186 The $lefednef of Good Men, after Death. Vol. L they dohere, but fo happily changed, and refined to fuch a Perfection, that they (hall be fo far from giving any difturbance toour Minds, that they (hall mightily add to their Pleafure and Happinefs ? And when we are once landed in thofe Bleffed Regions, what a Comfort will it be to us, to hand on the Shore, andlook back upon thofe rough and dangerous Seas, which we have efcaped ? How pleafant to confider tare manifold Evils and Calamities which we are freed from, andfor ever fecured againft ? To remember our part Labours and Sufferings, and to be able to defie all thofe Temptations, which were wont to affault us in this World, with fo much Violence, and with too much Succefs? And this is the Condition of the Bleffed Spirits above. They find a perfect Ceffation of all AfHi&ions and Troubles, they refi from their Labours. But this is not all : For, 2. They are not only freed from all the Evils and Sufferings they wereexerci- fed withal in this World ; but they !hall receive a plentiful Reward of all the Good they have done in it; their works do accompany them. When piousSouls go out of this World, they do not only leave all the Evils of the World behind them; but they carry along with them all the Good they have done, to reap there the Comfort and Reward of it. Juft as on the other hand, Wicked Men, when they die, leave all the good things of this World, all the Pleafures and Enjoyments behind them ; but the Guilt and Remorfe of their wicked Lives accompany them, and !tick clofe to them, to Torment them there, and that there they may be Tormented for them. Thus the Scriptures reprefent to us the different Condition of Good and bad Men, Efai. 3. to, I I. Say ye to the righteous, that it (hall be well with him : for they 'hall eat the fruit of their doings. Wo unto the wicked, it (hall be ill with him : for the rewardof his hands(hall begiven him. Which is many times true in this World ; but however that happen, will :oft certainly and remarka- bly be made good in the other. And this is molt Emphatically exprelt to us, in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Luke 16. 25. where the Rich Man pe- titions Abraham for force Eafe, and Abraham returns him this Anfwer ; Son, re- member that thou in thy life time receivedfi thy good things, and likewife Laza- rus evil things : hut now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. What a Change was here ! HowComfortable to the one, and. how Difinal to the other ! Lazarus found refi from all his Labours and Sufferings, and his Piety and Pati- ence accompanied him into the other World , and conveyed him into Abraham's Bofom. Whereas the Rich Man was parted from all hisgood things, and the Guilt of his .Sins went along with him, and lodged him in theplace ofTor- ment. But my Text confines me to the bright fide of this Profpeft ; The Confiderati- on of that Glorious Recompence which Good Men (hall receive, for the Good Works which they have done in thisWorld. Indeed the Text doth not exprefly fay, that their works 'ball be rewarded, but that they f ballgo along with them, and that they arebleffed upon this Account ; and this implies that they (hall re- ceive a fore Reward. For as the Apoltle Reafons, God is not unrighteous to for- get our Work andLabour of Love. Verily there is a Rewardfor the righteous, as fure as there is a God that judgeth in the Earth. But how Great and Glorious that (hall be, I am not in anymeafure able to de- clare to you. It may fuf hce, that the Scripture bath afl'ured us in general, that God is the rewarder of Good Men, and that he will make them, Happy, not ac- cording to what can now enter into our narrow Thoughts, but according to the exceeding greatnefs ofhis Power and Goodnefs. If we are to reégive our Reward from God, we need not doubt, but it will be very large, and fuch as is every way worthyof him to heftow. For be is agreat King, and of great Goodnefs ; and we may fafely reer our (elves to him, in confidence that he will confider us, not according to the meannefs of our Service, but according to the .vaftnefs of his Treafures, and the infinite bounty ofhis Mind. If he hath promifed to make us Happy, too' he have not particularly declared to us, wherein this Happinefs !hall
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