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 THE 
 
 WILLIAM R. PERKINS 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 DUKE UNIVERSITY 
 
 Rare Books 
 

 
 
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/3365"S" 
 
 SAINTS EVERLASTING REST: 
 
 OR, a 
 
 TREATISE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 Blessed Stale of the Saints in their Enjoyment 
 of God in Glory. 
 
 I 
 
 EXTRACTED 
 
 FROM THE WORKS OF MR. BAXTER, 
 
 BY JOHN WESLEY, A. M\ 
 
 Late Fellow of Lincoln-College, Oxford. 
 
 fcottBon : 
 
 PRINTED AT THE CONFERENCE-OFFICE, U, CITY-ROAD; 
 BY THOMAS CORDEUX, AGENT. 
 
 Sold by T. Blanshard, 11, City- Road ; and at the Methodist Preachings 
 Houses iu Towa and Country, 
 
■836SST 
 
 To the Inhabitants of Kidderminster, 
 
 My dear Friendly 
 
 IF either I or my labours have any thing of pub- 
 lic ufe or worth, it is chiefly, (though not only,) 
 your's. And I am convinced by Providence, that it 
 is the Will of God it mould be fo. This I clearly 
 difcerned in my firft coming to you, in my former 
 abode with you, and in the time of my forced ab- 
 fence from you. 
 
 When 1 was feparated by the miferies of the 
 late unhappy war, I durlt not fix in any other 
 congregation ; but lived in a military, unpleafing 
 flate, left I mould foreftall my return to you. 
 The offers of greater worldly accommodations was 
 no temptation to me, once to queftion whether I 
 fhould leave you: your free invitation of my return, 
 your obedience to my doctrine, the ftrong affection 
 which I have yet towards you. above all people, and 
 the general hearty return of love which I find from 
 you, do all perfuade me that I was fent into the 
 world efpecially for the fervice of your fouls *, and 
 that even when I am dead, I might be yet a help to 
 your falvation, the Lord hath forced me, quite befide 
 my own refolution, to write this Treatife, and leave 
 it in your hands. It was far from my thoughts ever 
 to have become thus public, and burdened the world 
 with any writing of mine : therefore, have I often 
 refilled the requeft of my reverend brethren, and 
 fome fuperiors, who might elfe have commanded 
 much more at my hands. But, fee how God over- 
 rules and crofles our refolutions ! 
 A 2 
 
( iv ) 
 
 Being in my quarters, far from home, caft into 
 extreme languishing, (by the fudden lois of about a 
 gallon of blood, after many years foregoing weak- 
 nefs,) and having no acquaintance about me, nor 
 any book but my Bible, and living in continual ex- 
 pectation of death, I bent my thoughts on my 
 Evet lasting Rest : and becaufe my memory, through 
 extreme wcaknefs, was imperfect, I took my pen, 
 and began to draw up my own Funeral Sermon, 
 or fome helps for my own meditations on heaven, 
 to fweeten both the left of my life and my death. 
 In this condition God was pieafed to continue me 
 about five months from home ; where, being ab!e for 
 nothing elfe, I went on with this work, which 
 lengthened to this which you here fee. It is no 
 wonder, therefore, if I be too abrupt in the beginning, 
 feeing I then intended but the length of a fermon or 
 two. Much lefs may you wonder if the whole be 
 very imperfect, feeing it was written as it were with 
 one foot in the grave, by a man thnt was betwixt 
 the living and the dead, who wanted (Irength of na- 
 ture to quicken invention or affection, and had no 
 book but his Bible, till the chief part was finifhed. 
 But, O how i\veet is this providence now to my 
 review ; which fo happily forced me to that work 
 of meditation, which I had formerly found fo pro- 
 fitable to my foul •, and fhewed me more mercy in 
 depriving me of other helps, than I was aware of ! 
 And hath caufed my thoughts to feed on this hea- 
 venly fubjecl:, which hath more benefitted me than 
 all the ftudies of my life. 
 
 And now, dear friends, fuch as it is, I here 
 offer it you -, and upon the knees of my foul, I offer 
 up my thanks to the merciful God, who hath fetched 
 up both me and it, as from the grave, for your 
 fervice ; who reverfed the fentence of prefent death, 
 •which by the ableft phyficians was paffed upon me ; 
 who interrupted my public labours for a time, that 
 he might force me to do you a, more lading fervice, 
 which elfe I had never been like to have attempted! 
 That God do I heartily blefs and magnify, who hath 
 
 7 
 
( v ) 
 
 refcued me from the many dangers of four years 
 war, and after fo many tedious nights and days, and 
 fo many doleful fights and tidings, hath returned 
 me and many of yourfelves, and reprieved us now 
 to ferve him in peace. And though men be ungrate- 
 ful, and my body ruined beyond hope of recovery ; 
 yet he hath made up all in the comforts I have in 
 you. 
 
 To the God of Mercy do I here offer up my mod 
 hearty thanks, who hath not rejected my prayers, 
 but hath, by a wonder, delivered me in the midli of 
 my duties ; and hath fupported me thefe fourteen 
 years in a languifhing ftate, wherein I have fcarcely 
 had a waking hour free from pain ; who hath above 
 twenty fever al times delivered me, when I was 
 near death. And though he hath made me fpend my 
 days in groans and tears, and in a conftant expect- 
 ation of my change, yet he hath not wholly dis- 
 abled me for his fervice ; and hereby hath more ef- 
 fectually fubdued my pride, and made this world 
 contemptible to me, and forced my dull heart to 
 more importunate requefts, and occafioned more 
 rare dif:overies of his mercy, than ever I. could 
 have expected in a profperous Mate. 
 
 Richard Baxter* 
 
 A3 
 
THE 
 
 SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 
 
 HEBREWS IV. Q. 
 
 There remaineth, therefore, a Rest to the People 
 of God. 
 
 PART I. CHAPTER I. 
 
 This Rest defined. 
 
 IT was not only our interest in God, and actual fru- 
 ition of him, which was lost in Adams fall ; but all 
 spiritual knowledge of him, and true disposition to- 
 wards such a felicity. Man hath now a heart too suit- 
 able to his estate ; a low state, and a low spirit. As 
 the poor man that would not believe that any one man 
 had such a sum as a hundred pounds, it was so far 
 above what he possessed ; so man will hardly now be- 
 lieve, that there is such a happiness as once he had, 
 much less as Christ hath now procured. 
 
 The Apostle bestows most of this Epistle in proving 
 to the Jews, that the end of all ceremonies and shadows, 
 was to direct them to Jesus Christ, the substance; and 
 that the Rest of Sabbaths, and Canaan, should teach 
 them to look for a future Rest. My text is his conclu- 
 sion, after divers arguments to that end ; a conclusion so 
 useful to a believer, as containing the ground of all his 
 comforts, the end of all his duty and sufferings ; that 
 you may be easily satisfied why I have made it the 
 subject of my present discourse. What more wel- 
 come to men under afflictions, than Rest ? What 
 more welcome news to men under public calamities ? 
 Hearers, I pray God your entertainment of it be but 
 half answerable to the excellency of the subject, and 
 then you will have cause to bless God while you live, 
 that ever you heard it, as I have that ever I studied it. 
 
8 THE SAINTS EVEHLASTtXG REST. I. § l£ 
 
 Let us see, 1. What this rest is. L 2. Who these 
 people of God are, and why so called? 3. The truth 
 of this from other Scripture arguments. 4. Why this 
 Rest must yet remain. !}. Why only to the people of 
 God. ($. What use to make of it. 
 
 And though the sense of the text includes, in the 
 word ltest, all that ease and safety which a soul, wea- 
 ried with the burden of sin and suffering, a. id pur- 
 sued by the law, wrath, and conscience, hath with 
 Christ in this life, — the Rest of grace ; yet because it 
 chiefly intends the rest of eternal glory, I shall con— 
 fine my discourse to this. 
 
 The Rest here in question, is the most happy 
 Estate of a Christian, having obtained the end of his 
 course : or, it is the perfect endless fruition of God, 
 by the perfected saints, according to the measure of 
 their capacity, to which their souls arrive at death ; 
 and both soul and body most fully, after the resur- 
 rection and final judgment. 
 
 1. I call it the Estate of a Christian, to note both 
 the active and passive fruition, wherein a Christian's 
 blessedness lies, and the established continuance of 
 both. Our title will be perfect, and perfectly cleared; 
 ourselves, and so our capacity perfected ; our posses- 
 sion, and security for its perpetuity perfect ; our re- 
 ception from God perfect ; and therefore our fruition 
 of him, and consequently our happiness, will then be 
 perfect. And this is the estate which we now briefly 
 mention, and shall afterwards more fully describe. 
 
 2. I call it the most happy Estate, to distinguish it 
 pot only from all seeming happiness, which is to be 
 found in the enjoyment of creatures, but also from all 
 those beginnings, foretastes, and imperfect degrees 
 which we have in this life. 
 
 3. I call it the Estate of a Christian, whereby I mean 
 only the sincere, regenerate, sanctified Christian, whose 
 soul, having discovered that excellency in God thro' 
 Christ, closeth with him, and is cordially set upon him. 
 
 4. I add, That this happiness consists in obtaining 
 the cm\, whereby I mean the ultimate and principal 
 end, not any subordinate or less principal. O how 
 much doth our everlasting state depend on our right 
 judgment and estimation of our end! 
 
 But it is a doubt with many, whether the attain- 
 ment of this glory may be our end ! Nay, some have 
 
I. § 1. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. $ 
 
 concluded that it is mercenary ; yea, that to make 
 salvation the end of duty, is to be a legalist, and act 
 under a covenant of works, whose tenor is, '* Do this, 
 and live." And many ihat think it may be our end, 
 yet think, it may not be our ultimate end, tor that 
 shonld be only the glory of God: I shall answer these 
 briefly. 
 
 1. It is properly called mercenary, when we expect 
 it as wages for work done; and so we may not make it 
 our end. Otherwise, it is only such meicenariness as 
 Christ commandeth. For, consider what this end is; 
 it is the fruition of God in Christ: ai.d if seeking 
 Clnist be mercenary, 1 desire to be so mercenary. 
 
 2. Neither is it a note of a Legalist. It hath been 
 the ground of a multitude of late mistakes in divinity, 
 to think, that " Do this, and live," is only the lan- 
 guage of the covenant of works. It is true, in some 
 sense it is; but in another, it is not. The law of 
 works only saith, " Do this, (that is, perfectly fulfil 
 the whole law,) and live," (that is, for so doinij; :) but 
 the law of grace saith, " Do this, and live" too : that 
 is, believe in Christ, seek him, obey him sincerely, 
 as thy Lord and King; forsake all, suffer all things, 
 and overcome, and by so doing, or in so doing, you 
 shall live. If you set up the abrogated duties of the 
 law again, you are a Legalist; if you set up the duties 
 of the gospel in Christ's stead, in whole or in part, 
 you err still. Christ hath his place and work ; duty 
 hath its place and work too : set it but in its own 
 place, and expect from it but its own part, and you 
 go right j yea, more, (how unsavoury soever the 
 phrase may seem,) you may so far as tins comes to, 
 trust to your duty and works ; that is, for their own 
 part : and many miscarry in expecting no more from, 
 them, (as to pray and expect nothing the more,) that 
 is, from Christ in a way of duly. For if duty have 
 no share, why may we not trust Christ as well in a 
 way of disobedience, as duty ? In a word, you must 
 both use and trust duty in subordination to Christ, 
 but neither use them nor trust them in co-ordination 
 with him. So that this derogates nothing from Christ; 
 for he hath done, and will do all his work perfectly* 
 and enableth his people to do theirs : yet he. is not 
 properly said to do it himself; he believes not, repents 
 not, but worketh these in them; that is, enableth and 
 
JO THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I. § I. 
 
 exciteth them to it. No man must look for more 
 from duty than God hath laid upon it : and so muck 
 we may and must look lor. 
 
 3. If I should quote all the scriptures that plainly 
 prove this, I should transcribe a great part of the 
 Bible : I will therefore only desire you to study what 
 tolerable interpretation can be given of the following 
 places, which will prove that life and salvation may 
 he, yea, must be, the end of duty. John iv. 40» 
 •.• Ve will not come to me, that ye might have life." 
 Matt. xi. 12, " The kingdom of heaven surfereth vio- 
 lence, and the violent take it by force." Luke xiii. 
 24, "Strive to enter in at the strait gate." Phil. ii. 
 12, " Work out your salvation with fear and trem- 
 bling." Rom. ii. 7, 10, " To them who by patient 
 continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, and hen- 
 nour, and immortality, eternal life. Glory, honour*. 
 and peace to every man that worketh good." 1 Cor. 
 ix. 24, " So run that ye may obtain." 2 Tim. ii. 12* 
 *' If we suifer with him, we shall reign with him.'* 
 1 Tim. vi. 1-2, "Fight the good right of faith, lay 
 hold on eternal life." 1 Tim. vi. 18^ 19, "That they 
 do good works, laying up a good foundation against 
 the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal 
 life." Rev. X xii. 14, " Blessed are they that do his 
 commandments, that they may have right to the tree 
 of life, and enter in by the gates into the city." Matt. 
 xxv. 34, 35, 3<5, " Come, ye blessed of my Father, 
 inherit, &c. For I was an hungered, and ye," &c. 
 Luke xi. 28, " Blessed are they that hear the word of 
 God, and keep it." Yea, the escaping of hell is a 
 light end of duty to a believer... Heb. iv. 1, " Let us 
 fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his v 
 rest, any of you should come, short of it." Luke xii. 
 5, " Fear hi in that is able to destroy both soul and 
 body in hell :" " Yea, (whatsoever others say,) 1 say 
 unto you, fear him." 1 Cor. ix. 27* " I keep under 
 my body, and bring it into subjection ; lest, when I 
 have preached to others, I myself should be a cast- 
 away." Multitudes of scriptures, and scripture-ar- 
 guments might be brought, but these may suffice to 
 any who believe the Scriptures. 
 
 4. For those that think this Rest may be our end,. 
 but not our ultimate end, that must be God's. glory 
 only, 1. will not gainsay them. Only let them con* 
 
1. §2. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 11 
 
 sidcr, "What God hath joined, man must not sepa- 
 rate." The glorifying himself, and the saving of his 
 •people, (as 1 judge,) are not two ends with God, but 
 one; to glorify his mercy in their salvation : so 1 think 
 they should be with us together intended : we should 
 aim at the glory of God, (not alone considered with- 
 out onr salvation, bul) in our salvation. Therefore, 
 I know no warrant for putting such a question to our- 
 sel\es, as some do, whether we could be content to 
 be damned, so God were glorified ? Christ hath put 
 no such questions to us, nor bid us put such to our- 
 selves. Christ had rather that men would enquire 
 after their true willingness to be saved, than their wil- 
 lingness to be damned. Sure I am, Christ himself is 
 often d to faith, in terms for the most part respecting 
 the weiiaie of the sinner, more than his own abstracted 
 glory. He would be received as a Saviour, Media- 
 tor, Redeemer, Ke< onoiler, and Intercessor. And 
 all the precepts of Scripture being backed wiih so 
 many promises and threatening^, every one is intended 
 of God, as a motive to us, and imj lie> as much. 
 
 5. I call a Christian's happiness the er.d of his 
 course, thereby meaning, as Paul, 2 Tim. iv. 7, the 
 whole s« ope of his life. For salvation may and must 
 be our end : so not only the end of our faith, (though 
 that principally,) but of all our actions: for as what- 
 soever we do must be done to the glory of God, so 
 may they all be done to our salvation. 
 
 (i. Lastly. I make happiness to consist in this end 
 obtained ; for it is not the mere promise of it that im- 
 mediately makes perfectly hanpy, nor Christ's mere 
 purchase, nor our mere seeking, but the apprehend- 
 ing and obtaining, which sets the crown on the saint's 
 head. m 
 
 CH A i\ II; 
 
 What this Rest prc-svpposeth. 
 FOR the clearer understanding the nature of this 
 Rest, you must know, 
 
 I. There are some things pre-supposed to it. 
 II. r- orne things contained in it. 
 
 I. All these things are pre-supposed in this Rest: 
 It A person in motion, seekii g Rest* 1 This is man 
 
 here in the way. Angels have it already ; and the 
 
 devils are past hope. 
 
12 THE SAINTS FVFRLASTING RF.ST. I. § 2. 
 
 2. An e. i.I owar I which ;e moveth lor Kest. This 
 can beonlj God. He thut taketh any thing else for 
 happjness, is out of the way the first step. The rm- 
 cipal damning sin is, to make any thing be&ult God 
 onr end o: rest. And the first true saving act is, to 
 choose Go ' only Tor our e <l a ,<l ha ipiness. 
 
 3. A distance is pre-sup posed from this end, else 
 there < in be no motion towards it. This had distance 
 is the case of all mankind »ii (e the fall. It was our 
 God that we principally lost, and were shut out of his 
 gracious p e>en<e ; a ; :<i since, we are said to he with* 
 out him in the world ; nay, in all men at age, here is 
 supposed, not only a distance, hut also a contrary 
 motion. When Christ comes with regenerating, sav- 
 ing grace, he rinds no man sitting still, but all posting 
 to eternal ruin ; till, by conviction, he iirst brings 
 them to a stand ; and by conversion, turns first their 
 hearts, and then their lives, to himself. 
 
 4. Here is pre-supposed the knowledge of the true 
 ultimate end, and its excellency ; and a serious intend- 
 ing it. For so the motion of the rational creature 
 proceedeth ; an unknown end is no end ; it is a con- 
 tradiction. AVe cannot make that our end, which we 
 know not; nor that our chief eady which we know 
 not, or judge not to be the chief good. Therefore, 
 where this is not known, that God is this end, there 
 is no obtaining rest in an ordinary way, whatsoever 
 may be in ways that by God are kept secret. 
 
 5. Here is pre-supposed, not only a distance from 
 this rest, but also the true knowledge of this distance. 
 If a man have lost his way, and knows it not, he 
 seeks not to return ; therefore, they never knew they 
 were without God, never yet enjoyed him ; and they 
 that never knew they were actually in the way to hell, 
 did never yet know the way to heaven ; nay, there 
 will not only be a knowledge of this distance, and 
 lost estate, but affections answerable. Can a man 
 find himself on the brink of hell, and not tremble? 
 Or find he hath lost his God, and his soul, and not 
 cry out, I am undone ? 
 
 6. Here is also pre-supposed a superior moving 
 cause, else shot Id we al I stand still, and not move a step 
 forward towards our rest ; no more than the inferior 
 wheels in the watch would stir, if you took away the. 
 spring, or the first mover. " This is God." If God 
 
I. § 2. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST.* !• 13 
 
 move us not, we cannot move. Therefore, it is a most 
 necessary part of our christian wisdom, to keep our 
 subordination to God, and dependance on him : to 
 be still in the path where he walks, and in that way 
 wliere his Spirit doth most usually move. 
 
 7. Here is pre-supposed, an internal principle of 
 life in the person. God moves not man like a stone, 
 but by enduing him first with life, not to enable him 
 to move without God, but thereby to qualify him to 
 move himself, in subordination to God, the FirstMover. 
 
 8. Here is pre-supposed also, such V motion as is 
 rightly ordered and directed toward the end. Not as 
 motion or labour brings to rest : Every way leads not 
 to this end : but he whose goodness hath appointed the 
 end, hath in his wisdom, and by his sovereign authority, 
 appointed the way. Christ is the door, the only way to 
 this Rest. Some will allow nothing else to be called 
 the way, lest it derogate from Christ. The truth is, 
 Christ is the only way to the Father : yet faith is the 
 way to Christ ; and gospel obedience, or faith and 
 works, the way for those to walk in, that are in Christ, 
 
 9. There is supposed also, a strong and constant mo- 
 tion, which may reach the end. The lazy world, that 
 think all too much, will find this to their cost one day. 
 They that think le^s ado might have served, do but re- 
 proach Christ for making us so much to do. They that 
 have been most holy, watchful, and painful, to get to 
 heaven, find when they come to die, all too little: we 
 see daily the best Christians, when dying, repent of 
 their negligence : I never knew any then repent of his 
 holiness and diligence. It would grieve a man's soul 
 to see a multitude of mistaken sinners lay out their 
 care and pains for a thing of nought, and think to 
 have eternal salvation with a wish. If the way to 
 heaven be not far harder than the world imagines, 
 Christ and his Apostles knew not the way : for they 
 have told us, that " The kingdom of heaven suffereth 
 violence; that the gate is straight, and the way is nar- 
 row ; and we must strive, if we will enter ; for many 
 shall seek to enter, and not be able :" which implies 
 the faintness of their seeking, and that they put not 
 strength to the work ; and " that the righteous them- 
 selves are scarcely saved." 
 
 I have seen this doctrine also thrown by with con- 
 tempt by others, who say, " What ! do you set u* on 
 B 
 
14 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I. § *. 
 
 working for heaven ? Doth our duty do any thing ? 
 Hath not Christ done all ? Is not this to make him a 
 half Saviour, and to preach the law r" 
 
 Ans. It is to preach the law of Christ ; his subjects 
 are not lawless : it is to preach duty to Christ. None 
 was a more exact requirer of duty, or hater of sin, than 
 Christ. Christ hath done, and will do all his work; 
 and therefore is a perfect Saviour : but yet leaves us a 
 work too. He hath paid all the price, and left us none 
 to pay ; yet he never intended his purchase should put 
 us into an absolute title to glory, in point of law, much 
 less into immediate possession. He hath purchased the 
 crown to bestow, only on condition of believing, deny- 
 ing all for him, suffering with him, persevering and 
 overcoming. He hath purchased justification to bestow, 
 only on condition of our believing, yea, repenting and 
 believing ; though it is Christ that enableth us also to 
 perform the condition. It is not a Saviour offered, but 
 received also, that must save : it is not the blood of 
 Christ shed only, but applied also, that must fully 
 deliver: nor is it applied to the justification or salva- 
 tion of a sleepy soul. Nor doth Christ carry us to 
 heaven in a chair of security. Or righteousness, which 
 the law of works requireth, and by which it is satisfied, 
 is wholly in Christ, and not one grain in ourselves : 
 nor must we dare to think of patching up a legal 
 righteousness of Christ's and our own together ; that 
 is, that our doings cannot be the least part of satis- 
 faction for our sins. But yet ourselves must per- 
 sonally fulfil the conditions of the new covenant ; and 
 so have the perfect evangelical righteousness, or never 
 be saved by Christ's righteousness. Therefore, say 
 not, it is not duty, but Christ : for it is Christ in a 
 way of duty. As duty cannot do it without Christ, 
 so Christ will not do it without duty. 
 
 And as this motion must be strong, so must it be 
 constant, or it will fall short of Rest. To begin in the 
 spirit, and end in the flesh, will net bring to the end 
 of the saints. Men, as holy as the best of us, have 
 fallen off. Read but the promises, Rev. ii. and iii. 
 To him that overcometh. Christ's own disciples must 
 be commanded to continue in his love, and that by 
 keeping his commandments : and to abide in him, and 
 his word in them, and he in them. See John xv. 4, 5, 
 6, 7, 9, 10. 
 
I. § 3. THE SAIKTS EVERLASTING REST. 15 
 
 CHAP. TIL 
 What this Rest containeth. 
 
 ?l. THERE is contained in this Rest, 
 
 1. A cessation from Motion or Action. Not from all 
 action, but from that which implies the absence of the 
 end. When we have obtained the haven, we have done 
 sailing : when we are at our journey's end, we have 
 done with the way. Therefore, prophesying ceaseth, 
 tongues fail, and knowledge shall be done away, that 
 is, so far as it was imperfect. There shall be no more 
 prayer, because no more necessity, but the full en- 
 joyment of what we prayed for. Neither shall we need 
 to fast, and weep, and watch any more, being out of 
 the reach of sin and temptations. Nor will there be- 
 any use for instructions and exhortations. Preaching- 
 is done. The ministry of man ceaseth : sacrament* 
 are useless : the labourers called in, because the har- 
 vest is gathered : the unregenerate past hope, the 
 saints past fear, for ever ! Much less shall there be 
 any need of labouring for inferior ends, as we here 
 do ; seeing they shall all devolve themselves into the 
 ocean of the ultimate end, and the inferior good be 
 swallowed up in the superior. 
 
 2. This Rest containeth a perfect ^freedom from all 
 the evils that accompanied us through our course, and 
 which necessarily follow our absence from the Chief 
 Good : besides our freedom from those eternal flames, 
 which the neglecters of Christ must endure. There are 
 no such things as grief and sorrow known there : nor 
 is there such a thing as a pale face, a languid body, 
 feeble joints, unable infancy, decrepit age, peccant 
 humours, painful sickness, griping fears, consuming 
 care, nor whatsoever deserves the name of Evil. In- 
 deed a gale of groans and sighs, a stream of tears, 
 accompanied us to the very i^ates, and there bade us 
 farewell for ever. •' We did weep and lament when 
 the world did rejoice ; but our sorrow is turned into 
 joy, and our joy shall no man take from us." 
 
 3. This Rest containeth the highest degree of per- 
 fection, both of soul and body. This qualities men to 
 enjoy the glory, and thoroughly to partake the sweet- 
 ness of it. Were the glory never so great, arid them- 
 selves not made capable of it, it would be little to them. 
 
 B2 
 
16 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I. § 3- 
 
 But the more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. 
 The more musical the ear, the more perfect the soul, 
 the more joyous those joys, and the more glorious is 
 that glory. Nor is it only sinful imperfection that is 
 removed, nor only that which is the fruit of sin, but 
 that which adhered to us in our pure nature. There 
 is far more procured by Christ, than was lost by 
 Adam. It is the misery of wicked men here, that 
 all without them is mercy, but within them a heart 
 full of sin, shuts the door against all, and makes them 
 but the more miserable. When all is well within, then 
 all is well indeed. Therefore will God, as a special 
 part of his saints' happiness, perfect themselves i s 
 well as their condition. 
 
 4. This Rest containeth, as the principal part, our 
 nearest Fruition of God. As all good whatsoever is 
 comprised in God, and all in the creatures are but 
 drops of this Ocean; so all the glory of the Blessed is 
 comprised in their enjoyment of God : and if there be 
 any mediate joys there, they are but drops from this. 
 If men and angels should study to speak the blessed- 
 ness of that estate in one word, what can they say be- 
 yond this, That it is the nearest enjoyment of God ? 
 Say, They have God : and you say, they have all that 
 is worth having. O the full joys offered to a believer 
 in that one sentence of Christ's ! I would not for all 
 the world that verse had been left out of the Bible : 
 ** Father, I will that those whom thou hast given me, 
 be with me where I am, that they may behold my 
 glory, which thou hast given me," John xvii. 24. 
 Every word is full of life and joy. If the Queen of 
 Sheba had cause to say of Solomon's glory, " Happy 
 are thy men, happy are these thy servants, that stand 
 continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom ;" 
 then sure, they that stand continually before God, 
 and see his glory, and the glory of the Lamb, are 
 somewhat more than happy ; to them will Christ 
 "give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of 
 the paradise of God," Rev. ii. 7. 
 
 5. This Rest containeth a sweet and constant action 
 of all the powers of the soul and body in this fruition 
 of God. But great will the change of our bodies and 
 senses be ; even so great, as now we cannot conceive. 
 If grace make a christian differ so much from what he 
 was, that the christian could say to his companions, 
 
1. § 3. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 17 
 
 Ego non sum ego ; I am not the man I ivas ; how much 
 more will glory make us differ ! We may then say, 
 much more, This is not the body I had, and these are 
 not the senses I had. Yet because we have no other 
 name for them, let us call them senses; call them eyes 
 and ears, seeing and hearing: but conceive, that as 
 much as a body spiritual, above the sun in glory, ex- 
 ceedeth these frail, noisome, diseased lumps of flesh, 
 that we now carry about us ; so far shall our sense of 
 seeing and hearing exceed these we now possess : for 
 the change of the senses must be conceived proportion- 
 able to the change of the body. And doubtless as God 
 advanceth our senses, and enlargeth our capacity ; so 
 will he advance the happiness of those senses, and till 
 up with himself all that capacity. And certainly the 
 body would not be raised up, if it should not share of 
 the glory : for as it had shared in the obedience and 
 sufferings, so shall it also do in the blessedness : and 
 as Christ bought the whole man, so shall the whole 
 partake of the everlasting benefits of the purchase. 
 
 And if the body shall be thus employed, O how 
 shall the soul be taken up ! As its powers and capa- 
 cities are greatest, so its actions are strongest, and its 
 enjoyments sweetest. As the bodily senses have their 
 proper aptitude and actio: i, whereby they receive and 
 enjoy their objects ; so doth the soul, in its own ac- 
 tion, enjoy its own object ; by knowing, by thinking 
 and remembering; by loving, and by delightful 
 joying ; by these eyes it sees, and these arms it em- 
 braceth. If it might be said of the disciples with 
 Christ on earth, much more of them that behold 
 him in his glory, " Blessed are the eyes that see the 
 things that you see, and the ears that hear the things 
 that you hear ; for many princes and great ones have 
 desired, (and hoped) to see the things that you see, 
 and have not seen them," &c. Matt. xiii. 16, 17. 
 
 Knowledge of itself, is very desirable. As far as 
 the rational soul exceeds the sensitive, so far the de- 
 lights of a Philosopher, in discovering the secrets of 
 nature, and knowing the mystery of Sciences, ex- 
 ceeds the delights of the glutton, the drunkard, and 
 of all voluptuous sensualists whatsoever; so excellent 
 is all truth ! What then is their delight, who know 
 the God of Truth ! What would I not give so that 
 all the uncertain principles in Logic, Natural JPhi- 
 B 3 
 
18 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I. § 3. 
 
 losophy, Metaphysics, and Medicine, were but cer- 
 tain ! And that my dull, obscure notions of them, 
 were but quick and clear ! O what then should I 
 not perform, or part with, to enjoy a clear and true 
 apprehension of the most true God ! How noble a 
 faculty of the soul is the Understanding ! It can 
 compass the earth ; it can measure the sun, moon, 
 stars, and heaven : it can foreknow each eclipse to a 
 minute, many years before : yea, but this is the top 
 of all its excellency, it can know God, who is infi- 
 nite, who made all these ; a little here, and much 
 more hereafter. O the Wisdom and Goodness of our 
 blessed Lord ! He hath created the Understanding 
 with a natural bias to truth and its object : and to 
 the prime Truth, as its prime object: aid lest we 
 should turn aside to any creature, he hath kept this 
 as his own divine prerogative, not communicable to 
 any creature, viz. to be the prime Truth. 
 
 Didst thou never look so long upon the Son of God, 
 till thitheeyes were dazzled with his astonishing glory ? 
 and did not the splendour of it make all things below 
 seem black and dark to thee, when thou lookedst 
 down again, especially in the day of suffering for 
 Christ, when he usually appears most manifestly to his 
 people? Didst thou never see " one walking in the 
 midst of the riery furnace with thee, like the Son 
 of God r" If thou know him, value him as thy 
 life, and follow on to know him ; and thou shalt 
 know incomparably more than this, O ! if I do but 
 renew thy grief, to tell thee what thou once didst 
 feel, but now hast lost; 1 counsel thee to " remem- 
 ber from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do 
 the first works, and be watchful, and strengthen the 
 things which remain :" and 1 dare promise thee, (be- 
 cause God hath promised) thou shalt see and know 
 that which here thine eye could not see, nor thy 
 understanding conceive. Believe me, Christians, yea, 
 believe God ; you that have known most of God in 
 Christ here, it is as nothing to that you shall know ; 
 it scarce, in comparison of that, d »crves to be called 
 knowledge. The difference betwixt our knowledge 
 now, and our knowledge then, will be as great as that 
 between our fleshly bodies now, and our spiritual bo- 
 dies then. For as these bodies, so that knowledge must 
 cease, that a more perfect may succeed. Our silly,. 
 
I. § 3. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 1J* 
 
 childish thoughts of God, which now are the highest 
 we can reach to, must give place to a more manly 
 knowledge. 
 
 Marvel not, therefore, how it can be life eternal to 
 know God, and his Sort, Jesus Christ: to enjoy God 
 and his Christ is eternal Life, and the Soul's enjoying 
 is in knowing. They that savour only of earth, and 
 have no way to judge but by sense, and never were ac- 
 quainted with this knowledge of God, think it a poor 
 happiness to know God. Let them have health and 
 wealth, and worldly delights, and take you the other. 
 Alas, poor men ! they that have made trial of both,'*** 
 do not envy your happiness: O that you would come 
 near and taste, and try, as they have done, and then 
 judge ; then continue in your former mind, if you can. 
 For our parts, we say with that knowing Apostle, (tho 1 
 the speech may seem presumptuous,) 1 John v. 10, 20, 
 44 We know that we are of God, and the whole world 
 lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of 
 God iscorne, and hath given us an understanding, that 
 we may know him that is true ; and we are in him that 
 is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, 
 and eternal life." The Son of God is come, to be our 
 Head and Fountain of Life, and hath given us an ttn- 
 derstanding, that the soul may be made capable to know 
 Him (God) that is true, the Prime of Truth; and ice 
 are brought so near in this enjoyment, that ice are in 
 him that is true: we are in Him, by being in his Son 
 Jesns Christ : This is the true God, and so the fittest 
 object for our understanding, and this knowing of 
 him, and being in him, in Christ, is eternal fife. 
 
 And, doubtless, the Memory will not be idle in this 
 blessed work. If it be but by looking back, to help the 
 soul to value its enjoyment. Our knowledge will be 
 enlarged, not diminished : therefore, the knowledge of 
 things past shall not be taken away. From that height, 
 the saint can look behind him and before him : and to 
 compare past with present things, must needs raise in 
 the blessed soul, an inconceivable sense of its condition. 
 To stand on that mount, whence we can see the wilder- 
 ness and Caiman both at once ; to stand in heaven, and 
 look back on earth, and weigh them together in the ba- 
 lance, how must it transport the soul, and make it cry 
 out, " Is this the purchase that cost so dear as the blood 
 of Christ ? O blessed price, and thrice blessed love ! 
 
20 THE SAINTS EYERLASTING REST. I. § 3. 
 
 Is this the end of believing? Is this the end of the 
 Spirit's workings? Have the gales of grace blown me 
 into such a harbour ? Is it hither that Christ hath en- 
 ticed my soul ? O blessed way, and thrice blessed end ! 
 Is this the glory which the Scriptures spoke of, and 
 ministers preached of so much ? Now I see the gospel 
 indeed is good tidings, even tidings of great joy to all 
 nations ! Is my mourning, my fasting, my heavy walk- 
 ing, groaning*, complainings, come to this ? Are all 
 my afflictions and fears, all Satan's temptations, and 
 the world's scorns, come to this ? O vile nature, that 
 resisted such a blessing ! Unworthy soul ! Is this the 
 place thou earnest so unwillingly to ? Was the world 
 too good to lose ? Didst thou stick at leaving all, de- 
 nying all, and suffering any thing for this? O false 
 heart ! that had almost betrayed me to eternal flames, 
 and lost me this glory ! O base flesh, that would needs 
 have been pleased, though to the loss of this felicity ! 
 Didst thou make me to question the truth of this glory ? 
 Didst thou draw me to distrust the Lord ? My Soul, 
 art thou not ashamed, that ever thou dids-t question 
 that love that hath brought thee hither ? That thou 
 wast jealous of the faithfulness of thy Lord ? That 
 thou suspectedst his love, when thou shouldst have 
 only suspected thyself? That thou didst not live con- 
 tinually transported with thy Saviour's love ? And that 
 ever thou quenchedst a motion of his Spirit ? Art thou 
 not ashamed of all thy hard thoughts of such a God ? 
 Of all thy mis-interpreting those providences, and re- 
 pining at those ways that have such an end ? Now thou 
 art convinced, that the ways thou calledst hard, and 
 the cup thou calledst bitter, were necessary : that thy 
 Lord meant thee better than thou wouldst believe : 
 and that thy Redeemer was saving thee, as well when 
 he crossed thy desires, as when he granted them ; as 
 well when he broke thy heart, as when he bound it 
 up. No thanks to thee for this crown, but to Jehovah 
 and the Lamb for ever" 
 
 Thus, as the memory of the wicked will eternally 
 promote their torment, to look back on the sin com- 
 mitted, the grace refused, Christ neglected, and time 
 lost ; so will the memory of the Saints for ever pro- 
 mote their joys. 
 
 But, O the full, the near, the sweet enjoyment, is 
 that of the affection?, Love and Joy : it is near, for 
 
r. § 3. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 21 
 
 love is the essence of the soul, and love is the essence 
 of God. " God is Love, and he that dwelleth in Love, 
 dwelleth in God, and God in him." The acting of 
 this affection, wheresoever, carrieth much delight with 
 it : especially, when the object appears deserving-, and 
 the affection is strong. But what will it be, when 
 perfect affections shall have the strongest, perfect acting 
 upon the most perfect Object ! Now the poor soul 
 complains: M that I could love Christ more! but 
 I cannot, alas, I cannot :*' Yea but then thou canst 
 not choose but love him ! I had almost said, Forbear, 
 if thou canst. Now thou knowest little of his ami- 
 ableness, and therefore, lovest little : then thine eye 
 will affect thy heart, and the continual viewing of that 
 perfect Beauty, will keep thee in continual ravish- 
 ments of love. Now thy salvation is not perfected, 
 nor all thy purchased mercies yet given in ; but when 
 " the top-stone is set on, thou shalt, with shoutings, 
 cry, "Grace! Grace !" Christians, doth it now stir 
 up your love, to remember all the experiences of his 
 love, to look back upon a life of mercies ? Doth not 
 kindness melt you ? And the sun-shine of divine 
 goodness warm your frozen hearts ? What will it do 
 then, when you shall live in love, and have all in him, 
 who is all ? O the high delights of love ! of this love ! 
 The content that the heart findeth in it ! The satis- 
 faction it brings along with it ! Surely, love is both, 
 work and wages. 
 
 And if this were all, what a high favour that God 
 will give us leave to love him ! That he will vouch- 
 safe to be embraced by such arms that have embraced 
 sin before him ! But this is not all : he returneth love 
 for love: nay, a thousand times more: as perfect as 
 we shall be, we cannot reach his measure of love. 
 Christian, thou wilt then be brimfull of love ; yet 
 love as much as thou canst, thou shalt be ten thou- 
 sand times more beloved. Dost thou think thou canst 
 over-love Him ? What love more than love itself? 
 Mere the arms of the Son of God open upon the 
 cross, and an open passage made to his heart by the 
 spear? And will not his arms and heart be open to 
 thee in glory ? Did he begin to love thee before thou 
 lovest, and will he not continue now ? Did he love 
 thee an enemy ? thee a sinner ? thee who even loathes* 
 thyself? and own thee, when thou didst disclaim thy-. 
 
£2 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I. § 5. 
 
 self? and will he not now immeasurably love thee a 
 son ? thee a perfect saint ; thee who returnest love for 
 love? Thou wast wont injuriously to question his 
 love: doubt of it now, if thou canst. As the pains 
 of hell will convince the rebellious sinner of God's 
 wrath, who would never before believe it ; so the joys 
 of heaven will convince thee thoroughly of that love 
 which thou wouldst so hardly be persuaded of. He 
 that in love wept over the old Jerusalem near her 
 ruins; with what love will he rejoice over the New Je- 
 rusalem in her glory ! Methinks, I see him groaning 
 and weeping- over dead Lazarus, till he forced the 
 Jews that stood by to say, " Behold ! how he loved 
 him!" Will he not then much more, by rejoicing over 
 us, make all (even the damned, if they see it,) say, 
 "Behold ! how he loved them !" 
 
 Mere is the heaven of heavens ! the fruition of God : 
 In these mutual embracements of love, doth it con- 
 sist. To love and be beloved : " These are the ever- 
 lasting arms that are underneath : his left hand is 
 under their heads, and with his right hand doth he 
 embrace them." 
 
 Stop here, and think a while, what a state this is. 
 Is it a small thing to be beloved of God ? To be the 
 son, the spouse, the love, the delight of the King of 
 Glory ? Believe this, and think on it : thou shalt be 
 eternally embraced in the arms of that love which was 
 from everlasting, and will extend to everlasting ; of 
 that love, which brought the Son of God's Love from 
 heaven to earth, from earth, to the cross, from the 
 cross to the grave, from the grave to glory : that love 
 which was weary, hungry, tempted, scorned, scourged, 
 buffeted, spit upon, crucified, pierced ; which did 
 fast, pray, teach, heal, weep, sweat, bleed, die : 
 that love will eternally embrace them. When perfect 
 created love, and most perfect uncreated love meet 
 together, O that blessed meeting 1 It will be like 
 Joseph and his brethren, who lay upon one another's 
 necks weeping : it will break forth into pure joy ; not 
 a mixture of joy and sorrow : it will be loving and 
 rejoicing, not loving and sorrowing : yet will it make 
 Pharaoh's (Satan's) court to ring with the news, that 
 Joseph's brethren are come ! that the saints are ar- 
 rived safe at the bosom of Christ, out of the reach of 
 hell for ever. 
 
I. § 3. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 23 
 
 And now are we not left in the Apostle's admiration? 
 "What shall we say to these things ?" Infinite Love 
 must needs be a mystery to a finite capacity. No 
 wonder, if angels desire to pry into the mystery ; and 
 if it be the study of the saints here, " to know the 
 height, and breadth, and length, and depth of this 
 love, though it passeth knowledge :" this is the Saints 
 Rest in the Fruition of God by Love. 
 
 Lastly. The affection of Joy hath no little share 
 in this fruition. The inconceivable complacency which 
 the blessed feel in their seeing, knowing, loving, and 
 being beloved of God. The delight of the senses 
 here, cannot be known by expressions, as they are 
 felt : how much less this joy ! This is M the white 
 stone which none knoweth, but he that receiveth :" 
 and if there be any joy which the stranger meddleth 
 not with, then surely this, above all, is it. All Christ's 
 ways of mercy tend to, and end in the saints* joys. 
 He wept, sorrowed, suffered, that they might re- 
 joice ; he sendeth the Spirit to be their Comforter. 
 He multiplieth promises. He discovers their future 
 happiness, that their joy might be full ; he aboundeth 
 to them in mercies of all sorts. '« He maketh them 
 to lie down in green pastures, and leadeth them by 
 the still waters : yea, " openeth to them the fountain 
 of living waters, that their joy may be full, that they 
 may thirst no more, and that it maj r spring up in them 
 to everlasting life ;" he causeth them to suffer, that 
 he may cause them to rejoice : and chasteneth them, 
 that he may give them rest ; and maketh them (as he 
 did himself) " to drink of the brook in the way, that 
 they may lift up the head," Psalm ex. 7. And lest, 
 after all this, they should neglect their own comforts, 
 he maketh it their duty, commanding them to rejoice 
 in him always. And he never brings them into so 
 low a condition, wherein he leaves them not more 
 cause of joy than of sorrow. And hath the Lord such 
 a care for us here ; where, the bridegroom being from 
 us, we must mourn ? O ! what will that joy be, where 
 the soul, being perfectly prepared for joy, and joy 
 prepared by Christ for the soul, it shall be our work 
 or business, eternally to rejoice ? 
 
 And it seems, the Saints' joy shall be greater than 
 the torment6 of the damned : for their torment is the 
 torment of creatures, " prepared for the devil and his 
 
24 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I. § 3. 
 
 angels;" but our joy is " the joy of our Lord," even 
 our Lord's own joy shall we enter. " And the same 
 glory which the Father giveth him, doth the Son give 
 them," John xvii. 2-2. " And to sit down with him on 
 his throne, even as he is set down on his Father's 
 throne," Rev. iii. 21. Thou that now spendestthy days 
 in sorrow, who knowest no garments hut sackcloth, 
 no food but the bread and water of afflictions, what 
 sayest thou to this great change ? From all sorrow, to 
 more than all joy ! Thou poor soul, who prayest for 
 joy, complainest for want of joy, then thou shalt have 
 full joy, as much as thou canst hold, and more than 
 ever thou thoughtest on, or thy heart desired. 
 
 And in the mean time, walk carefully, watch con- 
 stantly, and then let God measure out thy times and 
 degrees of joy. It may be, he keeps them till thou 
 hast more need: thou mayest better lose thy comfort, 
 than thy safety : as the joy of the hypocrite, so 
 the fears of the upright, are but for a moment. 
 " Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh 
 in the morning." O blessed morning ! Poor drooping 
 soul, how would it fill thee with joy now, if a voice 
 from heaven should assure thee of thy part in these 
 joys. What then will thy joys be, when thy actual 
 possession shall convince thee of thy title : when the 
 angels shall bring thee to Christ, and when Christ 
 shall (as it were) take thee by the hand, and lead thee 
 into thy purchased possession ! Wilt thou not be 
 almost ready to draw back, and to say, " What I, 
 Lord! I, the unworthy neglecter of thy grace ! and 
 slighter of thy love ! Must I have this glory ? « Make 
 me an hired servant, I am no more worthy to be called 
 a son." But love will have it so : therefore, must 
 thou enter into his joy. 
 
 And it is not thy joy only : it is a mutual joy, as 
 well as mutual love. Is there such joy in heaven at thy 
 conversion, and will there be none at thy glorification? 
 Will not the angels welcome thee thither, and con- 
 gratulate thy safe arrival ? Yea, it is the joy of Jesus 
 Christ : for then he hath the end of his labour, suffer- 
 ing, dying, when we have our joys; "when he .s 
 glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that be- 
 lieve." We are his seed, and the fruit of his soul's tra- 
 vail, which, when he seeth, he will be satisfied : he 
 
I. § 4. THE SAINTS F.VERL ASTINS ill ST. 55 
 
 will rejoice over his purchased inheritance, and his 
 people shall rejoice in him. 
 
 Yea, the Father himself puts on joy too, in our joy : 
 as we grieve his Spirit, and weary him with our ini- 
 quities ; so he is rejoiced in our good. O how quickly 
 here doth he spy a returning prodigal, even afar off! 
 IIow doth he run and meet him, fall on his neck, and 
 kiss him ! This is indeed a happy meeting ; but no- 
 thing to the joy of that last and great Meeting. 
 
 And now look hark upon all this : I say to thee, as 
 the Angel said to John, " What hast thou- seen ?" Or, 
 if yet thou perceive not, draw nearer, come up higher, 
 *' Come, and see;" dost thou fear thou hast been all 
 this while in a dream ? Why, " These are the true 
 sayings of God." Dost thou fear (as the disciples,) 
 that thou hast seen but a ghost, instead of Christ ? 
 A shadow, instead of Rest ? Come near, and feel : 
 a shadow contains not those substantial blessings, nor 
 rests upon such a sure Word of Promise, as we have 
 seen these do. Go thy way now, and tell the disci- 
 ples, and tell the drooping souls thou meetest with, 
 that thou hast, in this glass, seen heaven ; that " the 
 Lord indeed is risen, and hath here appeared unto 
 thee :" and behold he is gone before us into rest ; and 
 that he is now preparing a place for them, and will 
 come again, and take them to themself, that " where 
 he is, there they may be also." 
 
 But, alas ! my fearful heart dares scarce proceed ; 
 methinks I hear the Almighty's voice, saying to me, 
 as to Elihu, Job xxxviii. 2, " Who is this that dark- 
 eneth counsel by words without knowledge ?" 
 
 But pardon, O Lord, thy servant's sin : I have not 
 pried into unrevealed things, nor curiously searched 
 into thy counsels: but indeed I have dishonoured thy 
 holiness, wronged thine excellency, disgraced thy 
 saints' glory, by my disproportionate portraying : 
 I will bewail from my heart, that my apprehensions 
 are so dull, my thoughts so mean, my affections so 
 stupid, and my expressions so low. But I have only 
 heard by the hearing of the ear: O let thy servant 
 see thee and possess these joys, and then I shall have 
 more suitable conceivings, and shall give thee fuller 
 glory. i( I have now uttered what I understood not; 
 things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Yet 
 C 
 
ZG THC VUNTS EVERLASTING RFST. I. § 4. 
 
 I believed, and therefore spake." Remember with 
 whom thou hast to do : what canst thou expect from 
 dust, from corruption, but defilement ? Our foul 
 bands will leave, where they touch, the marks 'of their 
 uncleanness : and most on those things that are most 
 pure. " 1 know thou wilt be sanctified in them that 
 •come nigh thee, and before all the people thou wilt 
 be glorified :" and if thy jealousy excluded from that 
 land of rest thy servants Moses and Aaron, because 
 they sanctified thee not in the midst of Israel: what 
 then may I expect ? But though the weakness be the 
 fruit of my own corruption: yet the fire is from thine 
 altar, and the work of thy commanding. 1 looked not 
 into thine ark, nor put forth my hand unto it without 
 thee. O, therefore, wash away these stains also in the 
 blood of the Lamb ! 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 The Four great Preparatives to our Rest. 
 
 HAVING thus shewed you a small glimpse of that 
 resemblance of the Saints' Rest, whioh I had seen ia 
 the gospel-glass ; it follows, that we proceed to view 
 a little the blessed Properties of this Rest. And why- 
 doth my trembling heart draw back? Surely the Lord . 
 is not now so inaccessible, nor the way so blocked up, 
 as when tbe law and curse reigned. Wherefore, find- 
 ing the flaming sword removed, I shall look again into 
 the paradise of our God. 
 
 And, first, Let .us consider the great Preparations : 
 for the porch of this temple is exceedingly glorious. 
 Let us observe, 
 
 1. The most glorious Coming of the Son of God. 
 
 2. His raising our bodies, and uniting them again 
 with the soul. 
 
 3. His solemn proceedings in their judgment, where 
 .they shall be justified before all the world. 
 
 4. His enthroning them in glory. 
 
 1. And well may the coming of Christ be reckoned 
 xvith those ingredients that compound this precious 
 Rest: for to this end it is intended ; and to this end it 
 is of apparent necessity. For his people's sake .he 
 .sanctified himself to this office ; for their $ake he came 
 
1. § 4. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 27 
 
 into the world, suffered, died, rose, ascended : and 
 for their sake it is that he will return. To this end 
 will Christ come again to receive his people to himself, 
 ** that where lie is they may be also," John xiv. 3. 
 He that would come to suffer, will surely come to 
 triumph: and he that would come to pur-chase, will 
 surely come to posses?. 
 
 But why stayed he not with his people while he was 
 here ? Why ? Must not the Comforter be sent ? Was 
 not the work on earth done ? Mifot he not receive the 
 recompense of reward, and enter into his glory? Must 
 he not take possession in our behalf? Must he not go 
 to prepare a place for us*? Must he not intercede 
 with the Father, and plead his Sufferings, and be filled 
 with the Spirit to send it forth, and receive autho- 
 rity to subdue his enemies ? Our abode here is short : 
 if He had stayed on earth, what would it have been to 
 enjoy him, for a few days, and then die ? But he hath 
 more in heaven to dwell among; even the Spirits of 
 the Just of many generations there made perfect. O 
 what a day will that be, when we who have been kept 
 prisoners by the grave, shall be fetched out by the 
 Lord himself 1 when Christ shall come from heaven to- 
 plead with his enemies, and set his captives free ! It 
 will not be such a coming as his first was, in mean- 
 ness, and poverty, and contempt ; he will not come 
 to be spit upon and buffeted, and scorned, and cruci- 
 fied again : He will not come, O careless world, to be 
 slighted by you anymore. And yet that coming, which 
 w;is in infirmity and reproach for our sake,s, wanted 
 not its glory. If the angels of heaven must be the mes- 
 sengers of that coming, as being " tidings of Joy to all 
 People:" and the heavenly host must accompany his 
 Nativity, and must praise God with that solemnity! O 
 with what shoutings will angels and saints at that day 
 proclaim,. ''Glory to God, and peace and good-will 
 toward men L" If the stars in heaven must lead men to* 
 come to worship a Child in a manger, how will the glory 
 of his next appearing constrain all the world to ac- 
 knowledge his Sovereignty ? If when he was in the form 
 of a servant, they cried out, " What manner of IVlau 
 is this, that both wind and sea obey him ?" What 
 shall they say, when they sluill see him coining in his» 
 glory, and the heavens and earth obey him ? " Then- 
 shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, 
 G 2- 
 
28 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I. § 4. 
 
 '«nd then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and 
 they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds 
 of heaven, with power and great glorv." 
 
 This Coming of Christ is frequently mentioned in 
 the Prophets, as the great support of his people's 
 spirits till then. And whenever the Apostles would 
 quicken to duty, or encourage to patient waiting, 
 ihey usually did it by mentioning Christ's Coming. 
 Why then do we not use more of this cordial consi- 
 deration, whenever we want support and comfort ? 
 Shall the wicked and profane, with inconceivable hor- 
 ror behold him, and cry out, " Yonder is he, whose 
 blood we neglected, whose grace we resisted, whose 
 government we cast off!" And shall not the saints, 
 with inconce viable gladness, cry out, " Yonder is he, 
 whose blood redeemed us, whose spirit cleansed us ! 
 Yonder comes he, in whom we trusted, apd now we 
 see he hath not deceived our trust : he for whom we. 
 long waited, and now we see we have not waited in 
 vain." Oh how should it then be the character of a 
 Christian, " To wait for the Son of God from heaven, 
 whom lie raised from the dead, even Jesus, who deli- 
 vered us from the wrath to come!" 1 Thes. i. 10. 
 And with all faithful diligence to prepare to meet our 
 Lord with joy. And seeing his Coming is of purpose 
 "to be glorified in his Saints, and admired in all them 
 that believe," what thought should gladour hearts more 
 than the thought of that day ? A little while, indeed 
 v. e have not " seen him ! but vet a little while, and we 
 shall see him," for he hath said, " I will not leave you 
 comfortless, but will come unto you." We were com- 
 fortless, should he not come ? And while we daily gaze 
 and look up to heaven after him, let us remember 
 w hat the angels said, " This same Jesus which is taken 
 up from you into heaven, shall so come in like man- 
 ner, as ye have seen him go into heaven." Let every 
 Christian, that heareth and readeth, sa^. Come ! and 
 our Lord himself saith, "Surely, I . come quickly. 
 Amen : Even so, come, Lord Jesus." 
 
 The second stream that leadeth to paradise, is that 
 greatWork of Jesus Christ, in raising our bodies from the 
 dust, and uniting them again unto our souls. "What," 
 saith the Atheist, " shall all these scattered bones and 
 dust become a man?" Thou fool! dost thou dispule* 
 against the Power of the Almighty ? Post thou object 
 
I. § 4i THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST: 29 
 
 difficulties to infinite strength. Thou blind mole : Thou 
 little piece of creeping, breathing clay. But, come 
 thy way, let me take thee by the hand, and with rever- 
 ence (as Elihu) plead for God ; and for that power 
 whereby I hope to rise. Seest thou this great massy- 
 body of the earth ? Upon what foundation doth it 
 stand ? Seest thou this vast ocean of waters ? What 
 limits them, and why do they not overflow and drown 
 the earth? Whence is that constant ebbing and flowing 
 of her tides ? Wilt thou say,, from the moon or other 
 planets? And whence have they that influence? Must 
 thou not come to a Cause of causes, that can do all 
 things ? And doth not reason require thee, to con-* 
 ceive of that Cause as a perfect Intelligence, and vo- 
 luntary Agent, and not such a blind worker and empty 
 nation as that nothing is, which thou callest Nature! 
 What thinkest thou? is not that Power able to effect 
 thy resurrection, which doth all this ? Js it not as easy 
 to raise the dead, as to make heaven and earth, and 
 all out of nothing ? But if thou be unpersuadable, all 
 I say to thee more is, as the prophet to the prince of 
 Samaria, (2 Kings vii. 10.) "Thou slialt see that 
 day with thine eyes," but little to thy comfort ; for 
 that which is the day of relief to the Saints, shall be a 
 day of vengeance on thee. 
 
 Come, then, fellow-christians, let us commit these 
 carcases to the dust : that prison shall not long contain 
 them. Let us lie down in peace, and take our rest;, 
 it will not be an everlasting night nor endless sleep. 
 What if we go out of the troubles and stirs of the 
 world, and enter into those chambers of dust, and the 
 doors be shut upon us, and we hide ourselves, as it 
 were for a little moment, M until the indignation be 
 overpast? Yet, behold the Lord cometh "out of his 
 place, to punish the inhabitants of the earth for 
 their iniquity ;" and then the earth shall disclose us, 
 and the dust shall hide us no more. As sure as we 
 awake in the morning, when we have slept out the 
 night, so sure shall we then awake.. 
 
 Lav down, then, cheerfully tins lump of corruption ; 
 thou shalt undoubtedly receive it again in incorruption. 
 Lay down freely this terrestrial, this natural body; 
 thou shalt receive it again a celestial, a spiritual body. 
 Tho 1 thou layest it down with great dishonour, thou, 
 shalt receive it in glorv ; and though thou art separated 1 
 
30 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I. § 4. 
 
 from it through weakness, it shall be raised again in 
 mighty power. When the trumpet of God shall sound 
 the call, Come away! Rise, ye dead! who shall then 
 stay behind? Who can resist the powerful command 
 of our Lord? When He shall call to the Earth and 
 Sea, O Earth ! O Sea ! give up thy Dead ! the first 
 that shall be called are the saints that sleep ; and then 
 the saints that are alive shall be changed. For "they 
 -ho are alive, and remain till the coming of the Lord, 
 shall not prevent them who are asleep. For the Lord 
 himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with 
 the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of 
 God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then 
 they who are alive, and remain, shall be- caught up 
 together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord. 1 ' 
 Triumph now, O Christian, in these promises; thou 
 shalt shortly tiiumph in their performance. F'or this 
 is the day that the Lord will make; "We shall be 
 glad and rejoice therein." The grave that could not 
 keep our Lord, cannot keep us; he arose for us, and 
 by the same power, will cause us to arise. " For if 
 we believe that Jesus died, and rose again ; even so 
 tho.se also who sleep in Jesus, will God bring with 
 him." Therefore, let our hearts be glad, and our 
 glory rejoice, ami our flesh also rest in hope; for he 
 will not leave us in the grave, nor suffer us still to see 
 corruption. Yea, " therefore, let U9 be steadfast, 
 immovable, always abounding in the work of the 
 Lord, forasmuch as we know our labour is not in vain 
 in the Lord." 
 
 The third part of this prologue to the Saints' Rest, 
 is the solemn process at their judgment, where they 
 shall first themseb.es be justified ; and then, with Christ, 
 judge the world. All -the world must there appear, 
 young and old, of all estates and nations, that ever 
 were from the creation to that day. The judgment 
 shall be set, and the books opened, and the Book of 
 Life produced ; " and the dead shall be judged out of 
 those things, which were written in the books, accord- 
 ing to their works, and whosoever is not found written 
 in the Book of Life, is cast into the lake of tire." O 
 terrible! O joyful day! Terrible to those that have 
 not watched, but forgot the coming of their Lord ! 
 Joyful to the Saints, whose waiting and hope were to 
 nee" tins day ! Then shall the world behold the goodness 
 
I. § 4. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. . 31 
 
 and severity of the Lord : on them who perish, Severity; 
 but to his chosen, Goodness. When every one must 
 give an account of his stewardship, and every talent 
 of time, health, wit, mercies, affliction, means, warn- 
 ings, must be reckoned for ! When the sins of youth, 
 and those which they had forgotten, and their secret 
 sins shall all be laid open before angels and men 1 
 When they shall see all their friends, wealth, old de- 
 lights, all their contidence and false hopes forsake 
 them ! When they shall see the Lord Jesus whom they 
 neglected; whose word they disobeyed, whose minis- 
 ters they abused, whose servants they hated, now sit- 
 ting to judge them ! When their own consciences shalL 
 cry out against them, and call to their remembrance 
 nil their misdoings ! Remember at such a time, such 
 or such a sin ; at* such a time Christ sued hard for thy 
 conversion ; the minister pressed it home to thy heart, 
 thou wast touched to the quick with the word ; thou 
 didst purpose returning, and yet thou didst cast off all. 
 O which way will the wretched sinner look ! O who can 
 conceive the thoughts of his heart ! Now the world can- 
 not help him ; his old companions cannot help him ; 
 the saints neither can nor will: only the Lord Jesus 
 can ; but there is the misery, he will not ; nay, with- 
 out violating the Truth of his Word, he cannot ; tho' 
 otherwise, in regard of his absolute power, he might. 
 The time was, sinners, when Christ would, and you 
 would not; and now, fain would you, and he will not. 
 What then remains, but to cry to the mountains, 
 *' I' all on us ! and to the hills, cover us from the pre- 
 sence of him that sits upon the Throne 1" But all in 
 vain ! For thou hast the Lord of mountains and hil!s 
 for thine enemy, whose voice they will obey, and not 
 thine. Sinner, make not slight of this; for as thou 
 livest (except a thorough change prevent it,) thou shult 
 shortly, to thy inconceivable horror, see that day. 
 
 Poor, careless sinner, I did not think here to have 
 said so much to thee; but if these lines fall into thy 
 hands, " 1 charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his 
 appearing, and his kingdom :" that thou make hasjte 
 and get alone, and set thyself sadly to ponder thes-e 
 thing-. ! ask thy heart, Is this true, or is it not ? " Is 
 there such a day, and must I see it? What do I then ? 
 Is it not time, full time, that 1 had made sure of 
 
32 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I. § 4, 
 
 Christ and comfort long ago ? Should I sit still ano- 
 ther day, who have lost so many ?" Friend, I profess- 
 to thee, from the Word of the Lord, that of all thy 
 sweet sins, there will then be nothing left, but the 
 sting in thy conscience, which will be never out thro* 
 all eternity. 
 
 But why tremblest thou, O gracious soul ? He that 
 would not overlook one Lot in Sodom : nay, that could, 
 do nothing till he went forth, will he forget thee at 
 that day? Thy Lord " knoweth how to deliver the 
 godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust to 
 the day of judgment to be punished :" he knoweth 
 how to make the same day the greatest terror to his 
 foes, and yet the greatest joy to his people. " There 
 is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus,, 
 who walk not after the fles^, but after the Spirit." 
 And, " who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's 
 elect?" Shall the law ? Why, "Whatsoever the law 
 saith, it saith to them who are under the law ; but we 
 are not under the law, but under grace : for the law 
 of the Spirit of Life, which is in Christ Jesus, hath 
 made us free from the law of sin and death !" Or shall 
 Conscience? We were long ago "justified by faith, 
 and so have peace with God, and have our hearts 
 sprinkled from an evil conscience ; and the Spirit bear- 
 ing witness with our spirits, that we are the children 
 of God. It is God that justitieth, who shall condemn ?" 
 If our Judge condemn us not, who shall ? He that said 
 to the adulterous woman, " Hath no man condemned 
 thee? Neither do I condemn thee:" lie will Bay to 
 us, (more faithfully than Peter to him,) "Though all 
 men deny thee, or condemn thee, 1 will not. Thou 
 hast confessed me before men, and I will con/ess thee 
 before my Father, and the angels in heaven." 
 
 What inexpressible joy may this afford a. believer ! 
 Our dear Lord shall be our Judge ! will a man fear to 
 be judged by his dearest friend, by a brother, by a 
 father? or a wife by her own husband ? Did he come 
 down, and suffer, and weep, and bleed, and die for 
 thee, and will he now condemn thee ? Was he judged, 
 and condemned, and executed in thy stead, and now 
 will he condemn thee ? Hath it cost him so dear to 
 save thee ? And will he now destroy thee? Hath he 
 done the most of the work already, in justifying, pre-- 
 serving, and perfecting thee ? and will he now undo 
 
I. § 4. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 83 
 
 all again ? O what an unpardonable sin is unbelief, 
 that will charge our Lord with such absurdities ? 
 Well then, fellow Christians, let the terror of that day 
 be ever so great, our Lord can mean no ill to us in 
 all. Let it make the devils tremble, and the wicked 
 tremble; but it shall make us leap for joy. And it 
 must needs affect us deeply with the sense of our 
 mercy and happiness, to behold the contrary con- 
 dition of others. To see most of the world tremble 
 with terror, while we triumph with joy : to see them 
 thrust into hell, when we are proclaimed heirs of the 
 kingdom ; to see our neighbours, who lived in the 
 same towns, came to the same congregations, dwelt 
 in the same houses, and were esteemed more honour- 
 able in the world than ourselves; now so differenced 
 from us, and by the Searcher of Hearts eternally sepa- 
 rated. This, with the great magnificence and dread- 
 fulness of the day, doth the iYpostle pathetically 
 express, in c 2 Thess. i. 6 — 10, " It is righteous 
 with God to recompense tribulation to them that 
 trouble you ; and to you who are troubled, rest with, 
 us ; when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven 
 with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking ven- 
 geance on them that know not God, and obey not the 
 gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ ; and who shall be 
 punished with everlasting destruction from the presence 
 of the Lord, and from the glory of his povyer." And 
 now', is not here enough to make that day a welcome 
 day, and the thoughts of it delightful to us ? But yet 
 there is more. We shall be so far from the dread of 
 that judgment, that ourselves shall become the judges. 
 Christ will take his people, as it were, into commis- 
 sion with him ; and they shall sit and approve his 
 righteous judgment. 
 
 "Do you not know that the saints shall judge the 
 world ?" Nay, " Know ye not that that we shall judge 
 HDgels ?" Surely, were it not the word of Christ that 
 speaks it, this advancement would seem incredible, 
 yet even Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied 
 of tins, saying, "Behold! the Lord cometh, with ten 
 thousand of his Saints, to execute judgment upon all : 
 and to convince all that are ungodly among them, of 
 all their ungodly deeds, which they have ungodly 
 committed ; and of all their hard speeches, wind 
 
 uiigo.lU sinners have spoken against him," Jude 14, &c, 
 
34 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I. § 4. 
 
 Thus shall the Saints be honoured, and the " Right- 
 eous have dominion in the morning." O that the 
 careless world were but " wise to consider this, and 
 that they would consider their latter end !" That 
 they would be now of the same mind, as they will be 
 when they shall see •« the heavens pass away with a 
 noise, and the elements melt with fervent heat ; the 
 earth also, and the work's that are therein be burnt 
 up !" When all shall be on tire about their ears, and 
 all earthly glory be consumed. " For the heavens and 
 the earth, which are now, are reserved unto lire 
 against the day of judgment, and perdition of ungodly 
 men. Seeing then all these things shall be dissolved, 
 what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy con- 
 versation and godliness! Looking for, and hasting to 
 the coining of the day of God; wherein the heavens 
 being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements 
 melt with fervent heat." 
 
 The fourth antecedent to the Saints advancement is, 
 their solemn coronation, and receiving into the king- 
 dom. For as Christ, their Head, is anointed both 
 King and Priest; so under him are his people made 
 unto God both kings and priests: " To reign, and to 
 •ffer praises for ever," Rev. v. 10. "The crown of 
 righteousness, which was laid up for them, shall by 
 the Lord, the righteous Judge, be given them at that 
 day," 2 Tim. iv. 8. "They have been faithful tr> 
 death, and therefore shall receive the crown of life ;" 
 and according to the improvement of talents here, so 
 shall their rule and dignity be enlarged. So that they 
 are not dignified with empty titles, but real dominion. 
 For " Christ will take them, and set them down with 
 himself, on his throne ; and will give them power over 
 the nations, even as he received of his Father. And 
 will give them the morning-star." The Lord himself 
 will give them possession with these applauding ex- 
 pressions : "Well done, good and faithful servant, 
 thou hast been faithful over a few things, 1 will make 
 thee ruler over many things: Enter thou into the joy 
 of thy Lord." And with tins solemn and blessed* 
 proclamation shall he enthrone them ; " Come, ye 
 blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom, prepared, 
 for you from the foundation of the world." Every 
 word is full of life and joy. f Come! J This is the 
 holding forth of the golden sceptre; to warrant our 
 
 j 
 
I. § 4. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 35 
 
 approach unto this glory. Come now as near as you 
 will; fear not the Bethshemite's judgment: for the 
 enmity is utterly taken away. This is not such a Come 
 as we were wont to hear, Come, take up your cross, 
 and follow me : though that was sweet, yet this is 
 much more. [Ye blessed] Blessed indeed, when that 
 mouth shall so pronounce us. For though the world 
 hath accounted us accursed, yet certainly those that 
 he blesseth are blessed ; and those whom he curseth, 
 only are cursed : and his blessing shall not be revoked. 
 But he hath blessed us, and we shall be blessed. [Of 
 my Father] Blessed in the Father's Love, as well 
 as the Son's ; for they are one ; the Father hath tes- 
 tified his love, in sending Christ, accepting his ran- 
 som ; as the Son hath also testified his. [Inherit] No 
 longer bond-men, nor servants only, nor children 
 under age, who differ not in possession, but only in the 
 title from servants ; but, now we are heirs of the king- 
 dom, co-heirs with Christ. [The kingdom] No less 
 than the kingdom 1 Indeed to be King of kings, and 
 Lord of lords, is our Lord's own title ; but to be kings 
 and reign with him, is ours ; the fruition of this king- 
 dom, is as the fruition of the light of the sun, each 
 hath the whole, and the rest nevertheless. [Prepared] 
 God is the Alpha, as well as the Omega of our blessed- 
 ness. Eternal Love hath laid the foundation. He 
 prepared the kingdom for us, and then prepared us 
 ■for the kingdom. This is the preparation of his coun- 
 sel ; for the execution whereof Christ has yet to make 
 a further preparation. [For you] Not for believers 
 only in general, but for you in particular. [From 
 the foundation of the icorld.] Not only from the pro- 
 mise after Adam's fall, but from eternity. 
 
 But a difficulty ariseth in our way. In what sense 
 is our improvement of our talent, our well-doing, our 
 overcoming, our labouring, visiting, feeding Christ in 
 his little ones, alleged as a reason of our coronation 
 and glory ? Is it not the purchased possession, and 
 -mere fruit. of Christ's blood ? If every man must be 
 judged according to his works, and receive accord- 
 ing to what he has done in the flesh, whether good or 
 evil ; if il God will render to every man according to 
 his deeds," Rom. ii. 6', 7. And give eternal life to all 
 men, if they patiently continue in well-doing; if he 
 will give a right to the tree of life, Rev. xxii. 14, and 
 8 
 
36 THL SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I. $ 4- 
 
 entrance into the city, to the doers of his command- 
 ments ; and if this last absolving sentence be the- 
 completing of our justification ; and so " the doers 
 of the law be justified, " Rom. ii. 13. Then, wbat 
 is become of free-grace ? Or justification by faith 
 only ? Or the sole righteousness of Christ to make 
 us accepted ? I answer, » 
 
 1. Let not the names of men draw thee one way or 
 another, or make thee partial in searching for the 
 Truth ; but call no doctrine unsound, because it 
 is theirs ; nor sound because of the repute of the 
 Writer. 
 
 2. Know this, That as an unhumbled soul is far 
 more apt to give too much to duty and personal 
 righteousness, than to Christ ; so an humble, self- 
 denying Christian, is as likely to err on the other 
 hand, in giving less to duty than Christ hath given, 
 and laying all the work from himself on Christ, for 
 fear of robbing Christ of the honour; and so much 
 to look at Christ without him, and think he should 
 look at nothing in himself; that he forgets Christ 
 within him. 
 
 3. Our giving to Christ more of the work than 
 Scripture doth, or rather onr ascribing it to him out 
 of the scripture-way, doth but dishonour, and not 
 honour him ; and depress, but not exalt his free- 
 grace : while we deny the inward sanctifying work of 
 his Spirit, and extol his free justification, which are 
 equal fruits of his merit, we make him an imperfect 
 Saviour. 
 
 4. But to arrogate to ourselves any part of Christ's 
 prerogative, is most desperate of all, and no doctrine 
 more directly overthrows the gospel, than that of jus- 
 tification by the merits of our own, or by works of the 
 Law. 
 
 And thus we have seen the Christian safely landed 
 in Paradise ; and conveyed honourably to his Rest. 
 Now let us a little further view those Mansions, con- 
 sider his Privileges, and see whether there be any 
 glory like unto this glory. 
 
I. § 5. THE SUNTS EVERLASTING REST. 37 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 The Excellencies of our Rest. 
 
 LET us sco more immediately from the pure foun- 
 tain of the Scriptures, what further Excellencies this 
 Rest affordeth. And the Lord hide us in the clifts of 
 the Rock, and cover us with the hands of indulgent 
 grace, while we approach to take this view ! 
 
 And, first, it is a most singular honour of the Saints* 
 Rest, to be called the Purchased Possession ; that is, 
 the fruit of the blood of the Son of God; yea, the 
 chief Fruit; yea, the end and perfection of all the 
 fruits of that blood. Surely Love is the most precious 
 ingredient in the whole composition; and of all the 
 flowers that grow in the garden of love, can there be 
 brought one more sweet than this Love ? Greater love 
 than this there is not, to lay down the life of the 
 Lover, And to have this our Redeemer ever before our 
 eyes, and the liveliest sense and freshest remembrance 
 of that dying, bleeding love, still upon our souls ! O 
 how will it rill our souls with perpetual ravishments, 
 to think, that in the streams of this blood, we have 
 swam through the violence of the world, the snares 
 of Satan, the seducements of the flesh, the curse of 
 the law, the wrath of an offended God, the accusa- 
 tions of a guilty conscience, and the doubts and fears 
 of an unbelieving heart, and are passed through all, 
 and arrived safely at the presence of God ! Now we 
 are stupified with vile and senseless hearts, that can 
 hear all the story of this love, and read all the suffer- 
 ings of love, and all with dulness, and unaffectedness. 
 He cries to us, " Behold, and see, is it nothing to vou, 
 O all that pass by ? Is there any sorrow like unto my 
 sorrow r" And we will scarce hear or regard the 
 voice; or turn aside to view the wounds of him who 
 healed our wounds at so dear a rate. But, oh, then our 
 perfected souls will feel as well as hear, and with feel- 
 ing apprehensions flame in love for love. Now we set 
 his picture wounded and dying before our eyes, but can 
 get it no nearer our hearts, than if we believed nothing 
 of what we read. But then, when the obstructions be* 
 
 D 
 
38 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I. § 5. 
 
 tween the eye and the understanding are taken away, 
 and the passage opened between the head and the 
 heart, surely our eyes will everlastingly affect our 
 heart ; and while we view with one eye our slain-revived 
 Lord* and with the other eye our lost-recovered souls, 
 these views will eternally pierce us, and warm our very 
 souls. And those eyes through which folly hath so 
 often stolen into our hearts, will let in the love of our 
 dearest Lord for ever. 
 
 We shall then leave these hearts of stone and rock 
 behind us, and the sins that here so closely beset us, and 
 the sottish unkindness that followed us so long, shall 
 not be able to follow us into glory. But we shall be- 
 hold, as it were, the wounds of love, with eyes and 
 hearts of love, for ever. Now his heart is open to us, 
 .and ours shut to him ; but when his heart shall be open 
 and our hearts open, O the blessed congress that will 
 then be ! What a passionate meeting is there between 
 our new-risen Lord, and the first sinful woman that 
 he appears to ! How doth love struggle for expressions ! 
 And the strained fire shut up in the breast, strives to 
 break forth! "Mary!" saith Christ; "Master!" 
 saith Mary ; and presently she clasps about his feet, 
 having her heart as near to Iris heart as her hands were 
 to his feet. What a meeting of love then will there 
 'be, between the new glorified saints, and the glorious 
 i Redeemer ! But I am here at a loss, my apprehensions 
 fail me, and fall too short. Only this I know, it will 
 be the singular praise of our inheritance, that it was 
 bought with the price of blood : and the singular joy 
 of the saints, to behold the Purchaser and the price, 
 together with the possession : neither will the views 
 of the wounds of love renew our wounds or sorrow ; 
 he whose first words after his resurrection were to a 
 great sinner, Woman, why weepest thou? knows how 
 to raise love and joy by all those views, without raising 
 any cloud of sorrow. If a dying friend but deliver a 
 token of his love, how carefully do we preserve it, and 
 still remember him when we behold it, as if his own 
 name were written on it ! And will not then the death 
 «nd blood of our Lord everlastingly sweeten our pos- 
 sessed srlory ? Well then, Christians, as you use to 
 do in your books, and on your goods, to write down 
 the price they cost you : so on your righteousness, 
 
I. § 5. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 39 
 
 and on your glory, write down the price, The pre- 
 cious blood of Christ ! 
 
 Yet understand this rightly : Not that this highest 
 glory was in the strictest sense purchased, so as that 
 it was the most immediate effect of Christ's death : 
 We must take heed that we conceive not of God as a 
 tyrant, who so delighteth in cruelty, as to exchange 
 mercies for stripes. God was never so pleased with the 
 Bufferings of the innocent, much less of his Son,, as 
 to sell his mercy properly for their sufferings. But 
 the sufferings of Christ were primarily and immediately 
 to satisfy justice, and to bear what was due to the 
 sinner, and so to restore him to the life he lost, and 
 the happiness he fell from : but this dignity, which 
 surpassed* the first, is, as it were, from the redun- 
 dancy of his merit, or a secondary fruit of his death. 
 The Work of his Redemption so well pleased the Fa- 
 ther, that he gave him power to advance his chosen to 
 a higher dignity than they fell from ; and to o-ive 
 them the glory which was given to himself; and all 
 this according to the good pleasure of his own Will. 
 
 % The second pearl in the Saints' diadem, is, that it is 
 Free. This seemeth, as Pharaoh's second kine, to de- 
 vour the former. But the seeming discord is but a 
 pleasing diversity which constitutes the melody. These 
 two attributes, Purchased and Free, are the two 
 chains of gold, which make up the wreath for the 
 heads of the pillars in the temple of God. It was 
 dear to Christ, but free to us. When Christ was to 
 buy, silver and gold were nothing worth ; prayers and 
 tears could not suffice : nor any thing below his blood; 
 but when we come to buy, our buying is but receiving; 
 we have it freely without money and without price. Nor 
 do the gospet conditions make it the less free : if the 
 gospel conditions had been such as are the law's, or 
 payment of the debt required at our hands ; the 
 freeness then were more questionable. Yea, if God 
 had said to us, Sinners, if you will satisfy my Justice 
 for one of your sins, I will forgive you all the rest, it 
 would have been a hard condition on our part, and 
 the grace of the covenant not so free, as our disability 
 doth require. But if all our condition be our cordial 
 acceptance, surely we deserve not the name of Pur- 
 chasers. Thankfully accepting of a free acquittance, 
 is no paying of the debt. If life be offered to a 
 D 2 
 
40 THE SAINTS* EVELRASTtNG REST. J. $5. 
 
 condemned man, upon condition that he shall not re- 
 fuse the offer, the favour is nevertheless f:re. Nay, 
 though the condition were, that he should beg, and 
 wait, before he have his pardon, and take him lor his 
 Lord who hath thus redeemed him, this is no satis- 
 fying the Justice of the Law: especially when the 
 condition is also given by God. Surely, then, all is 
 here free; if the Father freely give the Son, and the 
 Son freely pay the debt: and if God freely accept 
 that way of payment, when he might have required 
 it of the principal; and if both Father and Son freely 
 offer us the Purchased Lift." upon those fair conditions; 
 and if they also freely send the Spirit to enable us to 
 perform those conditions, then what is here, that is 
 not free? Oh the everlasting admiration that must 
 needs surprise the saints to think of this freeness ! 
 What did the Lord see in me, that lie should 
 judge me meet for such a state ? That I who was but 
 a poor despised wretch, should be clad in the bright*. 
 ncss of this glory ! That I, a sill}', creeping worm, 
 should be advar.ced to this high dignity ! lie that 
 durst not lift up his eyes to heaven, but stood afar off, 
 smiting his breast, and crying, " Lord, be merciful 
 to me a sinner I" now to be lifted, up to heaven him- 
 self! He who was wont to write his name in Bradford's 
 style, •' The unthankful, the hard-hearted, the un- 
 worthy sinner !" and was wont to admire that patience : 
 sure he will admire this alteration, when he shall find 
 by experience, that unworthiness could not hinder his 
 salvation, which he thought would have bereaved him 
 of every mercy. Ah Christian, there is no talk of our 
 worthiness or unworthiness. If worthiness were our 
 condition for admittance, we might sit down with St. 
 John and weep, " Because none in heaven or on earth 
 is found worthy." But the Lion of the tribe of Judah 
 is worthy, and hath prevailed ; and by that title must 
 ye hold the inheritance. We shall offer there the 
 offering that David refused, even " praise for that 
 which cost us nothing-." Here our commission runs, 
 *' Freely ye have received, freely give." But Christ 
 hath dearly received, yet freely gives. Yet this is not 
 all. If it were only for nothing, and without our 
 merit, the wonder were great : but it is moreover against 
 our demerit, and against our long endeavouring our 
 
I. § 5. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 41 
 
 own ruin. The broken heart that hath known the desert 
 of sin, doth both understand and feel what I say ! What 
 an astonishing thought will it be, to think of the un- 
 measurable difference between our deservings and our 
 receivings ! Between the state we should have been 
 in, and the state we are in ! To look down upon 
 hell, and see the vast difference that free grace hath 
 made betwixt us and them ! To see the inheritance 
 there, which we were born to, so different from that 
 which we are adopted to ! Oh, what pangs of love will 
 it cause within us, to think, Yonder was the place that 
 sin would have brought me to : but this is it that Christ 
 hath brought me to. Yonder death, was the wages of 
 my sin ; but this " eternal life is the gift of God, thro' 
 Jesus Christ my Lord." Doubtless this will be our 
 everlasting admiration, that so rich a crown should fit 
 the head of so vile a sinner. That such high advance- 
 ment, and such long unfruitfulness and unkindness 
 should be the state of the same persons. And that 
 such vile rebellions should conclude in such most pre- 
 cious joys ! But no thanks to us ; nor to any of our 
 Duties and Labours, much less to our Neglects and 
 Laziness ; we know to whom the praise is due, and 
 must be given for ever. And indeed to this very end 
 it was, that Infinite Wisdom did cast the whole design 
 of man's salvation into the mould of Purchase and 
 Freeness, that the love and joy of man might be per- 
 fected, and the honour of grace most highly advanced; 
 that the thought of merit might neither cloud the one, 
 nor obstruct the other ; and that on these two hinges 
 the gates of heaven might turn. So then let [De- 
 served] be written on the door of hell, but on the door 
 of heaven and life, [The Free Gift.] 
 
 A third comfortable adjunct of this Rest is, That it 
 is the Fellowship of the Blessed Saints and Angels of 
 God. Not so singular will the Christian be, as to be 
 solitary. Tho' it be proper to the Saints only, yet it 
 i& common to all the Saints. For what is it, but an 
 association of blessed Spirits in God ? A corporation 
 of perfected Saints whereof Christ is the head? The 
 communion of Saints completed ? For those that 
 have prayed, and fasted, and wept, and watched, and 
 waited together; now to enjoy, and praise together, 
 methinks should much advance their pleasure. He 
 D3 
 
42 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 1. § 5. 
 
 who mentioneth the qualifications of our Happiness, o.i 
 
 purpose that our Joy may be full, p.nd maketh so 
 eft mention of our conjunction in his praises, sure 
 doth hereby intimate to us, that this will he some 
 advantage to our Joys. Certain I urn of this, Fel^ 
 low Christians, that as we have been together in la- 
 bour, duty, danger, and distress, so shall we be in 
 the great recompense ; and as we have boon scorned 
 and despised, so shall we be crowned and honoured 
 together; and we who have gone through the day of 
 Sadness, shall enjoy together that day of Gladness. 
 And those who have been with us in Persecution and 
 Prison, shall be with us al-^o in that Palace of Con- 
 solation. When I look in the face* of the people 
 of God, and believingly think of this, yea, what a 
 refrebhing thought is it! Shall we not there remem- 
 ber our fellowship in duty, and in sufferings ? How 
 oft- our groans made as it were one sound ! our tears 
 but one stream, and our desires but one prayer ! 
 And now, all our praises shall make up one Melody : 
 and all our churches one church : and all ourselves 
 but one body : for we shall be one in Christ, even 
 as he and the Father are one. It is true, we must 
 be very careful that we look not for that in tlie 
 Saints, which is alone in Christ, and that we give 
 them not his prerogative ; nor expect too great a part 
 of our comfort in the Fruition of them : we are prone 
 enough to this kind of idolatry. But yet, he who 
 commands us so to love them now, will give us leave, 
 in the same subordination to himself, to love them 
 then, when himself hath made them much more 
 lovely. And if we may love them, we shall surely 
 rejoice in them ; for Love cannot stand without an 
 answerable Joy. If the fore-thought of sitting down 
 with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the Prophets in 
 the kingdom of God, may be our lawful Joy ; then 
 how much more that real sight, and actual possession ? 
 It caimot but be/ corn for table to me to think of that 
 day, when I shall join with Moses in his Song, with 
 David in his Psalms of Praise ; and with ail the re- 
 deemed in the S 07i g of the Lamb for ever. When we 
 shall see Enoch walking with God ; INoah enjoying the 
 end of Lis singularity ; Joseph of his Integrity ; Job of 
 his PuH.ence; Hezekiuii of his Uprightness; and all the 
 
I. § 5. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 43 
 
 Saints the end of their Faith. O happy day, when I 
 shall depart out of this crowd, and sink, and go to 
 that same council of souls. I know that Christ is All 
 in All, and that it is the presence of God that maketh 
 heaven to be heaven. But yet it much sweeteneth the 
 thoughts of that place to me, to remember that there 
 are such a multitude of my most dear and precious 
 friends in Christ : " with whom I took sweet counsel, 
 and with whom I went up to the house of God, who 
 walked with me in the Fear of God, and integrity of 
 their Hearts :" in the face of whose conversations 
 there was written the name of Christ, whose sensible 
 mention of his Excellencies hath made ray heart to 
 burn within me. To think that such a friend that 
 died at such a time, and such a one at another time, 
 and that all these are entered into Rest ; and we 
 shall surely go to them. It is a question with some, 
 Whether we shall know each other in heaven or not ? 
 Surely, there shall no knowledge cease which now we 
 have ; but only that which implieth our imperfection. 
 And what imperfection can this imply ? Nay, our 
 present knowledge shall be increased beyond belief; 
 it shall indeed be done away, but as the light of stars 
 is done away by the rising of the sun ; which is 
 more properly doing away of our Ignorance than our 
 Knowledge ; indeed we shall not know each other 
 after the flesh ; but by the Image of Christ, and spi- 
 ritual relation, and former faithfulness in improving 
 our talents : beyond doubt, we shall know r and be 
 known. Nor is it only our old acquaintance, but all 
 the Saints of all ages, whose faces in the flesh we never 
 saw, whom we shall there both know, and comfortably 
 enjoy. Yea, and Angels as well as Saints, will be 
 our blessed acquaintance. Those who now are wil- 
 lingly ministerial spirits for our good, will willingly 
 then be our companions in joy for the perfecting of 
 our good : and they who had such joy in heaven for our 
 conversion, will gladly rejoice with us in our glorifica- 
 tion. I think, Christian, this will be a more honour- 
 able assembly, than ever you have beheld ; and a more 
 happy Society than you were ever of before. Then we 
 shall truly say of David, " I am a companion of all 
 them that fear Thee;" when we are " come to Mount 
 Sion, and the City of the Living God, the Heavenly Je- 
 
44 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I. § % 
 
 salem, and to an innumerable Company of Angels : to 
 the general assembly, and church of the rirst-born, 
 who are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of 
 all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and 
 to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant." So 
 then 1 conclude, This is one singular excellency of the 
 Rest of heaven, That ice are fellow-citizens with the 
 Saints, and of the household of God. 
 
 4. Another excellent property of our Rest will be, 
 that the joys of it are immediately from God. We 
 shall see God face to face ; and stand continually in 
 his presence ; and consequently derive our life and 
 comfort immediately from him. Whether God will 
 make use of any creatures for our service then; or vf 
 any, of what creatures, and what use ; is more than I 
 yet know : but it is certain, that at least, our greatest 
 joys will be immediate, if not all. Now we have no- 
 thing at all immediately, but at the second or third 
 hand, or how many who knows? From the earth, 
 from man, from sun and moon, from the influence of 
 the planets, from the ministration of angels, and from 
 the Spirit of Christ ; and doubtless, the farther the 
 stream runs from the fountain, the more impure it is. 
 It gathers some defilement from every unclean chan- 
 nel it passeth through. Though it savours not in the 
 hand of Angels, of the imperfection of sinners, yet it 
 doth of the imperfection of creatures ; and as it comes 
 from man, it savours of both. How quick and pier- 
 cing is the word in itself! Yet many times it never 
 enters, being managed by a feeble arm. O what 
 weight and worth are there in every passage of the bles-« 
 sed gospel ! Enough, one would think, to enter and 
 force the dullest soul, and wholly possess its thoughts 
 and affections : and yet how oft doth it drop as water 
 upon a stone ! The things of God which we handle, 
 are divine : but our manner of handling is human : and 
 there is little or nothing that ever we touch, but we 
 leave the print of our fingers behind us; but if God 
 should speak this word himself, it would be a piercing, 
 melting word indeed. 
 
 If an angel from heaven should preach the gospel, 
 yet could he not deliver it according to its glory ; much 
 less we, who never saw what they have seen, and keep 
 this treasure in earthen vessels. The comforts that flow. 
 
7. § 5« the saints everlasting rest. 45 
 
 through sermons, sacraments, reading, conference, and 
 creatures, are but half comforts; in comparison of 
 those which the Almighty shall speak with his own 
 mouth, and reach forth with his own hand. The 
 Christian knows by experience now, that his most im- 
 mediate joys are his sweetest joys ; which have least of 
 man, and are most directly from the Spirit. That is 
 one reason, 1 conceive, why Christians who are much 
 in secret prayer and meditation, are men of greatest 
 life : because they are nearer the well-head, and have 
 all more immediately from God himself. And that I 
 conceive to be the reason, why we are more indisposed 
 to those secret duties, and can more easily bring our 
 hearts to hear and read, than to secret prayer, self- 
 examination, and meditation; because in the former 
 is more of man, and in these we approach the Lord 
 alone, and our natures draw back from the most spiri- 
 tual duties. Not that we should therefore cast off the 
 other, and neglect any ordinance of God : to live above 
 them while we use them, is the way of a Christian. 
 But to live above ordinances so as to live without 
 them, is to live without the government or Christ. It 
 is then we shall have light without a candle ; and a 
 perpetual day without the sun : " for the city hath no 
 need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it ; 
 for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is 
 the light thereof," Rev. xxi. 23. Nay, " There shall 
 be no night there, and they need no candle, nor light 
 of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and 
 they shall reign for ever and ever." We shall then 
 have rest without sleep, and be kept from cold with- 
 out our clothing ; and need no rig leaves to hide our 
 shame: for God will be our Rest, and Christ our 
 clothing, and shame and sin will cease together. 
 We shall then have health without physic, and strength 
 without the use of food ; for the Lord God will be 
 our strength, and the light of his countenance will 
 be health to our souls, and marrow to our bones. 
 We shall then, and not till then, have enlightened un- 
 derstandings without Scripture, and be governed with- 
 out a written law. For the Lord will perfect his law 
 in our hearts, and we shall be all perfectly taught of 
 God : his own will shall be our law, and his own 
 face shall be our light for ever. We shall then have 
 
46 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I. § 5« 
 
 communion without sacraments, when Christ shall 
 drink with us of the fruit of the vine, that is, refresh 
 us with the comforting wine of immediate Fruition, 
 in the kingdom of his Father. 
 
 5. A further excellency of this Rest is this : it will 
 be a suitable Rest: suited, 1. To our natures. 2. To 
 our desires : 3. To our necessities. 
 
 (1.) To our natures. If suitableness concur not 
 with excellency, the best things may be bad to us: for 
 it is not that things are good in themselves, which 
 makes them to be good to us. In our choice of 
 friends, we oft pass by the more excellent, to choose 
 the more suitable. Every good agrees not with every 
 nature. The choicest dainties which we feed upon 
 ourselves, would be to our beasts, as an unpleasing, 
 so an insufficient sustenance. 
 
 Now here is suitableness and excellency conjoined. 
 The new nature of the Saints doth suit their spirits to 
 this rest : and indeed their holiness is nothing else but 
 a spark taken from this element, and by the Spirit of 
 Christ kindled in their hearts, the flame whereof, as 
 mindful of its divine original, doth ever mount aloft, 
 and tend to the place from whence it came. Gold and 
 earthly giory, lemporal crowns and kingdoms, could 
 not make a Rest for Saints. As they were not re- 
 deemed with so low a price, so neither are they endued 
 with so low a nature. As God will have from thern a 
 spiritual worship, suitable to his own spiritual being ; 
 so will he provide them a spiritual Rest, suitable to 
 his people's spiritual nature. 
 
 A heaven of the knowledge of God, and his Christ; 
 and a delightful eomplaceney in that mutual love, and 
 everlasting rejoicing in the fruition of our God, a per- 
 petual singing of his high praises : this is a heaven for 
 a Saint; a spiritual Rest, suitable to a spiritual na- 
 ture. Then we shall live in our element. We are 
 now as the iish in some small vessel of water, that hath 
 only so much as will keep it alive; but what is that to 
 the full ocean ? We have a little air let into us, to 
 afford us breathing : but what is that to the sweet and 
 fresh gales upon Mount Sion ? We have a beam of 
 the sun to lighten our darkness, and a warm ray to 
 keep us from freezing : but then we shall live in its 
 light, and be revived by its heat for ever. 
 
I. § 5. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 47 
 
 (2.) It is suitable to the desires of the Saints : for 
 euch as is their nature, such are their desires ; and 
 such as their desires, such will be their Rest. Indeed 
 we have now a mixed nature ; and from contrary prin* 
 ciples, arise contrary desires. But it is to the desires 
 of our renewed nature that this Rest is suited. Whilst 
 our desires remain corrupt and misguided, it is far 
 greater mercy to deny, yea, to destroy them, than to 
 satisfy them ; but those which are spiritual, are of his 
 own planting, and he will surely water them, and 
 give the increase. He quickened our hunger and 
 thirst for righteousness, that he might make us happy 
 in a full satisfaction. 
 
 Christian, this is Rest after thine own heart : it con- 
 tained all thy heart can wish, that which thou longest 
 for, prayest for, labourest for, there thou shalt find it 
 all. Thou hadst rather have God in Christ, than all 
 the world ; why there, thou shalt have him. Desire 
 what thou canst, and ask what thou wilt, as a Chris- 
 tian, and it shall be given thee; not only to half of 
 the kingdom, but to the enjoyment of both kingdom 
 and King. This is a life of both desire and prayer ; 
 but that is a life of satisfaction and enjoyment. 
 
 (3.) This Rest is suitable to the Saints' necessities 
 also, as well as their natures and desires. It contains 
 whatsoever they truly wanted: not supplying them 
 with gross created comforts, which, like Saul's ar- 
 mour on David, are more burden than benefit : but 
 they shall there have the benefit without the burthen ; 
 and the pure spirits extracted, as it were, shall make 
 up their cordial, without the mixture of any drossy 
 or earthy substance. Jt was Christ, and perfect ho* 
 liness, which they most needed, and with these shall 
 they be supplied. 
 
 6. Another excellency of our Rest will be this, that 
 it will be absolutely perfect and complete; and this 
 both in the sincerity and universality of it. We shall 
 then have joy without sorrow, and rest without weari- 
 ness : as there is no mixture of our corruption with our 
 graces, so no mixture of bufferings with our solace; 
 there is none of those waves in that harbour, which now 
 toss us up and down. To-day we are well, to-morrow 
 sick ; to-day in esteem, to-morrow in disgrace ; to-day 
 we have friends, to-morrow none ; nay, we have wine 
 
46 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I. § 5. 
 
 and vinegar in the same cup. If revelations should 
 raise us to the third heaven, the messenger of Satan 
 must presently buffet us : but there is none of this in- 
 constancy in heaven. If perfect love casts out fear; 
 then perfect joy must needs cast out sorrow, and per- 
 fect happiness exclude all the relics of misery. There 
 will be an universal removal of all our evils. And 
 though the positive part be the sweetest, and that 
 which draws the other after it, even as the rising of the 
 sun excludes the darkness ; yet is not the negative part 
 to be slighted, even our freedom from so many and 
 great calamities. Let us therefore look over these things 
 more punctually, and see what it is that we shall here 
 rest from. In general, it is from all evil. Particu- 
 larly, First, from sin. Secondly, suffering. 
 
 First, It excludeth nothing more directly than sin; 
 whether original, and of nature; or actual, and of 
 conversation ; for " there entereth nothing that defileth, 
 or worketh abomination, nor that maketh a lye." 
 What need Christ have died, if heaven could have 
 contained imperfect souls ? " For to this end came 
 he into the world, that he might put away the works 
 of the devil." Mis blood and the Spirit have not 
 done all this, to leave us after all, defiled. " For 
 what communion hath light with darkness ? And what 
 fellowship hath Christ with Belial?" He that hath 
 prepared for sin the torments of hell, will never admit 
 it into the blessedness of heaven. Therefore, Chris- 
 tian, never fear this; if thou be once in heaven, thou 
 shalt sin no more. Is not this glad news to thee, who , 
 hast prayed, and watched, and laboured against it so 
 long? I know if it were offered to thy choice, thou 
 wo»ldst rather choose to be freed from sin, than to 
 be made heir of the world. Thou shalt have thy de- 
 sire I those vile temptations, which thou couldst no 
 more lea-e behind thee, than leave thyself behind thee, 
 shall be now left behind for ever. If they accompany 
 thee to death, they cannot proceed a step further. 
 Thy understanding shall never more be troubled with 
 darkness : ignorance and error are inconsistent with 
 this light. Now thou walkest like a man in twilight, 
 ever afraid of being out of the way ; but then will all 
 darkness be dispelled; and our blind understandings 
 fuflv opened. 
 
 7 
 
t. § 5. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING RESTK 4$ 
 
 O what would we give to know clearly all the pro- 
 found mysteries in the doctrine of redemption, of 
 justification, of the nature of grace, of the divine at- 
 tributes ! What would we give to see all dark scrip- 
 tures made plain, to see all seeming contradiction* 
 reconciled ! When glory hath taken away the veil from 
 our eyes, all this will be known in a moment ; we shall 
 then see clearly into all the controversies about doctrine 
 or discipline that now perplex us. The poorest Chris- 
 tian is presently there a more perfect Divine, than any 
 ore here. We are now through our ignorance subject 
 to such mutability, that in points not fundamental, we 
 change as the moon ; but when once our ignorance is 
 perfectly healed, then shall we be settled, resolved 
 men ; then shall our reproach be taken from us, and we 
 shall never change our judgment more. Our ignorance 
 now doth lead us into error, to the grief of our more 
 knowing brethren, to the disturbing the church's quiet, 
 to the scandalizing of others, and weakening ourselves. 
 How many a faithful soul is seduced into error 1 Loth 
 are they to err, God knows ; and therefore read and 
 pray, and yet err still. And in the lesser and more 
 difficult points, how can it be otherwise ? 
 
 Can it be expected, that men void of learning and 
 strength of parts, unstudied and untaught, should at 
 the first onset know those truths, which they are 
 almost incapable of knowing at all ? When the greatest 
 divines of clearest judgment acknowledge so much 
 difficulty, that they could almost rind in their hearts, 
 sometimes, to profess them quite beyond their reach ? 
 But, O that happy approaching day, when error shall 
 vanish away for ever, when our understanding shall 
 be filled with God himself, whose light will leave no 
 darkness in us ! His face shall be the Scripture, where 
 we shall read the truth : and himself instead of teachers 
 and counsellors, to perfect our understandings, and 
 acquaint us with himself. No njore error, no more 
 scandal to others, no-more disquiet to our own spirit, 
 no more mistaken zeal, for falsehood. Many a good 
 man hath here in. his mistaken zeal, been a means to 
 deceive and pervert his brethren; and when he sees 
 his own error, cannot again tell how to undeceive 
 them : but there we shall all conspire in one truth, as 
 being one. in Him w-ho is the Truth, 
 E 
 
50 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I. § 5. 
 
 And as we shall rest from all the sin of our under- 
 standings, so of our wills, affections, and conversation. 
 We sball no more retain this rebelling principle, which 
 is still withdrawing us from God. We shall no more 
 be oppressed with the power of our corruptions, nor 
 vexed with their presence: no pride, passion, slothful- 
 ness, or senselessness shall enter with us ; no strange- 
 ness to God, and the things of God; no coldness of 
 affections, nor imperfections in our love: no uneven 
 walking, nor grieving of the Spirit ; no scandalous 
 action, or unholy conversation : we shall rest from all 
 these for ever. Then shall our understandings receive 
 their light from the face of God, as the full moon from 
 the open sun : Our wills shall correspond to the divine 
 will, asfucc answers face in a glass ; and his will shall 
 be our law and rule; from which we shall never 
 swerve again. 1 conclude, therefore, with the words 
 next my text, " He that is entered into his Rest, hath 
 ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 1 ' So 
 that there is a perfect Rest from sin. 
 
 Secondly : It is a perfect Rest from suffering. When 
 the cause i6 gone, the effect ceaseth. Our sufferings 
 were but the consequences of our sinning, and here 
 they both cease together. 
 
 Weshall rest from all the temptations of Satan. What 
 a grief it is to a Christian, though he yield not to the 
 temptation, yet to be still solicited to deny his Lord? 
 That such a thought should be cast into lus heart ? That 
 he can set about nothing that is good, but Satan is still 
 dissuading him from it, or discouraging him after it ? 
 What a torment, as well as a temptation is it, to have 
 such horrid motions made to his soul? Sometimes un- 
 dervaluing thoughts of Christ ; sometimes unbelieving 
 thoughts-of Scripture ; sometimes injurious thoughts of 
 Providence: to be tempted sometimes to turn to pre- 
 sent things ; sometimes to play with the baits of sin ; 
 sometimes to venture on the delights of the flesh ; and 
 sometimes to Atheism itself? Especially, when we 
 know the treachery of our own hearts, that they are as 
 tinder, ready to take lire, as soon as one of these sparks 
 shall fall upon them ; but when the day of our deliver- 
 ance comes, we shall fully rest from these temptations : 
 Satan is then bound up, the time of tempting is over ; 
 the time of torment to himself, aqd his cwouered -cap- 
 
I. § 5. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 51 
 
 tives, is ^hen come ; and the victorious saints shall have 
 triumph from temptation. Now we walk among his 
 snares, and are in danger of being circumvented with 
 his wiles; but then we are quite above his snares. He 
 hath power here to tempt us in the wilderness, but he 
 entereth not into the Holy City : he may set us on the 
 pinnacle of the temple in the earthly Jerusalem, but 
 the New Jerusalem he may not approach. Perhaps 
 he may bring us to an exceedingly high mountain ; but 
 Mount Sion, the City of the living God, he cannot as- 
 cend. Or if he should, yet all the kingdoms of the 
 world, and the glory of them, will be but a poor bait to 
 the soul which is possessed of the kingdom of our Lord. 
 & We shall rest from all our temptations which. we 
 now undergo from the world and the flesh, as well as 
 Satan: and that is a number inexpressible. O the 
 hourly dangers that we here walk in ! Every sense is 
 a snare; every member a snare; every creature a 
 snare; every mercy a snare; and every duty a snare 
 to us. Wc can scarce open our eyes, but we are in 
 danger; if we behold them above us, we are in dan- 
 ger of envy: if we see sumptuous buildings, pleasant 
 habitations, honour and riches, we are in danger to 
 be drawn away with covetous desires : If the rags ancj, 
 beggary of others, we are in danger of applauding 
 thoughts of unmercifulness; if we see beauty, it is a 
 bait to us ; if deformity, to loathing and disdain. We 
 can scarcely hear a word spoken, but contains to us 
 matter of temptation. How soon do slanderous re- 
 ports, vain jests, or wanton speeches creep into the 
 heart ! How strong and prevalent a temptation is 
 our appetite! And how constant and strong a watch 
 doth it require ! Have we comeliness and beauty ? 
 What fuel for pride! Are we deformed ? What an oc- 
 casion of repining ! Have we strength of reason and 
 learning? O how hard is it not to be puffed up ! To 
 hunt after applause ! To despise our brethren ! Are 
 we unlearned, of shallow heads and slender parts? 
 How apt then to despise what we have not ! And to 
 undervalue that which we do- not know ! And to err 
 with confidence, because of our ignorance ! And if 
 coneeitedriess and pride do but strike in, to become 
 a zealous enemy to truth, and a leading troubler of 
 the church's peace, under pretence of truth ? Are we 
 £2 
 
52 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I. §-S. 
 
 men of eminence and authority ? How strong is our 
 temptation to slight our brethren ! To abuse our trust ! 
 To seek ourselves ! To stand upon our honour and 
 privileges ! To forget ourselves, our poor brethren, 
 and the public good ! How hard to devote our power 
 to his glory, from whom we have received it 1 How 
 prone to make our wills our law ! Are we inferiors ? 
 How prone to grudge at others pre-eminence ! And 
 to bring their actions to the bar of our judgment! 
 Are we rich, and not too much exalted ? Are we 
 poor, and not discontented ? Do we set upon duties ? 
 They are snares too: either we arc stupid and lazy, 
 or rest on them and turn from Christ. In a word, 
 not one word that falls from (he mouth of a minister 
 and Christian, but it is a snare ; not a place we come 
 into, not a word that our tongues speak, nor any 
 mercy we possess, not a bit we put into our mouths, 
 but they are snares : not that God hath made theia 
 so, but through our own corruption they become so 
 to us. So that what a sad case are we in : especially 
 they that discern them not; for it is almost impossible 
 they should escape them ! It was not for nothing 
 that our Lord cries out, " What 1 say to one, I say 
 to all, Watch." We are like the lepers at Samaria, 
 " if we go into the city, there is nothing but famine ; 
 if we sit still, we perish." 
 
 But for ever blessed be omnipotent Love, which 
 saves us out of all these, and makes our straits but the 
 advantages of the glory of his graqe ! And " blessed 
 be the Lord, who hath not given our souls for a prey, 
 our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the 
 fowler ; the snare is broken, and we are escaped." 
 Now, our houses, our clothes, our sleep, our food, our 
 physic, our father, mother, wife, children, friends, 
 goods, lands, are all so many temptations : and our- 
 selves the greatest snare to ourselves : but in heaven, the 
 dauger and trouble are over ; there is nothing but what 
 will advance our joy. INowevery companion is beckon- 
 ing us to sin, and we can scarce tell how to say them 
 nay : but our rest will free us from all these. As Sa- 
 tan hath no entrance there, so neither any thing to 
 serve his malice ; but all things there with us conspire 
 the praises of our great Deliverer. 
 
 .3. And as we rest from the temptation ; so al^o 
 
I. § 5. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 53 
 
 from all abuses and persecutions which we suffer at 
 the hands of wicked men. We shall be scorned, 
 derided, imprisoned, banished by them no more; 
 the prayers of the souls under the altar will then be 
 answered, and God will avenge their blood on those 
 that dwell on the earth. This is the time for crowning 
 with thorns, buffeting, spitting on : that is the time 
 for crowning with glory. Now the law is decreed on, 
 ** That whosoever will live godly in Christ Jesus, 
 shall suffer persecutions ; then they that suffered with 
 him, shall be glorified with him." Now we must be 
 " hated of all men for Christ's name sake: then will 
 Christ be admired in his Saints" that were thus hated. 
 We are here as the scorn and orT-seouring of all things ; 
 as men set up for a gazing-stock to angels and men, 
 even for signs and wonders amongst professing Chris- 
 tians ; they put us out of their synagogues, and cast 
 out our name as evil, and separate us from their com- 
 pany : but we shall then be as much gazed at for eur 
 glory, and they will be shut out of the Church of the 
 Saints, and separated from us, whether they will 
 or not. They now ** think it strange that we run not 
 with them to all excess of riot :" they will then think 
 it more strange that they ran not with us in the de- 
 spised ways of God. We can scarce now pray in our 
 families, or sing praises to God ; but our voice is a 
 vexation to them : how must it torment them then, tQ 
 see us praising and rejoicing, while they are howling 
 and lamenting ! 
 
 Brethren, you that now can attempt no work of God 
 without resistance, and find you must either lose the 
 love of the world, and your outward comforts, or else 
 the love of God, and your eternal salvation : consider, 
 you shall in heaven have no discouraging company, 
 nor any but who will further your work, and gladly 
 join heart and voice with you in your everlasting joy 
 and praises. Till then "possess your souls in pa- 
 tience : ' bind all reproaches as a crown to your heads ; 
 esteem them greater riches than the world's treasure : 
 Account it matter of joy y ivhen ye fall into tribulation^ 
 You have seen that our God is able to deliver us r but 
 this is nothing to our final deliverance: " He will re- 
 compense tribulation to them that troubh you; and 
 to you that are troubled Rest with Christ.'? 
 E3 
 
54 THE SAINTS EYERlXSTlNG REST. I. § -5f 
 
 4. We shall then also rest from oar sad divisions 
 
 and unchristian quarrels with one another. As he 
 taid, who saw the carcases lie together, as if they had 
 embraced each other, who had been slain by each otlnr 
 in a duel; *' How lovingly do they embrace one an- 
 other, wlio perished through their mutual enmity !" 
 rio, how lovingly do thousands live together in heaven, 
 who lived in divisions on earth ! As he said, who bee 
 held how quietly and peaceably the boms and dust of 
 mortal enemies did lie together; "You did not live 
 together f^o peaceably." So we may say of multitudes 
 in heaven, Now all are of one mind, one heart, and 
 one employment. You lived not on earth in so sweet 
 familiarity. There is no contention, because none of 
 this pride, ignorance, or other corrujrtion : Paul and 
 Barnabas are now fully reconciled. There they are, not 
 /every man conceited of his own understanding, and in 
 lo.vc with the issue of his own brain ; but all admiring 
 the divine perfections, and in love with God and one 
 another. As old Qryneus wrote to his friend, '* If I 
 sec you no more on earth, yet we sfcall there meet, 
 where Luther and Zuinglius are now welj agreed." 
 Tiaere is no -recording our brethren's infirmities : n0F 
 raking into the sores which Christ die^te Heal. There 
 is no plotting to strengthen our party : nor deep de» 
 -signing against our brethren. 
 
 And is it not a shame and pity, th#$ pur pourse i*s 
 now so contrary ? Surely, if tfye re be sorrpw or sjiame 
 in heaven, we shall then be both sorry and ashamed to 
 look one another in the face ; to remember all tins car- 
 riage on earth, even as the brethren of Jpseph were tp 
 behold him, when they remembered their former un- 
 kind usage. Is it not enough that all the world is 
 against us, but we must also be against ourselves? 
 Did 1 ever think to have heard Christians so to reproach 
 and scorn Christians ? and men professing the fear of 
 God, to make so little conscience of censuring, yilify- 
 jng, and disgracing one another ? Q what hellish things 
 are Ignorance and Pride, that can bring men's souls to 
 such a case as this i Paul knew what he said, when he 
 commanded, that " a novice should not be a teacher ; 
 lest being lifted up, he should fall into the condemna- 
 tion of the devil," 1 Tim. hi. 6, He disperned that 
 such young Christians that have gpt but a little saiat* 
 
f. § 5. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 5.9 
 
 tering knowledge in religion, lie in greatest clanger of 
 this pride and condemnation. Who but Paul could 
 have foreseerwthat among the very teachers and go- 
 vernors of so choice a church as Ephesus, there were 
 some that afterwards should be notorious sect-makers ? 
 ** That of their own selves men should arise, speaking 
 perverse things, to draw away disciples after them," 
 Acts xx. 30. Who then can expect better from any 
 Society now, how knowing and holy soever ? To-day 
 they may be unanimous, and joined in love ; and 
 perhaps within a few weeks be divided, and at bitter 
 enmity, through their doting on questions that tend 
 not to edify. 
 
 5. We shall then rest from all which we now under- 
 go by participating with our brethren in their calami- 
 ties. Alas, if we had nothing upon ourselves to trou- 
 ble us, yet what heart could lay aside sorrows, that 
 lives in the sound of the church's sufferings ? If Job 
 had nothing upon his body to disquiet him, yet the 
 message of his children's overthrow, must needs grieve 
 the most patient souk Except we are turned into steel 
 or stone, and have Tost both Christian and human 
 affection, there needs no more than the miseries of our 
 brethren to fill our hearts with sorrows* The Church 
 on earth is a mere Hospital ; which way soever we go, 
 we hear complaining; and into what corner soever we 
 cast our eyes, we behold objects of pity : some groan- 
 ing under a dark understanding, some under a senseless 
 heart, some languishing under unfruitful weakness, and 
 some bleeding for miscarriages and wilfulness, and 
 some in a lethargy, that they are past complaining; 
 soinc crying out of their pining poverty ; some groan- 
 ing under pains and infirmities; some bewailing a 
 whole catalogue of calamities, especially in days of 
 common sufferings: but our Day of Rest will free us 
 and them from, all this. Now we may enter many a 
 poor Christian's cottage, and see poverty, possessing 
 and lilling a\l : how, much better is that day, when we 
 shall see them tilled with Christ, clothed with glory, 
 and equal with the greatest princes ? 
 
 But a far greater grief it is to our spirits, to see suchr 
 a-one, with whom we took sweet counsel, now fallen 
 off to sensuality, turned drunkard, worldling, or a, per* 
 eecutor, and the trying times have given us too large 
 
56 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I. § 5» 
 
 occasion for such sorrows : to see our dearest friends 
 turned aside from the truth of Christ, and confident 
 ill the flesh, continue their neglect of Christ and their 
 souls, and nothing waking them out of their secu- 
 rity ; and to think how certainly they shall be in hell 
 for ever, if they die in their present state : and will 
 it not be a blessed day, when we shall rest from all 
 these sorrows ? " When the people shall be all righ- 
 teous, even the work of God's hands, the Branch of 
 his Planting, that he may be glorified ?" Thus shall 
 we rest from our participation of our brethren's suf- 
 ferings. 
 
 6. We shall rest from all our Personal Sufferings. 
 And though this may seem a small thing to those that 
 live in continual ease, and abound in ail kind of pros- 
 perity ; yet, methinks, to the daily afflicted soul, it 
 should make the fore-thoughts of heaven delightful : 
 and I think I shall meet with few of the Saints, but 
 will say that this is their own case. 
 
 Though we are reconciled by the blood of the co- 
 venant, and the price is paid for our full deliverance ; ; 
 yet our Redeemer sees fit to leave this measure of mi-- 
 sery upon us, to remind us of what we should else for- 
 get ; to be serviceable to his wise and gracious designs, . 
 and advantageous to our full and final recovery. As 
 all our senses are the inlets of sin; so they are the> 
 inlets of sorrow. Grief creeps in at our eyes, at our 
 ears, and almost every where: it seizeth upon our 
 head, our heart, our flesh, our spirits; and what part 
 doth escape it? Fear devours us, and darkens our de- 
 lights, as the frost nips the bud : cares feed upon our 
 spirits, as the scorching sun doth wither the delicate 
 flowers. Or, if any have fortified his inwards against 
 these, yet he is naked still without. 
 
 What tender pieces are these dusty bodies ! What 
 brittle glasses do we bear about us ! And how many 
 thousand dangers are they hurried through ! And how 
 hardly cured, if once cracked! O the multitude of 
 slender veins, of tender membranes, nerves, fibres, 
 muscles, arteries ; and all subject to obstructions, ten- 
 sions, contractions, resolutions, ruptures, or one thing • 
 or other to cause their grief ! Every one is a fit object 
 for pain, and fit to communicate that pain to the 
 
I. § 5. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 57 
 
 whole : but sin, and flesh, and dust, and pain, will 
 all be left behind together 
 
 O the blessed tranquillity of that region, where there 
 is nothing but sweet continued peace ! No succession 
 of joy there, because no intermission. Our lives will 
 be but one joy, as time will be changed into eternity. 
 O healthful place, where none are sick ! O fortunate 
 land, where all are kings ! O place most holy, where 
 all are priests ! How free a state, where none are ser- 
 vants, save to their supreme monarch ! Our face shall 
 do more be pale or sad ; our groans and sighs will be 
 done away, and God shall wipe away all tears from 
 our eyes. No more parting of friends, nor voice of 
 lamentation heard in our dwelling: no more breaches, 
 nor disproportion in our friendship, nor any trouble 
 accompanying our relations : no more care of masters 
 for servants, or parents for children, or magistrates 
 over subjects, or ministers over people. O what 
 room can there be for any evil, where all the people 
 are perfectly filled with God ? " Then shall the 
 ransomed of the Lord return and come to Sion with 
 songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads. They 
 shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing 
 shall flee away," Isaiah xxxv. 10. Hold out then a 
 little longer, O my soul ; bear with the infirmities 
 of thine earthly tabernacle ; endure that share of 
 sorrows, that the love of the Father shall impose; 
 submit to his indignation also, because thou hast 
 sinned against him ; it will be thus but a little while; 
 the sound of thy Redeemer's feet are even at the 
 door ; and thine own deliverance nearer than many 
 others. And thou, who hast often cried in the lan- 
 guage of the divine Poet, 
 
 ** Sorrow was all my soul ; I scarce believ'd, 
 Till grief did tell me roundly, that I liv'd." 
 Thou shalt then feel, that God and joy is all thy soul ! 
 the fruition of whom, with thy freedom from all these 
 sorrows, will more sweetly, and more feelingly, mal^e 
 thee kuow, and to his eternal praise acknowledge, 
 that thou livest. And thus we shall rest from all 
 afflictions. 
 
 The last blessed attribute of this Rest is, That, it 
 is an Eternal Rest. This is the crown of ouc 
 orowu ; without which all were comparatively nothing. 
 
58 THE S.UNTS EVERLASTING REST. I. § 6. 
 
 The very thought of leaving it would embitter all 
 our joys; and the more, because of the singular ex- 
 cellencies we must forsake. It would be a hell in 
 heaven, to think of onee losing heaven : as it would 
 be a kind of heaven to the damned, had they but 
 hopes of once escaping-. 
 
 It makes our present life of little value, (were it 
 not -for the reference it hath to eternity,) to think that 
 we must shortly lay it down. How can we take delight 
 in any thing, when we remember how short that de- 
 light will be? But, O blessed eternity ! where our 
 lives are perplexed with no such thoughts, nor our 
 joys interrupted with any such fears ! O what do I 
 say when I talk of eternity 1 Can my shallow thoughts 
 conceive it? To be eternally blessed, and so blessed !. 
 Surely this, if any thing-, is the resemblance of God : 
 eternity is a piece of inriniteness. Then, " O Death, 
 where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory ?" 
 Days, and nights, and years; time, and end, and 
 death, are words which there have no signification ; 
 nor are used, except perhaps to extol eternity ; as the 
 mention of hell, to extol heaven; all the years of our 
 Lord, and the years of our life,, are swallowed up 
 and lost in this eternity. 
 
 While we were servants, we held by lease ; and that 
 hut for a term of transitory life : " But the Son abideth 
 in the house for ever." Our earthly paradise in Eden 
 had a way out, but none, that ever we could find, in 
 again : but this eternal paradise hath away in, (a milky 
 way to us, but a bloody way to Christ,) but no way 
 out again ; " For they that would pass from hence to 
 you, (saith Abraham,) cannot:" a strange phrase! 
 Would any pass from such a place, if they might 2 
 Could they endure to be absent from God again one 
 hour? No: but upon supposal they would, yet they 
 could not. O then, my soul, let go thy dreams of" 
 present pleasure ; and loose thy hold of earth and flesh. 
 Fear not to enter thy estute, wnere thou shaft ever after 
 cease from thy fears. Sit down, and gladly once a day 
 bethink thyself of this eternity : among all the arith- 
 metical numbers, study the value of this infinite cy- 
 pher,, which, though it stand for nothing in the vulgar 
 account, doth yet contain all our millions, as much less 
 than a simple unit. Lay by the perplexed and contra- 
 
I. §6. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 59 
 
 dieting chronological tables, and fix thine eye on this 
 eternity; and the remote lines which thou couldst not 
 follow, thou shalt see all together here concentrated. 
 Study less these tedious volumes of history, which con- 
 tain but the silent narration of dreams, and are but the 
 pictures of the actions of shadows : and instead of all, 
 study frequently, study thoroughly this one word Eter- 
 nity, and when thou hast thoroughly learned that one 
 word, thou wilt never look on books again. What ! 
 live and never die ! rejoice, and ever rejoice ! O what 
 sweet words are these ! This word Everlasting, con- 
 tains the accomplished perfection of our glory. O 
 that the wicked sinner would but soundly study this 
 word Everlasting : methinks it would startle him out 
 of his deep sleep ! O that this gracious soul would 
 believingly study this word Everlasting, methinks it 
 would revive him in the deepest agony ! And must I, 
 Lord, thus live for ever ? Then will 1 also love for 
 ever. Must ray joys be immortal? And shall not 
 my thanks be also immortal ? Surely, if I shall never 
 lose my glory, I will never also cease thy praises. If 
 thou wilt both perfect and perpetuate me, and my 
 glory ; as I shall be thine, and not mine own, so shall 
 my glory, be thy glory ; and as they did take their 
 spring from thee, so all shall devolve to thee again ; 
 and as thy glory was thine ultimate end in my glory, 
 so shall it be also mine end, when thou hast crowned 
 me with that glory which hath no end. And " to 
 thee, O King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only 
 wise God, shall be the honour and glory, for ever and 
 ever. Amen." 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 The People of God described. 
 
 HAVING thus performed my first task of describ- 
 ing the Saints' Rest ; it remains that now I proceed 
 to the second, and shew you what the people of God 
 are, and why so called ; for whom this blessed Rest 
 reraaineth. 
 
 Regeneration is the first and great qualification of 
 the people -of God. To be the people of God without 
 7 
 
6(» THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I*. § 0. 
 
 regeneration, is as impossible as to be the children of 
 men without generation ; seeing we are born God'» 
 enemies, we mnst be new-born his sons, or else remain 
 his enemies still. 
 
 Christ hath spoken it with his mouth, " That ex- 
 cept a man be born again, he cannot enter into the 
 kingdom of Clod." The greatest reformation of life, 
 without this new life wrought in the soul, may procure 
 our further delusion, but never our salvation. 
 
 But by what acts doth this new life discover itself? 
 
 The first work I call Conviction, which comprehends 
 the knowledge of what the Scripture speaks against 
 sin and sinners ; and that this Scripture which speaks 
 so, is the word of God himself. It comprehends also, 
 some knowledge of ourselves, and our own guilt, and 
 an acknowledgment of the verity of those conse- 
 quences, which from the plague of sin in us, and 
 threats in Scripture, conclude us miserable. 
 
 2. As there must be Conviction, so also sensibility. 
 God works on the heart, as well as the head : both 
 were corrupted and out of order. The principle of 
 new life doth quicken both. All true spiritual know- 
 ledge doth pass into the affections. The great things 
 of sin, of grace, and Christ, and eternity, which are 
 of weight, one would think to move a rock ; yet 
 shake not the heart of the carnal professor, nor pierce 
 his soul to the quick*: though he should be a constant, 
 preacher of them to others, yet they little affect him- 
 self: when lie is pressing them upon the hearts of 
 others, you would little think how insensible is his 
 own soul : his invention procureth him zealous and 
 moving expressions, but they cannot procure him 
 answerable affections. 
 
 The things that the soul is thus convinced and 
 sensible of, are especially these : 
 
 1. The Evil of. Sin. The sinner is made to know 
 and feel, that the sin which was his delight, is a more 
 loathsome thing than toads pr serpents, and a greater 
 e,vil than plague or famine, or any other calamities : 
 it being a breach of the righteous law of the moat 
 higl^God, dishonourable to Him, and destructive to 
 the sinner. 
 
 Now the sinner reads and, hears the reproofs of sin, 
 ■a^j words of course; but when you mention his sin, he 
 
L § 6. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 6l 
 
 feels you speak to his very heart, and yet is contented 
 you should shew him the worst : he was wont to marvel 
 what made men keep such a stir against sin, what harm 
 it was for a man to take a little pleasure : he 6aw no 
 such heinousness in it. But now the case is altered ; 
 God hath opened his eyes, to see its inexpressible 
 vileness. 
 
 2. The Soul in this great work is convinced and 
 sensible, both of the evil of sin, and of its own misery 
 by reason of sin. They who before read the threats of 
 God's Law, as men do the stories of foreign wars ; 
 now find it is their own story, and perceive they read 
 their own doom, as if they found their names written 
 in the curse, or heard the Law say, as Nathan, Thou 
 art the man. The wrath of God seemed to him, but 
 as a storm to a man in a dry house : but now he finds 
 the disease is his own, and feels the pains in his own 
 bowels. In a word, he finds himself a condemned man, 
 dead and damned in point of law, and that nothing 
 was wanting but mere execution to make him abso- 
 lutely and irrecoverably miserable. 
 
 Whether you will call this a work of the Law or 
 Gospel, it is a work of the Spirit, wrought in some 
 measure in all the regenerate : and though somejudge 
 it unnecessary bondage, yet it is beyond my conceiv. 
 ing, how he should come to Christ for pardon, that 
 first found not himself guilty and condemned: The 
 whole need not the physician, but they that are sick. 
 Yet I deny not, but the discovery of the remedy as 
 soon as the misery, may prevent a great part of the 
 trouble, and cause the distinct effect on the soul, to be 
 with much more difficulty discerned : nay, the actings 
 of the soul are so quick, and oft so confused, that the 
 distinct order of these workings may not be appre- 
 hended or remembered at all : and perhaps the joyful 
 apprehensions of mercy may make the sense of misery 
 to be the sooner forgotten. 
 
 3. So doth the Spirit also convince the soul, of the 
 creature's vanity and insufficiency. Every man natu- 
 rally is a fiat idolater ; our hearts' were turned from 
 God in our first fall ; and ever since, the creature hath 
 been our god. This is the grand sin of nature: when 
 we set up to ourselves a wrong end, we must needs 
 eff in all the means. The creature is to every unre- 
 
 F 
 
62 THE.SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I. § t). 
 
 generate man his god : he ascribeth to it the divine 
 prerogatives, and alloweth it the highest room in his 
 soul, or if ever he come to be convinced of misery, he 
 fleeth to it as his saviour. Indeed God and his Christ 
 have usually the name ; but the real expectation is 
 from the creature, and the work of God is laid upon 
 it. His pleasure, his profit, and his honour, are the 
 natural man's Trinity ; and his Self is these in Unity : 
 indeed, it is the flesh that is the principal idol ; the 
 other three are deified in. their relation to ourselves. 
 It was our first sin, to aspire to be as gods ; and it is 
 the greatest sin that runs in our blood, and is propa- 
 gated in our nature from generation to generation. • 
 
 When God should guide us, we guide ourselves ; 
 when he should be our sovereign, we rule ourselves. 
 The laws which he gave us, we find fault with ; if 
 we had had the making of them, we should have 
 made them otherwise : when he should take care of 
 us, (and must, or we perish,) we will care for our- 
 selves ; when we should depend on him daily, we 
 had rather keep our stock ourselves, and have our 
 portion in our own hands ; when we should stand at 
 his disposal, we would be at our own ; and when we 
 should submit to his providence, we usually quarrel 
 at it ; as if we knew better what is good for us than 
 He, or how to dispose all things more wisely. This 
 is the language of a carnal heart, though it doth not 
 always speak out. When we should study God, we 
 study ourselves ; when we should mind God, we mind 
 ourselves ; when we should love God, we love our- 
 selves ; when we should trust God, we trust ourselves ; 
 when we should honour God, we honour ourselves ; 
 when we should ascribe to God, and admire Him, we 
 ascribe to, and admire ourselves ; and instead of God, 
 we would have all men's eyes and dependance on 
 us, and all men's thanks returned to us, and woulcl 
 gladly be the only men on earth, extolled and admired 
 by all. 
 
 And thus we are naturally our own idols : but down 
 falls this Dagon, when God does once renew the soul. 
 It is the great business of that great work to bring the 
 heart back to God. He convinceth the sinner, 1. That 
 the creatures can neither be his god to make him ; 
 2. Nor yet his Christ, to recover him from his misery, to 
 
T. § G. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 63 
 
 restore him to God who is his happiness. This God 
 doth, not only by preaching, but by providence also : 
 because words will hardly take off the raging senses, 
 therefore doth God make his rod to speak, and con- 
 tinue speaking, till the sinner hear, and hath learned 
 this great lesson. 
 
 This is the great reason why affliction doth so ordi- 
 narily concur in the work of conversion. These real 
 arguments which speak to the quick, will force a 
 hearing when the most powerful words are slighted. 
 When a sinner made his credit his god, and God 
 shall cast him into the lowest disgrace : or bring him 
 that idolized his riches, into a condition wherein they 
 cannot help him, or cause them to take wings and fly 
 away ; what a help is here to this work of conviction ! 
 When a man that made his pleasure his god, whether 
 ease, or sports, or mirth, or company, or gluttony, 
 or drunkenness, or clothing, or buildings: or whatso- 
 ever a ranging eye, a curious ear, a raging appetite, or 
 a lustful heart could desire, and God shall take these 
 from him, or give him their sting or curse with them, 
 and turn them into gall and wormwood, what a help 
 is here to conviction ! When God shall cast a man 
 into a languishing sickness, and inflict wounds and 
 anguish on his heart, and stir up against him his 
 own conscience, and then, as it were, take him by 
 the hand, and lead him to credit, to riches, to plea- 
 sure, to company, to sports, or whatsoever was dearest 
 to him, and say, Now try if these can help you : can 
 these heal thy wounded conscience? Can they now 
 support thy tottering cottage ? Can they keep thy de- 
 parting soul in the body ? or save thee from my ever- 
 lasting wrath? Will they prove to thee eternal plea- 
 sures ? or redeem thy soul from the eternal flames ? 
 Cry aloud to them, and see now whether these will be 
 instead of God and his Christ unto thee ? O how this 
 works with the sinner ! When sense itself acknowledg- 
 ed the truth, and even the flesh is convinced of the 
 creature's vanity. 
 
 4. The fourth thing that the soul is convinced and 
 sensible of, is the absolute necessity, the full suffici- 
 ency, and perfect excellency of Jesus Christ. 
 
 This conviction is not by mere argumentation, as a 
 man is convinced of some unconcerning consequence 
 F 2 
 
64 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I. § 6\ 
 
 by dispute; but also by the sense of our desperate mi- 
 sery, as a man in a famine, by the necessity of food; 
 or a man that has read, or heard his condemnation, is 
 convinced of the absolute necessity of a pardon. Now 
 the sinner rinds himself in another case than ever he 
 was aware of: he feels an insupportable burden upon 
 hirn, and sees there is none but Christ can take it off: 
 he perceives that he is under the wrath of God, and 
 that the law proclaims him a rebel and an out-law, and 
 none but Christ can make his peace : he is as a man 
 pursued by a lion, that must perish, if he find not pre- 
 sent sanctuary : he feels the curse doth lie upon him, 
 and upon all he hath for his sake, and Christ alone 
 can make him blessed : he is now brought to this di- 
 lemma, either he must have Christ to justify him, or 
 burn in hell for ever : he must have Christ to bring 
 him again to God, o'« be »liut out of his presence ever- 
 lastingly. And no wonder if he cry, as the Martyr 
 Lambert, None but Christ, none but Christ. It is not 
 gold, but bread, that will satisfy the hungry; nor any 
 thing but pardon that will comfort the condemned. 
 All things are now but dross and dung : and what we 
 counted gain, is now but loss in comparison of Christ : 
 for as the sinner seeth his utter misery, and the disabi- 
 lity of himself, and all things to relieve him ; so he doth 
 perceive, that there is no saving mercy out of Christ. 
 There is none found in heaven or on earth that can 
 open the sealed Book, save the Lamb ; without his 
 blood there is no remission, and without remission 
 there is no salvation. Could the sinner now make any 
 shift without Christ, or could any thing else supply 
 his wants, and save his soul, then might Christ be dis- 
 regarded : but now he is convinced, that there is no 
 other name, and the necessity is absolute. 
 
 2. Apd as the soul is thus convinced of the necessity 
 of Christ, so also of his full sufficiency : he sees, though 
 the creature cannot save, and himself cannot, yet Christ 
 can. Though the fig-leaves of our own unrighteous 
 Righteousness are too short to cover our nakedness, yet 
 the Righteousness of Christ is large enough : ours is 
 disproportionate to the justice of the law, but Christ's 
 doth extend to every tittle : his sufferings being a per- 
 fect satisfaction to the law, and all power in heaven and 
 earth being given to him, He is now able to supply 
 
I. § 6. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 65 
 
 every one of our wants, and to save to the uttermost all 
 that come to Him. 
 
 3. The Soul is also here convinced of the perfect 
 excellency of Jesus Christ, as he is considered in re- 
 lation to us ; both as he is the only way to the Father, 
 and as he is the end, being one with the Father. Be- 
 fore, he knew Christ's excellency, only as a blind man 
 knows the light of the Sun ; but now, as one that be- 
 holdeth his glory. 
 
 And thus doth the Spirit convince the Soul. 
 
 4. After this sensible conviction, the will discover- 
 eth also its change ; and that in regard of all the fore- 
 mentioned objects. 
 
 1. The sin which the understanding pronounceth 
 evil, the will doth turn from, with abhorrence. Not 
 that the sensitive appetite is changed, or any way 
 made to abhor its object ; but when it would carry ns 
 to sin against God, this disorder and evil the will ab- 
 horreth. 
 
 £, The misery also which sin hath procured, as he 
 discerneth, so he bewaileth. It is impossible that the 
 soul should now look either on its trespass against 
 God, or its own self-procured calamity, without some 
 compunction. He that truly discerneth, that he hath 
 killed Christ, and killed himself, will surely in some 
 measure be pricked to the heart : if he cannot weep, 
 he can heartily groan ; and his heart feels what his 
 understanding sees. 
 
 3. The creature he now renounceth as vain, and 
 tumeth it out of his heart with disdain. Not that he 
 undervalueth it or disclaimeth its use; but its idola- 
 trous abuse, and its unjust usurpation. 
 
 There is a two-fold error very common in the de- 
 scriptions of the work of conversion. The one of those, 
 who only mention the sinner's turning from sin to God, 
 without mentioning the receiving Christ by faith. The 
 other of those, who only mention a sinner's believing, 
 and then think they have said all : nay, they blame 
 them as legalists, who make any thing but the bare be- 
 lieving of the love of God in Christ to us, to be part 
 of the work ; and would persuade poor souls to ques- 
 tion all their former comforts, and conclude the work 
 to have been only legal, because they have made their 
 change of heart and turning from sin, part of it j. and 
 F 3 
 
66 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 1. § 6. 
 
 have taken up part of. their comfort from the reviewing 
 of those. 
 
 Indeed, should they take up here without Christ, or 
 take such a change instead of Christ, in whole or in 
 part, the reprehension were just. But can Christ be 
 the way, where the creature is the end ? is he not the 
 only way to the Father ? Can we seek to Christ to 
 reconcile us to God, while in our hearts we prefer the 
 creature before him ? In the soul of every unregene- 
 rate man, the creature is both God and Christ. Can 
 Christ be believed in, where our own righteousness, or 
 any other thing, is trusted in as our saviour ? 
 
 The truth is ; a turning from the creature to God, 
 and not by Christ, is no true turning ; so believing in 
 Christ, while the creature hath our hearts, is no true 
 believing. And therefore in the work of self-exami- 
 nation, whoever would find in himself a thorough 
 sincere work, must find an entire work ; even the one 
 of these as well as the other. 
 
 In. the review of which entire work there is no 
 doubt but his soul may take comfort. And it is not 
 to be made so lightly of, as most do, that Scripture 
 doth so ordinarily put repentance before faith, and 
 make them jointly conditions of the gospel : which 
 repentance contains those acts of the will before ex- 
 
 It is true, if we take faith in the largest sense, then 
 it contains repentance in it; but if we take it strictly, 
 na doubt there are some acts of it go before repent- 
 ance, and some follow after. 
 
 4. And as the Will is thus averted from the fore- 
 mentioned objects; so at the same time doth it cleave 
 to God the Father, and to Christ. Its first acting con- 
 sists especially in intending and desiring God as the 
 chief good. The sinner having been before convinced, 
 that nothing else can be his happiness, now finds it 
 in God : and therefore looks towards it. But it is yet 
 rather with desire than hope. For, alas, he hath al- 
 ready found himself to be a stranger and an enemy to 
 God, under the guilt of sin, and curse of the law, and 
 knows there is no coming to him in peace till his case 
 be altered; and therefore having been before convin- 
 ced also, that only Christ is able and willing to do this, 
 andhaving heard this mercy in the gospel freely offered ;. 
 
I. § 6. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 6j 
 
 his next act is, to accept of Christ as his Saviour and 
 Lord. 
 
 Therefore both mistake : they who only mention our 
 turning to Christ, and they who only mention our 
 turning to God in this work of conversion* St. Paul's 
 preaching, was Repentance towards God y and Faith 
 towards our Lord Jesus Christ. And Life eternal 
 ccnsists, first, in knowing the only true GW, and then, 
 Jesus Christ whom He hath sent, John xvii. 3. The 
 former is the natural part of the covenant, To take the 
 Lord only for our God. The latter is the supernatural 
 part, To take Christ only for our Redeemer. The 
 former is first necessary, and implied in the latter. 
 
 Though repentance and good works are required to 
 our full justification at judgment, as subservient to, or 
 concurrent with faith ; yet it is the nature of this jus- 
 tifying faith to accept of Christ for our Saviour and 
 our Lord. 1 call it accepting, it being principally an 
 act of the will ; but yet also of the whole soul*. This 
 accepting being that which the gospel presseth to, and 
 calleth the receiving or accepting Christ. I call it an 
 affectionate accepting, though love seem distinct from 
 faith, yet I take it as essential to that faith which 
 justifies. To accept Christ without love, is not justi- 
 fying faith. Nor doth love follow as a fruit, but imme- 
 diately concur; as an essential to a true accepting. 
 
 It is an accepting him for our Saviour and Lord. 
 For in both relations will he be received, or not at all. 
 It is not onKy to acknowledge his sufferings, and ac- 
 cept of pardon and glory, but to acknowledge his so- 
 vereignty, and submit to his government, and way of 
 saving. 
 
 The work, which Christ accepted of, and is to per- 
 form, is to bring the sinners to God, that they may be 
 happy in him ; and this both really by his Spirit, and 
 relatively in reconciling them, and making them sons ; 
 and to present them perfect before him at last, and to 
 possess them of the kingdom. The obtaining of these 
 are the sinner's lawful ends in receiving Christ; and 
 to these uses doth he offer himself to us. 
 
 5. To this end doth the sinner now enter into a 
 cordial covenant with Christ. But he was never 
 strictly, nor comfortably in covenant with Christ till 
 now. He is 6ure Christ dost consent, and now doth 
 
68 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I. § 6. 
 
 he cordially consent himself; and so the agreement is 
 fully made. 
 
 6. With this covenant concurs a mutual delivery ; 
 Christ delivereth himself in all comfortable relations 
 to the sinner, and the sinner delivereth up himself to 
 be saved and ruled by Christ. Now doth the soul re- 
 solvedly conclude, I have beeu blindly led by the flesh, 
 the world, and the devil, too long, almost to my 
 destruction : I will now be wholly at the disposal of 
 my Lord, who hath bought me with his blood, and 
 will bring me to his glory. And thus the complete 
 work of saving faith consisteth in this covenanting, or 
 mystical marriage of the sinner to Christ. 
 
 Thus you have a naked enumeration of the essentials 
 of this people of God : not a full portraiture of them 
 in all their excellencies, nor all the notes whereby 
 they are discerned. And though it will be part of 
 the following application, to put you upon trial, yet 
 because the description is now before your eyes, and 
 these evidencing works are fresh in your memory, it 
 will not be unseasonable, to take an account of your 
 own estate, and to view yourselves exactly in this 
 glass, before you pass on. And I beseech thee, reader, 
 as thou hast the hope of a Christian, yea, or the reason 
 of a man, to deal thoroughly, and search carefully, 
 and judge thyself as one that must shortly be judged 
 by the righteous God ; and faithfully answer to these 
 few questions. 
 
 And first, Hast thou been thoroughly convinced of 
 an universal depravation, through thy whole soul : And 
 an universal wickedness, through thy whole life ? And 
 how vile a thing this sin is ? And that by the tenor of 
 the covenant which thou hast transgressed, the least sin 
 deserves eternal death ? Dost thou consent to this law, 
 that it is true and righteous? Hast thou perceived 
 thyself to be sentenced to this death by it, and been 
 convinced of thy undone condition ? Hast thou farther 
 seen the utter insufficiency of every creature, either to 
 be itself thy happiness, or the means of curing this thy 
 misery, and making thee happy in God? Hast thou 
 been convinced, that thy happiness is only in God as 
 the end, and only in Christ as the way to Him ? and 
 that thou must be brought to God by Christ, or perish 
 eternally ? Hast thou seen hereupon an absolute ne- 
 4 
 
$ t. (5. THE 9AINTS EVERLASTING REST. 6$ 
 
 cessity of enjoying Christ ? and the full sufficiency 
 that is in him, to do for thee whatsoever thy case re- 
 quireth, by reason of the fulness of his satisfaction, the 
 greatness of his power, dignity of his person, and the 
 freeness of his promises? Hast thou discovered the ex- 
 cellency of this pearl to be worth thy selling all, to buy 
 it ? Hath all this been joined with some sensibility ; as 
 the convictions of a man that thirsteth, of the worth of 
 drink ; and not been only a change in opinion, pro- 
 duced by reading and education, as a bare notion in 
 the understanding ? Hath it proceeded to an abhor- 
 ring of sin ? Have both thy sin and misery been a bur- 
 then to thy soul ? And if thou couldst not weep, yet 
 couldst thou groan under the insupportable weight of 
 both ? Hast thou renounced all thine own righteous- 
 ness? Hast thou turned thy idols out of thy heart; so 
 that the creature hath no more the sovereignty ; but 
 God and Christ ? Dost thou accept of Christ as the 
 only Saviour, and expect thy justification, recovery, 
 and glory from him alone ? Dost thou take him also for 
 Lord and King ? And are his laws the powerful com- 
 manders of thy soul ? Do they ordinarily prevail against 
 the commands of the flesh, of satan, of the greatest on 
 earth that shall countermand ? And against uie interest 
 of thy credit, profit; pleasure, or life ? So that thy con- 
 science is directly subject to Christ alone ? Hath he the 
 highest room in thy affection ? so that though thou 
 canst not love him as thou wouldst, yet nothing else is 
 loved so much ? Hast thou made a hearty covenant to 
 this end? and delivered up thyself to him ? and taken 
 thyself for his and not thine own ? Is it thy utmost care 
 and watchful endeavour, that thou may est be found 
 faithful in this covenant ? If this be truly thy case, thou 
 art one of the people of God : and as sure as the promise 
 of God is true, this blessed rest remains for thee. Only 
 see thou abide in Christ, and continue to the end : for, 
 if any man draw back, my soul (says he) will have no 
 pleasure in him. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 And thus I have explained to you the subject of my 
 text ; and shewed you darkly, what this rest is, and 
 briefly, who are this people of God. O that the Lord 
 would now open your eyes, to discern and be affected 
 
70 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § I. 
 
 with the glory revealed ! that he would take off your 
 hearts from these dung-hill delights, and ravish them 
 with the views of these everlasting pleasures ! that 
 he would bring you into the state of his holy and hea- 
 venly people for whom alone this Rest remaineth ! that 
 you would exactly try yourselves, by the foregoing de- 
 scription ! that no soul of you might be damnably de- 
 luded, so as to take your natural or acquired parts for 
 the characters of a saint ! O happy, and thrice happy 
 you, if these sermons might have such success with 
 your souls, that so you might die the death of the 
 righteous, and your last end be like his ! 
 
 THE 
 
 SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 
 
 PART II. CHAP. I. 
 
 I HAVE been hitherto presenting to your under- 
 standings, the excellency of the Rest of the Saints. 
 Let your hearts now cheerfully embrace it, and im- 
 prove it, and 1 shall present it to you, in its respective 
 uses. 
 
 I will lay together all those uses that most concern 
 the ungodly, and then those that are proper to the 
 godly themselves. 
 
 The inconceivable Misery of the Ungodly in their Loss 
 of this Rest. 
 
 And first, if this Rest be for none but the people of 
 God, what tidings is this to the ungodly world? 
 That there is so much glory, but none for them : so 
 great joys for the Saints of God, while they must con- 
 sume in perpetual sorrows ! If thou, who readest these 
 words, art a stranger to Christ, and to the holy nature 
 and life of his people, and shalt live and die in the 
 condition thou art now in ; I am a messenger of the 
 saddest tidings to thee, that ever yet thy ears did hear, 
 that thou shalt never partake of the joys of heaven, 
 nor have the least taste of the Saints eternal Rest. I 
 may say to thee, as Ehud to Eglon, I have a message 
 
II. § 1. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 71 
 
 to thee from God: but it is a mortal message, that as 
 sure as the word of God is true, thou shalt never see 
 the face of God with comfort. This sentence I am 
 commanded to pass upon thee ! Take it as thou wilt, 
 and escape if thou canst. I know if thy heart and 
 life were thoroughly changed, thy relation to Christ 
 and eternity, would be changed also : he would then 
 acknowledge thee for one of his people, and give 
 thee a portion in the inheritance of his chosen. But 
 if thou end thy days in thy present condition, as sure 
 as the heavens are over thy head, and the earth under 
 thy feet; as sure as thou livest and breathest in this 
 air, so sure shalt thou be shut out of this Rest of the 
 Saints, and receive thy portion in everlasting fire. I 
 expect that thou shouldest, in the pride of thy heart, 
 turn upon me and say, And when did God shew you 
 the book of life, or tell you who they are that shall be 
 saved, and who shut out ? 
 
 I will not answer thee according to thy folly: but 
 plainly discover this thy folly to thyself, that if there 
 be yet any hope, thou may est recover thy understand- 
 ing, and return to God and live. First, I do not name 
 thee, nor any other; I only conclude of the unrege- 
 rate in general, and of thee conditionally, if thou 
 be such an one. Secondly, I do not go about to de- 
 termine who shall repent, aud who shall not, much less 
 that thou shalt never repent and come to Christ. These 
 things are unknown to me; I had far rather shew thee, 
 what hopes thou hast before thee, if thou wilt not sit 
 still and lose them : and I would far rather persuade 
 thee to hearken in time, before the door is shut against 
 thee, that so thy soul may return and live, than tell thee 
 that there is no hope of thy repenting and returning. 
 But if the foregoing description of the people of God 
 do not agree with the state of thy soul ; is it then a 
 ' hard question, whether thou shalt ever be saved ? 
 Even as hard a question, as whether God be true. Do 
 I need to ascend up into heaven, to know, " That 
 without holiness no man shall see God ; or, that only 
 the pure in heart shall see God : or, that except a man 
 be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of 
 God ?" Cannot these be known without searching into 
 God's counsels? And yet durst thou ask me, how I 
 know who shall be saved ? What need I go up to heaven 
 
72 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 1. 
 
 to inquire that of Christ, which he came down to earth 
 to tell us ? And sent his Spirit in his prophets and 
 apostles to tell us ? And hath left upon record to all 
 the world ? And though I do not know the secrets of 
 thy heart, and therefore cannot tell thee by name 
 whether it be thy state, or not : yet if thou art but 
 willing and diligent thou mayest know thyself, whether 
 thou art an heir of heaven or not. And this is the 
 main thing that I desire, that if thou be yet miserable, 
 thou mayest yet discern it, and escape it. But canst 
 thou escape, if thou neglect Christ and salvation ? 
 " If thou love father, mother, wife, children, houses, 
 lands, or thine own life better than Christ; if so, 
 thou canst not be his disciple:" And consequently 
 canst never be saved by him. Is it not as impossible 
 for thee to be saved, except thou be born again, as it 
 is for the devils themselves to be saved ? Nay, God 
 hath more plainly and frequently spoken it in the 
 Scripture, that such sinners as thou shall never be 
 saved, than he hath done, that the devils shall never 
 be saved. And do not these tidings go cold to thy 
 heart ? Methinks, but that there are life and hope 
 before thee, and thou hast yet time and means to have 
 thy soul recovered, the sight of thy case should even 
 strike thee dead with amazement. But because I 
 would fain have thee, if it be possible, to lay it to 
 heart, I will here stay a little longer, and shew thee, 
 first, the greatness of thy loss ; secondly, the aggravation 
 of thy unhappiness in ihis loss; thirdly, the positive 
 miseries that thou must endure, with their aggravations. 
 First, The ungodly in their loss of heaven, lose all 
 that glorious personal perfection, which the people of 
 God there enjoy. They lose fhat shining lustre of the 
 body, surpassing ihe brightness of the sun. Though 
 even the bodies of the wicked will be raised incorrup- 
 tible, yet that will be so far from being a happiness to 
 them, that it will only make them capable of the more 
 exquisite torments. They wuu'.d be glad then if every 
 member were a dead member, that it might not feel the 
 punishment inflicted on it; and the whole body were a 
 rotten carcase, or might again lie down in dust and 
 darkness. Much more do they want that immortal 
 perfection which the Blessed partake of: those holy 
 dispositions ; that blessed conformity to the holiness Of 
 
II. § 1. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. ?3 
 
 God; that cheerful readiness to his will ; that perfect 
 rectitude of all their actions : instead of these they 
 have their old ulcerous deformed souls, that perverse- 
 ness of will, that disorder in their faculties, that loathe 
 ing of good, that love to evil, that violence of passion, 
 which they had on earth. It is true, their understand- 
 ings will be much cleared, both by the ceasing of 
 temptation and deluding objects, and by the sad ex- 
 perience which they have in hell, of the falsehood of 
 their former conceits and delusions. But the evil dis- 
 position is not the more changed ; they have the same 
 dispositions still, and would commit the same sins, if 
 they could : they want but opportunity ; certainly 
 they shall have none of the glorious perfections of the 
 Saints, either in soul or body. There will be a greater 
 difference between these wretches and the glorified 
 Christian, than there is betwixt a Toad and the Sun 
 in the Firmament. 
 
 But the great losing of the damned will be their loss 
 of God, they shall have no comfortable relation to 
 him, nor communion with him : " As they did not like 
 to retain God in their knowledge;" but said to him, 
 " Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy 
 ways ;" so God will abhor to retain them in his house- 
 hold, or to give them entertainment in his fellowship 
 and glory. He will never admit them to the inherit- 
 ance of his saints, nor endure them to stand amongst 
 them in his presence ; but say to them, " Depart from 
 me, ye workers of iniquity, I know you not.'* Now 
 these men dare belie the Lord, if not blaspheme, in 
 calling him by the title of their Father; how boldly 
 and confidently do they daily approach him with their 
 lips, and indeed reproach him in their formal prayers, 
 with that appellation ! as if God would father the 
 devil's children ! or, as if the slighters of Christ, the 
 friends of the world, the haters of godliness, or any 
 that delight in iniquity, were the offspring of heaven ! 
 They are ready now, to lay confident claims to Christ, 
 as if they were sincere believers. But when that time, 
 is come, Christ shall separate his followers from his 
 foes, and his faithful friends from his deceived flatter- 
 ers, and where then will be their presumptuous claim ? 
 Then they shall iind that God is not their Father, but 
 their Foe, because they would not be his people. And 
 G 
 
74 Tllfe SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. JI. § I. 
 
 as they would not consent that God should by his 
 Spirit dwell in them, so shall not these evil-doers dwell 
 with him : the tabernacles of wickedness shall have no 
 fellowship with him : nor the wicked inhabit the city 
 of God : " for without are dogs, sorcerers, whore- 
 mongers, murderers, idolators, and whosoever loveth 
 «nd maketh a lie." God is first enjoyed in part on 
 earth, before he can be fully enjoyed in heaven. Only 
 they that walked with him liere, shall live and be 
 happy with him there. Oh, little doth the world know 
 what a loss that soul hath, who loseth God ! What 
 were the world but a dungeon, if it had lost the sun ? 
 "What were the body, but a loathsome carrion, if it 
 had lost the soul ! Yet all these are nothing to the 
 loss of God. So that as the enjoyment of God is the 
 heaven of the Saints; so the loss of God is the hell of 
 the ungodly. And as the enjoying of God is the en- 
 joying of all ; so the loss of God is the loss of all. 
 
 Thirdly, As they lose God, so they lose all those 
 delightful affections and actions, by which the blessed 
 feed on God- that transporting knowledge: those 
 ravishing views of his glorious face : the inconceiv- 
 able pleasure of loving God: the apprehensions of 
 his infinite love to us: the constant joys which his 
 Saints are taken up with, and the rivers of consola- 
 tion wherewith he doth satisfy them. Is it nothing 
 to lose all this? The employment of a king in rul- 
 ing a kingdom doth not so far exceed the employ- 
 ment of the vilest slave, as this heavenly employment 
 exceedeth theirs. 
 
 F'ourthly, They shall be deprived of the blessed so- 
 ciety of Angels and glorified Saints. Instead of being 
 companions of those happy spirits, and numbered with 
 those joyful and triumphing kings, they must now be 
 members of the corporation of hell, where they shall 
 have companions of a far different nature. While they 
 lived on earth, they loathed the Saints, they impri- 
 soned, banished them, ami cast them out of their Soci- 
 eties, or at least they would not be their companions 
 in glory. Now you are shut out of that company, from 
 which you first shut out yourselves ; and are separated 
 from them, whom you would not be joined with. You 
 could not endure them in your town, nor scarcely in the 
 kingdom ; you took them, as Ahab did Elias, for the 
 
I* § 2. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. $$ 
 
 " troublers of the land f * and as the apostles were taken 
 for " men that turned the world upside down." If any 
 thing fell out amiss, you thought all was through them. 
 When they were dead or banished, you were glad they 
 were gone ; and thought the country was well rid of 
 them. They molested you with their faithful reproving 
 your sin : their holy conversation troubled you. You 
 scarcely ever heard them pray or sing praises in their 
 families, but it vexed you ; and you envied their liberty 
 of worshipping God. And is it then any wonder if 
 you be separated from them hereafter ? The day is 
 near when they will trouble you no more r betwixt 
 them and you, will be a great gulf set, that those that 
 would pass from thence to you (if any had a desire to> 
 ease you with a drop of water) cannot, neither can they 
 pass to them who would go from you* 
 
 CHAP. IF. 
 
 The Aggravation of the Loss %f Heaven to the Ungodly. 
 
 I KNOW many will be ready to think y if this be 
 all, they do not much care : what care they for losing 
 the perfections above ? What care they for losing 
 God, his favour or his presence ? They lived merrily 
 without him on earth, and why should it be so griev- 
 ous to be without him hereafter ? And what care they 
 for being deprived of that love, and joy, and praising 
 of God ? They never tasted sweetness in things of 
 that nature; or what care they for being deprived of 
 the fellowship of Angels and Saints? They could 
 spare their company in this world well enough, and 
 why may they not be without it in the world to come ? 
 To make these men therefore understand the truth 
 of their future condition, I will here annex these 
 two things: 
 
 1. I will shew you why this loss will be intolerable, 
 and most tormenting then, though it seem as nothing 
 now. 
 
 2. I will shew you what other losses will accompany 
 this: which though they are less in themselves, yet 
 will now be more sensibly apprehended. 
 
 - 1. Then, that this loss of heaven will be most tor- 
 menting, may appear by these considerations. 
 G 2 
 
3*> THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § ♦. 
 
 1. The understandings of the ungodly will be then 
 cleared, to know the worth of that which they ha- e 
 lost. Now they lament not the loss of God, because 
 they never knew his excellency, nor the loss of that 
 holy employment and society, for they were never sen- 
 sible what they were worth. A man that lost a jewel, 
 and took it but for a common stone, is never troubled 
 at his loss ; but when he comes to know what he ha* 
 lost, then he lamenteth it. 
 
 Though the understandings of the damned will not 
 then be sanctified ; yet they will be cleared from a 
 multitude of errors. They think now that their ho- 
 nour, their estates, their pleasures, their health and 
 life, are better worth their labour, than the things of 
 another world ; but these things which had their 
 hearts, have left them in misery : when they know by 
 experience, the things which before thty did but read 
 and hear of, they will be quite of another mind. 
 They would not believe that water would drown, 
 till they were in the sea; nor that the fire would 
 burn, till they were cast into it ; but when they feel 
 it, they will easily believe. All that error of their 
 mind, which made them set light by God, and abhor 
 his worship, and vilify his people, will then be re- 
 moved by experience; their knowledge shall be in- 
 creased, that their sorrows may be increased. Doubt- 
 less these poor souls would be (comparatively) happy, 
 if their understandings were wholly taken from them, 
 if they had no more knowledge than idiots, or brute 
 beasts ; or if they knew no more in hell, than they did 
 upon earth, their loss and misery would then less 
 trouble them. 
 
 How happy would they then think themselves, if 
 they did not know there was such a place as heaven. 
 Now when their knowledge would help to prevent 
 their misery, they will not know ; but then when their 
 knowledge will but feed the consuming tire, they shall 
 know whether they will or not. 
 
 2. The loss of heaven will more torment them then, 
 because as the understanding will be cleared, so it will 
 be more enlarged, and made more capacious, to con- 
 nive the worth of that glory which they have lost. 
 
 The strength of their apprehensions, as well as the 
 truth of them, will then ba increased, What deep 
 
II. § 2. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 77 
 
 apprehensions of the wrath of God, of the madness of 
 sinning, of the misery of sinners, have those souls that 
 now endure this misery, in comparison of those on 
 earth that do but hear of it ? What sensible appre- 
 hensions of the worth of life, hath the condemned man 
 that is going to be executed, in comparison of what he 
 was wont to have in the time of his prosperity ! Much 
 more will the actual deprivation of eternal blessedness 
 make the damned exceedingly apprehensive of the 
 greatness of their loss : as a large vessel will hold 
 more water than a shell, so will their more enlarged 
 understandings contain more matter to feed their tor- 
 ment, than now their shallow capacity can do. 
 
 3. And as the damned will have deeper apprehen- 
 sions of the happiness they have lost, so will they have 
 a closer application of this doctrine to themselves, 
 which will exceedingly tend to increase their torment. 
 It will then be no hard matter to them to say, This is 
 my loss, and this is my everlasting misery. The want 
 of this is the main cause why they are so little troubled 
 at their condition : they are hardly brought to believe" 
 that there is such a state of misery, but more hardly 
 to believe that it is like to be their own. This makes 
 so many sermons to be lost, and all threatnings and 
 warnings prove in vain. Let a minister of Christ shew 
 them their misery ever so plainly, they will not be per- 
 suaded that they are so miserable. Let him tell them, 
 of the glory they must lose, and the sufferings they 
 must feel, and they think they are not the persons 
 whom he means. We rind in all our preaching by sad 
 experience, that it is one oT the hardest things in the 
 world to bring a wicked man to know that he is 
 wicked ; a man who is in the way to hell, to know that 
 he is in that way ; or to make a man see himself in a 
 state of wrath and condemnation : how seldom do you 
 hear men, after the plainest discovery of their con- 
 demned estate, cry out, I am the man ! Or to ac- 
 knowledge, that if they die in their present condition, 
 they are undone for ever ! 
 
 There is no persuading men of their misery till 
 they feel it, except the Spirit of the Almighty per- 
 suade them. 
 
 Oh, but when they find themselves suddenly in the 
 land of darkness, perceive by the execution of the 
 G3 
 
/S THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. It. § 'I, 
 
 sentence that they were indeed condemned, and feel 
 themselves in the scorching flames, and see that they 
 are shut out of the presence of God for ever, it will 
 then be no such difficult matter to convince them of 
 their misery ; this particular application of God's 
 anger to themselves, will then be the easiest matter in 
 the world ; then they cannot choose but know and 
 apply it, whether they will or not. 
 
 4. Again, as the understanding and consciences of 
 sinners will be strengthened, so will their affections be 
 more lively and enlarged: as their judgment will be 
 no longer blinded, nor conscience stifled, so the affec- 
 tions will be no longer stupified. A hard heart now 
 makes heaven and hell seem but trifles : and when we 
 have shewed them everlasting glory and misery, they 
 ■are as men half asleep, they scarcely take notice what 
 we say, our words are cast as stones against a hard 
 wall, which fly back in the face of him that casteth 
 them. We talk of terribly astonishing things, but it 
 is to dead men that cannot comprehend it : we speak 
 to rocks rather than to men ; the earth will as soon 
 tremble as they. But when these dead wretches are 
 revived, what passionate sensibility ! What working 
 affections! What pangs of horror! What depth of 
 sorrow will there then be ! How violently will they 
 fly in their own faces ! How will they rage against 
 their former madness ! The lamentations of the most 
 passionate wife for the loss of her husband, or of 
 the tenderest mother for the loss of her children* 
 will be nothing- to theirs for the loss of heaven. O 
 the self-accusing and tormenting fury of those for- 
 lorn wretches ! How they will eren tear their own 
 hearts, and be God's executioners upon themselves! 
 I am persuaded, as they themselves were the persons 
 that committed the sin, and thpt were the meritorious- 
 cause of their sufferings, so themselves will be the 
 chief executioners of those sufferings ; God will have 
 this for the clearing of his justice: even Satan him- 
 self, as he was not so great a cause of their sinning as 
 themselves, so he will not be so great an instrument 
 of their torment. How happy would you think your- 
 selves then, if you were turned into rocks, or any 
 thing that had neither passion nor sense ! How happy 
 would you be, if you could now feel as lightly as you 
 
IT. § 2. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. ?& 
 
 were wont to hear ! And if you could sleep out the 
 time of execution, as you did the time of the sermons 
 that warned you of it I But your stupidity is gone, it 
 will not be. 
 
 5. Moreover, it will much increase the torment of 
 the damned, that their memories will be as large and 
 strong as their understanding and affections. Were 
 their loss never so great, and their sense of it never so 
 passionate, yet if they could but lose the use of their 
 memory, those passions would die, and that loss, 
 being forgotten, would little trouble thern. But as 
 they cannot lay by their life and being,, so neither can 
 they lay aside any part of that being. Understand- 
 ing, conscience, affections, memory, must all live to 
 torment them, winch should have helped to their 
 happiness. And as by these they should have fed 
 upon the love of God, and drawn forth perpetually 
 the joys of his presence : so by these must they now 
 feed upon the wrath of God, and draw forth con- 
 tinually the pains of his absence. 
 
 And yet these men would never he brought to con- 
 sider : but in the latter days (saith the Lord) they 
 shall perfectly consider it : when they are ensnared 
 in the works of their own hands ; when God hath, 
 arrested them, and judgment is past upon them, and 
 vengeance is poured out upon them to the full, then 
 they cannot choose but consider it whether they will or 
 not. Now they have no leisure to consider, nor any room 
 in their memories for the things of another life : But 
 then they shall have leisure enough : those things shall 
 be engraven upon the tables of their hearts. God 
 would have had the doctrine of their eternal state to 
 have been written on the posts of their doors* on their 
 houses, on their hands, and on their hearts : and 
 seeing they rejected this counsel of the Lord, there- 
 fore shall it be written always before thern in the place 
 of their thraldom, that which way soever they look, 
 they may still behold it. 
 
 I will briefly lay down some of those considerations, 
 which will thus feed the anguish of these damned: 
 wretches. 
 
 1. It will torment them to think of the greatness of 
 the glory which they have lost. Oh, if it had been 
 that which they could have spared, it had been a 
 
80 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § *. 
 
 small matter; or, if it had been a loss reparable with 
 any thing else ; if it had been health, or wealth, or 
 friends, or life, it had been nothing; but to lose that 
 exceeding, eternal weight of glory. — 
 
 2. It will torment them to think of the possibility 
 that onee they were in of obtaining it. Then they- 
 will remember, " the time was, when I was in as 
 fair a possibility of the kingdom as others: I was set 
 upon the stage of the world ; if I had played my part 
 wisely and faithfully, now I might have been amongst 
 yonder blessed Saints, who am now tormented with 
 these damned fiends! The Lord did set before me 
 life and death, and having chosen death, I deserve 
 to suffer it ; the prize was pnce held out before 
 me ; if I had run well, I might have obtained it ; 
 if I had striven, I might have had the mastery ; if 
 I had fought valiantly, I might have been crowned." 
 
 3. It will yet more torment them to remember,, 
 not only the possibility, but the great probability 
 that once they were in of obtaining the crown. It 
 will then wound them to think, " Why, I had once 
 the gales of the Spirit ready to have assisted me. I 
 was fully purposed to have been another man, to have 
 cleaved to Christ, and to have forsaken the world : 
 I was almost resolved to have been wholly for God ; 
 I had even cast off my old companions: and yet I 
 turned back, and lost my hold, and broke my pro- 
 mises, and slackened my purposes: almost God had. 
 persuaded me to be a real Christian, and yet I con- 
 quered those persuasions. What workings were in 
 my heart, when a faithful minister pressed home the 
 truth ! O how fair was I once for heaven ! I had 
 almost had it, and yet I have lost it ; if I had but 
 followed on to seek the Lord, and blown up the 
 sparks of desire which were kindled in me, I had now 
 been blessed among the Saints." 
 
 4. Yet further, it will much add to their torment to 
 remember, that God himself did condescend to en- 
 treat them : how long he did wait, how freely he did 
 ©ffer, how lovingly he did invite, and how impor- 
 tunately he did solicit them ! How the Spirit did 
 continue striving with their hearts, as if he were loath 
 to take a denial ; how Christ stood knocking at the 
 door of their hearts, sermon after sermon, and oa« 
 
II. § 2. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 81 
 
 sabbath after another, crying- out, Open, sinner, open 
 thy heart to the Saviour, and T will come in and sup 
 with thee, and thou with me. Why dost thou thus 
 delay ? What dost thou mean, that thou dost not 
 ©pen immediately ? How long shall thy vain thoughts 
 lodge within thee? Woe to thee, O unworthy sinner! 
 wilt thou not be made clean ? Wilt thou not be par- 
 doned and sanctified, and made happy ? When shall 
 it once be ? O that thou wouldst hearken to my 
 word, and obey my gospel. "Then should thy peace 
 be as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of 
 the sea : though thy sins were as red as crimson, I 
 would make them white as snow : O that thou wast 
 but wise to consider this ! And that thou wouldest in 
 time remember thy latter end, before the evil days 
 come upon thee, and the years draw nigh, when thou 
 shalt say of all thy vain delights, I have no pleasure 
 in them ?" Why sinner! Shall thy Maker thus be- 
 speak thee in vain ! Shall the God of all the world 
 beseech thee to be happy, and beseech thee to have 
 pity upon thy own soul, and wilt thou not regard 
 him ? Why did he make thy ears, but to hear his 
 voice ? Why did he make thy understanding but to 
 consider ? Or thy heart, but to entertain the Son of 
 his love ? " Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, consider 
 thy ways !" 
 
 O how all these passionate pleadings of Christ will 
 passionately transport the damned with self-indigna- 
 tion ! That they will be ready to tear out their own 
 hearts. How fresh will the remembrance of them be 
 still in their minds, lancing their souls with renewed 
 torments? What self condemning pangs will it raise 
 within them, to remember, how often Christ would 
 have gathered them to himself, " Even as the hen ga- 
 thereth her chickens under her wings, but they would 
 not ?" Then will they cry out against themselves, 
 How justly is all this befallen me 1 Must I tire out the 
 patience of Christ ? Must I make the God of Heaven 
 to follow me in vain, till I had wearied him with crying 
 to me, Repent, return! Must the Lord of all the 
 world thus wait upon me, and all in vain ! Oh, how 
 justly is that patience now turned into fury, which falls 
 upon my soul with irresistible violence ! When the 
 Lord, cried out to me in his word, " How long will it 
 
%2 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 2* 
 
 be before thou wilt be made clean and holy !" My 
 heart, or at ieast my practice answered, Never : I will 
 never be so precise : and now when I cry out, How 
 long will it be till I be freed from this torment, and 
 saved with the Saints ! How justly do I receive the 
 answer ! Never, never ! O sinner, I beseech thee, for 
 thy own sake, think of this while the voice of mercy 
 soundeth in thine ears! Yet patience contmueth wait- 
 ing upon thee ; canst thou think it will do so still ? 
 Yet the offers of ChrU and life, are made to thee in- 
 the gospel, and the hand of God is stretched out to- 
 thee ; but will it still be thus r The Spirit hath not 
 yet done striving with thy heart: but dost thou know 
 how soon he may turn away, and give thee over to a 
 reprobate mind ? Thou hast yet life, and time, and 
 strength, and means ; but dost thou think this life 
 will always last ? Oh " seek the Lord while he may be 
 found, and call upon him while he is near :" " he that 
 hath an ear to hear let him hear" what Christ now 
 speaketh to his soul. And, " To-day while it is called 
 to-day, harden not your hearts, lest he swear in his 
 wrath that you shall never enter into his Rest." For 
 ever blessed is he, that hath an heart and ear, 
 while Christ hath a calling voice. 
 
 $. Again, it will be a most cutting consideration to 
 these, to remember on what easy terms they might 
 have escaped their misery. If their work had been to 
 remove mountains, to conquer kingdoms, then the im- 
 possibility would somewhat assuage the rage of their 
 self-accusing conscience.. If their conditions for heaven 
 had been, toe satisfying of justice for all their trans- 
 gressions,, the suffering of all that the law lay upon 
 them, or bearing the burthen which Christ was fain to 
 bear: this were "nothing but to suffer hell to escape 
 hell. But their conditions were of another nature. The 
 yoke was easy, and the burthen was light, which Jesus 
 Christ would have laid upon them ; his command- 
 ments were not grievous. It was but to repent, and 
 accept him as their Saviour; study his will, and seek 
 his face : to for,ake all other happiness, but that which 
 lie ofiereth us, and to take the Lord alone for our su- 
 preme Good ; to renounce the government of the world 
 and the flesh, and to submit to his meek and gracious 
 £oyeninient; to forsake the ways of our own devising* 
 
II. § 2. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. S3 
 
 and to walk in his holy, delightful way ; to engage 
 ourselves to this by covenant with him, and to coi»- 
 •tinue faithful in that covenant. 
 
 These were the terms on which they might have en- 
 joyed the kingdom. And was there any thing un- 
 reasonable in all this ? Was it a hard bargain to have 
 heaven upon these conditions ? 
 
 When the poor wretch shall look back upon these 
 easy terms which he refused, and compare the la- 
 bour of them with the pains and loss which he there 
 sustaineth, it cannot be now conceived how it will 
 rend his very heart ! " Ah, thinks he, how justly do 
 1 suffer all this, who would not be at so small pains 
 to avoid it ? Where was my understanding when [ 
 neglected thy gracious offer ; when I called the Lord 
 a hard master ? And thought his pleasant service to 
 be a bondage, and the service of the devil and my 
 flesh to be the only freedom ? Was I not a thousand 
 times worse than mad, when 1 censured the holy way 
 of God, as needless preciseness ? And ciied out on it, 
 as an intolerable burden? When 1 thought the laws 
 of Christ too strict : and all too much, that I did for 
 the life to come? O what had all the trouble of duty 
 been, in comparison of the trouble I now sustain ? Or 
 all the sufferings for Christ and well-doing, in com- 
 parison of these sufferings that T must undergo for 
 ever ? What if I had spent my days in the strictest 
 manner? AVhat if I had lived still upon my knees ? 
 What if I had lost my credit with men ? And had 
 been hated of all men for the sake of Christ ? And 
 bore the reproach of the foolish ? What if I had been 
 imprisoned, or banished, or put to death ? O, what 
 had all this been to the miseries that I now suffer? 
 Would not the heaven which 1 have lost have recom- 
 pensed all my losses? And should not all my sufferings 
 have been there forgotten? What if Christ had bid 
 rue do some great matter? As, to live in continual 
 tears and sorrow, to suffer death a hundred times 
 over ? (Which he did not.) Should I not have done it ? 
 How much more when he only said, " Believe and be 
 saved: seek ray face, and thy soul shall live: love me 
 above all, walk in my sweet and holy way, take up thy 
 cross and follow me, and I will save thee from the 
 wrath of God, and I will give thee everlasting life." 
 
m THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 2. 
 
 gracious offer! O easy terms! O cursed wretch, 
 that would not be persuaded to accept them ! 
 
 6. This also will be a most tormenting consideration, 
 to remember what they sold their eternal welfare for. 
 "When they compare the value of the pleasures of sin, 
 ■with the value of the recompense of reward, how will 
 the vast disproportion astonish them ! To think of a 
 few pleasant cups or sweet morsels, a little ease, or 
 how to delight the flesh ; and then to think of ever- 
 lasting glory ! What a vast difference between them 
 will then appear ? To think, " This is all 1 had lor 
 rny soul, my God, my hopes of blessedness !" It can- 
 not possibly be expressed how these thoughts will tear 
 the sinner's heart. Then will he exclaim against his 
 folly, " O miserable wretch ! Did 1 set my soul to 
 sale for so base a price! Did I part with my God for 
 a little dirt and dross ? And sell my Saviour as Judas, 
 for a little silver? O for how small a matter have 1 
 parted with my happiness ! I had but a dream of de- 
 light, for my hopes of heaven, and now I am waked, 
 it is all vanished; where are now my honours and at- 
 tendance? My morsels are now turned to gall, and 
 my cup to wormwood. They delighted me no longer 
 than while they were passing down ; and is this all that 
 
 1 have had for the inestimable treasure? O what a mad 
 exchange I did make ? What if I had gained all the 
 world, and lost my soul ? But, alas ! How small a 
 -part of the world was it, for which I gave up my part 
 of glory !" O that sinners would think of this, when 
 they are swimming in delights, and studying to be rich 
 and honourable ! When they are desperately ventur- 
 ing upon known transgressions, and sinning against 
 the checks of conscience ! 
 
 7. Vet much more will it add unto their torment, 
 when they consider that all this was their own doing, 
 and that they wilfully procured their own destruction : 
 had they been forced to sin, it would much abate the 
 rage of their consciences, or if they were punished for 
 another man's transgressions; or if any other had been 
 the chief author of their ruin: but to think, that it 
 was the choice of their own wills, and that t-Jod had set 
 them in .so. free ft condition, that none in the world 
 •could have forced them to sin against their wills, this 
 will be a griping thought. "What (thinks this wretched 
 
II. § 3. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. Ho 
 
 creature) had I not enemies enough in the world, but 
 J must be an enemy to myself! God would neither 
 give the devil nor the world so much power over me, 
 as to force me to commit the least transgression. If I 
 had not consented, their temptations had been iti vain ; 
 they could hut entice rue, it was myself that yielded, 
 and did the evil : and must I needs lay hands upon my 
 own soul, and embrue my hands in my own blood ? 
 Who should pity me, who pitied not myself, and who 
 brought all this upon mine own head ? Never did 
 God do me any good, or otter me any thing- for the 
 welfare of my soul, but I resisted him : he hath heaped 
 mercy upon me, and renewed one deliverance after 
 another, to entice my heart to him, and yet I was never 
 heartily willing to serve him : he had gently chastised 
 me, and made me groan under the fruit of my diso- 
 bedience, and yet, though 1 promised largely in my 
 arHiction, I was never unieignedly willingto obey him." 
 
 Thus will it gnaw the hearts of these wretches to re- 
 member, that they were the cause of their own undo- 
 ing: and that they wilfully and obstinately persisted in 
 their rebellion, and were mere volunteers in the service 
 of the devil. They would venture, they would go on, 
 they would not hear him that spoke against it ; God 
 called to them to hear and stay, but they would not : 
 in< n called, conscience called, and said to them, (as 
 Pilate's wife,) " Have nothing to do with that hateful 
 6in ; for I have suffered many things because of it :" 
 but they would not hear; their will was their law, 
 their rule, and their ruin. 
 
 8. Lastly, it will yet make the wound in their con- 
 sciences much deeper, when they shall remember, that 
 it was not only their own doing, but that they were at 
 so much cost and pains for their own damnation. What 
 great undertakings did they engage in to effect their 
 ruin, to resist God, to conquer the Spirit, to overcome 
 the power of mercies, judgments, and the Word itself, 
 to silence conscience ! All this they did take upon 
 them and perform. What a number of sins did they ma- 
 nage at once ! what difficulties did they set upon J Even 
 the conquering the power of reason itself. What dan- 
 gers did they adveuture on, though they walked in 
 H 
 
86 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. If. §2. 
 
 continual danger of the wrath of God, and knew he 
 could lay them in the dust in a moment; though they 
 knew they lived in danger of eternal perdition, yet 
 would they run upon all this. What did they forsake 
 tor the service of Satan, and the pleasures of sin ! They 
 forsook their conscience, their best friends, their hopes 
 of salvation. 
 
 Oh the labour tl at it costs poor wretches to be 
 damned ! Sobriety they might have at a cheaper rate, 
 and. a great deal of health and ease too ; and yet they 
 will rather have gluttony and drunkenness, with pover- 
 ty, and shame, and sickness, with the outcries and la- 
 mentations of wife and children, and conscience itself. 
 Contentedness they might have, with ease and delight; 
 yet will they rather have covetousness and ambition ; 
 though it cost them study, and cares, and fears, and 
 labour of body and mind, and continual unquietness 
 and distraction of spirit. Though their anger be no- 
 thing but a tormenting themselves, and revenge and 
 envy consume their spirits, and keep them upon a con- 
 tinual rack ; though uncleanness destroy their bodies, 
 and estates, and names ; yet will they do and sutler all 
 this, rather than suffer their souls to be saved. 
 
 O how the reviews of this will feed the flames in 
 hell ! With what rage will these damned wretches 
 curse themselves, and say, " Was damnation worth all 
 my cost and pains ? Was it not enough that I perished 
 through my negligence, and thatl sat still while Satan 
 played his game; but I must seek so diligently my own 
 perdition ? Might I not have been damned on free 
 cost, but 1 must purchase it so dearly ? I thought 1 
 could have been saved without so much ado; and could 
 I not have been destroyed without so much ado ? How 
 well is all my care, and pains, and violence now re- 
 quited ! Must I work out so laboriously my own dam- 
 nation, when God commanded me to work out my sal- 
 vation ? O, if 1 had done as much for heaven as I did 
 for hell, I had surely had it. I cried out of the tedious 
 way of godliness : and yet I could be at more pains for 
 Satau and for death. If I had loved Christ as strongly 
 as l did my pleasures, my profits, and honours, and 
 thought on him as often, and sought him as painfully, 
 O how happy had I now been ! But justly do I suffer 
 
II. §3. THE SUNTS EVERLASTING KEST. 87 
 
 the flames of hell, who would rather buy them so dear, 
 than have heaven when it was purehased to my hands." 
 Thus I have shewn you some of those thoughts 
 which will aggravate the misery of these wretches for 
 ever. O that God would persuade thee, who readest 
 these words, to take up these thoughts now, for the 
 preventing of that inconceivable calamity, so that thou 
 maycst not take them up in hell to thy own torment. 
 
 CHAP III. 
 
 They shall lose all Things that are comfortable, as 
 well as Heaven. 
 
 HAVING shewed you those considerations which 
 fcill then aggravate their misery, I am next to shew you, 
 their additional losses, which will aggravate it. For as 
 * ; godliness hath the promise both of this life, and that 
 which is to come;" and as God hath said, " that if we 
 first seek his kingdom and righteousness, all things else 
 shall be added to us :" so also are the ungodly threat- 
 ened with the loss both of spiritual and temporal bles- 
 sings : and because they sought net first Christ's king- 
 dom and righteousness, therefore shall they lose both 
 it, and that which they did seek, and there shall be 
 taken from them even that little which they have. If 
 they could but have kept their present enjoyment, 
 they would not have much cared for the loss of hea- 
 ven : but catching at the shadow for the substance, 
 they now rind they have lost both : and that when they 
 rejected Christ, they rejected all things. If they had 
 lost and forsaken all for Christ, they would have found 
 all again in him ; for he would have been all in all to 
 them : but now they have forsaken Christ for other 
 things, they shall lose Christ, and that also for which 
 they did forsake him. 
 
 But I will particularly open to you some of their 
 other losses. 
 
 1. They shall lose their present conceit of their in- 
 terest in God, and of his favour towards them, and of 
 their part in the merits and sufferings of Christ. This 
 false belief doth now support their spirits, and defend 
 them from the terrors that would else seize upon them: 
 but what will ease their trouble when this is ironed 
 H 2 
 
88 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. §3. 
 
 When they cau believe no longer, they will be quiet 
 no longer. If a man conceit that be is in safety, his 
 conceit may n»ake him cheerful till his misery comes, 
 and then both In* conceit and comforts vanish. 
 
 There is> none of this believing jo 1k.11; nor any per- 
 suasions of pardon or happiness, nor anv boasting of 
 their honesty, nor justifying themselves. This was but 
 Satan's strata^/ in, that bei»g blindfold, they might 
 follow him the nice boldly; but then he will uncover 
 their eyes, and they shall see where they are. 
 
 2. Another addition to the misery of the damned 
 will be this; that with the loss of heaven, they shall 
 lose all their hopes. In this life, though they were 
 threatened with the wrath of God, yet their hope of 
 escaping- it did l*>ur up their hearts. We can now 
 scarce speak with the vilot drunkard, or swearer, or 
 scorncr, but he hopes to be saved lor ail this. O happy 
 worid, if salvation were as common as this hope; even 
 those whose hellish nature is written in the face of their 
 conversation, whose tongues plead the cause of the 
 devil, and apeak the language of hell ; yet strongly 
 hope tor heaven, though the God of heaven has told 
 them no such shall ever come there. Nay, so strong- 
 are men's hopes, that they wiii dispute the cause with 
 Christ himself at judgment, and plead " their eating 
 and drinking in his presence, their preaching in his 
 name, and casting out devils," (and these are more 
 probable arguments than our baptism, and common 
 profession, and name of Christians,) they will stiffly 
 deny that ever they neglected Christ, in hunger, naked- 
 ness, prison, till Christ con fute them with the sentence 
 of their condemnation. Though the heart of their 
 hopes will be broken at iheir death, yet it seems, they 
 would fain plead for such hope at the general judg- 
 ment. 
 
 But, O the sad state of these men, when they must 
 bid farewel to all their hopes! When their hopes shall 
 all perish with them ! " The eyes of the wicked shall 
 fail, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the 
 ghost." The giving up of the ghost is a tit but terrible 
 resemblance of a wicked man's giving up his hopes. 
 
 For, First, as the soul departeth not from the body 
 without the greatest pain, so doth the hope of the 
 wicked depart. O the pangs that seize upon the soul 
 
II §.3. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 8J> 
 
 of a sinner at death and judgment, when he is parting 
 with all his hopes ! 
 
 Secondly, The soul departeth from the body sud- 
 denly, in a moment, which hath there delightfully 
 continued so many years; just so doth the hope of the 
 wicked depart. 
 
 Thirdly, the soul which then departeth, will never 
 return to live with the body in this world any more ; 
 and the hope of the wicked, when it departeth, taktth 
 an everlasting farewel of his soul. A miracle of re- 
 surrection shall again conjoin the soul and body, but 
 there shall be no such miraculous resurrection of the 
 damned's hope. 
 
 Methinks it is the most doleful spectacle that this 
 world affords, to see an ungodly person dying ; his soul 
 and hopes departingtogetlier ! With what a sad change 
 he appears in another world ! Then if a man could but 
 speak with that hopeless soul, and ask it, Are you now 
 as confident of salvation as you were wont to be ? Do- 
 you now hope to be saved as soon as the most godly £ 
 
 what a sad answer would he return! 
 
 O that careless sinners would be awakened to think 
 of tliis in time! If thou be one of them, who art 
 reading these lines, I do here, as a friend, advise thee, 
 that as thou wouldst not have all thy hopes deceive 
 thee, when thou hast most need, thou presently try 
 them, whether they will prove current at the touch- 
 stone of the Scripture; and if thou find them unsound, 
 let them go, whatsoever sorrow this may cost thee. Rest 
 not till thou canst give a reason of all thy hopes: till 
 thou canst prove that they are hones which grace, and. 
 not nature hath wrought; that they are grounded 
 upon Scripture-promises; that they purify thy heart; 
 that they quicken thy endeavours in godliness ; that 
 
 1 lie more thou hopest, the less thou sinnest, and the 
 more painful thou art in following on thy work, and 
 not grown more loose and careless by the increasing of 
 these hopes : that thou art willing to have them tried, 
 and fearful of being deceived ; that they stir up thy 
 desires of enjoying what thou hopest for, and that de- 
 ferring thereof is the trouble of thy heart. 
 
 There is a hope which is a singular grace and duty ; 
 and there is a hope which is a notorious dangerous sin ; 
 113 
 
90 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. IT. § 3- 
 
 so consequently there is a despair which is absolutely 
 necessary to thy salvation. 
 
 I would not have thee despair of the sufficiency of 
 the blood of Christ to save thee, if thou believe, and 
 heartily obey him; nor of the willingness of God to 
 pardon and save thee, if thou be such an one; nor yet 
 absolutely of thy own salvation, because while there 
 is life and time, there is hope of thy conversion, and 
 so of thy salvation; nor would I draw thee to despair 
 of finding Christ, if thou dost but heartily seek him; 
 but this is the despair that I would persuade thee to, 
 as thou lovest thy soul ; that thou despair of ever being 
 saved, except thou be born again ; or of seeing God 
 without holiness; or escape perishing, exempt thou sud- 
 denly repent; or of ever having part in Christ, (except 
 thou love him above father, mother, or thine own life : 
 or of ever truly loving God, or being his servant, 
 whilst thou lovest the world, and serves t it. 
 
 These things I would have titer despair of, ami 
 whatever else God hath told thee shall never come to 
 pass. And when thou hast sadly searched into thine 
 own heart, and findest thyself in any of these cases, I 
 would have thee despair of ever being saved in the 
 state thou art in. This kind of despair is one of the 
 first steps to heaven. 
 
 Consider, if a man be quite out of his way, what 
 must be the first means to bring him in again ? Why 
 a despair of ever coming to his journey's end, in the 
 way that he is in. If his home be eastward, and he 
 is going westward, as long as he hopes he is in the 
 right, he will go on ; and as long as he goes on 
 hoping, he goes on further amiss. Therefore when he 
 meets with somebody that assures him he is clean out 
 of the way, and brings him to despair of coming home 
 except he turn back again; then he will return, and 
 then he may hope. 
 
 Why, sinner, just so it is with thy soul : thou art out 
 of the way to heaven, and in that way thou hast pro- 
 ceeded many a year: yet thou goest on quietly, and 
 hopest to be saved, because thou art not so bad as 
 many others. Why, I tell thee, except thou throw 
 away these hopes, and see that thou hast all this while 
 been quite out of the way to heaven ; I sav, till thou 
 8 
 
II. § 3. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 01 
 
 be brought to this, thou wilt ueVer return and be 
 saved. Who will turn out of his way while he hopes 
 he is right? Remember what I say; till thou feel 
 God convincing thee, that the way which thou hast 
 lived in will not serve thy turn, and so break down thy 
 former hopes, there is yet no saving work wrought 
 upon thee, how well soever thou mayest hope of thy- 
 self. Yea, thus much more, if any thing keep thy 
 soul out of heaven, there is nothing in the world like- 
 lier to do it, than thy false hopes of being saved, while 
 thou art out of the way to salvation. 
 
 3. Another additional loss aggravating their loss of 
 heaven, is this, they shall lose all their carnal mirth ; 
 they will say to themselves (as Solomon doth " of 
 their laughter thou art mad; and of their mirth, what 
 doest thou?" Eccles. ii. L 2. Their pleasant conceits are 
 then ended, and their merry tales are all told. " Their 
 mirth was but as the crackling of thorns under a pot," 
 Eccles. vii. 6. It made a blaze for a while, hut it was 
 presently gone, and will return no more. They scorned 
 to entertain any saddening thoughts : the talk of death 
 and judgment was irksome to them, because it damped 
 their mirth ; they could not endure to think of their 
 sin, or danger, because these thoughts did sadden 
 their spirit : they knew not what it was to weep for sin, 
 or to humble themselves under the n ighty hand of 
 Cod : thev could laugh away sorrow, and sing away 
 cares, and drive away these melancholy thoughts ; 
 they thought if they should meditate, and pray, and 
 mourn, as the godly do, their lives would be a conti- 
 nual misery. 
 
 Alas, poor souls ! What a misery tlvjn will that life 
 be, where you shall have nothing but sorrow ; intense, 
 heart-piercing, multiplied sorrow ? When you shall 
 have neither the joys of the Saints, nor your own for- 
 mer joys ? Do you think there is one merry heart in 
 hell? Or one joyful countenance, or jesting tongue ? 
 You cry now, " a little mirth is worth a great deal of 
 sorrow :" but sure a little godly sorrow, which would 
 have ended in eternal joy, had been more worth than 
 a great deal of your foolish mirth, which will end in 
 sorrow. 
 
<)2 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING RFST. II. §3. 
 
 4. Another additional loss will be this : they shall 
 lose all their sensual delights, that which they es- 
 teemed their chief good, their heaven, their god, must 
 they lose as well as God himself. 
 
 O what a fall will the proud ambitious man have 
 from the top of his honours ! As his dust and bones 
 will not be known from the dust and bones of the 
 poorest beggars ; so neither will his soul be honoured 
 or favoured any more than theirs. What a number of 
 the great, noble, and learned, are now shut out of the 
 presence of Christ ! They are shut out ol' their well- 
 contrived houses, and sumptuous buildings; their 
 comely chambers, with costly hangings ; their soft 
 beds, and easy couches. They shall not find their gal- 
 lant walk's, their curious gardens with variety of beau- 
 teous fruits and flowers : their rich pastures and plea- 
 sant meadows, and plenteous harvest, and flocks and 
 herds. Their tables will not be spread and furnished* 
 nor they so punctually attended and observed. They 
 have not their variety of dainty fare, or several courses 
 to please their appetites to the full. The rich man 
 there fareth not deliciously every day, neither shall he 
 wear there his purple and line linen. 
 
 O that sinners would remember this in the midst of 
 their jollity, and say one to another, we must shortly 
 reckon for this. Will the remembrance of it then be 
 comfortable or terrible ? Will these delights accompany 
 us to another world? How shall we look each other in 
 the face, if we meet in hell ? Will not the memorial of 
 them be then our torment? Come, as we have sinned 
 together, let us pray together before we stir, that 
 God would pardon us; and let us enter into a promise 
 to one another that we will do this no more, but will 
 meet together in the worship of God, and help one 
 another towards heaven, as oft as we have met for 
 our sinful merriments in helping to deceive and de- 
 stroy each other. — This would be the way to prevent 
 this sorrow, and a course that would comfort you> 
 *vUeu you should look back upon it hereafter. 
 
JI. § 4. THE SAIKTS EVERLASTING REST. <)3 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 The Greatness of the Torments of the Damneii 
 discovered, 
 
 HAVING thus shewed you how great their loss is, 
 who are shut out of Rest, and how it will be aggra- 
 vated by those additional losses which will accom- 
 pany it, 1 shall next here shew you the greatness of 
 those positive sufferings which will accompany this 
 loss. But 1 will not meddle with the quality of those 
 sufferings, but only shew their greatness in some Few 
 discoveries, lest the careless sinner, while he hears of no 
 other punishment but that of loss, should think he can 
 bear that t\ ell enough. That there are besides the loss 
 of happiness, actual, sensible torments for 1 the damned, 
 is a matter beyond all doubt, and that they will be 
 exceeding great, may appear by these arguments fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 1. From the principal author of them, which is God 
 himself : as it was no less a being than God whom the 
 sinner had offended, so it is no other than God that will 
 punish them for their offences. He hath prepared those 
 torments for his enemies. His continued anger will still 
 be devouring them. His breath of indignation will 
 kindle the flames. His wrath will be ait intolerable 
 burthen to their souls. If it were but a creature that 
 they had to do with, they might better bear it. But 
 woe to him that falls under the strokes of the Al- 
 mighty ! They shall feel to their sorrow, " that it is a 
 fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." 
 It were nothing in comparison to this, if all the world 
 were against them, or if the strength of ail the creatures 
 were united in one to inflict their penalty. What a 
 consuming lire is his wrath? If it be kindled here, and 
 that but a littles how do we wither before it, as the grass 
 that is cut down before the sun ? How soon doth our 
 strength decay and turn to weakness, and our beauty 
 to deformity ? The flames do not so easily run through 
 the dry stubble, as the wrath of God will feed upon 
 these wretches. Oh, they that could not bear a prison 
 
94 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § •!» 
 
 or a gibbet, for Christ, scarce a few scorns, how wilt 
 they now hoar the devouring fire ? 
 
 2. The place or state of tormenf, is purposely or-* 
 dained for the glorifying of God's j astice. As all the 
 
 works of God are great and wonderful, so those above 
 all, which were specially intended for the eminent ad- 
 vancing of some of his attributes. When he would 
 glorify his power, he made the worlds. This comely 
 o/rder of all, and singular creatures, declare his wisdom. 
 His Providence is shewn, in sustaining all things and 
 maintaining order, and attaining his excellent ends, 
 amongst the confusea, perverse, tumultuous agitation 
 of a world of wicked, foolish, self-destroying miscre- 
 ant;. When a spark of this wrath doth kindle upon 
 the earth, the whole world, save only eight persons, 
 are drowned. Sodom, Gomorrah, Ad mail, and Ze- 
 boim, are burnt with lire from heaven, to ashes. The 
 sea shuts her mouth upon some. The earth doth opeii 
 and swallow others. The pestilence destroy eth them 
 by thousands. The present deplorable state of the Jews 
 may fully testify this to the world. And yet the glo- 
 rifying of the two great attributes of mercy and jus- 
 tice, is intended most eminently lor the life to come. 
 As therefore when God will purposely glorify his mercy, 
 he will do it in a way that is now beyond the compre- 
 hension of the saints that must enjoy it; so that the 
 blood of his Son, and the enjoyment of himself imme- 
 diately in glory, shall not be thought too high an 
 honour for them : so also when the time comes that he 
 will purposely manifest his justice, it shall appear to 
 be indeed the justice of God. The everlasting flames 
 of hell will not be thought too hot for the rebellious ; 
 and when they have there burned through millions of 
 ages, he will not repent him of the evil which is befallen 
 them. Oh, woe to the soul that is thus set up for a 
 butt, for the wrath of the Almighty to shoot at! and 
 for a bush that must hum in the flames of his jealousy,, 
 and never be consumed. 
 
 3. Consider who shall be God's executioners of their 
 torment ; and that is, first, Satan : secondly, them- 
 selves. First, he that was here so successful in drawing 
 them from Christ, will then be the instrument of their 
 
II. § 4. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. Q5 
 
 punishment for yielding to his temptations. It was a 
 pitiful sight to see the man possessed, that was bound 
 with chains, and lived among- tombs : and that other, 
 who was cast into the fire and into the water : but 
 alas, that was nothing to the torment that Satan puts 
 them to in hell : that is the reward he will give them 
 for all their service; for rejecting the commands of 
 God, and forsaking Christ, and neglecting their souls 
 at his persuasion. Ah, if they had served Christ as 
 faithfully as they did Satan, he would have given them 
 a better reward. 2. And it is most just also, that they 
 should there be their own tormentors, that they may 
 tee that their whole destruction is of themselves ; and 
 they who were wilfully the meritorious cause, should 
 also be the efficient in their own sufferings: and then 
 who can they complain of but themselves ? 
 
 4. Consider also that their torment will be universal, 
 not upon one part alone, while the rest are free ; but 
 as all have joined in the sin, so must all partake of the 
 torment. The soul, as it was the chief in sinning, 
 shall be the chief in suffering ; and as it is of a more 
 spiritual and excellent nature than bodies are, so will 
 its torments far exceed bodily sufferings. And as the 
 joys of the soul far surpass all sensual pleasures, so 
 the pains of the soul surpass corporal pains. 
 
 And it is not only a soul, but a sinful soul that 
 must surfer : the guilt that still remains upon it, will 
 make it fit for the wrath of God to work upon : as 
 fire will not burn except the fuel be combustible ; but 
 if the wood be dry, how fiercely will it burn then ! 
 The guilt of their sins will be as tinder to gunpowder 
 to the damned soul, to make the flames of hell take 
 hold upon them with fury. 
 
 And as the soul, so also the body must bear its part. 
 That body that must needs be pleased, whatsoever be- 
 came of its eternal safety, shall now be paid for its un- 
 lawful pleasures. That body which was so carefully 
 looked to, so tenderly cherished. That body which could 
 not endure heat or cold, or an ill smell, or a loathsome 
 eight i Oh what must it now endure ! How are its 
 haughty looks now taken down ! How little will those 
 flames regard its comeliness and beauty ! But as death 
 
$6 Till SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 4. 
 
 did not regard it, nor the worms regard it, but as freely 
 feed upon the face of the proud and lustful dames, and 
 the heart of the most ambitious lords or princes, as if 
 they had been but beggars ; so will their tormentors 
 then as little pity their tenderness, or reverence their 
 lordliness. Those eyes which were wont to be de- 
 lighted with curious sights, must then see nothing but 
 what shall amaze and terrify them ; an angry God above 
 them, and those Saints whom they scorned, enjoying 
 the glory which they have lost ; and about them will 
 be only devils and damned souls : ah then how sadlv 
 will they look back and say, Are all our feasts, our 
 games and revels come to thin ? Then those ears which 
 were wont to be delighted with mu>ie, shall hear the 
 shrieks and cries of their damned companions; chil- 
 dren crying out against their parents, that gave them 
 encouragement and example in evil; husbands crying 
 out upon their wives, and wives upon their husbands ; 
 masters and servants cursing each other ; ministers and 
 people ; magistrates and subjects, charging their mi- 
 sery upon one another, for discouraging in duty, con- 
 niving in sin, and being silent or formal, when they 
 should have plainly told one another of their misery, 
 and forewarned them of their danger. Thus will soul 
 and body be companions in calamity. 
 
 .0. And the greater by far will their torments be, be- 
 cause they shall have no comfort left to mitigate them. 
 In this life, when a minister told them of hell, or con- 
 science began to trouble their peace, they had comforts 
 enough at hand to relieve them : their carnal friends 
 were all ready to comfort them, but now they have not 
 a word of comfort either for him or themselves. For- 
 merly they had their business, their company, their 
 mirth, to drive away their fears ; they could drink 
 away their sorrows; or play them away, or sleep them 
 away, or at least, time did wear them away ; but now 
 till these remedies are vanished. They had a hard, a 
 presumptuous unbelieving heart, which was a wall to 
 defend them against troubles of mind ; but now their 
 experience hath banished these, and left them naked 
 to the fury of those flames. Yea, formerly Satan him- 
 self was their comforter, and would unsay all that the 
 
II. § 4. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 97 
 
 ministers said against them, as he did to our first mo- 
 ther ; " Hath God said, Ye shall not eat ? Ye shall not 
 surely die?" So doth he now. Doth God tell you that 
 yon shall lie in hell? It is no such matter ; God is 
 more merciful. He doth but tell you so to frVght you 
 from Binning. Or, if there be hell, what need you 
 fear it ? Are not you Christians ? And shall you not 
 he saved by Christ > Was not his blood shed for you ? 
 Ministers may say what they please, they would make 
 men believe that they shall all be damned except they 
 will fit themselves to their humour. Thus, us the 
 Spirit of Christ is the comforter of the Saints, so Satan 
 is the comforter of the wicked : for he knows if h<# 
 should now disquiet them, they would no longer serve 
 him ; or if fears or doubts should trouble them, they 
 would bethink themselves of their danger. Never was 
 a thief more careful lest he should awake the people, 
 when he is robbing the house, than Satan is, not to 
 awake a sinner. But when the sinner is dead, and he 
 hath his prey, then he hath done flattering, and com- 
 forting them. While the sight of sin and misery might 
 have helped to save them, he took all the pains he 
 eould, to hide it from their eyes : but when it is too 
 late, and there is no hope left, he will make them ser 
 and feel to the utmost. Oh, which way will the for- 
 lorn sinner then look for comfort! They that dre# 
 him into the snare, and promised him safety, now for- 
 sake him, and are forsaken themselves. His ancient 
 comforts are taken from him, and the righteous God. 
 whose forewarning he made light of, will now make 
 good his word against him to the least tittle. 
 
 6. But the great aggravation of this misery will be 
 its eternity. That when a thousand millions of ages 
 are past, their torments are as fresh to begin as at the 
 first day. If there were any hope of an end, it would 
 ease them to foresee it ; but when it must be for ever 
 so, that thought is intolerable: much more will the 
 misery itself be. They never heartily repented of 
 their sin, and God will never repent him of their suf- 
 fering. They broke the laws of the eternal God, and 
 therefore shall suffer eternal punishment. They knew 
 it was an everlasting kingdom which they refused, and 
 
9$ THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST* II. § 4« 
 
 therefore what wonder it' they be everlastingly shut out 
 
 of it ? It was their immortal souls that were guilty of 
 
 trespass, and therefore mast immortally suffer the 
 
 pains. "What happy men would they think themselves, 
 if they might have lain still in their graves, or con- 
 tinued dust, or suffered no worse than the gnawing of 
 those worms ! Oil that they might hut these lie down 
 again! What mercy now would it he to die! And 
 3iow will they call and cry out for it ! () Death, whi- 
 ther art thou gone ? Now conic and cut off this dole- 
 ful life ! O that these pains would break mv heart, and , 
 my being ! O that 1 might once die at last ! Oh that 
 I had never had a being- ! — These groans will the 
 thoughts of eternity wring from their hearts. They 
 ■were wont to think the sermon long, and prayer long . 
 how long- then will they think these endless torments ? 
 What difference is there betwixt the length of their 
 pleasures and of their pains ! The one continued but 
 for a moment, the other endureih through all eternity. 
 Oh that sinners would lay this thought to heart 1 Re- 
 member how time is almost gone. Thou art standing 
 all this whiie at the door of eternity ; and death is 
 waiting to open the door, and, put thee in. Go sleep 
 out but a few more nights, and stir up and down on 
 earth a few more days, and then thy nights and days 
 shall end ; thy thoughts, and cares, and pleasures, 
 and all shall be devoured by eternity : thou must enter 
 upon the state which shall never be changed. — As the 
 joys of heaven are boyond our conceiving, so also are 
 the pains of hell. Everlasting- torment is inconceivable 
 torment. 
 
 But methinks 1 hear the obstinate sinner, desperately 
 resolving, " If I must he damned, there is no remedy ; 
 rather than I will live so precisely, I will put it to the 
 venture ; 1 shall escape as well as the rest of my neigh** 
 bours, and we v. ill even bear it as well as we can." — 
 Alas, poor creature ! 1 would thou didst but know 
 what it is that thou dost so boldly venture on : I dare 
 say thou wouldst sleep this night hut very unquietly. 
 Wilt thou leave thyself no room for hope ? Art thou 
 such an implacable enemy to Christ and thy own soul ? 
 And dost thou think indeed that thou canst bear the 
 
II. § 4. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. @0 
 
 wrath of GocJ,, and go away so .easily to these eternal 
 torments ! Yet let me bey this of thee, that before 
 thou dost so flatly resolve, thou wouldst lend thine 
 attention to these questions. 
 
 First. "Who art thou, that thou shouldst bear the 
 wrath of God? Art thou a god ; or art thou a man? 
 What is thy strength to undergo so much ? Is it not 
 as the strength of wax or stubble to resist the fire ? Or, 
 as chaff to the wind ; or as before the whirlwind ? 
 Was he not as stout a man as thyself, who cried to 
 God, " Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro ? 
 And wilt thou pursue the dry stubble ?" If thy strength 
 were as iron, and thy bones as brass, thou eouldst not 
 bear. If thy foundation were as the earth, and thy 
 power as t lie heavens, yet shouldst thou perish at the 
 breath of his indignation. How much more when 
 thou art but a little, creeping, breathing clay, kept a 
 few days from stinking, and from being eaten with 
 worms, by the mere support and favour of him whom 
 thou thus resistest ? 
 
 Secondly. If thou be so strong, and thy heart so 
 stout, why do those small suffering's so dismay thee ? 
 If thou hast but a tit of the gout or stone, what groans 
 dost thou utter ! The house is rilled with thy com- 
 plaints. If thou shouldst but lose a leg or an arm, thou 
 wouldst make a great matter of it. If thou should lose 
 thine estate, and fall into poverty a».d disgrace ; how 
 heavily wouldst thou bear any of these? And yet all 
 these laid together, will be one day accounted a happy 
 state in comparison of that which is suffered in helL 
 Let me see thee make a.s light of convulsive, gouty, 
 rheumatic pains, when they seize upon thee, aod then 
 the strength of thy spirit will appear. Alas, how 
 many such boasters as thyself have 1 seen made stoop 
 and eat their words ! And when God hath but let out 
 a little of liis wrath, that Pharaoh, who before asked,. 
 Who is the Lord r hath cried, / have sinned. 
 
 Thirdly. If all this be nothing, go try thy strength 
 
 by some corporal torment; as Bilney before he went 
 
 to the stake, would ftrat try his linger in the candle ; 
 
 so do thou : hold thy linger awhile m the lire, and feel 
 
 ■ jvhether thou canst endure the lire of hell, Austin 
 
 1 2 
 
100 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING RErfT. IT. § 4. 
 
 mentioneth a chaste Christian woman, who, being 
 tempted to uncleanness by a lewd ruffian, desired him 
 for her sake to hold his Anger one hour in the fire ? 
 He answered it is an unreasonable request: How 
 much more unreasonable is it, said she, that I should 
 burn in hell for the satisfying your lust ? So say I to 
 tliet; : If it bean intolerable thing to suffer the heat 
 of the fire for a year, or a day, or an hour, what will 
 it be to suffer ten thousand times more for ever ? 
 What if thou were to suffer Lawrence's death, to be 
 roasted upon a gridiron ? or to be scraped or pricked 
 to death, as other martyrs were ? If thou couldst not 
 endure such things as these, how wilt thou endure the 
 eternal flames ? 
 
 Fourthly. If thou be so fearless of that eternal mi- 
 sery, why is the least, foretaste of it so terrible? Didst 
 thou never feel such a thing as a tormenting eon- 
 science ? If thou hast not, thou shalt. Didst thou 
 never see and speak with a man that lived in despera- 
 tion, or in some degree of those wounds of spirit that 
 was near despair ? How 7 uncomfortable was their con- 
 versation ! how burthensome their lives ? Nothing 
 dcth them good which they possess : the sight of friends, 
 or house, or goods, which refresh others, is a trouble 
 to them ! they feel no sweetness in meat or drink ; they 
 are weary of life, and fearful of death. What is the 
 matter with thee* men ? If the misery of the damned 
 itself can be endured, why cannot they more easily 
 endure these little sparks? 
 
 Fifthly. Tell me faithfully, what if thou shouldst 
 but see the devil appear to thee in some terrible shape, 
 would it not daunt thee ? What if thou shouldst meet 
 him in thy way home, or he should shew himself to 
 thee at night in thy bed-chamber, would not thy heart 
 fail thee, and thy hair stand an end? I could name 
 thee those that have been as confident as thyself, who, 
 by such a sight have been so appalled, that they were 
 in danger of being driven out of their wits. Or what 
 if some damned soul, of thy former acquaintance, 
 should appear to thee, would not this armaze thee ? 
 Alas ! What is this to the torment of hell ? Canst thou 
 not endure a shadow to appear before thee ? O how 
 
1L § 4. THE SAINTS EVI RIASTTNG REST. 101 
 
 wilt thou endure to live with them for ever, where 
 thou shalt have no other company but devils and 
 damned spirits; and shalt not only see them, but be 
 tormented with them, and by them ! 
 
 Lastly. Let me ask thee, if the wrath of God is to 
 be made so light of, why did the Son of God himself 
 make so great a matter of it ? When he had taken 
 upon him the payment of our debt, and bore that pu- 
 nishment wo had deserved, and it made him sweat 
 water and biood ; it makes the Lord of life to cry, 
 JM'j soul is heavy even to the death. It made him cry 
 out, upon the cross, " My Gop, my Gol>, why hast 
 thou forsaken me?" Surely, if any one could Law 
 borne these sufferings, it would have" been Je^us 
 Christ. He had another measure of strength to bear 
 them than thou hast. 
 
 Woe to poor sinners for their mad security! H}o 
 they think to find that tolerable to them which way so 
 heavy to Christ? Nay, the Son of God is cast into a 
 bitter agony, and bloody sweat, under the curse of .the 
 law only ; and yet feeble foolish creatures make no- 
 thing to bear also the curse of the gospel : the good 
 Lord bring these men to their right minds by repent- 
 ance, lest they buy their wit at too dear a rate. 
 
 And thus 1 have shewed you somewhat of their mi- 
 sery, who now miss of this Rest prepared for the 
 Saints. And now, reader, I demand thy resolution, 
 What use wilt thou make of all this? Shall it all be 
 lost to thee ? Or wilt thou consider it in good earnest ? 
 Thou hast cast by many a warning o{ God, wilt thou 
 do so by this also ? Take heed what thou dost, and 
 how thou resolvest. God will not always stand warning 
 and threatening. Tie hand of vengeance is lifted up , 
 the blow is coming, and woe to him on whom it 
 lighteth. Little thinkest thou how near thou standest 
 to thy eternal stale, and how near the pit thou art 
 dancing in thy jollity. If thy, eyes were but opened, 
 as they will be shortly, thou wouldst see all fchis. that 
 I have spoken before thine eyes, without stirring from 
 the place in which thou standest. Dost thou throw by 
 the book, and say, it speaks of nothing but hell and 
 damnation ? Thus thou usest also to complain ot • 
 minister; but wouidet thou not have us tell the* wf 
 J 3 
 
102 TIIF. SAINTS EVERLASTING RlST. II. §4. 
 
 these thiifgs ? Must we be guilty of the blood of thy 
 soul, by keeping silent that which God hath charged 
 us to make known ? Wouldst thou perish in ease and 
 silence, and also have us to perish with thee, rather 
 than displease thee, by speaking the truth ? If thou 
 wilt be guilty of such inhuman cruelty, God forbid 
 we should be guilty of such sottish folly ! 
 
 There are few preachers so simple, but they know 
 that this kind of preaching is the ready way to be 
 BUted of their heavers : and the desire of the favour of 
 men is so natural, that few delight in such a displeasing- 
 way. But I beseech thee consider, are these things 
 true, or are they not ? If they were not true, 1 would 
 heartily join with thee against any minister that should 
 ©tier to preach them, and to affright poor people when 
 there is no cause. But if these threatenings be the 
 words of God, what wretch art thou that wouldst not 
 wear them, or consider them ? Why, what is the mat- 
 ter ? If thou be sure that thou art one of the people 
 ©f God, this doctrine will be a comfort to thee : but 
 if thou be unregenerate, methinks thou shouldst be as 
 fearful to hear of heaven as of hell, except the bare 
 name of heaven or salvation be sufficient. Sure there 
 is no doctrine concerning heaven in all the Scripture 
 •that can give thee any comfort, but upon the sup- 
 posal of thy conversion. What comfort is it to thee, 
 to hear that there is a Rest remaining to the people of 
 God, except thou wouldst have a minister to preach of 
 heaven or hell to thee ? His preaching heaven and 
 mercy to thee, can be nothing else but to entreat thee 
 to seek them ; but he can make thee no promise of it, 
 but upon condition of thy obeying the gospel : and 
 his preaching hell, is but to persuade thee to avoid it. 
 And is not this doctrine fit for thee to hear ? Indeed 
 if thou wert quite past hope of escaping it, then it 
 were in vain to tell thee of hell. It would be better to 
 let thee take a few merry hours whilst thou may est ; 
 but as long as thou art alive, there is hope of thy re- 
 covery, ancl therefore all means must be used to 
 awake thee from thy lethargy. 
 
 Oh that some son of thunder, who could speak as 
 Paul, till the hearers tremble, were now to preach this 
 doctrine to thee! Alas; as terribly, as you think I 
 
If. § 5. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 103 
 
 speak, yet it is not the thousandth part of what must 
 be felt : for what heart can now conceive, or what 
 tongue can express the pains of those souls that are 
 under the wrath of God ? Ah, that ever blind sinners 
 would wilfully bring themselves to such unspeakable 
 misery ! You will then be crying to Jesus Christ, O 
 mercy ! Oh pity ! Why, I do now in the name of the 
 Lord Jesus cry to thee: Oh have mercy, have pity 
 upon thine own soul ! Shall God pity thee, who wilt 
 not be entreated to pity thyself? If thy horse see but 
 a pit before him, thou canst scarcely force him in; 
 and wilt thou so obstinately cast thyself into hell, when 
 the danger is foretold thee ? Oh who can stand before 
 the Lord, and who can abide the fierceness of his anger f 
 Methinks, thou shouldst need no more words, but 
 presently cast away thy sins, and deliver up thyself to 
 Christ. Resolve on it immediately, and let it be done, 
 that 1 may see thy face in Rest among the Saints. The 
 Lord persuade thy heart to it without longer delay ; 
 but if thou be hardened unto death, and there be no 
 remedy, yet do not say another day, but that thou 
 wast faithfully warned, and that thou hadst a friend 
 who would fain have prevented thy damnation. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 The second Use ; reprehending the general Neglect of 
 this Rest, and exciting to Diligence in seeking it. 
 
 I COME now to the second use. If there be so 
 certain and glorious a Rest, Why is there no more 
 seeking after it ? One would think that a man that 
 did but once hear of such unspeakable glory, and did 
 believe what he heard to be true, should be transported 
 with desire after it, should almost forget to eat or 
 drink, and mind and care for nothing eke, and speak 
 of and enquire after nothing, but how to get this trea- 
 sure ! And yet people who hear it daily, and profess 
 to believe it, do as little mind it, or care, or labour for 
 it, as if they had never heard of any such thing, or did 
 not believe one word that they hear.. 
 
104 *HE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. IT. § 5. 
 
 I shall apply this reproof more particularly to lour 
 sorta of men. First, The worldly minded, who arc so 
 taken u,p in seeking the things below, that they have 
 neither heart nor time to seek thi> Rest. 
 
 May I not well say to theqe men, as Paul to theCJa- 
 Utiana in another case, Foolish sinners ! IVhohalh le- 
 %Ditched you ? it is not for nothing that divines vise to 
 call the wor]d a witch ; for as- in withcraft, men's 
 lives, senses, goods^or cattle are destroyed by a strange 
 secret, unseen power of the devil, of which a man can 
 give no natural reason ; so here men will destroy th< ir 
 own souls in a way quite* against their own knowledge, 
 \A ould not a man wonder that is in his right se: m 
 to see what riding and running] what scri and 
 
 catching there is lor a thing* of nought, while eternal 
 rest lies by neglected ! What contriving and caring. 
 what fighting and bloodshed, to get a step higher in 
 the world than their brethren, while they neglect the 
 kii gly dignity of the Saints ! What insatiable pursuit 
 of fleshly pleasures, while they look upon the praises 
 of God, winch is the joy of angels, as a burden! 
 What unwearied diligence is there in raising their 
 posterity, enlarging their possessions, gathering a little- 
 silver or gold ! Yea, perhaps for a poor living {'nun 
 hand to mouth, while in the mean time their judgment 
 draweth near ; and yet how it shall go with them then,, 
 or how they shall live eternally, never puts them to 
 one hour's sober consideration. 
 
 What rising up early, sitting up late, labouring and 
 caring year after year to maintain themselves and 
 children in credit till they die ; but what shall follow * 
 after, that they never think on ; and yet these men cry 
 to us, May- not a man be saved without so much ado ! 
 How early do they rouse up their servants to their la- 
 bctir. ! (Up> come away to work, we have this to do, 
 that io do ;] but how seldom do they call them, 
 [Up, you have \ < nr >oul to look to, you have everlast- 
 ing lit'' to provide for ; up to prayer, to the reading of 
 the Scripture.] 
 
 What a gadding up and down the world is here, 
 like a company of ants upon a % hillock y taking incessaait 
 pains to gather a treasure, which death will spurn 
 abroad ; us if it were such an excellent thing to die in 
 
II. §5. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 105 
 
 the midst of wealth and honours ! Or as if it would be 
 such a comfort to a man in another world, to think 
 that he was a lord, or a knight, or a gentleman, or a 
 rich man on earth ! What hath this world done for 
 its lovers and friends, that it is so eagerly followed, 
 and painfully sought after, while Christ and heaven 
 stand by and few regard them ? Or what will the 
 world do for them for the time to come ? The common 
 entrance into it is through anguish and sorrow. The 
 passage through it is with continual care and labour. 
 The passage out of it is with the greatest sharpness and 
 sadness of all. What then doth cause men so much to 
 follow and affect it ? O unreasonable, bewitched men ! 
 Will mirth and pleasure stick close to you ? Will gold 
 and worldly glory prove fast friends to you in the time 
 of your greatest need? Will they hear your c;ies in 
 the flay of your calamity ? If a man should say to you 
 as Elijah did to Baai's priests, Cry aloud : Oh riches, 
 or honour, now help us ! Will they either answer or 
 relieve you ? Will they go along with you to another 
 world, and bribe the Judge, and bring you off clear ; 
 or purchase you a room among the blessed ? Why then 
 did the rich man want a drop of water to cool his 
 tongue ? Or are the sweet morsels of present delight 
 and honour of more worth than eternal Kest ? And 
 will they recompense the loss of that enduring trea- 
 sure? Can there be the least hope of any of these? 
 What then is the matter? Is it only a room for our 
 dead bodies that we are so much beholden to the world 
 for? Why, this is the last and longest courtesy that 
 we shall receive from it. But we shall have this whe- 
 ther we serve it or not ; and even that homely, dusty 
 dwelling it will not afford us always neither ; it shall 
 possess our dust but till the resurrection. How then 
 doth the world deserve so well at men's hands, that 
 they should part with Christ and their salvation to be 
 its followers? Ah vile deceitful world! How oft hast 
 thou heard thy most faithful servants at last complain- 
 ing, " O the world hath deceived me, and undone 
 me !" And yet succeeding sinners will take no 
 warning. 
 
 So this is the first sort of neglecters of Heaven which 
 fall under this reproof. 
 
1©6 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. J I. § S» 
 
 2. The second sort here to be reproved, are the pro- 
 fane, ungodly, presumptuous multitude, who will not 
 be persuaded to be at so much pains for salvation, as 
 to perform the common outward duties of religion. 
 Yea, though they are convinced that those duties are 
 commanded, yet will they not be brought to the 
 common practice of them. If they have the gospel 
 preached in the town where they dwell, it may be 
 they will give the hearing to it one part of the day, 
 and stay at home the other ; or if the master come to 
 the congregation, yet part of his family must stay at 
 home. If they want any plain and powerful preaching 
 of the gospel, how few are there in a whole town, who 
 will travel a mile or two to hear, abroad, though they 
 will go many miles to market for their bodies ? 
 
 And though they know the Scripture is the law of 
 God, by which they must be acquitted or condemned 
 in judgment : and that it is the property of every 
 blessed man to delight in this law, and to meditate in 
 it day and night ; yet will they not be at the pains to 
 read a chapter once a day, nor to acquaint their fami- 
 lies with this doctrine of salvation. But if they carry a 
 Bible to church, and let it lie by them all the week, 
 this is the most usethas they make of it. And though 
 they are commanded to *« pray without ceasing: and 
 to pray always, and not to faint ; to continue in prayer, 
 and watch in the same with thanksgiving;" yet will 
 they not pray constantly with their families, or in se- 
 cret. You may hear in their houses two oaths for oue 
 prayer. Or if they do any thing this way, it is usually 
 but a running over of a few formal words which they 
 have got at their tongues end, as if they came on pur- 
 pose to make a jest of prayer, and to mock God and 
 their own souls. 
 
 Alas, he that only rca'ls in a book that he is mise- 
 rable, and what his soul stands in need of, but never 
 felt himself miserable, or felt his several wants, no 
 wonder if he roust also fetch his prayer from his book 
 only, or at the farthest from the strength of his me- 
 mory. Solomon's request to God was, That " what 
 prayer or supplication soever should be made by any 
 man, or by all the people, when every man should 
 know his own sore, and his own grief, and should 
 
fl. § 5. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 107 
 
 spread forth his hands before God, that God would 
 then hear and forgive," -2 Chron. vi. 29, 30. If these 
 men did thus know and feel, every man the sore and 
 the grief of iiis own soul, we should neither need so 
 much to urge them to prayer, nor to teach them how 
 to perform it. Whereas now they invite God to be 
 backward in giving by their backwardness in asking ; 
 and to be weary of relieving them, by their own being 
 weary of begging ; and to be seldom and short in his 
 favours, as they are in their prayers ; and to give them 
 but common and outward favours, as they put up but 
 common and outside requests. Yea, their cold and 
 heartless prayer.-, invite God to a flat denial, for what 
 they ask. Do not these men judge themselves unwor- 
 thy of heaven, who think it not worth their more con- 
 stant and earnest requests ? If it be not worth asking 
 for, it is worth nothing. Andyetif one should go from 
 house to house, through town and parish, and inquire 
 at every house as he went, whether they morning or 
 evening called their family together and earnestly 
 sought the Lord in prayer ;. how few would he find 
 thai constantly and conscientiously practise this duty ? 
 If every door were marked, where they do not thus 
 call upon the name of God, that his wrath might be 
 poured out upon that family, our towns would be as 
 places overthrown by the plague, the people being 
 dead within, and the mark of judgment without, I 
 fear where one house would escape, ten would be 
 ■marked out for death ; and they might teach their 
 doors to pray, Lor<l 9 have mercy upon us; because the 
 people would not pray themselves. But especially if 
 you could see what men do in their secret chambers, 
 how few would you find in a whole town that spend, 
 one quarter of an hour, morning and night, in earnest 
 supplication to God, for their souls ! Oh, how little do 
 these men set by eternal Rest ! 
 
 Thus do they slothfully neglect all endeavours for 
 their own welfare, except some public duty in the con-, 
 gregation, which custom or credit doth engage them 
 to. Persuade them to read good books, and they will 
 not be at so much pains. Persuade them to learn the 
 grounds of their religion in some catechism, and they 
 k it toilsome slavery, fit only for school-boys. Per- 
 
103 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 5. 
 
 suade them to sanctify the Lord's day, and to spend it 
 wholly in hearing the word, and repeating it with 
 
 their families, and prayer and meditation, and to for- 
 bear all their worldly thoughts and speeches ; and 
 what a tedious life do they take this to be ; and how 
 long may you preach to them, before they will be 
 brought to it ! As if they thought heaven were not 
 worth all this ado. 
 
 3. The third sort that fall under this leproof, are 
 those self-cozening, formal, lazy professors of religion, 
 who will be brought to any outward duty, but to 
 the inward work, they will not be persuaded. They 
 will preach, or hear, or read, or talk of heaven, or 
 pray customarily or constantly in their families, and 
 take part with the persons and causes that are good, 
 and desire to be esteemed amongst the godly, but you 
 can never bring them to the more spiritual duties, as to 
 be constant and fervent in secret prayer, to be consci- 
 entious in the duty of self-examination, to be constant 
 in meditation, to be heavenly-minded, to watch con- 
 stantly over their heart, and words, and ways, to deny 
 their bodily senses their delights, to mortify the flesh, 
 and not to make provision for it, to fulfil its lusts; to 
 love and heartily forgive an enemy, and to prefer their 
 brethren heartily before themselves. The outside hypo- 
 crites will not be persuaded to any of these. Above 
 all others, two sorts there are of these hypocrites. 
 
 1. The superficial, opinionative hypocrite. 
 
 2. The worldly hypocrite. 
 
 The former entertaineth the doctrine of the gospel 
 with joy ; but it goes only into the surface of his soul, 
 he never gives the seed any depth of earth. Hechangeth 
 his opinion, and thereupon engageth for religion, as 
 the right way, but it never melted and new moulded^ 
 his heart, nor set up Christ there in full power and 
 authority. As his religion is but opinion, so his study, 
 and conference, and chief business is all about opinion. 
 He is usually an ignorant, proud, bold inquirer and 
 babbler about controversies, rather than an humble em- 
 bracer of the known truth, with love and subjection. 
 You may conjecture by his bold and forward tongue, 
 and conceitedness in his own opinions, and slighting 
 
 8 
 
II. §. 5. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 109 
 
 the judgment and persons of others, aud seldom talk- 
 ing of the great things of Christ, with seriousness una 
 humility, that his religion dwelleth in the brain, and 
 not in his heart : when the wind of temptation assaults 
 him, he easily yieldeth, and it carrieth him away nsa 
 feather, because his heart is empty, and not balanced 
 and established with Christ and grace. If this man's 
 judgment lead him into the ceremonious way, then 
 doth he employ his chief zeal for ceremonies. If his 
 judgment be against ceremonies, then his strongest 
 zeal is employed in studying, talking, disputing 
 against them, and censuring the users of them. For, 
 not having the essentials of Christianity, he hath only 
 the mint and cummin, the smaller matters of the law 
 to lay out his zeal upon. You shall never hear any 
 humble ami hearty be wai lings of his soul's imperfec- 
 tions, or any heart-bleeding acknowledgements of his 
 unkindness to Christ, or any pantings and longings 
 after him, from this man ; but that he is of such a 
 judgment, or such a religion or society, or a member 
 of such a church. Herein doth he gather his greatest 
 comforts; but the inward and spiritual labours of a 
 Christian he will not be brought to. 
 
 The like may be said of the worldly hypocrite, who 
 choaketh the doctrine of the gospel with the thorns of 
 worldly cares and desires. His judgment is convinced, 
 that he must be religious, or he cannot be saved ; and 
 therefore he reads, and hears, and prays, and forsakes 
 his former company and courses ; but because his be- 
 lief of the gospel doctrine is but wavering and shal- 
 low, he resolves to keep his hold of present things ; 
 and yet to be religious, that so he may have heaven, 
 when he can keep the world no longer. This man's 
 judgment may say, God is the chief good, but his 
 heart and affections never said so, but looke»l upon 
 God as to be tolerated rather than the flames of hell, 
 but not desired before the felicity on earth. In a 
 word, the world hath more of his affections than God, 
 and therefore is his God. This he might easily know 
 and feel, if he would judge impartially of himself. 
 And though this man does not gad after novelties in 
 religion as the former ; yet will he set his sails to the 
 wind of worldly advantage. And as a man whose spi- 
 rits are seized on by some pestilential malignity, is 
 K 
 
110 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 3. 
 
 feeble and faint, and heartless in all that he does ; so 
 this man's spirits being possessed by the plague ©f this 
 malignant, worldly disposition, how faint is he in se- 
 cret prayer ! How superficial in examination and me- 
 ditation ! How feeble in heart-watchiiigs, and hum- 
 bling, mortifying endeavours ! How nothing at all in 
 loving and walking with God, rejoicing in him, or de- 
 siring him ! So that both these, and many other sorts 
 of lazy hypocrites there are, who, though they will 
 trudge on with you in the easy outside of religion, yet 
 ■will never be at any pains of inward and spiritual 
 duties. 
 
 4. And even good men themselves deserve this re- 
 proof, for being too lazy seekers of everlasting Rest : 
 Alas, what disproportion is there between our light and 
 our heat ! Our professions and prosecutions 1 Who 
 makes that haste, as if it were for heaven ? How still 
 we stand ! How idly we work ! How we talk, and 
 jest, and trifle away our time ! How deceitfully we do 
 the work of God ! How we hear, as if we heard not; 
 and pray, as if we prayed not ; and confer, and ex- 
 amine, and meditate, and reprove sin, as if we did it 
 not ; and use the ordinances, as if we used them not ; 
 and enjoy Christ, as if we enjoyed him not ! As if we 
 had learned to use the things of heaven as the apostle 
 teacheth us to use the world ! Who would think, that 
 stood by us, and heard us pray in private, or public, 
 that we were praying for no less than everlasting glory ? 
 Should heaven be sought no more earnestly than thus ? 
 Methiuks we are none of us all in good earnest for 
 our souls. We do but dally with the work of God, 
 and play with Christ, as children play with their meat 
 when they should eat it ; we hang upon ordinances 
 from day to day, but we stir not up ourselves to seek 
 the Lord. 
 
 I see a great many very constant in hearing and pray- 
 ing, but they do not hear and pray as if it were for 
 their lives. Oh, what a frozen stupidity hath benumbed 
 us! The plague of Lot's wife is upon us, as if we 
 were changed into lifeless and immovable pillars. We 
 are d'ying, and we know it, and yet we stir not; we 
 are at the door of eternal happiness or misery, aud 
 yet me perceive it not : Death knocks, and we hear it 
 not : God cries to us, " To-day if you will hear my 
 voice, harden uot your hearts. Work while it is day, 
 
II. § 5. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING HIST. Ill 
 
 for the night cometh when no man can work.'* Now 
 ply your business, now labour for your lives, now lay 
 ©ut all your strength, now or never : and yet we stir 
 no more than if we were half asleep. What haste do 
 death and judgment make ! How fast do they come 
 on ! They are almost at us, and yet what little haste 
 make we ! The spur of God is in our side ; we bleed, 
 we groan, and yet we do not mend our pace. Lord, 
 what a senseless, sottish, earthly tiling is a hard heart! 
 That we will not go roundly and cheerfully toward 
 heaven without all this ado ! No, nor with it neither! 
 "Where is the man that is serious in his Christianity ? 
 Methinks men every where make but a trifle of their 
 eternal state. They look after it but a little, by the bye ; 
 they do not make it the task and business of their lives. 
 
 To be plain with you, 1 think nothing undoes men 
 so much as complimenting and jest in religion. Oh, 
 if 1 were not sick myself of the same disease, with what 
 tears should I mix this ink ; and with what groans 
 should I express these sad complaints : and with what 
 heart-grief should I mourn over this universal deadnessl 
 Do the magistrates among us seriously perform their 
 portion of the work ? Are they zealous for God ? Do 
 they build up his house ? Are they tender of his ho- 
 nour ? Do they second the word ? Encourage the 
 good? Relieve the oppressed? Compassionate the 
 distressed ? And fly in the face of sin and sinners, as 
 being the disturbers of our peace, and the only causes 
 ©fall our miseries ? Dothey study how to do the utmost 
 they can for God ? To improve their power and parts, 
 and wealth, and honour, and all their interests for the 
 greatest advantages to the kingdom of Christ, as men 
 that must shortly give an aceoiiflt of their stewardship ? 
 Or do they build their own houses, and seek their ad- 
 vancement and contend for their own honours, and 
 do no more for Christ than needs they must, or than 
 lies in their way, or than is put by others into their 
 hands, Or than stands with the pleasing of their friends, 
 or with their worldly interest? 
 
 And how few are those ministers that are serious in 
 
 their work ! Nay» how mightily do the very best fail 
 
 in this ! Do we cry out of man's disobedience to the 
 
 gospel in the evidence and power of the Spirit, and 
 
 K 2 
 
112 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 5. 
 
 deal with sin, as tjiatwhich is the fire in our towns and 
 houses, and by force pull them out of this fire ? Do 
 we persuade our people, as those that know the terrors 
 of the Lord should do ? Do we press Christ awd re- 
 generation, and faith and holiness, as men that believe 
 indeed that without these they shall never have life ? 
 Do our bowels yearn over the ignorant, and the care- 
 lees, and the obstinate multitude, as men that believe 
 their own doctrine ? When we look them in the face, 
 do our hearts melt over them, lest we should never see 
 their facet in res! ? Do we, as Paul, tell them ween- 
 ing, of their fleshly and earthly disposition? And teach 
 them publicly, and from house to house, night and day 
 with tears ? And do we entreat them, as if it were in- 
 deed for their lives ? That when we speak of the 
 joys and miseries of another world, our people may see 
 us afiected accordingly, and perceive that we mean as 
 * we speak ? Or rather, do we not study words ? As if 
 a minister's business were to tell them a smooth tale 
 of an hour lon£, and so look no more after them till 
 the next sermon. 
 
 Oh the formal, frozen lifeless sermons which we 
 daily hear preached upon the most weighty, piercing 
 subjects in the world ! How gently do we handle those 
 sins, which will handle so cruelly our people's souls ! 
 And how tenderly do we deal with their careless hearts, 
 not speaking to them as to men that must be awakened 
 or damned. We tell them of heaven and hell in such 
 a sleepy tone, and slight way, as if we were but acting 
 a part in a play ; so that we usually preach our people 
 asleep with those subjects, which one would think 
 should rather endanger some going beside themselves. 
 
 In a word, our want of seriousness about the things 
 of heaven, doth charm the souls of men into formality, 
 and hath brought them to this customary, careless 
 hearing, which undoes them. The Lord pardon the 
 great sin of the ministry in this thing, and, in particu- 
 lar, my own. 
 
 And are the people any more serious than magistrates 
 and ministers. How can it be expected ? Reader, look 
 but to thyself, and resolve the question. Ask consci- 
 ence, and suffer it to tell thee truly. Hast thou set 
 thine eternal rest before thine eyes as the great business, 
 
II. § .5. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 113 
 
 which thou hast to do in this world ? Hast thou stu- 
 died, and cared, and watched, and laboured with all 
 thy might, lest any should take thy crown from thee ? 
 Hast thou made haste, lest thou shouldst come too late, 
 and die before thy work be done ? Hath thy heart 
 been set upon it, and have thy desires and thy thoughts 
 run out this way ? Hast thou pressed on through 
 crouds of opposition, towards the mark, far the prize 
 of the high calling of Cod in Christ Jesus? When, 
 you have set your hand to the work of God, have you 
 done it with all your might ? ^ Can conscience witness 
 your secret cries, and groans, and tears ? Can your 
 families witness that you have taught them the fear of 
 the Lord, and warned them all with earnestness and 
 unweariedness to remember God and their souls ? 
 Oh that you had done but as much for them, as that 
 damned glutton would have had Lazarus do for his 
 brethren on earth, to warn them that they come notto 
 that place of torment ! Can your ministers witness 
 that they heard you cry out, " What shall we do to be 
 saved ?" And that you have followed them with com- 
 plaints against your corruptions, and with earnest in- 
 quiries after the Lord ? Can your neighbours about 
 you witness, that you are still learning of them that 
 are able to instruct you ? And that you plainly and 
 roundly reprove the ungodly, and take pains for the 
 saving of your brethren's souls? Let all these wit- 
 nesses judge this day between God and you, whether 
 you are in good earnest about eternal Rest. 
 
 But yet if you cannot discern your neglects, look 
 but to yourselves, within you, without you, to the 
 work you have clone. You can tell by his work whe- 
 ther your servant have loitered, -though you did not 
 see him ; so you may by yourselves. Is your love to 
 Christ, your faith, your zeal, and other graces, strong 
 or weak ? What are your joys ? What is your reli- 
 ance ? Is all right and strong, and in order within 
 you ? Are you ready to die, if tiiis should be the day ? 
 Do the souls, among whom ye have conversed, bless 
 you ? Why, judge by this, and it will quickly appear 
 whether you have been labourers or loiterers. 
 
 K3 
 
114 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 6. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 An Exhortation to Seriousness in seeking Rest. 
 
 I HOPE, reader, by this time thou art somewhat 
 sensible, what a desperate thing it is to trifle about 
 eternal Rest : and how deeply thou hast been guilty 
 of this thyself. And I hope also, that thou darest not 
 now sufferthis conviction to die: but art resolved tobe 
 another man for the time to come : what sayest thou ? 
 Is this thy resolution ? If thou wert sick of some des- 
 perate disease, and the physician should tell thee, If 
 thou wilt observe but one thing, I doubt not to cure 
 thee, wouldst thou not observe it ? Why, if thou wilt 
 but observe but this one thing for thy soul, I make no 
 doubt of thy salvation : if thou wilt now but shake off 
 thy sloth, and put to all thy strength, and be a down- 
 right Christian, I know not what can hinder thy hap- 
 piness. As far as thou art gone from God, if thou 
 now return and seek him with thy whole heart, no 
 doubt but thou shalt find him. As unkindly as thou 
 hast dealt with Jesus Christ, if thou didst but feel thy- 
 self sick and dead, and seek him heartily, and apply 
 thyself in good earnest to the obedience of his laws, 
 thy salvation were as sure as if thou hadst it already ; 
 but as full as the satisfaction of Christ is, as free as the 
 promise i6, as large as the mercy of God is ; yet if 
 thou do but look on these, and talk of them, when 
 thou shouldst greedily entertain them, thou wilt be 
 never the better for them : and if thou shouldst loiter 
 when thou shouldst labour, thou wilt lose the crown. 
 O fall to work then speedily and seriously, and bless 
 God that thou hast yet time to do it : and though that 
 which is passed cannot be recalled, yet redeem the 
 time now by doubling thy diligence. 
 
 And because thou shalt see 1 urge thee not without 
 cause, I will here adjoin a multitude of considerations 
 to move thee; their intent and use is, to drive thee 
 from delaying and from loitering in seeking Rest. 
 Whoever thou art, therefore, I entreat thee to ronze 
 Up thy spirit, and give me awhile thy attention, and 
 
II. § 6. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 115 
 
 (as Moses said to the people) " Set thy heart to all the 
 words that I testify to thee this day, for it is not a 
 vain thing, but it is for thy life." Weigh what I 
 here write, with the judgment of a man ; and the 
 Lord open thy heart, and fasten his counsel effectually 
 upon thee. 
 
 1. Consider, our affections and actions should be 
 answerable to the greatness of the ends to which they 
 are intended. Now the ends of a Christian's desires 
 and endeavours are so great, that no human under- 
 standing on earth can comprehend them ; whether 
 you respect their proper excellency, exceeding impor- 
 tance, or their absolute necessity. 
 
 These ends are the glorifying of God, the salvation 
 of our own and other men's souls, in escaping the tor- 
 mentsofhell, and possessing the glory of heaven. And 
 can a man be too much affected with things of such 
 moment? Can he desire them too earnestly, or love 
 them too violently, or labour for them too diligently ? 
 When we know that if our prayers prevail not, and 
 our labour succeeds not, we are undone for ever, I 
 think it concerns us to seek and labour to the purpose. 
 When it is put to the question, Whether we shall live 
 for ever in heaven or in hell ? And the question must 
 be resolved upon our obeying the gospel, or disobey- 
 ing it, upon the painfulness or the slothfulness of our 
 present endeavours, 1 think it is time for us to bestir 
 ourselves, and to leave our trifling and complimenting 
 with God. 
 
 2. Consider, our diligence should be answerable to 
 the greatness of the work which we have to do, as well 
 as to the ends of it. 
 
 Now the works of a Christian here are very many 
 and very great. The soul must be renewed ; many 
 and great corruptions mortified ; custom, temptations, 
 and worldly interest must be conquered ; flesh must be 
 mastered ! Life, and friends, and credit, and all must 
 be slighted ; conscience must be upon good grounds 
 quieted ; assurance of a pardon and salvation must be 
 attained. And though it is God that must "ive us 
 these, and that freely, without our own merits ; yet 
 he will not give them without our earnest seeking and 
 labour. 
 
Il6 THE SAINTi EVERLASTING REST. II. § 6. 
 
 Besides, there is a deal of knowledge to be got, for 
 the guiding ourselves, for defending- the truth, for the 
 direction of others, and a deal of skill for the right 
 managing of our parts: many ordinances are to be 
 used, and duties to be performed, ordinary, and ex- 
 traordinary ; every age, and year, and day, doth re- 
 quire fresh succession of duty ; every place we come in, 
 every person we have to deal with, every change of 
 our condition, doth .still require the renewing our la- 
 bour, and bringing duty alpng with it: wives, chil- 
 dren, servants, neighbours, friends, enemies, all of 
 them call for duty from us: and ail this of great im- 
 portance too ; so that for the most, if we miscarry in 
 it, it would prove our undoi 
 
 Judge then yourselves, whether men that have so 
 much business lying upon their hands, should not be- 
 stir them ? And whether it be their wisdom either to 
 delay, or to loiter ? 
 
 3. Consider, our diligence should be quickened, 
 because of the shortness and uncertainty of the time 
 allotted us for the performing of all this work, and 
 the many and great impediments which we meet with. 
 Yet a few days, and we shall be here no more. Time 
 passeth on : many diseases are ready to assault us. We 
 that now are preaching, and hearing, and talking, and 
 walking, must very shortly be carried, and laid in the 
 dust, and there left to the worms in darkness and cor- 
 ruption : we are almost there already ; it is but a few 
 days, or months, or years, and what are these when 
 once they are past ? We know not whether we shall 
 have another sermon, or sabbath, or hour. How then 
 should those bestir them for their Everlasting Rest, 
 who know they have so short a space for so great a 
 work ? Besides, every step in the way hath its diffi- 
 culties; the gate is strait and the way narrow: the 
 righteous themselves are scarcely saved. Scandals and 
 discouragements will be still cast before us; and can 
 all these be overcome by slothful endeavours ? 
 
 4. Moreover, Our diligence should be answerable 
 to the diligence of our enemies in seeking our destruc- 
 tion. For if we sit stili while they are plotting and 
 labouring ; or if we be lazy in our defence, while they 
 arc diligent in assaulting us, you may easily conceive 
 
II. § 6. THE SATNTS EVERLASTING REST. 117 
 
 how we are likely to speed. How diligent is Satan in 
 all kind of temptations ! Therefore, " Be sober and 
 vigilant, because your adversary the devil as a roaring 
 lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour." 
 How diligent are all the ministers of Satan ! False 
 teachers, scorners at godliness, malicious persecutors, 
 all unwearied ; and our inward corruption the most 
 busy and diligent of all. Whatever we are about, it 
 is still resisting us; depraving our duties, perverting 
 our thoughts, dulling our affections to good, exciting 
 them to evil : and will a feeble resistance serve our 
 turn ? Should we not be more active for our own pre- 
 servation, than our enemies for our ruin ? 
 
 5. Our affections and endeavours should bear some 
 proportion with the talents we have received, and the 
 means we have enjoyed. 
 
 It may well be expected that a horseman shall go 
 faster than a footman ; and he that hath a swift horse, 
 faster than he that hath a slow one. More work will 
 be expected from a sound man than from the sick ; 
 and from a man at age, than from a child. And to 
 whom men commit much, from them they will expect 
 the more. 
 
 Now the talents which we have received are many 
 and great; the means which we have enjoyed are veiy 
 many, and very precious. What people breathing on 
 earth, have had plainer instructions, or more forcible 
 persuasions, or constant admonitions, in season and out 
 of season ? Sermons, till we have been weary of them : 
 find sabbaths, till we profaned them ? Excellent books 
 in such plenty that we knew not which to read ? What 
 people have had God so near them, as we have had ? 
 Or have seen Christ, as it were, crucihed before their 
 eyes, as we have done ? What people have had heaven 
 and hell, as it were, opened unto them, as we have ? 
 Scarce a day wherein we have not had some spur to 
 put us on. W T hat speed then should such a people 
 make for heaven ! How should they fly that are thus 
 winged ! And how swiftly should they sail that have 
 wind and tide to help them ! Believe it, brethren, 
 God looks for more from England, than from most na- 
 tions in the world ; and for more from you that enjoy 
 these helps, than from the dark, untaught congrega- 
 
11# THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. §6. 
 
 tions of the land. A small measure of grace beseem* 
 not such a people ; nor will an ordinary diligence in 
 the work of God, excuse them. 
 
 6. The vigour of our affections and actions should be 
 answerable to the great cost bestowed upon us, and to 
 the deep engaging mercies which we have received 
 from God. Surely we owe more service to our Mas- 
 ter, from whom we have our maintenance, than we do 
 to a 6tranger ; to whom we were never beholden. 
 
 O the cost that God hath been at for our sakes ! The 
 riches of sea and land, of heaven and earth, hath he 
 poured out unto us. All our lives have been filled up 
 with mercies : we cannot look back upon one hour of 
 it, or one passage in it, but we may behold mercy. 
 We feed upon mercy, we wear mercy upon our backs, 
 we tread upon mercy, mercy within us, mercy without 
 us, for this life, and for that to come. O the rare de- 
 liverances that we have partook of, both national and 
 personal ! How oft, how seasonably, how fully, have 
 our prayers been heard, and our fears removed ! 
 What large catalogues of particular mercies can every 
 Christian rehearse ! To offer to number them would 
 be as endless a task, as to number the stavs, or the 
 sands of the sea shore. 
 
 If there be any difference betwixt hell, (where we 
 should have been) and earth, (where we now are,) yea, 
 or heaven, (which is offered to us,) then certainly we 
 have received mercy. Yea, if the blood of the Son of 
 God be mercy ; then are we engaged to God by 
 mercy ; for so much did it cost him to recover us to 
 himself. And should a people of such deep engage- 
 ments be lazy in their returns ? Shall God think no- 
 thing too much nor too good for us ; and shall we 
 think all too much that we do for him ? Thou art an 
 observing, sensible man, who knowest how much thou 
 art beholden to God. I appeal to thee, is not a loi- 
 tering performance of a few heartless duties, an un- 
 worthy requital of such admirable kindness ? For my 
 own part„ when I compare my slow and unprohtable 
 life, with the frequent and wonderful mercies re- 
 ceived, it shames me, it silenceth me, and leaves me 
 inexcusable. 
 
II. § 0. THE SAINTS ETERLASTINO REST. 119 
 
 7» Consider, All the relations which we stand in to- 
 ward God, call upon us for our utmost diligence. 
 Should not the pot be wholly at the service of the 
 potter ? Are we his children, and do we not owe him 
 our most tender affections, and dutiful obedience ? 
 Are we the spouse of Christ, and do we not owe him 
 our observance, and our love ? " If he be our Father, 
 where is his honour ? And if he be our Master, where 
 is his fear ? We call him Lord and Master, and we 
 do well :" but if our industry be not answerable to our 
 relations, we condemn ourselves in saying, we are his 
 children, or his servants. How will the hard labour 
 and daily toil that servants undergo to please their 
 masters, judge and condemn those men who will not 
 labour so hard for their great Master? Surely there 
 are none who have a more honourable master than we, 
 nor can expect such fruit of their labours. 
 
 8. How close should they ply their work, who have 
 such attendants as we have ! All the world are our 
 servants, that we may be servants of God. The sun, 
 and moon, and stars, attend us with their light and 
 influence ; the earth, with all its furniture, is at our ser- 
 vice. How many thousands of plants and flowers, and 
 fruits, and birds, and beasts, do all attend us ! The 
 sea, with its inhabitants, the air, the wind, the frost 
 and snow, the heat and fire, the clouds and rain, all 
 wait upon us while we do our work ; yea, the angels 
 are ministering spirits for us. And is it not an into- 
 lerable crime tor us to trifle, while all these are em- 
 ployed to assist us ? Nay more ; the patience of God 
 doth wait upon us ; the Lord Jesus Christ waiteth, in 
 the offers of his blood ; the Holy Spirit waiteth, in 
 striving with our backward hearts ; besides, all his ser- 
 vants the ministers of his gospel, who study and wait, 
 and preach and wait, and pray and wait upon careless 
 sinners ; and shall angels and men, yea, the Lord him- 
 self stand by and look on, while thou dost nothing? 
 
 O Christians, I beseech you, whenever you are on 
 your knees in prayer, or reproving the transgressors, 
 or exhorting the obstinate, or upon any duty, remem- 
 ber what attendants you have for this work ; and then 
 judge how it behoves you to perform it. 
 
ISO THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 6*. 
 
 9* How forward and painful should we be in that 
 work, where we are sure we can never do enough ! 
 If there were any danger in over-doing-, then it might 
 well cause men to moderate their endeavours; but we 
 know, That if we could do all, we were but unpro- 
 fitable servants ; much more when we fail in all. 
 
 It is true, a man may possibly preach too much, or 
 hear too much, (though 1 have known few that did so) 
 but yet no man can obey or serve God too much, one 
 duty may be said to be too long, when it shuts out 
 another; and then it ceaseth indeed to beaduty. And 
 all superstition, or worship of our own devising, may 
 be called a righteousness over-much ; yet as long as 
 you keep your service to the rule of the Word, you 
 never need to fear being righteous over-much : or else 
 we should reproach the Lord and Lawgiver of the 
 Church, as if he commanded us to do too much. 
 
 If the world were not mad with malice, they could 
 never be so blinded in this point as they are : to think 
 that diligence in Christ is folly and singularity; and 
 that they who set themselves wholly to seek eternal life, 
 are but precise Puritans/ The time is near, when 
 they will easily confess, that God could not be loved or 
 served too much, and that no man can be too busy to 
 save his soul ; for the world you may easilj' do too 
 much, but herein (in God's way) you cannot. 
 
 10. Consider, They that trifle in the way to heaven, 
 lose all their labour. If two be running in a race, he 
 that runs slowest, had as good never run at all ; for he 
 loseth the prize and his labour both. Many, who 
 like Agrippa, are but almost Christians, will tind in 
 the end they shall be but almost saved. God hath set 
 the rate at which the pearl must be bought ; if you 
 bid a penny less, you had as good bid nothing. As a 
 man that is lifting at some weighty things, Line put 
 to almost strength enough, it is as good he put to none 
 at all, for he doth but lose all his labour. 
 
 O how many professors of Christianity will find this 
 true to their sorrow, who have had a mind to the ways 
 of God, and have kept up a dull task of duty, t but 
 never came to serious Christianity ? How many a 
 4uty have they lost, for want of doing them thoroughly. 
 
II. § G. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 1<U 
 
 Many shall seek to enter, and not be able : who, if they 
 had striven, might have been able. O therefore put 
 to a little more diligence and strength, that all be not 
 in vain that you have done already ! 
 
 11. Furthermore, We have lost a great deal of time 
 already, and therefore it is reason that we labour so 
 much the harder. If a traveller sleep, or trifle out 
 most of the day, he must travel so much the faster in 
 the evening, or fall short of his journey's end. With 
 some of us our childhood and youth are gone; with 
 some also their middle age ; and the time before us is 
 very uncertain. What a deal of time we have slept 
 away, aud talked away, and played away ! What a 
 deal have we spent in worldly thoughts and labours, 
 or in mere idleness! Though in likelihood the most 
 of our time is spent, yet how little of our work is 
 done ! And is it not time to bestir ourselves in the 
 evening of our days ? The time which we have lost, 
 can never be recalled ; should we not then redeem it 
 by improving the little which remaineth ? You may 
 receive indeed an equal recommence with those that have 
 borne the burthen and heat of the day^ though you come 
 not in till the last hour : but then you must be sure to 
 labour diligently that hour : It is enough, sure, that 
 we have lost so much of our lives. Let us not now be 
 so foolish as to lose the rest. 
 
 12. Consider, the greater your layings-out are, the 
 greater will be your comings-in. Though you may 
 seem to lose your labour at the present, yet the hour 
 cometh when you shall find it with advantage. The 
 seed which is buried and dead, will bring forth a plen- 
 tiful increase ;n the harvest. Whatever you do, and 
 whatever you suffer, everlasting Rest will pay for all. 
 There is no repenting of labours and sufferings in 
 heaven ; none says, «.« Would I had spared my pains, 
 and prayed less, or been less strict, and did as the rest 
 of my neighbours did:" there is not such a thought 
 in heaven as this. But on the contrary, it will be 
 their joy to look back upon their labours, and consider 
 how'the mighty power of God did bring them through 
 all. Who ever complained that he came to heaven at 
 too dear a rate: or that his salvation cost him more 
 
 1/ 
 
122 TH£ SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. IT. § 6. 
 
 labour than it was worth ? We may say of all our 
 labour, as Paul of his Bufferings, " I reckon that the 
 Bufferings (and labours) of the present time, are not 
 worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be 
 revealed." We labour but for a moment, but we 
 shall rest for ever. Who would not put forth all his 
 strength for one hour, when he may be a prince while 
 he lives ? 
 
 Oh, what is duty and suffering for a short life, 
 in respect of endless joys with God ? Will not all oar 
 tears be then wiped away f and all the sorrows of our 
 duties forgotten ? But yet the Lord will not forget 
 them : " for he is not unjust to forget our work and 
 labour of love." 
 
 13. Consider, violent and laborious striving for 
 salvation, is the way that the wisdom of God hath 
 directed us to, as best, and his sovereign authority ap- 
 pointed us, as necessary. Who knows the way to 
 heaven better than the God of heaven ? When men 
 tell us that we are too strict, whom do they accuse, 
 God or us ? If we do no more than what we are com- 
 manded, nor so much neither; they may as well say, 
 God hath made laws which are too strict. Sure if it 
 were a fault, it would lie in him that commands, and 
 not in us who obey. And dare these men think that 
 they are wiser than God ? What do they less, when 
 God bids us take the most diligent course, and they 
 tell us, it is more ado than needs ? Mark well the 
 language of God, and see how you can reconcile it 
 with the language of the world : " The kingdom of 
 heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by 
 force. Strive to enter in at the strait gate : for many 
 shall seek to enter in, and will not be able. What;- 
 soever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might ; 
 for there is no work, nor device, ner knowledge, nor 
 wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest. Work out 
 your salvation with fear and trembling. Give dili- 
 gence to make your calling and election sure. If the 
 righteous be scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly 
 and sinner appear ?" 
 
 This is the constant language of Christ ; and which 
 shall I follow, God or men: yea, and that the worst 
 
M. § 6. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 123 
 
 and most wicked men ? Shall I think that very igno- 
 rant, worldly sot, that can only call a man a Puritan, 
 knows more than Christ, or can tell God how to mend 
 the Scriptures ? Let them bring all the seeming reason 
 they can against the holy, violent striving of the saints ; 
 and this sufficeth me to confute them all, that God is 
 of another mind, and he hath commanded me to do 
 much more than 1 do: and though I could see no 
 reason for it, yet his will is reason enough to me: I 
 am sure God is worthy to govern us, if we were bette. 
 than we are. Who should make .laws for us, but he 
 that made us ? And who should mark out the way to 
 heaven, but he that must bring us thither ? And who 
 should determine on what condition we shall be saved, 
 but he that bestows the gift of salvation ? So that let 
 the world, or the Mesh, or the devil, speak against a 
 holy, laborious course, this is my answer, God hath 
 commanded it. 
 
 14. Moreover, It is a course that all men in the 
 world either do, or will approve of. There is not a 
 man that ever was, or is, or shall he, but shall one 
 day justif}'the diligence of the saints. And who would 
 not go that way which every man shall applaud? 
 
 It is true, it is now " a way every where spoken 
 against and hated ;" but let me tell \ou, 1. Most that 
 speak against it, in their judgmeuis approve of it; 
 only, because the practice of godliness is against the 
 pleasures of the flesh, therefore do they, against their 
 own judgments, resist it. They have not one word of 
 reason against it, but jeprouches and railing are their 
 best arguments. 2. Those that are now against it, 
 whether in judgment or passion, will shortly be of 
 another mind. If they come to heaven, their minds 
 must be changed before they come there. If they go 
 to hell, their judgment will then be altered, whether 
 they will or not. 
 
 If you could speak with every soul that suffereth 
 those torments, and ask, whether it be possible to be 
 too diligent and serious in seeking saivation ; you may 
 easily conjecture what answer they would return. 
 Take the bitterest deriders or persecutors of godliness, 
 even those that will venture their lives to overthrow 
 L2 
 
1*4 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § t>, 
 
 it, if those men do not shortly wish a thousand times 
 that they had been the most holy, diligent Christians 
 on earth, then let me bear the shame of a false prophet 
 for ever. 
 
 Remember this, you that will be of the opinion and 
 way that most are of: Why will j ou not be of the 
 opinion then that all will be shortly of? Why will 
 yon be of tile judgment which you are sure you shall 
 all shortly change ? O that you were but as wise in 
 this, as those that are now in hell ! 
 
 1#. Consider, They that have been the most serious, 
 painful Christians, when they come to die, exceedingly 
 lament their negligence. Those that have wholly ad- 
 dicted themselves to the work of God, and have made 
 it the business of their lives, and have slighted the 
 world, and mortified the flesh, and have been the 
 ■wonders of the world for their heavenly conversation ; 
 yet when conscience is deeply awakened, how do their 
 failings wouud them ! Even those that are hated and 
 derided by the world for being so strict, and are 
 thought to be almost beside themselves, for their extra-* 
 ordinary diligence; yet commonly when they lie dying, 
 wish, O that they had been a thousand times more holy, 
 more heavenly, more laborious for their souls ! What 
 a case then will the negligent world be in, when their 
 consciences are awakened, when they lie dying, and 
 look behind them upon a lazy, negligent life ; and look 
 before them upon a severe and terrible judgment ! 
 What an esteem will they have for a holy life ! For 
 in}' own part, I may say as Erasmus, " They accuse 
 me for doing too much, but my own conscience ac- 
 cuseth me for doing too little, and being too slow : 
 and it is far easier bearing the scorns of the world tl mi 
 the scourges of conscience." The worn! speaks at a 
 distance without me, so thatthough I hear their words, 
 I can choose whether 1 will feel them. Bui my con- 
 science speaks within, at the very heart, so that every 
 check doth pierce me to the quick. Conscience, when 
 it reprehends justly, is the messenger of God : ungodly 
 revilers are the voice of the devil. I had father be re- 
 proached by the devil for seeking salvation, than re- 
 proved of God for neglecting it : 1 had rather th£ 
 
II. § 6. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 125 
 
 •world should call me Puritan in the devil's name, 
 than conscience should call loiterer in God's name. 
 As God and conscience are more useful friends than 
 Satan and the world ; so are they more dreadful, irre- 
 sistible enemies. 
 
 And thus, reader, I have shewn thee sufficient rea- 
 sons against thy slothfulness and negligence, if thou 
 be not a man resolved to shut thine eyes, and to de- 
 stroy thyself. Yet, lest all this should not prevail, I 
 will add somewhat more to persuade thee to be serious 
 in thy endeavours for heaven. 
 
 1. Consider, God is in good earnest with you; and 
 why then should you not be so with him? In his com- 
 mands, he means as he speaks, and will verily require 
 your real obedience. In his threatnings, he isseriou9, 
 and will make them all good against the rebellious. In 
 his promises he is serious, and will fulfil them to the 
 obedient, even to the least tittle. In his judgments he 
 is serions, as he will make his enemies know to their 
 terror. Was not God in good earnest when he drowned 
 the world, when he consumed Sodom and Gomorrah, 
 when he scattered the Jews ? And very shortly he 
 will lay hold on his enemies particularly, man by man, 
 and make them know that he is in good earnest ; 
 especially when it comes to the great reckoning day. 
 And is it a time then for us to dally with God ? 
 
 2. Jesus Christ was serious in purchasing our re- 
 demption. He was serious in teaching, when he 7icg~ 
 lected his meat and drink, John iv. 32. lie was serious 
 in praying, when he continued alt night at it* He was 
 serious in doing good, when his kindred came and laid 
 hands on him, thinking he had been beside himself. 
 He was serious in suffering, when he fasted forty days % , 
 teas tempted, betrayed, spit on, bvffetted, crowned 
 with thorns, sweat blood, -was crucified, pierced, died. 
 There was no jesting in aU this: and shouLd we not be 
 serious in seeking our own salvation ? 
 
 3. The Holy Ghost is serious in soliciting us for 
 our happiness; his motions are frequently pressing, 
 and importunate ; he striveth with our hearts : He is 
 gnuved when we resist him. And should we not thea 
 
 L3 
 
12t> THE SAIXTI EVERLASTING REST. If. § 6. 
 
 be serious in obeying his motions, and yielding to his 
 suit ? 
 
 4. How serious and diligent are all the creatures in 
 their service to thee ! What haste makes the sun to 
 compass the world ! And how truly doth it return at 
 its appointed hour ! So do the moon and other pla- 
 nets. The springs are always flowing for thy use ; 
 the rivers still running ; the spring and harvest keep 
 their times. How hard doth the ox labour for thee 
 from day to day ! How painfully and speedily doth 
 thy horse bear thee in travel ! And shall all these be 
 laborious, and thou only negligent ? Shall they all 
 Le so serious in serving thee, and yet thou be so slight 
 in thy service to God f 
 
 5. Consider the servants of the world and the devil 
 are serious and diligent ; they ply their work conti- 
 nually, as if they could never do enough : They make 
 haste, and march furiously, as if they were afraid of 
 coming to hell too late: They bear down ministers, 
 and sermons, and counsel, and all before them. And 
 shall they do more for the devil, than thou wilt do for 
 God ? Or be more diligent for damnation, than thou 
 wilt be for salvation ? Hast not thou a better Master ? 
 And sweeter employment ? And sweeter encourage- 
 ment ? And a better reward ? 
 
 6 t There is no jesting in heaven, nor in hell. The 
 Saints have a real happiness, and the damned a real 
 misery ; the Saints are serious and high in their joy 
 and praise ; and the damned are serious and deep in 
 their sorrow and complaints. There are no remiss or 
 sleepy praises in heaven ; nor any remiss or sleepy 
 lamentations in hell : All men there are in good earnest. 
 And should we riot then be serious now ? 1 dare pro- 
 mise thee, the thoughts of these things will shortly be 
 serious thoughts with thvself. When thou comest to 
 death or j udgment, O what deep heart-piercing thoughts 
 .wilt chou have of eternity ! Methinks I foresee thee 
 already astonished, to think how thou couldst possibly 
 make so light of these things ! Methinks I even hear 
 thee crying out of thy .stupidity and madness. 
 
 And now having laid thee down these undeniable 
 arguments, 1 do, in the name of God, demand thy 
 
II. § 6. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REIT. f2? 
 
 resolution ; what sayest thou, wilt thou yield obedience 
 or not ? I am confident thy conscience is convinced 
 of thy duty. Darest thou now go on in thy common 
 careless course, against the plain evidence of reason and 
 commands of God, and against the light of thy own 
 conscience? Darest thou live as loosely, and sin as 
 boldly, and pray as seldom and as coldly as before ? 
 Darest thou now as carnally spend the sabbath, and 
 slumber over the service of God as slightly, and think 
 of thine everlasting state as carelessly as before ? Or 
 dost thou noi rather resolve to gird up the loins of thy 
 mind, and to set thyself wholly about the work of 
 thy salvation ; and to do it with all thy might ; and to 
 break over all the oppositions of the world ; and to 
 slight all their scorns and persecutions ; To cast off the 
 Weight that hangeth on thee, and the sin that doth so 
 easily beset thee; and to run with patience and speed 
 the race that is set before thee? I hope these are thy 
 full resolutions : If thou art well in thy wits, I am sure 
 they are. 
 
 Yet because I know the strange obstinacy of the 
 heart of man, and because I would fain leave these 
 persuasions fastened in thy heart, that so, if it be pos- 
 sible, thou mightest be awakened to thy duty, and thy 
 soul might live ; I shall proceed with thee yet a little 
 further. And [ once more entreat thee to stir up" thy 
 attention, and go alon» with me in the free and sober 
 use of thy reason, while I propound these following 
 questions ; and I command thee from God, that thou 
 resist not conviction, but answer them faithfully, and 
 obey accordingly. 
 
 Quest. ]. If you could grow rich by religion, or get 
 lands and lordships thereby ; or if you could be reco- 
 vered from sickness by it, or could live for ever in 
 prosperity on earth ; what kind of lives would you 
 then lead ; and what pains would you take in the ser- 
 vice of God ? And is not the Rest of the Saints a 
 more excellent happiness than all this? 
 
 Quest. 2. If the law of the land did punish every 
 breach of the sabbath, or every omission of family 
 duties, or secret duties, or every cold and heartless 
 prayer with death : If it were felony or treason to be 
 neglrgent in worship, and loose in your lives ; what 
 maimer of persons would you then be ! And what 
 
?28 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 6. 
 
 lives would you lead ! And is not eternal death more 
 terrible than temporal ? 
 
 Quest. 3. If it were God's ordinary course to punish 
 every sin with some present judgment, so that every 
 time a man swears, or is drunk, or speaks a lie, or 
 backbiteth his neighbour, he should be struck dead, or 
 blind, or lame m the place. If God did punish every 
 cold prayer, or neglect of duty with some remarkable 
 plague; what manner of persons would you be! If 
 you should suddenly fall down dead like Ananias and 
 Sapphira with the sin in your hands; or the plague of 
 God should seize upon you as upon the Israelites, 
 while their sweet morsels were yet in their mouths. If 
 but a mark should be set in the forehead of every one 
 that neglected a duty or committed a sin: what kind 
 of lives would you then lead ! And is not eternal 
 wrath more terrible than this ? 
 
 Quest. 4. If you had seen the general dissolution of 
 the world, and all the pomp and glory of it consumed 
 to ashes : if you saw all on fire about you, sumptuous 
 buildings, cities, kingdoms, land, water, earth, heaven, 
 all flaming about your ears ; if you had seen all that 
 men laboured for, and sold their souls for, gone : 
 friends gone : the place of your former abode, gone : 
 the history ended, and all comedown, what would such 
 a sight as this persuade you to do ? Why, such a sight 
 you shall certainly see; I put my question to thee in 
 the words of the Apostle, 2 Pet. iii. " Seeing all these 
 things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought 
 you to be in all holy conversation and godliness ; look- 
 ing for, and hastening unto the coming of the day of 
 God, wherein the heavens being on hre shall be dis- 
 solved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?" 
 As if we should say, We cannot possibly conceive 
 or express what manner of persons we should be in all 
 holiness and godliness, when we do but think of the 
 sudden mid certain, and terrible dissolution of all 
 tilings below. 
 
 Quest. 5. What if you had seen the process of the 
 judgment of the great day ! If you had seen the 
 wicked stand trembling on the leffhaud of the judge, 
 and Christ himself accusing them of their rebellions 
 and neglects, and reminding them of all their former 
 
II. § ft. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. »2# 
 
 slighti ngs of his grace, and at last condemning them 
 to perpetual perdition ! If you had seen the godly 
 standing- on the right hand, and Jesus Christ acknow- 
 ledging their faithful obedience, and adjudging them to 
 the possession of the joy of their Lord ! What manner 
 of persons would you have been after such a sight as 
 this ? Why, this sight you shall one day see, as sure 
 as you live. And why then should not the foreknow- 
 ledge of such a day awake yon to your duty ? 
 
 Quest. 6. What if you had once seen hell open, and 
 all the damned there in their ceaseless torments, and 
 })if\ beard them crying out of their sloth fulness in the 
 day of their visitation, and wishing that they had but 
 another life to live, and that God would but try them 
 once again ? One crying out of his neglect of duty, 
 and another of his loitering and trifling, when he 
 should have been labouring for his life ! What manner 
 of persons would you have been after such a sight 
 as this ? What if you had seen heaven opened, as 
 Stephen did, and all the Saints there triumphing in 
 glory, and enjoying the end of their labours and suf- 
 ferings ? What a life would you live afttr such a 
 sight as fhis ! Why, you will see this with your eyes 
 before it be long. 
 
 Quest. 7. What if you had been in hell but one 
 year, or one day, or hour, and there felt those torments 
 that now you do but hear ? And God should turn 
 you into the world again, and try you with another 
 life-time, and say, I will see whether thou wilt be yet 
 any better : what manner of persons would you be? If 
 you were to live a thousand years, would you not live 
 as strictly as the most precise Saints, and spend all 
 those years in prayer and duty, so you might but 
 escape the torment which you suffered ? How seri- 
 ously then would you speak of hell ! And pray against 
 it ! And hear, and read, and watch, and obey ! IIow 
 earnestly would you admonish the careless to take 
 heed and look about them to prevent their ruin ! And 
 will not5'ou take God's word for the truth of this, ex* 
 cept you feel it ? Is it not your wisdom to spend this 
 life in labouring for heaven, while ye have it, rather 
 than to lie in torment, wishing for more time in vain. 
 
130 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 6. 
 
 And thus I have said enough, if not to stir up the 
 lazy sinner to a serious working out his salvation, yet 
 at least to silence him, and leave him inexcusable at the 
 judgment of God. If thou canst, alter reading all this, 
 go on in the same neglect of God, and thy soul, and 
 .draw out the rest of thy life in the same dull and care- 
 less course as thou hast hitherto done ; and if thou hast 
 so far stupified thy conscience, that it will quietly 
 suili-r thee to forget all this, and to trifle out the rest 
 of thy time in the business of the world, when in the 
 mean while thy salvation is in danger, and the Judge 
 is at the door ; I have then no move to say to thee : it 
 is as good speaking to a rock. (July as we do by our 
 friends when they are dead, and our words and actions 
 can do them no good ; yet to testify our affections, we 
 weep and mourn for them ; so will I also do for these 
 souls. It makes my heart even tremble to think how 
 they will stand trembling before the Lord ! And how 
 confounded and speechless they will be, when Christ 
 shall reason with them concerning their negligence and 
 sloth! When he shall say as in Jer. ii. 5, 9, 11, 15, 
 " What iniquity have your Fathers (or you) found in 
 me, that ye are gone far from me, and have walked 
 after vanity ?" Did I ever wrong you, or do you 
 any harm, or ever discourage you from following my 
 service ? Was my way so bad that you could net en- 
 dure it ? Or my service so base that you could not 
 stoop to it ? Did 1 stoop to the fulfilling of the law 
 for you, and could not you stoop to fulfil the easy con- 
 ditions of my gospel ? Was the world or Satan a better 
 friend to you than I ? Or had they done for you more 
 than I had done ? Try now whether they will save 
 you, or whether they will recompense you for the loss 
 of heaven ! Or whether they will be as good to you 
 as I would have been ? O, what will the wretched 
 sinner answer to any of this ? But though man will 
 not hear, yet we may hope in speaking to God : — Lord, 
 smite these rocks till they gush forth waters: though 
 these ears are deaf, say to them, Ephphatha, be opened : 
 though these sinners be dead, let that power speak, 
 which some time said, Lazarus, arise ! We know they 
 will be awakened at the lass resurrection: O, but then 
 it will be only to their sorrow, O thou that didst weep 
 
II. § 6. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 131 
 
 and groan over dead Lazarus, pity these sad and sense- 
 less souls, till they are able to weep, and groan for, 
 and pity themselves. As thou hast bid thy servant 
 speak, so speak now thyself; they will hear thy voice 
 speaking to their ears. Long hast thou knocked at 
 these hearts in vain, now break the doors, and enter in. 
 
 Vet I will add a few more words to good men in 
 particular, to shew them Why they above all men 
 should be laborious for heaven ; and that there is a 
 great deal of reason, that though all the world sit still, 
 yet they should abhor that laziness and negligence, 
 and lay out all their strength in the work of God. To 
 this end, I desire them also to answer soberly to these 
 few questions. 
 
 Quest. 1. What manner of persons should those be, 
 who have felt the smart of their negligence, in the 
 new-birth, in their several wounds and trouble of con- 
 science, in their doubts and fears, in their various 
 afflictions ? They that have groaned and cried out 
 so oft, under the sense and effects of their negligence, 
 and are likely enough to feel it again, if they do not 
 reform it, sure one would think they would be slothful 
 no more. 
 
 Quest. 2. What manner of persons should those be 
 who have bound themselves to God, by so many cove- 
 nants as we have done, and in special have covenanted 
 so oft to be more painful and faithful in his service ? 
 At every sacrament ; on many days of humiliation and 
 thanksgiving; in most of our deep distresses and dan- 
 gerous sicknesses ; we are still ready to bewail our 
 neglects, and to engage ourselves, if God will but try 
 us, and trust us once again, how diligent and laborious 
 we shall be, and how we shall improve our time, and 
 reprove offenders, and watch over ourselves, and ply 
 our work ; and do him more service in a day, than we 
 did in a month ? The Lord pardon our perfidious 
 covenant-breaking ; and grant that our engagements 
 may not condemn us. 
 
 Quest. 3. W 7 hat manner of men should they be in 
 duty, who have received so much encouragement, as 
 we have done ? Who have tasted sue!) sweetness in 
 diligent obedience, as doth much more than counter- 
 
132 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 6. 
 
 vail all the pains ; who have so oft had experience of 
 the wide difference between lazy and laborious duty, 
 by their different issues ; who have found all our lazy 
 duties unfruitful ; and all our strivings and wrestlings 
 with God successful, so that we were never importu- 
 nate with God in vain. We who have had so many 
 deliverances upon urgent seeking ! and have received 
 almost all our solid comforts in a way of close and 
 constant duty : How should we above all men ply our 
 work ? 
 
 Quest. 4. What manner of persons should they be 
 in holiness, who have so much of the great work yet 
 undone ! So many" sins in so great strength ; gTaces 
 weak, sanctification imperfect, corruption still work- 
 ing, and taking advantage of all our omissions ! When 
 we are as a boatman on the water ; let him row ever 
 so hard a month together, if he do but slack his hand, 
 and think to ease himself, his boat goes faster down 
 the stream than before it went up : so do our souls, 
 when we think to ease ourselves by abating our pains 
 in duty. Our time is short : our enemies mighty : 
 our hindrances many : God seems yet at a distance 
 from many of us : our thoughts of him are dull and 
 unbelieving : our acquaintance and communion with 
 Christ are small : and our desires to be with him are as 
 small. And should men in our case stand still ? 
 
 Quest. 5. Lastly, What manner of persons should 
 they be, on whom the glory of the great God doth so 
 much depend ! Men will judge of the father by the 
 children, and of the master by the servants. We bear 
 hi* image, and therefore men will measure him by his 
 representation* He is no where in the world so lively 
 represented as in his saints : and shall they set him 
 forth as a pattern of idleness ? All the world is not 
 capable of honouring or dishonouring God so much as 
 we : and the least of his honour is of more worth than 
 all our lives. Seeing then that all these things are so, 
 I charge thee who art a Christian, in my Master's 
 name, to consider, and resolve the question, ■** What 
 ..manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conver- 
 sation and godliness?" And let thy life answer the 
 question as well as thy tongue. 
 
If. § 7. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 133 
 
 I have been large upon this use, partly because of 
 the general neglect of heaven, that all sorts are guilty 
 of; partly because men's salvation depends upon their 
 present striving and seeking ; partly because the doc- 
 trine of free-grace misunderstood, is lately so abused 
 to the cherishing of sloth and security : partly because 
 many eminent men of late do judge, that to work or 
 labour for life and salvation is mercenary, lega', and 
 dangerous ; which doctrine (as I have said before) 
 were it by the owners reduced into practice, would 
 undoubtedly damn them ; because they that seek not, 
 shall not find ; and they that strive not to enter, shall 
 be shut out ; and they that labour not, shall not be 
 crowned ; and partly because it is grown the custom, 
 instead of striving for the kingdom, and contending 
 for the faith, to strive with each other about uncertain 
 controversies, and to contend about the circumstantials 
 of the faith ; wherein the kingdom of God doth no 
 more consist than in meats or drinks, or genealogies. 
 Sirs, shall we who are brethren fall out by the way 
 home, and spend so much of our time about the 
 smaller matters which thousands have been saved with- 
 out, but never any one saved by them, while Christ. 
 and our eternal Rest are almost forgotten ? The 
 Lord pardon and heal the folly of his people. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 The third Use : Persuading all men to try their Title 
 to this Rest ; and directing them how to try t that 
 they may know. 
 
 I NOW proceed to the third use; and because it is 
 of very great importance, I entreat thee to weigh it 
 the more seriously. 
 
 Is there such a glorious Rest so near at hand ? And 
 shall none enjoy it but the people or God ? What 
 mean the most of the world then, to live so contentedly 
 without the assurance of their interest in this Rest ? 
 and to neglect the trial of their title to it, when the 
 Lord bath so fully opened the blessedness of that king- 
 M 
 
134 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 7. 
 
 dom, which none but obedient believers shall possess, 
 and so fully expressed those torments which all the rest 
 of the world must eternally suffer ! A man would 
 think now, that they who believe this, should never be 
 at any quiet till they were heirs of the kingdom. Most 
 men say, they believe this word of God to be true : 
 how then can they sit still in such an utter uncertainty, 
 whether ever they shall live in Rest or not? Lord, 
 what a wonderful madness is this, that men who know 
 they must presently enter upon unchangeable joy or 
 pain, should yet live as uncertain what shall be their 
 doom, as if they had never heard of any such state ; 
 yea, and live as quietly and as merrily in this uncer- 
 tainty, as if nothing ailed them, and there were no 
 danger ! Are these men alive or dead ? Are they 
 waking, or asleep ? What do they think on ? Where 
 are their hearts ? If they have but a weighty suit at 
 law how careful are they to know whether it will go 
 with them, or against them ? If they were to be tried 
 for their lives, how careful would they be to know 
 whether they should be saved or condemned, espe- 
 cially if their care might surely save them ? If they 
 be dangerously sick, they will inquire of the physi- 
 cian : What think you, sir, shall I escape or not ? But 
 for the business of their salvation, they are content to 
 be uncertain. If you ask most men a reason of their 
 hope to be saved, they will say, It is because God is 
 merciful, and Christ died for sinners, and the like ge- 
 neral reasons they will assign, which any man in the 
 world may give as well as they : but put them to prove 
 their interest in Christ, and in the saving mercy of 
 God, and they can say nothing at all, at least nothing 
 out of their hearts and experience. 
 
 If God should ask them for their souls, as he did 
 Cain for his brother Abel, they could return but such 
 an answer as he did. If God or man should say to 
 any of them, What case is thy soul in, man ? Is it in 
 a state of life, or a state of death ? He would be ready 
 to say, 1 know not : am I my soul's keeper ? I hope 
 well ; 1 trust God with my soul, I shall speed as well 
 as other men do, I thank God I never made any doubt 
 of my salvation. Thou hast more cause to doubt a great 
 deal, because thou never didst doubt; and yet more 
 because thou hast been so careless in thy confidence. 
 
II. § 7. TUE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 135 
 
 What do these expressions discover, but a wilful neg- 
 lect of thy own salvation ? As a ship-master that could 
 let his vessel alone and say, " I will venture it among 
 the rocks, and the waves, and winds ; I will trust God 
 with it ; it will speed as well as other vessels do. In- 
 deed as well as other men's that are diligent and watch- 
 ful." What horrible abuse of God is this, for men to 
 pretend they trust God, to cloak their own wilful 
 negligence? If thou didst truly trust God, thou 
 wouldst also be ruled by him, and trust him in that 
 way which he hath appointed thee. He requires thee 
 to " give all diligence to make thy calling and election 
 sure," and so to trust him, 1 Pet. i. 10. He hath 
 marked thee out a way by which thou mayest come to 
 be sure ; and charged thee to search and try thyself 
 till thou certainly know. Were he not a foolish tra- 
 veller, that would go on when he doth not know whe- 
 ther it be right or wrong; and say, I hope 1 am right ; I 
 will go on and trust God ? Art not thou guilty of this 
 folly in thy travels to eternity ? Not considering that 
 a little serious enquiry whether the way be right, 
 might save thee a great deal of labour which thou be- 
 stowest in vain, and must undo again, or else thou 
 wilt miss of salvation, and undo thyself. Did I not 
 know what a desperate, blind, carnal heart is, I should 
 wonder how thou art able to keep off continual terrors 
 from thy heart ; and especially in these cases following : 
 
 1. I wonder how thou canst either think or speak of 
 the dreadful God without exceeding terror and asto- 
 nishment, as long as thou art uncertain whether he be 
 thy father or thy enemy, and knowest not but all his 
 attributes may be employed against thee. If his Saints 
 ?nust rejoice before him with trembling, and serve him 
 with fear : if they that are sure to receive the immov- 
 able kingdom, must yet serve God with reverence and 
 godly fear, because He is a consuming fire : how ter- 
 rible should the remembrance of him be to them that 
 know not but this fire may for ever consume them ? 
 
 2. How dost thou think, without trembling, upon 
 Jesus Christ ? When.thou knowest not whether his 
 blood hath purged thy soul ? And whether he will 
 condemn thee, or acquit thee in judgment ; nor whe- 
 ther he be the corner-stone and foundation of thy hap- 
 
 M 2 
 
136 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § ?• 
 
 piness, or a stone of stumbling- to break thee, and 
 grind thee to powder ? 
 
 3. How canst thou open the Bible, and read a chap- 
 ter, or hear a chapter read, without being terrified ? 
 Methinks every leaf should be to thee as B^lshazzar's 
 writing on the wall, except that which only draws thee 
 to try and reform. If thou read the promises, thou 
 know est not whether ever they shall be fulfilled in thee, 
 because thou art uncertain of thy performance of the 
 condition. If thou read the threatenings, for any thing 
 thou knowest, thou dost read thy own sentence. I do 
 not wonder if thou art an enemy to plain preaching, 
 and if thou say of it, and of the minister and Scripture 
 itself, as Ahab did of the prophet, " I hate him, for 
 he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil." 
 
 4. What comfort canst thou find in any thing which 
 thou possessest ? Methinks, friends, and honours, and 
 houses, and lands, should do thee little good, till thou 
 know thou hast the love of God withal, and shalt have 
 Rest with him when thou leavest these. Offer to a 
 prisoner before he knows his sentence, either music, or 
 lands, or preferment, and what cares he for any of 
 these till he know whether he shall escape for his life. 
 Then he will look after these comforts of life, and not 
 before ; for he knows if he must die the next day, it 
 will be small comfort to die rich or honourable. Even 
 when thou liest down to take thy rest, methinks the 
 uncertainty of thy salvation should keep thee waking, 
 or amaze thee in thy dreams and trouble thy sleep ; 
 and thou shouldst say, as Job in a smaller distress 
 than thine, Job vii. 13, 14, " When I say, my bed 
 shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint, 
 then thou scarest me through dreams, and terrifiest 
 me through visions." 
 
 5. W T hat shift dost thou make to think of thy dying 
 hour ? Thou knowest it is hard by, and there is no 
 avoiding it, nor any medicine found out that can pre- 
 vent it ; thou knowest it is the king of terrors, and 
 the inlet to thine unchangeable state. If thou 
 shouldest die this day (and who knows what a day may 
 bring forth ?) thou dost not know whether thou shalt 
 go straight to heaven or hell ! and canst thou be merry 
 till thou art got out of this dangerous state ? 
 
II. § 7- THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 13? 
 
 6. What shift dost thou make to preserve thy heart 
 from horror, when thou rememberest the great judg- 
 ment day, and the everlasting flames ? Dost thou not 
 tremble as Felix when thou nearest of it ? and as the 
 elders of the town trembled when Samuel came to it, 
 saying, Comest thou peaceably? So methinks thou 
 shouldst do when the minister comes into the pulpit : 
 and thy heart, whenever thou meditatest on that day, 
 should meditate terror, and thou shouldst even be a 
 terror to thyself and all thy friends. If the keepers 
 trembled, and became as dead men, when they did 
 but see the angels, Matt, xxviii. 3, 4, how canst thou 
 but think of living in hell with devils, till thou hast 
 got some sound assurance that thou shalt escape it ? 
 Or if thou seldom think of those things, the wonder is 
 as great, what shift thou makest to keep those thoughts 
 from thy heart ? Thy bed is very soft, or thy heart is 
 very hard, if thou canst sleep soundly in this uncer- 
 tain case. 
 
 I have shewed thee the danger ; let me next pro- 
 ceed to shew thee the remedy. 
 
 If this general uncertainty of the world, about their 
 salvation were remediless, then must it be borne as 
 other unavoidable miseries : but, alas, the common 
 cause is wilfulness and negligence : men will not be 
 persuaded to use the remedy, though it be at hand, 
 prescribed to them by God himself, and all necessary 
 helps thereunto provided for them. The great mean 
 to conquer this uncertainty, is self-examination, or the 
 serious and diligent trying of a man's heart and state 
 by the rule of Scripture. But, alas, either men under- 
 stand pet the nature and use of this duty, or else they 
 will not be at the pains to try. Go through a congre- 
 gation of a thousand men, and how few of them will 
 you meet with, that ever bestowed one hour in ail 
 their lives in a close examination of their title to hea- 
 ven ? Ask thy own conscience, reader, when was 
 the time, and where was the place, that ever thou 
 solemnly tookest thy heart to task, as in the sight of 
 God, and examinest it by Scripture, whetherit be 
 horn again or not ? Whether it be holy or not ? Whe- 
 ther it be set most on God or on creatures, on heaven 
 •r earth ? And when didst thou follow on this exami- 
 M3 
 
138 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 7. 
 
 nation, till thou hadst discovered thy condition, and 
 so passed sentence on thyself accordingly ? 
 
 But because this is a work of so high concernment, 
 and so commonly neglected, I will therefore, * 
 
 1. Shew you, That it is possible by trying, to come 
 to a certainty. 
 
 2. Shew you the hindrances that keep men from 
 trying, and from assurance. 
 
 3. 1 will lay down some motives to persuade you 
 to it. 
 
 4. I will give you some directions how to perform it. 
 
 5. And lastly, I will lay you down some marks out 
 of Scripture, by which you may try, and come to an 
 infallible certainty, whether you are the people of 
 God or not. 
 
 And, 1. I shall shew you that a certainty of salva- 
 tion may be attained, and ought to be laboured for. 
 Which I maintain by these arguments: 
 
 1. The Scripture tells us we may know, and that 
 the Saints before us have known their justification, 
 and future salvation, 2 Cor. v. 1. Rom. viii. ]6. 
 John xxi. 15. 1 John v. 10. and iv. 13. and iii. 14, 
 24. and ii. 3, 5. Eph. iii. 12. I refer you to the 
 places for brevity. 
 
 2. If we may be certain of the premises, then may 
 we also be certain of the conclusion. But here we 
 may be certain of both the premises. For, 1. That 
 " whosoever believeth in Christ shall not perish, but 
 have everlasting life," is the voice of the gospel ; and, 
 2. That we are such believers, may be known by con- 
 science and internal sense. 
 
 3. The Scripture would never make such a wide 
 difference between the children of God and the chil- 
 dren of the devil, and set forth the happiness of the 
 one, and the misery of the other, and make this diffe- 
 rence to run through all the veins of its doctrine, if a 
 man cannot know which of these two states he is in. 
 
 4. Much less would the Holy Ghost bid us, " Give 
 all diligence to make our calling and election sure," 
 if it could not be done, 2 Pet. i. 1Q. 
 
II. § 7. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 139 
 
 5. And to what purpose should we be so earnestly 
 urged to examine, and prove, and try ourseives, whe- 
 ther we be in the faith, and whether Christ be in us, 
 or we be reprobates : 2 Cor. xiii. 5. Why should we 
 search for that which cannot be found ? 
 
 6. How can we obey those precepts which require 
 us to rejoice always ? 1 Thess. v. 16. to call God our 
 Father, Luke xi. 13, to live in his praises, Psalm xlix. 
 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and to long for Christ's coining, Rev. 
 xxii. 17, 20, 2 Thess. i. 10. and to comfort ourselves 
 with the mention of it, 1 Thess. iv. 18, which are all 
 the consequences of assurance ? Who can do any of 
 these heartily, that is not in some measure sure that 
 he is a child of God ? 
 
 The second thing I promised, is to shew you what 
 are the hindrances which keep men from examination 
 and assurance. I shall, 1. Shew what hindereth them 
 from trying ; and, 2. What hindereth them from know- 
 ing when they do try, that so when you see the impe- 
 diments, you may avoid them. 
 
 And, 1. We cannot doubt but Satan will do his 
 part, to hinder us from such a necessary duty as this ; 
 if all the powers he hath can do it, or all the means and 
 instruments which he can raise up. He is loath the 
 godly should have that assurance and advantage against 
 corruption, which faithful self-examination would pro- 
 cure them ; and for the ungodly he knows, if they 
 should once fall close to this they would rind out his 
 deceits and their own danger. If they did but faith- 
 fully perform this duty, he were likely to lose most of 
 his subjects. If the snare be not hid, the bird will 
 escape it: Satan knows how to angle for souls, better 
 than to shew them the hook or line, and to fright them 
 away with a noise, or with his own appearance. 
 
 Therefore he labours to keep them from a searching 
 ministry ; or to keep the minister from helping them 
 to search : or to take off the edge of the word, that 
 it may not pierce, or to turn away their thoughts, or 
 possess them with prejudice. Satan is acquainted with 
 all the preparations of the minister, he knows when he 
 hath provided a searching sermon, fitted to the state 
 and necessity of an hearer ; and therefore he will keep 
 him away that day, if it be possible, or else cast him 
 
14© THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 7. 
 
 asleep, or steal away the word by the cares and talk of 
 the world, or sonu- way pi event its operation. 
 
 This ia the first hindrance. 
 
 Wicked men are also great impediments to poor 
 sinners when they should examine and discover their 
 estates. 
 
 1. Their examples hi der much. When any igno- 
 rant sinner seeth all his friends j,\u\ neighbours do as 
 he doth, yea, the rich and learned as well as others, 
 this is an exceeding great temptation to proceed in his 
 security. 
 
 i2. The merry company, and discourse of these men 
 do bake away the thoughts of his spiritual state, and 
 make the understanding drunk : so that if the Spirit 
 had before put them into any jealousy of themselves, 
 or any purpose to try themselves, these do soon quench 
 them all. 
 
 3. Also their continual discourse of matters of the 
 world, doth damp all these purposes. 
 
 4. Their railings also, and scorning at godly per- 
 sons, is a very great impediment to multitudes of souls, 
 and possessed) them with such a prejudice and dislike 
 of the way to heaven, that they settle in the way they 
 are in. 
 
 5. Their constant persuasions, allurements and 
 threats, hinder much. God doth scarce ever open the 
 eyes of a poor sinner, to see that his way is wrong, but 
 presently there is a multitude of Satan's apostles ready 
 to natter him, to daub, and deceive, and settle him 
 again in the quiet possession of his former master. 
 " What, saj r they, do you make a doubt of your salva- 
 tion, who have lived so well, and done nobody harm ? 
 God is merciful ; and if such as you shall not be saved, 
 God help a great many ! What do you think is be- 
 come of all your forefathers ? And what will become 
 of all your friends and neighbours that live as you do ? 
 Will they all be damned ? Shall none be saved, think 
 you, but a few strict ones ? Come, come, if ye hearken 
 to these books or preachers, they will drive you to 
 despair, or drive you out of your wits." Thus do they 
 follow the soul that is escaping from Satan, with rest- 
 less cries till they have brought him back : Oh, how 
 many thousands have such charms kept asleep in secu- 
 
II. § 7. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 141 
 
 rity, till death and hell have awakened and better in- 
 formed them ! The Lord calls to the sinner, and tells 
 him, " The gate is straight, the way narrow, and few 
 find it : — try, and examine whether thou be in the faith 
 or not ; give all diligence to make sure in time !" — 
 And the world cries out cleanly the contrary, «' Never 
 doubt, never trouble yourselves with these thoughts !" 
 — I entreat the sinner that is in this state, to consider, 
 That it is Christ, and not their fathers, or mothers, or 
 neighbours, or friends, that must judge them : and if 
 Christ condemn them, these cannot save them : and 
 therefore common reason may tell them, that it is not 
 from the words of ignorant men, but from the word of 
 God that they must fetch their hopes of salvation. 
 
 When Ahab would inquire among the multitude of 
 flattering prophets, it was his death. They can flatter 
 men into the snare, but they cannot bring them out. 
 Oh, take the counsel of the Holy Ghost, Eph. v. 6, 7, 
 " Let no man deceive you with vain words : for be- 
 cause of these things cometh the wrath of God upon 
 the children of disobedience : be not ye therefore par- 
 takers with them ; bat save yourselves from this unto- 
 ward generation." 
 
 1. But the greatest hindrances are in men's own 
 hearts. 
 
 Some are so ignorant, that they know not what self- 
 examination is, nor what a minister means when he 
 persuadeth them to try themselves ; or they know not 
 that there is any necessity for it : but think every man 
 is bound to believe that God is his father, and that his 
 sins are pardoned, whether it be true or false : and that 
 it were a great fault to make any question of it : or 
 they do not think that assurance can be attained : or 
 that there is any such great difference betwixt one 
 man and another : but that we are all Christians, and 
 therefore need not trouble ourselves any farther: or at 
 least they know not wherein the difference lies ; nor 
 how to set upon this searching of their hearts. They 
 have as gross conceit of that regeneration, which they 
 must search for, as Nicodemus had. They are like 
 those in Acts xix. 2, that knew not whether there were 
 m Holy Ghost to be received or not. 
 
141 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § /• 
 
 2. Some are so possessed with self-love and pride 
 that they will not so much as suspect any danger to 
 themselves. Like a proud tradesman who scorns the 
 motion when his friends desire him to cast up his 
 books, because they are afraid he will break. As some 
 fond parents that have an over-weening conceit of their 
 own children, and therefore will not believe or hear 
 any evil of them : such a fond self-love doth hinder 
 men from suspecting and trying their states. 
 
 3. Some are so guilty that they dare not try : they 
 are so fearful that they should find their states unsound, 
 that they dare not search into them. And yet they 
 dare venture them to a more dreadful trial. 
 
 4. Some are so in love with their sin, and so in dis- 
 like with the way of God, that they dare not fall on 
 the trial of their ways, lest they be forced from the 
 course which they love. 
 
 5. Some are so resolved already never to change 
 their present state, that they neglect examination as a 
 useless thing : before they will turn so precise and 
 seek a new way, when they have lived so long, and 
 gone so far, they will put their eternal state to the 
 venture, come of it what will. And when a man is 
 fully resolved to hold to his way and not to turn back, 
 be it right or wrong, to what end should he inquire 
 whether he be right or not ? 
 
 6. Most men are so taken up with their worldly 
 affairs, and are so busy in providing for the flesh, that 
 they cannot set themselves to the trying of their title 
 to heaven : they have another kind of happiness in 
 their eye, which will not suffer them to make sure of 
 heaven. 
 
 7. But the most common impediment is that false 
 faith and hope commonly called Presumption : which 
 bears up the hearts of most of the world, and so keeps 
 them from suspecting their danger. 
 
 Thus you see what abundance of difficulties must 
 be overcome before a man closely sets upon the exa- 
 mining of his heart. 
 
 And if a man break through all these impediments, 
 and set upon the duty, yet, of these few who inquire 
 after means of assurance, divers are deceived and mis- 
 carry, especially through these following causes: 
 
II. §. 7. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 14$ 
 
 1. There is such confusion and darkness in the soul 
 of man, especially of an nnregenerate man, that he can 
 scarcely tell what he doth, or what is in him. As one 
 can hardly find any thing in a house where nothing 
 keeps its place, but all is cast on a heap together ; so 
 is it in the heart where all things are in disorder, espe- 
 cially when darkness is added to this disorder, so that 
 the heart is like an obscure dungeon, where there is 
 but a little crevice of light, and a man must rather 
 grope than see. No wonder if men mistake in search- 
 ing such a heart, and so miscarry in judging fheir es- 
 tates. 
 
 2. Besides, many are resolved what to judge before 
 they try : they use the duty but to strengthen their 
 present conceits of themselves, and not to find out the 
 truth of their condition : like a bribed judge who ex- 
 amines each party as if he would judge uprightly, 
 when he is resolved which way the cause shall go be- 
 forehand. Just so do men examine their hearts. 
 
 3. Also men try themselves by false marks and 
 rules : not knowing wherein the truth of Christianity 
 doth consist : some looking beyond, and some short 
 of the Scripture standard. 
 
 Lastly, Men frequently miscarry in this work by 
 setting on it in their own strength. As some expect 
 the Spirit should doit without them, so others attempt 
 it themselves without seeking or expecting the help of 
 the Spirit: both these will certainly miscarry in their 
 assurance. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Farther Causes of Doubting among Christians. 
 
 BECAUSE the comfort of a Christian's life doth so 
 much consist in his assurance of God's special love, 
 and because the right way of obtaining it is so much 
 controverted, 1 will here proceed a little further in 
 opening to you some other hindrances, which keep 
 Christians from a comfortable certainty. 
 
 1. One great cause of doubting and uncertainty, is, 
 The weakness of our grace. A little grace is next to 
 none. Small things are hardly discerned. Most con- 
 
 4 
 
144 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 7. 
 
 tent themselves with a small measure of grace, and «lo 
 not follow on to spiritual strength and manhood. They 
 believe so weakly, and love God so little, that they 
 can scarcely find whether they believe and love at all. 
 Like a man in a swoon, whose pulse and breathing are 
 so weak, that they can hardly be perceived whether 
 they move at all, and consequently whether the man 
 be alive or dead. 
 
 The chief remedy for such would be to follow on 
 their duty, till their grace be increased ; ply your 
 work : wait upon God in the use of his prescribed 
 means, and he will undoubtedly bless you with increase. 
 Oh that Christians would bestow most of that time in 
 getting more grace, which they bestow in anxious 
 donbtings whether they have any or none ; and that 
 they would lay out those serious affections in praying, 
 and seeking to Christ for more grace, which they be- 
 stow in fruitless complaints ! I beseech thee take this 
 advice as from God ! And then, when thou believest 
 strongly, and lovest fervently, thou canst not doubt 
 whether thou believe and love or not; no more than a 
 man that is burning hot can doubt whether he be 
 warm : or a man that is strong and lusty can doubt 
 whether he be alive. 
 
 -2. Many a soul lieth long under doubting, through 
 the imperfection of their very reason, and exceeding 
 weakness oi' heir natural parts. Grace doth usually 
 rather tin. loi ur faculties on better objects, than add 
 to the degree oi rheir natural strength. Many honest 
 hearts have such weak heads, that they know not how 
 to perform the work of self-trial ; they are not able to 
 argue the case : they will acknowledge the premises, 
 and yet deny the apparent conclusion. Or if they be 
 brought to acknowled .■ the conclusion, yet they do 
 but stagger in their v oncession, and hold it so weakly, 
 that every assault may ake it from them. If God do 
 not some other way supply to these men the defect of 
 their reason, I see not how they should have clear and 
 settled peace. 
 
 3. Another common cause of doubting and discom- 
 fort, is, the secret maintaining some known sin. 
 
 When a man liveth in some unwarrantable practice, 
 and God hath often touched him for it, and vet he con- 
 
It § 8. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 145 
 
 tinueth it ; it is no wonder if this person want both 
 assurance and comfort. One would think that a sout 
 that is so tender as to tremble, should be as tender of 
 *inning: and yet sad experience telleth us that it is 
 frequently otherwise : I have known too many such, 
 that would complain and yet sin, and accuse them- 
 selves, and yet sin still, yea, and despair, and yet pro- 
 ceed in sinning: and all arguments and means could 
 not keep them from the wilful committing of that sin. 
 again and again, which yet they themselves did think 
 would prove their destruction. Yea, some will be car- 
 ried away with those sins that seem most contrary to 
 their dejected temper. I have known them that would 
 fill men's ears with the constant lamentations of their 
 miserable state, and accusations against themselves, as 
 if they had been the most humble people in the world ; 
 and yet be as passionate in maintaining their inno- 
 cency when another accuseth them, and as intolerably 
 peevish, and tender of their reputation in any thing 
 they are blamed for, as if they were the proudest per- 
 sons on earth. 
 
 This cherishing sin doth hinder assurance, these four 
 ways : 
 
 1 . It doth abate the degree of our graces, and s» 
 makes them undiscernable. 
 
 2. It obscureth that which it destroy eth not; for it 
 beareth such sway that grace is not seen to stir, nor 
 scarce heard to speak for the noise of this corruption. 
 
 3. It putteth out, or darkeneth the eye of the soul, 
 and it benumbeth and stupifieth it. 
 
 4. J>ut especially it provoketh God to withdraw 
 himself, his comforts, and the assistance of his Spirit, 
 without which we may search long enough before we 
 have assurance. God hath made a separation betwixt 
 sin and peace. As long as thou dost cherish thy pride, 
 thy love of the world, the desires of the flesh, or any 
 unchristiau practice, thou expectest assurance and 
 comfort in vain. God will not encourage thee by hi* 
 precious gifts in a course of sinning. This worm will 
 be gnawing upon thy conscience: it will be a de- 
 vouring canker to thy consolations. Thou mayest steal 
 a spark of false comfort from thy worldly prosperity 
 or delight : or thou mayest have it from some falsi 
 
 N 
 
146 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 8. 
 
 opinions, or from the delusions of Satan ; but from 
 God thou wilt have no comfort. However, an Anti- 
 nomian may tell thee that thy comforts have no de- 
 pendence upon thy obedience, nor thy discomforts 
 upon thy disobedience : and therefore may speak 
 peace to thee in the course of thy sinning ; yet thou 
 shalt find by experience that God will not. If any 
 man set up his idols in his heart, and put the stum- 
 bling-block of his iniquities before his face, and come 
 to a minister, or to God, to inquire for assurance and 
 comfort, God will answer that man by himself, and, 
 instead of comforting him, he will set his face against 
 him : " He will answer him according to the multi- 
 tude of his idols." 
 
 5. Another common cause of want of assurance and 
 comfort is, when men grow lazy in the spiritual part 
 of duty. As Dr. Sibbs saith truly, ** It is the lazy 
 Christian, commonly, that lacketh assurance." The 
 way of painful duty, is the way of fullest comfort. 
 Christ carrieth all our comforts in his hand: if we be 
 out of that way where Christ is to be met, we are out 
 of the way where comfort is to be had. 
 
 These two ways doth this laziness debar us of our 
 comforts : 
 
 1. By stopping the fountain, and causing Christ to 
 withhold this blessing from us. Parents use not to 
 smile upon children in their neglects and disobedience. 
 So far as the Spirit is grieved, he will suspend his con- 
 solations. Assurance and peace are Christ's great 
 encouragements to faithfulness and obedience : and 
 therefore, (though our obedience do not merit them) 
 yet, they usually rise and fall with our diligence in 
 duty. They that have entfcitained the Antinomian 
 dotage to cover their idleness and viciousness, may 
 talk their nonsense against this at pleasure : but the 
 laborious Christian knows it by experience. As prayer 
 must have faith and fervency to procure its success, 
 besides the blood-sheddii,g and intercession of Christ, 
 so must all other parts of our obedience. He that will 
 say to us in that triumphing day, " \\ ell done, good 
 and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of t ly 
 Lord ;" will also comfort his servants in their most 
 affectionate and spiritual duties, and say, " Well done, 
 
II. § 9» THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 147 
 
 good and faithful servant, take this foretaste of ever- 
 lasting joy." If thou grow seldom and customary, 
 and cold in duty, especially in thy secret prayers to 
 God, and yet find no abatement in thy joys, I cannot 
 but fear that thy joys are either carnal or diabo- 
 lical. 
 
 2. The action of the soul upon such excellent ob- 
 jects doth naturally bring consolation with it. The 
 very act of loving God in Christ, doth bring inexpres- 
 sible sweetness into the soul. The soul that is best 
 furnished with grace, when it is not in action, is like a 
 lute well stringed and tuned, which, while it lieth still, 
 doth make no more music than a common piece of 
 wood ; but when it is taken up and handled by a skil- 
 ful lutist, the melody is delightful. Some degree of 
 comfort follows every good action, as heat accompa- 
 nies lire, and as beams and influence issue from the 
 sun : which is so true, that the very heathens, upon 
 the discharge of a good conscience, have found comfort 
 and peace answerable ; this is pi vtmium ante prcemium ; 
 a reward before the reward. 
 
 As a man therefore that is cold, should not stand 
 still and say, ** I am so cold that I have no mind to 
 labour," but labour till his coldness is gone, and heat 
 excited : so he that wants the comfort of assurance, 
 must not stand still and say, «* I am so doubtful and 
 uncomfortable that I have no mind for duty ;" but ply 
 his duty, and exercise his graces, till he tind his doubts 
 and discomforts vanish. 
 
 And thus I have shewn you the chief causes, why 
 so many Christians enjoy so little assurance and con- 
 solation. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Containing Directions for Examination, and seme, 
 Marks of Trial. 
 
 I 'WILL not stand here to lay down the directions 
 
 necessary for preparation to this duty, because you 
 
 may gather them from what is said concerning the 
 
 hindrances ; for the contraries of those hindrances will 
 
 N 2 
 
148 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § §. 
 
 be the most necessary helps. Only before you set upon 
 it, 1 advise you to the observation of these rules : 
 
 1. Come not with too peremptory conclusions of 
 yourselves before-hand. Do not judge too confidently 
 before you try. 
 
 2. Be sure to be so well acquainted with the Scrip- 
 ture, as to know what is the tenor of the covenant of 
 grace, and what are the conditions of justification and 
 glorification, and consequently what are sound marks 
 to try yourselves by. 
 
 3. Be constant observers of the tempers and motions 
 of your hearts ; most of the difficulty of the work doth 
 lie in true and clear discerning of it. Be watchful in 
 observing the actings both of grace and corruption, 
 and the circumstances of their actings: as, how fre- 
 quent ? How violent ? How strong or weak were 
 the outward incitements ? How great or small the 
 impediments ? What delight, or loathing, or fear, or 
 reluctancy did go with those acts ? 
 
 1. Empty your minds ot all other cares and thoughts, 
 that they do not distract or divide your minds : this 
 work will be enough at once of itself, without joining 
 others with it. 
 
 2. Then fall down before God, and in hearty prayer 
 desire the assistance of the Spirit, to discover to you 
 the plain truth of your condition, and to enlighten you 
 in the whole progress of the work. 
 
 I will not digress to warn you here of the false rules 
 and marks of trial, of which you must beware. But 
 I will briefly adjoin some marks to try your title to 
 this Rest. 
 
 1. Every soul that hath a title to this Rest, doth 
 place his happiness in it, and make it the ultimate 
 end of his soul. This is the first mark; which is so 
 plain a truth, that I need not stand to prove it. For 
 this Rest consisteth in the full and glorious enjoyment 
 of God : and he that maketh not God his ultimate 
 end, is in his heart a Pagan and a vile idolator. 
 
 Let me ask thee then, Dost thou truly account it 
 thy chief happiness to enjoy the Lord in glory, or dost 
 thou not ? Canst thou say with David, " The Lord 
 is my portion ! And, Whom have I in heaven but 
 thee ? And whom on earth that I desire in comparison 
 
II. § 9* THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 149 
 
 of thee ?" If thou be an heir of Rest, it is thus with 
 thee. Though the flesh will be pleading for its own. 
 delights, and the world will be creeping into thine 
 affections, yet in thy ordinary, settled, prevailing 
 judgment and affections, thou preferrest God before 
 all things in the world. 
 
 1. Thou makest Hiin the end of thy desires and en- 
 deavours. The very reason why thou hearest and 
 pray est, why thou desirest to live and breathe on earth, 
 is this, that thou mayest seek the Lord. Thou seekest 
 tirst the kingdom of God, and its righteousness: 
 though thou dost not seek it so zealously as thou 
 shouldst ; yet hath it the chief of thy desires and endea- 
 vours : and nothing else is desired or preferred before it. 
 
 2. Thou wilt think no labour or suffering too great 
 to obtain it. And though the flesh may sometimes 
 shrink, yet art thou resolved and content to go through, 
 all. 
 
 3. If thou be an heir of Rest, thy valuation of it 
 will be so high, and thy affection to it so great, that 
 thou wouldst not exchange thy title to it, and hopes 
 of pt, for any worldly good whatsoever. If God would 
 set before thee an eternity of earthly pleasure on one 
 hand, and the Rest of the Saints on the other, and 
 bid thee take thy choice, thou wouldst refuse the 
 world, and choose this Rest. 
 
 But if thou be yet in the flesh, then it is clean con- 
 trary with thee. Then dost thou in thy heart prefer 
 thy worldly happiness before God; and though thy 
 tongue may say, that God is the chief good, yet thy 
 heart doth not so esteem him. For, 
 
 1. The world is the chief end of thy desires and 
 endeavours; thy very heart is set upon it ; thy greatest 
 care and labour are to maintain thy estate, or credit, or 
 fleshly delights. But the life to come hath little of 
 thy care or labour. Thou didst never perceive so much 
 excellency in the unseen glory as to draw thy heart so 
 after it : but that little pains which thou bestowedst 
 that way, it is but in the second place. God hath but 
 the world's leavings, and that time and labour which 
 thou canst spare from the world, or those few cold and. 
 careless thoughts which follow thy constant, earnest,. 
 N 3 
 
150 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § gf. 
 
 and delightful thoughts of earthly things: neither 
 wouldst thou do any thing at all for heaven, if thou 
 knew how to keep the world : but lest thou should be 
 turned into hell, when thou canst keep the world no 
 longer, therefore thou wilt do something. 
 
 2. Therefore it is that thou thinkest the way of God 
 too strict, and wilt not be persuaded to the constant 
 labour of walking according to the gospel-rule : and 
 when it comes to trial, that thou must forsake Christ 
 or thy worldly happiness, and the wind which was in 
 thy back, doth turn into thy face, then thou wilt ven- 
 ture heaven rather then earth, and (as desperate rebels 
 used to say) thou wilt rather trust God's mercy for thy 
 soul, than man's for thy body ; and so wilfully deny 
 thy obedience to God. 
 
 3. And certainly if God would but give thee leave 
 to live in health and wealth for ever on earth, thou 
 wouldst think it a better state than eternal Rest : let 
 them seek for heaven that would, thou wouldst think 
 this thy chief happiness. This is thy case, if thou be 
 yet an unregenerate person, and have no title to the 
 Saints' Rest. 
 
 The second mark which I shall give thee, to try 
 whether thou be an heir of Rest, is this : 
 
 As thou takest God for thy chief good, so thou dost 
 heartily accept of Christ for thy only Saviour and 
 Lord to bring thee to this Rest. The former mark, 
 was the sum of the first and great command of the law 
 of nature, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God." This 
 second mark is the sum of the command or condition 
 of the gospel, " Believe in the Lord Jesus, and thou 
 shalt be saved." And the performance of these two 
 is the whole sum or essence of godliness and Chris- 
 tianity. Observe therefore the parts of this mark, 
 which is but a definition of faith. 
 
 1. Dost thou find that thou art naturally a tost, 
 condemned man, for the breach of the first covenants 
 And believe that Jesus Christ is the Mediator, who 
 hath made a sufficient satisfaction to the law ? And' 
 hearing in the gospel that he is offered without excep-> 
 tion unto all,, dost thou heartily consent that he alone- 
 shalt be thy SaviouF ? And no further trust to thy 
 
II. § 9. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 151 
 
 duties, and works, than as conditions required by him, 
 and means appointed in subordination to him ? Not 
 looking at them as in the least measure able to satisfy 
 the curse of the law, or as a legal righteousness, nor 
 any part of it ? But art content to trust thy salvation 
 on the redemption made by Christ ? 
 
 2. Art thou also content to take him for thy only 
 Lord and King, to govern and guide thee by his laws 
 and Spirit ? And to obey him even when he command- 
 eth the hardest duties, and those which most cross the 
 desires of the flesh ? Is it thy sorrow when thou breakest 
 thy resolution herein ? And thy joy when thou keepest 
 close in obedience to him ? Wouldst thou not change 
 thy Lord and Master for all the world ? Thus it is 
 with every true Christian. But if thou be an unbe- 
 liever, it is far otherwise. Thou mayest call Christ 
 thy Lord and thy Saviour ; but thou never foundest 
 thyself so lost without him, as to lay thy salvation on 
 him alone : or at least thou didst never heartily consent 
 that he should govern thee as thy Lord : nor resign up 
 thy soul and life to be ruled by him; nor take his 
 word for the law of thy thoughts and actions. It is 
 likely thou art content to be saved from hell by Christ 
 when thou diest: but in the mean time he shall com- 
 mand thee no further than will stand with any credit, 
 or pleasure, or worldly estate and ends. And if he 
 would give thee leave, thou hadst far rather live after 
 the world and the flesh, than after the Word and Spirit. 
 And though thou mayest now and then have a motion 
 or purpose to the contrary ; yet this that I have men- 
 tioned, is the ordinary desire and choice of thine 
 heart; and so thou art no true believer in Christ: for 
 though thou confess him in words, yet hi works thou 
 dost deny him, " Being disobedient, and to every 
 good work a disapprover and a reprobate," Tit. i. lb". 
 This is the case of those tlwt shall be shut out of the- 
 Saints' Rest. 
 
152 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § It. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 The Reason of the Saints' Affliction here. 
 
 A FURTHER use which we must make of the 
 present doctrine is, To inform us why the people of 
 God suffer so much in this life. What wonder? 
 When you see their Rest doth yet remain : they are 
 not yet come to their resting-place. We would all fain 
 have continual prosperity, because it is pleasing to the 
 flesh ; but we consider not the unreasonableness of such 
 desires. We are like children, who if they see any 
 thing which their appetite desireth, cry for it ; and if 
 you tell them that it is unwholesome, or hurtful for 
 them, they are never the more quieted ; or if you go 
 about to heal any sore that they have, they will not 
 endure you to hurt them, though you tell them, that 
 they cannot otherwise be healed ; their sense is too 
 strong for their reason, and therefore reason doth little 
 persuade them. Even so it is with us, when God is 
 afflicting us : he giveth us reasons why we must bear 
 it, so that our reason is oft convinced and satisfied, 
 and yet we cry and complain still ; it is not reason, but 
 ease that we must have; spiritual remedies may cure 
 the spirit's maladies ; but that will not content the flesh. 
 
 But methinks Christians should have another palate 
 than that of the flesh, to try and relish providences by : 
 God hath given them the Spirit to subdue the flesh. 
 And therefore I shall here give them some reasons of 
 God's dealings in their present sufferings, whereby the 
 equity and mercy therein may appear : and they shalL 
 be only such as are drawn from the reference that these 
 afflictions have to our Rest; which being a Christian's 
 happiness and ultimate end, will direct him in judging 
 of all estates and means. 
 
 1. Consider then, that labour and trouble are the 
 common way to Rest, both in the course of nature and. 
 of grace. Can there possibly be rest without motion, 
 and weariness? Do you not travel and toil first, and 
 then rest afterwards : The day for labour goes first, 
 
II. § 10. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 1*>3 
 
 and then the night for Rest doth follow. Why should 
 we desire the course of grace to be perverted, any 
 more than we would do the course of nature? God 
 did once dry up the sea, to make a passage for his 
 people; and once made the sun in the firmament to 
 stand still : but must he do so always ? Or, as oft as 
 we would have him? It is his established decree, 
 u That through many tribulations we must enter into 
 the kingdom of heaven," Acts xiv. 22. And, " that if 
 we suffer with him, we shall also be glorified with him." 
 2 Tim. ii. 12. And what are we, that God's statutes 
 should be reversed for our pleasure ? As Bildad said 
 to Job, chap, xviii. 4, " Shall the earth be forsaken 
 for thee ? Or the rock be removed out of his place ?" 
 So, must God pervert his established order for thee ? 
 
 2. Consider also, That afflictions are exceedingly 
 useful to us, to keep us from mistaking our Resting- 
 place, and so taking up short of it. A Christian's mo- 
 tions heavenwards are voluntary, and not constrained. 
 Those means therefore are most profitable to him, 
 which help his understanding and will in this prosecu- 
 tion. The most dangerous mistake that our souls are 
 capable of, is to take the creature for God, and earth 
 for heaven. And yet, alas, how common is this ! 
 Though we are ashamed to speak so much with our 
 tongues, yet how oft do our hearts say, It is best being 
 here ! And how contented are we with an earthly por- 
 tion ! So that I fear, God would displease most of us 
 more to afflict us here, and promise us rest hereafter, 
 than to give us our heart's desire on earth, though he 
 had never made us a promise of heaven. As if the 
 creature without God, were better than God without 
 the creature. Alas, how apt are we, like foolish chil- 
 dren, when we are busy at our sports and worldly em* 
 ployments, to forget both our Father and our home * 
 Therefore it is a hard thing for a rich man to enter 
 into heaven, because it is hard for him to value it more 
 than earth, and not think he is well already. Come 
 to a man that hath the world at will, and tell him, 
 This is not your happiness J you have higher things 
 to look after; and how little will he regard you ! But 
 when affliction comes, it speaks convincingly, and 
 will be heard when preachers cannot* 
 
154 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 10. 
 
 Sometimes a sincere man begins to be lifted up with 
 applause ; and sometimes being in health and prospe- 
 rity, he hath lost his relish of Christ, and the joys above; 
 till God breaks in upon his riches, and scatters them 
 abroad, or upon his children, or upon his conscience, 
 or upon the health of his body, and breaks down his 
 mount, which he thought so strong : and then, when 
 he lieth in Manass-eh's fetters, or is fastened to his bed 
 with pining sickness, O what an opportunity hath the 
 Spirit to plead with his soul ! When the world is 
 worth nothing, then heaven is worth something. 
 
 How oft have I been ready to think myself at home, 
 till sickness hath roundly told me, I was mistaken ! 
 And how apt yet to fall iuto the same disease, which 
 prevaileth till it be removed by the same cure ! If our 
 dear Lord did not put these thorns into our bed, we 
 should sleep out our lives, and lose our glory. 
 
 3. Consider, afflictions are God's most effectual 
 means, to keep us from straggling out of the way to 
 our. Rest. If he had not set a hedge of thorns on the 
 right hand, and on the left, we should hardly keep the 
 way to heaven : if there be but one gap open between 
 these thorns, how ready are we to turn out at it ! But 
 when we cannot go astray, but these thorns will prick 
 us, perhaps we will be content to hold the way. When 
 we grow wanton, or worldly, or proud, what a notable 
 mean is sickness, or other afflictions, to reduce us ! It 
 is every Christian, as well as Luther, that may call 
 affliction oneof his best school-masters. Many a one, 
 as well as David, may say by experience, «« Before I 
 was afflicted I went astray ; but now have I kept thy 
 precepts." Many thousands of poor recovered sinners 
 may cry, O healthful sickness : O comfortable sorrows ; 
 O gainful losses; O enriching poverty ; O blessed day, 
 that ever I was afflicted! It is not only, the « plea- 
 sant streanis ami the green pastures, but his rod and 
 staff also t-iac are our comfort.' Though I know it is 
 the Word and Spirit that do the work : yet certainly 
 the time of r-uiie.i.ig is so opportune a season, that the 
 same wo»d will take them then, which before was un- 
 observed : affliction doth so unbolt the door of the 
 heart, that, a minister or a friend may then be heard, 
 and the word may have easier entrance to the affections. 
 
II. § 10. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 15$ 
 
 4. Consider, Afflictions are God's most effectual 
 means to make us mend our pace in the way to our 
 rest. They are his rod, and his spur: what sluggard 
 will not awake and stir when he feeleth them ? It 
 were well if mere love would prevail with us, and that 
 we were rather drawn to heaven, than driven ; but 
 seeing our hearts are so bad that mercy will not do it ; 
 it is better we put on with the sharpest scourge, than 
 loiter our time away till the doors are shut. 
 
 O what a difference is there betwixt our prayers in 
 health and in sickness! betwixt our prosperity and 
 adversity repentings ! He that before had not a tear 
 to shed, or a groan to utter, now can sob, and sigh, 
 and weep ; he that was wont to lie like a block in 
 prayer, and scarce minded what he said to God ; now 
 affliction pressethhirn down, how earnestly can he beg! 
 How doth he mingle his prayers and tears ! And cry 
 out, what a person he will be, if God will but hear 
 him and deliver him ! Alas, if we did not sometimes 
 feel the spur, what a slow pace would most of us hold 
 toward heaven ! 
 
 Seeing, then, what our vile natures require, why 
 should we be unwilling God should do us good, by a 
 sharp mean ? Sure that is the best dealing for us, 
 which surest and soonest doth further us for heaven, 
 I leave thee, Christian, to judge by thy own experi- 
 ence, whether thou dost not go more watchfully, and 
 lively, and speedily in thy way to Rest, in thy suffer- 
 ings, than thou dost in thy most pleasing and prospe- 
 rous state. 
 
 Lastly. Consider, God doth seldom give his people 
 so sweet a foretaste of their future Rest, as in their 
 deep afflictions. He keepeth his most precious cordials 
 fo: the time of our greatest faintings and dangers. God 
 is not so lavish of his choice favours as to bestow them 
 unseasonably ; he gives them at a fit time, when he 
 knoweth they are needful, and will be valued ; and 
 when he is sure to be thanked for them, and his 
 people rejoice.l by them. Especially when our suffer- 
 ings are more directly for his cause, then doth he sel- 
 dom fail of sweetening the bitter cup. Therefore have 
 the Martyrs been possessors of the highest joys, and 
 therefore were they so ambitious of martyrdom. I do 
 
156 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § ]©. 
 
 not that think Paul and Silas did ever sing more joy- 
 fully, than when they were sore with seourgings, and 
 fast in the inner prison, with their feet in the stocks. 
 When did Christ preach such comforts to his disciples, 
 and assure them of his providing them mansions with 
 himself, as when he was ready to leave them, and their 
 hearts were sorrowful because of his departure ? When 
 did he appear among them, and say, Peace be untoyou y 
 but when they were shut up together for fear of the 
 persecuting Jews? When did Stephen see heaven 
 opened, but when he was giving up his life for the tes- 
 timony of Jesus ? And though we be never put to the 
 sufferings of martyrdom, yet God knoweth that in our 
 natural sufferings we need support. 
 
 Seeing, then, that the time of affliction, is the time 
 of our most pure, spiritual, and heavenly joy, for most 
 part; why should a Christian think it so bad a time ? 
 Is not that our best estate wherein we have most of 
 God ? Why else do we desire to come to heaven ? If 
 we look for a heaven of fleshly delights, we shall find 
 ourselves mistaken. Conclude then, that affliction is 
 not so bad a state in our way to Rest, as the flesh would 
 make it. Are we wiser than God ? Doth not he 
 know what is good for us, better than we? Or is he 
 not as careful of our good, as we are of our own ? Ah, 
 woe to us if he were not much more ! And if he did 
 not love us better than we love either him or ourselves ! 
 
 But let us hear a little what it is that we can object. 
 
 1. '* Oh!" saith one, " I could bear any other af- 
 fliction save this : if God had touched me in any thing 
 else, I could have undergone it patiently ; but it is my 
 dearest friend, or child, or wife, or my health itself!" 
 
 I answer: it seemeth God hath hit the right vein, 
 where thy most inflamed, distempered blood did lie: 
 it is his constant course to pull down men's idols, and 
 take away that which is dearer to them than himself. 
 There it is that his jealousy is kindled, and there it is 
 that the soul is most endangesed. If God should have 
 taken from thee that which thou caust let go for him, 
 and not that which thou canst not ; or have afflicted 
 thee where thou canst bear it, and not where thou canst 
 not; thy idol would neither have been discovered nor 
 removed ; this would neither have been a sufficient trial 
 
II. § 10. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 15? 
 
 to thee, nor a cure, but have confirmed thee in thy 
 idolatry. 
 
 Objection 2. Oh! but saith another, "If God would 
 but deliver me out of it at last, I could be content to bear 
 it : but I have an incurable sickness, and am like to 
 live or die in poverty, or disgrace, or distress." 
 
 I answer, 1. Is it nothing that he hath promised, 
 " It shall work for thy good ?" Rom. viii. 28, and 
 " that with the affliction he will make a way to es- 
 cape ?" that he will be with thee in it ? and deliver 
 thee in the fittest manner and season ? 
 
 2. Is it not enough that thou art sure to be delivered 
 at death, and that with so full a deliverance ? Oh 
 what cursed unbelief doth this discover in our hearts ! 
 That we would be more thankful to be turned back 
 again into the stormy sea of the world, than to be safely 
 and speedily landed at our Rest ! and would be glad 
 of a few years inferior mercies at a distance, rather 
 than to enter upon the eternal inheritance with Christ! 
 Do we call God our chief good, and heaven our hap- 
 piness ? and yet is it no mercy or deliverance to be 
 taken hence, and put into that possession ? 
 
 Object. 3. Oh, but saith another, " If my affliction 
 did not disable me from duty, I could bear it ; but it 
 maketh me useless, and utterly unprofitable." 
 
 Answ. 1. For that duty which tendeth to thy own 
 benefit, it doth not disable thee ; but is the greatest 
 help that thou canst expect. Thou usest to complain 
 of coldness, and dulness, and worldliness, and secu- 
 rity; if affliction will not help thee against all these, 
 by warning, quickening, rousing thy Spirit, I know 
 not what will. Sure thou wilt repent thoroughly, and 
 pray fervently, and mind God and heaven more seri- 
 ously, either now or never. 
 
 2. As for our duty to others, and service to the 
 church, it is not thy duty when God doth disable thee. 
 He may call thee out of the vineyard in this respect, 
 even before he call thee by death. If he lay thee in 
 the grave, and put others in thy place, is this any 
 wrong to thee? So, if he call thee out before thy 
 death, and set others to do the work, shouldest thou 
 not be as well content ? Must God do all the work by 
 thee? Hath he not many others as dear to him, and 
 O 
 
rS8 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 10. 
 
 as fit for the employment ? But, alas, what deceitful- 
 ness lieth in these hearts ! When we have time, and 
 health, and opportunity to work, then we loiter, and 
 do our Master but poor service; but when he layeth 
 the affliction upon us, then we complain that he dis- 
 ableth us for his work, and yet perhaps we are still neg- 
 ligent in that part of the work which we can do. So, 
 when we are in health and prosperity we forget the 
 public, and are careless of other men's miseries and 
 wants, and mind almost nothing but ourselves : but 
 when God afflicteth us, though he excite us more to 
 duty for ourselves, yet we complain that he disableth 
 us for our duty to others : as if on the sudden we were 
 grown so charitable, that we regard other men's souls 
 more than our own ! But is not the hand of the flesh 
 in all this dissimulation, pleading its own cause ? 
 What pride of the heart is this, to think that other 
 men cannot do the work as well as we ! or that God 
 cannot see to his church, and provide for his people 
 without us ? 
 
 Object. 4. Oh, but saith another, " It is my friends 
 that are my afflicters: they disclaim me, and will scarce 
 look at me; they censure me, and backbite me, and 
 slander me, and look upon me with a disdainful eye ; 
 if it were others, I could bear it, I look for no better 
 from them : but when those that are my delight, and 
 that I looked for comfort and refreshing from, when 
 these are as thorns in my sides, who can bear it ?" 
 
 Answ. 1. Whoever is the instrument, the affliction 
 is from God, and the provoking cause from thyself: 
 and were it not fitter that thou sheuldst look more to 
 God and thyself ? 
 
 2. Dost thou not know, that good men are still sin- 
 ful in part ? and that their hearts are naturally deceit- 
 ful, and desperately wicked, as well as others ? Learn 
 therefore a better lesson from the prophet Micah, vii. 
 5, 6, 7, «« Trust not (too much) in a friend, nor put 
 confidence in a guide : keep the doors of thy mouth 
 from her that lieth in thy bosom: but look rather to 
 the Lord, and wait for the God of thy salvation." 
 
 It is likely thou hast given that love and trust to 
 men, which were due only to God ; or which thou hadst 
 denied him ; and then no wonder if he chastise thee 
 by them. If we would use our friends as friends, God 
 
II. §. 10. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 15$ 
 
 would make them our helps and comforts : but when 
 we once make them our gods by excessive love and 
 trust, then he suffers them to be our accusers and tor- 
 mentors : it is more safe for me to have any creature a 
 satan than a god ; to be tormented by them, than to 
 idolize them. Till thou hast learned to suffer from the 
 good, as well as the ungodly, never look to live a con- 
 tented or comfortable life, nor ever think thou hast 
 truly learned the art of suffering. 
 
 Object. 5. " Oh ! but if I had that consolation, 
 which you say God reserveth for our suffering times, I 
 should suffer more contentedly ; but I do not perceive 
 any such thing." 
 
 Answ, l. The more you suffer for righteousness' 
 sake, the more of this blessing you may expect : and 
 the more you suffer for your own evil-doing, the longer 
 
 you must look to Stay till the sweetness come. When 
 
 we have by our folly provoked God to chastise us, 
 shall we presently look that he should fill us with com- 
 fort ? " That were (as Mr. Paul Bayn saith) to make 
 affliction to be no affliction. " What good would the 
 bitterness do us, if it should be presently drowned in 
 that sweetness ? It is well in such sufferings, if you 
 have but supporting grace ; and if your sufferings are 
 sanctified to purge out your sin. 
 
 2. Do you not neglect or resist the comfort which 
 3*ou desire ? God hath filled precepts and promises, 
 and other of his promises, with matter of comfort : 
 if you overlook all these, and observe one cross more 
 than a thousand mercies, who maketh you uncomfort- 
 able but yourselves ? If you resolve you will not be 
 comfortable as long as any thing aileth your flesh, you 
 may stay till death before you have comfort. 
 
 3. Have your afflictions wrought kindly with you, 
 and fitted you for comfort ? Have they humbled you, 
 and brought you to a faithful confession and reforma- 
 tion of your beloved sins ? and made you set close to 
 your neglected duties ; and weaned your hearts from 
 their former idols ? and brought them unfeignedly to 
 take God for their portion and their rest? If this be 
 not done* how can you expect comfort ? Should God 
 bind up the sore while it festereth at the bottom ? Jt 
 
 O 2 
 
166 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 11. 
 
 is not mere suffering that prepares you for comfort ; 
 but the success and fruit of suffering upon your hearts. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 An Exhortation to those that have got assurance of 
 this Rest, that they should do ail they possibly can 
 to help others to it. 
 
 HATH God set before us such a glorious prize as 
 this everlasting Rest, and made a man capable of such 
 an inconceivable happiness ? Why then do not all the 
 children of the kingdom bestir themselves more to 
 help others to the enjoyment of it ? Alas, how little 
 are poor souls about us beholden to the most of us ? 
 We ste the glory of the kingdom, and they do not t 
 we see the misery and torments of those that miss it, 
 and they do not : we see them wandering quite out of 
 the way, and know if they hold on, they can never 
 come there ; and they discern not this themselves. And 
 yet we will not set upon them seriously, and shew them 
 their danger and error, and help to bring them into 
 the way that they may live. Alas, how few Christians 
 are to be found, that live as men that are made to do 
 good, and that set themselves with all their might to 
 the saving of souls ! No thanks to us, if heaven be 
 not empty, and if the souls of our. brethren perish not 
 for ever. 
 
 But because this is a duty, which so many neglect, 
 and so few are convinced that God doth expect it at 
 their hands, and yet a duty of so high concernment to 
 the glory of God, and the happiness of men ; I will 
 speak of it somewhat the more largely ; and shew you, 
 1. Wherein it doth consist. 2. What is the cause that 
 it is so neglected. 3. Give some considerations to per- 
 suade you to the performance of it and others to the 
 bearing of it. 4. Apply this more particularly to 
 some persons whom it doth nearly concern. 
 
 1. I would have you well understand what is this 
 work, which I am persuading you to. Know then, on 
 the negative, 
 
II. § II. THE SAINT9 EVERLASTING REST. l6l 
 
 1. It is not to invade the office of the ministry, and 
 every man to turn a public preacher. I would not 
 have you go beyond the bounds of your calling : we 
 see by daily experience, what fruits those men's teach- 
 ing doth bring forth, who run uncalled of God, and 
 thrust themselves into the place of public teachers, 
 thinking themselves the fittest for the work in the pride 
 of their hearts, while they had need to be taught the 
 very principles of religion : how little doth God bless 
 the labours of these self-conceited intruders, even 
 though they be ordained. 
 
 2. Neither do I persuade you to a zealous promoting 
 of factions and parties, and venturing ©f uncertain opi- 
 nions, which men's salvation is little concerned in. 
 Alas, what advantage hath the devil always got in the 
 church by this imposture ! The time that should be 
 employed in drawing men's souls from sin to Christ, is 
 employed in drawing them to opinions and parties. 
 When men are fallen in love with their own conceits, 
 and think themselves the wisest, how diligently do 
 they labour to get themselves followers ? as if to make 
 a man a proselyte to their own opinions, were as happy 
 a work as to convert him to Christ ? And when they 
 fall among the lighter, more ignorant sort of men, 
 whose religion is all in the brain, and on their tongue, 
 they seldom fail of success. These men shall shortly 
 know, that to bring a man to the knowledge and love 
 of Christ, is another kind of work, than to bri »g him to 
 be baptized again, or to be of such a church or such a 
 side. Unhappy are the souls that are taken in the 
 snare; who when they have spent their time in con- 
 tending for the circumstantials of religion, which 
 should have been spent in studying and loving the 
 Lord Jesus, do in the end reap an empty harvest, 
 suitable to their empty profession. 
 
 3. Nor do I persuade you to speak against men'* 
 faults behind their back,s, and be silent before their 
 faces, as the common custom of the world is. To tell 
 other men of their faults, tendeth little to their re- 
 formation, if they hear it not themselves. To whisper 
 men's faults to others, as it cometh uot from love, nor 
 from an honest principle, so usually doth it produce no 
 good effect; for if the party hear not of it, it cannot 
 
 3 
 
\6-2 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. §11. 
 
 better him : if he do, he will take it but as the re- 
 proach of an enemy, and not as the faithful council of 
 a friend, and as that which is spoken to make him 
 odious, and not to make him virtuous : it tendeth not 
 to provoke to godliness, but to raise contention ; (t for 
 a whisperer separateth chief friends." And how few 
 shall we rind that make conscience of this horrible sin ? 
 Or that will confess it ? Especially if men are speak- 
 ing of their enemies, or those that have wronged them ; 
 or if it be of one that eclipseth their glory, or that 
 standeth in the way of their gain or esteem : or if it 
 be of one that differeth from them in judgment ; or of 
 one that is commonly spoken against by others ; who 
 is it that maketh any conscience of backbiting such as 
 these ? And you shall ever observe, that the forwarder 
 they are to backbiting, the more backward always to 
 faithful admonishing ; and none speak less of a man's 
 faults to his face, than those that speak most of them 
 behind his back. 
 
 So far am I from persuading, therefore, to this pre- 
 posterous course, that I would advise you to oppose it 
 wherever you meet with it. See that you never hear 
 a man speaking against his neighbour behind his back 
 (without some special cause or call) but presently re- 
 buke him : ask him whether he hath spoken these 
 things in a way of love to his face ? If he hath not, ask 
 him how he dare to pervert God's prescribed .order, 
 who commandeth to rebuke our neighbour plainly, 
 and to tell him his fault first in private, and then be- 
 fore witnesses, till he see whether he will be won or 
 not ? And how he dare do as he would not be done by ? 
 
 The duty, therefore, that I would press you to, is 
 of another nature, and it consisteth in these things 
 following : 
 
 1. That you get your hearts affected with the misery 
 of your brethren's souls ; be compassionate towards 
 them ; yearn after their salvation. If you did earnestly 
 long after their conversion, and your hearts were fully 
 set to do them good, it would set you on work, and 
 God would usually bless it. 
 
 2. Take all opportunities that you possibly can, to 
 instruct and help them to the attaining of salvation. 
 And lest you should not know how to manage this 
 
 
11. § 11. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 163 
 
 work, let me tell you more particularly what you are 
 herein to do. 1. If it be an ignorant person you have 
 to deal with, who is an utter stranger to the mysteries 
 of religion, and to the work of regeneration, the tirst 
 thing you have to do is, acquaint him with these 
 doctrines : labour to make him understand wherein 
 man's chief happiness doth consist ; and how far he 
 was once possessed of it ; and what law and covenant 
 God then made with him ; and how he broke it; and 
 what penalty he incurred, and what misery he brought 
 himself into thereby; teach him what need men had 
 of a Redeemer; and how Christ in mercy did inter- 
 pose and bear the penalty, and on what terms only 
 salvation is now to be attained : and what course 
 Christ taketh to draw men to himself: and what are 
 the riches and privileges that believers have in him. 
 
 If when he understand these things, he be not 
 moved by them ; or if you find that the stop lieth in 
 his will and affections, and in the hardness of his heart, 
 and in the interest that the flesh and the world have 
 got in him ; then shew him the excellency of the glory 
 which he neglectetb, and the intolerableness of the 
 loss of it : and the extremity and eternity of the tor- 
 ments of the damned, and how certainly they that die 
 in sin must endure them ; and how just it is for their 
 refusal of grace ; and how heinous a sin it is to reject 
 such free and abundant mercy, and to tread underfoot 
 the blood of the covenant : shew him the certainty, 
 nearness, and terrors of death and judgment, and the 
 vanity of all things below, which now he is taken up 
 with : and how little they will bestead him in that 
 time of his extremity. Shew him that by nature he 
 himself is a child of wrath, an enemy to God ; and by 
 actual sin much more: shew him the vile and heinous 
 nature of sin ; the absolute necessity he standeth in of 
 a Saviour; the freeness of the promise ; the fulness of 
 Christ; the sufficiency of his satisfaction; his readiness 
 to receive all that are willing to be his ; and the au- 
 thority and dominion which he hath purchased over us. 
 Shew him also the absolute necessity of regeneration, 
 faith and holiness, how impossible it is to have salvation 
 by Christ without these ; and what they are, and the 
 true nature of them. 
 
 2 
 
164 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. IT. § 11. 
 
 If, when he understandeth all this, you find his soul 
 enthralled in false hopes, persuading himself that he is 
 a true believer, and pardoned, and reconciled, and 
 shall be saved by Christ, and all this upon false grounds, 
 (which is a common case) then urge him hard to exa- 
 mine his state, shew him the necessity of trying ; the 
 danger ofbeing deceived; the commonness and easiness 
 of mistaking one's state through the deceitfulness of 
 the heart ; the extreme madness of putting it to a 
 blind venture; or of resting in negligent or wilful un- 
 certainty : help him in trying himself : produce him 
 some undeniable evidences from Scripture : ask him, 
 Whether these be in him or not ? Whether he ever 
 found such workings or dispositions in his heart? 
 urge him to a rational answer ; do not leave him till 
 you have convinced him of his misery ; and then 1 sea- 
 sonably and wisely shew him the remedy. 
 
 If he produce some gifts, or duties, or works, know 
 to what end he doth produce them : if to join with 
 Christin composing him a righteousness, shew him how 
 vain and destructive they are ; if it be by way of evi* 
 dence to prove his title to Christ, shew him wherein 
 the life of Christianity doth consist, and how far he 
 must go further, if he will be Christ's disciple. In the 
 mean time, that he be not discouraged with hearing of 
 so high a measure, shew him the way by which he must 
 attain it. Be sure to draw him to the use of the means : 
 set him on hearing and reading the word, calling upon 
 God, accompanying the godly : persuade him to leave 
 his actual sins, and to get out of all ways of tempta- 
 tion : especially to forsake ungodly company; and to 
 wait patiently on God in the use of means : and shew 
 him the strong hopes that in so doing he may have a 
 blessing ; this being the way that God will be found in. 
 
 If you perceive him possessed with many prejudices 
 against the way of holiness, shew him their falsehood, 
 and with wisdom and meekness answer his objections. 
 
 If he be addicted to delay duties he is convinced of, 
 or laziness and stupidity endanger his soul ; then lay 
 on more powerfully, and set home upon his heart the 
 most piercing considerations, and labour to fasten them 
 as thorns in his conscience, that he may find no ease 
 Dor rest till he change his estate. 
 
II. § 11. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 165 
 
 But because in all works the manner of doing them 
 is of the greatest moment, and the right performance 
 doth much further the success ; I will here adjoin a 
 few directions, which you must be sure to observe in 
 this work of exhortation ; for it is not every advice 
 that useth to succeed, nor any manner of giving it 
 that will serve the turn. Observe therefore these rules : 
 
 1. Set upon the work sincerely, and with right in- 
 tentions. Let thy end be the glory of God in the 
 party's salvation. Do it, not to get a name or esteem 
 to thyself; or to bring men to depend upon thee; or 
 to get thee many followers ; do not as many parents and 
 masters will do, viz. rebuke their children and servants 
 for those sins that displease them, and are against their 
 profit or their humours ; but never direct them to seek 
 in the right way that God hath appointed to save their 
 souls. But be sure the main end be to recover them 
 from misery, and bring them into the way of eternal rest. 
 
 2. Do it speedily, as you would not have them delay 
 their return, so do you not delay to seek their return. 
 You have been purposing long to speak to such an 
 ignorant neighbour, and to such a scandalous sinner ; 
 and yet you have never done it. Alas, he runs on the 
 score all this while ; he goes deeper in debt : wrath is 
 heaping up ; sin taketh root ; custom doth more fasten 
 him ; engagements to sin grow stronger and more nu-» 
 merous ; conscience grows seared ; the heart grows 
 hardened; while you delay,, the devil rules and re- 
 joiceth ; Christ is shut out; the Spirit is repulsed; 
 God is daily dishonoured ; his law is violated ; he is 
 without a servant, and that service from him which he 
 should have ; time runs on ; the day of visitation 
 hasteth ; death and judgment are at the door : and what 
 if the man die and miss of heaven, while you are pro- 
 posing to teach him and help him to it ? If in case of 
 his bodily distress, you must not bid him go and call 
 again to-morrow, when you have it by you ; how much 
 less mav you delay the succour of his soul ? If once 
 death snatch him away» he is then out of the reach of 
 your charity. That physician is no better than a mur- 
 derer, that negligently delaveth till his patient is dead 
 or past cure. Delay in duty is a great degree of diso- 
 bedience, though you afterwards perform it. It shewa 
 
166 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 11. 
 
 an ill heart that is indisposed to the work. O how 
 many a poor sinner perisheth, or grows rooted, and 
 next to incurable in sin, while we are purposing to seek 
 their recovery ! Opportunities last not always. When 
 thou nearest that the sinner is dead, or removed, or 
 grown obdurate, will not conscience say to thee, How 
 knowest thou but thou mightest have prevented the 
 damnation of a soul? Lay by excuses then, and all 
 lesser business, and obey God's command, " Exhort 
 one another daily, while it is called to-day, lest any 
 be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." 
 
 3. Let thy exhortation proceed from compassion and 
 love, and let the manner of it clearly shew the person 
 thou dealest with, that it does. It is not jeering, or 
 scorning, or reproaching a man for his fault, that is a 
 likely way to work his reformation : nor is it the right 
 way to convert him to God, to rail at him, and vilify 
 bim with words of disgrace. Men will take them for 
 their enemies that thus deal with them ; and the words 
 of an enemy are little persuading. Lay by your 
 pa*«ion therefore, and go to poor sinners with tears in 
 your eves, that they may see you indeed believe them 
 to be miserable ; and that you unfeignedly pity their 
 case : deal with them with earnest, humble entreatings. 
 Let them see that your very bowels yearn over them, 
 and that it is the very desire of your hearts to do them 
 good : let them perceive that you have no other end 
 but the procuring of their everlasting happiness : 
 and that it is a sure sense of their danger, and your 
 love to their souls that forces you to speak : even be- 
 cause you know the terrors of the Lord, and for fear 
 lest you should see them in eternal torments. Say to 
 them, " Why, friend, you know it is no advantage of 
 my own that I seek ; the way to please you, and to 
 keep your friendship, were to sooth you in your own 
 way, or to let you alone; but love will not suffer me 
 to see you perish, and be silent: 1 seek nothing at 
 your hands but that which is necessary to your own 
 happiness. It is yourself that will have the gain and 
 comfort, if you come unto Christ." If men would 
 thus go to every ignorant, wicked neighbour they have, 
 and thus deal with them ; O what blessed fruit should 
 *e quickly see ! 
 
IL § 11. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. \6j 
 
 I am ashamed to hear some lazy hypocritical wretches 
 revile their poor ignorant neighbours, and separate 
 from their company, and judge them unfit for their 
 society, before they ever once tried them with this 
 compassionate exhortation! O you little know what 
 a prevailing course this would probably prove ! And 
 how few of the vilest drunkards or swearers would be so 
 obstinate as wholly to reject or despise the exhortation 
 of love ! I know it must be God that must change 
 men's hearts : but I know also that God worketh by 
 means, and when he meaneth to prevail with men, he 
 usually setteth the means accordingly, and stirreth up 
 men to plead with them in a prevailing way, and so 
 setteth in with his grace, and maketh it successful. Cer- 
 tainly, those that have tried can tell you by experience, 
 that there is no way so prevailing with men, as the way 
 of compassion and love. So much of these as they 
 discern in your exhortation, usually so much doth it 
 succeed with their hearts : and therefore I beseech 
 those that are faithful, to practice this course. Alas, 
 we see most people among us, yea, those that would 
 seem godly, cannot bear a reproof that comes not in 
 meekness and love ! If there be the least passion, or 
 relish of disgrace in it, they are ready to spit in your 
 face. Yea, if you do not sweeten your reproof with 
 fair words, they cannot digest it, but their hearts will 
 rise up against you, instead of a thankful submission 
 and reformation. O that it were not too evident that 
 the pharisee is yet alive in the breasts of many thou- 
 sands that seem religious ; even in this one point of 
 bearing plain and sharp reproof ! " They bind heavy 
 burdens, and grievous to be borne, and lay them on 
 men's shoulders ; but they themselves will not move 
 them with one of their fingers," Matt, xxiii. 4. So far 
 are they from doing in this, as they would be done by. 
 
 4. Another direction I would give you, is this : Do 
 it with all possible plainness and faithfulness. Do not 
 dally with men, and hide from them their misery or 
 danger, or any part of it. Do not make their sins less 
 than they are ; nor speak of them in a false hope, no 
 more than you would discourage the sound hope of the 
 righteous. If you see his case dangerous, tell him 
 plainly of it : «« ^Neighbour, I am afraid God hath not 
 
168 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. §11, 
 
 yet renewed your soul ; and that it is yet a stranger to 
 the great work of regeneration and sanctification: I 
 doubt you are not yet recovered from the power of 
 Satan to God, nor brought out of the state of wrath 
 which you were born in, and have lived in : 1 doubt 
 you have not chosen Christ above ail, nor set your 
 heart upon him, nor unfeignedly taken hirn for your 
 sovereign Lord. If you had, sure you durst not so 
 easily disobey him : you could not so neglect him and 
 his worship in your family and in public : you could 
 not so eagerly follow the world, and talk of almost 
 nothing but the things of this world, while Christ is 
 seldom mentioned by you. If you were in Christ, you 
 would become a new creature ; old things would be 
 passed away, and all things would become new : you 
 would have new thoughts, and new talk, and new com- 
 pany, and new endeavours, and a new conversation : 
 certainly without these you can never be saved : you 
 may think otherwise, and hope better as long as you 
 will, but your hopes will deceive you, and perish with 
 you. Alas ! it is not as you will, nor as I will, who 
 shall be saved, but it is as God will : and God hath 
 told us, that — " Without holiness none shall see him : 
 and, — Except we be born again, we cannot enter into 
 his kingdom. And — that all who would not have 
 Christ to reign over them, shall be brought forth, and 
 destroyed before him." O therefore look to your state 
 in time." 
 
 Thus must you deal roundly and faithfully with 
 men, if ever you intend to do them good. It is not 
 hovering at a distance in a general discourse that will 
 serve the turn. It is not in curing men's souls, as in 
 curing their bodies, where they must not know their 
 danger, lest it sadden them, and hinder the cure. 
 They are here agents in their own cure, and if they 
 know not their misery, they will never bewail it, nor 
 know how much need they have of a Saviour : If they 
 know not the worst, they will not labour to prevent it; 
 but will sit still and loiter till they drop into perdi- 
 tion, and will trifle out their time till it be too late. 
 And therefore speak to men, as Christ did to the Pha- 
 risees, till they knew that he meant them. Deal 
 plainly, or you but deceive and destroy them. 
 
II. §11. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 1(5$ 
 
 5. And as you must do it plainly, so also seriously, 
 zealously, and effectually. The exceeding stupidity and 
 deadness of men's hearts are such, that no other dealing 
 will ordinarily work. You must call loud, to awake 
 a man in a swoon or lethargy. If you speak to the 
 common sort of men, of the evil of their sin, of the 
 need of Christ, of the danger of their souls, of the 
 necessity of regeneration, they will warily and unwil- 
 lingly give you the hearing, and put off all with a 
 sigh, or a few good wishes, and say, God forgive us, 
 tee are all sinners ! and there is an end. If ever you 
 will do them good, therefore, you must sharpen your 
 exhortation, and set it home, and follow it, till you 
 have roused them up, and made thern begin to look 
 about them. Let them know that thou speakest not to 
 them of indifferent things, nor about children's games, 
 or matters of a few years or days continuance, nor yet 
 about matters of uncertainty, which may never come 
 to pass; but it is about the saving and damning of 
 their souls and bodies ; and whether they shall be 
 blessed with Christ, or tormented with devils, and that 
 for ever and ever; it is, how to stand before God in 
 judgment, and what answer to give, and how they are 
 like to speed ; and this judgment and eternal state they 
 shall very shortly see, they are almost at it ; yet a few 
 more nights and days, and they shall be at that last 
 day : a few more breaths they have to breathe, and 
 they shall breathe their last : and then as certainly shall 
 they see that mighty change, as that they behold the 
 heaven over their heads, and the earth under their feet. 
 O labour to make men know, that it is mad jesting 
 about salvation or damnation ; and that heaven and 
 hell are not matters to be played with, or passed over 
 with a few careless thoughts. It is most certain that 
 one of these days thou shalt be either in everlasting, 
 unchangeable joy or torment ; and doth it not awake 
 thee ? Are they so few that find the way of death ? 
 Is it so hard to escape ? so easy to miscarry ? and that 
 while we fear nothing, but think all is well ? And 
 yet you sit still and trifle 1 What do you mean ? What 
 do you think on ? The world is passing away : its 
 pleasures are fading : its honours are leaving you : its 
 profits will prove unprofitable to you: heaven or b*»H 
 
J?0 TiTE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 11. 
 
 »# a little before you : God is just and jealous: hi* 
 threatenings are true : The great day of his judgment 
 -will be terrible: Your time runs on : Your lives are 
 uncertain : You are tar behind hand : You have loi- 
 tered long : Your ease is dangerous: Your souls are 
 far gone in sin : You are strangers to God : You are 
 .hardened in all evil customs : You have no assurance 
 of com tort to shew : If you die to-morrow, how ready 
 are you? and with what terror will your souls go out 
 of your bodies ? And you yet loiter ? Why consider, 
 God standeth all tins while waking your leisure : his 
 •patience beareth : his justice forbeareth : his mercy 
 intrcateth you : Christ standeth offering you his blood 
 and merits: You may have him freely, and life with 
 Jiini : The Spirit is persuading: Conscience is accusing 
 And urging you : Ministers are praying for you and 
 calling upon you : Satan is waiting, when Justice will 
 cut off your lives that he may have you : This is your 
 time: Now or never. What! had you rather lose 
 heaven than your profits or pleasures ? Had you ra- 
 ther burn in hell, than repent on earth ? Had you 
 rather howl and roar there, than pray day and night 
 •for mercy here ? Or have devils your tormentors, than 
 -Christ your governor ? Will you renounce your part 
 in God and glory rather than renounce your sins ? Do 
 you think a holy life too much for heaven ? or too dear 
 a course to prevent endless misery ? O friends, what 
 do you think of these things ? God hath made you 
 men, and endued you with reason : Do you renounce 
 your reason where you should chiefly use it ? In this 
 manner you must deal roundly and seriously w ith men, 
 Alas! it is not a few dull words, between jest and 
 earnest, between sleep and waking, as it were, that 
 will waken an ignorant, dead-hearted sinner! Wheal 
 s. dull hearer and a dull speaker meet together, a dead 
 heart, and a dead exhortation ; it is unlikely to have a 
 lively effect. If a man fall down into a swoon, you 
 will not stand trifling with him, but lay hands on hiru 
 presently^ and snatch him up, and rub him, and call 
 aloud to him : If a house be on tire, you will not in a 
 cold strain go to tell your neighbour of it, or make an 
 oration of the nature and danger of lire; but you will 
 run out and crv. Fire ! Fire! .Matter.-; of inoineiUmust 
 
IT. §11. THE SAINTS EVER! ASTING REST. 17'1 
 
 foe seriously dealt with. To tell a nmh of his sins so 
 softly as Eli did his sons, or reprove him so gently as 
 Jehosaphat did Ahab, Let not the King 9ay so, doth 
 usually as much harm as good. I am persuaded the 
 very manner of some men's reproof and exhortation, 
 hath hardened many a sinner in the way of destruc- 
 tion. To tell them of sin, or of heaven, or hell, in a 
 dull, easy, careless I a fig Wage, doth make men think 
 you are not in good earnest; but scarce think your- 
 selves such things are true. Sirs! deal with sin as 
 sin, and speak of heaven and hell as they are, and not 
 as if you were in jest. 1 confess 1 have tailed much iu 
 this myself, the Lord lay it not to my charge ! Un- 
 willingness to displease men, makes us undo them. 
 
 b*. Yet lest you run into extremes, I advise you to 
 do it with discretion. Be as serious as you can, but 
 yet with wisdom. And especially you must be wise 
 in the particulars following : 
 
 1. In choosing the fittest season for your exhorta- 
 tion ; not to deal with men when they are in a passion, 
 or where they will take it for a disgrace. Men should 
 observe, when sinners are fitted to hear instructions. 
 Physic must not be given at all times, but in season. 
 It is an excellent example that Paul giveth us, Gal. 
 ii. 2. He communicated the gospel to them, yet pri- 
 vately to them of reputation, lest he should run in vain. 
 Some men would take this to be a sinful complying 
 with their corruptions, to yield so far to their pride 
 and bashfulness, as to teach them only in private, be- 
 cause they would be ashamed to own the troth iu pub- 
 lic: but Paul knew how great a hindrance men's re- 
 putation is to their entertaining of the truth, and that 
 the remedy must not only be fitted to the disea'se, but 
 also to the strength of the patient, and that in so 
 doing, the physician is not guilty of favouring the 
 disease, but is praise-worthy for biking the right way 
 to cure. Means will work easily if von take the oppor- 
 tunity ; when the earth is sotr, the plough will enter. 
 Take a man, when he is under afiliction, or in the 
 house of mourning, or newly stirred by some moving 
 sermon, and then set it home, and you may do him 
 good. Christian faithfulness doth require, not only to 
 P 2 
 
172 THE FAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 11. 
 
 to do good when it falls in our way, but to watch for 
 opportunities. 
 
 2. lie wise also in suiting your exhortation to the 
 quality and temper of the person. All meats are icoi 
 tor all stomachs: one man will vomit that up which 
 another will digest. 1. If it be a learned, or ingenious 
 rational man, von must deal more bv convincing argu- 
 meats, and less by passionate persuasions, 2. If it be 
 wne that is both ignorant and stupid, there is need of 
 both. 3. If one that is convinced, but not converted, 
 aou must use most of those means that rouze the af- 
 U rtions. 4. If they be obstinate and secure, you 
 mu:t reprove them sharply. 5. If they be of timorous 
 ♦ ejider natures, they must be tenderly dealt with. All 
 cannot bear that rough dealing- as some can. Love, 
 and plainness, and seriousness, take with all : but 
 words of terror some scarce can bear. 
 
 3. You must be wise also in using the aptest expres- 
 sions. Many a minister doth deliver most excellent 
 matter in such a harsh and unseeming language that 
 it makes the hearers loath the food that they should 
 \\y.t by, arid laugh at a sermon that might make them 
 quake . especially if they be men of curious ears, aad 
 carpal hearts, and have more wit and parts than the 
 speaker. And so it is in private exhortations as well 
 as public : if you clothe the most amiable truth in the 
 sordid rags of unbeseeming language, you will make 
 men disdain it, though it be the offspring of God, and 
 of the highest nature. 
 
 4. Let all your reproofs and exhortations be backed 
 with the authority of God. Let the sinner be con- 
 vinced that you speak not from yourselves, or of your 
 own head. Shew them the very words of Scripture 
 for what you say : press them with the truth and au- 
 thority of God : ask them, Whether they believe that 
 this is his word, and that his word is true ? So much 
 of God as appeareth in our words, so much will they 
 take. The voice of man is contemptible ; but the 
 voice of God is awful and terrible. Be sure therefore 
 to make them knoiv that you speak nothing but what 
 God hath spoken. 
 
 5. You must also be frequent with men in this duly 
 of exhortation ; it is not once or twice that usually vv i f 1 
 
H. §11. THE SAINTS F.VERLASTTNG RE*T. 17$ 
 
 prevail. If God himself must be constantly solicited, 
 as if importunity could prevail with him when nothing 
 flsfc caii ; and therefore, requires us always to pray, 
 and not to faint : the same course, no doubt, will be> 
 most prevailing with men. Therefore, we are com- 
 manded, To exhort one another daily, and with all 
 long-suffering. The tire is not always brought out of 
 the that at one stroke: nor men's affections kindled at 
 the Hist exhortation. And if they were, yet if they be 
 not followed, they will soon grow cold again. Weary 
 out sinners with your loving and earnest intreaties ; 
 follow them, and give them no rest in their sin. This 
 is true charity, and this is the way to save men's souls ; 
 and a course that will afford you comfort upon a review. 
 
 (>. Strive to bring all your exhortation to an issue: 
 stick not in the work done, but look after the success. 
 J have long observed it in ministers and private men, 
 that if they speak ever so convincing words, and yet 
 all their care be over when they lrave done their speech, 
 pretending that having done their duty, they leave the 
 issue to God, these men seldom prosper in their la- 
 bours; but those whose very hearts are set upon the 
 work, and that long to see it take for the hearer's con- 
 version, and use to inquire how it speeds, God usually 
 blesseth their labours, though more weak. Labour, 
 therefore, to drive all your speeches at the desired 
 issue. If you are reproving sin, cease not (if it may 
 be) till you have got the sinner to promise you to leave 
 it) and to avoid the occasions of it : if you are exhort- 
 ing to a duty, urge the party to promise you presently 
 to set upon it. If you would draw them to Christ, 
 leave them not till you have made them confess, that 
 their present state is miserable and not to be rested in; 
 aud till they have subscribed to the necessity of a 
 change ; and promised you to fall close to the use of 
 means. O that all Christians would be persuaded to 
 take this course with all their neighbours that are yet 
 enslaved to sin, and strangers to Christ ! 
 
 7. Lastly : Be sure your example exhort as well as 
 your words. Let them see you constant in all the 
 duties you persuade them to. ^ Let them see in your 
 lives that excellency above the world, which you per- 
 suade them to in your speeches. Let them see bv your 
 P. 3 
 
174 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § li - 
 
 constant labours for heaven, that yoa indeed believe 
 what you would have them believe. 
 
 And thus 1 have opened to you the first and great 
 part of this duty, consisting in private exhortation, for 
 Hie helping of poor souls to this Rest, thai have yet 
 no title to it; and I have shewed you also the manner 
 how to perform it. I will now speak a little of the 
 next part. 
 
 1. Besides the duty of private admonition, you must 
 do jour utmost endeavours to help men to profit by 
 the public ordinances. And to that end, first do your, 
 endeavours for the procuring of faithful ministers where 
 they are wanting. This is Clod's ordinary means of 
 converting- and saving. M How shall they hear without 
 a preacher r" INot only for your sakes therefore, but 
 for the poor miserable ones about you, do all you can. 
 to bring this to pass. Improve all your interest and 
 diligence to this end. Rise, and go, and seek, and 
 make friends til! you prevail. "Who knoweth how 
 many souls may bless you, who have been converted 
 by the ministry which you have procured ? It is a 
 higher and nobler work of charity, than if you gave 
 idl that you have to relieve their bodies. 
 
 How small a matter were it (and yet how excellent 
 ?i work !) far every gentleman of means in England, to. 
 eull out some one or two, or more poor boys, in the 
 country schools, who are the choicest wits, and of the 
 most pious dispositions, who are poor and unable to 
 proceed in learning; and to maintain them till they 
 are fit for the ministry ! If it were but keeping a few 
 superfluous attendants the less, if they had hearts to 
 «t, it were easily spared out of their rich apparel, or 
 superfluous diet ; 1 dare say, they would not be sorry 
 for it when they come to their reckoning : One sump- 
 tuous feast, or one costly suit of apparel, would main- 
 tain a poor boy a year or two at the university, who 
 perhaps might come to have more true worth in him, 
 than many a glittering lord, and to do God more ser- 
 vice in his church, than ever they did with all their 
 estates and power. 
 
 2. And when you enjoy the blessing of the gospel, 
 you must yet use your utmost diligence to help poor 
 khiIs to receive the fruit of it. To which end you 
 
II. 5" II. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING III ST. IJ5 
 
 must draw them constantly to hear and attend it: 
 remind them often of what they have heard : draw them, 
 if it be possible, to repeat it in their families; if that 
 cannot be, then draw them to come to others that do 
 repeat it; that so it may not die in the hearing. The 
 very drawing of men into the company and acquaint- 
 ance of the good man, besides the benefit they have 
 by his endeavours, is of singular use to the recovery 
 of their souls. It is a mean to take off prejudice, by 
 confuting the world's slanders of the ways and people 
 of God* Use* therefore, often to- meet together, be- 
 sides the more public meeting in the congregation : 
 not to vend any unsound opinions;: nor at the time of 
 public Worship ; nor yet to separate from the church 
 whereof you are members; but the work, which I 
 would have you meet about, is this, To repeat toge- 
 ther the word which you have heard in public ; to pour 
 out joint prayers for tire church and yourselves; join 
 id cheerful singing the praises of God : to open your- 
 scruples, and doubts, and fears, and get resolution; to 
 quicken each other in love and heaveidy-inindedness, 
 or holy walking: and all this, not as a separated 
 church, but as a part of the church more diligent than 
 the rest, in redeeming time, and helping the souls of' 
 each other heavenward. 
 
 3. One thing more I advise: If you would have 
 souls saved by the ordinance, labour still to keep the 
 ordinance and ministry in esteem. No man will be 
 much wrought on by that which he despiseth. I shall- 
 confirm you herein, not in my own words, but in his- 
 that I know you dare not disregard, 1 Thess. v. 12, 13^ 
 " Wherefore, comfort yourselves together, and edify, 
 one another, even as ye also do : and we beseech you- 
 brethren, to know them which labour among you, and 
 are over you in the Lord, and admonish you, and to* 
 •esteem them very highly in love for their works sake ; 
 mid be at peace among yourselves. Obey them that 
 have the rule over you, and submit yourselves : for they 
 watch for your souls, as those that must give an ac- 
 count, that they may do it with joy, and not with 
 grief; for that is unprofitable for you," Heb. xiii. 17. 
 
 Thus you. see part of your duty for the salvation of 
 others. 
 
176 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 11. 
 
 But where shall we find the man, that setteth him- 
 self to it with all his might, and that hath set his 
 heart upon the souls of his brethren, that they may be 
 saved ? 
 
 Let us here a little inquire, what may be the causes 
 of the gross neglect of this duty, that the hindrances 
 being discovered, may the more easily be overcome. 
 
 1. One hindrance is, Meifl own sinfulness and 
 guiltiness. They have not been ravished themselves 
 with the heavenly delights: how then should they 
 draw others to seek them? They have not i'eit the 
 wickedness of their own nature, nor their lost condi- 
 tion, nor their need of Christ, nor felt the renewing 
 work of the Spirit: how then can tin y discover these 
 to others? Oh that this /ere not the case of many a 
 learned preacher in England ! and the cause why they 
 preach so liozenly ! Men also are guilty themselves 
 of the sins they should reprove; and this stops their 
 mouths, and maketh them ashamed to reprove. 
 
 2. Another hindrance is, A secret infidelity pre* 
 vailing in men's hearts : alas, sirs ! we do not sure 
 believe men's misery; sure we do not believe the. 
 threatening* of God are true ! Did we verily beiievtr 
 that all the unregenerate and unholy shall be eternally 
 tormented, Oh ! how could we hold our tongues when 
 we are among the unregenerate ! How could we choose 
 but burst out in tears when we look them in the face, 
 as the prophet did when he looked upon Hazael ! espe- 
 cially when they are our kindred or friends, that are 
 near and dear to us ! Thus doth secret un belief con- 
 sume the vigourof each grace and duty. O Christians ! 
 if you did verily believe that your poor neighbour, or 
 wife, or husband, or child, should certainly lie for 
 ever in the flames of hell, except they be thoroughly 
 changed, before death doth snatch them hence, would 
 not this make you cast off all discouragements, and 
 lay at them day and night till they were persuaded ? 
 If you were sure that any of your dear friends who are 
 dead, were now in hell, and persuaded tlvat repentance 
 would get them out again, woukl not you persuade 
 them day and night if they were in hearing ? And why 
 should \ou not do as much then to prevent it, while 
 they are in your hearing, but that you do not believe 
 God's word that speaks the danger? O! were it not 
 
 j 
 
U. § 11. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REsT. ]/7 
 
 ibr this cursed unbelief, our' own souls and our neigh- 
 bours would gain more by us than they do. 
 
 3. This faithful dealing with men for their solvation, 
 is hindered also by the want of compassion to men's 
 souls. We are hard-hearted and cruel towards the mi- 
 serable: and therefore, (as the Priest and the Levite 
 did by the wounded man) we look on them and pass by. 
 
 O what tender hearts could endure to look upon a 
 poor blind forlorn sinner, wounded by sin, and capti- 
 vated by Satan, and never once open their months for 
 his recovery ! What though he be silent, and do not 
 desire thy help ? Vet his misery cries aloud. Misery 
 is the most effectual suitor to one that is compassionate. 
 If God had not heard the cry of our miseries before he 
 heard the cry of our prayers, and been moved by his 
 own pity before he was moved by our importunity, we 
 might have long enough continued the slaves of Satan. 
 Alas, what pitiful sights do we daily see 1 The igno- 
 rant, the profane, the neglecters or Christ, and their 
 souls: — Their sores are open and visible to all; and 
 yet, do we not pity them ? You will pray to God for 
 them, in customary duties, that God would open tl*e 
 eyes, and turn the hearts of your friends and neigh- 
 bours : and why do you not endeavour their conver- 
 sion if you desire it? And if you do not desire it, why- 
 do you ask it? Doth not your negligence convince 
 you of hypocrisy in your prayers, and of abusing the 
 most high God with your deceitful words ? Your 
 neighbours are near you, your friends are in the 
 house with you ; you eat, drink, work, walk, and talk 
 with them, and yet you say little or nothing to them. 
 Why do you not urge them to consider and return, 
 as well as pray God to convert and turn them ? Hare. 
 you as often begged of them to think on their way 
 and to reform, as you have taken on you to beg of God 
 that they may so do ? What if you should see your 
 neighbour fallen into a pit, and you should presently 
 Jail down on your knees, and pray God to help him 
 out, but would neither put forth your hand to help 
 linn, nor once persuade or direct him to help himself, 
 would not any man censure you to be cruel and hypo- 
 critical ? What the Holy Ghost saith of men's bodily 
 
1/8 THE SAINT* EVERLASTING REST. II. § II. 
 
 miseries, I may say much more of the misery of their 
 souls: " If any man sue his brother in need, and shut 
 up liis bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth 
 the love of God in 111111?" The charity of our igno- 
 rant fort- fathers may rise up in judgment against us, 
 and condemn us: they would give all their estates al- 
 most, for so many masses or pardons, to deliver the 
 souls of their friends from a feigned purgatory ; and we 
 will not so much as admonish and entreat them, to 
 save them from the certain flames of hell. 
 
 4. Another hindrance is, A base man-pleasing dis- 
 position that is in us. We are so loath to displease men, 
 and so desirous to keep in credit and favour with them, 
 that it makes us neglect our own duty. A foolish 
 physician he is, and a most unfaithful friend, that will 
 let a sick man die for fear of troubling him. And, 
 cruel wretches are we to our friends, that will rather 
 surfer them to go quietly to hell, than we will anger 
 them, or hazard our reputation with them. If they did 
 but fall into a swoon, we would rub them and pinch 
 them, and never stick at hurting them. ]f they were 
 distracted, we would bind them with chains, and we 
 would please them in nothing that tendeth to their hurt. 
 And yet when they are beside themselves in point of 
 salvation, and in their madness posting on to damna- 
 tion, we will not stop them for fear . of displeasing 
 them ! How can these men be Christians, that " love 
 •the praise and favour of men more than the favour of 
 : God !" John xii. 43. " For if they yet seek to 
 please men, they are no longer the servants of Christ," 
 .Gal. i. 10. To win them, indeed, we must become 
 all. things to all men:, but to please them to their de- 
 struction, and let them perish, that we may keep our 
 credit with them 5 is a course base and barbarously 
 cruel, that he, who hath the face of a Christian should 
 abhor, 
 
 5. Another common hindrance is, A sinful bash- 
 fulness. W^heri we should labour to make men ashamed 
 of their sins, we are ourselves ashamed of our duties. 
 May not these sinners condemn us, when they will not 
 .blush to swear or be drunk, and we blush to tell them 
 of it, and dissuade them from it? Sinners will boast 
 
IJ. § 11. THE SAINTS EVER LASTING REST. 1 7.0 
 
 of their sins, and shew them in the open streets ; fend 
 shall not toe be as bold in drawing them from sin ? 
 Not that [ would have inferiors forget their distance 
 in admonishing their superiors ; but do it with all hu- 
 mility, and submission, and respeet. But yet I would 
 much less have them forget their duty to God and 
 their friends, be they ever so much their superior?. 
 It is a thing- that must be done. Bashfulness is un- 
 seemly in cases of Hat necessity. And indeed it is not 
 a work to be ashamed of; to obey God in persuading 
 men from their sins to Christ, and helping to save their 
 souls, is not a busttiess for a man to blush at. Yet, 
 alas, what abundance of souls have been neglected 
 through the prevailing of this sin ! Even the most of 
 us are heinously guilty in this point. Reader* is not 
 this thy own case ? Hath not thy conscience told thee 
 of thy duty, many times, and put thee on speaking to 
 poor sinners, lest they perish ? and yet thou hast been 
 ashamed to open thy mouth to them, and let them 
 alone to sink or swim ; believe me, thou wilt before 
 long be ashamed of this shame : O read these words 
 of Christ, and tremble; " He that is ashamed of me 
 and of my words, before this aduHcrous generation, of 
 him will the Son of ?*Iai be ashamed before his Father 
 and the holy angels." 
 
 6. With many b\&& pride is a great impediment. If 
 it wer to speak to a great man, they would do it, so 
 it would not displease him. But to go among a com- 
 pany of ignorant beggars, or mean persons, and to sit 
 with them in a smoky nasty cottage, and there to ex- 
 hort them from day to day ; where is the person that 
 will do it r — Many will much rejoice if they have been 
 instruments of converting a gentleman, (and they 
 have good cause) but for the common multitude, they 
 look not after them : as if God were a respecter of the 
 persons of the rich, or the souls of all were not-alike 
 to him. Alas, these men little consider how long Christ 
 did stoop to us ! \V:.'n the God of glory came down 
 in flesh to worms, an l preached up and down among 
 them from city to city, not the silliest woman thought 
 he too low to confer with : few rich, and noble, and 
 
IB9 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 1], 
 
 wise are called. It is the poor that receive the glad 
 tidings of the grope!. 
 
 Object. " O but, 1 * Bays one, u I am of so weak 
 parts, that I am unable to manage an exhortation; es- 
 pecially to men of strong parts and understandings.* 1 
 
 I answer, I. Set those upon the work who are more 
 able. 2. Vet do not think that thou art so excused 
 thyself, but use faithfully that ability which thou hast ; 
 not in teachiug those of whom thou shouldst learn, 
 but in instructing those that are more ignorant than 
 thyself, and in exhorting those that are neglient in 
 the things which they do know. If you cannot speak 
 well yourself, yet you can tell them what God speaketh 
 in his Word. * It is not the excellency of speech that 
 winneth souls; but the authority of God manifested 
 by that speech, and the power of his word in the 
 mouth of the instructer. A weak woman may tell 
 what God saith in the plain passages of the word, as 
 well as a learned man. If you cannot preach to them, 
 yet you can say, Thus it is written. One of mean 
 parts may remind the wisest of his duty when lie for- 
 gets it. 
 
 .Object. " It is my superior : and is it fit for me to 
 teach or reprove my betters ? Must the wife teach the 
 husband, of whom the Scripture biddeth them learn? 
 Or must the child teach the parents, whose duty it is 
 to teach them r" 
 
 I answer, 1. It is fit that husbands should be able 
 to teach their wives, and parents to teach their chil- 
 dren ; and God expecteth they should be so, and 
 therefore, commandeth tlie inferiors to learn -of them. 
 But if they, through their negligence, disable them- 
 selves, or through their wickedness, bring their souls 
 into such misery, then it is themselves, and not you, 
 that break God's order, by bringing themselves into 
 disability and misery. 
 
 Matters of mere order and manners must be dis- 
 pensed with in cases of fiat necessity. Though it were 
 your minister, you must teach him in such a case. It 
 is the part of parents to provide for their children, and 
 uot children for their parents: and yet if the parents 
 fall into want, must not tl>e children relieve them? 
 
 
If. § 11. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 181 
 
 It is the part of the husband to dispose of the affairs 
 of the family and estate : and yet if he he sick and be- 
 • side himself, must not the wife do it ? The rich should 
 relieve the poor: but if the rich fall into beggary, they 
 must be relieved themselves. It is the work of a phy- 
 sician to look to the health of others ; and yet if he 
 fall sick, somebody must help him. So must the. 
 meanest servant admonish his master, and the child 
 his parent, and the wife her husband, and the people 
 their ministers, in cases of necessity. Yet, Secondly, 
 let me give you these two cautions here, 
 
 1. That you do not pretend necessity when there is- 
 none, out of a mere desire of teaching. There is scarce 
 a more certain discovery of a proud heart, than to be 
 more desirous to teach than to learn ; especially to- 
 wards those who are fitter to teach us» 
 
 2. And when the necessity of your superiors doth 
 call for your advice, yet do it with all possible humi- 
 lity, modesty, and meekness. Let them discern your 
 reverence and submission in the humble manner of 
 your addresses to them. Let them perceive that you 
 do it not out of a mere teaching humour, or proud 
 self-conceited ness. If a wife should tell her husband 
 of sin in a masterly railing language : or if a servant 
 reprove his master, or a child his father in a saucy 
 way, what good could be expected from such a re% 
 proof? But if they should meekly and humbly open 
 to him his sin and danger, and entreat him to bear 
 with what God cominandeth, and if they could, by 
 tears testify their sense of his case: what father, or 
 master, or husband could take this ill ? 
 
 Object. But some may say, this will make us all 
 preachers, and cause all to break over the bounds of 
 their callings. 
 
 Answer, 1. This is not taking a pastoral charge of 
 souls, nor making an office or calling of it, as preachers 
 do. 
 
 i 2. And in the way of our callings, every good 
 christian is a teacher, and hath a charge of his neigh- 
 bour's soul. Let it be only the voice of a Cain to say, 
 " Am I my brother's keeper?" I would one of these 
 men, that are so loath that private men shouM teacll 
 
 Q 
 
182 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. §11. 
 
 them, to tell me, " What if a man fall down in a swoon 
 in the streets, though it be your father, or superior, 
 would you not take him up presently, and use all means 
 to recover him?" Or would you let him lie and die, 
 and say, " it is the work of a physician, and not mine; 
 I will not invade the physician's calling." In two 
 cases every man is a physician : First, In case of neces- 
 tity, and when a physician cannot be had : and, Se- 
 condly, In case the hurt should be so small, that every 
 man can do as well as a .physician. And in the same 
 two cases, every man must he a teacher. 
 
 Object. " Some will farther object, to put off this 
 duty, that the party is so ignorant, or stupid, or care- 
 less, or rooted in sin, and hath been so often exhorted 
 in vain, that there is no hope." 
 
 1 answer, How know you when there is no hope ? 
 Cannot God yet cure him ? And have not many as 
 far gone been cured ? Should not a merciful physician 
 use means while there is life ? And is it not inhuman 
 cruelty in you to give up your friend to the devil as 
 hopeless, upon mere backwardness to your duty, or 
 upon groundless discouragements ? What if you had 
 been so given up yourselves when you were ignorant ? 
 
 Object. " But we must not cast pearls before swine, 
 nor give that which is holy to dogs." 
 
 I answer, That is but a favourable dispensation of 
 Christ for your own safety. When you are in danger 
 of being torn in pieces, Christ would have you for- 
 bear; but what is that to you, that are in no such 
 danger ? As long as they will hear, you have encou- 
 ragement to speak, and may not cast them off as con- 
 temptuous swine. 
 
 Object. «f O but it is a friend, that I have all my 
 dependence on : and by telling him of his sin and mi- 
 sery, I may lose his love, and so be undone." 
 
 I answer, Sure no man that irath the faith of a 
 Christian, will for shame own such an objection as 
 this ? Yet, I doubt, it often prevaileth in the heart. 
 Is his love more to be valued than his safety ? Or thy 
 own benefit by him, than the salvation of his soul ? Or 
 wilt thou connive at his damnation, because he is thy 
 friend ? Is that thy best requital of his friendship ? 
 
II. §. 11. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 183 
 
 Hadst thou rather he should burn for ever in hell, than 
 thou shouldst lose his favour or the maintenance thou 
 hast from him ? 
 
 To conclude this use, That I may prevail with every 
 soul that feareth God, to use their utmost diligence to 
 help all about them to this blessed Rest, let me intreat 
 you to consider these following motives: 
 
 1. Consider, Nature teaehcth the communicating of 
 good, and grace doth especially dispose the soul 
 thereto ; the neglect, therefore, of this work, is a sin 
 both against nature and grace. 
 
 Would you not think those men and women unna- 
 tural, that would let their children or neighbours 
 famish in the streets, while they have provision in 
 hand ? And is not he more unnatural that will let his 
 children or neighbours perish eternally, and will not 
 open his mouth to save them ? Certainly this is most 
 barbarous cruelty. We. account an unmerciful, cruel 
 man, a very monster to be abhorred of all. Many 
 vicious men are too much loved in the world, but a 
 cruel man is abhorred of all. Now that it may appear 
 to you what a cruel thing this neglect of souls is, do 
 but consider these two things. First: How great a 
 work it is. Secondly : How small a matter it is that 
 thou refusest to do for the accomplishing so great a 
 work. First: it is to save thy brother from eternal 
 flames, that he may not there lie roaring in endless 
 torments. It is to bring him 1o the everlasting Rest, 
 where he may live in inconceivable happiness with 
 God. Secondly : And what is it that you should do to 
 help him herein ? Why, it is to persuade him, and lay 
 open to him his sin, and his duty, his misery, and the 
 remedy, till you have made him willing to yield to 
 the offers and commands of Christ. And is this so 
 great a matter to do, for the attaining such a blessed 
 end ? Is not the soul of husband, or wife, or child, or 
 neighbour worth a few words ? It is worth this, or it 
 is worth nothing. If they lie dying in the streets, and 
 a few words would save their lives, would not every 
 man say, he was a cruel wretch that would let them 
 perish, rather than speak to them ? Even the covet- 
 ous hypocrite that James reproveth would give a lew 
 Q3 
 
1S4 TUL SAINTS EVERLASTING RTST. II. § II. 
 
 words to the poor, and say, 4t Go and be warmed, and 
 be clothed.*' What a barbarous, unmerciful wretch 
 then art thou, that wilt not vouchsafe a few words of 
 serious, sober admonition, to Bare the soul of thy 
 neighbour or friend ? Cruelty and un mercifulness to 
 men's bodies, is a most damnable sin ; but to their 
 s much more, as the soul is of greater worth than 
 the body, and as eternity is of greater moment than 
 this short time. 
 
 Alas ! do you not see or feel what ease their son Is 
 an in, wheo they are in lull, for want of your faithful 
 admonition ? Little know you what many a soul may 
 now be feeling, who have been your neighbours and 
 acquaintance, and died in their sins, on whom you 
 never bestowed one hour's sober advice for preventing 
 their unhappiness. If you knew their misery, you 
 would now do more to bring them out of hell : but 
 alas, it is too late! \ou should have done it while 
 they w ere with you. As one said of physicians, " That 
 they were the mo^t happy men, because all their good 
 deeds and cures were seen above ground to their praise, 
 but all their mistakes and neglects were buried out of 
 sight." So I may say to you, many a neglect of yours 
 to the souls about you, may now be buried with those 
 souls in hell, out of your sight, and therefore, now it 
 doth not much trouble you ; but, alas they feel it, 
 though you feel it not. Jeremiah cried out, " My 
 ^bowels, my bowels, I cannot hold my peace," because 
 of the temporal destruction of his people ; and do not 
 our bowels yearn ? And can we hold our peace at 
 men's eternal destruction ? 
 
 2. Consider, What a rate Christ did value souls at, 
 and what he hath done towards the salvation of them ; 
 he thought them worth his blood, and shall not we 
 think them worth the breath of our mouths ? Will 
 you not do a little, when he hath done so much ? 
 
 3. Consider, What a deal of guilt this neglect doth 
 lay upon thy soul. First : Thou art guilty of the mur- 
 der and damnation of all those souls whom thou dost 
 neglect. He that standeth by, and seeth a man in a 
 pit, and will not pull him out if he can, cloth drown 
 him. And he that standeth by while thieves rob him, 
 
II. §11. TIIE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. HS& 
 
 or murderers kill him, and will not help him, if he 
 can, is accessary to the fact. And so he that will 
 silently suffer men to damn their souls, or will let 
 Satan and the world deceive them, and not offer to 
 help them, will certainly be judged guilty of damning 
 them. And is not this a most dreadful consideration? 
 O sirs, how many souls then have every one of us beea 
 guilty of damning! What a number of our neigh-*" 
 hours and acquaintances are dead, in whom we dis- 
 cerned no signs of sanctification, and we never once 
 plainly told them of it, or how to be recovered ? If yon 
 had been the cause of burning a man's house through 
 your negligence, or of undoing him, or destroying his- 
 body, how would it trouble you as long as yon lived ? 
 If you had but killed a man unadvisedly, it would 
 much disquiet you. We have known those that have 
 been guilty of murder, that conld never sleep quietly 
 after, nor have one comfortable day, their own con- 
 sciences did so vex and torment them. O what a heart 
 must thou have, that hast been guilty of murdering 
 such a multitude of precious souls ? Remember this, 
 when thou lookest thy friend or carnal neighbour in 
 the face ; and think within thyself, can 1 rind in my 
 heart, through my silence and negligence, to be gnilty 
 of his everlasting burning in hell ? Methinks such a 
 thought should even untie the tongue of the dumb. 
 
 2. And as you are guilty of their perishing, so are 
 you of eveiy sin which, in the mean time, they commit. 
 If they were converted, they would break oft their 
 course of sinning: and if you did your duty, you 
 know not but they might be converted. As he that 
 is guilty of man's drunkenness, is guilty of all the sins 
 which that drunkenness doth cause him to commit ; so» 
 he that is guilty of a man's continuing unregenerate, 
 is also guilty of the sins of his unregeneracy. How 
 many curses and oaths, and other sins of a most heinous 
 nature are many of you guilty of, that little think of? 
 it? You that take much pains for your own souls, 
 and seem fearful of sinning, would take it ill of one 
 that should tell you that you are guilty of weekly, or 
 daily whoredoms, and drunkenness, and swearing, and 
 lving? And vet it is too true, even beyond all de» 
 Q3 
 
186 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 11. 
 
 nial, by your neglect of helping those who do commit 
 them. 
 
 3. You are guilty also of all those judgments which 
 those men's sins bring upon the town or country where 
 they live. I know you are not such atheists, but you 
 believe it is Cod that sendeth sickness, and famine, 
 and war : and also that it is only sin that moveth him 
 to his indignation. What doubt then is there, but 
 you are the cause of judgments, who do not strive 
 against those sins which cause them ? Cod hath stayed 
 long in patience, to see if any would deal plainly with 
 the sinners of the times, and so free their own souls 
 from the guilt : but when he seeth that there is none, 
 but all become guilty; no wonder then if he lay the 
 judgment upon all. We have all seen the drunkards, 
 and heard the swearers in our streets, and we would 
 not speak to them : We have all lived in the midst of 
 an ignorant, worldly, and unholy people; and we have 
 not spoke to them with earnestness, plainness, and 
 love ; no wonder then if God speak in his wrath both 
 to them and us. Eli did not commit the sin himself, 
 and yet he speaketh so coldly against it, that he most 
 bear the punishment. God locketh up the clouds be- 
 cause we have shut up our mouths. The earth is 
 grown as hard as iron to us, because we have hardened 
 our hearts against our miserable neighbours. The cries 
 of the poor for bread are loud, because our cries against 
 sin have been so low. Sicknesses run apace from house 
 to house, and sweep away the poor, unprepared inha- 
 bitants, because we swept not out the sin that breed eth 
 them. As Christ said in another case, Lukexix. 40, 
 •' If these should hold their peace, the stones would 
 speak :" so because we held our peace at the ignorance, 
 ungodliness, and wickedness of our places, therefore do 
 these plagues and judgments speak. 
 
 4. Consider, what a thing it will be, to look upon 
 your poor friends in those flames, and to think that 
 your neglect was a great cause of it 1 and that there 
 was a time when you might have done much to prevent 
 it. If you should there perish with them, it would be 
 no small aggravation of your torment: if you be in 
 beaven, it would sure be a sad thought, were it possibte 
 
\ 
 
 II. §11. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 187 
 
 that any sorrow could dwell there, to hear a multitude 
 of poor souls in hell cry out for ever, " O if yon 
 would but have told me plainly of my sin and danger, 
 and dealt roundly with me, 1 might have escaped all 
 this torment, and now been in Rest !" O what a sad 
 voice will this be ! 
 
 5. Consider how diligent are the enemies of these 
 poor souls to draw them to hell! and if nobody be 
 diligent in helping them to heaven, what is likely to 
 become of them? The devil is tempting them day 
 and night : their inward lusts are still working and 
 withdrawing them ; the flesh is still pleading for its 
 delights and profits; their old companions are ready 
 to entice them to sin, and to disgrace God's ways and 
 people to them ; and to contradict the doctrine of 
 Christ that should save them ; and to increase their dis- 
 like of holiness. Seducing teachers are exceeding- 
 diligent in sowing tares, and in drawing off the un- 
 stable from the way to life : and shall a seducer be so 
 unwearied in proselyting poor unguarded souls to his 
 fancies? And shall not a sound Christian be much 
 more unwearied in labouring to win men to Christ and 
 life ? 
 
 ()'. Consider, the neglect of this doth very deeply 
 wound, when conscience is awakened. When a man 
 comes to die, conscience will ask him, What good 
 hast thou done in thy life-time ? The saving of souls 
 is the greatest good ; what hast thou done towards 
 this ? How many hast thou dealt faithfully with ? 1 
 have often observed, that the consciences of dying 
 men, very much wound them for this omission. For 
 my own part (to tell you my experience) whenever I 
 have been near death, my conscience hath accused me 
 more for this than for any sin ; it would bring every 
 ignorant profane neighbour to my remembrance, to 
 whom I never made known their danger : it would tell 
 me, thou shouldst have gone to them in private, and 
 told them plainly of their desperate danger, without 
 bashfulness or daubing, though it had been when thou 
 >houldst have eaten or slept, if thou hadst no other 
 time: conscience would remind me, how at such a 
 Ume. or such a time, I was in company with the iguo- 
 
188 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 11. 
 
 rant, or was riding by the way with a wilful sinner, 
 and had a rit opportunity to have dealt with him, but 
 did not : or at least, did it by halves, and to little pur- 
 pose. The Lord grant I may better obey conscience 
 hereafter, while I live and have time, that it may have 
 less to accuse me or at death. 
 
 7. Consider, lastly*, the happy consequences of this 
 work, where it is faiihfully < ! ->ije ; to name some : 
 
 1. You may be instrumental in that blessed work of 
 saving souls, a work that Christ came down and died 
 for, a work that the angels of Clod rejoice in ; tor, 
 saith the Holy Ghost, " If any of you do err from the 
 truth, and one convert him, let him know, that he 
 who converteth the sinner from the error of his way, 
 shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multi- 
 tude of sins," James v. 19, 20. And how can God 
 more highly honour you, than to make you instruments 
 in so great a work ? 
 
 2. Such souls will bless you here and hereafter. 
 They may be angry with you at first ; but if your 
 words succeed, they will bless the day that ever they 
 knew you, and bless God that sent you to speak to 
 them. 
 
 3. It bringeth much advantage to yourselves : First, 
 it will increase your graces, both as it is a course that 
 God will bless, and it is an acting of them in thus 
 persuading others : he that will not let you lose a cup 
 of water which is given for him, will not let you lose 
 these greater works of charity ; besides, those that 
 have practised this duty, must find by experience that 
 they never go on more prosperously towards heaven, 
 than when they do most to help others thither with 
 them. It is not here as with worldly treasure, the 
 more you give away, the less you have : but the more 
 you give, the more you have : the setting forth Christ 
 in his fulness to others, will warm your own hearts ; 
 the opening the evil and the danger of sin to others,, 
 will increase your hatred of it. Secondly, it will 
 increase your glory as well as your grace, both as a 
 duty which God will reward: " For those that con- 
 vert many to righteousness, shall shine as the stars for 
 ever and ever," Dan. xii. 3; and also as we shall there- 
 behold them in heaven* and be their associates in. 
 
II. §11. THE SAFNTS EVERLASTING REST. 189 
 
 blessedness, whom God made us here the instruments 
 to convert. Thirdly, however, it will give us much, 
 peace of conscience, whether we succeed or not, to 
 think that we were faithful, and did our best to save 
 them, and that we are clear from the blood of all 
 men. Fourthly, Besides that is a work which if it 
 succeed, doth exceedingly rejoice an honest heart: he 
 that has a sense of God's honour, or the least affection 
 to the soul of his brother, must needs rejoice much at 
 his conversion, whosoever be the instrument, but es- 
 pecially when God makes ourselves the means of so 
 Messed a work. 
 
 For my own part, it is an unspeakable comfort to 
 me, that God hath made me an instrument for the 
 recovering of so many from bodily diseases, and saving 
 their natural lives : but all this is nothing to the com- 
 fort I have in the success of my labours, in the con- 
 version and confirmation of souls; it is so great a joy 
 to me, that it drowneth the painfulness of my daily 
 duties, and the trouble of my daily languishing and 
 bodily griefs, and maketh all these, with all oppositions 
 and difficulties in my work to be easy : and all the 
 personal mercies that ever 1 received, next to his love 
 in Christ to my soul, I most joyfully bless him for the 
 plenteous success of my endeavours upon others : O 
 what fruits then might 1 have seen, if I had been more 
 faithful, and plied the work in private and public as 
 1 ought ! I know we have need to be very jealous of 
 our deceitful hearts in this point, lest our rejoieing 
 should come from our pride. Naturally we would, 
 have every man to be in the place of God, and have 
 the praise of every good work ascribed to ourselves : 
 but yet to imitate our Father in Goodness, and to re- 
 joice in that degree we attain to, is the part of every 
 child of God. I tell you therefore, to persuade you 
 from my own experience, that if you did but know 
 what a joyful thing it is to be an instrument for the 
 saving of souls, you would set upon it presently, and 
 follow it night and day through the greatest discou- 
 ragement and resistance. 
 
 And thus I have shewed you what should persuade 
 you to this dutv. Let me now conclude with a word 
 
]*)0 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 12. 
 
 of intrcaty : First, To all the godly in general Se- 
 condly, To some above others in particular. 
 
 CHAP. XIT. 
 
 An Advice to some more particularly to help others 
 to this Rest. 
 
 UP then, every man that hath a tongue, and is a 
 servant of Christ, and do something of this your Mas- 
 ter's work; why hath he given you a tongue but to 
 speak in his service? And how can you serve him 
 more eminently, than in the saving of souls? lie that 
 will pronounceyou blessed at the last day, and sentenee 
 you to the kingdom prepared for yo»:, because you 
 fed him, and clothed him, and visited him, in his 
 members, will surely pronounce you blessed for so 
 great a work as the bringing over of souls to his king- 
 dom. He that saith, " The poor you have always 
 with you," hath left the ungodly always with you, 
 that you might still have matter to exercise your charity 
 upon. O if you have the hearts of Christians, or of 
 men in you, let them yearn towards your poor, igno- 
 rant, ungodly neighbours 1 Alas, there is but a step 
 betwixt them, and death, and hell ! Many hundreds 
 of diseases are waiting ready to seize them, and if they 
 die unregenerate, they are lost for ever. Have you 
 hearts of rock, that cannot pity men in such a case ? 
 If you believe not the word of God, how are you 
 Christians yourselves ? Jf you do believe it, why 
 do you not bestir you to help others ? Do you not 
 care who is damned, so you be saved? If so, you 
 have as much cause to pity your own selves; for it is a 
 frame of spirit inconsistent with grace : should you not 
 rather say, as the lepers of Samaria, M Is it not a day 
 of glad tidings, and we sit still and hold our peace?" 
 Hath God had so much mercy on you, and will you 
 have no mercy on your poor neighbours ? You need 
 not go far to find objects for your pity: look but into 
 the streets, or into the next house to you, and you 
 will probably find some. Have you never a neighbour 
 
11. § l c >. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 1Q\ 
 
 that sets his heart below, and neglecteth eternity ? 
 
 What blessed "place do you live in, where there is none 
 
 such ? If there be not some of them in thy own family, 
 
 it is well; and yet art thou silent? Dost thou live 
 
 close by them, or meet them in the streets, or labour 
 
 with them, or travel with them, or sit still and talk 
 
 with them, and say nothing to them of their souls, or 
 
 the life to come ? If their houses were on fire, thou 
 
 wouldst run and help them ; and wilt thou not help 
 
 them when their souls are almost at the fire of hell ? 
 
 If thou knewest but a remedy for their diseases thou 
 
 wouldst tell it to them, else thou wouldst judge thyself 
 
 guilty of their death. Cardon speaks of one that had 
 
 a receipt that would dissolve the stone in the bladder* 
 
 and he makes no doubt but that man is in hell, because 
 
 he never revealed it to any before he died. What 
 
 shall we say then of them that know the remedy for 
 
 curing souls, and do not reveal it; nor persuade men 
 
 to make use of it ? Is it not hypocrisy to pray, That 
 
 God's name may be ha/lowed) and never endeavour to 
 
 bring men to hallow it? And can you pray, Let thy 
 
 kingdom come ; and yet never labour for the ccmingor 
 
 increase of that kingdom ? Is it not grief to your hearts 
 
 to see the kingdom of Satan flourish, and to see him 
 
 lead captive such a multitude of souls ? You say you 
 
 are soldiers of Christ, and will you do nothing against 
 
 his prevailing enemies ? You pray also daily That 
 
 his will may be done ; and should you not daily then 
 
 persuade them to do it? You pray, That God ivculd 
 
 j/brgive than their sijis, and that he ivould not lead them 
 
 into temptation, but deliver them from evil. And yet 
 
 will you not help them against temptations, nor help 
 
 to deliver them from the greatest evils? — Nor help 
 
 them to repent and believe, that they maybe forgiven ? 
 
 Alas, that your prayers and your practice should so 
 
 much disagree ! Look about you therefore, Christians, 
 
 with an eye of compassion on the sinners about you ; 
 
 be not like the Priest or Levite that saw the man 
 
 wounded, and passed by : God did not so pass by yon, 
 
 when it was your own case. And are not the souls of 
 
 your neighbours fallen into the hands of Satan ? Doth 
 
 not their misery cry out to you, Help! Help! As 
 
 you have any compassion towards men in the greatest 
 
102 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 12. 
 
 misery, Help ! As you have the hearts of men, and 
 not of tygers in you, Help! 
 
 But as this duty lieth upon all in general, so upon 
 some more especially, according as God hath called 
 or qualified them thereto. To them, therefore, more 
 particularly, I will address my exhortation : whether 
 they be such as have more opportunity and advantages 
 for this work, or such as have better abilities to per- 
 form it. 
 
 1. All you that God hath given more learning and 
 knowledge to, or endued with better utterance than 
 your neighbours ; God expecteth this duty especially 
 at your hand. The strong are made to help the weak, 
 and those that see must direct the blind. God looketh 
 for th is faithful improvement of your parts and gifts, 
 which if you neglect, it were better for you that you 
 never had received them ; for they will but further 
 your condemnation, and be as useless to your own sal- 
 vation, us they were to others. 
 
 2. All those especially that have familiarity with 
 some ungodly men, and that have interest in them, 
 God looks for this duty at their hands. Christ himself 
 did eat and drink with the publicans and sinners, but 
 it was only to be their physician, and not their com- 
 panion. God might give you interest in them to this 
 end, that you might be a means of their recovery. 
 They that will not regard the words of another, will 
 regard a brother, or sister, or husband, or wife, or near 
 friend : beside that the bond of friendship doth engage 
 you to more kindness and compassion. 
 
 3. Physicians, that are much about dying men, 
 should in a special manner make a conscience of this 
 duty ; they have a treble advantage. First, They aae 
 at hand. Secondly, They are with men in sickness and 
 dangers, when the ear is more open, and the heart 
 less stubborn than in time of health. He that made 
 a scorn of godliness before, wdl hear. Besides, they 
 look upon their physician as a man in whose hand is 
 their life : or who at least may do much to save them, 
 and therefore they will the more regard his advice. 
 Therefore, you that are of this honourable profession, 
 do not think this a work beside your calling, as if 
 it belonged to none but ministers ; except you think 
 it beside your calling to be compassionate, or to be 
 
II. § 12. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. I<)3 
 
 Christians. Help to fit your patients for heaven, and 
 whether you see they are for life or death, teach them 
 both how to live and to die, and give them some physic 
 for their souls, as you do for their bodies. Blessed 
 be God, that very many of the chief physicians of this 
 age have, by their eminent piety, vindicated their 
 profession from the common imputation of atheism 
 and profaneness. 
 
 4. Another sort that have excellent advantage for 
 this duty, are men that have wealth and authority, 
 and are of great place or command in the world, espe- 
 cially those that have many who live in dependence on 
 them. O what a world of good might lords and gen- 
 tlemen do, that have a great many tenants, and that 
 are the leaders of the country, if they had but heart* 
 to improve their interest and advantage ! Little do 
 you that are such, think of the duty that lies upon you. 
 
 Have you not all honour and riches from God ? Is 
 it not evident then, that you must employ them for 
 the advantage of his service ? Do you not know who 
 hath said, that " To whom men commit much, from 
 them they will expect the more ?" 
 
 You have the greatest opportunities to do good of 
 most men in the world. Your tenants dare not con- 
 tradict you, lest you dispossess them or their children 
 of their habitations: they fear you more than the 
 threatenings of the Scripture: they will sooner obey 
 you than God. If you speak to them for God and 
 their souls, you may be regarded, when even a minister 
 shall be despised. O therefore, as you value the honour 
 of God, your own comfort, aud the salvation of souls, 
 improve your interest to the utmost for God. Go„ 
 visit your tenants and neighbours' houses, and see whe- 
 ther thev worship God in their families, and take all. 
 opportunities to press them to their duties. Do not 
 despise them, because they are poor and simple. Re- 
 member God is no respecter of persons; your flesh is 
 of no better metal than theirs: nor will the worms 
 spare your faces or hearts any more than theirs : nor 
 will your bones or dust bear the badge of your gen- 
 tility; you must be all equals when you stand in judg- 
 ment ; and therefore help the soul of a poor man, as 
 well as if he were a geutleman : and let men see that 
 you excel others as much in pietv and heavenlinesfj 
 R 
 
1$4 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. IT. § 12. 
 
 compassion and diligence in God's work, as you do in 
 riches and honour. 
 
 I confess you are likely to be singular, if you take 
 this course; but then remember you will be singular 
 in glory, " few great, and mighty, and noble, are 
 called.'' 
 
 5. Another sort that have special opportunity to 
 help others to heaven, are the ministers of the gospel: 
 as they have, or should have more ability than others, 
 so it is the very work of their calling ; and every one 
 expecteth it at their hands, and will better submit to 
 their teachers, than to others. 1 intend not these in- 
 structions so much to teachers as to others, and there- 
 fore 1 shall say but little to them ; and if all or most 
 ministers among us were as faithful and diligent as 
 some, I would say nothing. But because it is other- 
 wise, let me give these two or three words of advice to 
 my brethren in this office. 
 
 1. Be sure that the recovering and saving souls, be 
 the main end of your studies and preaching. O do 
 not propound any low and base ends to yourselves. 
 This is the end of your4?alling, let it be also the end 
 of your endeavours. God forbid that you should spend 
 a week's study to please the people, or seek the ad- 
 vancing of your own reputation. Dare you appear in 
 the pulpit on such a business, and speak for yourselves, 
 when you are sent and pretend to speak for Christ ? 
 Set out the work of God as skilfully as you can : but 
 still let the winning of souls be your end, and always 
 j udge those are the best means, that most conduce to the 
 end.. Do not think that God is best served by a neat, 
 starched oration ; but that he is the able minister, 
 that is best skilled in the art of instructing, convincing, 
 persuading, and that is the best sermon that is best in 
 these. Let the vigour also of your persuasions shew, 
 that you are sensible on how weighty a business you 
 are sent. Preach with that seriousness and fervour as 
 men that believe their own doctrine, and know their 
 hearts must either be prevailed with, or damned. What 
 you would do to save them from everlasting burning, 
 that do while you have the opportunity and price iu 
 your hand, that the people may discern you mean as 
 you speak ; and that you are not stage-players, but 
 preachers of the doctrine of • salvation. Remember 
 what Cicero saith, " That if the matter be ever so 
 
II. § 12. THE SAINTS FVERLASTIITG REST. 195 
 
 combustible, jet if you put not fire to it, it will not 
 burn." And what Erasmus saith, that " An hot iron 
 will pierce, when a cold one will not." And if" the 
 wise men of the world account you mad, say as Paul, 
 If we are beside our selves it is to God : and remember 
 that Christ was so busy in doing- good, that his friends 
 themselves began to lay hands on him, thinking he had. 
 been beside himself, mark iii. 
 
 "£. The second and chief word of advice that I would 
 give you is this': Do not think that all your work is 
 in studies, and in the pulpit. I confess that is great; 
 but, alas* it is but a small part of your task. You are 
 shepherds, and must know every sheep, and what is 
 their disease, and mark their strayings, and help to 
 cure them, and fetch them home. 
 
 O learn of Paul, Acts xx. 10, 20, 21, To preach 
 publicly, and from house to house, night and day, with 
 tears. Let there not be a soul in your charge that shall 
 not be particularly instructed and watched over. Go 
 from house to house daily, and inquire how they grow 
 in knowledge and holiness, and on what grounds they 
 build their hopes of salvation ; and whether they walk 
 uprightly,, and perforin the duties of their several re- 
 lations, and use means to increase their abilities. See 
 whether they daily worship God in their families, and 
 set them in the way, and teach them how to do it ; 
 confer with them about the doctrines and practice of 
 religion, and how they receive and profit by public 
 teaching-, and answer all their carnal objections ; keep 
 in familiarity with them, that you may maintain your 
 interest in them, and improve all your interest for 
 God. See that no seducers creep in amongst them, or 
 if they do, be diligent to countermine them, and pre- 
 serve your people from the infections of heresies and 
 schism ; or if they be infected, be diligent to procure 
 their recovery : not with passion and lordliness ; but 
 with patience and condescension ; as Musculus did by 
 the Anabaptists, visiting them in prison, where the 
 magistrate had cast them, and there instructing and 
 relieving them ; and though they reviled him when he 
 came, and called him a false prophet; and an antichris- 
 tian seducer that thirsted for their blood, yet he would 
 not leave them, till at last by his meekness and love 
 R2 
 
19t> THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. If. § 12. 
 
 he had overcome them, and recovered many to the 
 truili, and to unity with the church. 
 
 If any be weak in the faith, receive hint, but not to 
 doubtful disputations. If any be too careless of their 
 duties, and too little savour the things of" the Spirit* 
 let them be pitied, and not neglected ; if any walk 
 scandalously and (disorderly, deal with them for their 
 ncovery, with all diligence and patience, and set be- 
 fore them the heinousness and danger of their sin; if 
 tfiej | .mate after all, then avoid them, and 
 
 cast t lie m off. Ft' they be ignorant, it maybe your 
 ianlt as well as theirs ; hut, however, they are litter to 
 be instructed thai rejected, except they absolutely 
 to be taught. Christ will give. you no thanks 
 for keeping, or putting out such from his school that 
 are unlearned, when their d> sire or will is to be taught. 
 1 confess it is easier to shut out the ignorant, than to 
 bestow our pains night and day in teaching them ; but 
 woe to such slothful, unfaithful servants ! "Who then 
 )s a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath 
 made ruler over his household, to give them their meat 
 in due season," according to every one's age and ca- 
 pacity ? " Llcssed is that servant whom his Lord 
 when he coineth, shall find so doing." O be not asleep 
 while the wolf is waking! Let your eye be quick in 
 observing the dangers and straying of your people. 
 Jf jealousies, heart-burnings, or contentions, arise 
 among them, quench them before they break out into 
 raging irresistible flames. As soon as you discern any 
 to turn worldly, or proud, or factious, or self-con- 
 ceited, or disobedient, or cold, and slothful in this duty, 
 delay not, but presently make out for his recovery: 
 remember how many are losers in the loss of a soul. 
 
 3. Do not daub, or deal slightly with any ; some 
 will not tell their people plainly of their sins, because 
 they are great men, as if none but the poor should be 
 plainly dealt with : Do not you so, but reprove them 
 sharply, (though differently* and with wisdom) that 
 they maj be sound in the faith. God doth sufficiently 
 engage us to deal plainly: he hath bid lis speak and 
 spare not: he hath promised to stand by us, and he 
 will be our security : 1 had rather hear from the mouth 
 of Ualak, " God hath kept thee from honour ;" or 
 from Ahab, " Feed him with the bread and water of 
 
It. § J2. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. l$? 
 
 afflictions ;" than to hear conscience say, '* Thou hast 
 betrayed souls to damnation by thy cowardice and 
 silence; 1 ' or to hear God say, "Their blood will I re- 
 quire at thy hands;" or to hear from Christ the 
 Judge, " Cast the -unprofitable servant into outer dark- 
 ness, where shall be weeping and gnashing or* teeth :" 
 yea, or to hear these sinuers cry out against me in eter- 
 nal iire, and with implacable rage to charge me with 
 their undoing. 
 
 And as you must be plain and serious, so labour to 
 be skilful and discreet, that the manner may somewhat 
 answer the excellency of the matter : how often have I 
 heard a stammering tongue, with ridiculous expres- 
 sions, vain repetitions, tedious circumlocutions, and 
 ■unseemly pronunciations, spoil most precious doctrine, 
 and make the heavers either loathe it, or laugh at it 1 
 How' common are these extremes; while one spoils the 
 food of life by affectation, and new -fashioned mincing, - 
 and pedantic toys, either setting forth a little and 
 mean matter, with a great deal of froth and gaudy 
 dressing ; or hiding excellent truths in a heap of vain • 
 rhetoric on the other side. How many by their slo- 
 venly dressing, make men loathe the food of life, and 
 cast up that which should nourish them ! Such no- 
 vices are admitted into the sacred function, to the 
 hardening of the wicked, and the disgrace of the work 
 of the Lord; any of those that are notable to speak 
 sense or reason, are made the ambassadors of the most 
 high God ! 
 
 O therefore, let me bespeak you, my brethren, in the 
 name of the Lord, especially those that are more young 
 and weak, that you tremble at the greatness of this 
 holy employment, and run not up into a pulpit as 
 boldly as into the market-place; study and pray, and 
 pray and study, till you are become workmen that 
 need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of 
 truth, that your people may not be ashamed, or weary 
 to hear you : but that besides your clearly unfolding 
 the doctrine of the gospel, you also may be masters of 
 your people s affections. It is a work that requireth 
 your most serious searching thoughts : running, hasty, 
 easy studies, bring forth blind births. When you are 
 the most renowned doctors in the church of God, alas, 
 
 Ha 
 
198 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 12. 
 
 bow little is it that you know in comparison of* what 
 you arc ignorant ! 
 
 4. Be sure that your conversation he teaching, as 
 well as your doctrine. Do not confute your doctrine 
 by your practice. 13e as forward in a holy and hea- 
 venly life, as you are in pressing it on others. Let 
 your discourse he as edifying and spiritual, as you 
 teach them theirs must he : for evil language give 
 good ; and blessings tor curbing. Suffer any thing, 
 r.ithrr than the gospel and men's souls should Buffer: 
 Become a!/ things (lawfully) to all men, if by any means 
 you may win some. Let men see that yon use not the 
 ministry only for a trade to live by ; hut that your 
 hearts are set upon the welfare of their souls. \\ hat- 
 fcoever meekness, humility, condescension, or self-de- 
 nial you teach them from the gospel, O teach it them 
 also by your undissembled example; This is to be 
 
 • guides, and pilots, and governors of the church indeed. 
 What an odious sight it is to s< e pride and ambition 
 preach humility ! And an earthly-minded man preach 
 for a heavenly conversation! 
 
 Do I need to tell yon that arc teachers of others, 
 that we have hut a iittle while longer to preach ? And 
 but a few more breaths to breathe ? And then we must 
 come down, and be accountable for our work ? Do 1 
 need to tell you, that we must die, and be judged as 
 well as our people? Or that justice is more severe 
 about ihr sanctuary r And judgment begbtneth at the 
 house of t*od ? 
 
 5. r l he last whom I would persuade to this great 
 work of helping others to the heavenly Rest, are 
 parents, and masters of families : all you that God 
 hath entrusted with children or servant's, consider what 
 duty lieth on you, for furthering their salvation. That 
 this exhortation may be the more effectual with you, I 
 will lay down several considerations for you seriously 
 to think on. 
 
 1. What plain and pressing commands of God are 
 there that require this great duty at your hand ! Deu'c 
 vi. 6, 7, 8, " And these words which I command thee 
 this day, shall be in thy heart, and thou shalt teach 
 them diligently to thy children, speaking of them when 
 thousiittst in thy louse, and when thou walkest by tl>e 
 **av, and when thcu best down, and when thou risest 
 
II. § L2. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. If}}) 
 
 up." And how well is God pleased with this in 
 Abraham? Gen. xviii. 17, ly, w Shall I hide from 
 Abraham that thing which 1 do? For I know him, 
 that he will command his children, and his household 
 after him, and that they shall keep the way of the 
 Lord." Pro v. xxii. ti, *' Train up a child in thcway 
 he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart 
 from it." So that you see it is a work that the Lord 
 of heaven and earth has laid upon you, and how then 
 dare you neglect it ? 
 
 2. You wiit also be witnesses against your own 
 souls: your great care, and pains, and cost for their 
 bodies, will condemn you for your neglect of their pre- 
 cious souls : you can spend yourselves in toiling and 
 Gating for their bodies, and even neglect your own 
 souls, and venture them sometimes upon unwarrant- 
 able courses, and ail to pro\ ide for your posterity ; and 
 have you not as much reason to provide for their souls ? 
 Do you not believe that your children must be ever- 
 lastingly happy or miserable? And should not that 
 be forethought in the first place ? 
 
 3. Consider, God hath made your children to be 
 your charge: yea, and your servants too; everyone 
 will confess they are the minister's charge, and what a 
 dreadful thing it is for them to neglect them, when 
 God hath told them, that if they tell not the wicked of 
 their sin and danger, their blood shall be required at 
 that minister's hands ! And is not your charge as 
 great and as dreadful as theirs? Have not you a 
 greater charge of your own families than any minister 
 hath ? Yea, doubtless, and your duty is to teach, and 
 admonish, and reprove thern, and watch over them : 
 at your hands else, will God require the blood of their 
 souls. The greatest charge it is that ever you were 
 entrusted with, and woe to you if you prove unfaith- 
 ful, and betray your trust, and suffer them to be igno- 
 rant for want of your teaching, or wicked for want of 
 your admonition or correction. 
 
 4. Look into the disposition and lives of your chil- 
 dren, and see what a work there is for you to do. 
 Frrft : It is not one sin that you must help them against, 
 but' thousands; their name is Legion, for they, are 
 many : it is not one weed that rnttSt be pulled up, but 
 the tidd is overspread with them. Secondly : And 
 
200 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § If. 
 
 liow hard is it to prevail against any one of them 1 
 They are hereditary diseases, bred in their nature : 
 they are as near them a* the very heart, and how tena- 
 cious art* all tilings of that sort which is natural ! How 
 bard to teach a hare not to be afraid, or a lion or 
 tyger not to be fierce ! Besides, the things you must 
 teach them, are quite above them: yea, and clean 
 contrary to the interests and desires of the flesh : how 
 hard is it to teach men to be willing to be poor and 
 despised for Christ ; to deny themselves, and displease 
 the flesh ; to forgive an enemy ; to love- those that hate 
 them ; to watch against temptations ; to avoid occasions 
 and appearances ol evil ; to believe in a crucified Sa- 
 viour; to rejoice in tribulation; to make God their 
 delight and love ; and to have ihe'.r hearts in heaven, 
 while they live on earth ? 1 think none of this easy ; 
 they that think otherwise, let them try and judge ; 
 yet all this must be learned, or they are undone for 
 ever. If you help them not to some trade, they cannot 
 live in the world ; but if they be destitute of these 
 things, they shall not live in heaven. If the manner 
 be not skilful, he must be drowned ; and if the soldier 
 "be not skilful, he may be slain; but they that cannot 
 do the things above-mentioned, will perish for ever : 
 for without holiness no man shall see God. O that the 
 Lord would make all you who are parents, sensible 
 what a work and charge do lie upon you! You that 
 neglect this important work, and talk to your families 
 of nothing but the world, 1 tell you, the blood of souls 
 lies on you : make as li^ht of it as you will, if you 
 repent not and amend, the Lord will shortly call you 
 to an account for the guilt of your children's ever- 
 lasting undoing. 
 
 5. Think with yourselves, what a world of comfort 
 you may have, if you be faithful in this duty : if you 
 should not succeed, yet you have freed your own souls : 
 and though it be sad, yet you may have peace in your 
 own consciences : but if you do succeed, the comfort 
 is inexpressible. For, 1. Good clnldcn wiU be truly 
 loving to their parents, when a little matter will make 
 11 y children cast off their very natural affection. 
 i>. Good children will be most obedient to you ; they 
 dare not disobey you, because of the command of God, 
 except you should command them that which is un~ - 
 
II. § 12. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 2*01 
 
 lawful, then they must obey God rather than men. 
 3. And if you should fall into want, they would be 
 most faithful in relieving you, as knowing they are 
 tied by a double bond of nature and of grace. 4. And 
 they will also be helpers to your souls, they will be 
 delighting you with holy conference and actions ; when 
 ■wicked children will be grieving you with cursing and 
 swearing, or drunkenness, or disobedience. 5. But 
 the greatest joy will lie when you will say, Here am /, 
 find the children thou hast gicen inc. And are not all 
 these comforts enough to persuade you to this duty ? 
 
 6. Consider farther, That the very welfare of church 
 and state iietli mainly on this duty of well educating 
 children ; and without this, ail other means are like 
 to be far less successful. I seriously profess to you, 
 that I verily think all the sins and miseries of the land 
 may acknowledge this sin for their nurse. It is not 
 good laws and orders that will reform us, if the men 
 be not good, and reformation begin not at home : when 
 children go wicked from the hands of their parents, in 
 every profession they bring this fruit of their education 
 with them. 1 tell you seriously, this is the cause of all' 
 our miseries in church and state, even the want of a 
 holy education in children! Many lay the blame on 
 this neglect and that ; but there is none that hath so 
 great a hand in it as delects in Education. 
 
 7. 1 intreat you that are parents, to consider, what 
 excellent advantages you have above all others for the 
 saving of your children. 
 
 1. They are under your hands while they are young., 
 and tender, and flexible ; but they come to ministers 
 when they are grown older, and stiffer, and settled in 
 their ways, and think themselves too good to be cate- 
 chised. You have a twig to bend, and we an oak : 
 you have the young plants of sin to pluck up, and we 
 the deep-rooted vices. The consciences of children 
 are not so seared with a custom of sinning', and long 
 resisting grace, as others. You have the soft and 
 lender earth to plough in, and we have the hard and 
 stony ways that have been trodden on by many year? 
 practice of evil. "We have a double task, first to ua- 
 tcach them, and then to teach them better, but you 
 ha\c but one. We must Uritcach them all that the 
 
202 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 12. 
 
 world and the flesh, and wicked company, and the 
 devil have been diligently teaching them many years. 
 You have them before they are posseted with preju- 
 dice against the truth ; but we have them to teach, 
 when they have many years lived among those that 
 have taught them to think God's ways to be foolish. 
 Doth not the experience of all the world shew you the 
 power of education ?. Vf hat else makes all the chil- 
 dren of the Jews to be Jews ? and all the children of 
 the Turks to be Mahometans ? And of each sect or 
 pnrty in religion to follow its parents ? Now what an 
 advantage have you to use all this for the furtherance 
 of their happiness ! 
 
 2. Consider also, that you have the affections of 
 your children more than any others : none in the world 
 have that interest in their hearts as you. You will 
 receive that counsel from an undoubted friend, that 
 you would not do from an enemy, or a stranger. Now 
 your children know you are their friends, and advise 
 them in love ; and they cannot but love you again. 
 Nature hath almost necessitated them to love you. O 
 therefore improve this your interest in them for their 
 good ! 
 
 3. You have also the greatest authority over them. 
 You may command them, and they dare not disobey 
 you, or else it is your own fault, for the most part ; for 
 you can make them obey you in your business ; yea, 
 you may correct them to enforce obedience. Your 
 authority is also the most unquestioned authority in the 
 world. The authority of kings and parliaments have 
 been disputed, but yours is past dispute. And there- 
 fore if you use it not to bring them to God, you are 
 without excuse. 
 
 4. Besides, their dependence is on you for their 
 maintenance. They know you can either give t!-em, 
 or deny them what you have, and so punish and re- 
 ward them at your pleasure. But ou ministers or 
 neighbours they have no dependence. 
 
 5. Moreover, you who are Parents know the temper 
 and inclination of your children, what viees they are 
 most inclined to, and what instructions and reproof 
 they most need : but ministers cannot so well tell this. 
 
 6'. Above all, you are ever with them, and so have 
 opportunity, as you knew their faults, so to apply the 
 
II. § 12. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 203 
 
 remedy. You may still be talking to them of the Word 
 of God, and minding them of their state and duty, and 
 may follow and set home every word of advice, as they 
 are in the house with you, or in the shop, or in the 
 field: O what an excellent advantage is this, if you 
 have hearts to use it. Especially you mothers, remem- 
 ber this; you are more with your children, while they 
 are little ones, than their father, be you therefore still 
 teaching them as soon as ever they are capable of 
 learning. You cannot do God such eminent services 
 yourselves as men ; but you may train up children that 
 may do it, and then you will have part of the comfort 
 and honour. What a deal of pains are you at with 
 the bodies of your children more than the fathers ! 
 And what do you suffer to bring them into the world ; 
 and will not you be at as much pains for the saving 
 their souls ? You are naturally of more tender affec- 
 tions than men ; and will it not move you to think 
 that your children should perish for ever ? Therefore I 
 beseech you, for the sake of the children of your bowels, 
 teach them, admonish them, watch over them, and 
 give them no rest till you have brought them to Christ. 
 
 And thus I have shewn you reason enough to make 
 you diligent in teaching your children. 
 
 Let us next hear what is usually objected against 
 this by negligent men. 
 
 Objection I. We do not see but those children 
 prove as bad as others, that are taught the Scriptures, 
 and brought up so holily ; and these prove as honest 
 men, that have none of this ado with them. 
 
 Answer. Who art thou, O man, that disputest against 
 God ? Hath God charged you " to teach your chil- 
 dren diligently his Word, speaking of it as you sit at 
 home, and walk abroad, as you lie down, and as you 
 rise up;" and dare you reply, That it is as good let 
 alone ? Why, this is to set God at defiance ; and as it 
 were to spit in his face, and give him the lie. Will 
 you take it well at your servants, if when you com- 
 mand them to do a thing, they should return you an 
 answer, that they do not see but it were as good to let 
 it alone ? Wretched worm, darest thou thus lift up thy 
 head against the Lord that made thee, and must judge 
 thee ? Is it not he that commandeth thee ? If thou 
 
§04 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 12. 
 
 believe that this is (Tie Word of Cod, how darest thou 
 sav, It is good to disobey it ? This is devilish pride 
 indeed, when such sottish, sinful dust shall think 
 themselves wiser than the living God! ! 
 
 2. But what if some prove bad that are well brought 
 up? It is not the generality of them. Will you say 
 that Noah's family was no better than the drowned 
 world because there was one Ham in it ? Nor Da- 
 vid's, because there was one Absalom ? Nor Christ's, 
 because there was one Judas? 
 
 3. But what if it were 30 ? Have men need of the 
 less teaching, or the more ? Von have more wit in the 
 matters of this world. You will not say, I see many 
 labour hard, and yet are poor, and therefore, it is as 
 good never to labour at all : you will not say, that 
 many that go to school learn nothing, and therefore 
 they may learn as much though they never go; or 
 mauy that are great tradesmen break, and therefore it 
 is good never to trade at all ; or many plough and sow, 
 and have nothing come up, and therefore it is as good 
 never to plough more ? What a fool were he that 
 should reason thus ? And is not he a thousand times 
 worse, that should reason thus for men's souls ? Peter 
 reasons the clear contrary way. " If the righteous be 
 scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner ap- 
 pear ?" 1 Pet. iv. 18. And so doth Christ, Lukexiii. 
 24, " Strive to enter in at the strait gate ; for many- 
 shall seek to enter, and not be able." Other men's 
 miscarriages, should quicken our diligence, and not 
 make us cast all away. What would. you think of that 
 man that would look over into his neighbour's garden, 
 and because he sees here and there a nettle or weed 
 among much better stuff, should say, "Why you may 
 see these men that bestow so much pains in digging 
 and weeding, have weeds in their garden as well as I 
 that do nothing, and therefore who would be at so 
 much pains?" Just thus doth the mad world talk. 
 You may now see, that those who pray, and read, and 
 follow sermons, have their faults as well as we, and 
 have wicked persons among them as well as we : yea, 
 but that is not the whole garden as yours is ; it is but 
 here and there a weed, and as soon as they spy it, they 
 pluck it up, and cast it away. 
 
II. § 12. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 20$ 
 
 Object. 2. Some further object: It is the work of 
 ministers to toach both us and our children, and there- 
 fore we may be excused. 
 
 Answer 1. it is first your duty, and then the mi- 
 nister's. It will be no excuse for you, because it is 
 their work, except you could prove it were only their's. 
 Magistrates must govern both you and your children: 
 doth it therefore follow that you must not govern 
 them ? It belongs to the school-master to correct them, 
 and doth it not belong also to you ? There must go 
 many hands to this great work ; as in the building of 
 a house there must be many workmen, one to one part, 
 and another to another, and one must not leave his 
 part, and say it belongs to the other: so it is here in 
 the instruction of your children ; first, you must do 
 your work, and then the minister must do his: you 
 must be doing it privately night and day; the minister 
 must do it publicly and privately, as oft as he can. 
 
 2. But as the case now stands with ministers, they 
 nre disabled from doing that which belongs to their 
 office, and therefore you cannot now cast your work 
 on them. I will instance but in two things : 
 
 First. It belongs to their office to govern the church, 
 and to teach with authority; and great and small are 
 commanded to obey them, Heb. xiii. 7, 17. But this 
 is unknown, and hearers look on themselves as free- 
 men, that may obey or not, at their own pleasure* 
 People, think we have authority to speak to them when 
 they please to hear, and no more. Nay, few of the 
 godly themselves understand the authority that their 
 teachers have over them from Christ: they know how 
 to value a minister's gifts, but not how they are bound 
 to obey him because of his office; not that they should 
 obey him in evil, nor that he should be a final decider 
 of all controversies, nor should exercise his authority 
 in things of no moment; but as a school-master may 
 command his scholars when to come to school, an 
 what book to read, and what form to be of; and as 
 they ought to obey him, and learn of him, and not to 
 set their wits against his, but to take his word, and 
 believe him as their teacher, till they understand, as 
 well as he, and are ready to leave his school : just so 
 are people bound to obey and learn of their te;irhers, 
 *S 
 
206 THC SAINTS EVERLASTING ««ST. II. § 12. 
 
 Now this ministerial authority is unknown, and so 
 ministers are tiie less capable of doing their work; 
 which comes to pass, 1. From the pride of man's na- 
 ture, especially novices, which makes men impatient 
 of the reins of guidance and command: 2. From Ae 
 Popish error of implicit faith; to avoid which we are 
 driven as far into the contrary extreme: and, 3. From 
 the modesty of ministers, that are loath to shew their 
 commission, ami makeknowntheir authority, lest they 
 should he thought proud : as if a pilot should let the 
 seamen run the ship whither they will, for fear of being 
 tl Knight proud in exercising his authority ! 
 
 Secondly : A far greater clog than this doth lie 
 upon niin.sters, which few take notice of; and that re, 
 the fewness of ministers, and the greatness of congre- 
 gations. In the apostle's time every church had a 
 multitude of ministers, and so it must be again, or we 
 shall never come near tha£ primitive pattern ; and they 
 could preach publicly, and from house to house: but 
 now, when there are but one or two ministers to many 
 thousand souls, we cannot teach them one by one : so 
 that you see you have little reason to cast your work 
 on the ministers, but should the more help them by 
 your diligence in your several families, because they 
 are already so over-burthened. 
 
 Object. 3. But some will say, we are poor men, and 
 must labour for our living, and >o must our children ; 
 we cannot have tune to teach them the Scriptures, we 
 have something else for them to do. 
 
 Answer. And are not poor men subject to God as 
 well as rich ? And are they not Christians ? And 
 -must they not give an account of their ways ? And 
 Jiave not your children souls to save or lose, as well as 
 the rich ? Cannot you find time to speak to them as 
 they are at their work ? Have you not time to instruct 
 them on the Lord's-day ? You can find .time to talk 
 idly, as poor as you are ; and can you find no time to 
 talk of the way to life? You can find time on the 
 Lord's-day for poor children to play, or walk, or talk 
 in the streets, but no time to mine the life to come. 
 Ivlethinks you should rather say to your children, " I 
 iiave no lands to leave you ; you have no hope of great 
 ^natters here : be sure therefore to make the Lord your 
 portion, that you may be happy hereafter ; if you 
 
n. § 1>. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 207 
 
 could get riches, they would shortly leave you, but the 
 riches of grace and glory will be everlasting. " Me- 
 thinks you should say, as Petev, « Silver and gold I 
 have none; but such as I have I give you.' The king- 
 doms of the world cannot be had by beggars, but the 
 kingdom of heaven may. 
 
 O what a terrible reckoning will many poor men 
 have, when Christ shall plead his cause, and judge 
 them ! May not he say, " I made the way to worldly 
 honours inaccessible to you, that you might not look 
 niter it for yourselves, or your children; but heaven 
 I set open that you might have nothing to discourage 
 ymi : I confined riches and honours to a few : but my 
 blood and salvation I oiiered to all, that none might 
 say, < I was not invited :' I tendered heaven to the poor 
 as well as to the rich. I made no exception against the 
 meanest beggar; why then did you not come your- 
 selves, and bring your children, and teach them the 
 way to the eternal inheritance ? Do you say you were 
 poor? Why I did not set heaven to sale tor money ; 
 1 called those that had nothing, to take it freely ; only 
 on condition they would take me for their Saviour 
 and Lord. a»fl uivt* «*> » K— ~ 
 and love. 
 
 "What can you answer Christ, when he shall thus 
 convince you? Is it not enough that your children 
 are poor and miserable here, but you would have them 
 be worse for ever ? If your children were beggar?, 
 yet if they were such beggars as Lazarus, they may be 
 conveyed by angels into the presence of God. But 
 believe it, as God will save no man because he is a 
 gentleman, so will he save no man because he is a beg- 
 gar. God hath so ordered it in his providence, that 
 riches "are common occasions of men's damnation, and 
 will you 'think poverty a sufficient excuse ? The 
 hardest point in all our work is to be weaned from the 
 world, and to be in love with heaven; and if you will 
 not be weaned from it that have nothing in it but la- 
 bear and sorrow, you have no excuse. The poor pre- 
 tend they cannot have time, and the rich will not have 
 time, or they are ashamed to besoforward : the young 
 think it too soon, and the old too late ; and thus most 
 men, instead of being saved, have somewhat to say 
 S 2 
 
208 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § 12. 
 
 against their salvation ; and when Christ sendeth to 
 invite them, they say, I pray thee have me excused. O 
 unworthy guest of such a Messed feast, and worthy to 
 be turned into everlasting burnings) 
 
 Object. 4. But some will object, We have been 
 brought up in ignorance ourselves, and therefore we 
 are unable to teach our children. 
 
 Answer. Indeed this is the very sore of the land; 
 but is it not a pity that men should so receive their 
 destruction by tradition ? Would you have this course 
 to go on thus still ? Your parents did not teach you, 
 and therefore you cannot teach your children, and, 
 consequently, they cannot teach theirs ; by this course 
 the knowledge of God would be banished out of the 
 world, and never be recovered. But if your parents 
 did not teach you, why did you not learn when you 
 came to age ? The truth is, you had no hearts for it; 
 for he that hath not knowledge, cannot value it or love 
 it. But yet, though you have greatly sinned, it is not 
 too late ; *if you will follow my faithful advice in these 
 four points : 
 
 1. Get your hearts deeply sensible of your own sin 
 ana kznscry) ^v.^.„_.. „, — I ?., Iq .. , '^ s _ u...^ 
 
 spent in ignorance and neglect. Bethink yourselves 
 
 when you are alone : Did not God make you, and 
 
 sustain you for his service ? Should not he have had 
 
 the youth and strength of your spirits? Did you not 
 
 live all this time at the door of eternity ? What if you 
 
 had died in ignorance, where had you been ? What a 
 
 deal of time have you spent to little purpose ? Your 
 
 life is near done, and your work all undone ! You are 
 
 xeady to die before yon have learned to live. Should 
 
 not God have had a better share of your lives, and 
 
 your souls been more regarded and provided for ? In 
 
 the midst of these thoughts, cast down yourselves in 
 
 sorrow, as at the feet of Christ ; bewail your folly, and 
 
 beg pardon and recovering grace. 
 
 2. Then think as sadly how you have wronged your 
 children. If a spendthrift that hath sold all his lands, 
 will lament it for his children's sake, as well as his 
 own, much more should you. 
 
 3. Next, set presently to work, and learn yourselves. 
 If you can read, do; but, if sickness prevent, get some 
 .that can, and be much among those that will instruct 
 
II. §. 12. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 20<) 
 
 you : be not ashamed to be seen among learners, but 
 be ashamed that you had not learned sooner. God forbid 
 you should be so mad as to say, " I am now too old to 
 learn," except you be too old to serve God, and be 
 saved. How can you be too old to learn to be saved ? 
 Why not rather, "I am too old to serve the devil, and 
 tiie world, 1 have tried them too long to trust them any 
 more." What if your parents bad not taught you any 
 trade to live by ? Would you not have set yourselves 
 to learn, when you came of age ? Remember that you 
 have your own souls to care for, as well as your chil- 
 dren's, and therefore, first begin with yourselves. 
 
 4. While you are learning yourselves, teach youi 
 children what you do know: and what yen cannot 
 teach them yourselves, put them to learn of others that 
 can: persuade them into the company of those who 
 will be glad to instruct them. Have you no neigh- 
 bours that will be helpful to you herein ? O do not 
 keep yourselves strange to them, but go among them, 
 and desire their help, and be thankful to them, that 
 they will entertain you in their company. God forbid 
 that you should be like those that Christ speaks of, 
 Luke \i. 52, " That would neither enter into the 
 kingdom of ( iod themselves, nor suffer those that would 
 to enter." God forbid you should be such barba- 
 rous wretches, as to hinder your children from being 
 godly, and to teach them to be wicked ! If any thing 
 that walks in flesh may be called a devil, I think it is 
 a parent that hiudreth his children from salvation : nay, 
 1 will say more, [ verily think that in thrs they are 
 far worse than the devil. God is a righteous Judge, 
 ami will not make the devil himself worse than he is ; 
 I pray you be patient while you consider it, and then 
 judge yourselves. They are the parents of their chil- 
 dren, and so is not the devil : do you think then that 
 it is as great a fault in him to seek their destruction, 
 as in them ? Is it as great a fault for the wolf to kill 
 the lambs, as for their own dams to do it? Is it so 
 horrid a fault for an enemy in war to kill a child, or 
 for a bear or a mad dog to kill it, as for the mother 
 to dash its brains against a wall ? You know it is not : 
 do you think then that it is so hateful a thing in 
 Satan to entire your children to sin and hell, and to 
 discourage and dissuade them from holiness, as it is in 
 S3 
 
210 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING RT.ST. IF. § 12^ 
 
 you ? You are bound to love them by nature, more 
 than Satan ia. O then, what people are those that will 
 teach tbei ia, instead of holiness, to curse and 
 
 iv, and ;ui!, and backbite, to he pre- 
 ^eful, and te Lord's-day, and to despise-Hia 
 
 ik wantonly and filthy, to scorn at holi- 
 »ess, and glory in sin ! O when God shall ask these 
 children, Where learned you this language and prat- 
 ■ and they shall say, " 1 learned it of toy lather or 
 mother ;" I would not be in the case of those parents 
 for all the world ! Alas, is it a work, that is worth 
 the teaching, to undo themselves lor ever! Or eau 
 they net without teaching learn it too easily of them- 
 selves ? Do you need to teach a serpent to sting, or a 
 .'ion to be fierce? Do you need to sow weeds i;i your 
 garden ? Will they not grow of themselves ? To 
 build a house requires skill and teaching, but a little 
 may serve to set a town on fire : to heal the wounded 
 or the sick, requireth skill ; but to make a man sick, or 
 to kiil him, requires but little. You may - ich 
 
 your children to swear, than to pray; and to mock at 
 godliness, than to be truly godly. If te .its 
 
 were sworn enemies to their children, and should study 
 s< ven years how to do them the greatest mi hey 
 
 could not possibly find out a surer way, than by draw- 
 iuh them to sin, and withdrawing them from God. 
 
 I shall therefore conclude with this earnest request, 
 to all Christian parents who read these lines, that they 
 would have compassion on the souls of their poor chil- 
 dren, and be faithful to the great trust God hath put 
 on then). O sirs, if you cannot do what you would 
 for them, yet do what you can. Both church and 
 state, city and count;",-, groan under the neglect of this 
 weighty duty ; your children know not God nor his 
 laws ; but take his name in vain, and slight his wor- 
 thi p ; and you do neither instruct them, nor correct 
 them, and therefore God doth correct both them and 
 you. You are so tender of them, that God is the less 
 tender both of them and you. Wonder not if God 
 make von smart for your children's sins ; tor you are 
 guilty of all ihey commit, by your neglect of doing 
 your duty to reform them ; even as he that maketh a 
 man drunk, is guilty of all the sin which he eommitteth. 
 i;i Jus druukeimcss. Will you resolve therefore to set 
 
IT. §15. THE 5ATNTS EVERLASTING REST. 91 1 1 
 
 upon this duty, ami neglect it no longer? Remember 
 Eli. Your children arc: like the basket, in 
 
 the water, ready to perish if they have not help. As 
 ever you would not he charge I before God for mur- 
 derers of their souls, and as ever you would not have 
 them cry out against you in everlasting rife, see that 
 you teach them how to escape it, and bring them up 
 in holiness, and the fear of God. 
 
 You hare heard that the Clod of Heaven doth flatly 
 command it: I charge every one of you therefore, 
 upon your allegiance to him, as you will very shortly 
 answer the contrary at your peril, ma1 vou will neither 
 refuse nor neg'fcct this most nec< ssary work. If you 
 are not willing to do it, now you know it to he so 
 plain and so great a duty, you are Hat rebels, and no 
 true subjects Of Christ. If you are willing to do it, 
 but know not how, i will add a few words of direction 
 to help you. 
 
 1. Teach thefri by your ox-ample, as well as by your 
 words. Be yourselves such as you would have them 
 to he; practice is the most effectual teaching of chil- 
 dren, who are addicted to imitation, especially of their 
 h Lead them the way to prayer, and reading, 
 and other duties, lie not like" base commanders, that 
 will put on their soldier-, but not go on themselves. 
 Can you expect your children should ble wiser and 
 better than you ? Let them not hear those words out 
 of your mouths, nor see those practices in your lives, 
 which you reprove in them. Whoshould lead' the way 
 in holiness but the Father and master of a family ? It 
 ad time when a master or a father, will not only 
 hinder his family from serving God, but will not give 
 them leave to go to heaven without him. 
 
 I will but name the rest of your direct duties for 
 vour family. 1. You must helptO inform their u 
 standings. 2. To store their men, To rectify 
 
 their wills. 4. To quicken th< , 5. To 
 
 keep their consciences tender. l>. To restrain their 
 tongues, -and- help them- to skill in gracio 
 and to reform and watch over their outward conver- 
 sation. 
 
 To these ends, l. Be sure to keep them, at least, so 
 iong*a1 school till they can read English. It is a thou- 
 sand pities a reasonable creatufc should look upon a 
 
•12- THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. II. § I*. 
 
 Bible, as upon a atone or a piece of wood. 2. Get them 
 Bibles and good books, and see that they read them. 
 3. Examine them often what they learn. 4. Especially 
 spend the Lord's-day in this work, and see that they 
 spend it not in sports and idleness. 5- Shew them the 
 meaning of what they read: and learn, (j. Acquaint 
 them with, and keep them in company, where they 
 may learn good, and keep them out of that company 
 that would teach them evil. 7. Be sure to eause them 
 to learn some catechism, containing, the chief heads of 
 divinity. 
 
 The heads of divinity which you must teach them 
 first, are these: 
 
 1. That there is only One God, who is a Spirit, 
 invisible, infinite, eternal, almighty, good,. merciful* 
 true, just, holy. 2. That this God is One in Three, 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 3. That he is the 
 Maker, Maintainer, and Lord of all. 4. That man's 
 happiness consisteth in the enjoying of bis God, and 
 not in fleshly pleasures, profits, or honours. 5. That 
 (rod made the lirst man upright and happy, and gave 
 him a law to keep, with condition, that if he kept it 
 perfectly, he should live happy;- for ever: but if he 
 broke it he should die. 5. That man broke this law, 
 and so forfeited his welfare, and became guilty of 
 death, as to himself, and all his posterity. 7« That 
 Christ the Son of God did here interpose and prevent 
 the full execution of the penalty, undertaking to die 
 instead of man, and to redeem him. 8. That Christ 
 hereupon did make with man a better covenant, which 
 proclaimed pardon of sin to all that did but repent and 
 believe, and obey sincerely. 0. That he revealed this 
 covenant and mercy to the world by degrees : First, 
 in darker promises, prophecies, and sacririces; then in 
 many ceremonious types ; and then by more plain 
 foretelling by the prophets. 10, Then in the fulness 
 of time Christ came and took our nature into union 
 with his Godhead, being conceived by the Holy Ghost, 
 and born of the Virgin Mary. 11. That while he was 
 Oik earth, he lived a life of sorrows, was crowned with 
 thorns, and bore the pains that our sins deserved ; at 
 last being crucified to death, and buried, so satisfied 
 the justice of God. 12. That he also preached to the 
 Jews, and by constant miracles proved the truth of his 
 
 
II. g 1:2. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 213 
 
 doctrines before thousands of witnesses ; that lie re- 
 vealed more fully his new covenant, that whosoever 
 will believe in him, and accept, him for their Saviour 
 and Lord, shall be pardoned and saved, and have a tar 
 greater glory than they lost: and they that will not, 
 shall lie under the curse and guilt, and be condemned 
 to the everlasting lire of hell. 13. That he rose again 
 from the dead, having conquered death, and took pos- 
 session of his dominion over ail, and so ascended up 
 into heaven, and there reigueth in glory. 14. That 
 before his ascension, he gave charge to his apostles to 
 preach the gospel to all nations and persons, and to 
 offer Christ, and mercy, and lire, to every one without 
 exception, and to intreat and persuade them to receive 
 him, and that he gave them authority to send forth 
 others on the same message, and to baptize and to ga- 
 ther churches, and to confirm and order them, and 
 settle a course for the succession of ministers and or- 
 dinances to the end of the world. 1.3. That he also 
 gave them power to work fieqnent and evident miracles 
 for the confirmation of their doctrine; and to annex 
 their writings to the rest of the Scriptures, and so to 
 finish and seal them up, and deliver them to the world 
 as His infallible word, whi^K «~ n ^ must dm-p tn niter, 
 and which all must observe. 16. That for all his free- 
 grace is offered to the world, yet the heart is by na- 
 ture so desperately wicked, that no man will believe 
 and entertain Christ sincerely, except, by an almighty 
 power, he be changed and born again ; and therefore 
 doth Christ send forth his Spirit with his Word, which 
 worketh holiness in our hearts, drawing us to God and 
 the Redeemer. 17. That the means by which Christ 
 -worketh and preserveth this grace, is the Word read 
 and preiiched, together with frequent, fervent prayer, 
 meditation, sacraments, and gracious conference ; and 
 it is much furthered alt>o by special Providences keep- 
 ing us from temptation ; fitting occurrences to our ad- 
 vantage, drawing us by mercies, and driving us by 
 afflictions; and therefore it must be the great and 
 daily care of every Christian to use faithfully all the 
 ordinances, and improve all the providences, 'is. That 
 though the new law or covenant is an easy yoke, and 
 there is nothing grievous in Christ's commands : yet 
 «o bad are our hearts, and so strong our temptations, 
 
214 THE SA1ST3 EVERLASTING REST. II. § 12. 
 
 and so diligent our enemies, that whosoever will be 
 saved, must strive, and watch, and bestow his utmost 
 eare and pains, and deny his flesh, and forsake all that 
 would draw him from Christ, and herein continue to 
 the end, and overcome; and because thi.s eannot be 
 done without continual supplies of grace, whereof 
 Christ is the only Fountain, therefore we must live in 
 continual dependence on him by faith, and know, that 
 our life is hid with Cod m liim. lj). That Chfist will 
 thus by his Word and Spirit gather him a ehuieh out 
 of all the world, which it.- his body and spouse, and he 
 their Head and Husband, nod will he tender of them 
 as the apple of his eye, and preserve them from danger, 
 and continue among them his presence and ordinances: 
 and that the members of this church must live together 
 in entire love and peace, delighting- themselves in God, 
 and his worship, and the fore-thoughts of their ever- 
 lasting happiness; forbearing* and forgiving one ano- 
 ther, and relieving each other in need: and all men 
 ought to strive to be of this society : yet will the visible 
 churches be still mixed with good and bad. 20. That 
 when the full number of these are called home, Christ 
 will come down from heaven again, and raise all the 
 dead, and set them before him *<> t^j^a^a , «••!«« 
 that have loved (J od, ami believed, in Christ, and been 
 willing that he should reign over them, .and have im- 
 proved their mercies in the day of grace, them he will 
 justify, and sentence to inherit everlasting glory : and 
 those that were not such, he will condemn to everlast- 
 ing fire : both which, sentences shall be then executed 
 accordingly. 
 
 This is the brief sum of the doctrine which yen must 
 teach your children. Though our ordinary creed, 
 called the Apostle's- creed, contain all the absolute 
 fundamentals, yet in some it is so generally and darkly 
 expressed, that an explication is necessary. 
 
 Then for matter of practice, teach them the mean- 
 ing of the commandments, especially of the great com- 
 mands of the gospel; shew them what is commanded 
 and forbidden, in the first table and in the second, to- 
 wards God and men, m regard of the inward and out- 
 ward man. And here shew them, 1. The Authority 
 commanding, that is, the \ln.;-:h'y God, by Christ 
 the Redeemer. Tbey art not now to look at the com- 
 
 i 
 
II. § 12. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 815 
 
 mand as coming from God immediately, merely as 
 God, or the Creator; but as coming from God, by 
 Christ the Mediator, "who is now Lord -of all;" seeing 
 " the Fathfer now judgeth no man, but hath committed 
 all judgment to the Son." 2. Shew them the terms oil 
 which duty is required, and the ends of it. 3. And 
 the nature of duties, and the way to perform them 
 aright. 4. And the right order, that they first love 
 God, and then their neighbour ; " first seek the king- 
 dom of God and his righteousness." 5. Shew them the 
 excellencies and delight of God's service, (j. And the 
 absolute n-eeessity. 7. Especially labour to get all to 
 their "hearts, and teach them not only to speak the 
 words, but also to understand them. 
 
 And for sin, shew thfcm its ceil, and danger, and 
 wrath over them on account of it, Especially, 1. The 
 sins that youth is commonly nddieted to. 2. And to 
 which their nature and constitution most lead then;. 
 
 3. And to which the time and place ruoststronglv tempt. 
 
 4. Jiut especially be sure to kill their destroy! ng sins, 
 those that all arc prone to, and arc of a!! most deadly ; 
 as pr.-lr, *«orldHuess, iguorance, profaneness, and flesh- 
 
 mg. 
 And for the manner, you must do all this, 1. be- 
 times, before sin get rooting. 1. Frequently, 3. 
 
 mably. -J- Seriously and diligently. 5. Affec- 
 tionately and tenderly. (]. And with authority; 
 compelling where commanding will not serve, and 
 adding correction, where instruction is frustrated. 
 
 And thus I have done with the use of exhortation, 
 to do your utmost for the salvation of others. The 
 Lord give you compassionate hearts, that the duty may 
 be practised, and then I doubt not but he will succeed 
 it to the increase of hit Church. 
 
[ 916 ] 
 
 THE 
 
 SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 
 PART III. 
 
 Containing a Directory for getting and keeping the 
 heart. Hi heaven, by the diligent practice of that ex- 
 cellent duty of Meditation. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Reproving our Expectation of llest on Earth. 
 
 DOTH this Rest remain ? How great then is our 
 sin and folly to seek and expect it here ! Where shall 
 
 we find the Christian that deserves not this reproof? 
 Surely to this we may all cry guilty. We know not 
 how to enjoy convenient houses, goods, lands, and 
 revenues, but we seek Rest in these enjoyments. We 
 seldom, I fear, liave such sweet and contenting thoughts 
 of God and glory, as we have of our earthly delights. 
 How much Rest do we seek in buildings, walks, ap- 
 parel, ease, recreation, sleep, pleasing meats and drinks, 
 company, health, and strength, and long life ? Nay, 
 we can scarcely enjoy the necessary means that God 
 hath appointed for our spiritual good, but we are seek- 
 ing Rest in them. Our books, our preachers, sermons, 
 friends, abilities for duty, — do not our hearts quiet 
 themselves in them, even more than in God ? Indeed 
 in words we disclaim, and God hath usually the pre- 
 eminence in our tongues and profession : but do we 
 not desire these more violently when we want them, 
 than we do the Lord himself? Do we not cry out 
 more sensibly, "O my friend, my goods, my health !" 
 than " O my God !" Do we not miss ministry and 
 means more passionately than we miss our God ? Do 
 we not bestir ourselves more to obtain and enjoy these, 
 than we do to recover our communion with God ? Do 
 
ill. § 1. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST, 217 
 
 delight more in the possession of these, than we do in 
 the.fruition of God himself! Nay, are not those mer- 
 cies and duties more pleasant to us wherein we stand 
 at the greatest distance from God ? We can reqd, and 
 study, and confess, preach and hear, day after day, 
 without much weariness ; because in these we have to 
 do with instruments and creatures: but in secret 
 prayer and conversing with God immediately, where 
 no creature interposeth, how dull, how heartless and 
 weary are we ! And if we lose creatures or means, 
 doth it not trouble us more than our loss of God ? If 
 we lose but a friend, or health, all the town will hear 
 of it: but we can miss our God, and scarce bemoan 
 our misery. Thus it is apparent, we make the crea- 
 tures our Rest. It is not enough that they are refresh- 
 ing helps in our way to heaven; but they must also 
 be made our heaven itself! Reader, I would as wil- 
 lingly make thee sensible of this sin, as of any sin in 
 the world ; for the Lord's greatest quarrel with us is 
 in this point. Therefore, I most earnestly beseech 
 thee to press upon thy own conscience these following 
 considerations : 
 
 1. It is gross idolatry to make any creature or means 
 our Rest : to settle the soul upon it, and say, " Now 
 I am well," upon the bare enjoyment of the creature : 
 What is this but to make it our god ? Certakily to be 
 the soul's Rest is God's own prerogative. And as it 
 is palpable idolatry to place our Rest in riches and 
 honours ; so it is but a more refined idolatry to take 
 up our rest in excellent means, in the churches pros- 
 perity, and in its reformation. When we would have 
 all that out of God, which is to be had only in God ; 
 what is this but to run away from Him to the creature, 
 and in our hearts to deny him ? When we fetch more 
 of our comfort from the thoughts of . prosperity, and 
 those mercies which we have at a distance from God, 
 than from the fore-thoughts of our everlasting blessed- 
 ness in him ? Are we Christians in judgment, and pa- 
 gans in affection ? Do we give our senses leave to be 
 choosers of our happiness, while reason and faith stand 
 by ? O how ill must our dear Lord needs take it, 
 when we give him cause to complain, as sometimes he 
 did of o»r fellow-idolaters, Jer. I. 6, that we have bees 
 T 
 
21 S THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. HI. § 1. 
 
 Jest sheep, and have forgotten our resting-place! 
 When we give him cause to say, " My people can find 
 rest in any thing rather than in me ! They can Hod de- 
 light in one another, but none in me ; they can rejoice in 
 my creatures and ordinances, but not in me; yea, in their 
 very labours and duty they seek for rest, but not in me ; 
 they had rather be any where than Le with me. Are 
 these their gods ? Have these delivered and redeemed 
 them ? AVill these be better to them than 1 have been, 
 or than I would be?" if yourselves have but a wife, 
 a husband, a son, that had rather be any where than 
 in your company, and is never so merry as when far- 
 thest from you, would you not take it ill yourselves ? 
 Why so must our God needs do. For what do we but 
 lay these things in one end of the balance, and God 
 in the other, and foolishly prefer them before him ? 
 As Elkanah said to Hannah, " Am 1 not better to 
 thee than ten sons ?" So when we are longing after 
 ihe creature, we may hear God say, " Am not 1 bet- 
 ter than all creatures to thee:" 
 
 2. Consider how thou contradictcst the end of God 
 in giving thee these things, lie gave then) to help 
 thee to him, and dost thou take up with them in his 
 stead ? He gave them that they might be refresh- 
 ments in thy journey; and voaldst thou now dwell 
 in thy sin, and go no farther? Thou dost not only 
 contradict God Herein, but ltsest that benefit which 
 thou mightest receive by them, yea, and inakest them 
 thy great hurt and hindrance. Surely, it may be said 
 ,of all our comforts, and all ordinances, and the most 
 blessed enjoyments in the church on earth, as God 
 said to the Israelites, of his ark, Numb. x. 33, " The 
 ark of the covenant went before them, to search out 
 for them a resting-place." So do all God's mercies 
 here. They are not that rest, (as John professed he 
 -was not the Christ,) but they are voices crying in the 
 wilderness, to bid us prepare; for the kingdom of God, 
 our true Rest, is at hand. Therefore, to rest here, 
 •were to- turn all mercies clean contrary to their own 
 jends, and our own advantages, and to destroy ourselves 
 frith that which should help us. 
 
 3. Consider, whether it be not the most probable 
 •pray, to cause God, either, first, to deny those meniw 
 
ITT. § 1. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 219 
 
 which we desire ; or, secondly, to take from lis these 
 which we enjoy ; or, thirdly, to embitter them, or curse 
 them to us r Certainly, God is no where so jealous 
 as here: if you had a -servant whom your wife loved 
 better than she did yourself, would you not take it ill 
 of such a wife, and rid your house of such a servant ? 
 Why, so, if the Lord see you begin to settle in the 
 world, and say, Here will I rest, no wonder, if he 
 soon in his jealousy, unseitle you. If he love you, 
 no wonder if he take that from you wherewith he sees 
 you are about to destroy yourselves. 
 
 It has been my long observation of many, that when 
 they have attempted any great works and had just 
 finished them ; or have aimed at great things in the 
 world, and have just obtained them ; or have lived in 
 much trouble, and just come to begin with some con- 
 tent to look upon their condition, and rest in it, they 
 are near to death and ruin. When a soul is once at 
 this language, Soul, take thy case : the next news 
 usually is, Thou, fool, this night, or this month, or this 
 year, shall th>/ soul be required of thee, and then whose 
 shall these things he? O what house is there where 
 this fool dwelleth not ? Let you and I consider, whe- 
 ther this be not our own ease. Have not I, after such 
 an unsettled life, and aifter so many longings and. 
 prayers for these days ! Have not I thought of them 
 with too much content, and been ready to say, Soul, 
 take thy rest 9 Have not i comforted myself more in 
 the forethought of enjoying these, than of coming to 
 heaven, and enjoying God ? What wonder then if 
 God cut me off, when 1 am just sitting down in this 
 supposed Rest ? And hath not the like been your con- 
 dition ? Many of you have been soldiers, driven from 
 house and home, endured a life of trouble and blood, 
 bting deprived of ministry and means: did you not 
 reckon up all the comforts you should have at your 
 he turn ; and glad your hearts with such thoughts, 
 ujore than with the thoughts of your coming to hea- 
 ven ? Why, what wonder if God now cross you, and 
 turn some of your joy into sadness ? Many a servant of 
 God hath been destroyed from the earth, by being 
 owi-valued and over-loved. 1 pray God you may take 
 earning lor the time to come, that you rob not your- 
 T 2 
 
2'20 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 1. 
 
 selves of all your mercies. I am persuaded, our dis- 
 contents and murmurings are not so provoking to < lod, 
 nor so destructive to the sinner, as our too sweet eu- 
 . and Rest of spirit, in a pleasing state. If God 
 hath crossed any of you in wife, children, goods, 
 friends; either by taking them from you, or the com- 
 fort from them : try whether this be not the cause; for 
 wheresoever your desires stop, and you sa) r , " Now I 
 ftui well ;" that condition you make your god, and en- 
 gage the jealousy of God against jt. Whether you lie 
 h lends to (Jod or enemies, you can never* expect that 
 God should surfer you quietly to enjoy your idols. 
 
 4. Consider, if God should Miller thee thus to take 
 up thy rest here, it were one of the greatest curses that 
 could befall thee ; it were better for thee if thou never 
 hadst a day of ease in the world ; for then weariness 
 might make thee seek after true rest. But if he should 
 sailer thee to sit down and rest here, where is thy rest 
 when it undeceives thee ? A restless wretch thou 
 wouldst be through all 'eternity. To have their good 
 things on the earth, is the lot- of the most miserable 
 perishing sinners. Doth it become Christians then to 
 expect so much here? Our rest is in heaven; and 
 where we take our rest, there we make our heaven ; 
 and wouidst thou have but such a heaven as this ? It 
 will be but as a handful of water to a man that is 
 d.ownhvg, which will help to destroy, but not to sa've, 
 him. 
 
 5. Consider, thou seekest rest where it is not to be 
 fouid, and so wilt lose all thy labour. I think I shall 
 evince this by these clear demonstrations following : 
 
 First. Our rest is only in the full obtaining our 
 ultimate end; but that is not to be expected in this 
 life. Is God to be enjoyed in the best reformed church 
 here, as he is in heaven ? You confess he is not. How 
 little of God, not only the multitude of the blind 
 world, but sometimes the saints themselves enjoy ! and 
 how poor comforters are the best ordinances and enjoy- 
 ments without God ! Should a traveller take up his 
 Rest in the way ? No, because; his home is his jour- 
 ney's end. When you have all that creatures and 
 means can afford, have you that you sought for ? 
 Have you, that, you believe, pray, suffer jbr ? I think 
 
ID. § 1. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 22' I 
 
 you dare not say so. Why then do we once dream of 
 resting here ? We are like little children strayed from, 
 home ; and God is now fetching us home ; and we are 
 ready to turn into any house, stay and play with every 
 thin^ in our way, and sit down on every green bank, 
 and much ado there is to get us home. 
 
 Secondly. As we have not yet obtained our end, 
 so are we in the midst of labours and dangers; and is 
 there any resting here? What painful work doth lie 
 upon our hands ? Look to our brethren, to our souls, 
 to God ; and what a deal of work ill respect to each of 
 these doth lie before us ! And can we rest in our 
 labours ? Indeed we may ease ourselves sometimes in 
 our troubles; but that is not the Rest we are now 
 speaking of: we may rest on earth, as the ark is said 
 to rest in the midst of Jordan, Josh. iii. 13. Or as the 
 angels of heaven are desired to turn in, and rest them 
 on earth, Gen. xviii. 4. They would have been loathe 
 to have taken up their dwelling there. Should Israel 
 have settled his rest in the wilderness, among serpents 
 and enemies, and weariness, and famine? Should Noah 
 have made the ark his home, and been loathe to come 
 forth when the waters were fallen ? Should the mariner 
 choose his dwelling on the sea, and settle his rest in the 
 midst of rocks, and sands, and tempests ? Though he 
 may adventure through a'i these for a commodity of 
 worth ; yet I think he takes it not for his Rest. 
 Should a soldier rest in the midst or a tight, when he 
 is in the very thickest of his enemies ? And are not 
 Christians such travellers, such mariners, such soldiers? 
 Have you not fears within, and troubles without? 
 Are we not in the thickest of continual dangers ? We 
 cannot eat, drink, sleep, labour, pray, hear, or confer, 
 but in the midst of snares ; and shall we sit down and. 
 rest here ? O Christian, follow thy work, look to thy 
 danger, hold on to the end ; win the field, and quit 
 the ground, before you think of settling to rest. I 
 read, that Christ, when lie was on the cross, comforted 
 the converted thief with this, " This day shaltthou be 
 with me in Paradise." But if he had only comforted 
 him with telling him, that he should rest there on the 
 eross, would he not have taken it for a derision ? Mc- 
 thinks, it should be ill rest in the midst of Sicknesses 
 
 T a 
 
222 the saint? Everlasting rest. III. § 1 
 and pains, persecution, and di stresses; one would 
 think it should be no contented dwelling 'or lambs 
 among Wolves. I say, therefore, to every one that 
 thiuketh of rest on earth, " Arise ye, depart, tins is 
 not your rest." 
 
 r>. Consult with e&perienee, both oilier men's and 
 your own ; many thousands have made trial, but did 
 ever one of these find a sufficient rest for his soul ou 
 earth ? Delights I deny not butthei have found: bat' 
 Cest and satisfaction they never found : and shall we 
 think to find that v hich none ever could find before 
 us? Ahah's kingdom was nothing to him, except he 
 had also "Naboth's vineyard, and did that satisfy him 
 when lie had obtained it ? If we had eonquered tin 
 whole world, we should perhaps do ;.» Alexander, sit 
 down and weep, because there was never another 
 world to conquor. Go ask honour, is there Rest here ? • 
 VVhy, you may as well rest on the top of the tempos-- 
 tuous mountains, or in Etta's flames. Ask richos. 
 Is there rest here? Even such as is in a bed of thorn-. 
 inquire of worldly pleasure and ease, can they give 
 you any tidings of true Rest? Even such as the iish 
 in swallowing the bait; when the pleasure is sweetest, 
 death is the nearest. Such is the rest that all worldly 
 pleasures afford. Goto learning-, to the purest, most 
 plentiful, most powerful ord'< ances, or compass sea and* 
 land to find out the most perfect church ; and inquire 
 whether there your soul maj 7 rest ? You might happily v 
 receive from these an-olive branch of hope, as they are 
 means to your rest, and have relation to -eternity ; but 
 in regard of any satisfaction in themselves, you would 
 remain as re-tioss as ever. O how well might all these-.. 
 r.UMver us as Jacob did Kachael, Am 1 instead of God ? 
 So may the highest perfections on earth say, Are we 
 instead of God ? GjQ take a view of all estates of men 
 i i the world, and see whether any of them ■have-found - 
 this rest. Go to the husbandman, behold his endless 
 labours, his continual care, and toil, and weariness, 
 and you will easily see that there is no rest ; go to the 
 tradesman, and yon will find the like : If I should send 
 you lower, you would judge your labour lost: goto 
 the painful minister, and there you will yet more easily 
 be satisfied ; for though his spending, endless labours, 
 are exceeding sweet, yet it is not because they are his 
 
HI. § 1. THE SAINTS TMZriLASTINO RrST. 223 
 
 rest, but in reference to hi S' people's and bis own eter- 
 nal rest. If you would ascend to magistracy, and in- 
 quire at the throne, you would rind there is no condi- 
 tion so restless. Doubtless, neither court nor country,' 
 towns nor cities, shops, fields, treasuries, libraries, soli- 
 tariness, society, studies, nor pupils, can afford any 
 such tiling as this. Rest. If you could inquire of the 
 Head of all generations, or if you could ask the living 
 through all dominions, they would all tell you, Here 
 is no Rest ; and all mankind may say, " All our days 
 are sorrow, and' our labour ie grief, and our hearts take 
 no Rest;" Secies, ii. 23. 
 
 if ether men's experience move you not, do but take 
 a view of your own ; can yon remember the estate that 
 did fully satisfy you ? Or, if you could, will it prove- 
 a lasting state ? For my own part, L have run through 
 several states of life, and though I never had the ne- 
 cessities which might occasion discontent, yet I did 
 never ii nd a settlement for my soul ; and I believe we 
 may all say of our Rest, as Paul of our hope : " Jf 
 it were in this life only, we are of all men most mise- 
 rable." If then either Scripture or reason, or the ex- 
 perience of ourselves, and all the world, will satisfy 
 us, we may see there is no resting place here. And 
 yet how guilty are the generality of us of this sin ! 
 How many halts and stops do we make, before we will 
 make the Lord our Rest ! How must God even drive 
 n^, and tire us out of every condition, lest we should- 
 s.t down and rest there! If he gives us prosperity, 
 riches, or honour, we do in our hearts dance before- 
 them, as the Israelites before their calf, and say, These- 
 .ire thy gods, and conclude it is good being here, if 
 he embitter all these by crosses, how do we strive to* 
 have the cross removed, and are restless till our condi- 
 tion be sweetened to us, that we may sit down again 
 and rest where we were. If the Lord, seeing our ner- 
 verseness, should now proceed in the cure, and take 
 the creature quite away, then how do we labour, and 
 care, and cry, and pray that God would restore it, 
 that we may make it our Rest again ! And while we 
 are deprived of its enjoyments, and have not our for- 
 mer idol, yet rather than come to God, we delightour- 
 selvts iu our hopes of recovering our former state ; 
 
*24 THE SAINT* EVERLASTING REST. IIT. § 1. 
 
 and as long as there is the least likelihood of obtaining 
 it, we make tlui^e very hopes our rest, if the* poor, 
 by a'muriugall their days, have got hopes of a fuller 
 e>t; te when they are old (though a hundred to one 
 they die before they have obtained it) yet do they rest 
 themselves on these expectations. Or if God doth 
 take away both present enjoyments, and all hopes of 
 recovering them, how do we search about from crea- 
 ture to creature, to find out something to supply the. 
 room, and to settle upon instead thereof! Yea, if we 
 :an find no supply, but are sure we shall live in po- - 
 verty, in sickness, in disgrace, while we are on earth* 
 yet will we rather settle in this misery, ami make a 
 rest of a wretched being, than we will leave all, and 
 come to God. 
 
 A man would think, that a multitude of poor people 
 who beg their bread, or can scarce with their hardest 
 Kbour have sustenance for their lives, should easily be 
 H riven from resting here, and willingly look to heaven 
 for rest ; and the sick, who have not a day of ease, 
 nor any. hope of recovery left them. But, O the cursed 
 averseness of our souls from God 1 We will rather ac- 
 count our misery our happiness, yea, that which we 
 daily groan under as intolerable, the soul would rather 
 take up its rest there, than came to God ! Yea, when 
 he is bringing us over to him, and hath convinced us 
 of the worth of his ways and service, the last deceit of 
 all is here,' — we will rather settle upon these ways that 
 lead to him, and those ordinances that speak of him, 
 and those gifts which flow from him, than we will 
 come clean over to him ! 
 
 Marvel not that I speak so much of resting in these : 
 beware lest it prove thy own case. I suppose thou art 
 so convinced of the vanity of riehes, and honours, and 
 pleasures, that thou canst more easily, disclaim these : 
 but for thy spiritual helps, thou lookest on these with 
 less suspicion, and thiukest thou canst not delight in 
 them too much, especially seeing most of the world 
 despise them, or delight m them too little. But doth , 
 not the increase of those helps dnll thy longings after 
 lieaven ? I know the means of grace must be loved 
 and valued; and he that delightetb iu any worldly 
 thing more than iu them, is not aChristian, But when 
 
111. § 1. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 225 
 
 we are content with duty instead of God, and had ra- 
 ther be at a sermon than in heaven ; and a member of 
 a church here than of that perfect church : this is a 
 sad mistake. 
 
 So far rejoice in the creature as it comes from God, 
 or l<ads to him, or brings thee some report o.f his love : 
 so far let thy soul take comfort in ordinances as God 
 doth accompany them, or give himself unto thy soul 
 by them; >till remembering, when thou hast even what 
 thou dost most desire, yet this is not heaven ; yet these 
 are but tin; first-frnits. It is not enough that God 
 alloweth us all the comfort of travellers* and accord- 
 ingly to rejoice in all Ins mercies, but we must set -op 
 our stall' as if we were at home! While we are present 
 in the body, we are absent irom the Lord; and while 
 we are absent from him, we are absent from our Ktst. 
 If God were as willing to be absent from us, M we 
 irom him, and if he were as loathe to be our Kest, as 
 we are loathe to rest in him, we should be left to an 
 eternal restless separation. In a word, as you are sen- 
 sible of the sinfulness of your earthly discontents, so 
 be you also of your irregular contents, and pray God 
 to pardon them much more. And above all the plagues 
 and judgments of God on this side hell, see that you 
 watch and pray against this of settling any where short 
 of heaven, or reposing your souls on any thing below 
 God: Or else, when the bough which you tread on 
 breaks, and the things which you rest upon, deceive 
 you, you will perceive your labour all lost, and your 
 highest hopes will make you ashamed. Try if you 
 can persuade Satan to leave tempting, and the world 
 to cease troubling and seducing; if you can bring the 
 glory of God from above, or remove the court from 
 heaven to earth, and secure the continuance of this 
 through eternity, then settle yourselves below, and say, 
 «» Soul, take thy rest here:" but till then admit nu 
 Mi' h thought. 
 
\P& TH* SAINTS EVERLASTINU REST. III. § 5. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Motirrs to Ileavcnly-Mind'cdiicss. 
 
 WE have now tire guidance of the ward of the 
 L<rrd, <ind by the assistance of Ins Spirit, shewed \ on 
 tin' nature of the Rest of the Saints ; and acquainted 
 you with some duties in relation thereto. We come< 
 now to the close of ail, to press you to the. great duty 
 Vrbieh I chieily intended when 1 began this subject. 
 
 Is there a Rest, and such a Rest remaining lor us ? 
 Why then are our thoughts no more upon it ? Wby 
 are not our hearts continually there ? Why dwell we 
 not there in constant contemplation ? Ask your heart*, 
 in good earnest, What is the cause of this neglect? 
 Hath the eternal God provided us such a glory, and 
 promised to take us up to dwell with himself? And i« 
 not this worth thinking on ? Should not the strongest 
 desires of our hearts be after it ; and the daily delights 
 *>f our souls be there ? Can we forget and neglect it ? 
 What is the matter? Will not God give us leave to 
 approach this light ? Or will he not suffer our souls 
 to taste and bee it. ! Then what mean all his earnest 
 invitations ? Why then doth he so condemn our 
 earth ly-mindedness, and command us to set our 
 affections above? If the fore-thoughts of glory 
 were forbidden fruits, perhaps we should be sooner 
 drawn unto them. Sure I am, where God hath forbid- 
 den us to place our thoughts and our delights, thither 
 it is easy enough to draw them. If he say, " Love 
 not the world, nor the things of the world," we doat 
 upon it nevertheless. How v.uweariedly can we think 
 of vanity, and day after day employ our minds about 
 it ! And have we not thought of this our R< st ? How 
 freely and frequently can we think of our pleasures, 
 our friends, our labours, our tlesh, our studies, our 
 news; yea, our very miseries, our wrongs, our suffer- 
 ing , and our fears ? Rut where is the Christian wbos 
 
 
HI. § 2. THE SAINT* EVERLASTING REST. <ZT? 
 
 heart is on his Rest ? AVhat is the matter ? Why are 
 we not taken up with the views of glory, and our soul* 
 more accustomed to these delightful meditations ? 
 Are we so full of joy that we need no more ; or is 
 there no matter in heaven for our joyous thoughts ; or 
 rather, are not our hearts carnal and blockish ? Earth 
 ■will tend to earth. Had we more spirit, it would he 
 otherwise with us. As St. Augustine cast by Cicero's 
 writings, because they contained not the name of Jesus ; 
 so let us humble and cast down these sensual hearts, 
 that have in them no more of Christ and glory. Let 
 lis neither rejoice in our duties, any further than there 
 is something of Christ in them ; nor delight in the 
 creatures, any longer than they have reference to 
 Christ and Eternity. Why did Christ pronounce his 
 disciples eyes and cars blessed, but as they were doors 
 to let ill Christ by his works and words into their 
 heart ? Blessed arc tlve eyes that so see, and the ears 
 that so hear, that the heart is thereby raised to this hea- 
 \enlv frame. Sirs, so much of your hearts as is empty 
 of Christ and heaven, let it be filled with shame and 
 sorrow, and not with tase. 
 
 But let me turn my reprehension to exhortation, that 
 you would turn this conviction into reformation. And 
 I have the more hope, because I here address myself 
 to men of conscience, that dare not wilfully disobey 
 Clod ; yea, because to men whose portion is there, 
 whose hopes are there, and who have forsaken all, that 
 they may enjoy this glory; and shall ] be discouraged 
 from persuading such to be heavenly-minded ? If you 
 will not hear and obey, who will ? Whoever thou art 
 therefore that readest these lines, I requite thee, as 
 thou tenderest thine allegiance to the God of heaven, 
 as ever thou hopest for a part in his glory, that thou 
 presently take thy heart to task ; chide it for its wilful 
 strangeness to God : turn thy thoughts from the pursuit 
 of vanity, bend thy soul to study eternity : habituate 
 thyself to such contemplations, and let not those 
 thoughts be seldom and cursory, but settle upon them ; 
 dwell here, bathe thyself in heaven's delights ; drench 
 thine affections in these rivers of pleasure; and if thy 
 backward soul begin to flag, and thy thoughts to lly 
 abroad, call the in back, hold them to their work, pUt 
 
228 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § <g. 
 
 them on, beai not with their laziness ; and when thou 
 hast once tried this .work, and followed on till thou 
 hast got acquainted with it, and kept a close guard 
 upon thy thoughts till they are accustomed to obey, 
 thou wilt then rind thyself in the suburbs of heaven, 
 and as it were, in a new world; thou wilt then find 
 that there is a sweetness in the work and way of God, 
 and that the life of Christianity is a life of joy : thou 
 wilt then meet with those abundant consolations for 
 which thou hast prayed, and panted, and groaned, and 
 which so few Christians obtain, because they know not 
 the way to them, 01 else make not conscience of walk- 
 ing in it. 
 
 You see the work now before you : this, this is that 
 I would fain persuade yon to practice: let me bespeak 
 your conscience in the name of Christ, and command 
 you by the authority I have received from Christ, that 
 you faithfully set upon this duty, and fix your eye 
 most steadfastly on^your rest. l)o not wonder that I 
 persuade you so earnestly : though indeed if we were 
 truly reasonable men, it would be a wonder that men 
 should need so much persuasion to so sweet and plain 
 a duty : but 1 know the employment is high, the heart 
 is earthly, and will still draw back ; the temptations 
 and hindrances will be many- and great, and therefore, 
 I fear all these persuasions will be little enough: say 
 not, we are unable to set our own hearts on heaven, 
 this must be the work of God, therefore all your ex- 
 hortation is in vain. I tell you, though God be the chief 
 disposer of your hearts, \ et next under him you have 
 the greatest command of them yourselves, and a great 
 power in the ordering of your own thoughts, and de- 
 termining your own wills : though without Christ you 
 'can do nothing, yet under him you may do much, and 
 must do much, or else you will be undone through 
 your neglect : do your own part, and you have no cause 
 to distrust whether Christ will do his. 
 
 I will here lay down some considerations, which 
 if you will but deliberately weigh with an impartial 
 judgment, I doubt not will prove effectual with your 
 hearts, and make you resolve upon this excellent 
 duty. 
 
III. § 2. THE SAINT9 EVERLASTING RE9T. 229 
 
 1. Consider, a heart set upon heaven, will be one of 
 the most unquestionable evidences of a true work of 
 saving grace upon your soul. Would you have a sign 
 infallible, not from me, or from the mouth of any man, 
 but from the mouth of Jesus Christ himself, which all 
 the enemies of the use of marks can lay no exceptions 
 against? Why, here is such a one, Matt. vi. 21, 
 ** Where your treasure is, there will your hearts be also." 
 Know then assuredly where your heart is, and you may 
 easily know that your treasure is there. God is the 
 saint's treasure and happiness; heaven is the place where 
 they fully enjoy him. A heart therefore set upon hea- 
 ven, is no more but a heart set upon God, desiring thit 
 full enjoyment : and surely a heart set upon God, 
 through Christ, is the truest evidence of saving grace. 
 External actions are the easiest discovered; but those 
 _ of th e heart are the surest evidences. When thy learn- 
 BMull be no good proof of thy grace; when thy 
 edge, thy duties, and thy gifts will fail thee, 
 i arguments from thy tongue and thy hand may 
 onfuted ; then will this argument from the bent of 
 eart prove thee sincere. Take a poor Christian 
 ^Karce speak English about religion, that hath 
 a weak understanding, a failing memory, a stammering 
 , yet his heart is set on God, he hath chosen 
 him for his portion, his thoughts are on eternity, his 
 desires are there, his dwelling is there; he cries out, 
 that I were there ! He takes that day for a time of 
 imprisonment, wherein he hath not taken one refresh- 
 ing view of eternity : I had rather die in this man's 
 condition than in the case of him that hath the most 
 eminent gifts, and is most admired for parts and duty, 
 whose heart is not taken up with God. The man that 
 Christ will rind out at the last day, and condemn for 
 want of a wedding-garment, will be he that wants this 
 frame of heart. The question will not then be, how 
 much you have known or talked ? but how much you 
 have loved, and where your heart was ? Why then, as 
 you would have a sure proof of your title to glory, 
 labour to get your hearts above. God will acknow- 
 ledge you love him, when he sees your hearts are set 
 upon him. Get but your hearts once truly in heaven, 
 U 
 
230 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § ** 
 
 and without all question, yourselves will follow. If 
 sin and Satan keep not thence your affections, they 
 will never be a*ble to keep away your persons. 
 
 2. Consider, a heavenly mind is a joyful mind: this 
 is the nearest and the truest way to comfort ; and with- 
 out this you must needs be uncomfortable. Can a man 
 be at the fire, and not be warm, or in the sun-shine, 
 and not have light? Can your hearts be in heaven, 
 and not have comfort ? What could make such frozen 
 uncomfortable -Christians, but living so far as they do 
 from heaven ? And what makes others so warm in 
 comforts, but their frequent access so near to God? 
 "When the sun in the spring- draws near our part of the 
 earth, how do all things congratulate its approach! 
 The earth looks green, and casteth off her mourning 
 habit; the trees shoot forth; the plants revive; the 
 birds sing! the face of all things smiles upon us, and 
 all the creatures below rejoice. If we would but keep 
 our hearts above, what a spring would be within us, 
 and all our graces be fresh and green ! How would 
 the face of our souls be changed, and all that is within 
 us rejoice ! How should we forget our winter sorrows, 
 and withdraw our souls from our sad retirements! 
 How early should we rise (as those birds in the spring) 
 to sing the praise of our great Creator ! O Christian, 
 get above : believe it, that region is warmer than this 
 below. Those who have been there have found it so, 
 and those that have come thence have told us so ; and 
 I doubt not but thou hast sometimes tried it thyself. 
 I dare appeal to thy own experience : when is it that 
 thou hast largest comforts ? Is it not after such an 
 exercise as this, when thou hast got up thy heart, and 
 conversed with God, and talked with the inhabitants 
 of the higher world, and viewed the mansions of the 
 saints and angels, and tilled thy soul with the fore- 
 thoughts of glory ? If thou knowest by experience 
 what this practice is, J dare say thou knowest what 
 spiritual joy i6. If it be the countenance of God that 
 tills us with joy, then they that most behold it, must 
 be fullest of these joys. If you never tried this, nor 
 lived this life of heavenly contemplation, I do not won- 
 der that you walk uncomfortably, and know not what 
 
tfcL §:'£ THE SAINTS EVERLASTING RE3Vj 2Sb 
 
 tlie joy of the saints means. Can you have comforts 
 from God, and never think of him ? Can heaven 
 rejoice you when you do not remember it ? Doth any 
 thing* in the world glad you, when you think not on 
 it ? Whom should we blame then, that we are so void 
 of consolation, but our own negligent, unskilful hearts ? 
 God hath provided us a crown of glory, and promised 
 to set it shortly on our heads, and we will not so much 
 as think on it: He holdeth it out to us, and biddeth us 
 behold and rejoice : and we will not so much as look 
 at it. What a perverse course is this, both against 
 God and our own joys ! 
 
 I confess, though in fleshly things the presenting a 
 comforting object is sufficient to produce an answer-* 
 able delight, yet in spirituals we are more disabled : 
 God must give the joy itself, as well as afford us mat- 
 ter for joy: but yet withal, it must be remembered, 
 that God doth work upon us as men, and in a rational 
 way doth raise our comforts: he enableth and exciteth 
 us to mind these delightful objects, and from thence to 
 gather our own comforts : therefore, he that is most 
 skilful in this gathering art, is usually the fullest of 
 spiritual sweetness. 
 
 It 16 by believing that we are filled with joy and 
 peace ; and no longer than we continue our believing. 
 It is in hope that the saints rejoice, yea, in this hope of 
 the glory of God; and no longer than they continue 
 hoping. And here let me warn you of a dangerous 
 snare, an opinion which will rob you of all your com- 
 fort : some think, if they should thus fetch in their joy 
 by believing and hoping, and work it out of Scripture- 
 promises by their own thinking and studying, then it 
 would be a comfort only of their own hammering out, 
 (as they say) and not the genuine joy of the Holy Ghost. 
 A desperate mistake, raised upon a ground that would 
 overthrow almost all duty, as well as this; which is 
 their setting the workings of God's Spirit and their 
 own spirits in opposition, when their spirits must stand 
 in subordination to God's: they are conjunct causes, 
 co-operating to the producing of one and the same effect. 
 God's Spirit worketh our comforts, by setting our own 
 spirits at work upon the promises, and raising our 
 I 2 
 
232 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 2. 
 
 thoughts to the place of our own comforts. As you 
 weuki delight a covetous man by shewing him money, 
 or a voluptuous man with fleshly delights; so God 
 useth to delight his people, by taking them as it were 
 by the hand, and leading them into heaven, and shew- 
 ing them himself, and their Rest with Him. God 
 useth not to cast in our joys while we are idle, or 
 taken up with other things. It is true, he sometimes 
 doth it suddenly, but usually in the aforesaid order: 
 and his sometimes sudden, extraordinary casting of 
 comforting thoughts into our hearts, should be so far 
 from hindering our endeavours in a meditating way, 
 that it should be a singular motive to quicken us to 
 it; even as a taste given us of some cordial, will make 
 ns desire and seek the rest. God feedeth not saints as 
 birds do their young, bringing it to them, and putting 
 it into their mouth, while they lie still in the nest, and 
 only gape to receive it : but as he giveth to man the 
 fruits of the earth, the increase of our land in corn 
 and wine, while we plough, and sow, and weed, and 
 water, and dung, and dress, and then with patience 
 expect his blessing; so doth he give the joys of the 
 soul. Yet I deny not, that if any should think, to 
 work out his own comforts by meditation, and to at- 
 tempt the work in his own strength, the work would 
 prove to be like the workman, and the comfort he 
 would gather would be like both ; even mere vanity ; 
 even as the husbandman's labour, without the sun and 
 rain, and blessing of God. 
 
 So then you may easily see, that close meditation on 
 the matter and cause of your joy, is God's way to pro- 
 duce solid joy. For my part, if 1 should find my joy 
 of another kind, 1 should be very prone to doubt of 
 its sincerity, if 1 find a great deal of comfort, and 
 know not now it came, nor upon what rational ground 
 it was raised, nor what considerations feed and con- 
 tinue it, I should be ready to question whether this be 
 from God. Our love to God should not be like that 
 of fond lovers, who love violently, but they know 
 not why. I think a Christian's joy should be rational 
 joy, and not to rejoice and know not why. In some 
 extraordinary case, God may cast in such an extra- 
 
III. § 2. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. £33 
 
 ordiaary kind of joy ; yet it is not his usual way. And 
 if you observe the experience of some Christians, you 
 will find, that their happiness greatly depends upon 
 extraordinary joys; when these ecstacies are absent, 
 their minds are variously tossed, and inconstantly 
 tempered : when they meet with such joys, then they 
 are cheerful and lifted up ; but because they are usu- 
 ally short lived, therefore they are straight as low as 
 hell. And thus they are tossed as a vessel at sea, up 
 and down, but still in extremes : whereas, alas 1 God 
 is most constant, Christ the same, heaven the same, 
 and the promise the same ; aad if we took the right 
 course for fetching in our comforts from these, sure 
 our comforts would be more settled and constant, 
 though not always the same. Whoever thou art 
 therefore that readest these lines, I intrcat thee in the 
 name of the Lord, and as thou valuest the life of 
 constant joy, and that good conscience which is a 
 continual feast, that thou wouldst seriously set upon 
 this work, and learn the art of heavenly-mindedness, 
 and thou shalt find the increase an hundred fold. 
 
 3. Consider, a heart in heaven will be a most ex- 
 cellent preservative against temptations, and a powerful 
 mean to save the conscience from the wounds of sin : 
 God can prevent our sinning, though we be careless, 
 and sometimes doth ; but this is not his usual course; 
 nor is this our safest way to escape. When the mind 
 is either idle, or ill employed, the devil needs not a 
 greater advantage; if he find but the mind empty, 
 there is room for any thing that he will bring in; but 
 when he finds the heart in heaven, what hope that his 
 motions should take ? Let him entice to any for- 
 bidden course, the soul will return Nehemiah's answer, 
 / am doing a great work, and cannot come, Neb. vi. 3. 
 Several ways will this preserve us against temptation. 
 First, by keeping the heart employed. Secondly, By 
 clearing the understanding, and confirming the will. 
 Thirdly, By pre-possessing the affections. Fourthly, 
 By keeping us in the way of God's blessing. 
 
 First, By keeping the heart employed: when we 
 are idle, we tempt the devil to tempt us, as it is an 
 encouragement to a thief, to see vour doors open, and 
 U 3 
 
234 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § *. 
 
 no person within ; and as we use to say, " careless per- 
 sons make thieves ;" so it will encourage Satan, to find 
 your hearts idle : but when the heart is taken up with 
 God, it cannot have time to hearken to temptations ; 
 it cannot have time to be lustful and wanton, ambi- 
 tious or worldly. 
 
 If you were but busied in vour lawful callings, you 
 would not be so ready to hearken to temptations; 
 much less if you were busied above with God. Will 
 you leave your plough and harvest in the field? Or 
 leave the quenching of a fire in your houses to run 
 hunting of butterflies ? Would a judge rise when he 
 is sitting upon life and death, to go and play among 
 the boys in the streets ? IV o more will the Christian, 
 when he is busy with God, give ear to the alluring 
 charms of Satan. The love of God is never idle ; it 
 worketh great things where it truly is : and when it 
 will not work, it is not love. Therefore, being thus 
 still working, it is still preserving. 
 
 Secondly, A heavenly mind is freest from sin, be- 
 cause it is of clearest understanding in spiritual matters. 
 A man that is much conversing above, hath clearer and 
 more lively apprehensions of things concerning God 
 and his soul, than any reading or learning can beget: 
 tho' perhaps he maybe ignorant in divers controversies, 
 and matters that less concern salvation : yet those truths 
 which must establish his soul, and preserve him from 
 temptation, he knows far better than the greatest scho- 
 lars : he hath so deep an insight into the evil of sin, 
 the vanity of the creature, the brutishness of sensual 
 delights, that temptations have little power on him ; 
 for tnese earthly vanities are Satan's baits, which, with 
 the clear-sighted, have lost their force. " In vain (saith 
 Solomon) the net is spread in the sight of any bird :" 
 and in vain doth Satan lay his snares to entrap the soul 
 that plainly sees them. When the heavenly mind is 
 above with God, he may from thence discern every 
 danger that lies below : nay, if he did not discover the 
 snare, yet were he likelier to escape it than any others. 
 A net or bait that is laid on the ground, is unlikely 
 to catch the bird that flies in the air ; while she keeps 
 above, -she ,is oat of the danger, and the higher tht 
 
IH. §. 2. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 235 
 
 safer ; so it is with us. Satan's temptations are laid on 
 the earth, earth is the place, and earth is the ordinary 
 bait ; how shall these ensnare the Christian, who hath 
 left the earth, and walks with God ? 
 
 Do you not sensibly perceive, that when your hearts 
 are seriously fixed on heaven, you become wiser than 
 before ? Are not your understandings more solid ; and 
 your thoughts more sober? Have you not truer ap- 
 prehensions of things than you had ? For my own 
 part, if I ever be wise, it is when I have been much 
 above, and seriously studied the life to come : me- 
 thinks I find my understanding, after such contempla- 
 tions, as much to differ from what it was before, as 
 before I differed from a fool or an idiot : when my 
 understanding is weakened and befooled with common 
 employments, and with conversing longwith the vanities 
 below, methinks a few sober thoughts of my Father's 
 house, and the blessed provision of the family in 
 heaven, make me (with the pi odigal) to come to myself 
 again. Surely when a Christtian withdraws himself 
 from his earthly thoughts, and begins to converse with 
 God in heaven, he is a Nebuchadnezzar, taken from 
 the beasts of the field to the throne, and his under- 
 standing returneth to him again. O, when a Christian 
 hath had but a glimpse of eternity, and then looks 
 down on the world again, how doth he say to his 
 laughter, " Thou art mad !" and to his vain mirth, 
 4i What doest thou ?" How could he even tear his 
 flesh, and take revenge on himself for his folly ! How 
 verily doth he think that there is no man in Bedlam 
 so mad, as wilful sinners, and lazy betrayers of their 
 own souls, and unworthy slighters of Christ and 
 glory. 
 
 Do not you think (except men are stark devils) that 
 it would be a harder matter to entice a man to sin, 
 when he lies a dying, than it was before ? If the 
 devil, or his instruments, should then tell him of a cup 
 of sack, of merry company, or of a stage-play, do you 
 think he would then be so taken with the motion ? If 
 he should then tell him of riches, or honours, or shew 
 him cards, or dice, or a whore, would the temptation, 
 think you, be as strong as before? Would he not 
 answer, Alas ! what is all this to me, who must pre- 
 
286 THE SAINT3 EVERLASTING REST. III. § 2. 
 
 sently appear before God, and give account of all my 
 life, and straightway? be in another world ? Why, if 
 the apprehensions of the nearness of eternity will work 
 such strange effects upon the ungodly, and make them 
 wiser than to be deceived so easily, as they were wont 
 to be in time of health ; what effects would it work in 
 thee, if thou couldst always dwell in the views of 
 God, and in lively thoughts of thine everlasting state ? 
 Surely, a believer, if he improves his faith, may have 
 truer apprehensions of the life to come, in the time of 
 his health, than an unbeliever hath at the hour of his 
 death. 
 
 Thirdly, a heavenly mind is fortified against temp- 
 tations, because the affections are prepossessed with 
 the delights of another world. When the soul is not 
 affected with good, though the understanding ever so 
 clearly apprehend the truth, it is easy for Satan to 
 entice that soul. Mere speculations, be they ever so 
 true, which sink not into the affections, are poor pre- 
 servatives against temptations. He that loves most, 
 and not he that knows most, will most easily resist the 
 motions of sin. There is in a Christian a kind of spiri- 
 tual sense, whereby he knows these things, besides his 
 mere reasoning power ; the will doth as sweetly relish 
 goodness, as the understanding doth truth : and here 
 lies much of a Christian's strength. If you should dis- 
 pute with a simple man, and labour to persuade him 
 that sugar is not sweet, or that wormwood is not bitter ; 
 perhaps you might by sophistry over-argue his mere 
 reason, but yet you could not persuade him against his 
 sense; whereas a man that hath lost his taste, is more 
 easily deceived for all his reason. So it is here. When 
 thou hast had a fresh delightful taste of heaven, thou 
 wilt not be so easily persuaded from it: you cannot 
 persuade a very child to part with his apple, while the 
 taste of its sweetness is yet in his mouth. 
 
 O that you would be persuaded to be much in feed- 
 ing on the hidden manna, and to be frequently tasting 
 the delights of heaven. It is true, it is a great way 
 off from our sense, but faith can reach as far as there. 
 How would this raise thy resolutions, and make thee 
 laugh at the fooleries of the world, and scorn to be 
 cheated with such childish tovs ! What if the devil 
 
III. § 2. THE 6.4INTS EVERLASTING REST. 237 
 
 had set upon Paul when he was in the third heaven ? 
 Could he then have persuaded his heart to the plea- 
 sures, or profits, or honours of the world ? Though 
 the Israelites below may be enticed to idolatry, and 
 from eating and drinking rise up to play : yet Moses 
 in the mount with God will not do so : and if they 
 had been where he was, and bad but seen what he 
 there saw, perhaps-they would not so easily have sinned. 
 O, if we could keep our souls continually delighted 
 with the sweetness above, with what disdain should we 
 spit at the baits of sin ! 
 
 Fourthly, Whilst the heart is set on heaven, a man 
 is under God's protection ; and therefore if Satan then 
 assault him, God is more engaged for his defence. 
 
 Let me intreat thee then, if thou be a man that is 
 haunted with temptation, (as doubtless thou art, if thou 
 be a man,) if thou perceive thy danger, and would fain 
 escape it, use much this powerful remedy, keep close 
 with God by a heavenly mind; and when the temp* 
 taiion comes, go straight to heaven, and turn thy 
 thoughts to higher things: thou shalt rind this a sure? 
 help than the other. Follow your business above with 
 Christ, and keep your thoughts to their heavenly em- 
 ployment, and you sooner will this way vanquish the 
 temptation, than if you argued or talked it out with 
 the tempter. 
 
 4. Consider, The diligent keeping of your hearts 
 on heaven, will preserve the vigour of all your graces,, 
 and put life into your duties. It is the heavenly 
 Christian that is the lively Christian ; it is our strange- 
 ness to heaven that makes us so dull ; it is the end that 
 quickens all the means; and the more frequently and 
 clearly this end is beheld, the more vigourous will all 
 our motions be. How doth it make men unweariedly 
 labour, and fearlessly venture, when they do but think 
 on the gainful prize ! Ho\r will the soldier hazard his 
 life, and the mariner pass through storms and waves I 
 How cheerfully do they compass sea and land, when 
 they think of an uncertain perishing treasure ? O, what 
 life then would it put into a Christian's endeavours, 
 if he would frequently think of his everlasting trea- 
 sure? We run so slowlv, and strive so lazilv, because 
 
238 THE 6AINTS EVERLASTING RE<T. III. §2. 
 
 we so little miud the prize. When a Christian hath 
 been tasting the hidden manna, and drinking of the 
 streams of the paradise of God, what life doth this 
 put into him ! How fervent will his spirit be ii* 
 prayer, when he considers that he prays for no less 
 than heaven ? 
 
 Observe but the man who is much in heaven, and 
 you will see he is not like others : there is somewhat 
 of that which he hath seen above, appeareth in all his 
 duty and conversation ; nay, take but the same man 
 immediately when he is returned from these views of 
 bliss, and you may easily perceive he excels himself. 
 If he is a preacher, how heavenly are his sermons! 
 What clear descriptions, what high expressions hath he 
 of that rest ! If he be a private Christian, what hea- 
 venly conference ! What heavenly prayers ! What an 
 heavenly carriage hath he ? May you not even hear 
 in a preacher's sermons, or in the private duties ot 
 another, when they have been most above ? "\\ hen 
 Moses had been with God in the mount, it made his 
 face shine that the people could not behold him. If 
 you would but set upon this employment, even so 
 would it be with you : men would see the face of your 
 conversation shine, and say, Surely he liath been with 
 God! 
 
 It is true, a heavenly nature goes before this hea- 
 venly employment; but yet the work will make it 
 more heavenly : There must be life before we can 
 feed; but our life is continued and increased by feed- 
 ing. Therefore, let me inform thee, if thou lie com- 
 plaining of deadness and dulness, that thou canst not 
 love Christ, nor rejoice in his love ; that thou hast no 
 life in prayer, nor any other duty, and yet neglectest 
 this quickening course, or at least art careless and incon- 
 stant in it; thou art the cause of thy own complaints; 
 thou dullest thine own heart, thou deniest thyself that 
 life which thou talkest of. Is not thy life hid with 
 Christ in God ? Whither must thou go but to Christ 
 for it ; and where is that but to heaven, where he is ? 
 " Thou wilt not come to Christ that thou mayest have 
 life." If thou wouldst have light and heat, why art 
 thou then not mote in the nun-shine - : It" thou wouldst 
 
III. § 2. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 23<? 
 
 have more of thai grace which flows from Christ, why- 
 art thou not more with Christ for it ? Thy strength is 
 in heaven, and thy life in heaven, and thence thou 
 must daily fetch it, if thou wilt have it. For want of 
 this recourse to heaven, thy soul is as a candle that is 
 not lighted, and thy duties as a sacrifice which hath 
 no fire. 
 
 Fetch one coal daily from this altar, and see if thy 
 offering will not burn. Light thy candle at this flame, 
 and feed it daily with oil from hence, and see if it will 
 not gloriously shine : keep close to this reviving fire, 
 and see if thy affections will not be warmer. Thou be- 
 ■wailest thy want of love to God (and well thou rnayest, 
 for it is a heinous crime, a killing sin ;) why, lift up the 
 eye of faith to heaven, behold his beauty, contemplate 
 his excellencies, and see whether his amiableness will 
 not tire thy affections, and his goodness ravish thy heart. 
 As the e\e doth excite the sensual affections, by gazing 
 on alluring objects; so doth the eye of faith in medita- 
 tion, inflame our affections towards our Lord, by gaz- 
 ing on that highest beauty. Whoever thou art, thou 
 a stranger to this employment, be thy parts and pro- 
 fession ever so great, if thou spendest thy life but in 
 trifling and idleness ; thou seemest to live, but thou 
 art dead : I may say of thee, as Seneca of idle Varica, 
 Scis latere^ viccre vtscis ; "Thou knowest how to 
 lurk in idleness, but how to live thou knowest not." 
 And as the same Seneca would say, when he passed by 
 that sluggard's dwelling, Jhi situs est Varica ; so it may 
 be said of thee, there lies such a one, but not there 
 lives such a one, for thou spendest thy days more like 
 the dead than the living. One of Draco's laws to the 
 Athenians was, that he who was convicted of idleness, 
 should be put to death : thou dost execute this on thy 
 own soul, whilst by thy idleness thou destroyest its 
 life. 
 
 Thou mayest many other ways exercise thy parts, 
 but this is the way to exercise thy graces : they all 
 come from God as their fountain, and lead to God as 
 their end, and are exercised on God as their chief 
 object: so that God is their ail in all. From heaven 
 they come, and to heaven they will direct and move 
 thee. And as exercise maintaineth appetite, strength, 
 
240 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 2 
 
 and liveliness to the body : so doth it also to the soul. 
 Use limbs, and have limbs, is the known proverb. And 
 use grace and spiritual lite in these heavenly exercises, 
 and you shall find it quickly cause their increase. The 
 exercise of your mere abilities of speech will not much 
 advantage your graces ; but the exercise of those 
 heavenly gifts, will inconceivably help the growth of 
 both : for as the moon is then most full and glorious, 
 when it doth most directly face the sun ; so will your 
 souls be both in gifts and graces, when you most nearly 
 view the face of God. This will feed your tongue 
 with matter, and make you abound and overflow, both 
 in preaching, praying, and conferring. Besides the 
 fire which you fetch from heaven for your sacrifices, is 
 110 false or strange fire : as your liveliness will be much 
 more; so it will be also more sincere. 
 
 The zeal which is kindled by your meditations on 
 heaven, is most likely to prove a heavenly zeal; and 
 the liveliness of the spirit which you fetch from the 
 iace of God, must needs be the divinest life. Some 
 men's fervency is drawn only from their books, and 
 some from stinging afflictions, and some from the mouth 
 of a moving minister, and some from the encourage- 
 ment of an attentive auditory ; but he that knows his 
 way to heaven, and derives it daily from the pure 
 Fountain, shall have his soul revived with the water of 
 life, and enjoy that quickening which is the saints 
 peculiar privilege. By this faith thou mayest oii'er 
 Abel's sacrifice, more excellent than that of common 
 men, and by it obtain witness that thou art righteous, 
 God testifying of thy gifts, Heb. xi. 4, when others 
 are ready, as Baal's priests, to beat themselves, and cut 
 their flesh, because their sacrifice will not burn : then 
 if thou canst but get the spirit of Elias, and in the cha- 
 riot of contemplation soar aloft till thou approachest 
 near to the quickening Spirit, thy soul and sacrifice 
 will gloriously flame, though the flesh and the world 
 should cast upon them the water of their enmity. 
 Say not now, How shall we get so high ? Or how can 
 mortals ascend to heaven ? For faith hath wings, and 
 meditation is its chariot ; its office is to make absent 
 things as present. Do you not see how a little piece 
 of glass, if is do but rightly face the sun, will so con- 
 
III. § *. THE SAlSTS EVERLASTING REST. %Q 
 
 tract its beams and hea.t, a# to set on fire tlmt which is 
 behind it, which without it would, have received but 
 little warmth? Why, thy faith is as burning glass to 
 thy sacrifice, and meditation sets it to face the sun ; 
 only take it not away too soon, but hold it there awhile, 
 and thy soul will feel the happy effect. 
 
 If we could get to the Holy of Holies, and bring 
 thence the name and imacre of God, and .get it closed 
 up in our hearts, this would enable us to work wonders; 
 every duty we performed would be a wonder ; and 
 they that heard would be ready to say, Never man 
 spake as this man speaketh. The Spirit would possess 
 us, as those flaming tongues, and make every one of us 
 speak (not in the variety of the confounded languages, 
 but) in the primitive, pure language of Canaan, the 
 wonderful works of God. We should then be in every 
 duty, whether prayer, exhortation, or brotherly reproof, 
 as Paul was at Athens, when his spirit was stirred 
 within him ; and we should be ready to say, as Jeremiah 
 did, Jer. xx. o» "His word was in my heart as a 
 burning fire shut up in my bones; and I was weary 
 with forbearing, and I could not stay.". 
 
 Christian reader, art thou not thinking when thou 
 aeest a lively believer, and nearest his melting prayers, 
 and ravishing discourse, O how happy a man is this ! 
 O that my soul were in his state! Why, I here direct 
 and advise thee from God. Try this course, and set 
 thy 60ul to this work, and thou shalt be in as good a 
 case. Wash thee frequently in this Jordan, and thy 
 dead soul shall revive, and thou shalt know there is a 
 God in Israel ; and that thou mayest live a vigorous 
 and joyful life. If thou truly value this strong and ac- 
 tive frame of spirit, shew it by the present attempting, 
 this heavenly exercise. Thou hast heard the way to 
 obtain this life in thy soul, and in thy duties, but if 
 thou wilt yet neglect it, blame thyself. 
 
 But, alas, the multitude of professors come to a mi- 
 nister, just as Naaman came to Elisha; they ask us, 
 How shall I overcome a hard heart, and get strength of 
 life and grace ? Cut they expect that some easy means 
 should do it; and think we should cure them with the 
 ?ery answer to their question, and teach them a way 
 to be quickly well: but when they hear of a daily 
 X 
 
*H THE SAISTS EVERLASTING REST. HI. § *. 
 
 trading in heaven, and constant meditation on the joys 
 above: tin* is a greater task than they expected, and 
 they turn their bade?, as Naainan on Elisha, or tire 
 young man t)n Christ. Will not preaching, and pray- 
 ing, and conference serve, -{say they) without tlris 
 dwelling still in heaven ? J intreat thec, reader, be- 
 ware of this folly ; fall to the work : the comfort of 
 spiritual health will countervail all the trouble. It is 
 but the flesh thai repines, -which thou knowest was 
 never a friend to thy soul. If God Inid set -thee on 
 some great work, shouldst thou not have done it for 
 the life of thy soul ? How much inore when lie doth 
 "hut invite thee to come to himself ? 
 
 5. Consider, The frequent believing views of glory 
 are the most precious cordials in all afflictions. 1. To 
 sustain our spirits, and make our sufferings far more 
 -easy. 2. To stay us "from repining. And, 3. To 
 strengthen our resolutions, that we forsake not Christ 
 for fear of trouble. A man will more quietly endure 
 the lancing of his sores, when he thinks on the ease 
 that will follow. What then wHl not a believer en- 
 dure, when he thinks of the rest to which it tendeth ? 
 "What if the. way be ever so rough ? Can it be tedious 
 if it lead to heaven ? O sweet sickness ! Sweet re- 
 proaches, imprisonments, or death, which is accom- 
 panied with these tastes of our future rest ! Believe it, 
 thou wilt suffer more heavily, thou wilt die more sadly, 
 if thou hast not at hand the foretastes of tins rest. 
 Therefore as thou wilt then be ready with David, to 
 pray, Jie not Jar from jne, for trouble is near : so let 
 it be thy chief care not to be far from God and heaven, 
 "when trouble is near, and thou ivilt find him a very 
 present help in trouble. 
 
 All sufferings are nothing to us, as far as we have 
 the foresight of tins salvation. .TS T o bolts, nor bars, nor 
 distance of place, can shut out these supporting joys', 
 because they cannot confine our faith and thoughts, 
 although they may -confine our flesh. -Christ and faith 
 tire spiritual) and therefore prisons and banishments 
 cannot hinder their intercourse. Even when persecu- 
 tion and fear have shut the doors, Christ can come in 
 mid stand in the midst, and say, Peace he unto you. it 
 is not the place, -that gives the rest, hut the presence 
 
?U. § ii THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 24$ 
 
 Mid beholding of Christ in it. If the Son of God will 
 walk with- lis, we are safe in the midst of those flames, 
 which shall devour those that east us in ; why then, keep- 
 thy soul above with Christ ; be as little as may be out 
 of his company, and then all conditions will be-alike 
 to thee. What made Moses " choose affliction with the 
 people of God, rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin 
 for a season? He had respect to the recompense of 
 reward." Yea, our Lord himself did fetch his encou- 
 ragement to sufferings from the foresight of his glory. 
 " For to this end he both died, and rose, and revived, - 
 that he might be the Lord of the dead and living," 
 Rom. xiv. o. " Even Jesus the author and finisher of 
 ©ur faith, for the jay that was set before him endured 
 the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the 
 right hand of the throne of God." 
 
 tj. Consider, It is he that hath his conversation in* 
 heaven, who is the profitable Christian to all about 
 him : with him you take sweet counsel, and go up to 
 the celestial house of God. When a man is in a strange 
 country, far from home, how glad is he of the com- 
 pany of one of his own nation ! How delightful is it 
 to them to talk of their country, of their acquaintance, . 
 and the affairs of their home ! Why, with a heavenly 
 Christian thou innyest have such discourse ; for he hath 
 been there in the Spirit, and can tell thee of the glory 
 aud Rest above. To discourse with able men, of clear 
 understandings, about the difficulties of religion, yea, 
 about language* and sciences, is both pleasant and 
 profitable; but nothing to this heavenly discourse of a 
 believer. O how refreshing are his expressions ! How 
 his words pierce the heart ! How they transform the 
 hearers! How doth "his doctrine drop as the rain, 
 and his speech distill as the dew, as the small rain upon 
 tlie tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass; 
 while his tongue is expressing the name of the Lord; 
 :uid ascribing greatness to Ins God ! " This is the 
 man who is as Job, "when the candle of God did 
 shine upon his head, and when by his liuht he walked 
 through darkness: when the secret of God was upon 
 h*8 tabernacle, and when the Almighty was yet with 
 <nm then the ear that heard him did bless him ; and 
 tie '\ < that saw him gave witness lo him," Job xxix, 
 X 2 
 
'244 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 3. 
 
 3, 4, 5, 11. Happy the people that have a heavenly 
 minister: happy the children and servants that have a 
 heavenly father or master : happy the man that hatli 
 heavenly associates : if they have but hearts ta know 
 their happiness. This is the companion, who will 
 watch over thy ways ; who will strengthen thee wh«n- 
 thou art weak; who will cheer thee when thou art 
 drooping, and comfort thee with the same comforts* 
 wherewith he had been so often comforted himself. 
 This is he that will be blowing the spark of thy spi- 
 ritual life, and always drawing thy soul to God, and 
 will be saying to thee, as the Samaritan woman, Come 
 and see one that hath told me all that ever J did y one that 
 hath ravished my heart with his beauty, one that hath 
 loved oar souls to the death : is not this the Chribt ? 
 Is not the knowledge of God and him eternal life ? If 
 thou travel with this man on the way, he will be di- 
 recting and quickening thee in thy journey to heaven ; 
 if thou be buying or selling, or trading with him in. 
 the world, he will be counselling thee to lay out for 
 the inestimable treasure : if thou wrong him, he can 
 pardon thee, remembering that Ch?ist hath not only 
 pardoned great offences to him, but will also give him 
 his invaluable portion. This is the christian of the 
 right stamp ; this is the servant that is like his Lord ; 
 these be the innocent that save the Land* and all 
 about them are the better where they dwell. 1- fear 
 the men 1 have described are very rare; but were it 
 not for our shameful negligence, such men might we 
 all be ! 
 
 CHAP. IIL 
 
 Containing some Hindrances of Heavenly-Mindedness.* 
 
 AS thou valuest the comforts of a heavenly con- 
 versation, I here charge thee from God to beware 
 most carefully of these impediments. 
 
 1. The first is, The living in a known sin. Observe 
 this, What havock will this make in thy soul ! O the 
 joys that this hath destroyed ! The blessed communion 
 with God, that this hath interrupted ! The ruins it 
 
III. § 3. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 24S 
 
 hatHi made amongst men's graces ! The duties that it 
 hath hindered ! And above all others, it is an enemy 
 to this great duty. 
 
 I desire thee in the fear of God to stay here a little, 
 and search thy heart. Art thou one that hast used 
 violence with thy conscience? Art thou a wilful 
 neglecter of known duties, either public or private? 
 Art thou a slave to thine appetite in eating- or drink- 
 ing, or to any other commanding sense? Art thou a 
 seeker of thine own esteem, and a man that must, needs 
 have men's good opinion ? Art thou a peevish or pas- 
 sionate person, ready to take tire at every word, or 
 every supposed slight ? Art thou a deceiver of others 
 in thy dealings ? Or one that hast set thyself to rise m 
 the world? Not to speak of greater sins, which all 
 take notice of. If this be thy case, I dare say, heaven 
 and thy soul are very great strangers ; I dare say, thou 
 ai-t, seldom with God, and there is little hopes it should' 
 be better, as long as thou continuest in these trans- 
 gressions : these beams in thine eyes will not Surfer thee 
 to look to heaven ; these will be a cloud between thee 
 and God. How shouldst thou take comfort from heaven, 
 who takest so much pleasure in the lusts of the flesh ? 
 EVery wilful sin will be to thy comforts as water to' 
 fire; when thou thinkest to quicken them, this will 
 quench them ; when thy heart begins to draw near to 
 God, this will presently rill thee with doubting. Be- 
 sides it doth utterly indispose thee, and disable thee to 
 this work ; when thou shouldest wind up thy heart to 
 heaven, it is biassed another way ; it is entangled, and 
 ca.n no more ascend in divine meditation, than the bird 
 can fly whose wings are dipt, or that is taken in the 
 srmre. Sin doth cut the very sinews of the soul : there- 
 fore I say of this heavenly life, as Mr. Bolton saith of 
 prayer, " either it will make thee leave sinning, or sin: 
 will make thee leave it," and that quickly too: for 
 these cannot continue together. If heaven and hell 
 can meet together, then mayest thou live in sin, and 
 i.n the tastes of glory. If therefore thou find thyseli? 
 guilty, never doubt but this is the cause that estrangeth 
 thee from heaven ; and take hied lest it keep out thee, 
 a c it keeps out thy heart. Yea, if thou be a man that 
 hitherto hast escaped, and knowest no reigning- sin in 
 X 3 
 
246 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. IIT. ^ 8. 
 
 thy soul, yet let this warning move thee to prevention, 
 and stir up a dread of this clanger in thy spirit, espe- 
 cially resolve to keep from the occasion of sin, and, as 
 much as possible, out of the way of temptation. 
 
 2. A second hindrance carefully to be avoided, is an 
 earthly mind : for you may easily conceive that this 
 cannot stand with a heavenly mind. God and mam- 
 mon, earth and heaven, cannot both have the delight 
 of thy heart. This makes thee like Anselern's bird, 
 •with a stone tied to the foot, which as oft as she took 
 flight, did pluck her to the earth again. If thou be a 
 man that hast fancied to thyself some happiness to be 
 found on earth, and begiunest to taste a sweetness in 
 gain, and to aspire after a higher estate, and art driv- 
 ing on thy design ; believe it, thou art marching with 
 thy back upon Christ, and art posting away apace from 
 this heavenly life. Hath not the world that from thee, 
 which God hath from every believer? V/hen he is 
 blessing himself in God, and rejoicing in hope of the 
 glory to come ; then thou art blessing thyself in thy 
 worldly prosperity ? 
 
 It may be thou holdest on thy course of duty, and 
 prayest as oft as thou didst before ; it may be thou 
 keepest in with good ministers, and with good men, 
 and seemest as forward in religion as ever : but what 
 is all this to the purpose ? Mock not thy soul, man ; 
 for God will not be mocked. Thine earthly mind 
 may consist with thy common duties; ..but it cannot 
 consist with this heavenly duty. 1 need not tell thee 
 this, if thou wouldst not be a traitor to thy own soul ; 
 thou knowest thyself how seldom and cold, how cur- 
 sory and strange thy thoughts have been of the joys 
 "hereafter, ever since thou didst trade so eagerly for the 
 world. 
 
 JVlethinks I even perceive thy conscience stir now, 
 and tell thee plainly, that this is thy case*, hear it, 
 man ! O hear it now ; lest thou hear it in another man- 
 ner when thou wouldst be full loath. O the cursed 
 madness of many that seem to be religious ! who thrust 
 themselves into a multitude of employments, and 
 think they can never have business enough, till they 
 are loaded with labours, and clogged with cares, that 
 their souls are as unlit to convtvse with God, as a man 
 
ITT. § 3- THE SAItfTS EVERLASTING RECT* 247 
 
 to walk with a mountain on his back. And when all 
 is done, and they have lost that heaven they might have 
 had upon earth, they take up with a few rotten argu- 
 ments to prove it lawful* and then they think they have 
 saved all. They miss not the pleasures of this heaven.^ 
 ly life, if they can but quiet their consciences, white 
 they fasten upon the lower and baser pleasures. 
 
 For thee, O Christian, who hast tasted of these plea- 
 sures, I advise thee, as thou valuest their enjoyment, 
 as ever thou wouldst taste of them any more, take heed 
 of this girlf of an earthly mind : for if once thou, 
 comest to this, that thou ivilt be rich, thou fullest into 
 temptation and a snare, and into divers foolish and 
 hurtful lusts. Keep these things as thy upper gar- 
 ments, still loose about thee, that thou mayest lay them 
 by whenever there is cause : but let God and gloKy be 
 next thy heart, yea, as the very blood aud spirit, by 
 which thou livest: still remember the words of the apos- 
 tle, "the friendship of the world is enmity with God : 
 whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world, is the 
 enemy of God." And, " love not the world, nor the 
 things of the world : if any man love the world, the 
 love of the Father is not in him." This is plain deal- 
 ing ; and happy is he that faithfully receives it. 
 
 3. A third hindrance which 1 must advise thee to 
 beware of, is, the company of ungodly and sensual 
 men. Not that I would dissuade thee from necessary 
 converse, from doing them any office of love : nor 
 would I have thee conclude them to be dogs and swine, 
 that so thou mayest evade the duty of reproof: nor yet 
 so judge them such at all, before thou art certain they 
 are such indeed. 
 
 But it is the unnecessary society of ungodly men, and 
 familiarity with unprofitable companions, though they 
 be not so apparently ungodly, that I dissuade thee 
 from. It is not only the openly profane, the swearer, 
 the drunkard, that will prove hurtful to us; but the 
 dead-hearted formalists, or persons merely civil and 
 moral, or whose conference is empty, unsavoury, and 
 barren, may much divert our thoughts from heaven. 
 As mere idleness and forgetting God, will keep a soul 
 as certainly from heaven, as a profane, licentious, 
 fleshly life : so also will useless company as surery keejpf 
 
*M?- T?W SAINTS. EVERLASTING REST. III. § 0»« 
 
 our hearts from heaven, as the company of men more 
 dissolute and profane, Alas, oar dulness and back- 
 wardness is such) that we have need of the most eon-, 
 staut and powerful helps : A clod, or a stone that lies 
 
 on the earth, is as prone to arise and ily in the air, 
 lis (Mir hearts are to move towards heaven. You need, 
 not hold them from flying up to the skies ; it is sufli- 
 cjent that you do not help them. If our spirits have 
 nnt great assistance, . they may easily be kept front 
 fifing aloft, thotigll they never should meet with the 
 least impediment. O think of this in the choice of 
 your company. When your spirits need no help to lift 
 them up, but as the flames, you are always mounting 
 upward, and carrying with you all that is in your way, 
 then you may indeed he less careful of your company : 
 but till then be careful therein. As it is reported of a. 
 lord that was. .near his death, and the Doctor that 
 prayed with him read over the Litany, •* For all women 
 labouring with child, for sick persons, aud young chil- 
 dren, &c. From lightning and tempest: from plague, 
 pe6tileuee, and famine: from battle and murder, and 
 from sudden death." Alas, saith he, what is this to 
 Tine, who must presently die? So may fist thou say of 
 such men's conference, alas, what is this to me, who 
 must shortly be in rest? What will it advantage thee - 
 to, a life with God, to hear where the Fair is such a 
 day, or. how the Market goes, or what weather it is, . 
 or. is like to be, or when, the moon changed, or what 
 news is stirring? Will it conduce to the raising 
 oC thy heart God-ward, to hear that this, is an able mi-. 
 niftier, or that an, able christian, or that this was an 
 excellent sermon, or this is an excellent book ; to hear 
 a discourse on baptisms, ceremonies, the order of God's 
 decrees, or other such controversies of great difficulty a 
 and less importance ? Yet this for the most part is the, 
 sweetest discourse that you are likely to have from a 
 formal, deaj-hearted professor. J f thou haclst newly 
 been warming- thy heart with the joys above, would 
 not this discourse quickly freeze.it again ? I appeal to 
 the judgment Qf any man that hath tried it, and maketU 
 observations on the frame of his^spirit. 
 
 4, A fourth hindrance to heavenly conversation, is, 
 dispute^; about lesser truths, and especially when a man's 
 7 
 
IH. § 3. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 24f> 
 
 religion lies only- in his opinions: a sure sign- of an 
 •in sanctified soul. If bad examples be regarded, I need 
 say the less upon this. It is legibly written in the 
 faces of thousands; it is visible in the complexion of 
 onr diseased nation* They are men least acquainted 
 with a heavenly life, who. are the most violent disputers 
 about the circumstantials of religion : he, whoi*e reli- 
 gion is all in his opinion, will be most frequently. and 
 2ealously speaking of his opinions: but he whose reli- 
 gion lies in the knowledge and love of God, will often 
 be speaking of that time when he shall enjoy God* As 
 the body doth languish in consuming fevers, when the 
 native heat abates within, and an unnatural heat en- 
 flaming the external parts succeeds; so when the zeal 
 ©f a christian doth leave the internals of religion, and 
 fly to the exterior or inferior things, the soul must needs 
 consume and languish. Yea, though you were sure 
 your opinions were true,, yet when the chief of your 
 zeal is turned thither, and the chief of your conference 
 there laid out, the life of grace decays within. 
 
 Therefore let me advise you that aspire after this 
 joyous life, spend not your thoughts, your time, your 
 zeal, or your speeches upon disputes that less concern 
 your souls : but when others are feeding on husks or 
 shells, or on this heated food which will burn their 
 lips, far sooner than warm and strengthen their hearts ; 
 then, do you feed on the joys above. I could wish you 
 were all understanding men, able to defend every truth 
 of God ; bust still I would have the chief so be chiefly 
 studied, and rrone to shoulder out your thoughts of eter- 
 nity* The least controverted points are usually most 
 weighty, and of most necessary use to our souls. 
 
 5. As thou valuest the comforts of a heavenly life, 
 take heed of a proud and lofty spirit. There is such 
 an antipathy between this sin and God, that thou wilt 
 never get thy heart near him, as long as this prevaileth 
 in it. If it cast the angels from heaven that were in 
 it, it must needs keep thy heart estranged from it. If 
 it east our first parents out of paradise, and separated 
 between the Lord and us, it mu&t needs keep our hearts 
 from paradise, and increase the cursed separation from 
 our God. The delight of God is a humble soul, even 
 fkn tliat is contrite, and tremblcth at his word; aad thjt* 
 
'250 THE BJWIVTI EVERLAS7IN6 REST* IH. § 3. 
 
 delight of an humble soul is in G?od : and lure where 
 titers is mutual delight, there will be freest admittance, 
 and the heartiest welcome, and most frequent converse. 
 WeH then, Art thou a man of worth in thine own 
 eyes? And very tender of thine esteem with others? 
 Art thou one that much vainest applause, and feelest 
 delight when thou nearest of thy great esteem with 
 men; and art dejected when thou hearest that men. 
 slight thee? Dost thou love those most who best ho- 
 nour thee; and doth thy heart hear a grudge at those . 
 that thou tbiokest undervalue thee ? Wilt thou not he 
 brought to shame thyself, by humble confession, when 
 thou iiast sinned against God, or injured thy hrother? 
 Art thou one that honourest the rich, and tlunkest 
 thyself somebody if they value and own thee? But 
 lookest strangely at the poor, and art almost ashamed 
 to be their companions? Art. thou acquainted with 
 the deceitfulness and wickedness of thy heart ? Or 
 knowest thou thyself to be vile only by reading, not 
 by feeling thy vileness ? Art thou readier to defend. 
 thyself and maintain thine innocence, than to accuse 
 thyself, or confess thy fault? Canst thou hardly hear 
 a. close reproof, or plain dealing, without difficulty or 
 distaste ? Art thou readier in thy discourse to teach 
 than to learn ; and to dictate to others, than to hearken 
 to their instructions ? Art thou bold and confident of 
 thy own opinions, and little suspicious of the weakness 
 of thy understanding ? But a slighter of the judgment 
 of all that are against thee ? Is thy spirit more disposed 
 to command than to obey ? Art thou ready to censure 
 the doctrine of thy teachers, the actions of thy rulers, 
 and the persons of thy brethren ? And to think, if., 
 thou wert a judge, thou wouldst be more just ? or if 
 thou wert a minister, thou wouldst be more fruitful, 
 and. more faithful I if these symptoms be in thy heart, 
 beyond doubt thou art a proud person. Thou art abo- 
 minably proud; there is too much of hell abiding in 
 thee,, for thee to have any acquaintance with heaven; 
 thy soul is too like the devil, to have any familiarity 
 with God ! 
 
 1 in treat yon to be very jealous of your >oul* in this 
 
 point,: liitfv is nothing .will more estrange you from 
 
 I speak the more of it, beeau^-vj it is the most 
 
'111. § 3. T1IF- SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 251 
 
 common and dangerous sin, and most protuoteth the 
 great sin of infidelity : yon would little think what 
 iminble carriage, what exclaiming against pride, what 
 self-accusing may stand with this devilish sin of pride. 
 O christian, if thou wouldst live eontinually in the 
 presence of thy Lord, and lie in the dust, he would 
 thence take thee up; descend first with him into the 
 «rare, and thence thou may est ascend with him to 
 ^lory. Learn of him to he meek and lowly, and then 
 thou mayest taste of this Rest to thy soul. Thy soul 
 •else will be as the troubled sea, which cannot rest : and 
 instead of these sweet delights in God, thy pride will 
 fill thee with perpetual disquietness. 
 
 0". Another impediment to this heavenly life, is 
 hiziness, and slothfulness of spirit : and 1 verily think, 
 for knowing men, there is nothing hinders more Ulan 
 this. If it were only the exercise of the body, the 
 moving of the lips, the bending of the knee ; then men 
 would as commonly step to heaven, as. they go a few 
 miles to visit a friend ; yea, if we were to spend our 
 days in numbering heads, and repeating certain words 
 and prayers, or in outward parts of duties command- 
 ed by God, yet it were coin pa rati vcly eusy. Fur- 
 ther, if it were only in the exercise of .. rts and gift*, 
 it were easier to be heavenly-minded. But it ie 
 more difficult than all ttiis ; to separate our th( 
 and affections from the world : to draw forth ail our 
 graces in their order, and exercise each on its 
 object, to hold them on this, till the*work doth thrive 
 • and prosper in their hands ! This is the d : all task, 
 heaven is above thee, the way is upward., : ce. : 1 thou 
 ■ think, who art a feeble sinner, to travel daily this steep 
 ascent without a great deal of labour and resolution ? 
 Canst thou i^et that earthly heart to heaven, and bring 
 that backward mind to God, whilst thou jjest still and 
 takest thy ease ? If King down at the fooi. of the hill, 
 and looking toward the top, ami wishing we weie 
 there, would serve the turn, then we shorno have daily 
 travellers for heaven. But " the kinphnu of heaven 
 suftereth violence, and the violent take it by force*" 
 There must be violence used to get the fust fruits, as 
 "11 as to get the full possession. Dost thou not -feel it 
 *0, though I should not tell thee: Will thy heart get 
 
*5* THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. Ill* § 3. 
 
 upwards except thou drive it ? Dost thou find it easy 
 to dwell on the delights above ? It is true, the work is 
 sweet, and no condition on earth so desirable: but 
 therefore it is that our hearts are so backward, espe- 
 cially in the beginning, till we are acquainted with it. 
 O how many, who cau easily bring their hearts to or- 
 dinary duties, as reading, hearing, praying, conferring, 
 yet could never, in all their lives, bring them, and keep 
 them to a heavenly contemplation one half hour toge- 
 ther ? Consider here, reader, as before the Lord, whe- 
 ther this be not thy own case. Thou hast known that 
 heaves is all thy hope ; thou know est thou must shortly 
 be turned hence, and that nothing below can yield thee 
 rest ; thou knowest also that a strange heart, a seldom 
 nnd careless thinking of heaven, can fetch but little 
 comfort thence ; and dost thou yet for all this let slip 
 thy opportunities, when thou shouldst walk above and 
 live with God ? Dost thou commend the sweetness of 
 a heavenly life, and yet didst never once try it thyself? 
 But as the sluggard that stretched himself on his bed, 
 and cried, O that this were working ! so dost thou live 
 at thy ease, and say, O that I could get my heart to 
 heaven! How many read books, and hear sermons, in 
 expectation to hear of some easy course, or to meet 
 with a shorter cut to comforts, than they are ever like 
 td find ? And if they can hear of none from the 
 preachers of truth, they will snatch it with rejoicing 
 from the teachers of falsehood ; and presently applaud 
 the excellency of the doctrine, because it hath fitted 
 their lazy temper ; and think there is no other doctrine 
 will comfort the soul, because it will not comfort it 
 with hearing and looking on. And while they pretend 
 enmity only to the law, they oppose the easier condi- 
 tions of the gospel, and cast oifthe burden which all 
 must bear that find rest to their souls. The Lord of 
 light, and Spirit of comfort, shew these men in time 
 a sarer way for lasting comfort ! It was an established 
 law among the Argi, That if a man were perceived to 
 be idle or lazy, he must give an account before the 
 magistrate, how he came by his victuals and main- 
 tenance : and sure, when I see these men lazy in ths 
 rise of God's appoiuted means for comfort, I cannot but 
 question how they come by their comforts : 1 would 
 
III. § 3. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 253 
 
 they would examine it thoroughly themselves : for God 
 will require an account of it from them. Idleness, and 
 not improving the truth in painful duty, is the com- 
 mon cause of men's seeking comfort from error : even 
 as the people of Israel, when they had no comfort- 
 able answer from God, because of their own sin and 
 neglect, would run to seek it from the idols of the hea- 
 then : so when men are false-hearted, and the Spirit of 
 truth denies them comfort, because they deny him obe- 
 dience, they will seek it from a lying spirit. 
 
 My advice to such a lazy siuner, is this : as thou art 
 convinced that this work is necessary to thy comfort, 
 resolvedly set upon it: if thy heart draw back, and 
 be indisposed, force it on with the command of reason ; 
 and if thy reason begin to dispute the work, force it 
 with producing the command of God ; and quicken it 
 with the consideration of thy necessity, and the other 
 motives before propounded ; and let the enforcements 
 that brought thee to the work, be still in thy mind to 
 quicken thee in it. Do not let such an incomparable 
 treasure lie before thee, while thou best still with thy 
 hand in thy bosom : let not thy life be a continual 
 vexation, which might be a continual feast, and that 
 because thou wilt not be at the pains necessary. When 
 thou hast once tasted the sweetness of it, and a little 
 used thy heart to the work, thou wilt find the pains thou 
 takest abundantly recompensed. Only sit not still with 
 a disconsolate spirit, while comforts grow before thine 
 eyes. Neither is it a few lazy, running thoughts, 
 that will fetch thee this consolatiom from above ; no 
 more than a few lazy, formal words will prevail with 
 God instead of fervent prayer. \ know Christ is the 
 fountain, and I know, this, as every other gift, is of 
 God : but yet if thou ask my advice, how to obtain 
 these waters of consolation, I must tell thee, there is 
 something also for thee to do : the gospel hath its con- 
 ditions and works, though not such impossible ones 
 as the law ; Christ hath his yoke and his burden, though 
 easy, and thou must take it up, or thou wilt never find 
 rest to thy soul, i know so far as you are spiritual, 
 you need not all this striving and violence, but that is, 
 but in part, and in part you are carnal ; and as long as 
 it is n>, there must be no talk of ease,. It was the 
 Y 
 
254 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. §3. 
 
 Partbians custom, that none must give their children 
 any meat id the morning, before they saw the sweat on 
 their faces; and you shall find this to be God's most 
 usual course, not to give his children the taste of his 
 delights, till they begin to sweat in seeking after them. 
 Therefore lay them both together, and judge whether 
 a heavenly life, or thy case, be better; and make the 
 choice accordingly. Yet this let me say, thou needest 
 not expend thy thoughts more than now thou dost : it 
 is but only to employ them better: I press thee not to 
 busy fny mind much more than thou dost ; but to busy 
 it upon better and more pleasant objects. Employ 
 but so many serious thoughts every day, upon the ex- 
 cellent glory of the life to come, as thou now employ- 
 est on thy affairs in the world : nay, as thou daily losest 
 on vanities, and thy heart will be at heaven in a short 
 space. 
 
 7. It is also a dangerous hindrance to content our- 
 selves with the mere preparative to this heavenly life, 
 while we are strangers to the life itself; when we take 
 up with the mere studies of heavenly thing?, and the 
 notions and thoughts of them in our brain, or the 
 talking of them with one another, as if this were all 
 that makes us heaventy people. There is none in 
 more danger of this snare, than those that are much in 
 public duty, especially preachers of the gospel. O 
 how easily may they be deceived here, while they do 
 nothing more than read of heaven, and study of heaven, 
 ,and preach of heaven, and pray, and talk of heaven ! 
 What, is not this the heavenly life ? O that God 
 •would reveal to our hearts the danger- of this snare. 
 Alas ! all this is bat a mere preparation : this is not the 
 life we speak of, though it is a help thereto. I intreat 
 every one of my brethren in the ministry, that they 
 search and watch against this temptation. This is but 
 gathering the materials, and not the erecting of the 
 building. This is but gathering manna for others, not 
 eating and digesting it ourselves ; as he that sits at 
 home may study geography, and draw most exact des- 
 criptions of countries, and yet never see them, nor tra- 
 vel towards them : so you may describe to others the 
 joys of heaven, and yet never come near it in your own 
 hearts: If you should study of nothing but heaven 
 
 1 
 
III. § 4. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST, 255 
 
 while you lived, and preach of nothing but heaven to 
 your people, yet might your hearts be strangers to it. 
 We are under a more subtile temptation than other 
 men, to draw us from this heavenly* life : If our em- 
 ployments lay at a greater distance from heaven, we 
 should not be so apt to be thus deluded : but when we 
 find ourselves employed upon nothing else, we are 
 more easily drawn to take up here. Studying and 
 preaching of heaven are more like to a heavenly life, 
 than are thinking and talking of the world, and a like- 
 ness it is that may deceive us. This is to die the most 
 miserable death, even to famish ourselves, because we 
 have bread on our tables, and to die for thirst while we 
 draw water for others: thinking it enough that we have 
 daily to do with it, though we never drink it. 
 
 H 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Some general Helps to Heavenly-Mindedness. 
 AV1NG thus shewed thee what hindrances will 
 
 resist thee in the work, I shall now lay down 
 some positive helps. But first, I expect that thou 
 resolve against the forementioned impediments, that 
 thou read them seriously, and avoid them faithfully, 
 or else thy labour will be in vain ; thou dost but go 
 about to reconcile light and darkness, Christ and Be- 
 lial, heaven and hell in thy spirit. I must tell thee 
 also, that I expect thy promise faithfully to set upon 
 the helps which I prescribe thee, and that the reading 
 of them will not bring heaven into thy heart, but in 
 their constant practice the Spirit will do it. 
 
 As thou valuest then these foretastes of heaven, make 
 conscience of performing these following duties. 
 
 1. Know heaven to be the only treasure, and labour 
 to know what a treasure it is : be convinced that thou 
 hast no other happiness, and be convinced what hap- 
 piness is there. If thou dost not soundly believe it to 
 be the chief good, thou wilt never set thy heart upon 
 it ; and this conviction must sink down upon tlry affec- 
 tions : for if it be only a notion, it will have little 
 operation. 
 
 Y J 
 
Z56 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 4. 
 
 2. Labour as to know heaven to be the rnly happi- 
 ness, so also to be thy happiness. Though the know- 
 ledge of excellency and suitableness may stir up that 
 love which worketh by desire, yet there must be the 
 knowledge of our interest or propriety, to the setting 
 at work our love of complacency. We may confess 
 heaven to be the best condition ; though we despair of 
 enjoying it; and we may desire and seek it, if we see 
 the obtainment to be but probable; but we can never 
 delightfully rejoice in it, till we are persuaded of our 
 title to it. What comfort is it to a man that is naked, 
 to fee the rich attire of" others ? Or to a man that hath 
 not a bit to put in his mouth, to see a feast which he 
 mnsf not taste of? What delight hath a man that hath 
 hot a house to put his head in, to see the sumptuous 
 buildings of others ? Would not all this rather increase 
 his anguish, and make him more sensible of his misery ? 
 So, for a man to know the excellencies of heaven, and 
 not to know whether he shall enjoy them, may well 
 ra-se desires to seek it, but it will raise but little joy 
 and content. 
 
 3. Another help to the foretaste of Rest is this : — 
 labour to apprehend how near it is : think seriously of 
 its speedy approach. That which we think is near at 
 hand, we are more sensible of than that which we be- 
 hold at a distance. When we hear of war or famine in 
 another country, it troubleth us not so much : or if we 
 hear it prophesied of a long time hence. So if we 
 hear of plenty a great way off, or of a golden age that 
 shall fall out, who knows when, this never rejoieeth 
 us. But if judgments or mercies draw near, then they 
 affect us. This makes men think of heaven so insen- 
 sibly, because they conceit it at a great distance : they 
 look on it as twenty, or thirty, or forty years off; and 
 this it is that dulls their sense. As wicked men are 
 fearless and senseless of judgment, because the sentence 
 is not speedily executed; so are the good deceived of 
 their comforts, by supposing them farther off than they 
 are. How much better were it to receive the sentence 
 of death in ourselves, and to look on eternity as near 
 at hand ? Surely, reader, thou standest at the door, 
 and hundreds of diseases are ready waiting to open the 
 door and let thee in. Are not the thirty or forty years 
 
III. § 4. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 257 
 
 of thy life that are past quickly gone r Are they not 
 a very little time when thou lookest back on them ? 
 And will not all the rest be shortly so too ? Do not 
 days and nights come very thick? Dost thou not feel 
 that building* of flesh to shake, and perceive thy house 
 of clay to totter ? Look on thy gJass, see how it runs : 
 look on thy watch, how fast it goes ! What a short 
 moment is between us and our Rest : what a step it-is 
 from hence to everlasting happiness ! While I am 
 thinking and writing of it, it hasteth near, and I am 
 even entering into it before I am aware. While thou 
 art reading this, it posteth on, and thy life will be 
 gone as a tale that is told. Mayest thou not easily 
 foresee thy dying time, and look upon thyself as ready 
 to depart? It is but a few days till thy friends shall 
 lay thee in the grave, and others do the like for them* 
 If you verily believed you should die to-morrow, how 
 seriously would you think of heaven to-night ? The 
 true apprehension of the nearness of eternity doth 
 make men's thoughts of it quick and piercing; put 
 life into their fears and sorrows, if they be unfit; and 
 into their desires and joys, if they have assurance of its 
 glory. 
 
 4. Another help to this is, to be much in serious 
 discoursing of it, especially with those that can speak 
 from their hearts. It is pity (saith Mr. Bolton) that 
 Christians should ever meet together without some talk 
 of their meeting in heaven : it is pity so much precious 
 time is spent in vain discourses and useless disputes, 
 and not a sober word of heaven. Methinks we should 
 meet together on purpose to warm our spirits with 
 discoursing of our Rest. To hear a minister or private 
 Christian set forth that glorious state, with power and 
 life from the promises of the gospel, rnethinks should 
 make us say, as the two disciples, " Did not our hearts 
 l.irn within us, while he was opening to us the Scrip- 
 tures ?" While he was opening to us the windows of 
 heaven ! Get then together, fellow-christians, and talk 
 of the affairs of your country and kingdom, and com- 
 fort one another with such words. Tins may make our 
 hearts revive within us, as did Jacob's to hear the 
 ©ess age that called him to Goshen, and to see the cha- 
 riots that should bring him to Joseph. O thai we 
 Y 3 
 
258 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. ^. 4. 
 
 were furnished with skill and resolution to turn the 
 stream of men's common discourse to these more sub- 
 lime and precious things ! And when men begin to 
 talk of things unprofitable, that we could tell how to 
 put in a word for heaven. 
 
 5. Another help is this : make it thy business in every 
 duty, to wind up thy affections nearer heaven. A 
 man's attainments from God are answerable to his own 
 desires and ends; that which he sincerely seeks he finds; 
 God's end in the institution of his ordinances was, that 
 they be as so many stepping stones to our Rest, and as 
 the stairs by which (in subordination to Christ) we 
 ipay daily ascend to it in our affections ; let this be 
 thy end in using them, as it was God's end in ordaining 
 them ; and doubtless they will not prove unsuccessful. 
 Men that are separated by sea and land, ran yet by 
 letters carry on great trades, even to the value of their 
 whole estate: and may not a christian, in the wise im- 
 provement of duties, drive on this happy trade for 
 Rest ? Come not therefore with any lower ends to du- 
 ties : renounce formality, eustomariuess, and applause. 
 When thou kindest down in secret or public prayer, 
 let it be in hope to get thy heart nearer God before 
 thou risest off thy knees: when thou openest thy bibb; 
 or other books, let it be with this hope, to meet with 
 some passage of divine truth, and s^me such blessings 
 of the Spirit with it, as may raise thine affections 
 nearer heaved: when thou art setting thy foot out of 
 thy door to go to the public worship, say, I hope to 
 meet with somewhat from God that may raise my af- 
 fections before I return ; I hope the Spirit will give 
 me the meeting, and sweeten my heart with those 
 celestial delights ; I hope that Christ will appear to me 
 in the way, and shine about me with light from heaven, 
 and let me hear his instructing and reviving voice, and 
 cause the scales to fall from mine eyes, that I may see 
 more of that glory than I ever yet saw ; I hope before 
 I return to my house, my Lord will take my heart in 
 hand, and bring it within the view of Rest, and set 
 it before his Father's j resence, that I may return, as 
 the shepherds from the heavenly vision, glorifying and 
 praibing God, Remember also to pray for thy teach-'-., 
 
III. § 4. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 25<) 
 
 thatGod would put some divine message into his mouth, 
 which may leave a heavenly relish on thy spirit. 
 
 If these were our ends, and this our course when 
 we set to duty? we should not be so strange as we are 
 to heaven. 
 
 6. Another help is this : make an advantage of every 
 object thou seest, and of every dispensation of divine 
 Providence, and of every thing that befalls thee in thy 
 labour and calling, to remind thy soul of its approach- 
 ing rest. As all providences and creatures are means to 
 our rest, so do they point us to that as the end. Every 
 creature hath the name of God, and of our rinal rest, 
 written upon it, which a considerate believer may as 
 truly discern, as he can read upon a hand in a cross- 
 way the name of the town or city it points to. This 
 spiritual use of creatures and providences is God's great 
 end in bestowing them on man ; and he that overlooks 
 this end, must needs rob God of his chief praise, and 
 deny him the greatest part of his thanks. This rela- 
 tion that our present mercies have to our great eternal 
 mercies, is the very quintessence and spirit of all these 
 mercies; therefore do they lose the very spirit of all 
 their mercies, and take nothing but the husks, who 
 overlook this relation, and draw not forth the sweet- 
 ness of it in their contemplations. God's sweetest 
 dealings with us would not be half so sweet as they 
 are, if they did not intimate some further sweetness. 
 As ourselves have a fleshly and a spiritual substance, 
 so have our mercies a fleshly and a spiritual use, and 
 are fitted to the nourishing of both our parts. He that 
 receives the carnal part and no more, may have his 
 body comforted by them, but not his soul. O that 
 Christians were skilled in this art ! You can open your 
 Bibles, and read there of God and of glory : O learn 
 to open the creatures, and the several passages of Pro- 
 vidence, to read of God and glory there. Certainly 
 by such a skilful improvement we might have a fuller 
 taste of Christ and heaven, in every bit we eat, and in 
 every draught we drink, than most men have in the 
 use of the sacrament. 
 
 if thou prosper in the world, let it make thee more 
 
 sensible of thy spiritual prosperity : if thou be weary 
 
 ! thy Labours, let it make thy thoughts of Rest more 
 
260 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 4. 
 
 sweet: if tilings go cross with thee, let it make ihee 
 more earnestly to desire that day when all thy sufferings 
 and sorrows shall cease. Is thy body refreshed wiih 
 food or sleep ? Remember the inconceivable refreshings 
 with Christ. Dost thou hear any news that makes thee 
 glad ? Remember what glad tidings it will be to hear 
 the sound of the trump of God, and the absolving sen- 
 tence of Christ our Judge. Art thou delighting thy- 
 self in the society of the saints ? Remember the ever- 
 lasting amiable society thou shalt have with perfected 
 saints in rest. Is God communicating himself to thy 
 spirit? Remember that time when thy joy shall be full. 
 Dost thou hear or feel the tempest, or wars, or see any 
 cloud of blood arising ? Remember the day that thou 
 shalt be housed with Christ, where there is nothing but 
 calmness and amiable union, and where we shall solace 
 ourselves in perfect peace, under the wings of the 
 Prince of Peace. Thus you may see, what advantages 
 to an heavenly life every condition and creature doth 
 afford us, if we have but hearts to apprehend and im- 
 prove them. 
 
 7. Another singular help is this : be much in that 
 angelical work of praise. As the most heavenly spirits 
 will have the most heavenly employment, so the more 
 heavenly the employment, the more will it make the 
 spirit heavenly. Though the heart be the fountain of 
 all our actions, yet do those actions, by a kind of re- 
 flection, work much on the heart from whence they 
 spring: the like also may be said of our speeches. So 
 that the work of praising God, being the most hea- 
 venly work, is likely to raise us to the most heavenly 
 temper. This is the work of those saints and angels, 
 and this will be our own everlasting work : if we were 
 more taken up in this employment now, we should be 
 liker to what we shall be then. When Aristotle was 
 asked what he thought of music, he answered, Jovetn 
 jieqve canere, ncque citJiarampuhare ; that Jupiter did 
 neither sing, nor play on the hujp ; thinking it an un- 
 profitable art to men, which was no more delightful to 
 God. But Christians may better argue from the like 
 ground, that singing of praise is a most prolitable duty, 
 because it is as it were so delightful to God himself, 
 
HI. § 4. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 2<3l 
 
 that he hath made it his people's eternal work ; for 
 they shall sing the song of Moses, and the song of the 
 Lamb. As desire, and faith, and hope are of shorter 
 continuance than love and joy ; so also preaching, and 
 prayer, and sacraments, and all means for confirmation, 
 and expression of faith and hope, shall cease, when 
 our thanks, and praise, and triumphant expressions of 
 love and joy shall abide for ever. The liveliest emblem 
 of heaven that I know upon earth is, when the people 
 of God, in the deep sense of his excellency and boun- 
 ty, from hearts abounding with love and joy, join to- 
 gether both in heart and voice, in the cheerful and 
 melodious singing of his praises. Those that deny the 
 use of singing, disclose their unheavenly, unexperi- 
 enced hearts, as well as their ignorant understandings. 
 Had they felt the heavenly delights that many of their 
 brethren in such duties have felt, they would have been 
 of another mind. And whereas they are wont to ques- 
 tion, whether such delights be genuine, or any better 
 than carnal or delusive ? I would observe, the very 
 relish of God and heaven that is in them, the example 
 of the saints in Scripture, whose spirits have been 
 raised by the same duty, and the command of Scripture 
 for the use of this means, one would think, should 
 quickly destroy the controversy. And a man may as 
 truly say of these delights, as of the testimony of the 
 Spirit, that they witness themselves to be of God. 
 
 Little do we know how we wrong ourselves, by 
 shutting out of our prayers, the praises of God, or 
 allowing them so narrow a room as we usually do. 
 Reader, I intreat thee remember this : let praises have 
 a larger room in thy duties : keep ready at hand matter 
 to feed thy praise, as well as matter for confession and 
 petition. To this end study the excellencies and good- 
 ness of the Lord, as frequently as thy own necessities 
 and vileness ; study the mercies which thou hast re- 
 ceived, and which are promised; both their own worth 
 and their aggravating circumstances, as often as thou 
 studiest the sins thou hast committed. O let God's 
 praise be much in your mouths. Seven times a day 
 did David praise him: yea, his praise was continually 
 of him. As he that offereth praise, gloriiieth God, so 
 
%62 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 4. 
 
 doth he most rejoice and gladden his own soul. " Offer 
 therefore the sacrifice of praise continually ; in the midst 
 of the church let us sing- his praise." 
 
 ] confess, to a man of a languishing body, where 
 the heart faints, and the spirits are feeble, the cheer- 
 ful praising of God is more difficult ; because the body 
 is the soul's instrument, and when it lies unstringed, 
 or untuned, the music is likely to be accordingly. Vet 
 a spiritual cheerfulness there may be within, and the 
 heart may praise, if not thv voice. But where the 
 body is strong, the spirits lively, and the heart cheer- 
 ful, and the voice at command, what advantage have 
 such for this heavenly work ! With what alacrity may 
 they sing forth his praises ! O the madness of healthful 
 youth that lay out their vigour of body and mind upon 
 vain delights, which is so tit for the noblest work of 
 men! And, O the siuful folly of many who dren.cn 
 their spirits in continual sadness, and waste their days 
 in complaints and groans, and so make themselves 
 unfit for this sweet and heavenly work ! That when 
 they 6hould join with the people of God in his praises, 
 and delight their souls in singing to his name, they 
 are studying their miseries, and so rob God of his 
 praise, and themselves of their solace. But the great- 
 est destroyer of our comfort in this duty is our sticking 
 in the tune and melody, and suffering the heart to be 
 all the while idle, which should perform the chief part 
 of the work. 
 
 8. Another thing I will advise you to is this : be a 
 careful observer of the drawings of the Spirit, and 
 fearful of quenching its motions, or resisting its work- 
 ings. If ever thy soul get above this earth, and get 
 acquainted with this living in heaven, the Spirit of God 
 must be to thee as the chariot of Elijah ; yea, the very 
 living principle by which thou must move and ascend 
 to heaven. O then grieve not thy guide, quench not 
 thy life : if thou dost, no wonder if thy soul be at a 
 loss : you little think how much the life of all your' 
 graces depends upon your ready and cordial obedience 
 to the Spirit. When the Snirit urgeth thee to secret 
 prayer, and thou refusest obedience ; when he forbids 
 thee a known transgression, and yet thou wilt go on ; 
 
III. § 5. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. <26S 
 
 when he telleth thee which is the way, and which not, 
 and thou wilt not regard, no wonder if heaven and thy 
 soul be strange to each other: if thou wilt not follow 
 the Spirit while it would draw thee to Christ, and to 
 duty ; how should it lead thee to heaven, and bring 
 thy heart into the presence of God ? O what bold access 
 shall that soul find in its approaches to the Almighty, 
 that is accustomed to a constant obeying of the Spirit ! 
 And how backward, how dull, and strange, and 
 ashamed will he be to these addresses, who hath long 
 used to break away from the Spirit that would have 
 guided him ! I beseech thee, learn well this lesson, 
 and try this course : let not the motions of thy body 
 only, but the thoughts of thy heart be at the Spirit's 
 beck. Dost thou not feel sometimes a strong impul- 
 sion to retire from the world, and draw near to God ? 
 O do not thou disobey, but take the offer, and hoist 
 up sail while thou mayest have this blessed gale. 
 When this wind blows strongest, thou goest safest, 
 either backward or forward. The more of this Spirit 
 we resist, the deeper will it wound; and the more we 
 obey, the speedier is our pace ; as he goes heaviest that 
 hath the wind in his face, and the easiest that hath it 
 in his back. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 A Description of Heavenly Contemplation, 
 
 THE main thing intended is yet behind, avd that 
 which I aimed at when I set upon this work. All 
 that I have said is but the preparation to this. I once 
 more intreat thee therefore, as thou art a man that 
 makest conscience of a revealed duty, and that darest 
 not wilfully resist the Spirit; as thou valuest the de- 
 lights of a saint, and as thou art faithful to the peace 
 and prosperity of thine own soul, that thou diligently 
 study the directions following: and that thou speedily 
 and faithfully put them in practice : 1 pray thee there- 
 fore, resolve, before thou readest any further, and pro- 
 
204 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § .5, 
 
 inise here as before the Lord, that if the following ad- 
 vice be wholesome to thy soul, thou wilt seriously set 
 thyself to the work ; and that no laziness of spirit shall 
 take thee off, nor lesser business interrupt thy course, 
 but that thou wilt approve thyself a doer of this work, 
 and not an idle hearer only. Js this thy promise; and 
 wilt thou stand to it ? Resolve, man, and then I shall 
 be encouraged to give thee my advice ; only try it 
 thoroughly, and then judge. If in the faithful fol- 
 lowing of this course thou dost not find an increase of 
 all thy graces, and art not made more serviceable in 
 thy place: if thy soul enjoy not more fellowship with 
 God, and thy life be not fuller of pleasure, and thou 
 have not comfort readier by thee at a dying hour, and 
 when thou hast greatest need; then throw these di- 
 rections back in my face, and exclaim against me as a 
 deceiver for ever; except God should leave thee un- 
 comfortable for a little season, for the more glorious 
 manifestation of his attributes, and thy integrity ; and 
 single thee out as he did Job, for an example of con- 
 stancy and patience, which would be but a preparative 
 for thy fuller comfort. Certainly God will not forsake 
 this his own ordinance, but will be found of those that 
 thus diligently seek him. God hath, as it were, ap- 
 pointed to meet thee in this way : do not thou fail to 
 give him the meeting, and thou shalt find by experience 
 that he will not fail. 
 
 The duty which I press upon thee so earnestly, I 
 shall now describe : it is the set and solemn acting of 
 all the powers of the soul upon this most perfect object 
 [Rest] by meditation. 
 
 I will a little more fully explain the meaning of this 
 description, that so the duty may lie plain before thee. 
 1. The general title that I give this duty is Meditation : 
 not as it is precisely distinguished from cogitation, 
 consideration, and contemplation; but as it is taken 
 in the larger and usual sense for thinking on things 
 spiritual, and so comprehending consideration and 
 contemplation. 
 
 That meditation is a duty of God's ordaining, not 
 only in his written law, but also in nature itself, I 
 ccver met with the man that would deny : But that it 
 
III. § 5. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 265 
 
 is a duty constantly practised, I must, with sorrow, 
 deny : it is in word, confessed to be a duty by all, but 
 by the constant neglect, denied by most : and (I know 
 not by what fatal security it comes to pass, that) men 
 who are very tender conscienced towards most other 
 duties, yet as easily overslip this, as if they knew it 
 not to be a duty at all ; they that are presently troubled 
 if they omit a sermon, a fast, a prayer in public or 
 private, yet are not troubled that they have omitted 
 meditation, perhaps all their life time to this very day : 
 though it be that duty by which all other duties are 
 improved, and by which the soul digesteth truths, and 
 ■draweth forth their strength for its nourishment. Cer- 
 tainly, I think, that as a man is but half an hour 
 taking into his stomach that meat which he must have, 
 seven or eight hours to digest; so a man may take into 
 his understanding and memory more truth, in one 
 hour, than he is able well to digest in many. Therefore 
 God commanded Joshua, " That the book of the law 
 show Id not depart out of his mouth, but that he should, 
 meditate therein day and night; that he might ob~ 
 serve to do according to that which is written therein." 
 As digestion is the turning of the food into chyle and 
 blood, and spirits and flesh : so meditation rightly 
 managed, turneth the truths received and remem- 
 bered, into warm affection, raised resolution, and holy 
 conversation. Therefore what good those men are 
 likely to get by sermons or providences, who are un- 
 accustomed to meditation, you may easily judge. 
 And why so much preaching is lost among us, and 
 men can run from sermon to sermon, and yet have 
 such languishing, starved souls, 1 know no truer cause 
 than their negleet of meditation. If men heard one 
 hour, and meditated seven ; if they did as constantly 
 digest their sermons as they hear them, they would 
 iiud anotlier kind of benefit by sermons, than the or- 
 dinary sort of christians do. 
 
 But because meditation is a general word, and it is 
 not all meditation that I here intend, 1 shall therefore 
 lay down the difference whereby this I am urging is 
 discerned from all other sorts of meditation. And the 
 difference is taken from the act, and from the object 
 of Jt, 
 
 z 
 
266 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. IIL § 5. 
 
 From the act, which I call the set and solemn acting 
 of' all the powers of the soul. 
 
 1. I call it the acting of them, for it is action that 
 we are directing you in now, and not dispositions ; yet 
 these also are necessarily pre-supposed : it must be a 
 soul that is qualified for the work, by the supernatural 
 grace of the Spirit, which must be able to perform this 
 heavenly exercise. It is a work of the living, and not 
 of the dead : it is a work of all other the most spiritual, 
 and therefore cannot be well performed by a heart that 
 js merely carnal. 
 
 2. I call this meditation the acting of the powers of 
 the soul, meaning the soul as rational. It is the work 
 of the soul ; for bodily exercise doth here profit but 
 little. The soul hath its labour and its ease, its business 
 and its idleness, as well as the body ; and diligent 
 students are usually as sensible of the labour and wea- 
 riness of their spirits, as they are of that of the members 
 of the body. This action of the soul is it I persuade 
 thee to. 
 
 3. I call it the acting of all the powers of the soul, 
 to difference it from the common meditation of stu- 
 dents, which is usually the mere employment of the 
 brain. It is not a bare thinking that I mean, nor the 
 mere use of invention or memory, but a business of a 
 higher or more excellent nature. 
 
 The understanding is not the whole soul, and there- 
 fore cannot do the whole work ; as God hath made 
 several parts in man, to perform their several offices 
 for his nourishment and life ; so hath he ordained the 
 faculties of the soul to perform their several offices for 
 his spiritual life; so the understanding must take in 
 truths, and prepare them for the will, and it must re- 
 ceive them, and commend them to the affections : the 
 best digestion is in the bottom of the stomach ; the 
 ^affections are as it were the bottom of the soul, and 
 therefore the best digestion is there : while truth is but 
 a speculation swimming in the brain, the soul hath not 
 taken fast hold of it; Christ and heaven have various 
 Excellencies, and therefore God hath formed the soul 
 M'ith a power of divers ways of apprehending, that so 
 we'might be capable of enjoying those excellencies. 
 
IH. § 5. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 26)/ 
 
 What good could all the glor}" of heaven have done 
 us ; or what pleasure should we have had in the good- 
 ness of God himself, if we had been without the affec- 
 tions of love and joy, wheieby we are capable of being 
 delighted in that goodness? So also, what strength or 
 feweetness canst thou receive by thy meditations on 
 eternity, while thou dost not exereiae those affections 
 which are the senses of the soul, by which it must re- 
 ceive this strength and sweetness ? 
 
 This is it that hath deceived christians in this busi- 
 ness : they have thought meditation is nothing but the 
 bare thinking on truths, and the rolling of them in 
 the understanding and memory, when every school- 
 boy can do this. 
 
 Therefore this is the great task In hand, and this is 
 the work that I would set thee on ; to get these truths. 
 from thy head to thy heart; that all the sermons which 
 thou hast heard of heaven, and ai! the notions thou bast 
 conceived of this Rest, may be turned into the blood- 
 and spirit of affection, and thou may est feel them revive 
 thee, and warm thee at the heart, and may so think of 
 heaven, as heaven should be thought on. 
 
 It' thou shouldst study nothing but heaven while thou 
 livest, and shouldst have thy thoughts at command, to> 
 turn them thither on every occasion, and yot shouldst 
 proceed no further than this ; this were not the medi- 
 tation that 1 intended : ss it is thy whole soul that must 
 possess God hereafter, so must the whole in a lower 
 manner, possess him here. I have shewn you in the 
 beginning of this treatise, how the soul must enjoy the 
 Lord in glory, to wit, by knowing, by loving, by 
 joying in him : why, the very same way must thou, 
 i ■ i .i thy enjoyment here. 
 
 So. much us thy understanding and affections are 
 ely acted upon God, so much dost thou enjoy 
 inn:: and tiiis is the happy work of this meditation. 
 So that you see h*re is somewhat more to be done, 
 I Man barely to remember and think of heaven : as run- 
 i.u-l;', and such like labours, do not only stir a hand 
 or ioot, but strain and exercise the whole body; so 
 doth meditation the whole soul. 
 
 As the whole was tilled with sin before, so the whole 
 must be hiicu with God now : as Sr. Paul saith of 
 
268 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 5. 
 
 knowledge and gifts, and faith to remove mountains, 
 that if thou hast all these without love, thou art but a 
 sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal; so I may say of 
 the exercise of these ; if in this work of meditation, 
 thou exercise knowledge, and gifts, and faith of mira- 
 cles, and not love and joy, thou dost nothing; if thy 
 meditation tend to fill thy note book with notions and 
 good sayings concerning God, and not thy heart with 
 longings after him, and delight in him, for onght I 
 know, thy book is as much a christian as thou art. 
 
 I call this meditation, set and solemn, to difference 
 it from that which is occasional. As there is prayer 
 which is solemn, when we set ourselves wholly to the 
 duty ; and prayer which is sudden and short, commonly 
 called ejaculation, when a man in the midst of other 
 business, doth send up some brief request to God: so 
 also there is meditation solemn, when we apply our- 
 selves only to that work ; and there is meditation 
 which is short and cursory, when in the midst of our 
 business we have some good thoughts of God in our 
 mind. And as solemn prayer, is either first set, when a 
 christian observing it as a standing duty, doth resolvedly 
 practise it in a constant course ; or secondly occasional, 
 ■when some unusual occasion doth put us upon it at a 
 season extraordinary: so also meditation. 
 
 Now, though I would persuade you to that medita- 
 tion which is mixed with your common labours, and 
 to that which special occasions direct you to; yet 
 these are not the main things which I here intend : 
 but that you would make it a constant standing dutv, 
 as you do hearing, and praying, and reading the Scrip- 
 ture, and that you would solemnly set yourselves about 
 it, and make it for that time your whole work, and 
 intermix othermatters no more with it, than you would 
 do with praying or other duties. Tims you see what 
 kind of meditation it is that we speak of, viz. the set 
 and solemn acting of the powers of -the soul. ' 
 
 The second part of the diiference is drawn from its 
 object, which is rest, or the most blessed estate of man 
 in his everlasting enjoyment of God in heaven. Medi- 
 tation hath a large held to walk in, and hath as many 
 objects to work upon, as there are matters, and lines, 
 and words in the Scriptures, as there aie known crea- 
 
III. § 5. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. $6$ 
 
 tures in the whole creation, and as there are particular 
 discernible passages of providence in the government 
 of all persons and actions through the world. J>ut 
 the meditation that I now direct you in, is only of the 
 end of all these, and of these as they refer to that end : 
 it is not a walk from mountains to valleys, from sea 
 to land, from kingdom to kingdom, from planet to 
 planet; but it is a walk from mountains and valleys 
 to the holy Mount Sion ; from sea and land to the land 
 of the Living ; from the kingdoms of this world, to the 
 kingdom of saints; from earth to heaven; from time 
 to eternity. It is a walking upon the sun, and moon, 
 and stars ; it is a walk in the garden and paradise of 
 God. It may seem far off; but spirits are quick ; 
 whether in the body, or out of the body, their motion 
 is swift; they are not so heavy or dull as these earthly 
 lumps, nor so slow of motion as these clods of tie^h. 
 I would not have you cast off your other meditations; 
 but surely as heaven hath the pre-eminence in perfec- 
 tion, so should it have the pre-eminence also in our 
 meditation : that which will make us most happy when 
 we possess it, will make us most joyful when we me- 
 ditate upon it ; especially when that meditation is a 
 degree of possession, if it be such affecting meditation 
 as 1 here describe. 
 
 You need not here be troubled with fear, lest study- 
 ing so much on these higher matters should make you 
 mad. If 1 set you to meditate as much on sin and 
 wrath, and to study nothing but judgment and damna- 
 tion, then you might fear such an issue ; but it is hea- 
 ven, and not hell, that 1 would persuade you to walk 
 in; it is joy, and not sorrow, that I persuade you to 
 look on : no deformed object, but only upon the 
 lavishing glory of Saints, and the unspeakable excel- 
 lencies of the God of glory, and the beams that stream 
 from the face of his Son. Are these sad thoughts ? 
 Will it distract a man to think of his happiness ? Will 
 it distract the miserable to think of mercy ? Or the 
 captive or prisoner to foresee deliverance ? Neither 
 do I persuade your thoughts to matters of great diffi- 
 culty, or to study knotty controversies of heaven, or 
 to search out tilings beyond your reach. If you should 
 thus set vour v.it upon the tenters, you might be quickly 
 Z3 
 
270 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 
 
 distracted indeed : but it is your affections more than 
 your inventions that must he used in this heavenly em- 
 ployment we speak of. They are truths which are 
 commonly known, which your souls must draw forth 
 and \'ea\ upon. The resurrection of the body, and 
 the life everlasting, are articles of your creed, and not 
 •nice controversies. Methinks it should be more likely 
 to make a man mad, to think of living in a world of 
 woe, to think of abiding among- the rage of wicked 
 men, than to think of living with Christ in blis^. Me- 
 thinks if we be not mad already, it should sooner dis- 
 tract us, to hear the temped and roaring waves, to see 
 the billows, and rocks, and sands, and gulfs, than to 
 think of Arriving safe at rest. " But Wisdom is justi- 
 iicd of all her children. " Knowledge hath no enemy 
 but the ignorant. This heavenly course was never 
 spoken against by any, but those who either never 
 knew it, or used it not. 1 more fear the neglect of 
 men that do approve it. Truth loseth more by loose 
 friends, than by sharpest enemies. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 The Jit test Time and Place for this Cmiicmplatioji, 
 and the Preparation of the Heart antu it. 
 
 THUS I have opened to you the nature of this 
 duty ; I proceed to direct you in the work ; where 
 I shall, First, Shew you how you must set upon it : 
 Secondly, How you inust behave in it : and, Thirdly, 
 How you shall shut it up. 1 advise thee, 1. Somewhat 
 concerning the Time. c l. Somewhat concerning the 
 Place. And, 3. Somewhat concerning the frame of 
 thy Spirit. 
 
 And, 1. For the time, 1 advise thee that as much as 
 may be, it be set and constant. Proportion out such 
 a part of thy time to the work. 
 
 Stick not" at their scruples, who question the stating 
 of times as superstitious : if thou suit out thy time to 
 the advantage of the work, and place no religion in 
 
III. § 6. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. ,271 
 
 the time itself; thou needest not to fear lest this be 
 superstition. As a workman in his shop will have a 
 net place for every one of his tools, or else when he 
 should use it, it may be to seek ; so a christian should 
 have a set time for every ordinary duty, or else when 
 he should practice it, it is ten to one but he will be 
 put by it. Stated time is a hedge to duty, and defends it 
 against many temptations to omission. God hath stated 
 none but the Sabbath himself ; but he hath left it to 
 be stated by ourselves, according to every man's con- 
 dition and occasions, lest otherwise his law should have 
 been a burthen or a snare. Vet hath he left us general 
 rides, which by the use of reason, and christian pru- 
 dence, may help us to determine the fittest times. 
 
 It is as ridiculous a question of them that ask us, 
 Where Scripture commands to pray so oft, or at such 
 hours ? As if they asked, Where the Scripture com- 
 mands that the church stand in such a place? Or the 
 pulpit in such a place ? Or my seat in such a place ? 
 Or where it commands a man to read the Scriptures 
 with a pair of spectacles ? 
 
 Most that I have known to argue against a stated 
 time, have at lost grown careless of the duty itself, and 
 shewed more dislike against the work than the time. 
 If God give me so much money or wealth, and tell 
 me not in Scripture how much such a poor man must 
 have, nor how much my family, nor how much in 
 clothes, and how much in expenses; is it not lawful, 
 •yea, and necessary, that I should make the division 
 myself, and allow to each the due portion ? So if God 
 doth bestow en me a day or week of time, and give me 
 such and such work to do in this time, and tell me not 
 how much I shall allot to each work ; certainly I must 
 make the division myself, and proportion it wisely and 
 carefully too. Though God hath not told you at what 
 hour you shall rise in the morning, or at what hours 
 you shal! eat and drink ; yet your own reason and ex- 
 perience will tell you, that ordinarily you should ob- 
 serve a stated time. Neither let the fear of customari- 
 ness and formality deter you from this. This argument 
 hath brought the Lord's supper from ouce a week to 
 once a quarter, or once a year: and it hath brought 
 family duties with too many of.late, from twice a day 
 
272 TJ1E SAINTS ETERLASTING REST. III. § 6. 
 
 to once, a week or once a month. I advise thee there- 
 fore, if well thou mayest, to allow this duty a staled 
 time, and be as constant in it as in hearing and pray- 
 ing: yet be cautious in understanding this. I know 
 this will not prove every man's duty ; some have not 
 themselves and their time at command, and therefore 
 cannot set their hour.? : such are, most servants, and 
 many children of poor parents; and many are so poor 
 that the necessities of their families will deny them this 
 freedom. I do not think it the duty of such to leave 
 their labours for this work just at certain set times, no 
 nor far prayer. Of two duties we must choose the 
 greater, though of two sins we must choose neither. I 
 think such persons had best be watchful, to redeem 
 time as much as they can, and take their vacant oppor- 
 tunities as they fall, and especially to join meditation 
 and prayer, as much as they can, with the labours of 
 their callings. There is no such enmity between la- 
 bouring, and meditating, or praying in the spirit, but 
 that both may be done together ; yet I say (as Paul in 
 another case) If thou canst be free, use it rather. Those 
 that have more spare time, I still advise that they keep 
 thic duty to a stated time. And indeed it were not ill 
 husbandry, nor point of folly, if we did so by all other 
 duties : if we consider the ordinary works of the day, 
 and suited out a fit season and proportion of time to 
 every work, and fixed this in our memory and resolu- 
 tion, or wrote it in a table, and kept it in our closets, 
 and never broke it but upon unexpected and extraordi- 
 nary causes : if every work of the day had thus its ap- 
 pointed time, we should be better skilled both in re- 
 deeming time, and performing duty. 
 
 2. I advise thee also, concerning thy time for this 
 duty, That as it be stated, so it be frequent. Just how 
 oft it should be, I cannot determine, because men's 
 conditions may vary it : but in general, that it be 
 frequent, the Scripture requireth, when it mentioneth, 
 meditating continually, and day and night. Circum- 
 stances of our condition may much vary the circum- 
 stance of our duties. It may be one man's duty to hear 
 or-pray oftener than another's, and so it may be in this 
 of meditation: but for those that can conveniently 
 <om>t ether business, I advise, that it be once a day at 
 
III. § 6. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 273 
 
 least. Though Scripture tell us not how oft in a day 
 we should eat or drink : yet prudence and experience 
 will direct us to twice or thrice a day. 
 
 Those that think they should not tie themselves to 
 order and number of duties : but should then only 
 meditate or pray, when they rind the Spirit provoking 
 them to it, go upon uncertain and unscriptural grounds. 
 I am sure the Scripture provokes us to frequency, and 
 our necessity sccondeth the voice of Scripture : and if 
 through my own neglect, or resisting the Spirit, I do 
 not rind it so excite me, I dare not therefore so disobey 
 the Scripture, nor neglect the necessities of my own 
 soul. I should suspect that spirit which would turn 
 my soul from constancy in duty : if the spirit in Scrip- 
 ture bid me meditate and pray, I dare not forbear it, 
 because I find not the spirit within me to second the 
 command : If 1 find not inclination to duty before, yet 
 I may find assistance while I. wait in performance. I 
 am afraid of laying icy corruptions upon the Spirit, 
 or blaming the want of the Spirit's assistance, when I 
 should blame the backwardness of my own heart; nor 
 dare [ make one corruption a plea for another ; nor 
 urge the inward rebellion of my nature, as a reason, 
 for the c .nt ward disobedience of my life : and for the 
 healing of my nature's backwardness, I more expect 
 that the Spirit of Christ should do it in a way of duty, 
 than in a way of disobedience and neglect of duty. 
 Men that fall on duty according to the frame of their 
 spirit only, are like our ignorant vulgar, who think 
 their appetite should be the only rule of their eating; 
 when a wise man judgeth by reason and experience,. 
 lest when his appetite is depraved, he should either 
 Eiirfeit or famish. Our desire is no sure rule for our 
 times of duty ; but the word of God in general, and 
 oar spiritual reason, experience, necessity, and con- 
 venience in particular, may truly direct us. 
 
 Three reasons especially should persuade thee to fre- 
 quency in this meditation on heaven. 
 
 1. Because seldom conversing with him will breed a 
 strangeness betwixt thy soul and God : frequent society 
 breeds familiarity, and familiarity increaseth love and 
 delight, and maketh us bold and confident in our ad- 
 dresses. This is the main end of this duty, that thou 
 
*74 THE EAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 6\ 
 
 mayest have acquaintance and fellowship with God 
 therein ; therefore if thou come but seldom to it, thou 
 will keep thyself a stranger still, and so miss of the 
 end of the work. 
 
 2. Seldomness will make thee unskilful in the work, 
 and strange to the duty, as well as to God. How 
 clumsily do men set their hands to a work they are 
 -eldom employed in I Whereas frequency will habituate 
 thy heart to the work, and thou wilt better know the 
 way in which thou daily walkest, yea, and it will be 
 more easy and delightful also : the hill which made 
 thee pant and blow at the first going- up, thou may est 
 run up easily when thou art accustomed to it. 
 
 3. And lastly. Thou wilt lose that heat and life by 
 long intermissions, which with much ado thou didst 
 obtain in duty. If thou eat but a meal in two or three 
 days, thou wilt lose thy strength as fast as thou gettest 
 it : if in holy meditation thou get near to Christ, and 
 warm thy heart with the fire of love, if thou then turn 
 away, and come but seldom, thou wilt soon return to* 
 thy former coldness. 
 
 It is true, the intermixed use of other duties may do 
 much to the keeping thy heart above, especially secret 
 prayer ; but meditation is the life of most other duties ; 
 arid the vrew of heaven is the life of meditation* 
 
 4. Concerning the time of this duty, I advise thee 
 that thou choose the most seasonable time. All things 
 are beautiful in their season. Unseasonableness may 
 io:-e the fruit of thy labour : it may raise disturbances 
 and difficulties in the work ; yea, it may turn a duty 
 to sin ; when the seasonahleuess of a duty doth make 
 it easy, doth remove impediments, doth embolden us 
 to the undertaking, and ripen its fruits. 
 
 The seasons of this duty are either, First, ordinary : 
 or, secondly, extraordinary. 
 
 First, The ordinary season of your daily performanrv 
 cannot be particularly determined, otherwise God 
 would have determined it in his word. Men's condi- 
 tions of employment, and freedom, and bodily temper, 
 are so various, that the same may be a seasonable hour 
 to one, which may be unseasonable to another. If thou 
 be a servant, or an hard labourer, that thou hast not 
 thy time at command, thou must take that seasou which 
 
III. § 6. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. £75 
 
 thy business will best afford : either as thou sittest in 
 the shop at thy work, or as thou travellest on the way, 
 or as thou liest waking in the night. Every man best 
 knows his own time, even when he hath the least to 
 hinder him in the world : but for those whose necessi- 
 ties tie them not so close, but that they may choose 
 what time of the day they will, my advice to such is, 
 that they carefully observe the temper of their body 
 and mind, and mark when they find their spirits most 
 .active and fit for contemplation, and pitch upon that 
 as the stated time. Some men are freest for duties 
 when they are fasting, and some are then most unfit. 
 Every man is the best judge for himself. The time 
 I have always found fittest for myself, is the evening, 
 from sun-setting to the twilight ; and sometimes in 
 the night when it is warm and clear. 
 
 The Lord's day is a time exceeding seasonable for 
 this exercise. When should we more seasonably con- 
 template on rest, than on that day which doth typify 
 it to us ? neither do I think that typifying use is ceased, 
 because the antitype is not fully come. However, it 
 being a day appropriated for worship and spiritual du- 
 ties, we should never exclude this duty, which is so 
 eminently spiritual. I think verily this is the chief 
 work of a christian sabbath, and most agreeable to the 
 intent of its positive institution. What fitter time to 
 converse with our Lord, than on that day which he 
 hath appropriated to such employments, and therefore 
 called the Lord's day ? What fitter day to ascend to 
 heaven, than that on which our Lord did arise from 
 earth, and fully triumph over death and hell, and take 
 possession of heaven bofore us. 
 
 Two sorts of christians I would in treat to take no- 
 tice of this especially. 
 
 1. Those that spend the Lord's day only in public 
 worship ; either through the neglect of meditation, or 
 else by their overmuch exercise of the public, allowing 
 no time to private duty: tho' there be few that offend 
 in this kind ; yet some there are, and a hurtful mistake 
 to the soul it is. They will decline in gifts, if they 
 exercise but their gifts in outward performances. 
 
 2. Thoi»e that have time on the Lord's day for idle- 
 ness and vain discourse, -and find the day longer than 
 
*ZJ6 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 6. 
 
 they know how well to spend; were these but ac- 
 quainted with this duty of contemplation, they would 
 need no other recreation ; they would think the longest 
 day short enough, and be sorry that the night had 
 shortened their pleasure. 
 
 Secondly, For the extraordinary performance of this 
 <iuty, these following are seasonable times. 
 
 1. When God doth extraordinarily revive thy spirit. 
 When God hath enkindled thy spirit with lire from 
 above, it is that it may mount aloft more freely. It is a 
 choice part of a christian's skill, to observe the temper 
 of his own spirit, and to observe the gales of grace, 
 and how the Spirit of Christ doth move upon his. 
 Without Christ we can do nothing: therefore let us be 
 doing when he is doing : and be sure not to be out of 
 the way, nor asleep when he comes. A little labour 
 will set thy heart a going at such a time, when at an- 
 
 'other thou mayest take pains to little purpose. 
 
 2. When thou art cast into troubles of mind, thro* 
 sufferings, or fear, or care, or temptations, then it is 
 seasonable to address thyself to this duty. When 
 should we take our cordials, but in our times of faint- 
 ing? When is it more seasonable to walk to heaven, 
 than when we know not in what corner of the earth to 
 live with comfort ? Or when should our thoughts con- 
 verse above, but when they have nothing but grief to 
 converse with below ? 
 
 3. Another fit season for this heavenly duty, is, 
 When the messengers of God summon us to die ; when 
 either our grey hairs, or our languishing bodies, or 
 some such fore-runners of death, tell us that our change 
 cannot be far off: when should we more frequently 
 sweeten our souls with believing thoughts of another 
 life, than when we find that this is almost ended, and 
 when flesh is raising fears and terrors r Surely no men 
 have greater need of supporting joys than dying men : 
 and those joys must be fetched from our eternal Life. 
 
 It now follows, that I speak a word of the fittest 
 place. Though God is every where to be found, yet 
 some placet) are more convenient than others. 
 
 As this is a private and spiritual duty, so it is more 
 convenient that liiou retire to some private place. Our 
 spirits have need ofV^Svery help, and to be freed from 
 
HI. 4 6. THE vSAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 277 
 
 every hindrance in the work. For occasional -medita- 
 tion J give thee not this advice ; but for set and so- 
 lemn duty, I advise that thou withdraw thyself from 
 all society, that thou may est awhile enjoy the society 
 of Christ, 
 
 And as I advise thee to a place of retiredness ; so 
 also that thou observe more particularly, what place or 
 posture best agreeth with thy spirit ; whether within 
 doors, or without; whether sitting still or walking. 1 
 believe Isaac's example in this also, will direct us to 
 the place and posture which will best suit with most, 
 as it did with me, viz. His walking forth to meditate m 
 the field at the even-tide. And Christ's own example 
 gives us the like direction. Christ was used to a soli- 
 tary garden ; and tho' he took his disciples thither with 
 him, yet did he separate himself from them for more, 
 sacred devotions. 
 
 I am next to advise thee somewhat concerning thr 
 preparations of thy heart. The success of the work 
 doth much depend on the frame of the heart. When 
 man's heart had nothing in it that might grieve the 
 Spirit, then it was the delightful habitation of his 
 Maker. God did not quit his residence there till man 
 did repel him by unworthy provocations. There grew 
 no strangeness till the heart grew sinful, and too loath- 
 some a dungeon for God to delight in. And were the 
 soul restored to its former innocency, God would 
 quickly return to his former habitation ; yea, so far as 
 it is renewed and repaired by the Spirit, the Lord will 
 yet acknowledge it his own, and Christ will manifest 
 himself unto it, and the Spirit will take it for his 
 temple and residence. So far as the soul is qualified 
 for conversing with God, so far it doth actually enjoy 
 him. Therefore, " keep thy heart with all diligence, 
 for from thence are the issues of life." 
 
 More particularly, when thou settest on this duty, 
 1. Get thy heart as clear from the world as thou canst; 
 wholly lay by the thoughts of thy business, of thy 
 troubles, of thy enjoyments, and of every thing that 
 may take up any room in thy soul. Get thy soul as 
 empty as possibly thou canst, that so it may be more 
 capable of being tilled with God. It is a work that 
 will require all the powers of thy soul, if tfiey were a 
 <2 A 
 
278 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. lit. §. 6. 
 
 thousand times more capacious and active than they are, 
 and therefore you have need to lay by all other thoughts 
 and affections, while you are busied here. 
 
 2. Be sure thou set upon this work with the greatest 
 seriousness that possibly thou canst. Customariness 
 here is a killing- sin. There is no trifling in holy- 
 things : God will be sanctified of all that draw near to 
 him. These spiritual duties are the most dangerous 
 of all, if we miscarry in them. The more they ad- 
 vance the soul, being well used, the more they destroy 
 it, being used unfaithfully, as the best means corrupted 
 are the worst. 
 
 To help thee therefore to be 9erious when thou settest 
 on this work ; First, Labour to have the deepest ap- 
 prehensions of the presence of God, and of the incom- 
 prehensible greatness of the Majesty whom thou ap- 
 proachest. Think with what reverence thou shouldst 
 approach thy Maker ; think thou art addressing thyself 
 to Him * that made the worlds with the word of his 
 mouth ; that upholds the earth as in the palm of his 
 hand: that keeps the sun, and moon, and heaven in 
 their courses ; that bounds the raging sea with the 
 sands, and saith, Hitherto go, and no farther : ' thou 
 art going to converse with Him, before whom the earth 
 will quake, and devils tremble : before whose bar thou 
 must shortly stand, and all the world with thee, to re- 
 ceive their doom. O think, I shall then have lively 
 apprehensions of his Majesty ; my drowsy spirits will 
 then be awakened : why should I not now be roused 
 with the sense of his greatness, and with the dread of 
 his name possess my soul ? 
 
 Secondly, Labour to apprehend the greatness of the 
 work which thou attemptest, and to be deeply sensible 
 both of its weight and height. If thou wert pleading 
 for thy life at the bar of a judge, thou wouldst be 
 serious ; and yet that were but a trifle to this : if thou 
 wert engaged in such a work as David was against 
 Goliah, whereon a kingdom's deliverance depended, 
 in itself considered, it were nothing to this. Suppose 
 thou wert going to such a wrestling as Jacob's ; sup- 
 pose thou wert going to see the sight which the three 
 disciples saw in the Mount; how seriously, how reve- 
 rently wouldst thou both approach and behold ! If 
 
HI. § 7. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 279 
 
 some angel from heaven should but appoint to meet 
 thee, at the time and place of thy contemplation, how 
 apprehensively wouldst thou go to meet him ! Why 
 consider then with what a spirit thou shouldst meet 
 the Lord, and with what seriousness and dread thou 
 shouldst daily converse with him ! 
 
 Consider also the blessed issue of the work. If it 
 succeed, it will be an admission of thee into the pre- 
 sence of God, a beginning of thy eternal glory on 
 earth ; a mean to make thee live above the rate of 
 other men, and admit thee into the next room to the 
 angels themselves ; a mean to make thee live and die 
 both joyfully and blessedly: so that the prize being 
 great, thy preparation should be answerable. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 What Affections must be acted, and by tvhat Consider' 
 ations and Objects, and in what Order. 
 
 TO draw the heart nearer the work ; the next thins 
 to be discovered, is, what powers of the souji 
 must here be acted, what affections excited, what con- 
 siderations are necessary thereto, and in what order 
 we must proceed. 
 
 1. You must go to the memory, which is the maga- 
 zine or treasure of the understanding, thence you must 
 take forth those heavenly doctrines which you intend 
 to make the subject of your meditation. For the pre- 
 sent purpose, you may look over any promise of eternal 
 life in the gospel ; any description of the glory of the 
 saints, of the resurrection of the body, and life ever- 
 lasting. Some one sentence concerning those everlasting 
 joys, may afford you matter for many years medita- 
 tion : yet it will be a point of wisdom here, to have 
 always a stock of matter in your memory, that so when 
 you should use it, you may bring forth out of your 
 treasury things new and old. If we took things in or- 
 der, and observed some method in respect of the mat- 
 2A2 
 
*90 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. IH. § 7* 
 
 ter, and meditated first on one truth concerning eter- 
 nity, and then on another, it would not be amiss. 
 And if any persons should be barren of matter, thro' 
 weakness of memory, they might have notes or books 
 on this subject for their furtherance. 
 
 2. When you have selected from your memoYy the 
 matter of your meditation, your next work is to pre- 
 sent it to your judgment : open there the case as fully 
 as you can, set forth the several dignities belonging 
 to the kingdom, as they are partly laid open in the 
 beginning of this book ; let judgment deliberately view 
 them over, and take as exact a survey as it can ; 
 then put the question, and require a determination. 
 Is there happiness in all, or not? Is not here enough 
 to make me blessed ? Can he want any thing who fully 
 pocsesseth God ? Is there any thing higher for a crea- 
 ture to attain ? Thus urge thy judgment to pass an 
 upright sentence, and compel it to subscribe to the per- 
 fection of thy celestial happiness, and leave this sen- 
 tence as under its hand upon record. 
 
 Thus exercise thy judgment in the contemplation of 
 thy Rest ; thus magnify and advance the Lord in thy 
 heart, till an holy admiration hath possessed thy soul. 
 
 3. But the great work which you may either pre- 
 mise, or subjoin to this, as you please, is to exercise thy 
 belief of the truth of thy Rest : and that both in re- 
 spect of the truth of the promise, and also the truth of 
 thine own interest and title. As unbelief doth cause 
 the languishing of all our graces; so faith would do 
 much to revive and actuate them, if it were but revived 
 and actuated itself. 
 
 If we did soundly believe, that within a few days our 
 eyes shall behold it ; O what passions would it raise 
 within us ! Were we thoroughly persuaded, that every 
 word in the Scripture concerning the inconceivablejoys 
 of the kingdom, and the inexpressible blessedness of the 
 life to come, were the very word of the living God, 
 and should certainly be performed to the smallest tittle, 
 O what astonishing apprehensions of that life would it 
 breed ! How would it actuate every affection ! How 
 would it transport us with joy, upon the least assurance 
 of our title ! if I were as verily persuaded, that I shall 
 
III. § 7. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 281 
 
 shortly see those great things of eternity, promised in 
 the word, as I am, that this is a chair that I sit on, or 
 that this is paper on which I write; would it not put 
 another spirit within me? Would it not make me for- 
 get and despise the world ? And even forget to sleep, 
 or to eat? And say, as Christ, '« I have meat to eat 
 that ye know not of?" O, Sirs; ye little know what a 
 thorough belief would work ! 
 
 Therefore let this be the chief part of your business 
 in meditation. Read over the promises ; study all con- 
 firming providences: call forth thine own experience; 
 remember the scriptures already fulfilled both to the 
 church and saints in the former ages, and eminently to 
 both in this present age, and those that have been ful- 
 filled particularly to thyself. 
 
 Set before your faith, the freeness and the univer- 
 sality of the promise: consider God's offer, and urge 
 it upon thy heart, that he hath excepted from the con- 
 ditional covenant no man in the world, nor will exclude 
 any from heaven, who will accept of his offer. Study 
 also the gracious disposition of Christ, and his readiness 
 to welcome all that will come; study all the evidences 
 of his love, which appeared in his sufferings, in his 
 preaching the gospel, in his condescension to sinners, 
 in his easy conditions, in his exceeding patience, and 
 in his urgent invitations. Do not all these discover his 
 readiness to save? Did he ever manifest himself to be 
 unwilling? Remember also his faithfulness to perform 
 bis engagements ! Study also the evidences of his love in 
 thyself; look over the work of his grace in thy soul; 
 if thqu dost not find the degrees which thou desirest, 
 yet deny not that degree which thou findest. Re- 
 member what discoveries of thy state thou hast made 
 formerly in the work of self-examination. Remember 
 all the former testimonies of the Spirit; and all thy 
 sweet feelings of the favour of God; and all the 
 prayers that he hath heard and granted ; and all the 
 preservations and deliverances ; and all the progress of 
 his Spirit, in his workings on thy soul, and the dis- 
 posals- of providence, conducing to thy good: and, 
 vouchsafing of means, the directing thee to them, the; 
 directing; of ministers to meet with, thy state; there* 
 ■ 2.A.3- 
 
-282 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. Ill, § 7, 
 
 straint of those sins that thy nature was most prone to. 
 Lay these together, and then think with thyself, whe- 
 ther alt these do not testify the good-will of the Lord 
 concerning thy salvation ? And whether thou mayest 
 not conclude with Sampson's mother, when her husband 
 thought they should snrely die, " If the Lord were 
 pleased to kill us, he would not have received an of- 
 fering at our hands, neither would he have shewn us 
 all these things, nor would, as at this time, have told 
 us such things as these," Judges xiii. 22j 23. 
 
 2. When thy meditation hath thus proceeded about 
 the truth of thy happiness, the next part of the work 
 is to mediate on its goodness; that when the judgment 
 hath determined, and faith hath apprehended, it may 
 then pass on to raise the affections. 
 
 1. The first affection to be acted is Lore : the object 
 of it is Goodness : here then is the reviving part of my 
 •work: go to thy memory, thy judgment, and thy 
 faith ; and from thence produce the excellencies of thy 
 Rest: take out a copy of the record of the Spirit in 
 Scripture, and another of the sentence registered in thy 
 spirit, whereby the transcendent glory of the saints is 
 declared : present these to thy affection of love; open 
 to it the cabinet that contains the pearl; shew it the 
 promise, and that which it assureth : thou needest not 
 look on heaven through a multiplying glass : open but 
 one casement, that love may look in: give it but a 
 glimpse of the back parts of God, and thou wilt find 
 thyself presently in another world : do but speak out 
 and love can hear: do but reveal these things and love 
 can see: it is the brutish love of the world that is 
 blind ; divine love is exceedingly quick-sighted. Let 
 thv faith, as it were, take thy heart by the hand, and 
 shew it the sumptuous buildings of thy eternal habita- 
 tion, and the glorious ornaments of thy Father's house : 
 shew it those mansions which Christ is preparing, and 
 display before it the honours of the kingdom ; let faith 
 lead thy heart into the presence of God, and draw as 
 near as possibly thou canst, and say to it, " Behold the 
 Ancient of Days : the Lord Jehovah, whose Name is 
 1 AM :" This is He who made the worlds with 
 his word ; this is the Cause of all causes, the Spring of 
 action, the Fountain of life, the First Principle of the 
 
ITT. § 7. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 28$ 
 
 creatures' motions, who upholds the earth, who- rule9 
 the nations, whodisposeth of events, and suhdueth hid 
 foes, who governeth the depths of the great waters, and 
 boundeth the rage of her swelling waves : who ruleth 
 the winds, and moveth the orbs, and eauseth the sun 
 to run its race, and the several planets to know their 
 courses: This is He that loved thee from everlasting, 
 that formed thee in the womb, and gave thee this soul ; 
 who brought thee forth, and shewed thee this light, 
 and ranked thee with the chief of his earthly creatures ! 
 Whoendueth thee with thy understanding, and beau- 
 tifieth thee with his gifts: who maintaineth thee with 
 life, and health, and comforts; who gave thee thy 
 preferments, and dignified thee with. thy honours, and 
 differenced thee from the most miserable and vilest of 
 men! Here, O here is an Object worthy thy love; 
 here thou mayest be sure thou canst not love too much : 
 this is the Lord that hath blest thee with his benefits, 
 that hath spread thy table in the sight of thine enemies, 
 and caused thy cup to overflow. This is He that angels 
 and saints praise, and the host of heaven must magnify 
 for ever. 
 
 Thus do thou expatiate on the praises of God, and 
 open his excellencies to thine own heart, till thou feel 
 the life begin to stir, and the fire in thy breast begin t<o 
 kindle. As gazing upon the dusty beauty of flesh doth 
 kindle the fire of carnal love^: so this gazing on the 
 glory and goodness of the Lord will kindle spiritual 
 love. What though thy heart be rock and flint ! 
 This often striking may bring forth the fire ; but if yet 
 thou feelest not thy love to work, lead thy heart fur- 
 ther, and shew it yet more : shew it the Son of the 
 living God, whose Name is "Wonderful, Counsellor, 
 the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace :" shew it 
 the King of Saints on the Throne of his Glory, " Who 
 is, and was, and is to come; who liveth and was dead, 
 and behold he lives for evermore ;" who hath made thy 
 peace by the blood of his cross, and hath prepared thee, 
 with himself, an habitation of peace. His office is to 
 be the great Peace-maker ; his kingdom is a kingdom 
 of peace ; his gospel is the tidings of peace: his voice 
 to thee now is the voice of peace. Draw near and 
 behold him: dost thou not hear his voice; who 
 6 
 
?84 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 7. 
 
 called Thomas to come near, and to see the prints of 
 the nails, and to put his finger into the wounds? 
 Who calls to thee, come near and view the Lord thy 
 Saviour, and be not faithless, but believe ; Peace be 
 vnto thee: fear not, it is I. He that called, Behold 3Ie, 
 behold Me, to a rebellious people that called not on 
 his name, doth call out to thee a believer to behold 
 him ; he that calls to them that pass by, to behold his* 
 sorrow in the day of his humiliation, doth call now to 
 thee to behold his glory in the day of his exaltation. 
 Look well upon him : dost thou not know him ? Why, 
 it is he that reversed the sentence of thy damnation ; 
 that bore the curse that thou shouldst have borne, and 
 restored thee to the blessing that thou hadst forfeited, 
 and purchased the advancement which thou must in- 
 herit for ever; and yet dost thou not know him ? Why 
 his hands were pierced, his head was pierced, his side 
 was pierced, his heart was pierced with the sting of 
 thy sin, that by these marks, thou mightest always know 
 him : dost thou not remember when he found thee 
 lying in thy blood, and took pity on thee, and drest 
 thy wounds, and brought thee home, and said unto 
 thee, live? Hast thou forgotten siuce he wounded 
 himself to cure thy wounds, and let out his own bloo«i 
 to stop thy bleeding ? Is not the passage to his heart 
 yet standing open ? If thou know him not by the face, 
 the voice, the hands ; if thou know him not by the tears 
 and bloody sweat ; yet look nearer, thou mayest know 
 him by the heart; that broken-healed heart is his, that 
 dead-revived heart is his, that pitying, melting heart, 
 is his : doubtless it can be none but his. Love an^ 
 compassion are its certain signatures; this is he, evegt 
 this is he, who would rather die than thou shouldst, 
 who chose thy life before his own,- who pleads hig 
 blood before the Father, and makes continual inter- 
 cession for thee. If he had not suffered, O what hadst 
 thou suffered ! What hadst thou been if he had not 
 redeemed thee! Whither hadst thou gone, if he had 
 not recalled thee ! There was but one step between 
 thee and hell, when he stept in and bore the stroke,; 
 he slew the bear and rescued the prey ; he delivered 
 thy soul fiom the roanng lion , and is not, here i'u«ti 
 
III. § % THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST* 285 
 
 enough for love to feed on ? Doth not this loadstone 
 snatch thy heart to it, and almost draw it forth from thy 
 breast ? Canst thou read the history of love any further 
 at once ? Doth not thy throbbing heart here stop ta 
 ease itself; and dost thou not, as Joseph, seek for a 
 place to weep in ? Oh do not the tears of thy love 
 bedew these lines ? Go on then, for the field of love in 
 large, it will yield thee fresh contents for ever, and 
 thine eternal work will be to behold and love: thou 
 needest not then want work for thy present meditation. 
 
 Hast thou forgotten the time when thou wast weep- 
 ing, and he wiped the tears from thine eyes? When 
 thou wast bleeding, and he wiped the blood from thy 
 soul ? When pricking cares and fears did grieve thee,. 
 and he did refresh thee, and draw out the thorns ? Hast 
 ttiou forgotten when thy folly wounded thy soul, and 
 the venomous guilt seized upon thy heart ? When he- 
 sucked forth the mortal poison from thy soul, thougl* 
 he drew it into his own. 
 
 I remember it is written of good Melancthon, that 
 when his child was removed from him, it pierced his 
 heart to remember, how he once sat weeping with the 
 infant on his knee, and how lovingly it wiped the tears 
 from the father's eyes: how then would it pierce thy 
 heart to think how lovingly Christ hath wiped away 
 thine ! O how often hath he found thee weeping, 
 like Hagar, while thou gavest up thy state, thy friends, 
 thy soul for lost ; and he opened to thee a well of con- 
 solation, and opened thy eyes also that thou mightest see 
 it! How often hath he found thee in the posture of E lias, 
 sitting under the tree forlorn and solitary, and desiring 
 rather to die than to live ; and he hath spread thee a 
 table from heaven, and sent thee away refreshed and 
 encouraged ! How often hath he found thee as the ser- 
 vant of Elisha, crying out, Alas, what shall ive c/o, an 
 hest dcth compass the city ! And he hath openeth thine 
 eyes to see more for thee than against thee, both in 
 regard of the enemies of thy soul and thy body. How 
 often hath he found thee in such a passion as Jonas, in 
 thy peevish frenzy, weary of thy life; and he hath not 
 answered passion with passion, though he might have 
 done well to be angry, but hath mildly reasoned thee 
 
286 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 7, 
 
 out of thy madness, and said, Dost thou well to be angry , 
 or to repine against me ? How often hath he set thee on 
 watching and praying, or repenting and believing, and 
 when he hath returned, hath found thee fas>t asleep ; 
 and yet he hath not taken thee at the worst, but instead 
 of an angry aggravation of thy fault, he hath covered 
 it over with a mantle of love, and prevented thy over- 
 much Borrow with a gentle excuse, The spirit is ivilling, 
 but thejlesh is weak/ He might have done by thee, as 
 Epaminondds by his soldier, who, finding him asleep 
 upon the watch, run him through with his sword, and 
 said, " Dead I found thee, and dead I leave thee:" 
 but he rather chose to awake thee more gently, that his 
 tenderness might admonish thee, and keep thee watch- 
 ing. How often hath he been traduced in his cause, or 
 name, and thou hast, like Peter, denied him, (at least 
 by thy silence) whilst he hath stood in sight ? Yet all 
 the revenge he hath taken, hath been a heart-melting 
 look, and a silent remembering thee of thy fault by his 
 countenance. How often hath conscience haled thee 
 before him, as the Pharisees did the adulterous woman : 
 and laid most heinous crimes to thy charge ! And when 
 thou hast expected to hear the sentence of death, he 
 hath shamed away thy accusers, and put them to si- 
 lence, and said to thee, " Neither do I condemn thee ; 
 go thy way and sin no more." 
 
 And art thou not yet transported with love? Can 
 thy heart be cold when thou thinkest of this, or can it 
 hold when thou rememberest those boundless compas- 
 sions ? Rememberest thou not the time when he met 
 thee in thy duties; when he smiled upon thee, and 
 spake comfortably to thee? When thou didst "sit 
 under his shadow with great delight, and when his 
 fruit was sweet to thy taste?" When "He brought 
 thee to his banqueting house, and his banner over thee 
 was love?" When "his left hand was under thy 
 head, and with his right hand he did embrace thee ?" 
 And dost thou not cry out " Stay me, comfort me, 
 for I am sick of love f" Thus I would have thee deal 
 with thy heart ; thus hold forth the goodness of Christ 
 to thy affections, plead thus the cause with thy frozen. 
 
III. § 7. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 287 
 
 soul, till thou say as David in another case, My heart 
 was hot ivitliin me. 
 
 If these arguments will not rouse up thy love, thou 
 hast more of this nature at hand : thou hast all Christ's 
 personal excellencies to study ; thou hast all his parti- 
 cular mercies to thyself ; thou hast all his sweet and 
 near relations to thee, and thou hast the happiness of 
 thy perpetual abode with him hereafter. All these 
 offer themselves to thy meditation, with all their several 
 branches. Only follow them close to thy heart, ply 
 the work, and let it not cool : deal with thy heart as 
 Christ did with Peter, when he asked thrice over, 
 JLovest thou me f till he was grieved and answers, Lord, 
 Thou knowest that I lore thee. So say thou to thy heart, 
 Lovest thou the Lord? and ask it the second time, and 
 urge it the third time, Lovest thou the Lord ? Till thou 
 grieve it, and shame it out of its stupidity, and it can 
 truly say ; — Thou knowest that I love Him. 
 
 2. The next affection to be excited is, Desire. The 
 object of it is Goodness not yet attained. This being 
 so necessary an attendant of love, and being excited 
 by much the same considerations, I suppose you need 
 the less direction, and therefore 1 shall but touch 
 briefly on this ; If love be hot, desire will not be cold. 
 
 When thou hast thus viewed the goodness of the 
 Lord, and considered the pleasures that are at his right- 
 hand, then proceed on thy meditation thus. Think 
 with thyself, where have I been ? what have I seen ? 
 O the incomprehensible astonishing glory ! O the rare 
 transcendent beauty ! O blessed souls that now enjoy 
 it.; that see a thousand times more clearly, what I have 
 seen but darkly at a distance, and scarce discern thro' 
 the interposing clouds ! What a difference is there be- 
 twixt my state and theirs ! I am sighing, and they are 
 singing: I am sinning, and they are pleasing God : I 
 have an ulcerated soul, like the loathsome bodies of 
 Job or Lazarus, but they are perfect and without 
 blemish : I am here entangled in the love of the world, 
 when they are taken up with the love of God : I live 
 indeed amongst the means of grace, and I possess the 
 fellowship of my fellow-believers; but I have none of 
 iheir immediate views of God, none of that fellowship 
 
388 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 7. 
 
 that they possess; they have none of my cares and 
 fears; they weep not in secret; they languish not in 
 sorrows ; all tears are wiped from their eyes. O 
 what a feast hath my faith beheld, and what a famine 
 is yet in my spirit ; I have seen a glimpse of the court 
 of God, but, alas, I stand but as a beggar at the door, 
 when the souls of my companions are admitted in. O 
 blessed souls, I may not, I dare not envy your happi- 
 ness ; 1 rather rejoice in my brethren's prosperity, and 
 am glad to think of the day when I shall be admitted 
 into your fellowship. But, O that 1 were so happy as 
 to be in your place; not to displace you, but to rest 
 there with you. Why must I stay and groan, and 
 weep, and wait! My Lord is gone, he hath left this 
 earth, and is entered into his glory : my brethren are 
 gone, my friends are there, my house, my hope, my 
 all is there! and must I stay behind to sojourn here? 
 "What precious Saints have left this earth ? If the Saints 
 were nil here, if Christ were here, then it were no 
 grief for me to stay : but when my soul is so far dis- 
 tant from my God, wonder not if I now complain; 
 an ignorant Micah will do so for his idols, and shall not 
 my soul do so for God? And yet if I had no hope 
 of enjoying, I would go and hide myself in the de- 
 serts, and spend my days in fruitless wishes : but 
 seeing it is the promised Land, the state I must be ad- 
 vanced to myself, and my soul draws near, and is al- 
 most at it, I will live and long; I will look and desire: 
 I will breathe out, How long, Lord, how long ! How 
 long, Lord, holy and true, wilt thou suffer this soul 
 to pant and groan ! and wilt not open and let him in, 
 who waits and longs to be with thee ! 
 
 Thus, Reader, let thy thoughts aspire : thus whet the 
 desires of thy soul by meditation ; till thy soul long, 
 (as David's for the waters of Bethlehem) and say, «« O 
 that one would give me to drink of the wells of salva- 
 tion !" and till thou canst say as he, " I have longed 
 for thy salvation, O Lord." 
 
 3. The next affection to be acted is, Hope. This is 
 of singular use to the soul. It helpeth exceedingly to 
 support it in sufferings : it encourageth it to adventure 
 wpon the greatest difficulties; it firmly established! it in 
 
111. § 7. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 28<) 
 
 the most shaking trials, and it mightily enlivens the 
 soul in duties. 
 
 Let faith then shew thee the truth of the promise, 
 and judgment the goodness of the thing promised: 
 and what then is wanting for the raising thy hope ? 
 Shew thy soul from the word, and from the mercies, 
 and from the nature of God, what possibility, yea, 
 what probability, what certainty thou hast of pos- 
 sessing the crown ! Think and reason thus with thy 
 own heart: Why should I not confidently and com* 
 fortably hope, when my soul is in the hands of so corn- 
 
 Sassionate a Saviour, and when the kingdom is at the 
 isposal of so bounteous a God? Did he ever manifest 
 any backwardness to my good, or discover the least 
 inclination to my ruin ? Hath he not sworn the con* 
 trary to me in his word, that he delighteth not in the 
 death of him that dieth, but rather that he should re* 
 pent and live? Have not all his dealings with me wit- 
 nessed the same ? Did he not apprise me of my danger 
 when I never feared it ? And why was this if he would 
 not have me to escape it ? Did he not remind me of my 
 happiness, when 1 had no thoughts of it ? And why 
 was this, but that he would have me to enjoy it ? I 
 have been ashamed of my hope in the arm of flesh, but 
 hope in the promise of God maketh not ashamed : I 
 will say therefore in my greatest sufferings, " The 
 Lord is my portion, therefore will I hope in Him. The 
 Lord is good to them that wait for him, to the soul 
 that seeketh him : it is good that 1 both hope, and 
 quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. The Lord 
 will not cast off for ever ; but though he cause grief, 
 yet will he have compassion according to the multitude, 
 of his mereies." Though I languish and die, yet will 
 I hope ; for he hath said, the righteous hath hope in his 
 death. Though I must lie down in dust and darkness, 
 yet there my flesh shall rest in hope. And when my flesh 
 hath nothing in which it may rejoice, yet will I keep 
 the rejoicing of hope firm to the end. 
 
 4. The last affection to be acted is Joy . This is the 
 end of all the rest ; love, desire, and hope, tend to the 
 raising of our joy. And is it nothing to have a deed «f 
 ■gift from God ? Arc his infallible promises no ground 
 
£<)£ THE SATNTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 7. 
 
 of joy? Is it nothing to live in daily expectation of 
 entering into the kingdom ? Is not my assurance of 
 being glorified one day, a sufficient ground for inex- 
 pressible joy ? Is it not a delight to the heir of a king- 
 dom, to think of what he must hereafter possess, tho' 
 at present he little differs from a servant? Am I not 
 commanded to rejoice hi hope of the glory of God? 
 
 Here take thy heart once again, as it were, by the 
 hand; bring it to the top of the highest mount; shew 
 it the kingdom of Christ and the glory of it : say to it, 
 All this will thy Lord bestow upon thee, who hast believ- 
 ed in him, and been a worshipper of him. " It is the Fa- 
 ther's good pleasure to give thee his kingdom." Seest 
 thou this astonishing glory above thee ? Why all this is 
 thy own inheritance. This crown is thine,, these plea- 
 sures are thine, because thou art Christ's, and Christ is 
 thine; when thou wast married to him, thou hadst all 
 this with him. 
 
 Thus take thy heart into the land of promise; shew 
 it the pleasant hills and fruitful vallies; shew it the 
 clusters of grapes which thou hast gathered, and by 
 these convince it that it is a blessed land, flowing with 
 better than milk and honey : enter the gates of the 
 holy City, walk thro' the streets of the New Jeru- 
 salem, walk about Sion, go round about her, tell the 
 towers thereof, mark well her bulwarks, consider her 
 palaces, that thou mayest tell it to thy soul : " The 
 foundation is garnished with precious stones; the 
 twelve gates are twelve pearls; the street of the city is 
 of pure gold, as it were transparent glass; there is no 
 temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb 
 are the temple of it. It hath no need of the sun or 
 moon to shine in it, for the glory of God doth lighten 
 it, and the Lamb is the light thereof, and the nations 
 of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it." 
 This is thy rest, O my soul, and this must be the place 
 of thy everlasting habitation: "let all the sons of 
 Sion then rejoice, and the daughters of Jerusalem be 
 glad ; for great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in 
 the city of our God : beautiful for situation, the joy 
 of the whole earth is Mount Sion : God is known in 
 fcer palaces for a refuge*" • 
 
HI. § 7. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 291 
 
 Yet proceed : " The soul (saith Austin) that loves, 
 ascends frequently, and runs familiarly through the 
 streets of the heavenly. Jerusalem, visiting the patriarchs 
 and prophets, saluting the apostles, and admiring the 
 armies of martyrs and confessors." So do thou lead on 
 thy heart as from, street to street, bringing it into the 
 palace of the great King; lead it as it were from 
 chamber to chamber: say to it, * Here must I lodge, 
 here must I live, here must I love and be loved. I 
 must shortly be one of this heavenly choir, I shall then 
 be better skilled in the music : among this blessed com- 
 pany must 1 take my place; my tears will then be 
 wiped away. There it is that troubles and lamenta- 
 tions cease, and the voice of sorrow is not heard. O 
 when I look upon this glorious place, what a dungeon 
 methinks is earth ! O what a difference betwixt a man 
 feeble, pained, groaning, dying, rotting in the grave, 
 and one of these triumphant, blessed, shining saints. 
 Here * shall 1 then drink of the river of pleasure, the 
 streams whereof make glad the city of God. For the 
 Lord will create a new earth, and the former shall not 
 be remembered; we shall be glad and rejoice for ever 
 in that which he creates ! for he will create Jerusalem 
 a rejoicing, and her people a joy : and he will rejoice 
 in Jerusalem, and joy in his people, and the voice of 
 weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of 
 crying; there shall be no more an infant of days, nor 
 an old man that hath not rilled his days.' 
 
 " Why do I not then arise from the dust, and lay 
 aside my sad complaints, and cease my mourning ?. Why 
 do I not trample down vain delights, and feed upon the 
 foreseen delights of glory ? Why is not my life a 
 continual joy ; and the savour of heaven perpetually 
 upon my spirit?" 
 
 I do not place any flat necessity in thy acting all the 
 fore-mentioned affections in this order at one time, or 
 in one duty : perhaps thou mayest sometimes feel some 
 one of thy affections more flat than the rest, and so 
 have more need of exciting it : or thou mayest find one 
 stirring more than the rest, and so think it more season- 
 able to help it forward : or if thy time be short, thou 
 mayest work upon one affection one day, and upon 
 2 JB 2 
 
292 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 8. 
 
 another the next, as thou findest cause : all this 1 leaTe 
 to tky own prudence. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Some Advantages and Helps fur raising the Soul 
 by Meditation, 
 
 THE next part of this Directory, is to shew yon 
 what advantages you should take, and what help* 
 you should use, to make your meditations of heaven 
 more quickening, and to make you taste the sweetness 
 that is therein. For this is the main work, that you 
 may not stick in a bare thinking, but may have the 
 lively sense of all upon your heart: and this you will 
 find to be the most difficult part of the work. It is 
 easier to think of heaven a whole day, than to be lively 
 and affectionate on thos*e thoughts one quarter of an 
 hour. Therefore, let us yet a little further consider 
 ■what may be done, to make our thoughts of heaven 
 piercing, affecting thoughts. 
 
 It will be a point of spiritual prudence, and a sin- 
 gular help of the furthering of faith to call in ouf 
 senses to its assistance : if we can make us friends of 
 those usual enemies, and make them instruments of 
 raising us to God, which are the usual means of draw- 
 ing us from God, we shall perform a very excellent 
 work. Sure it is both possible and lawful to do some- 
 thing in this kind ; for God would not have given us 
 either the senses themselves, or their usual objects, if 
 they might not have been serviceable to his own praise, 
 and helps to raise us to the apprehensions of higher 
 things: and it is very considerable, how the Holy 
 Ghost doth condescend in the phrase of Scripture, in 
 bringing things down to the reach of sense ; how he 
 Bets forth the excellencies of spiritual things in words 
 that are borrowed from the objects of sense. Doubt- 
 less, if such expressions had not been best, and to us 
 necessary, the Holy Ghost would not so frequently have 
 used them ; he that will speak to man's understand i/fig* 
 
11$. § 8. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 2flfS 
 
 must speak in roan's language, and speak that which 
 he is capable to conceive. 
 
 1. Go to then ; when thou settest thyself to meditate 
 on the joys above, think on them boldly as Scripture- 
 hath expressed them ; bring down thy conceivings to 
 the reach of sense. Excellency without familiarity, 
 doth more amaze than delight us; but love and joy 
 are promoted by familiar acquaintance : when we go 
 about to think of God and glory without these spec- 
 tacles, we are lost, and have nothing to fix our thoughts 
 upon : we set God and heaven so far from us, that our 
 thoughts are strange, and we look at them as things 
 beyond our reach, and are ready to say, that which is 
 above is nothing to us ; to conceive no more of God 
 and glory but that we cannot conceive them : and to 
 apprehend no more, but that they are past apprehen- 
 sion, will produce no more love but thife, to acknow- 
 ledge that they are so far above us that we cannot love 
 them ; and no more joy but this, that they are above 
 our rejoicing. And therefore put Christ no farther 
 from you, than he hath put himself, lest the divine na- 
 ture be again inaccessible. Think of Christ as in our 
 own nature glorified ; think of our fellow-saints as men 
 there perfected; think of the city and state as the 
 Spirit hath expressed it, only with caution. Suppose 
 thou wert now beholding this City of God, and that 
 thou hadst been companion with John in his survey of 
 its glory, and hadst seen the thrones, the majesty, the 
 heavenly hosts, the shining splendour whicn he saw ; 
 draw as strong suppositions as may be from thy sense, 
 for the helping of thy affections. It is lawful to sup- 
 pose we did see for the present, that which God hath 
 in prophecies revealed, and which we must really see 
 in more unspeakable brightness before long. Suppose 
 therefore with thyself thou hadst been that apostle's 
 fellow-traveller into the celestial kingdom, and that 
 thou hadst seen all the saints in their white robes, with 
 palms in their hands; suppose thou hadst heard those 
 songs of Moses and of the. Lamb : or didst even now 
 hear them praising and glorifying the living God: if 
 thou hadst seen these things indeed, in what a rapture 
 •wouldst thou have been ? And the more seriouslv thou , 
 2B3 
 
2^4 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 8^ 
 
 puttest the supposition to thyself, the more will the 
 meditation elevate thy heart. 
 
 I would not have thee as the Papists, draw them- in 
 pictures, nor use such ways to represent them. This,. 
 as it is a course forbidden by God, so it would but 
 seduce and draw down thy heart ; but get the liveliest 
 picture of them in thy mind that possibly thou canst r 
 meditate on them, as if thou wert all the while be- 
 holding them, and as if thou wert even hearing the 
 Hallelujahs; till thou canst say, "Methinks I see a 
 glimpse of the glory! Methinks I hear the shouts of 
 joy and praise 1 Methinks I even stand by Abraham 
 and David, Peter and Paul, and more of these triumph- 
 ing souls ! Methinks I see the Son of God appearing 
 in the clouds, and the world standing at the bar to re* 
 ceive their doom ! Methinks I hear him say, ' Come, 
 ye blessed of my Father V and see them go rejoicing- 
 •into the joy of their Lord!' My very dreams of 
 these things have deeply affected me; and should not 
 thqse just suppositions affect me much more ? What if? 
 had ^een with Paul those unutterable things? Should 
 not I have been exalted (and that perhaps above mea- 
 sure) as well as he ? What if I had stood in the room 
 of Stephen, and seen heaven opened, and Christ sitting 
 at the right hand of God ? Surely that one sight was 
 worth the suffering his storm of stones. O that I might 
 but see what he did see, though I also suffered what he 
 did surfer ! What if [ had seen such a sight as Michaiah 
 saw ? « The Lord sitting upon his throne, and all the 
 host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his 
 left.' Why these men of God did see such things : 
 and I shall shortly see far more than ever they saw, till 
 they were loosed from the flesh, as I must be." And* 
 thus you see how the familiar conceiving of the state 
 of blessedness, as the Spirit hath in a condescending 
 language expressed it, and our strong raiding of sup- 
 positions from our bodily senses, will further our af- 
 fections in this heavenly work. 
 
 There is yet another way by which we may make 
 our senses serviceable to us, and that is, by comparing 
 the objects of sense with the objects of faith; and so 
 forcing sense to afford us that medium, from whence 
 v/s may coud,udi the transceudent worth of glory, by 
 
III. § 8. THE SAINTS EVTRLASTING REST. 2f*5 
 
 arguing from sensitive delights as from the less to the 
 creator. And here tor your further assistance, I shall 
 furnish 3011 with some of these comparative arguments* 
 And 1. You must strongly argue with your hearts, 
 from the corrupt delights of sensual men. Think then 
 with yourselves, when you would be sensible of the 
 joys above: is it such a delight to be a sinner, to do 
 wickedly ? And will it not be delightful indeed to live 
 AvithGod? Hath a dvunkard such delight in his cups 
 and companions, that the very fears of damnation will 
 not make him forsake them ? Surely then there are high 
 delights with God! If the way of hell can aiford 
 such pleasure, what are the pleasures of the saints 
 in heaven ? 
 
 2. Compare also the delights above with the lawful 
 delights of sense. Think with thyself, How sweet is 
 food to my taste when I am hungry ? Especially as 
 Isaac said, That which nil/ soul lovcth? What delight 
 hath the taste in some pleasant fruits, in some well 
 relished meats ! O what delight then must my soul have 
 in feeding upon Christ the Living Bread! And in 
 eating with him at his table in his kingdom ! how plea- 
 sant is drink in the extremity of thirst! Then how 
 delightful will it be to my soul " to drink of the foun- 
 tain of living water, which whoso drinks shall thirst no 
 more !'* 
 
 3. Compare also the delights above with the delights 
 that are found in natural knowledge: this is far be- 
 yond the delights of sense, and the delights of heaven 
 are further beyond it. Think then, can an Archimedes 
 be so taken up with his mathematical inventions, that 
 the threats of death cannot take him off? Should I not 
 much more be taken up with the delights of glory, and 
 die with these contemplations fresh upon my soul? 
 Especially when my death will perfect ray delights ! 
 But those of Archimedes die with him. What a plea- 
 sure is it to dive into the secrets of nature ! to find out 
 the mysteries of Arts and Sciences ! If we make but any- 
 new discovery in one of these, what singular pleasure 
 do we find therein ! Think then what high delights 
 there are in the knowledge of God and Christ. If the 
 face of human learning be so beautiful, that sensual 
 pleasures are to it but base and brutish j how beautiful 
 
$§6 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § g. 
 
 then is the face of God ! When we light on some 
 choice and learned book, how are we taken with it ! 
 We could read and study it day and night; we can 
 leave meat, and drink, and sleep to read it: what de- 
 lights then are there at God's right hand, where we 
 shall know in a moment more than any mortal can 
 know ! 
 
 4. Compare also the delights above, with the de- 
 lights of morality, and of the natural affections. What 
 delight had many sober heathens in the practice of 
 moral duties : so that they took him only for an honest 
 man who did well through the love of virtue, and not 
 for fear of punishment; yea so highly did they 
 value virtue, that they thought the chief happiness of 
 man consisted in it. Think then what excellency there 
 will be in that rare perfection which we shall be raised 
 to in heaven ! And in that uncreated perfection of God 
 which we shall behold ! W r hat sweetness is there in the 
 exercise of natural love ; whether to children, to pa- 
 rents, to yoke-fellows, or to friends! The delight 
 which special, faithful friends, find in loving and en- 
 joying one another, is a most pleasing sweet delight : 
 even Christ himself, as it seemeth, had some of this kind 
 of love; for he had one disciple whom he especially 
 loved. Think then if the delights of cordial friend- 
 ship be so great, what delight shall we have in the 
 friendship of the Most High ! and in our mutual amity 
 with Jesus Christ ! and in the dearest love and comfort 
 with the saints 1 Surely this will be a closer and stricter 
 friendship than ever was betwixt any friends on earth; 
 and these will be more lovely and de-irable friends than 
 any that ever the sun beheld; and both our infections 
 to our Father and our Saviou*-, but especially his af- 
 fections to us, will be such as here we never knew ; as 
 spirits are so far more powerful than flesh, that one 
 angel can destroy an host, so also are their affections 
 more powerful ; we shah then >ove a thousand times 
 HNKCj strongly and sweetly than now we can ; and as all 
 the attributes and workt, o> God are incomprehensible, 
 &o are the attributes and win ks of love ; he wil; love us , 
 many thousand fciiuej more, than we even at the best, 
 . .» ';!..: what joy then will there be itt 
 
 
III. § 8. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 297 
 
 5. Compare also the excellencies of heaven with 
 those glorious works of the creation which our eyes 
 now behold. What a deal of wisdom, and power, and 
 goodness, appeareth in and through them to a witte 
 observer ! What a deal of the majesty of the great 
 Creator doth shine in the face of the fabrick of the 
 world ! Surely his works are great and admirable, 
 sought out of them that have pleasure therein. This 
 makes the study of Natural Philosophy so pleasant, be- 
 cause the works of God are so excellent : what rare 
 workmanship is in the body of man ! yea in the body 
 of every beast! which makes the Anatomical Studies 
 so delightful : What excellency in every plant we see ! 
 in the beauty of flowers ! in the nature, diversity, and 
 use of herbs 1 in fruits, in roots, in minerals, and what 
 not ? But especially if we look to the greater works ; 
 if we consider the whole body of this earth, and its 
 creatures, and inhabitants; the ocean of water, with 
 its motions and dimensions; the variation of the seasons 
 and of the face of the earth ; the intercourse of spring 
 and autumn, of summer and winter; what wonderful 
 excellencies do these contain ! Why, then think of these 
 things which are but the servants of sinful men, and yet 
 are so full of mysterious worth; what is that place where 
 God himself doth well, prepared for the just who are 
 perfected with Christ ! 
 
 When thou walkest forth in the evening, look upon 
 the stars, in what number they bespangle the firma- 
 ment : if in the day time, look up to the glorious sun : 
 view the wide expanding heavens, and say to thyself, 
 What glory is in the least of yonder stars ! What a 
 vast, what a resplendent body hath yonder moon, and 
 every planet ! What an inconceivable glory hath the 
 sun! Why all this is nothing to the glory of heaven. 
 Yonder sun must there be laid aside as useless; for it 
 would not be seen for the brightness of God ! I shall 
 live above all yonder glory : Yonder is but darkness to 
 the lustre of my Father's house ; I shall be as glorious 
 as that sun myself! 
 
 So think on the rest of the creatures: This whole 
 earth is but my Father's footstool : this thunder is no- 
 thing to his dreadful voice; these winds are nothing 
 to the breadth of his mouth : So much wisdom and 
 
t$8 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. J 8. 
 
 power at appear in these; so much and far more great- 
 ness and goodness, a;.d delight, shall I enjoy in the 
 actual fruition of God. Surely, if the rain which 
 fails, and the sun which shines on the just and unjust, 
 be so wonderful ; the sun then which must shine on 
 none but saini> and angels, must needs be wonderful 
 and ravishing in glory. 
 
 6. Compare the things which thou shalt enjoy above, 
 with tile exeellene es of those admirable works of Pro- 
 vidence, which God exerciseth in the church, and in 
 the world. . What glorious things hath the Lord 
 wrought ! And yet we shall see more glorious than 
 Would it not be an astonishing sight, to see 
 the tea stand as a wall on the right hand, and on the 
 1 <, and the people of Israel pass safely through, and 
 Pharaoh and his people swallowed up ? If we had seen 
 ck to gush forth streams, or manna or quails 
 down from heaven, or the earth open, and swal- 
 low up the wicked: would not all these have been 
 wondrous, glorious sights ? But we shall see far greater 
 things than these. And as sights shall be more won- 
 derful, so also shall they be more sweet: there shall 
 be no more blood or wrath intermingled; weshaUmdt 
 then cry out as David, Who shall stand before this holy 
 Lord God? Would it not have been an astonishing 
 sight to have seen the sun stand still in the firmament? 
 Why we shall see when there shall be no sun to shine 
 at all; we shall behold for ever a sun of more incom- 
 parable brightness. Were it not a brave life, if we 
 might still live among wonders and miracles; and all 
 for us, and not against us ? If we could have drought 
 or rain at our prayers, as Elias ; or if we could call 
 down fire from heaven, to destroy our enemies: or 
 raise the dead to life, as Elisha; or cure the diseased, 
 and speak strange languages, as the apostles ; alas, 
 these are nothing to the wonders which we shall see and 
 possess with God, even all those wonders of goodness 
 and love ! W r e shall possess that pearl and power itself, 
 through whose virtue aJl these works were done: we 
 shall ourselves be the subjects of more wonderful mer- 
 cies than any of these, Jonas was but raised from a 
 three days burial, from the belly of the great fish in the 
 deep ocean; but we shall be raised from many years 
 
IFI. § 8. THE SA.TNTS EVERLASTING REST. 2(}<J 
 
 rottenness and dust, and that dust, exalted to a sun-like 
 glory, and that glory perpetuated to all eternity. What 
 sayest thou ? Is not this the greatest of miracles or 
 wonders? Surely if we observe but common provi- ' 
 deuces, the motions of* the sun, the tides of the sea, 
 the standing of the earth, the warming it, the watering 
 it with rain as a garden, the keeping in order a wicked 
 confused world, with multitudes of the like; they are 
 all very admirable : But then to think of the Sion of 
 God, of the vision of the divine majesty, of the comely 
 order of the heavenly host : what an admirable sight 
 must that needs be ! O what rare and mighty works 
 have we seen ! what clear discoveries of an almighty 
 Arm ! What magnifying of weakness! What casting 
 down of sUength! What wonders wrought by most 
 improbable means ? What turning of tears and fears 
 into safety and joy. Such hearing of earnest prayers, 
 as if God could have denied us nothing ! All these were 
 wonderful works; but what are these to our full deli- 
 verance ? to our final conquest ? to our eternal tri- 
 umph ? and to that great Day of great things ? 
 
 7. Compare also the mercies which thou shalt have 
 above, with those particular providences which thou 
 hast enjoyed thyself. If thou be a christian indeed, 
 thou hast, if not in thy book, yet certainly in thy 
 heart, many favours upon record ; the very remem- 
 brance and rehearsal of them is sweet; how much more 
 sweet was the actual enjoyment ? But all these are 
 nothing, to to the mercies which are above. Look over 
 the excellent mercies of thy youth, the mercies of thy 
 riper years, the mercies of thy several places and rela- 
 tions: are they not excellent and innumerable ? Canst 
 thou not think of the several places thou hast lived 
 in, and remember that each has had' its several 
 mercies ? The mercies of such a place, and such a 
 place ! and all of them very rich and engaging mer- 
 cies? O how sweet was it to thee, when God resolved 
 thy last doubts ! When he overcame and silenced thy 
 fears. and unbelief! When he prevented the inconve- 
 niences of thy life, which thy own counsel would have 
 cast thee into ! When he eased thy pains ! When he 
 healed thy sickness, and raised thee up from the very 
 grave ! Were not all these precious mercies ? Alas, 
 7 
 
300 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § §• 
 
 these are but small things for thee in the eyes of Cod : 
 he intended thee far better things than these; even 
 such as these are scarce a taste of. It was a choice 
 mercy that God so notably answered thy prayers, 
 and that thou hast been so often and evidently a pre- 
 vailer with him : but, O think, are all these so sweet and 
 precious, that my life would have been a perpetual 
 misery without them ? Hath his Providence lifted mc 
 so high on earth, and his merciful kindness made me 
 great? How sweet then will the glory of his presence 
 be ? And how high will his eternal love exalt me ? And 
 how great shall I be made in communion with his great- 
 ness? If my pilgrimage and warfare have such mer- 
 cies: what shall I find in my home, and in my triumph ? 
 If 1 have found so much in this strange country, at 
 such a distance from him ; what shall I have in heaven, 
 in his immediate presence ! 
 
 8. Compare the joy which thou shalt have in heaven 
 witli that which the Saints of God have found in the 
 way to it, and in the foretastes of it: when thou seest 
 a heavenly man rejoice, think what it is that so affects 
 him. It is the property of fools to rejoice in toys; 
 but the people of God are wiser, they know what it is 
 that makes them glad. When did God reveal himself 
 to any of his Saints, but the joy of their hearts was 
 answerable to the revelation ? When Moses had been 
 talking with God in the mount, it made his visage so 
 shining and glorious, that the people could not endure 
 to behold it, but he was fain to put a veil upon it : no 
 wonder then if the face of God must be veiled, till we 
 are come to that state where we shall be capable of be- 
 holding him, when the veil shall be taken away, and we 
 all beholding him with open face, shall be changed into 
 the same image from glory to glory. Alas, what are the 
 back parts which Moses saw from the clefts of the rock, 
 to that open face which we shall behold hereafter? 
 What is that revelation to John in Patoms, to this re- 
 velation which we shall have in heaven ! How short 
 doth Paul's vision come to the saints vision above with 
 God! How small a part of the glory which we must 
 see, was that which so transported Peter in the mount ! 
 I confess these were all extraordinary foretastes; but 
 little to the full beatifical vision. When David forebav 
 
 , 
 
III. § 8. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 3(A 
 
 the resurrection of Christ and of himself, how did it 
 make him break forth and say, " Therefore my heart 
 was glad, and my glory rejoiceth ; my flesh also shall 
 rest in hope." Think then, if the foresight can raise 
 such ravishing' joy, what will the actual possession do? 
 How often have we read and heard of dying saints, who 
 when they had scarce strength and life to express them- 
 selves, have been as full of joy as their hearts could 
 hold ? And when their bodies have been under the ex- 
 tremities of their sickness, yea, ready to feel the pangs 
 of death, have yet had so much of heaven in their spi- 
 rits, that their joy hath far surpassed their sorrows? 
 And if a spark of this tire be so glorious, and that in 
 the midst of the sea of adversity; what then is that 
 Sun of Glory itself? 
 
 9. Compare also the glory of the heavenly kingdom, 
 with the glory of the Church on earth ; and of Christ 
 in his state of humiliation ; and you may easily con- 
 clude, if Christ standing in the room of sinners was so 
 wonderful in excellencies, what is Christ at the Father's 
 right-hand? And if the Church under her sins and 
 enemies, hath so much beauty ; something it will have 
 at the marriage of the Lamb. How wonderful was 
 the Son of God in the form of a servant! When he 
 is born, the heavens must proclaim him by miracles ; a 
 new star must appear in the firmament, and fetch men 
 from remote parts of the world to worship him in a 
 manger ; the angels and heavenly host must declare his 
 nativity, and solemnize it with praising and glorifying 
 God : when he enters upon his office, his whoic life is a 
 wonder; water turned into wine, thousands fed with 
 five loaves and two fishes, the lepers cleansed, the sick 
 healed, the lame restored, the blind receive their sight, 
 the dead raised : if we had seen all this, should we not 
 have thought it wonderful ? The most desperate dis- 
 eases cored with a touch ! with a word! the blind eyes 
 with a little clay and spittle ! the devils departing by 
 lemons at his command ! the winds and the seas obey- 
 ing his word! Are not all these wonderful ? Think 
 then, how wonderful is his celestial glory! If there be 
 such cutting down of boughs, and spreading of gar- 
 ments, and crying Hosannah, to one that comes into 
 Jerusalem riding on an ass ; what will there be when he 
 2 C 
 
362 THE SATOTS EVE It LASTING -REST. III. § &. 
 
 comes with 'his angels, in his glory ? If they that heard 
 him preach the gospel of the kingdom, had their heart* 
 turned within them, that they turn and say, JScner 
 man spake like this Man ! then sure they that behold 
 his majesty in his kingdom, will hut, There was never 
 glory like this glory ! If when his enemies came to ap- 
 prehend him, the word of his mouth doth cast them all 
 to the ground : if when he i« dying, the earth must 
 tremble, the veil of the temple rend, the sun in the 
 firmament hide its face, and the dead bodies of the 
 saints arise, O what a day will it be, when he will once 
 more shake, not the earth only, bnt the heavens also, 
 and remove the things that are shaken ! When this 
 sun shall be taken out of the tirraament and be ever* 
 lastingly darkened with the brightness of his glory : 
 when the dead must all rise and stand before him ; and 
 hell shall acknowledge him to be the Son of God, and 
 every tongue confess him to be the Lord and King ! If 
 when he rose again, the grave and death lost their 
 power, and the angels of heaven rolled away the stone* 
 and astonished the watchmen till they were as dead men, 
 and sent the tidings to his dejected disciples ; if the 
 bolted doors cannot keep him out ; if the sea be as firm. 
 ground for him to walk on ; if he can ascend to heaven 
 in thesightof his disciples, and send the angels to forbid 
 them gazing after him; O what power and dominion, 
 and glory then is he now possessed of! and must we 
 ever possess with him ! 
 
 Yet think farther, Are his very servants enabled to 
 do such miracles when he is gone from them? Can a 
 few poor fishermen and tent-makers cure the lame, and 
 blind, and sick ? open prisons, destroy the disobedient, 
 and raise the dead ? O then what a world will that be 
 where every one can do greater works than these ! It 
 were much to have the devils subject to us ; but more 
 to have our names written in the Book of Life. If the 
 very preaching of the gospel be accompanied with such 
 power, that it will pierce the heart and discover its 
 secrets, bring down the proud and make the stony 
 sinner tremble ; if it can make men burn their books, 
 sell their lands, bring in the price, and lay it down at 
 the preachers' feet ; if it can make the spirit of princes 
 stoop, and the kings of the earth resign their crown?* 
 
III. §. 8. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST* 303 
 
 ami do their homage to Jesus Christ; if it cansubdue 
 kingdoms, and convert thousands, and turn the world 
 thus upside down; if the very mention of the judg- 
 ment and life to come, can make the judge on the 
 bench tremble: what then is the glory of the kingdom 
 itself? What an absolute dominion have Christ and his 
 saints ! And if they have this power and honour in the 
 day of their abasement, what will they have in their 
 full advancement! 
 
 10. Compare the mercies thou shalt have above* 
 with the mercies which Christ hath here bestowed on 
 thy soul ; and the glorious change which thou shalt 
 have at last, with the gracious change which the Spirit 
 has wrought on thy heart. Compare the comforts of 
 thy glorification, with the comforts of thy sanctifica- 
 tion : There is not the smallest grace in thee, which 
 is genuine, but is of greater worth than the riches of 
 the Indies : Nor a hearty desire and groan after Christ, 
 but is more to be valued than the kingdoms of the 
 world: a renewed nature is the very image of God; 
 Scripture calleth it, Christ dwelling in us* and the 
 Spirit of God dwelling in us; it is a beam from the 
 face of God himself; it is the seed of God remaining 
 in us; it is the only inherent beauty of the rational 
 soul: it enuobleth man above all nobility ; it fitteth 
 him to understand his Maker's pleasure, to do his will, 
 and to receive his glory : think then with thyself, it this 
 grain of mustard-seed be so precious, what is the 2'ree 
 of Life in the midst of the paradise of God? If a spark 
 of life be so much, how glorious then is the fountain 
 and end of this life ! If we are even now said to be like 
 God, and to bear his image, and to be holy as he is holy ; 
 sure we shall then be much more like God, when we 
 are perfectly holy and without blemish! Is the desire 
 of heaven so precious a thing? what then is the thing 
 itself! Is love so excellent? what then is the Beloved I 
 Is our joy in foreseeing and believing so sweet? what 
 will be the joy in the full possession ! O the delight 
 that a christian hath in the lively exercise of some of 
 these affections ! What good doth it to his very heart, 
 when he can feelingly say, I love the Lord ! Yea, even 
 those painful passions of sorrow and fear, are yet de- 
 lightful, when they are lightly exercised: how glad 
 2.CS 
 
304 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 8. 
 
 is a poor Christian when his heart is softened ar»d 
 dissolved by the thoughts of unkindness and ingrati- 
 tude ! Even his sorrow doth yield him matter of joy : O 
 what will it then he when he shall do nothing but 
 know God, and love, and rejoice, and praise, and all 
 this in the highest perfection ! What a comfort is it to 
 my doubting soul, when I have a little assurance of the 
 sincerity of my graces* How much more will it com- 
 fort me, to find that the Spirit hath safely conducted 
 me, and left me in the arms of Jesus ! What a change 
 was it that the Spirit made upon my soul, when he first 
 turned me from darkness to light, and from the power of 
 Satan unto God ! To be taken from that horrid state of 
 nature, wherein myself and my actions were loathsome 
 to God, and the sentence of death was passed upon me, 
 and the Almighty took me for his utter enemy; and 
 to be presently numbered among his Saints, and called 
 his friend, his servant, his son, and the sentence revoked 
 which was gone forth ! O what a change was this I 
 To be taken from that state wherein I was born, and. 
 had lived so many years, and if I had so died, 1 had 
 deen damned for ever; and to be justified from all 
 these crimes, and freed from all these plagues, and put. 
 into the title of an heir of heaven ! O what an astonish- 
 ing change was this! How much greater will that, 
 glorious change then be ! Beyond expressing ! beyond 
 conceiving! How oft, when I have thought of this 
 change in my regeneration, have I cried out, O blessed 
 day ! and blessed be the Lord that I ever saw it ! How 
 then shall I cry out in heaven, O blessed eternity ! 
 and blessed be the Lord that brought me to it ! Was 
 the mercy of my conversion so exceeding great, that 
 the angels of God did rejoice to see it ? Sure then the. 
 mercy of my salvation will be so great, that the same 
 angels will congratulate my felicity. This grace is 
 but a spark that is raked up in the ashes : it is covered 
 with flesh from the sight of the world : but my ever- 
 lasting glory will not be under a bushel, but upon a 
 hill) even upon Sion t the Mount of God ! 
 
( 305 } 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 How to Manage and Watch over the Heart through 
 the whole Work. 
 
 THE last part of this Directory is, To guide you 
 in managing your hearts through this work, and to 
 shew you wherein you have need to be exceeding 
 watchful. I have hitherto shewed what you must do 
 in order to prepare yourself for the Work, and in your 
 entrance upon it: I shall now endeavour to point 
 out the Time of the Performance. Our chief work 
 will here be, to discover to you the danger, and 
 that will direct you to the remedy. Let me therefore 
 acquaint you before-hand, that whenever you set upon 
 this heavenly employment^ you shall find your own 
 hearts your greatest hindrances, and they will prove 
 false to you in one or all of these four degrees. First, 
 they will hold off, that you will hardly get them to 
 the work ; or else they will betray you by their idle- 
 ness in the work, pretending to do it, when they do 
 it not; or they will interrupt the work, by their fre- 
 quent excursions, and turning aside to every object; 
 or they will spoil the work by cutting it short, and be 
 «rone before you have done any good in it. There- 
 tore I forewarn you, as you estimate the invaluable 
 comfort of this work, faithfully resist these four dan* 
 gerous evils. 
 
 1. Thou wilt find thy heart as backward to this, as 
 to any work in the world. O what excuse it will 
 make ! what evasions it will find out ! and what delays, 
 when it is ever so much convinced I Either it will 
 question, whether it be a duty or .not ; or, if it be so 
 to others, yet whether it be so to thee ? it will take 
 up any thing like reason to plead against it: or if thy 
 heart have nothing against the work, then it will trifle 
 away the time in delays, and promise this day and the 
 next, but still keep off; or lastly, if thou wilt not be 
 so baffled with excuses or delays, thy heart will give. 
 2C3 
 
30(3 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § Q. 
 
 thee a flat denial, and oppose its own unwillingness to 
 thy reason : thou shalt lind it draw back with all the 
 strength it hath. I speak all this of the heart so far as 
 it is carnal : for so far as it is spiritual, it will judge 
 this work the sweetest in the world. 
 
 But take up the authority which God hath given 
 thee, command thy heart: if it rebel, use violence 
 with it; if thou be too weak, call in the Spirit of 
 Christ to thine assistance : he is never backward to so 
 good a work, nor will deny his help in so just a cause : 
 God will be ready to help thee, if thou be not unwil- 
 ling to help thyself. Say unto him, "Lord, thou gavest 
 my reason the command of my thoughts and affections ; 
 the authority 1 have received over them is from thee, 
 and now, behold they refuse to obey thine authority ; 
 thou commandest me to set them to the work of hea- 
 venly meditation, but they rebel and stubbornly refuse 
 the duty ; wilt thou not assist me to execute that autho- 
 rity which thou hast given me? O send down thy Spirit 
 and Power, that I may enforce thy commands, and ef- 
 fectually compel them to obey thy will." 
 
 And thus doing, thoir shalt see thy heart will submit, 
 its resistance will be brought under; and its backward- 
 ness will be turned to compliance. 
 
 c 2. When thou hast got thy heart to the work, be- 
 ware lest it delude thee by a loitering formality ; lest it 
 say, I go, and go not: lest it trifle out the time, while 
 it should be effectually meditating. When thou hast 
 perhaps but an hour's time for meditation, the time 
 will be spent before thy heart will be serious. This 
 doing of duty, as if we did it not, doth undo as many 
 as the flat omission of it. To rub out the hour in a 
 bare lazy thinking of heaven,, is but to lose that hour, 
 and delude thyself. What is to be done in this case ? 
 Why <lo here also as you do by a loitering servant; 
 keep thine eye always upon thy heart ; look not so 
 much to the time it spendeth in the duty, as to the 
 work that is done: you can tell by his work, whether 
 your servant hath been painful: ask, what affections 
 have yet been acted ? How much am I yet got nearer 
 heaven. Verily many a man's heart must be followed 
 as close in this duty of meditation, as an ox at the 
 plough, that will go no longer than you are calling or 
 
fll. § 9. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 307 
 
 scourging; if 3-011 cease driving but a moment, the 
 heart will stand still. 
 
 I would not have thee of the judgment of those who 
 think that while they are so backward, it is better to let 
 it alone and that if mere love will not bring them to 
 the duty, the service is worse than the omission : Thes» 
 men understand not, First, that this argument would, 
 certainly cashier all spiritual obedience ; nor do they 
 understand well the corruptness -of their own nature; 
 nor that their sinful indisposedness will not suspend 
 the commands of God; nor one sin excuse another:, 
 especially they little know the way of God to excite 
 their affections; and that the love which should compel 
 them must itself be first compelled, in the same sense 
 as it is said to compel : Love I know is a most precious 
 grace, and should have the chief interest in all our 
 duties ; but there are means appointed by God to pro- . 
 cure this love: and shall I not use those means, till I 
 ciin use them from love ? that were to neglect the 
 means till I have the end. Must I not seek to procure 
 love, till I have it already ? There are means also for 
 the increasing of love, where it is begun, and means for , 
 exciting it, where it lieth dull ; and must I not use these 
 means till it is increased and excited? Fall upon the 
 work until thou art constrained to love; and then love 
 will constrain thee to further duty. 
 
 3. As thy heart will be loitering, so it will also 
 wander. It will turn aside like a careless servant, 
 to talk with every one that passeth by : when there 
 should be nothing in thy mind, but the work in hand, 
 it will be thinking of thy calling, or of thy afflictions, 
 or of every bird, or tree, or place thou seest, or of any 
 impertinency, rather than of heaven. The cure here 
 is the same with that before ; to use watchfulness and 
 violence with your own imaginations, and as soon as 
 they step out, to chide them in. Drive away these 
 birds of prey from thy sacrifice, and strictly keep thy 
 heart to the work thou art upon. 
 
 4. Lastly, Be sure also to look to thy heart in this, 
 that it cut not out the work before the time, and run 
 not away through weariness before it hath leave. Thou 
 shalt find it exceeding prone to this. Thou mayest 
 easily perceive it in other duties; if in secret thou set 
 
308 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § V, 
 
 thyself to pray, is not thy heart urging thee still to cut 
 it short? Dost thou not frequently find a motion to 
 have doue ? Art thou not ready to be up, as soon al- 
 most as thou art down on thy knee9 ? So will it be also 
 in thy contemplations of heaven ; as fast as thou gettest 
 up thy heart, it will be down again, it will be weary 
 of the work ; it will be minding thee of other business 
 to be done, and stop thy heavenly work, before thou 
 art well warm. What is to be done in this case also ? 
 Why the same authority and resolution which brought 
 it to the work, and observed it in the work, must hold 
 it to it, till the work be done. Stick to the work, till 
 thy graces be acted, thy affections raised, and thy soul 
 refreshed with the delights above; or if thou canst not 
 obtain these ends at once, ply it the closer the next 
 time, and let it not go till thou feel the blessing. 
 M Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when lie 
 comes, shall rind so doing." 
 
 Thus I have directed you in this work of heavenly 
 contemplation, and led you into the path where you 
 may walk with God. But because I would bring it 
 down to the capacity of the meanest,, and help their 
 memories who are apt to let slip the former particulars,, 
 I shall here contract the whole, and lay it before you 
 in a narrower compass. But still I wish thee to remem- 
 ber, it is the practice of a duty that I am directing 
 thee in, and therefore if thou wilt not practise it, do 
 not read it. 
 
 The sum is this: As thou makest conscience of 
 pTaying daily, so do thou of meditation ; and more es- 
 pecially on the joys of heaven. To this end, set apart 
 one hour or half hour every day, wherein thou may est 
 lay aside all worldly thoughts, and with all possible 
 seiiiousness and reverence, as if thou wert to speak to 
 God himself; or to have a sight of Christ, or of that 
 blessed place ; so withdraw thyself into secret, and 
 set thyself wholly to the following work: If thou 
 canst, take Isaac's time and place, who ivent forth 
 into the field in the evening to meditate : but if thou be 
 a servant or poor man that cannot have that leisure, 
 take the fittest time and place that thou canst, though 4 
 it be when thou art private about thy labours. 
 
III. § 9. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 30}} 
 
 When thou settest to the work, look up toward 
 heaven, let thine eye lead thee as near as it can ; re- 
 member that there is thine everlasting rest; study its 
 excellency, study its reality, till thy unbelief be 
 silenced, and thy faith prevail ; if thy judgment be not 
 yet drawn to admiration, use those sensible helps and 
 advantages which were even now laid down. Compare 
 thy heavenly joys with the choicest on earth, and so 
 rise up from sense to faith; if this mere consideration 
 prevail not, then plead the case with thy heart : preach 
 upon this text of heaven to thyself: convince, inform, 
 confute, instruct, reprove, examine, admonish, encou- 
 rage, and comfort thy own soul from this celestial 
 doctrine ; draw forth those several considerations of thy 
 rest, on which thy several affections may work, espe- 
 cially thai affection or grace which thou intend est to 
 act. If it be love which thou wouldst act, shew it the 
 loveliness of heaven, and how suitable it is to thy 
 condition : if it be desire, consider thy absence from 
 this lovely object: if it be hope, consider the possibi- 
 lity and probability of obtaining it : if it be courage, 
 consider the singular assistance and encouragements 
 which thou mayest receive from God, the weakness of 
 the enemy, and the necessity of prevailing : if it be joy, 
 consider its excellent ravishing glory, thy interest in it, 
 and its certainty, and the nearness of the time when 
 thou mayest possess it. Urge these considerations home 
 to thy heart : whet them with all possible seriousness 
 upon each affection. If thy heart draw back, force it 
 to the work; if it loiter, spur it on ; if it step aside, 
 command it in again : if it would slip away and leave 
 the work, use thine authority; keep it close to the 
 business, till thou hast obtained thine end; stir not 
 away, if it may be, till thy love flame, till thy joy be 
 raised, or till thy desire or other graces be lively. Call 
 in assistance also from God, mix ejaculations with thy 
 soliloquies ; till, having seriously pleaded the case with 
 thy heart, and reverently pleaded the case with God, 
 thou hast pleaded thyself from a clod to, a llame, from 
 a forgetful sinner to a mindful lover: from a lover of 
 the* world, to a thirster after Cod ; from a fearful 
 caward, to a resolved christian. In a word what can- 
 not be done one day, do it the next, till thou hast 
 
510 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 10. 
 
 pleader! thy heart from earth to heaven : from con- 
 vening below, to walking- with God : and till thou 
 canst lay thy heart to rest, as in the bosom of Christ; 
 in. tins meditation of thy full and everlasting Rest. 
 
 chap. x. 
 
 An Example of this heavenly Contemplation, for 
 the Help of the Unskilful. 
 
 REST! How sweet a word is this to mine ears! 
 Methinks the sound doth turn to substance, and 
 having entered at the ear, descendeth down to my very 
 heart: Methinks I feel it stir and work, and that thro* 
 all my. parts and powers, but with a various work upon 
 my various parts. To my wearied senses and languid 
 spirits, it seems a quieting, powerful opiate; to my 
 dulled powers it is spirit and life; to my dark eyes, it 
 is both eye-salve, and a perspective-glass; to my taste 
 it is sweetness; to mine ears it is melody ; to my hands 
 and feet it is strength and nimbleness. Methinks I 
 feel it digest as it proceeds, and increase my native 
 heat and moisture, and lying as a reviving cordial in 
 my heart, from thence doth send forth lively spirits, 
 which beat through all the pulses of ray soul. Rest! 
 Not as a stone that rests- on the earth, nor as these 
 clods of flesh shall rest in the grave; so our beasts must 
 rest as well as we: Nor is the satisfying of our fleshly 
 lust, nor such a rest as the carnal world desireth : No, 
 no ; we have another kind of rest than these : Rest we 
 shall from our labours, which were but the way and 
 means to rest, but yet that is the smallest part: O 
 blessed rest, where we shall never cease day nor night, 
 crying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord GodofSabaoth/ Where 
 we shall cease from sin, but not from worship \ fronv 
 8 offerings and sorrows, but not from solace ! O blessed 
 day, when I shall rest in the arms and bosom of my 
 Lord ! When I shall rest in knowing, loving, rejoic- 
 ing, and praising ! When my perfect soul and body to- 
 gether, shall in these perfect actings perfectly enjoy the 
 most perfect God ! When God also, who is Love it- 
 
if I. §10. TIIESAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 511 
 
 self, shall perfectly love me ! and rejoice over me with 
 joy and singing, as I shall rejoice in him ! How near is 
 that most blessed joyful day ! it conies apace ! Even 
 he that cometh will come> and will not tarry ; though 
 my Lord seemeth to delay his coming, yet a little 
 while and he will be here: What is n few hundred 
 years when they are over ? How surely will his sign ap- 
 pear ! and how suddenly will he seize upon the careless 
 world ! Even as the lightning that shines from East to 
 West in a moment. He who is gone hence will even so 
 return : mcthinks 1 hear the voice of his foregoers ! Me- 
 thinks I i>ee him in the clouds with the attendance of 
 his angels in majesty and glory! O poor, secure sin- 
 ners, what will you now do ? where will you hide your- 
 selves ? or what shall cover you ? Mountains are gone ; 
 the earth and heavens that were, are passed away ; the 
 devouring fire hath consumed all, except yourselves, 
 who must be the fewel for ever. O that you could con- 
 sume as soon as the earth, and melt away as did the 
 heavens : Ah, these wishes are now but in vain; the 
 Lamb himself would have been your friend, he would 
 have loved you, and ruled you, and now it is too late! 
 Never cry, Lord! Lord! — Too late, too late, man! 
 Why dost thou look about? Can any save thee ? 
 Whither duvt thou run ? Can any hide thee ? O wretch 
 that hast brought thyself to this ! Now blessed are ye 
 that have believed and obeyed ; this is the end of your 
 faith and patience : this is that for which ye prayed and 
 waited : Do you now repent your sufferings and sor- 
 rows ? your self denying and holy walking? Are your 
 tears of repentance now bitter or sweet ? O see how the 
 Judge doth smile upon you ! there is love in his looks : 
 the titles of Redeemer, Husband, Head> are written in 
 his amiable face. Hark ! doth he not call you ? he 
 bids you stand here on his right-hand : Fear not, for 
 there he sets his sheep. O joyful sentence pronounced 
 with his mouth ! Come, ye blessed of my Father, inhe- 
 rit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of 
 the world ! See how your Saviour takes you by the 
 hand : The door is open. The kingdom is his, and 
 therefore yours: there is your place before his throne ; 
 the Father receives you as the spouse of his Son; he 
 bid< \ou welcome to the crown of glory; tho' never so 
 
3\1 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. ITI. § 10. 
 
 unworthy, crowned you must be : This was the project 
 of free redeeming grace, the purpose of eternal love. 
 
 blessed grace ! O blessed love ! O the frame that 
 lay soul shall then be in ! But I cannot express it ! I 
 cannot conceive it! 
 
 This is that joy which was procured by sorrow ; 
 this is that crown which was procured by the cross. 
 My Lord did weep, that now my tears might be wiped 
 away; he did bleed that I might now rejoice; he was 
 forsaken, that I might not now be forsaken ; he did 
 then die, that I might now live! This weeping, 
 wounded Lord, shall I behold ! This bleeding Saviour 
 
 1 shall see, and live in him that died for me ! O free 
 mercy, that can exalt so vile a wretch ! free to me, 
 though dear to Christ ! Here must I live with all these 
 saints ! O comfortable meeting of my old acquaintance, 
 with whom I prayed, and wept, and suffered ; with 
 whom I spake of this day and place! I see the grave 
 could not contain you, the sea and earth must give up 
 their dead ; the same love hath redeemed and saved 
 you also; this is not like our cottages of clay, our 
 prisons, or earthly dwellings; this voice of joy is not 
 like our old complainings, our groans, our sighs, our 
 impatient moans; nor this melodious praise like our 
 scorns and revilings, nor like the oaths and curses 
 which we heard on earth : This body is not like the 
 body we had, nor this soul like the soul we had, nor 
 this life like the life that we then lived. We have 
 changed our place, we have changed our state; our 
 clothes, our thoughts, our lo'oks, our language: we 
 have changed our company for the greater part, and 
 the rest of our company is changed itself. Before, we 
 were weak and despised, but now glorious ! Where 
 are now our different judgments, our divided spirits? 
 "Now are we all of one judgment, of one name, of one 
 house, and of one glory. O sweet reconcilement* O 
 happy union ; which makes us first to be one with 
 Christ, and then one with ourselves! Now our dif- 
 ferences shall be dashed in our teeth no more, nor the 
 gospel reproached through our folly. O my soul ! thou 
 shalt no more lament the sufferings of the saints; never 
 more condole thy church's ruins : never bewail thy suf- 
 fering friends, nor he wailing over their death-bed*, 
 
III. § 10. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 313 
 
 or their graves : thou shalt never suffer thy old tempta- 
 tions from Satan, the world, or thy own flesh ; thy 
 body will no more be such a burthen to thee; thy 
 pains and sickness are all now cured ; thou shalt be 
 troubled with weakness and weariness no more; thy 
 head is not now an aching head, nor thy heart now an 
 aching heart; thy hunger and thirst, and cold and 
 sleep, thy labour and study are all gone. O what a 
 mighty change is this ! from the dunghill to the throne ! 
 from a body as vile as carrion in the ditch, to a body 
 as bright as the sun in the firmament ! from all thy 
 doubts and fears, to this possession, which hath put thee 
 out of doubt! from all thy fearful thoughts of death, 
 to this most blessed joyful life! O what a change is 
 this ! Farewel, sin and suffering for ever ! Now wel- 
 come, most holy, heavenly nature ; which as it must be 
 employed in beholding the face of God, so it is full of 
 God alone, delighted in nothing but him. O who can 
 question the love which he doth sweetly taste ! or doubt 
 of that which with such joy he feeleth ! Farewel, re- 
 pentance, confession, and supplication; farewel, hope 
 and faith ; and welcome, love, and joy, and praise. I 
 shall now have my harvest without ploughing or sowing; 
 my wine without the labour of the vintage; my joy 
 without a preacher or a promise, even all from the Face 
 of God himself. Whatever mixture is in the streams, 
 there is nothing but pure joy in the fountain. Here 
 shall 1 be encircled with eternity, and come forth no 
 more: here shall I live and ever live: and praise my 
 Lord, and ever, ever praise him. My face will not 
 wrinkle, nor my hair be grey; but " this mortal hath 
 put on immortality, and this corruptible, interruption, 
 and death is swallowed up in victory : O Death ! where 
 is thy sting ? O Grave ! where is thy victory ?" The 
 date of my lease will no more expire, nor shall I lose 
 my joys through fear of losing them. When millions 
 of ages are past, my glory is but beginning ; and when 
 millions more are past, it is no nearer ending. Every 
 day is all noon-tide, and every month is May or harvest, 
 and every year is there a Jubilee, and every age is full 
 manhood: and all this but one eternity. O blessed 
 Eternity \ the Glory ! the perfection of my perfection ! 
 2D 
 
C14 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 10. 
 
 Ah drowsy, earthy, blockish heart, how coldly dost 
 thou think of this reviving Day ! Dost thou sleep when 
 thou thinkest of eternal Rest ? Art thou hanging earth- 
 ward when heaven is before thee ? Hadst thou rather 
 sit thee down in dung, than walk in the court of the 
 presence of God? Dost thou now remember thy worldly 
 business? Art thou thinking of thy delights? 
 W retched heart, is it better to be there, than above with 
 God? Is the company better? Are the pleasures greater? 
 Come away, make no excuse, make no delay: God 
 commands, and I command thee, come away, gird up 
 thy loins ; ascend the mount, and look about thee with 
 seriousness and with faith. Look thou not back upon 
 the way of the wilderness, except it be when thine eyes 
 are dazzled with the glory, or when thon wouldst com- 
 pare the kingdom with that howling desart, that thou 
 mayest more sensibly perceive the mighty difference. 
 Fix thine eye upon the sun itself, and look not down 
 to earth as long as thou art able to behold it ; except it 
 be to discern more easily the brightness of the one by 
 the darkness of the other. Yonder is thy Father's 
 glory; yonder must thou dwell when thou leavest this 
 earth: yonder must thou remove, O my soul, when 
 thou departest from this body ; and when the power 
 of thy Lord hath raised it again, and joined thee to it, 
 yonder must thou live with God for ever. There is 
 the glorious " New Jerusalem, the gates of pearl, the 
 foundation of pearl, the streets and pavements of trans- 
 parent goJd." Seest thou that sun which lighteth all the 
 world ? Why it must be taken down as useless there, 
 or the glory of heaven will darken it, and put it out; 
 even thyself shall be as bright as yonder rising sun ; 
 •' God will be the Sun, and Christ the Light, and in 
 Iiis light shalt thou have light." 
 
 O wretched heart, hath God made thee a promise 
 of rest, and wilt thou come short of it, and shut out 
 thyself through unbelief ? Thine eyes may fail thee, 
 thy ears 'deceive thee, and all thy senses prove delu- 
 sions, sooner than a promise of God can delude thee. 
 Thou mayest be surer of that which is written in the 
 word, than if thou see it with thy eyes, or feel it with 
 thy hands. Art thou sure thou livest ? or sure that 
 this is the earth which thou standest on ? Art thou sure 
 
 5 
 
III. § 10. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 313 
 
 thine eyes see the sun ? As sure is all this glory to the 
 saints, as sure shall I be higher than yonder stars, and 
 live for ever in the holy City, and joyfully sound forth 
 the praise of my Redeemer, if 1 be not shut out by the 
 " evil heart of unbelief, causing me to depart from the 
 living God." 
 
 And is this rest so sweet and so sure? O then what 
 means the careless world? Do they know what it is 
 they so neglect ? Did they ever hear of it ; or are they 
 yet asleep? Do they know for certain that the crown 
 is before them, while they thus sit still, or follow trifles, 
 when they are hasting so fast to another world, and 
 their eternal happiness lies at stake? Were there left 
 one spark of reason, they would never sell their rest 
 for toil, their glory for worldly vanities. Ah, poor 
 men ! That you would once consider what you hazard, 
 and then you would scorn these tempting baits. O 
 blessed for ever be that love, that hath rescued me 
 from this mad bewitching darkness ! 
 
 Draw near yet, O my soul; bring forth thy strong- 
 est love : here is matter for it to work upon : O see what 
 beauty presents itself: is it not exceeding lovely? Is 
 not all the beauty in the world contracted here? Is not 
 all other beauty deformity to it ? Dost thou need to 
 be persuaded now to love? Here is a feast for thine 
 eyes : a feast for all the powers of thy soul : Dost thou 
 need to be intreated to feed upon it ? Canst thou love 
 a little shining earth ? Canst thou love a walking piece 
 of clay ? And canst thou not love that God, that Christ, 
 that glory, which is so truly and unmeasurably lovely I 
 Thou canst love thy friend because he loves thee; and 
 is the love of friends like the love of Christ ? Their 
 weeping or bleeding for thee, doth not ease thee nor 
 stay the course of thy tears or blood : but the tears and 
 blood that fell from thy Lord, have all a sovereign 
 healing virtue, and are waters of life, and balsam to thy 
 faintings and thy sores. O my soul ! if love deserve, 
 and should procure love, what incomprehensible love is 
 here before thee ! Pour out all the store of thy affec- 
 tions here ; and all is too little. O that it were more ! 
 Let him be first served, that served thee first ; Let 
 2 D-2 
 
 
316 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 16. 
 
 him have the strength of thy love, who parted with 
 strength and life in love to thee: if thou hast any to 
 spare when lie hath his part, let it be imparted then to 
 standers-by. See what a sea of love is here before 
 thee ; cast thyself into this ocean of his love : fear not, 
 though it seem a furnace of tire, and the hottest that 
 ever was kindled upon earth, yet it is the fire of love 
 and not of wrath : a fire most effectual to extinguish 
 lire; never intended to consume but to glorify thee: 
 Venture into it then in thy believing meditations, and 
 walk in these flames with the Son of God ; when thou 
 art once in, thou wilt be sorry to come forth again. O 
 my soul ! what wantest thou here to provoke thy love ? 
 Dost thou love for excellency ? Why thou seest nothing 
 below but baseness, except as they relate to the enjoy- 
 ments above. Yonder is the Goshen, the region of 
 light; this is a land of palpable darkness. Yonder 
 stars, that shining moon, the radiant sun, are all but 
 as the lanterns hanged out at thy Father's house, to 
 light thee while thou walkest in the dark streets of the 
 earth ; but little dost thou know the glory that is 
 within? Dost thou love for suitableness? Why what 
 person more suitable than Christ? His godhead, his 
 manhood, his fulness, his freeness,, his willingness, his 
 constancy, do all proclaim him thy most suitable Friend. 
 What state more suitable to thy misery than that of 
 mercy ? Or to thy sinfulness and baseness, than that of 
 honour and perfection ? W 7 hat place more suitable to 
 thee than heaven ? Thou hast had a sufficient trial of 
 this world: dost thou find it agree with thy nature or 
 desires ? Are these common abominations, these heavy 
 sufferings, these unsatisfying vanities suitable to thee ? 
 Or dost thou love for interest more than near relation ? 
 Where hast thou better interest than in heaven ? Or 
 where hast thou nearer relation than there? Dost thou 
 love for acquaintance and familiarity? W T hy, though 
 thine eyes have never seen the Lord, yet he is never 
 the further from thee. If thy son were blind, yet he 
 would love thee his father, though he never saw thee. 
 Thou hast heard the' voice of Christ to thy very heart, 
 thou hast received his benefits, thou hast lived in his 
 
 
III. § 10. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 317 
 
 bosom, and art thou not yet acquainted with him ? It 
 is he that brought thee seasonably and safely into the 
 world. It is he that nursed thee in thy tender infancy, 
 and helped thee when thou couldst not help thyself: 
 he taught thee to go, to speak, to read, to understand ; 
 he taught thee to know thyself and him: he opened 
 thee that first window whereby thou sawest into heaven. 
 Hast thou forgotten when thy heart was careless, and he 
 quickened it, and made it yield ; when it was at peace, 
 and he troubled it; and when it was broken he healed 
 it again ? Hast thou forgotten the time, nay the many 
 times, when he found thee in secret, all in tears; when 
 he heard thy sighs and groans, andleft all to come and 
 comfort thee? When he came in upon thee, and took 
 thee up as it were in his arms, and asked thee, " Poor 
 soul, what aileth thee? Dost thou weep, when I have 
 wept so much? Be of good cheer: thy wounds are 
 saving and not deadly. It is I that have made them,, 
 who mean thee no hurt : though I let out thy blood, I 
 will not let out thy life." 
 
 Methinks I remember yet his voice, and feel those 
 arms that took me up: how gently did he handle met 
 How carefully did he dress my wounds and bind them 
 up ! Methinks ] hear him still saying, " Though thou, 
 hast dealt unkindly with me, yet will not 1 do so by 
 thee; though thou hast set light by me and all my 
 mercies: yet both land all are thine: what wouldst 
 thou have that T cannot give thee ? If any thing in 
 heaven and earth will make thee happy, it is all thine 
 own. Wouldst thou have pardon ? Thou shalt have it r 
 ] freely forgive thee all the debt. Wouldst thou have 
 grace and peace? Thou shalthave them both. Wouldst 
 thou have myself? Behold I am thine, thy Friend, thy 
 Lord, thy Husband, and thy Head. Wouldst thou have 
 the Father? I will bring thee to him: and thou shalt 
 have him in and by me." — These were my Lord's re- 
 viving words: these were the melting, healing, quick- 
 ening tokens of love. After all this, when J was 
 doubtful of his love, methinks I yet remember his 
 convincing arguments. — " Have I done so much to 
 testify my love, and yet dost thou doubt? Have 1 
 made thy believing it the condition of enjoying it, and 
 yet dost thou doubt? Have I offered thee myself so long* 
 2D3 
 
318 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 10. 
 
 and yet dost thou doubt r Have I offered thee myself so 
 long, and yet dost thou question my willingness to be 
 thine ? What could I have done more than J have done? 
 At what dearer rate should 1 tell thee that I love thee ? 
 Read the story of my bitter Passion, wilt thou not be- 
 lieve that it proceeded from love? Did 1 ever give 
 thee cause to be so jealous of me ? or to think so hardly 
 of me as thou dost ? Have I made myself, in the gos- 
 pel, a lion tj thine enemeis, and a lamb to thee: and 
 dost thou overlook my lamb-like nature? Have I set 
 mine arras and heart there open to thee, and wilt thou 
 not believe but they are shut? If I had been willing 
 to let thee perish, 1 could have done it at a cheaper 
 rate; what need I follow thee with so long patience 
 and entreating ? What, dost thou tell me of thy wants ? 
 Have I not enough for me and thee? and why dost 
 thou tell me of thine unworthiness and thy sin ? 1 had 
 not died, if man had not sinned : if thou wast not a 
 sinner, thou wast not for me : if thou wast worthy 
 thyself, what shouldst thou do with my worthiness ? 
 Did I ever invite the worthy and the righteous? or 
 did 1 ever save or justify such? or are there any such 
 on earth ? Hast thou nothing ? art thou lost and miser- 
 able ? art thou helpless and forlorn ? dost thou believe 
 that I am a sufficient Saviour ? and wouldst thou have 
 Me? Why then take Me. Lo, I am thine: if thou- 
 be willing, I am willing, and neither sin nor death 
 shall break the match." 
 
 These, O these were the blessed words, which his 
 Spirit from his gospel spoke unto me, till he made me 
 cast myself at bis feet, yea into his arms, and cry out, 
 " My Saviour and my Lord, Thou hast broken my 
 heart, Thou hast revived my heart, Thou hast over- 
 come, Thou hast won my heart, take it; it is thine: 
 if such a heait can please thee, take it; if it cannot, 
 make it as thou wouldst have it." 
 
 Thus, O my soul, mayest thou remember the sweet 
 familiarity thou hast had with Christ ; therefore if ac- 
 quaintance will cause affection, O then knit thy heart 
 unto him ; it is he that hath stood by thy bed of sick- 
 ness, that hath cooled thy heats, and eased thy pains, 
 and refreshed thy weariness, and removed thy fears : 
 He hath been always ready, when thou hast earnestly 
 
III. § 10. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 31 £ 
 
 sought him ; he hath given thee the meeting in public 
 and in private ; he hath been found of thee in the con- 
 gregation, in thy house, in thy chamber, in the field, 
 in the way, as thou wast walking, in thy waking nights, 
 in thy deepest dangers. If bounty and compassion be 
 attractives of love, how immeasurably then am I 
 bound to love him ! All the mercies that have filled 
 up my life tell me this ; all the places that 1 ever did 
 abide in, every condition of life that I have passed 
 through, all my employments, and all my relations, 
 every change that hath befallen me, all tell me, that 
 the Fountain is overflowing goodness. 
 
 Lord, what a sum of love am I indebted to thee, 
 and how doth my debt continually increase! How 
 should I love again for so much love ? But what ! shall 
 I dare to think of making thee a requital, or of recom- 
 pensing all thy love with mine ! Will my mite requite 
 thee for thy golden mines? or mine, which is nothing 
 or not mine, for thine, which is infinite and thine own ? 
 Shall I dare to contend in love with thee, or set my 
 borrowed spark against the sun of love? Can I love as 
 high, as deep, as broad, as long as love itself; as much 
 as he that made me, and that made me live, that gave 
 me all that little which I have ? Both the heat, the 
 lire, the fewel, and all were his: as I cannot match 
 thee in the works of thy power, nor make,, nor pre- 
 serve, nor guide the world : so why should I think any 
 more of matching thee in love: No, Lord, I yield, I 
 am overcome: O blessed conquest; Goon victoriously, 
 and still prevail, and triumph in thy love: the captive 
 of love shall proclaim thy victory, when thou leadest 
 me in triumph from earth to heaven, from death to 
 life, from the tribunal to the throne; myself, and all 
 that see it, shall acknowledge, that thou hast prevailed, 
 and all shall say, Behold! how he loved him ! — Yet let 
 me love thee, in subjection to thy love, as thy re- 
 deemed captive, though I cannot reach thy measure. 
 
 O my soul, begin it here ; be sick of love now, that 
 thou mayest be well with love there; keep thyself now 
 in the love of G&d, and let neither life nor death, nor 
 any thing separate thee from it, and thou shalt be kept 
 in the fulness of love for ever; for the Lord hath pre- 
 pared a city of love, a place for the communication of 
 
320 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. ITT. § lO. 
 
 love to his chosen, and those that love his name shall 
 dwell there. 
 
 Away then, O my drowsy soul, from this world's 
 uncomfortable darkness ! The night of thy ignorance 
 and misery is past, the day of glorious light is at hand: 
 this is the day-break betwixt them both: though thou 
 seest not yet the sun itself appear, methinks the twilight 
 of promise will revive thee ? Come forth then, and 
 leave these earthly cells, and hear thy Lord that bids 
 thee rejoice, and again rejoice! Thou hast lain there 
 long enough in thy prison of flesh, where Satan hath 
 been thy jailer, where cares have been thy irons, and 
 fears thy scourge, and the bread and water of affliction 
 thy food; where sorrows have been thy lodging, and a 
 carnal, hard, unbelieving heart the iron gates and bars 
 that have kept thee in, that thou couldst scarce have 
 leave to look through the lattices, and see one glimpse 
 of the immortal light: the angel of the covenant now 
 calls thee, and strikes thee, and bids thee arise and 
 follow him : up, O my soul, and cheerfully obey, and 
 thy bolts and bars shall all fly open ; do thou obey, and 
 all will obey ; follow the Lamb which way so ever he 
 leads thee : Art thou afraid, because thou knowest not 
 whither? Can the place be worse than where thou art ? 
 Shouldst thou fear to follow such a guide ? Can the sun 
 lead thee to a state of darkness? or can he mislead thee 
 that is the light that light eth every man that cometh int» 
 the world? Will he lead thee to death, who died to 
 save thee from it? Or can he do thee any hurt, who 
 for thy sake did suffer so much ? Follow him, and he 
 will shew thee the paradise of God, he will give thee a 
 taste of the tree of life ; thy winter is past, and wilt 
 thou house thyself still in earthly thoughts ; and con- 
 fine thyself to drooping and dulness ? 
 
 Come forth, O my drooping soul, and lay aside thy 
 winter-mourning robes ; let it be seen in thy believing 
 joys and praise, that the day is appearing, and the 
 spring is come; and as now thou seest thy comfort 
 e;reen, thou shalt shortly see them white and ripe for 
 harvest; and then thou, who art now called forth to 
 see and taste, shalt be called forth to reap, and gather* 
 and take possession. Shall I suspend and delay my 
 joys till then ? Should not the joys of spring go befora 
 
III. § 10. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 32X 
 
 the joys of harvest? Is the heir in no better a state 
 than the slare ? My Lord hath taught me to rejoice 
 in the hope of his glory, and to see it through the bars 
 of a prison, and even when I am persecuted for righ- 
 teoumess' sake, when 1 am reviled, and all manner of 
 evil is said against me for his sake, then he hath com- 
 manded me to rejoice and be exceeding glad, because 
 of this my great reward in heaven. How justly is an 
 unbelieving heart possessed by sorrow, and made a prey 
 to cares and fears, when itself doth create them, and 
 thrust away its offered peace and joy ! I know it is the 
 pleasure of my bounteous Lord, that none of his family 
 should want comfort, nor live such a poor and miser- 
 able life, nor look with such a famished dejected face, 
 I know he would have my joys exceed my sorrows, and 
 as much as he delights in the humble and contrite, yet 
 doth he more delight in the soul as it delighteth in 
 him. Hath my Lord spread me a table in the wilder- 
 ness, and furnished it with promises of everlasting 
 glory, and set before me angels' food, and broached for 
 me the side of his beloved Son, that I might have bet- 
 ter wine than the blood of the grape ? Doth he so irn* 
 portunately invite me to sit down, and draw forth my 
 faith, and feed, and spare not ? Nay, hath he furnished 
 me to that end, with reason and faith, and a rejoicing 
 disposition ? And yet is it possible that he should be 
 unwilling I should rejoice ? Never think it, O my un- 
 believing soul : nor dare charge him with thy uncom- 
 fortable heaviness, who offered thee the foretaste of the 
 highest delight that heaven can afford, and God can 
 bestow. Doth he not bid thee delight thyself in the 
 Lord? and promise to give thee the desires of thy 
 heart ? Hath he not charged thee to rejoice evermore ? 
 Yea, to sing aloud and shout for joy? 
 
 Away, ye cares and fears ! Away, ye impotent 
 sorrows ! Stay here below, whilst I go up and see my 
 Rest. The way is strange to me, but not to Christ, 
 There is the eternal dwelling of his glorious Deity : 
 and thither hath he also brought his glorified body. It 
 was his work to purchase it ; it is his work to prepare 
 it, and to prepare me for it, and to bring me to it. 
 The eternal God of Truth hath given me his promise* 
 his seal, and his oath to assure me a that believing in 
 
 i 
 
328 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 10. 
 
 Christ, 7" shall not perish, but have everlasting life: 
 thither shall ray soul be speedily removed, and my 
 body shortly follow. And can my tongue say, that I 
 shall shortly and surely live with God, and yet my 
 heart not leap within me? Can I say itbelievingly, and 
 not rejoicingly ? Ah faith, how do i perceive thy weak- 
 ness! Ah unbelief! If I had never known it before, 
 how sensibly do I now perceive thy malicious tyranny ! 
 But were it not for thee, what abundance might I 
 have ! The light of heaven would shine into my heart, 
 and I might be as familiar there as I am on earth. 
 
 Come away, then, my soul ; stand not looking on 
 that grave, nor turning those bones, nor reading thy 
 lesson in the dust : but lift up thy head and look to 
 heaven, and read thy instructions in those fixed stars : 
 or yet look higher than those eyes can see, into that 
 foundation which standeth sure, and see thy name 
 written in the Book of Life. What if an angel should 
 come from heaven and tell thee, that there is a mansion 
 prepared for thee : that it shall certainly be thine own, 
 and thou shalt possess it for ever ; would not such a 
 message make thee glad? And dost thou make light 
 of the infallible Word of Promises which was deli* 
 vered by the Spirit, and by the Lord himself? 
 
 What delight have I found in my private studies, 
 especially when they have prospered to the increase of 
 knowledge! Methinks I could bid the world farewell, 
 and immure myself in sweet content, and pity the rich 
 and great ones that know not happiness. Sure then it 
 is a high delight indeed, which in the lap of eternity 
 is enjoyed \ 
 
 If the queen of Sheba came from Ethiopia to hear 
 the wisdom of Solomon, and see his glory ; O how 
 gladly should I pass from earth to heaven ; to see the 
 glory of that eternal Majesty ; and to attain myself that 
 height of wisdom, in comparison of which the most 
 learned on earth are but fools and idiots ! If the heaven 
 of glass which the Persian Emperor framed, was so 
 Sflorious a piece, and the heaven of silver which the 
 Emperor Ferdinand sent to the Great Turk, because 
 of their rare artificial representations and motions, 
 what will the heaven of heavens be, which is not formed 
 by the art of man, nor beautified like these childish 
 
III. § 10. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 323 
 
 toys ; but which is the matchless palace of the great 
 King, built by himself for the residence of his glory, 
 and the perpetual entertainment of his beloved saints [ 
 
 1 cannot here enjoy my parents, or my beloved 
 friends, without some delight ; what will it then be to 
 live in the perpetual love of God ! For brethren here 
 to live together in unity, how good and pleasant a 
 thing it is! To see a family live in love: husbands, 
 wives, parents, children, servants, doing all in love to 
 one another! O then, what a blessed Society will be 
 the family of heaven, and those peaceable inhabitants 
 of the New Jerusalem ! Where is no division, no dis- 
 affection, nor strangeness, nor deceitful friendship; 
 no angry thought or look, nor unkind expression, but 
 all are one in Christ, who is one with the Father, and 
 live in the love of Love himself! 
 
 Awake then, O my drowsy soul, and look above 
 this world of sorrow ! Hast thou borne the yoke of af- 
 flictions from thy youth, and so long felt the smarting 
 rod, and yet canst no better understand its meaning ? 
 Is not every stroke to drive thee hence ? And is not the 
 voice like that to Elijah, What dost thou here ? Up and 
 away. Dost thou forget that sure prediction of the 
 Lord, In the world ye shall have trouble, but in me 
 ye shall have peace ! The first thou hast found true by 
 long experience : and of the latter thou hast had a 
 small foretaste ; but the perfect peace is yet before, 
 which till it be enjoyed, cannot be clearly understood. 
 
 Ah my Lord, 1 reel thy meaning; it is written in 
 my flesh ; it is engraven on my bones : my heart thou 
 aimest at: thy rod doth drive, thy silken cord of love 
 doth draw : and all to bring it to thyself: Can such a 
 heart be worth thy having? Make it so, Lord, and 
 then it is thine : take it to thyself, and then it is thine : 
 take it to thyself, and then take me. I can but reach 
 my heart toward thee, not to thee : I am too low : 
 and it is too dull ; this clod hath life to stir, but not 
 to rise: As the feeble child to the tender mother, it 
 looketh up to thee, and stretcheth out the hands, and 
 fain would have thee take it up. Indeed, Lord, my 
 soul is in a strait, and what to choose I know not, but 
 thou knowest what to give : to depart, and he with 
 thee, is best; but yet to be in the flesh seems needful. 
 
324 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 1$. 
 
 Thou knowest I am not weary of thy work ; I am wil- 
 ling to stay while thou wilt here employ me, and to 
 despatch the work which thou hast put in my hands : 
 but I beseech thee stay no longer when this is done ; 
 and while I must be here, let ine still improve and 
 ascend; make me still better, and take me at the 
 best. I dare not be so impatient of living, as to im- 
 portune thee to cut off my time, and urge thee to 
 snatch me hence : nor yet would I stay when my work 
 is done; and remain under thy feet while thy saints are 
 in thy bosom ; I am thy child as well as they ; Christ is 
 my head as well as theirs : jVVhy is there then so great 
 a distance ? I acknowledge the equity of thy ways ; 
 though we are all children, yet I am the prodigal, and 
 therefore meeter in this remote country to feed on 
 husks, while they are always with thee, and possess thy 
 glory : but they were once in my condition, and 1 shall 
 shortly be in theirs: they were of the lowest form, 
 before they came to the highest : they suffered before 
 they reigned ; they came out of great tribulation, who 
 are now standing before thy Throne : and shall not I be 
 contented to come to the crown as they did? and to 
 drink of their cup before I sit with them in the king- 
 dom ? I am contented, O my Lord, to stay thy time, 
 and go thy way, so thou wilt exalt me also in thy 
 season, and take me into thy barn when thou seestme 
 ripe. In the mean time I may desire, though I am not 
 to repine; I may believe and wish, though not make 
 sinful haste. I am content to wait, but not to lose thee : 
 and when thou seest me too contented with thine ab- 
 sence, quicken then my dull desires, and raise up the 
 dying spark of love; and leave me not till I am able 
 unfeignedly to cry out, " As the heart panteth after the 
 brooks, and the dry land thirsteth for water streams, 
 so thirsteth my soul after thee, O God : When shall 1 
 come and appear before the living God?" What in- 
 terest hath this empty world in me? And what is there 
 in it that may seem so lovely, as to entice my desires 
 and delights from thee, or make me reluctant to come 
 away ? Draw forth my soul to thyself by the secret 
 power of thy love, as the sunshine in the spring- draws 
 forth creatures from their winter cell; — meet it 
 half-way, and entice it to thee, as the loadstone doth 
 
III. § 10. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 325 
 
 the iron ; dispel the clouds that hide from me thy love, 
 or remove the scales that hinder mine eyes from be- 
 holding thee : for only the beams that stream from 
 thy face, and the taste of thy salvation can make a 
 soul unfeigned ly say, " Lord, now let thy servant de- 
 part in peace." 
 
 Send forth thy convoy of angels for my departing 
 soul, and let them bring it among the perfect spirits 
 of the just, and let me follow my dear friends that 
 have died in Christ before; and when my friends are 
 crying over my grave, let my spirit be reposed with 
 thee in Rest ; and when my corpse shall lie there rot- 
 ting in the dark, let my soul be in the inheritance of 
 the Saints in light. And, O thou that numberest the 
 hairs of my head, number all the days that my body 
 lies in the dust; thou that writest all my members in 
 thy book, keep an account of all my scattered bones ; 
 and hasten, O my Saviour, the time of thy return : 
 send forth thine angels, and let that dreadful, joyful 
 trumpet sound ; delay not, lest the living give up their 
 hopes : delay not, lest earth should grow like hell, and 
 lest thy church by division be crumbled to dust : delay 
 not, lest thine enemies get advantage of thy flock, and 
 lest pride and hypocrisy, and sensuality, and unbelief, 
 should prevail against thy little remnant, and share 
 among them thy whole inheritance, and when thou 
 comest thou find not faith on the earth. Delay not ft 
 lest the grave should boast of victory, and refuse to de- 
 liver thee up thy due ; O hasten that great resurrection 
 day; when thy command shall go forth, and non^ 
 shall disobey ; when the sea and earth shall yield up 
 their hostages, and all that sleep in the grave shall 
 awake, and the dead in Christ first arise ! when the 
 seed that thou sowest corruptible, shall come forth in- 
 corruptible ; and graves that receive but rottenness, 
 and retained but dust, shall return thee glorious stars 
 and suns; therefore dare I lay down my carcase in the 
 dust, entrusting it, not to a grave, but to thee ; and 
 therefore my flesh shall rest in hope, till thou raise it 
 to everlasting Rest. Return, O Lord, how long ? O 
 let thy kingdom cjme ! Thy desolate bride saith, 
 2 E 
 
326 THE SAMTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 10. 
 
 Come ; for thy Spirit within her saith, Come, who 
 teacheth her thus to pray with groanings which cannot 
 be expressed : the whole creation saith, Come, waiting 
 to he delivered from the bondage of corruption into 
 the glorious liberty of the sons of God : thyself hath 
 said, " Surely I come quickly. Amen, even so, come, 
 Lord Jesus 1" 
 
 The CONCLUSION. 
 
 THUS, Reader, I have given thee my best advice 
 for the attaining and maintaining a heavenly conver- 
 sation. The manner is imperfect, and too much my 
 own ; but for the main matter I received it from God. 
 From him 1 deliver it to thee, and this charge I lay 
 upon thee, that thou entertain and practise it. If thou 
 canst not do it fully, do it as thou canst ; only be sure 
 thou do it seriously and frequently. If thou wilt be- 
 lieve a man that hath -made some trial of it, thou shalt 
 find it will make thee another man, and elevate thy 
 soul, and clear thy understanding, and leave a pleasant 
 savour upon thy heart ; so that thy own experience will 
 make thee confess, that one hour thus spent will more 
 effectually revive thee, than many in bare external du- 
 ties ; and a day in these contemplations will afford thee 
 truer content, than all the glory and riches of the 
 earth. Be acquainted with this work, and thou wilt 
 be acquainted with God : thy joys will be spiritual and 
 lasting : thou wilt have comfort in life, and comfort in 
 death : when thou hast neither wealth nor health, nor 
 the pleasures of thi^ world, yet wilt thou have comfort : 
 comfort without the presence or help of any friend, 
 without a book, when all means are denied 'thee, or 
 taken from thee, yet mayest thou have vigorous, real 
 comfort. Thy graces will be active and victorious; 
 and the dailv joy which is thus fetched from heaven, 
 will be thy strength ; thou wilt be as one that standeth 
 on the top of an exceeding high mountain ; he looks 
 down on the world as if it were quite below -him : how 
 
III. § 10. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST^ 337 
 
 small do the fields, and woods, and countries seem to 
 him ? Cities and towns seem but little spots. Thus 
 despicably wilt thou look on all things here below : 
 the greatest princes will seem but as grass-hoppers 
 and the busy, contentious, covetous world, but as heaps 
 of ants. Men's threatenings will be no terror to thee ; 
 nor the honours of this world any strong enticement ; 
 temptations will be harmless, as having, lost their 
 strength ; and afflictions less, as having lost their sting ; 
 and every mercy will be better known and relished. 
 
 Reader, it is (under God) in thy own choice now, 
 whether thou wilt live this blessed life or not : and whe- 
 ther all these pains which I have taken for thee, shall 
 prosper or be lost. If it be lost through thy laziness, 
 (which God forbid) thou wilt prove the greater loser 
 thyself. 
 
 O man ! what hast thou to mind, but God and hea- 
 ven? Art thou not almost out of this world already ? 
 Dost thou not look every day, when one disease or 
 other will let out thy soul? Doth not the bier stand 
 ready to carry thee to the grave ? and the worms wait 
 to feed upou thy face and heart? What if thy pulse 
 must beat a few strokes more ? And what if thou hast 
 a few more breaths to fetch, before thou breathe thy 
 last? And what if thou hast a few more nights to 
 sleep, before thou sleep in the dust? Alas, what will 
 this be, when it is gone? And is it not almost gone 
 already ? Shortly thou wilt see thy glass run out, and 
 say thyself, ■ My life is done ! My time is gone ! 
 There is nothing now, but heaven or hell ;.* where then 
 should thy heart be now, but in heaven ? Didst thou 
 but know what a dreadful thing it is to have a doubt 
 of heaven, when a man lies dying, it would rouse 
 thee up. 
 
 O what a life might men live, if they were but wil- 
 ling and diligent ! God would have our joys to be far 
 more than our sorrows ; yea, he would have us to have 
 no sorrow, but what tendeth to joy ; and no more than 
 our sins have made necessary for our good. How much 
 do those Christians wrong God and themselves, that 
 2 E<2 
 
3*8 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING 11EST. III. § I0". 
 
 either make their thoughts of God the inlet of their 
 sorrows, or let these offered joys lie by, as neglected or 
 forgotten! Some there are that say, ' It is not worth 
 so much time and trouble, to think of the greatness of 
 the joys above.' But as these men obey not the com- 
 mand of God, which requireth them to have their 
 affections on things above; so do they wilfully make 
 their own lives miserable, by refusing the delights 
 which God had set before them. And yet if this were 
 all, it were a small matter; if it were but loss of their 
 comforts, I would not say much: but see what abun- 
 dance of other mischiefs follow the absence of these 
 heavenly delights. 
 
 First, Jt will damp, if not destroy, our very love to 
 God : so deeply as we apprehend his exceeding love to 
 us, and his purpose to make us eternally happy, so 
 much will it raise our love: love to God, and delight 
 in him, are still conjunct. They that conceive of God 
 as one that desireth their blood and damnation, cannot 
 heartily love him. 
 
 Secunclly, It will make us have rave and impleading 
 thoughts .<*£ C-io.; »*GT Oiir iiM-ugnU vt.'iI ioHow our 
 love and delight. Did we more delight in God than 
 in any thing below, our thoughts would as freely run 
 after him, as they now run from him. 
 
 Thirdly, And it will make men have as rare and 
 unpleasing speeches of God: for who will care for 
 talking of that which he hath no delight in ? What 
 makes men still to talk of worldliness or wickedness, 
 but that these are more pleasant to them than God ? 
 
 Fourthly, Men will have no delight in the service of 
 God, when they have no delight in God, nor any 
 sweet thoughts of heaven, which is the end of their 
 services. No wonder if such Christians complain, that 
 they are still backward to duty; that they have no de- 
 light in prayer, in sacraments, or in Scripture itself; 
 if thou couldst once delight in God, thou wouldst 
 easily delight in duty ; especially that which bringeth 
 thee into nearest converse with him ; but till then, no 
 wonder if thou be weary of all. 
 
III. § 10. THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. 329 
 
 Fifthly, This want of heavenly delight will leave 
 men under the power of every affliction : they will 
 have nothing to comfort them, and ease them in their 
 sufferings, but the empty ineffectual pleasures of the 
 flesh ; and when those are gone, where then is their 
 delight ? 
 
 Sixthly, It will make them fearful and unwilling to 
 die: for who would go to a God, or a place that he 
 hath no delight in ? Or who would leave his pleasure 
 here, except it were to go to better? But if men take 
 delight in God while they live, they will not tremble 
 at the tidings of death. 
 
 If God would persuade you now to make conscience 
 of this duty, and help you in it by the blessed influence 
 of his Spirit, you would not change your lives with 
 the greatest prince on earth. But I am afraid, if I may- 
 judge of your hearts by the backwardness of my own, 
 that it will prove a hard thing to persuade you to the 
 work. Pardon my jealousy; it is raised upon too 
 many and sad experiments. What say jou ? Do you 
 resolve on this heavenly course or not ? Will you let 
 go all your sinful pleasures, and daily seek these 
 higher delights ? 
 
 I pray thee, Reader, consider of it, and resolve on 
 the work before thou goest further. Let thy family 
 perceive, let thy neighbours perceive, let thy con- 
 science perceive, yea, let God perceive it, that thon 
 art a man who hast thy conversation in heaven. God 
 hath now offered to be thy daily delight ; thy neglect, 
 is thy refusal. Take heed what thou dost : refuse this, 
 and refuse all ; thou must have heavenly delights, or 
 none that are lasting. God is willing that thoushouldst 
 walk with him, and fetch in consolation from the ever- 
 lasting Fountain : if thou be not willing, bear the loss ; 
 and when thou liest dying, then seek for comfortwhere 
 thou canst. O how is the unseen God neglected, and 
 the unseen glory forgotten ! and all for want of that 
 «' faith which is the substance of things hoped for, and 
 the evidence of things that are not seen." 
 
 But for you whose hearts God hath weaned from 
 all things here below, I hope you will fetch one walk 
 2 E 3 
 
330 THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. III. § 10* 
 
 daily in the New Jerusalem ! God is your love and 
 your desire ; and I know you would fain be more ac- 
 quainted with your Saviour, and I know it is your 
 grief that your hearts are not more near him ; and that 
 they do not more passionately love and delight in him. 
 As ever you would enjoy your desires, try this life of 
 meditation on your everlasting Rest. 
 
 O Thou, the merciful Father of spirits, the Attrac- 
 tive of love, and the Ocean of delights, draw up these 
 drossy hearts unto thyself, and keep them there till 
 they are spiritualized and refined, and second these thy 
 servants' weak endeavours, and persuade those that 
 read these lines, to the practice of this delightful, hea- 
 venly work ! O surfer not the soul of thy most un- 
 worthy servant to be a stranger to those joys which he 
 unfoldeth to thy people, or to be seldom in that way 
 which he hath marked out to others ! but, O keep me 
 while I tarry on this earth, in daily serious breathings 
 after thee, and in a believing affectionate walking with 
 thee ; and when thou comest, O let me be found so 
 doing, not hiding my talent, nor serving my flesh, nor 
 yet asleep with my lamp uafurnished, but waiting and 
 longing for my Lord's return: that those who shall 
 read these directions, may not only reap the fruit of 
 my studies, but the breathings of my active hope and 
 love: that if my heart were open to their view, they 
 might there read the same, most deeply engraven with 
 a beam from the face of the Son of God ; and not find 
 vanity, or lust, or pride within, where the words of 
 life appear without; that so these lines may not wit- 
 ness against me, but, proceeding from the heart of the 
 Writer, may be effectual, through thy grace, upon the 
 heart of the Reader, and so be the savour of life to both. 
 
 Glory be to God in the highest.: On eartk Peace r 
 Good-will towards men. . 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Page 
 The Saints* Reft defined. 
 
 1 The Saints' Reft defined .... 8 
 
 2 To make Salvation the ultimate end of duty, is 
 
 not mercenary .... . • 9 
 
 3 Life and Salvation proved to be the end of duty 10 
 
 CHAP. IT. 
 
 What this Reft pre-fuppofes. 
 
 1 A perfon in motion, fecking Reft . . .11 
 
 2 An end toward which he moveth for Reft . 12 
 
 3 A diftance is pre-fuppofed from this end, elfc 
 
 there can be no motion towards it . ibid. 
 
 4 It pre-fuppofes the knowledge of the true ulti- 
 
 mate end, and its excellency . . ibid. 
 
 5 It pre-fuppofes not only a diftance from this 
 
 Reft, but alfo the true knowledge of this 
 diftance ibid. 
 
 6 It alfo pre-fuppofes, a fuperior moving caufe ibid. 
 
 7 It pre-fuppofes, an eternal principle of life in 
 
 the perfon . . . . . . 13 
 
 8 ChrihVs fubjecls arc not lawlefo . . .14 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 What this Reft contains. 
 
 1 A ceafing from the means of grace . . .15 
 
 2 A perfect freedom from all evil . . ibid. 
 
 3 The faints' perfonal perfection in body and 
 
 foul ...... ibid. 
 
 4 The neareft enjoyment of God the Chief Good 16 
 
332 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 5 A fweet and conftant aclion of all the powers 
 
 of the body 16 
 
 6 And of the foul, as Knowledge . . .17 
 
 Memory, — Love, — and Joy . , .22 
 
 chap. iv. 
 
 The great Preparatives to our Reft. 
 
 1 The glorious appearing of Chrift opens the way 26 
 
 2 The general Refurrection . . . .28 
 
 3 The lafl Judgment . . . . .30 
 
 4 The Saints' Coronation . . . . 34 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 The Excellencies of our Reft. 
 
 1 It is the purchafed poifefiion . . . .37 
 
 2 It is a free gift 39 
 
 3 It is peculiar to Saints . . . . .41 
 
 4 It is an aflbciation with Saints and Angels .ibid. 
 
 5 It derives its joy immediately from God himfelf 44 
 
 6 It will be fuitable 46 
 
 7 It will be perfect without fin or fuffering . 50 
 
 8 It will be everlafting 57 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 The People of God defcribed. 
 
 1 They are deeply convinced of the evil of fin . 60 
 
 2 Their mifery by (in, and the vanity of the crea- 
 
 ture 61 
 
 3 And thcalUfuiucicncy of Chrift . . .64 
 
 4 Their will propottior.ably changed . . 66 
 
 5 They engage in covenant with Clirift . . 67 
 
 6 They perfevcre in their engagements . . 68 
 The Conclusion 69 
 
 Part IT. Chap. I. 
 
 The inconceivable Mifery of the Ungodly, in the lofs 
 of this Reft. 
 
 1 They lofc the perfonal perfections of the Saints 72 
 
CONTENTS. 333 
 
 Page 
 
 2 God himfelf . . . ? .73 
 
 3 All delightful affeclions towards God . . 74 
 
 4 The blcffed Society of angels and glorified 
 
 Spirits .... ibid. 
 
 CHAP. IT. 
 The Aggravation of the lofsof Heaven to the Ungodly. 
 
 1 Their underftanding cleared . . .76 
 
 2 Alfo enlarged . . . ibid. 
 
 3 Their coufciences brought to a true application 77 
 
 4 Their affeclions more lively . . .78 
 
 5 Their memories ftreugthened . • J 79 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 They ihall lofe all things comfortable, as well as 
 
 heaven. 
 1 Their prcfumptuous belief of their intcrofls in 
 
 God and Chrili . . . #87 
 
 C Z All their hopes . . . .88 
 
 3 ah their peace of confeienoe 7 . . 01 
 
 4 AH their carnal mirth . , ibid. 
 b A1J their fenfual delights . . .92 
 
 CHAP. JV. 
 
 The greatnefs of the torments of the damned 
 difcovcred. 
 
 1 From the Author of them, which is God himfelf 93 
 
 2 The place or (late of torment . . 94 
 
 3 God's Executioners are Satan and Sinners them- 
 
 felves • ibid. 
 
 4 Thefe torments will bo universal . . 95 
 
 5 Without any mitigation . . .96 
 
 6 And eternal . . . . . 97 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 The fecoud Ufc, rcprefenting the general neglect of 
 this Reft, and exciting to diligence in ieeking it. 
 
 1 This Reft is furprifingly neglected . . 104 
 
334 con'Tints. 
 
 Page 
 
 2 By the worldly-minded . , 104 
 
 3 The profane multitude . . . 106 
 
 4 Formal profeffors . . . .198 
 
 5 And by the godly them Pel res . , .110 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 An Exhortation to ScriouPnePs in Pecking Reft. 
 
 1 Confider, our affections and actions fhould be 
 
 anfwcrable to the grcatncPs op the ends to 
 Avhich they arc intended . . .114 
 
 2 Our diligence fhould be anfwcrable to the 
 
 grcatncPs oP the work which we hare to do 115 
 
 3 Our diligence Ihould be quickened, bccatiPe oP 
 
 the fhortnefs and uncertainty oP the time al- 
 lotted us Por the perPormancc oP this work 116 
 
 4 Our diligence fhould be anfwerable to the dili- 
 
 gence oP our enemies in Peeking our deduc- 
 tion .... ibid. 
 
 5 Our affections and endearours mould bear Pome 
 
 proportion with the talents we harercceired 117 
 
 6 The vigour of our aueclions and actions fhould* 
 
 be anPwerable to the great cod beftowed 
 upon us . • .118 
 
 7 All the relations which we ftand in toward 
 
 God, call upon us for our utmoft diligence 119 
 
 8 How clofe would they ply their work who have 
 
 fuch attendants as we have . . ibid. 
 
 9 How forward and painful fhould Ave be in that 
 
 work, we are fure we can never i\o enough 120 
 
 10 They that trifle in the way to Heaven, loPe 
 
 all their labour . . . ib ' ,(I » 
 
 11 We have loft a great deal oP time already, and 
 • therefore it is reafonable that we labour fo 
 
 much the harder . 1^1 
 
 1* The greater our layings-out are, the greater 
 
 will be our comings-in . . *kid. 
 
 CHAP. VI r. 
 The third life. Pcrfuacling all men to try their titles 
 to this Reft; and directing them how to try, that 
 they may know. 
 
CONTENTS. 335 
 
 Page 
 
 1 Marks for trial: as, Do we make God our 
 
 Chief Good? . . . .134 
 
 2 Do we heartily accept of Chrift for our Lord 
 
 and Saviour ? . . . .136 
 
 3 The great importance of thefe two marks . ibid. 
 
 chap. viii. 
 
 Farther Caufes of doubting among Chriflian?. 
 
 1. The weaknefs of our grace . . . 113 
 
 2 Through the imperfection of our very reafon 144 
 
 3 The fecret maintaining fome known fin ibid. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Containing Directions to Examination, and fome 
 Marks of Trial. 
 
 1 Come not with (oo peremptory couclufions of 
 
 ourfelves before-hand . . . 147 
 
 2 Be fure to be well acquainted with Scripture, 148 
 
 3 Be a conftatit obfener of the temper and mo- 
 
 tion of fby heart . . . ibid. 
 
 4 Every foul that hath a title to this Reft, doth 
 
 place his happin fs in it . ibid. 
 
 5 No labour or fullering too great to obtain it ibid. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 The Reafon of the Saints' Afflictions here. 
 
 1 Labour and trouble is the common way to Reft, 
 
 both in the courle of nature and of ^race, 152 
 
 2 Afflictions are exceedingly ufeful to us, to keep 
 
 us from miftaking our Reding- place, and To 
 taking up fliort of it . . . 153 
 
 3 Afflictions are God's molt effectual means, to 
 
 keep us from draggling out of the v.ay to 
 our Reft . . . .154 
 
 4 Afflictions arc God's most effectual means to 
 
 make us mend our pace in the way to our 
 Rest, . . . .155 
 
336 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 An exhortation to thofe that have got aflurancc of this 
 Reft, that they would do all that poflibly they can 
 to help others to it. 
 
 . *age 
 
 1 It confifts in pitying the mifery of men's fouls 161 
 
 2 In giving religious initruction . ibid. 
 
 3 In promoting their profit by public ordinances 175 
 
 4 VVhy this duty is fo much neglected . ibid. 
 
 5 Objections againfl it anfwered . . 17fi 
 € The difcharge of it urged • . .183 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 An Advice to fome more particularly to help others to 
 this Reft. 
 
 1 Thofe who have more learning and knowledge 
 
 than others . . . .192 
 
 2 Thofe who efpecially have familiarity with un- 
 
 godly men . . . . ibid. 
 
 3 Phyficiani, in an efpecial manner, ought to 
 
 make confeience of this duty . ibid. 
 
 4 Thofe who harve wealth and property , . 193 
 
 5 The Minifters of the Gofpel . ' . . 194 
 
 Part III. Chap. 1% 
 
 Containing a Directory for getting and keeping the 
 heart in heaven, by the diligent practice of that 
 excellent duty Meditation. 
 
 Reproving our Expectations of Reft on Earth. 
 
 1 It is grofs idolatry to make any creature or 
 
 means our Reft . / . 217 
 
 2 Confider how thoCe contradict fne end of God 
 
 in giving, thefc things . . • 218 
 
CONTENT^ 337 
 
 Pago 
 
 3 Confider whether it be not the moft probable 
 
 way, to caufe God, to deny thofe mercies 
 which we dcfire . .. . .218 
 
 4 If we take up our reft here, it will be one of 
 
 the greatefl curfes that can befall us . . 220 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Motives to heavenly-mindednefs. Chriflians exhorted 
 to it, by cenlidering, 
 
 1 It will evidence their fincere piety . . 227 
 
 2 It leads to the moft comfortable life . . 228 
 
 3 It is the bell prefervative from temptations . 234 
 
 4 It will invigorate their graces and duties . . 235 
 
 5 It will be their bed cordial in afflictions . . 242 
 
 6 It will render them moft ufeful to others . 243 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Containing fome hindrances of Heavenly. Mindedncfs. 
 
 1 Living in known fin . . . . 244 
 
 2 Earthly-mindednefs .... 246 
 
 3 Avoid ungodly and fenfual men . . 247 
 
 4 Difputes about leffer truths, efpecially when a 
 
 man's religion lies in opinions . , 248 
 
 5 Take heed of a proud and lofty fpirit . . 249 
 
 6 — Lazinefs and llothfulnefs of fpirit . . 251 
 
 7 — Mere preparative to this heavenly life, while 
 
 we are Grangers to the life itfelf . . 254 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Some Helps to Heavenly-Mindednefs. 
 
 1 Know Heaven to be the only treafure . . 255 
 
 2 Labour to know heaven to be the only happi. 
 
 nefs, fo alfo to be thy happinefs • . 256 
 
 3 Labour to apprehend how near it is . ibid. 
 
 4 To be much in ferious difcourling uf it . . 257 
 
 5 Make it thy bufinefs in eveiy duty to wind up 
 
 th > atlections nearer heaven . . 258 
 
 6 Make an advanl i^e of every object thou feelt 250 
 
 2F 
 
S3^ CONTENTS. 
 
 Pas;c 
 
 7 Bj much in thai angelical work of praife . 260 
 
 8 i$e a easeful obi'erver of the drawings of the 
 
 Spirit . . . . . 262 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 A defcription of heavenly Contemplation. 
 
 1 It is the fet and folemn acting of all the powers 
 
 of the foi'l upon this moil perfect objc6t 
 (RcfTJ by Meditation . . . 264 
 
 2 It is the work of the foul, for bodily cxercife 
 
 doth here profit but iittlc . . . 266 
 
 3 Jt is not a bare thinking, but a bufinefs of a 
 
 more excellent nature . . ibid. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 The fittcfl Time and Place for Contemplation, and the 
 Preparation of the Heart unto it. 
 
 1 Choofe the moft feafonable time . . 270 
 
 2 The Lord's. day is a time exceedingly feafonable 275 
 
 3 When God doth extraordinarily revive our 
 
 fpirit . . . . 276 
 
 4 When the Meffengers of God fummon us to 
 
 die r . . . ibid., 
 
 5 To withdraw from all Society, that we may 
 
 awn le enjoy the Society of Chrift . ibid.. 
 
 6 Get thy heart clear from the world .. . 277 
 
 7 Labour to have a deep fenfe of the prefence of 
 
 God . . .. . . 278 
 
 8 Confidcr the greatnefs of the work . ibid. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 What aff clions rouft be acted, and by what Confider- 
 ation and Objects, anil in what Order. 
 
 1 Love ..... 282. 
 
 2 Defiie . . . . .287 
 
 3 Hope . . . . .288 
 
 4 And Joy .... 2*9 
 
CONTENTS. ~33§ 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Some Advantages and Helps, for railing the foul 
 by Meditation. 
 
 Page 
 t Argue ftrongly with your hearts, from the cor- 
 rupt delights of fenfual men . . 295 
 
 2 Compare alfo the delights above- with the law- 
 
 ful delights of feufe . . ibid. 
 
 3 Confidcr alfo the delights above with the delights 
 
 that arc found in natural knowledge . ibid. 
 
 4 Compare them alfo with the delights of morality 296" 
 .') Compare alfo the excellencies of heaven with 
 
 the works of creation . . . 297 
 
 ii — Alfo with the works of Providence, which 
 
 Cod exercifeth in the church, and in the world 298 
 
 7 Compare alio the mercies which thou (halt have 
 
 above, with thofe particular providences 
 which thou haft enjoyed thyfelf . . 299 
 
 8 Compare the joy which we mall have in hea- 
 
 ven, with that which the faints have found in 
 the way to it . . . . 300 
 
 9 Compare alfo the glory of the heavenly king- 
 
 dom with the glory of the church on earth . 301 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 How to manage and watch over the heart through the 
 whole work. 
 
 1 Command thy heart ; if it rebel, ufe violence 
 
 with it, call in the afliftance of the Holy 
 Spirit ..... 305 
 
 2 Beware left it delude thee by a loitering for- 
 
 mality ..... 30& 
 
 3 Ufe violence with thy imaginations . . 307 
 
 4 Be fure alfo to look to thy heart in this, that it 
 
 cut not out the work before the time . ibid. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 An Example of this Heavenly Contemplation, for 
 
 the help of the unfkilful . . .310 
 
 Tije Conclusion . . . 325 
 
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 By Thomas Cokdeux, Agent. 
 
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