of mourning shall be ended; then thy people, O Lord, shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of thy planting the work of thy hands, that thou mayest be glorified.*—Then we shall rest from all our own personal sufferings. This may seem a small thing to those that live in ease and prosperity; but to the daily afflicted soul it makes the thoughts of heaven delightful. O the dying life we now live! as full of sufferings as of days and hours! Our Redeemer leaves this measure of misery upon us, to make us know for what we are beholden, to mind us of what we should else forget, to be serviceable to his wise and gracious designs, and advantageous to our full and final recovery. Grief enters at every sense, seizes every part and power of flesh and spirit. What noble part is there, that suffereth its pain or ruin alone? But sin and flesh, dust and pain, will all be left behind together. O the blessed tranquility of that region, where there is nothing but sweet, continued peace! O healthful place, where none are sick! O fortunate land, where all are kings! O holy assembly, where all are priests! How free a state, where none are servants, but to their supreme Monarch! The poor man shall no more be tired with his labours: No more hunger or thirst, cold or nakedness: No pinching frosts or scorching heats. Our faces shall no more be pale or sad: No more breaches in friendship, nor parting of friends asunder; no more trouble accompanying our relations, nor voice of lamentation heard in our dwellings: God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes. O my soul, bear with the infirmities of thine earthly tabernacle; it will be thus but a lit tle while; the sound of thy Redeemer's feet is even at the door.-We shall also rest from all the toil of duties. The conscientious magistrate, parent, and minister, cries out, "O the burden that lieth upon me!" Every relation, state, age, hath variety of duties; so that every conscientious Christian cries out, "O the burden! O my weakness that makes it burthensome!" But our remaining rest will ease us of the burdens.-Once more we shall rest from all these troublesome afflictions which necessarily accompany our abscence from God. The trouble that is mixt in our desires and hopes, our longings and waitings, shall then cease. We shall no more look into our cabinet, and miss our treasure; into our hearts, and miss our Christ; no more seek him from ordinance to ordinance; but all be concluded in a most blessed and full enjoyment. 13. (9) The last jewel of our crown is, that it will be an everlasting rest. Without this, all were comparatively nothing. The very thought of leaving it, would embitter all our joys. It would be a hell in heaven, to think of once losing heaven: As it would be a kind of heaven to the damned, had they but hopes of once escaping. Mortality is the disgrace of all sublunary delights. How it spoils our pleasure, to see it dying in our hands! But, O blessed eternity! where our lives are perplexed with no such thoughts, nor our joys interrupted with any such fears! where we shall be pillars in the temple of our God, and go no more out. While we were servants, we held by lease, and that but for the term of a transitory life; but the son abideth in the house forever.† "O my soul, let go thy dreams of present pleasures, and loose + John viii. 35. *Rev. iii. 12, thy hold of earth and flesh. Study frequently, study thoroughly, this one word, eternity. What! live and never die! Rejoice, and ever rejoice!" O happy souls in hell, should you but escape after millions of ages! O miserable saints in heaven, should you be dispossessed, after the age of a million of worlds! This word, everlasting, contains the perfection of their torment, and our glory. O that the sinner would study this word, methinks it would startle him out of his dead sleep! O that the gracious soul would study it, methinks it should revive him in his deepest agony! "And must I, Lord, thus live forever? Then will I also love forever. Must my joys be immortal? And shall not my thanks be also immortal? Surely, if I shall never lose my glory, I will never cease thy praises. If thou wilt both perfect and perpetuate me and my glory, as I shall be thine and not my own, so shall my glory be thy glory. And as thy glory was thy ultimate end in my glory; so shall it also be my end, when thou hast crowned me with that glory which hath no end. Unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only-wise God, be honour and glory, forever and ever."* 14. Thus I have endeavoured to shew you a glimpse of approaching glory. But how short are my expressions of its excellency! Reader, if thou be an humble sincere believer, and waitest with longing and labouring for this rest, thou wilt shortly see, and feel the truth of all this. Thou wilt then have so high an apprehension of this blessed state, as will make thee pity the ignorance and distance of mortals, and will tell thee, all that is here said falls short of the whole truth a thousand fold. In the mean time, let this much kindle thy desires and quicken thy endeavours: Up, and be doing, run, and strive, and fight, and hold on; for thou hast a certain, glorious prize before thee. God will not mock thee; do not mock thyself, nor betray thy soul by delaying, and all is thine own. What kind of men, dost thou think, would Christians be in their lives and duties, if they had still this glory fresh in their thoughts? What frame would their spirits be in, if their thoughts of heaven were lively and believing? Would their hearts be so heavy? their countenances be so sad? or would they have need to take up their comforts from below? Would they be so loath to suffer; so afraid to die'; or would they not think every day a year till they enjoy it? May the Lord heal our carnal hearts, lest we enter not into the rest because of unbelief!* CHAPTER IV. THE CHARACTER OF THE PERSONS FOR WHOM THIS REST IS DESIGNED. 1 'Tis wonderful that such rest should be designed for mortals. § 2. The people of God, who shall enjoy this rest, are, (1) Chosen from eternity. 3. (2) Given to Christ. 4 (3) Born again. 5-8. (4) Deeply convinced of the evil of sin, their misery by sin, the vanity of the creature, and the all-sufficiency of Christ. §9 (5) Their will is proportionably changed. 10. (6) They engage in covenant with Christ. § 11. and (7) They persevere in their engagements. § 12. The reader invited to examine himself by these characteristics of God's people. 13. Further testimony from scripture that this rest shall be enjoyed by the people of God. § 14. Also that none but they shall enjoy it. § 15, 16. And that it remains for them, and is not to be enjoyed till they come to another world. § 17. The chapter concludes with shewing, that their souls shall enjoy this rest while separated from their bodies, § 1. WHILE I was in the mount, describing the excellencies of the saint's rest, I felt it was good being there, and therefore tarried the longer; Heb, i. 19. and was there not an extreme disproportion between my conceptions and the subject, much longer had I been. Can a prospect of that happy land be tedious? Having read of such an high and unspeakable glory, a stranger would wonder for what rare creature this mighty preparation should be made, and expect some iliustrious sun should break forth. But behold! only a shell full of dust, animated with an invisible, rational soul, and that rectified with as unseen a restored power of grace; and this is the creature that must possess such glory. You would think it must needs be some deserving piece, or one that brings a valuable price: But behold! one that hath nothing; and can deserve nothing; yea, that deserves the contrary, and would, if he might proceed in that deserving; but being apprehended by love, he is brought to him that is All;* and most affectionately receiving him, and resting on him, he doth, in and through him, receive all this. More particularly, the persons for whom this rest is designed, are, chosen of God from eternity; given to Christ, as their Redeemer; born again; deeply convinced of the evil and misery of a sinful state, the vanity of the creature, and the all-sufficiency of Christ; their will is renewed; they engage themselves to Christ in covenant; and they persevere in their engagements to the end. § 2. (1) The persons for whom this rest is designed, whom the text calls the people of God, are the chosen of God from eternity. That they are but a small part of mankind, is too apparent in scripture and experience. They are the little flock, to whom it is their Father's good pleasure to give the kingdom. Fewer they are than the world * Cel. iii 11, + Eph. i. 4. 5. Luke xii. 32. |