BT
910
078
1797
Tappan Presbyterian Association
LIBRARY.
YYYYYYYY
Presented by HON. D. BETHUNE DUFFIELD,
From Library of Rev. Geo, Duffield, D.D.
Grunge Duffield A. M
In tali nunquam lassal venatio sylva,
A.D.1884.
BT
910
078
1797
......
THREE DISCOURSES
ΟΝ
2371008
ETERNITY,
AND THE
IMPORTANCE AND ADVANTAGES
OF LOOKING AT
ETERNAL
THINGS.
BY JOB ORTON.
WHAT is here written is defigned for thy Help and Further-
ance in a Meetnefs for future Bleffedneſs; but, if thou look
on theſe Pages with a wanton, rolling, Eye, hunting for
Novelties, or what may gratify prurient Wit, a coy and
fqueamish Fancy, go, read a Romance, or fome Piece of
Drollery Know, here is Nothing for thy Turn; and
dread to meddle with Matters of everlafting Concernment
without a ſerious Spirit.
HOWE.
NINTH EDITION.
LONDON:
Printed for Vernor and Hood, Poultry; and T. Wiche, No. 12,
Beech-Street, Barbican, Bookfeller to the Society for
promoting Religious Knowledge among the Poar.
1797.
Cappan Phest, ilas
1-8-1932
PREFACE
то
THE READER.
THE following Diſcourſes, on a moft
weighty and interesting Subject, are
recommended to your ſerious Peruſal.
If you are not prone to forget Eter-
nity, amidst the Cares and Amufements
of Life, and do not want to have your
Mind more deeply impressed with its
momentous Concerns, you are a Chrif-
tian of diſtinguiſhed Eminence, and I
congratulate your Happiness; but,
Such a Character being as uncommon
as it is glorious, you are, probably,
conſcious that you need to have your
Mind ftirred up, by Way of Remem-
brance,
A 2
>
iv
PREFACE.
}
brance, concerning the Things that
belong to your everlasting Peace. If
you are a Stranger to the Author, it
fignifies little to you of what Party or
Perfuafion he is. Candidly believe
him to be honest and well-meaning.
Confider that Eternity is no Party-
Subject, but the common Concern of
all Ages, Ranks, and Denominations.
It is very likely that fome of his
Reafoning and Arguments, upon a
Subject which hath its Difficulties,
may not be clear and fatisfactory to
you; but you may perhaps meet with
fomething, at least in the Reflections,
which may do
you good. You will
not find thefe Difcourfes fo judicious,
correct, and elegant, as many others
which you may have read: The Au-
thor's Defign was to come Home to
Men's Bufinefs and Bofoms. For this
End, be bath waved, rather than ftu-
died,
PREFACE.
V
died, Ornaments; being fenfible, that
a Sermon, like a Tool, may be poliſhed
till it has no Edge. He has endea-
voured to uſe ſuch plain and familiar
Language, that even Readers of the
lowest Understanding may at once fee
and feel his Meaning. Defective as
thefe Difcourfes are, an Hour or
Two, devoted to the Perufal of them,
may afford you more Satisfaction than
the fame Time spent in mere Amuſe-
ment, or in reading a better Book on
a Subject of lefs Importance. In pub-
lifhing them, the Author bath obliged
many of his Friends who defired it S
endeavoured to do a little Good to his
Fellow-Chriftians in his own Way;
he bath commended them to the Blef-
fing of God, which hath already, in
fome Degree, attended them; and he
cheerfully leaves the fue with Him,
without being very folicitous about the
A 3
Reception
vi
PREFACE..
Reception they may meet with in the
World. If you defire to profit by the
Perufal of thefe Difcourfes, be en-
treats, and hopes, that you will firſt
lift up your Heart to God in fuch
Language as this:
"O God! the Fountain of Wisdom,
Truth, and Goodness; the high and
lofty One that inhabiteft Eternity;
whofe Name is Holy; graciously af-
fift thy Servant to read thefe Difcourfes
with a ferious attentive Mind. That
I may not reft in the Language or the
Sentiment, in commending or condemn-
ing them, but may confider my own
Concern in them. May I read them
as addreſſed to my Confcience; and,
as far as what they contain appears
agreeable to thine unerring Word, may
I receive and fubmit to it as an Ora-
cle of God, and judge myſelf by it.
Teach me, O God of all Grace, to
profit
PREFACE.
vii
profit by them; that the Time I spend
in reading and meditating upon them
may not be loft. May they afford me
preſent Inftruction, and lafting Bene-
fit; and thus tend to increase my
Glory and Felicity through Eternity ;
and may the Author of thefe Dif
courfes, and all others who fincerely
endeavour to promote the Welfare of
immortal Souls, fee fome good Effect
of their Labours on Earth, and, at
length, by thy Grace, partake with
me of the Joys of thine eternal King-
dom; through Jefus Chrift, our Me-
diator and Redeemer.
Amen."
DIS-
A 4
DISCOURSE I.
2 Corinth. iv. 18, latter Part.
But the Things which are not ſeen are
ETERNAL.
While we look not at the Things which are
ſeen, but at the Things which are not ſeen:
for, the Things which are feen are tempo-
ral; but the Things which are not ſeen are
eternal.
WHEN Archbiſhop Leighton was Minif-
ter of a Pariſh in Scotland, this Queſtion was
afked of the Minifters at their provincial
Meetings, "If they preached the Duties of
the Times?" When it was found that Mr.
Leighton did not, and he was blamed for the
Omiffion, he anſwered, "If all the Brethren
have preached to the Times, may not one poor
Brother
ON ETERNITY.
9
Brother be fuffered to preach on Eternity?" (a)
In moft Ages of the Church, there has been
too much Reafon to complain that Chriftian
Miniſters have dwelt more than they ought
upon Subjects of comparatively fmall Im-
portance. They have too much neglected
the momentous Concerns of Eternity; or not
treated of them with that Plainnefs, Seriouf-
neſs, and deep Impreffion of their Impor-
tance, which they ought to have done. Ye
are Witneffes, my Friends, and GoD alfo,
that I have often laid thefe moſt intereſting
Themes before you; and, inſtead of amu-
fing you with Trifles, am wholly directing
my Miniftrations to your eternal Salvation;
and this I will do, while Providence gives
me Opportunity, as your Souls are very dear
to me, and as I defire to give fuch an Ac-
count of my Fidelity as will be comfortable
to myſelf and acceptable to Him, whoſe I am,
and whom I ferve. With this View, it is
proper fometimes to lay before you a large
and diftinct Reprefentation of the Nature
of that State and World to which we are
all hafting: And, as I am perfuaded that
no Topic is more fuited to the Times, to
reftrain the Licentioufnefs of this giddy,
thoughtleſs, luxurious, Age, give me Leave
again to direct your Attention to it. My
Deſign, at this Time, is, to diſcourſe to you,
(a) Select Works of Archbishop Leighton,
Preface, p. II.
A S
as
10
DISCOURSE I.
as ſeriouſly and plainly as I poffibly can, con-
cerning Eternity, the moft weighty and awful
Word in the whole Compafs of Language; a
Word which we often hear, but its vaſt Mean-
ing and Importance none of us, I fear, fuffi-
ciently confiders.
The Apoſtle is, in the Context, telling
the Corinthians what it was that fupported
his Mind under all his Afflictions and Perfe-
cutions; and that was, the Hope and Prof-
pect of a bleffed Immortality, for which they
tended to prepare him. This was what he
looked at, aimed at, and purfued; and the
Reaſon of his intenfely looking at, and fo-
licitoufly purſuing it, was, that the Things
which are feen, the Objects of Senfe, and
which this World prefents to our View, are
temporal or temporary, of fhort and uncertain
Continuance; but the Things which are not
feen, which are not the Objects of Senfe, but
of Faith, are eternal. I propoſe, by divine
Affiftance,
I. To illuftrate, in a few Words, the ge-
neral Nature of Eternity.
II. To confider it with particular Applica-
tion to our own Souls, their immortal
Nature, and future eternal State.
And then endeavour, which is my chief De-
fign, to impreſs theſe Things upon your Hearts
and my own, by fuitable Reflections, Exhor-
tations, and Motives. The Things which
are
ON ETERNIT
If
are not ſeen are eternal :
Eternal! What
a loud Alarm does this give to the Soul! and
how ſhould it awaken the Conſcience of every
Hearer ! Surely, Sirs, if any Subject de-
ſerves your compofed and ferious Attention,
this doth; and, may God accompany it with
his Bleffing! I am,
I. To illuftrate the general Nature of
Eternity.
But who can explain it? who can compre-
hend it? We are quickly loft in the Contem-
plation of fo amazing a Subject, and the Un-
derſtanding of an Angel would faint under the
mighty Tafk. Bear, then, with my Weak-
neſs, Brethren, while, out of a pure Concern
for your Happineſs, I fay a little, in my poor,
imperfect, Way, about it. Eternity is Du-
ration without Limits. What hath no Be-
ginning, and no End, is, properly ſpeaking,
eternal. There are fome Creatures in the
Univerſe, which have a Beginning and an
End, as the Whole brutal Creation. There
are fome Beings which had a Beginning, but
ſhall have no End; fuch are Angels, and the
Spirits of Men. Thefe are, properly, ever-
lafting, but not eternal, though that Word is
fometimes applied to them both in Scripture.
-and common Language. There is one Be-
ing in the Univerſe who is ftrictly and properly
eternal; and no other Being but himſelf is or
can be fo: even the ever-bleffed and adorable
GOD. There never was a Time when he
A 6
was
12
DISCOURSE I.
was not.
His Duration is not capable of
being meaſured by any Periods of Time, ever
ſo often repeated and multiplied. I fhall not
enter into that Queſtion, with which fome
learned Men have perplexed themſelves and
their Readers, whether the divine Eternity be
fucceffive or inftantaneous; whether it be a
real Duration, or only one fingle Point or In-
ftant: It is fufficient for us to know that
He is eternal, according to the beſt Idea we
can gain of the Meaning of that Word; and
that his infinite Mind comprehends, at one
View, every Thing paft, prefent, and future,
in every Period and Inftant of his eternal Du-
ration. He is reprefented to us, in the Scrip-
tures, as the fame, from Everlasting, and to
Everlasting; as the uncorruptible GOD, who
only hath Immortality; who was, and is, and is
to come; the high and lofty One that inhabiteth
Eternity. "We have not, indeed, a pofitive,
adequate, and comprehenſive, View of E-
"ternity; no created Being hath fo; it is the
Prerogative of the infinite and eternal Mind.
"But we can conceive of it after an obſcure
"and inadequate Manner. Our Conception
"of it is fomewhat like the Survey a Man
"takes of the Ocean from on-board a Ship
"failing in the Midſt of it. He fees the O-
cean, though not the whole Ocean; and,
"where his Sight is terminated by its own
"Weakneſs, can perceive that the Ocean ex-
"tends farther than he can fee. Conceive a
"Mountain of Sand rifing up to the Stars:
"Though this amazing Heap be ſuppoſed to
"wafte but a fingle Grain every Million of
CC
CC
(c
«Years,
ON ETERNITY.
13
"Years, it will, in Time, be exhaufted, and
"fink down to a Level; but Eternity will
re never, never, be all ſpent. When innume-
"rable Ages have run out, it will be as far
"from ending as ever, becauſe, indeed, it
"hath no End.” (b). Our Thoughts are
loft, and our Spirits overwhelmed, when we
fet ourſelves to contemplate how great, weigh-
ty, and extenfive, a Thing Eternity is. But
we can form an Idea of it fufficient to anſwer
all moral and religious Purpoſes, and that is
enough. Let us now,
II. Confider Eternity, with particular Ap-
plication to our own Souls, their im-
mortal Nature, and future everlaſting
State.
Our Souls are unfeen Things, and the
World to which they go is an unfeen World;
and Nothing will be more uſeful to us than to
reflect that they are everlafting.
1. Our Souls are immortal or everlaſting.
Man confifteth of Two Parts: The One
grofs, vifible, and material, which is the
Body; the other fpiritual, unfeen, and im-
material, and this is the Soul or Spirit; fo we
(b) Grove's Works, Vol. I. P. 49.
call
14
DISCOURSE I.
call that Principle which animates the Body;
which is capable of thinking, reflecting,.com-
paring, and choofing; of looking back to what
has been, and forward to what ſhall be, and
reaſoning upon both. Theſe Souls GOD
formed, for He is the Father of Spirits. (c)
There was a Time when they were not, when
their Exiſtence began; fo that, properly ſpeak-
ing, they are not eternal, but they are ever-
lafting. This mortal Life has a Beginning
and an End. The Exiftence of the Soul had
a Beginning, but it ſhall have no End. This
is argued from the very Nature of the Soul, fo
greatly different from the Nature of the Body.
The Soul does not derive its Being from the
Body, nor depend upon the State of the Body
for its Continuance in Being. It is a fimple,
unmixed, indivifible, Principle: Being imma-
terial, it muſt be incorruptible and immortal :
Not being compounded of Parts, as the Body
is, it cannot be diffolved. We argue the Exif-
tence and Activity of the Soul, after the Death
of the Body, from its Powers and Faculties,
its Capacity of extending its Views into Futu
rity, which the Brutes cannot, as well as feel-
ing ſuch Joys and Sorrows, Hopes and Fears,
as they do not. It has an earneſt Defire of
Continuance in Being, and a Dread of Anni-
hilation and Deftruction. Now, it can hardly
be thought, that its wife and good Creator
would have implanted thefe Capacities and
(c) Heb. xii. 9.
Inclinations
ON ETERNITY.
15
Inclinations in it, had it not been defigned
for an immortal Duration. The Powers of
Conſcience, and that Dread of a future State
which Guilt occafions in all, are juftly reck-
oned ftanding Proofs of its Immortality.
The unequal Diftribution of Good and Evil,
in the prefent State, according to the real
Character of rational Beings and moral A-
gents, plainly ſpeaks an Hereafter. And, in-
deed, this was the general Sentiment of the
Heathen World, and appears to be the Dic-
tate of Nature. Though the Heathen difco-
vered the Exiſtence of the Soul, and a State
of Rewards and Puniſhments after Death,
yet fome of them doubted whether that
State would be everlaſting, and the Reft were
much in the Dark about it; not to men-
tion the Caſe of thoſe few who denied it.
But, on a Point of fo much Importance,
the Scriptures give us the cleareſt Light, and
folve every reaſonable Doubt. The facred
Writers do not fet themſelves directly to
prove the everlaſting Duration of the Soul,
but feem to take it for granted, as an obvious,
allowed, Principle, juft as they do the Exift-
ence of GOD. The Immortality of the Soul
is a Principle on which all the divine Dif
penſations are founded; nevertheleſs, they aſ-
fert it in a Variety of Places; and it will
be proper to mention a few of them, that our
Faith, in this important Article, may ftand
on a firm Foundation. Our Lord argues the
future Exiſtence of the Soul againſt the Sad-
ducees, who denied it, from GOD's calling
himſelf the God of Abraham, and Iſaac, and Ja-
cob,
16
DISCOURSE I.
}
cob, many Years after their Death; for, GOD,
faith he, is not a GoD of the Dead, but of
the Living; for, all live unto him. (d) The
Old-Teftament-Writers, in many Places, fpeak
of it; particularly, Solomon, when he faith,
The Righteous hath Hope in his Death. (e)
When the Duft returneth to the Earth, as it
was, the Spirit fhall return unto GOD who
gave
it. He makes an obfervable Diſtinction be-
tween the Spirits of Brutes and of Men:-
Who knoweth the Spirit of Man, that goeth up-
ward; and the Spirit of the Beast, that goeth
downward to the Earth! (f) And, that the
Spirits of Men are immortal, feems to be in-
timated by David, when he faith, At thy right
Hand there are Pleasures for evermore; and,
when my Flesh and my Heart faileth, GOD is
the Strength of my Heart, and my Portion for
ever. (g) But we have clearer Proofs of this
in the New Teftament. Our Lord afferts,
that, though Men may kill the Body, they can-
not kill the Soul. (h) If the Soul died with
the Body, or ceaſed to think and act after
Death, they might kill the Soul as well as the
Body. He likewife afferts, that, in the future
World, Men can die no more; for, they are, in
Immortality, equal to the Angels. (i). The
Apoſtles ſpeak of being unclothed, putting off the
Body, or the Tabernacle, or Tent, in which
(d) Luke xx. 38.
(f) Ecclef. xii. 7. iii. 21.
Ixxiii. 26. (h) Luke xii.
(e) Prov. xiv. 32.
(g) Pfalm xvi. II.
(i) xx. 36.
4.
the
ON ETERNITY.
17
the Soul refides, which no more involves the
Death of the Soul than putting off his Clothes
involves the Death of a Man. They ſpeak of
giving up the Ghost, or yielding up the Spirit;
of the Spirits of wicked Men being in Priſon,
and the Spirits of just Men made perfect. There
are many Paffages which more directly prove
the Immortality of the Soul; but they will
be mentioned under the next Head. GOD
is eternal, by an abfolute Neceffity of Na-
ture; but Man's Immortality is of free Grace,
becauſe he has forfeited his Life and Being by
Sin. Nevertheless, it muſt be, as far as we
can judge, the immediate Act of GOD to de-
ftroy the Existence of Souls, fince they appear
to have no internal Principle of Decay and
Corruption, and no created Power feems able
to put an End to their Being. But the Word
of GOD affures us of their Immortality; that
they ſhall live for ever; and, therefore, ac-
cording to the common Ufage of the Word,
they may be called eternal, It may not be
improper, in this Connection, to remind you,
that, when the Scriptures fpeak of Man's dy-
ing like the Beafts; having no Pre-Eminence
over them; of there being no Wiſdom nor
Knowledge in the Grave; of the Incapacity
of the Dead to praife GOD; and the like;
they only refer to the Body, its being incapa-
ble of Action and Enjoyment, and having
no more Concern with the Affairs of this
World.
2. The
18
DISCOURSE I.
2. The State, to which our Souls remove
at Death, is an eternal, unchangeable,
State.
The prefent State is deſcribed, in the Scrip-
tures, as a State of Trial; and, when the
Time of human Life is ended, the Soul of
every Man is removed to that State, for
which it was fitted by the Diſpoſitions it con-
tracted, and the Manner in which it behaved,
here. There is no Foundation, in the Word
of GOD, for the popish Doctrine of Purga-
tory, or a Place in which thofe Souls, whofe
Virtues are lefs perfect than the Standard of
the Romish Church, go through a Courſe of
Purgation to fit them for Heaven; and, from
this Diſcipline, they are releafed by the Pray-
ers and Offerings of the Living: A Notion
artfully contrived and adapted to gratify the
Covetouſneſs and Ambition of the Romiſh
Priefts. The Scriptures ſpeak of Two States
only: A State of Happineſs and Mifery. The
former to be enjoyed in Heaven; the latter to
be endured in Hell. And each of theſe States
is reprefented as of eternal Duration.
It
muft, therefore, be of the greateſt Importance
that we ſeriouſly confider them in this
Light.
The Happineſs of Heaven is Eternal.
Holy Souls, when they are taken out of
this World, are admitted to Paradiſe; which
is,
ON ETERNITY.
19
is, undoubtedly, a State of Glory and Happi-
neſs, though not equal to that which they
fhall enjoy after the Refurrection. Then
they fhall be fixed in Heaven, in the more
immediate Prefence of God, where there are
the brighteſt Diſplays of his Glory, and fhall
enjoy complete and everlaſting Happineſs. (k).
This State is defcribed in a Variety of Phrafes
and Figures, in order to give, us the moſt ex-
alted Idea of its Dignity and Felicity; and
the principal Streſs is laid upon this, that it is
an eternal State. Thus, we frequently read of
eternal Life; particularly, in that gracious
Promife of our Lord, "I give unto my Sheep
eternal Life, and they fhall never periſh; nei-
ther fhall any pluck them out of my Hand."
The Redemption which Chrift obtained for
them that obey Him is called an eternal Re-
demption; and that Salvation which is in
Chrift Jefus is faid to be with eternal Glory.
The Houſe to which good Men ſhall be re-
moved is eternal in the Heavens. The King-
dom which they fhall poffefs is an everlasting
Kingdom. The Crown which fhall be given
them is an incorruptible Crown; a Crown of
Glory that fadeth not away. Their future In-
heritance is incorruptible and fadeth not away.
The Bodies of the Saints fhall be raiſed incor-
ruptible, and this Mortal muſt put on Immor-
tality. When the Apoftle is, in the Context,
defcribing that Happineſs for which their light
(k) Luke xxiii. 43. 2 Cor. xii. 2-5.
and
20
DISCOURSE I.
and fhort Afflictions prepared them, he calls
it a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of
Glory. It is faid, of the heavenly World, that
there fhall be no more Death; that there GOD'S
Servants fhall ferve Him, and reign for ever
and ever; that they ſhall be made Pillars there,
and fhall go no more out; and they fhall ever be
with the Lord. Farther, Chrift, who is the
fame yeſterday, to-day, and for ever, and who
lives for evermore, hath affured all his faithful
Servants, that, because He lives, they hall live
alfo, their Being and Happinefs fhall be fe-
cured by Him, and be as lafting as his own.
And, indeed, the Difpofitions and Habits
which good Men contract here, and the reli-
gious Exerciſes in which they delight, qualify
them for endleſs Happineſs. They are capable
of relishing the Joys of Heaven; and, as that
is a State in which there will be no Temptation
to fin, but every deſirable Advantage for Im-
provement in Holiness, we may reaſonably
conclude, that they will never forfeit the divine
Favour, but be making conftant Improvements.
It ſeems, therefore, fuitable to the Holiness.
and Goodneſs of God to continue the Exiſtence
of fuch pious, uſeful, Creatures, though his
Word did not fo frequently and clearly affure
us that their Happineſs fhall be everlaſting.
On the other Hand,
The Mifery of Hell is eternal.
Thoſe who have lived in Rebellion against
GOD, and Difobedience to the Gofpel of his
Son,
ON ETERNITY.
21
4
Son, and have died impenitent and unrenewed,
are removed to a State of Mifery and Torment
in an infernal Prifon; and, at the Judgement
of the great Day, fhall be condemned to con-
tinue in the fame, or a worfe, Place for ever.
This is the Language of the Scriptures of
Truth. Our Lord ftrongly afferts it, when,
fpeaking of Hell, he calls it the Fire that never
fhall be quenched: Where their Worm dieth not,
and the Fire is not quenched. And this he re-
peats Four Times, in the following Verfes,
with a fpecial Accent on the Duration of it. (1)
His Apoſtles preached the fame awful Doc-
trine. St. Paul faith, they that know not
GOD, and that obey not the Gospel of our
Lord Jefus Chrift, fhall be punished with ever-
lafting Deſtruction. (m) St. Jude fpeaks of
the Inhabitants of Sodom, and the Cities about
them, as fuffering the Vengeance of eternal
Fire. (n)- To fuch Paffages certain Wri-
ters have objected, that the Words eternal
and for ever fometimes fignify a limited Du-
ration, or a precife Time, whofe Limits are
to us unknown; and, therefore, they may do
fo in this Cafe. I allow that, in fome Pla-
ces, eſpecially in the Old Teftament, they
muft fignify a limited Duration; therefore,
the Nature of the Subjects, concerning which
they are uſed, muſt be confidered; and,
when they are applied to the human Soul,
(1) Mark, ix. 43-49. (m) 2 Theff. i. 9.
(n) Jude v. 7.
or
22
DISCOURSE I.
or fuperior Spirits, whofe Nature is immor-
tal, (as is the Cafe in almost every Place
of the New Teftament, where the Words
tranflated everlaſting, eternal, and for ever and
ever, occur,) they muſt be taken in their ut-
moft Extent. This may be argued from
other Places where the Eternity of future
Mifery is ſet forth; and from obferving (and
it is to be carefully confidered !) that the fame
Language is uſed to exprefs the Continuance
of the Happineſs of the Righteous and the
Mifery of the Wicked. Thus, our Lord,
having deſcribed the Solemnities of the fu-
ture Judgement, faith, Thefe (i. e. the Wick-
ed) fhall go away into everlasting Puniſh-
ment; but the Righteous into Life eternal. (0)
The original Word is the fame, with Regard
to the State of both, though our Tranflators
have, without Neceffity, rendered it different-
ly. There feems no Reaſon, therefore, to
believe, that the fame Words, ftanding in fo
cloſe a Connection, and applied to the fame
Subject, fhould exprefs two fuch different
Ideas as an everlaſting and a limited Duration.
This is what I lay, the principal Stress upon
in this Argument; and it is confirmed, by ob-
ſerving, that the Apoftle John ufeth the fame
Words to exprefs the Puniſhment of the
Wicked as he ufeth to exprefs the Eter-
nity of GOD, of Chrift, and the Happineſs
of the Righteous, which all allow to be an
(0) Mat, xxv. 46.
endleſs
ON ETERNITY.
23
endleſs Duration. Thus, fpeaking of GOD,
he faith, who liveth for ever and ever, or to
Ages of Ages. He reprefents Chrift as faying
to him, I am alive for evermore; and faith, his
Servants fhall reign for ever and ever. Now,
he uſes the fame Phraſe concerning the Mifery
of the Wicked: Speaking of the Worshippers
of the Beaſt and his Image, and thoſe who re-
ceive his Mark, he faith, the fame fhall be tor-
mented with Fire and Brimstone, in the Prefence
of the holy Angels, and in the Prefence of the
Lamb: And the Smoke of their Torment afcendeth
up for ever and ever, and they have no Reft Day
nor Night. Again: The Devil, that deceived
them, was caft into the Lake of Fire and Brim-
ftone, where the Beaft and the falfe Prophet are,
and they shall be tormented, Day and Night, for
ever and ever. (p) This is fo ftrong a Phraſe,
that, if it does not fignify a proper everlaſting
Duration, there is no Paffage in the Scriptures
that doth. I muft, therefore, upon the whole,
leave you to judge, whether the New Tefta-
ment doth not declare, in a Variety of the moſt
fignificant Phrafes, that the Mifery of the
Wicked ſhall be eternal. Yet, if thefe De-
clarations were not fo full and exprefs, it would
be difficult to fay how it could be otherwife.
The Souls of Men are immortal. They carry
out of this World the fame Difpofitions and
Habits which they contracted here. Now,
(p) Compare Rev. iv. 9, 10; v. 14; i. 18;
xxii. 5; with xiv. 11; XX. 10.
Mifery
24
DISCOURSE I.
Mifery is the natural Effect and Confe-
quence of Sin; and their Mifery muſt be
uninterrupted, becauſe there will be Nothing,
in that Place of Torment, to divert the
Attention of the Soul, and afford it any
Eafe. A Senfe of having loft Heaven, and
that Diffatisfaction, Vexation, and Remorfe,
which the guilty Confcience muſt feel, would
make the Soul miferable wherever it was
fixed, and without any pofitive Puniſhment
from the Almighty. And this Mifery muft
continue, unleſs GOD were to annihilate, or
utterly to destroy, the Soul, which I ſee no
Reaſon to believe He will. An eafy Senſe
of the Words Death, Deftruction, and the
fecond Death, may be given, without fuppo-
fing an Extinction of Being, and very con-
fiftent with the many ftrong Expreffions of
the Eternity of future Mifery. Such Words,
I apprehend, denote the entire Lofs and Ab-
fence of all Goodneſs, Eafe, Happineſs, and
Hope. So, a State of Sin and a State of
Mitery are often called Death and Deftruc-
tion in the Scriptures. (q)
There is no
Proſpect that this Mifery will produce A-
mendment, fince the fallen Angels, who have
been many Thouſand Years under the divine
Difpleaſure, continue impenitent and obfti-
nate, and (as St. Jude obferves) are refer-
ved, in everlaſting Chains, under Darkneſs, unto
(q) Compare Hof. xiii. 1 Rom. vii. 10. Prov.
xvii. 19. Eph. ii. 1, 5. &c.
the
ON ETERNITY.
25
the Judgement of the great Day. (r)* But
fome have fuggeſted, that "it may be con-
"fiftent with the Faithfulneſs of God to dif
"penfe with his Threatenings, and leffen
"the Duration of future Mifery, though
thefe Threatenings feem to refer to an
"everlaſting Puniſhment." But, I appre-
hend, it would be inconfiftent with his Wif
dom, Veracity, and Faithfulneſs, to remit
the Penalty, when his Threatenings are fo
expreſs and unconditional, and their Time
of Trial is ended. This Opinion is direct-
ly confuted by the Apoſtle, who faith, if
we believe not, or are unfaithful, yet he abideth
faithful; he cannot deny himself, by acting con-
trary to his repeated folemn Declarations. (s)
Befides, this Argument fuppofes that fome
Men know more of GOD's fecret Purpoſes
than he intended they ſhould, and fo reflects
highly upon his Wifdom and Honour.
He
defigned that we fhould believe he will exe-
cute his Threatenings, but they have difco-
vered that he will not. The Objectors may
think themſelves wife in making this Difco-
very; yet, as the Prophet Iſaiah obferves, He
(r) Jude, v. 6. (s) 2 Tim. ii. 13.
*The Word, here rendered everlasting, is
applied to the Divine Being by St. Paul,
Rom. i. 20, his eternal Power, and has not
the fame Ambiguity as the former Word is
fuppofed to have, which is, I think, a Confir-
mation of the Argument.
R
alis
26
DISCOURSE I.
alfo is wife, and will bring Evil, and will not cali
back his Words. (t) We cannot judge what
important Ends may be anfwered, with Re-
gard to the whole rational Creation, by the
eternal Mifery of the Damned, who may be
very few, compared with the great Multitude,
which no Man can number, of God's holy
and happy Creatures; and, therefore, we muſt
not take upon us, pofitively, to determine
that the Duration of their Miſery cannot be
eternal, though the Paffages in Queſtion were
more obfcure and doubtful than they are.
I fhall conclude this Head in the Words of
Dr. Lucas:- "Methinks, before One ſhould
<< venture on Sin, which is threatened with
"Mifery; pure and unallayed, complicated,
"accumulated, Mifery; Mifery unalterable,
"incurable, and lafting as long as Eternity;
"it were reaſonable to be very ſure that the
"Notion of a Hell were falſe, and the Doc-
« trine of eternal Punishment a mere Bug-
"bear. Nay, I proteft, in a Matter of this
"Importance, I think One fhould ſcarce truft
"to a Demonftration, unleſs it had paffed the
"Teft of the moſt folid and impartial Part of
"Mankind, and ftood the Shock and Trial of
"many Ages." (u)
I cannot, in this Difcourfe, make ſo large
and particular an Application of this weighty
Subject as it deferves. I fhall hereafter urge
(t) Ifa. xxxi. 2.
(u) Lucas on Happineſs, v. 2, §. ii. ch. 3.
upon
ON ETERNITY.
27
upon your Minds a ferious, conftant, Regard
to Eternity; or, in the Language of the A-
poſtle, to look not at the Things which are
feen and temporal, but thoſe which are not
feen and eternal. In the mean Time, let
me exhort and entreat you to reflect upon
what has been faid, and daily to fix your
Thoughts upon the wonderful Weight and
Importance of Eternity. Think of thoſe two
widely-different States which I have been de-
fcribing, and the eternal Duration of both.
Think of that endleſs, boundlefs, State to
which the Souls of Men remove; that State
which admits of no Change, nor Paufe, nor
Period, for ever. It is Eternity, my Bre-
thren, it is Eternity, that puts Weight into
unfeen Things, into the Glories and Joys of
Heaven, into the Miferies and Torments of
the Damned. Heaven would, comparatively,
be no Heaven; and Hell, comparatively, no
Hell, had not each Eternity in it. And will
you not think of this? Time, with its ever-
flowing Stream, is bearing you away to the
boundleſs Ocean of Eternity; and will you not
think to which of theſe States you are going?
There is no Third. Will you defer the
Thought till hereafter, and fay, "Some Time
"hence I will confider it ?" Alas! long be-
fore that Time comes, yea, before another
Sabbath, or another Day, you may be in Eter-
nity; and then it will be too late to confider it.
You have, each of you, a Soul within you
that will live for ever; that is capable of in-
conceiveable Joy or Torment; and, in the
one or the other, it muſt live for ever. Can I
poffibly
B 2
28
DISCOURSE I.
poffibly fay, or you think of, anỳ Thing of
greater Moment? O that you were wife! that
you understood this! that you would confider your
latter End! (x)
(x) Deut. xxxii. 29...
DISCOURSE
( 29 )
DISCOURSE II.
2 Corinth. iv. 18.
But the Things which are not feen are
ETERNAL.
HISTORY relates, that when Xerxes,
King of Perfia, looked round on his vaft
Army, he could not forbear bursting into
Tears, to think, that, within lefs than a Hun-
dred Years, every one of them would be dead.
There his Views ftopped. But it is much
more affecting to a Chriftian Minifter, who
confiders Things in the Light of the Gofpel,
when he looks round on a numerous Congre-
gation, to reflect, that every human Creature
before him is an immortal Creature; and that
each of the Living who compofe that Affem-
bly will, in a few Years, be not only num-
bered with the Dead, but fixed in an eternal,
unalterable, State. It muſt increaſe the Aw-
fulneſs of the Thought to fuppofe, that, not-
withſtanding all his Care and Concern, all the
Fidelity of his Admonitions, and the Warmth.
B 3
of
30
DISCOURSE II.
of his Perfuafions and Intreaties, it is proba-
ble that fome of them will fall into everlaſt-
ing Destruction. For, where is the Affem-
bly which confifts entirely of thoſe who have
paffed from Death to Life, are the Children
of GoD, and the Heirs of Heaven? How
few appear to act in good earneſt for ano-
ther World! How many feem entirely un-
concerned about it! With theſe affecting
Thoughts deeply impreffed upon my Heart,
I have been lately difcourfing to you, my dear
Brethren, concerning Eternity; and am now
to refume the Subject, with a humble Hope,
that, through the divine Bleffing, it will be
effectual to reſcue fome Soul from Deftruc-
tion, and direct it in the Way to everlaſting
Life. In the former Difcourfe, I attempt-
ed to illuftrate the general Nature of Eter-
nity. I then confidered it with a particular
Reference to our Souls, and laid before you
thofe Evidences of their Immortality which
appear to me moft fatisfactory; and thoſe
Proofs, with which the Scriptures furniſh us,
of the eternal Duration of future Happineſs
and Mifery. I fhall now endeavour to im-
prefs thefe Things upon your Hearts and my
own, by a fuitable Application, in the fol-
lowing
REFLECTIONS.
I. How great are our Obligations to God,
and the Redeemer, for difcovering eter-
nal Things to us, and making Provi-
fion
ON ETERNITY.
31
fion for our eſcaping everlasting Mifery,
and obtaining everlasting Life!
The future World is an unfeen World;
therefore, we are prone to forget it, or to be
too little impreffed with its Concerns. To
remedy this Evil, GOD hath given us his
Word, and therein favoured us with a clear
Account of the Nature of our Souls, and the
eternal State to which they are going. The
wiſeſt Philoſophers among the Heathens were
much in the Dark about unfeen Things.
They had ftrong Defires of Immortality;
and many of them juftly argued the future
Existence of the Soul from fuch Defires ;
but they knew little of the Length of that
Exiſtence, or the Nature of future Blifs and
Woe.
The Vulgar were amufed with many
Tales and Fables concerning them, dreffed
up, indeed, in elegant Language by their Po-
ets, but only fitted to give them wrong No-
tions of a future State, and had very little
Tendency to promote the Intereft of Virtue.
The Ideas which the Jews had of the future
State were very obfcure; and there was one
Sect among them, the Sadducees, who, as St.
Luke tells us, afferted, that there is no Refur-
rection, neither Angel nor Spirit; (a) in which
they fell short of many Heathen Philofophers.
But St. Paul obferves, that our Saviour,
Jefus Chrift, bath brought Life and Immorta-
lity to Light through the Gospel. (b) He hath
(a) Acts xxiii. 8.
B 4
(b) 2 Tim. i. 10.
removed
32
DISCOURSE II.
removed the Veil that was upon the other
World, and thrown a Light upon its different
Regions. We are not left to precarious Con-
jectures what becomes of the Soul, when it
leaves the Body; into what State it enters, and
how long it fhall endure; we are plainly affu-
red that the Soul is immortal, and fhall be
happy or miferable for ever. This is expreffed
in Language fo plain that a Child may under-
ftand it; and yet, as Hope and Fear are the
great Springs of the Soul which fet it in Mo-
tion, theſe awful Scenes are defcribed in the
moft fublime and affecting Manner. All the
Force of Language is employed to paint them
out, in order to ftrike our dull Minds, and
make abiding Impreffions on our treacherous
Memories. It is kind and gracious in GoD to
give us fo many noble Deſcriptions of the
Joys of Heaven, to allure us to our Duty; fo
many awful Views of the Mifery of Hell, to
deter us from Sin; and all prove little enough
to anſwer theſe important Ends. It fhews the
infinite Value of the Gospel, and our immenſe
Obligations to GOD for it, that it makes theſe
Discoveries; and, which is yet more impor-
tant, gives us the plainest Directions how we
may eſcape the Wrath to come, and lay hold
on eternal Life. Though Reafon is capable of
diſcovering unſeen Things, yet it could never
give us any fatisfactory Evidence how the eter-
nal Well-Being of Souls which had contracted
Guilt here could be fecured. Not all the Trea-
fures of the World, nor the whole Circle of
Science, could deliver us from the Guilt of
one Sin, free us from one of the Almighty's
Terrors,
ON ETERNITY.
33
Terrors, or give us one well-grounded Hope.
"Bleffed, for ever bleffed, therefore, be the
"GOD and Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift,
"who hath begotten us again to a lively
"Hope."
Let us, likewife, reflect, with fervent Grati-
tude, on our Obligations to a gracious Re-
deemer, by whom thefe important Difcoveries
of a future World are made unto us, and who
alſo gave Himſelf for us to redeem us from all
Iniquity, the Wages of which is Death, and
to open the Kingdom of Heaven to all Belie-
vers. How aſtoniſhing is that Love, which dif-
pofed him to fhed his precious Blood for Sin-
ners, that they might not eternally perish, but
have everlasting Life; through whom we are
not appointed to Wrath, but to obtain eternal
Salvation! Think, my Fellow-Chriftians,
frequently and ſeriouſly think, that Jefus gave
his Life a Ranfom for us. By his meritori-
ous Sufferings, by his atoning Sacrifice, an
honourable Way is made for our Deliverance
from the Wrath to come; and, in Confequence
of this, the righteous Governor of the World
can receive penitent Sinners to Favour and
Happineſs, without Danger of his Juftice be-
ing impeached or his Authority flighted. Ey
the affifting Grace, and ever-prevailing Inter-
ceffion, of Chrift, we hope to obtain the In-
heritance he hath purchaſed. It cannot be
doubted, that He, who died for his Servants,
will conduct them through the Dangers and
Difficulties of Life, deliver them from every
evil Work, and preferve them to his heavenly
Kingdom. To him be Glory for ever and
B 5
ever;
34
DISCOURSE 11.
ever; and Thanks, ardent, everlaſting, Thanks,
be unto God for his unſpeakable Gift.
2. What Folly and Madneſs are Men charge-
able with for neglecting eternal Concerns!
When we obferve how Men behave, One
would imagine they looked upon theſe Things.
not to be ſo much as Conjectures, but evident
Falfehoods; and thought they ſhould either
die like the Brutes, or, if they furvived, that
GOD had no Wrath for them to fear, and no
Mercy for them to defire. Look into the Con-
duct of Mankind, even of profeffing Chriftians,
and you will fee that visible and temporal
Things appear to them moft weighty; unſeen
and eternal Things, moft trifling. They are
eagerly folicitous to provide for their frail, dy-
ing, Bodies, and to heap up Wealth which
they cannot carry with them, but take no
Care, or very little Care, of the nobler Part
of their Nature, their never-dying Souls.
They are, every Day, laying up for Years to
come, but take no Thought for Eternity,
though every Thing elfe is bufy Idleness, la-
borious Sloth, and wretched, mifchievous, Im-
pertinence. They have no Notion of the
Value of Time any farther than as their world-
by Intereft depends upon it. They are diligent
in trading, but negligent in praying. Their
Shop-Books are duly pofted, and their Ac-
counts with Men ftated and balanced; but they
feldom confult the Book of GOD, in order to
know what they must do to eſcape eternal
Wrath.
ON ETERNITY.
35
Wrath, and have never inquired how Ac-
counts ftand between GOD and their immortal
Souls. Yea, fome who have lived Sixty and
Seventy Years, and know that Eternity.can-
not be far off, have, it is to be feared, never,
in their whole Lives, fpent one ſerious Hour
in inquiring into the Nature and State of their
Souls, and what Preparation is neceflary for
Eternity. There are other Perfons, lefs bufy
about temporal Concerns, but equally ſlothful
and careleſs about eternal ones. They wafte
that precious Time in unneceffary Sleep or
Recreation which was given them to improve
for Eternity. They contrive a Thoufand Me-
thods to kill Time, and are thankful to any
One for an Expedient to pass it off. They
waſte thofe Hours in Public-Houfes, Clubs,
and gay Affemblies; in Gaming and Amuſe-
ment; which ſhould be employed in ſtudying
their Bibles, in the Devotions of the Family
and Cloſet, and in doing Good to Mankind.
They wafte GOD's facred Time, as well as
their own; and will not devote even the ſhort
Interval of a Sabbath to fecure their eternal
Happineſs. Such is the State of the Genera-
lity of Mankind. They go on in their Bufi-
nefs or their Diverfions without any feeming
Concern. They lie down and riſe up on the
Brink of Hell, and yet are fecure and fearleſs.
The Life everlaſting is, indeed, an Article of
their Creed, which they often repeat, and even
in the immediate Prefence of GOD. They
hear of an eternal Heaven and Hell every Sab-
bath, when they can find Time for public
Worſhip, yet continue as unmoved as if it was
B 6
Nothing
36
DISCOURSE II.
Nothing to them. Sometimes, if you addrefs
them very ſeriouſly on theſe weighty Subjects,
they ftare, and feem aftonifhed; perhaps they
are a little alarmed, and begin to think there is
Something in them; but, when the Sermon is
done, or the friendly Monitor retired, they re-
turn to their Negligence and Folly again.
Thus wretchedly does the Deceitfulneſs of Sin
harden Men's Hearts. They feem to be Proof
againſt the Terrors of the Lord and the Grace
of the Gofpel. The Blood of Chrift fhed for
Souls, the Strivings of the Spirit with them,
the Warnings of Confcience, the Admonitions
of Friends, the Addreffes and Prayers of Minif-
ters, have no abiding Effect on their ftupid,
fenfelefs, Spirits. They forget that, while they
trifle, Time paffeth on; and, while they flum-
ber, their Damnation flumbereth not. Thus
they go on, in a Round of Folly and Imperti-
nence, till their Foot flippeth in fome dreadful
Moment, and they are loft for ever. And,
now, what can we fay to thefe Things, but
take up the mournful Lamentation of Solomon :
The Heart of the Sons of Men is full of Evil;
and Madneſs is in their Heart while they live;
and after that they go to the Dead? (c) — Eter-
nity! Little do careleſs Souls think how much
is contained in that one awful Word. May
the Lord forgive us, that we fee fo much of
this Folly and Madneſs, and no more lament it!
That we do not more tenderly pity periſhing
(c) Ecclef. ix. 3.
Souls,
ON ETERNITY.
37
Souls, and more earneſtly pray for them! To
fee Men wilfully throwing away their Souls
for a Thing of nought, and acting as if every
Thing was important but Eternity, what more
affecting, melting, Sight can there be to a
pious Mind? Let us, with real Chriftian Com-
paffion, be frequently offering up fuch Petitions
as theſe, for thofe unhappy Creatures: "O
"Thou, who formeft Souls with a Capacity to
"know, and love, and enjoy, Thee for ever;
"and, out of thy boundleſs Compaffion, haft
"fent thy dear Son to feek and fave them; to
"inform them of an eternal Heaven and an
"eternal Hell; pity theſe wretched Souls which
"do not pity themfelves. Let Mercy inter-
σε
pofe between them and everlaſting Ruin.
"Awaken them out of their pleafant Slumber,
though it be on the Brink of Damnation,
" left they perifh for ever, and there be none
"to deliver them."
Are the Things,
which are not ſeen, eternal? Let us reflect,
3. How ferious fhould Minifters and Pa-
rents be in addreffing the Souls committed
to their Charge!
Bear with me, my Chriſtian Friends, while,
with Eternity in my View, I folemnly admonish
myfelf and you. It is an awful Idea, which the
Apoftle gives us, of the minifterial Office, when
he faith, They watch for your Souls, as they that
must give Accaunt. (d) It is for Souls, precious,
(d) Heb, xiii, 17.
dear-bought,
38
DISCOURSE II.
dear-bought, everlafting, Souls, they watch;
and they muſt give Account to God of their
Integrity and Zeal in their Work. How dili-
gent and laborious fhould Minifters therefore
be in ftudying the Goſpel of Chrift, which
contains the Rule of Duty, the Terms of Ac-
ceptance, and the Sanctions of the Divine Law;
that they may be able to inform the ignorant,
direct awakened Sinners what they muſt do to
be ſaved, and encourage any ſerious Impreffions
which may appear! How careful ought they to
be to confider their Hearers as immortal Crea-
tures, and not ſpend their facred Hours in en-
tertaining them with dry Criticiſms, abftruſe
Speculations, or curious Reflections, which
may tickle the Ear, pleaſe the Fancy, and gain
the Applauſe of the undifcerning, but leave
their Hearts entirely untouched! How faithful
fhould they be in reproving thoſe Vices againſt
which the eternal Wrath of God is denounced;
and cautioning againſt thofe Indulgences by
which unſtable Souls are beguiled, the Horror
of Sin taken off, and the Dread of Wrath to
come leffened! With what ardent, active,
Compaffion fhould they addrefs the Confciences
of Men; trying every awful Repreſentation,
every tender and pathetic Remonftrance, to
make them thoughtful and religious! How fo-
licitous fhould they be to fet the Terrors of
the Lord in Array before them, to frighten
them, if poffible, out of their Indolence, and
make them anxious to know what they ſhall do.
to inherit eternal Life! Unmoved by the Folly
and Uncharitableneſs of thoſe who may ſtyle
them ſevere and mercileſs Preachers for fo do-
ing,
ON ETERNITY.
39
ing, let them imitate the Example of Chriſt
and his holy Apoftles, who difplayed the Wrath
to come in all its Terrors; remembering this,
that, however Men may cenfure them now, it
will appear, at the Judgement-Seat of Chrift,
that they were more merciful and compaffionate
to Souls than thoſe who propheſy ſmooth Things,
and fuffer Sin upon their Fellow-Immortals. (e)
How careful fhould Minifters be to addreſs
their Hearers in a Way that they can under-
ftand and feel; fenfible, that the meaneft of
them has an immortal Soul that muſt be faved
or damned for ever; and that there is little
Proſpect of Succefs without addreffing to
Men's Hopes and Fears; according to the Ob-
ſervation of a lively Author, "that all ſuch
"Writings and Difcourfes as touch no Man
"will mend no Man." (f) Were Miniſters
to recollect, when they appear in the Pulpit,
that it is poffible fome One, at leaft, of their
Hearers, may be attending their laſt Sermon,
joining in their laſt public Prayer, ſpending
their laft Sabbath on Earth; and, before the
next, may be in endlefs Joy or endleſs Woe,
what a wonderful Efficacy would this have to
make them preach and pray like Men in ear-
neft; not like Men acting a Part, or going
over a Round of Services for Pay, but as thoſe
who know and remember that they and their
Hearers are haftening to an awful Account be-
fore Him who ſhall judge the Living and the
(e) Lev. xix. 17. (f) Mr. Pope.
Dead.
40
DISCOURSE II.
Dead. Allow us, therefore, Brethren, to deal
plainly and faithfully with you; for, your
eternal Intereft is at Stake. We could, per-
haps, entertain you with fome fpeculative
Niceties, or curious Inquiries, and this with
lefs Study and Labour than is requifite to
form fuch Difcourfes as the meanest Capacity
may underſtand, and by which dull Minds
may be awakened and affected. But were
we, in this Inftance, to confult our own
Eafe and Vanity, and your Amuſement, it
would be Cruelty to your Souls. Some of
you might cenfure and reproach us for it
to all Eternity, and your Blood may be re-
quired at our Hand. (g) May Gop awa-
ken all his Minifters to be duly fenfible of
the Worth of their own Souls; and to re-
member, that their own eternal Intereft, as
well as that of their Hearers, is concerned in
the Work in which they are engaged! and,
then, they will be indolent and trifle no more.
What hath been already faid, under this Head,
ought to come with great Weight on the
Minds of Christian Parents. Your Chil-
dren, Sirs, are Creatures formed for Eter-
nity. They have never-dying Souls; and
theſe Souls are committed to your Charge.
An awful Truft! for which you muſt give a
ftrict Account. Have you no Concern but
about their Bodies; to feed and clothe them,
and put them in a Way to ſupport them-
(g) Ezek. iii. 18.
felves
ON ETERNITY.
41
felves in the World? You do almtoft as
much as this for your Horfes and Dogs. Is
it enough, think ye, to teach them polite Aċ-
compliſhments, and to get Fortunes for them?
I hope you think this is not enough. You
teach your Children the Principles of Reli-
gion: It is well. But do they not fee in you.
too much Eagernefs about the World, and
Fondness for Drefs and Pleaſures? and do you
not encourage thefe Difpofitions in them?
and thus your Behaviour directly contradicts
the Maxims of the Gofpel which you teach.
them; and, in Effect, undoes all your In-
ftructions. Let me direct you to inquire, as
in the Sight of GOD, with what Seriouſneſs.
you teach your Children, and with what Ear-
neftneſs you pray for them. If you never
talk to them about their Souls, and eternal
Concerns, or never appear deeply affected
when you are fpeaking of them, how can
your Children believe that they are important,
or that you think them fo? If you never
pray with them alone, nor in your Families,
or only in a cold, formal, lifeless, Manner,
how is it likely that GOD fhould hear your
Prayers, or your Children be the better for
them? If they fee you much elated with
worldly Succefs, and much dejected at world-
ly Loffes; if they fee you very diligent and
anxious about ſeen and temporal Things, but
fhewing no Concern and Zeal about unfeen
and eternal Things; what Good can you
expect from them? My Brethren, the plain
Queftion is this, Have your Children immor-
tal Souls, or have they not? If they have,
it
42
DISCOURSE II.
it undoubtedly ought to be your firft, your chief,
Care, to correct thofe ill Habits and Paffions
which would make them Fuel for eternal Fire,
and to cultivate and encourage thofe good
Difpofitions and Qualities which will be
the Seed of eternal Life. Remember that
your Children may foon die, and be out
of the Reach of your Inftructions and Pray-
ers; and, if they perish through your Ne-
glect, GOD will require their Blood at your
Hand. I hope you pity and pray for your
Minifters under the Weight of fo awful a
Thought. They are obliged to you for your
Pity and Prayers; and they can make you no
better Return than to urge and beseech you
to pity yourſelves, and to pity your Chil-
dren; and to pray for you, that GOD would
excite you, by his Spirit, to a pious Care
of them, and affift and fucceed you in it.
Let me add, that Maſters and Miſtreſſes ſhould
be tenderly concerned for the eternal Welfare
of their Servants. Allow them, my Friends,
Time to prepare for Eternity; efpecially, to
attend public Worfhip both Parts of every
Lord's Day, if poffible, as they have few
other Advantages. Compaffionately reprove
what is amifs in them; direct and encourage
them to be ſerious and good; put Bibles, and
plain practical Treatifes, into their Hands;
and let them learn, from your Inftructions,
Examples, and Prayers, what they must do
to be faved. The Soul of the meaneft is
unfpeakably precious. For the Souls of the
pooreft Chrift fhed his Blood. There is no
Diſtinction between Mafters and Servants in
the
1
ON ETERNITY.
43
the World of Spirits; and, to that eternal
World you and they are haftening, and muſt
quickly ftand together before the Tribunal of
your common Mafter, with whom there is no
refpect of Perfons. Since the Things,
that are not feen, are eternal,
4. What an awful Thing is it to die, and
enter upon an eternal State!
my
One of the Fathers, with great Beauty and
Propriety, calls Death "The Gate of Eter-
"nity;" the Death of a human Creature in
his paffing out of Time into Eternity; and
what can be a more folemn Thing? The
Death of our Fellow-Creatures around us is
fo common, that we ſeldom make any ferious
Reflections upon it.
it. Perſons often talk of it
with as much Indifference as of any common
Article of News; " read a Play-Bill, and a
"Bill of Mortality, with much the fame Sen-
"fations." (h) Thus, as the Pfalmift ob-
ferves, like Sheep Men are laid in the
Grave. (i) Survivors, like Sheep, when
One is taken away to be flaughtered, are, for
awhile, alarmed and terrified; but, like them,
they foon return to their Food or Diverfion,
forget thofe that are gone, and do not im-
prove their Removal. With Regard to the
(h) Dr. Young.
(i) Pfalm xlix. 14.
Circumſtance
44
DISCOURSE 11.
Circumftance of Death, there is generally one
Event to the Righteous and the Wicked.
But, oh, what a vaſt inconceivable Difference
immediately fucceeds it! With regard to
each, their Time of Trial is ended, and
their eternal State commences. The righ-
teous Man putteth off the Body, with all its
Cares, Temptations, and Sorrows. His
Soul afcends to GOD, and enters upon ever-
lafting Reft, Security, and Joy; it paffeth to
a World where all its Faculties fhall be en-
larged, where it fhall be conformed to the
Image of GOD in Holiness, and be perfectly
and unalterably happy. What a glorious and
delightful Change to a good Man! The Sin-
ner likewife changes a temporal for an eternal
State; but it is a State of Mifery. When a
wicked Man dieth, faith Solomon, his Expecta-
tion fhall perish, and the Hope of unjust Men
periſbeth. (k) His laft Breath and his laſt
Hope expire together. He fhall never hear
preaching or praying any more;
never re-
ceive one other Invitation of Grace or Of
fer of Mercy. When a wicked Man dieth,
he leaves temporal. Things, which were his
Portion and Happineſs, behind him. He is
brought into Defolation, as in a Moment, and
utterly conſumed with Terrors. He goes to
the Bar of GOD to give an Account of the
Time, the Means, and Advantages, he hath
enjoyed, and to receive his Doom.
The
+
}
(k) Prov. xi. 7.
Soul,
ON ETERNITY.
45
Soul, which hath been, through Life, aſleep
in Sin, will awake to full Vigour in another
World; awake, to behold its own Guilt and
Wretchedneſs, as foon as it quits the Body.
The Soul will then be all Sight, all Senfe, all
Ear; and its Immortality, which is now its
Dignity and Privilege above the Brutes, will
be its everlaſting Mifery and Torment. This
is the Portion of a wicked Man. And is it
not, then, an awful Thing to die? You will
think ſo when the King of Terrors ſeizes you.
A Man of Humour, in his gay Hours, wrote
and publiſhed a Hiftory of thofe who had died
jefting; but he folemnly retracted it, in wri-
ting, on his Death-Bed; for, he found that
Death was no jefting Matter. (1) To fee an
immortal Creature dying, with a Jeft upon his
Tongue, or in a ſtupid, thoughtleſs, Manner,
or even without any well-grounded Hope, is
furely the faddeft Spectacle in the World.
To think of his Removal to cverlafting Pu-
nifhment is, furely, the most affecting
Thought that can enter into the human Mind.
-Ah, Eternity! Eternity! faid a graceless
Wretch once, dying, and looking difmally at
thofe about him; and there he ftopped: He
faid no more; more he could not fay, more
he need not fay. Ponder upon this Example;
and, if you dread fuch a Death, do not lead
fuch a Life. When we conſider that Death
(1) M. Deflandes.
is
46
DISCOURSE II.
is the Gate of Eternity, what a folemn
Thing is the Death of a fingle Perfon! But
how deeply muſt every ferious Mind be af-
fected to hear of Hundreds, and fometimes
Thouſands, being hurried into Eternity at
once, by the devouring Sword, by a Ship-
wreck, or an Earthquake! - Is Death the
Gate of Eternity? What a horrible Thing
is Self-Murder! And how little do they
think of an Hereafter who madly rush out
of the World in Defiance of the Authority
and Appointment of the Almighty, and
plunge themſelves into everlasting Deſtruc-
tion, to eſcape temporary Poverty, Pain, or
Shame! How much Reafon have they
who are yet in their Sins to adore the di-
vine Long-Suffering and Patience to which
it is owing that they have not been long
ago cut off, and configned to the Regions.
of everlafting Darknefs and Defpair! And
what a powerful Motive fhould this Con-
fideration be to us all to be ferious and
thoughtful, fober and diligent, fervent in
Spirit, ferving the Lord, fince Eternity is
juft before us! Let us, my Fiends, of
ten think what it is to die, and to what a
World and State the departed Soul imme-
diately goes.
It is an eternal, unalterable,
State. It goes to one of thoſe two awful Re-
gions where the Love of GoD appears in
its brighteſt Glories, or his Vengeance in
inconceivable Horrors. Think of this when
you hear of the Death of others. How
natural and uſeful a Reflection would this
be, "They are gone into Eternity!" When
you
ON ETERNITY.
47
❝ ed;
you hear the folemn Sound of a tolling
Bell, think, "there is fome other Soul gone
"into Eternity." When you attend or fee
the Funeral of a Relation, Neighbour, or
Acquaintance, think, "His Time is end-
he is gone to his eternal Home,
"and fixed in an unchangeable State."
Such Thoughts and Reflections as thefe,
none but Fools will endeavour to baniſh
from their Minds; and none will fneer at him
who expreffeth them, but Men of the World,
who have their Portion in this Life. Such
Thoughts are perfectly reaſonable, highly
becoming mortal Creatures, and, being of
very great Advantage, fhould always be re-
collected on thefe Occafions. I would par-
ticularly inculcate them upon thoſe Per-
fons who are moft in Danger of forget-
ting them; I mean thofe, who, by their
Profeffions and Employments, are often Wit-
neffes of the laft Scenes of departing Mor-
tals, or aflift at the Burial of the Dead.
Their Familiarity with Sicknefs and Death
is very apt to harden their Minds againſt
fuch ferious Impreffions. This is generally
the Cafe with Nurfes, Undertakers, and Sex-
tons; and I fear it is often the Cafe with
Perfons of a better Education and Under-
•
ſtanding; even Apothecaries, Phyficians,
and, may I not add, Divines? - To fuch
Perfons I beg Leave to addreſs what Mr.
Halyburton, a celebrated Minifter and Pro-
feffor in Scotland, faid to a young Apothe-
cary, who attended him, when he lay on his
Death-Bed: "Sir, I give you folemn War-
65
ning
48
DISCOURSE II.
"ning, that, if you become hardened by
"the frequent Sight of fick and dying Per-
"fons, you will be in Danger of lofing all
"Senfibility of Confcience, and being har-
"dened for ever." Man giveth up the
Ghost, faith Job, and where is he? (m) In-
timating, thereby, that a dying Creature is
an Object of very ferious Reflection.
What is become of him or her, whom,
but a few Days ago, we faw and converſed
with? To what Place, to what Compa-
ny, are they gone? Oh, what do they fee,
and feel, and think, now? And how foon
will the Queſtion be afked concerning me
alfo, where is he? Oh, that folemn, awful,
Day, which finiſhes my Courfe, and puts
an End to all the Labours of my Hand
and Tongue! That Day, after which you
will fee my Face and hear my Voice no
more! That infinitely-important Day, when
I must enter upon Eternity! Eternity! thou
pleafing, dreadful, Thought! Is Death_juft
before me, and the unfeen World and Eter-
nity following after it? Gather not my Soul,
with Sinners, O Lord; but grant that I may
find Mercy of the Lord in that Day. — I
fhall conclude this Difcourfe with the fol-
lowing Paffage; which cannot, I think, fail
of fome Effect on all that hear it atten
tively. Secretary Walfingham, an eminent
Courtier and Statefman in Queen Eli-
Ι
...
(m) Job xiv. 10.
zabeth's
ON ETERNITY.
49
:
zabeth's Time, in his old Age retired into
Privacy in the Country. Some of his former
gay Companions came to fee him, and told
him he was melancholy. "No, faith he, I
am not melancholy; I am ſerious, and 'tis
"fit I ſhould be fo. Ah, my Friends! while
<<
c
we laugh, all Things are ferious round
"about us. GOD is ferious, who exercifeth
"Patience towards us; Chrift is ferious, who
"fhed his Blood for us; the Holy Spirit is
"ferious, in ſtriving againſt the Obſtinacy of
tt
our Hearts; the holy Scriptures bring to our
"Ears the moſt ſerious Things in the World;
"the holy Sacraments reprefent the moft fe-
"rious and awful Matters; the whole Crea-
❝tion is ferious in ferving God and us; all
"that are in Heaven and Hell are ferious;
"how, then, can we be gay?"
C
DISCOURSE
..、༢,
( 50 )
DISCOURSE III.
2 Corinth. iv. 18.
But the Things which are not feen are
ETERNAL.
While we look not at the Things which are
feen, but at the Things which are not ſeen:
for, the Things which are ſeen are tempo-
ral; but the Things which are not ſeen are
eternal.
IT is the Obfervation of a pious Writer,
that "Eternity ſo often paffeth over our Lips,
"that it forgets its Way to our Hearts. "(a)
We are so accustomed to the Sound of the
Word, that the Thing lofes its awful Efficacy
upon our Minds. Againſt this, Brethren, we
muſt guard with the utmoft Solicitude. Let
me, therefore, once more, engage your dili-
(a) Dr. Young.
gent
ON ETERNITY.
51
CC
gent Attention to a Difcourfe on Eternity.
As God has gracioufly lengthened out my
Time to fpeak to you again, and yours to hear,
I can fpeak, and you hear, of Nothing which
is of greater Moment and Importance than
Eternity. I am the more willing to dwell
upon the Subject, from a full Perfuafion that
a Man muit be perfectly good, or defpe-
"rately abandoned, or impenetrably ftupid,
"that is not alarmed at a full, ferious, and
weighty, Confideration of Eternity, an E-
"ternity of Happiness or Mifery; when, for
ought he knows, he may ftand juſt on the
"Brink of it." (b) Perhaps I may never
ſpeak, nor you hear, of it again upon Earth:
Let us, therefore, be ferious.
(C
(6
I have already confidered the general Nature
of Eternity; illuftrated, and proved the Im-
mortality of the Soul, and the eternal Duration
of thofe States of Happineſs and Miſery, to one
or other of which every human Soul is remo-
ved at Death. I then reprefented to you the
great Obligations we are under to GOD and
the Redeemer for difcovering to us eternal
Things, and making Provifion for our eſca-
ping everlasting Mifery. I took up a Lamen-
tation over the Folly and Madneſs of Man-
kind in neglecting eternal Concerns. I urged
upon you who are Heads of Families, and
upon myſelf, the moſt earneſt Concern for the
Salvation of the immortal Souls committed to
our Charge. And I exhorted you frequently
(b) Seed's Sermons, Vol. i. Serm. 1.
C 2
to
52
DISCOURSE III.
to reflect what an awful Thing it is to die and
enter upon an eternal State. I have one Re-
flection more to make from this Subject, con-
cerning a Duty which I defign more largely to
confider and enforce, namely,
5. How much is it our Duty and Intereſt
to look at unfeen and eternal Things! Or
to eye and regard Eternity in all we do!
And, in difcuffing this Point, I fhall confider
what looking at eternal Things includes, and
then propofe fome Arguments and Motives to
engage you more fteadily to regard them.
I. I am to confider what looking at eternal
Things includes..
And that is, a firm Belief of their Reality,
ferious Confideration of their Importance,
and ſteady Aims and Purfuits agreeable thereto.
1. Looking at eternal Things implies a
"firm Belief of their Reality:"
That we have immortal Spirits within us,
and that there is an eternal State and World
juſt before us. Theſe are unfeen Things, and
therefore the Eye of the Mind is to be directed
to them. Faith is, as it were, that Eye; for,
we walk by Faith, not by Sight; and Faith is
deſcribed by the Apoftle as the Substance of
Things hoped for, and the Evidence, or full Con-
viction,
ON ETERNITY.
53
viction, of Things not feen. (c) Faith affents
to what Reafon and Revelation difcover con-
cerning them. The Chriftian profefleth to
believe what the Scriptures reveal concerning
theſe important Things; and is as fure of
their Reality as of the Reality of any material
Object which is feen by his bodily Eyes. The
Chriftian endeavours to
endeavours to have this Faith
ftrengthened, by reafoning about unfeen
Things, by frequently examining the Account
which the Word of God gives of them, and
meditating upon it. Farther, looking at them
includes,
2. A ferious Confideration of their Impor-
tance.
The Word, here tranflated look-at, is in
other Places rendered take heed, conſider, mark,
or olferve attentively; and fignifies ferious,
fixed, repeated, Confideration. (d) We are
not merely to take a tranfient Glance of eternal
Things, now and then, but to look at them
with a fixed, fedfaft, Eye, or dwell upon them
by cloſe Meditation; to bend all the Powers of
the Mind to study them, as Subjects of the
utmoſt Importance. This includes comparing
Things temporary and eternal; (for, fo, it
appears from the Context, the Apoſtle did;}
confidering the refpective Value and Moment
(c) Heb. xi. I.
(d) Compare Luke xi. 35; Rom, xvi, 17;
Gal. vi. 1; Phil. iii. 17.
C 3
of
54
DISCOURSE III.
1
of each; paying no greater Regard to feen
Things than their fading, unfatisfying, Na-
ture deferves; taking the Eye of the Soul off
from them, and fixing it upon unfeen Things.
It intimates, farther, that this ferious Confide-
ration of their Nature is frequent, and our Re-
gard to them habitual. Looking at them is, as
far as poffible, the continued Act of the Soul;
its daily Employment; and, to them, the
Thoughts must be habitually directed. Once
more, looking at unfeen Things includes,
3. A fteady Aim, and diligent Purſuit, 'a-
greeably to their Nature and Importance;
Or a diligent, inceffant, Care to eſcape eter-
nal Mifery and fecure eternal Happin efs. The
Word look-at fignifies alfo to aim at or pursue.
It conveys this Idea in the Verſe where our
Text is, and in that Exhortation of the fame
Apoſtle, Look not every Man on his own Things,
but every Man alfo on the Things of others. (e)
From this Word our English Word Scope is
derived, which fignifies the chief Deſign a
Man has in View, the Mark he aims at, the
End he is purfuing. This may be illuftrated
by thofe Words of the fame Apostle, I prefs
toward the Mark; I vigorously purſue the Ob-
ject I have my Eye upon, for the Prize of the
high Calling of GOD in Chrift Jefus, even the
eternal Inheritance. (f) This, then, is our
great Duty, as Chriftians, daily and ſeriouſly
(e) Phil, ii. 4. (f) Phil. iii. 14.
to
ON ETERNITY.
55
-
to confider eternal Things, and uſe our utmoſt
Endeavours to eſcape the Wrath to come and
obtain everlaſting Life. We are to confider
the Whole of our Duration, and what is beſt
for us upon the Whole; what Regard is due
to temporal, and what to eternal, Things. -
Let us, then, maintain a ftedfaft, fixed, Re-
gard to Eternity, wherever we are, and what-
ever we do. Were we deliberately to think
upon temporal and eternal Things, we could
never imagine that Provifion for the prefent
Life was worthy fo many Hours Thought and
Labour every Day, and Eternity fcarce worthy
of Half a Thought in many Hours; and, per-
haps, not one fixed, ferious, Thought in many
Days. Where one Thought is ſpent upon
that Queſtion, “What ſhall we eat and drink,
"and wherewith fhall we be clothed? how fhall
"C
we get Money, or enjoy Pleafure?" there
would be a thoufand fpent upon that Queftion,
"What muft I do to be faved?" Did we feriously
confider but a thoufandth Part of the Joys of an
eternal Heaven, and the Horrors of an eternal
Hell, we ſhould never be cafy till our everlaſt-
ing Intereft was fecure. Let the Thoughts of
Eternity, therefore, be made familiar to our
Minds. Let us endeavour to mingle them
with all our Employments and Enjoyments,
and eſpecially with all the Exercifes of Religion,
both public and private. To excite you to
this, I am,
II. To propofe fome Motives and Argu-
ments.
C 4
And,
56
DISCOURSE III,
And, that you may be engaged to regard
Eternity in all you do, confider, that Life,
Time, and Means, are given us to prepare for
Eternity; that we muft very quickly enter
upon it; that, as our Character is when our
Time ends, fo will our eternal State be; and
that many prefent Advantages will attend our
looking at eternal Things, which will likewife
have a great Influence upon our eternal State.
Confider,
1. Life, and Time, and Means, are given
us, that we may prepare for Eternity.
A Work of the greateſt Importance that can
employ our Hands or enter into our Thoughts!
When GOD formed us, at firft, he defigned us
for an everlaſting Exiftence. Did he make us
a little lower than the Angels, higher than the
Brutes, and crown us with Glory and Honour,
merely that we might look at temporal Things?
Surely, he made us thefe Souls for nobler Ends,
higher Employments, and weightier Concerns,
than what relate to this World; and ſhall we
degrade thefe rational, immortal, Natures now,
and fink them into endlefs Mifery hereafter,
by employing them only about the Concerns of
this World? Farther, GOD has given us
our Time to prepare for Eternity. Now is the
accepted Time, the Day of Grace, when Par-
don and Salvation may be obtained. He has
lengthened out our Period of Trial, often
raifed us up from the Brink of the Grave, and
preferved us from fatal Accidents, and all that
he might give us a little more Time to regard
eternal
ON ETERNITY.
57
eternal Things; and ſhall it all be ſpent about
thofe that are temporal? Were we truly fen-
fible of the Worth of our immortal Souls, we
fhould be more fenfible of the Worth of Time,
and thoſe Seaſons which GOD hath given us to
train up our Souls for a bleſſed Immortality. -
For the fame End, He has given us a Variety
of Means and Privileges. He hath fent his
Son to diſcover Immortality and to open the
Kingdom of Heaven for us. He hath fent
down his Spirit to enlighten our Underitand-
ings, to ſtrive with and roufe our dull and ftu-
pid Souls, to convince us of Sin, of Right-
ouſneſs, and of eternal Judgement. He hath
given us his Word to be our Guide to everlaſt-
ing Glory. He hath commiffioned Minifters
to explain and enforce his Word, to beſeech
Men to be reconciled to GOD and fecure eternal
Life. We have all of us enjoyed feveral hun-
dred Sabbaths, fome of us feveral thoufand, on
each of which we have heard or read ſomething
that had a Tendency to direct our Thoughts to
Eternity. Confider how many Diſcourſes your
Minifters have taken Pains to compofe and de-
liver, with a fincere Concern to promote your
everlaſting Salvation. Add, to theſe, the many
Admonitions of your Parents and Friends, the
many Checks of Confcience which you have
felt, the many Intimations which that inward
Monitor has given you that you were defigned
for Eternity and ought to make diligent Prepa-
ration for it. All theſe Means are the Gifts of
GOD; they all centre in this grand Defign, to
lead your Thoughts to Futurity; and are all
kindle
C 5
58
DISCOURSE III.
•
kindly intended to fave you from everlaſting
Ruin. Confider,
2. We must quickly go out of Time into
Eternity.
?
It was an awful Vifion which St. John faw
of an Angel, ſtanding upon the Sea and upon
the Earth, who lifted up his Hand to Heaven,
and fwore, by Him who created all Things,
and liveth for ever and ever, that there shall be
Time no longer. (g) Soon will theſe folemn
Words be uttered, concerning you and me,
that our Time fhall be no longer. The Ima-
gination of Men placeth Eternity at a Diftance;
and, therefore, they forget it. They are con-
vinced of the Neceffity of preparing for Eter-
nity; they are, perhaps, determined fometime
hence to fet about it; but this fecret Thought
is at the Botton of all their Neglect and Tri-
Aling, that they are not likely to die foon.
Thus, as the Prophet expreffeth it, they put far
away the evil Day, (h) and, therefore, indulge
themſelves in Oppreffion and Luxury. So the
wicked Servant, in our Lord's Parable, faid,
my Mafter delayeth his coming; and therefore
he began to beat his Fellow-Servants, and eat
and drink with the Drunken. They think the
next Summons will not be fent to them; but,
to depend upon this, in an Affair of fuch Mo-
ment, is certainly the utmoft Folly. Many
who argued in this abfurd Way are long fince
(g) Rev. x. 5, 6. (h) Amos vi. 3.
in
ON ETERNITY.
59
1
in Eternity; and are now bewailing, and will
for ever bewail, their mad Delay. We have
the fame frail Bodies, and are liable to the fame
Diſeaſes or Accidents, which hurried them out
of Time, and broke off all the wife Purpoſes.
of their Hearts. A Man that holds his Life
by fo uncertain a Tenure can never be ſaid to
be out of Danger. He that is in Time to-day
may be in Eternity to-morrow. There is but
a fingle Puff of Breath between us and Hea-
ven or Hell. Everlafting Things hang upon
the flender Thread of human Life; and, when
the Summons cometh, prepared or unprepared,
you muſt go. Confider, then, ye that are en-
tirely taken up with temporal Things; that
fay, to-day or to-morrow we will go into fuch a
City, and continue there a Year, and buy and fell,
and get Gain; whereas, ye know not what ſhall
be on the Morrow; for, what is your Life? It
is even a Vapour that appeareth for a little Time,
and then vanifbeth away. (1) And will you not,
then, look at eternal Things? - Confider, far-
ther,
1
3. As our Character is, when our Time
ends, fo will our eternal State be.
An eternal Heaven or Hell depends upon
your good or ill Behaviour in this fhort State of
Trial. While you are here, there is Hope
that fome ferious Impreffions may fix upon your
Minds, and your Souls may be awakened to
(i) James vi. 13, 14.
C 6
regard
60
DISCOURSE III.
regard eternal Things; but, at Death, Hope.
is for ever gone, the Seafon of Grace is over,
the Sinner has no more Time for Prayer, read-
ing, or ferving GoD or Man. It is then too
late to rectify paft Miftakes, to fubdue finful
Habits, and obtain the Favour of Heaven.
Time will never come again. Yeſterday will
return nomore. A Man may recover his Health
and Eſtate, but can never recover his Time.
When once the Soul is removed into Eternity,
the Difpofitions and Habits which it carried
thither with it will continue, and be a Source
of everlafting Joy or Sorrow. Between the
vaft eternal Regions there is a great Gulf
fixed; and no Soul will ever be permitted to
pals from the one to the other. In the prefent
State, our Lives are chequered.
There is an
Alternative of Pleaſure and Pain, or they are
mixed and blended together. But, in Eter-
nity, there is no Mixture or Alternative; it is
all Pleaſure or all Pain. This Difference be-
tween the prefent and future State increaſes
the Importance of what I am urging. Hence
it appears that, properly fpeaking, there is no
fuch Thing as a Trifle upon Earth. Every
thing is weighty; each Action, Word, and
Thought, is weighty; becaufe each has an
everlaſting Effect, has fome Influence on our
eternal State. Thofe who now deride ſerious
Godliness as ftrict and precife, and think that
Minifters make too much ado about it, will
then be of another Mind. When they fee
that Men's Characters determine their future
State, they will think that all was, compara-
tively, too much that was employed about
temporal
ON ETERNITY.
61
temporal Things, and all too little that was em-
ployed about eternal ones. Confider, once
more,
4. Many preſent and great Advantages will
attend our looking at eternal Things;
Advantages, which will have a powerful Ef-
fect upon our preſent Temper and Character,
and, confequently, on our cternal State; and
they are thefe; looking at and regarding
Eternity will restrain our Fonduefs for the
World, increaſe our Hatred of Sin, and Love
to God and the Redeemer; it will make us
careful to redeem our Time, promote our Pa-
tience under Afflictions; make us ferious and
lively in all the Duties of Religion, diſpoſe us
to do good to others, and make us willing to
die. Let me juſt touch upon each of theſe
Thoughts.
Looking at eternal Things will "reftrain
your Fondneſs for the World,"
CC
1
Its Riches, Honours, and Pleaſures; for, it
will fhew you that they are all temporary, fa-
ding, and deceitful. This will teach you to
follow your wordly Bufinefs with Moderation,
fenfible that you have more important Buſineſs
to mind. It will abate your Love of Money
and Eagerness to gain it. You will not be ela-
ted with the Poffeffions and Enjoyments of
Life, which you muſt leave all behind you,
which, in themfelves, will be of no Avail to
your eternal Happineſs, but, on the contrary,
render
62
DISCOURSE III.
<<
Co
render it extremely hazardous. It will abate
your Fondness for the Honours and Applaufe
of the World, and all thofe Marks of Diftinc-
tion and Pre-Eminence after which little
Minds are fo eager. In this View, when a
new Pope is inftalled, an Officer is appointed
to approach him, and fay, "Holy Father,
"think of the Days of Eternity." The Ho-
nours of this World cannot filence a clamorous
Confcience, or avert or fufpend the Poffeffor's
eternal Doom. A great Man, of a neighbour-
ing Country, had an extraordinary Mark of
Diftinction and Honour fent him by his Prince,
"Alas!" fays
as he lay on his Death-Bed.
he, looking coldly upon it, "this is a mighty
"fine Thing here in this Country; but I am
just going to a Country where it will be of
no Service to me." So trifling will all the
Honours of Earth appear to the Man who has
Eternity in his Eye! I like Manner it will
reſtrain your Fondneſs for the Diverſions and
Amuſements of Life. You will relifh, yea,
will need, very few of them. You will have
better Things to mind, nobler Objects to pur-
fue, and tafte Pleaſures in the Purfuit which
will be rational, manly, refined; which will
improve upon Reflection, and laſt for ever.
A Lady of this Nation, having fpent the Af-
ternoon and Evening at Cards and in gay
Company, when he came home, found her
Servant-Maid reading a pious Book: She
looked over her Shoulder, and faid, "Poor
"melancholy Soul! what Pleaſure canſt thou
"find in poring fo long upon that Book!"
That Night the Lady could not fleep, but lay
fighing
ON ETERNITY.
63
fighing and weeping very much. Her Servant
aſked her once and again what was the Matter.
At length fhe burst out into a Flood of Tears,
and faid, "Oh! it was one Word I law in your
"Book that troubles me; there I faw that
« Word Eternity! Oh! how happy fhould I
"be if I were prepared for Eternity!" The
Confequence of this Impreffion was, that ſhe
laid afide her Cards, forfook her gay Company,
and fet herſelf ſeriouſly to prepare for another
World. The Thoughts of Eternity would
lead us cheerfully to facrifice any temporal
Gain, Honour, or Pleaſure, to the Welfare of
the never-dying Soul. Again,
Looking at eternal Things will increaſe
CC our Hatred of Sin."
This evil Thing threw the Angels out of
Heaven; it degrades the human Soul, defaces
the Image of GOD upon it, deprives it of eter-.
nal Blifs, and plunges it into everlasting Tor-
ments. Did you eye Eternity, you would ne-
ver hearken to the Counfels of the Wicked,
nor comply with other Temptations to Sin.
You would, at once, recollect, that, though
Sin may appear pleafant, its Pleafures are but
for a Seaſon, and its Wages are eternal Death.
You would be refolute in denying worldly Luft,
crucifying the Flefh, and laying afide the Sin
which eaſily befets you, though it be as difficult
and painful as cutting off a right Hand or
plucking out an Eye; confidering, that it is bet-
ter to enter into Life halt, or maimed, or blind,
than having two Eyes or Hands to be caft into
everlasting
64
DISCOURSE III.
everlasting Fire. (k) One ferious Thought of
Eternity would banish thoſe vain Excuſes which
we are apt to make for Conformity to the
World, and venturing on the Appearance of
Evil.
This would "increaſe our Love to GOD
"and the Redeemer;"
It would excite and cherish the moſt grateful
and affectionate Emotions in our Hearts to-
wards our Lord Jefus Chrift, and GOD, even
our Father, who have loved us, and given us
everlaſting Confolation and good Hope through
Grace; and, in Proportion to the Solidity and
Livelineſs of our Hope, it would fill us with
Joy unſpeakable and full of Glory. — Again,
Looking at eternal Things would “make
(C us very careful to redeem our Time."
We ſhould then fee that Time is ineftimably
precious; beyond the Price of Silver and Gold,
of Pearls and Jewels. It would humble us be-
fore GOD that fo much has been mifpent alrea-
dy, and awaken us to feize and improve every
Moment for GOD and Eternity. — Farther,
i
It would "promote our Patience under Af-
"flictions, and reconcile us to thoſe we
"feel or fee."
(k) Mat. xviii. 8.
It
ON ETERNITY.
65
It was St. Paul's regard to eternal Things
which kept him from fainting under his grie-
vous Sufferings, as he obſerves in the Verfes
before the. Text. Such a Confideration of
Futurity would tend to reconcile our Minds.
to the unequal Diftributions of Providence,
and thoſe Indignities and Pains which ſome of
the beſt Men fuffer, and ſome of the worst ef-
cape. Carry your Thoughts into Eternity, and
you will fee thefe feeming Diſorders rectified, and
the Wiſdom and Goodness of GoD appearing
moft illuſtrious. You will fee the profpercus
Sinner lamenting his Profperity, and the af-
Aicted Saint praifing GoD for his Afflictions.
And, indeed, it is, comparatively, a little Mat-
ter to an immortal Being whether he fufters
Affliction, or enjoys Profperity, during the
few Years he fpends on Earth. To a Soul
that eyes Eternity, his Afflictions will ap-
pear Mercies, as being intended to make his
Heart better, to preſerve him from everlaſting
Pain, and make him meet for everlafting
Pleaſure. The Thought of Eternity has re-
conciled many pious Perfons to very heavy
Sorrows. That divine Man, Mr. Philip
Henry, when he felt the most acute Pain from
a complicated Fit of the Stone and Cholic,
faid, I am tormented; but, bleffed be GOD, not
in this Flame. I am on Fire; but, bleſſed be
GOD, it is not the Fire of Hell! Another
pious Minifter, after he had uttered many dole-
ful Groans, through the Agony of his Pain
from the Stone, faid to his Friends, Well! for
all this roaring and groaning, I would not, for
ten thouſand Worlds, change Conditions with the
healthieft,
65
DISCOURSE III.
healthiest, richest, Man upon Earth who is en-
flaved to Sin and going down to Hell.
A wife
Man would bear any bodily Pain to eſcape ever-
lafting Pain, and fuffer any temporal Lofs ra-
ther than lofe his Soul. No Man can endure
fuch heavy Afflictions on Earth but eternal Hap-
pineſs will amply compenfate them. - Farther,
Regarding Eternity would "make us ſerious
"and lively in all the Duties of Religion."
A celebrated Painter among the Ancients,
being aſked why he took fo much Pains about
fome Pieces he had in Hand, anfwered, "I am
"painting for Eternity." Did Men confider
that they are working for Eternity in every
Thing they do of the religious Kind, it would
put Life and Vigour into all their Actions.
Did they reflect that, in their Prayers, they
are aſking the eternal Life of their Souls, they
would pray with greater Attention, Serioufnefs,
and Fervour, than, it is to be feared, they ge-
nerally do. No formal lifeless Petitions would
proceed from their Lips, but their Hearts would
be engaged as well as their Tongues. Under
the Influence of this Thought, what ferious
devout Worſhippers would they be in the
Houfe of God! We fhould not fee them ha-
bitually coming in after the Service of it is
begun, or, perhaps, half done; they would not
behave irreverently there, or appear inattentive
to what is faid. They would not allow them-
felves to fleep when they fhould be hearing the
Words of eternal Life; nor would they ne-
glect any Opportunity of improving their
Hearts
ON ETERNITY.
67
Hearts by religious Worſhip. They would
not go away, as they too often do, without any
Self-Reflection, or confidering how much they
were concerned in what they had been hearing;
fince, by the Word of GOD, their Characters
are foon to be tried, and their eternal State un-
alterably fixed. Were you, my Brethren, to
regard Eternity, you would, every Day, cloſe-
ly examine the State of your Souls, and watch
their fecret Workings and Defires. You would
be active in all your Endeavours to ferve GOD
and grow in Grace; and would never be fatif-
fied with any cold, doubtful, Hope, when Eter-
nity was in Queſtion. Were Chriftians to
think, and fpeak, and act, under a deep Impref-
fion of Eternity, there would be no trifling with
GOD, and Confcience, and facred Things.
Their great Ambition would be to pleafe GOD,
and their chief Aim to fave their Souls, and
faithfully to improve all the Helps they have
for that Purpoſe.
Looking at eternal Things would "difpofe
"and quicken us to do all the Good we
could to the Souls of others."
t
It would lead us to pity perithing Souls, and
be active in our Attempts to fave them. It
would make us tenderly folicitous to try every
Method to reach their Hearts; yea, to jave
them with Fear, pulling them as out of the Fire. (1)
We should be earneft in our Prayers to Gon
(1) Jude, v. 23.
1
for
68
DISCOURSE III.
for them, and unwearied in our Endeavours to
preferve them from everlaſting Ruin. In or-
der to this, we ſhould be often dropping a Hint
concerning Eternity; fince, if any Thing will
awaken a Man to be ferious and thoughtful,
that will. We fhould exhort and admonish
one another daily, while it is called to-day, left
any be hardened by the Deceitfulneſs of Sin,
and fo be fuddenly deftroyed, and that without
Remedy.
I add, once more,
Habitual Regards to Eternity would make
"us willing to die."
Death and Eternity are awful Scenes. They
ftrike the Mind with Horror. The Soul
fhrinks at the Thought of removing to an un-
Seen and eternal State. But Familiarity with
thefe Scenes, if attended with ſerious Reflec-
tions upon them, will gradually abate their
Terror, as it will promote thofe Difpofitions in
the Heart which are a good Preparative for en-
tering upon them. We fhall then be fenfible
that it is a Matter of very little Importance.
when, and where, and how, a Perfon dies; the
great Thing is, to what State Death removes
him. This would excite us to apply our Hearts
unto Wiſdom; to labour and pray for brighter
Evidences and firmer Hopes of poffeffing cternal
Reft; and, as theſe were obtained, our Fears
of Death would abate. We ſhould no longer
fhudder on the Brink of Eternity, but cheer-
fully refign our Souls into his Hands who died
to redeem them, who has engaged to keep that
which is committed to him againft that Day,
and
ON ETERNITY.
69
and who has the Keys of Death and the unfeen
World.
Thefe, my Brethren, are fome of the great
Advantages of looking at unfeen and eternal
Things. And, oh! that thefe Motives may
engage you to direct your Eyes to them; to
entertain fome ferious Thoughts of Eternity
every Day; and lie down every Night with an
Impreffion of it upon your Spirits! May they
lead you to recollect, wherever you go, and
whatever you are doing, that you are on the
Brink of an awful Eternity! You may, per-
haps, object, that "it is a gloomy Subject,
"and will fpoil your Pleafures." But here
you miſtake. It will, indeed, fpoil your finful
and dangerous Pleafures, and fo I would have
it; but it will ſpoil no innocent, rational, ſo-
lid, Pleafures. It is aftonishing how any Man
can be cheerful who neglects the Intereft of his
Soul and forgets Eternity. Delight is not feemly
for a Fool; (m) and no Fool fo great as he.
True Joy does not belong to him. He has no
Title to it, no Reliſh for it. True Pleaſure is
a ferious Thing. Though the Ways in which
I would perfuade you to walk may, at firft,
appear gloomy, they will brighten as you pro-
ceed. You will foon find that they are Ways of
Pleaſantnefs and Paths of Peace; and will, at
length, undoubtedly concur in this Sentiment,
that "fince all other Poffeffions and Attain-
"ments are vain and perishable, the only true
"Wiſdom is, to meditate upon Eternity, and
(m) Prov. xix. 10.
"the
70
DISCOURSE III.
"the beſt Philofophy is, to be a good
"Man." (n)
And now, my Friends, I have finiſhed what
I intended on this weighty and moft interefting
Subject; and I do earnestly entreat you to
take a ſerious and careful Review of it, and
afk yourſelves, Oh, my Soul! art thou pre-
pared for Eternity? And yet, I fear, after all
that you have heard upon the Subject, fome of
you continue unaffected and unimpreffed with
it; that you will go on in your accustomed
Round of Bufinefs and Amuſement, without
confidering the eternal World, on the Borders
of which you ſtand, and into which you may,
in an Inftant, be hurried. Nay, I cannot but
fear, that fome of you may have fo little re-
garded what has been faid as to go immediately
from hence to fome Place of public Refort, to
your Walks, or your Vifits, as if you ftudied
to drive away all ferious Thought; and may,
to-morrow, have forgotten even the Subject
upon which I have been addreffing you. But
I muſt again warn you that Eternity is at Hand,
whether you regard it or no. I am unwilling
to conclude, till I have fome Hope, that you
will prepare for Eternity; at leaft will confider
it. Let me, therefore, beg one Favour of
every one of you, young and old, rich and
poor; and it is but a ſmall Favour I aſk; it is
this; that you would every one retire, and ſpend
a little Time this Evening in thinking upon
Eternity. Ponder in your Minds what it is to
(r) Rapin's Crit. Works, Vol. ii. P. 509.
live
ON ETERNITY.
75
live for ever in a State of endleſs Happineſs or
endleſs Mifery. If you will do this, I fhall
have a cheerful Hope that One Quarter of an
Hour ſo ſpent will be the most profitable you
ever ſpent in your Lives; and that God will
make the Meditation profitable to your Souls,
and the Beginning of eternal Felicity. But,
if you will not do this much in an Affair of fuch
vaft Moment, I can fay Nothing that will
awaken and impreſs you.
Thou, O my
GOD! art Witnefs, and all ye that fear GoD
are Witneffes, that I have given thoughtleſs
dying Creatures plain and faithful Warning of
the Nature and Approach of Eternity; and
your own Confciences, O careless, ftupid,
Mortals! will bear Witneſs for me, in the Day
of eternal Judgement, that you were forewarn-
ed. You will then recollect that you were,
again and again, addreſſed upon this Subject.
You will defire to forget it then, but will not
be able. May the Spirit of GOD, for whom
Nothing is too hard, fo imprefs thefe Things
upon your Hearts now, that the Recollection of
them then may be joyful and not tormenting to
you.
I have a cheerful Perfuafion that fome of you,
Brethren, are impreffed with theſe Reprefenta-
tions, and will apply your Minds more clofely
than before to the great Concerns of Eternity;
that you will daily keep all the Powers of your
Souls wakeful and active, in order to ſecure fo
vaft a Felicity as the Goſpel promiſeth. I
hope, likewife, that you will, by every friend-
ly Effort, endeavour to fave the Souls of your
Relations and Acquaintance. For this Purpoſe,
may
72
DISCOURSE III.
may the Grace of our Lord Jefus Chrift be with
your Spirits. Amen. (0) To conclude,
If I thought it needful to make an Apology
to an Aflembly of Immortals for dwelling fo
long upon the Subject of Eternity, and being
earneft in my Addrefs to them, that Apology
fhould be no other than the Anſwer which a
pious Man once made to this Queftion from
his Friend: - Why do you spend fo much
"Time in Reading, Meditation, and Prayer?"
The good Man lifted up his Eyes and Hands to
Heaven, and faid, with great Serioufnefs and
Solemnity, For ever! For ever! For ever!
(0) Gal. vi. 18.
THE END.
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