6t8 Practical Chriftianity, xLorio~u Saint,, ~·ifcour~ng to them of the i?angers and Di ffi culties th:it you have palfed through In getting to them. Doth It not fweeten the Toil and Pai ns that you take in your Yatah, to think that thereby you arc layi ng up that whereupon you may live at Eafc Hereafter_, and fparc the weakncfs of Old .Ag( ? And is it not much more Rational that while you are in this World, which may be called the Youth of Eternity, you fhould lay up a good Foundation, and treafure up a large, rich Stock, upon which you might live at Eafe for £1.1tr? Why lhould you not _be as wife and politick for Heaven, a~: for a little of the perilhin" Things of this World? Will you Labour that you may Reft here, Where your IZcft fhall certainly be difqnieted and you !hook out of it; and will you not' labour that yo~1 may Reft in Heaven, where alone you can enjoy an Everla!bng Reil:? [ know it is that inveterate prejudice that Men have taken up againft the Ways of God, that they are painful and laborious, and this invalidates all Reafons and Arguments that we bring them to perfuade them to work. Reil:, that is it they would have; and though God tells them they fhall h:.tve :~.n Eternal Rtft if they will but work a while; and tells them on the other Hand, thttt they /bali mver enter irzro Reft, if they do not work~ that they fhall never enjoy more Eafe than what they can find in Hell it felf, where there Groans and Bellowings, to~ethcr with the Smoak of that bottomlefs Pit fhall afcend up for ~r; yet fuch Is the mad~ nefs of Mens Folly, that neither the Reft of Heaven, nor the Reftlefme{s of Hell, can ftir or move them, but they roll themfelves up in their own Sloth and will hear nothing, nor lay, any thing to Heart that may rouzc or awaken them. Hath not God often called upon them by hi s Minifters? Sinnen, Sinners, awAke, beitir your felves, Hell-fire is kindling about you, God is ready to open his Mouth to pronounce Sentence againfl: you, Satan is ready to lay hold of you and to drag you to be tormented. One would think fuch Execrations as thefe arc. fhould awaken the Carkajfes that you fit over, were they nOt in their final frate; and yet with you whofe Souls are yet in their Bodies, but know not how foon they may be in Hell, who among yon are moved with all that bath or can be faid of this Matter? Nay, are you not like neepy Men when jogged, ready to grow pettifh and to quarrel with us? Why do you moleit us? Why do you envy ·us our Reft? Why do you difl:urb our Peace, and will not let us alone? Shall I fay to you now, as once our Saviour faid Matth126. to his Difciples? Sleep on, And t4kt your Rcft; fleep on, and nod your felves into De4S· frruttian; fieep on, and never wake more till the Flames of Hell awaken you. Truly we came not to dilturb your Reft, but we come to inform and guide you to a better Reft than what you can find here, even an eternal Reft, a Reit with him that is immortal, a Reit with him who alone is unchangeable; and is not thisReit wort!t a little Pains and Struggling to obtain? Do you think you are always to believe and to repent, always to obey and mortifie your Corruptions? You cannot think fo, unlefs you think you are always to live in this \.Vorld: No, there is a Rcft remains for the People of Gad, after a few lhort Days be gone. lt is not therefore your Eafe that you feek when you will not work; no, it is rather your Pain and eternal Torment, which fhalf certainly then be given unto all OathfulPerfons·; when the indufl:rious and painful Chriitian, that labonrs and works for Salvation, lhall be admitted into the Eternal Reft that he is afpiring after 1 and bath already embraced in his Hope and Faith. In He4ven (4-) Fourthly, Confider, As in Heaven thtre U an eternal Reft, fo alfo in H t4Vtn there il an there t1 an eternal Work to be done: And therefore you Jhould inure your felves to Eternal that Wo1:k while you are here upon Earth. If Happinefs, according to the PhiWork. lofopher's Notion, conGfts in Operation, then in Heaven where there is the mort: -perfeCt Happinefs, there muft needs be the moit perfctl: Operation. And there~ fore, whatever hath ,been fpaken of Reit that remains, yet you are J).Ot fo to conceive of it as paffibly fome grafs enough are apt to wilh and fancy to themfelves; as if .in Heaven the bleffed were unactive and enjoyed there only a long Vacation, and 011ly fl:retchcd themfelves on that Flowery Bank, and fo void of Cares and Fears lull'd away an Eternity: No, thefe are too low and brutilh Apprehenfions for the Glory of that Place. That Reit that is there to be expected and enjoyed is opuative working Reft; it is bath Reft and Exercife at once, and therefore it is a true Paradox, though the Saints in Heaven reft from their Labours, yet they never reft from their Working; continually arC they bleiling and praifing of God, .A[cribing Glory, and Honour and Power to him th.:~t fits upon the Throne, and "
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