirit for ever. 2. Another evil which atterj^s on pain is this, " it so indisposes our nature, as often to unfit us for the business and duties of the present state." With how much coldness and indifference do we go about our daily work, and perform it too with many interrup- tions, when nature is burdened with continual pain, and the vital springs of action are overborne with perpetual uneasiness ? What a listlessness do we find to many of the duties of religion at such a season, uuless it be to run more frequently to the throne of God, and pour out our groanings and our complaints there ? Groanings and cries are the language of nature, and the children of God ad- dress themselves in this language to their heavenly Father : Blessed be the name of our gracious God, who hears eveiy secret sigh, who is acquainted with the sense of every groan, while we mourn before him, and make our complaints to him, that we cannot worship him, nor work for him as we would do, because of the anguish and mal- adies of nature. And what an indisposition and backwardness do we feel in our- selves to fulfil many of the duties towards our fellow-creatures, while we ourselves are under present smart and anguish ? Pain will so sensibly affect self, as to draw off all our thoughts thither, and centre them there, that we cannot so much employ our cares and our active powers for the benefit of our neighbors : It abates our concern for our friends, and while it awakens the spirit within us into keen sensations, it takes away the activity of the man that feels it from almost all the services of human life. When human nature bears so much, it can act but little. But what a blessed state will that be, when we shall never feel this 336 CHOICE WORKS OF indisposition to duties, either human or divine, through any uneasi- ness of the hody ? When we shall never more he subject to any of these impediments, but for ever oast off all those clogs and bur- dens which fetter the active powers of the soul. Then we shall be joyfully employed in such unknown and glorious services to God our Father, and to the blessed Jesus, as require much superior ca- pacities to what we here possess, and shall find no weakness, no weariness, no pain throughout all the years of our immortality ; JSev. vii. 15. None of the blessed above are at rest or idle, either day or night, but they serve Mm in the temple, and never cease. And chap. iv. 8, no feintness, no languors are known therei The inhahitants of that land shall not say, I am sick: Everlasting vigor, cheerfulness, and ease shall render every blessed soul for ever zealous and active in obedience, as the angels are in heaven. 3. " Pain unfits us for the enjoyments of life, as well as for the labors and duties of it." It takes away all the pleasing satisfac- tions which might attend our circumstances, and renders the objects of them insipid and unrelishing. What pleasure can a rich man take in all the affluence of earthly blessings around him, while some painful distemper holds him upon the rack, and distresses him with the torture ? How little delight can he find in meats or in drinks which are prepared for luxury, when sharp pain calls all his attention to the ^seased part ? What joy can he find in mag- nificent buildings, in gay and shining furniture, in elegant gardens, or in all the glittering treasures of the Indies, when the gout tor- ments his hands and his feet, or the rheumatism afflicts his Hmbs with intense anguish ? If pain attacks any part of the body, and rises to a high degree, the luxuries of life grow tasteless, and life itself is embittered to us : Or when pains less acute are prolonged through weeks and months, and perhaps stick in our flesh all the night as well as in the day, how vain and feeble are all the efforts of the bright and gay things around us, to raise the soul into cheer- fulness ; Therefore, Solomon calls old age the years wherein there is no pleasure J Eccles. xii. 1, because so many aches and ails in that season pursue us in a continual succession ; so many infirmities and painful hours attend us usually in that stage of life, even in the best situation that mortality can boast of, as cuts off and destroys all our pleasures. But oh what a wondrous, what a joyful change shall that be, when the soul is commanded to forsake this flesh and blood, when it rises as on the wings of angels to the heavenly world, and leaves every pain behind it, together with the body in the arms of death ? And what a more illustrious and delightful change shall we meet ISAAC WATTS, D.D. SSf in the great rising day, when our bodies shall start up out of the dust with vigorous immortality, and withoiit any spring or seat of pain ? All the unknown enjoyments with which heaven is fur- nished, shall be taken in by the enlarged powers of the soul with intense pleasure, and not a moment's pain shall ever interrupt them. 4. Another inconvenience and evil which belongs to pain is, that " it makes time and life itself appear tedious and tiresome, and adds a new burden to all other grievances." Many evidences of this truth are scattered throughout all nature, and on all sides of this globe. There is not one age of mankind but can furnish us with millions of instances. In what melancholy language does Job dis- cover his sensations of the tiresome nature of pain ? l am made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me: When I lie down I say, When shall I rise and the night be gone ? And T am full of tossing to and fro unto the dawning of the day ; Job vii. 3, 4. When pain takes hold of our flesh, it seems to stretch the measures of time to a tedious length : We cry out as Moses expresses it, Deut. xxviii. 67. In the morning we say, Would to God it were evening ; and at the return of the even- ijig we say again, Would to God it were morning. Long are those hours indeed, whether of daylight or darkness, wherein there is no relief or intermission of acute pain. How tire- some a thing is it to count the clock at midnight in long succes- sions, and to wait every hour for the distant approach of morning, while our eyes are unable to close themselves in slumber, and our anguish admits not the common refuge of sleep. There are multitudes among the race of mortals, who have known these truths by sore experience. Blessed be God that we do not always feel them 1 But when we turn om" thoughts to the heavenly world, where there is no pain, there we shall find no wearisome hours, no tedious days, though eternity, with all its unmeasureable lengths of dura- tion, lies before us. What a dismal thought is eternal pain ! The very mention of it makes nature shudder and stand aghast ; but futurity, with all its endless years, in a land of peace and pleasure, gives the soul the most delightful prospect, for there is no shadow of uneasiness in that state to render our abode there tiresome, or to think the ages of it long. 5. Another evil that belongs to pain is, that "it has an unhappy tendency to ruffle the passions, and to render us fretful and peevish within ourselves, as well as towards those who are round about us." Even the kindest and the tenderest hand that ministers to our relieij can hardly secure itself from the. peevish quarrels of a man in extreme pain. Not that we are to suppose that this peav- 15 338 CHOICE WORKS OF ish humor, this fretfulijess of spirit, are thereby made innocent, and perfectly excused : No, by no means ; but it must be acknowl- edged still, that continuance in pain is too ready to work up the spirit into frequent disquietude and eagerness : We are tempted to fret at every thing, we quarrel with every thing, we grow im- patient under every delay, angry with our best friends, sharp and sudden in our resentments, with wrathful speeches breaking out of our lips. This peevish humor in a day of pain is so common a fault, that I fear it is too much excused and indulged. Let me rather say with myself, " My God is now putting me to the trial what sort of Christian I am, and how much I have learned of self-government, and through his grace I will subdue my uneasy passions, though I cannot relieve my pain." Oh, it is a noble point of honor gained in a sick chamber, or on a bed of anguish, to lie pressed with ex- treme pain, and yet maintain a serenity and calmness of soul ; to be all meekness, and gentleness, and patience, among our friends or attendants, under the sharp twinges of it ; to utter no rude or angry language, and to take every thing kindly that they say or do, and become like a weaned child ; Psalm cxxxi. 2. But such a character is not found in every house. A holy soul, through the severity of pain, may sometimes in such an hour be too much ruf- fled by violent and sudden fits of impatience. This proceeded to such a degree even in that good man Job, under his various calam- ities and the sore boils upon his flesh, that made him curse the day wherein, he was born, and cry out in the anguish of his spirit, rmj soul chooseth strangling and death, rather than life ; Job iii. 1-10. and vii. 15. and there have been several instances of those who, having not the fear of God before their eyes, with hasty violence and murderous hands have put an end to their own lives, through their wild and sinful impatience of constant pain. But these trials are for ever finished when this life expires : Then all our pains are ended for ever, if we are found among the children of God. There is not, nor can be any temptation in heaven to fretfulness or disquietude of mind : All the peevish passions are dropped into the grave, together with the body of flesh ; and those evil humors, which were the sources of smart and anguish here on earth, have no place in the new-raised body : Those ir- regular juices of animal nature, which tormented the nerves and excited pain in the flesh, and which, at the sanie time, provoked choler and u-ritated the spirit, are never found in the heavenly man- sions. There is nothing but peace and pleasure, joy aud love, goodness and benevolence, ease and satisfaction, diftused through ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 339 all the regions on high : There are no inward springs of uneasiness to ruffle the mind, none of those fretful ferments which were wont to kindle in the mortal body, and explode themselves with fire and thunder upon every supposed offence, or even sometimes without provocation. O happy state and blessed mansions of the saints, when this body of sin shall he destroyed, and all the restless atoms that disquieted the flesh and provoked the spirit to impatience, shall be buried in the dust of death, and never, never rise again ! 6. "Pain carries a temptation with it sometimes to repine and murmur at the providence of God." Not fellow-creatures alone, but even our sovereign Creator, comes within the reach of the peevish humors, which are alarmed and roused by sharp or continual pain. Jonah the prophet, when he felt the sultry heat of the sun smite fiercely upon him, and the gourd which gave him a friendly shadow was withered away, he told God himself in a passion, that he did well to be angry, even unto death ; Jonah iv. 9. And even the man of Uz, the pattern of patience, was sometimes transported with the smart and maladies that were upon him, so that he complained against God, as well as complained to him, and used some very unbecoming expressions toward his Maker. When we are under the smarting rebukes of providence, we are ready to compare ourselves with others who are in peace, and then the envious and the murmuring humor breaks out into rebellious language, " Why am I thus afflicted more than others ? Why hast thou set me as a mark for thy arrows ? Why dost thou not let loose thy hand, and cut me off from the earth ?" But in heaven there is a glorious reverse of all such unhappy scenes: There is no pain nor any temptation to murmer at the dealings of the Almighty : There is nothing that can incline us to think hardly of God : The days of chastisement are for ever ended, and painful discipline shall be used no more. We shall live for ever in the embraces of the love of God, and he shall be the object of our everlasting pi-aise. Perfect felicity, without the interruption of one uneasy thought, for ever forbids the inhabitants of that world to repine at their situation under the eternal smiles of that blessed Being that made them. 1. To add no more, "Pain and anguish of the flesh have some- times prevailed so far, as to distract the mind, as well as destroy the body. It has overpowered all the reasoning faculties of man ; it has destroyed natural life, and brought it down to the grave : The senses have been confounded, and the undierstanding over- whelmed with severe and racking pain, especially where there hath been an impatient temper to contest with them. Extreme smart 340 CHOICE WORKS OF of the flesh distresses feeble nature, and turns the whole frame of it upside down in wild confusion : It has actually worn out this ani- mal frame, and stopped all the springs of vital motion. The gout and the stone have brought death upon the patient in this manner; and a dreadful manner of dying it is, to have breath and life, and nature, quite oppressed and destroyed with intense and painful sen- sations. But v?hen we survey the mansions of the heavenly world, we shall find none of these evils there : No danger of any such events as these ; for there is no pain, no sorrow, no crying, no death nor destruction there. The mind shall be for ever clear and serene in the ease and happiness of the separate state : And when the body shall be raised again, that glorified body, as was inti- mated a little before, shall have none of the seeds of distemper in it, no ferments that can rack the nerves, or create anguish ; no fe- ver, or gout, or stone, was ever known in that coimtry ; no head- ache or heart-ache have ascended thither. That body also shall be capable of no outward wounds or bruises, for it is raised only for happiness, and leaves all the causes of pain behind it. It is a body made for immortality and pleasure ; there the sickly Christian is delivered from all the maladies of the flesh, and the twinges of acute pain, which made him groan here on earth night and day. There the martyrs of the religion of Jesus, and all the holy confessors, are fi'ee from their cruel tormentors, those surly executioners of heathen fury, or antichristian wrath : They are for ever released from racks, and wheels, and fires, and every engine of torture or smart. Immortal ease, and unfading health and cheerfulness, run through their external state, and all the powers of the man are composed for the most regular exercises of devotion and divine joy. Thus I have endeavored briefly to set the difierent states of heaven and earth before you under this dis- tinguishing character, that " all the tempting, the distressing, and mischievous attendants and consequences of pain," to which we are exposed in our mortal life, are for ever banished from the heavenly world. Section II. The second general enquiry was this, " What just and convincing arguments or proofs can be given, that there are no pains or uneasy sensations to be felt by the saints in a future state, nor to be feared after this life 1" My answers to this ques- tion shall be very few, because I think the thing must be sufficiently evident to those who believe the New Testament, and have liberty to read it. Argument I. " God has assured us so in his word, that there is no pain for holy souls to endure in the world to come." My text may ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 341 be esteemed a sufficient proof of it ; for whatsoever particular event or period of the church on earth this prophecy may refer to, yet the description is borrowed from the blessedness of heaven ; and if there shall be any such state on earth, much more will it be so in the heavenly world whereof that period on earth is but a shadow and emblem. We are expressly told, Sev. xiv. 13. in order to en- courage the persecuted saints and martyrs. Blessed are the dead who die in the JJord, from henceforth, for they rest from their labors or pains, and their works follow them ; that is, in a way of gracious recompense. It is granted indeed by the papists themselves, that in heaven there is no pain ; yet they suppose there are many and grievous pains for the soul to undergo in a place called purgatory, after the death of the body, before it arrives at heaven. But give me leave to ask, does not St, Paul express himself with confidence concerning himself and his fellow-Christians — " that they shall be present with the Lord when they are absent from the body?" 2 Cor. v. 8. Surely, the state wherein Christ our Lord dwells after all his suflferings and agonies, is a state of everlasting ease without sufiering; and shall not his followers dwell with him? Do we not read in the parable of our Saviour, LuJce xvi. 22. that "Lazarus was no sooner dead, but his soul was carried by angels into the bosom of Abraham, or paradise ? Every holy soul, wherein the work of grace is begun, and sin hath received its mortal wound, is perfectly sanctified when it is released from this body ; and it puts off the body of sin and the body of flesh together, for nothing that defileth must enter into paradise, or the heavenly state ; Rev. xxi. 27. The word of God has appointed but two states, viz. heaven and hell, for the reception of all mankind when they depart from this world ; And hovf vain a thing must it be for men to invent a third state, and make a purgatory of it ? This is a building erected by the church of Rome between heaven and hell, and prepared by their wild imagination for souls of imperfect virtue, to be tormented there, with pains equal to those of hell, but of shorter duration. This state of fiery purgation, and extreme anguish, is devised by that mother of lies, partly under a pretence of completing the pen- ances and satisfaction for the sins of men committed in this life, and partly also to pmify and refine their souls from all the remain- ing dregs of sin, and to fill up their virtues to perfection, that they may be fit for the immediate presence of God. But does not the Scripture sufficiently inform us, that the atonement or satisfaction of Christ for sin is full and complete in itself, and needs none of our additions in this world or another ? Does not the apostle John 342 CHOICE WORKS OF tell us, 1 John i. 7. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin ? Nor shall the saints after this life sin any more, to require a,ny new atonement ; nor do they carry the seeds of sin to heaven with them but drop them together with the flesh, and all the sources of pain together : Now since neither Christ nor his apostles give us any intimation of such a place as purgatory, for the refinement or puri- fication of souls after this life, we have no ground to hearken to such a fable. II. " God has not provided any medium to convey pain to holy souls after they have dropped this body of flesh." They are par- doned, they are sanctified, they are accepted of God for ever ; and since they are in no danger of sinning afresh by the influences of corrupt flesh and blood, therefore they are in no fear of suffering any thing thereby. And if, as some divines have supposed, there should he any pure ethereal bodies or vehicles provided for holy separate spirits, when departed from this grosser tabernacle of flesh and blood, yet it cannot be supposed that the God of all grace would mix up any seeds of pain with that ethereal matter, which is to be the occasional habitation of sanctified spirits in that state, nor that he would mate any avenues or doors of entrance for pain into these refined vehicles, when the state of their sinning and their trial is for ever finished. Nor will the body at the final resurrection of the saints, he made for a medium of any painful sensations. All the pains of nature are ended, when the first union between fiesh and spirit is dissolved. When this body lies down to sleep in the dust, it shall never awake again with any of the principles of sin or pain in it : Though it he sown in weakness, it is raised in power : though it be sown in dis- honor, it is raised in glory ; 1 Cor. xx. 43. and we shall be made like the Son of God, without sorrow and without sin for ever. in. " There are no moral causes or reasons why there should be any thing of pain provided for the heavenly state." And if there be no moral reasons for it, surely God will not provide pain for his creatures without reason ! But this thought leads me to the next general head of my discourse. Section III. The third general enquiry which I proposed to make was this, " What may be the chief moral reasons, motives, or designs of the blessed God, in sendina; pain on his creatures here below ; and at the same time I shall show, that these designs and purposes of God are finished, and they have no place in heaven." 1. Then " Pain is sometimes sent into our natures, to awaken slothful and drowsy Christians out of their spiritual slumbers, or to rouse stupid sinners from a state of spiritual death." Intense and ISAAC WATTS, D.B. 343 sharp pain of the flesh has oftentimes been the appoiQted and effec- tual means of providence to attain these desirable ends. Pain is like a rod in the hand of God, wherewith he smites sin- ners that are dead in their trespasses, and bis Spirit joins with it to awaken them into spiritual life. This rod is sometimes so smarting and severe, that it will make a senseless and ungodly wretch look upwards to the hand that smites, and take notice of the rebuke of heaven, though all the thundering and lightning of the word, and all the terrors of hell denounced there, could not awaken them. Acute pain is also a common instrument in our heavenly Father's hand, to recover backsliding saints from their secure and drowsy frames of spirit. David often found it so, and speaks it plainly in Psalms xxxviii. and xxxix. and in Psalm cxix. 67, he confesses, before I was afflicted, I went astray ; but when he had felt the scourge, he learned to obey, and to keep the word of his God. But there is no need of this discipline in heaven ; no need of this smarting scourge, to make dead sinners feel their Maker's hand, in order to rouse them into life, for there are no such inhabitants in that world : Nor is there any need of such divine and paternal discipline of God in those holy mansions, where there is no drowsy Christian to be awakened, no wandering spirit that wants to be re- duced to duty : And where the designs of such smarting strokes have no place, pain itself must be for ever banished ; for God does not willingly afflict, nor take delight in grieving the children of men, without substantial reasons for it ; Lam. iii. 33. 2. Another use of bodily pain and anguish in this world is, " to punish men for their faults and follies, and to make them know what an evil and bitter thing it is to sin against God, and thereby to guard them against new temptations ; Jer. ii. 19. Thy own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee ; that is by means of the smarting chastisements they bring upon men. When God makes the sinner taste of the fruit of his own ways, he makes others also observe how hateful a thing every sin is in the sight of God, which he thinks fit so terribly to punish. This is one general reason why special diseases, maladies, and plagues, are spread over a whole nation, viz. to punish the sins of the inhabitants, when they have provoked God by public and spreading iniquities. War and famine, with all their terrible train of anguish and agony, and the dying pains which they diffuse over a kingdom, are rods of punishment in the hand of God, the gov- ernor of the world, to declare from heaven and earth his indignation against an ungodly and an unrighteous age. This indeed is one design of the pains and torments of hell, 344 CHOICE WORKS OF where God inflicts pain without intermission : And this is some- times the purpose of God in his painful providences here on earth : Shall I rise yet higher and say, this was one great design in the eye of God, when it pleased the Father to bruise his best beloved Sou, and put him under the impressions of extreme pain ; Isaiah liii. 10, viz. to discover to the world the abominable evil th;it was in sin ? While Jesus stood in the stead of sinners, then his soul was exceeding sorrowful even to death, and he sweat great drops of blood y Luke xxii. 44, under the pressure of his agonies, to let the world see what the sin of man had deserved : And some- times God smites his own children in this world with smarting strokes of correction, when they have indulged any iniquity, to show the world that God hates sin in his own people wheresoever he finds it, and to bring his children back again to the paths of righteousness, But " in the heavenly state there are no faults to punish, no fol- lies to chastise." Jesus, our surety in the days of his flesh, has suffered those sorrows which made atonement for sin, and that anguish of his holy soul, and the blood of his cross, have satisfied the demands of God ; so that with honor he can pardon ten thou- sand penitent criminals, and provide an inheritance of ease and blessedness for them for ever. When once we are dismissed from tbis body, the spirit is thoroughly sanctified, and there is no fire of purgatory needful to burn out the remains of sin : Those foolish invented flames are but false fire, kindled by the priests of Rome to fright the souls of the dying, and to squeeze money out of them to purchase so many vain and idle masses to relieve the souls of the dead. Upon our actual release from this flesh and blood, neitber the guilt nor the power of sin shall attend the saints in their flight to heaven : All the spirits that arrive there are made perfect in holiness without new scourges, and commence a state of felicity that shall never be interrupted. 3. God has appointed pain in this world, " to exercise and try the virtues and the graces of his people." As gold is thrown into the fire to prove and try how pure it is from any coarse alloy, so the children of God are sometimes left for a season in the furnace of sutfL'rings, partly to refine them from their dross, and partly to dis- cover their purity and their substantial weight and worth. Sometimes " God lays smarting pain with his own hand" on the flesh of his people, on purpose to try their graces : When we endure the pain without murmuring at providence, then it is vfe coiue ofl' conquerors. Christian submission and silence under the hand of God is on(J way to victory. / was dumb, says David, and ISAAC WATTS, D.B. 345 opened not my mouth, because thou didst it; Psalm xxxix. 9. Ouv love to God, our resignation to his will, our holy fortitude and our patience, find a proper trial in such smarting seasons. Perhaps when some severe pain first seizes and surprises us, we find our- selves like a wild bull in a net, and all the powers of nature are throwQ into tumult and disquietude, so that we have no possession of our own spirits ; but when the hand of God has continued us awhile under this divine discipline, we learn to bow down to his sovereignty, we lie at his footstool calm and composed : He brings our haughty and reluctant spirits down to his foot, and makes us lie humble in the dust, and we wait with patience the hour of his release. JJom. v. 3, 4. Tribulation worketh patience, and patience under tribulation gives us experience of the dealings of God with his people, and mates our way to a confirmed hope in his love. The evidence of our various graces grows brighter and stronger under a smarting rod, till we are settled in a joyful confidence, and the soul rests in God himself. Sometimes he has permitted evil angels to put the flesh to pain, for the trial of his children ; so Job was smitten with sore boils from head to foot by the malice of Sataui at the permission of God ; but he knows the way that I take, says this holy man, and when he has tried me I shall come forth as gold ; for m,y foot has held his steps, through all these trials, neither have Iff one back from the commandment of his lips ; Job xxiii. 10 — 12. At other times " he suffers wicked men to spend their own malice, and to inflict dreadful pains on his own children :" Look back to the years of ancient persecution in the land of Israel, under Jewish or heathen tyrants ; review the annals of Great Britain ; look ovel the seas into popish kingdoms ; take a view of the cursed courts of inquisition in Spain, Portugal, and Italy ; behold the weapons, the scourges, the racks, the machines of tortue and engines of cruelty, devised by the barbarous and inhuman wit of men, to constrain the saints to renounce their faith, and dishonor their Saviour. See the slow fires where the martyrs have been roasted to death with lingering torment : These are seasons of terrible trial indeed, whereby the malice of Satan and antichrist would force the ser- vants of God, and the followers of the Lamb, into sinful compli- ances with their idolatry, or desertion of their post of duty : But the Spirit of God has supported his children to bear a glorious tes- timony to pure and undejiled religion; and they have seemed to mock the rage of their tormentors, to defy all the stings of pain, and triumph over all their vain attempts to compel tLem to sin against their God. 346 CHOICE WORKS OF One would sometimes be ready to wonder, that a God of infinite mercy and compassion should suffer his own dear children to be tried in so terrible a manner as this ; but imsearchable wisdom is with him, and he does not give an account to men of all the reasons and the rules of his conduct. This has been his method of provi- dence with his saints at special seasons, under the Jewish and the Christian dispensations, and perhaps under all the dispensations of God to men, from the days of Cain and Abel to the present hour. Our blessed Lord has given us many warnings of it in his word by his own mouth, and by all his three apostles, Paul, Peter, and John : They that will live godly in Christ Jesm shall suffer per- secution ; 2 Tim. iii. 12. Think it not strange therefore concerning the fiery trial ; 1 Peter iv. 12. The devil, by his wicked agents, shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried j and ye shall have tribulation ten days, but fear none of the things which thou shall suffer : Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life; Eev. ii. 10. But blessed be God, that this world is the only state of such trials. As soon as the state of probation is finished, the state of recompense begins. Such hard and painful exercises to try the virtues of the saints, have no place in that world which was not made for a stage of trial and conflict, but a place of glorious re- ward. " Heaven is the place where crowns and prizes are distri- buted to all those blessed ones who have endured temptation," and who have been iound faithful to the death. These sharp and dread-' ful combats with pain have no place among conquerors, who have finished their warfare, and have begun their triumph. 4. " Pain is sent us by the hand of providence to teach us many a lesson both of truth and duty, which perhaps we should never have learned so well without it." This sharp sensation awakens our best powers to attend to thosa truths and duties which we took less notice of before : In the time of perfect ease we are ready to let them lie neglected or forgotten, till God our great master takes his rod in hand for our instruction. Section IV. — And this leads me to the fourth general head of my discourse, and that is, to enquire what are those spiritual les- sons which may be learned on earth, from the pains we have suf- fered, or may suffer in the flesh. I shall divide them into two sorts, 1140. Lessons of instruction in useful truths, and lessons of duty, or practical Christianity ; and there are many of each kind with which tne disciples of Christ in this world may be better acquainted by the actual sensations of pain, than any other way. In this world I say, and in this onlj ; for in heaven most of these lessons of ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 347 doctrine and practice are utterly needless to be taught, either be- cause they have been so perfectly well known to all its inhabitants before, and their present situation makes it impossible to forget tliem ; or they shall be let into the fuller knowledge of them in heaven in a far superior way of instruction, and without any such uneasy discipline. And this I shall evidently make appear when I have first enumerated all these general lessons both of truth and duty, and shewn how wisely the great God has appointed them to be taught here on earth, under the scourge and the wholesome discipline of pain in the flesh. I. "The lessons of instruction here on earth, or the useful truths," are such as these : 1. Pain teaches us feelingly ''what feeble creatures we are, and how entirely dependent on God our Maker for every hour and mo- ment of ease." We are naturally wild and wanton creatures, and especially in the season of youth, our gayer powers are gadding abroad at the call of every temptation ; but when God sends his arrows into our flesh, he arrests us on a sudden, and teaches us that we are but men, poor feeble dpng creatures, soon crushed, and sinking under his hand. We are ready to exult in the vigor of youth, when animal nature in its prime of strength and glory, raises our pride, and supports us in a sort of self-sufficiency ; we are so vain and foolish as to imagine nothing can hurt us : But when the pain of a little nerve seizes us, and we feel the acute twinges of it, we are made to confess that our flesh is not iron, nor our hones brass ; that we are by no means the lords of ourselves, or sovereigns over our own nature : We cannot remove the least degree of pain, till the Lord who sent it takes off his hand and commands the smart to cease. If the torture fix itself but in a finger or a toe, or in the little nerve of a tooth, what intense agonies may it create in us, and that beyond all the rehef of medicines, till the moment wherein God shall give us ease. This lesson of the frailty of hu- man nature must be some time written upon our hearts in deep and smarting characters, by intense pain, before we have learned it well ; and this gives us, for time to come, a happy guard against our pride and vanity. Psalm xxxix. 10. When David felt the stroke of the hand of God upon him, and corrected him with sharp re- bukes for his iniquity, he makes an humble address to God and acknowledges that his " beauty, and all the boasted excellencies of flesh and blood, consume away like a moth ; surely every man is vanity ! Psalm xxxix. 10, 11. 2. The next useful truth in which pain instructs us, is "the great evil that is contained in the nature of sin, because it is the 348 CHOICE WORKS OF occasion of such intense pain and misery to liuman nature." I grant, I liave hinted this before, but I would have it more power- fully impressed upon our spirits, and therefore I introduce it here again in this part of my discourse, as a spiritual lesson, which we learn under the discipline of our heavenly Father. It is true indeed that innocent nature was made capable of pain in the first Adam, and the innocent nature of the man Jesus Christ suffered acute pain when he came in the likeness of sinful flesh : But if Adam had continued in his state of innocence, it is a great question with me, whether he or his children would have actually tasted or felt what acute pain is ; I mean such pain as we now suffer, such as makes us so far unhappy, and such as we cannot immediately relieve. It may be granted that natural hunger and thirst, and weariness after labor, would have carried in them some degrees of pain or uneasiness, even in the state of innocence ; but these are necessary to awaken nature to seek food and rest, and to put the man in mind to supply his natural wants ; and man might have immediately relieved them himself, for the supplies of ease were at hand, and these sort of uneasinesses were abundantly com- pensated by the pleasures of rest and food, and perhaps they were in some measure necessary to make food and rest pleasant. But surely if sin had never been known in our world, all the pain that arises from inward diseases of nature, or from out- ward violence, had been a stranger to the human race, an unknown evil among the sons of men, as it is among the holy angels, the sons of God. There had been no distempers or acute pains to meet young babes at their entrance into this world : no maladies to attend the sons and daughters of Adam through the journey of life; and they should have been translated to some higher and happier region without death and without pain. It was the eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, that acquainted Adam and his offspring with the evil of pain. Or if pain could have attacked innocence in any form or degree, it would have been put in a way of trial to exercise and illustrate his virtues ; and if he had endured the test and continued innocent, I am satis- fied he should never have felt any pain which was not overbalanced with superior pleasure, or abundantly recompensed by succeeding rewards and satisfactions. Some persons indeed have supposed it within the reach of the sovereignty of God to afflict and torment a sinless creature : Yet I think it is hardly consistent with his goodness, or his equity, to constrain an innocent being, which has no sin, to suffer pain with- out his own consent, and without giving that creature equal or ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 349 superior pleasure as a recompense. Both those were the case in the sufferings of our blessed Lord in his human nature, who was perfectly innocent : It was-with his own consent that he gave him- self up to be a sacrifice, when it pleased the Father to bruise him and put him to grief ; Isaiah liii. 10. and God rewarded him with transcendent honors and joys after his passion, he exalted him to his own right hand and his throne, and gave him authority over all things. In general therefore, we have sufficient reason to say, that as sin brought in death into human nature, so it was sin that brought in pain also ; and wheresoever there is any pain suffered among the sons and daughters of men, I am sure we may venture to assert boldly, that the sufferer may learn the evil of sin. Even the Son of God himself, when he suffered pain in his body as well aa anguish in his spirit, has told us by his apostles, that our sins wei'e the causes of it ; he bore our sins in his own body, on the tree, and for our iniquities he was bruised, so says Isaiah the prophet ; Isaiah liii. 5. and so speaks Peter the apostle ; 1 Peter ii. 24. And sometimes the providence of God is pleased to point out to us the particular sin we are guilty of by the special punishment which he inflicts. In Psalm ovii. 11, 18. Fools are said to be afflicted, that is, with pain and sickness, because of their transgres- sions of riot and intemperance ; their soul abhors all manner of meat, and they draw near to the gates of death. Sickness and pain overbalance all the pleasures of luxury in meats and drinks, and make the epicure pay dear for the elegance of his palate, and the sweet relish of his morsels or his cups. The drunkard in his debauches is preparing some smarting pain for his own punish- ment. And let us all be so wise as to learn this lesson by the pains we feel, that sin which introduced them into the world is an abominable thing in the sight of God, because it provokes him to use such smarting strokes of discipline in order to recover us from our folly, and to reduce us back again to the paths of righteous- ness. O blessed smart ! O happy pain, that helps to soften the heart of a sinner, and melts it to receive divine instruction, which before was hard as iron, and attended to no divine counsel! We are ready to wander from God, and forget him amongst the months and years of ease and pleasure ; but when the soul_ is melted in this furnace of painful sufferings, it more easily receives some divine stamp some lasting impression of truth, which the words of the preacher and the book of God had before inculcated without suc- cess and repeated almost in vain. Happy is the soul that learns 350 CHOICE -WORKS OF this lesson thoroughly, and gains a more lasting acquaintance with the evil of sin and abhorrence of it, undev the smarting stroke of the hand of God. Blessed is the man whom thou correctest, Lord, _ and teachest him the truths that are written in thy law ; Psalm xciv. 12. 3. Pain in the flesh teaches us also " how dreadfully the great God can punish sin and sinners when he pleases, in this world, or in the other." It is written in the song of Moses, the man of God ; Psalm xc. 11. According to thy fear, so is thy wrath, that is, the displeasure and auger of the blessed God is as terrible as we can fear it to be ; and he can inflict on us such intense pains and agonies, whose distressing smart we may learn by feeling a little of them. Unknown multiplications of racking pain, lengthened out beyond years and ages, is part of the description of helUsh tor- ments, and the other part lies in the bitter twinges of conscience, and keen remorse of soul for our past iniquities, but without all hope. Behold a man under a sharp fit of the gout or stone, which wrings the groans from his heart, and tears from his eye-lids; this is the hand of God in the present world, where there are many mixtures of divine goodness ; but if ever we should be so wilfully unhappy as to be plunged into those regions where the almighty vengeance of God reigns, without one beam of divine light or love, this must be dreadful indeed. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God ; Heb. x. 31. to be banished far oflF from all that is holy and happy, and to be confined to that dark dungeon, that place of torture, where the gnawing worm, of con- science never dies, and where tfie fire of divine anger is never quenched ; Mark ix. 48. We who are made up of flesh and blood, and interwoven with many nerves and muscles, and membranes, may learn a little of the terrors of the Lord, if we reflect that every nerve, muscle, and membrane of the body is capable of giving us most sharp and painful sensations. We may be wounded in every sensible part of nature ; smart and anguish may enter in at every pore, and make almost every atom of our constitution an instrument of our anguish. Fearfully and wonderfully are we formed ; Psalm cxxxix. 14. indeed, capable of pain all over us ; and if a God should see fit to punish sin to its full desert, and penetrate every atom of our nature with pain, what surprising and intolerable misery must that be ! And if God should raise the wicked out of tlieir graves to dwell in such sort of bodies again, on purpose to shew his just anger against sin in their punishment, how dreadful, beyond expression, must their anguish be through the long ages of eternity ! God can ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 351 form even sucli bodies for immortality, and can sustain theru to endure everlasting agonies. Let us think agai n, that when the hand of our Creator sends pain into our flesh, we cannot avoid it, we cannot fly from it, we caiTy it with us wheresoever we go : His arrows stick fast in us, and we cannot shake them off; oftentimes it appears that we can find no relief from creatures : And if by the destruction of ourselves, that is, of these bodies, we plunge ourselves into the world of spirits at once, we shall find the same God of holiness and vengeance there, who can pierce our souls with unknown sorrows, equal if not supe- rior to all that we felt in the flesh. If I make my bed in the grave, Lord thou art there ; Psalm cxxxix. 6. thy hand of justice and punishment would find me out. What a formidable thing it is to such creatures as we are, to have God our maker for our enemy ! That God, who has all the tribes of pain and disease, and the innumerable host of maladies at his command ! He fills the air in which we breathe with fevers and pestilences as often as he will : The gout and the stone arrest and seize us by his order, and strettih ns upon a bed of pain : Rheuma- tisms and cholics come and go wheresoever he sends them, and execute his anger against criminals. He keeps in his hand all the various springs of pain, and every invisible rack that can torment the head or members, the bowels or the joints of man : He sets them at their dreadful work when and where he pleases. Let the sinner tremble at the name of his power and terror, who can fill both flesh and spirit with thrilling agonies ; and yet he never pun- ishes beyond what our iniquities deserve. How necessary is it for such sinful and guilty beings as we are, whose natures are capable of such constant and acute sensations of pain, to have the God of nature our friend and our reconciled God ? 4. When we feel the acute pains of nature, we may learn some- thing of the exceeding greatness of the love of Christ, even the Son of God, that glorious Spirit, who took upon him flesh and blood for our sakes, that he might be capable of pain and death though he had never sinned. He endured intense anguish to make atonement for our crimes. Because the children whom he came to save from misery were partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself took part of the same, that he might suffer in the flesh, and by his sufferings put away our sins ; JBeb. ii. 14. Happy was he in his Father's bosom, and the delight of his soul through many long ages before his incarnation : But he condescended to be born in the likeness of sinful flesh, that he might feel such smart and sorrows as our sins had exposed us to. His innocent and holy soul was incapable of 352 CHOICE woEKS or such sort of sufferings till he put on this clothing of hum^ nature, and became a surety for sinful perishing creatures. Let us survey his sufferings a little. He was bom to sorrow, and trained up through the common uneasy circumstances, of the in- fant and childish state, till he grew up to man : What pains did attend him in hunger and thirst, and weariness, while he travelled on foot from city to city, through wilds and deserts, where there was no food nor rest ? The Son of man sometimes wanted the common bread of nature, nor had he where to lay his head. "What unejisy sensations was he exposed to, when he was buffeted, when he was smitten on the cheeks, when his tender flesh was scourged with whips, and his temples were crowned with thorns, when his hands and his feet were barbarously torn with rude nails, and fastened to the cross, where the whole weight of his body hung on those wounds f And what man or angel can tell the inward anguish, when his soul wa^ exceeding sorrowful even unto death, and the conflicts and agonies of his spirit forced out the drops of bloody sweat through every pore. It was by the extreme torture of his nature that he was supposed to expire on the cross; these were the pangs of his atonement and agonies that expiated the sins of men. " blessed Jesus : what manner of sufferings were these ! And what manner of love was it that willingly gave up thy sacred nature to sustain them ! And was the design of them, but to deli- ver us from the wrath of God in hell, to save our flesh and spirit from eternal anguish and distress there ! Why was he made such a curse for us, hut that he might redeem us from the curse of the law ; Gal. iii. 13. and the just punishment of our own iniquities ?" Let us carry our thoughts of his love and our benefit by it, yet one step farther ; Was it not by these sorrows, and this painful pas- sion, that he provided for us this very heaven of happiness, where we shall be for ever freed from all pain ? Were tbey not all endured by him to procure a paradise of pleasure, a mansion of everlasting peace and joy for guilty creatures, who had merited everlasting pain ? Was it not by these agonies in the mortal body which he assumed, that he purchased for each of us a glorified body, strong and immortal as his own when he rose from the dead, a body which has no seeds of disease or pain in it, no springs of mortality or death ? May glory, honor and praise, with supreme pleasure, ever attend the sacred person of our Eedeemer, whose sorrows and an- guish of flesh and spirit were equal to our misery, and to his own compassion. 5. Another lesson which we are taught by the long and tire- some pains of nature, " is the value and worth of the word of God, ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 353 and tlie sweetness of a promise, whicli can give tie kindest relief to a painful hour, and soothe the anguish of nature." They teach us the excellency of the covenant of grace, which has some- times strengthened the feeblest pieces of human nature to bear in- tense sufferings in the body, and which sanctifies them all to our advantage. Painful and tiresome maladies teach us to improve the promises to valuable purposes, and the promises take away half the smart of our pains by the sensations of divine love let into the soul. We read of philosophers and heroes in some ancient histo- ries, who could endure pain by dint of reasoning, by a pride of their science, by an obstinacy of heart, or by natural courage ; but a Christian takes the word of a promise, and hes down upon it in the midst of intense pains of nature ; and the pleasure of devo- tion supplies him with such ease, that all the reasonings of philo- sophy, all the courage of nature, all the anodynes of medicine, and soothing plaisters have attempted without success. When a child of God can read his Father's love in a promise, and by searching into the quahfications of his own soul, can lay faster hold of it by a living faith, the rage of his pain is much allayed, and made half easy. A promise is a sweet couch to rest a languishing body in the midst of pains, and a soft repose for the head or heart-ache. The stoics pretended to givie ease to pain, by persuading them- selves there was no evil in it ; as though the mere misnaming of things would destroy their nature : But the Christian, by a sweet submission to the evil which his heavenly Father inflicts upon bis flesh, reposes himself at the foot of God on the covenant of grace, and bears the wounds and the smart with much more serenity and honor. "It is my heavenly Father that scourges me, and I know he designs me no hurt, though he fills my flesh with present pain : His own presence, and the sense of his love, soften the anguish of all that I feel : He bids me not yield to fear, for when I pass through tKe fire he will he with me ; and he that loved me and died for me, has suffered gi-eater sorrows and more anguish on my account, than what he calls me to bear under the strokes of his wise and holy discipline : He has left his word with me as a universal medicine to relieve me under all my anguish, till he shall bring me to those mansions on high, where sorrows and pains are found no more." 6. Anguish and pain of nature here on earth teach us " the ex- cellency and use of the mercy-seat in heaven, and the admirable privilege of prayer." Even the sons of mere nature are ready to think of God at such a season ; and they who never prayed before, pour out a prayer before him when his chastening is upon them ; Isaiah xxvi. 16. An hour of twinging and tormenting pain, when 354 CHOICE WOKKS OF creatures and medicines can give no relief, drives them to tte tlirone of God to try whether he will relieve them or no. But much more delightful is it for a child of God that has been used to address the throne of grace, to run thither with pleasure and hope, and to spread all his anguish before the face of his heavenly Father. The blessed God has built this mercy-seat for his people to bring all their sorrows thither, and spread them before his eyes in all their smarting circumstances, and he has been often pleased to speak a word of relief. Our Lord Jesus Christ, when he dwelt in flesh and blood, prac- tised this part of religion with holy satisfaction and success. Being in an agmiy, he prayed more earnestly, and an angel was sent to strengthen and comfort him ; Luke xxii. 43, 44 . This was the relief of holy David in ancient times ; Psalm xxv. 18. Look upon my affliction and my pain, and pardon all my sins. Psalm cxvi. 3, 4. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell, or the grave, took hold of me ; then called I upon the name of the Lord ; Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. And when he found a gracious answer to his request, he acknowledges the grace of God therein, and charges his soul to dwell near to God ; return to thy rest, my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee : I was brought low, and he helped me, he delivered my soul from death, and my eyes from tears ; verses 6-8. But we have stronger encouragement than David was acquainted with, since it is revealed to us, that we have a High-priest, at this throne, ready to bespeak all necessary relief for us there ; Heb. ii. 18. A High-priest, who can be touched with the feeling of our in- firmities, who has sustained the same sorrows and pains in the flesh, who can pity and relieve his people under their maladies and acutest anguish; Heb.'vr. 15. When we groan and sigh under continued pains, they are ready to malre nature weary and faint : We groan uuto the Lord, who knows the language of our frailty: Our High-priest carries every groan to the mercy-seat : His com- passion works towards his brethi-en, and he will suffer them to con- tinue no longer under this discipline, than is necessary for their own best improvement and happiness. O how much of this sort of consolation has many a Christian learned and tasted, by a holy intercourse with heaven in such pain- ful seasons ? How much has he learned of the tender niiercies of God the Father, and of the pity and sympathy of our great High- pviest above ? Who would be content to live in such a painful \\ urld as this is, without the pleasure and relief of prayer ? Who would live without an interest at this mercy -seat, and without the 1 uj'porting friendship of this Advocate at the throne ? ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 355 Thus I have run over the chief lessous of instruction or doctrine, which may be derived from our sensations of pain here in this world : But there is no need of this sort of discipline in the blessed regions of heaven to teach the inhabitants such truths. They well remember what feeble helpless creatures they were when tbey dwelt in flesh and blood ; but they have put oft' those fleshy garments of mortality, with all its weaknesses together. The spirits of the blessed know nothing of those frailties, nor shall the'bodies of the saints new-raised from the dust, bring back any of their old infinnities with them. These blessed creatures know well how entirely dependent they are for all things upon God their Creator, without the need of pains and maladies to teach them, for they live every moment with God, and in a fiill dependence upon him : They are supported in their life and all its everlasting blessings, by his immediate presence, power, and mercy. They have no need of pain in those fields or gardens of pleasure to teach them the evil of sin ; they well remember all the sorrows they have passed through in their mortal state, while they were traversing the wilderness of this world, and they know that sin was the cause of them all. They see the evil of sin in the glass of the divine holiness, and the hateful contrariety that is in it to the nature of God is discovered in the immediate light of all his perfections, his wisdom, his truth and his goodness. They behold the evil of sin in the marks of the sufferings of their blessed Saviour ; he appears in glory as the Lamb that was slain, and carries some memorials of his death about him, to let the saints know for ever what he has suffered to make atonement for their sins. Nor have the blessed above any need to learn how dreadfully God can punish sin and sinners, while they behold his indignation going forth in a long and endless stream, to make the wicked enemies of God in hell for ever justly miserable : And in this sense it may be said, that the smoke of their torments comes up before Qoi and his holy angels, and Us saints for ever ; Eev. xiv. 10. Nor do these happy beings stand in need of new sensations of pain, to teach them the exceeding greatness of the love of Christ, who exposed himself to intense and smarting anguish both of flesh and spirit, to procure their salvation : For while they dwell amidst the blessedness of that state, which the Redeemer purchased with the price of his own sufferings, they can never forget his love. Nor do they want to learn in heaven the value of the word of God and his promises, by which they were supported under their pains and sorrows in this mortal state. Those promises have been fulfilled to them partly on earth, and in a more glorious and abundant man- 35C CHOICE WORKS OF ner in the heavenly world. They relish the sweetness of all those words of mercy, in reviewing the means whereby divine grace sus- tained them in their former state of trial, and in the complete accomplishment of the best of those promises in their present situ- ation amidst ten thousand endless blessings. And if any of them are too cold and remiss, and infrequent in their applications to the mercy-seat by prayer, when they were here on earth, and stood in need of chastisement to make them pour out their prayers to God, yet they can never forget the value of this privilege while they themselves dwell round about the throne, and behold all their ancient sincere addresses to the mercy-seat answered and swallowed up in the full fruition of their present glories and joys. Praise is properly the language of heaven, when all their wants are supplied and their prayers on earth are finished ; and whatever further desires they may have to present before God, the throne of grace is ever at hand, and God himself is ever in the. midst of them to bestow every proper blessing in its season that belongs to the heavenly world. Not one of them can any more stand in need of chastisement or painful exercises of the flesh to drive them to the throne of God, while they are at home in their Father's house, and for ever near him and his all-sufficiency. It is from thence they are constantly deriving immortal supplies of bless- edness as from a spring that will never fail. Section V. — I proceed now to consider in the last place, what are the " practical lessons which pain may teach us while we are here on earth, in our state of probation and discipline, and shall afterward mate it evident that there is no need of pain in heaven for the same purposes." 1. The frequent returns of pain may put us in mind " to offer to God his due sacrifices of praise for the months and years of ease which we have enjoyed." We are too ready to forget the mercy of God herein, unless we are awakened by new painful sensations ; and when we experience new relief, then our lips are opened with thankfulness, and our mouth shews forth his praise : Then we cry out with devout language, Blessed he the Lord that has delivered us! When we have been oppressed for some time with extreme anguish, then one day, or one hour of ease fills the heart and the tongue with thankfulness ; " blessed be the God of nature that has appointed medicines to restore our ease, and blessed be that good- ness that has given success to them !" What a rich mercy is it under our acute torments, that there are methods of relief and heal- ing found among the powers of nature, among the plants and the herbs, and the mineral stores which are under ground ! Blessed ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 367 be the Lord, who, in the course of his providence, has given still to physicians to compose and to apply the proper means of rehef! Blessed be that hand that has planted every herb in the field or the garden, and has made the bowels of the earth to teem with medi- cines for the recovery of our health and ease ; and blessed be his name who has rebuked our maladies, who has constrained tlie smarting diseases to depart by the use of balms and balsams that are happily applied. While we enjoy the benefits of common life, in health of body and in easy circumstauces, we are too often thoughtless of the hand of God, which showers down these favors of heaven upon us in a long and constant succession ; but when he sees fit to touch us with his finger, and awaken some lurking malady within us, our ease vanishes, our days are restless and painful, and tiresome nights of darkness pass over us without sleep or repose. Then we repent that we have so long forgotten the God of our mercies ; and we learn to lift up our praises to the Lord, that every night of our lives has not been restless, that every day and hour has not been a season of racking pain. Blessed be the Lord that enables us, without anguish or uneasiness, to fulfil the common business of the day ; and blessed be his hand that draws the peaceful curtains of the night round about us ! And even in the midst of moderate pains, we bless his name who gives us refreshing slumbers ; and we grow more careful to employ and improve every moment of return- ing ease, as the most proper way of expressing our thankfulness to our almighty Healer. Alas ! what poor, sorry, sinful creatures are we in the present state, who want to be taught the value of our mercies by the re- moval of them ! The man of a robust and vigorous make, and a healthy constitution, knows not the true worth of health and ease nor sets a due value upon these blessings of heaven ; but we are taught to thank God feelingly, for an easy hour after long repeated twinges of pain: We bless that goodness which gives us an easy night after a day of distressing anguish. Blessed be the God of nature and grace, that has not made the gout or the stone immor- tal, nor subjected our sensible powers to an everlasting cholic or tooth-ache. 2. Pain in the flesh more effectually teaches us to sympathize with those who suffer. We learn a tenderness of soul experiment- ally by our own sufferings. We generally love self so well, that we forget our neighbors under special tribulation and distress, uii-. less we are made to feel them too. In a particular manner, when our nature is pinched and pierced through with some smarting 358 CHOICE WORKS OF malady, we learn to pity those who lie groaning under the same disease. A kindred of sorrows and sufferings works up our natures into compassion, and we find our own hearts more sensibly affected with the groans of our friends under a sharp fit of the gout or rheu- matism, when we ourselves have felt the stings of the same distem- per. Our blessed Saviour himself, though he wanted not compassion and love to the children of men, since he came down from heaven on purpose to die for them, yet he is represented to us as our mer- ciful High-priest, who had learned sympathy and compassion to our sorrows in the same way of experience as we learn it. He was en- compassed about with infirmities, when he took the sinless frailties of our nature upon him, that he might learn to pity us under those frailties. In that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted : For we have not a High-priest which cannot he touched with the feeling of our infirmities, hut was in all points tempted like as we are, though he was always without sin y and hy the things which he suffered, he may be said, after the manner of men, to learn sympathy and pity to miserable creatures, as well as obedience to God, who is blessed forever ; Heb. ii. 18. and chapter iv. 16. and chapter v. 2-8. 3. Since our natures are subject to pain, it should teach us " watchfulness against every sin, lest we double our own distresses by the mixture of guilt with them." How careful should we be to keep always a clear conscience, that we may be able at all times to look up with pleasure to the hand of God who smites us, and be better composed to endure the pains which he inflicts upon us for our trial and improvement in grace. Innocence and piety, and a peaceful conscience, are an admirable defence to support the spirit against the overwhelming efforts of bodily pain : But when inward reproaches of mind and a racking conscience join with acute pain in the flesh, it is double misery, aggravated wretchedness. The scourges and inward remorse of our own hearts, joined to the sor- rows of nature, add torment to torment. How dreadful is it when we are forced to confess, "I have procured all this to myself by in- temperance, by' my rashness, by my obstinacy against the advice of fiiends, and rebellion against the commands of God !" Probably it was such circumstances as these that gave the soul of David double anguish, when his hones waxed old, through his roaring all the day long, when day and night the hand of God was heavy upon him, and his moisture was turned into the drought of summer ; when he complained unto God, thy arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore : There is no soundness in my ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 359 flesh, because of thy anger ; nor any rest in my bones, because of my sin. My iniquities are gone over my head as a lieavy burden, they are too heavy for me. Deep calls unto deep at the noise of thy water-spouts, all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. The deep of anguish in my flesh calls to the deep of sorrow in my soul, and makes a tremendous tumult within me. My wounds stink, and are corrupt, because of my foolishness : I am feeble and sore broken; I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart ; nor could he find any rest or ease till he acknowledged his sin unto God, and confessed his transgressions, and till he had some comfortable hope that God had forgiven the iniquity of his sin. See this sorrowful scene exemplified in a very affecting manner in Psalms xxxii. and xxxviii. Happy is the man that walks closely with his God in the days of health and ease, that whenever it shall please his heavenly Father to try him with smarting pain, he may find sweet relief from a peaceful conscience, and humble appeals to God concerning his own sincerity and watchfulness. 4. Pain in the flesh may sometimes be sent by the hand of God, to teach us " to wean ourselves by degrees from this body, which we love too well ; this body, which has all the springs of pain in it." How little should we be fond of this flesh and blood in the present feeble state wherein we are continually liable to one mal- ady or another ; to the head-ache, or the heart-ache, to wounds or bruises, and uneasy sensations of various kinds : Nor can the soul secure itself from them, while it is so closely united to this mortal body. And yet we are too fond of our present dwelling, though it be but in a cottage of clay, feeble and ruinous, where the winds and the storms are continually ready to break in and distress us. A sorry habitation indeed for an immortal spirit, since sin has mingled so many diseases in our constitution, has made so many avenues for smart and anguish in our flesh, and we are capable of admitting pain and agonies at every pore. Pain* is appointed to be a sort of balance to the " tempting pleasures of life, and to make us feel that perfect happiness doe? not grow among the inhabitants of flesh and blood." Pain takes away the pleasures of the day, and the repose of the night, and makes life bitter in all the returning seasons. The God of nature and grace is pleased, by sending sickness and pain, to loosen his own children by degi'ees from their fond attachment to this fleshly tabernacle, and to make us willing to depart at his call. A lono- continuance of pain, or the frequent repeated twinges of it will " teach a Christian and incline him to meet death with courage at the appointed hour of release." This will much abate SCO CHOICE WORKS OF the fierceness of the Mng of terrors, when he appears as a sovereign physician to finish every malady of nature. Death is sanctified to the holy soul, and by the covenant of grace this curse of nature is changed into a blessing. The grave is a safe retiring place from all the attacks of disease and anguish : And there are some incu- rables here on earth, which can find no perfect relief but in the grave. Neither maladies nor tyrants can stretch their terrors beyond this life ; and if we can but look upon death as a conquered enemy, and its sting taken away by the death of Christ, we shall easily venture into this last combat, and obtain an everlasting vic- tory. Blessed be God for the grave as a refuge from smarting pains ! Thanks be to God through Christ Jesus, who enables us to triumph over the last pain of nature, and to say, death ! where is thy sting ? And, grave ! where is thy victory ? 1 Cor. xv. 55. lu the fifth and last place, by the pains that we sufier in this body, " we are taught to breathe after the blessedness of the heav- enly state, wherein there shall be no pain !" When the soul is dismissed from the bonds of flesh, and presented before God in the world of spirits without spot or blemish by Jesus, our great forerunner, it is then appointed to dwell among the spirits of the just made perfect, who were all released in their several seasons from the body of flesh and sin. Maladies and infirmities of every Mnd are buried in the grave and cease for ever : and if we survey the prop- erties of the new-raised body in the great resurrection day, as described, 1 Oor. xv. 42-44. we shall find no room for pain there, no avenue or residence for smart or anguish. It will not be such a body of flesh and blood which can be a source of maladies, or subject to outward injuries ; but by its own principles of innate vigor and immortality, as well as by the power and mercy of God, it shall be for ever secured from those uneasy sensations which made our flesh on earth painful and burdensome, and which tended toward dissolution and death. It is such a body as our Lord Jesus wore at his ascent to heaven in a bright cloud, tor ever incorruptible; for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption, verses 49, 60. As we have borne the image of the earthly Adam in the frailties and sufierings that belong to it, so shall we also bear the image of the heavenly, even the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his own glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able to suhdiit all tilings unto himself ; Phil, iii. 21. We shall hunger no more, we shall thirst no more, nor shall the sun light on us with its parching beams, nor shall we be annoyed with firo or frost, witli heat or cold, in those temperate ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 361 and happy regions. The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed his people for ever there with the fruits of the tree of life, and with unknown entertainments suited to a glorified state. He shall lead them to living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; Eev. vii. 16, 17. Thus have I set before you the practical lessons which pain is designed to teach us in our present state ; and we find that a body subject to maladies and pains, is a well-appointed school wherein our great Master gives us these divine instructions, and trains us up by degrees for the heavenly world. It is rough discipline indeed for the flesh, but it is wholesome for the soul ; And there is many a Christian here on earth that have been made to confess, they had never learned the practice of some of these virtues, if they had not been taught by such sort of discipline. Pain which was brought into human nature by sin, is happily suited by the providence of God to such a state of probation, wherein creatures born in the midst of sins and sorrows are by degrees recovered to the love of God and holiness, and fitted for the world of peace and joy. But when we have done with this world, and departed from the tribes of mortal men, and from all the scenes of allurement and temptation, there is no more need that such lessons should be taught us in heaven, nor any painful scourge made use of by the Father of spirits, to carry on, or to maintain the divine work of holiness and grace within us. Let us survey this matter according to the foregoing particulars. Is it possible that while the blessed above are surrounded with endless satisfactions flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb, they should forget their benefactor and neglect his praises ? Is it possible they should dwell in immortal health and ease without interruption, under the constant vital influences of the king of glory, and yet want gratitude to the spring of all their blessings ? Nor is there any need for the inhabitants of a. world, where no pains nor sorrows are found, " to learn compassion and sympathy to those who suffer," for there are no sufferers there : But love and joy, intense and intimate love, and a harmony of joy runs through all that blessed company and unites them in a universal sympathy ,if Imay so express it, or blissful sensation of each other's happmess. And I might add also, could there be such a thing as sorrow and mis- ery in those regions, this divine principle of love would work sweetlv and powerfully toward such objects in all necessaiy com- What if pain was once made a spur to our duties in this frail state of flesh and blood ? What if pain were designed as a guard 16 362 CHOICE WORKS OF ISAAC WATTS, D. D. against temptation, and a means to awaken «ur watch against new transgressions and guilt ? But in a climate where all is holiness, and all is peace, in the full enjoyment of the great God, and secured by that everlasting covenant which was sealed by the blood of the Lamb, there is no more danger of sinning. The soul is moulded into the more complete likeness of God, by living for ever under the light of his countenance, and the warmest beams of his love. What if we had need of the stings of pain and anguish in time past, to wean us by degrees from this body, and from all sen- sible things, and to make us willing to part with them all at the call of God? Yet when we arrive at the heavenly world, we shall have no more need of being weaned from earth, we shall never look back upon that state of pain and frailty with a wishful eye, being for ever satisfied in the affluence of present joys. O glorious and happy state ! where millions of creatures who have dwelt in bodies of sin and pain, and have been guilty of in- numerable follies and ofiences against their Maker, yet they are all forgiven, their robes are washed and made white in the blood of Jesus, their iniquities are cancelled for ever, and there shall not be one stroke more from the hand of God to chasten them, nor one more sensation of pain to punish them. Divine and illustrious privilege indeed, and a glorious world, where complete sanctifica- tion of all the powers of nature shall for ever secure us from new sins, and where the springs and causes of pain shall for ever cease, both within us and without us ! Our glorified bodies shall have no avenue for pain to enter ; the gates of heaven shall admit no enemy to afflict or hurt us ; God is our everlasting friend, and our souls shall be satisfied with the rivers of pleasure which flow for ever at the right hand of God ; Psalm xvi. 11. Amen. SERMON III. NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN. " For there shall be no night there." — Rev. xxi. 25. Length of night and overspreading darkness in the winter sea- son, carries so many inconveniences with it that it is generally es- teemed a most uncomfortable part of our time. Though night and day necessarily succeed each other all the year, by the wise ap- pointment of God in the course of nature, by means of the revolu- tion of the heavenly bodies, or rather of this earthly globe, yet the night season is neither so delightful, nor so useful a part of Ufe, as the duration of daylight. It is the voice of all nature as well aa the word of Solomon, Light is sweet and a pleasant thing to enjoy the sunbeams; Eccles. xi. 7. Light gives a glory and beauty to every thing that is visible, and shews the face of nature in its most agreeable colors ; but night, as it covers all the visible world with one dark and undistinguishing veil, is less pleasing to all the ani- mal parts of the creation. Therefore as hell, and the place of pun- ishment is called utter darkness in Scripture, so heaven is repre- sented as a mansion of glory, as the inheritance of the saints in light ; Col. i. 12. And this light is constant without interruption, and everlasting, or without end. So my text expresses it, there shall be no night there. Let it be observed, that in the language of the holy writers, light is often ascribed to intellectual beings, and is used as a metaphor to imply knowledge and holiness and joy. Knowledge is the beauty and excellency of the mind, holiness is the best regulation of the will, and joy is the harmony of our best affections in the possession of what we love : And in opposition to these, ignorance, iniquity, and sorrow, are represented by the metaphor of darkness. Then we are in darkness, in a spiritual sense, when the understand- ing is beclouded or led into mistake, or when the will is perverted or turned away from God and holiness, or when the most uncom- fortable affections prevail in the soul. I might cite particular texts of Scripture to exemplify all this. And when it is said, there shall be no night in heaven, it may be very well applied in the spiritual sense ; there shall be no errors or mistakes among the blessed, no such ignorance as to lead them astray, or to make them uneasy ; 364 CHOICE WORKS OP the will shall never be turned aside from its pursuit of holiness and obedience to God ; nor shall the aflfections ever be ruffled with any thing Jhat may administer grief and pain. Clear and unerring knowledge, unspotted holiness, and everlasting joy shall be the portion of all the inhabitants of the upper world. These are more common subjects of discourse. But I choose rather at present to consider this word night, in its literal sense, and shall endeavor to represent part of the blessed- ness of the heavenly state under this special description of it. There is no night there. Now in order to pursue this design, let us take a brief survey of the several evils or inconveniences which attend the night or the season of darkness here on earth, and shew how far the heavenly world is removed and free from all manner of inconvenience of this kind. 1. Though night be the season of sleep, for the relief of nature and for our refreshment after the labors of the day, yet it is a cer- tain sign of the weakness and weariness of nature, when it wants such refreshments and such dark seasons of relief. But there is no night in heaven. " Say, O ye inhabitants of that vital world, are ye ever weary ? Do your natures know any such weakness ? Or are your holy labors of such a kind, as to expose you to fatigue, or to tire your spirits ?" " The blessed above mount up towards God as on eagles' wings, they run at the command of God, and are not vieary, they walk on the hills of paradise, and never faint J^ as the prophet Isaiah expresses a vigorous and pleasurable state, chapter xl. 31. There are no such animal bodies in heaven, whose natural springs of action can be exhausted or weakened by the business of the day : There is no flesh and blood there to complain of weari- ness, and to want rest. blessed state, where our faculties shall be so happily suited to our work, that we shall never feel ourselves weary of it, nor fatigued by it. And as there is no weariness, so there is no sleeping there. Sleep was not made for the heavenly state. Can the spirits of the just ever sleep under the full blaze of divine glory, under the incessant communications of divine love, under the perpetual influences of the grace of God the Father, and of Jesus the Saviour, and amidst the inviting confluence of eveiy spring of blessedness. 2. Another inconvenience of night, near akin to the former, is, that business is interrupted by it, partly for want of light to per- form it as well as for want of strength and spirits to pm-sue it. This is constantly visible in the successions of labor and repose here on ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 365 eartli ; and the darkness of the night is appointed to interrupt the course of labor and the business of the day, that nature may be recruited. But the business of heaven is never interrupted ; there is everlasting light and everlasting strength. "Say, ye blessed spirits on high, who join in the services which are performed for God and the Lamb there ; ye who unite all your powers in the worship and homage that is paid to the Father, and to the Son ; ye that mingle in all the joyful conversation of that divine and holy assembly, say, is there found any useless hour there : Do your devotions, your duties and your joys, ever suffer such an entire interruption of rest and silence, as the season of darkness on earth necessarily creates amongst the inhabitants of our world !" The living creatures* which are represented by John the apostle in Rev. iv. 6-8. whether they signify saints or angels, yet they ■were full of eyes that never slumber; they rest not day nor night, this is spoken in the language of mortals, to signify that they are never interrupted by any change of seasons, or intervening dark- ness in the honors they pay to God : They are described as ever saying. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty, who was, and is, and is to come. And the same sort of expression is used concerning the saints in heaven; Hev. vii. 14, 15. They who came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple ; that is, they constantly serve or worship him in his holy temple in heaven. Perhaps the different orders and ranks of them, in a continual succession, are ever doing some honors to God. As there is no night there, so is there no cessation of their services, of their worship, and their holy exercises, in one form or another, throughout the duration of their being. Our pleasures here on earth are short-lived : If they are intense, nature cannot bear them long, any more than constant business and labor : And if our labors and our pleasures should happily join and mingle here on earth, which is not always the' case, yet night com- pels us to break off the pleasing labor, and we must rest from the most delightful business. Happy is that jegion on high, where business and pleasure are for ever the same among all the inhabitants of it, and there is no pause or entire cessation of the one or the other. " Tell me, ye warm and hvely Christians, when your hearts are sweetly and joyfully engaged in the worship of God, in holy conversation, or in pious services here on earth, how often you have * The word fua, which is translated "beasts," signifies only "animals," or " living creatures," and does not carry with it so mean and so disagreeable an idea as the word "beasts" in English. 366 CHOICE WOEKS OF been forced to break off these celestial entertamments by the re- turning night. But in the heavenly state there is everlasting active service wiSi everlasting delight and satisfaction." In that blessed ■world there can be no idleness, no inactivity, no trifling intervals to pass away time, no vacant or empty spaces in eternal life. Who can be idle under the immediate eye of God ? Who can ti-ifle in the presence of Christ ? Who can neglect the pleasurable work of heaven under the sweet influences of the present Deity, and under the smiles of his countenance, who approves all their work and worship. 3. As in our present world, the hours of night are inactive if we sleep, so they seem long and tedious when our eyes are Wakeful, and sleep flies from us. Pethaps we hear the clock strike one hour after another, with wearisome longings for the next succeeding hour : We wish the dark season at an end, and we long for the approach of morning, we grow impatient for the dawning of the day. But in heaven, " ye spirits who have dwelt longest there, can ye remember one tiresome or tedious hour, through all the years of your residence in that country ? Is there not eternal wakeful- ness among all the blessed ? Can any of you ever indulge a slum- ber ? Can you sleep in heaven ? Can you want it or wish for it ? No, for that world is all vital, and sprightly for ever." When we leave this flesh and blood, farewell to aU the tedious measures of time, farewell tiresome darkness ; our whole remaining duration is life and light, vital activity and vigor, attended with everlasting holiness and joy. 4. While we are here on earth the darkness of the night often exposes us to the danger of losing our way, of wandering into con- fusion, or falling into mischief. When the sunbeams have with- drawn their light, and midnight clouds overspread the heaven, we cannot see our path before us, we cannot pursue our proper course, nor secure ourselves from stumbling. How many travellers have been betrayed by the thick shadows of the night into mistaken ways or pathless deserts, into endless mazes among thorns and briars, into bogs and pits and precipices, into sudden destruction and death? But there are no dangers of this kind in the heavenly world : All the regions of paradise are for ever illuminated by the glory of God ! The light of his countenance shines upon every step that we shall take, and brightens all our way. We shall walk in the light of God, and under the blessed beams of the Sun of righteous- ness, and we are secured for ever against wandering, and against every danger of tripping or falling in our course. Our feet may stumble on the dark mountains here below ; Jer. xiii. 16, but there ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 367 is no stumbling-block on the hills of paradise, nor can we go astray from our God or our duty. The paths of that country are all pleasure, and everliving daylight shines upon them without end. Happy beings, who dwell or travel there ! 5. In the night we are exposed here on earth to the violence and plunder of wioted men, whether we are abroad or at home. There is scarce any safety now-a-days to those who travel in the night, and even in our own habitations there is frequent fear and sur- prise. At that season the sons of mischief dig through houses in the dark which they had marked for themselves in the daytime : They lurk in comers to seize the innocent, and to rob him of his possessions. But in the heavenly world there is no dark hour ; there is nothing that can encourage such mischievous designs, nor are any of the sons of violence or the malicious powers of darkness suffered to have an abode or refuge in that country. No surprise noi" fear belongs to the inhabitants of those regions. Happy souls, who spend all their life in the light of the countenance of God, and are for ever secure from the plots and mischievous devices of the wicked ! While we dwell here below amongst the changing seasons of light and darkness, what daily care is taken to shut the doors of our dwellings against the men of mischief! "What solicitude in a time of war to keep the gates of our towns and cities well secured against all invasion of enemies ! Cantic. iii. 8. Every man with his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night. But, in that blessed world there is no need of such defences ; no such guardian cares to secure the inhabitants. The gates of that city shall not he shut by day and there is no night there. There shines perpetual daylight, and the gates are ever open to receive new-comers from our world, or for the conveyance of orders and messages to and fro from the throne, through- all the dominions of God and of the Lamb. Blessed are the inhabitants of that country, where there are no dangers arising from any of the wicked powers of darlmess, nor any dark minute to favor their plots of mischief. 6. " The time of night and darkness is the time of the concealment of secret sins." Shameful iniquities are then practised amongst men, because the darkness is a cover to them. The eye of the adulterer watches for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me ; Job xxiv. 15. In the black and dark night he hopes for concealment as well as the thief and the murderer, and they that are drunken, are drunken in the night ; 1 Thess. v. 7. The hours of darkness are a temptation to these iniquities, and the shadows of the evening are a veil to cover them from the sight of men : They find a screen 308 CHOICE ■WORKS OF behind, the curtains of the night, and a refuge in thick darkness. But in the heavenly world, there is no temptation to such iniquities, no defilement can gain an entrance there, nor could it find any veil or covering. The regions of light, and peace, and holy love, are never violated with such scenes of villainy and guilt. No secret sins can be committed there, nor can they hope for any screen to defend them from the eye of God, and the Lamb, whose eyes are like a flame of fire. The light of God shines round every creature in that country, and there is not a saint or angel there, that desires a covering fi:om the sight of God, nor would accept of a veil or screen to interpose between him and the lovely glories of divine holiness and grace. To behold God, and to live under the blessings of his eye is their everlasting and chosen joy. O that our world were more like it ! 7. When the night returns upon us here on earth, the pleasures of sight vanish and are lost. Knowledge is shut out at one entrance, in a great degree, and one of our senses is withheld from the spreading beauties and glories of this lower creation, almost as though we were deprived of it, and were grown blind for a sea- son. It is true, the God of nature has appointed the moon and stars to relieve the darkness, at some seasons, that when the sun is with- drawn, half the world at those hours may not be in confusion : And by the inventions of men, we are fui'nished with lamps and candles to relieve our darkness within doors : But if we stir abroad in the black and dark night, instead of the various and delightful scenes of the creation of God, in the skies and the fields, we are presented with a universal blank of nature, and one of the great entertainments and satisfactions of this life is quite taken away from us. But in heaven, the glories of that world are for ever in view : The beauteous scenes and prospects of the hills of paradise are never hidden : We shall there continually behold a rich variety of things which eye hath not seen on earth, which ear hath not heard, and which the heart of man hath not conceived ; 1 Cor. ii. 9. Say, ye souls in paradise, ye inhabitants of that glorious world, is there any loss of pleasure by your absence from those works of God which are visible here on earth, while you are for ever enter- tained with those brighter works of God in the upper world? While every corner of that country is enlightened by the glory of God himself, and while the Son of God, with aU his beams of grace, shines for ever upon it ? 8. It is another unpleasing circumstance of the night season, that it is the coldest part of time. When the sun is sunk below the ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 369 earth and its beams are hidden from us, its Idndly and vital heat, as well as its light, are removed from one side of the glohe ; and thus gives a sensible uneasiness in the hours of midnight to those who are not well provided with warm accommodations. And I might add also, it is too often night with us in a spiritual sense, while we dwell here on earth : Our hearts are cold as well as dark : How seldom do we feel that fervency of spirit in religious duties which God requires ! How cool is our love to the greatest and the best of beings ! How languid and indifferent are our affections to the Son of God, the chief est of ten thousand and altogether lovely ! And how much doth the devotion of our souls want its proper ardor and vivacity ! But when the soul is arrived at heaveb, we shall be all warm and fervent in our divine and delightful work. As there shall be nothing painful to the senses in that blessed climate, so there shall not be one cold heart there, nor so much as one lukewarm wor- shipper ; for we shall live under the immediate rays of God, who formed the light, and under the kindest influences of Jesus, the sun of righteousness. We shall be made like his angels, who are most active spirits, and his ministers, who are flames of fire ; Psalm civ. 4. Nor shall any dulness or indifferency hang upon our sanctified powers and passions : They shall be all warm and vigorous in their exercise, amidst the holy enjoyments of that country. In the ninth and last place, as night is the season appointed for sleep, so it becomes a constant^periodical ejnblem of death, as it returns every evening. Sleep and midnight, as I have shewn before, are no seasons of labor or activity, nor of delight in the visible things of this world : It is a dark and stupid scene wherein we behold nothing with truth, though we are sometimes deceived and deluded by dreaming visions and vanities: Night and the slumbers of it are a sort of shorter death and burial, interposed between the several daily scenes and transactions of human life. But in heaven, as there is no sleeping there is no dying, nor is there any thing there that looks like death. Sleep, the image or emblem of death, is for ever banished from that world. All is vital activity there : Every power is immortal, and every thing that dwells there is for ever alive. There can be no death, nor the image of it where the everliving God dwells, and shines with his kindest beams ; His presence maintains perpetual vitality in every soul, and keeps the new creature in its youth and vigor for ever. The saints shall never have reason to mourn over their withering graces, languid virtues and dying comforts ; nor shall they ever complain of drowsy faculties or inactive powers, where God and the Lamb are for ever 16* 3lO CHOICE WORKS OF present in the midst of them. Shall I invite your thoughts to dwell a little upon this subject ? Shall we make a more particular inquiry, whence it comes to pass that there is no night nor darkness in the heavenly city ? We are told a little before the words of my text, that the glory of God enlightens it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. There is no need of the sun by day, or of the moon by night ; there is no need of any such change of seasons as day and night in the upper regions, nor any such alternate enlighteners of a dark world, as God has placed in our firmament, or in this visible sky. The inheritance of the saints in light is sufficiently irradiated by God himself, who at his first call made the light to spring up out of darkness over a wide chaos of confusion, before the sun and moon appeared ; and the beams of divine light, grace, and glory, are communicated fi-om God, the original fountain of it, by the Lamb, to all the inhabitants of the heavenly country. It was by Jesus, his Son, that God made the light at first, and by him he conveys it to aU the happy worlds. There is no doubt of this in the present heaven of saints departed from flesh, who are ascended to the spirits of the just made perfect. It is one of their privileges that they go to dwell not only where they see the face of God, but where they behold the glory of Christ, and converse with Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant ; Heb. xii. 23, 24. and are " for ever with the Lord, who redeemed them." 2 Oor. v. 8. Since his mediatorial kingdom and offices are not yet finished in the present heaven of separate souls, we may depend on this blessedness to be communicated through Christ, the Lamb of God, and all the spiritual enjoyments and felicitiss which are represented under the metaphor of light, are conveyed to them through Jesus the Mediator. The sun, in the natural world, is a bright emblem of divinity, or the Godhead : for it is the spring of all light and heat and life to the creation. It is by the influences of the.sun that herbs, plants, and animals are produced in their proper seasons, and in all their various beauties, and they are all refreshed and supported by it. Now if we should suppose this vast globe of fire, which we call the sun, to be inclosed in a huge hollow sphere of chrystal, which should attemper its rays like a transparent veil, and give milder and gentler influences to the burning beamsof it, and yet transmit every desirable and useful portion of Hght or heat, this would be a happy emblem of the man Christ Jesus, in whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily ; Col. ii. 9. It is the Lamb of Godj who in a njild and gracious manner, conveys the blessings ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 3Vl originally derived from God his Father, to all the saints. "We partake of them in our measure in this lower world, among his churches here on earth ; but it is with a nobler influence, and in a more sublime degree, the blessings of paradise are diffused through all the mansions of glory by this illustrious medium of conveyance, Jesus, the Son of God ; and there can be no night nor coldness, death nor darkness in this happy state of separq,te souls. When the bodies of the saints shall be raised again, and re-united to their proper spirits, when they shall ascend to the place of their final heaven and supreme happiness, we know not what manner of bodies they shall be, what sort of senses they shall be furnished with, nor how many powers of conversing with the corporeal world shall be bestowed upon thera. Whether they shall have such organs of sensation as eyes and ears, and stand in need of such light as we derive from the sun or moon, is not absolutely certain. The Scripture tells us, it shall not be a body of flesh and blood ; These are not materials refined enough for the heavenly state ; that which is corruptible cannot inherit incorruption j 1 Cor. xv. 50. But this we may be assured of, that whatsoever inlets of knowledge, whatever avenues of pleasure, whatever delightful sensations are necessary to make the inhabitants of that world happy, they shall be all united in that spiritual body, which God will prepare for the new-raised saints. If eyes and ears shall belong to that glorified body, those sensitive powers shall be nobly enlarged and made more delightfully susceptive of richer shares of knowledge and joy. Or, what if we shall have that body furnished with such unknown mediums or organs of sensation, as shall make light and sound such as we here partake of unnecessary to us ? These organs shall certainly be such as shall transcend all the advantages that we receive in this present state, from sounds or sunbeams. There shall be no dis- consolate darkness, nor any tiresome silence there. There shall be no night to inteiTupt the business or the pleasures of that everlasting day. Or what if the whole body shall be endued all over with the senses of seeing and hearing ? What if these sort of sensations shall be diffused throughout all that immortal body, as feeling is diffused through all our present mortal flesh ? What if God him- self shall in a more illustrious mariner irradiate all the powers of the body and spirit, and communicate the light of knowledge, holi- ness, and joy, in a superior manner to what we can now conceive or imaoine ? This is certain, that darkness jn eyery sense, with all the inconveniences and unhappy consequences of it, is and miist be for ever banished frqui tlje heftvenljp- state. There is no night there. 372 CHOICE WORKS OF When our Lord Jesus Christ shall have given up his mediatorial kingdom to the Father, and have presented all his saints spotless and without blemish before his throne, it is hard for us mortals in the present state to say, how far he shall be the everlasting medium of the communication of divine blessings to the happy inhabitants on high. Yet when we consider that the saints and angels and the whole happy creation are gathered together in him, as their head,* it is certain they shall all be accounted in some sense his members ; and it is highly probable he, as their head, shall be for ever active in communicating and diffusing the unknown blessings of that world, amongst all the inhabitants of it, who are gathered and united in him. I come in the last place to make a few remarks upon the fore- going discourse, and in order to render them more effectual for our spiritual advantage, I shall consider the words of my text, there shall he no night there, in their metaphorical or spiritual meaning as well as in their literal sense. There is no night of ignorance or error in the mind, no night of guilt or of sorrow in the soul : But - the blessed above shall dwell surrounded with the light of divine knowledge, they shall walk in the light of holiness, and they shall be for ever filled with the light of consolation and joy, as I have explained it in the beginning of this discourse. The first remark then is this : " When heaven, earth, and hell, are compared together with relation to light and darkness, or night and day," we then see them in their proper distinctions and aspects. Every thing is set in its most distinguishing situation and appear- ance, when it is compared with things which are most opposite. The earth on which we dwell, during this state of trial, has neither all day nor all night belonging to it, but sometimes light appeal's and again darkness, whether in a natural or spiritual sense. Though there be long seasons of darkness in the winter, and darkness in the summer also, in its constant returns, divides one day from another, yet the God of nature hath given us a larger portion of light than there is of darkness throughout the whole globe of the eartn : And this benefit we receive by the remaining beams of the sun after its setting, and by the assistance of the moon and the stars of heaven. Blessed be God for the moon and stars, as well as for the sunbeams and the brightness of noon. Blessed be God for all the lights of nature, but we still bless him more for the light of the gospel, and for any rays from heaven, any beams of the sun of righteousness, which diffuse in lower measures, knowl- * The Greek word ,dvaK€