for this. Had I no other notion of Hea- Ser. IV.. ven than that it were a Canaan, or of an Hell than that it were an Egypt, yet this one Thought alone, that the one and the other is Eternal, that I could never be bereav'd of the one, nor deliver'd from the other; this one Thought, I fay, would make me contemn the Tranfitory Good and Evil of this fhort Life. It is an Enquiry of no fmall Moment, whether we shall pass an Eternity, if I may fo fpeak, in Bondage, Labour, and Oppreffion, or in Affluence and Plenty, Liberty and Eafe. The Sum of what I have faid is, that this one Character or Property of our Future Happiness or Mifery, makes it outweigh all the Temptations upon Earth; for what Good or Evil is there here which does not foon come to an End. As often therefore as we quit Heaven for a Temptation we infi nitely exceed the Folly of Efau, who quitted his Birth-right for one Meal, and Gen. xxv. that an infipid one too.

"

2dly. The Reward of another Life confifts in a Good, that is pure, fincere, and unmix'd, but the Temptations of this confift in fuch things as have a great Mixture and Variety in them. One of the Confequences of the Perfection, which we fhall arrive at in the Refurrection

33.

Vol. II.rection is, as I have before fhew'd you, an entire Exemption from Evil of any kind whatever. God cannot change, and we never fhall change for the worfe, I might add, I think, never can. Whether we may for the better, whether our Perfection be capable of Improvement, I'll not debate; this I am fure, God can never be less Lovely, and we can never ceafe from Loving him. There will be no feed of Error or Sin, of Decay or Corruption within us, for this were repugnant to Holy and Immortal Natures. Nor can we be liable to Chance or Violence, to Fraud or Force; for no fuch thing can enter Heaven, nor can Wife and Incorruptible Beings he obnoxious to any thing of this kind. Add to all this that our Enjoyments in Heaven, will never coft us any thing the Attaining them, for all Labour and Difficulty is over in this Life; and they are so Pure and Holy, fo Wife and Excellent, that they will give us no Trouble in our Reflection upon them. They will leave no fting behind them in the Confcience, fix no ftain upon our Name or Nature,ner in the leaft indamage our Rights and Interefts; and what we our felves fhall be, fuch will all thofe be we Converse with; and what our State, fuch theirs. O

Bleffed

Blessed State! Where we can never feel, Ser.IV. no nor fear any Evil; where Enjoyment fhall be Perfect, Unmix'd, and Uninterrupted; where Pleafure will be the great Business of Life, and we shall have nothing to do to gain it, nor to Secure and Guard it.

How contrary is it with all the things which we call Good in this Life? What Difficulties and Dangers do commonly lie in the Way to Pleasure? And how many Evils and Miseries are the Confe quences of it? Thus it is with Ambiti on, with Covetoufnefs, with Luft, and with all things elfe. There are fo many Ingredients of real Evil mix'd with feeming Good, that one would think there could be little of Temptation in any thing of this kind. In Friendship there is Flattery and Falfhood; in Uncleanness, Inconftancy and Satiety,Cheats and Disappointments, Difeafes and Dif honour; in Luxury and Prodigality, Surfeits and Pains, Reproach and Want; in Ambition Labour and Travail, Envy and Solicitude. I need not mention Lying, and Covetoufnefs; I cannot fee as much as what Appearance of Good there is in either of them; I cannot fee any thing tempting in them: But 'tis evident to every one that they have fomething

fervile

Vol. II. fervile and mean in them, and therefore they are contemned and hated by all, but fuch only as are engag'd in them.

If we reflect then upon the whole, the Sum of all is this. What can there be in this World if we will talk or act reafonably, that can tempt us to quit the Happiness or undergo the Mifery of another? Confider the Perpetuity and Security, the Eternity and unmix'd Purity of Heavenly Good; and then tell me, what is there upon Earth that can be put into the Scale against it? Suppofe the Good of Heaven were in the Nature of it, nó greater than that of an Earthly Canaan, yet when we call to Mind that it will never have an End, and that it will never be alloy'd with the leaft Mixture or Adherence of any Evil, how can we chufe but defpife this Life in comparison of that? There is no State now upon Earth, that can pretend either to Security or Perpetuity: There is no State that vaunts an unmix'd, an uninterrupted Pleasure without the Compofition of any Trouble or Fear. And therefore Salva tion even under this Idea or Representa tion of it, would contain in it more than whatever enkindles the Ambition ofgreat Minds, or the Defires of fond and foft ones, and the Greediness of selfish ones. And

And Damnation if it fignified no more Ser. IV. than a State of Eternal Reproach and Want and Bondage would easily outweigh whatever the World can now threaten a Vertuous Man with; for there is no Mifery that is perpetual on this fide the Grave, nor any that befalls a Vertuous Man without a Mixture of very fubftantial Comforts: But however that be, Death will fet him free from all Afflictions, and in the Grave he shall be at Reft. But

3dly. Heavenly Good does in the Nature and Degree of it infinitely excel Earthly; its Perfection vies with its Duration, and 'tis as valuable for its Excellency, as its Eternity. There the Eye is satisfied with seeing, and the Ear with Hearing: There the Heart is always filled, and is always Ravifh'd, but never cloy'd and disappointed by Enjoyment. This may be eafilyinferr'd both from the Object of our Enjoyment, and from our own Powers and Capacities, I mean those we shall have at that Day. If we Inquire what we fhall Enjoy, the Apoftle tells us, God will be all in all; God Cor. x7. himself or a very near Refemblance of 28. him will be the Object of our Fruition; and we our felves fhall be in our Nature equal to the Angels. Thofe Bodies that

are