Ver. g.. Fifth Chap. 2d Ep. to the Ç O R I N T H. 3 fent Life, or irkfomenefsunder the burden thereof, or defpondency and diftruft of Gods help, rather than any fan&ified refolution. idly. Let its fee the Holinefs of thefegroansanddefrres. i. They come from a certain confidence, Verfe. 1. of this Chapter; nota bare conjecture, but a certain knowledge, Surely Heaven and Glory is amiable, and the objet of our delres, and when we are perfwaded of the truth and worth of it, we will groan and long after it. idly. A fe7 rioua preparation, Verfe the Third, If fo be that being ,clothed, we fliail not be found naked. They have made up their accounts between God and their Souls, fued out their Pardon Stand with their Loins girt, and Lamps burning : As Simeon ; Lord, now letteft thou thy Servant depart in peace, &c. when he had feen Chrift with the Eyes of his Faith, as well as of his Body. 3dly. An Heart leaded to the world. For in th Text ; Being Burthened we groan : Till we are weaned from preterit felicities, we (hall not earneftly feek after better. The Child of God is now in his exile, and pilgrimage, and therefore longeth to be at home in his own Country. He is now in his conflict and warfare : Then Crowned. Now under his Tryal, then he hath his recoin. pence. He feeth the vanity and emptinefs of the things of this Life, and alfo by the Eye of Faith the excellency and Glory of the Life to come. ,4thly.. From a jujl value and ejteera of that better Life. For here he compareth the one with the other, and fheweth the pre- ference of the one before the other, to be the true reafon of the Saints groaning ; coin- paring the emptinefs of things below with the fulnefs of things above : The bafenefs of Earthly things with the Glory of Heavenly things: The mileries of this Life with the happinefs of that Life, make them willing of the exchange ; only they referve the good pleafure of God. If God hath no more work forthem to do, they are ready. A Chriflian liveth and dyer' at the Lordswill and pleafure. For he bath reigned himfelfto him ; Lord if I have done my work, if I may no longer be neceffary to.thy ptciple, I am willing and ready. Well then, you fee how thefedelires and groans of the Saints are to be under- flood, they do not limply defire Death, but defire Glory ; not to be unclothed but cloth- ed. They fubmit to Death when the time is come, and God bath no more work for them to do in the world ; yea they are glad of it ; as Jacobs' Spirit revived, when he law the wagons which lofeph fent to carry him intozEgypt. Death isthe Chariot to carry you to Chrifk& therefore itthould not be unwelcome to us. Chrift was willing to come down to us,though it were to meet with flame & pain;Whyfhould we be fo loth toreturn to him? 3d. Point is, That in the other world, Mortality isfwallowed ap of Life. r. To open the meaning of this exprefion (fwallowedup: ] 'Tis not fwallowed up as a gulf, or fire,fwalloweth up that which is caftinto it: No ; But as Theodoret well expreíleth it, as darknefs is fwallowed up by light, or as perfection fwalloweth up imperfe &ion, or as the rude draught is fwallowed up by the perfefting of the pi&ure,as child -hood by man- hood, &c. Such aperfe&ive alteration is there of our ftate. idly. To 'hew you what kind of Life this is. i. 'Tis an Eternal Life; there, you live, and never dye : You need not be perplexed with any thoughts and fears of change. The Soul fhall no more flit out of the body, and the body its felffhall remain in an Eternal fpring ofyouth. There was a way out of our Earthly Paradife, but node that ever we could find in again. But in our Eternal Paradife, there is away in, but no way out again, Luc. 16. i6. - They that would pafs from hence to you cannot. Upon fuppofal they would, they cannot. Gods grant will never be reverfed. idly. This Lije is Life indeed, for it is a Bleffed Life always fpent in the pretence of God. The Fountain of all Bléffednefs, and we ever love him, and are ever Beloved by him, t The[: 4. 17. Not an hour, nor a minute abfent from God, praifing and lauding him for evermore. 3dly. This Life is a Glorious Life. The fight is Glorious, therewe !hall fee God Face to Face, 11or 13. la. The place is Glorious, z Cor. s z. ç The upper Paradife. The company is Glorious ; all the GlorifiedSaints and Angels, Heb. 1z. zz, if. Our Souls and Bodies Glorious, Phil. 3. ii. Our daily exercifethall be Glorious ; for we 'hall always praife God without any vain thoughts, or diflra&ion, or worldly inctjmbrances, or wearinefs of the Fled;. 4thly. 'Tie a joyful Life. -- Enter into thy Mafiers goy, .Matth. as. ii. And Hal. if. a s. Thou wilt phew me the path of Life ; in thy pretence there is fulnefs of joy, and at thy right hand pleafures for evermore, the pleafures of the world, are poor empty things, fuddenly pats away as a dream, but thefe remain for ever, and are full and unmixed. There is continual matter of rejoicing, none offorrow. Sthly. 'Tù a moll -Holy, pure, and perfeti Life. The .Body !hall be united to a Soul,fully fanetified,from which itfliall never again be feparated, and both together (hall be the Vernal Temple of the Holy -Ghoft : And the whole man fhall be firmly elf ablifhed in Righteoufnefs and Holinefs, never to fin, never tr E z tó'
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