Chapter X: Part 10

§ 10. (5.) The diligent keeping your hearts in heaven, will maintain the vigor of all your graces, and put life into all your duties. The heavenly Christian is the lively Christian. 'Tis our strangeness to heaven that makes us so dull. How will the soldier hazard his life, and the mariner pass through storms and waves, and no difficulty keep them back, when they think of an uncertain, perishing treasure? What life then would it put into a Christian's endeavors, if he would frequently think of his everlasting treasure? We run so slowly, and strive so lazily, because we so little mind the prize. Observe but the man who is much in heaven, and you shall see he is not like other Christians; there is something of what he hath seen above, appeareth in all his duty and conversation. If a preacher, how heavenly are his sermons! If a private Christian, what heavenly converse, prayers, and deportment! Set upon this employment, and others will see _the face_ of your conversation _shine_, and say, surely he hath been _with God in the mount_. But if you lie complaining of deadness and dulness, that you cannot love Christ, nor rejoice in his love, that you have no life in prayer, nor any other duty; and yet neglect this quickening employment; you are the cause of your own complaints. Is not thy life hid with Christ in God? Where must thou go, but to Christ for it? And where is that, but to heaven, _where Christ is_? _Thou wilt not come to Christ, that thou mayest have life._ If thou wouldst have light and heat why art thou no more in the sunshine? For want of this recourse to heaven, thy soul is as a lamp that is not lighted, and thy duties as a sacrifice which hath no fire. Fetch one coal daily from this altar, and see if thy offering will not burn. Light thy lamp at this flame, and feed it daily with oil from hence, and see if it will not gloriously shine. Keep close to this reviving fire, and see if thy affections will not be warm. In thy want of love to God, lift up thy eye of faith to heaven, behold his beauty, contemplate his excellencies, and see whether his amiableness and perfect goodness will not ravish thy heart. As exercise maintaineth appetite, strength, and vigor to the body; so these heavenly exercises will quickly cause the increase of grace and spiritual life. Besides, it is not false or strange fire, which you fetch from heaven for your sacrifices. The zeal which is kindled by your meditations on heaven, is most likely to be a heavenly zeal. Some men's fervency is only drawn from their books, and some from the sharpness of affliction, and some from the mouth of a moving minister, and some from the attention of an auditory; but he that knows this way to heaven, and derives it daily from the true fountain, shall have his soul revived with the water of life, and enjoy that quickening which is peculiar to the saints. _By this faith_ thou mayest _offer Abel's sacrifice, more excellent than_ that of common men, and _by it obtain witness, that thou art righteous, God testifying of thy gifts_, that they are sincere. When others are ready, like Baal's priests, to _cut themselves_, because their sacrifice will not burn; thou mayest breathe the spirit of Elijah, and in the chariot of contemplation soar aloft, till thy soul and sacrifice gloriously flame, though the flesh and the world should cast upon them all the water of their opposing enmity. Say not, how can mortals ascend to heaven? Faith hath wings, and meditation is its chariot. Faith is as a burning glass to thy sacrifice, and meditation sets it to the face of the sun; only take it not away too soon, but hold it there a while, and thy soul will feel the happy effect. Reader, art thou not thinking, when thou seest a lively Christian, and hearest his lively, fervent prayers, and edifying discourse, "O how happy a man is this! O that my soul were in this blessed condition!" Why, I here advise thee from God, set thy soul conscientiously to this work, _wash thee_ frequently _in_ this Jordan, and thy leprous, dead soul will revive, _and thou shalt know that there is a God in Israel_, and that thou mayest live a vigorous and joyful life, if thou dost not wilfully neglect thy own mercies.

§ 11. (6.) The frequent believing views of glory are the most precious cordials in all afflictions. These cordials, by cheering our spirits, render our sufferings far more easy; enable us to bear them with patience and joy; and so strengthen our resolutions, that we forsake not Christ for fear of trouble. If the way be ever so rough, can it be tedious, if it lead to heaven? O sweet sickness, reproaches, imprisonments, or death, accompanied with these tastes of our future rest! This keeps the suffering from the soul, so that it can only touch the flesh. Had it not been for that little (alas, too little) taste which I had of rest, my sufferings would have been grievous, and death more terrible. I may say, _I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living_. _Unless_ this promised rest _had been my delight, I should then have perished in mine affliction. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion; in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me. Therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices if joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord._[306] All sufferings are nothing to us, so far as we have these supporting joys. When persecution and fear hath _shut the doors, Christ_ can _come in, and stand in the midst, and say to his disciples, Peace be unto you_. Paul and Silas can be in heaven, even when they are _thrust into the inner prison_, their bodies scourged with _many stripes, and their feet fast in the stocks_. The martyrs find more rest in their flames, than their persecutors in their pomp and tyranny; because they foresee the flames they escape, and the rest which their fiery chariot is conveying them to. If _the Son of God_ will _walk with us_, we are safe _in the midst of those flames_, which shall devour them that cast us in. _Abraham went out_ of his country, _not knowing whither he went_; because _he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt_, because _he had respect unto the recompense of reward. He forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king_; because _he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection._ Even _Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God_. This is the noble advantage of faith, it can look on the means and end together. This is the great reason of our impatience, and censuring of God, because we gaze on the evil itself, but fix not our thoughts on what is beyond it. They that saw Christ only on the cross, or in the grave, _do shake their heads_, and think him lost; but God saw him dying, buried, rising, glorified, and all this at one view. Faith will in this imitate God, so far as it hath the glass of a promise to help it. We see God burying us under ground, but we foresee not the spring, when we shall all revive. Could we but clearly see heaven, as the end of all God's dealings with us, surely none of his dealings could be so grievous. If God would once raise us to this life, we should find, that though heaven and sin are at a great distance; yet heaven and a prison, or banishment, heaven and the _belly of a whale_, or a _den of lions_, heaven and consuming sickness, or invading death, are at no such distance. But as _Abraham saw Christ's day, and rejoiced_; so we, in our most forlorn state, might see that day when Christ shall give us rest, and therein rejoice. I beseech thee, Christian, for the honor of the gospel, and for thy soul's comfort, be not to learn this heavenly art, when in thy greatest extremity thou hast most need to use it. He that, with Stephen, _sees the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God_, will comfortably bear the shower of stones. _The joy of the Lord is our strength_, and that joy must be fetched from the place of our joy! and if we walk without our strength, how long are we like to endure?

[Footnote 306] Psalm xxvii, 13. cxix, 92. xxvii, 4-6.

§ 12. (7.) He that hath his conversation in heaven, is the profitable Christian to all about him. When a man is in a strange country, how glad is he of the company of one of his own nation? How delightful is it to talk of their own country, their acquaintance, and affairs at home? With what pleasure did Joseph talk with his brethren, and inquire after his father, and his brother Benjamin? Is it not so to a Christian, to talk with his brethren that have been above, and inquire after his Father, and Christ his Lord? When a worldly man will talk of nothing but the world, and a politician of state affairs, and a mere scholar of human learning, and a common professor of his duties; the heavenly man will be speaking of heaven, and the strange glory his faith hath seen, and our speedy and blessed meeting there. O how refreshing and useful are his expressions! How his words pierce and melt the heart, and transform the hearers into other men! How doth his _doctrine drop as the rain_, and his _speech distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass_, while his _lips publish the name of the Lord_, and _ascribe greatness unto his God_! Is not his sweet discourse of heaven, like the _box of precious ointment_, which, being _poured on the head of Christ, filled the house with the odor_? All that are near may be refreshed by it! Happy the people that have a heavenly minister! Happy the children and servants that have a heavenly father or master! Happy the man that hath a heavenly companion, who will watch over thy ways, strengthen thee when thou art weak, cheer thee when thou art drooping, and _comfort thee with the comfort wherewith he himself_ hath been so often _comforted of God_! This is he that will be always blowing at the spark of thy spiritual life, and drawing thy soul to God, and will say to thee, as the Samaritan woman, "_Come and see one that hath told me all that ever I did_; one that hath loved our souls to the death. _Is not this the Christ?_ Is not _the knowledge of God and him, eternal life_? Is it not the glory of the saints, to _see his glory_?" Come to this man's house and sit at his table, and he will feast thy soul with the dainties of heaven: Travel with him by the way, and he will direct and quicken thee in thy journey to heaven: Trade with him in the world, and he will counsel thee to buy _the pearl of great price_. If thou wrong him, he can pardon thee, remembering that Christ hath pardoned his greater offences: If thou be angry, he is meek, considering the meekness of his heavenly Pattern: Or if he fall out with you, he is soon reconciled, when he recollects that in heaven you must be everlasting friends. This is the Christian of the right stamp, and all about him are the better for him. How unprofitable is the society of all other sorts of Christians in comparison with this! If a man should come from heaven, how would men long to hear what reports he would make of the other world, and what he had seen, and what the blessed there enjoy? Would they not think this man the best companion, and his discourse the most profitable? Why then do you value the company of saints no more, and inquire no more of them, and relish their discourse no better? For every saint shall go to heaven in person, and is frequently there in spirit, and hath often viewed it in the glass of the gospel. For my part, I had rather have the company of a heavenly minded Christian, than of the most learned disputants, or princely commanders.

§ 13. (8.) No man so highly honoreth God, as he whose conversation is in heaven. Is not a parent disgraced, when children feed on husks, are clothed in rags, and keep company with none but rogues and beggars? Is it not so to our heavenly Father, when we, who call ourselves his children, feed on earth, and the garb of our souls is like that of the naked world; and our hearts familiarly converse with, and _cleave to the dust_, rather than stand continually in our Father's presence? Surely we live below the children of a king, not according to the height of our hopes, nor the provision of our Father's house, and the great preparations made for his saints. It is well we have a Father of tender bowels, who will own his children in rags. If he did not first challenge his interest in us, neither ourselves, nor others could know us to be his people. But when a Christian can live above, and rejoice his soul with the things that are unseen; how is God honored by such a one! The Lord will testify for him, "This man believes me, and takes me at my word; he rejoiceth in my promise, before he hath possession; he can be thankful for what his bodily eyes never saw; his rejoicing is not in the flesh; his heart is with me; he loves my presence; and he shall surely enjoy it in my kingdom for ever. _Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. Them that honor me, I will honor._" How did God esteem himself honored by Caleb and Joshua, when they went into the promised land, and brought back to their brethren a taste of the fruits, and spake well of the good land, and encouraged the people? What a promise and recompense did they receive?

§ 14. (9.) A soul that doth not set its affections on things above, disobeys the commands, and loses the most gracious and delightful discoveries of the Word of God. The same God that hath commanded thee to believe, and to be a Christian, hath commanded thee to _seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God_, and to _set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth_.[307] The same God that hath forbidden thee to murder, steal, or commit adultery, hath forbidden thee the neglect of this great duty; and darest thou wilfully disobey him? Why not make conscience of one, as well as the other? He hath made it thy duty, as well as the means of thy comfort, that a double bond may engage thee not to forsake thy own mercies. Besides, what are all the most glorious descriptions of heaven, all those discoveries of our future blessedness, and precious promises of our rest, but lost to thee? Are not these the stars in the firmament of Scripture, and the golden lines in that book of God? Methinks thou shouldst not part with one of those promises, no not for a world. As heaven is the perfection of all our mercies, so the promises of it in the gospel, are the very soul of the gospel. Is a comfortable word from the mouth of God of such worth, that all the comforts in the world are nothing to it? And dost thou neglect and overlook so many of them? Why should God reveal so much of his counsel, and tell us beforehand of the joys we shall possess, but to make us know it for our joy? If it had not been to fill us with the delights of our foreknown blessedness, he might have kept his purpose to himself, and never have let us know it till we come to enjoy it. Yea, when we had got possession of our rest, he might still have concealed its eternity from us, and then the fears of losing it would have much diminished the sweetness of our joys. But it hath pleased our Father to open his counsel, and let us know the very intent of his heart, that our joy might be full, and that we might live as the heirs of such a kingdom. And shall we now overlook all? Shall we live in earthly cares and sorrows, and rejoice no more in these discoveries, than if the Lord had never wrote them? If thy prince had but sealed thee a patent of some lordship, how oft wouldst thou cast thine eye upon it, and make it thy delightful study, till thou shouldst come to possess the dignify itself? And hath God sealed thee a patent of heaven, and dost thou let it lie by thee, as if thou hadst forgot it? O that our hearts were as high as our hopes, and our hopes as high as these infallible promises!

[Footnote 307] Colossians iii, 1, 2.

§ 15. (10.) It is but equal that our hearts should be on God, when the heart of God is so much on us. If the Lord of glory can stoop so low, as to set his heart on sinful dust, methinks we should easily be persuaded to set our hearts on Christ and glory, and ascend to him, in our daily affections, who so much condescends to us. Christian, dost thou not perceive, that the heart of God is set upon thee, and that he is still minding thee with tender love, even when thou forgettest both thyself and him? Is he not following thee with daily mercies, moving upon thy soul, providing for thy body, preserving both? Doth he not bear thee continually in the arms of love, and promise that _all shall work together for thy good_, and suit all his dealings to thy greatest advantage, and _give his angels charge over thee_? And canst thou be taken up with the joys below, and forget thy Lord, who forgets not thee! Unkind ingratitude! When he speaks of his own kindness for us, hear what he says: _Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me._[308] But when he speaks of our regards to him, the case is otherwise. _Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number._[309] As if he should say, "You will not rise one morning, but you will remember to cover your nakedness, nor forget your vanity of dress; and are these of more worth than your God; of more importance than your eternal life? And yet you can forget these day after day." Give not God cause thus to expostulate with us. Rather let our souls get up to God, and visit him every morning, and our hearts be towards him every moment.

[Footnote 308] Isaiah xlix, 14-16.

[Footnote 309] Jeremiah ii, 32.

§ 16. (11.) Should not our interest in heaven, and our relation to it, continually keep our hearts upon it? There our Father keeps his court. We call him, _Our Father which art in heaven_. Unworthy children! that can be so taken up in their play, as to be mindless of such a Father. There also is Christ, our _Head_, our _Husband_, our _Life_; and shall we not look towards him, and send to him, as oft as we can, till we come to see him face to face? Since _the heavens must receive him, until the times of restitution of all things_; let them also receive our hearts with him. There also is _New Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all_.[310] And there are multitudes of our elder brethren. There are our friends and old acquaintance, whose society, in the flesh, we so much delighted in, and whose departure hence we so much lamented; and is this no attractive to thy thoughts? If they were within thy reach on earth, thou wouldst go and visit them, and why not oftener visit them in spirit, and rejoice beforehand to think of meeting them there? "Socrates rejoiced that he should die, because he believed he should see Homer, Hesiod, and other eminent persons. How much more do I rejoice, said a pious old minister, who am sure to see Christ my Savior, the eternal Son of God, in his assumed flesh; besides so many wise, holy, and renowned patriarchs, prophets, apostles," &c. A believer should look to heaven, and contemplate the blessed state of the saints, and think with himself, "Though I am not yet so happy as to be with you, yet this is my daily comfort, you are my brethren and fellow-members in Christ, and therefore your joys are my joys, and your glory by this near relation is my glory; especially while I believe in the same Christ, and hold fast the same faith and obedience, by which you were thus dignified, and rejoice in spirit with you, and congratulate your happiness in my daily meditations."

[Footnote 310] Galatians iv, 26.

§ 17. Moreover, our house and home is above. _For we know, that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens._ Why do we then look no oftener towards it, and _groan earnestly, desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven_?[311] If our home were far meaner, sure we should remember it, because it is our home. If you were but banished into a strange land, how frequently would your thoughts be at home. And why is it not thus with us in respect of heaven? Is not that more truly and properly our home, where we must take up our everlasting abode, than this, which we are every hour expecting to be separated from, and to see no more? We are strangers, and that is our country. We are heirs, and that is our inheritance; even _an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us_.[312] We are here in continual distress and want, and there lies our substance; even _a better and an enduring substance_.[313] Yea, the very hope of our souls is there; all our hope of relief from our distresses; all our hope of happiness, when here we are miserable; all this _hope is laid up for us in heaven_.[314] Why, beloved Christians, have we so much interest, and so few thoughts there? So near relation, and so little affection! Doth it become us to be delighted in the company of strangers, so as to forget our Father, and our Lord! Or to be so well pleased with those that hate and grieve us, as to forget our best and dearest friends? Or to be so fond of borrowed trifles, as to forget our own possession and treasure? Or to be so much impressed with tears and wants, as to forget our eternal joy and rest? God usually pleads his propriety in us; and thence concludes he will do us good, even because we are his own people whom he hath chosen out of all the world: Why then do we not plead our interest in him, and so raise our hearts above; even because he is our own God, and because the place is our own possession? Men commonly over-love and over-value their own things, and mind them too much. O that we could mind our own inheritance, and value it half as much as it deserves!

[Footnote 311] 2 Corinthians v, 1, 2.

[Footnote 312] 1 Peter i, 4.

[Footnote 313] Hebrews x, 34.

[Footnote 314] Colossians i, 5.

§ 18. (12.) Once more consider, there is nothing, but heaven, worth setting our hearts upon. If God have them not, who shall? If thou mind not thy rest, what wilt thou mind? Hast thou found out some other god? Or something that will serve thee instead of rest? Hast thou found on earth an eternal happiness? Where is it? What is it made of? Who was the man that found it out? Who was he that last enjoyed it? Where dwelt he? What was his name? Or art thou the first that ever discovered heaven on earth? Ah wretch! trust not to thy discoveries, boast not of thy gain, till experience bid thee boast. Disquiet not thyself, in looking for that which is not on earth; lest thou learn thy experience with the loss of thy soul, which thou mightest have learned on easier terms; even by the warnings of God in his Word, and the loss of thousands of souls before thee. If Satan should _take thee up to the mountain_ of temptation, _and shew thee all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them_; he could shew thee nothing that is worthy thy thoughts, much less to be preferred before thy rest. Indeed, so far as duty and necessity require it, we must be content to mind the things below; but who is he that contains himself within the compass of those limits? And yet if we ever so diligently contract our cares and thoughts, we shall find the least to be bitter and burdensome. Christian, see the emptiness of all these things, and the preciousness of the things above. If thy thoughts should, like the laborious bee, go over the world from flower to flower, from creature to creature, they would bring no honey or sweetness home, save what they gathered from their relations to eternity. Though every truth of God is precious, and ought to be defended; yet even all our study of truth should be still in reference to our rest: For the observation is too true, "that the lovers of controversies in religion, have never been warmed with one spark of the love of God. And as for minding the affairs of church and state;" so far as they illustrate the providence of God, and tend to the settling of the gospel, and the government of Christ, and consequently to the saving our own souls, and those of our posterity, they are well worth our diligent observation; but these are only their relations to eternity. Even all our dealings in the world, our buying and selling, our eating and drinking, our building and marrying, our peace and war, so far as they relate not to the life to come, but tend only to the pleasing of the flesh, are not worthy the frequent thoughts of a Christian. And now doth not thy conscience say, that there is nothing but heaven, and the way to it, that is worth thy minding?

§ 19. Now, reader, are these considerations weighty, or not? Have I proved it thy duty to keep thy heart on things above, or have I not? If thou say, not; I am confident thou contradictest thy own conscience. If thou acknowledge thyself convinced of the duty; that very tongue of thine shall condemn thee, and that confession be pleaded against thee, if thou wilfully neglectest such a confessed duty. Be thoroughly willing, and the work is more than half done. I have now a few plain directions to give you for your help in this great work; but, alas! it is in vain to mention them, except you be willing to put them in practice. However, I will propose them to thee, and may the Lord persuade thy heart to the work!

CHAP. XII.

Directions how to lead a heavenly Life upon Earth.

§ 1. (I.) Hinderances to a heavenly life must be avoided; such as § 2. (1.) Living in any known sin; § 3. (2.) An earthly mind; § 4. (3.) Ungodly companions; § 5. (4.) A notional religion; § 6. (5.) A haughty spirit; § 7. (6.) A slothful spirit; § 8. And (7.) resting in preparatives for a heavenly life, without the thing itself—§ 9. (II.) The duties which will promote a heavenly life are these; § 10. (1.) Be convinced that heaven is the only treasure and happiness; § 11, 12. (2.) Labor to know your interest in it; § 13. (3.) And how near it is; § 14. (4.) Frequently and seriously talk of it; § 15. (5.) Endeavor in every duty to raise your affections nearer to it; § 16. (6.) To the same purpose improve every object and event; § 17, 18. (7.) Be much in the angelical work of praise; § 19. (8.) Possess your souls with believing thoughts of the infinite love of God; § 20. (9.) Carefully observe and cherish the motions of the Spirit of God; § 21. (10.) Nor even neglect the due care of your bodily health.

§ 1. As thou valuest the comforts of a heavenly conversation, I must here charge thee from God,—to avoid carefully some dangerous hinderances; and then—faithfully and diligently to practise such duties as will especially assist thee in attaining to a heavenly life. And, (I.) the hinderances to be avoided with all possible care, are,—living in any known sin,—an earthly mind,—the company of the ungodly,—a notional religion,—a proud and lofty spirit,—a slothful spirit,—and resting in mere preparatives for this heavenly life, without any acquaintance with the thing itself.

§ 2. (1.) Living in any known sin, is a grand impediment to a heavenly conversation. What havoc will this make in thy soul! O the joys that this hath destroyed! The ruin it hath made amongst men's graces! The soul-strengthening duties it hath hindered! Christian reader, art thou one that hast used violence with thy conscience? Art thou a wilful neglecter of known duties, either public, private, or secret? Art thou a slave to thine appetite, or to any other commanding sense? Art thou a proud seeker of thine own esteem? Art thou a peevish and passionate person, ready to take fire at every word, or look, or supposed slight? Art thou a deceiver of others in thy dealings, or one that _will be rich_, right or wrong? If this be thy case, I dare say, heaven and thy soul are very great strangers. These _beams in thine eyes_ will not suffer thee to look to heaven; they will be _a cloud between thee and thy God_. When thou dost but attempt to study eternity, and gather comforts from the life to come, thy sin will presently look thee in the face, and say, "These things belong not to thee. How shouldst thou take comfort from heaven, who takest so much pleasure in the lusts of the flesh?" How will this damp thy joys, and make the thoughts of that day, and state, become thy trouble, and not thy delight! Every wilful sin will be to thy comforts, as water to the fire; when thou thinkest to quicken them, this will quench them. It will utterly indispose and disable thee, that thou canst no more ascend in Divine meditation, than a bird can fly when its wings are clipped. Sin cuts the very sinews of this heavenly life. O man! what a life dost thou lose? What daily delights dost thou sell for a vile lust? If heaven and hell can meet together, and God become a lover of sin, then mayest thou live in thy sin, and in the tastes of glory; and have a conversation in heaven, though thou cherish thy corruption. And take heed, lest it banish thee from heaven, as it does thy heart. And though thou be not guilty, and knowest no reigning sin in thy soul, think what a sad thing it would be, if ever this should prove thy case. Watch therefore; especially resolve to keep from the occasions of sin, and out of the way of temptations. What need have we daily to pray, _Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil_?

§ 3. (2.) An earthly mind is another hinderance to be carefully avoided. _God and Mammon_, earth and heaven, cannot both have the delight of thy heart. When the heavenly believer is blessing himself in his God, and _rejoicing in hope_ of the glory to come; perhaps thou art blessing thyself in thy worldly prosperity, and rejoicing in hope of thy thriving here. When he is comforting his soul in the views of Christ, of angels, and saints, whom he shall live with for ever; then thou art comforting thyself with thy wealth, in looking over thy bills and bonds, thy goods, thy cattle, or thy buildings, and in thinking of the favor of the great, of the pleasure of a plentiful estate, of larger provision for thy children after thee, of the advancement of thy family, or the increase of thy dependants. If Christ pronounced him a fool, that said, _Soul, take thy ease, thou hast enough laid up for many years_; how much more so art thou, who knowingly speakest in thy heart the same words? Tell me, what difference between this fool's expressions, and thy affections? Remember, thou hast to do with the Searcher of hearts. Certainly, so much as thou delightest, and takest up thy rest, on earth, so much of thy delight in God is abated. Thine earthly mind may consist with thy outward profession and common duties; but it cannot consist with this heavenly duty. Thou thyself knowest how seldom and cold, how cursory and reserved, thy thoughts have been of the joys above, ever since thou didst trade so eagerly for the world. O the cursed madness of many that seem to be religious! They thrust themselves into a multitude of employments, till they are loaded with labors, and clogged with cares, that their souls are as unfit to converse with God, as a man to walk with a mountain on his back; and as unapt to soar in meditation, as their bodies to leap above the sun! And when they have lost that heaven upon earth, which they might have had, they take up with a few rotten arguments to prove it lawful: though, indeed, they cannot. I advise thee, Christian, who hast tasted the pleasures of a heavenly life, as ever thou wouldst taste of them any more, avoid this devouring gulf of an earthly mind. If once thou come to this, that thou _wilt be rich_, thou _fallest into temptation, and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts_.[315] Keep these things loose about thee, like thy upper garments, that thou mayest lay them by whenever there is need; but let God and glory be next thy heart. Ever remember, _that the friendship of the world is enmity with God. Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world, is the enemy of God._[316] _Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him._[317] This is plain dealing, and happy he that faithfully receives it!

[Footnote 315] 1 Timothy vi, 9.

[Footnote 316] James iv, 4.

[Footnote 317] 1 John ii, 15.

§ 4. (3.) Beware of the company of the ungodly. Not that I would dissuade thee from necessary converse, or from doing them any office of love; especially, not from endeavoring the good of their souls, as long as thou hast any opportunity or hope: Nor would I have thee conclude them to be dogs and swine, in order to evade the duty of reproof: Nor even to judge them such at all, as long as there is any hope for the better: Much less can I approve of their practice, who conclude men dogs or swine, before ever they faithfully and lovingly admonish them, or perhaps before they have known them, or spoke with them. But it is the unnecessary society of ungodly men, and too much familiarity with unprofitable companions, that I dissuade you from. Not only the open profane, the swearer, the drunkard, and the enemies of godliness, will prove hurtful companions to us, though these indeed are chiefly to be avoided; but too frequent society with persons merely civil and moral, whose conversation is empty and unedifying, may much divert our thoughts from heaven. Our backwardness is such that we need the most constant and powerful helps. A stone, or a clod, is as fit to arise and fly in the air, as our hearts are naturally to move toward heaven. You need not hinder the rocks from flying up to the sky; it is sufficient that you do not help them. And surely if our spirits have not great assistance, they may easily be kept from soaring upward, though they never should meet with the least impediment. O think of this in the choice of your company! When your spirits are so disposed for heaven, that you need no help to lift them up, but, as flames, you are always mounting, and carrying with you all that is in your way; then you may, indeed, be less careful of your company; but till then, as you love the delights of a heavenly life, be careful herein. What will it advantage thee in a Divine life, to hear how the market goes, or what the weather is, or is like to be, or what news is stirring? This is the discourse of earthly men. What will it conduce to the raising thy heart God-ward, to hear that this is an able minister, or that an eminent Christian, or this an excellent sermon, or that an excellent book, or to hear some difficult but unimportant controversy? Yet this for the most part, is the sweetest discourse thou art like to have from a formal, speculative, dead-hearted professor. Nay, if thou hadst newly been warming thy heart in the contemplation of the blessed joys above, would not this discourse benumb thy affections, and quickly freeze thy heart again? I appeal to the judgment of any man that hath tried it, and maketh observations on the frame of his spirit. Men cannot well talk of one thing, and mind another, especially things of such different natures. You, _young men_, who are most liable to this temptation, think seriously of what I say; can you have your hearts in heaven, among your roaring companions in an ale house, or tavern? Or when you work in your shops with those, whose common language is oaths, _filthiness, or foolish talking, or jesting_? Nay, let me tell you, if you choose such company when you might have better, and find most delight in such, you are so far from a heavenly conversation, that as yet you have no title to heaven at all, and in that state shall never come there. If your treasure was there, your heart could not be on things so distant. In a word, our company will be part of our happiness in heaven, and it is a singular part of our furtherance to it, or hinderance from it.

§ 5. (4.) Avoid frequent disputes about lesser truths, and a religion that lies only in opinions. They are usually least acquainted with a heavenly life, who are violent disputers about the circumstantials of religion. He, whose religion is all in his opinions, will be most frequently and zealously speaking his opinions; and he, whose religion lies in the knowledge and love of God and Christ, will be most delightfully speaking of that happy time when he shall enjoy them. He is a rare and precious Christian, who is skilful to improve well known truths. Therefore let me advise you, who aspire after a heavenly life, not to spend too much of your thoughts, your time, your zeal, or your speech, upon disputes that less concern your souls; but when hypocrites are feeding on husks, or shells, do you feed on the joys above. I wish you were able to defend every truth of God, and to this end would read and study; but still I would have the chief truths to be chiefly studied, and none to cast out your thoughts of eternity. The least controverted points are usually most weighty, and of most necessary frequent use to our souls. Therefore study well such Scripture precepts as these; _him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations_.[318] _Foolish and unlearned questions, avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive._[319] _Avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain._[320] _If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness; from such withdraw thyself._[321]

[Footnote 318] Romans xiv, 1.

[Footnote 319] 2 Timothy ii, 23, 24.

[Footnote 320] Titus iii, 9.

[Footnote 321] 1 Timothy vi, 3-5.

§ 6. (5.) Take heed of a proud and lofty spirit. There is such an antipathy between this sin and God, that thou wilt never get thy heart near him, nor get him near thy heart, as long as this prevaileth in it. If it cast the angels out of heaven, it must needs keep thy heart from heaven. If it cast our first parents out of paradise, and separated between the Lord and us, and brought his curse on all the creatures here below; it will certainly keep our hearts from paradise, and increase the cursed separation from our God. Intercourse with God will keep men low, and that lowliness will promote their intercourse. When a man is used to be much with God, and taken up in the study of his glorious attributes, he _abhors himself in dust and ashes_; and that self-abhorrence is his best preparative to obtain admittance to God again. Therefore after a soul-humbling day, or in times of trouble, when the soul is lowest, it useth to have free access to God, and savor most of the life above. The delight of God is in _him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at his word_;[322] and the delight of such a soul is in God; and where there is mutual delight, there will be freest admittance, heartiest welcome, and most frequent converse. But God is so far from dwelling in the soul that is proud, that he will not admit it to any near access; _the proud he knoweth afar off_;[323] _God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble_.[324] A proud mind is high in conceit, self-esteem, and carnal aspiring; a humble mind is high, indeed, in God's esteem, and in holy aspiring. These two sorts of high-mindedness are most of all opposite to each other, as we see most wars are between princes and princes, not between a prince and a ploughman. Well then, art thou a man of worth in thine own eyes? Art thou delighted when thou hearest of thy esteem with men, and much dejected when thou hearest that they slight thee? Dost thou love those best that honor thee, and think meanly of them that do not, though they be otherwise men of godliness and honesty? Must thou have thy humors fulfilled, and thy judgment be a rule, and thy word a law to all about thee? Are thy passions kindled, if thy word or will be crossed? Art thou ready to judge humility to be sordid baseness, and knowest not how to submit to humble confession, when thou hast sinned against God; or injured thy brother? Art thou one that lookest strange at the godly poor, and art almost ashamed to be their companion? Canst thou not serve God in a low place, as well as a high? Are thy boastings restrained more by prudence or artifice than humility? Dost thou desire to have all men's eyes upon thee, and to hear them say, "_This is he?_" Art thou unacquainted with the deceitfulness and wickedness of thy heart? Art thou more ready to defend thy innocence, than accuse thyself, or confess thy fault? Canst thou hardly bear a close reproof, or digest plain dealing? If these symptoms be undeniably in thy heart, thou art a proud person. There is too much of hell abiding in thee, to have any acquaintance with heaven; thy soul is too like the Devil, to have any familiarity with God. A proud man makes himself his God, and sets up himself as his idol; how then can his affections be set on God? How can he possibly have his heart in heaven? Invention and memory may possibly furnish his tongue with humble and heavenly expressions, but in his spirit there is no more heaven than there is humility. I speak the more of it, because it is the most common and dangerous sin in morality, and most promotes the great sin of infidelity. O Christian! if thou wouldst live continually in the presence of thy Lord, lie in the dust, and he will thence take thee up. _Learn of him to be meek and lowly, and thou shalt find rest unto thy soul._[325] Otherwise thy soul will be _like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt_;[326] and instead of these sweet delights in God, thy pride will fill thee with perpetual disquiet. As he _that humbleth himself as a little child_, shall hereafter _be greatest in the kingdom of heaven_;[327] so shall he now be greatest in the foretastes of that kingdom. God _dwells with a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones_.[328] Therefore _humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up_.[329] And _when others are cast down, then thou shalt say, there is lifting up, and he shall save the humble person_.[330]

[Footnote 322] Isaiah lxvi, 2.

[Footnote 323] Psalm cxxxviii, 6.

[Footnote 324] 1 Peter v, 5.

[Footnote 325] Matthew xi, 29.

[Footnote 326] Isaiah lvii, 20.

[Footnote 327] Matthew xviii, 4.

[Footnote 328] Isaiah lvii, 15.

[Footnote 329] James iv, 10.

[Footnote 330] Job xvii, 29.

§ 7. (6.) A slothful spirit is another impediment to this heavenly life. And I verily think there is nothing hinders it more than this in men of a good understanding. If it were only the exercise of the body, the moving of the lips, the bending of the knee; men would as commonly step to heaven, as they go to visit a friend. But to separate our thoughts and affections from the world, to draw forth all our graces, and increase each in its proper object, and hold them to it till the work prospers in our hands; this, this is the difficulty. Reader, heaven is above thee, and dost thou think to travel this steep ascent without labor and resolution? Canst thou get that earthly heart to heaven, and bring that backward mind to God, while thou liest still, and takest thine ease? If lying down at the foot of a hill, and looking toward the top, and wishing we were there, would serve the turn, then we should have daily travellers for heaven. _But the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force._[331] There must be violence used to get these first fruits, as well as to get the full possession. Dost thou not feel it so, though I should not tell thee? Will thy heart get upwards, except thou drive it? Thou knowest that heaven is all thy hopes, that nothing below can yield thee rest, that a heart seldom thinking of heaven, can fetch but little comfort thence; and yet dost thou not lose thy opportunities, and lie below, when thou shouldst walk above, and live with God? Dost thou not commend the sweetness of a heavenly life, and judge those the best Christians that use it, and yet never try it thyself? As the sluggard that stretches himself on his bed, and cries, O that this were working! So dost thou talk, and trifle, and live at thy ease, and say, O that I could get my heart to heaven! How many read books, and hear sermons, expecting to hear of some easier way, or to meet with a shorter course to comfort, than they are ever like to find in Scripture? Or they ask for directions for a heavenly life, and if the hearing them will serve, they will be heavenly Christians; but if we shew them their work, and tell them, they cannot have these delights on easier terms, then they leave us, as _the young man_ left Christ _sorrowful_. If thou art convinced, reader, that this work is necessary to thy comfort, set upon it resolutely: If thy heart draw back, force it on with the command of reason: If thy reason begin to dispute, produce the command of God, and urge thy own necessity, with the other considerations suggested in the former chapter. Let not such an incomparable treasure lie before thee, with thy hand in thy bosom; nor thy life be a continual vexation, when it might be a continual feast, only because thou wilt not exert thyself. Sit not still with a disconsolate spirit, while comforts grow before thine eyes, like a man in the midst of a garden of flowers, that will not rise to get them, and partake of their sweetness. This I know, Christ is the fountain; but the well is deep, and thou must get forth this water before thou canst be refreshed with it. I know, so far as you are spiritual, you need not all this striving and violence; but in part you are carnal, and as long as it is so, there is need of labor. It was a custom of the Parthians, not to give their children any meat in the morning, before they saw the sweat on their faces with some labor. And you shall find this to be God's usual course, not to give his children the taste of his delights, till they begin to sweat in seeking after them. Judge therefore whether a heavenly life, or thy carnal ease, be better; and as a wise man, make thy choice accordingly. Yet let me add for thy encouragement, _Thou needest not employ thy thoughts more than thou now dost; it is only to fix them upon better and more pleasant objects_. Employ but as many serious thoughts every day upon the excellent glory of the life to come, as thou now dost on worldly affairs, yea, on vanities and impertinencies, and thy heart will soon be at heaven. On the whole, it is _the field of the slothful_, that is _all grown over with thorns and nettles_; and _the desire of the slothful killeth his_ joys, _for his hands refuse to labor_; and it is _the slothful man saith, there is a lion in the way, a lion in the streets. As the door turneth upon its hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed. The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom, it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth_,[332] though it be to feed himself with the food of life. What is this but throwing away our own consolations, and consequently the precious blood that bought them? For _he that is slothful in his work, is brother to him that is a great waster_.[333] Apply this to thy spiritual work, and study well the meaning of it.

[Footnote 331] Matthew xi, 12.

[Footnote 332] Proverbs xxvi, 30. 31. xxi, 25. xxvi, 13-15.

[Footnote 333] Proverbs xviii, 9.