blood, nor corruptible, or mortal, or subject to hunger, or pain, or weariness, nor to passions that rebel against the reasonable soul; but they shall be spiritual bodies, and immortal, and incorruptible, and undefiled. Our souls will be perfected in their natural perfections, and in their moral. They shall be of more advanced understanding, and comprehensive wisdom than now. Our wills shall attain to perfect rectitude in a perfect conformity to the will of God, and every affection shall be brought to its perfect order and elevation: all sin shall be done away, whether it were in the understanding, will, affections, or the actions. The executive power will be answerable to the rest of the perfections, and to the blessed work which it hath to do: and thus we shall be like the angels of God.

2. The next thing considerable in our blessedness, is, our approximation or approach to God: we shall be admitted into the holiest, and brought as near him as our natures are capable of, and we are fit for.

3. Moreover, we shall be members of the New Jerusalem, and receive our glory in communion with that blessed society, and so as members contribute to her glory.

4. And we shall behold the glorified person of our Redeemer, and he will be glorified on us as the fruits of his victory.

5. And we shall behold the face of the blessed God, and see his wisdom, and power, and glory, and know as we are known. Though we cannot now fully know the manner, yet in that sense as our angels are said to behold the face of God, (Matt. xviii. 10.) we also shall behold it.

6. We shall also enjoy him in the nearest relation, and by the most raised, vigorous affections of our soul. We shall be filled with his love as full as we can hold, and we shall abound with perfect love to him again: and the joy that is in his presence, which this intuition, and everlasting love will afford us, is such as no heart is here able to conceive.

7. Being thus furnished, we shall be employed in his perfect praises, in singing and rejoicing to him with the heavenly host, and magnifying his heart and holy name.

8. And in all this will the glory of God shine forth, and he will be admired in his saints; 2 Thess. i. 10, 11. In us

it shall appear how abundant he is in power, and wisdom, and goodness, in holiness, faithfulness, and righteousness.

9. And God himself will be well pleased with us, and with the new Jerusalem, and his glorified Son, and will take complacency in this manifestation and communication of his glory and of himself unto his creatures. And this is his ultimate end, and should be the highest point of ours. The revolution hath now brought all to that centre, which is both the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. His will is the fountain or efficient source of all, and it is the ultimate end and perfection of all.

I

There is no more to add, as to the matter, but that as to the duration, first, we may take it as that which leaves no room for any addition, that all this will be everlasting, leaving not any doubts or fears of a cessation. Abundance of glorious adjuncts of this felicity might be mentioned; but pass them all by, and do but name these few which are the essential constitutive parts of our happiness, because I have touched them before, and more fully spoken of them in the "Saints' Rest." Thus much I thought meet to mention here, that you may have somewhat of that in your eye, that I am persuading you to intend and seek; and the rather, because I perceive that many of the godly have not such distinct apprehensions of the constitutive parts of this felicity, as they should have; but much wrong their souls, and God himself, and the glory of their profession, by looking but at some of the parts.

Believe God, sirs, that this is the life that you shall live, if you will take it for your portion, and set your hearts upon it, and follow the conduct of Christ for the obtaining it. Can you be content with heaven alone? Is it enough for you, though you be despised and persecuted in the world? Do you account this for certainty and excellency to be worth all? Yea, that all is dross and dung to this? Thus must you do if you will be true converts. For all such are heavenly in their minds and hearts, and in the drift of all their lives and conversations."

Direct. X. My next advice that you may prove sound converts, is this, Rest not, and count not yourselves truly converted, till God and his holy ways have your very love, and desire, and delight; and take not that for a saving

change, when you had rather live a worldly, ungodly life, if it were not for the fear of punishment.'

I shall speak but little of this, because I touched upon it before, when I told you that Christ must have your hearts, and because it is but a consectary of the last, or contained in it. But yet I think it best to present it here distinctly to your consideration, because a slavish kind of religiousness, doth deceive so many, and because the life of grace is here expressed. I deny not but holy fear is exceeding useful to us; even a fear of the threatenings and judgments of God. But yet I must tell you, that in fear there is much more that is common to the unsanctified, than there is in love, desire, and delight. Though "the fear of the Lord be the beginning of wisdom," it is love that is the perfection; and that fear is not filial, and of the right strain, if love be not its companion. Fear of punishment shews that you love your natural selves; but it shews not that you love God, and are truehearted to him. The devils fear and tremble, but they do not love. It is love, and not fear that is the bias, the inclination, and (as I may say) the nature of the will of man. By his love it is that you must know what the man is. The philosopher saith, "Such as a man is, such is his end," which is all one as to say, "Such as a man is, such is his love." You may fear a thing at the same time when you hate it; and it is too common to have some hatred mixed with fear. You may be as much against God and his holy ways, when fear only drives you to some kind of religiousness, as others are that scarce meddle with religion at all. The first thing that God looks at, is what you would do; and the next is, what you do. If you do it, but had rather leave it undone, you lose your reward, and God will take it as if you had not done it for it was not you that did it, if you did it not from love; but it was fear that dwelleth in you. God takes men's hearty desires and will, instead of the deed, where they have not power to fulfil them: but he never took the bare deed instead of the will. A blockish kind of worship, consisting in outward actions, without the heart, is fit to be given to a wooden god, a senseless idol; but the true and living God abhors it. He is a Spirit, and will be worshipped in spirit and in truth; such worshippers he seeketh, and such he will accept; John iv. 23, 24. A beggar will be glad of your alms, though you leave it with an ill will, because he needeth it:

but God hath no need of you, nor of your service, and therefore think not that he will accept you on such terms. That people worship God in vain, that draw near him with their mouth, and honour him with their lips, while their heart is far from him; Matt. xv. 8,9. A man's heart is where his love is, rather than where his fear is. If you should lie still upon your knees, or in the holy assembly; if you should be the strictest observer of the ordinances on the Lord's days, and yet had such hearts in you, as had rather let all these alone, if it were not for fear of punishment; it will all be disregarded, and reckoned to you according to your wills, as if it had never been done by you at all. It is love that must win love, or make you fit for love to entertain. If you give your goods to the poor, or your bodies to be burned in a cause that in itself is good, and yet have not love, it availeth nothing; 1 Cor. xiii. 1-3.5. You will not think your wife hath conjugal affection that loveth another man better than you, and had rather be gone from you, if she could live without you. It is an unnatural son that loves not his father, but had rather be from him, than with him. If God called you to a bestial drudgery or slavery, he would then look but for your work, and not care much whether you be willing or unwilling. If your ox draw your plough, and your horse carry his burden, you care not much whether it be willingly or unwillingly. Or if it be an enemy that you have to deal with, you will look for no more than a forced submission, or that he be disabled from doing you hurt. But this is not your case it is a state of friendship that the Gospel calls. you to, you must be nigh to God, his children, and the members of his Son, espoused to him by the dearest, strongest bonds and do you think that it is possible that this should be done without your wills and affections? If you can be content with the portion of a slave and an enemy, then do your task, and deny God your affections: but if you look for the entertainment and portion of a friend, a child, a spouse, you must bring the heart of a friend, and of a child, and of a spouse. Fear may do good by driving you to the use of means, and taking out of your hands the things by which you would do yourselves a mischief: it may prepare you for saving grace, and when you are sanctified, it will prove a necessary servant of love, to keep you in awe, and save you from temptations. But love is the ruling affection

in the sanctified, and fear is therefore necessary, because of the present imperfection of love, and because of the variety of temptations that here beset us. Think not therefore that you are savingly renewed, till God have your very hearts. When you do but believe and tremble, it is better than to be unbelieving, and stupid, and secure; but you are not true Christians till you believe and love. We use to fly from that we fear, and therefore do apprehend it to be evil to us. We avoid the presence and company of those that we are afraid of, but we draw nigh them that we love, and delight in their company. We fear an enemy; we love a friend. We fear the devil naturally, but we do not love him. It is love that is that affection of the soul that entertaineth God as God, even as good; though that love must be accompanied with a filial fear, even a dread and reverence of his majesty and greatness, and a fear of displeasing him. If you should toil out yourselves in religious duties, with a heart that had rather forbear them, if you durst, you have not the heart of God's children in your breasts. The magistrate can frighten men to the congregation and outward worship. You may lock a man in the church, that had rather be away: and will any man think that this makes him acceptable to God? You may keep a thief from stealing by prison and irons, but this makes him not accepted with God as a true man. You may cure a man of cursing, and swearing, and railing, and idle and ribald talking, even in a minute of an hour, by cutting off his tongue; but will God accept him ever the more, as long as he has a heart that would do it if he could? There are abundance of people at this day that are kept from abusing the Lord's day, and from swearing, and stealing, yea, and from laying violent hands on all about them that are godly, and this by the law of men, and the fear of present punishment. And do you think that these are therefore innocent or acceptable with God? By this account you may make the devil a saint, when he is chained up from doing mischief. You may as well say that the lion is become a lamb, when he is shut up in his den; or that a mastiff dog is become harmless and gentle, when he is muzzled. Believe it, sirs, you are never Christians till you see that in God that wins your hearts to him, so that you would not change your master for any in the world; and till you see that in the hopes of everlasting glory, that you would not change it for any