Obj. 5. My afflictions are very great, how then can I hold my
peace ? &c. Answered six ways, . . . 361-364
Obj. 6. Oh ! but my afflictions are greater than other men's,
&c, how then can I be silent ? Answered six ways, . 364-366
Obj. 7. I would hold my peace, but my outward afflictions are attended with sore temptations, &c, how then can I be silent ? Answered five ways ; wherein eigbt advantages are discovered that saints gain by their temptations, . 366-371
Obj. 8. Oh ! but God hath deserted me, he hath forsaken me, and hid his face from me, &c, how can I then be silent ? Answered six ways ; also eight advantages the saints gain by their being clouded, .... 372-379
Obj. 9. Oh ! but I am falsely accused and sadly charged, and reproached in my good name, &c, how then can I be silent ? Answered ten ways, .... 379-385
Obj. 10. I have sought the Lord in this my affliction for this and that mercy, and still the Lord delays me, and puts me off, &c, how can I then hold my peace ? How can I be silent ? &c. Answered six ways, . . . 385-387
Quest. But what are the reasons that God doth so delay and
put off his people ? Answered seven ways, . . 387-390
Quest. What are the means that may help persons to be silent and quiet under their greatest afflictions, their sharpest trials ? &c. Answered from .... 390-398
A String of Pearls, ...... 399
The Epistle Dedicatory, ..... 401-403
Character of Mrs Blake, ..... 404-406
An Elegy, ....... 406-408
The Table of the chief Heads :—
The explication of the words from .... 409-410 Doct. That God reserves the best and greatest favours and blessings for believers till they come to heaven. This point is made good by an induction of particulars : thus, First, The best inheritance is reserved for believers till they come to heaven ; this is made good by six particulars, as,
[1.] Tbe inheritance reserved for believers till they come to
heaven, is a pure, undefiled, and incorruptible inheritance, 410-411 [2.] It is a sure, a secure inheritance, . . . 41 1
[3.j It is a permanent, a lasting inheritance, . . 411-412
[4.] It is the freest inheritance, an inheritance free from all
vexaiion and molestation, .... 412
[5.] It is an inheritance that is universal, to Jews, to Gen- tiles, to bond, to free, &c, .... 412-413 [6.] It is a soul-satisfying inheritance, . . . 413-414
Secondly, The best rest is reserved for believers till they come to
heaven, proved thus, ..... 414-415
[1.] The rest reserved in heaven for believers is a superla- tive rest, ...... 416
[2.] It is an universal rest, .... 416
[8.] It is an uninterrupted rest, .... 416
[4.] It is a peculiar rest, ..... 417
| 5.] It is a rest that is universally communicable to all the
sons and daughters of God, .... 417
[6.] It is a permanent, a constant rest, . . . 418
Thirdly, The best knowledge of God is reserved for believers till they come to heaven. Proved thus, . . . 418
[1.] Saints shall have the clearest knowledge and revelation
of God in heaven, ..... 418-419
[2.] They shall have the fullest knowledge of God in heaven, 420
[3.] They shall have an immediate knowledge of God in
[4.] They shall have a permanent and constant sight of God
in heaven, ..... 421-422
Fourthly, They shall have the best and choicest presence of
God and Christ in heaven : this is proved thus, . . 422
[1.] In heaven they shall have the greatest and the fullest presence of God, ..... 422
[2.] They shall have a soul- satisfying presence of God in heaven, ...... 422-424
[3.] They shall enjoy a constant, a permanent presence of God in heaven, .....
Fifthly, They shall enjoy perfection of grace in heaven, and that
is proved thus, ...... 424
[1.] The joy of saints in heaven shall be pure joy, . 425
[2.j Their joy in heaven shall be full, . . . 425
[3.] Their joy shall be lasting, it shall be uninterrupted, . 425-426 Sixthly, The best society, the best company, is reserved for
them till they come to heaven, .... 427-428
Quest. Whether the saints shall have a real, a personal, and
particular knowledge of one another in heaven, . . 428
It is answered affirmatively, they shall, and this is proved by
seven arguments, from ..... 428-432
Seventhly, and lastly, The glorifying of the saints' bodies is re- served till last ; the glory of glorified bodies is set forth, from 432-435 Eight reasons why God has reserved the best and greatest things
for his people till they come to heaven, . . . 435-439
Twelve inferences, from ..... 439-451
Twenty motives or considerations, to work Christians to be
willing to die, ...... 451-403
Ohj. I would be willing to die if I had but assurance, &c, . 463
Answered in four particulars, ..... 463-464
An inference by way of use, ..... 465-467
An Elegy on Mrs Blake, ..... 467-468
IT may surely be regarded as a favourable sign of the times, that so many reprints of the works of the thinkers of former days — laic and cleric — have been called for during the last ten years. It argues that while there may be many whose tastes incline them to ' milk for babes,' there are those who have appetites to relish, and stomachs to digest, ' stronger meat.' We have reference more immediately to the numerous and widely circulated republications of the elder Theologians of all shades of opinion on lesser matters : as well the acknowledged and famous, as the less known and hitherto uncollected and inedited. Of the former, suffice it to name Eden's ' Jeremy Taylor,' Napier's ' Isaac Barrow,' Wynter's 'Joseph Hall,' 'Thomas Goodwin' of this series ; of the latter, our own ' Richard Sibbes,' and now ' Thomas Brooks,' with others in hand, together with the fine series of Commen- taries being issued by our Publisher, and including such ripe and rare books as Airay on ' Philippians,' King on ' Jonah,' Stock and Torshell on, ■ Malachi,' Rainolds on ' Obadiah and Haggai,' Bernard and Fuller on ' Ruth,' Marbury on ' Obadiah and Habakkuk,' Hardy on ' ] st Epistle of St John,' Bayne on ' Ephesians,' and that magnum opus, Dr William Gouge on ' Hebrews.' It seems impossible that such intel- lectual and spiritual seed-corn as is treasured up in these early worthies can be sown thus broadcast, and yield an unbounteous harvest- Granted that, as with the sown grain, there is not a little of what is chaff, or, — speaking unmetaphorically, — that is tedious and attenuated, over-worded, effete, musty : yet the ' ingenuous' and thinking reader, like the kindly earth under supernal influences, assimilates the good and fruitful : and toward all the venerable writers, has a tender patience and charity and forgivingness, such as one feels for the garrulous 'white- head' that in other days wearied us in the chimney-corner, but, being gone, is remembered sacredly, pathetically, and with wet eyes. vol. I. b