A view of this and the other world : with the state of saints and sinners in both, contrasted : particularly describing the solemn entrance which the soul makes into the other world at death : in several practical discourses

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This and the Other World;
with

The State of Saints and Sinners in
both, £ontrafted.

PARTICULARLY DESCRIBING-

The folemn Entrance which the Soul makes
into the other World at Death,

In feveral practical Difcourfes*.

By the late Reverend and Learned
Mr THOMAS BOSTON^

Author of the Fourfold State, <&c. &ca

NEVER BEFORE PRINTED,

Cntereo m Stationers $>alk

E D IN B U RG.H:

Printed by and for John Grax*

MDCCLX 2LV»,

THE

CONTENTS.

Page

I. The ftate and cbara&ers of believers, as they
are of God, with their knowledge thereof,
illuftrated ; and a defcription of the unrege-
nerate world lying in wickednefs.

i John v. 19.

An$ we know that we are of God, and the whole
world lieth in wickednefs* 1

II. The divine call to finners, to come out from
among the world lying in wickednefs, ex-
plained and urged.

1 John v. 19.

The whole world lieth in wickednefs*

2 Cor. vi. 17.

Wherefore come out from among them , and be ye
feparate, faith the Lord, and touch not the un*
clean thing ; and I will receive you, 69

III. The believer's hundred-fold in this life con*
fidered ; and a view of the reality, parts, in-
habitants, pafiage into, and ftate of men, in
the world to come.

Mark x. 30.

Be /hall receive an hundred-fold now in this time,
houfeSy and brethren, andfifiers, and mothers*
and cbildreny and lands, with perfections /
and in the world to come, eternal life, 105

IV. The great care and concern now, that our
. fouls be not gathered with finners in the

other world, considered and improved.

PS1L M

it The C O N T E N T S.

Psalm xxvi. 9.

Gather not my foul -with finners. 2©2

V. The improvement of life in this world to
the raifing a good name, the beft balance for
the prefent, for the vanity and mifery of hu-
man life : and the good manrs dying-day bet»
ter than his birth-day.

EccL. vii. 1.

A good name is better than precious ointment ;
and the day of death, than the day of one's
birth. 227

VI. ChrifYs fpecial order for gathering his faints
to him at the laft day ; with their diftinguifh-
ing chara&er, as entering into his covenant
now, confidered.

Psalm 1. £.

Gather my faints together unto me ; thofe that
have made a covenant •with me by facrifice. 284

VII. The faints lifetime in this world a night*
time 5 their expeaation of the day's breaking
in the other world, and the fhadows fleeing
away •, and their great concern for Chrift's
prefence till that happy feafon come.

Song ii. 17.
Until the day break, and the Jhadows fee away ;
turn, my Beloved, and be thou like a roe, or a
young hart upon the mountains of Bether. 3 1 8

VIII. Readinefs for our removal into the other
world opened up, urged and enforced.

Luke xii. 40.

Be ye therefore ready alfo : for the Son of man
cmetb at an hour when ye think mt.

The State and Characters of Believers, as
they are of God, with their Knowledge
thereof, illuftrated ;

AND

A Defcription of the unregenerate World
lying in Wickednefs.

Several Sermons preached at Etterick, in the end of
the year 1728, and beginning of 1729.

1 John v. 19.

And we know that we are of Gody and the whole
world lieth in- wickednefs*

AS it was faid to Rebekah, Gen. xxv. 23. Two
nations are hi thy womb, and two manner of
people fhall be feparated from thy bowels : —
and the elder Jh all ferve the younger t (o it may be
faid of this text. Two manner of people are here,
to one of which all of us do belong, viz, thofe that
are of God, and thofe that are of the world. The
latter is the elder, and fhall ferve the younger, Pfal.
xlix. 14 The upright fhall have dominion over them in
the morning.

1. There is a people, that though they are in the
world, are not of it, but feparated from it : And we
know that we are of God. Here confider, (1.) The
oiiginal of that people ; they are of God / that is, be-
gotten and born of God, regenerate perfons, born
again. They are a heavenly people in refpecl of their
extract, born from above, 2 Pet. i. 4. (2.) Who
they are in particular j We are they, we believers in
Chiift. Thofe that having received the call of the
3 A gofpel

2 The Text explained.

gofpel to come out of the world lying in wickednefe,
have by faith embraced the call, and come away,
John i. 12. 13. 2 Cor. v. 17. (3.) The knowledge
they have of their original : We know that we are
of God. We are not only regenerate, but we know
that we are fo. Not that all of them know fo much,
but fome of them do : there may be children fo
young, that they know not their father's and mo-
ther's names ; but the elder children know them
very well. This comes in here for the comfort of
believers againft the fin unto death, ver. 16. which
the regenerate cannot fall into, ver. 1.8.

2. There is another people, who are not of God,
but are quite diftintt from thofe that are fo. Here
confider, (1.) Who they are, the world, that is, the
unregenerate : thefe are the people diftincl: from, yea
in an oppofite intereft to, the people of God. It is
plain, the world is taken here, not for the place, but for
the men of the place, and thefe not the ftrangers and
pilgrims in it, but the natives, who have no other but
a worldly birrh, and who are in it as at home in their
own country. The phrafe is taken from the Old Tefta-
ment, where the church is called the fons of God,
Gen. vi. 4.; thofe without the church, the earth,
Gen. xi. 1. in oppofition to heaven ; being the
earthly men, in oppofition to the heavenly men ;
men whofe birth, temper, and manner of life are all
worldly. (2.) The character of this people, they are
lying in wichednefs , or in the wicked one, viz. the de-
vil. They are lying in fin, in the guilt and filth,
and under the reigning power of it, and fo under
the power of the devil. They are not rifing and
wreftling out of it, but they are lying in it, fleeping,
dead, and buried in it. (3.) The extent of this
character -, it belongs to them all, the whole world,
There are many differences among thofe of the un-
regenerate world ; fome of them are profeflbrs, fome
profane : but the former as well as the latter are ly-
ing in wickednefs.

That

Dotlrines from the Text. 3

That I may give you fome view of this text, in its
different branches, I (hall effay to open up the three
following points of doctrine therefrom, viz.

Doct. I. All true believers are of God, andfofe*
parated from the -world lying in loickednefs.

DocT. II. People's being of Cody and feparated
from the world lying in wickednefs, is what may be
known by themfelves.

Doct. III. 7 he whole unregencrate xvorld lieth in
viickednefs.

Doct. I. All true believers are of Gody andfofe*
parated from the world lying in wickednefs.

In handling this point, I (hall (hew,

I. How true believers are of God.

II. How, as they are of God, regenerate perfons,
they are feparated from the world lying in wickednefs.

III. Make improvement.

I. I am to fhew how true believers are of God.
One is faid to be of God two ways.

1. By creation •, and fo all things are of God, Rom.
xi. 36. Thus the devils themfelves are of God as
their Creator, and fo is the world. But this is not
the being of God here meant. They may be God's crea-
tures, who neverthelefs are the children of the devil.

2. By generation, as a fon is of a father. And
this is twofold.

ifty Eternal generation ; fo Chrift alone is of God,
John vi. 46. Pfal. ii. 7. He is the San of God by
generation of the perfon of the Father, having the
fame numerical divine eflence eternally and necef.
farily communicated to him from the Father. Hence
he is felf-exiftent, independent, and equal with the
Father, John v. 26. Phil. ii. 6. Neither is this
meant here.

2dly> Temporal generation, called regeneration,
A 2 which

4 Hew Believers are of God.

which is a work of God's grace on the fouls of men,
refembling natural generation. And thus believers,
and none elfe are of God, John i. 12. 13. & viii. 47.
We are all born from below naturally ; but we muffc
be born from above fpirkually, if we fee heaven,
John iii. 3. Except a man be born again [mar g. from
above'], he cannot fee the kingdom of God. All the
elect are born fo, fooner or later. They naturally
lie in the foul womb of the world with others, but
the power of divine grace feparates them therefrom.

The work of regeneration is held forth under a
I double notion, fhewing the regenerate to be of God.

(1.) It is a being begotten of God* 1 John v. 18.
He that is begotten of God, keepeth himfelf, and that
wicked ene toucheth him not. God himfelf is the Fa-
ther of the new creature, it is of no lower original.
The incorruptible word of the gofpel is the feed of it,
Jam. i. 18. 1 Pet. i. 23. 25. A word is call into
the heart, which by the efficacy of the Spirit changes
one into a new nature. It is done by means of the
refurrection of Chrift, ver. 3. Chrift lay in the
womb of the earth in the grave, as a public perfon :
having Satisfied juftice, he was raifed, came forth of
the grave, as the fir it born from the dead; and in
virtue thereof the dead elect are raifed out of their
grave of fin, as the next born from the dead.

And this notion of regeneration fpeaks the parties
themfelves to have no hand in it, more than a child
hath in its own generation. So that as regenerate
they are wholly of God; and owe their being in
grace to him purely, not to their own free-will.

(2.) It is a being born of God, 1 John v. 18. Who*
foever is born of God, finneth not. By his Spirit alone
the new creature is formed in all its parts, and brought
forth into the new world of grace, John iii. 5. And
this notion of it fpeaks the parties to receive life by
the Spirit, and to be brought forth to act that life ;
and none other but the Spirit to be the caufe thereof,
Johni. 13.

Now

How Believers are of God* 5

Now by this means, viz. regeneration, believers
are of God,

1. As partaking of the divine nature, as the child
doth of the nature of the parent, 2 Pet. i. 4. There
is a fulnefs of grace lodged in the man Chrift, out of
which they receive grace for grace, and fo with him
partake of the divine nature, being made one fpirit,
or of one fpiritual and divine nature with him. Even
as they received a corrupt nature derived to them
from Adam, by which they were originally of the
wicked one.

2. As bearing the image of God, in knowledge^
righteoufnefs, and holineis. By regeneration they
are like him ; and if it were perfect, they would be
perfectly like him. For in regeneration Chrift is
formed in them, Gal. iv. 19. ; that is, they are the
image of the man Chrift, who is the image of the
invifible God.

3. As being of his family, Eph. iii. 14. i£. and
that not as fervants only, but as children, 2 Cor. vi.
17. 18. The new birth is a high birth: by, it the
linner is a member of the family of heaven ; God is,
his Father, Chrift is his elder Brother, and the an-
gels and faints are his brethren.

4. As owing their new being to him only, in the
efficacy of his grace, Eph. ii. 10. For we are his
workmanjbip, created in Chrift Jefus unto good works*
Our natural being we owe in part to our parents.,,
Heb. xii. 9. but our gracious being to God only.
That we are men, we owe it to him, in the efficacy
of his creating power ; and that we are faints, we
owe it to him, in the efficacy of his quickening and:'
renewing grace, Gal. iv. 28. Now -wey brethren*, as-
Ifaac waSy are the children of ' promife.

II. I fhall fhew how believers, as they are of Goda,
regenerate perfons, are feparated from the world ly-
ing in wickednefs. Negatively,

i. Not in refpect of place, 1 Cor v 9. io. They
A 3 are

6 How Believers are feparated from the World.

are ftill in the world, and muft be till the Lord call
them home •, though they are not of the world. God*
could, in the moment of converfion, have tranfport-
ed converts into heaven, taken them out of the
world for good and all : but he has feen meet for
their trial, and the glory of the power of his grace,
to keep them in the world a while ; and yet to keep
them feparate from them.

2. Not in refpect of gathering them into pure un-
mixed focieties for worihip. There are no fuch vi-
fible church-focieties in the world, Matth. xiii. 28.
29. 30. Separating from the world lying in wick-
ednefs is not fuch an eafy thing, as vifible church
feparating; they may be forward enough to that, who
are yet with the world lying in wickednefs, Jude 19.
and may go from party to party in the vifible church,
who are ftill of the world's party, not of God. But
positively, the regenerate as fuch are feparated from
the worlds

1. In refpecl: of their being broke off from that
corrupt mafs, and become a part of a new lump.
Adam falling left all mankind earthy men, bearing
his corrupt image ; Chrift is become a fecond Adam,
the head of heavenly men, bearing his image, 1 Cor.
xv. 47. 48. Now the regenerate are feparated from
the former fociety, and become members of the lat-
ter, through regenerating grace. They are become
members of Chrift's myftical body, of the invifible
church, a diftin£r, though invifible fociety.

2. Their being delivered from under the power of
the god of this world, viz. Satan, Acts xxvi. 18.
Satan is the god of this world; the wicked are led
by him at his will; he works effectually in them,
and blinds their minds, 2 Cor. iv. 3. 4. But the re-
generate arc got out from under his fubje£tion, deli-
vered from his kingdom, Col. i. 13. He is indeed
an enemy to moleft them, but not their king that
reigns over them ; his involuntary ptifoners they may

be

InftrutHons from the Doftrine, y

be for a time, but they are no more his willing fub«
jects.

3. Their having a Spirit, even the Spirit of God,
dwelling in them, which the world have not, Rom.
■viii. 9. Jude 19. When Lazarus's fpirit entered
again into his body, he was feparated from the con-
gregation of the dead : and when a dead finner gets
the Spirit of Chrift breathed into him, he is fepara-
ted from the world, as much as the living from the
dead.

4. Laftlyy Their having a difpofition, frame, bent,
and call: of heart and foul, oppohte to that of the
world: fo that they are as much feparated from the
world, as enemies are one from another, Gen. iii.
15. Hence they are in their great defigns, affec-
tions, courfe and manner of life, nonconforming,
and oppofites to the world ; as oppofite as Caleb and
Jofhua were to their unbelieving countrymen, Numb,
xiv. 24.

From this doctrine, we may learn the following
things.

1. This fpeaks the dignity of believers. They
are the truly honourable ones, as being of God j
they are the excellent of the earth. What avails it
that men can boaft of their honourable extract: in the
world, while it ftill remains true, that they are of
their father .the devil ? The beggar on the dunghill
being of God, is more honourable than the wicked
king fitting on his throne, attended with all the ma-
jelty of a kingdom.

2. It fpeaks the privilege of believers. Every one
will care and provide for his own : be fure God will
then take fpecial concern about believers, Matth. vi.
31. 32. Therefore- take no thought ■, faying) What /ball
ive eat ? or what Jhall we drink ? or wherewithal

fhatl we be clothed? (For after all thefe things do
the Gentiles feek) for your heavenly Father knoiveih
thai ye have need of all thefe things, ]3ut many fuch,

ye

8 Inftrutlions from the Dotlrine.

ye may fay, are forrily provided for. Anfw. Ye are
too hafty in fuch a judgement, Heb. xi. 16. Cod it
not ajhamed to be called their God : for he hath pre-
pared for them a city* Every one will protect his
own too : God will then protect believers, and he
will avenge all their quarrels. There is never an un-
kindnefs done to them, but he will relent it, as ye
will fee from Chr ill's procedure with the wicked at
the laft day, Matth. xxv. There is not a hard word
fpoken to them, nor a wrong look given them, but
he will caufe their enemies pay for it.

3. It fpeaks the duty of believers. Carry yourfelves
as becomes your dignity and privilege, as thofe that
are of God. Truft him with all your concerns, in
all your ftraits : walk tenderly before him, remem-
bering that your follies reflect difhonour on him ye
belong to; and that ye are to evidence your being of
God, by your fleering another courfe than the world
lying in wickednefs.

4. Laftly, It fhews the felf-deceivery of unbelie-
vers, pretenders to a faving intereft in God, while
in the mean time they are lying together with the
world in wickednefs. How can they be of God, who
are not feparated from the world, but walking accor-
ding to the courfe thereof, in the luft of the flefh,
the luft of the eyes, and the pride of life ?

But I proceed to the fecond doctrine from the text.

DocT. II. People's being of Gody and feparated
from the world lying in wickednefs > is what may be
known by themfelves* We know that we are of God>
fays the apoftle. There is a people in the world, yet
not of the world, but feparated from it ; and they
may fee that they are fuch.^

In treating this fubject, I (hall fhew,

I. What knowledge may be had of this.

II. Make fome practical improvement.

What Knowledge may be bad, occ. 9-

I. I am to (hew what knowledge may be had of
this, That one is of God, and feparated from the
world lying in wickedness.

There are three ways of coming to the knowledge
of a thing.

1. By our fenfes, as we know fire to be hot, and
ice to be cold. But this matter cannot be known
that way. The grace of God, and the fpiritual pri-
vileges of believers, are not the objects of fenfe. In-
deed, if feparation from the world were juft a Separa-
ting from oneparty, and joining with another in church-
fociety ; we might know it by fenfe : but it is not fo.

2. By extraordinary revelation, virions, voices^
cr impreflions. Such things have been, as in Abra-
ham's cafe, Gen. xvii. 1. 2. But that difpenfation is
ceafed, the canon of the fcripture being completed,
and we referred to it, as unto a more Jure word of
prophecy^ 2 Pet. i. 19. It was never common to all,
though all are required to know this, ver. 10. AiTu-
rance then of one's being in a ftate of grace, may be
attained without extraordinary revelation.

3. By rational evidence, as feeing a houfe, we
know it has been built by fome one ; feeing the
world, we know that it has been created of God -y
becaufe they could not make themfelves. So men
may know themfelves to be of God, by giving dili-
gence to make their calling and eletlionfure, 2 Pet. i.
10. Two things concur here.

\fty Spiritual difcerning, a fpiritual fight, tafre, or
feeling of the things of God, in ourfelves or others,
1 Cor. ii. 14. It is the total want of this in fome,
that makes them deceive themfelves : they have no
fpiritual difcerning, to diftinguifh between God's
people and the world ; fo they are like men in the
dark, that know not where they are, nor whither
they are going. And the weaknefs of this difcern-
ing in many of God's people, robs them of the com-
fort they might have.

2dlya Spiritual reafoning on *fcripture-grounds,

1 John

10 What Knowledge may be had

I John v. 13. The/e things have I written unto you
that believe on the name of the Son of God ; that ye
may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may
believe on the name ef the Son of God. The word is
the rule, which pronounces of mens ftate in the ge-
neral ; by fpiritual difcerning believers fee in them-
felves or others, thofe things concerning which the
fcripture pronounces ; and by fpiritual reafoning they
come to know by thefe means that they are of God,
and feparated from the world lying in wickednefs.
Now by way of rational evidence one may know this
of a twofold object.

1. Of others. One may know that others are of
God, and feparated from the world, difcerning the
image of God mining forth in them, and thence ga-
thering that they are of God, and not of the world.
So the apoftle in the text fpeaks of others as well as
himfelf. There is a fpiritual difcerning in that cafe,
as Barnabas faw the grace of God in the converts at
Antioch, A&s xi. 23. And this knowledge is fup*
pofed in the command of loving one another, given
to God's people : for how can men love others as of
God, if they cannot know them to be fo ?

2. Of themfelves. A true believer may know
himfelf to belong to God, and not to the world. So
the apoftle fays in the text, We know that we are of
God. There are fuch marks of diftin£tion betwixt
the two focieties fixed in the word, that, by fpiri-
tual difcerning and reafoning, one that is of God
may be fatisfied, that he is really of God, and needs
not be always in the dark in that point.

But betwixt that knowledge concerning one's felf
and others, there is this remarkable difference.

ifiy In the cafe of others, we can have, by rational
evidence, only a judgement of charity, not of certainty,
without extraordinary revelation, fuch as Ananias
had with refpeel: to Paul, A&s ix. 15. This is found-
ed upon probable appearance of the grace of God in
them, which yet may be but an appearance. Hence

the

of People* s being of God. 1 1

the beft of men may be deceived in their opinion of
others, as Philip was with Simon Magus. The devil's
goats may be taken for ChiitVs fheep, by very dis-
cerning Chriftians. Of this I would fay,

(i.) We mould not be rafh in giving or refuting
that judgement, but hold pace with the appearance
or non-appearance of the grace of God in them. We
are bid to beware of men : for we are told all men
are liars ; and many a fair outfide there is, where
there is a foul infide, that a little trial difcovers :
therefore we ought not to have the perfons of any in
admiration. On the other fide, the grace of God
may dwell with much drofs ; therefore we are to
beware left we trample the jewel under foot, becaufe
it lies in a dunghill,

(2.) The love bellowed on hypocrites is not all
loft, and therefore it is fafeft erring on the charitable
fide. A man may love Chrift in a hypocrite : not
that Chrift dwells in any fuch, but that what we be-
ftow on any for Chrift's fake, whether they really de-
ferve it or not, will not lofe its reward, Mark ix. 41.
And by the rule of charity, we are obliged to put
the bed: conftruclion on our neighbour's ftate and way,
that they can reafonably bear, 1 Cor. xiii. 7. One
had better judge ten hypocrites fincere, for that may
be duty, than one fincere perfon a hypocrite, for that
muft always be fin.

(3.) Let us carry our judgement of others no far-
ther than that of charity, and not pretend to a cer-
tainty, which is not competent to us in the cafe, but to
God only. He alone is the fearcher of hearts, without
the knowledge of which an abfolute certainty cannot
be attained. Keeping within our own bounds, the
deceit difcovered in the world would brangle us the
lefs, as being not inconfiftent with the judgement
that we formed.

zdly, In our own cafe, we may have by rational
evidence a judgement of certainty, without extraor-
dinary revelation. We may in an ordinary way, if

we

12 What Knowledge may be hady &c.

we really belong to God, be infallibly affined of it.
The reafon of the difference is plain ; we fee the open
actions and carriage of others, but we cannot know
the fecret fprings of them, the principles, ends, and
manner of them, upon which the main ftrefs lies :
but we may know thefe things in ourfelves. What
moves ourfelves fo to walk, we can affuiedly know ;
but what moves others, we cannot know that.

This is clear from the following grounds.

(i.) A true -child of God may affuredly know his
relative date in the favour of God. Though he can-
not open the fealed book of the decrees, and read his
name at firft hand in the decree of election ; yet by
comparing the word of God in the Bible, and the
work of God in his own foul \ he may know himfelf
to be one of the elecl:, 2 Pet. i. 10. Heb. vi. 11. to
be one of thofe for whom Cbrift died, and of the fa-
mily of God, Rom. viii. 16. 17.

(2.) He may difcern in himfelf real grace, and
know that he believes in Chrift, as fure as he breathes,
2 Tim. i. 12. and loves him, fo that he can appeal
to Omnifcience for the truth thereof, as Peter did,
John xxi. 15. And knowing that all who believe in
Chrift, and love the Lord, are of God, feparated from
the world, and (hall never be fuffered to mix with
them again, he may conclude fo of himfelf with the
greateft certainty.

(3.) All the faints have the Spirit of Chrift, Rom.
viii. 9. And it is the office of the Spirit to lead them
into all truth, and particularly to fhine upon his own
work in the foul, 1 Cor. ii. 12. \ and fo to be a joint
witnefs with their own fpiiits to their adoption into
the family of God, Rom. viii. 16. ; to be a feal, which
is defigned to enfure, Eph. iv. 30. ; and an earner!:
too, which is both a part of the price, and a pledge
of the whole, 2 Cor. v. 5.

(4.) The effects of faith fometimes produced by it
in the faints confirm this. Such is the boldnefs and
confidence. they fometimes have with God, Eph. iii.

12.

life of Exhortation. 13

12. rejoicing in hope of the glory of 'God \ Rom. v. 2.
which is fametimes unfpeakable> 1 Pet, 18. So that
they can chearfuliy undergo fufferings, Heb. x. 34.
All which neceflarily preiuppofeth their knowing
themfelves to be of God.

(5.) Laftly, The examples of the faints make it
plain, as Job xix, 25. 26. 27. For J know that my
Redeemer liveth, and that he fiall ftand at the latter
day upon the earth. And though after my fin, worms
defray this body, yet in my fejh fhall I fee God: whom
1 fhall fee for my f elf, and mine eyes fhall heboid, and
not another ; though my reins be con fumed within me.
Pfal. xxiii. ult. Surely goodnefs and mercy fhall follow
me all the days of my life : and I will dwell in the houfe
of the Lord for ever. 2 Tim, iv. 8. Henceforth thereAs
laid up for me a crown of right eoufnejs, which the
Lord the righteous judge fbali give me at that day :
and not to me only, but unto all them alfo that love
his appearing. This knowledge is what has been
reached, and therefore yet may be fo.

II. For practical improvement of this point, I ex-
hort you to be concerned to know, whether ye are of
God, feparated from the world, or not. Take that
matter under ferious consideration. To prefs you
thereto, confider,

1. We are all of us* naturally, and by our firft
birth, of the world lying in wickednefs, Eph. ii. 2. 3.
No queftion but we were once joined to the wicked
world, as kindly members thereof: all the queftion
is, Whether we be feparated from them, or not ? It is
by a fecond birth that we are of God, if at all. What
experience have we of that ?

2. The world lying in wickednefs is the fociety
appointed to deflru£lion, as in a ftate and courfe of
enmity againft God, Eph. ii. 3. Therefore all that
are to be faved, are delivered and gathered out oi it,
Gal. i. 4. Wo to them that are left in it, for they
will perifh in the 1 ui«s of it. David prays, Gather

3 B not

14 Ufe of Exhortation^ with Motives.

not my foul with the wicked. But they that are not
gathered out of them in life, cannot mifs to be ga-
thered with them in death ; being eternally left in
the guilt and filth of their wickednefr, where the
"Worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

5^ Many deceive themfelves in this matter, as the
foolifh virgins, Matth. xxv. Chrift's flock is certain-
ly a little flock, Luke xii. 32. Matth. vii. 13. 14.
Yet there are but very few who do not hope to mare
with them : for a ruining principle obtains, That if
vrt be not notorioufly profane, it will be well with ue
in the end ; as if the devil could dwell in none, whofe
name is not Legion. They that have a form of reli*
gion, build on that ; and others build on the mercy
of God. They confider not, how very unlikely it
is, that they fliall leap out of Delilah's lap into Abra-
ham's bofom : and therefore they trouble not them-
felves with feparating from the world lying in wick-
ednefs.

4. Death is approaching : and if it were come,
there will be no feparating more from the world.
There are two parts of that world, the one within, the
other without the line of mercy. The latter lies on
the other fide of death. And death feparates the un«
regenerate from the former part indeed, but it fixes
them for ever among the other part that is quite
hopelefs.

5. It is uncertain when death comes to us, and
how, Matth. xxiv. 42. People of all ages and fizes
die, and death fixes all in an unalterable ftate. A
death -bed is not to be trufted to ; for death may
furprife you without getting one ; and though ye get
it, it may be very ufelefs for foul-bufinefs, whether
through raving, or extreme toffing. At bed it is
hardiy the fit time of being new born, when a- dying,

6. Lafily, It is an excellent and ufeful thing to
know our ftate in this point. For if we find that we
are not of God, but of the world, we are awakened
*o fee to it in time. If ws find that we are, it is

what

dharafters of thofe that are of God. 15

what makes both a comfortable life, in the midft
of troubles from the world ; and a fruitful life, in-
flaming the heart with love, humbling the foul, and
ftrengthening it, and fitting both to live and ta die.

For your help in this inquiry, confider the follow-
ing figns, marks, and characters of thofe that are of
God> feparated from the world.

Characters of thofe that are of God.

First, They are fuch as have fled from the world
to Jefus Chrift as a refuge, Heb. vi. 18. They have
feen danger in it, in a work of conviction ; and fafe-
ty from it in Chrift, in a work of faving illumina-
tion. Such are of God, and none other, as is mani-
feft from that gofpel-call, 2 Cor. vi. 17. 18. Where"
fore come out from among them, and be ye feparate,
faith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing s and
J will receive you, and will he a Father unto you ,
and ye Jhall he my fans and daughters, faith the Lord
Almighty, The fecure, and ftrangers to Chrift, are
'yet in the world lying in wickednefs.

1. Seen danger in the world has made them flee
from it. They have come out of it, as Lot out of
Sodom, under conviction that deftru&ion fiom the
Lord was waiting it. They have heard and believed
the report of the word about it, faying, as Rev. xviii.
4. Come out of her \ my people, that ye be not partakers
of her ftns, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
They have got an awakening that has frighted them
from (laying longer with them, notwithstanding of the
multitude abiding at eafe therein, the difcerning of
which makes many eafy in their ftay in it.

2. Seen fafety in Chrift has brought them to him,
in a way of believing, A&s xv. 1 1 . But we believe
that through the grace of the Lord Jefus Chrift, we

Jbdll be faved. They have feen him to be the Chrift,

in whom the fulnefs of happinefs is lodged in oj*po-

fition to the world, i John v. 1. They have difco*

B % vereu

\6 Characters of thofe that are of God.

vered in him a glory darkening all the world's glory,
and fo have made the exchange as of hufks for bread,
Matth. xiii. 45. 46.

Secondly, They are coming away with Chrift
from the world in their daily walk, anfwering his call,
Cant. iv. 8. Come ivith me from Lebanon, my fpoufe9.
with me from Lebanon. After Ifrael came out of
Egypt, they went not back to it, to the brick-kilns,
and the flefh-pots; but they marched through the
wildernefs. Thofe that are feparated from the world
in regeneration, are (till feparating from it in pro-
gretlive fan£UficatIon, labouring to keep themfelvcs-
unipotted from the world, They are not of God
then, who having once had fomething like converfion,
make that Hand for all, and never endeavour to be.
feparating more and more from the world.

There are three things that make them flill to be
coming away from the world.

1. It grows no. better in their eyes, in any of its
fhapes, whatever it grows worfe : fo they continue
their feparation and march, coming up from the wil-
der nefs> Cant. viii. 5. Some people get a fright of
the world fome time : and the ways of the world ap-
pear to them dangerous ways. But that fright goes
off, and the way of the world looks more gay to
them ; and they being hardened by the deceitfulnefs
of fin, even go back again, and fettle down in the
world lying in wickednefs in one fhape or another,
that likes them be .

2. There are two contrary principles in them, an
earthly one and a heavenly one, grace, and corrup-
tion, Gal. v. 17. If they had only the earthly prin-
ciple, they would fettle flill with the world, they
could not come away at all. If they had only the
heavenly principle^ they would be quite feparated from
the werld, and their march from it would be at an
end. But having both, the one puts them in con-
t'nual hazard of the unclean thing, and the other
piompts them to be making away from it.

3. They

Characters of thofe that are of God. 17

3. They have peremptorily left their old reft, and
are not yet come to their new reft ; therefore they mult
be moving. They have left the city of deftru£Hon,
but they are not come yet to the city of God, the
new Jerufalem, Heb. iv. 9. 1 1 . They are come ouc
of Egypt, but they are not yet come to Canaan ; but
they are on their wildernefs- march, minded, to hold
on, while apoftates are for returning to Egypt again.

Thirdly, They are nonconformiits to the world,
Rom. xii. 2. They do not conform themfeives to the
courfe of the world, Eph. ii. 2. Hence they are in-
deed the world's wonder, and at length the object of
their reproach and fpite, 1 Pet. iv 4. Wherein they:
think it fir an ge that you run not with them to the fame*
excefs of riot) fpeaking evil of you. They dare not do-
what the world makes no bones of : they hate the.
courfes that the world is fond of; and take pleafure-
in thofe things- that are tart elefs and faplefs- to the
world. Being of God, it muft be fo; for,.

1. They are of another country than the world,,,
being heavenly men, born from above. They are:
pilgrims and itrangers here : how then can they mifs,
not to be conformed to the natives ? Indeed if they*
were to fettle among them, and to- be naturalized,,
forgetting the heavenly country, they woukl fall in
with their ways and courfes, as apoftates do. But:
they are only travelling through the world, and there-
fore it is not ftrange they quite differ in their Ian- •
guage, habit, and manners, from the natives of this, -
worid

2.. They are of another nature than the men. of.^
the world, being partaken of the divine- nature^.,
1 Pet. i. 4. Some men differ in their natural confti —
tutions fo, that what is one man's meat is another's- poi-
fon. But the new nature in the regenerate differs far-
ther from the old corrupt nature. in the world. Giacc.:
gives the hearts of men a new fet, hangs a nev^ bias-f
on them ; fo that they dearly love what themfelvet
befcte hated, and hate what before they loved*. The-
B 3. 1 acssT

i8 Char afters of thofe tiiat are of God.

new nature and the old courfe are inconfiftent. One
muft quit the latter, or all pretence to the former.

This nonconformity lies not only in not doing
what the world does, but in doing another way than
the world does in that which they both do. So in
thofe things which they both do, there is ftill a non-
conformity to the world, which is feen in.thefe three
things.

i. In natural a£Hons, as eating and drinking, 6vv
They that are of God muft do thefe as well as they
that are of the world : yet the former do not conform
to the latter in the way of doing them. The way of
the world in thefe things is merely felfifh and car-
nal, to gratify a lull or appetite, without any eye to-
God in them, to his command, his glory, or to the
fitting of them to ferve God in their ftation, Zech.
vii. 6. When ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did
ye not eat for yourfelves, and drink for yourfelves ?
Matth. xxiv. 38. Hence confcience has with them
nothing to do in the getting, or in the ufing of thefe
things.

But they that are of God will take their religion
to their bed and to their board, and regulate them*
felves therein according to the diclates, not of car-
nality, but confcience, 1 Cor. x. 31. The fatisfying
the necjeffities of the body, will not be to them the
ends of their living, but the means of living, their
end being to live to God : and therefore thefe things
will be cut and carved as they may beft contribute to
that end, 1 ThefT iv. 4. 5.

2. In civil actions, as working, bargaining, gui-
ding a family, ferving, <bc. The way of the world in
thefe things, is to have no refpecl: to the command or
honour of God in them, to muffle out the directions
in their Bible from them, as a thing having no con-
cern in thefe matters, Luke xvii. 28.; to have no
fingle eye to feek the good of thofe they have to do
with, but to pleafe themfelves \ or at beft to be men-

pleafers,

Characters of thofe that are of God. 19

pleafers, not GocUpleafers in thefe things ; to count
exact truth and uprightnefs needlefs nicety.

But ihofe that are of God dare not, will not, nay
abhor to conform themfelves to that way of the world.
They will carry their religion into their callings,
worldly bufinefs, and relations, 1 Cor. vii. 23. 24.
They will look on God as the principal, whoever is
the lefs principal party they have to do with, Prov.
Hi. 6. The end of regeneration is the reftoring of Tin-
ners to conformity unto the rule of righteoufnefs,
whereof the fum is love to God and our neighbour,
(hewing itfelf in fincere endeavours to honour God,
and to be beneficial to mankind, 1 John iii. 10. In
this the children of God are manifejl, and the children
of the devil : ivhofoever doth not righteoufnefs , is not
of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

3. In religious actions. Ir is not bare praying,
hearing, &c. that will diftinguifh one from the world
lying in wickednefs ; for all that religion is found a-
mong them too. But they have a way of their own
in it, holding with the form, but denying the power,
2 Tim iii 5. contenting themfelves with bodily ex-
ercife, while ftrangers to the fpirituality of duties,
Matth. xv. 8. feeking themfelves in them, not God,
Matth, vi. 2. making a fhelter of them wherein to fin
more at eafe, Prov. vii. 14. 15. ; and putting them in
ChrifYs room, by confidence in them, R.om. x. 3.

But thofe that are of God conform not to that way
of religion. For to the regenerate it is not a piece
of art, but of new nature ; religion is a thing that
their new nature leads them to. And what is natu-
ral people will ftill aim at the perfection of, and fo
they will ftudy the power of godlinefs. And being
of God, they will natively feek the enjoyment of
God, as the infant feeks to fuck the breafts of the
mother that bare it: and they will feek the deftruc*
tion of fin by-their religion^ as being a contrary prin-
ciple thereto : and it will natively carry them out
of themfelves to Chrift for all, fince he is the life of

the

20 Characters of thofe that are of God,

the new creature. See their character, Phil. iii. 3.
We are the circamcifton, ivbicb worfhip God in the
Spirit, and rejoice in Chrift Jefus, and have no confi-
dence in theflefi.

Fourthly, They are in a (late of oppofition to the
world lying in wickednefs. This is plain from Gen.
iii. 15. And I will put enmity between thee and
the woman, and between thy feed and her feed. James
iv. 4. The two parties are like the company of two
armies engaged againft one another. When by re-
generating grace one comes out from among them,
he is not only feparated from them, but ki up in
oppofition to them. This fays negatively,

1. Thofe that are of God are not the friends of the
world, taking part with them againft thofe that are
of God. There are fome not without pretences to
religion, but as to matters of praclice they are ftill
upon the loofe fide ; they will plead for Baal, and:
give fquint ftrokes at tender holy walking. They
will declaim againft hypocrify. being tongue- tacked,
againft profanenefs; they have a vail to throw over
the grofs abominations of the licentious, but they
will rip up the infirmities of the weak; they have a
tongue foft as wool for the credit of the fcandalous
and profane, but piercing like a fword unto the feri-
ous. Let thefe read the fentence of the Spirit of
God, excommunicating them our of the communion
of faints, James iv. 4. Ye adulterers, and adulter effcs,
know ye not that the friencfbip of the worlclis enmity
with Go J P vjhofoever there/ore will be a friend of the:,
•world, is the enemy of God.

2. They are not neuters in the quarrel with the
world lying in wickednefs. 1 here are fome who
think that they do very well, if they do nothing againft
the caufe of religion *, but to a£t againft the caufe of
wickednefs in the world, is none of their bufinefs, it
belongs not to them, not confidenng what Solomon
fays, Prov, xxviii. 4. They that forfake the law, praife
the wicked i but fuch as keep the law , contend with

thenu

Characters of thofe that are of God. 2 1

them. They think to keep peace with God, and
vutfh the world lying in wickednefs too ; but they are
miftaken, it will not do- Whoever they be that are
not content to lift themfelves under Chrift's banner,
to oppofe and act againft the world lying in wicked-
nefs, Chrift denounces them enemies to him, Maith.
xii. 30. He that is not with me, is againft me : and
he that gathereth not -with me, fcatiereth abroad.

How can it be but that thofe who are of God are
in a ftate of oppofition to the world lying in wicked-
nefs ?

(1.) The object of their love is the object of the
world's hatred, which cannot mifs to produce this.
God in Chrift is the principal object of the love of the
regenerate, and him the world hates, John xv. 18.
and .they (hew it in their hatred of his image, in his
ordinances, his people, and efpecialiy in his law, be-
caufe there it is moil lively expreffed. And can any
thing be more natural, than for a ion to be in a ftate
of oppofition to his Father's haters and enemies ? Pfal.
cxxxix. 2i. namely, to oppofe them in their oppofi-
tion, that is, their fin, not their perfons.

(2.) They are under oppofite heads, betwixt whom
there is an irreconciieable war, Chriit and the devil,
Michael and the dragon. This war was proclaimed
in paradife, Gen. iii 15. and will never end, but in
the deftruction of the one party. No body can be
neuters in fuch a cafe, but do make oppofition. The
arms of the parties are indeed very different. The
world a£t againft thofe that are of God, by perfec-
tions, reproaches, mockings, contempt and hatred
ot their peifons, loofenefs of life, trampling on the
laws and honour of God : the regenerate a£t againft
the world lying in wickednefs, by hatred of their
ways, loving their perfons, teftifying againft them,
endeavouring to reclaim them, rowing againft the
ftream in a tender walk, mourning and praying for
them. They that are not fo engaged againft' the
world, are not of God.

(3.) The

22 CharaBers of thofe that are of Goct.

(3.) The intereft of the two focieties is downright
oppoiite •, fo oppofke that the one cannot be advanced
but on the ruin of the other. The fpreading of holi*
nefs is the intereft that the one is purfuing, the pro-
moting of fin is the intereft purfued by the other :
thefe are as oppofite as light and darknefs. And it
is as fure that every man and woman is acting in this
life to the promoting of one of thefe two in the world*
as that every perfon and thing will act agreeable to
its own nature, Micah iv. 5. Tor all people will walk
every one in the name of his God, and ive will walk in
the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever. And
therefore thofe that are of God are in a ftate of op-
pofition to the world lying in wickednefs.

Fifthly, There is a bond of brotherly love;
whereby they are knit together among themfelves, as
children of one family. By this one may know him-
felf to belong to the family of God, 1 John iii. 14.
We know that we have pajfed from death unto life, be-
caufe we love the brethren : and by it as a badge on-
lookers may know they belong to it, John xiii. 35.
By this Jhall all men know that ye are my difciplesy
if ye have love one to another. So that it is a fi gn
that cafts its light both inward and outward. The
certainty hereof appears from feveral confiderations.

1. They all love God their common Father, love
bis image, preffing to be like him as their main aim.
Hence, fince all the regenerate do bear God's image
as begotten of him, they muft love them alfo, 1 John
v. 1. Every one that loveth him that begat, loveth
him alfo that is begotten of him. The love of God
natively draws after it the Chriftian love of thofe that
are of God.

2. They have forfaken the world for the fociety of
the faints : and as the married woman forfakes her fa-
ther's houfe, and joins herfelf into the houfe of her
hufband, thenceforth to look upon the intereft there-
of as her intereft ; fo in the fpiritual marriage with
Chrift and regeneration, the foul comes home to the

fociety

Characters of thofe that are of God. 23

fociety of the faints for good and all, in oppofition
to the world, cordially falling in with the call given,
Pfal. xlv. 10. Hearken, 0 daughter, and con/idert
and incline thine ea* ,- forget aifo thine own peoplet
and thy father's houfe.

3< The natural enmity againft the feed of the wo-
man that is infeparable from the feed of the ferpent>
evinceth this, Gen. iii. 15. In every unregenerate
man there is a natural enmity againft a holy God,
his holy Chrift, and his holy feed : their natures be-
ing as contrary as fire and water, that it is impoffible
ever they (hould be, as fuch, lovely in one another's
eyes. And in regeneration the ferpentine nature is
changed, the enmity removed, and confequendy this
l«ve to the faints is fixed in its room, as a neceffary
conferment of the new nature.

4. As God is love, and the devil is a mafs of ha-
tred and malice againft God and man, fo the two
parties partake of their natures refpe£tively. God
bears a common love to his creatures, fo as to do
them good, and a fpecial love to the faints : and thofe
that are of God, accordingly have implanted in them
a principle of love of good-will and beneficence to
mankind, Liske vi, 35. but a fpecial love of delight
in the faints, Pfal. xvi. 3. Gal. vi. 10. Satan bears
a hatred againft men, efpecially holy men \ but moil
of all he hates God : fo his feed hate one another,
Tit. iii. 3. and more keenly hate the heavenly feed,
and that, becaufe of their hatred wherewith moft of
all they are irreconcilable to God, John xv. 18.

Objetl. Where are there greater heats and oppofi-
tions, than among the different parties in the church?
where then is the brotherly love by which all are
pretended to be knit ? Anf-w. There is a difference
betwixt the vifible church, and thofe that are of God.
In the vifible -church aie many who are dill of the
world lying in wickednefs, and they bring with them
into the church, their natural enmity, hatred, and
unchriftian fpiiit, and exercife it in the things of

God,

24 CharaBers cf thofe that are of God*

God, to the marring of the purity, beauty, and
peace of it. But this hellifh fire belongs to the fpi-
rit of the world, and the blame of kindling it lies at
the door of the world. And if the church, though
imperfecl:, were freely feparated from the world ly-
ing in wickednefs, it would be a lovely and loving
fociety far beyond what it is. I own that thefe things
alfo are incident to thofe that are of God, as in the
contention between Paul and Barnabas, A&s xv. 39.
and the reafon is, the remains of the fpirit of the
world in them not yet purged away : but the caufe
of the quarrel is not what they conceive to be like-
nefs, but un liken efs to God; and notwithstanding
all their jarrings, they will flill love them as they ap-
pear to have the image of God on them \ for what-
ever they differ in, they agree in that. Wherefore
we may lay down thefe conclufions.

1. They mat are of God love the fociety of the re-
generate confidered as a. holy fociety, feparated from
the woild lying in wickednefs, Heb. xii. 22, The
picture of that fociety drawn in the Bible, is beautiful
in their eyes, more alluring to them than the richeft,
moil powerful, and mofr. gay and fplendid fociety
in the world : and therefore they defire more to be
of it, than of any other whatfoever. The grace
in it glifters more in their eyes than gold in the
world; and fo it is not with others, 1 John ii. 15.
Cant. i. 7.

2. They lovepart?cular faints of their acquaintance
for what iikenefs to God appears in them, 2 John
1. 2. There are many things about the children of
God, that may move love to them in a child of the
devil, their relation, ufefulnefs, and agreeabknefs in
feveral things to them : but therr fpiritual beauty in
conformity to the holy Jefus, is a motive and ground
of love to them, not in the unregenerate, but in the
regenerate partakers of the. fame divine nature. Up-
on that fcore the ferpentine enmity rifes in the one,
and love in the other.

3. They

Char afters of thsfe that are of God, 25

3. They love all the faints without exception, fo
far as they can take them up to be fo, Eph, i. 15.
They will never confine their love to a party, to
whom God has not confined his grace, nor to fuch
as are attended with worldly advantages, defpifing
the reft on whom the world particularly frown?, Pfal.
cxix. 63. If they mould do fo, they would evidence
that it is not God they love in them, but themfelves ;
that it is not the advantages they have as the darlings
of heaven, but of the world. But whatever defects are
about them, the appearance of God's grace in them
will fupply them all, to the rendering them lovely in
the eyes of thofe that are of God, though not to
others, whereby they are tried and caft.

4. The more gracious and holy any are, the more
will they be loved of them. For the more of the
caufe there is in any, the more there muft be of the
effe£t And hence it is, that the mod tender and
holy Chriftians are at once the objects of the greateit
love of the regenerate, and the world's greateft ha-
tred- Many can endure holinefs while it remains
dim and obfcure in men, that fpit venom againft it,
where it fhines clear : fy formal hypocrites are like
the owl that can come abroad in the twilight, but
cannot endure the light of the fun : an eminent in-
ftance were the Pharifees to Chrift.

5. Lajily, The more any have of the world's hatred
for their oppofition to it, they will love them the
more. As fire burns keeneft in the {harpeft froft, fo it
has always been obferved, that the love of the godly to
one another was ftrongeft, when the world's hatred of
them was mod keen. So dangerous it is to be found join-
ing the torrent of the world againft feripus godly ones.

Sixthly, Their hearts are kindly difpofed to-
wards the holy law. As the old corrupt nature
reigning in the unregenerate fills them with enmity
againft it, Rom. viii. 7. fo the new nature in them
kindly plies and bends towards it, Pfal. cxix. 97.
The reafon is, the image of God expreffed in th
3 C law

26 Charatlers of thofe that are of God.

law is begun to be drawn on their fouls, fo that their
new nature and the holy law point both one way,
Heb. viii. 10. It is true, there is a refiftance and
averfion of the unrenewed part; but that is not to-
tal, and there is a gracious principle that condemns
it, Rom. vii. 22. 23. Hence,

1. They willingly take on the yoke of obedience,
and go under it, becaufe it is agreeable to their new
nature, 1 John v. 3. For this is the love of God, that
nv e keep his commandments : and his commandments
are not grievous. ChrifVs yoke is a galling yoke to
the necks of the men of the world, becaufe there is
no fuitablenefs of their nature to it : they fpurn it,
their hearts rife againft it; fain would they be quit
of it, that they might take their fwing according to
their lunS But it is not fo to thofe that are of God,
Matth. xL 29. 30. Fain would they be rid of their
iufts, but not of the law, Rom. vii. 24.

2. They are univerfal in their obedience to their
knowledge, Pfal. cxix. 6, Then Jhall I not be aflia-
med, when I have refpetl unto all thy commandments.
Where there is an artificial bending towards the law,
upon a particular deiign, there is a picking and
choofing of the parts thereof moll agreeable to one's
circumftances : hence fome fall in with duty to God,
but make no confcience of their duty to men ; others
fall in with perfonal duty, but make no confcience
of relative duties ; they comply with duties of com-
manding, but make no confcience of duties of fub-
jeclion : for the one they can digeft, but not the o-
ther. But where the bent is new- natural, there will
be a falling in with the whole, fince the whole is
agreeable to the new nature, and is of a piece, and
laid on by the fame authority, James ii. 10. 11.

Lastly, They overcome the world, 1 John v. 4.
Whatfoever is born of God, overcometh the world s
and this is the viblory that overcometh the world, even
eur faith. Having feparated from the world, it will
purfue them, as the Egyptians did Ifrael, and it will

have

Characters of thofe that are of God. 2f

have a war with them, encountering them with its
fmiles and frowns : but whatever way it attacks themr
they overcome ; though they may lofe in particular
battles, yet Hill they are the overcomers in the mam,
by faith. And, - ^ . .

i. They overcome its fmiles, holding fait by their
God, religion, and duty, in the face of a foiling
world, Job i. I.— 5. Many a man that fometimes
feemed to be feparated from the world, is brought by
the warm fun of worldly profperity to drop off his
garments of religion and a tender walk, and plunge
himfelf into the way of the world lying in wicked-
nefs. And there is no queition but worldly profpe-
rity is given to men for their trial, as well as adver-
fity : and many come foul off in it, Prov. I 32. But
thofe who are once truly feparate will overcome.

2. They overcome its frowns, holding fad by their
God, religion, and duty, as fweet, though the world
turn never fo four, Hab. iii. 17. 18. Although the
jig-tree jball not blojfom, neither Jball fruit he in the
vines , the labour of the olive frail fail, and the fields
Jhall field no meat, the flock jball be cut of from the
fold, and there Jball be no herd in the flails : yet I
•will rejoice in the Lord, I -will joy in the God of my
Jalvation. The lour world gets the day of many, by
fucking the fap out of religion to them, rendering the
word of promife and fpiritual comforts taftelefs to
them : fo that though wfeen the world gave them
comfort, they had fome comfort in religion too; yet
when the world's comforts are dried up, the comforts
of religion are gone too, Exod. vi. 9. That fays the
world was the main pillar on which their comfort
flood. But though the world may prevail to brangle
thus them that are of God, yet they will not be quite
overcome, but will be overcomers in the cafo", mew-
ing that they are in hope of fomething better than what
they have loft, that there is fomething for which they
can part with all to obtain it, and that there is a foun-
tain running while the world's citterns are dry.

C 2 I

28 Why the Unregenerate are called the World*
I proceed now to confider the lafl do&rine, namely,

Doct. III. The whole unregenerate world lieth in
wickednefs.

In handling this fubjec"l, we (hall,

I. Shew why the fociety of the unregenerate is call-
ed the world.

II. Offer fome defcription of the unregenerate
world.

HI. Make improvement.

I. I am to fhew why the fociety of the unregene-
rate is called the world. It is plain here, that though
the regenerate really are in this world, as well as the
unregenerate ; yet the unregenerate are by the Spi-
rit of God called the world, in contradiftin&ion to
the regenerate, as if they poflefTed the earth alone,
and no other were mixed with them in it. The rea-
fons are,

i. They are the main body of the world ; and fo
few of the other fort are mixed with them, that they
alter not the denomination, John i. 10 He was in
the world, and the world was made by him, and the
world knew him not. The regenerate are but here
one and there one, but the unregenerate appear in
multitudes : the former are but as gleanings, the lat-
ter as the harveil. What fafety can men prcpofe then
in the way of the multitude, the courfe of the world ?

The fcriptute is plain in this, Matth. vii. 13. 14.
Enter ye in at the fir ait gate ; for wide is the gate,
and broad is the way that leadeth to def ruction, and
many there be which go in thereat : becaufe ft rait is
the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto
life, and few there be that find it. Luke xiii. 24. Strive
to enter in at the fir ait gate : for manyy I fay unto
you, willfiek to enter in, andfhall not be able. Chrifl's
flock is a very little .flock, in corr,parifon of the de-
vil's heid, Luke xii. 32. And it is alas ! demon -

ilrable

Why the Unre generate are called 'the World. 29

Arable beyond contradiction. Dividing the world in-
to thirty parts, nineteen of them are pofTefTed by Pa-
gan idolaters, who know not the true God, fix by
Jews, Turks, and Saracens : fo five only remain
which profefs Chriftianity. Thus Chrifiians by pro-
feflion are but five to twenty five. Of thefe five two
are reckoned to be of the Greek church, much funk
in ignorance, and the other three idolatrous Papifts,.
and Protectants. And among Proteltants, how ma-
ny are openly profane, or grofsly ignorant, having
no tolerable (hew of piety ? how many are mere for-
malifts, ftrangers to the work of grace, and exercife
to godlinefs ?

2. They are the natives, others are but ftrangers
among them, and fuch are not counted in a general"
denomination of a fociety. They are in the fcripture-
ftyle, the inhabitants of the -world, If. xxvi. 18. of the
earth and fea, Rev. xii. 11. as being the natives of
it, having their birth and breeding only of the world.
The regenerate are fojourners among them, pilgrims
and (bangers among them, Heb. xi. 13.

3. Their fpirit, temper, and difpolition, chief aims
and defigns, are all worldly, there is nothing hea-
venly in them, Pfal. xvii. 14. Their fouls indeed
are of heavenly original; but they are funk, like a-
pearl in a mire, in the profits, pleafures, vanities9
and cares of the world. Hence they are called fie/h9.
as if they had no fpirit in them, John iii. o\ and are
faid to be in the fie/by Rom. viii. 8... For they can
relifli nothing but what is flefhly or worldly ; their
views are confined within the compafs of the prefent
world : on thefe things they value themfelves : and
in efFecl: their fouls have refigned themfelves Haves
to their bodies, and their confcience to their fenfes 1
being in effedt in their bodies as fait only to keep
them from rotting.

4. They are the lower part of the rational kind.,
the dreggy part of the creation. Therefore, whereas-

e church is called heaven , and the regenerate ions
C 3 &

30 Why the Unregenerate are called the World.

of God, heavenly men; they are called the earth,
children of men, earthy men, Gen. xi. i. & vi. 2.
I Cor. xv. 48. For as when the Spirit moved, and
the divine word parTed upon the (hapelefs mafs at the
beginning, the finer "parts went upward or off from
the dreggy grofs part, which remaining loweft was
called earth : fo the word and Spirit paffing on the
mafs of mankind, that part thereof which is thereby
regenerate gets a new nature, afcendeth in their de-
figns and aims, and at length become equal with the
angels,- Luke xx. 36. : and the unregenerate part
that is left below, being earthly, fenfual, devilifh \
for the time are like she beads, following their flefh-
ly appetite, as dogs and twine the grofleft of them \
and in end areihrufl down into the place of devils.

5. Lajilyy. Becaufe all in the world without excep*
tion are originally of their kind, unregenerate, John
iii. 6. Even the elect themfelves are once unregene-
rate; they who are now of God, were fometime of
the unregenerate world, Tit. iii. 3..* So that irrege-
neracy is the ilate of all the world originally, in which
flate all lie in wickednefs, Pfal. xiv. 3. Only thofe
that are of God, have heard Heaven's voice, as fay-
ing, Come up hither ', and fo have been feparated from
the world. But the fociety they came from, is ftill
the -world lying in wkkednejs.

A Defer if t ion of the unregenerate World.

II. The fecond head propofed was, to offer fome
defcription of the unregenerate world. We have
feen fome of the characters of thofe that are of God,
I (hall now lay before you a view of the world lying
in wickednefs. That world is (as it were two he-
mifpheres) twofold.

I. .The lower world lying in wickednefs. That h
the region of death, eternal death ; the lake of fire;
the pit, the abyfs of hell. The inhabitants thereof
are the devil*, and the fouls of the, damned, who

have

The unregeneratc World defcribed. 31

have lived and died in their unregenerate ftate, and
v/ill continue for ever in it.

2. The upper world lying in wickednefs. That is
the land of the living, this prefent evil world, made
jup of all thofe who are living in their unregenerate
ftate, the black ftate of nature, ftrangers to Chrift
and the power of godlinefs. It is the upper unre-
generate world we are to fpeak of, not the lower,
when we have obferved that they are but one woild
in different ci re um fiances*

ift> The lower and upper unregenerate world are
indeed one world, one kingdom of Satan, one fami-
ly of his. As it is but one family of faints that is in
heaven and earth, Eph. iii. 15.; fo it is but one fa-
mily of finners that is in hell and on earth. There-
-fore thofe here are declared children of hell, as well as
thofe that are there, Matth. xxiii. 15^ of the devil,
John viii. 44. So men dyin^ unregenerate go to their
own place, Acts i. 25. ; and though they change
their place, they change not their fociety, being
gathered with thofe in death, in fociety with whom
they lived.

2d/y, But only they are in different circumftances.

(t.) The ftate of the one is alterable, as of thofo
who are upon a trial -, of the other unalterable, as
thofe on whom a definitive ientence is pafTcd ; this is
held forth in the cafe of the rich man and his five
brethren, Luke xvi. 25. —28. Thofe of them here are
upon their way in their travel, and may change their
route, and go heavenward; the other are at their
journej's end, and can move no more from their
piace.

(2.) So the cafe of the oce is not without hope,
but that of the other absolutely hopelefs. They are
both piifoners; but the one are prifoners of hopey
Zech. ix. 12.; but the earth with her bars is about
the other for ever. There is a gulf fixed between
heaven and them, impaiiable. Here they ate irv
darknefr indeed, but it is not outer daiknefs, as in

the

32 The Parts of the unregenerate World*

the cafe of the damned. Here the voke of the turtle
is heard, but there nothing but yelling.

(3.) and Iaftlyt Here they lie in wickednefs with
fome eafe and pleafure ; there they lie in it with none
at all. Their pleafurable fins are there at an end,
Rev. xviii- 14. Nothing of them remains with them,
but the guilt of them, and cutting remorfe for them :
the fweet of their cup is drunk out, and nothing re-
mains but the bitter dregs. One encourages another
here, and men pleafe themfelves with the multitude's
going their way : but there the throng is far greater;
for whereas there are fome conftantly dropping off
herej the wicked of all generations are there, and
none return ; yet the more the worfe, Luke xvi. 28.
But now as to the upper unregenerate world, wc
fhall fir ft confider the parts, and then the Jiate
thereof.

I. The Parts of the unregenerate World.

"We may take them up in thefe three.

Firjt, The religious part of it, that is as the hea-
vens in that world. Wonder not that we fpeak of
the religious part of the world lying in wickednefs ;
for there is fome religion, but of the wrong ftamp,
in that world, and one part of it is exalted above an-
other, as the heaven above the earth, Matth. xi. 23.
This makes them appear like the regenerate in the
outward man, having a form of godlinefs, and imi-
tating the faints in their outward actions and behavi-
our, 2 Tim. iii. 5. : being formalifts, hypocrites,
tares among the wheat, but ilill Grangers to a work
of grace; and fo much the farther that they have a
{hew of it, Matth, xxi. 3t. Two things bring reli-
gion into the world lying irr wickednefs, where there
is no regeneration.

I. A natural conference, which dictates that there
is a God, a difference betwixt good and evil, re-
wards and punishments after this life, Rom. ii. 1 <j.

Though

The Parts of the umre generate World, 33

Though this is wreftled down in fome of that world,
that it has very little power with them : yet with o»
thers that are no more regenerate than they, it isim*
proved, by the light of the gofpel in the word, by
good education, confideration, and thought: fo that
they prove morally ferious, regular in their lives,
embracing the external parts of religion, though un-
regenerate.

2. Intereft, which fways the men of the world to
it feveral ways. In fome times and places religion is
fainionable, gains men credit and reputation : fo they
embrace it for their credit, as the Pharifees did,
Matth. vi. 2. In fome cafes worldly advantages and
profits attend it, and that bait draws many worldly
men to it, as it did the multitude to Chrift for the
loaves, John vi. 26. 27. And then its declared eter-
nal advantages follow it, falvation from the wrath of
God, and heaven's happinefs : and a carnal fight of
thefe things draws many, who are merely felflui in
their purfuir, as was the cafe of that multitude, who
faid, ver. 34. Lerd> evermore give us this bread.

Secondly^ The m oral part of it, who are like the
air in that world, not rifing (o high as the former,
nor funk fo low as the other in immorality and pro-
fanenefs. Thefe are they who keep off from religion
and the profelTion of it, and from groO profanity too.
They are civil and neighbourly men; juft, honefr,
and upright in their dealings between man and man j
and defpife religion from the fraud and deceit of fome
whom they fee profefs it, Matth. xviii. 7. Some
fuch there have been among Heathens, and fome
among Chriitians. Two things, befides natural con-
fcience and intereft, bring in morality into the world
lying in wickednefs.

1. Civil fociety, by which means men may live
at peace in the world, and be protected from inju-
ries : for this caufe men combine together in focie-
ties, appoint government, governors, and laws over
themfelves, which mud ellablifti morality, without

which

34 Tfo Parts of the unre generate World.

which fociety cannot confift. And for this caufe go-
vernment is a great mercy, external order being kept
among men by that means. Without it there would
be no living in the world, but the weak would be
fwallowed up, and all filled with violence, rapine,,
and outrage, *•-'. #.

2. Natural modefty and temper, in refpecl of which
there is a great difference among even worldly men;.
"Whatever internal or external cad it be owing to, it
is evident, there is a certain iimplicity, candour, in-
tegrity, and benevolence in fome, whereby they dif-
fer from others that have a caft of fpirit to fraud, dif-
ingenuoufnefs, pride, imperioufnefs, and violence.
And yet the former are of the world, as well as the
latter •, and fo in the gall of bitternefs, and in the bond
of iniquity*

Thirdly, and laflly, The immoral 'part of it. Thefe
are the earth and fea in that world, the grofleft part
of it all, whofe conversation is neither bounded with
religion nor morality* but is juft vile, irreligious, and
immoral as occafion ferves. This is the far greateft
part of that world, and in it abound grofs abomina-
tions, which bring God's wrath on lands and churches.
The abominations therein appearing are innumerable.
See i Cor. vi. 9. 10. Gal. v. 19. 20. 21. Tit. iii. 3.
Two things concur to fill the world with immorality.

1. The corruption of human nature, the natural
bent of which lies to all enormities. This was the
fpring of the flood of wickednefs, and of water, that
overflowed the old world, Gen. vi. 5. The heart of
man is a depth of wickednefs, that calls it forth as a
fountain doth its waters : and when it gets leave to
run freely without reftraint, it fends forth plentifully,
Mark vii. 21. 22. For from within, out of the heart

f men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications,
Murders, thefts, covetoufnefs, -wickednefs, deceit, laf
civioignefs, an evil eye, biafphemy, pride, foolifbnefs.

2. Occafionl of fin and temptations thereto, which
offer themfelves thick in this evil world, becaufe the

multitude

*the Parts of the unregenerate World. 35

-multitude is of that fort, Matth. xviii. 7. Snares are
ftrawed every where, and every temptation going in
the world has a luft in the heart akin to it, that tend
fo natively to unite, that it is hard to keep them at
meeting from clofeit embraces.

And there are two forts that are moft expofed to
temptations, the rich and the poor, which makes
them generally fpeaking to be of the immoral part of
the world, though there want not fome of both forts
that are not fo. This Agar obferved long ago,
Prov. xxx. 8. 9. Remove far from me, fays he, vani-
ty and lies ; give me neither poverty, nor riches, feed
me with food convenient for me : lejl 1 be full, and
deny thee, and fay, Who is the Lord ? or left I be poor9
andfteal, and take the name of my God in vain.

\fti The wealth of the rich makes immorality
abound among them. It fwells the heart in pride,
and fills them with admiration of themfelves : it mi-
nifters much fewel to their luftsf and affords them
occafions of fulfilling them. The natural vanity of
the heart and mind has a broad field to rove about in,
fo that they are apt to forget themfelves, and think
their circum fiances gbe them an allowance to make
themfelves vile, and that 'the laws of God and
man are not made but for to hold the poorer
fort, Prov. xxx. 9. Hence our Lord fays, Matth.
xix. 23. 24. Verily I fay unto you, that a rich man
Jhall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And
again I fay unto you, It is eafier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to en~
ter into the kingdom of God. And fays the apoftle,
1 Cor. i. 26. Te fee your calling, brethren, how that
not many wife men after theftejb, not many mighty, not
many neble are called. They are to be pitied for their
fnares and temptations.

icUy, Thepoor, thofe who are in extreme poverty. A-
mong them alfo immorality remarkably abounds. Their
condition deprives them of many advantages others
have. They are generally neglected in their education,

all

36 The Parts of the unre generate World.

all the care being to get to put in their mouths. They
have rarely the advantage of good company. Their
pinching circumftances embitter their fpirits, that they
relifh not the things of God, and afford many fnares
and temptations to difhonefty, lying, falfehood, and
all manner of wickednefs, whereby they may think
to better their outward circum fiances. And when
they turn idle, and vague up and down, their cafe
readily turns moft hopelefs, Prov. xxx. 9. forecited.
Jer. v. 4. Therefore Ifaid, Surely thefe are poor, they
are fooliflj : for they know not the way of the Lord, nor
the judgement of their God.

Hence may be feen the reafon why the greatefl re-
gularity of life is found among thofe of the middle
fort, though fome of them are immoral too. They
want the fnares and temptations of the rich on the
one hand, and of the poor on the other. They have
neither the full idlenefs of the one, nor the poverty
and idlenefs of the other.

If we compare the immoral part of the world lying
in wickednefs with the other two, though it is true
they are all of the fame woild, and will perifh if they
be not feparated from it ; yet the religious and moral
have the advantage of the immoral.

1. In this life, in many iefpects. They walk
more agreeably to the dignity of human nature, than
the immoral, who are more akin to the brutes,
being led by their brutal paflions and affections even .
as they. They are more ufeful and beneficial to
mankind ; whereas the immoral are the pelts of hu-
man fociety, wo? king mifchief to one or other. They
have moie inward quiet, and are not put on the rack
that immorality brings men on, to compafs their mif-
chievous defigns, to cover their deeds, and defend
them. And fo they have more outward fafety, their
regular lives being a fence to them, both from danger
without and within.

2. In the life to come. Though the world, the
unregenerate world's religion and morality will not

bring

The State of the unre generate World. 37

bring thern to heaven, yet it will make them a fofter
hell than the immoral mall have, Piev. xx. 12. 13.
And no man can doubt but works of morality are not
fo ill as works of immorality : unfanctified fobernefs is
not fo bad as revelling and open profanenefs It is true
hypocrites fhall have a hot part in hell ; but can one
imagine that their throwing off the mafic, and giving
themfelves the fwing, will make an eafier part? No ;
Rev. xxi. 8. The fearful, and unbelieving, and the
abominable, and murderers, and -whoremongers, ard
forcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, Jh ill have their
part in the lake which bur net h with fire and bnm-
Jtone i which is the feconi death. No doubt the more
light men fin againft, their condemnation will be
the more aggravated : but certainly it will be forer
for immoral Pagans than moral ones, for immoral
Chrinians than moral ones, where the worm never
dieth, and the fire is not quenched. Cortfcience will
have lefs guilt, and not fo deep, to charge on the one
as on the other.

II. The State of the unre gene rate World.

Having feen the parts of that world, we are next
to view the ftate of thefe parts : and that is, the whole
world lieth in wickedntf-, the moral as well as im-
moral part, and the religious as well as the other.
It is the common ftate of the whole unregenerate
world : whatever differences are among them, they
all .agree in this, they are lying in wickednefs. In
fpeaking to this, 1 fhall,

1. Confirm and evince the truth of it in the ge«
neral.

2. Explain this ftate of the unregenerate world,
their lying in wickednefs,

FIRST, I am to confirm and evince the truth of
the docliine in the general.

Firjly Satan is the god of the whole unregenerate
3 D world;

3*8 The State of the unregenerate W$ri$.

-world : how can it mifs then to be wholly lying in
wicked nefs ? z Cor. iv. 4. It is the honour and ad-
vantage of the regenerate, that God is their God, Heb.
viii* 10. ; but the unregenerate world is apoftate from
God, and have taken Satan in his room, giving him
the homage they owe to^God. Now Satan is the god
of the unregenerate world lying in wickednefs,

1. In refpe& of his god-like power over them;
which we may take up in thefe particulars.

(1.) The fovereignty of it. The unregenerate
world is Satan's dominion, whereof he is prince,
John xii. 31. & xiv. 30. Though he is under check
and control of heaven, and the moil fearful vengeance
is abiding him from the Lord, yet he is a fovereign
prince among them, ruling more abfolutely than
.any prince in this world doth his fubjecr.s, 2 Tim.
4i. 26. None of them all have their fubje&s fo much
sat their beck, as he has the men of the world.

(2.) The rivalfhip of it, being fet up and managed
juft to confront the kingdom of God among men.
Though Satan is the moft milerable thing of the
whole creation, yet, by a peculiar pride and fpite
againft God, he fets up dire&ly and immediately
againft God and his Son jefus Chrift, whofe kingdom
the regenerate are. And his rival kingdom is the
unregenerate world. Between thefe is the lafting
enmity, Gen. iii. 15. and thefe are the oppofite king-
doms that can never mix, Pfal. xii. 7. and the de-
(ign of the gofpel is to pull down Satan's kingdom,
A&s xxvi. iB. Col. i. 13.

(3.) The extent of it, reaching over the whole
world, from one end of the earth to the other. All
the power that ever the Chaldean, Perfian, Grecian,
and Roman monarchs had, never reached but over a
part of the world : but the power of the devil reaches
over all countries where-ever the unregenerate of men
are.

(4.) The nature of it. He receives external wor*
fhip from many in the world, having many whole

nation!

The State of the unregenerate World, 3 co-
nations at his devotion. But from the whole unre-
ger<erate world he receives the fubje£tion, homage,
and obedience of the inner man : and that is pecu-
liarly due to God : Eph. ii. 2. Wherein in time paji ye
walked according to the courfe of this world, accord"
ing to the prince of the power of the air, the fpiritr
that now worketh in the children of difohedience. Men,
of greatefl eminency over others can only pretend to
rule their outward man } the foul, the inner manr
mud be left to God: and that Satan ufurps in the
unregenerate world. He entered into Judas moving
him to betray Chrift, filled the hearts of Ananias and
Sapphira to lie to the Holy Ghoft, <bc*

2. In refpect of his prime origination of their
Corruption. As from God men have their nature^
-whereby they are men, and their new nature where-
by tliey are regenerate men ; fo from the devil mea
have all the corruption and fin of their nature, where-
by they are unregenerate men : wherefore as men
owe themfelves to Godr as men and Chriftians ; fo
they are owing to the devil, as they are unregenerate
men lying in wickednefs. See John xiv. 30. He-
hath of his own in them. Hence,

(1.) The devil is the common father of the unre-
generate world as fuch. It is owing to him as the
procreating caufe thereof. It was the fpawn of the
old ferpent conveyed by the firft fin into human na-
ture, that corrupted all mankind. Hence men are
faid to be of him, 1 John iii. 12. and of him as a
child is of a father, John viii. 44. So the world ly-
ing in wickednefs is called our father's houfe or fa-
mily, Pfal. xlv. 10. And not only are notorioufly-
wicked perfons, but all the unregenerate called chil*
dren of the devil, 1 John iii. 10. as bearing his i-
mage, John viii. 44. Te are of your father the devil9
and the lujls of your father ye will do.

(2.) Their continuation in that their ftate, they

have from him alfo. God preferves by his providence

all that his own hands made, and the divine prefer-

D 2 vation

40 The State of the unregenerate Worll,

vation is in effect a continued creation. Bat flncc
the corruption of the world is originally from the de-
vil, not from God-, the maintenance of it comes the
fame way. 80 Satan upholds that world by his power,
and he is inceflant in his working for that end.

This gives a veiy difmal view of the unregenerate
"world : it is not God's world, but the devil's worldr
deriving its original from him, and over which he
has the power of a god. Whence we muff fee, that
it is furely,

[1.] The mire of (in, in which the miferable in-
habitants muft be continually wallowing: for nothing
doth fo much pleafe the god of that world. He is an
enemy to all good, and as far as his power reaches*
no good can have place. The duft is his meat, and
fo a life of fin is a wallowing in the mire.

L2,3 The legion of death and deftrucliorr, which
God will certainly deftroy, if once he had his own
out of it. For Chrift came to deftroy the works of
the devil.

Secondly^ Spiritual darknefs, thick darknefs, is over
the whole of that world, Eph. v. 8. how can any
thing but works of darknefs be found in it ? The
Egyptian darknefs was an emblem of this, they had
a thick darknefs, only in Gofhen there was light :
fo the Egyptians rofe not from their place to do bufi-
nefs, Exod. x. 22. 23. Confider,

1. The fun. went down on all mankind in Adam's
tranfgreifing the covenant : the light of God's coun-
tenance was then withdrawn, and fo there was a ter-
rible eclipfe, witnefs Adam's hiding himfelf from the
prefence of God, and all men naturally following his
footfteps in that.

2. The unregenerate world remains as Adam left
them, the Sun of righteoufnefs jcfus Chrift is not
yet arifen to them, Mai. iv. 2. 3. Though he has
fpread abroad his. light in the world, it is not yet
come into their hearts. They know hirrl not, they

have

The State of the unregenerate World* 41

have not yet received the faving illumination of his
Spirit.

Their (late in point of darknefs concludes them
under fin, far from all good.

(1.) They are in darknefs, A£b xxvi. 18. Every
unregenerate man fits in darknefs, Matth. iv. 16. He
is like a captive or prifoner in a dark dungeon, where
no light comes. The fmoke of the opened pit that
was let into the world by fin, makes thick darknefs-
there, and that is round about every man tilL con.«
verting grace fcatter it.

(2.) They are under the power of darknefs, Col. iv
13. They are not like thofe that are in the dTirk> but
can come out when they pleafe into the light : but
they are under the power oi it, as in chains of dark-
nefs. No human art can remove the darknefs of a
natural ftate, nay it retains its power over them in
the midft of gofpel -light. God alone can difpel it9,
2 Cor- iv. 6

(3.) The powers of hell rule in that darknefs, Eph,
vi. 12. When the night comes on, the wild beafts-
eome out of their dens, and range abroad: and fo-
the dark world is Satan's walk, where he goes about
like a roaring lion-. Hence it comes to pais, that if
any light begin to peep in, Satan prefently flops it,
2 Cor. iv. 3. 4. Thus convictions are (rifled, and
refolves of reformation fly up as duft.

(4.) It is a darknefs of blindnefs; they really have
not eyes to fee with, Deut. xxix. 4. A child of
God may be in the dark at a time, but then he will
come forth at length into the light, and will fee 1
but every unregenerate man is fpiritually blind, Piev-
iii. 17. the darknefs has blinded him, 1 John ii. 11.
He wants a faculty of difceraing fpiritual things in,
their true natures, 1 Cor. ii. 14. Their underftand-
ing is darkened.

(5.) The light in the unregenerate world is dark-
nefs, Matth. vi. 23. That is, it is a falfe light which
^uite mifreprefents things, fo that th-y call good

42 The State of the unregenerate World.

evil, and evil good. Hence to them the vanities of
a prefent world are fubitantial, and the treafure hid
in the field of the gofpel is but a trifle. And becaufe
they think they fee, their cafe is the more hopelefs, as
Chrift faid to the Pharifees, John ix. 41. // ye were
blind, yefijould have no fin : but now ye Jay, We Jee ;
therefore your fin remaineth.

(6.) La/ifyy There is a continual night in the un-
regenerate world, 1 ThefT. v. 5. There is an eter-
nal day in heaven, no night there j with the rege-
nerate the day is broken ; but with the unregenerate
the black and dark night ftill remains,. If. viii. 20.
From all which it appears, that they lie in fin, as
prifoners in a dungeon 5 and that an unconverted
fiate is the fuburbs of hell, where there is outer dark-
nefs.

Thirdly, They are all lying under the curfe, Gal.
iii. 10. For not being in Chrift, they are under the
lav/ as a covenant of works, Rom. iii< 19. It is the
regenerate only that are delivered from it, Rom. vjii.
I. 7 here is no condemnation to them which are in Chrift
Jefus. Hence all the unregenerate are declared out
of Chrift:, 2 Cor. v. 17. and debarred out of heaven,
John iii. 3. And whatever differences may be a-
mong them as to their way and walk, the curfe goes
over their whole world. Now this proves that they
are lying in wickednefs two ways.

I* In that the curfe always implies wickednefs.
A holy God will lay none under the curfe of the law,
but fuch as are lying under fin. It is wickednefs
that draws the curfe after it: and the latter could
have had no place in the world, till once the former
made way for it, So being children of wrath by na-
ture, proves us to be in a flate of corruption by na-
ture.

2. While it lies on, fin and wickednefs retain
their ftrength, 1 Cor. xv, 56. The Jirength of fin is
the law. The reafon is, the curfe on a firmer ef-
fectually bars all fanctifying influences from hea-
ven:

The State of the unregenerate World. 34

ven : fo that it is not poffible that the (inner can rife
up from his ftate of fin, while in that cafe. When
the tig-tree was curfed, it withered away; and fo
does the world in wickednefs under the curie. There-
fore faith is the only way to hclinefs : for by it alone
the nnner is united to Chrift, and jn.Oi'Kd, whereby
the cmfe is removed; and then he is fanctified, or
biought out of his flate of wlck-dnefs.

Fourthly^ They are all dead in fin, Eph. ii. 1.
There was a great cry in Egypt, when there was one
dead in every family : but the unregenerate world is
all dead together. God the life of the foul is de-
parted from them ; they are alienated from the life
of God, their fpeech is laid, and their fpiritual fenfes
are bound up. bo that world is the region of the
fliadow of death. There is this difference indeed,

1. Some are dead and rotten ; thefe are the immo-
ral part of the world, who by their profane lives are
as intolerable to fober men, as a {linking carcafe ;
whofe conversation, by res fan of their profanity, is
like the opening of an unripe gn ve, Rom. iii. 13.
therefore compared to dogs and fwine,

2. Some are embalmed dead; thefe are the moral
and religious part of the world. A form of g.odli-
nefs, the ftudy and practice of moral virtue, is to
them as the embalming of the dead corpfe, though
they cannot put fpiritual life in a foul. So that thefe
alfo are dead itill, and lying dead in fin, though they
fmell not fo rank as the profane and immoral.

La/fly9 They are all deftitute of every principle of
holinefs, and there cannot be an effect without a
caufe of it ; there can be no a&s of holinefs without
a principle to proceed from. They are deftitute,

1. Of the Spirit of God; he dwells not in them,
Jude 19. compare 1 Cor. ii. 14. All true ian£tifi-
cation according to the fcripture is by the Spirit ; it
is his taking poffemon of the foul thst looles the bands
of fin and death, Rom. viii. 2. and he dwells in all
that are Chilli's, ver. 9. But they are peddled by

the

44 The State of the unregenerate World explained,

the fpirit of the world, which is oppofite to the Spi-
rit of God, and has contrary effects, i John iv. 5.
They are of the world : therefore fpeak they of the
ivorld) and the world heareth them,

2. They are deftitute of the new nature : it is by
regeneration the new man is framed ; in the unrege-
nerate is the old man alone, which is corrupt with
his deeds, Eph. iv. 22. Since then the tree is not
good, how can the fruit be good ? If the new nature
is totally wanting, how can there be the actions, life,
and converfation of the new frame ?

3. They are deftitute of faith. And without that
there can be nothing acceptable to God, Heb. xi. 6.
Feigned faith they may have, but true faith they have
not ; for that unites with ChriuV an(i makes a new
creature.

4. Lajllyy Love, the immediate principle of all ac-
ceptable obedience, is wanting in them 5 for that
proceeds from faith, and faith works by it. They
cannot love God, that have not believed in him, for
thefe go together. And where no love is, there can
be no holy obedience.

SECONDLY, I come now to explain this ftate of
the unregenerate world, their lying in wickednefs.
And we fhall confider,

1. What of wickednefs they lie in.

2. How they lie in it.

I. I am to confider what of wickednefs they lie iru
All the unregenerate world lies,

First, In a ftate of fin and wickednefs, A£ts viii.
23. I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitternefsy
and in the bond of iniquity. Their ftate before the
Lord is a finful and wicked ftate: they have never
been warned, nor purged from their fin. They are
all over finful and wicked, as over head and ears in
the mire, Rev. iii. 17. This ^we take up in two
things.

f'rjf,

The State of the unregenerate World explained, 45

Fir/1, Their nature is wholly corrupted with fin
and wickedntfs, Matth. vii -8. Some of them may
have a fair fhew outwardly, but inwardly they are all
overfpread with the leprofy of fin, wholly corrupt,
John iii 6. The infection by the firft fin has gone
over the whole man, from the crown of the head to
the fole of the foot. And the cure has never yet
been begun in them, as having never been touched
•with regenerating grace. Even the faints nature is
corrupt, but they are renewed in part : but the unre-
generate are wholly corrupted in the whole man, If.
viii. 20. : there is not the leaft ftroke of purity in
them, Tit. i. f 5.

1 . Their fouls in all their faculties are overfpread
with fin, and wholly corrupted.

(1.) Their mind and underftanding is wretchedly
vi-iated. It is overwhelmed with grofs darknefs as to
fpiritual things, Eph. iv. 17, 18. Darknefs is over
all that region : it is the land of darknefs and fhadow
of death, where the very light is darknefs •, fo that they
cannot receive the things of God, more than ablind man
the light of the fun, 1 Cor. ii. 14. So unbelief reigns
there ; they cannot believe, for they cannot fee,Eph. ii. 2.

(2.) Their will is wholly perverfe and rebellious
againft God, neither plying nor able to ply to the
will of God, Rom. viii, 7. The wrong fet it got by
the fall, it keeps ; and nothing left, than creating
power can give it a new fet. What God wills not,
that they will ; and what he wills, they will not : fo
that the holy law has an irritaiing efFecl on them. It
is called a ftony heart : break it may, but bow it can-
not, till melted down by regenerating grace.

(3.) Their affections are all in diforder, Jer. xvii.
9. There is no moderating of them, by religion and
reafon, but they are turbulent and unmanageable,
Jer. ri. 23. 24. They are wretchedly mifplaced j they
love what they fhould loath, and loath what they
(bould love. They can keep no meafure, they run
to evil, and what is good is againlt the grain with

them.

46 The State of the unregenerate World explained'.

them. They are monfters in fpiritual things ; their
hearts are where their feet fhould be, on the world, and:
their heels lifted up againft heaven.

(4.) Their confcience is in miferable plight, Tit.
i. 15. It is unfit to do its office truly, for want o£
faving illumination. Hence it is a lax confcience, that
lets many evils pafs without any check at all, being
filent and fenfelefs ; but as to grofs fins, in checking
of which it become* through cuftom in them very
remifs and eafy. And if at any time it be awakened,.
it is eafily either bribed or boafted to filence.

2. The body partakes of that corruption, by com-
munication with tie finful foul. It incites to fin ; if
is a houfe wherein the foul finds many a fhare fpread
for it ; fo that many, to gratify their fenfes and bodi-
ly appetites, make fhipwreck of their fouls. There-
fore the apoftle fays, 1 keep under my body, and bring
it intofubjeclion : left that by any means when J have
preached to others, I my f elf fhould be a ca/l-aivay9
1 Cor. ix. 27. It ferves the foul in much finr with-
the members thereof instruments of unrighteoufnefs,
Rom. vi. 1 3. The eyes and ears are windows where-
at death comes in to the foul ; the tongue an unruly
evil ; the lips unclean j the throat an open fepulchre ;
the feet fwift to mifchief -, and the belly made a god,
not only by them that feed delicately, but thofe that
live on coarfe fare, Zech, vii. 6.

Secondly, Their lives and conventions are wholly
corrupted, Pfal. xiv. 3. For the fountain being
poifoned, no pure ftreams can come forth from thence,
Matth. xii. 34. The converfation of unregenerate
men is one continued courfe of error, and wandering
out of the way of God's commandments. Some of
them are nearer the way than others of them, but all
of them are quite off it, Pfal. xiv, 3. Whether they
move flow or faft, they are out of courfe, Eccl. x. 15.
For many of their anions are ill in themfelves, in the
very matter of them condemned by the law of God,
and which they never truly repent of. All of them

arc

The Stat* of the unregenerate World explained. 47

are wrong in the manner, the beft of them are mar-
red in the making, through the want of right princi-
ples, motives, and ends.

Secondly, The whole unregenerate world lies
under the dominion and reigning power of fin and
wickednefs, Rom. vi. 17. Even in the regenerate
(in dwells, as a troublefome gueft; but it has loll the
throne in the heart. But in the unregenerate it has
full fway, and is the fovereign commanding prin-
ciple in them. There are two things that evidence
this.

1- Sin is in them in its full ftrength and vi-
gour, and therefore rules and commands all. The
flrength of fin is the law, I Cor. xv. 56. and they are
under the law, under it as a covenant of works, and
therefore under the cuife. And where-ever the curfe
lies, there fin remains in its ftrength and power : and
there is no cutting off the locks of fin, and breaking
the power of it, but by removing the curfe, and de-
livering from the law as a covenant, Rom. vi. 14.

2. It poiTeffeth them alone without an oppofite
principle. The old man of fin has not only the pof-
feflion of every part, but of the whole of every part,
there being no principle of grace brought in upon it
to counteract it. In the regenerate there is a corrupt
principle indeed, called the flejh ; but it reigns not,
becaufe there is an oppofite principle brought in up-
on it to refill it, Gal. v. 17. But the unregenerate
are wholly fleln, John iii. 6. So they are like the
dead man, where death bears full fway; in the other
death and the difeafe are flruggling for the maftery.

Thirdly, They lie in the habitual practice of fin
and wickednefs, Pfal. xiv. 1 . The fool hath/aid in his
hearty There is no God : they are corrupt, they have
done abominable works, there is none that doth good.
"Where fin reigns in the heart, one's courfe of life
cannot be otherwife ; if the eye be evil, the whole
body muft be full of darknefs. Where the old cor-
rupt nature remains in its vigour, it is impoffible but

the

48 The State of the unregenerate World explained,

the life and converfation muft be corrupt too. It is
true, there is a great difference of life and practice
among the men of the world : but that all the unre-
generate lie in the pra&ice oi- fin and wickednefs,
however they differ in the kinds of it, is clear from
the following confederations.

Fir/iy The bent, (train, and courfe of their life is
quite wrong, Eph ii. i. 2. They are off from the
mark: Adam led us all off the road, and they are not
brought to it again. However quickly they move at
any time, they are always like an arrow {hot befide the
mark, a traveller that is off his road, Eccl x. 15.
They are a company of wanderers, ftraying fheep,
wandering on the mountains of vanity, 1 Pet. ii. ult,
though they go their fundi y ways, If liii. 6. fome
wandering in the wildernefs of formality, others in
the mires and bogs of profanity. But oil have fin-
nedy and come jhort of the glory of God, Rom. iii. 23.

Secondly, Any. good they do is accidental, even as
a wanderer in his courfe of wandering may Humble
fometimes on the road : but it is not the product
of their main fcope and aim. So the Danites con-
fulted God as to their way, not that they were feek-
ing an occafion of it, but an occafion met them, Judg.
xviii. 5. 80 fome expound that paffage, Lev xxvi.
23 If ye will not be reformed by mt by thtfe things , but
•will walk contrary unto me , &c. Unregenerate men
may do good ; but it is by the by only, as it happens
to fuit with their particular humours, and interefts:
for ftlf is the dead fea with them, wherein all is fwal-
lowed up; and they are unconvetted.

Thirdly, The be ft things they do are fin, unap-
proved, unaccepted of God, Prov. xv. 8. The facrifice
§f the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. If. Ixvi, 3.
Be that killeth an ox, is as if he flew a man .• he that
faenfeeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck : he that
offer eth an oblation, as if he offered fivines blood : he that
bumcth incenfe, as if he blcfjed an idol, i hey reckon
wrong, dividing their actions into good works and

ill

The State of the wire generate World explained. 49

ill works: they are entirely divided into gliftering
fins, and black and dark fins; and what they call
their good woiks, are but glittering fins. .For they
are not done in faith : and ivhatfoever is not cf jaithy
is fin> Rom. xiv. ult. Their finful unregenerate ftate
corrupts all, as a tainted vefTel doth the liquor poured
into it, Hag. ii. 11. — 14. Their aclions materially
good, are really evil, as wrong in the principles, man*
ner, and end.

Laftly) Whatever; gobd an unregenerate man does,
he (till lives in the allowed practice of fome fin with-
out repenting or forfaking it. Let him have never
fo many good things about him, there is (till one
thing lacking, that mars all, Mark x. 21. This
will be evident, if ye confider,

1. That an univerfal and impartial refpecl: to the
commands of God, is a mark of the regenerate,
Pfal. cxix. 6, Then Jball I not be ajhamed, -when I
have refpetl unto all thy commandments. This bears
that in the cafe of others there is always fome excep-
tion, they never go along with the holy law without
referve. There is always fomething in Chrift that
offends them, that they flick at, and cannot go down
■with them, Matth. xi. 6.

2. Sin's reign being ftill entire in them, it mull:
have fome luft or other for its fceptre to command
by, Rom. vi. 12. The current or channel of a wa-
ter may be altered ; but as long as the fountain is not
dried up, it will have fome channel to run in. A
man's particular predominant may alter ; but while
unregenerate, he will always have fome predominant,
that fhall command all.

3. The heart of man muft needs hang on at one
door or other for reft to itfelf. Faith carries the foul
to take up its reft in God, Heb. iv. 3. But the un-
regenerate being unbelievers, do not make God their
reft : therefore without controverfy they will be found
about the creature's door, feeking their left there. So

3 E the

50 The State of the unregenerate Wfrld explained,

the heart has ftill fome fecret haunt of lull or other,
that it can never be driven away from.

That haunt of ^he heart will be found in one of
two.

\Jiy In the defires of the-flefh, Eph. iL 3. There
the groffer part of the world do neftle, who live as
if they were nothing but flefh, and had nothing but
the body, and a prefent life, to care for. And here
one of two things will readily be found the reigning
fin of the unregenerate.

1. Covetoufnefs and worldly- mindednefs. There
is in the world the luft of the eyey the gains and pro-
fits of a prefent world \ and there many an unfancti-
fied heart has its fecret haunt, ever minding earthly
things, Phil. iii. 19. Here is the bait for the rich
and the poor, the main flream of their cares runs
there, the one for increafing, the other for getting 5
fome by lawful means, but immoderately ufed, others
right or wrong. But that is inftead of God to them,
1 John ii. 15. ; and therefore it is called idolatry,
Col. iii. 5.

2. Senfuality. There is in the world the luft of
tbeftejby the pleafures of fenfe, and carnal appetite :
and there many an unrenewed heart has its fecret
haunt, that it can by no means be kept out of. There
may be many good things about them : but their
running iffue there can never be ftopt. The plea-
fures of fenfe are better to them, than all the pleafures
of communion with God 5 and they are inftead of it
to them, 2 Tim. iii. 4. 5. Hence fome are volup-
tuous epicures, whofe belly is their god ; fome flefhly
flaves, abandoned to, and wholly in the power of their
flefhly lufts.

2dly, Or in the defires of the mind, Eph. ii. 3.
There is in the world the pride of life too ; and there
the more refined part of the unregenerate world do
neftle. And here are feveral things that will be
found reigning fins of the unregenerate, the haunts
©f their unrenewed hearts*

I* Reigning

The State of the unregenerate World ex-plained. 5 I

1. Reigning pride and felf-conceit, 2 Tim. iii. 2.
Having never had a kindly work of humiliation
wrought on them, the natural height of their fpirit is
unbroken. If they have any natural or acquired ex-
cellencies about them, they admire themfelves in
thefe, and take it very ill if others do not (o too. If
they happen to obtain any religious or moral excel-
lencies, their cafe then becomes moil: hopelefs, that
publicans and harlots enter into the kingdom of
heaven before them j- for their unrenewed hearts have^
no ballafl for that fail.

2. Bitternefs of fpirit, (hewing itfelf in malice and
revenge againft thofe they think have injured them.
The unregenerate world is the region of malice and
bitternefs, as peopled by the feed of the ferpent, Tit.
iii. 3. For we ourjelves aJfo> faith the apoftle Paul,
were fometimes foolifhf — living in malice and envy^
hateful, and hating one another. This temper of fpi-
rit is more the nature of the unregenerate than ge-
nerally we are aware of. The contrary difpofition is
the badge of the family of God, Matth. v. 44. 45.
But I fay unto youy Love your enemies y blefs them that
€ur/e you, do good to them that hate youy and pray for
them which defpitefully ufe youy and perfecute ycu z
that ye may be the children of your Father which is in
heaven* for he maketh his fun to rife on the evil and
on the good, and fendeth rain on the juft and on the
unjuft. An unforgiving difpofition is a fign of an
unforgiven ftate, Matth. vi. 14. 15. Therefore
there were none more fpiteful and malicious than the
Pharifees, becaufe there were none ' farther from a
date of pardon with God. Where grace comes, it
turns lions into lambs, If. xi. 6. and has a benign
influence to the good of mankind, Rom. xiii. 10.

3. Reigning vanity of mind, Eph. iv. 17. All
the unregenerate world having left God, follow after
vanity; for there is no mids, 1 Sam. xii. 21. They
are all in the dark, groping here and there for reft
to their hearts among the creatures ; they find it not,

E 2 but

$2 The State of the unregeneraie World explained*

but a thouland difappointments caufe them not to
give over. They are like a lick man on his bed,
turning every where for eafe, and tolling; only ne-
ver turning to God in Chrift. The fick heart has
this and the other fair promife made to it, to give h
ezte : for that end the world makes a mighty, ftir
about meat, cloaths, building, planting, doing and
undoing again, turning upfide down, changing and
tacking about : and all in vain, without finding reft.

4. Natural enmity againft God, Rom. viii. 7. The
unregenerate world is, in the language of the Holy
Ghoft, a generation of vipers^ Matth. \n. .7. And
the feed of the feipent have all their venomous na-
ture unchanged in them, whatever fhapes a form of
religion, or morality has caft them into. And this
their natural enmity againft God appears in two things.

(r.) A reigning enmity againft the power of god-
linefs, where-ever it appears, Acts xiii. 10. Unre-
newed proferTors of religion may very well like reli-
gion of the ftamp of their own, and may have as
much zeal as could burn up others that are not of
their way : but to heaven fhall hell be as foon recon-
ciled, as they to real godlinefs in the power thereof,
as it exprefleth the image of Chrift. And therefore
there are none move virulent againft the moft ferious
godly than they, againft thofe whofe life is- Kkeft
Chrift's on earth.

(2.) An irreconcileable enmity to the law, and
the holinefs it requires, Rom. viii. 7. The image of
God was moft livelily expieffed on the man Chrift,
and in his holy life when on the earth the world faw
it : and it no fooner appeared, than the natural en-
mity of the unregenerate world appeared againft God,
in the treatment they gave to him, until they had
him perfecuted to the death. Now the moft lively
expreilion of the image of God, to be feen on earth,
is in the holy law : but daiknefs and light may as
foon be reconciled, as the unregenerate heart -to the
law. This appears, if ye confider,

[1.] There

The State of the unregenerate World explained. 53

[1.3 There is never an unrenewed heart for the
whole law, but at moft to pick and chufe in it. Their
fhoulders can never away with the whole yoke of
Chrift. Seek all the unregenerate world, ye lhall
no fooner find one that is for fulfilling all God's will,
than one after God's own heart, Acts xiii. 22, Some
or other of his commands are always grievous to them*
and that they can by no means bear.

[2.3 The law brought clofe home to the unrege-
nerate has an irritating power on them, Rom. vii. 9*
The more they are girded with the holy command-
ment, the more they fling againft it : the elofer it is
applied to them, the farther they flee from it. It is
like the ftirring of the ant's neft, and the fretting of
the ferpent, that caufes it fpit its venom. Hence
the more means of grace many have, they are the
more vile : as the more the fun beats on the dung-
hill, its (tench is the greater.

Q3.3 A -kin to this is the enmity of the world
•againft the minifters of Chrift, which all ages and.
places have given pregnant inftances of. The true
reafon of it is their office, an office ungrateful to the
world, to declare the laws of Heaven, John xv. 20.
21. Remember the word that Ifaidunto you9 Thefer~
vant is not greater than the lord. If they have per-
fecuted me> they will alfo perfecute you : if they have
kept my faying, they will keep yours alfo. But all
thefe things will they do unto you for my name's fake*,"
hecaufe they know not him that fent me. Hence the
current of fpite againft them, as againft ftewards who
are to execute in a family the orders of the head
thereof which are very unacceptable. Thus men be-
ing touched in their fore places, are irritated : yea, if
providence frown upon men, their ill nature is ready
to appear againft them ; becaufe the unhumbled heart:
frets againft the Lord, and fo it rebounds on his fer-
vants {landing in that relation to him.

5. Selfifhnefs, 2 Tim. iii. 2. Men fhall be lovers
<f their own felves. It is among the fir ft leflbns*

54 The State of the unregenerate World explained,

ChriP;. puts in the hands of his fcholars, todenythem-
felves j importing that all unregenerate fnen are over-
grown with • lelfifhnefs. Man falling off from God,
fet up for himfelf as his chief end : and hence comes
no due concern for the honour of God, nor for
the good of others ; but all fwallowed up in concern
for themfelves ; driving forward to that end over both
the one and the other. Now grace corrects this dif-
pofition, bringing men out of the circle of felfin
which they were confined. This felfUhnefs appears,

(i.) In their worldly management, where it fwal-
lows up neighbour- love, as in a devouring gulf,
Phil. ii. 20 21. Hence no due fympathy with the
afflicted, their forrows no allay to their joys ; yea a
fecret fatisfatUon in the crofFes, lofTes, and afiH&ions
of others, that the forrows of others are matter of joy
and triumph to them, Prov. xxiv. 17. 18. Envwng
and grudging at the profperity of others, undermi-
ning them in their affairs, not Handing to drive on
their own inter eft on the ruin of their neighbours ;
a fcandalous cruel practice, which God is this day
vifibly contending for.

(2.) In their religious management, where it fwal-
lows up the love of God and Chriil, like a devouring
gulf, Phil, ii. 21. Hence no due concern for the ho-
nour of God in the world, no mourning for the fins
of others, but a carelefs Gallio like temper whether
the interefts of religion fink of fwim. No rejoicing
in the glorifying of God, where thgy themfelves can-
not pretend to a fhare ; an ill eye on the good
of others, and hardly a good word to fpare of it, but
a readinefs to detract from it and fully it, unlefs they
be of their party and way : in that cafe they find room
for it, becaufe there is room for felf there, Phil. i.
15.'— 18.

6. Lajllyy Unbelief. This is the common fin of
all the Unregenerate world (John iii, iS. 19.) that
hear the gofpd. They may efcape many a mire of
pollution) that o;h»rs f. .II into, who are yet funk over

head

The State of the unregenerate World explained 5$

head and ears here. It is a fin that is the need-nail
to all others, John viii. 24. and yet fuch a fpiritual
fin, that it is hardly difcerned ; it not being of the
nature of thofe fins that a natural confcience boggles
at. Bu* all the unregenerate live in it.

.(1.) They do not truly believe the gofpel, If. liii. 1.
There is a report fent from another world, of life and
falvation for Tinners through Chrift: the/ do not con-
tradict, they fay they believe it, nay they think they
believe it ; but in reality they believe it not. For to
quit the enjoyment of their lulls, and thepurfuitof the
vain world, the luft of the flefh, the luft of the eye,
and the pride of life, is in their eyes to quit certainty
for uncertain hope. Any faith they have of it is but
fuperfkial ; for it is rifen without the root of faving
illumination, and the demonftration of the Spirit,
1 Cor. ii. 4. 5, Matth. xvi. 17.

(2 ) They have never been brought freely away to
Chrift, in the way of believing, for all, John i. 12.
13. All the propofals-of the gofpel made to thern,
have never prevailed farther than to make them al-
moft Chriftians : they have not felt the day of power
to make them willing, PfaL ex. 3. Merrhave drawn
them, confcience has preffed them ; but they have
jaot felt the Father's drawing yet. Two things e-
vince this.

[1.] They are not yet come freely away out of
themfelves, to Chrift, for a reft to their coniciences,
Phil, in. 3. They have never yet died to the law,
and therefore cannot be married to Chrift, Rom. vii.
4. They are not poor in fpirit, M3tth. v. 3. There
is fomething left them ftill of their own,' which
though they cannot truft to before God for altogether,
yet they can in part- They are never brought freely
out of their own righteoufnefs, Ptom. x. 3.

[2.] They are not come freely away from the
creature unto Chrift, for a reft to their hearts, Beb.
iv. 3. They have never feen the fuln'efs in Chrift,
that, t;e ihould be the one tiling defired by them : but in

their

$6 7 be State of the unregenerate World explained.

their way Chrift may bear the weight fomewhat for
a reft to their confciences, but the heart can have no
reft but in the creature: for they fay, as If. iv. i.
We will eat our own bread, and wear our own ap~
par el : only let us be called by thy namei to take <s-
way our reproach. He is not the one pearl to them,
for which all is to be fold.

(3.) They do not live by faith, which is the only
true Chriftianlife, Gal. ii. 20. So far from it, that*
[1.] Senfe, and not faith, is their guide in their
way, quite contrary to the Chriftian courfe, 2 Cor,
v. 7. We walk by faith, not by fight. The conftant
cry of the unregenerate world is, Who will Jbew us
any good ? PfaL iv. 6. and nothing is good in their
eyes but fenfible good. So the things that are feen,
and prefent, are valued and purfued ; things that
are not feen, and future, are flighted as uncertain.

[2.]) Self, and not Chrift, is what they lean to
for carrying them on their way. The life of faith is
a leaning on Chrift, Cant. viii. 5. But inftead of
that, the unregenerate lean on their own ftock, their
felf-wifdom for management, their felf ftrength for
performance, and their felf- worth for acceptance.

Thus it appears, that they ftill live in the allowed
practice of feme fin or other. Now,

1. The effect thereof is, that that one thing mars
all to them, in point of acceptance ; and keeps them
in a ftate of death, Mark x. 21. While one fin is
allowedly kept, no good they do can be accepted of
God, Pfal. Ixvi. 18. It is as poifon poured into a
cup, which goes through all. And it effectually
concludes them in a ftate of death : for an offending
right eye or right hand puts the whole body in ha-
zard of perifhing, Matth. v. 29. 30. One leak may
fink the (hip. Abimelech the fon of Gideon's con-
cubine, flew his feventy brethren the fons of the
wives.

2. The reafon hereof is, that one fin kept in the
allowed practice thereof, evidenceth that any good

done

7 he State of the unre generate World explained* 57

done by fuch a one, is not done out of love to God,
and regard to his holy law, but for fotne felt- end.
For if the authority of God upon any command were
fufficient to recommend the obedience of it to a man,
it would recommend all the commands to him, be-
caufe all bear the fame impiefs of divine authority,
Jam, ii. 10. II.

Fourthly, The whole unregenerate world lies
under the guilt of fin, the guilt of revenging wrath,
Rom. iii. 19. Now we know that what things Joever
the law faith , it faith to them who are under the law :
that every mouth may be flopped, and all the world may
become guilty before God. By the fancYion of the law,
guilt follows fin ; the creature finning becomes liable
to wrath : there is a bond of guilt wreathed about their
neck, by which they may be drawn to fuffer. Hence
fin is called a debt, becaufe as it is the taking away
of obedience due, it binds to fuffer punifhment ac-
cordingly. That we may have a view of their ftate
under the guilt of fin, confider,

1. It is the guilt of eternal wrath they lie under,
being bound over thereto by the curfe, Gal. iii. io»
The regenerate may be under guilt too : but it is
only the guilt of fatherly anger •, there is no curfe,
no revenging wrath in their cafe, Rom. viii. 1. But
the unregenerate are under a bond of guilt, binding
them to fuffer in hell to the complete fatisfaction of
juftice.

2. This guilt ©f their original fin they were born
with, is ftill lying on them, Eph. ii. 3. — Arid were
by nature the children of wrath, even as others* They
came into the world condemned men ; and not be-
ing in Chriit, the fentence is never reverfed, though
the execution is delayed. They have not the King's
pardon, though they are yet fpared, and eafy as if
there were no quarrel.

3. Every actual tranfgreffion, in heart, lip, or life,
by omiflion or commiffion, brings on new guilt of
that kind on them, Gal. iii. 10. Cut fed k every one

that

58 The State of the unregenerate If or Id explained*

that continueth not in all things -which are ivritten in
the book of the law to do them. So the guilt of their ac-
tual fins is added to the guilt of their original fin : and
as many actual fins as they are chargeable with, fo many
plaits there are of that cord of death on them. As
they repeat their fins, the law repeats its curfe.

4. An unregenerate man can do nothing but what
is fin, Matth. vii. 18. Accordingly God teftifies of
them, that there is none that doth goody no not oner
Rom. iii. 12. His nature being wholly corrupt, all
his actions are corrupt too ; his natural actions, Zech.
vii. 6. his civil actions, Prov. xxi. 4. and his reli»
gious actions, Prov. xv. 8. So that in all they do,
they contract new guilt, Hag. ii. 14.

5. Man is a bufy creature, ftill doing. And none
are more bufy than the unregenerate that can do no
good, If. lvii. 20. The wicked are like the troubled fea9
iv hen it cannot refl, whofe waters cajl up mire and
dirt. The heart of man is like the watch, that may
go as faft going wrong, as when going right : it is flili
employed about vanity or vilenefs j and every imagi-
nation is evil, Gen. vi. 5*

6. Laftly, All their guilt flicks with them, nothing
of it goes off, being out of Chrift, Eph. ii. u Be*
lievers are daily contracting guilt, it is true ; but
then they are daily getting it removed too, through
daily application of the blood of Chrift by faith, as
the living man is putting off naftinefs from him :
whereas all abides with the unregenerate world, as
the vermin on the dead corpfe that can put off none.

Now put all thefe together, and what a dreadful
layer has the unregenerate world in the guilt of fin !
Floods of guilt are ftill rolling in on them, as the
waters are running continually into the fea : but
whereas the fea lets out of its waters that it receives in,
they keep all the floods of guilt that roll in on them.
So the longer they live, tbey are the more miferable,
becaufe the more guilty.

Lastly,

The State of the unregenerate World explained. 59

Lastly, The whole unregenerate world lies in
the filth and pollution of fin, Tit. i. 15. Unto them
that are defiled^ and unbelieving^ is nothing pure ;
but even their mind and conjcience is defiled. Sin is a
defiling evil, it pollutes the finner in the fight of
God, defacing his image in the foul, and rendering
him unlike God. God is glorious in holinefs, this
holinefs he has expreiled in his law, and fin is the
quite contrary of that holinefs. So that God can no
more ceafe to abominate it, than to delight hi his own
image, Hab. i. 13. Jer. xliv. 4.

1. Their natural defilement and pollution which
they were born in, dill remains, Pfal. li. 5 for they
are not born again of the water and the Spirit. An
emblem of their cafe ye have in Ezek. xvi. The
whole frame of their foul is unclean, polluted, and
unlike God, Tit. i. 15.

2. Every actual tranfgreffion, of omiffion, or com-
million, leaves a new ftroke of pollution on them,
rendering them more unlike God, Rom. iii. 13. So
that their fpiritual uncleannefs is ever increafing, and
the longer they live, they do but contract the more
defilement.

3. La/lly, All flicks on them, nothing of their
old or new defilement is removed ; becaufe they were
never wafhed in the laver of regeneration, Ezek. xxii.
24. And whara wretched cafe mull that be, where new
filth is ftill coming on the foul, but none going off?

II. I {ball now (hew how the unregenerate world lies
in wickednefs They lie in it in the moil hopelefs
cafe y which we may take up in three things. They lie,

1. Bound in it, Atts viii. 23. bound in it like
prifoners in the pit, If. lxi. r. 'I hey are in chains
of guilt, which they cannot break off' ; there are fet-
ters of ftrong lufts upon them, which hold them fait.
Satan has overcome them, and brought them into
bondage: and though they fee their cafe is wrong,
though a natural confcience witneffeth their hazard ;

yet

6o The Do&rine of the unregenerate World

yet they cannot leave it, but go on like an ox to the
{laughter, and a fool to the correction of the flecks.

2. AJleep in it, Eph. v. 14. They have drunk of
the intoxicating cup, and are fail afleep, though
within the feamark of vengeance. Though fome-
times 1 hey are made to flart in their fleep, by palling
convictions like a flitch in the fide; yet there is no
awakening of them, by all the alarms they get U om
the word, from providence, and their own confeience.
If they are at any time moved by thefe, yet they
quickly fall over afleep again.

3. La/l/y, Dead in it, Eph. ii. 1. A natural life,
through the union of a foul with their body, they
have : but their fpiritual life is gone, the union of
their fouls with God being quite broken, Eph. iv 18.
The image of God on the foul, the principle of vital
holy actions, is away from them ; fo they lie in their
wickednefs breathlefs and movelefs, ready to be buried
out of God's fight.

The dotlrine of the unregenerate world lying in wick'
ednefs applied.

Use I. of information. See here,

Firjly The fpring and fountain of the abounding
{in in our day : The whole world lies in wickednefs ;
and wickednefs proceedeth from the wicked \ 1 Szm.
xxiv. 13 "What but wickednefs can be expected in
a wicked world ? The unregenerate bear the far greater
bulk in the land, as in the world : and they are lying
in wickednefs. Here then is the opened fountain of
the great deep, that has brought on a deluge of wick-
ednefs. Hence,

1. The apoflacy in principles, men departing from
the faith, and bringing in damnable herefies. The
infidelity of this generation has gone to a monflrous
height ; contempt of revealed religion has fearfully
fpread. The doctrine of the grace oi Chriil is defpi-
fed j and the doctrine of the peffon of Chriil Is rudely

attacked :

lying in Wickednefs, applied, 6l

attacked : the foundations that were left in fafety in
the time of Prelacy, yea under Popery, are now over-
turned *. So has the wickednefs of the worid lying
in wickednefs broke out in our day.

2- Apoftacy in practice. There is a deluge of
profanity gone over the land ; men have loofed the
bridle to their lulls, opened the lluice to their wick-
ednefs, that there is no flopping of it by mens endea-
vours, Pfal. cxix. 126. It is time for thee, Lord, id
•work : for they have made void thy law. All ranks
have corrupted their ways in church and irate ; that
they are like to wear out ferious godlinefs, and the
faints of the Moji High. And the generation is re-
markably worfe than their fathers, more loofe, and
regardlefs of all that is good.

Secondly, The fpring of all the miferies that are
lying on us, and we are threatened with. The world
is lying in wickednefs, and therefore lies in mifery :
for God is a fin- hating and (in-revenging God. It is
the fin and wickednefs of the generation, that has
brought on the decay of trade, and is impoverishing
the country, for a witnefs againft the mifimprove-
ment of a thriving condition. To that is owing the
prefent ftraitnefs, and diminishing of our ordinary
food ; for the abufe of fulnefs in luxury, fenfuality,
and lafcivioufnefs : the defolating of the flocks,, for
mens oppreffing one another : the great ficknefs and
death in families wherewith the Lord is afflicting us.
And thefe look but like the beginning of forrows, for
there is no turning to the hand that fmiteth.

Let not men harden themfelves in the cafe, becaufc
it feems to fare as ill with faints as finners. For,

1. It is God's ordinary way in his proceedings a-
gainft a land, to begin with his own houfe and fami-
ly, Ezek. ix. 6. For though they are not of, yet they
are in the world, and contract infection, fo that with
them alfo there are fins againft the Lord. And be*

* The author refers to the revival of Ananifm in England by
Dr Clarke, and in Scotland by ProfcfTor Simfon.

3 F caufo

6% The Doclrine of the unregenerate World

caufe the Lord has a kindnefs for them, they get the
trim of the cup, Zech. i. u. 12.

2. But it is a fign for ill to the world lying in wick-
-ednefs. And. of a. long time we have had that fign,
of particular ftrokes dirked agaiefr. thofe that are
the moft ferious* 1 Pet. iv. 17. i-S. For the time is
come that judgement muji begin at the houfe of God :
and if it jirji begin at us, what fhall the end be of
them that obey not the go/pel of God ? And if the righ-
teous fcarcely befaved, where fhall the ungodly and the
finner appear ? If God's own people drink of the cup
of judgement, the world dying in wickednefs (hall
pledge them, and drink after, Jer. xxv. 28. 29. And
the former getting the brim, the dregs will fall to
the latter, Pfal. lxxv. 8. And thus God's own pro-
phets have been -figns to a people with whom God
had a controverfy, Ezek. xxiv. 24- Thus Ezekiel is
junto you a fign:: according to all that he hath done,
Jhall ye do : and when this comet h, ye fhall know that

I am the Lord God.

3. Lajily, Though in the outward courfe of provi-
dence a]i falls alike to all, yet the crofs of the faint
is better than the crown of the finner, If. iii. 10. 11.
Say ye to the righteous, that it fhall be well with him:

for they fiall eat the fruit of their doings. Wo unto
the wicked, it fhall be ill with him : for the reward of
Ms hands fhall be given him. Rom. viii. 28. And we
Jknow that all things work together for good, to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to
his purpofe. Prov. i. 32. The profperity of fools fu all
dejlroy them.

Thirdly, It is not ftrange to find men of the world
lying in the habitual practice of fome abomination :
for the whole world lieth in wickednefs* Men will
carry themfelves agreeable to their ftate of regeneracy
or iiregeneracy : and to find unregenerate men lying
in this and the other wickednefs, is no more ftrange
than to find fi£h fwimming in the water, and birds
flying in the air y it is their element.

I. Accordingly

lying in Wickednefs^ applied. 6j

1. Accordingly fome lie in open wickednefs, de-
claring their fin as Sodom, If. iii. 9. For where
men cannot reflrain them, they are at liberty, becaufe
they have no fear of God before their eyes. Their
lull is their law in thefe things, and they go as far
in the road as their feet will carry them, doing evil
as they may or can-.

2. Some lie in fome fecret wickednefs, which they
get kept fecret from the open view of the world, and
for the eye of a jealous God that mars them not,
Ezek, viii. 12. Son of miin, haft then feen what the
ancients of the houje of Ifrael do in the dark, every
man in the chambers of his imagery ? for they fay ', The
Lord feeth us not, the Lord hath forfaken the earth.
This evil world has a loathfome afpect as it is, for all
the covering of abominations in it : but were the fe-
cret abominations in it brought out to mens know-
ledge, the fecret frauds and cheats, whoredoms, a-
dulteries, and lafcivioufnefs, murders, thefts, &c. fet
in the light, how much more loathfome would the
world appear ? Eph- v. 12. For it is a fhame even ta

fpeak of thofe things which are done of them in fecret.
But two things are certain*

(1.) Where the fountain of fin is not ftopt by re-
generating grace, it m-uft needs have its main ftream
running in the practice of fome one wickednefs or
other, Rom. vi. 12. An unregenerate man's pre-
dominant fin may indeed be changed ; but he mall
fooner ceafe to breathe, than to have fome one run-
ning iflue or other. And that will always be his
neckbreak here, that will part betwixt Chrift and
him, Mark x. 21. 22.; and that will be the moft
terrible gnawing worm in the confcience hereafter.

(2.) Whether it be an open or fecret wickednefs,
it will be called at length before a tribunal, where
there will be no fhifting of compearance, defeating of
probation, nor flopping execution, A&s xvii. 31. He
hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the
world in righteoufnefs, by that man whom he hath or-
F 2 dained.

64 The Dotlrine of the unregenerate World

dained. Rom. xiv. 10. We /hall all ft and before- the
judgement -feat of Chri/l. There the moft fecrct pieces
of wickednefs fliali be difcovered before all the world*
Eccl. xii. ult. For God foall bring every work into
judgement, with every fee ret thing, whether it be
good, or whether it be evil. Prov. xxvi. 26. Whofe-
hatred is covered by deceit, his wickednefs Jhall be
Jhewed before the whole congregation. And the moft
daring tranfgrefTor fhall.be made to ftand trembling,
Eccl. xi 9. Rejoice, 0 young man, in thy youth, and7
let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and
walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the fight of thine
eyes : but know thou, that for ail thefe things God
will bring thee into judgement*

Fourthly, The world muft be an infectious focie-
ty : it mud be a peftilential air that is breathed in it,
and wickednefs in it muft be of a growing and fpread--
ing nature. For the whole world lieth in wickednefs*
He nee,

1. Unregenerate men, if they get not a eaft of
faving grace to change their nature, will undoubted-
ly grow worfe and worfe, 2 Tim. Hi.. 13. As that
which lies in the dunghill, rots the more the longer
it lies : fo' men lying in irregeneracy in wickednefs,.
the longer they live their cafe is the more hopelefs.
How evidently is this feen, in. there being fome hope
of fome while they are yet young, yet not being con-
verted then, they grow at length to a pitch that there
is no dealing with them ?

2. Unregenerate men are fnares and neckbreaks
one to another, ferving to advance the growth of
wickednefs in one another, Matth. xviii. 7. As in
a dunghill one part ferves to rot another, fo is it in
the world lying in wickednefs. The ill example of
fome encourages others, and fo the elder corrupt the
younger, efpecially when they go about to train them
up in the ways of wickednefs.

3. They are fnares even to the godly. It is hard
to come near a mire or dunghill* and not be defiled.

There

lying in Wickednefs, applied. 65

There was a fufFocating vapour arofe from the high
prieft's hall, that made Peter to fall a-denying his
Matter. This made the pialmift fay, Wo is me, thit
J fojourn in Mefech, that 1 dwell in the tents of Ke~
dar, Pfal. cxx. 5.

Hence we may learn,

(1.) They hzve a hard talk in hand,, whofe bufi-
nefs it is to deal with the world lying in wickednefs,
in order to their reformation : for the longer they lie
in their wickednefs, they are the more ftrengtbened
in it, their hearts are the more hardened, their con*
fciences more feared, and the bands of wicked-
nefs grow (tronger. And then one hdps another in
an ill courfe : they unite and co/nbhie to (tiengthen
one another in wickednefs. So that it is a heavy
taflc.

(2-) The danger of ill company, 1 Cor. xv. 33.
Evil communications corrupt good manners. The
wicked world is a dangerous fociety, and has been
ruining to many. How many have been ruined, by
their being educated and living amoiigft thofe of the
world lying in wickednefs, never having opportunity
of good company, where they might fee or get good ?
Hpw many have been ruinerr'by their falling into ill
company, after hopeful beginnings ? The ftream of
our nature runs the wrong way, fo th* world lying
in wickednefs rows with the ftream, and fo is fuc-
cefsful in working fmriers ruin, Prov. xiii. 20. Her
that ivalketh with wife men,fhall be wife : hxii & com*
panion of fools /hall be dejiroyed.

Fifthly, This account! for the uneafy life that thev
ferious- godly have in the world. The whole world
lieth in wickednefs. Oar Lord Jefus- had an uneafy
life in it, and fo will all his followers have to the c:r\.
The church in the world is like a lily among thorns ;:
however the world may carefs its own, the ferk.us-
godly will not get leave to forget that they are f^om
fcqpie while in it, ftrangers and pilgrims \ that r.

¥ 3 arts

66 The Dotlrine of the ilnreg4nerafe WofU

are in a wildemcfs. How can their life in it mifs to
be uneafy ? For unto them,

i. It is a loathfome world, where their eyes mufb
behold abominations that they cannot help, Hab i. 3.
Why doji thoujhew me iniquity •, and caufe me to behold
grievance ? for fpoiling and violence are before me :
and there are that raife up firife and contention*
However the fwine of this world may delight to wal-
low in their own mire, and to lie in their own dung-
hill ; yet to heaven-born fouls, the >>ench arifing
from that dunghill muft needs be noifome. Hence
fays the prophet, Jer. ix. 2. Qh, that I had in the wil-
dernefs a lodging ~place of -wayfaring men, that I
might leave my people* and go from them : for they
be dll adulterers, an affembly of treacherous men.

2. It is a vexatious world : the temper of the par-
ties is fo different, fo oppofite, that they can never
hit it, but muft needs be heavy one to another. As
the way of the godly is uneafy to the worl d, fo the
way of the world is uneafy to them, makes them
many a forrowful day and heavy heart, and draws
many a figh and groan from them, as in Lot's cafe,
2 Pet. ii. 7. 8. And the uneaunefs arifing from that
quarter makes heaven more defirable, as to burdened
men groaning.

3. It is an enfnaring world, wherein fnares of all
forts are going, and they are many times catched in
the trap ere they are aware, 2 Tim. iii. 1. 2> This
know alfo, that in the lafi days perilous times Jhall
come. for men fhall be lovers of their own felves, co-
vetous, boaflers, proud, blafphemers, difobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy, &c. The world lying in
wickednefs lays fnares for them, that by drawing
them into their courfes, they may make them like
themfelves. And at all times they are in hazard by
thena, either by omiffion of necerTary duty, or com-
million of fin.

4. It is a world wherein wickednefs thrives apace
as in its native foil, but any good has much ado to

get

lying in Wickednefs^ applied. 67

get up its head, Jer. iv. 22. For my people is fcolifh,
they have not known me, they are fottifo children, and
they have none under/landing : they are wife to do evil,
but to d» good they have no knowledge. The ground
being curfed, thirties and thorns grow up of their
own accord : but after much labour for the feed-corn,
the hufbandman has but a forry increafe. So the
work of wickednefs goes on with fpeed ; but O how
hard is it to make a good work take ! The raoft pru-
dent management can hardly carry a good work/ but
onefirner deflroyeth much good, Eccl. ix. ult.

Sixthly, Fhis accounts for the frightful end this
"vifible world will make, by the general conflagration,
2 Pet. iii. 10. There is a curfe on it, for the wick-
ednefs in it, that once deluged it, it will in end burn
it up. It has been a flage of wickednefs, and will
be pulled down j a fink of abominations, and will
be overthrown. The creatures groan in it, under
the abufe of them to the ferving of the lulls of men :
they muft be delivered.

.Lajily, This mews the dangerous ftate of the un-
regenerate world; they lie in wickednefs. There-
fore,

1. They now lie under wrath, hanging in the
threatening and curfe, which is over their heads,
Eph. ii. 3. Being the region of wickednefs, it is the
region of wrath, John iii. ult. They are in a ftate
of wrath, it is on them, and theirs.

2. They will perifh under that wrath, whoever
continue and come not out from among them. For
the world now lying in wickednefs will fink down
into the pit, and lie eternally under their guilt and
filth, Matth. xxv» ult. Pvev. xx. 14. 15.

Use II. Of exhortation.

r. To all I would fay, Search and try what fociety

ye belong to, whether ye are ftill of, or feparated

from, the world lying in wickednefs. It is certain,

we are all naturally of the world \ there is no co-

/ ming

6$ The DoRrine applied.

ming out of it, but by regenerating grace ; and being
come, ye will have taken another route. What has
been already faid, particularly on the firft claufe of
the verfe, touching the marks and characters of thofe
that are of God, and fo feparated from the world,
may ferve to difcover your ftate in this point.

2. To faints feparated from the world, I would

fry*

(i.) Do not much wonder at the harm entertain-
ment ye meet with in it. Value not the frowns of
the world lying in wickednefs ; and think not ftrange
of frowns of providence on you while ye are in it.
Tor it will never b« quite well with the family of
God, while they are he.e in the fame place with the
world.

(2.) "Watch againft it while ye are in it, as being
in hazard of fins and fnares in a world lying in wick-
ednefs. Be not fecure ; knowing that your adver-
sary the devil> as a roaring //<?«, walketh about feek*
ing whom he may devour , 1 Pet. v. 8.

(3.) Look homeward, and long to be with Chrifl: ;
where you {hall be for ever cut of the reach of all
evil, and enjoy fuch peace and freedom as your ene-
mies can difturb no more.

3. La/fly, To Onnersof the world lying in wicked-
nefs, 1 would fay, Come out from among them, and
be feparated, as ye would not be ruined with them,,
and perifh eternally in their dd!ruc~ticn. But of this
in the next difcourfe.

The

The divine Call to Sinners, to. come
out from among the World lying in
Wickednefs, explained and urged.

Several Sermons preached at Etterick,. in 1729.

1 John v. 19.

The -whole world lieth in ivickedneft,
2 Cor. vi. 17.

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye fepa-
rate, faith the Lord, and touch not the unclean
thing 1 and I will receive you*

YE have had a frightful defcription of the world
lying in wickednefs. We come now to prefs
the exhortation to come out of it, in the words of
this compared text. In which we have,

1. The gofpel-call to (inner s, Come out from a-
mong them. For whereas the words are taken out of
If. lii. 1:1. it is plain the prophet there fpeaks of the
days and preaching of the gofpel, though with an
eye to the deliverance from Babylon, ver. 7. — ia.
In it we have,

_(i.) The fubftance of the duty that finners are
called to, Come out from among them, viz. the world
lying In wickednefs, whereof Babylon was an em-
blem, as the Jews were of the ele£t. Babylon was
the mother of abominations, and devoted to deftruc-
tion : fo the world lying in wickednefs is. To>
come out from among them, is to come out of your
natural (late, unto Chrifl; by faith; that is the only
way to come out from among them. And, that the

text

7© The Text explained.

text aims at no lefs, is evident, that adoption into
God's family is thereupon promifed.

(2.) The touchftone of fincerity in it, Be ye fep&~
rate. Right coming out from among the world ly-
ing in wickednefs, is a coming out from among them
freely and for altogether. A withdrawing for a time,
the relation ftanding, will not do : nor a halting be-
tween two ; there muft be a total reparation, by go-
ing quite to the other fide, and fetting up againft
them. Thus the apoftle explains the double call to
depart, If. lii. If. Depart ye ', depart ye, going ftill
farther and farther from them, till the great gulf be
fixed betwixt you and them.

(3.) A neceflary direction for the right managing
of your coming away, Touch net the unclean thing.
They are an unclean fociety, like a leprous perfonj
confult not with them, but be refolute without tam-
pering with them. Every thing among them is un*
clean ; take up none of it to carry with you, as Ra-
chel did her father's images. Be afraid of every
perfon and thing in the world lying in wickednefs, as
of fire.

2. The gofpel-offer and promife, to be accomplish-
ed on complying with the call, / will receive you. I
the Lord Chrift will take you in. Be not a-
fraid that ye fhall be at any lofs in the cafe j fuch re-
fugees (hall have the borders of the Lord's land, the
gates of his houfe opened to them.

Now the doctrine of thefe texts thus compared, is*

Doct. There is a call from the Lord to /inner s, ta
come out from among the world lying in \vickednefs9
And leave them.

In handling this doctrine, I (hall,

I. Shew fome things implied in it.

II. Shew what is the finner's coming out from a-
mong the world lying in wickednefs.

III. Confider

The Import of the Call to come out from the World. 7 1

III. Confider the call from the Lord to come out
from among them.

IV. Laftly, Apply the whole.

I. I {hall mew fome things implied in the doc-
trine. It implies,

1. The world lying in wickednefs is a fociety
hateful to the Lord, elfe he would not call to come
out from among them. They may pleafe themfelves,
as if they only were the people. The region of a
natural ftate has the cloud of wrath abiding on it,
John iii. ult. They are a fociety, whom God ab-
hors as unclean ; a people of God's indignation, as
being his enemies ; and againft whom he will have
war for ever, that fhall end in their deftruclion, or
jather never end.

2. Sinners, ye are all by nature in among them,
and of them : elfe, why is the call, Come out from
among them? Whoever has not heard this call, anct
come out from among them, in converfion, is among
them yet, John viii. 44. I told you there are in the
world lying in wickednefs, the lower and the upper
world : but both thefe make but one world, the devil
is the head of both -, and if a few years were gone,
they will be both turned into one, and all the inha-
bitants houfed under one roof, Matth. xxv. 41.
Therefore unconverted Cnners are as fure among
them, as the damned, — Sinners, ye are children of
hell, a prifon-houfe, a dark houfe, a miferable houfe,
Matth. xxiii. 15. As long as ye are among them,
ye are like the houfe, and like the father of it: he is
a fallen creature, lying in wickednefs, his nature is
enmity againft God : fo art thou and thine : and
though thou put a fair face on it, by a form of godii-
nefs ; no marvel, for Satan himfelf is transformed
into an angel of light , 2 Cor. xi. 14.

3. Great is the danger of abiding among them,
If. lii. 1 1. Depart ye, depart ye> go ye out from thence,
touch no unclean thing, go ye out of the midfi of her,

Thert

J 2 The Import of the Call to come out from the World,

There are three fpecial emblems of the wretched
world lying in wickednefs, and the danger of abiding
among them, to which this call may have reference.
One is Babylon doomed to deftru&ion, Pfal. cxxxvii.
8. See the call to leave her, Jer. li. 6. Flee out of
the midji of Baby lm* and deliver every man his foul :
be not cut off in her iniquity : for this is the time of
the Lord's vengeance : be will render unto her a re*
compence. Rev. xviii. 4. Come out of her> my people*,
that ye be not partakers of her fins* and that ye re~
ceive not of her plagues. Another is Sodom, which
fire from heaven was abiding : the call Lot got to get
out of it, ye have Gen. xix. 15. Arife*—left thou be
confumed in the iniquity of the city* It was fet forth
for an example* Jude 7. fuffering the vengeance of
eternal fire. A third is the tents of Dathan and A-
biram, which were to be fwallowed up of the earth.
The call to the congregation to get up from about
them, ye have Numb. xvi. 26. Depart^ 1 pray you*
from the tents of thefe wicked men* and touch nothing
of theirs* left ye be confumed in all their fins. Which
is applied to gofpel -hearers, 2 Tim. ii. 19. Let every
one that nameth the name of Chrift depart from ini-
quity* Ye can ruve no more fafe fraying there, than
ye could have had in thefe, believe it or not.

4. Tt is poffible ye may get away from among
them. If ye were once down in the lower world ly-
ing in wickednefs,' it will be impoflible ever to get
out from among them more: this call has nothing
ado with that part or them. But ye are yet in the
upper world lying in wickednefs, where Chrift has
his lower houfe, with a commiffion to fill it out of
thofe of them that are lying there. And for this
caufe the call founds in your ears this day, Pfal.
xlv. 10. Forget thine own people* and thy father's
houfe. Luke xiv. 23. Compel them to come my that
my houfe may b* filled. Come away before your feet
flip, ye may get away though never fo far on.

5. God has iome amongft them that fb all not get

leave

The Import of the Call to come out from the World, 73

leave to flay; for he would never fend out fuch a
call altogether in vain. No ; there is an elect num-
ber among them, on whom the call mall be effec-
tual, fit it who will, 2 Tim. ii. 19. The foundation
of God flandeth fure, having this feal, The Lord
knoweth them that are his, Satan may get leave
to keep a reprobate world, but the fneep of Chrift
purchafed with his blood cannot be loft, John x. 16.
Other Jheep I have, which are not of this fold * them
alfo I mujl bring, and theyjball hear my voice. There
is a fecret mark on fome of the drays, and they fhaii
be made to come out from among the reft. Let thia
encourage you to come away, (landing as fair as
others to get help from heaven to make your efcape.

6. Ye will be very welcome to Chrifl: from among
them, Pfal. xlv. 10. 11. Hearken, 0 daughter, and
confider, and incline thine ear ; forget alfo thine own
people, and thy father's bo life* So jhall the King greats
ly dejire thy beauty. They that come uncalled, fit
unferved : but ye need not fear, the Mailer calleth
you. It is what you have his word on, I will receive
you. Do not fay, " Alas I need never think that
Chriii will receive me ; for I have been a poor world-
ly carnal creature favouring nothing but the world :"
no, the call fuppofes that, that ye are among them.
if But I am deep in wickednefs ;" yet welcome, if ye
had even been among the very worft of them, come
from among them, and welcome, 1 Cor. vi. 9. jo. 11.

7. Ye will not be carried away from amongft them
agninft your will. No ; if ye come not voluntarily
upon your own feet, ye will get leave to ftay and pe-
rifh among them-: Pfal, ex. 3. Thy people Jhall be
willing in the day of thy power. Chrift will have
none but willing fubjecls, fuch as fubmit by choice,
not by force. Compel them : but how ? as men are
compelled to a feaif, by mod earned entreaties, im-
portunity, fee. but no otherwife. They that will
needs lie ftill in their wickednefs with the world,

3 G . they

74 7fo Import of the Call to come out from the World.

they will get their will with a vengeance : they will
not be forced from the fociety they chufe.

8. Ye will not be carried away fleeping from
among them neither ; ye muft awake, hear the call,
and fet down your feet to make your efcape. Some
fay, they can do nothing, they cannot convert them-
felves, and they hope for grace afterward. So they
make foft their pillow, ileep fecurely, and will do
nothing. But if ye were willing to come away from
among the world lying inwickednefs, ye would ftretch
out the withered hand, ye would try the lame leg,
take the help of offered grace, and take no reft till yc
were got away.

9. Ye need not expert, their good will to the part-
ing. The call is directed to you, without noticing
of them ; for it is certain they will never let you
out from among them, as long as they are able to
keep you. Therefore ye muft be refolute and pe-
remptory, Matth. xi. 12. 7 he kingdom of heaven fuf-
fereth violence^ and the violent take it by force. Hell's
flatteries and tbreatenrngs will all be plied to keep
you among them : but . flop your ears, and look not
behind you, as the angels injoined Lot, when they
had brought him out of Sodom, Gen. xix. 17.

10. Lajilyy Ye will be received of the Lord into
the feciety of the clean and holy, Heb. xii. 22. 23.
24. One part of them is perfectly clean, as to the
other their cleanfing is begun, John xiii. 8. •, but
all are but one family ; the former the elder chil-
dren, in the upper rooms; the latter the younger, in
the lower rooms : the whole headed by Chrift.

II. I come now to (hew what is the finner's coming
out from among the world lying in wickednefs.

Negatively, 1. It is not a fmner's going out of
this world. That is brought about by death, whe-
ther we will or no : and they that die in the Lord,
they are indeed abfolutely feparated from the world
lying in wickednefs. But they that die out of Chrift,

they

What is the Sinner's coming out from the World. 7£

they are for ever thereby fixed in the world lying in
wickednefs. Since they are not come out from a-
mong them here, they are put in among them there^
their fouls gathered with the wicked in death, with
whom they gathered themfelves in life.

2. It is not a coming out from among the im-
moral part of the world lying in wickednefs, and
joining in with the profefTors of religion, in a vifibie
church- ftate. For there is a moral and religious pare
too of the world lying m wickednefs j and thofe that
are of thefe parls are as fure among them, as the im-
moral are. In a word, nothing fhort of true conver-
fion and a faving change, is a coming out fiom a«*
mong them.

Pofitively, It is a fpiritual gracious motion of the
foul unto Jefus Chrifr, and is the very fame with ef-
fectual calling, which is the work of the Spirit of
Chrift on thofe ordained to eternal life. We may
take it up in thefe four fteps.

First, The finner's coming to a true fenfe of his
own ftate and cafe among them : and this he is brought
to in a work of conviction, John xvi. 8, And when
he is come, he will reprove the world of Jin, and of
right eoufnefsy and of judgement. Thofe of the world
lying in wickednefs are under fpiritual blindnefs,
they know neither what they are, nor where they arc
i.n very deed : and one muft be brought to himfelf*
before he come out from among them ; other wife he
will not ftir. Now the coming finner,

j. He comes to be fully perfuaded, that he is a-
mong them, and out of the family of God, Lukexv.
17. He gets a di final view of a natural itate, of the
cafe of the unregenerate world, of the world lying in
wickednefs •, and he fees himfeif in the midft of them :
fo he is like one awaking out of a dream, and feeing
himfeif befet about. So there are two things here.

1/?, He gets a frightful view of the world lying in

wickednefs, as a fociety in moft miferable cafe. The

world lying in wickednefs, that was in his eyes be-

G 2 fore

76 What is the Sinner's coming out from the World.

fore like a paradife, a garden of pleafure, a fort of
fafety, appears in quite other colours, as a Babel of
confufion, a wildernefs of emptinefs, a- Sodom of
wickednefs, and tents of Dathan to be fwallowed up.
He fees it to be a foeiety,

(i.) Lying in wickednefs, under the guilt, pollu*
tion, and dominion of fin, contrary to God, and hate-
ful unto him, Eph. ii. 12. ; a foeiety abominable in
theevesof a holy God, however pleafant in the eyes of
one wither ; wherein there neither is nor can be any
thinjfgbod or acceptable in the fight of the great King*

(i.) Laid open to deftruction from the prefence of
the Lord, Eph. ii. 12. He fees the curfe lying on
it, and binding it over to revenging wrath, and in
virtue thereof certainly t© be deftroyed: The flaming
fword appears, where -ever he turns his eyes, ready
to cut off the miferable inhabitants.

idly> He gets a -frightful view of his own cafe, as
being among them, lying in wickednefs, and lying
open to deftruction, Luke xv 17. He fees his own
finfulncfs,' is convinced pf the finfulnefs of his own
life, heart, and nature-} and fees his loft and undone
cafe under the wrath of God, and curfe of the law,
Rom. vii. 9.

2. He comes to be fully perfuaded, that there is
no abiding for him among them, as Peter's hearers
were, A£ts ii. 37. and the Philippian jailor, A£ls
xvi. 30. He fees he is ruined for ever, if he g not
away from among them. Time was when he ct uld
not think of parting from among them ; but n co
can get no reft among them ; feeing every moment
the city of deftruclion ready to be overthrown, and
himfelf to be fwallowed up in the ruins.

This is a new fight, that one gets, not by the fight
of the eyes, but from the word, by the Spirit acting
as a Spirit of bondage on the foul and confeience ;
awakening, convincing, and peifuading into a firm
belief of the report of the law, with application to
one's own particular cafe.

Secondly,

What is the Sinner's coming out from the World. 77

Secondly, The finner's coming to fee a better
ftate and cafe for him, with Chrift and his company,
Luke xv. 17. If the convinced {inner did not fee a
refuge, where he might be in fafety, he would fink
in defpair : but the Lord timely opens his eyes, as
he did Hagar's to fee the well, when the child was
laid by for dead. And he fees,

1. Full fafety for him there, if he coul • get in
among them, Luke xv. 17. The foul gets a view of
Chrift in the tranfeendent glory of his perfon and of-
fices ; fees him an able and fuffieient Saviour, Heb.
vii. 25. having a fulnefs of merit, for procuring him
the pardon of his greateft and mod numerous fins 5
and of Spirit, for fanctifying him, and fubduing the.
ftrongeft lulls.

2. Free accefs for him to get in among them, Jer«
iii. 22. He beholds the gates cf the city of refuge caft
open to receive him, and hears the voice of the Lord
crying to him to turn in thither, Zech. ix. 12.
He believes Chriil to be not only an able, but a will-
ing Saviour, willing to receive him ; otherwife he
would never come away.

This fight is given by the Spirit, demonftrating the
word of the gofpel to the foul, 1 Cor. ii. 4. 5. He
{hews it convincingly to be the infallible word of the
eternal God, and his word to the finner in particular,,
He brightens the glafs of the gofpel, fo that in it they
clearly fee the glory of the Lord Chrift, which they
never faw before. And here they difcover in him,

(1.) A reft to their confeiences, not to be got in
the fiery region of the law, Heb. ix. 14. How much'
more Jhall the- blood of Chrijl, who through the
eternal Spirit, offered him/elf without fpot to God>
purge your confeience from dead works to ferve the
living God ? The confeience flung with guilt,.
cannot be quieted with an imperfect lighteoufnefs,,
th.it comes not up to the law's demand of perfect
obedience and fatlsfaction : but the gofpel reveals
Chiift's righicoufaefs, Rom. L 17. a broad cover,
G 3 th:it

&7 What is the Sinner's coming out from the World,

that falve which applied makes a Tick cpnfcience hale,
If. xxxiii. ult,

(2.) A reft to their hearts, not to be got in the
barren region of the creation, Pfal. lxxiii. 2 c. Whom
have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon
earth that I defire bejides thee. The foul being a fpi-
ritual fubftance immortal, can never reft fully in the
enjoyment of temporal things \ they are neither fuf-
ficient for it, nor certain. But in Chrift there is a
fulnefs, and that inexhauftible ; and fo the man fees
him as commenfurable to the defires of the foul.

Thirdly, The finner's coming to be willing to-
come out from among the world, and to come in to
Chrift and his company, Pfal. ex. 3 Thy people /halt
be willing in the day of thy power. Sinners natural iy-
are unwilling to come away out of the world Jying in
wickednefs, and to come to Chrift : it is as much
againft the grain with them, as for the fifties ~to come
out of the water to dry land. They like then mafter,
their work, and their company there ; they woufd
never leave them, if they could but fee how to put
up with them. They have a heart averfion and en-
mity to Chrift and his company, his way, and his
law. But the Spirit makes them willing, renewing-
.their will, Ezek. xxxvi. 26. And they become,

1. Rationally and deliberately willing to come out
from among them, the foul being moved thereto
with the greateft reafon. A drawing there is in the
cafe, but no force, only ftrong perfuafion, Gen. ix.
27. It is no blind impulfe brings men to Chrift; it
is no rafti and inconfiderate adventure, but the coft
is counted" ere this building is begun. Where it is
otherwife, men foon fhew that they are ftill among
them, for all the buttle they feemed to make to fee
away.

2. They are abfolutely willing, content on any
terms, as Paul was, A£ts ix. 6. Lord, what wilt
thou hive me ts> do ? Many could be willing on fuel?
and fuch terms, if they could get leave to pick and

chufe",

What is the Sinners coming out from the World, 79

chufe, if it were that fuch a particular lull only might
be fpared, if as to fuch a duty they might be excufed :
but they that are willing indeed are abfolutely will-
ing, willing at any rate.

3. They are willing for the prefent, nothing dfe
anfwers the gofpel-call, Heb. iv. 7. To-day if ye will
hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Felix was
willing, but for an after time, not for the prefent i
fo many young {inners are willing to come out from a-
mong the world lying in wickednefs, if once they were
pail: their youth, and come of age ; and the aged, if they
were come to a death- bed. But the coming ilnner is
willing to come out from among them this moment.

4. Laflly, They are peremptorily willing : it is
not a thing only they are willing to do, but they are
peremptory they will do it. They are not only con-
tent to leave them, but they may not, dare not, will
not ftay longer with them, coft what it will. They
are willing, as the flayer to be in the city of refuge :
for by their conviction and faving illumination they
fee there is fafety there, and no where elfe.

Fourthly, The lad ftep is the finner's joining
himfelf to the Lord Jefus Chrift, the head of the
fociety oppofite to the world lying in wickednefs,
Jer* 1. 5. which implies two things.

1. An actual renouncing of the world lying in
wickednefs, and all that is therein, Job xxxiv. 3 a.
That which I fee not, teach thou me ; if 1 have done-
iniquity, I will do no more. He renounces his rela-
tion to that fociety, their work, their way and courfe,
refolute to bid an eternal farewell thereto, and to
ftay no longer among them, come what will. Though
a Red fea be beiore him, he knows not how to get
through, he is peremptory not to return to Egypt.

2. A receiving and retting on Chrift for all, John
i. 12. As many as received him, to ihem gave he
power iu become the fens of God, even to than that be-
lieve on his name. They fell all to buy the field ;

y len an to Duy

part with all for the one pearl. Chi ill is held forth

in

So Of the Call to come out from the World.

in the gofpel as a full and fatisfying portion, as a reft
to the confeience, and a reft to the heart ; and faith
clofes the eyes to all others, and takes him as fuch in
the word of the go fpel- offer, Pfal lxxiii. 25.

Hereby the foul is knit to Chrift, becomes a mem-
ber of his myftical body, Eph. iii. 17 By this
means there is a fpiiitual marriage betwixt Chrift
ajid the foul entered into: Chrift becomes the belie-
ver's ; and the believer his, only, wholly, and for
ever, Cant. ii. 16. My Beloved is mine, and I am his.
So they are one fpirit with Chrift, 1 Cor. vi. 17.

And thus the finner is effectually out from among
them-j- no more of their number, no more in their
ftate and cafe : he is brought into another oppoiite
fociety, whofe communion is with the Father and
his Son Jefus Chrift. Though thereafter he is in-
deed in the world, yet he is no more of it : and
though he is yet out of heaven, he is really of the
family there.

HI. I proceed to connder the call from the Lord to
come out from among them. And,

1. The ground in law that it is founded on, is
the eternal agreement of the glorious Trinity for
man's falvation. The Lord Jefus Chrift having un-
dertaken to do and die for and inftead of an elect
world, and his merit being futBcient for the redemp-
tion of the whole world ; the Father was {q well
pleafed with his undertaking and performance, that
he made him the ordinance of heaven for falvation to
all that would believe *, he gave him a kingdom to be
raifed out of the world lying in wickednefs. And
thereon the call is founded, Matth. xxii. 4. All things
are ready , come unto the marriage.

2. This call was drawn up and recorded in the
Bible, by the Holy Spirit, that it might not be- only
a call by word of mouth that pafleth, but in writing
that is permanent, which the called may have occa-
fion to confult whin they pkafe, If.-lv. 1. Ho, every

•nc

Of the Call to come out from the World, 8 1

§ne that thirjleth, c$me ye to the waters, and he that
hath no money ; come ye, buy and eat, yea, come, buy
wine and milk without money, and without price.
The whole Bible is a declaration of this call, with
promifes to thofe.that anfwer it, and threatenings a-
gainft them that refufe it. So the tfuth and reality
thereof is fealed by the blood of Chrift, the blood of
the teftament.

3. It is given in the gofpel by Jefus Chrift, with
the confent of his Father and Spirit- The Father
has fent him to call tinners to come out fro::' among
the world lying in wickednefs. The Sph ■* * ->s%
Come. A whole Trinity invites them to cadre a^, ay,
not willing that the captive exiles fhould die in the
pit, Ezek. xviii. 23.

4. It is directed to men, fons of men, Prov. viiw
4. Unto you, 0 men, 1 call, and my voice is to the Jons
of man. It is not to fallen angels j they are left to
lie dill in their wickednefs, without remedy, and to
reckon for it at laft. But it is addrefled to the de-
pendents of fallen Adam in this world, without ex-
ception of great, yea the greateft of finners, Rev*
xxii. 17. Whofoever will, let him take the water of life
freely. If. i. 18. Come now, and let us reafon to-
gether, faith the Lord: though your fins be as fcarlet,
they fball be as white asfnow ; though they be red like
crimfon, they Jhall be as woolL Though they have
continued never fo long among them, and be never
fo fignalized among them, they are welcome to come
away from among them. .

5. It was the Son of God in perfon, that firft
proclaimed this call, in paradife, Gen. iii. 15.
Afterwards taking on our nature, and appearing in
the world in our flefh, he fpent the time of his pu-
blic miniftry in calling finners to come out from a-
mong the world lying in wickednefs* Heb. ii. 3.
though they were but few that came away upon that
his call, If liii. 1.

6. He continues to call finners hereto, by his

meflengers,

§2 The Dotlrine applied for Information,

meiTengers, the minifteis of the gofpel, that call
them in his name, 2 Cor. v. 20. And this is our
work to call you to come away out from among the
world lying in wickednefs. We are the voice, he is
the caller, Luke x. 16. For even now when he is
in heaven, he fpeaketh to you by us, Heb, xii. 25.

7. Laftly, It is in this world only the call takes
place, Matth. xxviii. 18. 19. As for thofe who are
gone into the other world, the call can reach them
no more; they are piifoners without hope. But
while ye are here, the call is to you, particularly in
the public afTemblies, Prov, i. 20. 21. Wifiom erieth
•without, /he uttereth her voice in the Jireets : Jki
erieth in the chief place of concourfe, in the openings
*f the gates : in the cityfhe uttereth her -words , &c

I come now to the improvement of this fubje&.
Use I. of information. This lets us fee,
i. Where we all are by nature, even in the world
lying in wickednefs, being real members of that fin-
ful and miferable fociety. That is our native country,
we are all natives of the world lying in wickednefs,
by our firil birth. It is only by converfion and the
new birth, that we come out from among them, and
are naturalized in the heavenly country. Think on
this, ye young, or aged, ftr angers to a work of con-
verfion ; and know where ye are.

2. Ye cannot abide among them, but in rebellion
againft the call of God. By this gofpel ye are fum-
moned in the Lord'6 name to come out from among
them : and if after that, ye take it on you to flay, ye
do it upon your peril, incurring the difpleafure of
Heaven, not only for your being among them, but
your refufing to come out from among them.

3. The fin of gofpel-hearers abiding among them,
is tearfully aggravated, and therefore will be fear-
fully punifhed. Every new gofpel-call is a new call
from the Lord to you to come out from among them.
How inexcusable will they then be, that give a deaf

ear

Exhortation to come out from the World. 83

car to them all ? Matth. xi. it. 22. Wo unto thee,
Chorazin, wo unto thee, Bethfaida : for if the mighty
works which were done in you, had been done in Tyre
and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in /ack-
cloth and ajhes. But I fay unto you, It Jhall be
more tolerable for' Tyre and Sidon at the day of
judgement, than for you.

4. Laftly, Ye will furely be welcome to Chrift
coming out from among them : for he will never put
away them whom he calls to him, John vi. 37. Him
that cometh to me, I will in no wife caft out. His
call is not only your warrant to come, but as fuch it
is an enfurance of your welcome, Mark x. 49. And
Jefus flood ft ill, and commanded him to be called: and
they call the blind man, faying unto him, Be of good
comfort, rife ; he calleth thee.

Use II. of exhortation. O finners, feeing it is
fo, that the whole world lieth in wickednefs, and
there is a call from the Lord to finners to come out
from among them, hearken ye this day to the call, and
Come out from among them, all and every one of you.

This is a point of the greateft weight, and there-
fore I (hall,

1. Branch out the exhortation more particularly,
that ye may not be in the dark as to what ye are call-
ed to.

2. Addrefs it to feveral forts of finners, that it
may be the more clofely brought home to the con-
fcience.

3. Urge it with fome motives, that fo it may be
prefTed upon you.

4. Confider the hinderances or impediments that
keep men from coming out from among the world
lying in wickednefs, that fo they may be removed
out of the way.

FIRST, To branch out the exhortation more par-
ticularly, I lay it before you in thefe four branches.

Firft, O finner, believe it firmly, and confider it
ferioufly, that the unregenerate, unconverted world is

a

&4 Exhertation to come out from the World.

a fink of fin and wickednefs, and doomed to deftruo
tion. This is infallible truth, i John v. 19. The
whole world lieth in wickednefs. John iii. ult. He
that believeth not the Son, Jhall not fee life ; but the
wrath of God abidcth on him. Matth. xviii. 3. Ex-
cept ye be converted, and become as little children, ye
Jhall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. John iii.
3. Except a man he born again, he cannot fee the
kingdom of God. If ye be not let into a view of this,
to fee that fociety a moft finful and dangerous one,
we will but beat the air in calling you to come out
from among them. Open then the eyes of your
minds, and fee by the light of God's word, the ftate
of the unconverted world. See,

1. The finfulnefs of it, how they lie in their fin,
original and actual, in the guilt of all their fins, in
the pollution of them, under the dominion of fin,
and in the practice of fin, doing nothing hut what is
fin, incapable to do any thing good or acceptable in
God's fight. They are a Sodom for filthinefs ; they
are a company of fpiritual lepers, fet out without the
camp of the faints where the Lord dwelleth and walk-
eth ; of dead men, whofe beauty, fenfe, and motion"
is gone, and on whofe fouls living lulls are preying,
like fo many worms on the carcafe in the grave.

2. The mifery of it ; how they lie under the curfe,
Gal. iii, 10. with Rom. iii. 19. under the difpleafure
and wrath of God. A black cloud of wrath hangs
over them continually, John iii. ult. It never clears :
fmiles of common providence they may have, where-
by temporal mercies are laid to their hands, as vic-
tuals to the condemned man are carried into the pri-
fon till his- execution \ but one fmile of fpecial favour
and love they never have, PfaL vii. 1 1. God ij angry
with the wicked every day. Some drops of wrath are
ftill falling on them, finking though iilently into their
fouls j and the full ihower and pouring out of the
cloud is abiding them.

Secondly, Be convinced, O finner, that thou art

among

Exhortation to come out from the World, 85

^mong them ; that their cafe is thy eafe, and thy
part and lot is among them •, that thou art finful and
miferable with them. It is the ruin of many, that
they do not fee, and will not fee, that they are
among them : and therefore they cannot come out
from among them, R.ev. iii. 17. Becaufe thou fayft,
J am rich, and increafed with goods, and have need!
of nothing ; and knoweft not that thou art wretched)
and miferable, and poor, and blind, and naked, Matth.
ix. 12. They that be whole need not a phyfician, but
they that are fick. Are there not many of you, who
have never feen this to this day ? But if ye have not
feen it, either ye are fan£tified from the womb, or
that is a certain fign ye are among them ftill. And
O how many have feen themfelves among them, that
yet were never freely brought out from among them,
but after fome awakening have juft lain down where
they were among them before ? But oh ! open your
eyes, young finners, and old finners, and fee your-
felves among them, before you fee yourfelves among
them in the lower world, where there is no coming
out.

Thirdly, Be convinced that you cannot fafely abide
one moment longer among them ; fee the rock hang-
ing over your head, ready to fall every moment, and to
crufh you to pieces ; fee the fnares, fire, and brim-
ftone, ready to be rained down on you in that ftate,
Pfal. xi. 6. Many think that it is not fafe indeed to
die among them, but that yet they may fafely live
a while longer among them. This ruins many,
while delaying from time to time they are furprifed
into deftru&ion.

Lajily, Make away fpeedily^ from among them by
conversion unto God in Chrift, Ezek. xxxiii. 1 1. Turn
ye, turn ye, from your evil ways. ..That is, believe
and repent, fo coming unto God by Chrift. By
faith we unite with Chrift, the head of the oppofite
fociety, and fo return unto God j and by repentance
3 H we

t6 Exportation to fever al forts of Sinners.

we return unto our duty. This is the coming out
from among them we call you to.

SECONDLY, I would addrefs this exhortation
and call to feveral forts of finners among you. Come
out from among them,

1. Ye that have all your days been at eafe in the
world lying in wickednefs, never confidering that ye
were there, nor cencemed how to get out from a-
mong them. Open your eyes at length, know your
natural ftate ; fee yourfelves children of hell, heirs
of wrath •, lleep no longer, but look about you, fee
your danger, and come away, Prov. vi. 9. How long
wilt tboufleep, 0 fluggard f when wilt thou arife out
vfthyjleep ?

2. Ye that having once been awakened, have fal-
len afleep again, and look on that former fright as a
dream. Know that the danger you fometime faw,
was moft real, and represented your true cafe : and
it was through the fleight of Satan, ye were brought
to take the armies of heaven advancing againft you,
for the fhadows of the mountains. Wherefore beftir
youifelves .again, take fecond thoughts, and come
away.

3. Apoftates and backfliders, who fometime were
pn the way coming out from among them, but have
now turned back, and fallen afrefli to the way of the
world lying in wickednefs. Your cafe is very dan-
gerous, Heb, x. 38-. If any man draw back, my foul

fhall have no pleafure in him. Remember Lot's wife,
who was turned into a pillar of fait, for looking back
to Sodom, after {he bad got out of it. But our Lord
is giving you a new call, Jer. iii. 22. Return, ye~
backjliding children, and I will heal your backflidings.
Hearken to it, or ye are doubly ruined.

4. Ye that are halting betwixt two opinions, -in a
doubt whether ro come out from among the world
lying in wickednefs, or not yet. Confcience is prefix-
ing yuu forward*, corruption is pulling you back:
you hear one voice or whifper, faying, To-day if ye

iv ill

The Exhortation prejfed 'with Motives. 8]

ivill hear his voice, harden not your hearts ; another
faying, Not yet, there will be time enough after.
Know this laft is the language from hell among
them : O heed it not, but come away as from fire-
that will burn you" up.

5. Ye that have been often aiming at coming, but
yet have never come away freely. O make a tho-
rough feparation from them at laft •, out with the
right eye, off with the offending right hand. Let
no beloved luft be fpared : leave not a hoof behind
you. It is fad to mifs of the kingdom of heaven,
when one is not far from if, to fall into the pit, from
the threftiold of heaven.

6. La/lly, All ye that have any mind for heaven*
or the favour of God in time or eternity, come out
from among the world lying in wickednefs. All
that have any concern for your own fouls, and would
not perifh for ever, O ftt away from among them*
and be ftill coming farther and farther from them,
nearer to Chrift.

THIRDLY, Let me now urge the following mo-
tives to prefs the exhortation and call.

General motive. It is a moft raiferable cafe to be
among the world lying in wickednefs \ the fight
whereof is enough to fright one. However fecure
finners pleafe themfelves in being among them, yet
never could one that was in a den of lions, inclofed
among ferpents or other venomous creatures, be more
defirous to be from among them j than God's ele£t
to be out of the world lying in wickednefs, whea
once the Spirit has opened their eyes, Luke xv. 17.
18. Acts ii. 37. I would paint out the mifery of the
Gafe of being among them.

1. There is nothing pure or clean among them.
Touch not the unclean thing ; i. e. Meddle with no-
thing that belongs to them : for they and all theirs
are unclean, Tit i. 15. There are fouls and rational
faculties among them, but they are all defiled and
loathfome before God j there is no fniritual beauty
H 2 or

88 The Exhortation preffed 'with Motives.

or likenefs to God among them. There are works
they call good among them; but they are all vile
and loathfomein the fight of God, Pfal.xiv. i. There
are prayers and praifes among them* but they are but
like the opening an unripe grave, Rom. iii. 13. There
are among them fair promifes and engagements to
duty, but they are but abominable deceit, ib. There
is meddling with holy things among them, but fee
If. Ixvi. 3. He that killeth an ox> is as if he flew a.,
man : he that facrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dogys
neck, &c. For tbey cannot pleafe God till they come
out from the world lying in wickednefs, Heb, xi. 6.

2. There is no fpiritual health or foundnefs among
them. "We may fay of them, as If. i. 6. From the file
of the foot even unto the heady there is no foundwfs in
it ; but wounds , and bruifes, and putrifying fores :
they have not been clofed^ neither bound up, neither
mollified with ointment. However little need they
find of the Phyfician of fouls, they are all fick, dead-
ly rick, as unpardoned finners ; though moll: of them
are delirious, and know not their ficknefs, Matth. ix_
12. 13. If. xxxiii. ult. Their plague-fores of fin are
running on them continually ; none of them want a
running iflue of fome predominant luft, that can ne-
ver be got ftopt.

3. There is a deadly infection among them : fo
that to be among them, is to be in a peft-houfe, where
one draws in death with the difeafe prevailing among
them, 1 Cor. xv. 33. Every one of them is a root
of bitternefs, which fpringing up is ready to defile
many, Heb. xii. 15. .Therefore Solomon obferves^
that one firmer deflroyeth much good, Eccl. ix, ult.
The fleam of their ungodly example, and corrupt
converfation, fickens fome, and kills others outright;
wounds the godly, and ruins thofe of their own fort.

4. There is nothing but darknefs, grofs darknefs
among them, for the Day-ftar is not yet arifen into
their hearts, If. Ix. 2. They fit in darknefs and the
ihadow of death \ they are darknefs kfelf, Eph. v. 8»

for

The Exhortation pre/fed with Motives $9

for they are blind fouls, Rev. iii. 17. Though the
light of the gofpel (nines about them, it hath not
(hined into their hearts: they think they fee; for
though they are void of the light of grace, they have
the light of reafon ; but that is darknefs in them,
Matth. vi. 23. So they fee not where they are, nor
whither they go, 1 John ii., n.

5. There is no part with Chrift among them, Eph»
ii. 12. There is a rich purchafe made by the Medi-
ator, and he has taken all believers into fellowfhij*
with him in it, 1 John i. 3.5 but the world has nc*
fhare with them ; no fhare in the righteouihefs, peace*
pardon, and title to heaven. They fhare with the
fociety of the firft Adam, in their fin and mifery j,
but not with the fociety of the fecond Adam. Hence
they are unwafhen, unjuftified, and un fan £ti fled.

6. There is nothing but rank poverty among them.
Whatever wealth they may have for their bodies, irt
refpe£t of their fouls they are poor to an extremity,
Rev. iii. 17. whereof there are three glaring evi-
dences,

(1.) They are poor naked fouls, ib. The heft rai-
ment among them to cover their fpiritual nakednefs,
is. rags, filthy rags, the rags of their own righteouf-
nefs : they have nothing elfe to cover their fhame be-
fore the Lord 5 and that will never do it,, but leave
them naked to their fhame.

(2.) They are poor ftarving fouls ; there is nothing;
among them to feed on but empty hufks,. that which
is not bread, and fatisfieth not. Only Chrift is bread
for the foul, only a God in Chrift can fatisfy the
cravings thereof. Dull is their meat with the ferpenf^,
they feed on the empty hufks of the creature, and £b
do but fill their belly with the eafl-wind.

(3.) They are drowned in debt to jufHce, ?nd have
nothing wherewith to pay. Sin is that dehtx and!
there is no forgiving the debt, while one is among
them, AcTts iii. 1 9. Repent ye therefore, and be con-
-verted^ that pur fins may be blotted out. It is a debt
ft 3 - that*

^0 The Exhortation prejfed with Motives.

that, however long it lie over, will be exacted ; it
will be puri'ued for, and that on the debtor's expence.
And .they have no faving intereft in the great Cau-
tioner.

7. There is no peace with God among them*
2 Cor. vi« 14. — 17. What fellow/hip hath right eonfnefs
with unrighteoufnefs ? and what commvnion hath light
•with darknefs ? and what concord hath Chrift with Be-
lial ? &c. Sooner (halt light and darknefs agree,,
than a holy God, and the world lying in wickednefs.
Nay, they are a fociety with whom God has declared
be will have war for ever, If. lvii. idti There is n&
feace, faith my God, to the wicked, Thofe in the
lower world lying in wickednefs, are roaring under
the felt enmity of God againft them ; while thofe in,
the upper world lying in wickednefs may be enjoying:
a .profound peace. But the latter as well as the for-
mer ftand as marks to the arrows of God's wrath,
Dent. xxix. 19, 20. As long as thou art among
them, thou art in a (late of enmixy with God, Rom..
viii. 7. Luke xix. 27.

8. They have no found bond of peace among them-
felves, Tit. iii 3. God. alone is the centre of true
unity ; and where men are broke off from God, they
will be found at bottom broken off from one another,,
as altogether felfifh, and having their unruly paffions
unmortified, which make them uneafy both to them-
felves and others. And hence faith in Chrift is the
only reflorer of true peace and love among men.
That peace and love that is between companions in
fm, will without peradventure break out in rage and
hatred.

9. There is a curfe among them, the curfe of God
and of his broken law, Gal. iii. 10. They are under
the law, and it pisrkss its way among them, Roai.
iii. 19. This makes them a fociety of curfed chil-
dren, curfed in their perfons, and in all that is theirs.
By this means they are a fociety feparated to evil y
and that curfe will pull down the joof upon their

heads

The Exhortation prejjed -with Motives. $t

heads at length, as it "brought on the deluge, bring-
ing in the general conflagration, and will lie a fink-
ing weight on them for ever.

io. There is a cloud of wrath hanging over their
head, and the head of every one among them, John
iii. ult* While ye are among them, yoar ftate is a
ftate of wrath \ ye are ever under Heaven's difpleafure,
PfaL vii. ii. Ye dwell under mount Sinai, where
the fire of wrath is fiavhing : and though keeping
there, ye are fecure ; yet ye will no fooner be awa-
kened, than ye will fee the lightnings, hear the thun-
ders, and the voice of the trumpet waxing louder and
louder. Therefore I would lay as Deut. i. 6*' Ye-
have dwelt long enough in this mounts

ii. Death reigns among them,- Matth. iv. i6-
They are a company of condemned criminals, John
iii. i 8. that know not how lbon their fentence may
be executed. They are all in a dying condition,
they have got their death's wounds, and are pining
away in their iniquity. Nay they are dead already,
God is departed from them. O why will ye con-
tinue in the congregation of the dead ? Come ou£
from among them.

.12. There is no good to be found among them,
Pfal. xiv. it They are corrupt trees, and cannot
bring forth good fruit. There is nothing among them
but fin ; for there is no faith among them. What
has the name of good hearts, good works, is but fo
in appearance, not in reality : for what good can be
there, where the nature is totally corrupt ?

13. All evil is to be found among them. The un-
renewed heart is a depth of wickednefs : and in the
world lying in wickednefs all manner of wickednefs-
is to be found. Much of it appears now, yet much is
hid : but at length all will be {ten.

14. Laftlyy They are not to (lay here, but will all
be down in the lower world at length, Rev. xx. 14.
15. There aae fome dropping down to it daily, yet
the reft remain fecure , but all will be hurried down

together

92 Hinderancts confikred and removed.

together to it at the laft judgement. What a fearful
cry was there at Dathan and Abiram's down-going,
Numb. xvi. 34. ? What then will the cry be, when
the whole world lying in wickednefs (hall go down
together ? Therefore I fay to you, as Numb. xvi. 26.
Depart, I pray you> from the tents of thefe wicked
men, and touch nothing of theirs , leji ye be confumed in
all their fins.

FOURTHLY, I fhall now confider the impedi-
ments hindering men to come out from among the
world lying in wickednefs, and keeping them among
them.

Fwfii Want of confederation, Luke xv. 17. They
ramble through the world, walking at adventures,
and are not fo juft to their own fouls as ferioufly to
take under confideration their fpiritual ftate and cafe.
They feek not thefe thoughts ; and if at any time
they bear in themfelves upon them, they ihift them.
Hence,

1. They have no juft view of the corruption and
danger of the world lying in wickednefs. Though
it is abominable in the eyes of God, it is a beauty in
theirs •, though it is a Sodom to be deftroyed, they
fee nothing but fefety, Mai. iii. 15. Why, they
view it in a falfe light, they confider k not, as re-
prefented in the word, which alone can give a true
notion of it.

2. They difcern not themfelves as true members
of the world lying in wickednefs. They form to
themfelves a notion of the wicked, whereby thofe
only that are monfters of wickednefs are reckoned of
that fort ; not confidering, that all the unregenerate
are of them in God's account, even though moral,
or having a form of godlinefs. And though they be
immoral, vitious, and profane, they think themfelves
not of the number, becaufe there are fome worfe than
they.

3. They fee not the need of coming out from
among the world lying in wickednefs*. Matth. ix. 12.

13-

Hinder 'ances confide red' and removed. 95

13. Their eyes being with*held from a fight of their
own danger among them, how ean they be moved to
make an efcape ? Will a man flee that apprehends no
purfuit ? No ; they will be fecure, if not mockers.

Now to remove this impediment, hearken to the
divine call, Hag. i. y< Thus faith the Lord of hofs9
Confider your •ways. Stand, finner, young or old, and
confider where you are, what you are doing, where
your prefcnt courfe is like to land you in eternity.
You can confider of the trifles of a prefent world,
why not confider your foul's cafe, and the concerns
of another world ? Want of confideration allows pre-
fent eafe, but it lays a foundation for eternal pain.
Carelefs fouls now, will fink themfelves into deep
confideration through eternity, which makes the
worm that never dies. Wherefore I give you three
advices.

1. Take fome time purpofely for confideration of
thefe matters ; pray and think in earned about them,
Pfal. cxix. 59. They are too weighty to be fuccefsfully
managed by fleeting and occafional confideration.

2. Confider them according to the word of God*
Pfal. cxix. 9. Lay afide all other rules of judging^
as the courfe of this world, the opinions of the men
of the worlds <bc. and confider purely what the Bible
fays in the cafe ; for it is not by the former, but the
latter, you are to be judged, and fentenced.

3. Purfue this confideration, till you have dis-
covered clearly your ftate as it is, according to the
word. And be not loath to admit conviction \ for
to fee the difeafe is the fnft itep to the cure. And
then you have gained that fight, when you fee an
abfolute neceflity of getting out from among them
without delay.

Secondly > The pleafures of the world, Luke viii*

14. Thefe are the fyren fongs that arreft many, that
they cannot come away from amorig the world lying
in wickednefs. They are the filken cords by which
they are tied down among them, as fail; as by iron

chains.,

$4 Hinderances confidered and removed,

chains. Thefe gripe them by the heart, fo that re-
membering them, their very hearts fail to think of
coming away from among them.

The pleafures of fenfe, feeing, hearing, tailing,
fmelling, and feeling, are ruining fnares to the fouls
of moft men. The lull of the eye, the lull of the
fiefh, and the pride of life* keep many away from
God : for men naturally are lovers of pleafures more
■than lovers of God^ 2 Tim. iii. 4. Now the world
lying in wiekednefs, giving up themfelves to jthefe»
blefs themfelves in their enjoyment, and men cannot
think of coming out from among them*

1 . Unlawful pleafures bewitch them, as of drun-
kennefs, gluttony, uncleannefs, Prov. xxiii. ult. Luke
xvi. 19. 23. Prov. vii. 22. 23. There is a particular
pleafure corrupt nature has in breaking over the
hedge of the divine law, which makes forbidden fruit
more pleaimg than what is allowed, Prov. ix. 17. 18.
They will therefore rather venture the eternal ruin
of their fouls* than come out from among them and
forego thefe.

2. Even lawful pleafures fetter them, and lull them
afleep among them, Luke xvii. 27. One may abide
vithin the boundaries of lawful things, and yet have
the heart fo bewitched with them, that they may
prove efFe&ual fnares. There is much of that which-
is counted innocent mirth and pleafure, and is fo in
itfelf, that yet becomes criminal, as taking the place
of, and diverting from the main thing.

To break this fnare, and remove this impediment,
confider,

1. The pleafures of this world are deceitful ; and
as they are fnares to the foul, they end in bitternefs,
Prov. xiv. 13. They are Satan's bulked hooks, where*
with he firft allures, and then ruins many a poor
foul. They are his green and foft paths leading to
deftruction : and the pleafures of fin will be bitter-
nefs in the end, come what will.

2. This life is to us, not the time of pleafure, but

the

Hinderances confidered and removed, 95

the time of trial and probation for another world.
Brute creatures enjoy the pleaiures of fenfe they are.
capable of, more than the moil voluptuous man doth :
for thefe are the utmoft of what they caa obtain :
and when they are dead, they are done. But God
made man for a more refined fort of pleafure, in the
enjoyment of himfelf. Man finned and forfeited that,
and God has propofed a new way for hia recovering
it, the way of faith. And now we are on our trials
for it to be had in another world ; and in denying
ourfelves to the pleafures of fin and fenfe, lies a great
part of that trial, 2 Tim. ii. 3. Can ye expect two
fummers in one year ; an eafy, foft life of pleafure
here, and hereafter too ? Such expectation is in vain.
3. Confider the life of Chrift and his faints, and
the life of the wicked going to deftruclion. Which
of them was it that had the life of worldly pleafure,
immerfed in the pieafuie.s of (znfe, living at eafe for
the flefh ? "Was it the faints? No; Luke ix. 23. If
any man will come after me, fays Chrift, let him den$
himfelf \ and take up his crofs daily, and follow me.
Was it Chrift ? No ; If. liii. 3. He is defpifed and re-
jected of men , a man of for rows, and acquainted with
grief. Was it the wicked that had the life of plea-
fure ? Yes; fee Job xxi. 7. — 14. Wherefore do the,
wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power f_
7 heir feed ii eflablif/jed in their fight with them, and their
°ft~fPring before their eyes. Their houfes are fafe from
fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. Their bull
gendereth andfaileth not, their cow calveth, and cafleth
not her calf. They fend forth their little ones like a,
Jlock, and their children dance. They take the timbrel
and harp, and rejoice at the found of the organ. They
fpend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down
to the grave. Therefore they fay unto God, Depart
from us ; for we defire not the knowledge of thy ways.
Pfal. lxxiii. 4.-^-12. For there are no bands in their
death : but their Jlrength is firm. They are not in
'trouble as other men 1 neither are they plagued like

tther

9# Hinderances con/idered and removed.

tther men. Therefore pride compajfeth them about as
a chain .• violence cover eth them as a garment. Their
eyes Jland tut with fatnefs 2 they have more than heart
could ivijh. They are corrupt, and /peak wickedly
concerning opprejfion ? they /peak loftily. They fet
their mouth againji the heavens \ and their tongue
•walketh through the earth, There/ore his people re-
turn hither ? and wat-ers of a full cup arc wrung out
tv them. And they fiy, How doth God know ? and
is there knowledge in the Mo/t High ? Behold, the/e
are the ungodly, w ho pro/per in the world, they increafe
in riches. The uecifion is plainly made, Luke xvi.
25. in the cafe of the rich man and Lazarus : the
former received his good things in his life- time, and
the latter evil things. The way of providence in that
matter has been, that the flaughter-oxen have had
the greateft eaie, and been be ft ted.

4. The pleafures of fin and the world, put the
mouth out of tafte to the pleafures of .communion
with God, 1 Pet. ii. 11. By them the Spirit is
quenched, and good motions heavenwards areftifled.
Therefore it is the Lord inures his people to hard-
nefs, becaufe that makes them value the confolations
of God, which the foft and delicious life would make
them neglect.

5. La/tly, Were it not better to break thefe chains
of worldly pleafures now and efcape, than to remain
in them, and lie down in ierrow tor ever ? If. 1. ult.
It was by the pleafures of fenfe that mankind was
ruined at firft, Gen. iii. 6. ; and for that the fecond
Adam paid for the elect, in his bitter fuffei ings,
when he was deprived of all that could be grateful to
his fenfes, and comrariwife was expofed to the wrath
of God, and the rage of men and devils. That life
will have a bitter reckoning in the other world, when
men are diverted of their bodies till the laft day, and
then raifed up for eternal pumfhmer.t again at that
day.

Therefore I would advife you to weigh thefe

things

Hinder ances confidered and removed. 97

things in time, and to be refolute to break through
that bond, Matth. v. 29. If thy right eye offend thee,
pluck it out, and caji it from thee : for it is profitable
for thee that one of thy members fhould perijh, and not
that thy -whole body fJjould be cnft into helL

Thirdly, A prejudice againft religion as a very un-
pleafant thing, Matth. xxv, 24. Then he which had
received the one talent, came and f aid , Lord, I knew
thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou,
hafi not fown, and gathering where thou hajl not
Jlrawed. Mai. i. 13. Te faid alfo, Behold, what a
wearinefs is it, and ye have fnuffed at it, faith the
Lord of hafts. This is an impediment that ftands in
the way of many : they think that if they mould
come out from among the world lying in wickednefs,
they may for ever after bid farewell to all pleafure,
to tafte it no more *, they mull fpend their days in
forrow, and never lee a joyful hour more. This is
what they can by no means do ; and therefore come
after what will, they mull abide among them. But,

1. Suppofe that were true of religion, whether is
it eafier to fpend a lifetime in a conftant cloud of
forrow till death, or to fpend an eternity fo after
death ? If men had no view at all beyond death, it
would be more tolerable for them to make the moil:
pleafurable they could of a prefent life ; but fince
there is a life of pleafure or torment in another worlds
it is molt abfurd for eviting of momentary forrows
and hardfhips, to throw themfelves into endlefs
mifery.

2. But it is abfolutely falfe, a rafh, ill grounded
prejudice, wherewith men are poflerTed againft re-
ligion: and it is foftered by Satan, and the deluded
world. It is contrary to the plain teftimony of God
and Chrift, Prov. iii. 17, Her ways are ways of plea*
fantnefs, and all her paths are peace. Matth. xi, 20.

29. 30. Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are

heavy laden, and I will give you reft. Take my yoke

upon you, and leant of me, for I am meek and lovely

3 I in

98 Hinder ances confide red and removed.

in heart : and ye Jh nil find reft unto your fouls. Tor
~my yoke is eafy, and my burden is light. It is contrary
to the experience of the faints in all ages, John viii.
$6. Tour father Abraham rejoiced to fee my day : and
he /aw it, and was glad. Pfel. iv. 7. Thou haft put
gladnefs in my heart, more than in the time that their
corn and their wine increafed. 1 John v. 3. For this
is the love of God, that we keep his commandments :
and his commandments are not grievous. And it is
contrary to the nature of things, which of themfelves
lead quite othervvife, If. lvii. 20. 21. But the wicked
are like the troubled jea, when it cannot reft, whofe
waters caft up mire and dirt. There is no peace, faith
my Gody to the wicked- Compared with 2 Cor. i. 12.
Our rejoicing is this, the teftimony of our confciencey
that in Jimplicity and godly fincerity, not with ftefjjly
•wifdom% but by the grace of God, we have had our
con v erf at ion in the world, and more abundantly to
you wards. But here lies your miftake.

(1.) You know and can conceive of no other plea-
fures, but thofe of the world, fenfe, and 'fin: but
there is another kind of pleafure, that is fpiritual,
which religion affords, that none know but thofe who
have tailed it, Prov. xiv 10. There are rivers of
pleafure in heaven, but your worldly pleafures are
not there : and there are in religion pleafures of that
kind, in the Lord's lifting up the light of his counte-
nance upon his people, and putting gladnefs in their
hearts, Pfal. iv. 6. 7. -, in feeing one's name written in
heaven, Luke x. 20. ; and in the approbation of con-
fcience, 2 Cor. i. 12. It is your want of a new
nature, that ye cannot relifli thefe new, refined, un~
dreggy pleafures.

(2.) Ycu think all pleafures are noify, like thofe of
the revellers and jovial ones of the earth : but it is not
fo, Rev. ii. 17. To him that overcometh will I give to
eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white
ftone, and in the ft one a new name written, which no
man knoweth, faving he that receiveth it* The deep-
eft

Hinderances conjidered and removed. 99

eft waters run moft ftill, and fo do the deepen: joys :
hence even in worldly concerns, deep joy is not ex-
prelTed by laughter, which is ufed only on trifling oc-
caiions. And of all joys and pleafures, thofe of reli-
gion lie moft inward.

(3.) You form your notion of religion, by the
outward appearance of fome that profefs it, who are
of a heavy difpofition. But you ought to form it by
the fcripture, and not by the appearance of fome o£
its profeflbrs, from whence you may draw the moft
frightful notion of it : but the art of hell is in this,-
leading you from the view of chearful Chriftians, to?
fettle on thofe that are not fo. But after all, ye may
be deceived in them, for the countenance is not al-
ways an exa£t reprefenter of what is within: witnefs
the mirth and jollity of many, whofe heart feels,
flings, and lames in the time. But what notion-
would you have formed of religion* from the appear-
ance of the man Chrift, who was a man of forrows,.
of whofe weeping you read fometimes, of his rejoi-
cing once, but of his iaughingnever ?

3. Confider, whether the way of religion, or the*
way of the world, affords the moft ground for joy and'
pleafure ? This will be no hard queftion to an im-
partial inquirer. The one is the way to a ftate of
favour with God, peace, <bc. here \ the other keeps
one under his wrath : the one is the way to be eter-
nally happy, the other to be eternally miferable.
Wherefore bring ye no forrow with you into religion,
nor fpring of it ; and ye will find none in religion.
But it teaches men to be forrowful in time for what
is juft ground of forrow, and will produce it fooner
or later in alL

4. Lajilyi The very for rows that religion puts men
to, are better than the world's joys and pleafures.
Thefe laft are a fpring of forrow, and will end in it,
Luke vi. 25. Wo unto you that laugh now : for yejhall
mourn and weep. . They may end in it here, either
in the way of bitter repentance, or in the way of bit-

I 2 ter

loo Jiinde ranees confidered and removed.

ter affliction, which will render all the former plea*
fares of fin taftelefs, leaving nothing of them but the
fling: or finely in the life to come. Whereas the
forrows of religion, be they never fo deep, make
way for joy here, and hereafter too, ver. 21. Bleffed
are ye that 'weep nslv : for ye /bail liugh.

Fourthly, The cares of the world, Luke viii. 14.
Thefe are a thicket whereby men are entangled in
the world lying in wickednefs, that they cannot get
away. The clay-idcl bewitches them, that they have
neither heart nor hand for coming out from among
them- Thefe cares are a net, wherein the feet of
poor and rich are held faft : for the frowning and
fmiling world are each of them apt to crave inordi-
nate care. They hinder in fo far as they enhance
the whole man 5 and fo,

1. They fix the heart to the world as the main
thing, and fo keep it back from God, Matth. vi. 24.
No man can ferve two mafters : for either he will hate
the one, and love the other ; or elfe he will hold to the
ore, and defpife the other. Te cannot Jerve God and
mammon. Hence covetoufnefs is called idolatry, inaf-
much as thereby the world and its good things are
put in God's room, loved, defired, and followed af-
ter more than he.

2. They leave no room for a due concern about
fpiritual things, Luke x 41 42. Martha, Martha,
thou art care/ul, and troubled about many things : but
$ne thing is needful. This and the other worldly
thing, one on the back of another, challenges their
care and concern, keeps their hearts and hands ever
full, that due care for their fouls cannot get entered.
Hence the lives of many are fpent in a continual hur-
ry, never getting leave to think ferioufly ; and it
fares with them as with the man in the parable,
] Kings xx. 39. 40. As the king faffed by, he cried
unto the king : and he f aid, Thy jervant went out into
the mlift of the battle, and behold, a man turned a-
fide, an i brought a man unto me, and j aid, Keep this

man t

Hinderances confide red and removed* 101

man : if by any means he be miffing, then fh all thy life
be for his life, or elfe thoufljalt pay a talent of fiver.
And as thy fervant was bufy here and there, he was
gone.

3. They leave them no guft nor relifh for fpiritual
things: they make them taftelefs to them, fo that
nothing relifhes with them, but carnal worldly things.
Thefmiling world has this effect, Jobxxi. 13. 14. They
fpend their days in wealth — Therefore they fay unto
Cody Depart from us ; for we defre not the knowledge
of thy ways* And the frowning world has it too, as
in the cafe of the Israelites under their oppreffion in
Egypt,' Exod, vi. 9. They hearkened not unto Mofes,
for anguifh offpirit, and for cruel bondage.
To remove this hinder ance, confiderr
• 1. The {hortnefs of your time, and how in a little
ye will be beyond all the things of the prefent evil
world, to have n@ moie ufe for them for ever, 1 Cor..
vii. 29. 30. 31. But this I Jay, brethren,- the time is
fbort. It remaineth, that both they thai have wives,
be as though they had none ; and thev that weepy as
though they wept not ; and they that rejoice, as though'
they rejoiced n&t 1 and they that buy, as though they
tffiffed not ; and they that ufe this worlay as not a*
bufing it : for the fafhion of this world paffeth away.
Death approaches, and the frowns of the world can
annoy you no more, and its fmiles be in no more-
ftead to you. Why do ye take fo great care a-
bout what is to laft. fo fhort while ? Why is not your
fhort time better filled up ?

2. Confider what will be the ilTue of the cares of
the world hindering you to come out from among
the world lying in wickednefs. Ye will lofe your
fouls in that throng of ^are for the prefent life, and-
no advantage in the world will quit the coft of that,,
Matth. xvi. 26. For what is a man profited, if he
Jh all gain the whole world, and lofe his own foul ? or'
what fball a man give in exchange for his foul ? Yc
have eternity challenging your care, ©f which if ye;
1 3, com«Kt&

102 Hinder ances confidered and removed.

continue carelefs, death will bring you into a furpri*
ling plunge.

3. You quite miftake your meafures for your own
intereft. taking a burden on yourfelf, that might be
borne without you, PfaL lvB 22. Your fine way would
be to come out from among the world lying in wick-
ednefs, to Jefus Chrift, and leave it to him to care
for you, which would not be in vain, 1 Pet. v. 7.
Cajiing all your care upon him^ for he caret h for you.

Fifthly^ 111 company and their influence hinders
many. It was Paul's advantage, that when God
called him, he conferred not withflejb and bkod, Gal.
i. 16* For the world lying in wickednefs, will ne-
ver be content that any of their own mould leave
them ; therefore is the call, Pfal. xlv. 10. Forget thine
own people, and thy father s houfe. Satan has his
agents in the world, that will be at all pains to en-
tangle them among them that would be away. And
they do it,

1. By their example, cafling off the fear of God,
indulging themfelves a finful liberty, and fo caft a
ilumbling-biock before others. Matth. xviii. 7. And,

2. By their influence otherwife, advifmg, enti-
rfrig, and encouraging them to fin, Prov. i. 10.
AcCiing Satan's part.

To remove this hinderance, contider,

1. You have God's call to come away; and it
will be a forry excufe for your difobedience, that o-
he rs by their example and influence hindered you,
A£ts iv. 19. Whether it be right in the fight of G&dt
to heat ken unto them more than unto God, judge ye.
You ought, at the call of your Maker, to come away
over the belly of all the bad company that befet you.

2. Open your eyes and fee their danger as well as
your own. Believe, that the wrath of God is reveal-
ed from heaven againft all ungodlinefs, and unrightc
oufnefs of men, Rom. i. 18. and you will be obliged
to make away, as the Ifiaelites from the tents of Da-
than and Abiram.

3. it

Hinder ances confidered and removed. 103

3. It will be no comfort to you in the end3 to be
ruined together with ill company* and by their influ-
ence. Their (in- is great, but they will leave you to
anfwer for youifelves, and heai your own punifh-
ment, Prov. ix. 12. Ana the foeiefcy of companions
in fin, in hell, will be bltters as appears from Luke
xvL 27. 28. I pray thee, father, that thou vjouldfi
fend him to my father's houfe ; for I have five bre-
thren : that he may t eft if y unto them, left they alfo
come into this place of torment,

Laftly, Delays are a great hinderance : Prov. vi. 9.
10. 11. How long wilt thou fleep, 0 fluggard P when
wilt thou artft out of thy fleep ? Tet a little fleep, a
little flumber, a little folding of the hands to fleep. So
fball thy poverty come as one that travelleih, and thy
want as an armed man. Men deceive themfelves
with off puts, and the profpecVof much time before
them. To remove this obft ruction, confider,

1. The longer you delay, it will be t'ra: harder to
get away from among them. Sin gathers ftrength
by delay of repentance; as the waters, the farther
they are from the head, the greater do they grow.
The heart becomes harder, the mind blinder, the
will more pervetfe, the affections more carnal.

2. Your time is uncertain ; you know not if ever
you will fee the term -day to which you put off. How
many are there that drop into eternity ere ever they
are aware ? The preient time only is yours.

3. Suppofe you fhould fee the time you put off to,
God may with-hoid grace from you, Luke xiv. 24.
For Ifiy unto you, that none of thefe men which were
bidden, fball tafie of my fupper. Take the alarm
therefore in time, and ftrike in with the opportunity
ye now have, If. Iv, 6. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found, call ye upon him while he is near.

4. Lajily, It is a bafe fpirit that puts you on to
delay : it bewrays the predominant love of fin, and
inews ye have no regard to God for himfelf ; other-
wife ye would not hefuate one moment to obey his

call.

104 Hinder ances confidered and removed.

call. Wherefore we befeech you to confider the
matter, and delay no longer; let a regard to the au-
thority of God, and the view of his matchlefs excel-
lencies in Chiifl ; let a fenfe of gratitude for the di-
vine patience, and the love ye bear to your own fouls;
let every confederation, whether from the terrors of
God's everlafting wrath, or the comforts of his ever-
lafling love, unite to move you fpeedily to come out
from among the world lying in wickednefs, to the
Lord Jefus Chrift, the glurious Head of the fociety
feparated from the woild. So coming, ye (hall find
welcome; / will receive you, and will be a Father
unto you, and ye Jh all be my fans and daughters, faith
the Lord Almighty.

And now to conclude : Ye have had the picture
of the world lying in wickednefs drawn before you,
and the call to come away out from among them.
It is like thefe may appear as idle tales to fome, and
they may be as one that mocked, Gen. xix. 14. But
if ye come not away out from among them, ye will
perifh among them, and the more fearfully that ye
have been fo folemnly warned.

The

The Believer's Hundred-fold in this Life
confidered ;

a n r>

A View of the Reality, Parts, Inhabi-
tants, PafTage into, and State of Men
in, the World to come.

Several Sermons preached at Etterick, in the year 1 729.

Mark x. 30.

He frail receive an hundredfold now in this time*
houfes, and brethren, and fijters> and mothers, and
children^ and lands, with perfecutions ; and in the
world to come, eternal life.

YE have heard much of this prefent evil world,
and been called to come away out from among
them. I come now to tell you, that there is an-
other world beyond it, into which we muft all go *,
a view of which may be of ufe to ftir us up to come
out from among the world lying in wickednefs, and
to make us more indifferent about the frniks and
frowns of this world.

The text is a part of an encouragement to faints
under worldly loffes. The remote occafion of it was,
a view of a man ruined with worldly profperity, whofe
wealth In the world was the neckbreak of his foul ;
and fuch examples are never rare, ver. 17. — 22.
(1.) He was a young man, Match, xix. 20. and a
ruler, Luke xviii. 18. Worldly wealth and ^honour
aie great fnares to people, efpeciaily to the young,

who

106 The Text and Context explained.

who are raw and of little experience in the vanity of
the world. (2.) He was neverthelefs in fome con-
cern for another world, ver. 17. Good Ma ft er, what
Jhall I do thai I may inherit eternal life ? For all the
temptations hanging about him, he confidered that
there was a life after this, and that he could not car-
ry his wealth and honour with him thither. Hence,
though he took Chrift but for a g^od man, lie was
very refpe&ful to him, he call himfelf into his com-
pany, he kneeled to him as one defirous to have his
bleffmg; he propofes a weighty queftion to him about
another woild. It is pity that any thing in this world
fhould put that out of one's head and heart. (3.) But
he was a conceited man, unbumbled, unacquainted
with his own weaknefs, and thought he could do
well enough, if he knew what- Self-conceit mars
many good motions, and fpoils them all.

Our Lord, for his humiliation, fets before him,
(1.) The holinefs of God, ver; 18. And J ejus f aid
unto him. Why callefl thou me good ? there is none good,
but one, that is God. A view of the goodnefs and
holinefs of God is fit to humble finners, and let them
in to a view of their own badnefs and unholinefs, If.
vi. 5. (2.) The holy law, ver. 19. Thou know eft the
commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill,.
Do not fteal, Do not bear falfe witnefsy Defraud not,
Honour thy father and mother. The law in its holy
commandments is a looking-glafs wherein to fee our
defilement and finfulneis. He pitches on thofe of
the fecond table, for in thefe lies the trial of the fin-
cerity of profeflbrs of religion. He begins with the
command forbidding the lufts-of the flefh, then pride,
pafiion and revenge, covetoufnefs, <bc. For the law
in thefe things fpeaks to all alike, young and old,
great and fmall.

The youth hereupon gives an account of himfelf,
ver. 20. Mafter, all thefe have I obferved from my
youth i in which, though he difcovers his ignorance
of the fpirituality of the law, and his felfjuftifying

temper \

The Text and Context explained. 107

temper ; yet withal he fhews, that, notwithftanding
of his circumftances in the world, he had been kept
from the grofs pollutions of it. He had been no
rambling youth, but kept within the bounds of de-
cency. It feems, though he had not grace, he had
education.

Chrift brings the trial clofe home to him, in his
predominant) the love of the world, ver. 21. Then
Jefus beholding hhn, loved him, and f aid unto him,
One thing thou lackejl : go thy way, fell whitfoever
thou haft, and give to the poor ; and thou jhalt hive
treafure in heaven ', and come, take up the crofs, and
follow me. He had many good things that were love-
ly in him, but he wanted a heart weaned from the
world, and knit to God in Chrift : and that want,
he is told, behoved to be made up, if ever he would
fee heaven. Obf. 1. They may have many things
good about them, where one thing lacking mars
all. 2. Whoever would have a happy portion in ano-
ther world, muft be ready to part with the good things
•of this world at Chrift's call, and fubrnit to its evil
things. Though this is hard to flefh and blood, it is
a conititution of heaven not to be alrered.

The ifliie of this trial was fad, he parted with Chrift
and heaven : iince he couid not have them on eafier
terms, he behoved to quit them j for thefe terms he
could not digeft, ver. 22. And he was fad at that
faying, and went away grieved : for he had great
pojfcjfwns. His great poiTefMons were his great fnare.
The good things of this worid part betwixt Chrift and
many.

The ufe Chrift makes of this fad event, for the
difciples in(r.ru£tion, ver. 23 And Jefus looked round
about, and faith unto his difciples, How hardly Jkall
they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God I
Obf. 1. Though riches make an eaiy lite in this world,
they make hard work for the pat.y that has them to
get into a better world. 2. The ruining effects faints
may fee that world's wealth has on men generally,

mould

lo8 The Text and Context explained.

ihould make them fit down contented with the fmall
ihare of it which providence lets come into their
hand?, q. d. Now fee what world's wealth does.

The difciples being furprifed herewith, (i.) Chrift
explains what he had faid, ver. 24. But Jefus an*
fwereth again, and faith unto them, Children, kdiv
hard is it for them that truft in riches, to enter ink)
the kingdom of God I Obf. It is hard for men to have
world's wealth, and not to truft in it as their portion
and happinefs, to bring out of it their fatisfa£tion,
which they mould feek in God. (2.) He confirms
it by a proverbial faying of a thing of a difficulty next
to impoiTibiiity, ver. 25. It is eajier for a camel to gs
through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to en*
ter into the kingdom of God. The gate of life is nar-
row, the world's wealth is like the burden on the ca-
mel's back.
' The difciples are aftonifhed at. this j they might
obferve what a great fnare poverty was to many, and
if it was fo with riches too, they fay, Who then can
be faved? ver. 26. The confederation of the mif-
chief the world does, on the one hand with its frowns,
and on the other with its fmiles, makes falvation ap-
pear very difficult.

Our Lord relis them, that what is impoffible to
nature is poffihie to God. The power of his grace
can fo loofe the heart from the world, that it mall
not be able to bewitch a man with all its fnares, nor hin-
der him from the kingdom of heaven. Witnefs Abra-
ham, Job, Jofeph, 6"<% who, though rich men, were
yet truly religious, and attained to heavenly happi-
nefs.

Follows the immediate occafion of the words of
the text. Peter fhews how he and the reft had be-
haved in fuch a trial, as proved fatal to that man %
they had left all they had in the world at ChriiVs call,
and followed him, ver. 28. See Matth. iv. 18. 19.
20. It was not much they had to leave foi him: but
it was by the power of grace they were brought to

part

The Text explained, 109

part with it, little as it was. That is it that makes
the difference. Now he is deurous to know the ilTue
of that, and what they were to expect at his hand :
and Chrift allows his people to perfuade themfelves,
that they (hall not be lofers at his hand. And there-
fore whatever weaknefs might be in Peter's queftion,
our Lord dire&ly anfwers it, in a liberal promife to
all his followers of a fufficient upmaking of all that
they lofe for him. In which we have,

1. The lofers to whom Chrift gives fecurity, for
upmaking of their lofs. And here confider,

ift, What kind of lofers they are. It is not every
kind of lofers : forne lofe their worldly good things
for their lulls fake, fquandering away the fame on
their iufis, and by their criminal negligence 5 or they
are juftly taken from them in an ill caufe for their
crimes : thefe are not they. But they that quit with
any thing for Chriif's fake, and the gofpei's : the
Lord by his call bids them give up with it, and they
at his call quit their gripe ; they cannot keep it, and
keep the .road of the gofpel too; and therefore that
they may not go off the road of the gofpel, they quit
what they have. Thefe are the lofers.

idly, What kind of lofs it is that Chrift puts his
people to. It is not the lofs of fpiritual benefits and
privileges, and their portion in another world ; but
only worldly good things. (1.) He may call them
to leave houfe and hold, and they muft leave it for
his fake, with all the conveniencies they had in their
own houfe before. If they have not left them where
to lay their head, he bids them not ride a ford he
rode not before them, Matth. viii. 20. The foxes have,
holes, and the birds of the air have nejis ; but the Son.
of man hath not where to lay his head. If they be for-
ced to hide in dens and caves of the earth, they fare
not worfe than the worthies mentioned Heb. xi. 38.
(2.) Their relations, and the comfort they had in
them, brethren, fifiers, father, mother, -wife, and
children. He may carry away their relations from
3 K them

no The Text explained.

them by death, or otherwlfe providentially feparate
them from them, or deprive them of the comfort of
them though they be with them, and make them a
crofs to them. Or he may carry therm away from
their relations, that they have not accefs to the com-
fort they might otherwise have in them. In all thefe
cafes they are lofers for Chrift that give up with them
at his call to follow him. (3.) Their lands, and all
the profits and advantages flowing from them. Even
the king isferved by the field : but Chrift muft be fer-
ved with the field itfelf given up to him, when he
calls for it ; whether it be theirs in property, or only
in the ufe. They muft give up their claim to him at
his call.

2. What is fecured to thefe lofers for Chrift ?
Double.

17?, Something in hand, a hundred -fold ji-ow in this
time. The term of this upmaking is in this world,
now in this time. Our Lord does indeed referve the
greateft upmaking to another world ; but he does
not put off his people with nothing in the time : No,
there is a fettlement for the prefent made upon them,
to bear the expence of their journey, and to bear up
their hearts till they get their portion. And that is
a hundred-fold, namely, of what they loft for him, viz,
hou/es, &c. It is plain, it cannot be meant of a hun-
dred-fold in kind; that is not poffible in the cafe of
father and mother : but in value; i. e. they fhall get
what will be a hundred times the value of all they
loft for him. For inftance, do they lofe a houfe for
him ? they fhall get what fhall be worth a hundred
houfes, 6c. But there is an appurtenance of this
hundred -fold, that may keep from dreaming of world's
eafe for all that, with perfecutimu. All times of the
church are not times of public perfecution; but this
ftxures them, that go the times as they will, they
fhall never get the good-will of the world lying in
wickednefs. Satan and his agents will always be at
them, one way or other.

idly,

The Text explained, 1 1 1

idly, Something in hope. Here is, (i.) The term
and place of it, in the world to come, (2.) What
they will get there, eternal life. This plainly bears,
[1.] That there is a world to come, another world
than this. The word properly fignifies an age, -or
duration. And being in oppofition to the age of
this world, or time of its duration, it fignifies the
age of eternity. It is ufed alfo for the world itfelf,
Heb. i. 2* And being to come, it differs from the
prefent world. [2.] That that world to come is the
place and time, where and when men are to get the
full reward of their works ; and therefore men go
into, that world, when they have done with this ; and
are not done when dead. Laftly, That fuch lofers
for Chrift {hall in that world get eternal life, when
others {hall get eternal death there : for if in that world
were only eternal life, it had been needlefs to fay more
than that they mould go into that world,

3. The fecurity itfelf, Chrift's own word, Veribj
If&y unt§ you, ver. 29. A fecurity that carnal men
cannot truft, but all believers take it for good fe-
curity.

Before I come to the main thing intended, I will
fpeak fomewhat to the hundred-fold in this life, from
the following doctrine, viz,

Doct. Our Lord Jefus has given fecurity, for a
hundred-fold with a burden in this life> to them who
foe his fake and the gofpeVs, leave and give up -with
their worldly good things and enjoyments, at his calh

In difcourung from this doctrine, we mall confider,,

I. The parties to whom the fecurity is made.

II. The hundred-fold fecured to fuch lofers.

III. The burden, going along with the hundred-
fold, with perfecutions.

IV. The fecurity given for the hundred-fold to the
lofers for Chrift's fake and the gofpel's.

V. Make application.

K z I. We

1 1 2 How Chrift calls to give up with worldly Comforts*

1. We fhall confider the parties to whom the feeu-
rity is made. Two things will fet this in due light j,
'viz. An inquiry,

i. How Chrift calls people to leave and give up
with any worldly comfoits and enjoyments they have-
had.

2. What it is at Chrift's call to leave and give up
with them for his fake and the gofpel's.

First, I am to inquire how Chrift calk people to
leave and give up with any worldly comforts and en-
joyments they have had.

Firjl, When we cannot keep them without fin.
When we are brought to that, that we muft either
lofe them, or fin againft God ; muft either part with
them, or part with a good confcience; he fure then
Chrift is faying, Give up with them, leave them for
me. And fo it is in four cafes.

i. In the cafe of peifecution, or the violence of
evil men reducing us to that ftrait. Thus confeflbrs
goods were called for by Chrift, Heb. x, 34. and the
lives of the martyrs, chap. xi. 35. And they parted
with them, as Jofeph drcpt his mantle, when he
could not keep it and his chaftity too. If there had
been a fair way to have preferved the fubftance and
the life, and a good confidence too, they would not
have been required : but as they could not preferve a
good confeience with the porTeflion of them, there-
fore they were called to part with both fubftance and
life.

The fame holds in the cafe of illegal violence, when
men are reduced to fuch a ftrait by the violence of
evil men in common life \ that lofs is on the one
hand, fin on the other ; that is a providential call to
give up with worldly good things and enjoyments,
1 Cor. vi. 6. 7.

1. In the cafe of juftice. It is a diyine command,
Owe no man any things but to love one another, Rom.
xiii. 8. What juftice requires us to part with, God
requires us to part with : for the righteous Lord lo~

vetk

ff§w Chrift calls to give up with worldly Comforts. 113

veth right eoufnefsy Pfal. xi. 7. And to keep it is rob-
bery, becaufe in juftice it is not ours, but another's.
And therefore no man can reckon any more his own,
than what remains to him after payment of his juhV
debts, 2 Kings iv. 1.7. To this belongs,

3. The cafe of reftitution of goods unjuftly got*.
What we have unjuftly got, is not ours in the fight
of God, and therefore God calls to reftore it, Luke
xix. 8. And the fin of the taking it away, is not:
forgiven while it is kept. And where it is fo, God
often forces it out of the hand of them or theirs* ta-
king away more with it, Job xx. 10. 15. For a little-
of that fort is a moth among, and worms one out of:'
much;

4. In the cafe of charity. It is a divine command?
to improve our worldly fubftance for the honour of"
God, Prov. iii. 9. and' to relieve the wants of the
poor and needy, according to our ability, and their
need. God has made us Rewards, and the truly--
poor his receivers,- Prov. xix. 17. The fturdy beg-
gars are indeed the reproach of our land, and eat the
meat out of the mouths of thofe that are poor indeed ••
their idlenefs is tbeir fin, and the fin of the govern-*
ment that falters them to be idle, 2 Theff. iii. 10..
and their vagabond life is their fin- and puniihment9-.
Pfal. cix. 10. But the truly-poor that fain would,.,
but are not able, or cannot have accefs to do for them-
felves, God obliges others to help them, even though*
tbey be ftraitened themfelves, 2 Cor. viii. 2. In a.
great trial of afflitHon^ the abundance- of their joy*
and their deep poverty , abounded unto the riches of "
their liberality. Eph. iv. 28. Let him that fiole, fteal'.
no more : but rather let him labour, •working with his:
hands the thing which is good, that he may Irave tea
give to him that needeth. See Prov. xxi. 13.

Secondly, When he himfelf is providentially taking;

them away from us. Sometimes he lays worldly/

good things to one's hand j at other times he returns.

aud takes them away, and then doubtlefs he fays,-

K 3 Give.

1 14 How Chrift calk to give up with worldly Comforts*

Give them tip to me. Job faw this in his own ex-
perience, chap. i. 21. Naked came 1 out of my mo-
ther's w§mby fays he, and naked Jhall I return thi-
ther : the Lord gave, and the herd hath taken away ;
hlefjed he the name of the Lord. And this the Lord
does in two cafes.

1. In the cafe of providential lofles, when the
things themfelves are by holy providence taken away.
Thus the Lord fwept away Job's fubftance, his chil-
dren, and his health too. At whatever time God
thus is pulling from us, we are called to open our
hearts to quit them, and let go our gripe of them.
In that cafe God is fending to us as he did to the
owner of the afs, Matth. xxi. 1. 2. 3. The Lord hath
need of them ; and we fhould entertain his fend as
that man, who ftraightway fent the afs and the colt.

2. In the cafe of providential reftraints, when the
comfort of the things is taken away, though them*
felves remain. Thus the Lord took away Job's com-
k fort in his acquaintance, friends, and domeftics, there
was an embargo laid upon them, that they had not
power to be comfortable to him, but on the contrary
were a crofs to him, Job xix. 13. — 16. Yea, in his
own wife, who proved unkind to him, ver. 17. and
a fnare and a crofs to him, chap. ii. 9. No perfon,
no thing, can be to us other than what God makes it
to be : and fometimes God, for one's trial, fqueezes
the fap out of their creature-comforts, and fo calls
them to quit their comfort in them.

Secondly, I come to ftiew what it is at Chrift's
call to leave and give up with them for his fake and
the gofpel's. And thus we will fee, who they are to
whom this fecurity is made. It lies in three things.

Fir/?, Difcerning of Heaven's call to give up with
them, -2 Sam. xvi. 10. None can leave any thing at
God's call, when he difcerns no call from him for
that effe£t,. There is a generation who like the dog
foarl at the florae, but look not to the hand above

that

The Char after of the Lofers for Chrijfs fa he, v 1 5

that caft it. In their lofTes they blame this and that
perfon, this and that unlucky accident : but they con-
fider not God's hand over-ruling them, and by thefe
things taking trial of them, Pfal. xxviii. 5. We
fhould fee him firft mover in all the lofles that befal
us.

Secondly, Loving of Chrift and the gofpel more than
the world, and all that is in it : for that perfon or thing
for whofe fake we leave any thing, muft needs be
more beloved than that thing. This is the habitual
temper of foul, from whence that action doth pro-
ceed, to be found in all believers, Luke xiv. 26. and
them only, 1 John ii. i£. And unlefs the heart be
once moulded into this frame through faith, it is not
to be expected that one will truly quit any worldly
good for Chrift' s fake and the gofpel's, whatever they
may do for their own fake.

Thirdly, Heart and hands quitting gripes of them
out of love to Chrift and the gofpel, Heb. x. 34. Te —
took joyfully the f polling of your goods . The call cleara
to them, that they mull part either with Chrift or the
world in that inftance : and laying the two in the
balance, Chrift and the gofpel downweigh the world*
ly thing, and they quit it to hold them faft \ not on-
ly giving it up with the hand, which may be done
againft one's will, but with the heart. So that this is
a religious, holy parting therewith, an act of Chri-
ftian refignation and felf-denial. Hence we may
ftate the character of the lofers to. whom the hundred-
fold is fecured, in the following particulars,

I. They are true believers, who have taken Chrift
and the promifes of the gofpel for their portion, their
all, Pfal. cxix. 57. Thou art my portion, 0 Lord. In
vain is it expected, that the heart will ever quit its
gripe of the world, til 1 it take gripes of Chrift and
the promife of the gofpel. Therefore faith is called
buying, wherein the party gets as good as he gives,
Rev. iii. 18. Matth. xiii. 45. 46. And indeed in the
da of the foul's clofing with Chrift, it gives up with

all

1 1 6 The Chtr after of the Lofers for Chrift's fake.

all things in the world, and takes Chrift for them
all, Luke xiv. 26. And to fuch the hundredfold is
fecured.

. 2. In all their loffes they take God for their party,
and yield the things to him, as Job did, chap. i. 21.
forecited. They fay as Eli did, 1 Sam. iii. 18. It is
the Lord : let him do what feemeth him good. They
have a faith of the divine providence with application
to themfelves, knowing that nothing can befal them,
but as he orders it : they know that he is juft in all
his ways, and does them no wrong, whatever wrong
may be done them by men : yea that he is good, and
punifhes them not as they well deferve. Therefore
they fubmit to him, faying as the church, Lam. iii.
22. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not confumed^
becavfe his compa£wns fail not ; and as Hezekiah, If.
xxxix. ult. Good is the word of the Lord which thou haft
fpoken* And thus delivering up their comforts to
him, he will reftoie them a hundred- fold, as in Job's
cafe.

3. They yield up the things into the hand he di-
rects, be that what it will. Whether he take away
immediately by his own hand, or by the hands of
men, right or wrong ; the intimation of his will is
fufficient to them, as it was to Job, chap. i. 21.
though the devil and his agents were inftrumental in
thefe lofTes. They look above fecond caufes, and
take their lofs out of the hand of the firft caufe, which
employs what fecond caufes he fees meet. If men
look not to God in thefe cafes, they cannot expect
that he will make up what is net given him.

4. They leave and give up with them, to keep the
road of duty in obedience to his command, £Ieb. xi.
25. It is their care to keep their worldly enjoyments
as valuable gifts of God, and not to wafte them by
rtot or negligence,: but it is their greater care to keep
themfelves in the love of God, and in the way of holy
obedience. And therefore when th^y cannotdo both
together, tjhey quit the former, and cleave to the

latter.

The Chara&er of the Lofers for ChrifV's fake. 1 1 7

latter. Such lofers God will make up (Heb. xi. 25,
26.), that will rather lofe their fubftance, than a pure
confcience *, that will rather fufFer than fin againft
him.

5. They feek their reft and comfort in him under
all their icffrs, and in the promife of the gofpel, Pfal.
xxvii. 10. By an eye of faith they fee a fulnefs in
Chrift and the promife j that is fuflicieot to bear up
under all they can lofe in a world : they difcern a
treafure in heaven, which is not liable to be loft.
And in the faith thereof they quit the* worldly com-
forts, Heb. x. 34. taking God's promifes in the go-
fpel for their heritage, in which they may rejoice in
the want of worldly things* Zeph. iii. 12. What
makes men hold fuch a greedy gripe of the world, is,
that they fee not, how if they lofe it, the want can be
made up : but faith loofes that difficulty.

6. They are fubmiflive under their loffes, main-
taining their love to an afflicting God, and their
efteem of the gofpel under all their lofles, 2 Sam. xr.
25. 26. They will not caft out with God and the
gofpel for world's enjoyments, nor think the worfe of
him, becaufe he takes back his own, or denies them
what he is not obliged to give them. If fuch thoughts
rife in their hearts, they will wreftle againft them,
mourn over them, condemn themfelves for them, and
return to their temper. The contrary difpofition pre-
vailing in proud hearts, Satan blows the coal, and
oft-times it has a defperate and fearful iflue; as in
Ahithophel and others.

7. They will take no finful method to prevent their
lofles, nor yet to recover them, or fhift under them.
"When life lay at ftake with thofe worthies mentioned
Heb. xi. 35. they would not accept deliverance on any
finful terms ; when Jcfeph was fold for a Have, he would
not buy his freedom with defiling his confcience. That
is lofing for Chrift's fake and the gofpel's, and them
that fo lofe, Chrift will make up ; when they that go
out of God's way into finful ways, which honour not

God,.

Ii8 The Hundred-fold fecured to the Loftrs.

God, but the devil, either for preventing or recover-
ing, will find their lofs doubled by thefe means.
8. Laftly, The more that created ftreams are dried
p, the more clofely they will feek after the fountain,
I Tim. v. 5. It is for this very caufe the Lord tryfts
his own people with ,croffes and lofles •, as Abfaloro
fet Joab's corn-field on fire, the Lord caufeth a bur-
den to be blown off the back of his people, that they
may run their race more fpeedily j dries up a dream
of comfort in a created perfon or thing, that they may
come with greater appetite to the fountain of comfort.

II. The next head is to confider the hundred- fold
fecured to fuch lofers. This is not a hundred-fold
in kind, but a hundred-fold in value. Such is,

Firft, The peace and pleafurable reflection on the
way of lofing it, 2 Cor. i. 12. When the lofies of
untender unholy men leave a fting behind them, in
that they find they have loft for their lulls fake ; theirs
(hall afford them a pleafure, that their loffes come
not that way, but in a cleanly providential way, by
the hand of God taking a trial of them, what they
can lofe and part with for him. This is a hundred-
fold more ; for,

1. This peace is a Chriftian, fpiritual benefit,
flowing from the Spirit's leading of a man in the way
of God; therefore more valuable than the having of
temporal good things, which is a common benefit.
He may thus reflect " Had I been left to the fwing
of my lulls, I might have fuftained all this lofs by
my finfu] hand bringing it on : but O how am I ob-
liged to preventing grace r*'

2. Such lofing is a piece of honour that God
/puts on his people, 1 Pet. iv. 14. Whatever impof-

fibility there is to reconcile this with the world's falfe
notions of honour •, according to fcripture and reafon,
it is certainly an honour, to have fome considerable
thing in the world, and a heart to part with it for
Chuft, Heb. xi. And therefore we expect that the

greateft

The Hundred fold fecured to the Lofers, 119

greateft fufferers for Chrift, will have the richeft in-
comes in the other world.

Secondly, The cordial fatisfa&ion in the way of part-
ing with it. There aie two things meeting here, which
make an hundred- fold more to fpring up in the way
of fatisfaction.

1. The confederation that Chrift will condefcend
to take fuch a token of our love off our hand, Acts,
v. 41. ft is an obligement to the lover, that the be-
loved party will accept a token of his love ; though
by that means he has lefs in hand than his rival, from
whom fuch a thing is not taken, he has more in hope.
All is the Lord's ; and that he will take any thing off
our hand as a token, will be in the eyes of humble
fouls a great condefcenfion.

2. The confideration of the Lord's giving a heart
to part with it to him. Every ferious foul will value
this a hundred times more, than the having of the
thing parted with, i_jChron. xxix. 1 4. For the lat-
ter is but a common gift, but the former a gift of
fpecial grace, PhiL i. 29. And there is far more of
the love of God in the one than in the other 5 for it
argues fpecial love.

Thirdly. Contentment with the low and afflicted
lot. All the abundance of the world cannot give
contentment : but lofers for Chrifl's fake and the
gofpel's have their worldly lofs made up with a gain
in fhe frame of their fpirit. A fpirit fuited to one's
lot, brought down to the afflicted condition, is a
hundred fold more than what is loft. That is a va-
luable leflbn, Phil iv. 12. In all things i am inftrnft-
ed, both to be full and to be hungry., both to abound
and to fuffer need ; to have one's thirft abated, as
their drink is dried up ; to have their defires narrow-
ed as their enjoyments are, Pfal. xxxvii. 19. This is
a hundred- fold ; for,

1. Contentment with a little is more valuable by
far, than even contentment with much. For it is
more difficult to reach, and fpeako more of the reality

and

120 The Hundred-fold fecured to the Lofers.

and ftrength of grace, Pfal. xxxvii. 16. It is a

good exchange, when what is taken off out comforts,
is made up in adding to the contented frame offpirit.
2. The narrowing of the defire of worldly comforts,
is better than the enlarging of one's pofleffions and
enjoyments. For the former is cutting fhort of our
luits, the other food to them.

Fourthly, A particular care of Heaven about them
for their fupply, i Pet. v. 7. Lofers for Chrift have
in all ages been the peculiar objects of Heaven's care
and concern, to their upbearing and throughbearing,
John xiv. i 8. / will not leave you comfort lefs» And
none have been better feen to than the children of
providence, who have been as the lilies clothed bet-
, ter than Solomon in all his glory, Hence an affli&ed
lot of faints has been the time of greater! experiences ;
and they have had richeft incomes, when living from
hand to mouth, Rom. v. 3. 4. This is a hundred-
fold, for,

1. The fuitablenefs of it to their real needs, Matth.
vi. 32. They have a promife, Phil. iv. 19. My God

Jloall fupply all your need, according to his riches in
glory, by Chrift Jefus ; and God, who is their Father,
is a good judge of what thefe needs are, and will
fee to iuit providential fupplies unto them. He has
all in hand, and is able ; he loves them tenderly, and
will give them what is good.

2. The feafonablenefs of it. Providential favour-
able calls in this cafe are double gifts from the timing
of them, as being laid in in a nick of time, when
they may be moll ufefui, as in Mordecai's cafe

3. From both thefe they bear an impreffion and
character of the divine care and love, fo that though
for the matter of them they have very fmall things,
yet the image z.nd fuperfcription they bear will make
them of much bulk. Thus Efau's countenance was
a vaft mercy in Jacob's efieem, Gen. xxxiii. 10. And
many a thing, which fome would account a mere
trifle, has filled a faint with joy.

Qiiefl.

The Hundred-fold fecured to the Lofers. lit

®hieft. How can that be ? Anfw, On thefe reafon*
able grounds, (i.) The thing's coming as an an-
fwer of prayer. A flraitened lot in the world, makes
God's children carry even their fmallcr matters to
their prayers ; and there are anfwers of prayer in thefe
cafes. (2.) Coming as an accomplishment of a pro-
mife depended on by faith. The promife comes as
low as to the bread and the water. And the fap of
a promife is matter of joy, though it were but a drop.

Fifthly, A particular allowance of communion
with God, and accefs to him in duties, made to thefe
lofers ; that as their trials are greater than thofe of
others, their fuppoits may be conformable, Cant. i.
7. Tell me, 0 thou iv bom my foul loveth, where thou
feedefi, where thou makefl thy flock to refl at noon*,
Not that they will get thefe however they carry them-
felves, but that the Lord has allowed it them being
duly exercifed by their trials, which was fealed in
Paul's experience, 2 Cor. xii. 10. I take pleafure in
infirmities, in reproaches, in necejfities, in perfec-
tions, in diflreffes for Chrifll's fake : for when I am
weak, then am 1 Jlrong. This is agreeable to,

1. The goodnefs of God, that where he clofes the
door of the creature fafteft on his people, he opens his
own the wider; and that they who find the world
deafeft to their cries, find him moft ready to anfwer
them.

2. To their exigence. The drying up of created
ftreams of comfort, makes people more fenfible of
their need of the fountain, and to third the more for
it. And thofe that are moft pinched with fenfe of
need, will readily come beft fpeed at the throne of
.grace, Luke i. 53. He hath filled the hungry -with good
things, and the rich he hath fent empty away.

3. To the experience of the faints in all ages.
Thofe who have had or were to get the greateft trials,
were they that had the largeft portion of fpiritual en-
joyments failing to their mare. And the greateft

3. L fufFuer*

3 22 The Hundred fold fecured to the Lofers,

fufferers 2nd lofers have been the greateft gainers in
that refpecl:, as in the cafe of Jacob, Jofeph, he*
Now this is a hundred-fold : for,

1. Communion with God is better than the beft
things the world can afford ; one of the kiffes of his
mouth is preferable to all the treafure the world
cafts into one's lap, Pfal. iv. 6. 7. This made con-
felTors take joyfully the fpoiling of their goods, and
made martyrs joyfully meet death, made Paul and
Silas fmg in the prifon, and the three children eafy
in the fiery furnace.

2. It is heaven on earth, Rev. ii. 17. To him that
cvercomeih will I give to eat of the hidden manna.
The faints carried to glory leave all their worldly en-
joyments behind them, as Elijah dropt his mantle:
and they mifs them not there, getting full, imme-
diate, uninterrupted communion with God inftead
of all ; more than we mifs the liar-light, when the
fun (bines in his meridian brightnefs. And com-
munion with God here is a foretafte of heaven.

3. Accefs to God in duties, eafes God's people of
a burden of care, getting it caft over on the Lord,
whereby they are fuftained under their loffes, Pfal.
Iv, 22. Many a time the children of God have gone
to duty fore bowed down under divers prelTures, and
have come away with the load taken off their fpirics,
as in the cafe of Hannah, 1 8am. i. 18. So that
what was as a mountain before, becomes like a mole-
hill. And it is a hundred-fold better to be iirength-
ened from above to go lightly under a burden, than
to have it taken off.

4. It makes them find the fweetnefs of the Bible,
and fuck the fweet of the promifes, Pfal. cxix. 49.
50. Remember the word unto thy fervant, upon which
thou hift caufed me to hope. This is my comfort in my
affliction : for thy word hath quickened me. While
world's eafe makes the heart fat as greafe, infenfible
to the confolarions of the word ; affliction with ac-
cefb to God under it, caufes the word reliih with the

foul,

Of the Burden attending the Hundred-fold. 1 2 J

foul, makes a fweetnefs to be felt in thofe parts of
the word where it was not felt before.

Laftly> The fpiritual good effe&s whereof worldly
lofles are the caufes and occafions, being fanctified.
Such are elpecially,

1. Weanednefs from the world, Pfal. cxxxi. 2.
My foul is even as a weaned child. The Lord's lay-
ing gall and wormwood on the breads of the creature,
is a blefTed means to wean them therefrom : his fet-
ting fire to their neft in the world, moves them to feek
their reft in God, Cant. iv. 8. This makes them long
to be home, and to be looking heavenward, and
mending their pace.

2. Seeking to get their wants made up in Chrift.
The world's frowns make them more folicitous for
his fmiles ; while worldly comforts are plucked from
them, they endeavour the more to fallen their gripes
on him, making a bleffed exchange of the world for
Chrift, Hab. iii, 17. 1 8-, This makes them many
times to fay, " I had perifhed unlefs I had perifhed,"
being driven to therr fpiritual good by afHi&ions.

3. Laflly, Living by faith, Pfal. xxvii. 13. I had
fainted^ unlefs I had believed to fee the goodnefs of the

L^rd in the land rf the living. When created dreams
are dried up, people mud either fetch in their com-
fort from another quarter, or they mud want. For
this caufe God fweeps away from his people, many
times, their comforts of fenfe, that they may learn to
live on the promife by believing.

III. I fhall now confider the burden going along
with the hundred- fold, with perfecut ions'. & implies
three things.

- 1. That in the courfe of worldly lodes and trou-
bles^ the hundred- fold (hall be made forthcoming to
them, Heb. x. 34. Ye — took joyfully the fpoiling of
your goods y knowing in yourfelves that ye have in hea-
ven a better and an enduring fubjlance. The Lord
will not leave his people comfortlefs, while matters,
L 2 sire

124 Of the Security for the Hundred- fold.

are on a run againft them. But as Satan and an ill
world are taking away from them on the one hand,
he will be laying in to them on the other. While
the world clofeth its doors on them, God will open
his to them.

2. That the hundred-fold in this life, doth not fe«
cure the receivers, as to woildly eafe thereafter. An
end of troubles in this world is not to be expected
while they are in it : but though the mower has been

•great and long, the clouds will return after the rain;
and after one lofs another will come, that a new trial
may be taken of the Lord's people. However much
they have endured, they muft expect to meet with
more. A change of troubles there may be, but there
will be no end till the great change come.

3. Lajlly> However, no worldly loffes nor troubles
fhall be able to ftop the courfe of the hundred-fold.
Let them be never fo weighty, the Lord can let in
what will downweigh them all, Hab. iii 17. 18. Al-
though the fig-tree jhall not blqfom, Sec. : yet I will re-
joice in the Lord, I will joy in the Cod of my fa hat ion.

So that let the cloud be never fo thick, the eye of
faith may fee how to get through it: for God lays no
trial on his people, without allowing them fufficient
furniture for bearing it.

IV. The fecurity given for the hundred fold to the
lofers for Chrift's fake and the gofpel's. Concerning
which obferve thefe two things.

1. It is Chrift's own fecurity. He has engaged
for it to his people. And, (i.) He is able, for he is
the great Truftee of the covenant, in whofe hands
all the benefits of the covenant are lodged, to diftri-
bute them to poor finners, Matth- xi. 27. (2.) He
is faithful, and cannot break his engagement, for he
is truth itfelf : and it is impoffible that be ihould fail.

2, It is the fecurity of his word -, he has given his
word on it. And that requires faith in us, viz.

That

The Doftrine applied. I2f

That we truft to that fccurity for the hundred* fold,
fo {hall it be made forthcoming.

I (hall now mut up this fubjecl: with a word of im-
provement.

Use I. of information. This doctrine lets us fee,

1. That even an afflicting God is a bountiful God,
ready to deal bountifully with us, in our moft ftrait-
ening circumftances. Whatever he calls you to parr
with for him, he is ready to- give you more and bet-
ter in its ftead. Think not then that he is a hard
mailer. For however fhort by the head he fees meet
to hold you, it is your own fault if ye be not gainers.
by all worldly lofles and troubles, 2 Chron xxv; 9.

2. Here is the myftery of the fweet peace and joy
that martyrs, confellbrs, and others have had in their
trials and afflictions, Heb. x. 34. ~ They enjoyed.
the hundred -fold. And therefore, they prefeired
Chrift's crofs to the world's crown:, they would, not
accept of deliverance on finful terms, becaufe fo they
would have forfeited the hundred -fold. Whatever
trouble without their croiTes and lofTes brought 011
them, the hundred-fold gave them a peaceful calm
within.

Use II. Labour to manage your lqffes and croifes
in a world, fo as you may gain the hundred-fold,
And,

1. Learn to fit loofe to the world, and aU, things
and perfons in it, that at Chrift's call ye may be rei-
dy to part with them, or your comfort in them, Luks
ix. 23. Let them hang loofe about you, that on oc-
cafion ye may eafily drop them. It is the gluing of
our affections to them, that makes it fo hard for us to
part with them.

2. Whatever way they are taken from you, or with-
held from you, make God himfelf your party, and
quit them to him, for his fake and the gofpel's, jof>
i. 21. Thus God will be the party-receiver from
you, and you may look that he will recompenfe you.

L 3 Though

126 The Import of another World than this,

Though you have mifmanaged that already, yet
there is room to help it, repenting of your unwilling-
nefs to part with them, and your not quitting them
to him. Let the heart now quit its hankering after
them again, for his fake ; and all will be fet right.

3. Truft him in the promife of the hundred-fold;
believe that he will make up your lofles accordingly,
if not in kind, yet in value : and. affuredly ye fhall
not be difappointed, Rom. ix. ult. Whofoever bclieveth
»n him, /hall not be ajhamed.

4. Laftly, Seek of him the hundred-fold according
to his promife, and wait for jt in the ufe of means.
In the leaving worldly enjoyments for him, ye make
an exchange, taking Chrift inftead of what you lofe ;
now purfue that, that ye may have that comfort from,
him, and much more, that ye have loft.

I proceed now to the main point I intend ro dif-
courfe on from the text, viz,

DocT. There is another world than this, a world
to come, wherein men will receive their part j or eter-
nity.

This is an awful fubjecl:, and what we know very
little about j yet fo much is revealed concerning it, as
God faw ncceflary, though not to fatisfy our cuiiofity,
yet for our falvation. In fpeaking to it, I (hall,

I. Shew fome things imported in this.

II. Confirm the being of another world, a world
to come, wherein men fhall receive their part for
eternity.

III. Effay to give fome view of the other world.

IV. Make application of the whole.

I. I am to fhew fome things imported in this doc-
trine, That there is another world than this, a world
to come, wherein men will receive their part for e-
teinity. It imports,

1. That

•wherein Men receive their Part for Eternity, 127

1. That this world is a place, wherefn men receive
their part, only for time. The parts and portions
diftributed by divine providence in it, are very dif-
ferent ; fome are high, others low 5 fome rich, others
poor \ fome healthy, others fickly ; fome in profpe-
rity, others in adverfity ; fome fpend their days in
pleafure, others never eat with pleafure. But all
thefe things are only for a time ; thefe different flates
are only to lafl for a certain number of years, which
being expired, things ihall be fet on a quite different
footing in the other worlds So,

(1.) The fmiles, comforts, and advantages of this
world that any do enjoy, will in a litrle time have an
end. It is a pity, that any fhould value themfelves
upon them. They are but the conveniencies they
have in the inn, in their way to the other world, and
are neither eternal, nor pledges of welfare in eterni-
ty, Luke xii. 19 20* 21.

(2.) The- afflictions, crofTes, and miferies of this-
world, will fhortly have an end too. As the fummer-
warmth thereof will not laft, neither will its winter-
blafts. Both the faint and the finner will quickly
remember them as waters that fail ; the one exchan-
ging them in the other world with eternal joys, the
other with eternal for rows.

2. That our main concern lies in the world tc*
come: for there our eternal Mate is to be fettled,
there we are to have our portion for eternity, As is
the weight of eternity to time, fo is the world to-
come to the prefent world : and as time will be fwal-
lowed up in eternity, fo ought our temporal concerns
to be engaged in concern about the world to come.
It is fearful heedlemiefs to behave otherwife.

3. Men mull pals out of this world into the other
world, from out of the world we fee, into the world
we fee not : otherwife there could be no receiving
our part in it.

(i.) We muft all leave this world, and that paf-
fage is by death. That is the way of all fleih, FfaiU

lxxxi&.

128 The Import of another World than this,

lxxxix. 48. What man is he that liveth, and /ball not
fee death? Death is our going hence, Pfal. xxxix.
ult. And our whole life here is a journey through
the world, to the end of which journey we come at
death, Eccl. ix. 10. However unwilling men may
be to leave the world, no art nor might can alter the
ftatute, Heb. ix. 27. It is appointed unto men once ta
die,

(2.) We are not done, when dead. We do not
ceafe to be, when we ceafe to breathe in this world ;
neither do we ceafe to acl:, when all bodily motion
fails with us. We leave our dead bodies to our
friends, for them to lay up in the grave in the
lower parts of this earth : but we pafs away from a-
mong them, for the foul is the man ; and they can-
not keep us ftill, nor can we abide : but dropping
the mantle of the body, we fly away.

(3.) We enter then into the other world ; as at
our birth we are born of our mothers into this world,
at our death we are born into the world of fpirits.
That world which we now hear of, we will then fee :
and that ftate we are now making forward to, we
will then arrive at. When we are loft to our friends
we leave behind us weeping, we will be found of
others before us, and perceived as new incomers into
their world.

4. This world itfelf pafTeth away, the other world
will abide for ever : the age of the one is but time,
that of the other is eternity ; fo the former gives place
to the latter.

(1.) This world is palling, 1 Cor. vir. 31. 1 John
ii. 17. It is long fmce it began, and it will have an
end. Its glafs is running, and the laft fand thereof
will run out at length : the fun and moon are by the
appointment of God to make fo many rounds, and
then time comes to an end, and the fabric of this
evil world is difTolved. There was a curfe laid on it
for man's fin : that deluged it with water once, and
in end wili burn it up with ftre. So,

[1.] The

wherein Men receive their Part for Eternity, 129

[1.] The weary land to the godly will vanifh out
of their fight : the wade howling wildernefs, where-
in they had many a heavy heart, for their own fins
and miieries, and thofe of others, they will fee no
more for ever. It is a world that will not mend,
but fpurns all means of amendment ; it will be de-
ftroyed at length, they looking on and feeing th-e
vengeance.

[2.] The land whereon the wicked fet their hearts,
as the only pleafant land, will fink under their feet,
and leave them to drop into the pit of deftruction in
the other world. It is the ftage of their wickednefs
now : but God will take it down ; it is the fink of fin,
but it will be burnt up. And they that took it for their
portion, will periih, and their portion with them.

(2.) The other world will abide for ever: for there
men live eternally, and therefore it muft be eternal.
The feat of the blefled was never defiled by mens fin,
therefore there will be no palling away of it, even
when the vifible heavens mail be diflblved, which
afford light and covering to finful man : and the feat
of the damned will abide for ever ; for there the ever-
lafting fire into which they are condemned, will be
kept on j and there is the place of everlafting punifh-
ment. So, in a fort, it will be for evermore the
world to come, in the fenfe that confervation is a
continued creation. Hence,

[1.] Entering into the other world, men are at the
end of their journey, at their utmoft point : they are
no more travellers, but at their home, their everlaft-
ing home, Rev. iii. 12. Luke xvi. 26. There is no
coming back again into this world, and there is no
pafling out of that world into another, for there is
none to fucceed to it.

[2.] Whatever mens portion in that world is, it
is fure ; for it is an abiding world. Mens portion in
this world cannot be fure, becaufe the world itfelf is
not fo : it is like the foam on the water, which is
liable to perifhing, becaufe the water itfelf is (till in

motion 2

1 30 The Import of another World than this, &c.

motion : but, that world is not liable to paffing away ;
happy are they who lay up for themfelves treafures in
heaven.

5. Lafllyy Men are to receive, each one at lengtti,
his part for eternity. What we get now in hand, is
but for time : worldly good things are fo, and even
the grace given now is the provifion given for our
journey through time, and is liable to many changes,
if not in itfelf as real inherent grace, yet as to the
fenfe thereof as relative grace : but when we come to
the other world, we will receive what falls to our lot
for all the ages of eternity, Hence,

(1.) Mens being is to be continued through eter-
nity. God was from eternity, and will be to eter-
nity : we had indeed a beginning of our being, but it
will have no end. Our being in this world will foon
come to an end ; but when we ceafe to be in this
world, we will be in the other. T hough the body
is mortal, the foul is immortal, and will never ceafe
to be. Death will diflblve the union betwixt foul
and body : but it will not touch the foul to put an
end to it.

(2.) Our ftate in the other world, will continue for
ever, as it is fixed and determined at death, Eccl. xi.
3. If we die in the favour of God, we will never
lofe it : if we die out of it, we will never recover it :
for our ftate in the other world will be eternal. Now>
if we be wrong, we may yet get right again ; but
there, is no mending of our ftate.

(3.) Lajity, Our great work now then muft bet to
have a happy part fecured for us there. Were it be-
lieved, that the moment is abiding us, wherein -we
ihall be fet down in an unalterable ftate; there could
not be fo little care about it, to have it right. But
alas! the din of this world, will not fuffer the report
from the other world to take place with us.

II. I

The Notion of the other World in general, 131

II. I fhall confirm the being of another world, a
world to come, wherein men mail receive their part
for eternity. And to eftablifh the notion of that
world in the general, confider,

1. There is an invifible world a&ually in being,
namely, the world of fpirits, dill incl from our vifible
world, Heb. i. 2. Col. i. 16. Invifible it is, not in
refpecl of the inhabitants thereof, for the faints that
are there are in light, and even the rich man in hell
is faid to fee Lazarus in Abraham's bofom : but in
refpecl: of us who are in this world, it is invifible.
This is that other world, into which, we fay, the fouls
t)f men do pafs, going out of this world by death.

This is the world to come fpoken of in the text, of
which heaven the feat of the blefTed is a ..part. For
it is evident, that it is in heaven the lofing faints
fhall receive eternal life,/ even in the heaven that
now is \ and that their heavenly eternal life is not
put off till tHe lail day, Phil. i. 23. Luke xxiv. 51.
2 Cor. v. r.

The only difficulty is, how that world now in be-
ing, can be called the -world to come. To which it
is anfwered, that it is fo called in refpecl: of us, who
have now no part or place in it, as in this world, but
at death are to get it. So that though in itfelf it is
come already, yet as to us it is to come. Further,

2. That world will at the end of time be extended,
to the comprehending of the new heavens and new
earth, which will take place after the conflagration of
this world. That there will be a pairing away, an
end of this world, appears from 1 John ii. 17, a
perifhing of it, Pfal. cii. 25. 26. and that it will
be by fire, 2 Pet. iii. 10-; and that God will create
new heavens and earth upon the back of that,
ver. 13. Ncverthelefs tue, according to his prcmife,
look for new heavens, and a new earth, wherein
dwelleth right eoufnefs. ' Thefe will be a new world,
not belonging to this world, which then will begone,
but to the other world, the world to come.

And

132 The Being of another World proved.

And in refpecl: of this addition, the other world is
the world to come, which is not now in being. And
fo the world to come will comprehend all, even that
fpace which this world now takes up. And thus the
now invihble world will be enlarged* like a houfe
whofe rooms are enlarged by taking down the parti-
tions.

3. In that world there will be a quite new Mate of
men and things, 1 John ii. 17. The world pajfeth a~
•way, and the hiji thereof : but he that doth the will of
God, abideth for ever. Rev. xxi. 4. God /hall wipe
away all tears from their eyes ; and there fhall be no
more death) neither forrow, nor crying, ?ieit her fhall
there be any more pain : for the former things are
pa (fed away. As is the difference betwixt men and
their bufmefs on a journey, and when come to their
journey's end ; fo will the difference be of the ftate
ef men and things then, from what they are now.
The other world biings along with it another ftate,
and fo conftitutes a change, which is our change by
way of eminency, Job xiv. 14. As all the changes
we meet with in this world, fall fhort of the change
we make when we come out of the belly into the
light of this world ; which would give us the greateft
furprife, had we the full ufe of reafon then : fo all
the changes we are acquainted with now, as from
health to ficknefs, or from ficknefs to health, 6r.
rauft needs fall fhort of the change that we will un-
dergo, entering the other world.

Now to evince the being of another world, a world
to come, confider,

1. The fcripture exprefsly mentions a world to
come. So in our text, and Matth. xii. 32. Whojoever
fpeaketh againft the Holy Ghojl, it fhall not be forgiven
him, neither in this world, neither in the world to
come. Eph. i. 21. Far above all principality, and
power, and might, and dominion, and every name that
is named, not only in this world, but aljo in that which
is to come. What doubt then can they entertain of

it,

The Being of another World proved. 133

it, that believe the fcriptures to be the word of
God ? I own, the world to come is fometimes in fcrip-
ture ufed for the ftate of the church under the gofpel,
as Heb. ii. 5. For unto the angels hath he not put in
fubjeclion the world to come, whereof we fpeak But
it is not always fo ufed, Eph i. 21. juft cited And
where it is fo ufed, it is borrowed from the prophets
of the Old Teftament, who fpoke of the gofpel- church
under the notion of a new world, If. lxv. 17. to the
end. But then it muft alfo be owned, that the pro-
phets in fuch paflages had alfo the other world in
view, and from thence borrowed their expreffions for
the gofpel -church, which (till confirms the being of
a world to come. Hence Peter, 2 epift. iii. 13.
forecited, proves it from If. lxv. 17. For behold, I
create new heavens, and a new earth i and the for-
mer fhall not be remembered, nor come into mind. And
fuch compound fenfes of paflages are ufual with the
prophets, as If. xxvi. 19. Thy dead men fhall live, to*
gether with my dead body fhall they arife* Hof. vi. 2.
After two days will he revive us, in the third day he
will raife us up, and we fball live in his fight. So
Rev. vi. 12. to the end, and vii. 9. to the end.

2. The fcripture fo fpeaks of the world we are in,
as it fuppofes the being of another. The fcripture
ufually calls it, not fimply the world, but this world9
as Jam. ii. 5. 1 John iii. 17. & iv. 17. this prefent
world, 2 Tim. iv. 10. Tit. ii. 12. Now why mould
it be called this world, if there were not another
world ? and this prefent world, if there were not a
world to come ? Yea, this and the other world are ex-
prefsly oppofed, Luke xx. 34. 35. Eph. i. 21. ; this
time, and the world to come, in the text ; this worlds
and eternal life, John xii. 25. All which plainly de-
clare, that there is another world than this.

3. There are beings who are not inhabitants of
our world •, therefore there is a world invifrble to us,
whereof they are inhabitants. The man Chrift was
in our world for fome time, but now is no more in

3 M it,

134 The Being sf another World proved.

it, John xvii. n. But fomewhere he mufl be, and
it is plain he is gone out of this world into the other
world to his Father, John xiii. i. There are angels,
good and bad, which belong not to our world, as
appears from their appearances and actings recorded
in fcripture : and the denial of them by the Sadducees
is condemned, Acts xxiii. 8. Therefore there is an-
other world they belong to.

4. The nature of death and the immortality of the
foul evince this point. Death is a going out of this
world, PfaL xxxix. ult. Job xiv. 2. John xiii. 1. not
in refpect of our bodies, which are laid up in it, but
in refpect of our fouls, that then return to God who
gave them. There muft then be another world into
which they go. Death diflblves the union betwixt
the foul and the body, and the body into parts of
which it is made up : but it cannot diffolve the foul
into parts, which is a fimple fpirit : but being loofed
from the body, and leaving this world, there muft be
another woild that it is received into. This is plain
from" the parable, Luke xvi, where Lazarus dying is
faid to be carried into Abraham's bofom, and the
rich man being dead and buried is faid to be in hell.

5. It is evident that, in this world, it is generally
belt with the wicked, and worft with the godly.
Look abroad an4 fee into whofe hands is the wealth,
honour, and eafe of this world moftly given? Have
not the wicked the greateft (hare of thefe by far? And
are not adverfity and various afflictions in this world,
in a fpeciai manner the lot of the godly? 1 Cor. xv.
.10. Do not many wicked ones profper on unto the
end, without any remarkable punifhment before the
world ? and many godly go with a bowed down
back to the grave, without any remarkable change
into profperity ? Now confider withal thejoftice and
holinefs of God, his goodnefs, wifdom, and love to
his people. And thence you will be obliged to con-
clude, that there is another world, a world to come,
wheiein all odds mall be made even, wherein it mall

be

The Being of another World proved. 135

be perfectly well with the righteous, and ill with the
wicked. It is inconfiftent with the divine perfec-
tions, that it fhould be otherwife. What wife or
good governor will heap favours on ill men his ene-
mies ; and bear hard on good men his friends, al-
ways ? If he do it at a time, it muft be for trial on-
ly, but it will not be always fo.

6. Confcience within men bears witnefs to this
truth, that there is another world, rewards and pu-
nifhments after this life. How many good and wife
mea have fuffered death and moil exquifite tor-
ments here, in the hope of happinefs in another
world ? Heb. xi. How many wicked and ungodly
have been under the greatefl tenors, in the view and
expectation of mifery there ? Thefe have feized men
for crimes the world knew not of, and men who
have been in no hazard of punifhment from men.
And fo natural to man is this notion of another world,
that there are few or no nations on the earth, however
barbarous, that have not had it. What is it men
are fo afraid of at death, or in the view of death, but
the ftate in another world ?

7. Wherefore did God make man ? capable of a
happinefs he never reaches in this world. Surely he
made him'for his own glory: but how little glory,
how much dishonour has he by him here ? Surely
God made not man in vain : therefore there is ano»
ther world, where God will have his glory of man,
and the lovers of God will reach the happinefs they
arc capable of. Confider,

(1) All men defire immortality, or an eternal
being in a happy ftate. This is fo woven into our
very nature, that we can never abfolutely put it away
from us, but in every ftate of man it has been with
him : therefore it is from God the author of nature.
Yet it is evident, this cannot be obtained here ; ne-
verthelefs it is not in vain, for thatconfifts not with
the goodnefs of God, that it mould be fo : therefore
there is another world in which it may be fatisfied.

M 2 (2.) Where

136 The Being of another World proved.

(2.) Where the grace of God has touched the
heart, there is framed by the Spirit an earneft defire
of the perfect enjoyment and glorifying of God,
Rom. viii. 23. 2 Cor. v. 2. Thefe are not to be ob-
tained in this world : therefore there is another world
in which they fhall ; for it cannot be that God would
create fuch an appetite after perfection in his faints
never to be fatisfied. The work of grace is carried
on in the foul by degrees, through the Spirit: and it
cannot be that God will leave his work imperfect.
It is not perfected here; therefore there is another
world where it will be perfected, where they fhall
perfectly enjoy and glorify God.

(3.) Where grace reaches not now, men continue
till death in a flate of fin, difhonouring God : there*
fore there is another world in which God will have
his glory of fuch men ; for God cannot fall fhort of
his end in making them. Now there is no beginning
of a work of grace after death, Eccl. xi. 3. that thefe
fhould glorify him actively in a ftate of happinefs
there ; therefore they fhall glorify him there pailively
in a flate of mifery.

(4.) The dignity of our nature as made rational
fouls, quite above the beafts that perilh ; akin to the
angelical tribe, yea made after God's own image at
firft ; muft needs bear us in hand, that as we eonfift
of one part not of the nature of the earth, but a fpi-
ritual fubftance ; fo we are not to perilh with the
earth, but will at length, fmce we are not to fray
here, be inhabitants of another world.

8. There are not wanting emblems of another
world after this, to teach us it by the eye, as well as
by the ear. There was a pure and undented world
that Adam was brought into, wherein was paradife,
by which heaven is expreffed in fcripture. This
quickly went out of fight. And a defiled, finful,
miferable world fucceeded, much like what it is now,
that lafted long. That old world was deftroyed by
the waters of the flood, and a new world fucceeded

The Being of another World proved, 137

to it thereafter. An emblem of the deftroying of
this by fire, and another world coming in its room.
There was the ftate of the world under the law, and
the ftate thereof under the gofpel, that was long pro-
phefied of under the name of the 'world to come> be-
fore it came. And even the conftant revolutions of
winter and fummer, night and day, may ferve for
memorials of the great change of this world, with
another world to come*

9. Lafily, The word cannot be fulfilled, if there be
not a world to come v for fure in many parts thereof
it is not fully accomplifhed in this world. Now it is
more fure than heaven and earth, and muft be com-
pletely fulfilled ; and therefore there is a world to
come in which it muft be fo, that the veracity of God
may be entire.

(1.) The promifes of the word are far from being
fully accomplifhed in this world : and therefore they
who by faith betake themfelves to them for their por-
tion, muft not only live in faith, but die in faith,
Heb. xi. 13. In this world there is a begun accom-
plishment of them ; but certain it is, that God's peo-
ple have always vaftly more in hope, than in hand, .
1 Gor. ii. 9. But their faith and hope mould be vain,
were there not a world to come.

(2.) The threatenings of the word are not fully
accomplifhed in this world neither. Many ungodly
men live and die in peace, as far as the world can
difcern, Job xxi. 13. Pfal. lxxiii. 3. 4. Yet moir.
terrible things are denounced againft them in the
word; and that they are not accomplifhed in this •
world, is an infallible proof that there is another it
world in which they fhall.

U

I 138 ]

A Dcfcription of the other World.

III. Having evinced the being of another world,
a world to come, we fhall now eflay to give fome
view of that world. And here we are much in the
dark, knowing but very little of the fubjeft ; and
therefore it is a very fcanty view we can pretend to
give of it. The reafons hereof are,

1. We, are while in this body creatures of fenfe,
and much of the knowledge we have arifes from our
fenfes : but thither our fenfes cannot reach. We fee,
and hear, and feel much of this world lying in wick-
ednefs, whereby we are in a capacity to judge there-
of : but in refpe& of thefe our fenfes, and all other,
that world is as if it were not at all ; fo that thofe
who are immerfed in fenfe, void of faith, heed not
that world. There are loud fongs of joy and praife
among the faints in that world, and howlings a*
mong the damned there : but Men we as we will,
we can hear neither. There is mining glory in one
part of it, and darknefs and mlfery in the other : but
neither of them can our eyes perceive.

2. The communication betwixt our world and it, is
ftopt beyond the power of men to open it. Men have
opened a communication betwixt us and the moft re-
mote parts of this world : they have found means to
pafs the vaft oceans between them and us, to go to
them that dwell in the utmoft parts, and to return
and give us defcriptions of their part of the world,
and the manner of the inhabitants. But the invi-
fible world remains yet the unknown land to us, and
will do fo to the end. There is a paffage to it, but
not at our will neither ; but there is no pafiage back
again to us. All of us have friends and acquaintance
there before us, but no more communication betwixt
them and us, than others.

3. Though there have been apparitions of inhabi-
tants of that world, unto (bme of our world, both of
good angels and of faints, Matth. xxvii. 53 and of

evil

Reafons of our oh/cure Views of the other World. 1 3^

evil angels, Matth. iv. j yet it is obfervable, that thefe
were quite extraordinary, and happened but to very
few ; that men are very unable to bear the fight even
of good angels, or to converfe with them, Dan. viii.
17. 18.; and that the accounts they have brought
concerned mens duty, or events to befal in this world,
and not to give them defcriptions of the other world
whence they came. And if at any time evil fpirits
have offered reports of that kind, they cannot be de-
pended on, for the devil is a liar, and the father of it,
John viii. 44. And apparitions of the dead are very,
fufpicious ; and it is like Satan offers in that kind
many illufions, as is thought he did in the cafe of the
apparition of Samuel, 1 Sam. xxviii.

4. The Lord has made the revelations concerning,
the other world, but fparingly in the word, from
whence we get our notices of it. There is as much
there difcovered about it, as is neceffary for us to
know for our falvation. The happinefs of the inha-
bitants of one part of it, and the mifery of the other,
are in the general, plainly laid before us, to (fir us up
to our duty, to fee timely how to be right polled
there: but certainly there is a vail drawn over many
particulars concerning it, which we will never be able
while here to draw by, 1 Kings x. 7 Befides, we
are flow of underftanriing what is revealed about it.

5. La/ily, There is indeed a difproportion between
our prefent faculties, and the clear and diitincl: no-
tions of the other world. As to heaven's happinefs,
there is a plain and pointed teftimony, 1 Cor. ii. 9.
Eye hath not fen, nor ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man, the things which Cod hath pre-
pared for them that love him. The eye fees many
things that the hands cannot reach, the ear hears
more than the eye fees ; but the heart conceives more
than is either feen or heard, yet cannot reach that.
The fame may be faid of the mifery of hell, ir is be-
yond our conception. When Paul was caught up to
the third heaven, he heard unfteakuble words, which

it

T4© A Defcription of the other World,

it is not lawful [marg. pojfible"] for a man to utter,
2 Cor. xii, 4. An evidence hereof is, that the no-
tices given us of the other world, are much in the
way of fimilitudes taken from things we are acquaint-
ed with, as heaven a glorious city, hell a burning lake.
Our Lord gives the reafon, John iii. 12 If I have
told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how fhall
ye believe if 1 tell you of heavenly things ? So our no-
tions of thefe things are like thofe of children of what
they never faw, 1 Cor xiii. 11. 12.

Wherefore the little I can or will adventure to
fay, on that world, (hall be comprifed in a few heads.

1. The parts of the other world.

2. The inhabitants of it.

3. The paffage into it.

4. The ftate of men in it.

I. Of the Parts of the other World.

That vaft world is, according to the fcripture, di-
vided into two, and but two parts, heaven the feat of
the bleffed, and hell the feat of the damned. A pur-
gatory, or place of a middle ftate between thefe, there
is none : for fcripture mentions but two places, into
one of which fouls feparated from their bodies do pafs,
Luke xvi. 22. 23. And accordingly there are but
two ways, the one to life, the other to deftru&ion,
Matth. vii. 13. 14. Befides, the fins of believers are
fully purged away by the blood of Chrift, and the
fcripture knows no other purgative of fin, 1 John i.
7. Heb. x. 14. 17. Unbelievers die in their fins
without hope, Prov. xiv. 32. The faints are happy
immediately after death, Rev. xiv. 13. Therefore
Paul defired to be diflblved, Phil. i. 23. For we
know, fays he, that if our earthly houfe of this taber*
nacle were dijfolved, we have a building of Cod, an
■bzufe not made with hands, eternal in the heavens,
2 Cor. v. 1.

I fhall fpeak a word of thefe two parts.

FIPiST,

Of Heaven. 141

FIRST, The one part of the other world is Hea-
ven, the empyreal heaven, the feat of the bleffed.
Concerning .which, under the guidance of fcripture-
light, we may confider three things of it as a part of
the other world.

First, What it is; for that it is can be refufed
by none who own the fcripture, and the being of
another world.

1. It is a real definite place. I think they refine
too much on the fcripture expreffion that deny a local
heaven, and confine it to the notion of a irate. Our
Lord exprefsly calls it a place, John xiv. 2. In my
Father's boufe are many man/tons ; if it were not fo9
1 would have told you : I go to prepare a place for you.
And the body of Chrift is contained in it, A&a
iii. 21. and the bodies of fome faints, Enoch and E-
lias, are already in it, and the bodies of all the ele£fc
(hall be in it; and bodies muft needs be circumscri-
bed in a place.

It is a definite place, and not every where, where
God is. It is not on earth, for earth and heaven are
oppofed, Pfal. cxv. 16. Col. iii. i. And betwixt it
and hell a gulf is fixed, that it reaches not thither,
Luke xvi. 26. And though finite fpirits that are
perfect are 'in it, yet it cannot contain God, who is
not only omniprefent, but immenfe, 1 Kings viii. 27.
therefore it is a place that hath its bounds. Hence,

2. It is a created thing; for it is the throne of
God, If. lxvi. 1. his houfe and dwelling, John xiv.
2. therefore is not God, but created by him ; fince
whatfoever is, is either the Creator or a creature.
The fcripture is expreis, that God made it, Heb. xi.
10. For he looked for a city which hath foundations ,
whofe builder and maker is God. And whereas it is
faid to be not made with hands> 2 Cor. v. 1. Heb ix.
24. that denies it only to be made by men, as houfes
here are, and the tabernacle was.

Moreover, it was created within the fix days, and
therefore is not to be imagined to have been long be-
fore

142 A Defer iption of the other World.

fore this world, much lefs from everlafting, Exod.
XX. 1 1 . No ; but it was created the firft day, and
was abfolutely the firft thing that was created,
Gen. i. i. Accordingly the inhabitants thereof, the
angels, created with it, are faid to have (homed at
laying the foundation of the earth, Job xxxviii. 4. 7.
Agreeable to all which it is faid to have been prepa-
red from the foundation of the world, Matth. xxv. 34.
Secondly, Where it is. As to this point, the
fituation thereof the fcripture is plain in two things.

1. That it is upward from us who are in this vi-
able world. For it is the dwelling of God, and
where the man Chrift hath his feat, and that is on
high, Pfal. cxiii. 5. Who is like unto the Lord our
God, iv ho dwelleth on high ? Hcb. i. 3. When he
had by himfelf purged our .fins, fat down on the
right hand of the Majefiy on high. Col. iii. 1. If
ye then be rifen with Chrifl, feek thofe things which
are above, where Chrift fitteth on the right hand of
Cod. Chrift coming thence into our world at firft,
is faid to come down from it, John iii. 13. *, and at his
fecond coming, he will defcend from it, and be met
by the faints in the air, 1 ThefT iv. 16. 17. So
when he went to if after his refurre£tion, he is faid
to have been carried up into it, Luke xxiv. 51. taken
up, gone up, a cloud receiving him out of the dif-
ciples fight, A&s i. 9. 10.

2. That it is above all the vifible heavens, fun,
moon, and ftars. For the heaven which is the feat
of the bleiTed, is the fame heaven where the man
Chrift is, John xvii. 24. & xiv 3. therefore they are
faid to be with Chri/t, Phil. i. 23. with the Lord,
I ThefT. iv. 17. But the place where Chrifl is, is a-
bove and far above all the vifible heavens, Eph. iv. 10.
Therefore it is above them all. Hence the fcripture
calls it the third heaven, 2 Cor. xii. 2. It fpeaks of a
threefold heaven. (1.) The airy heaven, wherein the
clouds are, Gen. vii. 11. and the fowls fly, Gen. i.
20. hence called the clouds of heaven, and the fowls

Of Heaven. 143

tf heaven. (2.) The ftarry heaven, where are the
fun, moon, and ftars, Gen. i. 14. 16 called there-
fore the hoft of heaven , Deut. xvii. 3. (3.) The
third heaven above all thefe, which is the feat of the
bleffed.

Thirdly, What fort of a place it is, as to the
qualities thereof. A particular defcription thereof is
beyond the reach of mortals, 1 Cor. ii. 9. It is ob«
fervable, that Mofes does no more but mention itf
Gen. i. and then proceeds to the defcription of the
earth and vifible heavens, their parts, and how they
were created ; thus drawing a vail over the higheft
heavens, not to be removed till we come there.
Only fomc general notices of it appear through the
vail, in the light of the word, which we mall ob-
ferve. It is,

1. A holy places Pfal- xv. 1. the holy of holies,
or the holieft of all, Heb. ix. 8. in allufion to the
place in the tabernacle and temple fo called. This
lower world is the open court as it were, the (tarry
heaven the holy place ; but the third heaven the holy
of holies, into which Chrift at his afceniion as our
High Prieft is entered, Heb. ix. 12. and has opened
the entry into it for us alfo, chap, x 19.

Here this world lies in wickednefs, there the
other world fhines in holinefs. Here is no clean
thing, there is no unclean thing, Rev xxi. 27. It
is the holy Jerufalem, ver. 10. There is nothing there
but what is holy, perfectly holy : even the fpirits of
juft men muft be made perfect, ere they enter there ;
and for others, they can never breathe the air of that
holy land, but are kept without, chap. xxii. 15.

2. A moft lightfome place. It is all light, Col. i.
1 2. The fun in his brightnefs makes this world plea-
fant; but then all looks awful and gloomy again in
the ni^ht, and there is always night in fome place of
it But there is no night, no darknefs there, Rev.
xxi. 25. The feat of the blefl^d enjoys an eternal
day -, for the light th^ieof is not made by fun and

moon

144 <A Defcription of the other World*

moon circling about it, as here : they would be at
needlefs there, as. the lighting of a twopenny candle
in the brighter!: funfhine here. And fuch light it is,
as mortal eyes cannot behold, i Tim, vi. 16.

3. A mod glorious place, Pfal lxxiii. 25. How
glorious would a king's palace on earth, with all its
rich furniture, appear to us ? But mould all the glory
of all the palaces on earth be brought together in-
to one, how much more would that appear glorious ?
and we are allowed that thought to help us to con-
ceive of heaven, Rev. xxi. 24. The kings of the earth
do bring their ghry and honour into it. For it is the
palace of the King of kings, rial. xlv. 15. where he
keeps his court. Nay, it is his throne, If lxvi. 1.
Thus J ait h the Lordy The heaven is my t krone > and4he
earth is my foot/fool. How glorious rauft that throne
be, that has fuch a footftool ? 80 glorious that it would
abfolutely confound us mortals with its dazzling glory
and fplendour, Job xxvi. 9,

4. A mod rich place. We know the riches of far
countries, by the rich things brought out of them to
our country : now every valuable thing comes from
thence, Jam. L 17. Every good gift y and every per*
feci gift is from above, and comet h down from the Fa-
ther of lights. Every inhabitant there is a king, with
a crown on his head, a fceptre in his hand, and royal
treafures to fupport his dignity : for heaven is a crown'
ing cityy whoje merchants are princes , whofe traffickers
are the honourable of the earthy to allude to If. xxiii.
8. There the gates are of pearly and the Jlreet of pure
gold, Rev. xxi. 21. It is rich in its affording all
things within itfelf, ver. J* He that overcomethfhall
inherit all things^ and I will be his God> and hejhall
be my fsn.

5. A mofl; pleafant place. How can it be other-
wife, confidering the light, glory, and riches, that
muft needs make it a molt beautiful and lovely place ?
therefore it is called paradife, 2 Cor. xii. 4. There
a river of pleafures runs, enough to fatisfy all the in-
habitants,

Of Heaven. 145

habitants, Pfal. xxxvi. 8. ; but no furfeiting, for there
arc no dieggy pleafures there. Thefe we mortals can
have no diftind notion of; the beft guefs to be made
of them is, by the foretaftes of heaven in the joy of
the Holy Ghoft, fometimes afforded believers.

6. A mod fpacious place, John xiv. 2. In my Fa-
ther's houfe are many manfions. It is (hewn us not
only under the notion of a large houfe, but of a coun-
try, yea a kingdom. If the airy heaven is more fpa-
cious that our earth, which it furrounds, and the
ftarry heaven than the airy heaven, what can we
think of the third heaven that is above them all? Be-
ing a real place, it cannot be immenfe indeed, it i*
meafurable ; but we find it is meafured by an angel,
not by a man, Rev. xxi. 9. 15. And how can it be
otherwife than of a vaft fpace, that is to be the happy
abode of all the faints with the angels, containing the
bodies of all faints that have been, or fhall be to the
end of the world ?

7. Laftly, A place liable to no mock or change.
The apoltle intimates to us, that it is a continuing
city, Heb. xiii. 14. that will (land when all this world
is laid in allies : a city that hath foundations, chap. xi.
10. viz. which fhall never be overturned : a kingdom
that cannot be moved, Heb. xii. 28. even when the
vifible heavens and earth fhall be fhaken, fo as to be
fhaken all afunder. Therefore it is eternal, 2 Cor.
v. 1.

Inf. 1. Let God's people be put to fuffer for him
what they will, they can never be lofers at his hand,
Heb. xi. 16. God is not afiamed to be called their
Cod : for he hath' prepared for them a city. Suppofe
they be turned out of houfe and hold, pinched with
cold, hunger, thirft, and nakednefs, loaded with re-
proach, fuffer the moft exquiiite torments unto death ;
they are not lofers at his hand : he may well put
them to all thefe, and yet maintain and fhew his
fpecial love to them, having fuch a place provided for
them in the other world, where all will be abundant-

3 N Jy

14<5 A Defcription of the other World.

]y made up. And they had need of much here, that
are like to have no part there : for have what they
will, it is impofiible it can make up their lofs.

2. Lift your eyes, O finners, from off all worldly
glory, and flay your purfuit of it: there is a glory of
heaven, in the -view of which it would all disappear,
like as the ftars do at the rifing of the fun. Alas \ the
glory that takes with moft of us, is that which La-
ban's fons fo highly efteemed, Gen. xxxi. i. a great
ftock, riches, and wealth ; they fee no glory fo at-
tractive as that, But if ye are the children of God,
the glory of the city above will darken it in your eyes.
O fet your eyes and hearts on that glorious city, Heb.
xi. 10. The earth, in its moft beautiful fpots is the
work of God's hands, but the vifible heavens of his
fingers, Pfal. viii. 3. but of the feat of the blefled he
is the artift, Heb. xi. 10. Gr. as if the Omnipotent
had ufed a peculiar art in making of that.

3. See the neceffity of holinefs, Heb. xii 14. With-
out holinefs no man Jhall fee the Lord, Pfal. xv. 1.
Lord, ivho fiall abide in thy tabernacle ? -who Jhall
dwell in thy holy hill? The unholy may get room in
this world, and the chief rooms : but there is no room
for them in the other world, but without the gates of
heaven in outer darknefs. If there be no holinefs
here, there will be no happinefs hereafter j the dogs
and fwine come not into that holy place.

4. How inexpreflibly happy fhall they be that get
thither ? to enjoy the light there, behold the glory,
polTefs the riches, drink of the refined pleafures, walk
at liberty in that fpacious place, and enter into hap-
pinefs there where there is no change ? The faith of
this could not mifs, if lively, to caufe them fing the
triumph before the vi&ory.

5. Lafly, What an unfpeakable lofs muft the lofs
of heaven be? If there were no more for hell, it
might be moft heavy. So great as heaven's happinefs
is, fo great will their lofs be, who come (hort of it.

SECONDLY,

Of Helh 147

SECONDLY, The other part of the other world
is Hell, the feat of the damned. Concerning which,
confidered as a part of the other world, we fliall, un-
der the guidance of fcripture-light, inquire into three
thrngs.

First, What it is ? That there is a hell as well
as a heaven, one who believes the fcripture cannot
doubt. As to what it is, we fay,

1. It is a real definite place alfo. There is a local
hell, as well as heaven. The fciipture exprefsly calls
it a place, A£ts i. 25. — that he> viz. Judas, might
go to his own place. And it hath its bounds whereby
it is feparated from heaven, Luke xvi. 26. There
the fpirits of wicked men feparated from their bodies,
are detained as in a prifon, 1 Pet. iii. 19. 20.; and
there their bodies being reunited to their fouls at the
laft day, will be (hut up, Matth. xxv. 41.

2. Hence it is a created thing alfo, ibid. But when
it was created, I cannot fay, no exprefs mention be-
ing made of it by Mofes in the hiftory of the creation.
Only it is of old > If. xxx. ult. And whereas it is evi-
dent that the angels were fallen very early, and, I
think, by the firft day of man's creation ; they found
it ready for them upon their finning, 2 Pet. ii. 4.
This concludes it to have been made within the fix
days.

Secondly, Where it is? This queftion we can-
not pretend to fatisfy, the fcripture not being clear
in this point. It is our bufinefs to know how to e-
fcape it, rather than to difpute where it is. Two
things in the general feem plain about it.

1. That it is without the boundaries of the heaven
which is the feat of the bJefTed. Hence it is called
outer darknefsy Matth. viii. 12. It is without the
gates of the holy city, Rev. xxii. 14. 15. the place of
his glorious prefence, as Cain was cait out from his
prefence, 2 ThefT. i. 9.

2. That it is down or beneath in refpecT: of heaven,
the feat of the blefled j for fo the fcripture Itill fpeaks

N 2 of

148 A Defcription of the other World.

of it as* below. Capernaum exalted to heaven, was
to be brought down to hell, Matth. xi. 23. the fallen
angels were cq/i down into it, 2 Pet. ii. 4. The way
cf life is above to the wife, fays Solomon, that he may
depart from hell beneath, Prov. xv. 24. And fays
God, A fire is kindled in my anger, and fhall burn
vnto the lowefi hell, Deut. xxxii. 22. Accordingly
it is called the depth, Luke viii. 31. the bottomlefs
fit, Rev. ix. 1. the motion from which is afcending
or coming up, chap. xi. 7.

Where it is more particularly, I think, the fcrip-
ture doth not clearly fhew. It is certain it is, be
where it will.

Thirdly, What fort of a place it is, as to the qua-
lities thereof ?

1. It is an unholy and unclean place, as much as
any place can be fo. There meet together all the
dregs of the creation, perfons and things, fin and all
the effects thereof with the finners, Rev. xx. 14. 1$.
Now there is much of that uncleannefs upon the
earth ; but the earth will be purged and purified as
length, and all gathered together there.

2. It is a place of horrible darknefs, called there-
fore outer darknefs, Matth. viii. 12. Light is fweet :
but it is the land of darknefs, as darknefs itfelf : there
is the blacknefs of darknefs, Jude 13. chains of dark-
nefs, 2 Pet. ii. 4. where I think there is an alluilon
to the Egyptian darknefs, Exod. x. 22. 23. and the
mif I of darknefs, 2 Pet. ii. 17. No fun, moon, nor
ftar light appear there, no candle mines there : and
whatever fire is there, it is fcorching heat without
light, for thofe who having the light chofe to walk in
darknefs.

3. It is a mod difmal and melancholy place, a
place of weeping, wailing, and gnajhing of teeth,
Luke xiii. 28. Nothing pleafant is to be found there ;
no pleafures of the mind, no pleafures of fenfe are there.
It is a lake, yet there is not a drop of water in that

lake

Of Hell. I4£

lake to cool the tongue ; it is a lake of fire and brim-
ftone. It is a pit, a bottomlefs pit, What heart
can conceive the horror of fuch a place, or what
dreary place or dungeon in the world can be a fuf-
ficient emblem of it ?

4. It is a place of torment, Luke xvi. 24. ; it is
therefore reprefented by Tophet, or the valley of
Hinnom, from whence it hath its name in the New
Teftament, in which place the idolaters burnt their
children in the lire, and beat drums that they might,
not hear their fhrieks. There the damned find them-
felves gnawn with the worm that never dies, fcorch-
ed with the fire that is never quenched. There men
pay dear for the pleafures of fin, which they fome-
times fwam in, being punifhed from the pretence of:
the Lord.

5. It is a fall and firm place, whence there is no 1
efcaping. It is God's prifon-houfe, where be keeps
his criminals in chains till the judgement of the great
day, 1 Pet. iii. 19. & 2 Pet. ii. 4. There is a gulf
fixed that none can pafs, to get out of that place into
the feat of the blefled : but when one is once there*,
no Height nor, might can obtain liberty any more.

6. Lajily) It is an everlafting place. Whether
there may be any change of it by the general confla- -
gration, or not, we do not know : but certain it is3
that if it be, it will be to the worfe, and hell fhall
be for ever as well as heaven, for the fire there will
be everlafting, Matth. xxv. 41. and the chains of"
darknefs there are everlafting, Jude 6. There the
worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched : there-
fore the place where they ihall be. or are, is ever?
lafting.

Inf. 1. God is a juft God, and a moft dreadful
hater and avenger of fin, Hab. i. 13. He has given
inconteftable evidences of it in this world : but in the.;
other world he gives fuch evidence as carries off all
doubt of it from the finner. As looking up into
keaven the feat of the blelTed, you may fee God's love
N 3 to. .

150 A Defcription of the other World.

to holinefa ; fo looking down to hell the feat and
place of the damned, you may fee what fiery indig-
nation he has againft fin. How keen muft that ha-
tred of it be in him, who has prepared fueh a place
for the punifhment of it ?

2. God may well fuffer finners to pafs unpunifhed
and profper for a while, without any the leaft impu-
tation on his holinefs and juftice. For he fees the
finner's day is coming, the place is prepared where
his holinefs and juftice will be fufficiently vindicated.
Indeed if there were no other world than this, or no
hell in the other world for finners, juftice would ne-
ceffarily require that they fhould be punifhed in this
life. But fince there is a reckoning with them on
the other fide, the accounts may lie dormant while
they are here, with fafety of juftice.

3. The pleafures and profits of fin are dear bought,
in whatever meafure any do enjoy them, Matth xvr.
26. Fcr what is a man profited, if he /hall gain the
whole world, and lofe his own foul? or whatfhalla
man give in exchange for his foul ? It is abfolutely
impoifible that ever any thing gained here fhould be
able to quit the coft of fuch a lodging after death. If
one fhould be kept in greateft extremity during this
life, heaven would make up all : but if all the ima-
ginable pleafures and profits of this world fhould be
heaped together upon one, they could never be a fuf-
iicient hire for going to fuch a place.

4. Laflly, The mifery of the damned is inexpref-
fible, but certainly it is little believed. O what muft
the cafe of thofe be, whofe. unholy lives have now
lodged them in that unclean place ! How will they
taks with the blacknefs of darknefs there ! How
can they bear up m that difmal place \ endure the
torments there, feeing no way to efcape ! How muft
it cut them, to think that the re they muft be for ever !
Yet how unconcerned are we, that we go not into
that place of torment !

Thefe are the two parts of the other world, heaven

Of the new Heavens and the new Earth. 151

and hell. And between them there is a great gulf
frnpaffable fixed, Luke xvi. 26. The nature of it we
know not, further than that thereby all paffage be-
twixt the two parts of the other world is itopt. Be-
twixt this world and the other there is a palTage : but
betwixt the parts of the other world there is none,
and there never will be any, for it is fixed. So the
inhabitants of each part are unalterably feated, that
they cannot remove from the one to the other for
ever, which makes the happinefs of the one, and the
mifery of the other, eternal,

Thefe are the prefent parts of the other world.
There is another part of it which is future, and will
be added thereto after the laft: judgement, viz. the
new Heavens and the new Earth, to be made by the
omnipotent hand after the general conflagration, If.
lxv. 17. Behold^ 1 create new heavens, and a new
earth. 2 Pet. iii. 12. 13 — We, according to his pro-
mife, look for new heavens, and a new earth, wherein
dwelleth right eonfnefs. Rev. xxi. 1. And I/aw a new
heaven, and a new earth. Of the nature and ufe of
thefe we know very little. Only,

I. They will be an appurtenance of heaven the
feat of the blefTed, 2 Pet iii 13. As this world now
is an appurtenance of hell, as being a world lying in
wickednefs ; fo that will be an appurtenance of hea-
ven, as an inferior world wherein dwelleth righte-
oufnefs. It will be the court of the temple above,
having fuch a relation to heaven, as the court of If-
rael and the court of the priefts to the temple-huufe,
If. lxvi. 22. The new heavens, and the new earth
which I will make, Jhall remain before me, Heb. at
my face, faith the Lord. So did the court, Exod.
xxix. 42. This Jhall be a continual .burnt -offering
throughout your generations, at the door of the ta~
bernacle of the congregation, before the Lord : where-
J will meet you, to Jpeak there unto thee. 1 Chron.
i. 6. And Solomon went up thither to the brafen altar
before the Lord, which was at the tabernacle of the

congregation,

52 A Defcriptton of the other World.

congregation, and offered a thou/and burnt offerings
upon it.

2. They will be a very glorious heaven and earth,
far more glorious than thofe that now we have. This
is intimated by the newnefs of them. The heavens
and earth that now are, are like an old garment,
Pfal. cii. 26. fullied and rent: but they will be
fplendid and beautiful as a new one. The day of
their creation is the day of reftoration of all things,
viz. into their primitive glory and fplendor, A£ls
iii. 21. and that with fuch an advantage, that the for-
mer (hall not be remembered, in refpe£t of the fur-
pafling glory, If. lxv. 17.

3. They will be pure and incorrupt, Rom. viii.
2 1 . The creature it/elf alfo Jhall be delivered from the
bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the
children of God. There will be no noifome vapour
there, nothing offenfive to the eye, fmell, or ear, or
touch •, but all will be grateful to the fenfes of glori-
fied bodies, Rev. xxi. 4. 5. There Jhall be no more
death, neither forrow, nor crying, neither Jhall there
be any more pain : for the former things are pajfed a-
•way. And he that fat upon the throne, /aid, Behold,
J make all things new. All the effe&s of fin on the
creature mall be purged away, and as it were fwept
off into the lake of fire, Rev. xx. 14. That earth
will be holy ground, in a more ftricl fenfe than the
ground of the temple of Jerufalem was \ nothing
touching there, that is defiling, and- therefore nothing
to purge away there. Compare R.ev. xvi. 16. 19.

4. They will belong to the faints, without any
partnerihip of the wicked in them, 2 Pet. Hi, 13.
We — look for new heavens, and a new earth, wherein
dwelleth righteoufnefs. The wicked's heaven and earth
will then be away, confumed with fire, and thofe of
the godly fucceed, wherein they can have no part
with them. The dominion over the creatures loft by
Adam, and purchafed again for the faints by Chrift,
is not fully reliored in this life : but it is promifed,

and

Of the new Heavens and the new Earth. 153

and (hall then be reftored in the other world. Abra*
ham had the promife of being heir of the world,
Rom. iv. 13. and the meek have the promife of in-
heriting the earth, Matth. v. 5. and that alone and in
profound peace, Pfal, xxxvii. 9. 10. 11. which hath
not its full accompliihment but in the new earth.

5. They will be of ufe for the glory of God, and
the delight of the faints. Thefe were the defign and
end of the firft heavens and earth, which were made
all very good : but that defign of them was ^marred
by fin. Therefore, in the reftitution of all things,
that defign fhall take, Rom. viii. 20. 21. God will
fet them up as monuments of his glory, looking-
glafTes of his power, wifdom, and goodnefs. They
are fo now, Pfal. xix. 1. but, by reafon of our blind-
nefs, the end is not obtained : but then the eyes of
the faints (hall be cleared, and the looking-glais
brightened j and fo the Creator mall have his glory.
And they will ferve for the delight of the faints, If.
Ixv. 17. 18. Behold, I create new heavens, and a new
earth : and the former /hall not he remembered, nor
come into mind. But be you glad and rejoice for ever
in that which I create : for behold, I create Jerufa-
lem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. God himfelf
will be their chief delight, with the glory of the high-
eft heavens, but the new heavens and earth wili be
their fecondary delight.

And none muft think, that upon this there muft
be an interruption of their heavenly joy and happi-
nefs : for fuppofe them to be fometimes bodily on
the new earth, which 2 Pet. iii. 13. feems to favour,
it will be but as coming to their country-feat, and
they will dill have the glorious prefence of God with
them, for the new heavens and earth fhall fiand at
his face, If. lxvi. 22. Heb. as the court of the tem-
ple did. There will be no with- holding the face of
his throne there, as now, Job xxvi. 9.

6. Lajily, They will remain for ever, If. lxvi. 22.
That glorious fabric fhall itand for ever : it will ne-
ver

154 A Defcription tf the other World.

yet wax old, it (hall never be ihaken in the lead, nor
taken down. A beginning it will have, but no end.
There will be no deluge, nor conflagration of the
new heavens and earth.

Inf. i. As we go through this world towards the
other, there is great need to take heed that we do not
miftake our way, taking the way to hell inftead of
the way to heaven. For where-ever our way lands
us, there we are fixed. If oae inftead of going to
one city, fhould miftake his way and go to another,
he feeing his miftake might go out of the wrong way
to the right one, and fo retrieve his error: but when
one is once landed in hell, there is no retrieving of
that miftake, there is no getting over the gulf betwixt
it and heaven.

2. The unhinging of the creation will be reme-
died, and the abufed creatures will be delivered and
reftored to their primitive end. Ungodly men abufe
thefe vifible heavens and earth to the diilionour of
God and fervice of their lufts ; whereby the creation
groans under them. But God will put an end to
that, deftroying this abufed and polluted fabric, and
rear up a new one, where no abufe can have place
for ever, but God (hall be glorified.

3. They make more hafte than good fpeed, that
fet their hearts on this earth to inherit it. For what-
ever fpeed they come therein, their inheritance will
be burnt up, it will not laft : the earth that will laft,
where one may make a fure purchafe, belongs to the
world to come, and particularly to heaven, and will
be the inheritance of the faints only, Pfal. xxxvii. 9.
For evil doers Jhall be cut off : but thofe that wait up'
en the Lord, they Jhall inherit the earth. Therefore
it is undoubtedly better to wait for our part by faiths
than to prefs for it in hand here.

4. God's people have no reafon to grudge and be
uneafy, however fmall a portion they have of this
earth ; nor yet to defpond on the view of the wicked -
fiefs done upon it. For there is a new heaven and

earth

Of the Inhabit ants of the other World, ri$$

earth coming more glorious than this, in which they
fliall not be hampered, but enjoy it all with all free-
dom as the lords of it. And there fhall be no fin nor
diforder in it, no injuftice or oppreffion, no ill neigh-
bourhood ; nothing but righteoufnefs dwelling there.

5. Lajlly, Hell will be a clofe prifon, there will be
no getting out of it for ever. There is an impaffable
gulf betwixt heaven and it ; the new heavens and earth
will be an appurtenance of heaven *, and therefore
the prifoners there can no more get out to the new
earth, than to the higheft heaven. Nay, neither de-
vils nor men will be able to come from thence to fet
a foot upon that earth, however they range through
this. So lofing heaven, they will lofe the earth too.

Thus far of the parts of the other world.

II. Of the Inhabitants of the other World.

We have feen the parts of the other world, let us
now confider the inhabitants of thefe parts. And,

FIRST, The inhabitants of the upper part, viz.
heaven. Thefe are,

1. God himfelf, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghofl,
Matth. vi. 9. God is every where prefent, and im-
mense : but there he is as a King in his palace, on
his throne. There he manifefts his glory, in a man-
ner inconceivable to us mortals : and by his glorious
prefence makes the happinefs of the creatures, who
being there fee his face. How glorious is a palace
wtien the king is in it with his court I In heaven the
great King of the world keeps his court.

2. The man Chrift. He was fometime an inha-
bitant of our world, and when he was in it had not
where to lay his head : now he is there, and will be
there to the end of the world, Acls iii. 21. fitting
on the right hand of God, as the heir of all things.
And there he will be for evermore, 1 ThefT. iv. 17.
He is there in inconceivable glory, even of his blefT-
ed body, Phil. iii. 21. In his transfiguration on

earth,

I $6 A V Defer iption of the other World*

earth, his face did Jhine as the fun, and his raiment
was ivhite as the light> Matth.. xvii. 2. How glori-
oufly muft it then fhine in heaven !

3. The holy angels, Matth. xxiv. 36. Thefe are
glorious creatures, natives of the place, pure fpirits
that never finned, waiting about the throne, ready
to execute the commands of God and Chrift their
head. They are of a nature fuperior to man ; but
full they are of love and good will to us, witnefs their
fong, Luke ii. 14,. at our Saviour's birth; and our
nature is exalted above theirs in Chrift, fo that they
are miniftering fpirits to the heirs of falvation, Heb.
i. vlt. Their number we know not, but there muft
needs be vail: numbers of them, confidering the fcrip-
ture-account, Dan vii. 10. even fuch as i* innume-
rable to us in this ftate, Heb. xii. 22. See Matth.
xxvi 53.

4. Lafily, The fouls of all departed faints are there,
now perfected, Heb. xii. 23. There are the bleffed
fouls of all the holy patriarchs, prophets, and apoftles,
and of all the godly that have been in the world fince
the beginning : thither all the godly that now are in
the world, yea and all that (hall be to the end of the
world, fhall certainly go and dwell for ever. Enoch
and Elias are there foul and body; and fo {hall all
the faints be after the laft judgement, fhining in glo-
ry, as the ftars of the firmament.

SECONDLY, The inhabitants of the lower part
of the other world, viz. hell. Thefe are,

1. The devil and his angels, Matth. xxv. 41. all
of them with their prince, called the prince of the de*
viis, chap xii. 24. fallen angels, 2 Pet. ii. 4. Thefe
are mod wicked and unclean fpirits, enemies to God
and Chrift, Matth, xiii. 39. 2 Cor. vi. 15. and to
mankind, therefore called Satan or an adverfary ;
fubtil as a ferpent and mifchievous, falfe and decei-
ving, malicious and cruel, murderers and roaring
lions, defperate without hope for ever. The num-
ber of them is without queftion vaft, a legion of them

being

Of the Inhabitants of the other World* 157

being in one man, Luke viii. 30. They are not fo
fixed to their eternal abode as yet, but that this world
is full of them, fo as no man wants a tempter carrying
his hell about with him ; but they will be fixed at
length in their place, which they themfelves are furc
of, Luke viii. 31. Jam. ii. 19.

2. The fouls of the wicked departed, Luke xvi. 23.
There is their habitation as of prifoners in a pit,
1 Pet. in. 19. Thefe alfo are wicked fpirits, having
been by death driven away in their wickednefs 5 and
now abfolucely defperate, without the lead gleam of
hope; from which mull: needs ilTue their arriving
there at a height of wickednefs agreeable to their
ftate. Their number alfo is vaft, being all that have
lived and died in their natural ftate from the begin-
ning of the world, and will be increafed with all that
Shall fo live and die to the end.

Inf. 1. Heaven's happinefs mud needs be unspeak-
able, in refpect of the fociety there. The faints go-
ing thither mail no more be in a lonely condition,
but have the pleafant fociety of other faints perfected,
holy angels, the man Chrift, and God himfelf. The
fociety of faints here is very comfortable, how much
more the general aflembly of them in heaven ? There
are the angels* the courtiers of the great King burning
with love to God, and warm love to the faints. Yea
there is the tabernaeleof God with men, Rev. x&i. 3.

2. Hell's horror mud be unfpeakable alfo, in re-
gard of the fociety there. The appearance of one,
evil Spirit now ftrikes the children of men with ter-
ror : but who can conceive the horror of being caft.
into one prifon, with the damned crew, to hear trie,
hiding of thefe Serpents, the roarings of thefe devour-
ing lions, the weeping, wailing, and gnafiiing of
teeth of the wicked funk in defpair ? and that for
ever !

3. The two parties now wearied of one another,
will be fairly parted in the other world, never to
come together again. The godly 'are weary of the

3 Q Society

158 A Defer iption of the other World.

fociety of the wicked. The pfalmift finds himfelf as
dwelling in Mefech and Kedar, Pfal. cxx. 5. among
/ions, among them that are fet on fire \ even the Jons
of men, ivhofe teeth are /pears and arrows, and their
tongue a fharp /word, Pfal. lvii. 4. ; and therefore
wifhes for wings to flee away from them, Pfal. lv. 6.
0 that I had wings like a dove ! for then would IJly
away, and be at reft. Death will give thefe wings
to them, that will carry them away quite from among
them. Jeremiah defired a lodge in the wildernefs,
that he might leave his people : but now he has got a
lodging in heaven, where he can no more be uneafy
from them, Jer. ix. 2.

The wicked are weary of the fociety of the godly :
they defire it not, they are hampered with it, it is a
burden to them. They will be quit of it in the o-
ther world, where they will fee their faces no more,
but afar off in Abraham's bofom, and at the laft day
in the air on Chrift's right hand. The unpaffable
gulf will be between them and them there for ever.

4. True lovers of the faints and holy fociety will
be fatisfied at length : and the lovers of the company
of the ungodly will get their hearts fill of it. There
is great ftrefs laid upon our love of the godly for their
godlinefs, Chriftians for Chrift's fake, i John iii. 14.
We know that we have pajfed from death unto life, be-
caufe we love the brethren* Such will never get
enough of their fociety here ; but there they (hall be
led into an unmixed fociety of faints, where is not
one wicked perfon, not one finner : and herewith
they mould now comfort themfelves, while they dwell
in the tents of Kedar. There is great ftrefs alfo laid
on the love of ill company, Prov. xiii. 20. — but a
companion of fools /hall be deflroyed. Such will get a
fill of it, when they come to the other world, to the
fociety wherein is not one gracious perfon; when
they fhall be bundled together in puniihment with
thofe, with whom they have been bundled together in
fin, Matth. xiii. 30.

5. Laftly,

Of the Paffage into the other World. 159

5. Lafliy, As ye would chufe your habitation in.
the other world, chufe your way now ; tor it is im-
poilible that one way can lead to both. The way o£
faith and holinefs leads to heaven, the way of unbe-
lief, unholinefs and licentioufnefs leads to hell, Matth.
vii. 13. 14. Enter ye in at the fi 'rait gate ■, &c. Do
not think ye can enter into life by the broad gate 5
for without holinefs ko man J> bail fee the Lord, Heb.
xii. 14. Ye will join yourfelves to thofe now, with
whom ye will be joined for ever ; therefore fays the
apoftle to the believing Hebrews, Ye are come unto
mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerufalem, and to an innumerable company of
angels, &c. Heb. xii. 22. 23. 24. and fays Solomon,
He that walketh with wife men floall be wife : but a
companion ofjoolsfballbedejlroyed, Prov. xiii. 20.

III. Of the Pajfage into the other World.

As to the paffage of unbodied fpirits, to wit, angels
good or bad, who fometimes are here, and depart
again into the other world, we inquire not about it.
But the paffage into the other world for us mortals,
is what we are concerned to know. Paul had a paf-
fage into it extraordinary for a vifit ; how that was,
in or out of the body, he himfelf could not tell. It
is for habitation, the paffage into it, for our lading
abode, that concerns us. It is twofold.

Firfiy One extraordinary, by a tranflation foul and
body into it. There have been three unqueftionable
inftances of it, viz, of Enoch before the law, Gen.
v. 24. Heb. xi. 5. of Elijah carried up by a whirl-
wind into heaven, 2 Kings ii. 1 1. under the law ;
and of Chrift himfelf, who is faid to have been taken
up, A£ts i. 9. But thefe were altogether extraor-
dinary.

Secondly, The ordinary paffage is by death, whe-
ther into the upper or lower part of the other world,
as appears from the parable of the rich man and La-
O 2 zarus,

160 A Defcription of the ether World,

zarus, Luke xvi. Hence death is called a going hence>
Pfal. xxxix. nit. a departing* Luke ii, 29. viz. out
of this world, John xiiif 1. Death diftblving the
union betwixt the foul and the body, the foul, like a
bird on the opening of the cage, gets away, and goes
into the other world, departing either into heaven or
hell, 2 Cor. v. 1, Phil. i. 23. Luke xvi 22. 23. Of
this paffage we know little, and can only fay thefe
few things.

1. It is a quick pafTage, by which the foul is foon
wafted over and landed on the other fide. What*
ever be the diftanee betwixt us and either part of the
other world, as it is certain it is a raft diftanee be«
twixt us and the higheft heavens, yet the departed
foul foon paifes it over, and is in its place there, as
appears from Chrift's faying to the penitent thief,
Luke xxiii, 43. To-day jhalt thou be with me in pa-
radife\ where the journey was not begun till three
oJ clock afternoon, ver. 44. 46. but accomplifhed that
day. And there is no queftion, but it is much the
fame to the other part, which is the lower part of
the other world.

2. The palTengers are not left alone in it : but as
at our coming forth of the womb into this world,
there are fome people of this world ready to receive
us, and difpofe of us ; fo at our going out of this
world into the other, there are fome of that world to
receive us, and attend us. So that however unknown
the road is to us, we will not be alone in it. And,

17?, As to the fouls of the godly paffing into hea-
ven, it is clear that it is fo with them ; and that,

(1.) The Lord Jefus himfelf is with them. Tbe
general promife fec^ures this, Heb. xiii. 5. J will ne-
ver leave thee, nor forfake thee, David was confi-
dent of it, Pfal. xxiii. 4. Tea, though I walk through
the valley of the fhadow of death, J will fear no evil:
for thou art with me, thy rod and thy jl a ff they com-
fort tne. This was typified by the ark's going before
the people into Jordan, and flaying there till they

were

Of the Pajfage into the other World. 161

were all got fafe over. At the birth of the gracious
foul into the other world, the Lord Jefus himfelf is
the party that receives it, Acls vii. 59.

(2.) That good angels are with them for their con-
voy. They attend them in their life, doing them
many good offices unperceived, having a charge over
them, Pfal. xci. 11. He Jhall give his angels charge
over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. And can on«
imagine that they will be wanting to them on fuch a
non-fuch occafion ? If they are to keep them m all
their ways, furely they will not leave them alone in
that way betwixt the two worlds. They are mini-
ftering fpirits to the apparent heirs of falvation^ Keb.
i. ult. Surely thefe heirs will not want iheir mini-
ftration, when they are to enter to their inheritance.

They will carry them to heaven, Luke xvi. 22.
And this may ferve to account for the quicknefs of
their paffage, being carried by angels, who for their
fpeedy motion arc faid to fly, If. vi. 2. 6. Dan. ix...
21. Compare Pfal. civ. 4, Ezek. i. 14.

2dlyt As to the fouls of the wicked palling into
hell, that matter is not fo very clear. The fcripture
fpeaks not of the rich glutton's attendants into his
place in the other world, Luke xvi. 22. 23. plainly
intimating, that no comfortable or honourable atten-
dance is for them. But yet it gives hints of their-
attendance by ill angels or devils, Job xxxiii. 22.
and is pofitive that they are diiven away, Prov. xiv*
32. And how can it be imagined, but the roaring-
lion, who is flill going about feeking whom he may
devour, will be ready to receive the prey when.it. ia,
coming to his mouth ?

3. It will be a ftrange and furprifing pai&ge. Row
ftrange will it be to the foul to find itfelf in a moment
unbodied, that its body lies dropt in fueh a p]ace3
and it has no more communication with it ! There
will be furprifes of wonder, at the fudden change in.
itfelf, and at the objects about it which it never
faw before. The godly foul will bt furprifed with,

o 3 j°y>

ic?2 A Defcriptiort of the other Wbr$*

joy, in the happy change, the bleffed attendants;,
and the wicked with horror at the unhappy change*
and the frightful fociety it now enters into.

4. Lajtly, A paffage where there is no repafling.
It is without coming back till the great day. The
godly would not, and the wicked fhall not be able to
return. It is a paffage we have no aecefs to make
trial of, but once entering upon it go forward for
good and all, Heb. ix. 27.

Now when the foul is paffed and gone into the
other world, the body ftill remains in this, being laid
up in the grave until the laft day. But there it lies
dead and movelefs, having no more portion in what
is done under the fun. But the body alfo muft paf&
into the other world, and all mankind (hall be inha-
bitants "of that world at length in their bodies, a&
well as their fouls. Of this we may note thefe few
things.

1. The time appointed for it is the laft day. Then
and not till then fhall the bodies of men be tranfport-
ed thither, Matth, xxv. uit. They muft fleep in the
duft, till the end of this world, Job xiv. 12. and
then be removed into the other world, for eternal in-
habitants, not to. remove any more.

2. Then fhall they be raifed up out of their graves
for that paffage, their fouls being reunited to their
bodies : fo fhall they awake out of their long fleep*
Dan. xii. 2. Chrift will come again to judgement,
and the trumpet fhall found, at which all the dead
{hall arife, their fouls being by his mighty power re-
turned into and united again to their bodies, John
v. 28. 29. Then they rife to take their laft farewell
of this prefent world.

3. They fhall be gathered, together by the miniftry
of angels into two companies, the one to pafs into
the upper part, the other into the lower part of the
other world, Mark xiii, 27. Match, xiii, 40. 41.
Thus every grave fhall be emptied then, no phce in
the earth 01 fea. fhall hold, back any of its dead, llev*

Of the Pajfage inU the other World. 163:

xx. 13. and being brought forth, none of them (hall
be loft by the way unto the place where the judge-
ment will be, all fhall be brought thither, Rom. xiv.
10. good and bad, from all corners of the earth and
fea.

4. The fair company of Chrift's fheep fhall be
caught up from this curfed earth, never to fet a foot
on it more, into the clouds, and there in the air be
fet on Chrift's right hand, 1 ThefE iv. 17. Thus
they are fo far in their way to the other world. And
the reprobate goats fhall be left ftanding on their own
earth, upon Chrift's left hand, Matth. xxiv. 40. the
nearer perhaps to their part of the other world. And
this will be the laft ftation that ever they will have
upon it.

5. Chrift will, by a fentence from the throne, ad-
judge the righteous unto the upper part of the other
world, after due cognifance taken of their cafe,
Matth. xxv. 34. Then f had the King fay unto them on
his right hand, Come, ye blejfed of my Fathery inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. And by a fentence from the fame he
will adjudge the wicked unto the lower part of it,
ven 41 • Then fhall he fay a If 0 unto them on the left
handy Depart from me, ye curfed, into everlajiing

Jire, prepared for the devil and his angels. So there
is no more ufe for this world, but faints and finners
muft leave it now, having got their route for the
other world.

6« Laflly, Immediately the wicked pafs away into
hell in one company together, there to receive eter-
nal punifhment; and then the godly having feeu
them turn their backs and go away, do go off into
heaven with Chrift,. And then comes the general
conflagration, fucceeded with the creation of the new-
heavens and earth.

Inf. 1. Death is a. matter of the higher! importance
to all, as being the paflage into the other world. As
none of us can mils to die* fo none oi us can mifs to

pais

164 A Defcription of the other World.

pafs out of this world into the other. Ah I why
then are we fo unmindful of it ? why do we not fet
ourfelves more to prepare for it? Why are we fo
much concerned for this world that we muft leave,
and fo little for that world we muft depart to ? Pafs
we muft, but cannot return : what is but once to be
done, had need to be well done.

2. Though dying is in itfelf an awful thing, yet
to the godly it is moft fafe and comfortable. - They
have a happy lodging on the other fide, and they
will get a joyful convoy thither. To look into the
waters is frightful ; bur they have a firm ground to
the believer, and they are not fo deep as they look to
be. ft is an awful thought, to think of that moment
wherein the foul drops the body, and pafles unto the
other world : but Chrift is ready to receive the belie-
ver's foul, and the angels to welcome and attend it
into their world of blifs.

3. Death, however dreadful it is in itfelf, is for
more dreadful in its confequences to the ungodly.
Were there no more for them but to die, and fo to
be done, or ceafe to be, it would be more tolerable.
But the horrible place they pafs into in the other
world, the frightful ftate abiding them there, is
fearful beyond expreffion. What moment they are
expiring, they are waited for of the deftroyers, t© be
driven away in their wickednefs.

4. Laftly, All of us have certainly greater intereft
and concern in the other world, than in this. For
here we are but pafTengers, there we will be eternal
inhabitants. And not only is the greateft concern
for our fouls there, but even for our bodies too.

IV. Of the State of Men in the other World.

I proceed now to the laft head I propofed to con-
fider, namely, The ftate of niim in the other world.
And in handling of this weighty fubjetl, two things
muft be hiquiied into.

I. The

Of the State of Men in the other World 165

1. The ftate of feparate fouls in the other world.

2. The ftate of foul and body reunited.
Of both which in order.

I. Of the State of feparate Souls in the tther World*

The ftate of feparate fouls commences at death,
whereby the feparation is made, and continues until
the reftrrection, when the foul and body are reuni-
ted. Which ftate therefore can have no place, where
death has not place, as in thofe whom Chriit coming
again will find alive on the earth. For clearing of
this branch, we (hall,

1. Inquire into the ftate of feparate fouls in the
Other world in general.

2. Confider the different ftates of feparate fouls in
the different parts of that world.

I. We fliall inquire into the ftate of feparate fouls
in the other world in general. And,

1. They are in a ftate of activity, and not afleep,
without life, fenfe, underftanding, and action, as
fome profane men would have it. That is the ftate
of the body indeed after death, but not of the foul,
which is of a fpiritual and active nature. The fepa-
rate fouls of the faints are not afleep, but with the
Lord, 2 Cor. v. 8. Phil. i. 23. whereby the fcrip-
ture expreffeth a ftate of happinefs, 1 ThefT. iv. 17.
Neither are the feparate fouls of the ungodly afleep,
as is evident from the cafe of the rich man in hell,
Luke xvi. 23. 24. 25.

2. They are totally and finally removed from the
bufinefs of this world, Eccl. ix. 6. Whatever their
activity be, they a£t no more in thofe things that are
the affairs of this life. Death puts an end to all that
with them, Pfal. cxlvi. 4. and therefore they are
faid to reft from their labours, being freed from the
bufinefs and troubles of this life. Accordingly,
whatever they poflefTed while here in life, their in-

tereft

1 66 A Defffiption of the other World.

tereft therein is expired, Luke xii. 20. However
careful and bufy they have been in thefe, death putt
a final flop thereto in a moment.

3. Their activity is wholly intelle&ual and fpiri-
tual, as that of the angels good or bad, Maith xxii.
30. They are then diverted ©f their bodies, and fo
can ufe them no more than if they had no manner of
concern in them. The body furnifhes all men with
bufinefs, what to eat and drink, wherewith to be
clothed, where to lodge, how to provide for them-
felves and families : and this is the whole bufinefs of
many. But in the other world all that is fcored off.
Only the fpiritual faculties, of underftanding, con-
ference, will, and memory, laft; and thofe will af-
ford them employment and continual action, Luke
xvi. 25.

. 4. Their knowledge is exceedingly enlarged, their
faculties are cleared beyond what they were in this
life, either to their happinefs or mifery. The clay
body being fallen down from about the foul, it will
fee far more clearly than before. The mift that arofe
from this vain world unto them, will then be fcatter-
cd. The other world they only heard of before, they
will then fee, and know the truth of what was re-
ported from the word, by their own experience.
Whatever be the ignorance prevailing in this world,
there is none there but will know at another rate
than now, what God, Chrift, fin, <bc. are.

5. They are in a focial ftate, and not folitary,
they are in company with other fpirits. The other
world is doubtlefs a throng world, thronger than
this, whether we view it in the upper or lower part :
for there all part generations of men are, here is one
generation only. The faints go into a blefled fo-
ciety, Heb. xii. 5 and the wicked have their nume-
rous fociety in the other world too, Luke xvi. 28.

6. Lajfly, They are in a determinate unalterable
ftate, and can never change feats more, Luke xvi.
26. Now we are in a ftate of trial in this world,

but

Of the State of feparate Souis in Heaven. 16 J

but in the other world they are at their journey's end.
The tree is fallen, and mud lie for ever as it has
fallen. In heaven there is no need of repentance,
and in hell there is no place for it. Death deter-
mines our eternal date. If one is well in the other
world, he is well for ever ; if he is ill there, he is
fo for ever.

II. Let us now confider the different dates of feparate
fouls in the different parts of the other world, viz.
heaven and hell. And,

FIRST, Of the date of feparate fouls in heaven.

1. They are perfect in holinefs there, Heb. xii.
23. In death dropping their bodies, they drop alfo
the body of fin and death, that they may enter the
new Jerufalem, where no unclean thing can enter.
Then there is a full application of the blood of Chrift
to them, which in a moment makes them perfectly
clean. So there they fhine in the glory of the per-
fection of the divine image in them. There is no
more darknefs in their minds, rebellion in their
wills, or carnality in their affe&ions. The guilt,
power, defilement, and indwelling of fin, are wholly
and for ever removed.

2» They are in a date of red there, Rev. xiv. 13.
Their wearifome toil and labour which they had with
the troubles of this world, is at an end, never to re-
turn ; the weary work they had in fighting againft
{in, their watching, mourning, groaning, fyc, there-
by occafioned, are all away. They are got through
the weary wildernefs and Jordan, and are now feated
in Canaan above. The victory is obtained, and the
fword is laid by.

3. They are with the Lord there, 2 Cor. v. 8.
They have the glorious prefence of God and Chrift
there. That Jefus in whom they believed, and whem
their foul loved while unfeen, they iee now, for they
are with him, Phil. i. 23. That God to whom their

fouls

1 68 A Dejcrtption of the other World.

fouls tended in faith and love while here, they are
now admitted to fee his face, which is the privilege
of the inhabitants of heaven, Matth. xviii, 10. i Cor.
xiii. i 2. They fee all in him neceffary to fatisfy a
foul, and they fee him as their own God, and hence
arife perfect eafe, reft, and fatisfat£tion : and they no
mere mifs the comforts and conveniencies of this life,
than one does a candle when the fun fhines in his
meridian brightnefs.

4. They are in a family of love there. Heaven is
the, place of love, and there it will endure for ever,
when faith is turned into fight, and hope to enjoy-
ment, 1 Cor. xiii. 8. No fociety can be happy with-
out a bond of love*, and there is fo little love in this
world, that it is a miferable world : but all flames with
love in the other world ; God lets out his love to the
faints there, and they flame in love to him again.
They lire in love with the angels, and warm is that
love which dhtefe now miniitering fpirits bear to the
heirs of falvation, and which thefe heirs have one to
another in that world. Hence is Abraham's bofom.
For there holinefs is perfected, and their love both to
God and one another.

5. They are in a date of joy, pleafure, and delight
there, Pfal. xvi. alt, Matth. xxv. 11 . While we are
here, there is a difficulty of joy entering into us, we
are fo befet with caufes of forrow : but there the
faints »re entered into joy 5 there is an ocean of joy
there, nothing but joy wherefoever they look. They
had their weeping time here, now7 they are comfort-
ed : never a forrowful thought can take place with
them more. The dreggy pleafures of fin and fenfe
are not there, but fpiritaal pleafures are there in ful-
nefs ; and thefe doubtlefs are the far more exquifite,
as our fouls are more penetrating than our fenfes.

6. They are in a ftate of holy exercife there, Rev.
iv. 8. Heaven's reft is not a lazy reft of idlenefs, but
it is a fabbath's reft, wherein they aie employed in
pkafurable and refrefnful exercifes j therefore they

sue

Of the- State of feparate Souls in Heaven. 169

are faid to walk with him in white, to be led to living
fountains of waters. Their proper work is praife j
there they fing the new fong, to the glory of God,
and their own eternal delight.

7. They know that their happinefs fhall never be
loft or diminifhed, however it may be enlarged, Rev.
xxii. 5. So they are perfectly fecure there, as in a
ftate of unalterable felicity. Thus the view of the
endlefs ages of eternity muft give them a new plea-
fure and fatisfaction, upon every reflection thereon ;
while they know it will fpin out their happinefs for
ever.

8. La/Ily, They have the comfortable expectation of
the additional happinefs waiting them at the laft day.
Now they have the firft-fruits of blifs, and they fee
the full harveft is coming, Rev. vi. 11. The fepa-
rated fouls of the faints are in firm expectation of
their reunion with their bodies, and the glorious re-
furre£tion of the body ; their meeting the Lord in the
air in their bodies, their ftanding on his right hand,
and receiving the final fentence, Come, ye bleffed of my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the

foundation of the world,

SECONDLY, The ftate of feparate fouls in hell.

1. They are in a fettled ftate of fin there, Prov.
xiv. 32. The wicked is driven away in his wickednefs*
They are in a-ftate of fin here, it is true : but then it is
not iuch a fettled ftate, but they may get out of it.
There are offers of Chrift made to them, whereby
their guilt may be removed, 6r. But then their guilt,
defilement, the dominion, and indwelling of fin, are
left on them never to be removed. Then is faid con-
cerning them, He that is unjuft, let him be unjufl fall ;
and he which is filthy, let him be filthy /I ill, Rev. xxii.
11. There are no offers of the deipifed blood and
Spirit t| Chrift there, no vcice of a Saviour and fal-
vation. The backflidcrs arc there filled with their
own ways.

3 P 2. They

170 A Defcription of the other World.

1. They are in prifon there, referved to the judge-
merit of the great day, 1 Pet. iii. 19. There was a
time wherein they run on in a courfe of crimes againft
God, who iuffered them, fome longer, fome fhorter
while: but death came and arrefted them, and the
fouls of the criminals were committed to the prifon in
hell, out of which there is no efcape. There they
are prifoners in the pit, with the filth of their fin as
their prifon garments on them, never to be changed.

3. They are in a ftate of torment there, Luke xvi.
23. They took their reft, while they (hould have been
bufy for falvation •, and now they have no reft, Rev.
xiv. 11. They ilept in feed-time, and they are left
in a ftarving condition now. Wrath from the Lord
has feized them, as his enemies, and is let in in
floods into their fouls. They have a memory, where-
with now they can call to mind what way they paffed
the time of this life*, they have a confcience that is
now awake, and is to them a never-dying worm.
Nothing now remains with them of their fins, but
what is tormenting.: all pleafurable paffions are now
rooted out of them, and tormenting ones only re-
main. . , n/r 1.

4. They are in a (late of defperation there, Matth.

xxii. 1 3. Bind him hand and foot, and take him away,
endcaft him into outer darknefs : there jloatt be -weep-
ing andgnajhing of teeth. They had fome hopes while
he°re ; though they were but falfe hopes, they made
them eafy. But now all hope is plucked up by the
roots with them, and it is not poffible they can hope
any more. And O how cutting mud the defpair be
in hell, it being abfolute ! While men are here, when
all hopes of the removal of trouble are cut off, they
know that death is coming, and that will end it. But
they that are in the other world know that their ftate
is eternal, and defpair for ever. This cannot fail to
heighten their fin, being no more in areumiiances
for counterfeiting love to God, 01 regard to his com-
mandments. ,

• 5- LaM>

Of the State of Separate Souls in Hell. iyr

£. Laftly, They have the fearful expectation of the
additional mifery waiting them at the laft day. It
feems to be pretty plain, that the damned are not
quite fo miferable now, as they will be after the re-
surrection and laft judgement for ever. For,

i/r, This maybe gathered from fcripture-teftimony.
The rich man in the parable, Luke xvi. was afraid
of further torments, ver. 28* The devils are caft
down to hell, 2 Pet. ii. 4. ; but there they are refer-
ved unto judgement* as malefactors referved in prifon
till the day of execution : and they are in expectation
of a time of further torment, Matth. viii. 29. and
tremble in view of it, Jam. ii. 19. And at the laft
day, reprobate men muft depart with them into the
fame fiery torments, Matth. xxv. 41. and confe-
quently into greater than they now have.

2dly, It appears from the nature of the thing. For
whereas their bodies are now at eafe in the grave,
they alfo muft then be tormented. So they muffc
needs be in fearful expectation of the founding of the
laft trumpet, the refurrection of their bodies, their
flation at the Judge's left hand, and the dreadful final
fentence, and the execution thereof. So the differ-
ence feems to be betwixt their prefent and future
ftate, as betwixt malefactors in chains in the dungeon,
and their being led foxrth to execution.
The reafons hereof are,

(1.) At the end of the world, there is to be a ge^
neral judgement, wherein they are to receive their
final fentence : and there muft be fomething referved
to be the effect thereof, that was not before. Then
wrath comes on to the uttermoft, as being the time of
the laft pouring our of the indignation, appearing in
the general conflagration, and fweeping away ali fin
and effects of fin from all other quarters, into hell
with the damned themfelves, Rev. xx. 14 So that
thefe things now fcattered through the creation, will
be gathered together, and lodged in and with them.
(2.) The cup of the fin of the damned may be yet
P 2 a-

172 A Defcriptisn of the other World.

a-filling up, a-filling up to the laft day. I mean not
this as to their peifonal finning in hell, but as to their
current guilt in this world, when they are away out
of it, for which they muft then anfwer : for a man's
(in may be living and active, when he is dead and
gone ; as the obfervation of all ages teftifies, feeing
the world much the worfe of fome that are dead and
away out of it. Is not Adam's fin, which has run
more than five thoufand years in the world already,
running ftill and infecting his pofterity, and will to
the world's end ? for which he needed a pardon, and
has no doubt got it.

It is a certain truth, that rational agents are ac-
countable for the native confequences of their actions,
Exod. xxi. 33. 34. And it is as certain, that there
may be a train of mifchievous confequences following
mens fin in the world after they are departed : and
can one imagine that wicked men mall not be made
to anfwer for thefe? Should one lay a train for blow-
ing up a houfe, which yet fhould not work till he
were got many miles off; or one give poifon to ano-
ther, which yet fhould not kill till fome years after ;
would not fuch be held murderers, and punifhed ac-
cordingly ? No doubt of it. So is rhe cafe here.

There are four cafes particularly among others,
wherein mens guilt may be increased after they are
dead, and their accounts enlarged againft the great
day.

[1.] Their being authors of any evil, fprings of
mifchief, as Jeroboam was, 2 Kings xvii. 22. 23.
Inventers of evil things are branded with ignominy
by the Spirit of God, however they may pride them-
felves therein. Such are contrivers and makers of
wicked laws, whereby multitudes are driven to fin ;
introducers of ill cuftoms into nations, congregations,
or families, whereby a courfe of fin is fet a-going,
and the older it grows gathers the more ftrength, and
may laft many generations, perhaps to the end of

time.

Of the State ef Separate Smds In He it. 173

time. But all the fin and mifery following on fuch
actions, will be chargeable on the author,

[2.] The cafe of injuilice, whether by dealings
cheating, oppreflion, or defrauding any manner of
way, where reftitution is not made, efpecially where
men leave fuch ill-gotten goods to theirs after them.
For this is acontinued ftreamof injuftice runningfrom
time to time, for right can never rife from wrong in
the fight of God. And the lofs and mifery thereby
coming to the children and friends of the injured
from generation to generation, is Mill chargeable on
the unjuft man, till reftitution is made, Job xx. 9.
10. This may accotint for apparitions of perfons de-
parted, ordering reftitution.

[3.] The cafe of companionfhip in fin, fuch as is
the cafe of drunkards, unclean perfons, and all foci al
finners, who ruin others together with themfelves ;
for at their door the ruin of their companions in (in-
muft lie, if they be ruined. Therefore the rich man
in hell wiihed his five brethren might get repentance,,
Luke xvi. 27 28. knowing that while they did not'
repent, he was chargeable with their ruin \ and that
would increafe his torment, if he ihould have the
blood of their fouls to anfwer for too, at the laft
day, Matth. xiii. 30. for in burning bundles-, each
ftick makes the other burn the more keenly.

[4.] Laftfyy The cafe of ill example, IVLatth* xviii.
7. They who in words, actions, or behaviour, i>r
an ill copy toothers, they will not readily in arm-
ful world mifs fome to write after them,... following
their criminal example. But the more followers they
get, the greater will be their guilt ; and the longer
fchey are followed, the longer will their accounts ruir>
on, even as long as they are followed, though dead
and gone. And it is often feeny that the ill example
of parents efpecially runs in a. train of fin from gene.-
ration to generation.

Thus it is evident, that the cup of the fin o^ the-

damned may be increafing or filling up after death ;■•

P 3/ ~ aiufc

1 74 A Defcription of the other World.

and if fo, their torment will be increafed accordingly
againft the day of final reckoning. And they may
know their fin to be ftill going on in the world,
while it is not in their power to ftop its courfe ; and
therefore they cannot mifs fearful expectations of ad-
ditional miferyagainft the laft day.
Thus far of the ftate of feparate fouls in the other world.

II. Of the State of Soul and Body reunited, in the
other World.

Having fpoken of the ftate of feparate fouls in the
other world, we come now to inquire into the ftate
of foul and body reunited. And for clearing of this
alfo, we (hall,

i. Inquire into the ftate of reunited fouls and
bodies in general.

2. Confider the different ftates of reunited fouls
and bodies, in the other world.

I. We are to inquire into the ftate of reunited fouls
and bodies, or whole men, in the. other world, in
general. This ftate takes place after the refurrec-
tion, general judgement, conflagration, and depar-
ture of the righteous and wicked, each into the re-
fpeclive places of their eternal abode in the other
world, and continues for ever. And we may view
it in the following particulars.

I. They fhall be in a ftate of living for ever and
ever. As feparate fouls do not fleep, from death tilt
the refurrecliion > fo the foul and body then reunited
fhall never be dillolved again : fo the whole man fhall
be in life for ever from the moment of the refun ec-
tion j there will be no graves in the other world, but
the great one, hell, where all the wicked will be to-
gether buried alive. That the faints in heaven will
ever live, is evident. That the damned in hell will
be eternally alive too, appears from that their punifh-
ment of fenfe theie will be without end^ Match, xxv.

Of the State of Soul and Body reunitedi 175

tilt, with ver. 41. Pxev. xx. 10. It is true, the ftate
of the damned is called a ftate of death, and eternal
deftruction : but it is fo called only in oppofition to
a happy life and ftate of falvation. Their life will be
a death ; they will be ever dying, but never die out ;
otherwife their pain of fenfe could not be eternal, So
it is in the other world, where we are to live indeed,
to live without dying.

2. We will live there in the fame bodies we live ,
in here* The very term re fur region implies this.
If they were other bodies that were to be made for
us, that would be a creation, but not a refurrec~b'on
of the body It is this mortal, this vile body, that
will be raifed for us to live in there, 1 Cor. xv. 53.
Phil. iii. 21. Befide?, it is inconfiltent with the di-
vine equity, that the bodies of the faints, the temples
of his Spirit, that were employed in his fervice,
fhould be left in the dull:, and other bodies glorified j
and that the bodies that finned mould lie at eafe,
and other*, bodies fuffer in helL And furely it is as
eafy for Omnipotence to raife the old body, as create
a new one.

3. But we will live there without the means of
life^ now in ufe with us- Now the body that is to
die mult be daily held up by the appointed means of
life; the clay tabernacle needs more mud and earth
to patch it up with every now and then. But in the
other world our bodies will be fupported without
them. There will be no ufe of meat and drink there,
I Cor. vi. 13. The faints in glory (hall be fadsfied
without them, Rev. vii. 16. They fball hunger no'
more, neither thir ft any more ; and the damned, even
thofe that had their full tables and fine liquors, what-
ever need they may have of them, fhall not for ever
have the favour of a drop of water, Luke xvi. Now
much time is fpent by faints and iinners in fleep :
but there will be no deeping there, Rev. iv. 8. & xiv.
11. They are miserable men who know no other,
01 better comforts than thefe.

4. The

176 A Defcription of the other World.

4. The bufinefs and affairs of this life have no
place there. Solomon obferves, that all the labour of
man is for his mouthy Eccl. vi. 7. But though we
will have our bodies there, there will be no eating
and drinking there : and that will cut off that labour
there : there will be no ploughing, fowing, and reap-
ing, and other bufinefs depending thereon. There
will be no bufinefs there for cloathing, nor houfing.
There is a quite new ftate of matters there, Rev.
xxi. 5. The affairs of this life are for our trial in the
way ; but then we will be come to our journey's
end ; and our entertainment there will be a reward
according to our works done here.

5. Earthly relations will be diffolved there, death
puts an end to them, Job iii. 18 19. and they will
not be made up again at the refurrettion, Matth.
xxii. 30. There will be a general levelling in the
other world ; no difference left among men, but what
piety or wickednefs has made. There the fervant
and the mailer will be alike in other refpe&s, and
every burdened one will bear his own burden alone.
There will be no more hufband and wife there; for
then the myftery of God is finimed, and the number
is made up to receive no further addition.

6. We will be feparated and forted there into two
very different focieties, places, and ftates, Matth. xxv.
ult. Now perfons and things in this world, good
and bad, are mixed, as in a corn-field where grow
wheat and tares together : but in the other world
there will be no fuch mixture 5 every one will be
difpofed of there in the due order, to be with Chrift
or with the devil, in heaven or hell, perfectly happy
or completely miferable. And each part of that
world will be flocked with inhabitants vailly more
numerous than ever this world was 5 fince all gene-
rations of the righteous will be in heaven, and all ge-
nerations of the wicked will be in hell.

7. There will be no communication or intercourfe
betwixt the two focieties, Luke xvi. 26* The faints

Of the State of Soul and Body reunited. 177

in heaven will know the mifery of the damned, and
the damned will know the happinefs of the faints, as
appears from that parable : but there Will be no paf-
fage from the one place to the other. The impaiTable
gulf between them will bar all communication. The
faints will hot defire to go into the place and com-
pany of the damned : and the pit with her bars will
be about the damned for ever, that they cannot get
out into the place and fociety of the faints-

8. La/ilyy Our ftate there will be eternal, Matth.
xxv. ult. There will be no end of the happinefs of
the faints, and no end of the mifery of the damnedr
The world to -come will ever be fo : when millions
of ages are pail, it will be as far from an end, as at
its beginning ; for it will have no end.

Inf. Let us look forward unto the life we are to
have in the other world after the refurre£Uon, and
conhder that the manner of life we have here is pair-
ing. Let them no more be our main queftions, What
(hall we eat? What {hall we drink ? and, Where-
withal fhall we be clothed ? for the time will come
when theie things fhall be in eternal difufe. Let us
not fink our minds into the affairs of this life ; for a '
little time will put an end to them. Let us improve
the relations we ftand in for our perfonal well being
in another world, and beware they be not ruining
fnares to us. Let us now feparate ourfelves from
this world lying in wickednefs, as we would not be
eternally feparated with them from the fociety of the
faints.

II. We fhall now confider the different flates of
reunited fouls and bodies in the other world, name-
ly, in heaven and hell. And,

FIRST, Of the ftate of men, foul and body, in
heaven. In the general, they will be in a ftate of
complete happinefs of the whole man there. Betwixt
death and the refurre£tion, they are happy, but in-
completely ;

I7& A Defcription of the other War let*

completely : the one half of the man, the foul, is
happy; but the other half of the man,, the body, lies
in the duft. But the bodies of the faints being rai-
fed at the laft day, they will be completely happy in
the whole man.

i. They will be in an inccnceivably-happy place
there, Rev. xxi. 10. u. We fpoke fomething of
the place already ; but certainly it is a place happy
beyond what we can conceive while here. It is a pa-
radife for pleafure, a kingdom for fpacioufnefs, a pa-
lace for fplendor and glory, and a Father's houfe tor
kindnefs. The moft pleaiant places of this world are
but a wildernefs in comparifon with it,, a ftrange
country to the faints.

2. They will be in eternal uninterrupted light
there. Truly light is fweet, and a pleafant thing i't
is for the eyes to behold the fun : but how much more
iweet muft the light of heaven be, that fo far outdoea
the light of our fun, that our mortal bodies which
bear the one, are not able for the other ? i Tim. vi.
1 6. And no wonder, for it is not the fun, but the
Lamb, not the rays of light from fun or moon, but
the glory of God himfelf, that lightens heaven, R.ev.
xxi. 23. Hence there is no night there, no darknefs
for ever, but an eternal day. Our fun cannot en-
lighten our whole globe at once, but when it is day
in one hemifphere, it is night in the other. But
what can fet bounds to the glory of an infinite God,
that lightens it ?

3. They will be free from, and beyond the reach
of all evil there. There will be no hazard from with-
in, and none from without, Rev. xxi. 25. They
will be free of fin there ; there will be no body of
death to moleft them in that place : they will have
no inclination to fin more : no temptation can reach
them there: nay there is no poflibility of their fin-
ning there, being confirmed in a ftate of perfection,
through the merit of Chrift. They will be freed
from all their troubles and fufferings there ; they are/

beyond

Of the State of Men, SquI and Body, in Heaven. 179

beyond the reach of devils and wicked men, and the
time of the Lord's trying them is over and ended.

4. There are no wants to them there, Rey. vii.
16. They have a needy life of it here, but there all
their wants will be made up. Their long complaints
will then be eternally filenced. There will be no
want of the things of this life, more than of a candle
in the brighten; funfhine : there will be no want of
fpiritual enjoyments, nodefertions, or hiding or God's
face there. There are many things in this world
that will not be in heaven : but all that they then will
or can defire, will be there for them, and therefore
they can be in no want there. There would be wants
in heaven to the wicked, whofe defires are not regu-
lated ; fo that they could not be happy there. But
there will be none to the faints.

5. All imperfections and badges of imperfection
(hall be done away there. Whatever denotes the
imperfection of our (late here, {hall be removed there ;
infomuch that the ordinances of preaching the word,
the facraments, tec. (hall be honourably laid afide,
even as the fcarTolding is taken down when the houfe
is built •, the occafional graces of the Spirit, fuch as
patience, inc. duties, fuch as watching, mourning
for fin,.. <bc* are laid afide, as the fword when the
war is over. Faith is turned into fight, and hope
into enjoyment.

6. There will be a confluence of all good in their
ftate there, neceflary to make them completely happy.

iy?, The conltiturion of their bodies will be hea-
venly, 1 Cor. xv. 48. So that the cafe of the faints
bodies will in that world be as far preferable to their
cafe now, as heaven is to earth. Their bodies now
are a fpring of much fin, forrow, and trouble to
them : but then will their bodies be advanced into a
ftate of perfect happinefs, as well as their fouls.

This will come to pafs, through the reforming of
their bodies in the likenefs of Chrift's glorious body,
at the refurrection, Phil. iii. 21. The bodies of all

arc

l8o A Defcription of the other World.

are now faihioned in the likenefs of the firft Adam,
and of him fallen, i Cor. xv. 47. 48. for he is the
father of us all, the father of our flefh, Acts xvii.
26. And fo our bodies are mortal, inglorious, weak,
and earthly, like his. But the bodies of believers are
melted down in a grave, till they are reduced to duft
again, and every the leaft lineament of Adam's image
is gone : then at the refurreclion Chrift takes their
duft, and forms it into a body like unto his own, the
body of the fecond Adam ; and in this new fafhion and
frame it continues for ever after in the other world.
So the bodies of the faints will be,

(1.) Incorruptible there, 1 Cor. xv. 42. as the body
of Chrift is. They will be no more liable to death
nor difeafes. No pains, nor uneafinefs can affecl:
them any more ; nothing will be about them for ever
that may create loathing to themfelves or others ;
neither will they be liable to be worn with age: but
they will be in perfe£t ibundnefs for ever.

(2.) They will be glorious bodies there, 1 Cor.
xv. 43, The inhabitants of heaven will all of them
be beauties, perfect beauties without a metaphor.
They are now all glorious within, though fome of
them be hard favoured, and others of them deform-
ed, naturally or accidentally : then they will be all
glorious without too ; not only beautiful in their
faces, but the whole body over, Matth. xiii. 43. Then
Jhall the righteous foine forth as the fun , in the king'
dom of their Father. There will be a heavenly glory
on their whole bodies, making them amiable and
lovely, furpafling the moil famed beauties now, as
the light of the fun doth the mining of a candle.
This will be their cloathing, and other cloathing they
will need ncne, 2 Cor. v. 2.

(3.) They will be powerful and ftrong bodies,
I Cor. xv. 43. All fiein. now is grafs, weak and
withering : but there will be no weaknefs nor weari-
nefs there; nay the now weak and feeble faint fhall
be as David, and David as the angel of God. How

elfe

Of the State of Men> Soul and Body, in Heaven* 1 8 1

clfe would they be fit for the eternal weight of glory,
for continual uninterrupted exercife ? i Cor. xv. 50.
The ftrongeft man would be unable to bear the hea-
venly glory ; the clay tabernacle in its prefent ftate
would fly all in pieces there : but they will be able
to bear it.

(4.) They will be fpiritual bodies, I Cor. xv. 44.
They will be true bodies (till, but endowed with fpi-
rit-like qualities. They will be no more clogs. to
the foul, but as ready and fit for the exercife of hea-
ven, as if they were fpir its Natuialifts obferve, that
bodies the more they are raifed from the earth to-
wards heaven, the lighter they become : furely then
when they are in the higheft heaven, their weight
and ponderoufnefs mull be gone. They are fpiritual
bodies.

idly. Their fouls in their bodies will mine in the
purity and perfection of the divine image, 1 John
iii. z. When he Jhall appear^ we jhall be like him ; for
nuefhallfee him as he is. At death the fouls of the
faints are fo glorified, however inglorious they were
while in the body. But being houfed again in their
glorified bodies, they will retain their heavenly luftre
for ever, mining there as the candle through the lan-
tern. And here,

( 1 .) Their underftanding will be perfect for ever,
I Cor. xiii. 12. Now we fee through a glafs, darkly;
hut then face to fate : now I know in part ; but then
fbali J know even as alfo I am known. No more fcales
of ignorance will then be on the eyes of their under-
ftanding. Their capacity will be enlarged, to know
God and his works,

(2.) Their will will be perfectly conformed to the
will of God, and completely fatisfied, having all that
they would have, and as they would have it. Then
will be faid to every faint, without limitation, Be it
unto thee even as thou wilt. They fhall never know
more what it is to be balked of their will for ever,
Pfal. xvii. ulU As for mey I will behold thy face in
3 Q^ right eoufnefs :

lSl A Defer iption of the other World.

righteoufnefs : I fhall be fatisfied, when I awake, with
thy likenefs.

(3.) Their affections (hall all be perfectly heaven-
ly. All uneafy and unpleafant affections will be dif-
carded there ; no forrow fhall ever fpring up in them
more, Rev. xxi. 4. Godjhall wipe away all tears from
their eyes ; and there fhall be no more death, neither
forrow, nor crying, neither fhall there be any more
pain.- Ail earthly affections fhall be for ever laid a-
fide; the dregginefs of them makes them unmeet for
the heavenly ftate ; and they fhall no more be able
to pick on them, than our dunghills can on the fun,
Matth. xxii. 30. For in the refurreelion they neither
marry, nor are given in marriage ; but are as the
angels of God in heaven. They will be all love, lo-
ving God in perfection, and all perfons and things
elfe in him only.

(4.) Their memory of things pad will be frefh.
It will be fo with the damned in hell, Luke xvi. 25.
28. And how can it be doubted as to the faints in
heaven, in a ftate of perfection ? No forrowful re-
flection indeed can have place in their ftate, but things
fometimes forrowful will be remembered with joy in
the deliverance therefrom. And the looking back
into their wildernefs-ftate, their ftormy voyage through
the fea of this world, will fill them with wonder and
praife. They will remember the times, places,
means, and inftruments of their acquaintance with
Chrift, and communion with God in the world, by
which they have been brought to all that happinefs,
Luke xvi. 9. 1 ThefT. ii. 19.

(5.) Laftly, They will have an executive faculty an-
fwering to their will. Now the fpirit may be will-
ing, but the flefh is weak : fo that they cannot do
what they fain would; but find themfelves like a bird
with a ftone tied to its foot, that aims to fly, but
cannot. But there they fhall be able to put in exe-
cution whatever thev will or deiire to do.

3*/. They

Of the State of * Men , Soul and Body, in Heaven. 1 83-

^dly, They will be happy in the glorious fociety of
heaven, being joint inhabitants with them there.

(1.) They will have the fociety of one another
there, being all gathered together into one lovely com-
pany, the general affembly of the firft-born, Heb.
xii. 23. All the faints that from the beginning to
the end of the world {hall have lived in any part of
the earth, will be all together there, an innumerable
multitude of the redeemed, all mining ones. A;)d
fince they are in a date of perfection, 1 wonder how
it can be queftioned, but they will know one another*-
their friends and acquaintance on earth, and get new
acquaintance and knowledge of thofe at leaft tbat
have been moft eminent in the church on earth ; or
how the ufe of fpeech and conversion among them
can be doubted.

(2.) They will have the fociety of the holy angels ;
there, Heb. xii. 22. They will be no more afraid of
angels, when they themfelves are become their equals,
Luke xx. 36. But they will join them in the hea-
venly choir, finging their Hallelujahs. And whe-
ther angels {hall afTume airy bodies for converfing
with the faints or not, there is no reafon to think that
they will be in a place with the angels, and yet in-
capable of converfing with them.

(3 ) They will have the fociety of the man Chrift
there, 1 Theffi iv. 17. So /ball we ever be with the
Lord. They will fee him with their bodily eyes,
who loved them, and gave himfelf for them : they,
will fee that very body that was for them crucified
without the gates of Jerufalem. They will fee him
there mining in inconceivable glory, as their Lord,
Saviour, and Redeemer ; and compak his throneibr
ever with fongs of falvation.

(4.) Lajlly, They will have the prefence and full
enjoyment of God in Chrift there, Rev. xxi. 7. He
that overcometh Jhall inherit all things, and I will be
his God, and he Jhall be my/on. Here is the higheft
pinnacle of the faints happinefs in heaven : without
Qjl this

184 A Defcription of the other World.

this they cannot be happy completely, no not in hea-
ven ; and in the full enjoyment of him, they will be
fo happy, that it is impoffible they can defire more
for the fatisfying of them. For he is an ocean of un-
bounded perfection. It lies in two things.

[1.] They will enjoy God in Chrift, by fight of
the divine glory, to the complete fatisfying of their
underftanding, Matth. v. 8. Blejfed are the pure in
heart : for they /hall fee God. The fight they will
have of the divine glory, is a full and clear know-
ledge of God, to the utmoft of their enlarged capa-
cities, as by feeing face to face, Rev. xxii. 4. 1 Cor.
xiii. 12. What heart can conceive the happinefs of
being freely let into the view of the infinite divine per-
fections ! Men have a mighty fatisfadUon in the fight
of taking objects, as a curious garden, a fplendid
palace: but we are fwallowed up when we think of
being let into the view of the infinite divine perfec-
tions, where there -muft be fomething always new-.

[2.] They will enjoy God in Chi id, by experi*
ence of the divine goodnefs, to the complete fatisfy-
ing of their will, R.ev. vii. 16. 17. They jhali hunger
no more, neither thirfi any more t^-for the Lamb which
is in the midfi of the throne, fljall feed them, and fiall
had them unto living fountains of waters. There is
an all-fulnefs of goodnefs in God, an inexhauftible
fountain of it, and they fhall have an unretlrained
participation of it, Pfal. xxxvi. 8. 9. They fiall b*
abundant ty~ fat isjied with the fatnefi of thy koufe .• and
thou fhalt make them drink of the river of thy plea*
fures* For with thee is the fountain of life : in thy
light fhall we fee light. Rev. xxi. 3. Behold, the ta-
bernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with
them, and they fiall be his people, and God himfelf fiall
be with them, and be their God, He will make of his
goodnefs to flow into them for ever, and there mail
be nothing to hinder them from all of it they can de-
fire. And it is impoffible they can defire any thing
beyond it.

4thly, They

Of the State of Men, Soul and Body, in Heaven. 1 8$

qthfy, They will have a fulnefs of joy there, Pfal.
xvi. ii. Rivers of pleafures run in Irnmauuel's land.
Joy unfpeakable (hall fill their hearts for ever, and
appear in their countenances, where never again fhall
the leafl: cloud of forrow fit down. Now is the fow-
ing time of tears, but then is the reaping time of
joy : and that harveft wherein they bring back their
fheaves rejoicing, will never be over.

$thlyt All their happinefs, joy, and glory, they
will have eternally through Chrifr, as the great mean
of communication betwixt God and them, Rev. xxi.
23. And the city had no need of the fun , neither of tfye
moon tofbine in it ; for the g/ory of God did lighten it,
and the Lamb is the light thereof. They will continue
for ever members of Chrifl, and members as members
mufr. needs live by communication with their head.
So that the immediate enjoyment of God hi heaven,
is to be underftood only in oppofition to-the inter-
vening of outward means.

6thly, There will be degrees of glory among them,
1 Cor. xv. 41. 42. There is one glory of the fun, and
another glory of the moon, and another glory of the
fiars ; for one far differ eth from another ft ar in glory*
So alfo is the re fur region of the dead. The re-ward
will be according to, though not for, their works-:
and they who have glorified God molt by fufrering or
acxing for him, will be the more highly advanced in
glory by him, Luke xix. 17. 19. H wbeit all of them-
will hcive what they can hold, the leaft as well as the
greateft, as when bottles of different fizes are filled.

ythly, They fhall be perfectly fure, that this their"
happy (late fhall laft for ever. They know it now by
faith in the word, how can they doubt of it then in
a ftate of perfection ? Their having any doubt of it
could not but breed fome anxiety, inconfiftent with>
perfect happinefs.

Laflly, Then {hall the chief, laft, or farther! end*.

of man, be reached. And that is the glory of God,..

foi which end they are made completely happy,, in

0^3 ' the

1 86 A Defcription of the other World.

the full enjoyment of God, Prov. xvi. 4. Rom. xi.
vlt. So being made perfectly happy, they will an-
fwer that end in glorifying God, by loving, praifing,
and ferving him perfectly, to all eternity, Pfal.
lxxxvi. 12. 13. / will praife thee, 0 Lord my God,
'with all my heart : and 1 will glorify thy name for
evermore* For great is thy mercy toward me : and
thou hafi delivered my foul from the lowejl hell. Rev.
vii. 9. 10. After this 1 beheld, and lo, a great multi-
tude, which no man could number, of all nations, and
kindreds, and people, and tongues, flood before the
throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes,
and palms in their hands ; and cried with a loud
voice, faying, Salvation to our Cod which fitteth upon
the thr$ne, and unto the Lamb. Ver. 15. Therefore
are they before the throne of God, and Jerve him day
and night in his temple : and he that fitteth on the throne
jhall dwell among them* Chap. xxii. 3. And there fo all
be no more curfe ; but the throne of God and of4he Lamb
fhall be in it ; and his fervants fhall ferve him.

Inf. r. Eye has not feen, ear has not heard, nei-
ther have entered into the heart of man, the things
which God hath prepared for them that love him.
He is the beft of mailers, whatever hardfhips his fer-
vants be put to here. Heaven will make amends
for all.

2. They who are truly godly do beft confult not
enly the welfare of their fouls, but of their bodies
too. The way of faith and holinefs is the way to
reach the cure of all maladies at length ; it is the way
to get a found body, with all the advantages of ftrength,
comelinefs, livelinefs, be*

3. Laflly, The faith of this fhould arm believers
againft the terror of death and the grave. Why not
melt down the old crazy veiicl, to be new fhaped ?

SECONDLY, Let us next view the ftate of men,
foul and body, in hell. Having viewed the ftate of
fnen after the rsfurreclion in the happy part of the

other

Of the Staff of Men, Soul and Body ^ in Hell. 187

other world, we muft now confider the ftate of men
after the refurrection in the regions of horror in the
other world. An awful fubjecl ! but neceffary. That
part of mankind that mall juftly be doomed to that
part of the other world, will be abfolutely miferable
there. Concerning which thefe following things may
be confidered.

I. They will be totally and finally Separated from
God there, excommunicated from his pretence, Matth.
xxv. 41. Now they fay to God, Depart from us%
while he is following them with mercy and offers of
peace : then they will be wholly and for ever put a-
way. And this is the punifhment of lofs. There
are thefe fix things in it.

(1.) They will have no part in the habitation of
the juft, Matth. viii. 11. 12. They will have no
footing in the better country, no feat in the manfions
of glory. They will lofe heaven the feat of the bleff-
ed ; and while the godly are taken within the city,
they cannot enter the gates, but muft lodge without
for ever, Rev. xxii. 15.

(2.) They will be excommunicated from the pre-
fence of the faints, and have no fhare in their happy
fcciety. They cared not for their company here, if
it was not for to ferve a turn : and there they fhall be
freely parted for ever. The company of the righte-
ous being gone into the marriage, the door is bolted
againft them, that they cannot get in, no not if it
were to lie among their feet, Matth. xxv. 10.

(3.) They will be excluded fiom the prefence of
the holy angels. They will have at the refurrection
a terrible meeting with them, Matth. xiii 49. and
a more dreadful parting with them, ver. 50 never to
meet again. It is another kind of angels with whom
they muft eternally lodge.

(4.) They will be locally feparated frcrn the man
Chrift. They (hall never come into the pi.;ce where
he (nines in his glory. He will effectually order
their getting away out of his prefence, by a terrible

voice

1 88 A Defcription of the other World.

voice from his throne, Matth. xxv. 41. Depart
from mey ye curfed, into ever la fling Jire, prepared
for the devil and his angels. And they (hall go away
one way, and he another with his faints ; and they
(hall never meet again. However he courted them
in this world, and they ftill fled from him, and
would have none of him, they will never have a
good word for them or to them, from him any
more.

(5.) They will be relatively feparated from God
the Father, Son, and Holy GhofL They cannot be
locally feparated from him, who is every where pre-
fent, in hell as well as in heaven, PfaL cxxxix. 8.
But there will be a relative feparation, in an eternal
blocking up of all comfortable communication be-
tween God and them : as when two parties break up
a treaty of peace, and part with hoftile mind, pro-
claiming war againft one another. Now though.
God is not their God by covenant, yet he is their
Benefactor, and they get much benefit by that re-
lation, Luke vi. 35. But then that is broke off for
ever.

(6.) Lafly, They will be for ever under a total
eclipfe of all light of comfort and eafe fpiritual and
bodily, Matth. xxii. 13. Bind him hand and footy
and take him away^ and caji him into outer darknefs :
there fbafl he 'weeping and gnajbing of teeth. Hof. ix.
12. Wo alfo to them ivhen I depart from them*
"Whatever good thing in body or mind they now en-
joy is from God, as the light is from the fun : and
therefore God totally withdrawing from them, it is
impoffible that any thing good or comfortable can
remain with them ; but even as when there is but
one chink in a houfe to let in the light, and that is
ftopt, there muft, needs be a total darknefs.

2. They will be mifeiable both in body and foul
there *, for they muit depart into cverlatling fire,
Matth. xxv. 41. How can it be other wife in the

lake

Of the State of Men, Soul and Body, in Hell. 189

lake of jire and brimftone, as it is called, R.ev. xx.
10.?

As to the ftate of their bodies there, though they
be new-framed of their duft, yet it will be to no ad-
vantage, but to fit them for a ftate of eternal mifery.
And we may take a view of it in thefe three things.

(1.) Their bodies will be bafe, inglorious, and
loathfome, Dan. xiL 2. And many of them that flee p
m the duft of the earth fha 11 awake , — feme to fiama
and everlafting contempt. If. Ixvi. 24. And they
fbatl go forth, and look upon the carcafes of the men
that have tranfgreffed againft me : for their worm
fhall not die, neither /halt their fire be quenched, and
they fljalt be an abhorring unto all flefh. No beauty
can poffibly be found in them there, but their coun-
tenance will be for ever ghaftly and frightful, as in
the pangs of the fecond death. They will be like fo
many dead carcafes there for unfightlinefs, while
death preys on them there buried out of the fight of
all, in the pit of deftrucHon.

(2.) There will- be no health nor foundnefs in
them there. How can there be in bodies fufFering
the vengeance of eternal fire \ What hale fide can
one have to turn him to, fwimming in a lake of fire ?
They will be in torments, Luke xvi. 23.

(3.) Yet will they be of fuch a conftitution as to
bear up, and not faint away under their torments
there, Matth. xxv. ult. They will ever be in the
pangs of death, but never die out. The power of
God will keep them ».-p in that cafe, that they {hall
not have the favour of fainting nor dying out.

As to the ftate of their fouis in their bodies there,

(1.) Their minds or understandings will be fitted
to carry on their mifery there, They will be im-
prefied there with clear notions of things, that here
they either knew not, or would not know : but then
they will only be fo known as to aggravate their
mifery, Luke xvi. 23. And in hell he lift up his eyes,
->~and feeth Abraham afar of, and Lazarus in his

bofom.

190 A Defer ipt ion of the other World,

bofomi They will know then what God is, Chrift,
fin, heaven, hell, and this world then paft. Their
minds will then be fixed and active ; fixed on their
mifery, and active in turning it about in all its
fhapes, without poflibility of diverfion from the
thoughts of it. The impreffions of wrath will be
deep there.

(2.) Their will, as it will for ever continue
enmity againft God, fo it will be crofled for ever
by him. "What they would, they (hall nevei ob-
tain ; and what they would not, fhall be eternal-
ly bound on them. In the fiate of trial they would
needs have their will, and many times they got it :
but they will get it no more, when once there; the
will of God will refift it for ever. Hence there is
no reft for them, Rev. xiv. 1 1.

(3.) Thjeir afTe&ions will all be tormenting, Matth.
xxii. 13. There Jhall be weeping and gnajhing of
teeth. All pleafant paffions, whether of one kind
or another, will then be rooted out : no joy nor de-
light in any object whatfoever will fpring up with
them any more. But they will be brim-full of for-
row, racked with anxiety, filled with horror, galled
with ffetfulnefs, and datted through with defpair,
Rev. xvi. 21. Their fouls ftocked with ftrong lufts,
and finful habits contracted in rheir life, will be left
to pine on in them for ever ; eagerly defiring to
have them gratified, but no gratification of them
poflible. So they will be under an eternal gnawing
hunger after fomething to fatkfy the large cravings
of their finful wretched fouls ; but there will be no-
thing to be had for ever for that end, Luke xvi. 25..

(4.) Their confeiences will ever be awake there,
and witnefs to their face that they are juftly ruined,
and have ruined themfelves, Matth. xxiiv 12. It will
prefent to them their fins through the whole courfe of
their life, and cut them with remorfe for them. It
will upbraid them with their unbelief, witnefs againft
them that they were warned, but would not hearken.

And

Of the State of Men, Soul and Body, in Hell. 191

And fo it will be in them a gnawing worm that
dieth not.

(5.) Their memories will be frefh there, Luke xvi.
25. Sins fometimes buried and out of mind with
them, will be called to mind with all their aggrava-
ting circumftances. They will have a galling and
cutting remembrance of the pleafures of fin, which
they fometime thought themfelves happy in ; of the
profits of fin, that they fometime hugged themfelves
in. Times, places, means, inftruments, when, where,
and by which they were ruined, or might have been
brought into a ftate of falvation, will all be remem-
bered there.

(6) Jka/lly, The wrath of God will fink into their
fouls there, Pfal. cix. 18. Vindictive juftice will
make inconceivable impreflions on them, that will
melt their fouls like wax in the midft of their bowels.
Some of God's own people have felt fome drops of
wrath here, ttpat if they had continued but a little
longer, they would have fainted away under them.
What will the full fhower of it be in hell, where
every ftone of that hail is the weight of a talent ? Rev,
xvi. 21.

3. They will be (hut up in outer darknefs ;there,
Matth. xxii. 13. Hell is the place of outer darknefs.
It is fo called in oppofition to the glorious light that
the faints within heaven do enjoy. The Jews had
their marriage- fuppers by night, and fo while the gueft-
ehamber was filled with lights, there was nothing
but darknefs without. So while the faints are in hea-
ven, in eternal light at the marriage fupper of the
Lamb, the damned are without in darknefs. It muft
be fo ; for light is fweet to the eyes, and nothing
fweet can be there. When Chrift fuffcred on the
crofs, there was an eclipfe for the fame reafon. But
it went off, for Chrrft overcame death : but the eclipfe
in hell can never go off. And the darknefs there is
a deep darknefs, it is the mift of darknefs that never

clears,

192 A Defer ipt ion of the other World*

clears, 2 Pet. ii. 17. the blacknefsof darkne/s, Jude
13. Hence,

(1.) Difmal and melancholy mud the ftate of the
damned be, in that region of horror, where is not the
lead comfortable gleam of light to their eyes. As there
is no night in heaven, but eternal day, fo there is
no day in hell, but an eternal night, an everlafting
gloom. If there were no more in it, it would be
terrible never to fee the light.

(2.) They will not range up and down as vain men
now do in the world, diverting themfelves with this
and the other object. There is nothing to be feen
there to pleafe the eye. The Egyptian darknefs was
an emblem of it, which gives the reafon of the phrafe,
chains of darknefst as was before obferved. And ac-
cordingly the damned are faid to be bound hand and
fvoty Matth. xxii. 13. in which pofture one cannot
range from place to place, but at moft tofs and roll
himfelf like a Gck man on his bed.

4. They will have the fociety of devils there, being
fhut up with them in the fame pit of deftru£lion,
Matth. xxv. 41. Rev. xx, 10. As the faints in heaven
{hall be happy in the fociety of God himfelf, Chrift,
and his holy angels ; fo will the damned be miferable
in the fociety of the devil and his angels* How
dreadful would it be to dwell in the pleafanteft fpot
of the earth haunted by the apparitions of devils ? how
much more to be fhut up in a pit with them ? How
much more than ail that to be (hut up in the pit of
hell, in the lake of fire with them, when they fhall
be filled with wrath to the brim !

5. There will be degrees of torment and mifery in
hell, the torments of fome more grievous than others.
All there will be unfpeakably miferable, and unpitied
in their mifery : but the mifery of fome will be fcrew-
ed to a greater height than that of others. As finners
claiTed themfelves on earth, in higher or lower forms,
in diflionouring of God \ fo will they be clafled in
their punilhmeut, Matth. xiii. 30. Gather ye together

firfi

Of the State of Men , Soul and Body, in Hell. 193

jfir/l the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them.
J\s there are many man (ions in heaven, fo will there
be many bundles in hell \ bundles of ignorants, world-
lings, fwearers, unclean, perfecutors, mockers, hy-
pocrites, be. And the more means of reformation
any had, and the greater height of impiety they went
to under thefe means, the more miferable will their
cafe be there, Luke xii. 47. 48. Matth. xxiv. ult.

6. Their mifery will be eternal there, and they
will know that it will be fo, Matth. xxv. 41. Depart

from me, ye curfed, into everlajling fire. Prov. xiv.
32. The wicked is driven away in his ivickedne/s. It
will be everlafting, without intermiffion, Rev. xiv.
1 1 . The fmoke of their torment afcendeth up for ever
and ever . and they have no reji day nor night. No
breathing-time will be allowed there, but the floods
of wrath will be inceflantly flowing in upon them.
There will be no clearing of the itorm that blows
there, for ever fo fliort a while. It will be eternal,
wiihout ending, Pvev. xx. 10. Theyfiall be tormented
day and night, for ever and ever. There is no end
to be for ever expected of the eafelefs torments there.
And the damned knowing this, will be cut for ever
with defpair and rage, like wild bulls in the net.

7. Laflly, And thus God will be glorified paflive-
ly, in thofe who now will not actively glorify him,
Prov. xvi. 4. The Lord hath made all things for him-

felf : yea, even the -wicked j or the day of tvil God
made man for his glory, capable of enjoying him for
ever : he cannot tall fhoit of his end, and therefore
he will be glorified upon thofe who now refufe to an-
fwer the end of their creation.

Inf. 1 Sin is a moft dreadful evil. Here is a look-
ing, glafs wherein you may fee it fo. How great muft
the filthinefs of it be, that provokes a gracious holy
God, to bury the (inner in fuch a horrible pit out of
his fight ! How deep mull the guilt be, that cannot
be waihed out with fuch fearful punifhment, fo as to
have an end 1

3 R 2. God

194 The Doftrine of the other World applied.

2. God is a God of terrible juftice, a fevere aven-
ger of fin. O correct your miftakes of God by this,
Pfal. 1. 21. He gave a demonftiation of his juftice
in the burning of Sodom : here he gives an eternal
demonftration of it

3. Lafttyy There is nothing that pofiibly can make
the life of an impenitent finner in this world defirable,
which has fuch a miferable end.

The Doffrine of the other World applied.

And now, after having viewed this prefent world,
we have given you fome defcription of the other
world, to let you into a neceiTary view of it: it re.
mains to fhut up that weighty fubje£t with fome ap-
plication of the whole.

First, Believe the report from the word concern*
ing the other world, firmly.; and let it have deep im-
preffion on your fouls. Confider of it timely with
all earneftnefs, ftretch your views beyond this prefent
world, look into the world to come, with the pro-
fpecl of the word which has been cleared in fome
meafure unto you. There are two things very pre-
valent in this wni Id, with reference to the other world.

Fitft, Thoughtleffnefs about it. Men fpend their
days as in a dream, going through this world with
the other world feldom coming into their view, ne-
ver entering into any fuitable thoughtfulnefs about
it. The reaions hereof are,

1. The reigning vanity of the minds of men, Eph.
iv. 17. 18 The light and frothy mind cannot find
entertainment in any thing that is not like itfelf light
and Vain Therefore thoughts of the other world
ate fnunned, as a bird delighting to ficip from bufh to
bulb, would fhun the tying of a done to its foot. But
alas ! what avails that, fince going into that world
cannot be (hunned that way ?

2. Throng of the cares of this life, Matth. xiii. 22.
Mens hearts are io fluffed and perplexed with thefe,

that

The Doclrine of the other World applied. 195

that the concerns of another world cannot get en-
trance into their hearts ; cumbered about many things,
the one thing needful is forgot. Hence death fur-
prifes many in fuch a throng, and hurries them away
into another world, when they weie not at all think-
ing on it, Pfal. cxlvi. 4. Luke xii. 20.

3. An averfenefs of heart to the other world. The
hearts of moft men are fo wedded to this world, that
for as great a hell as it is, they would defire no better
heaven than what they could make here. They are
in no cafe content to leave it, and go into another
world. And their averfion to it makes them thought-
lefs about it, that they really fhun the thoughts of it
as much as they can, fince they can have no pleafure
in them.

4. A fond conceit of coming in time enough after
to think of the concerns of the other world, when
they come near the borders of it : though alas ! they
know not how near they are to it, and their foot may
flip, and they pafs into it ere ever they are aware.

5. La/tly, Satan has a great hand in it, who en-
deavours to hoodwink finners, and to be continually
buzzing into their ears other things, that may keep
them from ferious thoughts about it : and all to com-
pafs their ruin.

Secondly, Unbelief of it. Men are not only thought-
lefs about it, not turning their thoughts that way ;
~ but when the report of it is brought to them, they
do not believe it. There is a root of Atheifm and
infidelity in the minds of men, as to things not feen,
fo that they hear thefe things as idle tales. The evi-
dences of this are,

1. The little impreffion thefe things make on the
minds of men, when they hear them. How many
do hear the report of the other world with as little
concern as they could hear an idle ftoiy, which they
had no manner of concern about? The account of
the joys of heaven does not move them, and that or
the terrors of hell makes no fuitable impreflion.

R 2 2. The

I $6 The Do&rine of the other World applied,

2. The fupine negligence and carelefTnefs about
our part in the other world. If in the time of hear-
ing men are fomewhat moved, yet they are like the
lieve taken out of the water, when they go away,
they lofe all. They are not effectually ftiired up to
take fome courfe whereby they may flee from the
wrath to come, and may become heirs of heaven. I£
it were but a cot-houfe they had, in cafe they were
to remove out of it, they would be careful to fecure
another for themfelves. But they know they mud
die, yet they are quite carelefs as to where they are
to lodge next.

3. Laftly, The unaccountable mifpending of tims^.
either trifling, or doing evil ; doing nothing, or what
is worfe than nothing. Did men believe, that now
they are fowing for eternity, that what they now do
in this world, they are to eat the fruits of in the o-
ther world : would they be fo barren in good works,
and fo lavifh in finful courfes and actions ?

Wherefore I befeech you confider ferioufly of the
world to come, and believe the report about it.

1. About the being of it. O to believe firmly,
that there is another world, a heaven, and a hell ; a.
receptacle of joy for the departed fouls of the godly*
whereinto their bodies alfo are to be received after the
refurre£b'on ; and a receptacle of horror for the fouis
and bodies of the wicked.

2. About the ftate of men in it, as held forth in
the word; how that there they ai rive either at the
higheft pinnacle of happinefs or mifery ; and to con-
tinue unchangeable for ever and ever. To enforce the
exhortation, I offer the following motives.

1. Confider ye have by the providence of God
heard much of it from the word of God. The Lord
of the other world has appointed his melTengers to
fpeak of it to us in this world, that we may make
ready for it in time. When the Lord has been found-
ing the alarm, let us not be deaf to his call, but
know and believe that we are to march into the other

world

The Dsftrine of the other World applied. 197

world. It will be an aggravated guilt, to be thought-
lefs about it, after hearing fo much of it ; or to en-
tertain the report as idle tales.

2. The world we have been hearing of, we will"
all fee at length ; and fee. it not afar off, but being
in it. We might be the lefs concerned about it, if
we were never to go tbere : but thither we muft all
go. And it may well apologize for our infixing fo;

'much on it,. that we are to be inhabitants there, eter-
nal inhabitants there. It mufr be infatuation to be.;
thoughtlefs or unbelieving about it.

3. It will not be long ere we will be there. We:
have but a hand- breadth of days to pafs, and then
we are there*, our age, which is as nothing before
the Lord, being once run through, we pafs into that
other world. Our life here is but a fhort preface to*
a long eternity; a fkip from the womb to the grave,
and we have made considerable progrefs in it already..
And we are not far from the entrance of the paiTage
into the other world, and in a little we will be in one
of the parts of it, join the inhabitants thereof, and:
be fettled in the ilate of it..

4. We know not how foon we may be there. The
journey to the other world is not alike long to all. Ic
is but a fhort journey the longeii of it : but God.
brings fome there by a (hort cut, and they are at :•»«■
end when they think there is a great part of the wayv
before them.

5. Lafilyt A happy part there will never be reached,
without ferious thoughts about it, and. a firm faith?
of it.

Secondly, Improve the believed report of the
other world fuitably. If there is really another v or id,,
a world to come, and fuch as from the Lord's word
it has been reported of to you ; without contrcverfy
it is a matter of the greatelt concern to us, and ought1:
to influence our whole life. And it is not a true
faith of it, that does not influence our conducl accord-
ingly. Now if ye would improve.it fuitably)

K 1 iLJ}^

198 The Doclrine ef the other World applied,

Fir/l, Improve it to a fpeedy choice of the way to
the happy part of it, and entering upon it without
delay. We are all going to the other world : but as
there are two very diftant parts of it, fo there are two
as really different ways thereto, viz, the broad way,,
and the narrow way, Matth. vii. 13. 14. If you
take the broad way, it will have a miferable ending 5
if the narrow, a happy ending. Therefore chufe
well fpeedily, and enter on the happy way without
delay. And,

i< Chufe and enter fpeedily into the perfonal way»
the Lord Jefus Chrift, John xiv. 6. Unite with
him by faith, Eph. iii. 17. He is Lord of the other
world, and heir of all things : match with him, and
heaven fhall be your dowery. The keys of hell and
death hang at his girdle; but them that come unto
him he will in no wife call out. Here is the lure
bargain for eternity. Enter perfonally into the cove-
nant of grace, by believing on Chrift.

2« Chufe and enter fpeedily on the real way, the
way of holinefs, If. xxxv. 8. For without holinefs no
man fo all fee the Lord) Heb. xii. 14. If ye mind
for the holy city in the other world, ye muft be holy
in all conversation. If ye hold the way of loofenefs
and licentioufnefs, profanity or formality, it will
undoubtedly land you in the unclean place in the
other world. As ye fow, ye will reap-

Secondly, Improve it to a lowering of your efteem
of this prefent world, and weaning your hearts from
it, 1 John ii. 15. A right view of the other world*
would make this with all its gaudy {hew little in our
eyes.

1. Seek not your portion in it. Leave that to thofe
who have no expectation of the treasure in heaven :
make the bed of it they can, they will make a forry
portion of it, PfaT. xvii. 14. 15. Take ye that ad-
vice, if you be wife, Matth, vi. 33. Seek ye fir (I the
kingdom of God, and his right eaufnefs, and all thefe
things fhall be added unto you. Let the riches, ho-
nours,

The BoftHne of the other World applied. 1 99

■tours, and pleafirres of the other world be the great
conqueft you are fet for ; and the things of a prefent
life only a byhand work.

2. Set not your heart upon it, but ufe it paiTmgly,
I Cor. vii. 29.' 30. 31. Carry yourfelves not as na-
tives, but as pilgrims and ftrangers in it." What a
folly would it be for the traveller, to let his heart go
out on the conveniencies of the inn, which he is
quickly to leave ; on the pleafant places by the way,,
where he is but palling ?

3. Do not value yourfelves upon your polTeflions
in it, and your expectations from it. The former
are very precarious, which ye may foon be deprived
of; the latter very uncertain, wherein ye are fair to
be difappointed. The world's mountains in expec-
tation, often dwindle into molehills of enjoyment*.
But value yourfelves, according to the poUeiTions and
expectations from the other world.

Thirdly,. Improve it to a Chriftian bearing of your
afflictions with patience, Luke xxi. 19. J .m. v. 7.
If we obferve well, we will fee that many times it is
a falling into afflicting circumfhnces in this world,
that makes us look firft after the other world; and
the fame is what makes people look to it again, after
profperity has made them forget it. And having be-
lievingly looked into the other world, when we look
back again to our afflictions, we will be the more
able to bear them patiently. For,

1. We will thereby find them to be comparatively
light burdens. That which makes our afflictions fa
very heavy, and us fo uneafy under them, is the
weighing them in the balance with other things of
this world ; ourforrow and others joy, ourpoverry and
others wealth, our wants and others enjoyments :
that is the devil's rack, which he aims to put the af-
flicted on, that they may be made to murmur, fpurn,
rage, and quarrel. But lay them in the balance with
the other world's joys and forrows, they will be light
as a feather, 2 Cor. iv. 17. 18.

2* We

200 The Dotlrine of the other World applied

2. We will find them thereby to be fhort alfo, ibid~
The afflicted are ready to cry out, their trouble,
never ends, they can fee no outgate. "Why, but be-
caufe they look not to the other world, a view of
which would foon make them fee they are mif-
taken, Job iii. 17. There the wicked ceafe from trou*
bling : and there the -weary be at reft. What are
our afflictions here of the longeft continuance, but.
like the inconveniencies a traveller meets with on the.
road ? If he is going to his father's houfe, he eafily
digefts it, knowing that he will be eafy there ^ if they
be carrying him away to prifon, he eafily digefts it,
feeing that it will be worfe with him. In both cafes
he bears it, knowing he is not to ftay with them.

3. We will thereby fee ourfelves the more nearly
allied to the faints in glory in the other world, by,
companionfhip in tribulation. Where are they in
the other world, that had their good things in this
world, and where are they that had their evil things ?
Luke xvi. 25. If ye look through the upper part o£
that world, there ye will fee the man of forrows, the
man of God's right hand there, and all his' happy at-
tendants perfons that came out of great tribulations,
Rev. vii. 14. ; the fore tried Abraham, the burdened
man Mofes, the afflicted David, the perfecuted Paul,
the mournful Heman, ev. If ye look to the lower
part of it, there ye will fee thofe that fpent their days
in wealth, and in a moment went down to the
grave, Job xxi. 13. in a merry jovial life; the dan*
cing Herodias, the rich glutton that fared delicioufty
every day, &c. A ferious look, of this fort to the
other world, would make us embrace our crofs, and
fay, Lord, let me not tafte of the dainties of the
wicked, nor get my heaven here.

4. Lnftlyy We will thereby fee ourfelves a fitting
and fqaaiing for heaven. Stones to be laid in the
temple above mud be cut and hewed before they come
there. Afflictions are God's hewing tools, whereby
ke fmcoths people for that, building 3 and re ugh and"

hax&

The Do&rine of the other World applied. 20 r

hard (tones we are, that take much hewing. Inftru-
ments of our afflictions are but the hands he employs
for fmoothing the ftones for his building.

Fourthly and laftly^ Improve it to fuitable endea-
vours to prepare for that other world. If ye prepare
not for it, ye do not believe the report of it. And,

1. Labour to be habitually prepared for it. Get
out of your natural Mate, into the irate of grace : live
no longer without the bond of the covenant, but
perfonally enter into it, by believing on Chrift. Ye
muft be converted, ye muft be born again, and be-
come new creatures.

2. Labour to reach a£tual preparation for the
other world, being always ready to go into it at a
call. Let your thoughts dwell much upon it; carry
yourfelves as Grangers in this world, let there be no
Handing controverfy betwixt God and you ; and
timely difpatch your generation- work, and watch
and wait till your change come. Confider what you
bave heard of the other world, and lay it to heait*.

The-

The great Care and Concern now, that
our Souls be not gathered with Sin-
ners in the other World, confidered
and improved.

The fubftance of fome Sermons preached at Etterick*,
in the year 1729.

Psalm xxvi. 9.

Gather not my foul with finners.

WHoever believes and confiders the do&rins
of the other world, muft needs improve it
to a horror of the ftate of the ungodly there, on the
one hand, and a defire of the ftate of the godly on
the other. He cannot mifs to join the pfalmift in
this text, faying, Gather not my foul withfmners. In
which words we have to obferve,

1. Something taken for granted, or fuppofed,
namely, that the fouls of men are to be gathered,
each to thofe of their own fort, which is at death,
Gen. xxv 8. " Now there is a promifcuous multitude
in this world, good and bad together, like corn and
chaff in a barn-floor, or fifties in a net : but they are
gathered in the other world, fome into the happy,
others into the miferable company, every one to
thofe of their own fort.

2. Something expreffed, namely, a horror of the
congregation of finners in the other world. u Lord,"
fays he, << gather not my foul among their fouls r
when I remove hence, let me not take up my lod-
ging among them : let me not drop into their compa-
ny, ftate and condition, in the other world."

3^ The connection. This requeft comes in na-
tively

The Botlrine from the Text. 203

tively on a reflection the pfalmift makes on the dif-
pofition of his foul, and his way, in this world.
His confcience witneiTeth his diflike of aflbciating
with the ungodly, ver. 4. 5. I have not fat with vain
perfons, neither will 1 go in with dijfemblers ; I have
hated the congregation of evil doers, and will not Jit
with the wicked ; his love and liking to the prefence
of God and the congregation of. the faints, ver. 8.
Lord, 1 have loved the habitation of thy houfe, and
the place where thine honour dwelleth. So he prays
with hope, Gather not my foul with finners. q. d.
ts Lord, I have no liking of the company of ungodly
finhers here ; it is a burden to me in this world ;
let me not be fhut up with them in the other world.
My foul loves thy houfe; let me not be with finners
excluded eternally from thy prefence."

The text plainly affords the following doctrine, viz,

Doct. Now is the time, that people Jbou Id be in care
and concern, that their fouls be not gathered with Jin~
ners in the other world.

In difcourfing from this doctrine, we fhall,

I. .Confider fome things implied in it.

II. Shew who are the finners, that we are to have
a horror of our fouls being gathered with in the other
world,

III What it is for one's foul to be gathered with
finners in the other world.

IV. Confider this care and concern ; or fhew,
what is implied in this earned requeit, Gather not
my foul with finners.

V. Give the reafons, why we mould be in fuch
care and concern.

VI. Make application.

I. We fhall confider fome things implied in the
doctrine. It implies,

1. The fouls of men in their bodies in this world,

are

%04 Seme Things implied in the DoBririe*

are in a fcattered and diforderly condition, faints ami
Tinners in one place, one outward condition, all
mixed through other : the tares and the wheat are in
one field; corn and chaff in one floor; fifh good
and bad in one net ; fheep and goats in one flock j
Ham in the ark, Judas in ChrihYs family, profane
and hypocrites with fincere Chnttians in one vifible
church. This mixture has a threefold effe£L

(i.) It keeps both parties uneafy, Gen. iii. 15.
The faints are uneafy with the converfation of tin-
ners, 2 Pet. ii. 7. and finners with that of faints,
who are an eye- fore to them, Gen. xix. 9. The one
wearies to have the other out of their world, the
other many a time to be away from among them.
Their principles, aims, and manner of life are oppo-
site; and they cannot unite more than the iron and
clay.

(2.) They are an embargo upon one another, fo
that this world is neither fo good nor yet fo bad, as
otherwife it would be. It is with the world in this
cafe, as with the believer in whom there is a mix-
ture ol flefh and fpir.it, Gal. v. 17. The conve'rfa*
tion of finners often infects faints, leads them into
fnares and temptations ; handling of pitch they are
defiled, and are often made to come mourning out
of their company, as Peter in the high prieft's hall.
Sometimes again faints win on finners, to turn them
from the evil of their ways, 1 Cor. vii. 12. 1 3. 16.
I Pet iii. 1. And even where that is not gained *
yet it does fomething to keep the world in external
order, beyond what it would be if all were alike, no
mixture of faints in the fociety, Matth. v, 13. like
fait that keeps it from rotting and {linking, as other-
•wife it' would do.

(3 ) There is a mixed difpenfation of providence
in the world: fometimes fair weather, iometimes
foul ; fometimes public mercies difpenfed, fome-
times public calamities: for God has his friends and
his enemies boih in one company ; and the fociety

meets

$Gme Things implied in the Do&rine, 20$

meets with tokens of God's good- will for the fake of
the one, and tokens of anger for the fake of the other.

2. The fouls of men in the other world will be
orderly ranged into different congregations, accord-
ing to their different natures and difpofitions, faints
and finners, who will make two unmixed focieties.
This implies two things.

(1.) A feparation of the difagreeing parties now
mixed, Matth. iii. 12. The good and bad mixed in
this world will be feparated there: they will not
make but one fociety. more, as they did here ; and
the feparation will be a thorough one, not one goat
left among the fheep, nor one fheep among the goats,
Pfal. 15. Matth. xiii. 41. For all the mixture that
is here, there will be a cleanly feparation there, what-
ever were the ties of political, ecclefiaftical, or do-
medical relations among them, Matth. xxiv. 40. 41.
Then /hall two be in the field, the one Jhall be taken9
and the other left* Two women Jloall be grinding at
the mill, the one /hill be taken, and the other left.

(2.) A gathering of the feparate parties into their
refpe£Uve focieties they belonged to, whereby they
will be ranged according to their kind and fort;
faints with faints, and finners with finners. For
there will be two, and but two congregations in the
other world, Chaff's and the devil's, Pfal. i. 5.;
the bundle of life, 1 Sam. xxv. 29. and the bundle
of death, Matth. xiii. 30. Many are mifplaced here,
and get wrong names : fome of the devil's goats ap-
pear in fheeps cloathi ng, and are miftaken for fuch
as belong to Chrift ; fome of Chrift's fheep are bulk-
ed up by the malicious world in wolves {kins, as if
they belonged to the devil. But nothing of that will
be there.

3, Death is the gathering time, which the pfalmift
has in view in the text. Ye have a time here that
ye call the gathering time, about the term, when the
fervants are going away, wherein ye gather your
ftrayed fheep, that every one may get their own a-

3 S gain*

2o6 Some Things implied in the DoSlrine.

gain. Death is God's gathering time, wherein he
gets the fouls belonging to him, and the devil thofe
belonging to him. They did go long together, but
then they are parted; and faints are taken home to
the congiegation of faints, and finners to the con-
gregation of finners. And it concerns us to fay,
Gather not my foul with finners. Whoever be our
people here, God's people, or the devil's, death will
gather our fouls to them.

4. La/ily9 It is a horrible thing to be gathered with
finners in the other world. To think of our fouls
being gathered with them there, may make the hair
of one's head (land up. Many now like no gather-
ing like the gathering with finners ; it is the very de-
light of their hearts, it makes a brave jovial life in
their eyes. And it is a pain to them, to be gathered
with faints, to be detained before the Lord on a fab-
bath day. But to be gathered with them in the other
world, is a horror to all forts.

(1.) The faints have a horror of it, as in the text.
To think to be flaked down in their company in the
other world, would be a hell of itfelf to the g@dly.
David never had fuch a horror of the fociety of the
poor, the difeafed, the perfecuted, fyc as of finners.
He is content t© be gathered with faints of whatever
condition ; but, Lord, fays he, gather not my foul
with finners.

(2.) The wicked themfelves have a horror of it,
Numb sxiii. 10 Let me die the death of the righteous^
faid the wicked Balaam, and let my loft end be like his.
Though they would be content to live with them,
or be with them in life, their consciences bear
witnefs that they have a horror of being with them
\vl death. They would live with finners, but they
would die with faints. A poor unreafonable felf-
condemning thought. I believe, that if drunkards,
unclean peribns, mockers of religion, embracing and
rejoicing in one another, fhould as Belfhazzar fee
the form of a hand writing on the wall, that it is the

purpoft

Who the Sinners in the Text are. 207

purpofe of God, their foul mould be gathered with
one another in the other world, they would be flruck
and ready to faint away with horror, thinking, " Ah !
(hall my foul be gathered with drunkards, harlots,
mockers r" <bc.

Wherefore fmce all have a horror of their fouls
being gathered with finners in the other world, have
a horror of being gathered with them now in their
way. For it is an abfurd thing to think, that you
fhall live with finners, and yet die with faints. Ba-
laam wiflied to reconcile thefe contradictions, but
found it would not do, Numb. xxxi. 8.

II. 1 come to {hew who are the finners, that we
are to have a horror of our fouls being gathered with
in the other world. All men in this world are fin-
ners abfolutely confidered, and fo was David him-
felf *, Eccl. vii. 20. For there is not a juft man upon
earthy that doth good) and Jmneth not. But fome
are finners comparatively, in companion with others
that are righteous : they are grievous finners^ as the
word properly fignifies 5 hence they are clafled with
publicans^ a moft odious fort of people among the
Jews, Matth. ix. 10.

Now finners, grievous finners, in the fcripture-
ufe of the word, are all unrighteous perfons, as ap-
pears from the oppofition of thefe terms, Pfal. i. 5.
Therefore the ungodly Jball not ft and in the judgement ,
. nor finners in the congregation of the righteous. Prov.
xiii. 21. Evil pur fueth finners : but to the righteous
good fhall be repaid. Matth. ix. 13. He that is not
righteous, is in the fcripture-fenfe a finner, a grie-
vous finner. Hence,

1. All unjuftified perfons are finners ; for they are
unrighteous before God, as being without an impu-
ted righteoufnefs on them, Rom. v. 19. And fmce
all unbelievers are unjuftified, whatever is their man-
ner of life, they are fuch finners: they walk naked
before God, and their fhame is not covered.

S 2 2. All

20$ Who the Sinners in the Text are.

2. All unconverted, unfan&ified, unregenerate
perfons are finners ; for they are unrighteous, as being
•without an implanted righteoufnefs, Pfal. li. 13.
Rom. v. 8. They are not brought back to God, but
are in a courfe of ftraying from him ; their unholy
fet of fpirit remains, their nature is not changed.

Thus all natural men are finners, whofe ftate in
the other world is horrible, whatever their appear-
ance and way may be here. There are four forts of
them.

1. Thegrofsly-ignorant, who neither know, nor care
for knowing the foundation-points of religion. Thefe
cannot be but finners ; for however harmlefs they
may be among irten, they are grievous finners before
God, as being in darknefs, 1 John it. 11. Matth. vi.
23. And miferable will they be whofe fouls are ga-
thered with them in the other world. If. xxvii. 11.
It is a people of no under ft anding : therefore he that
made them will not have mercy on them, and he that
formed them willfoew them no favour.

2. The profane, who give the ioofe to their luftsy
in the pollutions of the outward man. Such as pro-
fane fwearers, who fet their mouths again ft the hea-
vens, whom God will not hold guiitiefs \ un.iean
perfons, whom God will judge; fcotters of piety,
maligners, and mockers of ferioufnefs, whofe bands
fhall be made ftrong; in a word, all thofe who are
loofe and licentious in their lives. Thcfc are finners
with a witnefs ; and wo to them whofe fouls fhall be ga-
thered with them in the other world, Gal. v. 19. — 21.

They which do Juch things, fhall not inherit the

kingdom of God. Luke xix. 27. Thofe mine ene-
mies which would not that 1 fhould reign over them,
bring hither, and flay them before me.

3. Mere moraliils, who fatisfy themfelves with
moral virtue, in obedience to the letter of the fecond
table of the law, but neglect the duties of religion
towards God. They are juil and honeft in their
dealings with men, but negk£t their duty to God.

Thefe

Who the Sinners in the Text are. 209

Thefe alfo are finners, and miferable will be the cafe
of thofe whofe fouls are gathered with them in the
other world, Matth. v. 20. For I fay unto you, That
except your right eoufnejs Jhall exceed the right eoufnefs
of the fcribes and Pharifees, ye Jhall in no cafe enter
into the kingdom of heaven. They feek not God's
face, and they will be hid from it.

4. Formalifts, who have a form of godlinefs in a
profeflion of religion, and performance of acts of de-
votion 5 but are ftrangers to real religion, 2 Tim.
iii. 5. Some of them are grofs hypocrites, who ftain
the profeflion of religion with their ur, tender walk
in matters of the fecond table, Matth. xxtii. 23.
Others are clofe hypocrites, whofe outward conver-
fation is blameJefs, but they are ftrangers to heart-
work, the fecret part of the Chriftian life, and enter-
tain always fome beloved lull or other. Thefe alfo are
finners, Mark x, 21. ; and wo will be to thofe whofe
fouls are gathered with them in the other world,
Pfal. cxxv. ult. As for fuch as turn afide unto their
crooked ways, the Lord Jhall lead them forth with the
workers of iniquity. Matth. xxiv. ult. And jhall cut
him afunder, and appoint him his portion with the
hypocrites : there fhall be weeping and gnafhing of
teeth.

Now all thefe are finners, grievous finners, who,
if they continue fo, will undoubtedly perifh. They
are juftly called and reputed finners, in oppofition
to faints. For,

(1.) They all mifs the mark totally that men fihould
aim at. The word by which the Holy Ghoft expreiT-
eth /?«, is pFoperly to mifs the mark, Judg. xx. 16*
The mark that all men are obliged to aim at and hit,
is the glory of God, the chief end of man, t Cor. x.
31. The faints brought to the enjoyment of God in
Cbrift, do all hit it, though not perftdlly, Phil. i.
21. Rom. xiv 7. 8. They live to the glory of God
their Creator and Redeemer. But all natural men
mi{§ it toully, Rom. iii. 23. They are conjured
S3 within

2io Who the Sinners in the Text are.

within the circle of felf ; they live to themfelves, not
to God : their lufts, morality, and religion, meet all
in the dead fea of felf. They are a company of felf-
lovers, felf feekers, felf- pleafei s, Phil. ii. 21. So
they and their way, not being directed to God, (hall
perifh from his prefence, Pfal. i. ult. 5 and their
ftraying will end in their falling into the pit.

(2.) They are all guilty of death before the Lord,
I Kings i. 21. with Rom. iii. 19. The fentence of
death is in force againft them, and they are fons of
death. The curfe of the broken law lies on them,
binding them over to revenging wrath. But the
faints are not fo \ though they are not without fin,
yet they are without guilt of eternal wrath, Rom.
viii. 1. They are abfolved in their juftification ; but
natural men, whatever be the difference of their
crimes, are all finners, law-condemned criminals.

(3.) They can do nothing but fin, Pfal. xiv. 3.
It is true, the faints fin in every thing they do •, but
yet they do things truly^good, and accepted of God,
If. Ivi. 7. ; the imperfections attending their duties do
not quite mar them, 2 Cor. viii. 1 2. But natural mens
actions are all fins, their natural, civil, and religious
actions ; only evil. Their whole life is woven into
one web of fin from the beginning to the end, with-
out one thread of purity in it : fo they are finners in
a moft proper fenfe.

§>ueft. How can that be, fince they do things that
are unqueftionably good? Anfw. It cannot be other-
wife. For,

[ 1 .] The principle of action in them is quite wrong.
They themfelves are wholly corrupt and loathfome,
and fo is all they do. Put the bell: of liquor in a
vefTel ufed to filthy ufes, and one cannot look on it,
Tit. i. 15. Unto them that are defiled^ and unbelieving^
is nothing pure ; but even their mind and conjeience is
defiled. Their filthy ftate defiles their duties, but
their duties cannot purify them, Hag. ii.

f2.] The end of their actions is quite wrong.

They

Who the Sinners in the Text are, :ti

They are like a feryant very bufy, but in the mean
time he is working to himfelf, not to his mailer, Zech.
vii. 5. When ye fafted and mourned — did ye at all f aft
unto me9 even to me P

(4.) They all fin with whole heart and good-
will to it. The faints do not fo, 1 John iii 9. They
have a contrary principle in them that contradicts the
inclination to fin, fo that at moft it is but with a
half- will, Gal v. 17. But natural men are all flefh,
wholly corrupt, therefore the heart goes with a bent-
fail to fin. It is true, there may be fomething op-
pofing fin in the unregenerate ; but then that ftruggle
of theirs is not betwixt flefh and fpirit, but betwixt
the flefh in one part lufting, and in another fearing.

(5.) All their fins that ever came on them through
the whole courfe of their lives, are ft ill abiding oa
them, in the guilt, filth, and dominion of them. It is
not fo with the faints ; guilt contracted is done away,
the filth is in part removed, the reigning power of fin
is broken. Sin in them is like mud in a fpring, but
in natural men like mud in a pool. Sin is ever coming
on, never going off; but all flicks, original and ac-<
tual : for there is no remiffion of fin to them, and no
fanctification by the Spirit. Unbelief is a-need-nail
to all their fins, John viii. 24.

Laftly, They continue finners in the other world-,
Prov. xiv. 32. The wicked is driven away in his wick-
cdnefs. In the moment of death the faints are per-
fected, they are no more finners : but natural men
have fin left on them, when they die ; then the fen-
tence takes place, Rev. xxii. n. He that is unjuft%
let him be unjuftftill, and he which is filthy , let him
be filthy ftili ; and they are caft out as unclean into
the unclean place.

III. I proceed to fhew what it is for one's foul to
be gathered with finners in the other world. It im-
plies,

1. All mens fouls are to be gathered out of their

bodies

212 What it is to be gathered with Sinners.

bodies by death, Job xxxiv. 14. 15. If he fet his heart
upon man, if he gather unto him/elf his fpirit and his
breath; all flejh fhall perijh together , and man fhall
turn again unto du/i. Man confifts of a foul and a
body : the body was originally duft lying here and
there fcattered on the earth ; and at death it muft be
reduced to the fame condition again : the foul came
immediately from God, and at death mull: return to
him, Eccl xii. 7. And no man can have power to
retain it in the body, but it muft be feparated from
it, and fo the man dies.

2. There are very different receptacles of feparate
fouls : there is a blefled receptacle of the fouls of
faints, wherein they fhall all be together in the other
world ; and a miferable receptacle of the fouls of fin-
ners, where they alfo fhall be together in that world.
Though the receptacle of the bodies of faints and
finners is common to both in this world, both lying
in the fame church-yard, yet that of their fouls is
not fo.

3. A feparation of the foul from the fociety of faints,
Matth. xiii. 41. At death, finners that were mixed
with the faints in this world, are gathered out from
among them, like weeds from among the corn, and
tares from among the wheat. And we fhouid be con-
cerned now, that that be not our lot. For it will be a
moil terrible excommunication, Pfal. i. 5. The un-
godly Jhall not fland in the judgement ', nor finners in
the congregation of the righteous.

4. Laftly, A placing of the foul in the fociety of
finners in the other world, putting them in the fame
place with them, and in the fame ftate. This is to
be deprecated, Gather not my foal with Jinners. To
be gathered to finners as our people, (hut up with
them in the fame receptacle of fpirits, to have our
lot with them in the other world, and fare as they
fare for eternity, is what we fTicuid be in the gieatelt
care and concern, that it be not cur lot.

IV. I

Of the Import of the Requejl in the Text. 2x3

IV. I {hall confider this care and concern 5 or fhew
what is implied in this earneft requeft, Gather not my
foul with finners. It implies,

1. A fure and certain expectation, that our fouls
muft be gathered into the other world by death. The
pfalmift prays not againft the gathering fimply, for
in that cafe neither prayers nor tears can prevail,
force nor fraud, Pfal lxxxix. 48. What man is he that
liveth, and fhall not fee death f But fince they muft
be gathered, they pray that they be not gathered with
finners. There is no maybe here, but it muft be, as
it is appointed unto men ence to die, Heb. ix 27. We
muft lay our account with it, as an event inevitable.

2 A belief of the miferable ftate of finners in the
other world, and the happinefs of faints* If one is
not perfuaded of thefe, he will be in no concern 3-
bout the matter. But we muft look beyond this world
into the other, and in the glafs of the woid take a
view of the ftate of finners and faints there, to raife
us to due concern in it Often do men look into the
ftate of finners here, and behold the eafy life they
have of it, and they wifh in effect to be among them:
but if we look to them in the other world, we will
wifh to be far from them, to have nothing ado with
them.

3. A horror of the ftate of finners there. The
man looking to it fhrinks back, faying, Save me
from it ! Their ftate there duly apprehended, is apt
to breed fuch a horror, as not only cures the envy at
their prefent profperous ftate, but makes the man that
he would not for a thoufand worlds, his foul were
in their fouls ftead, Pfal. lxxiii. 18 . 19, 20.

4. An earned concern to be delivered from it. The
man takes a view of it feriouily, and he is not indif-
ferent in the matter. He is not negligent as to the
future ftate of his foul in the other world ; but time-
ly lays down meafures for eternity, knowing that to
mifcarry in that point is a lofs that can never be made
up.

5. A&

214 Reafons of the Requeft in the Text.

$. An acknowledgement that God may in juftice
gather one's foul with finners. The beft have as
much fin as deferves it, and all are by nature liable
to it, Rom. iii. 19. And every one that fees the ill
of fin, and its juft demerit, will fee that if juftice
take place againft them, they will be gathered with
finners in the other world,

6. LaJHy, A betaking one's felf to the mercy of
the Judge, in his own way, for the pardon of fin,
and the removal of the juft punifhment, Job ix. 15.
And that is to confefs fin, flee to lay hold on the al-
tar Jefus Chrift by faith, feparating from the fociety
and way of finners in time.

V. I come now to give reafons, why we mould be
infuch care and concern, that our fouls be not gather-
ed with finners in the other world.

1. Becaufe to be gathered with them is to be fepa-
rated for ever from God, and the holy and happy fo-
ciety whereof Chrift is the head, Matth. vii. 23. De~
part from me> ye that work iniquity. The whole
herd of finners in the other world will be in a ftate of
excommunication, banifhed from the comfortable
prefence of God, the place of his glory, Pfal. v. 4. £.
kept out of the fociety of Chrift, the hoiy angels, and
faints, Matth. xiii. 41. And to be gathered with
them muft needs then be horrible.

2. They will be gathered into a moft doleful place,
If. xxiv. 22. They feall be gathered together as prifoners
are gathered inthe pit, andjhall be /hut up intheprifon.
At death finners are gathered into the prifon of hell,
fhut up there to the judgement of the great day ; and
from the tribunal they will be driven away thither
again all together, there to be fhut up for ever, Matth.
xxv. 41. The horror of the place they are gathered
into, the eternal gloom there, the chains of darknefs
that will hold them there, the mift of darknefs that
never clears there, may all move to fay, Gather not
my foul with finners.

3. Becaufe

Reafons of the Requejl in the Text. 21 £

3. Becaufe they will be gathered unto the moft
frightful fociety there, with the devil and his angels,
Maith. xxv. 41. They will be caft into the lake of
fire with the devil that deceived them ; and that will
be more terrible than to be gathered with dragons,
ferpents, and vipers here, which would quickly make
an end of one. O that men would confider how the
fervice of the devil in fin here, will bring them into
the fociety of him and his angels hereafter, that they
might have a horror of being joined with finners !

4. Becaufe finneis will be in a ftate of punifhment
there heavy beyond expreflion ; being punifhed with
everla/iing dejirutlion from the prefence of the Lord,
and from the glory of his power, z ThefT. i. 9. Now
is the time wherein finners take leave to commit their
crimes, trampling on God's laws, defpifing his Son,
and grieving his Spirit : then will be the time that
they muft fufFer and pay for all to the fatisfa&ion of
injured juftice. And the view of that fearful reck-
oning may caufe one fay, Gather not my foul with

finners.

5. Becaufe they will be left in their fin there, Prov.
xiv. 32. The wicked is driven away in his wiekednefs.
John viii. 24. If ye believe not that I am he, yefhall
die in your fens. At the moment of death, it is faid
of the linner, He that is filthy, let htm be filthy fl ill ;
and he is caft away as an unclean thing into the un-
clean place, with all the guilt, filth, and power of his
fins upon him, never to be removed. And here
confider,

(1.) The perverfe frame of fpirit, which is natural
to man, being enmity againft God, will remain with
them ther®, for there is no fanctification of the Spirit
begun on the other Gde of death. And it will be un-
difguifed there, the peace being blocked up, and the
war for ever betwixt God and them proclaimed. It
Will be irritated by their hopelefs miferable ftate,
Rev. xvi. ult.

(2.) Their fin will be their punifhment there ; a

juft

216 The Doftrin* applied,

juft revenge of cleaving to it over the belly of all re-
proofs, warnings, and entreaties ! So they will be
filled with their own ways. And,

[i.] They will be cut with tormenting paffions,
envy at the happinefs of the faints, fretting under
their own mifery, and defpairing for ever of relief,
Matth. xxii. 13. There Jhall he weeping and gnafhing
of teeth.

£2.] As for their pleafurable fins that their hearts
were fet on here, the defire of them will continue,
but the fatisfying of them in any meafure will be im-
poffible. So they will be for ever racked between
the defire and the denial of fatisfa&ion to their lufts.
Who then would not fay, Gather not myjoul with
Jinners ?

6. Laftlyy Becaufe being once gathered with them,
they will never more be feparated from among them.
As the tree falls, it muft lie. They that- are gather-
ed with finners at death, muft be gathered with them
at the refurrection, and {hut up with them in the pit
of deftruction for ever.

I fhall now make fome application of this fubje£L
Use I. of information. We may learn from it,

1. That the itate and condition of finners, what-
ever advantages of eafe, wealth, fyc» it be attended
with, is a miferable one, to be pitied, lamented, and
avoided, not to be envied or defired. For it is im-
pofiible that all the wealth of this world mould coun-
terbalance the wo in the other world that is abiding
them. Who would defire his lot with a condemned
malefactor, though he fared delicioufly every day ;
or quietly enjoy the beft covered table, while a fword
were hanging by a hair over his head?

2. That the great bufinefs of our life is to learn to
die, and the great buiinefs which we have to do in
this world is to prepare for the other, Job xiv. [4.
If a man die-, Jhall he live again ? all the days of my
appointed time will 1 wait till my change come, iiere

we

life of Information and Reproof. 217

vrt do but fojourn, there we are to abide : here we
are on our journey, there we come to our dwelling-
place : and it is of the utmoft confequence which
part of that world we arrive in, Matth. xvi. 26. And
they who do not fee to that in the firft and chief
place, are fools with a witnefs.

3. That we are in hazard of mifcarrying with re-
ference to our abode in the other world ; and care-
leflhefs about it will have a fatal iflue. If all were to
be gathered there into the happy receptacle without
diftin&ion, we might be eafy : but it is not fo; there
will be a gathering into the region of horror, as well
as into the region of blifs. And we will be fure to
mifcarry, if we do not in time fecure our happy re-
ception, in the way appointed.

4 Lajifyf That the hazard of mifcarrying in it
(hould quicken us to fuitable endeavours for fecuring
our happinefs in the other world. Our eternal ftate
is our greateft concern, and every thing being to be
plied according to its weight, it mould be feen to
with the greater!: care, and nothing laid in the balance
with it, neither cares, profits, nor pleafures.

Use II. of reproof to feveral forts of finners. It
reproves,

1. The carelefs (inner, who is carelefs about the
other world, and his future ftate. How many are
there, who never once ferioufly confider, where they
are like to take up their abode in the other world !
But they live as if there were no other life but this.
O what do you think, that you will get away in a
dream to the region of blifs, that you will (tumble
into heaven which you was not looking out for ? No ;
you may drop into the pit that way, but not get up
into the holy hill, If, xxxii. 9. 10. The foolifh virgins
that were carelefs about oil to their lamps, got their
head and heart full of care out of time, Matth. xxv.
And fo will ye, if ye continue in that carelefs temper.

2. The Jlothful (inner, who cannot beftir himfelf
to be at due pains in this matter. Though fuch

3 t are

2 1 3 Ufe of Reproof.

are not quite unconcerned about the other world,
yet they do nothing to purpofe in it. If lazy wifhes
and faint endeavours would do it, they would be
happy : but they cannot ftir up themfelves to take
ndd of an offered Chrift, covenant, and falvation,
If. lxiv. 7. to cut off offending right handstand pluck
out offending right eyes', to take the kingdom of
heaven by force, and prefs into it. Alas ! this is not
a bufinefs to be managed on the bed of floth, Eccl.
x. 18. Remember the doom of the flothful fervant,
who was caft into outer darknefs, Matth. xxv. 26. 30.

3. The delaying finner, who puts off the bufinefs
from time to time, till it be out of time, and he is
ruined. The young put it off till they fhall become
aged, the aged to a fick-bed, and the fick often find
they have enough ado otherwife. So the proper time
of fecuring happinefs in the other world is loft, as in
the cafe of Felix, A&s xxiv. 25. But why will men
delay what muft needs be done, or elfe they are ruin-
ed, efpecially when time is uncertain ?

4. Laft/y, The malignant fmner, who hates the
fociety of faints, and ierioufnefs, a religious life and
religious exercifes 5 making the fociety and way of
finners his choice. O what confidence can ye have
to cry to God, not to gather your fouls with finners
in the other world, who are thofe in whom is ail
your delight in this ? How can ye think to be gather-
ed with faints in heaven, to whom with their way
and exercifes you have fo great averfion on earth ?
Nay that malignity againft God's people fhews you
to be none of them : and you muft be gathered to
your people, your own people.

Use ITI. of comfort to thofe who are in due care
and concern now, that they be not gathered with
finners in the other world. This is a weighty con-
cern to them that have it, and they will need com-
fort. And there are four things comfortable in it.
It is comfortable,

1. That you are in the way of duty with reference

to

Ufe 9f Comftrt. 219

to the other world, Matth xxiv. 46. Blejfed is that fer-
vanty -whom his Lord -when he comet h /hail find fo do-
ing. While others are going on fearlefsly, you are
looking about you, concerned how it may be with
you in the end. It is a piece of wifdom and hopeful,
thus to be exercifed in confidering your latter end,
Deut. xxxii. 29 God's word fpeaks comfort to fuch,
If. xxxv. 3. 4. Strengthen ye the weak hinds , and con-
firm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful
hearty Beflrongyfear not : behold, your Cod will come
with vengeance^ even God with a recompencey he will
come andfave you,

2. That you take your work in time, while yet
there is hope ; and fo your care and concern may
come to iiTue well, If. xxxii. 20. Blejfed are ye that
fow befide all -waters. There is no fon nor daughter of
Adam but will be in that care and concern one time
or other *, fo that there will not be two of the whole
herd of ilnners that will defire to be gathered toge-
ther: but alas! with the mod part, it will be out of
time, Matth. xxv. 10. 1 1. Now I fay it is comfort-
able in your cafe, that ycu timely entertain concern
about it, while the Judge is on a throne of grace to
receive fuch applications. I may allude to that,
i Sam. xxv. 8. Ye come in a good day ; with 2 Cor.
vi. 2. Beholdy now is the accepted time ; beholdy now
is the day offalvation.

3. This care and concern is wrought In all God's
elect, by the Spirit of Chrift. The word calls for it,
A&s ii. 40. Save your/elves from this untoward genera-
tion. The Spirit works it accordingly, Rom. viii. 26.
2 Cor. vii 11. Heit was that breathed that defire in the
pfaimift ; and thofe appetites and defires that are from
the Spirit cannot be in vain. So that care and con-
cern is common to you with all the children of God,
who all join you in that fpiiitual breathing, Gather
not my foul with Jinners,

4. Lajlly, You have to do with a good and gra-
cious God, that has no pleafure in the ruin of finners,

T 2 Ezck.

220 life of Comfort,

Ezek. xxxiii. u. Say unto them, As I live, faith the
Lord Gody I have no pleafure in the death of the wicked,
but that the wicked turn from his way and live. No ten •
der man will give his oath wirhout neceffity, or where
there is no controverfy to be decided by it. So here
there Is ones namely, the devil alledgeth to finners
againft God, that there is no pleafing of him, otber-
wife than in the finner's ruin, and therefore all care
and concern that way is needlefs. The flothful fer-
vant licked up this vomit, Matth xxv. 24. 25. Lord,
faid he, / knew thee that thou art an hard man, reap"
ing where thou hafl not fawn, and gathering where
thou haft not ft rawed : and 1 was afraid, and went
and hid thy talent in the earth. And God purgetb
himfelf by oath of it \ believe it then no more. En-
courage yourfelf from the goodnefs of his nature in
Chiift, in that your care and concern.

(1.) Have you already got your heart's fill of the-
ftate and way of Tinners out of Chiift, fo that you de-
fire no more of it, but would fain be out of the reach
thereof? The goodnefs of God's nature in Chiift will
not fuffer the gathering of fuch a one with finners in
the other world, Pfal. xx\i. 4. 5. 9. Will a good
God take a finner already groaning imfler, burdened
and wearied with the ftate and way of finners out of
Chrift in this world, and flake him down with them
for ever in the other world ? No ; be it far from him.

(2 = ) Have you got a longing after holinefs, per*
feci: holinefs, and a liking of the purity of the mi-
ning ones there, that your foul cries, Gather not my
foul with finners, but with faints in the other world ?
Truly that is the work of the Spirit of Chrift in you ;
for the carnal mind is enmity againft God, R.om. viii.
7. Hence is the promife, Heb. viii. 10 I will put
my laws into their mind, and write them in their
hearts. And it is the fociety of finners, not as fin*
ners, but as miferable, the hypocrite is frighted at ;
and the fociety of faints in the other world, not as
faints or holy, but as happy ones, that they defire*

It

life of Comfort. 2 2 1

It is inconfiftent with the goodnefs of God then to
create fuch longing and liking, and yet never fati'fy
it i fo to open the mouth of the foul, and then to
put an empty fpoon in it.

Objetl. But a concern not to be gathered with lln-
ners in the other world is a common thing, which
Balaam and the foolifh virgins had, as well as the
godly : what comfort then can be in it, fince one
may have it, and yet be gathered with them in end ?
Aufw. There is a very great difference betwixt this
concern in fincere Chriftians and others. There are
four things, which if you find in your concern in
this point, you may conclude that you fhall not be
gathered with finners in the other world.

1. If their feparation from Chrif^as the chief object
of your foul's love, makes you averfe to be gathered
with them, PfaL xxvi. 8. 9. Lord, I have loved the
habitation of thy houfe, and the place where thine ho*
nour dwelleth : Gather not my foul with finners- The
ungodly, if all were right to that with them in the
other world, could digeft that, for Chrift is not the
chief object of their love. But this argues your eitee-n
of Chriit above all, 1 Pet. ii. 7. and your dehre of
communion with him as your chief happinefs, Phil.
i 23. You look upon fmners as fcatcd in the other
world, and you fee Chrift is not among them : and
fince he is not with them, yom ior.l cjie», Then,
Lord, let not me be with them neither, for the chief
object of my love is not among them. It this is the
cafe, truly your foul fhall nor be gathered with them,
John vi. 37. Him that comet h to me, J will in no wife
cafl out, Pfal. lxxiii. 24. 25. Thou fijalt guide me
with thy counfel, and afterward receive me to glory.
Whom havt I in heaven but thee ? and there is none
upon earth that I defire be fides thee.

2. If you have a horror of their being left in Cm
in the other world, as well as of their being laid un-
der punifhment there, Rom. vii. 24. 1 5. 0 wretched
man thai I am> who fhall deliver mejrom the body of

T 3 this

222 Ufe of Comfort.

this death! I thank God, through Jefus Chrift our
Lord, No body believing the unfpeakable torment
of the damned in the other world, but muft have a
horror of it, becaufe they love themfelves. But lay-
ing afide the consideration of that, foberly afk your-
felves, what think you of that part of their fentence,
Let him that is filthy , he filthy fill, in itfelf ? Ab-
ftratling from the torment joined with it, that would
be no hard thing to moft men, their hearts being
wedded to their lufts, and not knowing how to fhift
without them. If then you find that thought of it-
felf to be killing to you, and fufficient to make a
hell;, that argues you partakers of the new nature,
that hath a horror of fin as its oppofite, and defires to
be holy and without fin, which is its perfection. And
certainly God will not deprive the new nature of its
defired perfection, and confequently will not gather
a foul thus difpofed with finners in the other world,
Pfal. cxxxviii. ult. the Lord will per feci that which con-
cernethme. Matth. v. 6. Bleffedare they which do hunger
and thirft after righteoufnefs * for they [hall be filled,

3. If you are with purpofe of heart coming out
from among them, out of their fociety, way, and
manner of life in this world. Many would be eon-
tent to live with them, though not to die with them,.
Numb, xxiii. 10. But are ye not content to live
with them neither, no more than to die with them ?
Have ye conceived an averfion to the life as well as
the death, not only of the grofsly- wicked, but of all
that are out of Chrift, Strangers to the power of god-
linefs, being drawn to the love and choice of thefel-
iowfhip of the faints by the lu fire of the divine image
on them ? Fear not, God will never gather you with
them in the other world, Pfal. xxvi. 4. 5. 9. 1 John
iii, 14. 2 Cor. vi. 17. 18 Their company will not
be made your puoifliment in the other world, that
you would not make your choice here.

4. Lajtly, If the hope of not being gathered with
fimieis in the other world, puts you on the.ftudy of

univerfal

Ufe of Exhortation, 223

univerfal purity, 1 John iii. 3. The hope that un-
godly finners and hypocrites have of this tends to make
them feeure in fin, and leaves them at eafe in the
embraces of fome one luft or other : the reafon is,
becaufe their concern that way is only to be freed
from mifery, not from fin. But the hope of the fin-
cere is a lively one, a hope to be freed from fin>
1 Pet. i. 3. and this makes them beftir themfelves
againft it in time impartially, Pfal. cxix. 6,

Use ult. Let me exhort all of you now to be in
due care and concern, that your fouls be not gathered
with finners in the other world. This due care and
concern is very extenfive, and therefore I will branch
out this exhortation in feveral particulars. And,

1. Lay the matter of the other world to heart, and
be no longer carelefs about what (hall be your lot in
it, Rom. xiii. 11. 12. A carelefs unconcerned life
about the other world, will make a fiightful awaken-
ing at death, Luke xii. 20. If you were to be re-
moved out of a farm, or a cot-houfe, you would look
out for another before- hand : and fince you are to re-
move out of this world, look out for a comfortable
fettlement in the other, and fhew yourfelves men,,
wife men, and not fools.

2. Delay it no longer ; for it is no due concern
that admits of one day's delay : the reafon is, ere to-
morrow come, your foul may be gathered with fin-
ners, and flaked down with them for eternity, Heb.
iii. 15. To- day if ye ivill hear his voice , harden not
your hearts. No doubt there are many in hell, who-
once hoped never to come there, and to have fet
all to rights before gathering-time : but the mifery
was, it came ere they were aware, and fwept them
away with finners. They have been carried off in
childhood, that hoped to be religious youths j and
they have died in their youth, who hoped to make
all right by the time they fhould enter in age. The
little fleep, the little 11 umber they indulged themfelves
in, proved their ruin j for their poverty came upon

them

224 Ufe of Exhortation.

them as one that travelleth, and their want as an
armed man.

3. Let your fouls be now gathered unto Chrift by
faith in the bond of the covenant, Gen. xlix. 10.
He is the Captain of falvation, and none come to hea-
ven but at his back, John xiv. 6. as the members of
his myftical body, Eph. v. 23. Whofoever are not
united to him, and brought perfonally within the
bond of his covenant, will be left to be gathered with
finners. Therefore confider the covenant offered to
you in the gofpel, and fincerely take hold of it, as
you would not be fo gathered.

4. Give up with the fociety of finners here. I
mean not abfolutely : but make them no more your
choice, your familiar companions ; for death will
gather every one to his own people j and therefore ht
that ivalketh with rui/e menjball be 'wife ; but a com-
panion of fools /ball be defiroyedy Prov. xiii. 20. The
blefled man is known by his company he chufes, and
mod delights in, Pfal. i. 1. And he that is not con-
cerned to feparate from the company of finners here,
is in no due concern not to be gathered with them in
the other world ; for it is vain to think to live with
finners, and die with faints.

5. Lay by your malignity againft profelTors of
religion, againft ferioufnefs, and godly exercifes.
Calmly confider what ye would be at. Are you
really not able to endure any appearance of religion,
ferioufnefs, and godly exercifes ? Then there is no-
thing for you, but to be gathered with finners in
the other world, where you will fee nothing like it
for ever. But if you have anyjthe Ieaft thoughts or
hopes of heaven, you are quite unreafonable to think
to get there, while you bear fuch a grudge againft
the very firii draughts of that which is carried to per-
fection there. I wonder what fort of a heaven they
imagine to themfelves, that have a heait rifing at
holinefs; what kind of men and women they ex-
pect to fee there, that are always aire to have a thruft

at

life of Exhortation. 22£

at any ferious perfon here, however they have a vail
to caft over the godlefs and profane.

6. Aflbciate yourfelves with the godly; gather to-
gether with thofe that you would be gathered with in
the other world, Pfal. cxix. 63. / am a companion of
all them that fear thee, fays David, and of i hern that
keep thy precepts. If you mind to lodge with them
at the journey's end, it is reafonable to travel on the
way with them too, and not with thofe that are
holding a quite contrary route. Let not the faults
you efpy about them make you defpife their fociety :
there are no faultlefs companions to be had in this
world : but it muft be a dreadful call of fpirit, that
makes every body's faults tolerable but theirs. That
muft fpfing from a deep rooted enmity. But a lover
of the King will reverence his children, though in
rags : and God tries your love to him by the faults
he has left in his people, 1 John v. 1. Pfal. xvi. 2» 3.

7. Do not make light of withdrawing or abfenting
from the congregation of the Lord's people in public
ordinances. The fabbath- congregations are the
thing that in all the earth is likeft to heaven ; and
therefore they are that which has raoft of the faints
heart, Pfal. xxvi. 8. Lord, I have loved the habita-
tion of thy houfi, and the pi ice where thine honour
divelleth. Let the thoughts of the gathering with
the one great congregation in the upper houfe, re-
commend the gathering together with the congrega-
tions in the lower. From whatever principles or
motives people forfake the congregations of the faints
here in public ordinances, they muft either be ga-
thered with them in the other world, or with tin-
ners : there will be no feparate heaven for them there.

8. Laftly, Carefully keep off the way of fmners
here, and let your whole life be a going forth by the
footfteps of the flock, Cant, i, 7. 8. Heb. vi. t2. As
is your courfe now, fo muft your end be. If you go
the way of finners in this world, ye will be gather-
ed

226 UJe of Exhortation.

ed with them in the other : if ye go the way of
faints, ye will be gathered with them there.

To enforce this exhortation, ;

(■I.) Confider the. importance of your gathering in
the other world, than which nothing can be greater.
You have had the other world defcribed to you in
both its parts: and I may obteft you by all the joys
and glories of heaven, that you lay this matter to
heart ; and by the difmalnefs of the place, the hor-
rors of the fociety, and the dreadfulnefs of the ftate
of finners in hell, that you be in concern that your
fouls be not gathered there with them.

(2.) Make of your other concerns what you will,
if you fee not to this in the firft place, ye are ruined
to all intents and purpofes, Matth. xvi. 26. For
ivhat is a man profited, if he jhail gain the whole
world, and hfe his own foul? or what fh all a man
give in exchange for his foul? Nothing will compen-
fate this lofs.

(3.) This is the only proper time for that concern,
wherein it may be effectual: 2 Cor. vi. 2* Behold,
now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of
falvation. If you mifs it, in vain will ye cry ; for a
deaf ear will be given to all your cries, Prov. i. 24.
and downwards.

(4.) La/Ily, The gathering there will be eternal,
and unalterable for ever: and therefore it highly con-
cerns you now, that your fouls be not gathered with
finners then.

Wherefore, upon the whole, let me obtain of you,
(1.) That you will take fome ferious thoughts of the
other world in both parts of it. (2.) That you will
inquire what cafe you are in for it. And, (3.) That
you will lay down meafures timely, that your fouls
be not gathered with finners there. May the Lord
perfuade and incline your hearts unto this courfe.

The

The Improvement of Life in this World
to the raifing a good Name, the bed
Balance for the prefent, for the Vanity
and Mifery of human Life :

AND

The good Man's Dying-day better than
his Birth-day,

The fubftance of feveral Sermons preached at Etterick,
in the year 1730.

Ecci. vii. I.

A good name is better than precious ointment ; and
the day of deaths than the day of one's birth.

NEVER man more livelily reprefented the va-
nity of this world and human life, than Solo-
mon did, whofe wifdom and wealth gave him the
faireft occafion to difcover the beft that could be made
of it. He reprefents it in its beft (hapes as a very
heap of vanity and vexation, in the preceding part of
this book. And indeed the vanity of human life is
undeniable. Man as to this world is born crying,
lives complaining, and after all dies difappointed.
But is there no remedy, no folid confolation in this
cafe ? Yes ; but it muft be brought from the con-
(ideration of the other world, and this life improved
for reaching a happy life there. A good name is bet-
ter than precious ointment ; and the day of death)
than the day of §ne*s birth.

The fcope of thefe words is, to point men away

from

228 7*he Text explained.

from the vanities of this life, and from this life it-
felf, unto fomething that is better and will give reft.
Is any man affected with the vanity of human life,
and would fain know what is belt for him ? Thea
let him know,

i. A good name is belt, better than precious oint*
ment, which was a thing highly prized in the eaftern
countries. A good name is that favoury character
among good men, which rifeth from a good life,
calling forth its favour like good ointment. It is
faid of Chnft, Cant. i. 3. that hi s name is as ointment
poured forth : but all the faints partake of that a-
nointing, Pfal. xlv. 7. God hath anointed thee with
the oil of gladnefs ab&ve thy fellows. Where ever
grace is, it exerts itfeif in the courfe of a gracious
converfation, holy atlions, which procure a good
name to the party, in fpite of all that the malice of
the world can do. It is not a mere name, which a
hypocrite may have ; but a name raifed on* a folid
foundation of grace and true piety.

Now that is better than precious ointment, i. e.
the beft things of this prefent world, that carnal men
fet their hearts on.

(1.) It is better than all ~the world's wealth, that
goes under the name of oil, Deut. xxxiii. 24. And
of Afher he faid \ — Let him dip his foot in oil. To do
a good action, is better than to gain a great worldly
advantage. A courfe of piety, and the juft character
of a holy life, is preferable to riches, Prov. xxii. 1.
So the name of poor Lazarus remains favoury, while
the name of the rich glutton ftinks.

(2.) It is better than all worldly pleafures and de-
lights of fenfe, exprtlTed by ointment and perfume^
Prov. xxvii. 9. Ointment and perfume rejoice the
heart. The tefiimony of one's own confcience for
godly fmcerity, will rejoice the heart more, 2 Cor.
i. 12. Lay the perfumed fool on a fick bed or
death bed, thefe things avail nothing, while he is
galled with the remembrance of an ill-fpent life :

but

the Text explained. 229

but confcience of integrity will bear up a man in the
face of death, 1 John iii. 21. Beloved, if our heart
condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God.
2 Sam. xxiii. 5. Although my houfe be not fo with
God; yet he hath made with me an everlafting cove-
nanty ordered in all things and fur e : for this is all my
falvation, and all my dejire> although he make it not
to grow.

(3.) It is better that all worldly honours, for kings
were anointed to teftify the conferring of that dignity
on them. Men cannot carry their worldly honours
into the other world with them ; death treats the
king and the peafant alike : but the character of piety
outlives death, and will be owned and regarded in.
the other world, Rev. iii. 12. When wicked men
(hall be condemned for their actions in which they
applauded themfelves, and others flattered them ;
the faints will receive Heaven's approbation of their
holy actions, Well done , good and faithful ferv ants.

Wherefore the beft thing to balance the mifery of
human life for the prefent, is to be good, and do
good. That is the great lefTon that Solomon gives
us here. Look on human life in all the periods of
it, childhood, youth, middle age, and old age ; and
ye will find it is but juft fo many ftages of vanity,
whereof fome are paft, and others paffing. Look on"
it in the various circumltances of it, profperity and
adverfity, health and ficknefs, wealth and penury ;
and you fhall find it but vanity caft in different fhapes.
Turn up what fide of it you will, the young or the
old, the fingle or married (Idle, it is larded with
vanity on every fide. Only, confider it as an oppor-
tunity of being and doing good, and fo it is a fub«
ftantial thing; and fo very fubftantial in that refpecl:,
that it may well balance all the miferies that attend
it. But take away that, and it is at beft but an ufe»
lefs burden, Pfal. lxxxix. 47.

2. Death, the paffing into the other world, is beft;

the dying-day is beft, better than the birth-day. It

3 U is

230 The Text explained,

is hard to believe that ; and if men frame their fentr.
nients according to the prevailing opinion of this
world, they will never believe it : but if they frame
it according to the do£trine of the other world, they
muft needs believe it as it is reprefented in this text.

Ye have heard that there is another world j a lower
part of it, the region of horror; to which death is
the paffage for fmners, whofe dying day muft there-
fore be their moft doleful day, in the view of which
ye have been exhorted to cry, Gather not my foul with
fmners* But ye have heard alfo, that there is a higher
part of that world, a region of perfecl: blifs and hap-
pinefs, to which death is alfo the paffage for faints,
or perfons that have got the good name : now if you
believe that doctrine, you muft needs conclude from
it, that the day of fuch a one's death is better than
the day of his birth, which is the thing here meant.
And fince we have offered a view of the dark fide of
the cloud, the gathering with fmners in the other
world ; it is juft we offer a view too of the bright
fide of the cloud, the gathering with faints there.

There is a comparifon here of two of the days of
human life, both of them fpecially remarkable. The
one is the fir ft day of our life here, the birth -day,
wherein we come into this world out of the womb.
.The other is the laft day of our life here, the death-
day, wherein we go out of this into the^other world.
The queftion is, Which of the two is the beft day,
the mod defirable in itfelf? The fubjeft is determi-
ned in the firft claufe, to be the man with the good
name, who has been favoury in his life, being and
doing good. And Solomon decides the queftion with
refpedt to fuch a one, roundly telling us, The day of
death is better than the day of his birth, Heb. name-
ly, the man with the good name. When he came
into the world at his birth, his friends rejoiced, they
thought it a good day : when he goes out of this
world into the other, they mourn, thinking it a fad
day. But think they as they will, it is the beft day

of

Doclrines from the Text, 231

of the two ; and were it not the partition betwixt the
two worlds, we would fee it to our conviction.

Wherefore the beft thing to balance the mifery of
human life for the future to a good man, is to die,
and leave this world and the life in it. That is the
lelTon we are taught here. The weight of glory that
death will bring him to in the other \vorld, will ab-
solutely downweigh all the mifery of life here. The
blifs of the lodging he comes to there, will more
than compenfate all the hardfhips of the way; that he
fhall fay, " O that happy life in the lower world,
that made way for my entrance hither into this upper
world ! Who would not gladly have embraced Me-
thufelah's tack of that life, for to get this !"

From the text thus explained, arifeth the two fol-
lowing points of doctrine, viz,

Doct. I. The improving of our life in this world
to the raifing up a well-grounded good name andfa-
voury character in it, is the bejl balance for the pre-
fent for the vanity and mifery attending our life, bet-
ter than the moft favour y earthly things.

Doct. II. To one who has fo lived, as to obtain the
good name, his dying- day will be better than his birth-
day, quite downweighing all the vanity and mifery of
life in this world,

I fhall fpeak to each of thefe in order.

Doct. I. The improving of our life in this world
to the raifing up a well grounded good name and fa-
voury charatler in it, is the beft balance for the pre-
fent for the vanity and mifery attending our life, bet-
ter than the moflfavoury earthly things.

In difcourfing from this doctrine, I (hall,

I. Lay before you fome things fuppofed in it.

II. Shew what is the well-grounded good name,
that is the balance of the vanity and miferv of this life.

U 2 ' III. What

2$2 Of the Vanity and Mifery of human Life.

Ill What is the improvement of life, whereby
that good name may be raifed.

IV* Confirm the point, That this improvement of
life is the beft balance for the prefent for the vanity
and mifery attending our life, better than the moft
favoury earthly things.

V. Make fome improvement.

1. I fhall lay before you fome things fuppofed in
the doctrine.

I. It fuppofeth that there is a vanity and mifery
that is the infeparable attendant of human life in this
world. No man in life is free of it, nor can be,
Pfal. xxxix. 6. Surely every man walketh in a vain
Jbeiv. No circumflances of life can avail to the drift-
ing it off: it accompanies the crown and fceptre, as
well as the beggar's feat on the dunghill, Eccl. i. 2.
Vanity of vanities , faith the preacher^ vanity of vani*
tieSy all is vanity. Pfal. xxxix. 5. Verily every man
at his beft flate is altogether vanity. Men may
change their wildernefs-ftation,, but while here will
ftill be in a wildernefs. They may get out of one
vanity and mifery, but it will always be but a failing
into another.

2. Every man will find himfelf obliged to feek for
fome allay of that vanity and mifery of life, that he
may be enabled to comport with it, Pfal. iv. 6. This
makes a bufy world, every one feeking fomething to
make his hard feat foft. For the whole world is in a
fickly condition of fpirit, witnefs their need of the
great Phyfician, Matth. ix. 12. Hence there is a
mighty reftlefihefs, turning and (Lifting from one
thing to another, for fome allay of the prefent un-
eafinefs.

3. It is natural for men to feek an allay to the va-
nity and mifery of life, in earthly things, Pfal. iv. 6.
There be many that fay , Who will Jhew us any good P
They feek precious ointment, as it were, to matter
the rank favour that is about human life. For this

caule

Of the Vanity and Mifery rf human Life, 233

caufe the plcafures, profits, and honours of the world
are fought after, and employed as plafters for that
fore; that, by means of them, they may be enabled
to comport with the vanity and mifery of life.

4. But the beft of earthly things will make but a
forry plafter for that fore : they will not be able to
balance the vanity and mifery of life, but with them
all life may be rendered faplefs, through the predo-
minant vanity and mifery of it. All Ha man's ho-
nours were not able to feafon life to him, while
Mordecai bowed not; neither could Ahab's king-
dom, in the want of Naboth's vineyard ; nor bci-
{hazzar's feftival joys and pleafures, while the hand-
writing was feen on the wall. That way is but feek-
ing to allay one vanity with another : a dead fly will
make the ointment itfelf ftink : a day's pieafure will
not balance an hour's pain ; nor honour for years,
blot out the difgrace that a moment fixes.

5. Lajily, Howbeit the improving of life to the*
railing a well-grounded good name, will balance the.
vanity and mifery of life effectually : fo that her
who has reached that kind of living, has what is well
worth the enduring all the miferies of life for. There
is an excellency and good in it, that downweighs all
the evils attending lite*

II. I fhall fhew what is the well grounded good
name, that is the balance of the vanity and mifery of'
human life. It is the name of religion, raifed from
the reality thereof in the perfo'n that has the name*-
And it is, I fay,

1. The name of religion, and no lefs : for there
is nothing good truly feparate from religion, Matth.
vii 18. Men have attempted to raife ihemfelves a.
name from other things, feme from their wealth,
fome from their wit, valour, buildings, beauty, 6*c-
But thefe may make a vain name, which at death'
will go out with a {link without religion. Only re-
ligion can make a good name, being the only thing-
■ U 3 " q£

234 What is the well-grounded good Name.

of value with a good God and among good men \
without which all things elfe will be but ciphers, the
name of nothing.

2. It is rajfed on the reality of religion, and no
lefs : for a mere fhew of religion is but a vain and
empty thing, which will dwindle to nothing with
other vanities. That will make but a name before
men, not before God : 1 know you not, faid the Bride-
groom to the foalifh virgins, Matth. xxv. 12. They
come under the name of virgins, but Chrift will not
know them by that name.

We may take up that good name in three parts.

1. Friend of God, Jam. ii. 23. That is the part
of the good name, that defigns the man's ftate of
peace and reconciliation with God through Chrift*
There is no good name without this, Jam. iv. 4.
And this is the name put on all endowed with true reli-
gion, John xv. 14. a name better than fons and daugh-
ters, in whom mens name is preferved, If. lvi, 5,

2. Faithful to the Lord, Acts xvi. 15. That de-
figns the man's temper and way towards God. He
is a fincere and upright Chriinan, endeavouring to
approve himfelf to God in all things. He makes the
will of God his rule, the word of God his oracle, the
love of God his principle, and the glory of God his
chief end in life. A noble name, that God will
know him by, in the other world, Matth. xxv. 21.
Well done, thou good and 'faithful fervant, &c.

3. Ufeful to men, ferving his generation, A els
:.:iii. 36* That defigns the man's temper and way
towards his neighbour, He is not a common nui-
fa&ce of ibciety, enfnaring and mifchievous to thofe
about him5 whereby fome make themfelves a name
that will rot, Eccl. ix. ulf. Nor yet an ufelefs mem-

:f fociety, concerned for none but himfelf. But
a profitable member, laying out himfelf to do good
to others as he has accefs, Eilh. x. uli.

This is that 'good name that is the bed balance for
the preffcafc for the *a»it\ and miiery of human lire.

III. We

What is the Improvement of Life, &c. 235

III. "We come next to (hew what is the improve-
ment of life, whereby that good name efcjy be raifed.
This is a weighty point that nearly concerns us
all, to know thofe things that will make our life fa-
• voury before God and men. I (hall unfold it in the
following particulars. If you would raife up to your-
felves that good name in life,

Firft, Improve your life to a perfonal and faving
entering into the covenant of grace, and uniting with
Chrift, by believing on his name. Here are three
things which we have accefs to in this life, as vain
and miferable as it is, and in it only : and if we fo
improve it, we will be called friends of God.

1. Perfonally enter into his covenant, If. lvi. 4. 5,
For thus faith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my

fab baths, and choofe the things that pleaje me, and
take hold of my covenant : even unto them will I give
in mine houfe, and within my walls, a place and a
name better than of Jons and of daughters : 1 will
give them an everlafcing name, thatfh>all riot be cut off-
The name of your father Adam's houfe, given you
at your birth into this world, hjlrangsr and enemy
to God, Eph. ii. 12. Rom. viii. 7. In the gofpel
God's covenant of peace is offered to you : confider
while you are in life, what you are doing, and take
hold of that covenant, with ail the ferioufnefs and
awful folemnity ye are capable of in life. So (hall
ye get the good name, the new name, friend of God,
as confederate with Heaven, Eph. ii, 11. 13. If ye
aik, how ye fhall do that? the anfwer is,

2. Unite with Chrift. He is the head of the co-
venant, and we enter into it by uniting with him,
John x. 9. / am the door : by me if any man enter iny
he foall be faved. If- xiix. 8. / will give thee for a
covenant of the people. Uniting with Chrift, thy
foul fhall be wrapt up in the bond of the covenant of
grace, made with him for him and his; even as thy
relation to Adam wraps thee up in the bond of the
covenant of works, made with him for him and his.

Come

236 What is the Improvement of Lifey

Come then, thou art now in life, improve it to thy
union with Chrift: fo malt thou have a ground whence
the good name muft infallibly rife, Col. i. 27. Chrift
in you, the hope of glory. Make this the bufinefs of
your life in the firft place, to get Chrift in you. Live
and travail for this, Gal. iv. 19. It alone is able to
balance all the mifery of life. If ye afk, how ye
fhall unite with Chrift ? the anfwer is,

3. Believe on his name ; that is the way to unite
with him, Eph. iii. 17. That Chrift may din ell in your
hearts by faith. Believing on him, thou (halt be in
a ftate of union with him, as the branches with the
vine, and the fuperftru&ure with the foundation :
fo {halt thou be called by a new name, the good name,
John i. 12* As many as received himy to them gave
he power to become the fons of Godt even to them that
believe on his name.

Queft. But what is it to believe on his name ?

Anfw. 1. To believe the gofp el -report, namely,
That Chrift is by his Father's appointment the Savi-
our of the world, and your Saviour, to fave you from
fin and wrath, If. liii. 1. Who hath believed our re»
port ? Compared with 1 John iv. 14. And we have
feen and do tejlify, that the Father fent the Son to be
the Saviour of the world. & v. 11. And this is the
record^ that God hath given to us eternal life : and
this life is in his Son. Set yourfelf to believe this :
ye will -**ot find it fo eafy, as you imagine perhaps.
But it is impofiible to receive Chrift, or believe on
him, without believing this firft, John iii. 27. A man
can receive nothings except it be given him from hea-
ven.

2. To truft on him accordingly, that he will fave
you from fin and wrath, freely by his grace, through
his righteoufnefs, blood, and Spirit, Acls xv. 1 1.
We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jefus
Chrift , we fhall be faved. Rom. i. 17. Therein is
the righteoufnefs of God revealed from faith to faith*
Set yourfelf to this , for herein the uniting nature of

faith

whereby the good Name may be raifed. 237

faith lies, inafmuch as in this a£ of trufting on him,
the foul is, (1.) Divorced from fin, as well as care-
ful to efcape wrath ; the heart being alienated from
fin, fet to be rid of it and made holy, which is the
immediate effect of faving illumination, the difcovery
of Chrift made to the foul in the gofpel by the Spirit
working faith, 1 Cor. ii. 4. 5. Matth. xiii. 45. 46.
(2.) Carried wholly off its own bottom for thefe ends,
felf-confidence, creature- confidence, law-confidence;
i. e. confidence in any work or good qualification of
our own, are all undermined together by a touch
from Heaven's hand ; fo that the foul has not one
foot left to ftand en, nor a twig without or within
him to gripe to before the Lord, but Chrift alone,
and what is in Chrift, his free grace, righteoufnefs,
blood, and Spirit, Phil. iii. 3. (3.) Laid wholly on
Chrift for thefe ends, as the ftones of the building on
the foundation, cleaving and clinging to him, rely-
ing on him, who if he mould fail it, all would come
down together. But it is impoffible that fuch an
event fhould take place, fmce Chrift is the founda-
tion-ftone laid by his Father to bear all the weight of
finners laid on him ; and therefore knits with the
ioul laid on him, and fecures it for ever, 1 Pet. ii> 6.

Improve your life then to a perfonal and faving en-
tering into the covenant of grace, and uniting with,
Chrift, by believing on his name. So you {hall have
the good name which ye (hall never lofe, that will
balance all the vanity and mifery of life, and make
your dying-day better than your birth day.

Secondly •, Improve your life to a living a life of faith
in this world ; fo mail ye get the good name, Faith-
ful to the Lord; Gal. ii. 20. The life -which 1 now live
in the flejh) Hive by the faith of the Son of Cod. Rev.
xvii. 14. They that are -with him> are called, andchofeny
and faithful. All the improvement moft men make
of life, is to live a life of fenfe, eat, drink, do worldly
bufinefs, fport, play, 6c. So all that they make of
life is the life of a beaft, which have the delights of

fenie

238 What is the Improvement of Life>

fenfe in greater perfection than what they for their
hearts can reach. And fo their name {hall be written
in the earth, an ill name, a difgraceful name, Luke
xii. 20 Jam iv. 3, 4. But live ye a life of faith, and
fo ye will make of your life the life of a ChrKlian,
a faint, a child of God, an heir of glory, a faithful
fervant to the Lord.

Now to raife up the good name, Faithful to the
Lord, by a life of faith, your faith muft call: your life
into the following mould, which will be impracti-
cable but by faith

1. Let ic be a life of believing and dependence on
God in Chrilt for all. Live believing his word in all
parts of it, 2 Ghron. xx. 20. ; believing the divine
authority, equity, and goodnefs of his commands,
Pfai- cxix. 128. the faithfulnefs and certainty of his
promifes, Rom. iv. 20. 21. the juilice and truth of
his threatenings, If. Ixvi. 2. Depend entirely and
truft on him at all times, If. xxvi. 4. for all things you
need, Prov. iii, 5, 6. for happinefs, light, ftrength,,
and fueeefs in temporals and fpirituals. Depend
on him alone while ye live,

(1 ) For your happinefs and foul's reft, Heb. iv. 3.
Never expect it from the moft promifing creature,
but look for it firmly from a God in Chriit, Pfal.
xvii. ult,

(z.) For light to know your duty in all the fteps
of your way. Never venture yourfelf to your own
management, be the way never fo plain, Jer. x. 23.
for at that rate ye may (tumble in an even road. But
let your hope be in the promife, Pfal. xxxii 8. I will
injlrutl thee, and teach thee in the way which thou
Jbalt go .\ I will guide thee with mine eye*

(3.) For ftrength to perform every duty in life to
God or man. Lean not to your own ftock of ftrength
and refolutions. The good name is that of a branch,
not of a root, 2 Tim. ii. 1. John xv. 5. And fo no
duty whatfoever that God calls you to, (hall be above
your reach as to acceptable performance, Phil. iv.

*3-

•whereby the gsod Name may be rai/ed. 2-$$

13. / can do all things through Chrijl which Jlrength*
eneth me.

(4.) For your fuccefs in all ye fct yourfelves to in
your temporal or fpiritual concerns, Joih. i. 8. 9.
Remember always that Heaven keeps the negative
over us in all our attempts, Lam. iii. 37 Hence it is
faid, The race is not to the Jwift, nor the battle to the
ftrongy &c. Eccl. ix. 11.

2. Let it be a life of devotion, Pfal. cxix. 38.
That makes a part of the good name in the Bible,
defpife and feoff at it who will, Luke ii. 25. of Si-
meon it is faid, he wzsjuft and devout. And the
name of devout Chriftians will be in honour, when
the memory of the profane mail rot. Let it be a life
of devotion,

(1.) In refpe£r, of the truths of God made known
to you, reckoning every truth facred, and cleaving
thereto againft all hazards and oppofition, Prov. xxiii.
23. I do not advife you to break with every one that
is not of your mind, but only to quit no truth to any.
This the apoftle directs, Phil. iii. 15. 16. Let us
therefore, as many as be perfetl, be thus minded : and
if in any thing ye be otherwife minded, God Jhall re-
veal even this unto you. Neverthelefs, whereto we
have already attained, let us walk by the fame rule,
let us mind the fame thing. And devotion leads to it.
It is a part of the comfort at death : hence Paul fays,
2 Tim. iv. 7. 1 have fought a good fight, I havefi-
nifhed my courfe, 1 have kept the faith.

(2.) In reipecl of the worfhip of God, Phil. iii. 3.
If you have a father, you muft honour him ; if a
mafter, you muft regard him ; otherwife you will have
a very ill name, and you will fmart for it. Ye have
a God that made you, if ye live regardlefs of him,
where is your good name, what kind of a day can ye
imagine the day of death will be to you ? But be de-
vout worfhippers of him, in fecret, private, and pub-
lic, (hewing reverence in the frame of your heart
and outward geftuies : fo mall ye have the good name.

3« Let

24° What is the Improvement of Life,

3 Let it be a life of heavenly-mindednefs and con-
tempt of the world, Phil. iii. 20. So Enoch got the
good name of walking with God, Gen. v. 24. and
the worthies, Heb. xi. 13. — 16. Covetoufnefs and
worldly-mindedneis in profeflbrs of religion mars their
good name, Phil, iii, 19. It was a noble teftimony
that Luther had from his enemies, Germana ilia beftia
non curat aurum. Friends of the world cannot be
faithful to God.

4. Let it be a life of a Chrifiian deportment under
trials and afflictions in life. Every body will have
fomething laid before them for their trials, wherein
they muft itand candidates for the ether world, to be
difpofed of there as they acquit themfelves in their
trials for it here, Rev. iii. 21. So patience, refig-
nation, holy chearfulnefs under the crofs, arc necef-
fary to raife the good name, Jam. i. 4. And by an
unbecoming carriage under the crofs, people may
lofe all their good namethey had before, Mark x. 21.
22. "Wherefore the exhortation is, My Jon, defpife
not thou the chajhning ef the Lord, nor faint when
thou art rebuked of him, Heb. xii. 5.

5. Lajtly, Let it be a life of uprightnefs, the fame
where no eye fees you but God's, as where the eyes
of men are upon you. The faith of God's omni-
fcience leads to this : hence Jofeph faid when tempt-
ed to fin by his lewd miftrefs, Gen. xxxix. 9. How
can I do this great wickednejs, and Jin againfi God?
O what name do the pra£fcifers of fecret wickednefs
think they will have with God, who are at liberty to
fin if they can do it unfeen of men ? God will read
out their name with difgrace before all the world at
length, Prov. sxvi. 26. Whofe hatred is covered by
deceit y his wickednefs Jball he (hewed before the whole
congregation.

Thirdly, Improve your life to a living a life bene-
ficial to mankind, profitable to your fellow-creatures,
diffufing a benign influence through the world, as
ye have aecefs ; lo that when you are gone, the world

may

•whereby the good Name may be raifed. 241

may be convinced they have loft an ufeful member
that fought their good : fo {hall ye have the good
name, Ufeful to men, Ads xiii. 36. But there is a.
fourfold life that will never raife this name.

17?, The noxious life, that fome live in the world,
like foxes in the mountains, biting, devouring, and
worrying others ; they caufe their terror in the land
of the living, but will leave their name for a curfe.
Better one had never been in the world, than to be
in it for mifchiefj to be in it, as mice and rats are
in it, deftroying much good.

2dly, The trifling life, that fome live in the world,
like the leviathan in the fea, Pfal. civ. 26.; laughing,
fporting, playing, idling, and trifling away a life-
time, without doing any fubftantial good for them-
felves or others. Such make their life a dream, and
their death will be a terrible awakening.

3<//j/, The felfifi life, that fome live in the world,
like the oyfter within its own fhell, careful for no-
thing but their own fwcet felf, Phil. ii. 21. The world
will be at no lofs for the want of them, reaping no
•advantage by the having of them. If they were to
go out of the world, there is none before them iri
heaven that ever they helped a ftep forward to it, to
receive them into everlafting habitations, Luke xvi. 9.

4tbfy9 The carnal earthly life, that fome live in
the world, like the mole ever digging in the earth,
never looking upward. Thefe are bufy in life, but
doing nothing, nothing to the purpofe of a better
world. They may indeed be fome way ufeful to
others, but then it is only as the brutes are ufeful in
things of this world. But that will never raife men
the name of Chriftian ufefulnefs.

But there is an edifying life that will raife it, 1 Cor.'
viii. 1. Charity edifietb. The love of our neighbour
fpringing from the love of God, will fet men to feek
the good of their neighbours, and fo edify or build up
the world, in which live fo many to deftroy and pull
down. If we live to ourfelves, we will die to our-
3 X felves

24* What is the Improvement of Life,

felves too. But let us know that we are to live in this
world for the honour of God, and for the good of
mankind ©ur fellows in it 5 and we mifs the moll noble
end of human life, fo far as we mifs of thefe.

There is reafon that every one afk himfelf, For
what ufe am 1 in the world ? How do I fill up my
room in it for the common good ? And if we mind
for happinefs in the other world, we muft fet our-
felves to be ufeful to men in this world, and live to
be ufeful in it, Piom. xiv. 19. Let us therefore follow
after the things which make for peace, and things
wherewith one may edify another. Chap. xv. 2. Let
every one of us plcafe his neighbour for his good to edi-
fication. We arc members one of another; and that
member that is not ufeful for the reft> is a rotten
member, to be cut off.

Objetl. Magiftrates and minifters may, but what ac-
cefs have we to be ufeful to the world, or to raife up
that good name to ourfelves ? Anfw. Follow thefe
rules of life, and ye fhall raife to yourfelves the good
name, how private foever ye be.

1. Caft the world a copy by your good example,
Matth. v. 16. Let your light fo floine before men, that
they may fee your good works, and glorify your Father
which is in heaven. Many an ill example is fet be-
fore them for their deilru&ion, Matth. xviii. 7.
Give them your good example yet for their edifica-
tion : and live as meanly and privately as ye will, ye
fhall be as ufeful in the world, as a beacon is at fea
letting (hip- men fee the rocks they are to hold off,
Phil. ii. 15. 16. That ye may be blamelefs and harm*
lefs, the Jons of Cod, without rebuke, in the mids of a
crooked and perverfe nation, among whom ye fhine as
lights in the world: holding forth the word of life.
And give them a good example,

(1.) Of devotion and piety towards God, in a ftritfc
and religious obfervance of your duty towards him.
a practical teftimony for him, a light

that

'whereby the gsod Name may he rat fed. 243

that will condemn the world's profane contempt of
him, Prov. xxviii. 4.

(2.) Of exatl juflice and truth, in all your doings
and fayings with men, Zech. viii 16. apeak ye every
man the truth to his neighbour : execute the judgement
of truth and peace in your gates. The world is funk
in a gulf of injuftice and falfehood, and the multitude
of thofe that make no confcience of juftice in their
dee-is and truth in their words, is (o great, that they
are thought nothing of. Come, row againft this itream.

(3.) Of fobriety in moderating your own paffions,
with a fpirit of peacefulnefs, meeknefs, and forbear -
ance, Matth. xi. 29. This is neceiTary for the good
name, and without it it will be marred, Prov. xxv. ult.

This is a life preaching of the gofpel to the woild,
to which every one of you has accefs, Tit. ii. 11. 12.
For the grace of God that bringeth falvation% hath ap-
peared to all men ; teaching us, that denying ungod-
linefs, and worldly lufts, lue fhould live foberly, righ~
teoufly, and godly in this prefent world. And that is
an ufeful man in the world, that on good grounds
can fay, when he is to leave it, with the apoftle, Te
are witnejfes, and God alfot how holily, andjufily, and
unblameably ive behaved ourfelves among you that be-
lieve, 1 TheiT. ii. 10.

2. Be of a beneficent difpofition, difpofed to do
good to mankind as you have accefs, Gal. vi. 10.
iSome are of the household of faith, have a fpecial
concern to do good to them : others are not, ye mud
have a concern for them too ; though they are not
faints, they are men of the fame common nature with
yourfelves, Luke vi. 35. We ihould greedily em-
brace an opportunity of doing good to others, think-
ing with ourfelves, That is the proper buiinefs of our
life. And be difpofed to do good,

(1.) In temporals as ye have accefs, Heb. xiii. 16.

But to do goody and to communicate, forget not : Jar

with fuch facrifices God is well pleafed. There is no

body but fome one time or way or other may be pro-

X 2 fitable

244 What is the Improvement of Life,

fkable to others. The duties of humanity are of
great ufefulnefs in the world, being kind, merciful,
^and companionate to them that are in dill reft, or
need, Col. iii. 12. It has great encouragement by
promife, Prov. iii. 9. 10 Pfal. xli. 1. (be.

(2.} In fpiritua/s. There are none of the chil-
dren of Adam, but have immortal fouls that mult live
for ever. And true grace is natively communicative*
as one candle ferves to light another, Gen. xviii. 19.
1 know him, fays God of Abraham, that he vjill com-
mand his children, and his hov.floold after him, and
theyfhall keep the way of the Lord, to do jujlice and
judgement. And fays the woman of Samaria to the
men of the city, John iy. 29. Come, fee a man which
told me all things that ever I did : is not this the
Chrift ? So ye mould be ready to be ufeful to others,
sccording to their fpiritual exigence, inftru^ling the
ignorant, warning the frcure, encouraging good mo«
tions, bearing down bad ones, &c.

3. Lay out yourfehes to forward the ufefulnefs of
Others, 1 Cor. xvi. 10. 11. Whomfoever ye fee dif-
pofed and employed to be ufeful, help them forward,
facilitate their work, ftrengthen their hands what you
can, fo fhall ye be ufeful to the greateft purpofes at
iecond hand. The water cannot giind the corn, but
it can turn about the wheel, and the wheel the mill-
ftone, and fo the millftone wijl grind it : and fo the
Avater is ufeful for grinding, in fuch fort that when
it fails there is no doing it. So the meaneft of the
Coloflians could be ufeful for declaring the myftery
of Chrift, Col. iv. 3. Withal, praying al/o for vs, that
God would open unto us a doer of utterance, to fpeak
the my fiery of Chrift, for which I am aljo in bonds.
People generally think little of weakening the hands
of thofe that are ufeful : but I have often thought,
that it is one of the moil miferable ufes of being in
the world, to be in it for a weight hung upon them
that would be ufeful, Matth. xxiii. 13.

4. Lajllyy Be confeientious in the performance of

the

whereby the good Name may he raifed. 245

the duties of your ftation and relations, 1 Cor, viL
24. Brethren^ Jet every man wherein he is called^
therein abide with God. That is the fphere of ufe-
fulnefs that God has allotted to you : every one may
be ufeful that way; and no body can be ufeful other-
wife, whatever they may vainly imagine. It is ex-
emplified in the cafe of the priefts, Mai. ii. 6. of
wives, 1 Pet. iii. 1. and of fervants, Tit. ii, 9 10.
To pretend to ufefulnefs without our fphere, is the
effect of pride and prefumption, and is the fame ab-
furdity in moral conduct, as it would be in nature
for the moon and (tars to fet up for the rule of the day,
the fun contenting himfelf with the rule of the night*
Thus ye have that improvement of life, by which
the good name may be railed.

IV. I proceed to confirm the point. That this im-
provement of life is the bed balance for the prefent
for the vanity and mifery attending our life, better
than the molt favoury earthly things. And here I
{hall (hew,

1. That it is the beft: balance for the prefent for
the vanity and mifery of life.

2. That it is better than the beft and mo ft favoury
earthly things.

Firjty I am to fhew that this improvement of life
is the beft balance for the prefent for the vanity and
mifery of life.

I. Hereby a man anfwers the end of his creation,
for which he was fent into the world : and furely the
reaching of fuch a noble end is the beft balance for
all the hardfhips in the way of it. The merchant
toils in travelling, the hufbandman in ploughing and
fovving: but the gaining of their end downweighs all
that toil to them. The chief end of man's life in the
world is to enjoy God as our Friend, to be dutiful and
faithful to him as our Benefactor, and ufeful to m:n
our fellow -creatures : if we reach that noble end,
what matter what hardfhips we wade through unto

X 3 it)

246 The Improvement ef Life the beft Balance, &c.

it ? If we mifs it, we have nothing that will counter-
balance them.

2. It brings fuch a fubftantial and valuable good
out of our life, as will downweigh all the inconveni-
encies that attend our life in the world. Gather the
vanities and miferies of human life together, its frail-
ties, weaknefies, difappointments, crolTes, 6c. they
will make a great heap ; and put them in the balance
with bare life itfelf with mere worldly comforts
and conveniencies, they would downweigh it, Pfal.
lxxxix. 47. One may fay, thefe comforts are not
worth the living for, at the rate of that vanity and
mifery that attend them. But here are three things,
namely, our own happinefs in God's favour, the ho-
nour of God, and the good of mankind ; any one of
thefe, and much more all of them together, is worth
living for under all the inconveniencies of life, and
will downweigh all the mifery of life in this world ;
there being more good in the one, than there is evil
in the other.

3. It brings fuch valuable good into our life, as
more than counterbalanceth all the vanity and mifery
of it. And that is, (1.) A prefent comfort and fa-
tisfattion within one's felf, 2 Cor. i. 12. The foul-
fatisfaclion there is in the reflection, that God is
one's friend, that they have got fomething done for
the honour of God, and for the good of their fellow-
creatures, is enough to counterbalance the vanity and
mifery of life, Prov. xiv. 14. (2.) A future pro.
fpecT:, namely, of complete happinefs, which mult
needs turn the fcales entirely, be the miferies of life
what they will, Horn. viii. 35.-39.

4. Lq/ily, That good name well grounded is a thing
that may coft much indeed, but it cannot be too dear
bought, Prov. xxiii. 23. "Whatever it coft you, you
will be gainers, if ye get it, Phil. iii. 8. Let men
and devils raife the market to the higheft pitch they
can to increafe the difficulty of your obtaining it,
they can never raife it fo high as to give you ground

to

better than tie moft favour y earthly Things. 247

to flop bidding for it. This has been the concurring
teftimony of all the faints, confcflbrs, and martyrs
from the beginning, Heb. xi. 1. — 39.

$ec$ndly, I fhall mew that this improvement of
life is better than the belt and moft favoury earthly
things.

1. It will give a greater pleafure to the mind, than
any earthly thing can do, Prov. iii. 17. Pfal. iv. 7.
2 Cor. i. 12. This appears in its bearing up the heart,
under the greateft trials and hardships. What can all
the delights of fenfe, profits and pleafures of the world,
avail a dying man ? But this good name rejoiceth the
heart in the face of death. This made confeflbrs joy-
ful under the lofs of their fubftance, and martyrs
chearfully to embrace flames and gibbets.

2. It will laft longer than they will all do, Pfal.
cxii. 6. Abraham was rich in filver and gold, and
Job in flocking : but thefe things of theirs are all
gone now, but their good name they raifed to them-
felves is yet to the fore. All earthly things have a
principle of corruption in them, ruft eats the filver,
moths eat the fine cloaths, and our bodies themfelves
will rot: only the good name is incorruptible, and
will not be eaten up either by the teeth of malice or
time, If. lvi. 5.

3. It is the only thing we can keep to ourfelves in
the world to our advantage, when we leave the world.
We muft all leave the world, and then whatever
riches, wealth, honours we have in it, we muft leave
them to others : only what name we leave behind us,
we will keep to ourfelves when we are gone, we will
be our own heirs in that, Matth. vi. 19. 20. If it
be an ill name, there is our difadvantage : we leave
nothing to ourfelves in the world, but what ftinks in
it. If it be the good name, it will be favoury after
us, when we are away. So,

4. The good name will, after we are away, be fa-
voury in the world, when the things that ethers fet
theii hearts on 'will make them ftink when they are

gone.

248 The Improvement of Life better y &c.

gone. How favoury is the name of Lazarus, Luke
xvi. at this day, notwithftanding all his poverty and
fores ? How is the name of the rich man buried with
himfelf, known only by his being a fenfual glutton-
ous man, a name that every one abhors? Days have
been, wherein fome have been rigid opprefTors, and
raifed wealth to themfelves that way; while others
were patient under their opprefiions. There have been
great and honourable men in the world, fome of
them fitting on a throne, who lived in whoredom,
perfecution, blood, and murder j while others have
Chriftianly fubmitted to be pent up in prifons, (hot,
hanged on gibbets by their orders : they are all gone
now, the opprefTors and perfecutots, as well as the
opprefled and perfecuted. I appeal to the confcience
of every one, which of their names is raoft favoury
now, and which of the two would ye chufe for your-
felves if ye could ?

•5. Lajlly, The good name will go further than the
beft and moft favoury things of the earth. Mary
pours a box of precious ointment on Chrift, which
no doubt fent its favour through the whole houfe :
but Chrift paid her for it with the good name, that
fhould fend its favour through the whole world,
Matth. xxvi. 13. Verily I fay unto y&u, Wherefoever
this gofpel /hall be preached in the -whole world,
there /ball alfo this, that this woman hath done, be
told for a memorial of her. But ye may think, we
can have no hope that ever our good name will go
that wide. That is a miftake; for if we raife our-
felves the good name, it will certainly be publifhed
before all the world at the laft day, Rev. iii. 5. and
we will carry it over the march betwixt the two
worlds into the other world, ver 12. The name of
kings, princes, nobles, gentlemen, <hc. will go no
further with people than this world ; there will be an
abfolute levelling of mankind in the other world ;
thefe gfeat names will not take place there, but the
good name will, and make the only difference.

I come

Ufe of Information* 24$

I come now to the improvement of this fubje&.
Use i. of information. This doctrine informs
us, that,

1. There is a way to get the vanity and mifery of
this life balanced even for the prefent ; fo that one
may get a fufficient fweetening to all the bitternefs of
it, that they may not quite weary of life, but patient-
ly wait their change. This difcovery mould be very
acceptable, becaufe It is feafonable, to all ; and all
fhould fet themfelves to the improving of it, as need-
ing ^.

2. That way is only the way of a religious life, la
faith and holinefs. By fuch a courfe, and no other,
can the good name be raifed. It is not being great,
but good ; not being high, but ufeful, that will raife
itt In vain do men think to make themfelves a name
by their wealth and honour, while they are not care-
ful to improve thefe to the glory of God and the good
of others \ for all they will get thereby will be but a
blaze of a name, that will foon go out with a ftink :
or to balance the miferies of life, by the chace of
worldly profits and pleafures ; for thefe they will find
attended with vanity and mifery. But faith and ho-
linefs will make a lalting good name.

3. People ought to be concerned for a good name
as a moil precious thing ; and therefore both to be
and appear good, both to have a holy practice and a
holy profeffion ; the latter as well as the former being
neceflfary to raife it, and the former as well as th«
latter/ A holy practice without a holy profeffion is
a coritradiction 5 for the one is a neceiTary part of tihe
other, which is a light that mull: needs difcover itfelf,
Matth. v. 16. Phil- ii. 15. 16. A holy profeffion
without a holy practice is Pharifaical and hypocritical ;
and the name it will raife being without a root, will
be but for a moment, and that before men only.

4. The right improving of life is the way to the
good name. It is the way to obtain it, and fecure it.
Thus every one has accefs to it, If. lvi. 4. 5. For thus

faith

250 Ufe of Reproof.

faith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my fabbaihs,
and choofe the things that pleafe me, and take hold of
my covenant : even unto them will I give in mine
houfe, and within my walls, a place and a name better
than of fons and of daughters : I will give them an
ever la/ling name, that Jhall not be cut off. Sons and
daughters mult die thernfelves, and their name be
extinct; fiouriihing families may foon be rooted out.
But a life rightly improved will leave a favoury name
when it is at an end ; and will keep up the name of thofe
that have neither fon nor daughter, and that for ever.
Use II. of reproof to,

1. Thcfe who are in no concern for a good name.
It is pitiful trifling indeed for men to hunt for an
empty name before the world, in the way of vain-
glory, Matth. vi. 2. But they that live carelefs of a
well-grounded good name, being carelefs of their
name, are carelefs of their fouls too. They value
not what be thought or faid of them never fo truly,
fo that they can but pleafe thernfelves, and fatisfy
their own lufts for the prefent: that is the life of brutes,
concerned only for the prefent time, not for the time
after death. It is a fad life, to live a life of fin, and
afterward to leave our name for a curfe.

2. Thofe who fet up for a name, but are in no
concern to improve their life for the honour of God
and good of mankind. They will never get the good
name that way; they may get a vain name, or an ill
name. Faith and holinefs are the only pillars to rear
up the good name upon.

3. Thofe who, under the vanity and mifery of life,
feek for this and the other comfort of the world to
fupport them, but never fet thernfelves to a Chriitian
improvement of life to balance their afflictions and
hardihips. That is to be folicitous for cure, and yet
to (land off from the fovereign never-failing remedy.

Use ult. of exhortation. Let the vanities and
miferies attending this prefent life move and engage
you to improve life for raifmg up to yourfelves the

gocd

Ufe of Exhortation. 251

good name, as the befl: thing to balance them for
the prefent. Serioufly confider the vanity and mife-
ry of life, and let the view of them be a fpur to a
Chriftian improvement. And for this caufe con-
fider,

1. What a vain and miferable thing your life on
earth is, if you make not fomething of it for an after
life, Pfal. xxxix. 6- It is a fleeting, pafling vanity,
a vapour, a puff of wind that will foon be away.
The bloom of youth foon fades, its vigour decays,
and man goes as faft down as ever he rofe up, and
fometimes is pulled down fuddenly. Every age and
condition is attended with fo many miferies thereto
allied, that there is no reft in any part of it.

2. There is no cure for the vanity and mifery of
life to drive them away. Men are ftill working at
that indeed ; but in vain, Eccl. i. 15. That which is
crooked cannot be made firaight : and that which is
wanting cannot be numbered. Ye may as well think
to turn the winter into fummer, and clear the air o£
midges flying about in a warm fummer-day. The
removal thereof is reierved for the other life in the
other world ; but while men live in this world,
there will be vanity and mifery attending them.

3. The only thing valuable in this life, is, that it
is an opportunity for raifing a good name, that may
pafs with us into the other world. That is an ad-
vantage of this life that is not in the other, Eccl. ix.
10. If. xxxviii. 19. Take it by this handle, and
you have it as a valuable good among your hands;
a feed-time for eternity, an apprenticeihip for hea-
ven, a tide for Immanuel's land.

4. Every piece of the vanity and mifery of this
life, that comes on you, is a providential call to you
to improve it as fuch an opportunity. The language
thereof is, Arife, depart^ this is not your reft ; Cant,
iv. 8. Come with me from Lebanon^ my fpoufe, with
me from Lebanon : look from the top of Amana, from
the top of Shenir and Herman, from the lions dens,

frtm

25 1 Ufe of Exhortation,

from the mountains of the leopards. Every thorn of
uneafineis you find in life, is a warning to you to
leave feeking your fatisfa&ion in the empty creation,
and to take up your fouls reft in God.

5. To improve it fo will give a prefent eafe and
relief under the burden : though it will not take it
off your back, it will ftrengthen you, and make you
go more lightly under it, 2 Cor. iv. 17. 18. It will
give you more effectual confolation under them, than
all the comforts of the world can do. Though ye
will ftill be in life but as pilgrims, yet it will give
you a fong in the houfe of your pilgrimage.

6. It will fecure you a happy life in the other
world, where none of thefe vanities and miferies
{hall ever have place any more for ever. Thus ye
will lay up treafuie in heaven which cannot be loft,
Matth. vi. 19. 20. Now is the feed-time, there will
be the eternal reaping of what is now fown, Gal.
vi. 8.

7. Laftly> If ye do not fo improve it, you will
never tafte the happinefs of life. You will lofe the
prefent life as to any true happinefs therein, though
you may deceive yourfelves with a fhadow of happi-
nefs therein : yet the truth is, you have no fuffi-
cient balance for the vanity and mifery of life, which
you cannot mifs. And then your life in the other
world will be a life of unmixed mifery, a thoufand
times worfe.

To help you to this improvement,

(1.) Take fome time to confider, what name you
bear, and how your name favours, in heaven and
earth. It will be of little value, to be favour y on
earth, if it be not fo in heaven too, Rev. iii. 1. But
if it be favoury in heaven, it will in fpite of malice
be favoury on earth too, in the confciences of men,
2 Cor. iv. 2. Now this will be according to your
fouls ftate before the Lord, and the habitual bent
and courfe of your life and actions, 2 Cor. ii. 15.
For iue are unto God a fw set favour of Chrifi, in them

that

life of Exhortation. 253

that are faved. John xv. 14. Ye are my friends , if
ye do whatsoever I command you,

{2 ) Addrefs yourfelves to the living a life of faith
and holinefs, as the proper work of this life while it
lafts, If. xxxviii. 19. The living, the living, he /hall
praife thee, as I do this day ; the father to the chil-
dren Jhall make known thy truth* Dream away life
110 longer, trifling away precious time: but open
your eyes, roufe up yourfelves to mind and ply the
end of your creation, 1 Cor. xv. 34. Awake to righ*
teeufnefs, and Jin not ; for fame have not the know-
ledge of God : Ifpeak this to your Jhame.

(3.) Lafily, Keep in view the approach of death, as
what (huts up and cuts off working time, John ix.
4 Remember, it is now or never you muft raife the
good name. For this prefent ftate only is the ftate
of trial ; the future ftate is the ftate of retribution,
wherein each will be rewarded according to his work.
As the child born dead into this world, cannot be
brought to life by the light thereof; fo he that enters
fpiritually dead, and without the good name, into
the other world, will never have life nor good name
there.

I (hall now proceed to the consideration of the
other doctrine from the text, viz.

Doct. II. To one who has fo lived, as to obtain the
good name, his dying- day will be better than his birth-
day, quite downweighing all the vanity and mifery of
life in this world. This is a paradox, a truth though
unlikely. In handling it, 1 {hall,

I. Difcover fome truths contained in it.

II. Shew in what latitude this doctrine is to be un-
derftood.

III. Demonftrate the truth of this paradox, this
unlikely tale, That the faint's dying-day is better
than his birth-day.

IV. Apply the fubjed.

3 Y I. I

.2^4 Qf the Birth- day and the Dying^day.

I. I fhall difcover 4bme truths contained in this
doctrine.

1. However men live, they muft die. He that
has had a birth-day, whatever he makes of his life,
muft have a dying-day too, Heb. ix. 27. It is ap-
pointed unto men once to die. The carelefs gracelefs
life of the fool will not ward off death, neither will
the well-improved life of the wife do it, Pfal. xlix.
10. Both muft lay their account with it: they that
look and prepare for it, will not be difappointed, and
thofe that never mind it, it will certainly overtake.

2. The birth-day is a good day, notwithftanding
alt the vanity and mifery of human life. This is the
common fenfe of mankind about it. And though
ibme have curfed it, as the worft of days, that alters
not the cafe, being the effect of a tranfport of paffion.
But it is a good day to the relations, notwithftanding
the bitternefs mixed with it, as our Saviour obferves,
John xvi. 21. A woman when Jhe is in travail, hath
for row, becaufe her hour is come : but ajfoon as Jhe is
delivered of the child, fhe rememhereth no more the an-
guiflj, for joy that a man is horn into the world. And
To it is to the party too, as an entrance on the ftage
of life whereby God is glorified, and one may be
prepared for a better life, If. xxxviii. 19. The living,
the living, he Jlmll praife thee, as I do this day, &c.

3. The dying-day is not always fo frightful as it
looks ; it may be a good day too. There may be a
kind heart, where there is a ftern countenance on
occafion. As in fcouring of a veflel, fand and afhes
firft defiling it makes it to glifter ; fo grim death
"brings in a perfect comelinefs. The waters may be
red and frightful, where yet the ground is good, and
they are but mallow, pafTable with all fafety.

4. Where the dying day follows a well -improved
life, it is better than the birth- day, however it may
appear. There is this difference betwixt them, the
birth- day has its fair fide outmoft, the dying-day has
its fair fide inmoft \ hence the former begins with

How the Dcftrine is to he uncle rjlood, 255

joy, but opens out -?n much forrow ; the latter be-
gins with forrow, but opens out in treafures of end-
lefs joy. And certainly it is better to ftep through
forrow into joy, than through joy into forrow.

5. The dying day in that cafe is fo very far better
than the birth-day, that it quite downweighs all the
former vanity and mifery of life. The angelic guard
conveying Lazarus into Abraham's bofoni, left not
his fometime fores and pinching (traits the weight of
a feather, being compared with the honour and glory
of it, 2 Cor. iv. 17. However heavy their cafe has
been, they remember it then as waters that fail.

6. Lajlly, But it will not be fo in the cafe of an ill —
fpent life. In that cafe the birth day will ftill keep
the preference, it will be better than the dying day,
though in the mean time it would have been bed of
all that fuch had never been born, Matth. sxvi. 24.
For whatever joy or forrow they have been born to
in this world, they will never tafle of joy more, but
be overwhelmed with floods of forrow, when once
their dying- day is come and over.

II. I (hall (hew in what latitude this do&rine is to
be underftood.

1. As to the parties, thofe who have fo lived as to
obtain the good name. It is to be underftood of
them,

(1.) Univerfally, whatever different degrees be a-
mong them in the luftre of the good name. There
are children, young men, and fathers of that name :.
it is more illuftrious with fome of them than others ;
for though all are alike friends of God, yet all are not
alike faithful to God, and ufeful to men, 1 John ii.
12. But if they obtain that name at all, the day of
their death will be better than that of their birth ;
for the loweft faint in the other world, will be in
better cafe than the greatest of men in this world.

(2.) Inclujively, of ele£t infants dying in their in-
fancy, before they aie capable of being faithful to

Y 2 God,

2 $6 Now the Dotlrine is to he underftood.

God, or ufeful to men : becaufr having the Spirit of
Chrift dwelling in them, whereby they are united to
Chrift, they are the friends of God, and if their or-
gans were difpofed, they would be faithful and ufe-
ful. The feed of faithfulnefs and ufefulnefs is irr
them, 1 John iii. 9. Only they lack opportunity,
not being arrived at the ufe of reafon, Matth, xix. 14.

Let godly parents who have fometimes laid their
infants in the grave, for whom they took hold of
God's covenant, know for their comfort, that though
the names of thefe babes are forgotten in this world
by all but them, becaufe they were fo fhort while in
it ; they have the good name, a mining name in the
other world, that will never be forgotten there. And
the day of their death, however heavy it was to you,
it was really better than the day of f uvjir birth ; much
fin and mifery being hid from their eyes that you
have felt.

(3.) Exchijively of all others. They that have not
fo lived as to obtain the good name, have neither part
nor lot in this matter, Piov. xiv. 32 The -wicked is
driven avjay in his ivickednefs. When mens paflions
are raifed through the miferies of this life fretting
them, death appears deiirable. So it did to the mur-
mur ers, Numb. xiv. 2. So to Judas, under honor
for an ill-fpent life. But they are too hafty and in-
confederate there; for be this life as bad as it will, it
is the heft they can look for.

2. As to the points in comparifon, the birth-day
and the dying-day, it is to be underftood of them,

(1.) In their formal notion as days of palling into a
new world. Conlider the day of the faint's birth, as
a coming out of his mother's womb into our world,
and the light thereof that he never faw before; and
tfee day of his death as a palling into the other world,
which he never faw before neither. And the latter
is better than the former, it is the preferable paiTage :
it is better forjiim when he has got the good name

to

How the Detlrine is to be underjlood. 25 J

to leave his body a corpfe, than it was to leave the
womb of his mother when he was a ripe infant.

(2.) In all circumfiances whatsoever. The faint's;
dying-day compared with his birth-day, does fo pre-
ponderate, that no circumftanees whatfoever can caffc'
the balance: fuppofe him born healthy and vigorous,,
dying in the mod languifhing manner, or in the
greateft agonies; born heir to an eftate or a crown,
dying poor at a dike-fide, neglected of all :. yet the
day of his death, in fpite of all thefe advantages of
his birth, is better than the day of his births

3. As to the preference^ it ftands in two points*

(i.)-The advantages of the faint's dying-day are^
preferable to the advantages of his birth-day. Caftv
up the fums of both in any way you can imagine9
and the former will far furmount the latter, as the
heavens are above the earth.

(2.) The advantages of the faint's dying-day down °-
weigh all the difadvantages of his birth-day. This
is more than the former. A man fows his feed, and :
he gets a crop better than what he fowed : yet per-
haps when he has counted all cofts and pains, thefe
overgo the profit. But it is not fo in this cafe. Let:
ail the difadvantages of the faint's birth day be confi-
dered, as a continued chain of numberlefs links fiotm
his birth to his death ; and his dying day will down-
weigh them all. It will remain an eternal truth, That::
fuch a dying- day was well worth wadin-g through alii
thefe miferies of life unto it, let them appear in their -
moll: frightful Ihapes, that ever they appeared in .unto >
mortal.

III. "We are next to demon ftrate the truth of this
paradox, this unlikely tale, That the faint's dying-
day is better than his birth-day. It appears mod
firm truth from the following confederations.

Fir/ty The day of the faint's birth clothed him with a

a body of weak and frail flefh, and to clogged him : :

the. day of his death loofes the clog, and fets himi

Y, 3, UtOfM

2$$ The Saint9 s Dying-day better than his Birth- day.

free, clothing him with a houfe that will never clog
him, 2 Cor. v. 1. 2. 3. Do not think your bodies
are you : they are fomething belonging to you, but
not you ; for you will be to the fore, thinking, mo-
ving, acting, when they will be lying rotting in the
church-yard. It is the foul that is you, which being
houfed in the earthly tabernacle, is clogged thereby.
Indeed the fouls of the wicked are clogged far heavier
at death, with anguifh and defpair. But the dying-
day fets the faint perfectly free, like a prifoner out of
the prifon, or a bird out of the cage, Luke ii. 29.
Confider,

1. In the day of his birth he was an helplefs in-
fant, that could do nothing but weep and fpiawl ; the
foul being in a fort funk in a mafs of fleih and blood :
but in the day of his death, the foul being diverted
of that body, will immediately fhew itfelf intelligent
and active, a companion of angels, Heb. xii. 23.
Luke xx. 36. And he that could not creep out of
harm's way in his birth, will in the day of his death
be able to mount upward as on eagles wings to the
higheft heavens, like the bird when the ftone tied to
its foot is taken away, Luke xxiii. 43. for then comes
the more full accompiifhment of that promife, If. xl.
31. They that wait upon the Lord, Jhall renew their

Jlrength : they Jhall mount up with wings as eagles ,
they Jhall run and not be weary > and they Jhall walk
and not faint.

2. In the day of his birth there were many little,
things neceiTary to be done about him : he behoved
to be wafhed, and dreiTed, and fwaddled up in clouts ;
laid to the breaft, becaufe he could not lay himfelf
to it; ^edt becaufe he could not put the meat in his
own mouth. In the day of his death he will need
none of thefe things, but flee away dropping his
mantle of the mortal body, leaving it to his friends
to difpofe of it at their will.

3. In the day of his birth he knew not where he

was j

7be Sainfs Dying- day better than his Birth day. 259-

was, whither he was going, or to whom : and fo he
could have neither joy nor grief upon the event, till
feeling the change of his condition ungrateful to the
prefent fen'fe he fell a crying. In the day of death he
knows very well where away he is going, and that he
is going to Chrift which is bed of all ; and fo under-
{landing the happy change, rejoiceth in it, 2 Tim.
2. 12. It is true, in the way to death, through the
weaknefs of faith, it may be dark with him : but death
having done its work, all the ftiadows will flee away
in an inftant.

4. In the day of his birth he had long to wait, ere
he mould ripen, to be of any ufe for himfelf, for o*
thers, or for God : fever al days ere he mould be ca»
pable to fmile, weeks ere he mould know his mother,
months ere he could fpeak or go, years ere he could
know any thing, but about meat and cloaths ; fo
many years in infancy, in childhood, ripening far
more leifurely and ffowly than young brutes : but in
the day of his death, he will ripen all of a fudden,
he will be at his pitch of glory and happinefs in an
inftant, as when the fun inftantly breaks through a
cloud, and fcatters his beams all over the horizon.
There is no infancy nor childhood in the other w orld,
becaufe there is no old age there : but as Adam waj
created in his perfection, at his full ftature 5 fo will
the fouls of the faints be advanced to their natural
perfection, as they drop their bodies.

5. In the day of his birth he was expofed to dan*
ger, could not mifs to catch fcathe if all the better
care was not taken to prevent it : many a poor child
has been ftifled in the birth, and carelefs manage-
ment of them after their coming into the world has
had fatal effects. But in the day of his death he is
fet beyond die reach of danger : never a gracious foul
perifhed in death, but as foon as the (hip of the body
was broken in pieces, the paiTengers were fafe aihore :
and whatever danger they are in here by Satan and

hi*

2f5o The Saint9 s Dying -day better than his Birth-day.

his inftruments, they are out of danger when on the
other fide of death in the other world, Rev. xxi. 25.

6. Laftly, In the day of his birth he was born to
die, and in the day of his death he dies to live. There
is a certain affinity betwixt our birth and death, fo
that there were never any born that did not alfo die,
except two perfons, Enoch and Elias ; and to make
that odds even, Adam and Eve both died, that were
never born. So our birth is but the preamble of
death, Eccl. iii. 2. and when dying comes to an end,,,
being born is at an end too, Luke xx. 35. 36. But
there is as certain a connection between the faint's
death and his life, made by virtue of the death and
refurre&ion of Chrift, Eph. ii. 6. And who can
doubt, but it is better to die to live,/ than to be borr*
to die ? to put off, than to put on the clog of mor-
tality? Now in our birth we put it on, but in our
death put it off. Therefore the day of the faint's
death is better than the day of his birth.

Secondly^ The day of his birth clogged him with a
body of fin: the day of his death fets him quite free
from it, and brings him into a ftate morally perfecTy
Heb. xii. 23. ' There was never man born into the
world, except the man Chrift, but he brought a body
of fin in him into it, Pfal. Ii. 5. John iii. 6. In the
day of our birth, we are born with fallen Adam's
own image on us; therefore it is particularly marked
of Seth the father of the holy feed, Gen. v. 3. In*
fomuch that even thofe who are fanctiried from the
womb, are not to be excepted ; for they are fancti*
fled but in part, and ftill have ground for that cry,
Rom. vii. 24. Who Jhall deliver me from the body of
this death ? till death. But then in the day of the
faint's death, that body of fin is deftroyed and razed
quite and clean : and therefore the day of his death
is better than the day of his birth.

We may view his cafe in thefe particulars.

1. The day of his birth fixed the dlfeafe in him,
he was born a fmner, Pfal. Ii. 5. Hence it is not as

accidental

The Saint's Dying'day better than his Birthday, i&i

accidental ailments to be removed by human art;
but being owing to his birth, it is natural, not to be
cured without a miracle, John ix. 32. Job xiv. 4.
And coming in by his birth, according to the difpen-
fation and fettled order of grace, it is not to be quite
removed but by death.

2. The day of his converfion began the cure, loofed
fin at the root, though it did not root it up. This
was the day of his new birth, better than the day of
his fir ft birth, 1 Pet. i. 23. Being born again, not of
corruptible feed, but of incorruptible t by the ivord of
God which liveth and abideth for ever. On good
grounds is this day preferred to the birth-day, Ezek.
xvi. 4. 8. As for thy nativity in the day thou waft
born, thy navel was not cut, neither waft thou viafb*
ed in water to fu p> pie thee .• thou waft not fitted at
all, nor f waddled at all. Now when I paffed by thee%
and looked upon thee, behold, thy time ivas the time of
love, and I fpread my fhirt over thee, and covered thy
naked nefs : yea, I fware unto thee, and entered into
a covenant with thee, faith the Lord Cod, and thou
becameft mine. Here the man mifmade in his birth-
day was new made ; mifmade after the image of fallen
Adam, new made after the image of the fecond A-
dam, 2 Cor v. 17.

3. The intervening days between the day of con-
verfion and the dying-day, the cure is a-carrying on„
There is a ftruggle with the difeafe in order to its
removal, which in a meafure prevails, though not.
altogether, Gal. v. 17. And as it is better, there is
fomething to ftruggle with the difeafe, than that it
fhculd bear full fway ; fo thefe days, however trou-
blous they are, are better than the birth-day, as it is
more hopeful to be groaning on a fick-bed, than to
be (ilent in the grave.

4. Laftly, But the day of his death roots up the
difeafe for good and all, and perfects the cure, lea-
ving not the leait remains of it in the foul, Heb. xii.
23. The leprofy was in the walls of the houfe, no

fcraping

262 The Saint's Dying-day better than bis Birth-day.

fcraping nor plaftering would remove it, but (till it
broke out and fpread again : but in the day of death*
when the walls of the body are taken down and car-
ried out, then there are no more veiliges of the le^
profy left to remain. The feventh day of the com-
paffing of the accurfed walls of Jericho was the beft
day of the {Qveny and the feventh time that day the
belt time ; for then the wall that had (o long flood
unmoved, felLall down together.

Thirdly^ The day of the faint's death carries him.
into a better world, than the day of his birth did.
The other world where Chrift is, is a better world
than that where we are : in the faith thereof Paul de-
fired to die, that he might enter into it, Phil. i. 23.
The day of his birth brought him into this world, a
wildernefs ; the day of his death takes him into the
other world, a Canaan, a better country, a paradife.
What was the wildernefs to the Ifraelites in compan-
ion of the promifed land ? Such is this world to the
faints in comparifon with the other. Take a fwatch
of the difference.

1. The day of his birth brought him into a world
of uncertainty, fet him down on flippery ground \
the day of his death takes him into a world of cer-
tainty, fets his feet on a rock. When he was born,
whatever he was born to, he was born to uncertain-
ties. His health, wealth, eafe, yea his life itfelf,
hung always at an uncertainty : he might have been
this moment in health, but fick at the heart the next.
His reputation and character was at an uncertainty ;
while a man is on this fide of the grave, his charac-
ter in the world is not fo eftablifhed, but by fome
wrong ftep or other it may yet be blemimed, that he
may fet in a cloud, that has fhone bright. But when
the man with the good name dies, he is fet beyond
all uncertainties more. He is fo well that he can
never be ill again ; the kingdom he receives cannot
be moved, Heb. xii. 28. However tofled his life
was here, he is eftablifhed there, Rev. hi.. 12. Death

comes

The Saint's Dying-day better than his Birth-day, 2 6$

comes up the laft of the train of all his uncertainties,
eftablifhes his welfare, and feals his good name and
character, as no more liable to be blemifhed.

2. The day of his birth brought him into a world
of fin and defilement ; but the day of his death brings
him into a world of purity, Heb. xii. 23. From the
time he was born into this world, till he dies out of
it, he breathes in and out an infectious air ; his own
plague fores are running on him ; and he fees thofe
of others running too ; and where ever he is and with
whomfoever, he is in hazard of fnares and defilement*
But from the moment of death he breathes the pure
air of Jmmanuel's land, where there are no clouds
nor vapours j where all difeafe3 are healed, and no
unclean thing can enter. Spotlefs purity reigns there;
there is no hazard more of enfnarement or defilement,
Rev. xxi. 25.

3. The day of his birth brought him into a world
of toil and labour ; but the day of his death brings
him into a world of reft, Rev. xiv. 13. Much toil
there is for the back and belly, and fome have more
of it than others. But no body wants it altogether,
no not thofe who go with an even -up back, Gen. iii.
19. Eccl. i. 8. They are liable to wearinefs as well
as others, an evidence that their very pleafures, eafe,
and recreations are a labour. But the other world
is a world of reft to the people of God, Heb. iv. 9.
and of refrefhing, Acts iii. 19. As God did the
works of creation in the fix days, and refted the fe-
venth day, fo they having improved life laborioufly
to the obtaining of the good name, fhall there have
eternal reft. They will reft from all the bufinefs this
world is now throng about. There will be neither
labouring the ground, nor tending cattle in the
other world ; nor any fervile work whatfoever there.
There will be no labour of the mind, nor painful
ftudy there ; but as Solomon lay down and flept, and
awaked a wifer man than ever on was by ftudy ; fo
they fleeping the fleep of death, will awake with a

pitch

2^4 The Saint's Dying'day better than his Birth-day.

pitch of knowledge as far above that which they have
at their beft now, as the knowledge of a man is above
that of a child. The toilfome and laborious duties
of religion will have no place there : there will be no
watching, no combat, he. A£t they will for ever,
but never know wearinefs more, their work will be
their reward, their eternal recreation.

4. The day of his birth brought him into a world
of care and forrow ; but the day of his death brings
him into a world of eafe and joy, Matth. xxv. 21.
Though a man be born to a crown, he will find him-
felf born to cares and forrows ; for as the faireft rofe
wants not its prickles, fo the mod plentiful enjoy-
ments of the world want not their thorny cares, for-
rows, and vexations attending them. And often
does the moft piercing and racking vexation rife from
what was taken for the fpring of the greateft com-
fort. But death puts an end to all thefe in the cafe
of the man with the good name. A drink of the
well of life at death extinguifhes all care and forrow
for ever, 'fills with joy unfpeakable. Thofe of them
that fighed moft here, will fing eternally there t they
will fing for ever the fong of Mofes and the Lamb on
the other fide of death, though they groaned on this
fide.

5. The day of his birth brought him into a world
of difappointment ; but the day of his death brings
him into a world furmounting expectation, 1 Cor.
ii. 9 Eye hath not fee tz, nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man, the things which God
hath prepared for them that love him. Man is born
to difappointments in this world, efpecially good
men, for whom the Lord minds better things in the
other world. All worldly things are greater in ex-
pectation than in fruition. Hence it is the young
and unexperienced that have the greateft expectations
from them, and fondnefs for them ; becaufe they are
not yet cut with fo many difappointments, as the
aged. This holds in the very brutes, where the

young

The Saint* s Dying- day better than his Birth-day. 265

young ones are the mod lightfome in their kind, the
old being as it were cut with difappointments, and
cloyed with finding the fame thing over and over.
But death brings the good man to heavenly things,
that will be greater in the fruition than in expecta-
tion ; as the queen of Sheba faid to Solomon of his
magnificence, 1 Kings x. 7. Behold, the half was
not told me ; thy wifdom and profperity exceedeth the
fame -which 1 heard. But a greater than Solomon
will be found there. And death will bring them to
a happinefs in that world, that has neither brim nor
bottom, beyond what they could either hear or con-
ceive.

6. La/ily, The day of his birth brought him into a
world of death ; but the day of his death takes him
into a world of life, Mark x. 30. This is a dying
world we are born into, where fome are ftill coining
in, and others going out to make room for them >
the children coming in as with a warning away in
their hand to the parents, as their children will do to
them in their turn. But in the world that death
carries him to, there are no marriages, births, nor
burials. There the father lives as long as the child,,
and there is no difference betwixt them more, both
living eternally. ^

Fourthly > The day of his death fettles him among
better company, than the day of his birth did, Heb.
xii. 22. and downwards. The comfort of one's being in
a place depends much on the fociety there ; unpleafant
fociety or neighbourhood will make the moll pleafant
place a little-eafe, as ftrewed with thorns. Great is
the difference betwixt the fociety the man was in
in this world, and that which death carries him to in
the other world. Let us contider the odds a little.

I. The day of his birth landed him in the arms
and embraces of his mother, if die died not in bring-
ing him forth, in which cafe he behoved to want that
kindly reception into the arms of a mother. But in the
day of death he. is received into Abraham's bofom,
$ Z mere

e.66 The Saint's Dying- day letter than his Birth-day.

more kindly 2nd warmly than that of any mother,
and which death never makes cold and ftiff, Luke
xvi. 22.

2. The day of his birth brought him into the
arms of his glad father, if he was not dead before he
was born; but in the day of his death he is prefent-
ed to, and received by his heavenly Father into his
embraces, whofe love and affection to his children is
above that of earthly parents, as the heaven is above
the earth. Godin'Chrift is an affection ate Father,
even love itfelf, 1 John iv. 16. Chrift will then re-
ceive the foul he died for with a fatisfaclion furpafling
that of the molt tender mother, If. liii. it. and the
Father of our Lord Jefus will behold it as bearing the
image of his own Son, and his own image.

3. The father and mother that lovingly embraced
him in the day of his birth, may yet come afterward
to frown on him, beat him, be bitter againft him,
they having little comfort in him, or he in them:
but when the day of death is once come and
over, the child of God mall fee no more frowns,
beating, nor bitternefs. His minority will then be
overpaft, even the discipline of the covenant, the rod
will be for ever laid by. He mail be eternally indul-
ged and comforted, If. Ixvi. 13.

4. The day of his birth brought him at mod into
but a fmall company of brothers or fi iters ; perhaps
he was an eldeft child, or an only one : but the day
of his death lands him in a numerous family, whereof
each one with him calls God in Chrift Father, R.ev.
xiv. 1. The faints are divided in many families. on
earth, but in heaven they make but one family, from
Adam to the laft faint that fhall come there, Eph. iii.
j 5. They mzy look on every faint there as a brother,
which will be a comfortable fight of the heavenly
multitude, Rev. vi. 11.

5. Brothers and fitters afforded him perhaps but a
cold rife welcome in the day of his birth, either through
a defed of wit to fet natural affe&ion aftir, or through

ill

fhe Saint's Dying-day better than his Birth-day. 267

ill nature, that on the fcore of interefl: made them look
on him with a grudge : or however they embraced
him affectionately in the day of his birth, theie weic
not wanting animofities and heart-burnings in their
after-life now and then. But in the day of his death
there will be a kindly welcome from all. The pa-
rent's afTeCtion on earth, and his fubftance is limited to
a certain meafure, and the more there are to part
them among, the lefs' every one gets : but the love of
God, and the treafure in heaven, is infinite and bound -
lefs, fills all to the brim, and yet they cannot exhauifc
it. So that if there were ten thoufand more worlds
of faints created, it would rather add to, than diminifh
from the happinefs of every one that is now there.
There love is perfected ; and as no feeds of hatred
are left within nor without, they will live together in
eternal uninterrupted love.

6. In the day of his birth he had the welcome of a
few neighbouis prefent at the birth : in the day of his
death he will have the welcome of angels, whereof
no one only, but feveral mail carry him into Abra-
ham's bofom, Luke xvi, 22* with a warmer aircc-
tion than any woman can receive the new-born
infant, as the love of angels is more glowing than
our earthly love. They will carry him to an innu-
merable company of them, Heb. xii. 22. in whofe
prefence there was joy at his repentance, and much
more muft there be at his coming home to ftray no
more, Luke xv. 10.

7. Whatever welcome he had in the day of his
birth from neighbours or relations, the joy was but
on one fide ; though they rejoiced in him, he could
net rejoice in them, for he knew them not; but in
the day of his death the joy will be mutual ; he that
in the day of his birth was not equal to imperfect
men, will in the day of his death be equal to the
angels. He will know God and Chrift, the faints,
and angels, and will rejoice in them, as they will re-
joice in him.

268 The Saint's Dying^day better than his Birth»day*

8. hafilyy Whatever welcome be had into the
world in the day of his birth, he had mr-ch uncom-
fortable fociety there in the days of his after-life, that
made him often fee himfelf in his neighbourhood in
the world, as in Mefech and Kedar, Pfal cxx. 5. yea
dwelling among lions dens and mountains of leopards,
Cant. iv. 8. But in the day of his death he will bid
an eternal farewell to all uncomfortable fociety, and
never fee more any in whom he will not be com for ted
to be with them.

(1.) He was born into a world, where there was %
feed of the ferpent to turn againil him as heart- ene-
mies, whenever he turned to God, John xv. 19.
His living with them, and dealing with them, wove
many a fnare to his foul, made him many a weary
day; and often did he find deep wounds from them,
Pfal. lvii. 4. But he will die into a world of profound
peace and love, where none of that feed can have ac-
cefs ; a world peopled entirely with the feed of the
woman, all united to Chrift the head by the fame
Spirit, and among themfelves by the firmed bands of
love^

(2.) He was born into a world, where even faints
had their blemifhes, their faults which made their
fociety uncomfortable, and hardly tolerable 5 fo that
he had much ado to dwell even with fome in whom
the grace of God dwelt. But he will die into a world,
where faints have no blemifh left in them, where
there will be no unkindly, peevilh, or touchy faints
to mar the comfort of fociety •, but all will be perfect
in knowledge and love.

(3.) He was born into a world where men have
their particular interefts to drive, and felfiflmefs caufes
them to drive "over their neighbours, over all bonds
of juftice. equity, and love; the greater fwallowing
up the leller, till they be planted alone in the earth.
But he dies into a world, where there is no divided
iiitereii more, but all centre in the glorifying that
God, who allows them all a perfect happinefs in the

enjoyment

The Saint's Dying-day better than his Birth-day* 269

enjoyment of him ; furnifhing all as the fun doth this
world, without with- holding from one what is afford-
ed to another.

(4.) Laftly% He was born into an enfnaring world,
brought into fociety where he received infection, and
did infect again j where he was a temptation to others,
and others were a temptation to him ; the confi-
deration whereof made him often weary of the world.
But he dies into a world where there is no more of
that : were he once paft that ftep, he will be no more
a fnare to any, nor will any be a fnare to him. The
leaves of the tree of life are for healing, but there is
no more fin nor death.

Fifthly^ The day of kis death brings "him into a:
better ftate, than the day of his birth did. As the-
ft ate of glory is better than the ilate of this life, fo is
death. to one who has well improved life, better than
his birth. Great is the odds on the part of the day
of death in this cafe, however advantageous the birth
may be.

1. The day of his birth fets him down in a ftate of"
imperfection, natural and moral \ the day of his death,
advances him to a ftate of perfection of both kinds,,
Heb. xii. 23. There is a natural imperfection in us:
in refpect of our very frame, more than in the young
of brutes according to their kind ; a great imperfec-
tion in the neceffity of meat, drink, cloathing, edu-
cation, and teaching : the which continues with us
all our life long. A moral imperfection much more:
wretched, in refpect of the guilt and corruption of na-
ture we bring into the world with us ; the which laft:.
alfo continues with us all our life, though thereign*
ing power of it be broken.

But in the day of his death both thefe are done a*
way. He arrives at a natural perfection ; the foul
will be perfected in all its faculties, no more dark-
nefs and confufion in its apprehenfion, no more er-
ror or miftake in judging, and therefore no falfe rea-
fon-iugs. There will be no need of human teaching
£ 3 there \\

270 The Saint's Dying-day better than his Birth-day.

there; every faint will be a profound philofopher,
and an infallible divine, the image of God on them
in knowledge of the works and will of God being
brought to perfection. The dunghill-work of eating
and drinking, the childifii work of bulking and deck-
ing, they will have no more ufe for. The faint ar-
rives at a moral perfection that day, grace is perfect-
ed, the love of God planted now in the heart, and
preferved as a fpaik of facred fire in the midft of an
ocean of corruption, will quite dry up that ocean :
and they ihall be as pure as if they had never finned,
being fet beyond the poffibility of fin.

2. The day of his birth brought him into a ftate of
probation and trial j but the day of his death brings
him into a ftate of retribution and recompence, 2 Cor.
v. 10. The day of his birth fet him down on the
ice, where he was to have a hit or a mifs for eterni-
ty: he was brought into this world, to undergo his
trials for the other world, in which moft men come
foul off. There he had Chi i it and his falvation of-
fered him, to be embraced by faith, which was to
be evidenced by fteeiing a courfe of holinefs maugre
all oppofition. But then he was baited with tempta-
tions from the devil, the world, and the flefh j he
was brought on a ftage of afflictions, croiTes, and va-
rious bardfhips, to fee if he could bear them for Chrift.
This made his life a fight, a continued fcene of trial.

But in the day of his death he is taken off his trials,
with the Judge's approbation, and the full reward is
appointed him, and given him. The Lord Chrift,
who looked on all the time of his trials, obferving
how he carried, feeing how he got many a fall, yet
rofe again, then paiTes a merciful verdict on him, Matth.
xxv. 21. Well done, thou good and faithful ferv ant ;
thou haft been faithful over a few things^ I will make
thee ruler over many things ; enter thou into the joy of
thy Lord. And th^n he is to fight no more, but
triumph for ever: he has wrought his work, and he
gets his reward of grace. The trials were perhaps

long,

The Saint's Dying- day better than his Birth-day. 27 1

long, but the retribution will be longer : the former
was but temporal, the latter will be eternal.

3. The day of his birth brought him into a ftate of
changes, but the day of his death brings him into an
unalterable ftate, Rev. iii. 12. Him that over 'comet h,
will 1 make a pilar in the temple of my Cody and he
(hall go no more out. The iiate of man from his birth
is like that of the moon, ever waxing or waning,
never appearing with its former face : he is ftill lying
onen to ungrateful alterations, fo that though he be
never fo well to day, he cannot boaft of to-morrow,
but he is in hazard of expofing himfelf as rafh, Prov.
xxvii. 1. But in the day of death the laft change
comes, and brings him into an unalterable ftate of
happinefs : he is fixed for ever in encilefs joy and
peace. For though there be clouds to overcait in the
lower, there are none in the upper regions.

La/ily, The day of the faint's death brings him to,
and fettles him in better exercife and employment
than the day of his birth did. He will fpend his
eternity in the other world, better than he did his
time in this world, how well foever he fpent it, Rev.
iv. 8. They reft not day and nighty faying, Holy, holy,
holy, Lord God almighty, which was, and is, and is to
come. There is a great variety of mens exercifes and
employments here, and few or none are fo exercifed
but they would be content to be better : well, the
day of death will make it far better with the faints.
The odds will be great,

r. He was bom to earthly exercife and employ,
ment, but he dies to heavenly. When he is born, he
falls a-fucking his mother's bread, that is all he
can do : when he dies, he falls a-fucking in abun-
dantly the divine confolations. As he grows up, he
is put to learn 5 when he dies, he is irradiated in si
moment with a light that difpels all his darknefs.
When he is come to years of action, he is employed
in fome labour of the hand, or of the mind : when
•he dies he is beyond all labour, but is active in the

glorifying

272 The Saint's Dying-day better than his Birth-day.

glorifying and enjoying of God, which was the great
end of his creation.

2. He is born to wearifome, forrowful, and heavy
exercife : he dies to joyful, comfortable, and eter-
nally -refrefhing exercife. As he was much employ-
ed in fighing here, he will be employed in finging
there. Many a time he laboured in vain here, but
there will be no labour in vain there : he will always
reach his end, being arrived at the ftate of perfection.

3. La/fly, He was born to fuch exercife, as he was
not able to continue with, but needed reft; and fo a
great part of his time was fpent in doing nothing, but
taking the necefiary reft : but he dies to fuch exer-
cife, as he mall endure with continually, needing no
reft by fleep or the like, Rev, iv. 8. There is no
night there, for it is not needed there.

I fhall now fhut up this fubject, with fome appli-
cation of what has been faid.

Use I. of information. This fhews us,

1. That whatever good things the faints have in
hand, they have more in hope. If they were born
to never fo great things, as Solomon was to a crown,
yet they die to greater things. Whatever they enjoy
in this world, as men, or as Chriftians, they will
enjoy more in the other world ; their beft things
come laft.

2. Whatever afflictions, trials, and crones in life
they have been born to ; there is a time coming
wherein all their lofles will be made up, and their
heavier!: weights will be down weighed with comforts,
If. Ixvi. 13. Sometimes when the waves of trouble
are overflowing, they are apt to look back on the day
of their birth with a grudge, that brought them into
fuch a troublous lea, Job iii. 3. Jer. xx. 14. 18. But
that is their infirmity, their impatience. Let them
wait a little, and they will fee there is a better day
coming.

3. Senfe is no gtfod judge of what is beft or worft*

Vfe ef Information. 273

Of all things death is the mod terrible to fenfe ;
therefore in the day of death there is nothing but
groaning, fighing, and mourning; whereas in the
day of one's birth there is feafting and rejoicing.
Yet to a good man the day of death is better than
the day of his birth. Such is the doctrine of faith,
quite oppofite to that of fenfe. They muft be ill
guided then that walk by fenfe.

4. There muft be another life befide this, and a
far more happy one; otherwife the day of death that
takes us away from all the comforts of this life, which
the day of our birth brings us into, could not be bet-
ter than the day of the birth- The day of a good
man's birth ufliers in a holy and happy life, though
imperfect ; which muft certainly be better than no
life at all.

5. Lajilyt There is a way to take off the terror of
death, and to make the dying-day our beft day,
better than the day of our birth. That matter de-
pends on the improving of life. Our life-time is our
feed time for the other woild, and death is the harveft;
according as we live now*, fo wiJl the crop be that we
will have to reap then, Gal vi. 6.

Use II. of exhortation 1. To faints. 2. To
finners, and all.

First, Saints, whofe chief bufirrefs in life has
been, and is, to improve life to the raifing of the good
name, let this ferve to bring you into good terms
with death. Death will not be to you, what it will
be to others, the ftorm is to you changed into a calm ;
and it will be your beft day, better than the day of
your birth. And that you may know to whom this
belongs, it is defigned for thofe of a threefold cha-
racter, agreeable to what was faid before. This
comfortable mefTage is,

1. For you who have made it your bufinefs to
obtain the favour and friendfhip of God, by ta-
king hold of God's covenant of free grace, uniting
with Chrift the head of it, through faith ; and whofe

main

274 Exhortation to Sabitr.

main concern in life is to be found in him, Phil, ill;
S, — II. Have you been awakened to fee your loft
ftate by nature, illuminated in the knowledge of
Chrift as the only remedy, and brought to embrace
him in the free covenant as the fufficient and only
way to the Father? Why truly, being thus implant-
ed in Chrilt, the day of your death will be better than
the day of your birth.

2. Ye whofe main care it is in the courfe of your
life to pleafe God, Col. i. 10. as a wife is to pleafe
her hufband, and a fervant his mafter, and one his
friend and benefactor, I Pet. ii. 9. Are you fo
difpofed, that you dare not pleafe men, at the ex-
pence of his difpleafure, Gal. i. 10.? Have you re--
nounced your own will, as to your duty, and as to
your lot ? Have you laid afide the pleafing of your-
felves, and your own lulls, that that is no more the
fcope of your life, but to pleafe God, Rom. xv. 1 . 3. ?
Is it the fcope of your life to pleafe him in doing,
and in bearing ? And wherein ye fee you have dif-
pleafed him, are ye difpleafed with yourfelves, con-
fefs, mourn over it, apply to the blood of ChrinV,
and long for the day when ye fhall difpleafe him no
more ? If fo, the day of your death will be better
than the day of your birth 5 you will be pleafed for
ever.

3. Ye whofe bufinefs in the world is to ferve your
generation in real ufefulnefs to others, as ye have
accefs in your feveral ftations and. relations, Acts
xiii. 36. Are you fo difpofed, as that, out of regard
to the God above, you dare not be mifchievous and
hurtful to others, even when it is in the power of
your hand, Job xxxi. 21. — 23.? Do ye look upon
ufelefihefs for God or men in the world, with a hor-
ror j and upon yourfelves but as ilewards of your
time, gifts, fubftance, opportunities of ufefulnefs,
for which ye muft give an account to God, and
therefore lay out yourfelves to improve your talents,
and do good thereby ? Has the warm influence of

divine

Exhortation to Saints. 275

-divine grace opened your {hell of felfifhnefs, wherein,
ye fometime lay fnug, careful for nothing but your
own fweet felf ; and brought you out with a public
fpirit to be ufeful in God's world as ye have accefs ;
with a benevolent difpofition to do good to mankind ?
If (ot the day of your death will be better than the
day of your birth. And therefore I exhort you to
the following duties.

Fir/l, Be mortified to life, and abate of your fond-
nefs for it. There is nothing in the world we natu-
rally ftick to more clofely than life, Job ii. 4. But
certainly there is a neceffity of being mortified to it,
to have our defires after it deadened in a regular way,
Luke xiv. 26. If any man come to me> and hate not
his father , and mother, — yea, and his own life atfo, he
cannot be my difciple. Without queftion, there may
be a too great eagernefs for life, which is finfulin all,
and mod unbecoming faints.

Queft. How far fhould we be mortified to life ?

Anfw. 1. So far as not to quarrel the unalterable
ftatute of death, Heb. ix. 27. Sin brought in death ;
by it mankind forfeited life. Many ills it brought
into the world, but a fhort life in this world was
really the leaft ill that it brought in. We fee this
ftatute was juft, that it has been exactly obferved
from generation to generation : our hearts mould
comply with it, faying, Even fo be it, and mould
have no grudge againft it. Why mould the rocks be
removed for us ?

2. So far as not to defire, though it were at our
option, to flay always in this world, Job vii. 16.
That is certainly an unmodified defire of life, to
wi(h this life were eternal to us : and a habit of it
argues a gracelefs ftate. It was a profane tale of a
cardinal of Paris, that he would be content to forfeit
his part of the happinefs of heaven, if he might live
here for ever. Grace in the heart certainly mortifies
men to this life : they that are born from above, will
certainly defire to be above : they that are united to

Chrift.

276 Exhortation to Saints.

Chrift, will certainly defire to be with him : and
therefore the Chriftian courfe is a coming up out of
the wildernefs, where, though they mult fojourn for a
while, they will not defire to fix their abode, Cant,
viii. 5.

3. So far as to be content to part with it at God's
call, Luke xiv. 26. God is Lord of our life, he has
fet each of us in our pod in life, to ftand till he give
order to relieve us. As we quarrelled not his fetting
us on the ftage of life by our birth ; fo we fhould be
content to come off again when he calls us by death.
The time, way, and manner of our leaving it, we
fnould leave contentedly to his difpofal,

4. Laftlyy So far as never to defire to live juft for
living's fake, but for the folid advantage of life. This
life is fuch a mafs of vanity/ that it is not defirable
for itfelf, but fome circumstances that attend it. So
we may defire to live to honour God in the world,
and to be ufeful, If. xxxviii. 19. And if we mould
be laid by from ufefulnefs in the way of doing, we
may be content to live for ufefulnefs in the way of
fuffering. But life is not to be defired ftript of all
manner of ufefulnefs : for that is to make ourfelves,
not God, our chief end. Now to mortify you to
life, confider,

( 1 . ) The uncertainty of it ; it is but a ftiadow, you
know not how foon it may be gone \ a vapour, that
may evanifh ere you are aware. I may fay then, as
Prov. xxiii. 5. Wilt thou fet thine eyes upon that which
is not ? What folly is it to let the heart too fondly
out on that which in a moment one may lofe, and
every moment hangs at uncertainty ? It is furely wif-
dom to fit loofe to that which we are never fure of.

(2.) The unfatisfactorinefs of it. Every period of
life, however promifing it may be at the entry on it,
will leave you difappointed in your progrefs in it,
and coming off from it, Eccl. i. 8. There is no-
thing in it or about it, that belongs not to the other
life, wherein the heart of man can find a reft. Stiil

the

Exhortation to Saints* 277

the bed is {borter, ftretch it as ye will, than that
ye can lie on it.

(3.) The finfulnefs of it. There is none liveth,
and finneth not. That indeed makes life defirable to
finners, that fince they cannot part with their fins,
they cannot think to part with life neither ; for that
then all occafion of fatisfying their lufts is cut off for
ever. But certainly it mult mortify faints to life,
that they cannot have it, but there is finning with it,
2 Cor. v. 4. with Rom. vii, 24.

(4.) The troubles of it, the many afflictions and
trials that attend it. Thefe indeed mould not make
us impatient to be away, like Jonah, chap. iv. 8. For
they are our trials we are put upon for the othee
world, which we are refolutely to bear with patience
and refignation, and fo difcover the reality of the
grace of God in us. But they may well be allowed
to mortify us to this life : for that is one of the ends
they are fent for, to be as gall and wormwood laid
on the breaft to wean us. And the wifdom of provi-
dence is to be adored in that, ordinarily towards the
end of life troubles come on thicker than they were
wont, as in the cafe of our Saviour.

(5.) There is a better life than it abiding you in
the other world, Heb. xi. 16. The faith of the pa-
lace- in heaven would mortify one to the cottage of
clay here : for why mould they be fondly addicted to
their prefent (late, whom a better ftate is awaiting ?
It is our converting fo little with heaven, that makes
us fo fond of the earth. Were we viewing the pro-
mifed land more, with faith's profpect, we would
be more difengaged from this wildernefs-world.

(6.) Lafily, The ftate of imperfection infeparably
attends this life •, that there is no getting beyond the
former, till ye get beyond the latter. You may
llruggle as you will towards perfection, and if you
be real faints, you will do it, Phil. iii. 14. from an
inward principle not managed by the profpect of the
event; but you will never reach it, till this life be
3 A a at

2*/$ Exhortation to Saints*

at an, end. Rife up as oft as ye will, wafh, and
watch ; ye will fall again and defile yourfelves, till
the day of death put an end to that weary work.

Secondly, Be not frighted at death, nor afraid with
any amazement, If. xxxv. 4. To make a jeft of dy-
ing argues contempt of God, and fecret defperation :
to be carelefs and unconcerned about it, a carnal
fecurity that will have a frightful awakening. To be
in deep concern about it, becomes all : but to be
frighted and put into diforder by the view of it, is
unbecoming faints. To allay that terror,

1. Confider, that in the day you embraced Chrift
in the covenant, you certainly did it in view of your
dying, to lay down meafures for eternity. Why
then fhould ye be frighted at that which ye have been
thinking of and preparing for before ? Leave that to
them who have been carelefsly dreaming. away their
life time.

2. Death, though a grim mefTenger, is Chrift'f
meffenger of good to you to carry you away in peace,
Luke ii. 29. It is like the waggons that Jofeph fent
to bring Jacob into Egypt to him. And faith's ear
opened, would hear the voice to the dying Chriftian,
faying, as Gen. xlvi. 3. 4. I am God, the God of thy fa-
ther : fear not to go down into Egypt. — / will go down
with thee into Egypt ; and I will alfo furely bring the*
up again. It is fuch a call as Peter had from Chrift
to come to him upon the water. And however boif-
terous the wind, and black the water ma v^ be, there is
no fear of finking to the ground ; only believe.

3. In your ftruggles againft fin, and wreftling
with temptations, have ye not fometimes looked
wiftly for death's relief? Rom. vii. 24. Cant. viii. 5.
Have ye not comforted yourfelf in the profpect of
cold death's drowning out quite thofe pafiions and
lufts, that have fo often taken fire again after a flood
of godly forrows going over them? Why then fhould
you be put in a fright and diforder at the view of its
approach ?

4. It

Exhortation to Saints, 279

4. It were inconfiftent with God's honour, and
the glory and dignity of Chrift, to put off his friends
and followers, with that kind of life he gives them,
here, Heb. xi. 16. One may be confirmed in this,
confidering 1 Cor. xv 19. If in this lift only we have
hope in Chrift \ we ore of ' all wen moji m'iferahle. There-
fore of neceffity all their lofTes muft be made up ffl the
other life. Why then (h-ould faints be angry at their
bleffings, and be frighted at the Lord's coming to
accomplish all bis promifes ?

5. The upper world is the world of peace and love,
Abraham's bofom. There are gone thither before
us our godly acquaintances, whom we once looked
on as the excellent of the earth, the lofs of whofe fo-
ciety was heavy •, we will get it there again. The
holy angels will be loving and lovely companions.
He who on earth died for us while enemies, how-
loving and lovely will he appear there, where we (hall
be perfect ? God is love itfelf, and there his infinite
love will be difplayed in an inconceivable manner.

6. Lajlfyy Chrift pafTed the ford before you, has
altered the nature of the waters, Piom. viii. 34. and
caufed them to abate ; and now he bids you follow, '
for that there is no fear, Cant ii. 10. 11. Keep the
eye of faith on Chrift, who forded the waters of death
before you, and that will be a mean to -abate the
terror.

Thirdly^ Familiarize death to yourfelf, Job xvii.
13. 14. Do not keep at a diftance from it in your
thoughts. I would not have the terror of death cob
you of the comfort of life ; but it is the greateft folly
for a man to wind up himfelf fo in the comforts and
amufements of life, as to debar the ferlous thoughts
of death ♦, and can ferve to no end, but to bring fud.
den and remedilefs ruin : for whether men will think
of death, and prepare for it, c not ; it will be in on
them at length. And what we muft meet with, it
is beft to acquaint ourfeives with before. There-
fore,

A a 2 i . Be

280 Exhortation to Saints*

i. Be frequent in your taking a view of the other
world, with the help of the profpe£t. of the word, to
be looked through by the eye of faith. Be often as
it were getting up to the top of Pifgah, thence to
view the promifed land. You cannot get thither for
a trial, to come back again, Job xiv. 14. but there
is a map of it drawn in the Bible, by considering of
which you may be brought acquainted with it.

2. Be often viewing the pafTage thereto. The
Jordan of death runs betwixt it and this our wilder-
nefs, and by it is the pafTage we muft all take. We
will not get an effay made of it, that we may me*id
at one time what we marred at another: there is the
more need then to look well and often to it before we
enter in, which we know not how foon we may be
obliged to.

3. Laffily, Let your hearts be habitually difpofed
to thefe views, to notice the many memorials of them
that Providence has furnilhed. There are ftill fome
dropping off into that world, fbrrie young, fome aged.
What is every winter, bat an emblem of death ; and
every fpring, but an emblem of the other world and
the refurrection ? Yea every night is the grave of the
former day, as the following day empties the grave
again.

Fourthly^ R.aife comfortable expectations from
death. View the day of death in the light wherein
our text fets it, and behold it as a good day, the bed
day.

1 . Expect it as the day that wili better your con-
dition, however heavy that is now, Pfal. xvi. 9.
Though ye have many heavy days in your life, partly
from your own corruption, partly from the corrup-
tion of others ; partly from the holy hand of God for
trial, partly from the devil feeking your deftruciion :
look to the day of death, as what will fet all to rights,
and bring in to you what heart can wifh. The day
of death to a child of God is his marriage- day, Matth.
xxv. the day wherein the traveller comes home from

" abroad

Exhortation to Saints. 281

abroad to "his Father's houfe, the day wherein he is
paft his minority, and enters to his inheritance.

2. Expect it as the day that will eftablifh your
condition, Rev. iii. 12. Your condition is wavering
and uncertain now, PfaL xxx. 6. 7. Sometimes your
foul's cafe is profperous, but ere ye are aware it is all
wrong again : fometimes wafhed fair and clean in the
fountain, anon ye are lying in the mire again -j fome»
times ye have your feet on the neck of your corrup-
tions, anon they trample you under foot ; femetimes
ye can raife one of the longs of Zion, anon the harps ;
are quite out of tune, hanged on the willows. Some-
times your outward condition is fmiling ; but that;
lafts not, it turns gloomy, and troubles break in- per-
haps from all quarters together, the. iprings-of your -
comfort run bitternefs, and your worldly comforts
are dried up one after another. But look forward
to the day of death, as what will end all ungrateful i
changes.

Fifthly, Work your heart to, and entertain a regu-
lar defire of death. The day of death is certainly to
a child of God* an object of defire: the apoftle pro*
fefleth it, Phil. i. 23. / defire- to depart^ and to be
with Chriji ; and that in the name of all the faitftsj
2 Cor. v. 2. For in this we g rone Mfnejmy. dejiring
to be clothed upon with our houfe which is jrom heaven* ,
And ir is a piece of good preparation for death.

Q^ieft. What is the regular defire of death ? ■

Anfw. 1. For the matter of it, it lies in thefe thres
things.

(1.) A defire of it as the paiTage to uninterrupted
communion with God in Chriit, Phil. i. 23. Some-
times it aiifeth from the faints want of communion
with God, which being uneafy does rightly make
death defirable, as that which would make up that .
want, and fecure againft it any more for ever : .fome- -
times from the fenfe of the fweetnefs of that commu-
nion, Cant, viii. 6. But the enjoyment of God be-
A a 3 icfe

1%% Exhortation to Saints*

ing a part of man's chief end, death is defirable as a
means to it.

(2.) A defire of it as the pafTage to perfection in
holinefs, Phil. iii. 14. Thus the man defireth it
that he may be free of fin, and put beyond the poffi-
bility of finning more, Rom. vii. 24. that he may be
in capacity to ferve the Lord without marring or
wearying of the work. This is the main part of
man's chief end, and therefore death muft be defi-
rable as a means thereto.

(3.) A defire of it as an entrance into reft. The
reft of death is promifed to the faints for their com-
fort in all their heavy and reftlefs circumftances, If.
lvii. 2. And therefore it muii be defirable under
that confideration. It is very natural for the toiled
in a ftorm, to be defirous to be afhore, for the weary
labourer to defire to have eafe, and for the Chriftian
to defire his eternal and perfect reft, Job vii. 2.

2. For the quality regulating it, it muft be ac-
companied with entire refignation to the will of God,
Matth. vi. 10. We muft in our defire of it even on
thefe accounts be rcfigned to the will of God.

(1.) As to the time, we muft never be peremptor
as to that, but wait the time prefixed of God, Jo
xiv. 14. He will keep us no longer-in life, than he
has ufc for us either in the way of doing or fuffer-
ing : and we muft be content to wait his time for our
admittance into uninterrupted communion, to per-
fection of holinefs, and into reft: and to be pe-
remptory for reft at our time, and refolved to fufTer no
more, while yet God difchargeth us not, 13 devilifh,
and expofeth to eternal fuffering, as the fentry de-
ferring his poft is defervedly {hot to death.

(2.) As to the way and manner. There are many
ways of going out of the world, we muft leave it to
the Lord, which fhall be the way for us ; whether
the way of lingering ficknefs or fudden death, natu-
ral, or violent by the hand of man. I think, if God
ihouid refer it to us, we fiiould refer it back to him.

Secondly,

Exhortation to Sinners, and all, 283

Secondly, Sinners, awd all whofoever would have
the day of death better to you than the day of your
birth, improve life for that end. To fum up your
duty in a word, as you have already heard, ( 1 .) Let it
be your great care and concern to get the favour and
friendlhip of God through Chrift, by taking hold of
God's covenant of free grace, uniting with Chrift the
head of it, through faith in his name. (2.) Lead
your life a life to the honour of Gpd, ftudying to
pleafe him in all things. Renounce your own will,
and your own corrupt affections, and wholly give up
yourfelves to him, to be ruled by him, and governed
by his laws. (3.) Live ufefully for men. Lay out
yourfelves to promote the fpiritual and temporal wel-
fare of all ye have accefs to in your ftation. By thefe
means, and no other way, ye will obtain the good
name, by which your dying- day will be better to you
than your birth- day.

Chrift'S

ChrifVs fpecial Order for gathering his
Saints to him at the laft Day ; with
their diftinguifhing Character, as en-
tering into his Covenant now> con-
fidered.

The fubftance of fome Sermons preached at Ettericb
in May 1730.

Psalm 1. 5.

Gather my faints together unto me : thofe that have
made a covenant with me byfacrifice*

LOoking forward to the other world, we will fee
a great gathering to come, a gathering of
faints, and a gathering of finners : what part we
fhall have in thefe, depends on the entertainment we
now give to the gathering unto Chrift in the cove-
nant : they that will not now be gathered to Chrift
in the bond of the covenant, will then be driven from
him, and gathered with finners into the pit: they
that gather now to him in that bond, will be gather-
ed to him in glory then. Gather my faints together
unto me ; thsje that have made a covenant with me
by facrifice.

This pfalm certainly relates to the coming of
Chrift for judgement, ver. 3. Our God Jhall come^
andfball not keep filence : a fire fhall devour before
him, and it fiall be very tempeftuous round about him.
But whether to his firft coming, to abolifh the cere-
monial law, fet up the fimple gofpel-worfhip, and to
judge, condemn^ and take vengeance on the formal
fuperiiitious Jews, deftroying their temple, and ruin-
ing

The Context explained. 285

ing their kingdom; or to his fecond coming to judge
the world, is a queftion. I think it is plain it relates
to both, the former as an emblem, pledge, and type
of the other: and thus we find them dated by our
Saviour himfelf, Matth. xxiv. Only the coming of
the Judge is exprefTed in terms, directly and imme-
diately looking to his fecond coming, as the procedure
and iitue in terms directly and immediately looking
to his firft coming. So our text falling within the
former part, we have all ground to confider it as re-
lating to the other world. In this pfalm,

1. We have the party in whofe name the court is
called and held. It is in the name of the Holy Tii-
nity, Heb. God I Cod! Jehovah; he hath fp§kent &c.
God will judge the world by the man Chrift.

2. The ifTuing out of the fummons- to the whole
world, Called the earth from the rifing of the fun , urn
to the going down thereof ; from eaft to weir, from
the one end to the other. All nations mult come to
it, Afian, European, African, American, Chrii'tian
nations, and Jews, Mahometan, and Pagan nations.

3. From whence the Judge lets forth, making his
glorious appearance. At the giving of the law he
came from Sinai with terrible majefly, Deut. xxxiii.
2. At, this his appearance, he will come from Zion,
the mount Zion, the city of the living God, namely,
from heaven, the church being fo called as a heaven
on earth. Thence he will come mining in power
and great glory. He comes out of Zion, becaufe he
comes as a Saviour to his own, and that now men
having heard the gofpel, are judged according to it.

4. His awful coming to the judgement. He is
God, as well as man. Devouring fire fhall be his
harbinger, 2 ThelT, i. 8. But will any then bid him
welcome ? Yes, his people wili. Heb. Let our God
come; and let him not be filent. q. d. Come, Lord
Jefus ! Be not as one deaf to the cries and fighs of
thy friends, and the tumuit of thine enemies. Some-
time his people, doubting and fearing, trembled at

the

286 The Text explained.

the thoughts of his coming : but then they -will be
beyond all thefe, feeing the day their own.

5. Whither the fummons fhall be directed. To
the heavens, where the fouls of the bleiTed are, that are
dead : to the earthy where the living are, good and
bad, and where the bodies of the dead ate, under
which is comprehended hell, where the fouls of the
■wicked are, Rev< xx. 13.

6. A fpecial gracious order in favour of his people,
in the words of the text. Now comes the time of
fetting all to rights with them, completing their de-
fires, and full anfwering of all their expectations
from him.

1/?, We have the order itfelf, Gather my faints to*
gether unto me ; wherein confider,

(1.) The parties in favour of whom it is iffued out.
It is the faints, holy ones, Heaven's favourites, be-
neficent ones that were ufeful in their generation.
Thefe were fometimes little regarded in this world t
but then they will be the only perfons .that will be
regarded. Chrift the Judge will acknowledge them
as his own, Mai. iii. 17. €* They are my faints : the
World difowned them, and contemned them ; and I was
filent, and many time feemed not to own them nei-
ther. But now I will fpeak out in their favour, I
own them to be mine whoever are faints." Then
farewell all other marks of d inunction among men,
rich and poor, healthy and fickly, learned or un-
learned ; faints and finners is the only remaining
diftinction then.

(2.) What is ordered about them, Gather them to*
gether unto me. Gather them to me ; not before me
only, among themfelves : fuch a gathering there will
be of finners there, as well as faints, Matth. xxv. 32.
But gather them clofe to me, fays Chrift the Judge,
that they may be where I am, fit with me on my
throne, and be ever with me. They have been fcat-
tered here and there in the cloudy and dark day 5

now

The Text explained, 287

now gather them together, and that to me, as my
members, Gen. xlix. ult.

(3.) To whom the order is directed. It is plain
from the original, that it is to others than them, and
to a plurality ; and that as plainly fhews it is to the
Judge's attendants, the holy angels, Mark xiii. 27.
Thefe are they that gather the tares in bundles for
the fire, and the wheat to the Matter into his barn.

2dly, The parties to be gathered to him chara&er-
ifed, Thqfe that have made a covenant with me by fa-
crifice. Their names not being expreffed in the or-
der, how mall they be known from others ? Why,
here is their diftinguifhing character, Chrift the
Judge fometime fet up his ftandard in the world, as
being an appointed Head for finnerS to gather to,
Gen. xlix. 10. He publiihed in the gofpel finners
welcome, and incited them to come to him in the
bond of his covenant. While fome flighted him and
the covenant, they came into it, and fo were gather-
ed to him by faith, while others ftaid away. Now,
lays Chrift, all thofe that gathered to me, embracing
the covenant offered to them in the gofpel, gather
them now to me, that they may receive their crown,
and the benefits of that covenant in full tale- — But
the further explication of this part of the text (hall
be deferred till afterwards.

From the firft claufe I obferve the following doc*
*rine, viz*

Doct. When Chrift comes again t» put an end t§
this world, and complete the Jiate of the §iher world,
he will publicly own the faints as his own, and they
/ball be honourably gathered to him by his order.

In treating of this doctrine, I fhall,

I. Confider the time of thefe great events, when
this order for gathering the faints to Chrift fhali be
given.

II. Chrift's public owning the faints as his own.

III.

288 Of ChriJVs fecond Coming*

III. The gathering of them to him.

IV. The order for this gathering.

V. Laftly, Conclude with an ufe of exhortation.

I. I (hall confider the time of thefe great events,
when this order for gathering the faints to Chrift
fhall be given. It will be at his fecond coming, his
corning to the general judgement. What number
of years mull run out before that, we know not : on-
ly we know that it will be, and it is drawing on.
And to fet the purpofe of the text in due light, it is
fit here to confider,

i. That Chrift will certainly come again, in the

character of the Judge of the world. As fure as he

came the fir ft time, and was judged, condemned,

and crucified by finners : fo fure will he come the

fecond time in power and great glory, and judge the

world, Ac^s i. n. 'This fame Jefus -which is taken up

from you into htaven, /ball jo come in like manner as

ye have feen him go into heaven. It is a piece of his

exaltation, and reward of his fufferings, which he

has yet trufted his Father, and has not yet got : but

it is impofiible, by reafon of the divine faithfulnefs,

that it lliould fail, Phil, ii. 9. 10. Wherefore God a Ifo

hath highly exalted him, and given him a name -which

is above every name : that at the name of Jefus every

knee fbould bow. It is the joint defire of the faints

wrought in them by the Spirit, that he mould come,

Rev. xxii. 17. The Spirit and the bride fay> Come ;

to which he echoes back, ver. 20. Surely I come

quickly. And he has appointed the facrament of the

iupper, not only as a memorial of his firft coming,.

but as a pledge of his fecond coming, 1 Cor. xi. 26. -

2. When Chrift comes again, this earth- will be

very throng, and a wonderful mixture will be in it,

more than ever at any time before : he having called

to heaven, and the other receptacle of departed fouls,

and brought them all back to their bodies which are

in the earth. Then fuiely,

(1.) The

Cf the Time cf the Saints gathering to Chrifl. 28^

(1.) The earth will be thronger than ever, though
there will be no ftriving then for more room in it, as
now; the now drivers would then be content to be
loft in the croud. But, I fay, it will then be a
thronger earth than ever. For not only will there be
a generation alive on it as now, but thofe of all
generations before them from the beginning of the
world will rife up among them too. And what a
throng world will that make ?

(2.) There will be a wonderful mixture then in it,
at a pitch there never was before. For there will be a
mixture of faints and finners in the generations then
alive ; and befides, all the faints and finners of for-
mer generations will rife up among them. There
will be a mixture of Pagans and Chriftians, Papifts
and Protectants, good and bad, fincere Chriftians,
profane and formal hypocrites. For inftance, in our
own land, there have been generations that lived and
died Pagans or Heathens, others that lived and died
Papifts, befides thcfe that have been fince the Re-
formation. Now all thefe lie baiied in our land,
and therefore all of them muft rife there. What a
mixture will this make in Scotland ? "What a throng
is in our church- yaids, though there is no want of
room there ? but the mixture cannot be difcerned ;
there' is no difcerning the difference of the duft of the
body that was for fornication, and that which was for
the Lord, there- But when they arc railed, the mix-
ture will be vifible.

(3.) Only that will be a throng that will foon be
feparated, a mixture that will not laft, but quickly
be done away. The gathering of the faints will put
an end to it, which being done by the miniftry of
angels, we may be fure will be quickly difpatched.

3. When Chrift comes again, he will put an end
to this world ere he go. His very firft appearance
wili put an end to the bufinefs of it. All trades,
employments, and diverfions in this world, will be
dropt that moment for ever. The fhepherd. will not
3 B b crive

2oo Of Chriffs public owning the Saints as his,

give a cry or a look more to his fheep; nor will the
ploughman make out his furrow, nor the huntfman
purfue his game a ftep further. And ere he leave it,
he will put an end to itfelf, by fetting it on fire : by
the general conflagration, cities and villages, moun-
tains and valleys will be confumed to afhes ; fo that
it (hall no more be capable of affording a habitation
to man or beaft: while withal the heavens that cover
it fhall pafs away, 2 Pet. iii. 10.

4. haftlyy When Chrift comes again, he will com-
plete and fettle for ever the ftate of the other world,
Rev. xxi. 5. The ftate of this world is fitted for mens
probation and trial, and is very variable : the ftate of
the other world, of men, and affairs, in it, will be
quite new, fuited for reward of mens deeds done in
the fleih ; and it will be made unalterable for ever*
It is begun already in the cafe of fepjarate fouls, god-
ly and wicked : but then it will be brought to a pitch,
the godly made happy, the wicked miferable, com-
pletely, and fettled for ever there no more to change.

II. I proceed to confider ChrifVs public owning
the faints as his own. At that time when Chrift
comes again for thefe great purpofes, what will be
the lot of believers ? Why, he will own them as his
faints. We may take up this in the following
things.

1. Saintfhip will be the only mark of diftin&ion
among men then. The perfons of diftinction now
are thofe defcended of honourable families, the rich
and wealthy, able to make a figure in a vain world,
that appear in their gay cl oath in g : they muft gather by
themfelves now, others muft know and keep their
diftance. But then all that kind of diftinction is ra-
zed for ever, and there is an abfolute levelling. The
only perfons of diftinftion remaining are the faints,
to be honourably gathered to the great King, while
others are all to be call away out of his prefence, as
the vile trafh of this world.

2. Saintfhip

Of ChrifVs public owning the Saints as his. 291

2. Saintmip will then be declared Chrifl's badge.
In all ages of the world, while hypocrites have falle-
ly pretended to it, it has been the object of the ridi-
cule of the profane, and an eye -fore to both, If lix.
15. Saints is a name of mockery with many : but
they will fee it then a name of honour. The faith
that is without works of a holy tender life, whereby
people pretend to be believers in Chriit, but flacw
not holinefs in their life, will leave them without
the mark, Rev. xrv. 1 . Only a faith that fan&ifks
the heart and life will avail.

3. Thofe that have borne this badge, Chi id will
not forget, nor miflcen. Though they have been
Jong buried and out of mind in the world, he will
remember them ; though they have lain among the
pots, under various afflictions, reproaches, and ill
names, he will not mifken them. He was himfelf
once in a very low condition, but then he will ap-
pear in glory: and fo mail they with him, Luke
xxii. 28. 29* All the filth call on them, will then be.
wiped off.

4. He will own them as his before his Father and
the holy angels, Rev. iii. 5. He that over comet h, —
/ will confefs his name before my Father, and before
his angels* He is to bring them into his Father's
houfe there to dwell for ever; and therefore he owns
them oefore his Father, becaufe they can come thi-
ther only in his right. They are to be the compa-
nions of the angels for ever, and this is the recom-
mendation of them to them, They are my faint x.;

5. Lajily, The grounds of his fpecial propriety in
them fhall then be opened and appear, Mai. iii. 17.
they fid all be mine, i. e- appear to be mine, faith the
Lord of hojls, in that day when I make up my jew eh.
He will own them as his Father's gift to him, his
own purchafe, his own conqueft by his grace, his by
their own confent, participation of his Spirit, and
fpiritual marriage : his people, his brethren, his fpoufe,
his own members myftical.

B b 2 III. I

292 Of the gathering §f the Saints t$ Chrift.

III. I (hall next confider the gathering of them to
him. This gathering,

i. Prefuppofes the refurre&ion of the dead faints,
and the changing of thofe found alive. Of the mi-
niftry of the angels in thefe we find no mention: the
voice of Chrift himfelf raifeth the dead, John v. 28.
whether the archangel that founds the alarm, 1 TheiT.
iv. 16. be a created angel or not. And the changing
of thofe alive appears to be performed in the fame
manner, 1 Cor. xv. 52. That they may be gather-
ed to Chrift, they are raifed up out of their graves,
and foul and body reunited.

2. It lies in thefe three things.

(1.) In fevering and feparating them from among
the wicked. Thofe found alive will be found mixed
with wicked ones, and thofe in the graves will be
found lying among the wicked too. Butthe angels will
make a feparation, a cleanly feparation, that they (hall
never mix more, Matth. xiii. 48. 49. Sometimes they
iighed, and faid, Wo is me, that I fojourn in Me-
jech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar. My foul
hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace, Pfal cxx.
5.6. But the beginning of that gathering. will put
a full end to that.

(2.) In bringing them together from all corners of
the earth into one company, Matth. xxiv. 31. By
the gofpel -efficacy on them, they were feparated from
the world in iefpecl: of thvir itate and manner of life ;
and were gathered together in one fpiritual bond :
but in refpe£fc of tbeii bodily prefence they were (till
mixed with unbelievers, and at ciiftance from other
faints. They were fcatteied far abroad over the face
of the earth, and few places could mew any confider-
able number of them together: but then the eaftern
and weftern faints, the northern and fouthern, (hall
all be gathered together into one glorious company.
The evening of the world is come, and Chrift 's Hock
is brought together.

(3.) In bringing them all together unto Jefus Chrift,

in

Of the gathering of the Saints to Chrifl, 293

♦ in the place where he will be in the air, 1 Theff. iv.
17. Thither the Judge will come, and there will
he fet his throne : and where the carcafe is, there
will the eagles be gathered together. Thither v 111
the raifed and changed faints afcend to him in one
glorious company, and be fet on his right hand as his .
friends, while the wicked are left Handing as crimi-
nals on his left hand on the earth. And thus the
happy gathering is completed.

3, For the kind of it, this gathering will be,

(1.) A great gathering, "greater than any now to*
be feen in this world It is true, the faints appear
few now in comparifon of others : but whefr the
faints of all generations, in all places of the world,,
fliall be gathered together, it mult needs be a great
gathering : they will- be. numerous like the liars of,
heaven, which no- man can number, Gen. xv> 5..
Accordingly John faw a great multitude, -which, no,
man could number, of all nations % and kindreds, and?.
people, and tongues, ft and before the throne, and be; ore ■
the Lamb, clothed -with white robes,, and palms in their-
hands, Rev. vii. 9.

(2.) A fpeedy gathering, being performed by the.:
minillry of angels, which move like a flame of nre5;
Bfal. civ. 4. The bodies of the fahits- will then no?
more be heavy and lumpifh, but fpirituai bodies3,
light, nimble, and active like fpirits, being, new fa--
ihioned after the likenefs of the fecond Adam's body.-
So that it mud needs be foon difpatched. Yet,

(3.) An exact and accurate gathering,, fo as ther-*;
fliall neither be one goat brought away with the fheep,„
nor one fheep left among the goats. But all faints that .
ever lived from the beginning to the end~of the world, „
fliall be gathered together to Chriit, . and they. only,,
without the leaft mixture of another fort.

(4.) A gathering never to part. The gatherings in 1

this world, good as well as bad, continue only for a.

little; they foon break, up and dilperfe : but this

gathering being once affembled, ihall never break up .

& b 3 noVv

294 ®f *ke Order for gathering the Saints to thrift.

nor be diflblved, but continue through all the ages of
eternity,

IV. I fhall drop a word to the order for gathering
them to him.

I. It fpeaks them his favourites, whom he has a
fpecial regard for Now he is coming in flaming
fire to take vengeance on his enemies ; but as the an-
gels were difpatched to Sodom to bring away Lot,
before the overthrow of that city ; fo are they order-
ed to gather Chrift's faints to him before the final
overthrow of the world, and the wicked therein.
Others had common favours in life heaped on them,
but now thefe are at an end : and the faints appear
the only favourites of Heaven.

i. A defign to honour them before the world, as
when one is by a great man called to him in the fight
of others. God's people have, their time of trial,
and living by faith on Heaven's promifes : the
world therefore reckons them fools, and becaufe
their courfe and way is oppofite to theirs, they hate
them and are hard on them. Now Chrift comes to
end the difpuce, and declare and decide at length,
who were the wife, who the fools ; and decides it by
their gathering to him, while others Hand trembling
before him awaiting their fearful fentence.

3. A defign to complete their defires and happi-
nefs. It was their defire to be with Chrift, as beffc
of all, and now fays he, Gather them to me. They
were wearied of Mefech and Kedar ; they longed for
the feciety of faints that would be comfortable 5 and
to be at the higheft pinnacle of their happinefs. This
gathering them to him anfwers all thefe ends.

I fhall conclude this dotlrine with an ufe of exhor-
tation I exhort you,

1. To be in greateft concern of all things, to be
Chrift's faints now. Defpife it not; if fo, you will fee
yourfelves fools at laft. Neglect it not, left ye be ne-
glected

Ufe of Exhortation. 293

gle&ed and pafied by when this gathering comes. It
is better to have your name enrolled' by Jefus among
his faints, than by men among the great -and honour-
able of the earth.

2. Gather to Chrift now as your head, by faith.
He has his Father's commiflion for this purpoie, to
take out of the world lying in wickednefs, a people
for himfelf, Gen. xlix. 10. Unto him Jball the gather*
ing of the people be. He has vifited our ends of the
earth for that purpofe, fet up his ftandard among us ;
and now we have, as we have often had, a folemn
call to come in ; gather then to him, as ever you
would be gathered to him in the end of the world.

3. Lajlly, Having gathered to him by faith in the
bond of his covenant, publicly own him as yours, your
Head, your Prieft, Prophet, King, and Lord. The
facrament of the fupper is appointed for that end, as a
public owning ourfelves to be his, before the world,
angels, and men. And thofe that are indifferent of
doing that honour to Chrift, would do well to confi-
der what expectations they have of his owning them.

Proceed we to the character of the parties to be ga-
thered to Chrift at his coming, Thofe that have made
a covenant with me by facrifice : Heb. Cutters ojf>
of my covenant upon afacrifi.ee. Their character is
taken, not from worldly advantages that attended them,
for thefe will then be perifhed ; but from the cove-
nant, for that will be then lafting, If. liv. 10. So
their character is true covenanters, they that ,have
been gathered into the bond of the covenant unto
him. Where obferve,

1. The covenant from which their character is ta-
ken : it is not a covenant of their own deviling ; nor
. the covenant of the firft Adam : but it is thrift's
covenant, my covenant > fays the Judge ©f the world,
who gives order to the angels to gather them to him.
It is the covenant the Father made with Chrift as fe-
cond Adam, called commonly the covenant of grace,

2. The

296 Char abler of the Parties to be gathered to Chrifl.

2. The nature of that covenant; it is a covenant
vpon a facrifice, namely the facrifice of Chrift, that
expiatory facrifice. The covenant of works was not
upon a facrifice, for God was not then offended : but
this covenant being made with an offended juft God,
behoved to be upon a facrifice, and could not. be
without it.

3. Their coming into that covenant, every one
perfonally for himfelf. This is exprefTed by their be-
ing cutters off of it, a phrafe taken from the cutting
a bead afunder at parties entering into a covenant,
Jer. xxxiv. 18. which had a reference to the curfe of
the covenant to fall on the breakers. And the cut-
ting off of the one part, fo as they were never to come
together again, imported the inviolablenefs of the
covenant, Gen. xv. 10. 18. Hence the phrafe is ufed
for entering into a covenant,, the fign for the thing
fignified. To this their action alfo the words upon a
facrifice do relate, q. d. That cut off upon a facrifice
my covenant made upon a facrifice. Now the facri-
fice being the facrifice of Chrift, it is plain our cut-
ting off in that cafe muft be by laying as it were our
hand on the head of the facrifice cut off by divine
juftice ; and fo it denotes our entering into the cove-
nant by believing on Chrift, And it prefuppofes the
offer of the covenant made to us.

From this part of the text we obferve the two fol*
lowing doctrines, viz,

DoCT. I. There is a covenant with God, which is
Chrifl the fecond AdanCs covenant, made upon the fa*
crifice if himfelf, and offered to finners.

Doct. II. Thofe who now gather unto Chrifl, per-
finally and fincerely entering into his covenant of grace
offered to them in the gofpel, while others flight him
and his covenant, [hall at the lajl day be joyfully ga-
thered to him in the air, to receive their welcome to the
kingdom of heaven, while others /hall be left on the earth
to receive their doom from him} to be driven to the pit*

Doct. I.

Of the Nature of Ch rift's Covenant. 297

Doct. I. There is a covenant with God, which is
Chriji the fecond Adam's covenant, made upon the fa*
crifice of himfelf, and offered to finners.

In difcourfing from this do&rine, I mall,

I. Confider the nature of this covenant in the general.

II. Shew in what refpe£ts it is ChriiVs covenant.

III. Confider its being a covenant upon afacrifice,
and that of himfelf.

IV. Make application.

I. I fhall confider the nature of this covenant in
the general. It is a covenant of peace and reconci-
liation betwixt God and fmners, If. liv. 10. whereby
an offended God and offending finners may become
friends for ever, and they reinftated in his favour,
and eftablifhed therein. And hence you may per-
ceive, that,

1. Not the neceffities of Chrifl the Maker of it,
but of finners whom it was made for, required it.
He was infinitely happy in himfelf and in his Father's
love, and flood in need of nothing without himfelf:
but they needed it, and he made it for them, Cant.
iii. 10. It is a covenant of grace, for his making it
was an act of pure grace to us.

1. It is the new covenant, brought in to repair the
ruins of mankind by the breach of the firft. God
and Adam weie fiiends when they entered into the
covenant of works : but that being broken, finners
fell under the curfe : and to recover them out of that
ruinous Mate, this covenant was made.

3. It is the covenant by which finners may have
life and falvation, Mai. ii. 5. By it all their fores
may be* healed. In it there is a righteoufnels fecured
for the unrighteous, a pardon for the guilty, fan£tifi«
cation for the unholy, and eternal happinefs in the
other world for heirs of hell and wrath. There is as
much in it as may make one eafy and joyful in the
face of death j hence David in his laft words fays,

2 Sam.

298 How the Covenant of Grace is Chrift's Covenant.

2 Sam. xxiii. 5. Although my houfe be nstfo with Gods
yet he hath made with me an everlafiing covenant , or*
deredin all things and fur e : for this is all my f aha*
tion> and all my defire> although he make it not to grow.
O bleffed covenant, which, by what is faid, you
may fee is juft the covenant of grace ! O happy de-
vice ! Do not your hearts fay within you, Whom is
it owing to ? whofe covenant is it ? Surely it never
came out of our forge. Chrift claims it as his. It is
my covenant, fays he. Therefore we fhall fhew>

II. In what refpedts it is ChrirVs covenant.

1. He devifed it : it never bred in our breaft, and
never would. He was with his Father and Spirit the
offended party, but the deviling of the covenant of
peace is not owing to the offenders, but the offend-
ed. For it was devifed before the offenders were in
being, Prov. viii. 29* 30. 3.1. 1 John iv. 19,

2. He made it with his Father without us, in all
its articles and claufes, Pfal. lxxxix. 3. Cant.iii. 9.
Thc bargain was concluded from eternity between
the Father and the Son, in our favour, while we were
not yet any of us in being. So that the remedy for
us was kindly provided, before we fell under our dif-
eafe ; that fo it might be ready for us, and we might
not die of it.

3. He was the head of it, the fole undertaker in it
on the fide of finners. There was in this covenant
a burden to be undertaken for finners, and Chrift
took burden on himfelf alone for them, to pay their
debt, and to bear their punifhment : and accordingly
he bare the burden alone, If. lxiii. 3. He gave it as
his bond of furetifhip for the ele£t, which the Father
accepted, no more to look to them, but to him for
fatisfaction, Heb. vii. 22. The condition of it lay on
him folely, viz. that he mould fulfil all righteoufnefs.
Sinners could do nothing in this, but he undertook to
do it, by his being born perfectly holy, living perfect-
ly righteous, and making fatisfa&ion by his death.

4. The

ff§w the Covenant of Grace is Chri/l'sjCsvenant. 299

4. The promifes of it were made to him, not only
that of a glorious reward to himfelf, but of eternal
life to all his, Gal. iii. 16. Tit. i. 2. As when a
father covenants with a furgeon to heal his fon's bro-
ken leg ; the promife is made to the father, and he
alfo pays the furgeon's fees, though the benefit re-
dounds to the fon.

5. He receives finners into it, the adminiftration
thereof being wholly committed to him, fo that co-
ming to him by faith is our coming into the covenant,
John x. 9. I am the door : by me if any man enter in,
hefball be faved. Juftly is it reckoned his covenant,
fince the Father has left it with him, to take in
whom he will into it ; and none are inflated in it,
but by, in, and through him.

6. All the benefits of it are in his hand. They
are now purchafed by him, and the Father has lodged
them with him, intruded him with them all from
the leaft to the greateft, Matth. xi. 27. So that he
has the difpenfing of them all ; if the (inner would
have the pardon of the covenant, he muft go to
Chrift for it ; if he would have the fanftifying in-
fluences of the covenant, he muft apply to Chrift
for them, for he is our Jofeph, who has all the ftores
of grace and glory in his hand.

7. Laftly, It is in his right alone that finners can
get the benefits of it, or claim them, Phil. iii. 9.
They can claim them no otherwife than as they arc
his members, his fpoufe, his children. Hence at the
laft day, when they are to get the complete enjoy-
ment of the covenant-benefits all together, the order
is given by him, Gather them to me : q . d. for they
cannot go into heaven, but at my back ; they cannot
have the benefits but as they are in me, Rom. v. 17.

III. I come to confider this covenant's being a
covenant upon a facrifice, and that of himfelf. And
here confider,

1. Why

300 Of this Covenant's being a Covenant on a Sacrifice.

f. Why this covenant behoved to be upon a fa-
crifice.

2. Why on the facrifice of Chrift himfelf.

3. The import of its being a covenant on a fa-
crifice.

Firft, Confider, why this covenant behoved to be
upon a facrifice. The reafon is, the honour of God
injured by man's fin required, that if there was to be
another covenant for life and falvation to man now a
(inner, it behoved to proceed on a facrifice making
atonement for the breach of the firft by fin. Man
could not break the firft covenant unpunifhed, elfe
where were the honour of the holinefs, juftice, and
law of God, If. xlii. 21. Rom. iii. 25. ? Therefore
is that caution added, Exod. xxxiv. 6. 7. The Lord,
The Lord Goa\ merciful and gracious , long -fujfe ring,
and abundant in goodnefs and truth, keeping mercy
for thoufands, forgiving iniquity and tranfgreffion
and fin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.
At the propofal of a covenant of peace for finners,
juftice ftands up and pleads, There (hall be no peace
without I be fatisfied, Heb. ix. 22. ; therefore a fa-
crifice is provided, that the covenant of peace may
upon it go on, and the broken firft covenant is in*
groiTed in the fecond, that all its demands (hall be
anfwered.

Secondly, But why is it a covenant on the facrifice
of Chrift himfelf ? The reafon is, becaufe no other
facrifice could avail in the cafe, Heb. x. 5. Sacrifice
and offering thou wouldjl not, but a body haft thou pre*
pared me. One can hardly think, that if the cove-
nant could have been made on a lefs coftly facrifice,
that the only begotten Son of God would have been
made the facrifice, John iii. 16. Theie was a ne-
cefTity of Chtift's death, if finners were to have life,
Luke xxiv. 26.

1. The Levitical facrifices of beafts could never a-
vail in this cafe. For they were not of equal value
with the guilty heads, beaits being ia value far below

men.

Of this Covenant's being a Covenant on a Sacrifice. 301

men. Therefore by them indeed the debt might be
acknowledged, and the way of paying it typified ;
but not paid.

2. Men could not be facrifices for themfelves in
this cafe to procure a covenant of peace : for if once
the facrificing knife had come to their throat, they
would never have recovered 5 if they had been once
laid on the altar, they would have been confuming,
but never have fent forth a favour of reft to incenfed
juftice.

3. Angels could not have been a facrifice ; for
neither could they have ever overcome the weight of
wrath that was due, but would have funk under it.
And their fufferings not being of infinite value, could
not have been accepted for recompence of the wrong
done to an infinite God. Wherefore Chrift only
could be a facrifice to procure the covenant of peace.
For,

(1-) He only could bear the curfe, and overcome
it. The curfe of the firft covenant behoved to be ex-
ecuted, in order to the eftablifhing of the fecond for
peace to finners : and he only could bear it, fo as to
bear it out, and bear it off, Gen. xv. 10. 17. 18.
Gal. iii. 13. The wicked in the other world will bear
the curfe indeed for themfelves, and fo will be made
facrifices for themfelves, according to that, Pfal.
xciv. ult. He foal! bring upon them their own iniquity,
and fiall cut them off in their own wickednefs ; yea,
the Lord our God Jball cut them off. B»t they will
never be able to drink this cup up, and overcome it:
fo they fhall have no peace for ever.

(2) He. only was of infinite dignity, and fo his
fufferings only could equal the offence of an infinite
God by the fins of the world. Chrift's facrifice was
of a fweet- faulting favour unto God, Eph. v. 2. It is
an old teftament expreffion ufed Gen. viii. 21. The
Lord fuelled a fweet favour \ Heb. a favour of full
reft, namely, quieting his Spirit, as the expreffion is,
Zech. vi. 8. The fins of the elect world, molt abo-
3 C c minable

3j02 Of this Covenant's being a Covenant on a Sacrifice,

minable to God, fent up as it were a moft rank fmell
into his noftrils: no fufferings of the creature could
matter it, but the fufferings of Chrift did it fully.

Thirdly , Let us confider the import of this cove-
nant's being a covenant on a facrifice.

i. This fays, that wrath is appeafed, juftice has got
fatisfa£Hon for fin ; the bar which the broken firft
covenant laid in the way of finners peace with God,
is removed : for the new covenant is made on a fa-
crifice, whereby atonement is made for the breach of
the firft covenant, and juftice has got of the Surety,
for the finner, what it could demand, 2 Cor. v. ult.

2. It is confident with the honour of God, to take
finners into this covenant, and receive them into fa-
vour, as his confederates. For now the holinefs,
juftice, and truth of God, have the wrong done them
repaired by this facrifice: and his mercy and grace
have a free vent thereby, Pfal. lxix. 4.

3. Sinners have free accefs into it. ^Solomon ob-
fcrves, Prov. xviii, 1 6. A marts gift maketb room for
him, and bringeth him before great men- And what
will Chrift's gift of himfelf as a facrifice not do ?
Surely now the finner may come forward under the
covert of that precious blood: the fword that guard-
ed the tree of life was fheathed in the facrifice o£
Chrift, and laid by, Cant. ii. 10. 11.

4. There is a feaft for them, a feaft on the facrifice,
the parties covenanting feafting together. Upon the
covenant made betwixt Jacob and Laban there was a
feaft kept, Gen. xxxi. 54. So upon this covenant
made on the facrifice of Chrift; there is a feaft,
1 Cor. v. 7. 8. Chrift our paffover is facrificed

for us. Therefore let us kelfp the feaft. The flefh
and blood of Chrift crucified is meat indeed and
drink indeed, and we are to feed and feaft thereon
by faith.

5. La/liy, It is a fure covenant, as made on that
facrificej the virtue and efficacy whereof being eter-
nal, one can never be fhaken out of it. The mercy

and

The. Doblrine applied. 303

and grace of God to finners have a fure foundation
here, Pfal. lxxxix. 14. J uflice and judgement are the
habitation of thy throne : mercy and truth fijall go be-
fore thy face. What; can fhake a fin tier out of this
covenant when he is once really in it ? Nothing can
be fuppofed to do it but fin. But then it is a cove-
nant on a facrifice whereby fin is expiated, and there-
fore it cannot have that malignant effect. Accord-
ingly the promifeof the covenant runs> Jer. xxxit. 4c.
J' ix! ill make an ever la/ling covenant with them, that
J will not turn away from them, to do them good ; but
J will put my fear in their hearts , that they fhall not
depart from me,.

Ifhallnow makeforne improvement of-this doctrine.

1. Then fee how Ch rift loved us ! When the Jews
faw Chrift come weeping to Lazarus's grave, they
faid, Behold how he loved him I John xi. 36. How-
much more may we fay fo, when we confider hini
making a covenant with his Father for the falvatiou
of loft finners of mankind, and that on the facrific*
of himfelf ?" It was much that he took any notice of
our juft ruin, being enemies to him as well as to his
Father ; more that he made a covenant for our reco-
very.-, moll of all, that, in order to eftablifh it, he
made his foul an offering for fin, and confented to
fhed his precious blood for it.

2. Then let us take this his covenant, and reft in
it, as made by him. Let us leave to him the glory,

(1.) Of fole Maker of it with his Father, Zech. vi.
13. Let us not pretend to frame, ^nake, and devife
a covenant of our own, diftincl: from his, in our ac-
cepting of it# Let us not quarrel his covenant, nor
go about to model it anew, agreeable to our corrupt
minds. Let us* make no exceptions again ft it, no
exception in favour of any beloved luft, no exception
againft any of the duties of the covenant, nor againfl
the difcipline thereof, which is the crofs. Let us
defire nothing out that he has put in, nor any thing
C c z in

3 ©4 The Dotlrine applied.

in that he has left out, Acts ix. 6. Lord, what wilt
thou have me to do ? So fincere covenanters look up-
on it as well ordered in all things, z Sam. xxiii. $.

(2.) Of fole Undertaker in it. He was fo when it
was made, and when it was fulfilled, If. lxiii. 3. J
have trodden the -wine- pre fs alone, and of the people
there u-as none with' we. Let none now then put in
for a fhare in the undertaking. Some, in their pre*
tended covenanting with God, undertake for their
part, that if God will fave them for ChrifVs fake from
hell and wrath, they will be good fervants to God as
long as they live, and keep his commands, and fo do
their part : and fo they would fhare the glory with
Chuff, Rom. iv\ 4. They ccnfider not that they are
without ftrength, and can do nothing j that they
have as much need of the grace of Chrift to fanclify,
as to juflify them. But come ye to Chrift in his co-
venant, to get your nature changed; the power of fin
broken, and to be caufed by him to walk in new o-
bedience.

(3.) Of the (oIq immediate right to the promifes
of it, Gal iii. \6. You are welcome to claim the
promifes, according to your need : but ye muft claim
them only in his right, and be content to come in at
his back to get them made out to you. This has
been the way of the faints, as Daniel, chap. ix. 17. 18.
and Paul, Phil. iii. 9. There is no (landing of a tin-
ner before God, but under the ccveit of the Medi-
ator's blood j and no plea for finneis, but in his
name.

And to move you hereto, to acquiefce in the co-
venant as his, leaving him the glory, ccnfider,

[1.] It is belt for us as he has made it, Eccl. iii.
14. If we fliould offer to mend it, by adding to or
taking away any thing from it, we would be fure to
mar it. Infinite wifdom knew beft what was for our
good, and infinite love fet him en it. As Chriii faw
better than we, what was our true intereft ; fo he

loved

The Dotlrine applied. 305

loved us more than we loved ourfelves, for he loved
us infinitely, Eph. iii. 19.

[2.] Only he is able enough for that undertaking,
Pfal. lxxxix. 19. And the work can be put in no
other hand, but it will be marred. Why fhould we
defire to take burden on ourfelves, when he is cod-
tent to be the great Burden-bearer, to bear our weight
and all the weights that hang at us, whether cf.dutv,
guilt, or affliction? He is fure, and can never fturn-
ble under our weight, nor fall ; but we are ready :o
fall at every turn. Pfal. lv. 22. If.'xlii. 4.

[3.] The promife is fure in his right, and the
claim that way cannot mifsy Pfal. lxxxix. 3.2?? When
pleading the benefit cf the promife, we confider our-
felves, we fee nothing but guilt, fmfuinefs, unwor*
thinefs, ficklenefs, and inconltancy, to cut oif cur
hopes : but looking to Chrift, we lee perfed holmeis
and righteoufnefs, infinite dignity- and excellency 5
fo that we may fay, " Lord, I am unworthy, yet
my Saviour Chrift is worthy for whom thou fno-uidft .
do this for me."

3. Lajily, Let poor trembling finners be encoura-
ged to come into this covenant, iince it is a covenant
on a facrifice. It is an awful thought for a fenlible
guilty creature to enter into covenant with a holy
jealous God. Our God is a confuting fire : hew
then can we ftand before him, and not be confumed I
The facrifice being interpofed we- are fafe, ChniL
going between mediating the peace with his atoning,
blood, wrath is turned away, and the firmer recei-
ved into favour and fiiendfliip. 1 proceed now to

Doct. II. Thofe who now gather unto ChriJ?, per*
finally andjincerely entering into his covenant oj graze
offered to them in the gojpcl, while others flight him and,
his covenant^ /ball at the laji day be joy/ ally gathered, .
to h.m in the airy to receive their welcome to the king-
dom of heaven^ while others jbdl be toj-t on the earth to
receive their doom fro?.: him, to be dnven to the pu*-
Cc y la.

306 Of being gathered unto Chrift.

In difccurfing frcm this dc&iine, I (hall,

I. Premife fome things on this point in the ge-
neral.

II. Confider finners fincere perfonal entering into
ChriiVs covenant of grace now, that will fecure their
joyful gathering to him at the laft day.%

III. Laftlyt Make improvement.

I. I (hall premife fome things on this point in the
general.

1. All mankind were by Adam's fall feparated
and fcattered frcm God, as fheep gone aftray, 1 Pet.
ii. ult. Mankind was at firft joined to God in the
bond of the firft covenant, and fo they were his fami-
ly about his hand, headed by him, and enjoying his
favour. But by fin they broke away from him, and
being gone from him the centre of unity, they were
feparated in affection one from another, Tit tii. 3.
And in this ftate they remain while out of Chrift,
fcattered and wandering on the mountains of vanity.

2. To bring fcattered finners to God again, Chrift
■was appointed the head to whom their gathering
Ihould be, 1 Pet. ii. ult. For ye ivere asjbeep going
aftray ; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and
Bijhop of your fouls. Chap. iii. 18. Chrift hath once

fvfered for fins , the jitft J or the ur.juft^ that he might
bring us to Cod. The fiift Adam was the head
under whom they went away, and he left them wan-
dering, a ready prey for the devourer : the fecond
Adam is the head for their return, by whom they
may be brought back unto God, and put up in fafety
with him for ever, John xi. 52. He is the great
Shepherd, intruded by his Father for gathering the
ftrays of mankind, into one flock and fold.

3. There is a double gathering of fcattered finners
to Chrift. The one is now a- doing, has been frcm
the beginning, and will be to the end of the world :
and that is a gathering of finners by the gofpel to him
into ihe bond of the covenant of grace, Gen.xlix. 10.

The

Of being gathered unto Chrift. 307

The other is to come certainly at the world's end,
and that is a gathering of them by the angels to meet
him in the air, never to fet their foot more on the
curfed earth, but to go away with him to heaven.
And that will be a gathering quickly difpatched, as
appears from the text.

4. There arc many who will not be gathered to
Chrift now, whatever pains he is at to gather them,
Matth. xxiii. 37. — How often -would I have gathered
thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her
chickens under her ivings> and -ye would nst ! He fets
up his ftandard among them, he calls to them to
come in to him : but they get away from him. They
love better to wander on, than to return ; they pre-
fer a vain world, and their deceitful lufts, to Chrift ;
and they love rather to be at their liberty, than to be
brought into the bond of his covenant. They cannot
endure to be fo hedged up, Pfal. ii. 3. So they refufe
to gather to him.

5. Yet there are frill fome who with heart and
good will gather to him, and willingly come into the
bond of his covenant. Efficacious grace makes them
willing, Pfal. ex. 3. They are weary of their di-
ftance from God, and their wandering life, feeing
how in that cafe they are expofed to the utmoft dan-
ger, and aie in no fafety from the roaring lion, who
goes about feeking whom he may devour ; and fo
they willingly gather to Chrift, and come into the
bond of his covenant, as their only fafety.

6. La/lly, At the end of the world, whatever re-
paration there is between thefe parties now, the wan-
derers and thofe within the bond of the covenant,
there will be a greater then. The wanderers and the
gathered being both raifed out of their graves at the
found of the laft trumpet ; all thofe gathered within
the bond of the covenant, flrall be gathered together
to Chiift in the air, to go with hiru, and be ever
with the Lord : and the wanderers will be brought
together on the earth before him, receive their dread-
ful

308 Of Sinners entering into Chrijl's Covenant,

ful fentence to depart from him ; and. then they going
away, the earth will be fet on fire.

II. I {hall confider finners fincere perfonal enter-
ing into ChrifYs covenant of grace now, that will fe-
cure their joyful gathering to him at the .laft day.
And here three things are to be diftinguifhed.

i. The propofal of the covenant.

2. The Tinner's entering into it in a faving manner,
fo as to fecure his gathering to Chriit at the laft day.

3. The profefiion and declaration of that entering
into it, by fome fit fign.

First, The propofal of the covenant. It muft be
propofed to us, before we can enter into it: and lb
it is indeed propofed to us to be entered into.

Firft, Confider, how it can be propofed or offer*
ed to us. The covenant of grace being determined
to be ChrifVs covenant, made and concluded from
eternity betwixt his Father and him, and its condl*
tions perfectly fulfilled already by Chrlft, and all its
promifes made to him ; it is a difficulty with fome,
how that covenant already concluded can be propo-
fed or offered to us to be entered into. But,

1. Suppofe one in a town makes a bargain with
the mafter in his own name, and the name of his
neighbours there, fulfils the condition, and the be~
nefit only remains to be received ; and all this is done
without advifmg. with them, or their knowledge of
it: may not that man when he comes home offer
that covenant to his neighbours, and they enter into
it juft by acquiefcing in it ? If any of them will not,
it will not be forced on them j but if they acquiefce
and accept, it is as good and valid as if they had been
at the making of it. So is it in this cafe.

2. Adam's covenant was alfo made without us in
the name of mankind, and broken too while we were
not •, yet by our very defcending from him by natu-
ral generation, we are perfonally inflated in it to our
condemnation > and this without waiting our acqul-

efcini

Of Sinners entering into ChriJVs Covenant, 309

cfcing or confent to that covenant. How much
more may the fecond Adam's covenant be offered to
us, and we inflated in it to our falvation, by our ex-
prefs approbation and acceptance ?

Secondly, Confider, how it is actually propofed and
offered to us. It is propofed and offered to us in the
gofpel, by Jefus Chrift in his own and his Father's
name \ therefore he is called the Mejfenger of the co*
venant, Mai. iii. 1, who came from heaven, and
proclaims and offers the covenant to finners. Now
it is offered to us in the gofpel,

1. At large, in its feveral articles and claufes, both
the conditionary part as fulfilled, Rom. i. 17. and
the piomiffory part to be fulfilled, Heb. viii. 10. 11.
12. Ezek. xxxvi. 25. and downwards, and fo the
reft of its promifes to be found through the whole
Bible. All are propofed and offered under the name
of the covenant at large, If. Iv. 3. Hear, and ysur
foul Jhall live, and I -will make an everlafling cove*
nant with you, which take-in all the promifes.

2. In compend, in the offer of Chrift himfelf the
head of the covenant. Say net, How (hall we take
up the covenant that is fuch a large and ample tranf-
a£tion, and withal the paits thereof fcattered through
the whole Bible ? It is fet before you abridged, viz,
in Jefus Chrift, to be taken up with one glance of
your eye, If. xlix. 8. / will give thee for a covenant
of the people, The offer of Chrift to you is the offer
of the covenant : even as if a father who has made a
beneficial bargain for his family, mould offer to
adopt you ; that offer of himfelf for a father to you,
would be the offer of that bargain. Now you have
this offer of the covenant,

(r.) Under Chrift's hand in his written word,
which ye have in the fcripture. A wife man will
make no offer in writing to one, but what he minds
to perform : his hand- writing will bind him, if it is
accepted. And may not the offer of the covenant
made you in writing, under the hand of the great

God

310 Cf Sinners entering into ChriJVs Covenant.

God our Saviour, fatisfy you in that point ? Take heed
then, left when God has written to you the great things
tf his law, ye count them as a Jlrange thing, Hof.
viii. 12.

(2.) By public proclamation in his name, by the
voice of the miniilers of the gofpel, his ciiers ap-
pointed for that effect, Prov. ix. 3. If a prince
proclaims an offer of indemnity to rebel- fubjetb,
may not that fatisfy them as to the reality of the of-
fer ? And mould not this offer actually proclaimed to
you, finners, in the gofpel, by Chrift's ambaffadors,
fully fatisfy you as to the reality thereof I Object. Mi-
niiters are but fallible men. Jnfw. True ; but their
commiflion is infallible ; and fo far as they flick by
that, which they do in offering the covenant to fin-
ners, you have an infallible ground of faith in what
they fay. And as the crier's voice in a proclamation
is in effect, the king's, fo is theirs in this cafe. Hence
the apoftle fays, Heb. xii. 2£. See that ye refufe not
him that fpeaketh : for if they efcaped not who refu-
fed him that f pake on earth , much more Jhall not we
efcape, if we turn away from him that fpeaketh from
heaven. And fays our Lord, Luke x. 16. He that
heareth you, keareth me t and he that defpifeth you, de-
fpifeth me : and he thai defpifeih me, defpijeth him that
fent me.

Thirdly, To whom is it offered ? Chrift's covenant
of grace is offered to finners of mankind indefinitely ;
that is, it is offered to them, and any of them who-
foever without di ft i notion. So the offer ftands in the
written word, and fo the minifterial offer is to be
made. This is clear from many teftimonies, Prov.
viii. 4. Unto you, 0 men, I call, and my voice is to the
fons of man. Mark xvi. 15. Co ye into all the world)
and preach the gofpel to every creature. John iii. 1 6.
God fo loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whofoever believeth in him, fhould not perifh,
hut have evcrlafting life. If. lv. I. Ho, every one
that thirjleth, come ye to the waters, and he that

hath

Of Sinners entering into Chrijl's Covenant. 311

hat h no money ; come ye, buy and eat, yea, come, buy
tuine and milk without money, and without price.
Rev xxii. 17. Whojoever will, let him take the water
of life freely. Therefore it is offered to you and every
one of you, and you are warranted to enter into it.

Objecl. But it may be I was not elected, andChrift
did not reprefent me in that covenant. Anjw. Your
warrant to enter into Chrift's covenant does not ?t all
depend on your election, or non-ele&ion, but on the
revealed will of God making a real offer of it to you,
Deut. xxix. ult. and that you have, and if you be-
lieve it not, you difbelieve the gofpel, If. liii. 1.
make God a liar, 1 John v. 10. and fo muft perifh,
Mark xvi. 16. Where do you find that ever a per-
son's election was the ground of his believing or en-
tering into the covenant ? It is not revealed to the e-
le£ to bring thsm to believe in Chrift ; but they firft
believe, and then by that means they fee they were
eleaed.

Moreover, the promifes are propofed indefinitely.
So was the firft promife, Gen. iii- 15. / will put en-
mity between thee and the woman, and between thy
feed and her feed : it floall bru'xfe thy head, and thou,
fhalt bruife his heel. So are other promifes of the co-
venant, If. Iv. 3. Incline your ear, and come tint 0 me :
hear, and your foul floall live, and I will make an ever-
lajling covenant with you, even the fure mercies of
David. Heb. viii. to, 11. 12. / will put my laws
into their mind, and write them in their hearts : and
I will be to them a God, and they fball be to me a peo-
ple. And they fiall not teach every man his neigh-
bour, and every man his brother, faying, Know the
Lord: for all J 'hall know me, from the lea ft to the
greateft. For I will be merciful to their unri?ht.pouf
nefs, and their fins and their iniquities will I remem-
ber no more. Ezek. xxxvi. 25. 26. 27. Then will I
fprinkle clean water upon you, and ye fball be clean :
from all your Jilt hinefs, and from all your idds will I
cleanfe you. A new heart aljo will I give you, and a

new

312 Of Sinners entering into Chrift* s Covenant.

new fpirit will I put within you, and I will take away
the ftony heart out of your flefh, and 1 will give you
an heart of flefh. And I will put my Spirit within you,
and caufe you to walk in my ftatutes, and yeffjall keep
my judgement s, and do them. Where is there any li-
mitation or diftin&ion of perfons there ?

Objecl. The conditional promifes are indeed to all,
but not the abfolute ones. Anfw. There is a con-
nection of duty and privilege in fome promifes ;
but I know no promifes properly conditional, but to
Chrift, who has fulfilled the condition of them al-
ready : Rom. iv. 4. 5. Now to him that workethy is
the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But
te him that worketh not, but believeth on him that ju.
ftifieih the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteouf
nefs. The promifes of the covenant, call them as ye
will} are to all indefinitely ; for non efl diflinguendum
ubi lex non dijlinguit. Therefore the apoftle lays it
for a ground of faith to the murderers of the Lord of
glory, Acls ii. 38. 39. Repent, and be baptized every
one of you in the name of Jefus Chrift, for the remif-
fion of fins, and ye fljail receive the gift of the Holy
Chojl. For the promife is unto you, and to your chil-
dren, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the
Lord our Godjhall call.

Inft. If thefe promifes be to all, then they muft
be fulfilled to all. Anfw. That is falfe ; according
to the apoftle's reafoning, Heb iv. 1. Let us there-
fore fear, left a promife being left us of entering into
his reft, any of you fkould feem to come fhort of it. It
follows indeed that they muft be fulfilled to all who
accept them by believing •, and fo they fhall, John
iii. 16. But not to them who will not accept them,
believe, nor apply them to tbemfelves. No promife
binds the promifer, if it is not accepted by the party.
It is no imputation on God's faithfulnefs, that they
are not fulfilled to unbelievers of them.

Secondly, The next thing is the tinner's entering
into the covenant in a faving manner, fo as to fecure

his

Of Sinners entering into ChriJPs Covenant. 3 1 3

his gathering to Chrift at the laft day. This the text
expreiTeth by cutting of his covenant on a facrifice,
that is, by cutting off the facrifice to enter into the
covenant. And this being the facrifice of Chrift
himfelf, can be no other but the laying the hand on
the head of the facrifice which then was to be cut off"
by divine juftice. And this in gofpel-languageis juft
believing on Jefus Chrift facrificed for us, So it is
by believing on Chrift crucified, that we are perfonal-
ly and favingly entered into the covenant.

It is agreeable to the nature of the covenant, that
this fhould be the way of entering into it. For
whereas the covenant is not made with us imme-
diately, as parties- contractors for ourfelves, in which
cafe we would enter into it by promiiing to do fome-
thing on our part as the condition thereof; but me-
diately through Jefus, who mediated therein as a re-
prefentative, undertook the fulfilling the condition
thereof, and had the promifes thereof made to him :
h is evident there can be no way of our perfonal en-
tering into it in a faving manner, but by uniting
with him, which the fcripture determines to be by
faith alone, Eph. iii. 17. That Chrifi may dwell in
your hearts by faith. Accordingly it is determined,
John x. 9. I am the door : by me if any man enter in,
he fhall be faved.

Now this believing on Chrift crucified or facrificed
for us, whereby we are entered into the covenant,
formally lies in three things.

1. Believing the abfolute fufficiency of the facri-
fice of Chrift for the falvation of finners, and your
falvation in particular, and the complete fecurity of
the covenant for that efTecl: to all within the bond of
it, Jer. iii. 22. 23. Return, ye backjliding children,
and I will heal your backflidings : behold, we come un-
to thee, for thou art the Lord our God. Truly in
vain is falvation hoped for from the hills, and from the
multitude of mountains 1 truly in the Lord our God is
the falvation of If rael. The foul feeing the infinite
3 v D d ill

3^4 Of Sinners entering into Chrift's Covenant.

ill that is in fin, as an offence and abomination to an
infinite God, muft fee alio the infinite dignity of the
facrifice of Chrift, arifing from the infinite dignity of
his perfon, ere it can believe this ; and muft alfo fee
the immoveable faithfulnefs of God, as the ground of
believing the complete fecurity of the covenant.

2. Believing that this covenant, in the condition
thereof fulfilled by Chrift's facrifice of himfelf, and
the promifes thereof made thereupon and bearing fal-
vation, is offered really and truly to you in particular,
by Jefus Chrift, with the good will of his Father ; fo
that it is lawful for you to come forward into it, and
ufe it as your own. This is the report of the gofpel,
If. lv. 3 cited above. I John v. u. This is the record^
that Cod hath given to us eternal life : and this life
is in his S§n. And it is demonstrated by the Spirit
inwardly to the elect, whereby they fee the door of
the covenant open to them, If. liii. I.; and whofo
believe it not, can never enter into the covenant, but
make God a liar by their unbelief of it.

3. Ttufting on the facrifice of Chrift for your fal-
vation from fin and wrath, upon the ground of God's
faithfulnefs in the covenant, A&s xv. 11. We believe
that through the grace of the Lord Jefus Chri/i, -we
fhallbefaved The foul renounceth all confidence
in itfelf, or any other, and relies wholly on the facri-
flee of Chrift, the fulfilled condition of the covenant,
for the promifes of the covenant being fulfilled to it-
felf, becaufe God has fo engaged in his proclaimed
covenant, and he cannot but be faithful in his cove-
nant.

Thus the foul is formally entered into the covenant,
receiving Chrift in his prieftly office, and fo uniting
with him.

And this neceffarily brings along with it the cove-
nanter's,

1. Receiving Chrift as his Prophet, renouncing
his own wifdom and the wifdom of the world, giving
lap himfelf to be guided by his word and Spirit,

Matth.

Of Sinners entering- into ChriJVs Covenant. 3 1 5

Matth. xvi. 24. Acts xiii. 22. Uniting with him, he
muft needs be our head for direction and guidance.

2. Receiving him as his King and Lord, renoun-
cing the dominion of fin, the devil, and the world,
and wholly giving up himfelf to be ruled by him as-
his head for government, Pfal. ii. utu If. xxvi. 13.

And thus the foul entering into the covenant;* ta--
king Chrift in all his offices, takes Gcd in Gmiit for*
his God, and gives up one's fcif to be one of his peo-
ple for ever, contenting, to-- the- offer made,- Heb.
viii. to. / will be to them a God, and they Jhall be to
me a people, Whofo thus enter -into the covenant
now, {hall be joyfully gathered to him at the laft day,
as thofe that have entered into his covenant on a fa-
crifice.

Thirdly, The laft thing on this head is the pro-
feflion and declaration of that entering into Chrift's
covenant, by fome fit fign. This is a folemn decla-
red entering into the covenant, in which one may be
either (incere or hypocritical, Deut. xxix. 10. 12. Te
/land this day all of you before the Lerd your God : —
that thou Jbouldfl enter into covenant with the Lord
thy Gody and into his oath, which the Lord thy God
tnaketh with thee this day. And fo it will not of it-
felf, if it be feparate from the former, fecure our ga-
thering to him at the laft day. Mean while it is a
duty required of us now for God's honour, and re^
quifite for our comfort, Deut. xxvi. 17. It is dona
three ways.

1. By words fpoken, Pfal. xvi. 2. either in prayer
to God, wherein a perfon folemnly and in exprefs
words declares unto God in fecret his acceptance of
and entering into the covenant : or before men, where
the thing being propofed by one, others fignify their
acquieicing by fom* fit gefture, as bowing of the
head, Exod. iv. 30. 31.

2. By writing under their hand, declaring their
accepting of the covenant, If. xliv. 5. One JJjall fay,
J am the Lord's : and another /hall call him/elf by the

D d 2 name

316 Ufe of Exhortation.

name of Jacob : and another Jball fuhfcribe with his
hand unto the Lord, and firname himfelf by the name
of Jfrael. This has been an ufeful practice. of many
in their life, and comfortable to their relations when
they were gone, when they found their written ac-
ceptance of God's covenant of grace.

3. By initituted Ggnificant actions. Such is the
partaking of the Lord's table. The very taking of
the bread and wine at the Lord's table, and eating
and drinking the fame, being a folemn declaration
before the world, angels and men, that w.e enter
into Chrili's covenant. So in cafe it be feparate from
believing, though it cannot favingly enter us, we
will be treated as covenant-breakeis.

Use. To conclude, I befeech you by our gather-
ing together to Chrift at the laft day, that you now
gather to him in his covenant, For this came I re-
commend to your c 011 (id era t ion,

1. That this is a fpecial gathering time, wherein
the great trumpet of the gofpel is founding, and
double founding, a gathering ; a .time wherein the
Lord is fending cut the angels of the churches, mini-
sters, to gather you. Let not the trumpet of the
gofpel found in vain for you, nor the angels of the
churches attempt in vain to gather you. They bring
Chrift's voice, and the offer of the covenant to you.

2. As fure as the trumpet of the gofpel is founding
now in your ears, and the angels of the churches are
2t work to gather you to Chrift now, whofe attempts
you may render vain : fo fure will the laft trumpet
found in the fame ears, and the angels of heaven ga-
ther them joyfully to Chrift who now come into him,
to meet him in the air, while they will leave the reft
on the earth,

3. What will you think to fee at that day others
taken as within the bond of the covenant, and your-
f elves left as without it ? With what pale faces, and
trembling hearts; will ye look up to the Judge coming

in

life of Exhortation, 317

in the clouds of heaven, and to your neighbours ChrifVs
covenant-people, carried by angels and flying above
you, away to meet the Lord in the air, with a mi-
ning glory on them ?

4. Lajilyy How will ye brook your laft fight of
them, when they having in the firft place received
their welcome to their kingdom from the J udge on the
throne, ye mall get your fentence to depart from him
into everlafting fire, prepared for the devil ?.nd his an-
gels ; and fo muit turn your backs, and make away to
your place, they being then the fpecr.ators of your be-
gun mifery, and your beloved world being fet on fire?

Think on thefe things in time,, and whatever ye
are, or have been, know that you are allowed free ac-
cefs into the covenant, and therefore enter, into it 6n-
cerely. Go alone by yourfelves, think on your loft
ftate by nature, examine yourfelves as to your liking
of the covenant, and if you find your heart pleafed with
it, go to your knees, and folemnly declare before God,
your accepting and entering into it, taking Chrift
in all his offices, and God in Chrifl for your God and
portion for ever. And fo be perfuaded, that on this
your gathering to Chrift in the bond of his covenant
now, depends your being gathered' to him in glory
at the laft day.

£ d 3 The

The Saints Lifetime in this World a
Night-time ; their Expe&ation of the
Day's breaking in the other World,
and the Shadows fleeing away; and
their great Concern for Chrift's Pre-
fence till that happy Seafon come.

The fubftance of feveral Sermons preached at Etterick
in the year 1730.

Song ii. 17.

Until the day break, and the Jhadows flee away : turn>
my Beloved^ and be thou like a roe, or a young hart
vpon the mountains of Beiher.

IN thefe words yoir have the breathing of a gra-
cious foul, with refpedt to the time that may
pafs in this world, before one comes to enter into the
ether world : it is to have his countenance and the
communications of his grace by the way, until they
come there, where there will be nothing to intercept
it. And it would be a good fign of meeting with a
kindly reception from Chrift into that world at kit,
that we were now faying from the heart, Until the
day break, and the Jhadows flee away : turn, my Be-
loved, and be thou like a roe, or a young hart upon
the mountains of Bether. Where obferve,

1. The connection of thefe words with the prece-
ding verfe, whereby they appear to be the breathing of
a foul really married to Chrift, having a fenfe of the
marriage-bond, and not afliamed of it, but refolutely
cwning it. My Bekved is mine, and J am his. — Until
ike day break) and the fbadows flee away ; turn, my

Beloved,

The Text explained. 319

Beloved> &c. The fpoufe of Chrift looks on herfelf
as one that is married to a hufband whom fhe dearly
loves, but is not yet ready to take her home : {he de-
fires therefore, that until the time come of his taking
her home, he will not be a ftranger to her, but give
her the comfort of his prefence with her, that the
prefent fituation will allow : thereby intimating, that
fhe is not to look for the comfort of frer Hfe from any
other, but him, whether he be abfent from or pre-
fent with her.

2. The words themfelves : in which confider,

1/?, The happy term that Chrift's fpoufe lives in
expectation of, which is expieifed by two things, the
latter confequential on the former, the breaking of the
day, and the fleeing away of the fhadows. By the day
here is meant the day of eternity, that will break in
the other world, in the light of glory arillng to thofe
that are married to Chrift here. That is the or that
day by way of eminency, 2 Tim. i. 18. This implies
two thisgs.

(1.) That fhe looked on her lifetime in this world ,
as a night-time ; elfe why mould fhe have expected K
the day-breaking ? and that in that night time there?
were many fhadows, darkening things to her, and
allowing her but obfeure views of them ; elfe why A
fhould (he expect their fleeing away ? As one travel- 1
ling by night, in a mountainous or woody country,
if the night were never fo clear, it is no wife compa-
rable to broad day-light ; and befides, there are many
dark and gloomy fteps caufed by the fhadows that the
hills and woods caft ; which though they amount not
to a total darknefs, yet the light by their means is
but a very faint one. Such is the believer's travelling
through this to the other world.

(2.) That fhe believed and expected, that that [
night would not laft, and that the fhadows would X
vanifh at length. She looks for the breaking, Heb.
blowing of the day, becaufe however dead a calm there
may be through the night, ordinarily at break of day

320 The Text explained

a gale of wind rifes : and that break or blowing of
the day will quickly chafe away all the fhadows, that
they (hall not be to be feen more. That blowing will
be of the Spirit of Chrift, in a full communication of
influences to the believer, at the day's breaking to
him in the other world ; whereby all the fhadows now
intercepting the light from him will in a moment
evanifh.

2(11)/, The great thing her foul defires, and fhe
breathes after, till that happy term come. It is com-
munion with Chrift her Lord a»d Hufband, in fuch
fort and meafure as the ftate of this life by divine re-
gulation will allow. She is not for turning back to,
and folacing herfelf with her former lovers, till her
Hufband take her home: no, being married to him,
her eyes are fhut now on all others, and they are to-
wards him alcne. Turn, my Beloved, and be thou
like a roe, or a. young hart upon the mountains of Be*
ther. It conHils of two parts.

(i.) A delire of his countenance towards her,
Turn, my Beloved, Sec. Heb. Come round about. It
intimates, [t.] His turning his back on her, fhewing
fome fign of difpleafure with her ; the frequent lot of
God's children in this world. [2.] That even in
that cafe her heart was upon him as her beloved, and
her eyes going after him, that (lie would have him
turn his face. [3.] That fhe would fain have his
countenance again when loft: q. d. Turn about to
me, that I may behold thee with joy.

(2.) A defire of neamefs to him, and the embraces
of his love : Be thou like a roe, or a young hart, &c.
Come to me fpeedily. She lays not the ltrefs of the
fpeedy meeting on her motion to him *, but as of free
grace, on his motion to her ; by his grace coming
over mountains betwixt them, and that fpeedily : even
as a roe comes to its mate, or a young hart to its dam,
upon the mountains of Beiher^ z Sam. ii. 29. The
word fignifies a baff'part.

From

D oft rines from the Text. 321

From the text thus explained, may be deduced the
three following points of do£trine, viz.

Doct. 1. A foul once truly married to Chr'ift, will
from thenceforth look on the lifetime in this world, as
a flight -time, afljadoivy one, as indeed it is.

Doct. II. To thofe that are truly married to Chrift,
the day will, break in the other world, and the fhadows
Jlce away ; and they fJjould live m the comfortable ex*
pe elation of it,

Doct. III. It will be the great concern of thofe mar-
ried to Chrijl during their night-journey in this worlds
that he may turn and come to them, till, the day break'
ing and the fiadows fleeing away, they get to him in
the other world. '

I mall fpeak to each of ihefe in order.

Doct. I. A foul en ce truly married to Chrift, will
from thenceforth kck on the lifetime in this world, as
a night-time, afbadowy one, as indeed it is*

In touching a little on this do&rine, I fhall,

I. Shew in what refpecl the faints lifetime In this
world is a night-time.

II. How the foul once married to Ohrifl comes to
look on its lifetime in this world as a night-time.

III. On what grounds fuch a foul juilly looks on it
as a night-time, a fliadowy one.

IV. Improve the point.

I. In what refpecl: the faints lifetime in this world
is a night-time, To clear this, confider,

1. The life of a child of God in this world, from
the "moment of the marriage with Chrift, is a day-
time, incomparifon with the time he lived in his na-
tural ftate, 1 ThelT. v. 5. Therefore fays the apoftle,
Eph. v. 8. Ye were fornetimes darknefs, but now are
ye light in the Lord. While they are in their natural

flate,

322 How the Saint's Lifetime is a Night -time,

ftate, they are in midnight darknefs, it is black and
dark night with them. But being united to Chrift,
the night of their natural ftate is at an end, and the
day of grace is come with them. And this is fuch a
day, as will never be fucceeded by another night.

2. But in comparifon with his ftate in the other
world, it is but a night-time. When he enters there,
a day of glory fhall break to him, that will fo far furpafs
all he has feen, that he fhall be made to think, he
never faw day before, R.om. xiii. 12. The natural
man is in black and dark night, and the faints in this
world are in a cloudy moon-light night ; only the
faints in the other world are in broad day- light, Col.
i. 12.

II. We fhall confider, how the foul once married to
Chrift comes to look on its lifetime in this world as a
night-time. There are four things concur to it.

1. They then have fome new and precious light,-
however faint, that they had not before. They can
fay with the blind man cured by Chrift, John ix. 25.
One thivg I know, that whereas 1 was blind, now 1

fee. They fee that in fin, Chrift, and in the other
world, that they did not before perceive. Strangers
to Chrift are like blind men, to whom the night and
the day are alike : but being once married to Chrift,
they are like him who faid, / fee men as trees walk-
ing, Mark viii. 24. They fee, but find they do not
fee clearly, and fo conclude, that it is night with
them.

2. Being once married to Chrift indeed, the fun
of this world fets upon them. The world's love to
them is turned to hatred, it conceives an antipathy
againft them, John xv» 19. And look as when the
darknefs of the night follows the lightfome day, and
fits down on the beautiful cities, the green hills, the
pleafant meadows and gardens, all thefe lofe their
luftre and beauty, and become black and gloomy :
fo when once a foul is married to Chrift, the world

lofeth

How he looks on it as a Night-time, 323

lofeth its former beauty to the man ; it is quite ano-
ther thing in his eyes than it was before ; the vain
world is turned oat of its gaudy day drefs, into its
night-drefs, where its former beautiful appearance is
gone, Gal. vi. 1 4. — The world is crucified unto me9
and I unto the world,

3. Yet the Sun of righteoufnefs is (till hid to their
eye-fight, however he lets out fome rays of light to
them, and they difcern him by faith, 1 Pet. i. 8.
In fome northern part belonging to this kingdom,
the body of the fun, about this time of the year, does
indeed go out of their fight about the middle of the
night ; yet (till certain rays from it appear all along :
fo is it with the believer. Therefore he muft look on
it as night, though it is but a fliort one. That Jefus
to whom they are joined in fpiritual marriage, is
gone to heaven, and there he abides hid from their
eyes, though manifeft to their faith, Cant. iv. 6,
As Jacob married to Leah, got not a broad view of
her till the morning; fo the believing foul married
to Chrift, .will not ger a broad view of its Hufband,
till the day of eternity break.

4. Lajlly> The beauty of the light let into them, na-
tively cauies a longing for the perfection of it, Phil. iii.
13. 14. As one with a dim light difcerning a beautiful
object, prefently calls for a clear light whereby to
difcern it fully : fo the foul that has feen as much of
ChrifVs excellency as to engage the heart to him,
longs for a full fight of his glory ; and while the
light will not ferve that purpofe, it natively concludes,
that it is night ftill.

III. I fhall next fhew on what grounds they juftly
look on it as a night-time, a fhadowy one.

1. They juftly look on it as a night-time. For,

(1.) It is a time of much darknefs with them,

1 Cor. xiii. 12. darknefs of ignorance, and of un-

comfortablenefs. However vain men may pride them-

felves in the knowledge they have reached, puffed

up

324 ®n what Grounds the Saint looks en

up. therewith as empty bladders; ferious Chriftians
will (till be bewailing their ignorance and weaknefs
in the divine myfteries, Pfal. lxxiii. 22. Prov. xxx.
2. 3. And however lightfome a life the native vani-
ty of mind may make fome ; it is not poflible, but
the imperfections, infirmities, and irruggles attend-
ing the Chriftian life here, muft make much uncom-
fortablenefs in it, Pfal. xcvii. 1 1. How then can
they but count it night ?

(2.) It is a time, wherein the wild beads are got
out of their dens, ranging about, Pfal. civ. 20. 21.
In the darknefs of this life, what howling and yelling
of the infernal crew, the devils and wicked men act-
ed by them, do reach the Chriftian's ears, and make
his heart to fhiver ? So that to travel through the
world is often as unpleafant, as through an howling
wildernefs in the night. And not only fo, but they
are often in hazard of being devoured by them, and
fwallowed up, 1 Pet. v. 8. No wonder they long
for day-break, when thefe wild beafts will go into
their dens, and be filenced, Pfal. civ. 22.

(3.) It is a time inclining to ileep and inactivity,
I ThefT. v. 7. All theuniegenerate world is faff, aileep
about them, and will not awake; and they them-
felves have a conftant ftruggle tohold up their head.
If it were day with them, they couid beftir them-
felves, and apply to their proper bufinefs : but it is
night, and with difficulty they watch one hour.
2. They juftly look on it as a (hadowy night,
(1.) Becaufe there are many things intercepting
the light from them : by fuch means fhadows are
made in the night, as when a houfe or a hill inter-
cepts the light of the moon or liars by night. Thus
it is with God's people in the world, there are many
things to mar the light of their Lord's countenance
fhining on them, If lix. 2. Pfal. xxx. 7. And by
means of thefe interpoflng hinderances, they cannot
have now that light of knowledge and comfort, that
they would defue.

(2) k

his Lifetime as a Night time. 325

(2.) It is a time wherein they have fome precious
light, yet but faint, and mixed with much darknefs.
Where there is no light at all, there cannot be fha-
dows, all is but one fhadow : and fo it is with natu-
ral men, there is no light in them, If. viiiv2p. But
fouls married to Chrift have the light of grace, which
however is but a dim and mixed one in comparifon
of the light of glory, 1 Cor. xiii. 12.

(3.) It is a time, wherein the very means of their
light and knowledge give but fmall and dark repre-
fentations of the knowledge of the other world, and
the riches of his kingdom. So does a fhadow of a
houfe in the night reprefent it but very darkly and
imperfectly: fo the fhadow of a man by a looking-
glafs is but an imperfect reprefentation of the man,
not comparable to feeing face to face. Thus we have
a fhadow of Chrift in the gofpel, in thi word, in the
facraments: but it is but a fhadow darkly reprefent-
ing him and the happinefs of his kingdom, 2 Cor.
iii. 18. So that the half is not feen. But as one
taken with a beautiful picture, natively longs to fee the
original : fo does a fight of Chrift by thefe fhadowsf
caufe one to long for the day breaking and the fhadows
fleeing away, that they may fee him face to face.

"We fhall now make fome improvement of this
point, in the following ufes.

Use I. of information. Is the time of this life
indeed a night, a fhadowy one, to thofe married to
Chrift, and do they look on it fo ? Then,

1 . They to whom this life in this world makes
fuch a pleafant day, that thsy defire no better, are in
bad cafe. If it is fo with you habitually, ye are not
truly married to Chrift, Cant. viii. 5. Ye are yet in
your natural blindnefs, that night and day are alike to
you i and the day of grace is not yet rifen on you.
And if it be fo. with you only occafionally, you may
be fure that while it is fo, your fouls are out of frame,
and the grace of God in you is under a cloud.

3 E e 2. Then

326 Vfe of Information.

2. Then the time of this life is a dangerous time,
even to thofe that are efpouied to Chrift, and they
have need to watch, every man having his /word
upon his thigh, becaafe of fear in the night , Cant. iii.
8. They are in danger of fins, fnares, and tempta-
tions: for it is a time wherein the roaring lion is
ranging about, who will be bound down in his den,
if once the day were broken. This made the apoftie
jealous ov-er the Corinthians with godly jeabufy : for
-1 have efpoufed you to one hufband, fays he, that I may
prefent you as a chafie virgin to Chrift. But Ifear
left by any means, as the ferpent beguiled Eve through
his fubtilty, fo your minds /hould be corrupted from the
jimplicity that is in Chrift, 2 Cor. xi. 2.3. They are
in danger of various troubles, which are incident to
them in this night-feafon. But it is but to watch a
while, if the day were broke, the danger is over.

3. The Chriftian's life in this world is a lonely and
wearifome life ; for the travellers to Zion have a night
of it, a fhadowy one. If one travel by day, he will
readily get company, for then every body is aftir :
and this makes the way to deftruttjon a throng way*
the carnal world going at eafe in it, becaufe the fun
of this world is up on them, and their night is co-
ming in the other world. But if one travels by night,
he will readily have a lonely journey of it: and there*
fore there are but few in the way to life. So it is
told us, Matth. vii. 14. Strait is the gate, and nar-
row is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there
he that find it. Micah therefore laments the lonelinefs
of it with him, Micah vii. 1. Wo is me, for J am as
when they have gathered the fummer -fruits, as the
grape-gleanings of the vintage : there is no clujler to
eat : and the pfal-mift, Pfal. cii. 6. 7. J am like a pe-
lican of the wildernefs : I am like an owl of the defert,
I watch, and am as a fparrow alone upon- the houfe-
top. For it is night with them ; but in the other
world the day will break to them. This makes it

wearifome

life of Information* 327'

wearifome travelling. It is fo ordered, as trie march
through the wildernefs for their trial.

There is a fourfold allowable wearinefs in the
Chriftian life, which our Lord will not be difpleafect
with in his people, that it make them often to pro-
pofe that queftion, If. xxi. 1 1. Watchman, what of
the night ?

(1.) Wearying of an ill world, a world lying in:
wickednefs, PfaL cxx. 5, Wo is me, that 1 foj our n
in Mefech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar. Suiely
God himfelf is weary of them, of their obuinate im«
penitency, carnality, profanity, and formality, If.
lxv. 2. — 5- & i. 14. It is but kindly that his people
weary of their fociety, who thus weary their God;,
and that they long for the day when they, will be by
themfelves.

(2.) Wearying of an ill heart, the body of fin and"
death, Rom. vii. 24. 0 wretched man that I am, who
Jball deliver me from the body of this death ! God has
left it in them for their exercife and trial, as he did
the Canaanites in the land : but furely they are to
make no league with it, but to war againft it ; and it
is acceptable to him to weary and long for the day
that they will be rid of it. And there is never a
weary look they give for it, but he kindly noticeth it.

(3.) Wearying to be at home in Immanuel's land,
where there is no more night, but an eternal day,
2 Cor. v. 4. For we that are in this tabernacle do
grone, being burdened : not for that we would be un-
clothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might befwat-
lowed up of life* Piom. viii. 23. And not only they%
but ourf elves alfos which have the firfi fruits of the
Spirit, even we ourfelves grone within ourfelves, .
ivaiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of
our body. Indeed the Lord makes their travelling in
this world difficult to his people, for that very end,
that they may long to be home.

(4.) Wearying for our Lord's gracious vifits to

their fouls, while they are abroad, Pfal. cxxx. 6. My

£ e z foul

328 Ufi of Trial.

foul waiteth for the Lord, more than they that watch
for the morning: I fay, .. nor e than they that -watch
for the morning. How paffionately does the fpoufe
cry for them in the text ? It is a fign it is very ill
with the Chriftian, when his Lord is away, and he
carres not; when his communion with God is ftopt,
and yet he is at eafe, Cant. v. 3. See Pfal. xxx. 7.

4. That a Christian's life in this world has many
ups and downs in it, is not at all ftrange ; nay nor
that the alteration comes very fuddenly : for he is
travelling in a night, a fhadowy night. There is
nothing more ftable than a Chriftian's ftate, but no-
thing more alterable than his frame, Pfal. lxxxix. 36.
37. He may be going on chearfully in the moon-
fhine, finging his fong in the night 5 anon he enters
fome black and fhadowy valley in his way, or a cloud
overcafls, and fti ikes a damp on him : he gets through
the valley, the cloud pafles off, and he iecovers: and
fo one after another, till the day break, and the fha«
dews flee away.

Use II. Hereby ye may try, whether ye are truly
married to Chrift, or not ? If it is fo, ye will look on
yourlifein this world henceforth as anight-time. And,

1. Your former value for this world will-be funk,
and your love to it turned into a holy contempt and
neglect of it, in comparifon with Chrift your huf-
band, and his kingdom in the other world, Matth.
xiii. 46. The blacknefs of the night will be fit down
on it, in its moft gaudy drefs, of profits, pleafures,
s.nd honours in it, 1 John ii 15. You will look on
it as a (hadow, hiding much of the Bridegroom's
glory from you j and fo will keep up a flruggle againft
it, as that which getting in betwixt the Sun of righ-
teoufnefs and you, will caufe an eclipfe of the light
of his countenance.

2. Your efteem of Chrift will be raifed above all,
1 Pet ii. 7. Your love to him will be a fuperlative
love, above all perfons and things, Luke xiv. 26.
She that without confideration runs into a marriage

with

l/fe of Caution. 329

with a man, is ready to difcover fomething in him
afterwards, that makes her defpife him, and, when
it is out of time, to prefer fome other of her fuitors :
fo they that are ram and indeliberate, in their pre-
tended clofing with Chrift, that were never bleffed :
with a faving difcovfcry of him to their fouls by the
Spirit, will be ready to rue the match, and to return
to the fiefh-pots of Egypt. But the foul once truly
married to Chrift, will find him a covering of its
eyes: they will charge their eyes thenceforth to be- ,;
clofed on all his rivals, as never to fee another fo
fair, Pfal. lxxiii. 25. Whom have I in heaven but thee ?/
and there is none upon earth that J dcfirc bcjides thee.

3. La/ifyy Ye will count it day only in the -other .
world, however bright the funfhine in this worlds
may be: Until the aay break, and the /badoivs flee^
away, &c. Therefore your main concern will be to *
reach eternal light there, Phil. iii. 14. to be prepa-
red and made meet for it, Rev. xix. 7. And you ,
will aim at the purity of it, I John iii. 3. So you a
will be going thiough this world, as in a night jour^ -
ney, with the eye fixed on the other world before, de~ -
firing and expecting the break of day that will be there* *

Use III. of caution. This gives a watchword to >
all that profefs their fouls marriage with Chrift. It is>
night-time : therefore,

1. Beware ye fall not afleep, 1 TheflV v. 7; Take :
heed of carnal fecurity, which is the bed of the de-
vil's making for us j a dangerous bed, how foft fo- -
ever; and the fofter the more dangerous, Satan 1
got David into it, and there he polluted himfelf :'
with adultery and murder ; and Peter alfo, where he 1
defiled himfelf with denying his Lord and Mafter. »
But it is but few that get the caft of grace to raife
and cleanfe them in fuch a cafe, that thefe two eminent :
faints got. People are ready to fail afleep after a full i
meal, Cant. v. 1. 2- and wife virgins may b? over- -
taken with lleep, as well as foolifh virgins, Matth*-.
xxv. 5.

E e 3 2^ Bewares

33° Ufe of Caution*

2. Beware ye fall not a-dreaming. The whole
life of fome is one continued dream or delufion, which
they awake not out of till they are pad hope and help,
If. xliv. 20. He feedeth of afhes s a deceived heart
bath turned him ajide> that he cannot deliver his fouly
nor fay, Is there not a lie in my right hand ? Chap.
xxix. 8. God's children alfo are in hazard of dream-
ing too in this their night-time, when they fall afleep.
David fell a dreaming of golden mountains in this
world, Pfal. xxx. 6. Peter of perfect fafety, when
Satan was laying a fnare for him, and feeking to
winnow him. O firs, open your eyes, ftand on your
watch, know ye are here among the lions dens, and
the mountains of the leopards Do not dream of
world's eafe, but lay your account with trials ; nor
of fafety from fnares, but lay your account with temp-
tations.

3. Beware of miftakes and mifapprehenfions of
things, to which people are liable in the night.
Live by faith, and truft not your own underftanding,
Prov. iii. 5. Judge not of things in your way by
fenfe, but by the rule of God's word. Our eyes in
the night are apt to deceive us. A ftep will appear
much more difficult by reafon of the darknefs, than
really it is: fo there will be ftones of difficulty ap-
pearing in the way of a duty not to be rolled away,
which yet when ye come up to will be found rolled
sway to your hand. A buffi will appear a houfe to
the traveller, and difappoint him turning to it for
fnelter : fo does this and the other created comfort to
us in thic: night-journey. In the night we are ready
to take our friends for our foes, as did the difcipleson
the fea : fo we are apt to do with our crofles and
trials,

4. Beware of ftumbling, John xl. 10. and walk
circumfpeclly, Eph. v. [5, Keep up a holyjealoufy
over yourfelves, Prov. xxviii. 14. Happy is the man
that feareth alway. Where the darknefs cf the
night try lis with fnares and Humbling blocks in one's

way3

Ufe of Exhortation* 331

way, it is hard for one to keep his feet : fo it is in
your way to heaven. Peter found a fnare in the
mount, as well as in the high prieft's hall ; and Lot
in the cave with his own children, as well as in So-
dom. Take then that caution, 1 Cor. x. 12. Let
him that thinketh hejiandeth, take heed left he fall.

5. Laftly> Beware of wearying in a way of lan-
guifhing, fretfulnefs, and impatience ; the which is
incident to people in the night not afleep. What-
ever be your troubles in the world, yea your ftrug-
gles with the body of fm and temptations, do not
weary fo as to fall a languifhing, unfitting yourfelves
for bearing and doing ; fo as to fret and be impa-
tient, and fay, It will never be day. For though it
is night, the morning cometh.

Use ult. Evidence yourfelves truly married to
Chrift, by your looking on the time of this life, as a
night-time, a fhadowy one. And this,

1. By ftretching your views habitually beyond it,
looking not at the things which are feen, but at the
things which are not feen> 2 Cor. iv. ult. A foul
married to Chrift will not terminate its defires and
expectations within the narrow limits of time j nor
would they, if it were in their offer, fit down con-
tented with this life perpetuated, more than they
would be content of an eternal night here that would
never have a day, Job vii. 16. / lothe it, 1 would not
live alway. But live ye in expectation of this night's
palling and of the morning's coming in the other world,
2< By watchfulnefs and circumfpe£t walking, as
not infenfible of your hazard. Travellers by night
look well to their feet, however carelefsly men walk
that travel by day, Prov. iv. 26. Many profefling to
be efpoufed to Chrift, difcover their hypocrify by the
loofenefs and careleffnefs of their after -walk.

3- By continual eying and ufe-making of the
pillar of fire that gives light in the night in this wii-
dernefs. Chrift is that pillar of fire, that enlightens
the believer's darknefs in this world ; as he is a Huf-

1 band.

332 life rf Exhortation*

band, he is the fouPs guide. Keep the eye of faith
on him, while the night lafts, that all your motions,
removes, and refts may be directed by him, Col. ii.
6. As ye have therefore received Chriji Jefus the Lord*
fo walk ye in him. John viii. 12. / am the light of.
the world ; he that followeth me, Jhall not walk in
darknefs, hut Jhall have the light of life.

4. Laftly, By learning and ufing the fong in the
night Our Lord has allowed the travellers to Zion,
fuch a fong, as may refrefh and cheer them in their
night-journey through the wildernefs, If. xxx. 29.
Te Jhall have a fong as in the night, when a holy fo-
lemnity is kept, and gladnefs of heart, as when one.
goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the
Lord, to the mighty One of Ifrael. They learn it out
of their Bible, Pfal. cxix. 54. Thy Jlatutes have been
my fongs in the houfe of my pilgrimage. They fing it
by faith, believing the promifes, and crediting and
applying the bleffed report concerning the other world,
the day's breaking and the ihadows fleeing away.
And this cheers them in the melancholy night they
have. Slight it not, Job xxxv. 10. But none fait hi
Where is God my maker, who giveth fongs in the night ?
If lxiv. 5. Thou meeteft him that rejoiceth, and work'
eth righteoujnejs, thofe that remember thee in thy ways*
Neh. viii. 10. The joy of the Lord is your ftrength.

Doct. II. To thofe that are truly married to Chriji*,
the day will break in the other world, and the fhadows
flee away ; and they Jhould live in the comfortable ex*
pe elation of it.

In handling this point, I fhall,

I. Confider the day's breaking, and the fhadows
fleeing away thereupon.

II. Believers living in the comfortable expectation
of the day's breaking to them in the other world,
and the fhadows Seeing away thereupon.

-III. Laftly*. Apply the doctrine.

Of the Days breaking in the other World. 333

I. I (hall confider the day's breaking, and the fha-
dows fleeing away thereupon. And on this head I
(hall fpeak of,

1 . The day's breaking in the other world to thofe
that are married to Chrift.

2. The fhadows, upon this breaking of the day,
fleeing away.

3. Confirm the point, that the day will break, and
the fhadows flee away, as to thofe that are married to
Chrift.

FIRST, I am to fpeak of the day's breaking in
the other world to thofe that are married to Chrift.
And here I (hall iliew,

1. What a day will break to them there.

2. How this day will break to them there.
First, I (hall fhew what a day will break in the

other world to thofe who are married to Chrift.

!. A- clear and bright day, If. lx. 1. 2. Arife>
Jhiney for thy I got is come, and the glory of the Lord
is rifen upon thee. For behold, the darknefs Jhall cover
the earthy and grofs darkneft the people : but the Lord
Jhall a rife upon thee, and his glory Jhall be feen upon
thee. Whatever gloomy, dark, and melancholy
times the fpoufe of Chiift has here, {he will have a
bright day of it in the other world. There will be
no clouds in it -, the dark and cloudy day will then be
at an end. The glory of God lightens the upper he-
mifphere there, whither they go: and in him there
is no darknefs at all.

2. A fair day and calm. There are no florms nor
tempefts, no bluftering winds nor rains in Imma-
nuel's land, Rev. xxi. 4. There /hall be no more deaths
neither for row, nor crying, neither Jhall there be any
more pain. It will be one continued tempeft in the
lower part of the other world j there the great rain of
his ftrength will be falling continually on his adver-
faries: but there will be an abfolute calm there, as
Exod. ix. 24. — 26. where we are told, There was
hail, and fire mingled -with the hail, very grievous^

Jucb

334 Of the Day's breaking, in the other World,

fuch as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt,
fmce it became a nation. — Only in the land of Gofljen,
inhere the children of Ifrael were, was there no hail,
O what a pity is it, that the faith thereof mould not
make us bear better the clouds returning after the
rain now !

3. A g lad and joyful day, Pfal. cxxvi. 5. They that
fdtw in tears, fhall reap in joy. Their wo-days will

then all be at an end, Rev. xxi. 4. The light and
gladnefs now under the clod, will be fairly fprung.
up to them then. It will be the day of the heir of
glory's home-coming from his travels in the foreign
land, unto his own country, his Father's houfe, and
his Father's embraces. It will be the fpoufe of
ChriiVa marriage day, when the marriage with the
fpiritual Bridegroom (ball be joyfully folemnized.

4. Lajlly, An eternal day. Some places of our
world have a long day, but they have a night too,
and that a long one. But there will be an everlafling
day in Immanuel's land, Rev. xxi. 25. There is a
night too in the other world, as well as a day : but
they are in different regions, and never change. It
-will be day in the upper hemifphere, and eternal
day ; and night in the lower, and eternal night.

Secondly, Let us next fee how this day will
break there to thofe who are married to Chrift.

1. As coming near their night-journey's end,
they enter the parage betwixt the two worlds, the
darknefs and fhadowinefs of the night will come to a
pitch. For as the darkeft hour ordinarily goes before
day break, fo is it here, the hour of death is fo in a
fi gnal manner, the valley of the fhadow of death,
Pfal. xxiii. 4. When they go down to that valley,
there is a gloominefs there which they have not had
the like of before : they may have much ado to keep
their heart from failing, becaufe of the black and
difmal afpeft. But their Lord and Hufband will not
leave them, but guide them through it, ibid. &
xlviii. ulU

2. As

Of the Day's breaking in the other World. 33 c

2. As foon as they are got over to the other fide,
immediately the day breaks, and it is fair day-light
to them. Then the welcome day arifeth, never to go
down j their hearts are cheered, their eyes enlighten-
ed, anaVthere is no fear of {tumbling any more.

(1.) A heavenly gale arifeth, fuch as never before
blew on them : they get a full meafure of the Spirit
of Chrifi:, which in a moment brings them to a ftate
of perfection, Heb. xij. 23. This is that bhivivg cf
the day in the text. The Spirit blows upon them
here, and conveys grace from Chrift to them, ex-
cites and ftrengthens it, Cant. iv. 16. But then he
blows on them fo as to per feci: it.

(2.) The light of glory appears, and fp re ads over
all to them, If. lx. 1. The mining ones receive
them, to carry them home to Abraham's boforh.
While they pais into the upper regions, the day then
is broken, and goes on to the perfect day there,
growing more and more lightfome, and filling them
with new and unfeen delights.

(3.) Getting in to the higheft heavens, the Sun
of righteoufnefs is up on them : and there they are in
inconceivable light and fplendour, which we can
have no notion of, but what is childilh, Col i. 12.
There mines the glory of God, and cf the Lamb ;
and fuch is the fplendour, that there is no need of
the fun nor of the moon.

SECONDLY, I proceed to confider the fhadows,
upon this breaking of the day, fleeing away. And
here I (hall fhew,

1. What is that fleeing away of the fhadows.

2. What are the fhadows that will flee away, when
that day breaks.

First, I (hall (hew what is that fleeing away of
the fhadows. We may take it up in three things.

1. The utter removal of every thing interpofing
betwixt God and them, and intercepting the light of
his countenance, Rev. xxi. 3. Now there are many
things of that nature j but when the day breaks, there

{hall

33^ Of the Shadows fleeing away on the Day Breaking.

fhall be none of them. The day of grace breaking,
removed all interpofing hinderances in refpecl: of their
ftate of peace and friendfhip : but the day of glory
breaking, will remove all interpofing hinderances in
refpecl: of their full enjoyment.

2. The removal of all dark, gloomy, and melan-
choly things out of their condition, Matth. xxv. 23.
They fhall then put off their blacks, and be clothed
in white raiment : no figh will be heard more, nor
the leaft veftige remain of a forrowful fpirit. There
fhall be nothing from without them, nor within them,
to caufe the leaft down-look. After all the frights
they have been in, they fhall be perfectly compofed,
and enjoy an inconceivable ferenity.

3. The removal of all imperfection of light, and
whatfoever gives but a faint and (hadowy reprefcnta-
tion of Chrift and the glories of the, other world,
1 Cor. xiii. 12. Rev. xxii. 4. By nature we are blind,
and cannot fee them, though they are to be feen here
in the looking -glafs of the gofpel. The day of grace
breaking to a man, he beholds them in the glafs :
but in the day of glory the glafs is removed, and he
fees face to face. Their fleeing away imports,

(1.) The fuddennefs of their removal. Though
the moment before the fhadows were at their long-
eft, blacked, and darkeft pitch, the next moment they
fhall be gone. As if the fun fhould in a moment
break from under a cloud, and enlighten all that was
dark before.

(2.) The completenefs of their removal ; they (hall
cvaniih, without leaving any mark behind them,
where they had been. So does a fhadow flee away,
turning to nothing. The light of glory extinguishes
them quite.

Secondly, We are to inquire, what are the fha-
dows that will flee away when that day breaks. They
maybe comprehended under the following particulars.

1. The fhadow of this world will then flee away,
1 Cor. vii. 31. The night comes on by the interpo-

" fing

What are the Shadows that iv ill flee away. 337

fing of the earth betwixt us and the fun : and this
curfed earth getting in betwixt Chrift the Sun of righ.
tejoufnefs and us, makes a black and dark fhadow.
It hides the face of the lovely Jefus from natural men
wholly, as the fun is hidden in the night : from the
faints it hides his face in great meafure, as a cloud
interpofing betwixt us and the fun, fo making them
fometimes go mourning without the fun.

But the day of eternity breaking, the believer will
fee it fled away. At death they will go from it,
they will be quite above it, it will be under their
feet. It will not be able to cad any more (hadow to
them, than a hill in a funny day when one is on the
top of it, whatever it may do to thofe below in the
valley. And at the refurreclion, the world itfclf
will flee away, being fuddenly deftroyed, Rev. xx.
11. It was often taken for a fubftantial good, but
then it will flee away as a fnadow, 1 John ih 17.
7 he world pajjeth away, and the lujls thereof.

2. The fhadow of fin, Heb. xii. 23. The fun
ftione fair and bright on mankind in the ftate of in-
nocency, and made this a pleafant world, the very
fuburbs of heaven, where every thing fmiled on man,
and his condition was altogether lighifome : but no
fooner fin entered, but the darknefs of the night was
fpread over all in one fhadow. The day of grace
dawning in converfion, a new light arifes, fin being
removed in its guilt of eternal wrath, and in its do-
minion : but alas! it ftill iemains in its indwelling
power, occafioning a continual flruggle, oft-times
prevailing : hence aie many long and black fhadows
in the believer's way, extending as far as it reaches,
fo that, by reafon of guilt and defilement contracted,
they often find themfelves as in the fhadow of death,
If. lix. 2. They keep right a while, and then they
walk in the light of the Lord's countenance: they
are overtaken again with fin, and then they are un-
der a cloud again, and walk in daiknefs.

But the day breaking, fin will ike away. There
3 F f will

338 What are the Shadows that will flee away.

will be no more unbelief, ill heart, or corruption of
nature ; though it is fixed now with bonds of iron
and brafs, thefe will in a moment give way like tow
touched with the fire-, and fin will pafs away, lea-
ving no mark behind it, more than a fhadow. The
believer's wounds will all be healed, and all his now
running fores, fo as there fhall not appear the leaft
fear where they were.

3. The fhadow of temptations, Rom. xvi. 20. The
Cod of peace /ball bruife Satan under your feet Jhortly.
This was the firft fhadow that was in the world. The
command, promife, and threatening were fhining
clear to our firft parents : but in came the fubtil
ferpent with his temptations, which caft a fhadow
over them that darkened them |all to Eve, fo that
they appeared to her in other colours, Gen. iii. 6.
She carried the temptation to Adam, and he alfo
was oveifhadowed ere He was aware, and he finned,
and then the fhadow fpread over all the world. Now
the light of the word mines, and reprefents fin as ugly
and deftruclive : temptation rifes, and with its (lia-
dow mars the light, and fin appears lovely and bene-
ficial. Thus the believer is often by this means left
in the dark, robbed and fpoiled ; and takes poifon to
himfelf, with his own hands> being blinded with the
fhadow of temptation.

But when the day breaks, that fhadow will flee "a-
way. The tempter who got into the earthly paradife,
will have no accefs into the heavenly. All the mift
he raifed before the eyes of believers here, will be_
fuddenly difpeiled, and never gather again more :
but there they will have an eternal funfhine, where
every thing will appear in its native colours : and
they (hall not be capable of being deceived any
rhore. There will be no more need of watching,
fighting, <bc* the hazard being over.

4. The fhadow of outward troubles will flee away,
of troubles on our bodies, relations, name, affairs, isc.
Job iii. 17. Sometimes the fun of profperity mines

on

What are the Shadows that will flee avjay. 339

on the believer, and there is filence as it were hair
an hour •, anon trouble arifeth, fpreads, and conti-
nues, till it caft fuch a fhadow, as hides profperity
quite out of his fight, and caufes him to forget it,
Lam. iii. 17. ;• yea, as hides the face of God from
him, that he cannot behold his countenance with
joy, his weak eyes being unable fo to mailer the flia-
dow as to behold it. Things appear frightful in it,
that believers are apt to think he has forgot them,
If. xlix. 14. that he treats them as his enemies, Job
xiii. 24. and can hardly think that they have any
more room with him, Job ix. 16. 17.

But when- the day breaks, and the fhadows flee
away, they will have a profound peace, an eternal
calm, in Immanuel's land. Though the ftorm blow-
never fo long and hard on them, in this their nighty
when once the day is broken, and Chrifr. has them
home, he will never let an air blow on them more.
They may then look back on the toffed and troublous
life they have had, but they will remember them all
as waters that fail.

5. The fhadow of inivardfpiritual troubles , through
defertions, and hidings of the Lord's face. Thefe
are fometimes fr> black and gloomy, that they are apt
to cry out, that their hope is perimed from the Lord.
Such a damp may feize- them, as that they begin to
think that all they have had, has been but delufions ,
and they may be at razing foundations. They may
brave much ado to keep up hope, faying as Pfal.
Ixxvii. 7. 8. 9. Will the Lord cafi &ff for ever ? and
"will he be favourable no more ? Is his mercy clean.
gone for ever ? doth his promife fail for evermore ?
Hath God forgotten te be gracious ? hath he in anger
fhut up his tender mercies ? Their fpirits may be
wounded, the arrows of God flicking in them. Then
it is dark night.

But if the day were broken, and the fhadows fled a-

way, they will be comforted fully with the greater!

tendernefs, when brought into Abraham's bofom,

F f 2 If.

340 What are the Shadows that will flee away.

If. Ixvi. 13. As one -whom, his mother comfort eth, fa
•will I comfort you : and ye Jhall be comforted in Jeru-
falem. And readily they that have had the fharpeft
conflicts, will have the greateft comfort : fure, bitter
entertainment here, will make fweet fauce to the en-
tertainment there.

6. The fhadow of ordinances will flee away, Rev.
xxi. 23. And the city had no need of the fun, neither
of the moon to fhine in it : for the glory of God did
lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. The
word and facraments give but faint reprefentations of
the Bridegroom's glory, they fnew him but as it were
in his night drefs: they are but the looking -glafs,
wherein they fee his fhadow, 2 Cor. iii. ult. Though
they fhew more glory in him than in the whole crea-
tion, yet the half is not difcovered thereby.

But when the day breaks, and the fhadows flee a-
way, they will get an immediate fight of him, as he
is, 1 John iii. 2. fee him face to face, 1 Cor. xiii.
I 2. The ordinances that ferved them in their night-
travelling through the wildernefs, will be honourabjy
laid afide when the day is broken to them in the pro-
rnifed land, as was the tabernacle when the temple
was reared up. There will be no need of the lower
table, when they are fet down with the King at the
higher. So preaching, prayers, facraments, <bc,
fhall flee away.

7. Lafily, The fhadow of all manner of imperfec'
tionsy 1 Cor. xiii. 12. There are many imperfec-
tions attending the believer here, natural and moral.
He mud eat, drink, fleep, -s&c, for his body : his
foul is compafied about with many fpiritual infirmi-
ties, there is a weaknefs in all his faculties. Thefe
caft a broad fhadow, and hide much of the King's
glojy to him.

But when the day breaks, and the fhadows flee away,
the.body.fhallno more be a clog to him: all the faculties
of his foul fhall be brought to their perfection. The mind
ihall arrive at a perfection of knowledge, the will of con-
formity

That the Day will break, Sec. 341

formity to the will of God, and the affections of re-
gularity and order. Their enjoyment of God fhall
be full : they (hall be put ©fF no more with fips and
taftes, but drink of the rivers of his pleafures for ever-
more. Faith fhall be turned to fight, and defire and
hope intofull and unhampered pofleflion.

THIRDLY, I fhall now confirm this point, That
the day will break, and the {hadows flee away, as to
thofe who are married to Chrift. Confider for this,
purpofe the following things.

1. It was fo with their Head and Hufband, and
the procedure with them muft be conformable to that
with him, Heb. xii. 2. Jtfus for the joy ihat was
Jet before him, endured the crofs, defpifing the.
jhame, and is fet down at the right hand of the throne .
of Cod. 2 Tim. ii. II. 12. It is a faithful faying ,
For if we be dead with him, we fhall a/fo live with
him : if we fuffer, wefoall alfo reign with him. Our..
Lord Chrift had a dark fhadowy night of.it in this
world : the fun of this world's profperity hid itfelf
from him all along, and the farther on in the night
it was with him, it grew ftill the darker, till it came
to the utmoft pitch in the valley of the fliadow of
death. And then the day brake to him, and all
fhadows fled away : and now he is for ever in the light.

2. The nature of God's work of grace in them ;
it cannot be left unperfected ; Pfal. exxxviii. ult. The
Lord will perfeel that which concerneth me, Time
was when they were in a ftate of blindnefs, no light
being in them, If. viii. 20. God has brought them
out of that (late, and there is a light arifen to them,
a light of grace, the nature of which is to go on to
perfection, Prov. iv. 18. The path of the jufl is as the
jbining light, that fhineth more and more unto the per-
fect day. Grace and corruption are like the houfe of
David and Saul ; ftruggle they may a while, but the
latter muft be extinct, and the former enjoy all.

"i. The boumy and goodnqfs of God to his people.
God :• v. jntially good, and he is good to thern in
F f a Chiift'

342 Of Believers Expectation of the Dafs breaking,

Chrift his Son. Tt is inconliftent with the goodnefe
of his nature, to keep them always in the darknefs of
the night, and horror of the (hades. Surely, looking
to his good and gracious nature, we may conclude
that the day will break and the fhadows flee away,
efpecially considering, that there is a longing for it
in them created by his own Spirit.

4. La/ifyy The nature of the covenant, which is
everlafting, and cannot be broken. It Secures by
promife the perfecting of the happinefs of his people j
it was made for that end : the promifes are not ac-
complished here perfectly ; nay it is an earned only
of their accomplishment that is given. Therefore
there muft be a time, when the day (hall break, and
the fhadows flee away.

II. I proceed to confider believers living in the
comfortable expectation of the day's breaking to them
in the other world, and the Shadows fleeing away.
It implies thefe following things.

1. Their looking on themfelves as travellers only
through this world, who are not to Stay in it, Heb.
xi. 13. As foon as the foul is married to Chrift, it
begins to be a pilgrim on earth, in its own account,
reckoning heaven the home, and earth the houfe of
its pilgrimage. Men in their natural State are like
the Egyptians in their darknefs, who moved not from
their place : but being touched with converting grace,
they are like the Ifraelites travelling through the vvil-
dernefs to Canaan.

2. Their laying their account with the continuance
of the night and the gloomy Shades, while they are
here. Our Lord has told them, that it muft be fo,
John xvi. ult. In the world ye Jball have tribulation ;
and though fometimes they fall a dreaming of light
and eafe, Pfil. xxx. 6. yet their habitual courfe is
not fo, being perfuaded that they mujl through much
tribulation enter into the kingdom of God, Acts xiv.
22. They are refolved to trull their portion and reft

till

and the Shadows fleeing away* 343

till they come to the other fide, and in the mean time
to bear their trials till they are fafely arrived there.

3. A contentednefs to leave this world, and go to
the other, Luke ii. 29. Lord, now lettefi thou thy fer-
vant depart in peace, according to thy word. Every
body tlncerely joining themfelves to the Lord Chrift
as their Head and Hufband, are thus contented, Cant.
viii. 5. They may indeed have a natural horror of
death, but they are reconciled to the pleafant land on
the other fide of it 5 as one is unto health, while yet
they have a horror of the bitter potion, whereby it
muft be compalTed. Sometimes again they are un-
clear as to their intereft, and this may make them
unwilling to remove : but this is confident with that
contentednefs, fince it makes not an abfolute unwill-
ingnefs, but only in fuch circumftances ; as one may
be willing to go to a place, yet not willing to take
the journey blindfolded.

4. A faith of the day, the clear and bright day that
is in the other world, Heb. xi. 13. Thefe all died in
faith. The report of it is no more to them as idle
tales, but they are perfuaded of it, and look on it as
the land of light and comfort ; as far preferable to
this world as the day is to night. If they were not
perfuaded of the other's being a better world than
this, they could not be content to part with this for it.

5. A delire to be there in the other world, where
the day breaks, and the fhadows flee away, Phil. i.
23. J am in a Jlrait betwixt two, having a defire to
depart, and to be with Chrift ; which is far better*
As it is natural for the waking traveller to defire the
breaking of the day, and to be there where it is day*
light: fo it is natural for the waking Chriftian, to defire
to be there where it is eternal day in the other world.
And this defire is at the root of the believer's defire
of a total deliverance from fin, and of a full uninter-
rupted communion with God : thefe they defire, and
thefe they know are not to be reached, but in the
other world.

6. A

344 Of Believers ExpeElation of the Day's breaking.

6. A hope and expectation of the day's breaking
to them there, and the fhadows fleeing away, Rom.
viii. 23. 24. And not only they, but our/elves alfo>
ivhich have the firft fruits of the Spirit, even we our-

felves grone ivithin eurfelves, •waiting for the adop-
tion, to wit, the redemption of cur body. For we are
faved by hope. There is a lively hope of the glory to
be revealed, fo that they hope, however dark it is
for the time, it will not be always lb ; the morning
will come, Hope has its ftruggles as well as faith ;
but the hope of believers is never totally overthrown,
more than their faith.

7. Laftly, A comforting themfelves in this world,
with the profpe£r. of the other world, 2 Cor. iv. 17,
18 For our light affliction, ivhich is but for a moment,
worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight
of glory ; while we look not at the things which are
feens but at ihe things which are not feen : for the
things which are feen, are temporal ; but the things
which are not feen, are eternal. If the night be
gloomy here, they mould comfort themfelves with
the profpecl: of the day's breaking there, and the fha-
dows fleeing away, and fing in the houfe of their pil-
grimage, in hope of the joy abiding them at the end
of their journey.

I fhall now make fome practical improvement of
this doctrine.

Use I, of information. This informs us,

1. That whatever be the trials of believers in this
world, there is a happy ftate abiding them in the other
world, wherein they will be beyond them all, Heb.
iv. 9, There remaineth a reft to the people of God.
The wicked may have a fair and calm day here, but
there will be an everlafting night for them there.
But it is better to have our night here, and an eternal
day there, than to have our day here, and eternal
night there.

2. The report of unbelief to the people of God in

their

Ufe of Information* 345

their dark hours, whereby it is faid to them, It will
never be better, is falfe, and not to be credited, Lam.
iii. 17. 18. It is the work of faith, to contradict
thefe evil furmifings tending to cut off hope \ and to
believe the promife, when one does not fee, Satan
ruined the world at fir ft by working a mifbelief of
the threatening: now he carries it on by a mifbelief
of the promife,

3. This is the time wherein we are called to walk
by faith, 2X!or. v. 7. In the other world we will
walk by fight, for there the day will be broken, and
there will be no ihadows to interpofe : but till we
come there, we muft be content to live by faith,
milling for our good things to come after we have
patiently received our evil things, and made our way
through the gloomy ihades here.

4. That there will be a vaft difference bewixt the
flate of believers here and in the other world. What
a difference is there between a dark fhadowy night,
and a fair bright dny ? fuch will there be between the
(late of grace and glory. Their knowledge will be
exceeding extenfive, beyond what it is now \ and their
comfort and joy exceeding great, beyond what any
time they now are.

5. Laftly, It is the Chriftian's own fault, if he
wants comfort in the hardeft pieces of his lot, John
xiv. 1 8. They were never ill dined, we fay, that
know of a good fupper. Whatever be the entertain-
ment of a child of God here, there is a bleffed enter-
tainment a-waiting him there : and as the workman
works chearfully in profpecl: of his wages, and the
traveller goes chearfully knowing he is going home ;
fo the Chrillian mould comfort himfelf in this world,
with the profpe<St of the other world.

Use II. of exhortation. Let fuch as are married
to Chrift, having received him in his covenant, and
given themfelves to him, learn to comfort themfelves
with the profpect of the other world, where the day

will

346 Ufe of Exhortation and Motives*

will break, and the fhadows flee away. To move
unto this, confider thefe things.

i. You will certainly need comfort in this world.
Take what way ye will, ye will meet with forrows,
difficulties, and hardihips, that ye will be in need of
fome cordials to keep you from fainting : and being
married to Chrift, ye will need them in a fpecial man-
ner j for then your God will have you exercifed with
various trials, the world will withdraw its counte-
nance from you, and Satan will fet himfelf againfl
you with a peculiar fpite.

2. The comforts of this world are deceitful, and
will never be found able to balance the forrcws of it,
being but broken cijierns that can hold no water, Jer.
ii. 13. Some of them they can do nothing at all to,
as in Belfhazzar's cafe under the terror of God ; at
bell they can but amufe for a while, but the grief re-
curs. So that in end one muft fay to them, Mijer*
able comforters are ye all: they are a weak dike that
will be carried away with the flood in a little.

3. The other world is a fountain of comfort in all
cafes ye can be in, temporal or fpiritual.

Here the man in outward trouble may find a falve
for his fore. If he is cppreiTed with poverty, he may
comfort himfelf with the profpect of the treafure there,
and the inheriting all things; if he is under con-
tempt of the proud, he may comfort himfelf with the
profpecT: of the glory there ; if he is under ficknefsof
body, the leaves of the tree there are for the healing
of the nations. Is he weary ? there is reft there :
has he no certain abode ? there they go no more
out, <bc.

Here the man in fpiritual diftrefs may comfort him-
felf. Is the body of fin heavy ? in the other world
there will be a freedom from it. Is he dogged with
temptation ? there the tempter cannot enter. Is he
under defertion ? there is uninterrupted communion
with God there. There is nothing one can meet

with

Motives *nd Dire ft ions. 347

with heavy here, but a believing view of the other
world may afford fuitable confolation againft it.

4. La/ity, The comforting of yourfelves with the
profpe£r, of the other world, is a duty wherein ye
will at once Angularly honour God, and confult your
own intereft.

(1.) Hereby ye will honour God's teftimony, truft-
ing him for things unfeen, Heb. xi. 1. So ye will
give him the glory of his faithfulnefs. He has mag-
nified his word above all his name, and you will mag-
nify it by believing it indeed.

(2.) It will ftrengthen you notably in your Chri-
ftian walk, Neh. viii. 10. The joy §f the Lord is your
Jirength, It will carry you above the world's fmiies,
and make the world's great things little in your eyes,
Phil. iii. 8. It will ftrengthen againft its frowns,
and bear you up under the greater!: trials, 2 Cor. iv.
17. 18.

I (hall clofe with the following directions.

1. Keep Chrift the Lord of the other world in your
view as your Lord and Hufband, looking to be found
in him , not having your own right emfnefs, which is
of the laiVy but that which is through the faith of
thrifty the right eoufncfs which is of God by faith, Phil,
iii. 9. We can draw no comfort from the other world,
but in that blefled. channel : in him are all our hopes,
for by him only we have a title to heaven.

2. Inure yourfelves to an habitual looking to the
other woild, 2 Cor- iv. 18. When the habitual frame
of the heart is carnal, no wonder that a glance with the
eye to the other world be not comfortable : but when
the habitual bent is upward, occafional glances that
way will have a good efFecl:.

3. Lq/t/y, Frame the whole courfe of your life in
a fuitablenefs, not to this, but the other world, Pxom.
xii. 2. Carry as travellers to Zion, going through
this- wildernefs to the promifed land. Let your con-
verfation be fuitable to an expectant of that better
world, namely, in heaven, Phil. iii. 20.

348 Of ChriJVs turning and coming to his People,

I now go on to the laft doftrine I obferved from
the text, namely,

Doct. III. It will be the great concern of thofe
married to Chrifl, during their night -journey in this
•world, that he may turn and come to them, till, the
day breaking and the fhadows fleeing away, they get
to him in the other world.

In difcourfing from this do£frine, I (hall,

I. Shew what is Chrift's turning and coming to
them, that will be their great concern to have.

II. Give the import of this concern, that he may
turn and come to them, till the day break and the
{hadows flee away.

III. Give the reafons of this concern.

IV. Confirm this point, that this will be the great
concern of thofe married to Chrift.

V. Lafily, Apply the dodtrine.

I. I am to fhew what is Chrift's turning and co-
ming to thofe married to him, that will be their great
concern to have. We may take it up in two things.

i. His affording them his prefence. That will
be their great concern to enjoy during their night-
iourney ', that if they muft have a dark and fhadowy
night-journey of it through the world, he would not
leave them, but be with them in it, Exod. xxxiii. 15.
If thy prefence go not with me, carry us not up hence.
No body can want God's eiTential prefence, whereby
he is every where prefent, Pfal. cxxxix. 7. and down-
wards. He is not far from any, Acts xvii. 27. But
there is his gracious prefence, whereby he is prefent
with the children of men by his Spirit of holineis
working in them ; in which refpett he is far from
the wicked, Piov. xv. 29. and fometimes withdraws
from his own in part, Cant. v. 6. though never to-
tally, Heb. xiii. 5. Their concern then will be for,

(1.) His feen or fenjible prefence with them, of

the

Of Thrift's turning and coming to his People. 349

the want of which Job complains, Job xxiii, 8. 9.
and in the enjoyment of which the pfalmift triumphs,
Pfal. xxiii. 4. As the Ifraelites had the pillar of fire
by night prefent with them, difcovering itfelf by
its own light: fo would they have the piefence of
God with them, difcovering itfelf to them by its own
light. For though they have it, if they perceive it
not, they cannot have the comfort of it, as in Mary's
cafe, John xx. 14. 15.

(2.) His operative or efficacious prefence in them,
Phil. iii. 8. 10. 1 count all things but lofs,for the ex-
cellency of the knowledge of Chrijl Jefus my Lord : —
that 1 may know him, and the power of his refurrec-
tian, and the fellowfhip of his fuferings, being made
conformable unto his death. As the Ifraelites concern
was for the pillar of fire to enlighten their darknefs,
to guide them in their night-marches, &c. fo will
believers be concerned for Chi id's prefence to en-
lighten them, quicken, ftrengthen, and purify them ;
to work in them mightily And unlefs they find it
operative, they will not reckon they have it.

2. His affording them his countenance, the flii-
ning of his face* and the manifestation of his favour,
Pfal. iv. 6. Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countc
nance upon us. This unbelievers never have, Pfal.
vii. 11. ; there is always a cloud on it to them : they
are not pleafed with him, and he is never pleaied
with them, Heb. xi. 6. And this believers iome-
times want, If. lvii. 17. I hid me, and was wroth ;
though they are never caft out of his favour, they
may fall to be deprived of the manifestations of it for
a time. Their concern then will be for*

(1.) The turning away of his anger, and removal
of any ground of controversy he has with them, Pfal.
lxxxv. 4. Turn us, 0 God of our falvation, and can fe
thine anger towards us to ceafe. Herein the church
rtjoicctli, If. xii. 1. 0 Lord, 1 will praifethee : though
thou waji angry with me, thine anger is turned away,
and thou comforted/I me. They wilt be concerned,
3 Gg due

3£0 Of the Saints Concern for Ch rift's coming to them.

that while the (hades are thick and gloomy about
them below, heaven may not be louring on them too ;
but that it may be clear above, though it be dark and
fhadowy below,

(2.) The manifestations of his love, Cant. viii. 6.
Set me as a feal upon thine hearty as a feal upon thine
arm* & i. 2. Let him kifs me vjith the kijjes of his
mouth : for thy love is better than wine. The carnal
world knows none of thefe things, and therefore can-
not be concerned for them. Proud fcornful finners
deride them as vain imaginations of fantaftic fools.
But in the experience of the faints, they are more
powerful and efficacious, than all the pleafurable en-
joyments earth can afford, Pfal. iv. 6. 7. They will
carry them through the dark and difficult fteps, where
all the world's cordials will leave its votaries to faint.

II. I fhall give the import of this concern of thofe
married to Chrift, that he may turn and come to
them, till, the day breaking and the fhadows fleeing
away, they get to him in the ether world. It imports,

1. That during the night-journey in this world,
Chrift fometimes turns away and withdraws from
his people; fo that fceking him they cannot find
him, Cant, iii. 1. By night on my bed 1 fought him
ivhom my foul loveth : 1 fought him, but I found him
not. Even as Mofes who brought the Ifraelites out of
Egypt, was withdrawn from them in the wildernefs,
and they knew not what was become of him. Chrift
feems fometimes to lock up himfelf from his people,
for his own holy ends, that they cannot have that
accefs to him as fometime before- So he puts a dif-
ference betwixt earth and heaven, the houfe of their
pilgrimage and their horrte, that they may like home
the better

2. The travellers to Zion, when Chrift is away,
though it be night, they readily mifs him, Cant. iii.
3. The watchmen that go about the city, found me s
to wh*m Ifaid, Saw ye him whom my foul loveth ? In-
deed

Of the Saints Concern for Chri/i's coming to them* 35 1

deed it may at times be with them as with Samfan,
Judg. xvi. 20. who wift not. that the Lord was depart-
ed Jrom him. But that is through inadvertency ; if
they once begin to look about them, they will be
fure to mifs him, as the fpoufe did, Cant, v. 6. /
opened to my Beloved, but my Beloved had -withdrawn
himfelf, and was gone : my foul failed when he /pake .*
J fought him, but I could not find him ; I called him9
but he gave me no anfwer. It is a property of a gra ■
cious foul, to be capable to tell Chnit's Vitus, his
goings and comings. It is not every one can do
that: worldly men reign as kings without him, they
mifs him not-, the blind man cannot tell when the
day comes on, or when the night: but the feeing
can do both. The wife can readily tell when her
hufband goes abroad, and when he comes home ;
though the fervants being without about their work,
may know neither the one nor the other.

3. A holy diiTatisfa£lion with all things, while he
is away. An angel's prefence could not pleafe
Mofes in the wildernefs, Exod. xxxiii. 2. 15. nor dry
Mary's cheeks in the garden, while fhe knew not
where her Lord was, John xx. 12. 13. The houfe,
though thronged with fervants, is empty to the wife,
while her beloved hufband is not there. The gra-
cious foul would make ftepping -(tones of all, to carry
it to Chrift the bed beloved.

4. A holy refolution to give him a welcome re-
ception, if he will turn and come again : then the
doors fhould be call: wide open to receive him, Cant,
viii. I. 2. 0 that thou wert as my brother that fucked
the breafts of my mother ! when I fiouidfind thee with'
out, I would kifsihes, yea, IfoouLbnot be defpifed, &c.
And this is joined with felf-loathing, for giving him
occafion to depart. " What a mad- man," fays one
in this concern, " was I, that I could not keep his
prefence when I had it ? But O ! if I had it again,
I fhould not fo eafily quit it."

5. Earned outgoings of the heart after him, in de-

G g z fires

352 Of the Saints Concern for Chri/l's coming to them.

fires for his return, If. lxiv. I. Oh that thou wouldfi
rent the heavens, that thou wouldji come down, that
the mountains might flow down at thy pre fence. Job
xxiii. 3. 0 that I knew where I might find him ! that
I might come even to his feat ! While the foul is in
this concern, one mefTenger will be fent to heaven
after another, in folemn prayer, and frequent ejacu-
lations, with that mefiage, Cant, v. 8. / charge you,
0 daughters of Jerufalem, if ye find my Beloved, that
ye tell him, that I am Jick of love. And when they
can do no more, they will fend greedy looks after
him, to the place where his honour dwells, as did
David, Pfal v. 3. and the church, Lam. iii. 49. 50.
6. Laflly, A holy reftleflnefs in the foul, till he
turn and come again, Cant. iii. 1. and do^vnwardF.
In this concern how reftlefs was Job, going backward
and forward, looking on the right and left hand ?
chap, xxiii. 8- o. As the needle in thefeaman's com-
pafs touched with a good loadftone, refts not till it
turn about to the noith : fo the foul touched by the
Spirit of Chrift, prefently moves towards him, Cant,
v. 4. or as the dove fent out of the ark, could not
reft till it was taken in again.

TIT. Let us next give the reafons of this concern
in thofe married to Chrift, that he may turn and
come to them. I orTeT you the following.

1. Their fuperlative love to Chrift, Cant i. 3 4.
Becaufe of the javour of thy good ointments, thy name
is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins
love thee. — The upright love thee. Love natively
tends to union and communion ; hence the foul
is more where it loves than where it lives: it exerts
itfelf in defne after the prefence of its object, when
at a diftance ; and has much ado to bear abfence.
But alas! Chrift may tell moft of us, as Delilah did
Samfon, Judg xvi. 15. How canft thou fay, 1 love
thee, when thine heart is not with mc ?

2. Their comfort in their night journey depends

on

Reafons of the Saints Concern for Chrifl's Prefence. 353

on it; without it they muft go drooping, for nothing
will make up the want thereof. It is Chriit's turn-
ing to them in it, that makes all they meet with bf
the way favoury to them, and the want of it is a
worm at the root of other enjoyments. The dove
could find nothing out of the ark, but carrion that it
could not feed on ; and therefore returns : but the
raven could feed on it very well, and therefore comes
not in again. Hypocrites will beftow a few faint
wifhes on Chrift : but if he anfwers them not, they
are not fore fiain therewith ; they have more doors
than his to go to, if they come not fpeed at his : they
know how to fhift for themfelves otherwise. But fin-
cere fouls mull: either be ferved or die at his door,
John vi. 68. Lord, to whom /ball we go ? thou haji
the words of eternal life.

3. Their experience of the defirablenefs of his pre-
fence and countenance in their night journey, Pfal.
Ixiii* i. 2. 3. 0 God, thou art my God, early will I
feek thee : my foul thirfleth for thee, my jlefh longe+h
J or thee in a dry and thirfiy land, where no water is 2

to fee thy power and thy glory, Jo as I have feen thee
in the Jantluary. Becaufe thy loving kindnefs is bet'
ter than life : my lips fhall praife thee. It is natural
to be in concern for that which one ftill needs, and
remembers himlelf to have been the better of former-
ly. They know his prefence has made them fafely
pafs many a dangerous Itep, and eafily get over many
a difficult one : that his countenance has often en-
lightened the daiknefs of th^ir night, and made them
confidently pafs many a gloomy ihade.

4. Lafily, Their felt need of it ; they know net
how they will ever make out the night»juurney with-
out it, Exod. xxxiii 15. And he faid unto him, if thy
prefence go not with me, carry us not up hence. it
was in the faith of his prefence and countenance, th. t
ever they ventured on it; and in the faith of the fam •\
that ever they look to get fair to tfee journey's enrjL

& g 3 Aid

354 Rea/ons tfthe Saints Concern for ChriJTs Prefence.

A nd felt need of it muft produce a concern for it,
Mark vii. 24. 2$. rifing from,

(1.) The fenfe of their liablenefs to miftake their
■way, that they need him for their direction and gui-
dance, Jer. x. 23. If he mould leave them, they will,
reckon themfelves left in a wildernefs, and that in
the night ; no wonder then they be in fuch concern
for his prefence and countenance.

(2.) The fenfe of their weaknefs for the journey,,
that they need to go leaning on him, as a weak wo-
man on her hufband, Cant. viii. 5. Senfe of weak-
nefs in themfelves, and of the fulnefs of ftrengthen-
ing grace in him, prompts them to this concern.

(3.) The fenfe of the great oppofmon and difficulty
to be met with in the way, Eph. vi. 12. 13. Chriftian
foldiers have no brow for a bargain, if Chrift their
Captain be not on their head, 2 Cor. iii. 5. andthey.
will flick at nothing howfoever hard, if he be, Phil,
iv. 13. 1 can do all t kings , fays Paul, through Chrift:
nvhich Jlrengtheneth me,

IV. We fhall now confirm this point, That it will
be the great concern of thofe married to Chrift, du-
ring their night- journey in this world, that he may
turn and come to them, till, the day breaking and
the fhadows fleeing away, they get to him in the
other world. To evince this, we offer the following
things.

1. Chrift their Lord and Hufband has got their
heart above all other, and it refts in him. They have
anfwered the call, Prov. xxiii. 26, My fan, give me
thine heart. They have faid, he is their reft, Hcb.
iv. 3. as in the flate of marriage > they clofe their
eyes on all others, never thinking to fee an obje£t fo
defnable, Pfal, lxxiii. 25. Now where the treafure
ij, there will the heart te al/o, Matth. vi. 21.
Wherefore it cannot mifs to be their concern, lhat lie
may turn and come to them ; even as when a woman
has fixed her heart on and accepted one for her huf-

bandj..

That Chrifl's Prefence will be the Saints Concern* 355

band, it is natural to defire frequent vifits, till he
take her home for altogether.

2. They are partakers of the divine nature, 2 Pet.
i. 4. partakers of Chrift, 6i his Spirit, his grace, his
image : and like draws to like ; the carnal worldling
to the world, and the Chriftian to Chrift. As the
water exhaled from the fea by the influence of the
fun, is gathered into clouds, which diflblved it falls
down on the earth again, where caft up by fpiings it
empties itfelf by livers and brooks into the fea again
whence it came, Eccl. i. 7. : fo grace comes down
from above, from the fulnefs thereof in the man
Chrift, into his Chriftians, and watering them does
in the exercife thereof mount up again towards him
in fuch breathings after him, and concern that he may
turn and come to them.

3. All believers may be obferved to be great mif-
counters of time, when Chrift is turned away from
them in their night journey, If. liv. 7. For a fmall
moment have 1 forfaken thee, &c. compare Pfal. xiii.
I. How long wilt thou forget me, 0 Lord, for ever ?
how long wilt thou hide thy face from me ? As the
time wherein the moon hides her head to the travel-
ler by night feems long, in comparifon of the time of
her mining bright : fo the time of Chrift's withdraw-
ing and hiding his face from a gracious foul is a
weary time, a kind of petit eternity. Which fpeaks
a mighty concern.

4. Lajlly, When they are themfelves, they are re-
folute for his prefence and countenance, Eph. vi. 15.
Grace gives men an edge for holy violence, Matth.
xi. 12. It will make men very peremptory for Chrift,
that they will not take a refufal, Gen. xxxii. 26. to
threap kindnefs on him, and fpecial inteieft in him,
If. Ixiii. 16. to make an argument of their unworthi*
nefs and mifery muftered up againft them to mar
their confidence, Matth. xv. 27. and to ftick at no-
thing {landing betwixt Chrift and them, fo as they
may get tc him, Phil. iii. 8,

356 - Ufe of Information.

I {hall now conclude this fubjeft with fome appli-
cation of what has been faid.

Use I. of information. This (hews that,

1. The grace of God ennobles the heart, makes it
to afpire to the higheft things, and gives it a bent of
defire beyond others. (1.) It carries the heart off this
world, and fets it on the other world, as the place of
their great hopes, Col. iii. 1. Others may defire their
portion in this life, and eagerly purfue it there ; but
they will certainly carry their views quite beyond it
to the other world, Phil, iii 13. 14. (2.) It gives
them a new notion of heaven, and refined defires
thereof, as the place where they may be with Chiift,
Phil i. 23. Carnal men have carnal defires of hea-
ven, as a place of reft, welfare, and happinefs, ab-
ftra&ed from the enjoyment of God in Chrift: but it
is Chrift's being there, and full communion with
him to be enjoyed there, that is the main fpring of
the gracious foul's defire to be there, Col. iii. 3. 4.

2. That the foul once truly married to Chrift is
fixed as to its choice, never to alter it, on any terms ;
neither to be boafted from him by the world's frowns,
nor bribed from him by its fmiles, Heb. iv. 3.
Cant. viii. 6. 7. Be the night never fo dark, the
journey never fo hard, they are refolufe to go on, till
the day breaking they get to him in the other world.

3. The travellers to Zion defire-and look for their
furniture for the way from Chrift, as well as their
entertainment at the journey's end, Cant. viii. 5. Wha
is this that comet h up from the wildernefs , leaning upon
her Beloved? There are many who difcover their hy-
pocrify, by defiring no more of him, than that he
will take them into his covenant at the beginning of
their way, and into his heaven at the end of it; ha-
ving little concern for his prefence and countenance
during their progrefs. They would have a reft to
their confeiences from him at their fetting off, and a
reft to their fouls from him at the end : but the reft:
to their hearts, while they . are going on their way,

they

Ufe of Trial. 357

they look for in the world and in their lufts. Such
will be miferably difappointed ; for without holinefs
no man fh all fee the Lord, Heb. xii. 14.

Use II. of trial. Hereby ye may try your ftate,
If ye be really joined to the Lord Chrift as your head
and hufband, to be with him in the other world, it
will be your great concern to enjoy fuch communion
with him here, as is allowed his people by the way,
till ye come to get full communion with him there.
There is a twofold communion with Chrift allowed
his people by the way to the other world.

1. Habitual communion, which is a commonnefs
of intereft with him, 1 John i 3. Truly our fel/ow'

finp is ivitb the Father, and with his Son Jefus Chrift*
This is a nccefTarv refulc of the fpiritual marriage»tie,
and bdievers never want it from the moment of their
union with Chrift. They may let their names on
what is hia, as having a joint intereft therein with
him j — all are yours ; and ye are Chrift9 s9 1 Cor. iii»
22. 23. They have with him a common intereft in
his righteoufnefs, what he did, what he fuffered, in
his Spirit, purchafe, graces wherewith he is filled, dr.

2. Actual communion, which confifts in a certain
friendly intercourfe betwixt Chrift and the foul, he
letting down the influences of his grace on them, and
they moving towards him in the exercsfe of grace,
Cant, i 4 Draw me, we will run after thee: the
King hath brought me into his chambers, &e This a
believer may want for a time ; and this is the thing de-
fired in the text, under the name of Chrift's turning,
and being like a roe, or a young hart upon the moun~
tains of Bet her. And the defire of this communion
with him is the touchftone of a gracious ftate. There
are feveral degrees of it.

(1 ) Communion with Chrift by defires awake after
him, If. xxvi. 9. With my foul have I defired thee in
the nighty yea* with my fpirit within me will I feek
thee early: when the fpiritual hunger and thirft af-
ter him is created in the foul, and the foul longs,

thirlts,

35s Ufe of Trial,

thirfts, and pants after him, Pfal. Ixiii. i. This cannot
be but by influences from him, whereby the foul is
fet in motion after him, Cant. v. 4. It is a flep to
more, Matth. v. 6. Blejfed are they which do' hanger
and thirft ajter right eoufnefs : for they fhall be filled,

(2.) Communion with Chrift in the exercife of a
faith of adherence to him, Pfal. xxii. 1. My God, my
Cody iv hy baft thou forfaken ?ne ? Though the foul
cannot fing, yet it will refolutely fay to him, My God,
Though his difpenfations are black and drumly, and
feeming to go againft the promife, yet the foul will
hold by the gripe of the promife, faying as Job xiii. 1 5.
Though he flay me, yet will J truft in him. It is a power
from on high that teacheth one's hands fo to war.

(3.) Communion with Chrift in the exercife of
hope, Pfal. xlii. 5. Why art thou caft down, 0 my
joul ? and why art thou dif quieted in me? hope thou
in God, for 1 fhall yet praife him for the help of his
countenance. Though fenfible enjoyment is wanting,
and there is no prefent feeling; yet the foul believing
the promife, hopes for the accomplishment of it in
due time. So it waits on about his hand, in the di-
ligent ufe of the means; expecting a good iffue at
length. This is the product of divine influences, ac-
cording to the apoftle's prayer, Rom. xv. 13. Now
the God of hope Jill you with all joy and peace in belie-
vingy that \>e may abound in hope y through the power
cf the Holy Ghof.

(4.) Communion with Chrift in fenfible enjoy-
ment; when they are admitted to fee his face by a
faith of affurance, hear his voice fo as to know it,
tafte of his goodnefs, fmell the favour of his name,
Cant, i. 3. and to feel the workings of his grace on
their fouls. This fills the foul with folid comfort, re-
fined delight, and fometimes with heavenly rapture,
1 Pet i. 8.

Now what guft have ye for thefe things ? Is it in-
deed your great concern to reach them in the habi-
tual courfe of your life, and fo to have communion

with

life of Trial. 359

with Chrift while in this world, till ye get full com-
munion with him in the other ? If the enjoyment of
fuch communion with Chrift while here, is your
great concern, then,

[1.] Ye will defire it above all things elfe ye can
reach in this world, preferring it to the beft things
that earth affords, Pfal. iv. 6. 7. Ye will value it
more than the profits and pleafures of the world,
counting them but dung in comparifon thereof.

[2.] Ye will highly prize holy ordinances, public,
private, and fecret, as the means of communion with
Chrift ; and yet not be fatisfied with them without
communion with him in them. They to whom thefe
are a burden or taftelefs, plainly difcover they value
not communion with Chrift ; thefe being the galleries
wherein the King is held, Cant. vii. 5. : they are not
of the pfalmift's mind, who fays, Pfal. lxxxiv. 10.
A day in thy courts is better than a thovfand : I had
rather be a door-keeper in the houfe of my God, than to
dwell in the tents of wicksdnefs. Thole that reft in
them, and are pleafed when the talk is got done,
(hew they value not the true ufe of them, reprefented
to us in the fpoufe's practice, Cant. iii. 2. / will rife
now, and go about the city in the flreets> and in the
broad ways I willfeek him whom my foul loveth.

£3.] It will be your great concern to guard againft
whatever may mar it, or keep you back from it ;
and to keep the way wherein you may obtain it. That
is, you will beware of living in the allowed practice
of fin, but be tender and holy in your lives, Pfal.
lxvi. 18. John xiv. 21.

Use III. Evidence yourfelves truly married to
Chrift, by making it your great concern to have ac-
tual communion with Chrift here, till ye come to
the full enjoyment of him in the other world. To
prefs this, I oifer thefe motives very briefly.

1. This is necellary to evidence your fincerity in

the marriage-covenant, 1 John ii. 19. They went out

J'rom us> but they were not of us : for if they had been

*f

360 Motives and Diretlions.

of us, they would no doubt have continued with us.
Being carelefs of communion with Chrift, fpeaks
that the heart is not with him, but with other lovers.

2. It is neceflary to your getting fafe through an
enfnaring world ; therefore fays Chrift to his people,
Cant. iv. 8 Come with me from Lebanon, my fpoufe %
with me from Lebanon : look from the top of Amana,
from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions
dens, from the mountains of the leopards. If ye are
left alone, ye will fall in the wildernefs.

3. Laflly, Without communion with Chrift here,
there will be no communion with him in the other
world, according to what the pfalmift fays, Pfal.
lxxiii. 24. Thou Jhalt guide me with thy counfely and
afterward receive me to glory. Communion with
Chrift in grace here, is the foundation of commu-
nion with him in glory hereafter.

I clofe with thefe few directions.

1. Look for communion with Chrift in the way of
free grace and unhired love : that he may come over
mountains to you, mountains of guilt and unwor-
thinefs, as undeferving of fuch a high privilege.

2. Seek it refolutely in all means of his appoint-
ment, going from one mean and ordinance to ano-
ther till ye find him, as the fpoufe did, Cant. iii. 1.
and downwards So may ye perfevering fucceed,
whatever difficulties be in your way.

3. Be diligent obfervers of providences, and make
a due improvement of them as means of communion
with him, Pfal. xcii. 4. & cvii. ult*

4. Laflly, Be habitually tender in your walk; keep-
ing off from every thing that may grieve his Spirit,
and provoke him to depart ; acting in this cafe as the
fpoufe did, Cant. iii. 5. I charge you, 0 ye daughters
of Jerufalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field,
that yeflir not up, nor awake my love, till he pleafe.

Readinefs

Readinefs for our Removal into the
other World opened up, urged and
enforced.

The fubftance of feveral Sermons preached at Etterick
in the year 1730.

Luke xii. 4©.

Be ye therefore ready alfo : far the Son of man cometh
at an hour when ye think not*

AFTER all we have heard of the ether world,
what will it avail, if it irTue not in preparing
for our removal into it? That is certainly the ufe
which all of us are to make of it, which we have in
the words of the text. In which we have two things.

i. An alarm to be ready fof a removal into the
other world, Be ye therefore ready alfo. In the pa-
rable of the rich man, ver. 16. — 21. our Saviour
had. {hewn the dreadful furprifing removal of fecurc
finners into it, when they are not at all ready for it,
but dreaming of a long continuance at eaie here,
which puts preparation for it out of their heads. And
thence he proceeds to caution againft inordinate care
for this uncertain life, and to ftir up to be ready, to
be on the wing, for the other life, ver. 35. ; and to
be always ready, as thofe that are at an uncertainty as
to the time of their removal. This is to be ready aU
foy as well as the good-man of the houfe would be if
he knew what hour the thief would come.

2. The reafon why we fhould be ready, alwayf

ready, never unprepared : For the Son of man cometh

at an hour when we think not. Becaufe we know not

when we may be called off, more than one knows

3 H h wha:

362 The Text explained,

what time of the night the thief will break in on his
houfe. Now Chrift the Son of man comes as a thief3
at a time uncertain to us. There is a twofold coming
of (he Son of man. (1 ) At the general judgement.
(2 ) At death. Both are to remove us into the^pther
world ; the word is general, agreeing to both j and
in point of our making ready they come to onev be-
caufe whatever readinefs we can be in for the general
judgement, muft be made before death, there being
no accefs after that to make ready any more, but as
the tree falls it lies. So we (hall confider it as his
coming at death, to carry us off hence. There are
two things here.

1/?, The certainty of our removal into the other
world, The Son of man cometh / he will certainly
come, how long foever he may delay his coming.
That is a tryft that cannot be broken.

idly, The uncertainty of the time of it, as to us9
however precifely it is appointed in the divine de-
cree: he has not told us when it fhall.be, more than
the thief tells the good- man when he is to make an
attempt on his houfe. So that if there be any time
when we are not ready, he may for any thing we
know, as readily come then, as at any time.

From the text arifeth this weighty point of. doc-
trine, viz,

Doct. 'Such is the certainty of our removal into
the other world, and the uncertainty of the time of
that removal, that we ought always to be ready for it.

In difcourfing from this doctrine, I {hall,

I. Premife fome things imported in it.

II. Confider the certainty of our removal into the
other world.

III. The uncertainty of the time of it.

IV. The readinefs for that removal.

'W. Lajlly, Apply in fome practical ufes.

I. I

Some Things imported in the Dotlrine. 36^

I. I fhall premife fome things imported in this
doctrine.

1. Great is the weight that depends on our being
ready for a removal into the other world. Eternal
well or wo depends on it : for according to the fitu-
ation we are found in at our removal, fo will we be
received and lodged theie ; in the upper part the re-
gion of blifs, or the lower part the region of horror,
to remove no more. And this makes carekfTnefo to
prepare for it abfulutely unaccountable.

2. We are naturally unfit and unready for that re-
moval. Were it a matter indifferent, which part of
that world we mould land in, we could at no time
be reckoned unfit and unready for it : for they thatr
are not ready for eternal light above, are ready for
eternal fire below. But it can never be indifFerent
to a rational creature, which of thefe fhall be its por-
tion. And therefore they that are not ready to be
inhabitants of heaven, are not 'ready for their remo-
val : and fuch are we all naturally, having no title
to it, Eph. ii. 3. 12. and no meetnefs for it, till we
get it anew by grace, Col. i. 1 2.

3. Now is the time, and here is the place, of
getting ready, 2 Cor. vi. 2. Behold, now is the ac-
cepted time i behold, now is the day of fa hat ion* We
are fet into this world, to make ready for the other 5
and time is given us to prepare for eternity. If time
be once over, and we be turned out of this world,
we have no more accefs to make ready for the other,
EccL ix. 10. There is no works nor device, nor know-
ledge, nor wifdom in the g*ave whither thou goejl* So
it is with us, now or never. -

4. Lajlly, We ought always to keep ourfclves in
readinefs, that we be not furprifed, and taken at a
difadvantage ; hence fays our Lord, Luke xxi. 34.
35. 36. Take heed to your/elves, left at any time
your hearts be overcharged with forfeiting, and drunk'
enne/S) and cares of this life, andfo that day cme upon

H h 2 you

364 The Certainty ofsur Removal into the ether World,

you unawares. For as a fnare /hall it come on all
them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch
ye therefore and pray always, that ye may be account-
ed worthy to efcape all thefe things that fball come ts
pafr, and to ft and before the Son of man. One may
be ready at one time, who is not ready at another as
he ought to be •, falling carnally fecure, after he has
befiirred him felt to prepare. But at that time when
he is leaft looking for the removal, it may be ncareft :
and whatever unreadinefs it tryfts with, 10 great will
the lofs be.

II. We fhall coniider the certainty of our removal
into the other world.

i. It was the other world, and not this, that man
was chiefly and in the fir ft place deilgned for, as to
his fettled abode. When God made this world, he
madeTt but as a thorough- fare to the other, a place
through which man mould pafsinto the other, Matin,
xxv. 34. The other world was always the home,
this was but the place of the pilgrimage, where at no
time man was to day for good and all, but only to
fojourn. For con fide r,

(1.) This' world was ordained to be the place or
trial, the other the place of retribution, according to
mens works. The trial cannot always Jaft, other-
wife it would be no trial : but the retribution- may
very well laft for ever, and really will do fo.
Therefore we muft neceiTarily remove out of this
world as the place of trial, into the other as the place
of retribution, which therefore muft be locked on as
our fettled abode, Matth. xxv. ult. And thtfe jhall go
away into ever taping punifiment : but the righteous
into life eternal.

(2.) This world never had in it, that perfection of
either happinefs or mifery, that was defigned for man
according to his behaviour in it. Even in paradife
there was a want, and in the deluge there was an ark.

But

The Certainty of our Removal into the other World, 365

But God will perfect his work of whatever kin d
Therefore the fettled abode is there, not here.

Wherefore it is a fatal miftake ever to look on
this world as our home, whether we be faints or fin-
ners ; that is the ufe of the other world only.

2. The man Chrift is removed into the other
world, never to come back to dwell in this : and to
that world where he is we muft needs go. The hap-
pinefs fecured for his own people, who muft be taken
to the place where he is, John xiv. 3. and the mi-
fery enfured for his enemies, who mud be punifhid
-with everlafting dejlruftion from the prefence of the •
Lord, and from the glory of his power , 2' Theff. i. 9.
brought thither, and flain before him, Luke xix. 2j»->
make this neceflary. Therefore, as fare as Chrift:
hath removed into that world, we muft follow.

3 Men muft be foi ever, but this world will have:
an end : therefore our removal out of it into the other
world is moft certain. This is not your reftt becaufe
it is polluted: and becaufe of its pollution, it muft.
be burnt up, 2 Pet. iii. 10. Now the foul is immor-
tal, and the body (hall have a refurredlion, and fo
the man muft be for ever : he muft be in fome world y
and fince this will be deftroyed, he muft certainly
remove into the other.

4. Our life in this world is a journey through it3.
ending in a going out of it, and therefore into the
other world, Pfal. xxxix. ult. We enter upon it at:
our birth, make progrefs therein in our life, and
come to the end of it at death, which is the paffage
into the other world. All things are in motion here-,
and every thing undergoes changes : but none does
more fo than man, who fprings up, and quickly
goes down again ; and at length his place knows him 1
no more.

5. Death, the paiTage into the other world, is ap-
pointed for all, Heb. ix. 27. It is appointed unto men
once to die. All muft pafs through that dark and
(hady vale, and then they are in the other wo.ld ; -.

366 Of the Uncertainty of the Time of our Removal.

and have no more concern in what is done under the
fun. And the certainty of our dying, we may not
only read in our Bibles ; but in our very bodies them-
felves, where every gripe, pain, and weaknefs we
feel overtaking us, are tokens of death approaching.

6. La/ily, The experience of all ages fince the be-
ginning confirms the certainty of this removal. Where
are all the generations that have been before us?
They are no more to be feen in this world, more
than if they had never been in it. Yet God's word
afTures us that they are in being, the godly ones of
them happy, and the ungodly miferable. They are
gone then into the other world. And do we not fee
by daily obfervation, that the courfe of dying is con-
tinuing as before ? And are there any of us all, who
have not fome that were our acquaintance in this
world, already removed into the other before us ?
And are we to expect the rocks to be removed for
us ?

III. The next head is to confider the uncertainty
of the time of this removal. And here I mall fhew,

I. How this uncertainty of the time of our remo-
val is to be underftood.

2* How it appears.

3. Why the Lord has kept men at this uncertainty.

First, I am to fhew how this uncertainty of the
time of our removal is to be underftood.

1. It is not to be underftood, as if the time of our
removal were abfolutely uncertain, and undetermi-
ned with God. No ; it is determined exaclly and
precifely to the leaft moment, at what time each of
us (hall make our removal into the other world, how
much time we (hall pafs in this life, and beyond
which we mall not go, Job xiv. 5. His days are de-
termined, the number of his months are ivith thee,
thou haft appointed his bounds toat he cannot pafs.
However uncertain it is as to us, it is as certain be-
fore the Lord as anv thing can be. Thia is evident : for,

The

Of the Uncertainty of the Time of our Removal. 367

The decree of God reacheth the leaft of things,
even to the very numbering of the hairs of our head,
Matth. x. 30. And can we think that he who num-
bers the hairs of our head, numbers not the days of
our life that we fhall fulfil ? Truly they are foon
numbered to him, being as an hand breadth, and as
nothing before him, Pfal. xxxix. 5 and he knows them
exactly, Job xiv. 5. How elfe could he forefhew cer-
tainly mens death, as he did Mofes's, Deut. xxxi.
14. and that of Jeroboam's child, 1 Kings xiv. 12.

It is certain, that man cannot fubfift a moment,
but as God holds him in. life : fo the withdrawing
of his concourfe muft put an end to it, Pfal. xc. 3.
And he knows certainly what he will do, A£ls xv.
18. And who can doubt, but he certainly knows
when he is to receive his own people into glory,
and when the day of his enemies will come ? Fifteen
years were added to the years that Hez.kiah had
lived, but not to the term of life appointed of God.
But,

2. This uncertainty is to be underftood, with re-
ference to us. Though it is certain in refpe£l of
the decree of God, yet it is uncertain in refpect of
our knowledge of it. Men may conjecture about it,
by figns : and no doubt God may as he fees meet dif-
cover the time of one's removal, either to himfelf or
to others. But otherwife, it is moft uncertain to us.

Secondly, I fhall fhew how this uncertainty of
the time of our removal appears.

1. Our removal depends entirely on the will of
another, quite concealed from us, Luke xii. 36. It
is fo with, us, that we cannot go when we pleafe,
were we never fo fond of the other world, or weary
of this. It is the will of his command revealed,
that we wait the will of his providence for the
removing, in all cafes without exception, Exod.
xx. 13. It was the peculiar prerogative of the man
Chriit, to be Lord of his own life, John x. 18.

And

368 Of the Uncertainty of the Time of $ur Removal,

And though defperate proud finners invade it, he
can by his providence draw a bar before them, that
either in mercy or in wrath mall oblige them to wait
his time, of both which there have been inftances :
howbeit fometimes in wrath, the will of his provi-
dence attends their will, and gives them their fwing.
But however, our removal depends not on our own,
but his will, not to be difcovered but by the event;
which therefore makes it uncertain utterly to us.

2. We plainly perceive that God does not keep
one time for the removal of men into the other world.
Had he appointed one certain term of years and days,
to which every one mould come, and no body fall
fhor i of ; then we would have had no more ado to
know our time, but to have counted what we were
fhort of that common term of life : but there is no
fuch common term appointed, but fome are removed
fooner, others later ; and there is no ftage of life
whatfoever, infancy, childhood, youth, middle age,
old age, but feme are removed therein. And which
of them we have not feen (hall be ours, we know
not. So we are kept uncertain.

3. As there is no period of life, fo there is no
ftate of health, that may not be brangled by ficknefs,
and overthrown by death. When men are in a fixed
ftate of health, ftrong, lively, and vigorous, they
feem to be fartheft removed from death : but how
often do we fee death at the heels of fuch a ftate ?
How many ftrong and lufty go off as foon, as thefe
that are weak groaning under various infirmities ?
Job xxi. 23. — 26. We have an inftance, in the rich
man that fared fumptuoufly every day, as well as the
beggar which was laid at his gate full of fores, Luke
xvi. 22. Nay, often the weak and fickly prolong
their life, while the ftrong are mowed down and car-
ried off one after another, Job iii. 20. 21. Wherefore
is light give?i to him thit is in mifery, and life unto
the 'bitter in foul ? ivh'ch long for deaths but it cometh
net, and d\gj%r it more thanj^r hid treafurts? Com-

___ pare^

Of the Uncertainty of the Time of our Removal. 369

pared with Luke xii. 19. 20. And I will fay to my
foul, Soul, thou hafi much goods laid up for many years ;
take thine eafe, eat, drink, and he merry. But God
faid unto him, Thou fool, this night thy foul fhall be
required of thee. What uncertainty appears there ?

4; Oft-times when death is leaft minded, and
fartheft out of one's thoughts, it is at the door j the
removal into the other world comes when men are
thinking on nothing, but fixing themfelves and en-
joying the pleafures of this, 1 Theft*, v. 3. Fer when
they fhall fay, Peace and fafety i then fudden deft rue*
tion ctmeth upon them, as travail upon a woman with
child ; and they fhall not ejeape, Luke xii. 20. juft
cited. How many have revelled away into the other
world, going down to the fides of the pit, as with
tabret and pipe ! how many drunkards and debauchees
have never come to themfelves, till they were remo-
ved out of this world i going into that world without
a capacity for a previous thought of it ! So utterly
uncertain are men.

5. Man's life is liable to various accidents, for ta-
king it away, Eccl. ix 12. For man alfo knoweth not
his time, as the jifhes that are taken in an evil net,
and as the birds that are caught in the fnare ; fo are
the fans of men fnare d in an evil time, when it falleth

fuddenly upon them. What though you are in perfect
health, and no caufe of death appears from within ?
There are fo many things from without, that may
beat up your quarters in this world, and hurry you
into the other, that ye are dill at an uncertainty ; as
ivhen a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour t§
hew wood, and his handfetcheth a ftroke with the ax
to cut down the tree, and the head flippeth from the
helve, and lighteth upon bis neighbour, that he die,
Deut. xix. 5. Luke xiii. 1.4. Fire, water, ftones
falling or lying in the way, beads of the field, fowls
of the air, &c. a thoufand unforefeen accidents may
be inftruments of our removal, blowing out life.

6. How often do men feeking life, find death;

and

370 Of the Uncertainty of the time of our Removal*

and labouring for their ftay, haften their removal ?
Such uncertainty are we kept at. Senfual men pam-
per the body, with defign to keep it up : and by their
intemperance in eating and drinking, deftroy it ; lay-
ing en fo much fuel, that they put out the fire. And
where that is not the cafe, how often is death found
in phyfic, and in neceflary food, taken with a defign
to preferve life ? 2 Kings iv. 40. A morfel at a meal
has choked forne, and removed them from their co-
vered table into the other world. A hair in milk,
and a Hone in a raifin, it is faid, has done the buii-
nefs.

7. Laftlf) Where there has been no vifible caufe
from without, nor fenfible caufe from within, how
many have fuddenly dropt down dead, to the perfect
furprife of their relations and neighbours aware of no
caufe thereof ! Our life is in the hand of the. Giver
always, as a ball in the hand of him that holds it up :
there needs no more but to withdraw that hand, and
that moment we fall, Pfal. xc. 3. Thou turneji man
to definition : andfayft> Return, ye children of men*
& civ. 29.

Thirdly, It remains on this head to fhew why
the Lord has kept men at this uncertainty. No
doubt God could have made the time of our removal
into the other world as open as the time of the fetting
of the. fun, &c. But he has concealed it from us. It
is meet to confider why. We pretend not to give a
reafon moving the divine will : but the reafonable-
nefs of it, or for what caufes the Lord has willed the
concealment of that time from us, we may confider.
The reafons are thefe.

1. It is bed for his own glory and honour, the
chief end of all things. Hereby he (hews,

(1.) His mafterfhip over mankind, who of right
are all his fervants, however refractory moil of them
are. Every mailer thinks it his right to have his fer-
vants at his call, without a previous tryft, Matth.
viii. 9. How much more is it God's right over us,

to

Qftht Uncertainty of the Time of our Removal 371

to call us off when he will, from the place where he
has fet us, to the plaee he has appointed us for after ?
Our Lord teacheth us this, that he claims this as a
Mafter to come when he will, and that his fervants
be ready waiting on, Luke xii. 36. 38. And ye your*
f elves like unto men that wait for their Lord) when he
will return from the wedding, that vjhen he cometh
and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. —
Jndif he Jhall come in the fecond watch, or come in the
third watch, andjindthemfo, blejfedare thofe fervants.

(2) The efficacy of his authority, Eccl. viii. 8.
There is no man that hath power over the fpirit to re-
tain the fpirit ; neither hath he power in the day of
death : and there is no difcharge in that war, neither
fball wickednefs deliver thofe that are given to it. He
has revealed the will of his command to men, in his
laws ; and that is difregarded in great part by all,
and wholly by fome, in life. How neceffary then is
it, that the authority, fo often trampled on by mor-
tals in life, mould be vigorously executed at length,
in obliging them to obey the will of his providence,
without knowing aforehand when ? He fets tryfts
with men for duty, which they regard not : the vin-
dicating of his authority requires their removal to
give account, upon fight of his fummons.

(3.) His fovereignty. It is a fign of his fovereign
dominion over us. Solomon obferves, Prov. xxv. 3.
that the heart ef kings is unfearchable. Kings of the
earth have their fecrets of government, which their
fubjefts are not to pry into, but obey orders : God
has a fealed book of decrees, which none but the
Lamb is worthy to open the feals of. It proclaims
his fovereign dominion over mankind, that he keeps
fuch a momentous point concerning them concealed,
ver. 2. And it is apt to ftrike an awe of him on
thofe who confider it, as of an abfolute Lord whom
we are to obey without difputing, and upon the flrft
call 5 with the depths of whole counfel concerning
■us, we are not to meddle, Deut. xxix. ult.

2. It

372 Of the Uncertainty of the Time cf our Removal,

2. It is beft for the good of mankind that it is con-
cealed. Were the book of the decrees laid open be-
fore the world, and a liberty given to every one that
would, to turn it up, and look out the time of mor-
tals removal ; fools would readily run to it, but wife
men, I think, would ftart aback. That the time of
our removal into the other world is kept a fecret with
God, clofely concealed, is of good ufe. If ye alk,
what ufe it is for ? It is of ufe,

(i.) For a badge of our dependence on God, every
moment. Hereby we are taught, that we are his
debtors for every other breath we draw, and pulfe
that beats : we fee we are mere precarious beings in
the world, tenants at will, not knowing when we
may be charged to remove. By this means great
and fmall, old and young, are obliged to fee, how
they wholly depend on the will of God as to their
continuance here : a lefibn we need to have incul-
cated on us, we are fo apt to forget it.

(2.) For a token to remember the other world. It
is natural for them that muft remove, and know not
how foon, to be often thinking on the place they
muft remove to : fo our uncertainty as to the time of
our removal out of this world to the other, natively
leads us to think of that world. How ready are we
to fpend our days in a forgetfulnefs of the world we
are going to, as matters now (land ! And how much
more would it be fo, if wc were fure that death were
at fo many years diftance as fometimes it is !

(3.) For a curb to our lulls, to check and bridle
cur unruly affections. This concealing is of good
ufe to keep us from indulging ourfelves in floth, to
dill our anxiety, and reprefs all carnal earthly uiTec-
tions. He that coniiders the uncertainty of the time
of his death, is furnifhed with an ufeful mean to cool
his affections in the purfuit of this world, which
otherwife he would be apt to give the loofe unto.

(4.) For to be a balance between the rifing and
{landing generations, the young and the aged. While

both

Of the Uncertainty of the Time of our Removal. 373

both are kept at an uncertainty, that it is not known,
which of them mall bury the other^and be their
heirs, this is a mean to keep both in due affection to,
and concern for one another. While there is fo much
unnaturalnefs in the world, as matters now (land,
what would it be if that were certain, that is now
but probable ?

(5.) For encouragement to people's regular pur-
fuit of their worldly affairs, tending to the good of
fociet-y. If men were certain as to the time of their
removal, it would no doubt make them very flack in
their bufinefs, and at length caufe them quite to give
it over, unlefs pure neceiiity obliged them thereto :
and this would tend to their families difadvantage,
and the prejudice of the public. But God has in
wifdom concealed that matter, fo that hope of enjoy-
ment caufeth men to be doing till God bid them
flop. .

(6.) For a feafoning to the comforts of life, that
men may get the allowable comfort in them, and
the fap may not be from the beginning fqueczed out
of them. If when the child is born, it were certain*
ly known it were to live but fo many days, weeks,
or months; or that the parent mutt leave it at fuch a
certain time; where would the comfort of the rela-
tion be? How ofren would the view of the day of
the parting extirruifh it? But God, by keeping, it
out of fight, prevents thefe forrows.

(7.) For a band to oblige men to act, not accord-
ing to future events, but the prefent call of provi-
dence, and fo to make them fubfervient to the de-
figns thereof. Had Jacob known beforehand, that
JofepVs brethren would have caff, hirn into the pit,
and fold him for a Have, he would not have let him
go. Who would ever entertain the thought of put-
ting that comfort to their mouth, which they cer-
tainly knew would be prefendy matched from them,
and leare them pierced with many forrows, which
yet often falls out ? But God will have mens acting
3 1 - to

374 Of Readinefs for our Removal,

to be regulated, not by events, but the prefent call
of providence. And men may have peace in that,
which providence indeed pointed them to, though
the event be heavy.

(8.) Lajilyy For a memorial to be always ready and
on our watch. It is reafonable we mould be fo,
and that at no time we fhould give ourfelves to car-
nal fecurity : but did we certainly know the time of
our removal, we would be apt to fall alleep for the
time it were at a diftance, and think it would be
enough to watch and be on our guard when the time
were at hand.

Learn we from all this to be well fatisfied in the
divine conduct as wife and good, in concealing from
us the time of our removal ; and anfwer the ends of
that difpenfation, in acknowledging our continual
dependence on God, taking it as a token to remem-
ber the other world, &c.

IV. We are next to confider the readinefs for that
removal. And there is a twofold readinefs for it,
habitual and actual.

Firfiy Habitual, in refpecl: of our ftate. In the
flate we are in by nature, we are by no means ready
for that removal ; if we die in that ftate, we perifh.
We muft be out of it in the ftate of grace, if we
would be ready, i ThelT. v. 4. But ye9 brethren, are
not in darknefsj that that day floould overtake you as a
thief. Col, i 12. 13. Giving thanks unto the Fa-
ther, 'which hath made us meet to be partakers of the
inheritance of the faints in light : who hath delivered
MS from the power of darknefs, and hath tranflated us
Jnto the kingdom of his dear Son. This is neceilary
>for our fafe palTage and arrival in the other World.
There is no getting into the ftate of glory, if we are
not firft brought into the ftate of grace. To die in
the ftate we were born -in, will buiy us in the pit.
This readinefs confifts,

1. In

Of Readinefs for our Removal. 37$

I. In being brought into a relative ftate of grace,
whereby the relation we ftand in to God by nature,
which is a miferabie one, may be changed into a fa-
ving relation to him. And this lies especially in four;
things.

(1.) A ftate of j unification, pardon and abfoliitionv.
By nature we are God's criminals, under his curfe, ,
Eph. ii. 3. How can we be ready in that cafe, for
the other world ? What can we expect going into it
in that condition, but the fentence, Depart from mey
ye curfeJy into ever Lifting fire, prepared for the devil
and his angels? Matth. xxv. 41. Therefore, if we
would be ready, we muft fee to be juftified perfons,
R.om. v. r. 2. We rouft fue out a pardon in God's
way, and not reft till we be accepted of him as righ-
teous : for it is fuch only can have accefs to heaven,
from whom the curfe of the broken law is removed.
Then, and not till then, is the bar in our way removed.

(2.) A. date of reconciliation and peace with God,
Amos iii. 3. Can two walk together, except they be
Agreed ? There can be no walking with him here nor
hereafter without it. We are born in a ftate of en*
mity with. God ; there is a legal enmity on the pari
of heaven againft us, as a real one on our part:
fhould we remove to the other world in that condi-
tion, what could be the iffue, but that, Luke xix.
27. Thofe mine enemies which would not that I Jbould
reign over them, bring hither, and flay them before
me? Therefore to be ready for the other world, we
muft be in a ftate of peace and friendfhip with the
Lord of it. If we be for Abraham's bofom, we muft
be as he was, the friends of God, Jam. ii. 23. This?
is the defign of the gofpel, that we be reconciled to
Cody 2 Cor. v. 20.

(3.) A ftate of adoption into the family of God,
1 John iii. 2. By nature we are children of the de-
vil, John viii. 44. If we remove in that ftate to the
other world, what can we expect but to go home in-
to our father's houfe i" Therefore, if we would be
I i 2 / ready,

%j6 Cf * Readinefs for our Removal,

ready, that relation muft be diflblved \ and we muft
be adopted into the family of God, that when we
fail, we may be received into everlafting habitations
with his family. If we are not cf God's family in
the lower houie, we will never be of it in the upper :
for they are all but one family, Eph. in. 15.

(4.) A ftate of peculiar intereft in God as our own
God. When the man Chrift was going to heaven,
he fays, / ajcend unto my Father and your Father,
and to my God and your God, John xx. 17 God him-
felf is the reward of his people, who therefore muft
be theirs ere they can be ready to remove into th-e
other world, Gen. xv. 1. In our natural ftate we
are without God, Eph. ii. 12. And mould we die
without him, where can we expect to land in the
other world, but without, where are the dogs, 6r.
in outer darknefs ? Wherefore, to be ready, we muft
before removing have our Maker to be our Hufband,
God our Creator to be our God in covenant, accord-
ing to Heb. viii. 10 / will be to them a God. For
there lies heaven's happinefs, Rev. xxi. 3. — God him,'
felj ' Jball be with them, and be their God.

This relative ftate of grace is necefTary to found
our right and title to heaven, Matth. xxv. 34. Come,
ye bkjjed of my Father, inherit the kingdom, &c. And
certainly we can never be ready to remove into the
other world, till once that is expedited. Nobody
can expect to invade it by force, to get into that part
of the other world which they have no right to. No
man could judge himfelf ready to remove into a farm
or heritage here, to fettle there, till once he had got
a right to it : and fhall one imagine himfelf ready for
the other world, while he has no right to heaven ?

2. This readinefs confifts in being brought into a
real ftate of grace, whereby the temper and difpoii-
tion our fouls are in by nature, quite unfit for heaven,
may be changed into a heavenly one, 2 Cor. v. 5.
Now he that hath wrought us for the f elf -fame thing,

is

df Readinefs for eur Removal. 377

is Gtd) ivho alfo hath given unto us the earnejl of the
Spirit, This lies in two things.

(1.) The quickening of our dead fouls, Eph. ii. 1.
We are by nature fpiritually dead ; God the foul of ■
our fouls is departed from us : fo we are lifelefs and
movelefs; dead to God, as really as our departed
friends are dead to us, Should we remove in that
cafe to tht other world, what iffue could be looked •
for, but that he fhould bury us out of his fight, as
we do our dead friends ? Therefore to be ready,, we •
muft be quickened by the return of the Spirit of Chrift :
into us, Rom. viii. 2,

This is called the firft regeneration, whereby there
is a new- principle of.aclion put into the foul, by
which ihe foul believes on Chriii, and actively unites,.
with him, John i. 12. 13. and is thereby brought.;
into the relative ft ate forefaid,

(2.) The fanctifying of our natures throughout^ ,
I Theff. v. 23. By nature we are unholy all overy .,
7 it. i. 1 5. The foul in all its faculties is wholly de-
filed ; and confequently the body in all its members.
Sin reigns in the natural man, living lufts have the
maftery of him. What a removal can one have in
this cafe, where the image of God is defaced, Satan's
image fet up, and fin bears full fway, but that in
Prov. xiv. 32. The wicked is driven aiuay in his wick-
tdnejs ? To be ready then for the other world, we.
mufr be fanclifted all overj the mind muit be en-
lightened, the will turned towards the will of God3
the affections regulated, and we renewed in the whole
man.

This is called the fecond regeneration, whereby
the foul being in Chrift by faith is changed into his
image, and fo made a new creature, 2 Cor. v* 170 .
Receiving grace for grace in Chrift, it has new ha« -
bits implanted in it, fitting for the doing of good {
works, Eph. ii. 10.

This real {late of grace is. neceffary to our being r
meet, or fit for heaven, Col. i. 12. % Cor, v. 5. fore- -

378 ■ Of Readinefs for our Removal.

cited. Without it we are no more meet for ir, than
fifties for meadows, an idiot for an eftate, or a dead
man for a feaft. Men look on heaven as a place of
eafe and reft; without confidering it as a holy reft
from fin, and an eternal exercife of holinefs in heart
and life : if they fo confidered it, they would foon fee
their unmeetnefs for it ; and that without holinefs m
manfhall fee the Lord, Heb. xii. 14.

3. Lafly^ This readinefs confifts in perfevering in
that ftate, relative and real, unto the end, Matth.
xxiv. 13. He that fhall endure unto the end, the fame
fhall be faved. Rev. ii. 10. Be thou faithful unto
death, and I will give thee a crown of life. Apo-
ftates cannot be ready for the other world : if one re-
moves in apoftafy, what can be expected, but as.
Heb. x< 38. God's foul /hall have no pie afire in him?
Therefore the perfeverance of the faints is enfured
by the ftrongeft fecurity, John x. 28. 29. 1 give un~
to them eternal life, and they Jhall never perijb, nei-
ther Jh ill any pluck them out of my hand. My Father
which gave them mey is greater than all : and none is
able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. So that
whofoever do make never fo fair an appearance, but
afterward fall away, they difcover that they never
were in a ftate of grace, relative nor real, 1 John
ii. 19.

Secondly, There is actual readinefs, in refpect of
cur frame (Luke xii. 35. 36.) and circumftances.
The former gives us a fafe, this an abundant entrance
into the better world, 2 Pet. i. 10. 11. Now one
may be habitually ready, who is not actually fo ;
though not eontrariwife. But we are called, both
by God's word and our own neceflity, to actual rea-
dinefs for that removal. This lies in two things.

1. Putting our houfe in order, If. xxxviii. 1. It
is a piece of neceffary preparation for the other world,
to have our affairs in this world, in fuch a ftate, as
we may fitly leave them : and no man of bufinefs
€an be excufed in a ftothful leaving his affairs in con-

fufion,

Of Rcadlnefs for our Renuvil. 379

fufion, while he is not fure at what time he may be
called off. For thereby others may be wronged ; and
if it be finful to wrong others in life, it cannot be
blamelefs to wrong them at death, when there is
no more accefs to right them.

2. Keeping our fouls cafe in order, Luke xii. 35.
Let your loins be girded about , and your lights burning*
Though in convention the gracious ftate of our fouls
is fecured ; yet it will requite much diligence to keep
our fouls cafe right for our removal, and flothfulnefs
may put us out of c?Se for it, Eecl. x. 18. The be-
ing of grace is fufHcient for the one, but the extrrcife
of grace is neceffary for the other. Now an orderly
cafe, fit for one's removing to the other world, lies
in thefe feven things.

(1.) Keeping up actual communion with God, in
the courfe of our life, Cant. ii. ult. Until the day
break, aid the fkadows flee away : turn, my Beloved^
and be thou like a roe, &c. Thus was Enoch ready
for his removal, Gen. v. 24. Enoch zualked with God,
and he was not : for God took him. He who would
be actually ready, mutt walk with God in ordinances,
in providences, and the whole tenor of his life; being
fpiritual in religious duties, an obferver of providen-
ces, accommodating himfelf thereto, and fetting God
before him in the courfe of his actions. Thus he will
ferve an apprenticefhip for the better world, and
will be in cafe for a removal, fince that will only be
to him a change of his place, not of his company.

(2.) A heart weaned from this world, Col. iii. 3.
4. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Chrijl in
God. When Chrijl:, zuho is our life, /bail appear, then
Jhall ye alfo appear with him in glory. David was in
cafe for removing, when he faid, Pfal. cxxxi. 2. My
foul is even as a weaned child; and Paul, when he
iaid, Gal. vi. 14. God forbid th.it I Jhould glory fave
in the crofs of our Lord Jefus Chrijl, by whom the
worll is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. When
one is quick and lively in his utlcuion to this world,

eafily

380 Of Readinefs for our Removal.

eafily and feelingly touched with its fmiles and frowns,
he will be at death like unripe fruit, that takes a fore
pull to pluck it off the tree : but the weaned believer
will, like ripe fruit, drop off eafily. So God's blad-
ing of mens worldly comforts, exercifing them with
infirmities, pains, and ficknefs, are kindly defigned
for this end.

(3.) Purity of conscience, A £r.s xxiv. 15. 16. And
have hope towards God> — -that there /ball be a rejur-
retlion of the dead, both of the jnft and unjuft. And
herein do I exercife my/elf to have always a confcience
void of offence toward God, and toward men. Hereby
it is provided, that theie is no (landing controverfy
betwixt God and the foul; in which cafe one is not
fit for removal. This is obtained by a ftrict. and ten-
der walk in every thing, whereby the confcience is
fo far kept from defilement, PfaL Ixvi, 18. 1 John
iiL 20, 21. And by a daily ufe-making of the blood
of Chrif!:, whereby defilements, which we will in-
evitably contract, are wiped away, John xiii 10.
A thorn of unpardoned guilt in a believer's confci-
ence, renders him in ill cafe for the great journey.

(4.) Diligence in our generation-work, Luke xii.
43. Bleffed is that fervant , whom his lord when hi
Cometh^ fhall find fo doing. David had a kindly re-
moval upon this, Acts xiii. 36. After he had Jerved
his own generation by the wilt of God, he fell mjlecp.
That man has lived long em ugh, who has got his gene-
ration work allotted him expedited, though he do not
live to any great age : and they that through iloth ne-
glect it, will find themfelves carried off ere they are
ready, though they beceme very old. Happy is the
mail, that is found fo doing, doing ilill on, as one.
that fees death at his back : and it is kindly, if. the
Mailer fooneil loofe the foreft wrought fervant.

(5.) Wiilingnefs to remote and be gone at the
dialler's call, Luke ii. 29. 30. Lord) now letteji thou
thy fervant depart in peace > according to thy word,
F§r mine eyes have jeen thy falvation. They who are

mortified

Of Readinefs for our Removal. 3§i

mortified to life in a Chriftian manner, refigned to
the divine difpofal as to their flaying and going, lea-
ving to him the time and manner, are in cafe for re-
moval. In the foul's clofmg with Chrift, there is a
dead ftrcke given to the love of this life, Luke xiv.
26. But there is need of repeating the ftroke, till
the foul be in cafe to come freely away.

(6.) A well-grounded expectation of a better life
in the other world, 2 Tim. iv 7. 8. 1 have fought a
good fight, I have Jinijhed my courfe, I have kept the
faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righieoufnefs, which the Lord the righteous Judge /ball
give me at that day ; and not to me only, hut unto ail
them alfo that love his appearing. For men to pre-
tend wiilingnefs to remove without that, argues either
a brutifn ftupidity, or a delufive fecurity, or a defpe-
rate impatience j in ail which cafes, men are not rea-
dy for the removal, however willing. But where
there is a Chriftian aiTurance or well grounded hop*
of a fafe landing, that is a piece of the readinefs re-
quired, 2 Pet. i. 10. 11.

(7.) Lafily, "Watch fulnefs and waiting, Luke xii.
37. Blejfed are thofe fervants, whom the Lord when
he cometh fJja/l find watching. Our Lord has told us,
that he will come, but has not told us when : this re-
quires us at all times to guard againli fpiritual fleep
and carnal fecurity; and follow Job's refolve, chap.
xiv. 14 Ad the days of my appointed time will 1 wait
till my change come. They are not ready who are
catched unawares.

Now thefe things make an actual readinefs, which
is neceffary,

[1.] To fit us for what kind of death it pleafes the
Lord to remove us by. Hereby we will be in cafe
to remove by fudden death, as good old Eli did, by
a raving ficknefs, as well as by a compofed one ; or
by a violent tofs of ficknefs ; or lethargy. For then
our work is done, all is ready ♦, we have nothing ado
but to go*

382 Of Readinefs for oar Removal,

[2.] To prevent a hurry, when death is come fo
the door. Though one is habitually ready, if they
are not thus actually ready, the heart in that cafe is
put in confufion with the alarm ; and then there arc
many things to do, and little time to do them in*
And that makes a fad hurry; whereas there might be
much compofure obtained by this method.

[3,] For our comfortable paffage, 2 Tim. iv. 7. 8.
abo?e cited. The neglect hereof occafions even God's
children fometimes, either to go off in a cloud, and
fet in a mid ; or elfe to have a fore ftruggle about
their cafe, ere they get their ravelled cafe righted.
We are not to limit fovereignty, which may leave at
any time the rfloft watchful Chriflian in a damp, as
the fun fometimes in a moment gets under a cloud :
but fureiy this is the ordinary means for a comfort-
able removal.

[4.] Lafiljy For our greater glorifying of God in
our removal, as the worthies, Heb. xi. of whom it is
faid, ver. 13- Thefe all died in fait hy not having recei-
ved theprsmifes, but having feen themafaroff^andiuere
ferfuaded of them, and embraced them, and confejfed
that they w ere ft rangers and pilgrims on the earth. We
{hould ftudy not only to live, but to die to his glory.
That is our laft opportunity of acting for God in the
world ; and it is pity we mould be out of cafe for it.
Now when we are thu3 actually ready beforehand,

1.) We will have the more time to act for God's
honour, our own fafety being already fecured, as in
Stephen's cafe, whofe laft breath was fpent in pray-
ing for his murderers, Acts vii. nit. They that have
much to do for their own cafe on a death -bed, will
have little time to fpare for the behoof of others to be
left behind.

2.) We will have the more heart, and be in bet-
ter capacity for confulting God's honour and the good
of others ; as good old Jacob, while blefling his fons,
lifts up his foul in that devout ejaculation, Gen. xlix.
18. 1 have waited for thy falvttion, 0 Lord* A clear

and

Ufe of InJlruBion and Information, 383

and comfortable ftate of our own fouis cafe, will be
oil to the wheels in that matter.

I (hall now make fome practical improvement of
this fubje£fc.

Use I. for mftruclion and information. Learn
hence,

1. That this world is not our home, but the place
of our fojourning : but our home is in the other world,
Heb. xiii. 14. We are here as ftrangers in an inn
by the road; but the grave is our long home, and
the other world our ererlafting home. When men
go abroad in this world as travellers, they lay their
account not to ftay abroad •, but fometimes they fettle
abroad for good and all, fo that their return home is
uncertain : but our removal from this to the other
world is abfolutely certain, without all peradventure,
it cannot fail.

2. It concerns us nearly, to keep loofe gripes of
this world, and not to dip too deep in it j but to ufe
it paffingly as thofe who are not to ftay with it, 1 Cor.
vii 29. 30. 31. The comforts and conveniencies of
life, are like fervants in an inn, who wait on us to the
door, but return to wait on other ftrangers when we
are away. It would be folly for the traveller to fet
his heart on the inn •, for that would make his remo-
val from it but the greater grief.

3. It will be our wifdom to acquaint ourfdves, as
much as may be, with the other world, Job xvii. 13.
14. Were one but to remove into another farm, he
would furely acquaint himfelf with it beforehand :
and (hall we, who aie to remove into the other world,
live ftrangers to it? Nay, let us often vifit it, by
thinking of it. Though we cannot fee it beforehand
with the eye, we may by faith : though we cannot
go thither for trial, we have the map of it in ths
fcriptures.

4. It concerns us carefully to acquaint ourfelves
with the paftage to it, 1 Cor. xv. 31. Death is that

paffage,

384 Ufe of Inftruftion and Information.

,paiTage, which' we muft certainly all take. And our
happy or wretched landing on the other fide, de-
pends entirely on the couife we fleer through it.
"Wbat need have we then to be taking inftrucUons
about it, fixing thefn on our hearts timely, that when
we come to pafs it, we may take the paiTage right,
where fo many are fhipwrecked ? It is indeed the
bufinefs of life, to learn to die.

5. It is varn for us to be carnally fecure, and pro-
mife on the head of the time to come : for our remo-
val is uncertain. In all our projects, hopes, and ex-
pectations of things of this life, we mould balance
them with the view of the uncertainty of our time,
Jam. iv. J 3. 14. 15. It is folly to boaft of what we
are not fure of, Prov. xxvii. 1, How many a beau-
tiful web of contrivance in the fancies of carnal men,
has been fuddenly cut ofF, perifhing in the thought
without ever going further ? Pfal. cxlvk 4. Luke
xii. 20.

6. It is folly to be lifted up with profperity in the
world : for it is certain it will not \^{ty and fo un-
certain when it will come to an end. that it may end
ere we are aware, Prcv. xxiii. 5, If we begin to
nettle in a well -feathered neft, we may quickly be
tumbled down out of it : and we will get nothing of
it with us to the other world. Worldly profperity
makes indeed eafy living here ; but it is fo enfnaring,
that it is hard to make the way through it, to the
happy part of the other world, Mark x. 23.

7. It is needlefs to be cad down with adverfity in
the world : for that will not J aft neither. The world's
fmiles and frowns, both of them pafs away like the
foam on the water, Eccl. ix. 6.' If one meets with
forry entertainment in an inn by the road, he com-
forts himfelf, that he is not to (lay with it. In your
adverfity, your relief may be nearer than ye are a-
ware; your removal is uncertain. Lazarus was cu»
red of his fores and his hard lair at the rich man's
gate, when carried by angeio into Abraham's bofom.

8. Loftljt

Ufe of Reproof, 3S5

8. Laftly, We can at no time be fafe, unprepared
for the other world : for what may come at any time,
we muft be ready at all times, if we would be fafe
indeed ; becaufe whatever time we are not ready, it
may come and furprife us unprepared.

Use II. of reproof, and that to three forts of per-
fons.

1. Atheifls and unbelievers of a future ftate, who
pretend that when men die, they are done ; and that
there are no future rewards and punimments. Such
were the Sadducees of old, who judging the foul no-
thing different from the temperament of the body,
held the foul's perifhing with the body, and that
there was no refurre&ion, and confequently no re-
moval into another world, A£ts xxiii. 8. The whole
divine revelation witneffeth againft this, fo that our
Lord proved the refurre&ion from the Pentateuch,
Matth. xxii. 31. 32. The being and nature of God
as holy and juft, and Governor of the world, over-
throws it ; fince it is evident, that it is not confident
therewith, that evil men fhould be always the moft
profperous, and the good the moft affli&ed : yet fo it
muft be, if there is not a removal into the other
world, where the fcales will be turned; for if in this
life only we have hope in Chrift, -we are of all men moji
miferable, 1 Cor. xv. 19 Befides, this has a witnefs
againft it, in every man's breaft ; that it is to be
doubted if any man can reach to be fully fatisfied in
this principle, Rom. ii. 15. confcience accufing even
for what they are in no hazard for in this woxld,

There is a lamentable growth of fuch principles at
this day, that the foundations of Chriftianity were
perhaps never in the time of the greateft darknefs fo
much ftruck at. Of which I mall only fay thefe three
things.

(1.) The prevalence of a fpirit of profanenefs and

enmity againft ferious godlinefs and pradical religion,

has turned the bent that way, 2 Th eft, ii. ii. 12.

When men are fet on their iuHs, to follow them at

3 K k any

gfti Ufe of Reproof,

any rate, they muft feek a (belter under Which they
may mod peacefully enjoy them : hence thefe prin-
ciples are greedily drunk up in the generation. The
inundation of profanenefs makes fuch a flood, as.
throws down before it the foundation- principles of
religion ftanding in their way.

(2 ) The obfcuring of, and flinching from the dec-
trine of Chrift crucified, his righteoufnefs and grace,
has made the progrefs of fuch principles more eafy.
The manifestation of the myitery of Chrift to the
world, is the great divine ordinance for its reforma-
tion. This the apoftles ufed among Jews and Pa-
gans, and therewith fucceeded, 1 Cor. i. 23. 24.
Eph. iii. 8. A&s xvii. 18. The Pagan moralifts ad-
vanced fine reafonings without this : but they could
not prevail. Yet at this day, not the former, but
the latter method, is mod infilled on ; as if men were
more apt to be made religious by force of.reafon,
than by difcovering to them the righteoufnefs and
grace of Chrift. But that method will be found but
a betraying of the caufe of religion ; as lamentable
experience this day declares.

'(3.) The growth of fuch principles is a fad prog-
noftic of fome uncommon ftroke abiding the genera-
tion. There is no mention of Saxiduceesrin the Old
Teftament; but they fwarmed among the Jews in
the time of our Saviour and his apoftles. And on the
back of that, that nation got fuch a ruinating ftroke, as
they never before met with. And the Sadduceifm of
this day, and daring ftrokes at the root of Chriftianity,
arc terrible figns foreboding fome uncommon ftroke.

2. The bold and curious intruders into the divine
fecrets, to reach a certainty of that, which- God will
ha^e uncertain as to us. , God will have us uncer-
tain, whether we fhall live long, or ftiort while, when
we (hall remove. How dangerous muft it be then
to ufe unlawful arts for the difcovery of theie ; and
confult fortune-tellers on thefe or the like future
events ? Dtttt. xxrx. uli. What good ufe can be made

of

Ufe of Reproofs and Exhortation* 387

ofTuch pretended difcoveries ? If one is anfwered ac-
cording to his wiiri, he is ready to be turned fecure,
and carried off depending on providence, and difap-
pointed at length. If otherwife, what a fnareand-
rack do people bring themfelves by that means ?

3. The fecure and carelefs* who are at no pains
to make ready, but live, as if they were never to re-
move hence. This is* the prevailing temper of the
world, Matth. xxiv. 38. 39. For as in the days that
were before the flood, they were eating and drinking^
marrying and giving in marriage , until the day that
Noe entered into the ark', and knew not until the flood
came, and took them all away ; fofhall aifo the coining
of the Son of man be. It is a world of floth, wherein
moil men confider little of the world to come. So-
lomon fends fuch to the ant, to learn a leffon of fore*
iight and provident care, Prov. vi. 6 — ii« Go to
the ant, thou fluggard, confider her ways, and be
wife : which having no guide, overfeer^ or ruler , pro-
•uideth her meat in the fummer, and gather eth her food
in the harve/h Now long wilt thoujleep, 0 fluggard ?
when wilt thou arife out of thy Jleep ? &c. Men make
ready for to-morrow in this world, for days and years to
come in it, which oft-times they never fee •, but flight
the moft neceflary preparation for the other world.

Use ult. of exhortation. Let us then be exhort-
ed and ftirred up fo to prepare for our removal into
the other world, as to be always ready for it. I fliaJl
branch out this into three particulars natively arifing
from the text, viz.

1. Make ready for your removal.

2. Delay not to make ready.

3. Having made ready, keep ready.

First, Make ready for your removal into the
other woild. Since it is fo certain that we mult ail
remove, and uncertain when,- we muft found the
alarm to all, to make ready for it. Therefore awake
and beftir .yourfelv.es to put matters in order for the
removal. Here I mail,

K k 2 1. Suggeft

3SS life of Exhortation) and Motives.

1. Suggeft fome motives to prefs you to make ready*

2. Confider the impediments of people's making
ready, to be removed out of the way.

3. Give directions or advices for making ready.
Fir/l, I am to offer fome motives to prefs you to

make ready. Confider,

1. Our removal is certain, there is no efcaping of
it, Pfal. lxxxix. 48. What man is he that liveth, and

Jhall not fee death ? /hall he deliver his Joul from the
hand of the grave ? There is a time appointed for
our removal piecifely : and when that time comes,
ready or unieady we muft go ; the grim meflenger
will not wait, Eccl. viii. 8. There is no man that
hath power over the fpirit to retain the fpirit ; neither
hath he power in the day of death : and there is no dif-
charge in that war, neither Jhall ivickednefs deliver
thofe that are given to it. Sometimes people fit at
home, becaufe they are not ready to go away when
they are called $ or the caller will wait, till they
make themfelves ready. But when the hour appoint-
ed for our removal comes, the meflenger death will
neither wait till we be ready, nor go away without
us.

2. We are all naturally unready for that removal,
quite unready and unfit for it. For, (1.) We want
a title to heaven, the place of happinefs in the other
world, and are bound over to hell the place of mife-
ry there, by the curfe of the broken law, Gal. iii. ic*
Eph. ii. 3. How can we venture into that world in
this cafe ? We have the breaking of that bond of
wrath to feek, and the getting of that title to heaven
conftituted. Till this be done, we arc utterly unrea-
dy. (2.) We are novvife meet for heaven, but meet
for the pit of deftrudlion, being yet in our fins. How
can the natural man, that is yet under the guilt, do-
minion, and pollution of his (in, be ready for the
King's palace, but his prifon, in the other world ?

3. Our eternal ftate in the other world depends on
what readinefs we are in for removing to it, Eccl.

xi.

Motives to make ready, 3^9

xi. 3. If the tree fall toward the foutb, or toward the
north ; in the place where the tree falteth, there it
Jhall be. They that are made ready for heaven, will
be received into it; they that are not, will find the
gates thereof fhut on them, Matth. xxv. 10. And
without there is outer darknefs, weeping and gnafh-
ing of teeth, chap. xxii. 13. Since fuch a weight
hangs on our being ready,., what .unaccountable follyv
is it not to make ready ?

4. There is no making ready there, Eccl. ix. 10&,
For there is no work,- nor device, nor knowledge, nor
ivifdom in the grave whither thou goeft. Men may-
go from home in no fit condition to appear and fhew
themfelves in . a ftrange place ; but they may get
themfelves fitted out there where they are going: but
it is not fo in this cafe. There is no buying of oil.
more for the lamps, when once the Bridegroom is
come. If death (trip us not of the body of the fins .
of the fieihy which it certainly will not. do, if we are
not begun before to put off the old man ; it will go
with us into the other world, and hang about us for =
ever, Prov. xiv. 32. The. wicked . is L drivm . away in ,
his wickednefs.

5. There is no coming back again, when once we.
are removed, Job xiv. 14. If a man die, Jhall he live
again ? Could we expect .a return into this world, to *
mend what was amils in our former removal •, that i£
we were not ready the firft time we went away, we s
fhould be fure to make ready the next time ; the mat-
ter would be the lefs. But it is not fo. The removal .
out of this world that we muft make, is never to rec-
tum. Sure, that is a loud'calLto make ready for it.

6. The nature of the removal requires a making -
ready for it. We make many removes in this world
that are fo infignificant, that they require no prepa=
ration for them : but in the meantime> we make ibme^..
That it would be unaccountable not to make ready
for them. Much more is it fo in this cafe -.-for it is, .

(1.) Agoing a great journey, FiVJ. xxxix,. ulr. 0

K.k.3. . Jj?.*t.'- -'

39© Motives to make ready*

fpare me, that 1 may recover ftrength> heftre I go
hence , and be no more. Eccl. ix. 10. What rational
man going out of the country or the kingdom, though
but for a time, will not be making ready for it be-
forehand ? But what is going over the feas, in com-
parifon of going through the valley of the fhadow of
death ? What is going into other countries, compared
with going into the other world ? It is a long and
dangerous journey ; and nothing the lefs weighty,
that it is common, being the way of all flefli, fince
it is a journey we will never come back over again.
Wherefore make ready for this journey, make time-
ly provifion for it, take your way-marks right, and
fecure a comfortable lodging there.

(2.) A going to a marriage, which ye have been
invited to, whether ye be wife or foolifh virgins,
Matth. xxv. The marriage is betwixt (Thrift and be«
Jievers. In the gofpel finners are invited to it, and
called to make reacty for it, in this world. In the
other world that marriage is folemnized, and there
is the eternal marriage -feaft, beginning with the
night of death's coming on : it is held in ChrifVs Fa-
ther's houfe there, full of glorious light. But with-
out is nothing but darknefs. Death is the going
away to it-, what time they that are ready are taken
into the marriage houfe, they that are not ready are
barred out in outer darknefs. Wherefore make ready
for this marriage, on which depends your making or
undoing for evermore, Rev. xix. 7.

(3.) A going to a judgement- feat, even the tribunal
of the Judge of all, Heb. ix. 27. It is appointed unto
men once to die, but after this the judgement. We
are debtors to the divine juftice, and muft anfwer it.
We cannot deny the debt, we are unable to pay, the
longer it runs on the more it increafeth : we muft
make ready, by employing the Advocate, making
the Judge our friend now, procuring the difcharge of
die debt to be produced there ; or we muft go to the
prifon, Mutth v. 25, We are criminals, an 1 there

iriuft

Motives to make ready, 391

muft receive the fentence of death, if we get not now
a remiffion to produce againft the indictment, and fo
be ready.

7. The pains of making ready will be fully com*
penfated with the fruit of it, Matth. xxv. 10. They
that were ready, went in with him to the marriage,
ver, 21. His lord /aid unto him , Well done, thou good
and faithful fervant ; thou hajl been faithful over a few
things, 1 will make thee ruler over many things : en*
ter thou into the joy of thy lord. The joys of the hea-
venly marriage-feaft wiil more than compenfate all
the painful work of making ready for it. To make
finners meet for heaven, they are to be wrought and
hewed with various trials and ftruggles j right eyes
to be plucked out, and right hands to be cut off: but
there is no reafon to ftick at that, 1 Cor. xv. ult. For*
a/much as ye know that your labour is not in vain m
the Lord.

8. La/lly, Tt will be dear-bought eafe, that is got
by fhifting to make ready, Prov. vi 10. 11. Tet a
little Jlecp, a little Jlumber, a little folding of the hands
to Jleep, So /hall thy poverty come as one that tra-
velleth, and thy want as an armed man. That fpiri-
tual ileep and carnal eafe will make way for everlaft-
ing. difquiet^nd unreft. They who will needs reft
now when they mould wake and act for eternity, muft
be deprived of the eternal reft in the other world,
Prov. xx. 4. The Jluggard will not plow by reafon of
the cold ; therefore Jhall he beg in bar v eft t and have
719 thing.

Secondly, I come to confider the impediments of
people's making ready for the other w«rld, to be re-
moved out of the way. Thefe I take to be thefe four
chiefly,

1. A vanity of mind, by means whereof men can
never be brought from fleeting in the vain things of
a prefent life, to ferious thoughts of their removal
into the other world. They fee others about them
carried off, time after time: but it can make no folid

lading

392 Impediments of making ready, to be removed,

lafting impreflion on them, more than if they were
immortal ; the vaniry of their minds fuffers them not
to bring it home to themfelves, but ftili they look on
the other world as a thing foreign to them.

O lay afide this, if ever ye would be ready, Eph.
iv. 17. This I fay therefore, and tejiify in the Lord,
that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in
the vanity of their mind* And a& like rational men,
ferioufly laying your account with a certain removal
of yourfelves into the other world, uncertain at what
time, Prov. xxii. 3. A prudent manforefeetb the evilf,
and hideth him f elf.

2. A heart throng of bufinefs of this life, whereby
no room is left for thoughts of a removal into the
other world ; as was the cafe of the old world be-
fore the deluge, and of the finners in Sodom before
their utter overthrow, Luke xvii. 26. — 29. Martha's
bufinefs hinders Mary's : they are fo plunged into the
many things, that the one thing needful is juftled out,
"While this and the other thing is to be done for the
body, the foul's cafe is left a bleeding, and neglected.

But O ! why not the main care for the main thing ?
Ye may fee to your necefTary bufinefs, and your bu-
finefs for the other world too : but why (bould the
former enhance your whole man ? Nay, the latter ye
ought to do, in the firft place, though not leave the
other undone.

3. An aveifenefs to think of the other world and a
removal thereto, whereby it comes to pafs, that thefe
thoughts are ihifted, till they force in themfelves by
death at the door. This averfenefs rifeth from con-
science of guilt, and prevailing carnality j and flaves
ofFferioub thoughts.

But to what purpofe is it, to ftave off the thoughts
ef that which will certainly be in on us at length?
were it not our wifdom, to do like that king, Luke
xiv. 31.32. who going to make war ogainfl another king,
fitteth downjirfl, and confulteth whether he be able with
ten thou/and to meet him that someth ogainfl him wifh

twenty

Directions for making ready, 393

twenty thoujand ? or elfe, while the other is yet a great
way off, he fendeth an ambajfage, and defireth condi-
tions of peace. Set yourfelves then to conquer that
averfenefs, and drive over the belly of it ; getting
your hearts, by application of the Redeemer's blood,
fprinkled from an evil confcience j and that will
break your carnality.

4. Slight thoughts of what is neceffary in order to
preparation for the other world, whereby men ima-
gine they may do that time enough, when there is
any appearance of their removal. By this means it
comes to be put off from time to time, till often in
the iflue it is out of time.

But did men feriouily confider the matter, what
neceffity there is of a change of their ftate, for habi-
tual readinefs •, what neceflity of a gracious orderly
frame, for their actual readinefs: they would not
look on it fo flighily ; but fee it a matter of the great-
eft weight, not to be eafily compafled, and therefore
to be fet to timely.

Thirdly, I (hall now give you fome directions or
advices for making ready.

1. While you are yet in health, fet yourfelves fo-
lemnly to take hold of Chrift Jefus in the covenant, for
death and eternity. In this lies your fecurity for the
other world, whereof he is Lord : and it is little
enough to do it with an expiefs view to the other
world and your removal. And it is beft preparing
for ficknefs and death, when one is in health : for it
is hard to fay, what one may be capable of doing that
way, when he comes to a death bed. But let men
tofs and wreftle as they will with their ficknefs unto
death ; it will always be well with them that faw to
their foul concerns while they were in health, and
have not their main bufinefs to do, when death is
come to the door : while it would be too much rafh-
nefs to venture our fouls in their fouls Head, who af-
ter having fpent the time of their health carelefsly
and irreligiously, begin in their ficknefs unto death

394 DireBions for making ready,

to fhew a mighty ferioufnefs and concern about the
other world.

For the right managing of this work, be advifed,

(i.) To fet apart fome time for it, more or lefs#
by day or by night, as your circumftances will al-
low j fo will ye get the bufinefs for the other world
done in health in your chamber, out-houfe, or field,
with more eafe and deliberation than in ficknefs up-
on a bed. Tenants will take fome time off their or-
dinary bufinefs to go and take their land for another
year ; fervants, to go and hire themfelves into ano-
ther family j and fo others in other cafes ; and will
people not go a little off their ordinary courfe of de-
votion., to make ready for the other world ? \.

(2 ) Begin the work with prayer to God, and then
fit down and confider and open out your whole life,
in its feveral periods, before the Lord ;, beginning
with your conception and birth in fin, proceeding to
take a view of the fins of your childhood, youth, &c*
And deal impartially with yourfelves, in fearching
out your fins. And when ye have fearched out and
reproached yourfelf with all that you can find, know
that there are multitudes which have efcaped your
notice, Pfal. xix, 12. JVhe can under jland his errors P
And then view the curfe of the law juftly due to you
on thefe accounts : and thereupon take a view of the-
remedy in Chrift.

(3.) Then go to God in prayer,. and confefs before
him accordingly, what you were in your birth, what
you have been in your life, and what you deferve to
be made in the other world. Go through the feve-
ral periods of your life in your confeflion, and lay
out before him the particulars, wherewith confcience
charges you. This is the way to vomit up the fweet
morfel ; and why mould we hide, or flick to confefs
our fins particularly, fince we muft all anfwer before
the tribunal of God ? Having thus confeffed your
fins, confefs your defert of hell and wrath for them,
and condemn yourfelves > yet looking to God in

Chrift

Diretlions for making ready* 395

Chrifl: for mercy and pardon, 1 Cor. xi. 31. If we
'would judge our [elves, we fhould not be judged.

(4.) This done, coniider the covenant offered you
in Chrift in the gofpel, with the perfect righteouf-
nefs, full remiffion, and right to eternal life, held
out to you therein. Examine yourfelves, as to your
believing it, and your willingnefs to enter perfonally
into it, and to venture your falvation on that bottom ;
and to take Chrift in all his offices *, to refign your-
felves to him as your Head and Hufband, to be his
only, wholly, and for ever.

(5.) Then go to prayer, and folemnly in exprefs
words from the heart, take hold of the covenant, be-
lieving, and refting your fouls, on Chrift in it, with
an exprefs view to death and eternity j give confent
to him in. the gofpel- offer ; taking him in all his of-
fices; resigning yourfelves to him tor time and eter-
nity- And ye that can write, may, for your comfoit
and eftablifhment, write this your acceptance of the
•covenant, and fubfcribe it with your hand, If xliv.
5. One fa all fay, 1 am the Lord's : and another JIj all
call himfelf by the name of Jacob : and another f ball
.fubfcribe with his hand unto the Lord, and firname
■himfeif by the name of Ifrael, *

(6\) Laftly> After that you may addrefs yourfelves

-to God as your covenanted God, laying before him

particular petitions relative to your removal into the

other world, your reception into heaven, and the

happy refurre&ion of your body at the laft day.

Such a time well fpent, would be the beft fpent
time of all your life : and this courfe fincerely
followed, ye would be ready for the other world,

* A form of perfonal covenanting may be feen In the author's
Memorial concerning perfonal and family falting and humiliation,
annexed to his View of the covenant of grace It appears from
his Memoirs, that in the end of the year 1729, he entered into a
folemu tranfacYion of this nature, with an exprefs view to his own
removal into the^other world, exactly follow .jg the direction*
here laid down.

oome

396 Directions for making ready,

come the removal when, and in what manner,
it will, fo that ye might fay with David, 2 Sam.
xxiii. 5. Although my houfe be not fo with God; yet
he hath made with me an everlafting covenant, order*
ed in all things and fur e .• for this is all my falvation9
and all my defire, although he make it not to grow,

2. Put your worldly affairs in order, for your re-
moval ; fuch of you as have any occafion that way.
Be precifely juft and upright in the courfe of your
dealings with men, that you may have nothing to
leave that is not well come, as ye would not leave a
moth or a curfe in it. Accommodate your way of
living unto your ability, and go not beyond it. One
had better live fcrimply upon what is his own, than
plentifully on what is another's. Keep your bufinefs
as far as poffible from a ftate of perplexity and confu-
fion, by ftating and keeping your accounts clear.
And one's teftament lying by him, would not in the
leaft make him either fick or fore ; but it would be a
great eafe when ficknefs or death comes, to think,
that part of one's work is done already. And it
would be no great toil, for them that can write, to
alter it from time to time, as there is any notable al-
teration in their affairs.

Secondly, The next particular branch of ex-
hortation, which I offer you as native from the text,
is, Do not put off or delay to make ready for your
removal into the other world; but immediately fet
about it, fince it is quite uncertain at what time you
may remove. To enforce this, I offer the following
motives.

1. God has allowed you time to make ready, but
not one moment to delay it, 2 Cor. vi. 2. Behold,
now is the accepted time ; behold, now is the day of
fa hat ion. Heb. iii. 15. To-day if ye vjill hear his
voice, harden not your hearts. All the time you have
had, fince you came to the years of difcretion, has
been allowed you to make ready : fo that if you fhould
now be removed unready for it, ye will not have it

to

Arguments again ft delaying to make ready, 397

to fay, that ye had no time for it. Perhaps it did
not come in your head to make ready for the other
world, having been fo fhort while in this. But whofe
fault is that ? However, fhould you put it off but till
to-morrow, ye do it at your peril without God's al-
lowance.

2. One hour's delay may be an eternal lofs, yea
one minute's : for this hour, this minute, you may
be removed into the other world. And where then
is the next hour, or minuce, which you put it off to ?
Why will men thus let flip the time they have, and
truft to a time they have not, andvperhaps never mail
have? What a venture is it to venture an eternity
upon an uncertainty ? Should one caft away in a wa-
ter, put off till the next minute his taking hold of
the rope, we would reckon him a felf-deftroyer,
becaufe ere the next minute he may be in the bottom.

3. Though ye get the time ye put off unto, how
are ye fuie of grace to help you to improve it ? Though
the (hip be not gone off, the wind may be fallen,
and the tide gone ; that is an awful word, that may
juftly ftrike with trembling, Luke xiv. 24. I fay un-
to you, that none of thofe men -which -were bidden^ Jhrfl
t aft e of my /upper. Indeed delayers to make ready
feem.to imagine, that it is in their own hand to put
themfelves in readinefs, when they think good : but
alas ! they deceive themfelves, 2 Cor. iii. 5. Com-
mon experience fhews, thatwhen fuch a time comes
men are as ready for a new delay as ever.

4. The longer ye delay, ye make the work of ma-
king ready more hard, Jer. xiii. 23. Can the Ethiopian
change his Jkin, or the leopard his /pots ? then may ye
al/o do goody that are accuflomcd to do evil. It is like
the mending of a dam : take it in time, it will be the
caiier j but put it off, the breach grows wider and
wider, that will coft far more labour. Alas ! it of-
ten fares with our fouls in this cafe, as with bodily
^ifeafes, which if taken timely might be carried off-
3 LI buJ

3 p 8 Objections to prefent making ready anfwered.

but at length they grow fo inveterate being neglected,
that they fpurn all remedy.

5- LaJ*h* So far as ye delay, ye are unfaithful
and cruel to your own fouls, leaving them for the
lime in hazard of perifhing. If you had a child fallen
into the fire or the water, would ye delay to pull
him out i Thy foul is fallen into a gulf of fin and mi-
fery under the eurfe,. and is every moment in hazard
of falling down to the bottom ; why do ye put off?
why do ye not prefently fet yourfelves to make ready?

Here I am aware of feveral objections, which!
mull anfwer.

Objetl. i. I am but young yet : what needs fo focn
making ready for the other world ?

Anfw. i. And may ye not die young ? Are there
»ot in the church-yard, fuch as have died in child-
hood ? are there not boys and girls in their graves
there, young men and maids, men and women in
their prime ? I fufpeel:, that, on a juft calculation,
there would be found far more fuch than thofe of
gray hairs. Therefore delay not to make ready though
young.

2. To whom fhould your youth and ftrength be
devoted, to God your Maker, or the vain world?
Whatever extravagant notions obtain among the young
with refpecl to this matter, I defy them to get a foot-
ing for them., but in their vain imaginations ; not to
be fupported but by overlooking God and their Bible ;
which lay them under a neceihty of folid ferioumefs,
ftricV walking, and making ready, as well as others.
Are they excepted in the divine precepts, and calls
to thefe things ; or in the threatenings, in cafe of ne-
glect ? No ; Pfal. cxlviii. 12. 1 3. Both young men and
maidens ', old men and children. Let them praife the
name of the Lord : for his name alone is excellent ', his
glory is above the earth and heaven : i. e. Let them
praife and ferve God with the vigour of youth, and
not fpend it on the vain world : it is God's gift, let
them not facrilegioufly rob him of the ufe of it, but

ferioufiy

Objetlims to prcfent making ready anfwcred. 399

ferioufly confider that caution, Eccl. xi. 9. 10. Rejoice^
0 young man9 in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer
thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of
thy heart, and in the fight of thine eyes : but know
thou, that for all thefe things God wijl bring thee into
judgement. Therefore remove farrow from thy heart,
and put away evil from thy fefh : for childhood and
y$uth are vanity,

3. It is a rare thing to find fueh as are bred up
under the gofpel, and fpend their youth without
making ready, to get grace to make ready after.
Job xx. 11. His bones are full of the Jin of his
youth, which f jail lie down with him in the dufl. It
h an ordinary thing in a vain world, for the young to
think with great rea-fon to ftave off the ferioufnefs of
religion, till once they be married at lead. But it
is a juft and awful obferve, that they who living un-
der the gofpel vainly and carelefsly before, are rarely
converted after they are married, but are a ilep far-
ther back from Chrift. It is founded on Luke xiv.
20.- Another faid> I have married a wife, and there-
fore I cannot come. And to confirm it, do but ob-
ferve, how many there are who in their youth and
jfmgle life gave hopeful figns, wither away when once
dipt in the cares of a family. But in cafe that grace
do reach you after that time,, ye will readily find it a
faving fo as by fire, being broken and bruifed in your
entry to it, at another rate than you might have been
before.

4. Lttflly, After all it is a bafe and difingenuous
thing, to put off rhe anfwering of the gofpel-call and
ferious religion, till once ye are pad your bed. How
think ye, God will take that off your hand ? Mai. i.
8. You will referve the dregs of your time for God,
and give the flower and cream of your days to the
vain woild. I befeech you imagine yourfelves in thefe
circumftances applying to God, and beginning to
make ready : and let confcience gueib what is likely
to be your anfvver and fuccefs.

L I2 Object.

400 Objections to prefent making ready anfwered.

OhjeU. 2. My hands are now io full of bufinefs,
that I cannot get opportunity to make ready : but if I
were at the end of fuch and fuch a bufinefs, and
freed from fome entangling eircumftances I am now
in, 1 would fet myfeif to make ready.

Jnfw. i. Is not your bufinefs for the other world
your main bufinefs ? Though your other bufinefs
fhould go never fo well, if that be marred ye are
ruined, fo as nothing will make up your lofs, Matth.
xvi. 26. If that were once right, let your affairs in
the world be never fo unfuccefsful, it cannot make
you unhappy. How then can ye reafonably put ic
cfF longer ?

2. lake heed that the bufinefs that mars you to-
day from your great work, be not fucceeded to-mor-
row with a bufinefs that will mar you more. It is„
ordinary, that he who pufs off his great work to a fit-
ter time than the prefent, when the time comes he
fet, it is found lefs fit than the former. The cafe of
Felix may be a warning here, Acts xxiv 25.

3. Laftlyy That is at belt, a great and hazardous
venture. Death comes in on men in the midft of bu-
finefs without ceremony, however loath they may be
to break it off to prepare for death, Pfal. cxlvi. 4.
His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth: in
that very day his thoughts perijh. Luke xii. 20.
Wherefore let no eircumftances, however perplexed
and entangled, move you to delay.

Objefi. ult. It is time enough to make ready, when
one comes to a death- bed.

Anfw. 1. That is a manifeft contempt of God,
and of the other world. What ? Is the matter of the
other world fuch a trifling thing, as to delay making
ready for it, till ye be able no more to purfue the
things of this life ? Is it fo fmall a matter in your
eyes, to obtain the favour of God, and a reception
into his family above ? You will certainly change
thefe thoughts.

2. Ye may poflibly get no death-bed, but may in

an

Objections to prefe'nt making ready anfwered. 401

an inftant drop out of this, into the other world.
Death fends not always meiTengers before, to warn
of its approach : many a man in health has by fome
providential incident been fuddenly difpatched into
the other world. And delayers have ground to fear
it be their lot in a fpecial manner, as ye may fee,
Matth. xxiv. 48. — 51.

3, Though ye get a death-bed, ye may be render-
ed incapable of making ready, by the nature of your
difeafe Though ye be capable, you may get enough
ado even to die, through a vehement tofs of fickaefs.
If there was one thief on the crofs that got repent-
ance, there was another that died hardened \ and
this is moil likely to be your cafe who fo delay.

4. Lajilyt Death- bed repentance is feldom (incere.
What is recorded of the lfraelites in the wildernefs,
may well have weight here, Pfal. lxxviii. 34. — 36.
When he Jlcw them, then they fought him: and they re'
turned and enquired early after God. And they re~
member ed that God was their rock-, and the high God
their redeemer. Neverthelefsy they did flatter him
with their mouthy and they lied unto him with their
tongues. The terrors of death may make a mighty
concern about the other world in a gracelefs heart:
but what fmcerity there is for the molt part in thefe
things, may be learned from the cafe of fuch brought
to the gates of death, who after all turn juft back to
their old bias.

Thirdly, and lastly, The laft thing upon
this ufe of exhortation is, Having made* ready, keep
ready. Your intereft as well as duty is concerned in
this. Therefore take the following directions.

1. Keep grace in exercife, Luke xii. 35. Let your
loins be girded about , and your lights burning. Slum-
bering virgins, though wife, are not ready to meet
the Bridegroom. Let faith be awake, love kept
warm, defires aftir, <bc* And labour to be fpiri*
tual in all religious performances.

2. Beware of dipping deep again in this once for-

faken

4oz Directions to keep ready,

faken world ; of being drowned in its pleafures, rack-
ed with its cares, glued to its profits, lifted up with
its fmiles, or funk with its frowns, I Con vii. 29.
30. 31. This I fay, brethren, the time is fhort. It
remaineth, that both they that have wives, be as
though they had none ,• and they that weep, as though
they wept not ; and they- thai rejoice, as though they re~
joiced not ; and they that buy, as though they pojfeffed
not / and they that ufe this world, as not abujing it t
for ihe fafbion of this world paffcth away.

3. Be careful to keep a clean confcience, as Paul,
Acts xxiv. 16. Herein, fays he, do I exercife myfelf
to have always a confcience void of offence toward Gody
and toward men. Have you got on your wedding-
garment ? keep it unftained as far as may be ; and
what fpots are daily contracted, b$ daily warning out,.
Jighn xiii. 10.

4. Be always bufy in your generation-work, for
the honour of God, and the. good of others, as ye
have accefs ; that the Matter coming find you not
idle, Luke xii. 43. Bleffed is that fervant, whom his,,
ford when he cometh, Jbaii find fo doing,

~- 5. LajYly, Live in expectation of the better worlds
and your removal into it, Job xiv. 14. All thfidays_
of my appointed time will I wait till my change come.
2 Tim. iv. 7. 8. 1 have fought a good fight, I have

finifked my courfe, I have kept the faith. Henceforth
there is laid up for me a crown of right eoufnefs, which
the Lord the righteous Judge fball give me at that day :
and not to me only, but unto all them alfo that love his
appearing. Look for the day of your removal, as a
day that will be your redemption-day, your marriage-
day, your home going day, the day better than that

■'hi your birth.

Upon the whole that has been faid touching the
other world, I make thefe two concluding reflections.

1. We will all at length be in that world, of which
we have fo long had the report •, and we will fee in it,

what

Conclujion. 403

what we have heard about it, however foreign it ap-
pears to us now. Some of our brethren and niters
have been carried off into it in the time that we have
been on this fubjecl: : and certainly it is not for nought
that it has (o long founded in our ears.

2. However we may now lightly pafs, and make
very little reflection on what has been faid thereon ;
I doubt not, we will all have our reflections upon it,
when we come there : particularly, whether we land
in the upper or lower "part of it, looking back on what
we have heard of it, we will have this reflection,
That the half has not been told. What others we
will there have, the day will declare.

F I N J S.

The following Pieces of Mr Boston's, publifhedjlnce
his Works in Folio -were printed^ complete all his
Sermons that are now intended to be made public , viz.

4* His Treatife on the Covenant of Works.

Body of Divinity, 3 vols.

— — DifKnguifhing Characters of true Believers, re-
lating to Faith and Chriflian Morality.

> Chriflian Life delineated, in the principal Lines

thereof, both as to its Rife and Progrefs.

View of this and the other World.

And two fmall collections.

All of them to be had of 'John Gray, at his Printing-
houje oppofite to the City-guard^ Edinburgh,

As alfo,
The AiTembly's Shorter Catechifm explained, by

MelT. Erfkines and Fifher. The fixth edition.
Owen's treatife on the Perfon of Chrift j with his

Meditations on the Glory of Chrift.
— — Difcourfes upon the Sacrament.
Watts's Pfalms.
— ■ — Hymns.
Erfkine's Gofpel Sonnets.
Derham's Phyfico-Theology.
M'Ewen on the Types.

's EfTays.

Brown's Hiftory of the Chriflian Church, 2 vols.

Explication of the Scripture- metaphors.

Large Catechifm.

Small Catechifm, for youth.

Hall's Gofpel- worfhip, 2 vols.
Swanfton's Sermons.

.

■II Ml Ml

PiNi