DOCTRINE.

PROP. I. It is the Character of the Children of God that they walk in their Uprightness.

PROP. II. It is their Happiness, that they shall enter into Peace, and rest in their Graves, as in Beds, when they Die.

PROP. I. It is the Character of the Children of God that they walk in their Uprightness. Every true Believer, who is a Child of God by Faith in Jesus Christ, is a perfect and upright Man. Under this Proposition, I shall endea­vour to show what is implied in walk­ing in Uprightness, and so explain and illustrate this Character.

[Page 5] Here we may observe, that this Word as used in the Scriptures, is of much the same import with Perfection. Sincerity, Integrity. As it is here used, it can't intend Sinless Per­fection, We read, Eccl. 7.29. God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. The Word for Man is Adam. God made our first Pa­rents right in sinless Perfection: But Adam sinn'd, and we in him. And since the Fall all are conceiv'd in sin, and go astray from the Womb. And there is no Man but hath the remains of this Original Corruption abiding in him. The Law which is the rule of Right be­tween God and Man, and an Eternal rule of Righteousness demands perfect Obedience, and threatens the Curse upon the least defect. Gal. 3.10. Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them. And therefore the Psalmist deprecates God's being strict to mark ini­quity, [Page 6]Psal. 143.2. The holiest Men that ever lived had Sin remaining in them. Noah was a just Man, and per­foot in his Generations, Gen. 6.9. And yet he was overtaken with the Sin of Drunkenness. Job was perfect and up­right: And yet he makes that confession, Job 9.20. If I justify my self, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse. How passionately doth the Apostle Paul cry out, O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? There was never any Man since the Fall, excepting the Man CHRIST JESUS, (who is GOD as well as Man) persectly free from Sin. Indeed God is said to see no iniquity in Jacob, or per­verseness in Israel. The perfect Righ­teousness of Christ covers all the Sins of His People; God beholds no iniquity in them so as to impute it. However, all want of conformity to, or transgression of the Law of God, is Sin, under the [Page 7]Covenant of Grace, as well as under the Covenant of Works: But here is the difference; the Sins of Believers do not expose them to the condemnation of the Law, and to the Sword of Vindictive Justice; because their Surety hath born their iniquities, & made Reconciliation for them. The Children of God know but in part, and are sanctified but in part. Eccl. 7.20. There is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not. While they live in this World they sin daily, and therefore they live a life of Repentance and Godly Sorrow, and must daily go to that Fountain which is set open to the house of David,—for sin and for uncleanness. The best Men upon Earth come short in every duty: None are able perfectly to keep the Com­mandments of God. Their houses of Clay must be pulled down, before the leprosy of Sin will be wholly taken a­way; and their Souls must be separated from their Bodies by Death, before they [Page 8]can attain the spotless purity of the spi­rits of just Men made perfect. The brightest Lights that ever shone in the Church Militant have had their spots.

But to speak Positively.

1. Walking in uprightness presupposeth this, that the Dominion of sin is destroyed in God's People, and the image of God, in all the Graces of the Spirit, is created in them. Every Child of God is renew'd in the whole Man, after His Image. All the Divine Laws must be written on our hearts by the Finger of God, and we must be set right with God, or our ways can't be upright before Him. Every Man is by nature under the dominion of lust, and the way of sin is the way of his own heart. And therefore unless God create in us a clean heart, and renew within us a right spirit; it is as much impossible for us to walk in uprightness, as it is for the Dead to arise and walk. The motion of natural Bodies is according to their principle, and the laws impress'd [Page 9]upon them. And thus the motions of the Soul in moral actions are according to the biass that is upon it. While our inclinations are corrupt, our ways will be unclean. While we are governed by the law in our members, we can't walk in uprightness. This doth therefore necessarily suppose that the People of God are renewed in the spirit of their minds; being deliver'd from the domi­nion of sin. Their Understandings are savingly enlightened to see the path of Life; their Wills renew'd, so that they chuse the ways of God's Testimonies: their Affections sanctified, and by them their Souls are forwarded in the way of God's Commandments. Thus every Power is rescued from the bondage of Corruption; and Grace takes possession of every faculty. The image of God is engraven on the hearts of His Children in every line of it. There is an inte­grity and perfection of parts in the new Man: For of Christ's fulness they receive [Page 10]and Grace for Grace; tho' it be imper­fect as to degrees. And tho' every lust remains in some degree, yet there is no lust but what is cast down from it's u­surped Throne. Every Child of God is born of the Spirit, and is denominated from his better part, a perfect and up­right Man. All old things are pass'd away, and all things are become new.

2. Walking in uprightness intends that we make the Word of God our Rule in our way, & have a respect to all His Command­ments. The Upright endeavour that their obedience may be extended in some good measure, in proportion to the breadth of God's Law; and none of God's Commands are grievous to them. They delight in the whole Law, and are obedient to every Precept in it; they make Conscience not only of obeying those Commands which immediately re­spect God, but also of those which respect their Neighbour. They neither sepa­rate the Tables of the Law, nor dash them [Page 11]in pieces one against another. They do not pick & chuse, and say, These Com­mands we will do, those we will leave undone; but earnestly desire that their hearts may be directed to keep all God's Commandments. They allow not themselves in the omission of any known duty. Secret as well as open duties bear the stamp of the Divine Authority, and therefore are impartially regarded by them. The Children of God take His Word for a light to their feet, and a lamp to their path. In the Law of God our duty is marked out to us, and the way to Blessedness laid out before us; and therefore the Upright do take care to walk in the Law of the Lord, and dare not allow themselves in passing o­ver these lines and bounds which their Lawgiver hath set and described there­in. They make it their business to or­der their Conversation according to this Law of Liberty. They take the Word of God for their directory, and worship [Page 12]Him according to His own Institutions and Appointments. They labour to understand the Orders and Ordinances of God's House as revealed in His Word, and keep close to them. In a Word, the Grace of God which hath appeared to them in the Gospel, teaches them to live soberly righteously and godly in this present evil World.

3. Walking in uprightness intends that we hate every false way. The upright do not allow themselves to walk in any forbidden path, or to turn aside to the crooked ways of sin. There is no way of wickedness, tho' it seem to be never so pleasant and gainful; but what they heartily desire to forsake. They lay aside the sin that doth most easily beset them, and thro' the Spirit they mortify the deeds of the Flesh, even those be­loved lusts, which their Constitution, Employment, or Coversation might most incline them to. Psal. 18.23. I was also upright before him: and I kept my self [Page 13] from mine iniquity. They are cleans'd from secret faults, and kept back from presumptuous sins, so that they have not dominion over them.

4. Walking in uprightness intends that Believers do walk as being sensible that God's Eye is upon them, and as seeing Him who is Invisible. We have already ob­served that some translate the Word, before Him. They order their Life and Conversation under a realizing view of the Presence of God. They believe that truth, Prov. 15.3. The Eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good. And they act as of sincerity in the sight of God. The Hypocrite is ready to say in his heart, Doth God know, can he judge through the dark cloud. But the Upright Man makes that con­fession of his Faith, Psal. 139.3. Thou compassest my path, and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. And this belief of the Omniscience and Om­nipresence of GOD governs him in his [Page 14]walk, and makes him take care to ap­prove himself to God, by having his Conversation in simplicity & godly since­rity. The Children of God do live in Obedience to that command, Gen. 17.1. I am the Almighty God, walk before me, and he thou perject. They live and act under this apprehension, that they are continually in the presence of that God who is their Judge and Rewarder: And therefore they desire truth in the inward parts, and see to it that the inward tem­per and frame of their minds be agrea­ble to their outward profession. By Faith they see Him who is Invisible to sense. They are sensible that He sees all their tho'ts afar off, and therefore walk cir­cumspectly. They behold God in His Providential Dispensations, wherein He passeth before them; and they labour to keep their eyes fixed upon Him in all their ways, and to act as in His sight. This is to walk in Uprightness; and such may appeal to God and say with [Page 15] Hezekiah, Lord thou knowest that I have walked with an upright heart.

5. Walking in uprightness implies that we have upright Aims and Intentions in our Lives and Actions. Believers do make the Glory of God their chief and ultimate end. As far as we are sincere and upright we have a single eye and pure aims; and labour to move in a direct and straight line to­wards that glorious End, the advance­ment of God's Honour. In this respect, Their eyes look right on, and their eye-lids look straight before them, as Prov. 4.25. The Upright seek to promote God's Glory in all their ways: Whether they eat or drink, or whatever they do, they do all to the Glory of God. And endeavour to subordinate their inferiour interests to this grand Design.

6. It intends that they act thus in the whole course of their Lives. A Man's way is that which he accustoms himself to. Agreably, to walk in uprightness, [Page 16]is to be upright at all times, and under all circumstances. Integrity and up­rightness do preserve God's People in all company, in all conditions of life, and in every affair they engage in. This is the way and manner of their life. They are upright in a constant and continued course of actions. In the frame and tenour of their lives they are upright, exercising themselves in this, to keep a Conscience void of offence both towards God and towards Men. Indeed the Upright Man may fall once and again. They do sometimes go out of the way of God's Commandments; but then they do not walk in the counsel of the ungod­ly, nor stand in the way of sinners. Tho' they fall seven times, yet they rise again by Repentance, and return unto the Lord. The Upright are steady and constant in walking in the path of God's Commandments; they persevere in their duty till they finish their course, and ob­tain the end of their Faith. Psal. 119.33. [Page 17] Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes, and I shall keep it unto the end. Thus we have briefly considered a few parti­culars, to illustrate the Character which is here given of the Righteous, when it is said, That each one of them walketh in his uprightness.

PROP. II. It is their Happiness that they shall enter into Peace, and rest in their Graves, as in Beds. We proceed now to consider the Privilege & Blessed­ness of the Upright.

In this World God's Providence to­wards the Righteous and Wicked is very promiscuous, so that no man knoweth love or hatred by all that is before them. Eccl. 9.2. All things come alike to all. There is one event to the righ­teous and to the wicked— Job 9.22. He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked. The Upright must die as well as the Sinner, and to an eye of sense, the Righteous perisheth; But then, Precious [Page 18]in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints. When they go the way of all the Earth, they go in Peace. Every Upright Man is a Son of Peace. The Lord Jesus Christ hath purchased Peace for His People, and that in the most comprehensive sense of the word, and He will bestow it upon them. Psal. 84.11. For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withold from them that walk uprightly. When our SAVIOUR was about to leave this World He bequeath'd Peace to His Disciples as a rich Legacy. Joh. 14.27. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you,— The Lord Je­sus Christ is our Peace-maker. Col. 1.20.— Having made peace thro' the blood of his Cross—The chastisements of our Peace were upon Him. He who is the Fathers only begotten Son, in whom He is ever well pleased; was bruised and wounded for the transgressions of His People, that God might with Ho­nour [Page 19]to all His Attributes, receive them into favour, and embrace them in the Arms of His Everlasting Love. God hid His Face from Him for a time, when He uttered that strong and vehement Cry, My God! My God! Why hast thou forsaken me? Now, this was that His People might enjoy the manifestations of His Love, and walk up and down in the light of His Countenance.

And as our Lord Died to purchase this great and comprehensive Good for His People; so He ever Lives to com­municate it to them. Now He is in Hea­ven, He doth not leave them Comfort­less; but comes unto them in the holy Influences and Consolations of His Spi­rit, who is the Comforter. All Divine Peace is laid up in Him, He is the proton decticon, the first Recipient; God hath anointed Him with the Oyl of gladness above his fellows, and from Him who is the Head this flows down to the Mem­bers of His Mystical Body, as the Oyl [Page 20]that anointed the Head of Aaron ran down to the skirts of his Garments. In His light they see light. Being justify'd by Faith they have Peace with God. Being deliver'd from the guilt and bondage of Sin, they have peace of Conscience and joy in the Holy Ghost; And thro' Christ become Heirs to the Inheritance of the Saints in Light. Thus I have endea­voured to show the ground and founda­tion of that Peace which the Righteous do and shall enjoy. I proceed to speak more directly to the Proposition before us, in a few Particulars.

1. Sometimes God gives unto the Upright abundance of peace, and more than ordinary tranquillity of mind towards the end of their lives; so that they finish their course with Joy. God reserves the best Wine 'till last, and gives the Upright strong and refreshing Cordials when they lie upon a Death-Bed, and stand in most need of them. Thus it is sometimes, and it may be many times, when thro' their weak­nesses, [Page 21]others can't observe, and inter­meddle with their Joy. As they draw nigh to the borders of the Heavenly Canaan, God sometimes takes them up into the Mount, and gives them such tavishing views of that better Country, as make them even desire to pass over Jordan, that they may possess it. Phil. 1.23. Having a desire to depart— It may be they have walked in darkness; but at evening there is light. They are sometimes enabled to say with the Psal­mist, Tho' I walk thro' the valley of the sha­dow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me, Psal. 23, 4. Thus God lets His Servants depart in Peace, and they finish their course with joy.

To be sure, The Upright Die in a state of favour and friendship with God thro' Jesus Christ. Suppose God should hide His Face in the hour of Death; yet still He is their God; they die in the Lord, and therefore there Death is safe. There's [Page 22]not one drop of vindictive Wrath in this bitter cup. Their Saviour hath tasted death for them, and thro' death hath destroyed him, which had the power of death, that is the Devil; and therefore Death can't do them any real harm. They go in Peace when they leave the World, whatever doubts and fears may cloud their minds in the hour of Death; and even these shall all vanish away as the morning Cloud, when their Souls are separated from their Bodies. Which leads me to the Second thing.

2. After Death the departed Spirits of the Upright do enter into Peace, and enjoy undisturbed Rest in the Paradise of God. The troubles of good Men and their lives end together. Death is a Messen­ger of Peace unto them, and brings them the joyful news, that there Warfare is accomplished. When an Upright Man Dies, God dismisseth Him to Rest, and speaks to him in the voice of His Pro­vidence, as to Daniel, Dan. 12.13.— [Page 23] Go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest—. The faithful Servants of God who have born the heat and bur­den of the day, and have been worn out almost with hard labours and bitter sufferings, find ease and refreshment at Death. Not as if the Souls of Believers were then laid asleep in a stato of in­activity; or did wholly cease from business; No! No! They live and act, in a separate state. They go to God, and joyn an innumerable company of An­gels, and the general Assembly and Church of the first born, in praising and glorify­ing God in his Temple above. As the Four Animals, of whom it is said, They rest not day and night, saying, Holy, Holy Holy, Lord God Almighty—: But then they enter into Peace, inasmuch as they are delivered from all those hardships and difficulties which attend the service of God in this Life; in that they are deliver'd from all the calamities of this present evil World, and receiv'd to a [Page 24]place of inconceivable Delight and Re­freshment; to the Heavenly Jerusalem where the Prince of Peace reigns, and they enjoy Visions of Peace. The Souls of Men don't perish with their Bodies; Death can't kill the Soul. The Man dies, the vital Union between the Soul and Body being dissolved; and then the Body is sown in Corruption. But the Soul is an indivisible, immaterial, immor­tal Substance. Indeed the Souls of Men depend on God for their continuance; in Him they live and move and have their Being. God alone hath Immortality independently. But then they have no principles of Corruption in them­selves; no created power can destroy them. Mat. 10.28. And fear not them which kill the Body, but are not able to kill the Soul. This Truth, that the Souls of Believers do live, act and enjoy, in a separate state; is written as with a Sun-beam in the Holy Scriptures. 2 Cor. 5.8. We are confident, I say, and willing [Page 25]rather to be absent from the body, and pre­sent with the Lord. Luk. 23.43. And Jesus said unto him, Verily, I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise. Heb. 12.22, 23. But ye are come unto Mount Sion,—and to God the Judge of all, and to the Spirits of just Men, made perfect. Phil. 1.23.— Having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better. There is a double compara­tive in the Original, word for word, by much more better. These and many other Texts of Scripture do plainly declare that the Spirits of the Saints do exist in a separate state.

Under this Second Particular, I shall mention a few things briefly.

(1.) When the Upright die they enter into Peace, all their painful Labours being at an end. At Death they accomplish as an hireling their day, and go to reap the precious fruits, and receive the gra­cious rewards of their Labours. They are then releas'd from the burden of [Page 26]their Secular Employments: There is much toil and fatigue in our particular Callings. God said unto Adam after his fall, Gen. 3.19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat Bread,—But now at Death Be­lievers are call'd off to higher Employ­ments, wherein they exercise themselves, being altogether free from care, and pain, and weariness. Again, The People of God meet with many difficulties, and great opposition in working out their Salvation. Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leads unto life,—Mat. 7.14. It is a perplexed, afflicted, persecuted Way. We must Agonize, as the word us'd, Luk. 13.24. signifieth. We must wrestle, sight, endure hardness—. But at Death the Saints rest from these toil­som Labours. Rev. 14.13. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord,—that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

(2.) At Death the Upright enter into Peace, being perfectly deliver'd from the [Page 27]body of death. In this life they have the remains of sin in them, as we have heard. They see a law in their members, warring against the law of their mind—; They sigh and groan to be wholly de­liver'd from the bondage of Corruption. The Sins of Believers do many times disturb their peace. Sometimes they provoke God by their iniquities to bide His Face from them, and to write bitter things against them. Psal. 38.3. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger: neither is there any rest in my bones, because of my sin. ver. 8. I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. But after Death they will no more complain that their Sins interpose as a thick cloud, and hide the light of God's Countenance from them. No more shall they be bowed down heavily un­der the weight of their Sins; but their Spirits being made perfect in Holiness, they shall be presented faultless before the presence of God's glory with exceeding joy. [Page 28]While they are in this World, there are two contrary Principles in them, striving for the mastery. Gal. 5.17. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh—. It is impossible there­fore that they should enjoy perfect peace, while their Souls are the seat of war. But at Death the Graces of the Spirit obtain a compleat victory over Sin, being per­fected in Glory. Now they complain that when they would do good, evil is pre­sent; but in Heaven they will serve God continually without the least mo­lestation from this enemy. And as Con­querors they shall sit down with Christ on His Throne, as he Overcame and sat down with His Father on His Throne.

(3.) At Death the Upright enter into Peace, being deliver'd from Satan, and wicked Men. The Devil is the Tempter and Accuser of the Brethren. He hates the Children of God, envies them their Happiness, and doth his utmost to hin­der and disturb them in their way to it. [Page 29]Indeed this roaring Lion who goes a­bout seeking whom he may devour, shall never be able to destroy so much as one of these little Ones, who put their trust in Christ. However while they are up­on Earth, he bussets them with his temp­tations, shoots his fiery darts at them, and when permitted, raiseth Storms of Persecution against them. But now at Death God sends His Holy Angels to convoy the departed Spirits of Belie­vers thro' the darkness of this World; and these Spiritual wickednesses in high places, shall not be able to annoy them in their passage. To be sure, this foul Serpent can't enter the Heavenly Para­dise, to tempt God's People. Their Adversary the Devil shall never be able to shoot an arrow into the Jerusalem which is above. At Death, the God of Peace doth in an eminent manner bruise Satan under their feet. Again, The Up­right are at Death delivered from wick­ed and ungodly Men. These are the rod [Page 30]of God's Anger whereby He oftentimes chaftiseth His own Children. They ma­ny times have reason to complain some­thing as the Psalmist did, Psal. 120.5,—7. Wo is me that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar. My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. There is enmity between the seed of the Woman and the seed of the Serpent. Wicked Men who are set on Fire of Hell, do persecute God's People; tear and de­vour the Lambs of Christ's Flock. But their power extends no further then this life. At Death the wicked cease from troubling; And the Upright shall have dominion over them in the Morning.

(4.) After Death the Upright enter into Peace, being joyn'd with the Spirits of just Men made perfect in the Business and Enjoyments of Heaven. When they Die they are carried by Angels into Abraham's bosom, where they are Com­forted. They sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in their Father's King­dom. [Page 31]When they remove from this World, where they are Strangers and Pilgrims, they go to dwell in that City of the Living God, where they enjoy a peaceable Habitation, sure Dwellings, and quiet Resting Places; in that City which hath no need of the Sun, neither of the Moon to shine in it; for the Glory of God doth enlighten it, and the Lamb is the Light thereof. There they are before the Throne, and serve him in His Temple: And He that sitteth on the Throne dwells among them. The Lamb who is in the midst of the Thorne seeds them, and leads them unto living Waters; and God wipes away all tears from their Eyes. Thus they wait in a certain hope, and joyful Expectation for the redemption of their Bodies.

3. The Bodies of the Upright de Rest in their Graves, as in Beds, when they die. Sleep is the image of Death; and Death is in Scripture frequently com­pard'd to Sleep. Deut. 31.16. And the [Page 32]Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy Fathers— Joh. 11.11. Our friend Lazarus sleepeth— ver. 13.— Jesus spake of his death—. When the Children of God leave this World, they enter into their Chambers. Their Souls return to the Lord, and enjoy Peace in the presence of God, as we have alrea­dy heard; And their Bodies do rest in the Grave, which is the House appointed for all living. Job 17.13. If I wait, the grave is mine house; I have made my bed in the darkness. ver. 16. — When our rest together is in the dust. While they are in this World, they sometimes complain with Job, 7.4. When I lye down, I say, when shall I arise? — and I am full of tossings to and fro to the dawning of the day. But after Death, their Bodies are at rest, free from pain and all uneasiness. At Death the bodily Organs cease to discharge their respective offices. The Eyes see not, the Ears hear not, the Hands handle not, the Feet move not. [Page 33]There is no work in the Grave. At Death the Night comes wherein no Man can work, and the People of God go to rest; they are put to Bed in the silent Grave, free from the noise and hurry of this present Life: There they lie still and are quiet; they sleep and are at rest. And in the Morning of the Resurrection they shall awake, and a­rise with fresh vigour. We lie down in our beds at Night, that our exhausted spirits may be recruited, and that we may with renewed strength engage in the business of the Day. Agreably, When the Bodies of God's Children are laid in their Graves, it is in order to their arising recruited and refreshed at the last Day. The bars of the Pit shall not be about them forever. No, No. At the time appointed in God's Unchan­gible Decree, He will call, and they shall answer, He will have a desire to the work of his Hands. Then the Upright who sleep in the dust of the Earth [Page 34]shall awake to Everlasting Life. The Dead in Christ shall rise. The dead Bodies of the Saints shall arise and shine, with the Glory of the Lord arisen upon them, strengthned to the Work and En­joyments of the Heavenly World. Then their glorious change shall come. For their vile bodies shall be chang'd, and fashioned like to Christ's Glorious Body. And then shall they behold God's Face in righteousness: they shall be satisfied, when they awake, with His likeness. Their Bodies will then be redeem'd from the power of the Grave. Their Corrup­tible shall put on Incorruption, their Mortal Immortality, and Death shall be swallowed up in Victory.

4. After the Resurrection the Upright, their whole Man, Soul and Body, being glorified, shall enter into perfect Peace, and enjoy Everlasting Rest in the Hea­venly World. At Death their departed Spirits enter into the joy of their Lord. At the Day of Judgment, their Souls [Page 35]and Bodies being reunited; they shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted; And when the Business of the Great Day is finished, they shall ascend with their Glorious Redeemer, and ever be with the Lord. Then God will open the Gates of the Heavenly Jerusalem, and the Righteous shall have an abun­dant and triumphant Entrance into that high and holy Place, where they shall be kept in perfect Peace for ever and ever. There is a Rest which remains for the People of God in Heaven, an Eternal and uninterrupted Sabbatism. There are Mansions of Glory prepared for them, and when they are six'd and settled in them, they will dwell at ease, and move no more. There God's Countenance will be hold the Upright with the greatest complacency, and they shall rejoyce in the Lord with an exceeding great Joy. There they shall have the full Enjoy­ment of the God of Peace, and in His Presence obtain Fulness of Joy, and [Page 36]Pleasures for ever more. God the Father will embrace them in the Arms of His Everlasting Love; God the Son will dwell with them, and they shall behold His Glory; God the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Glory, shall rest upon them, and fill them with Grace and Comfort. The Kingdom of God in this World is Righteousness and Peace; what then shall the Kingdom of Glory be? Then they will Rest indeed; for all their wants shall be fully supplied, their desires perfectly satisfied, and their Blessedness consummated. In Heaven they will have the clearest Knowlege of God, of His Glorious Perfections, and Counsels and Works; particularly, they will have a most ravishing view of the most won­derful and mysterious Work of Re­demption in its perfection and Accom­plishment. Then they will reach the Centre of their wishes, hopes, and de­sires, and therefore they will Rest. There will be nothing to hinder them from the [Page 37]perfect exercise of their Graces. They will act and enjoy in the most perfect manner, all their Powers being exerted in the Service of God, and being com­pleatly satisfied in Him. I might go on, and say, They will then be made Equal to the Angels in Heaven, and meet Companions for those Glorified Spirits. They will then enjoy the Communion of Saints in its full beauty and perfection. At present there remain much sin and imperfection in the best, which is apt to weaken the Union, and disturb the Peace of the most holy Societies upon Earth. But in Heaven all the hindran­ces of Peace will be done away, and the Children of God will be of one Heart, and one Soul. There will be no diffe­rence in opinion, no distance in affection, their knowlege & love being perfected. There are no misunderstandings, no ill humours, no envy, no uncharitable jea­lousies among the Saints in Light. ‘The Millions of Celestial Inhabitants com­pose [Page 38]but one Society, Love mixing in one Mass of Light and Glory, all their Understandings and Wills.’ In a Word, Their Rest will be Glorious and Everlasting. The Church Catholick shall then be presented a Glorious Church, and her Glory shall never fade away. Certainly then the Upright shall enter into Peace, and enjoy it in the most comprehensive sense.