DISCOURSE VIII. 171 ht his ordinances, have never yet been the object of thy delight or joy : nay, they have rather been thy aversion; and shouldst thou have the gates of heaven open before thee, and see what business, the holy souls there are employed in, thou wouldst find no desire to such sort of satisfactions ; the place and the company would be thy burden, if thou couldst be let at once into the midst of them. L° Think again, O sinful wretch, thy carnality of soul, thy supreme love of sensual and brutal joys, the secret malice or envy, the pride and impiety of thy heart, have prepared thee for another sort of company : thou art fitted for hell by the very temper of thy spirit, for such are the inhabitants of that miser- able world, and in thy present state there can be no admission for thee into heaven. Thou hast treasured up food for the worm. that never dies, for the eternal anguish of conscience ; thou bast made thyself fit fuel by indulgence, of thy sinful and rebellious appetites and passions, for the fiery indignation of God ; and every day thou persistest in this state, thy preparation for the dark regions of sin and sorrow is increased." But this leads me to the last remark. IV. " How dangerous a thing it is for a sinner to continue a day longer in a state so unprepared for the heavenly world." Dost thou not know, whilst we are inhabitants in these regions of mortality, we are borderers upon death : and if we are un- prepared for heaven, we are borderers upon damnation and hell ? Our Zife is but a vapour, and the next puff may blow us away into the regions of everlasting darkness, misery and despair. Alas ! how much of this divine preparation do the best of saints stand in need of for an immediate entrance into heaven ? What care do they take, how constant are their labours, and how fer- vent their prayers to increase in this divine fitness, in these holy and heavenly qualifications ? And dost thou vainly imagine to exchange earth for heaven at once, and to be received into the pure and holy mansions of paradise, without any conformity to God or Christ, or the rest of the inhabitants of that world ? Objection. But some idle and slothful creatures will be ready to object and say, if it be God who creates his people anew, according to his own image, and fits them for heaven ; if we must be wrought up by his power and grace for the participa= tion of this glory, what can we do towards it ourselves ? Or why are we charged and exhorted to prepare ourselves for heaven ? Since then it is God must do this work, why may we not lie still, and wait till his grace shall prepare us ? I answer, no, by no means ; for God is wont to exert his grace only while creatures are in the use of his appointments, and fulfil their duty. This language therefore, and these excuses, seem to be the mere cavils of a carnal mind, or the voice of sloth
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=