Reason 6. Sixthly, That he may make his children temptation-proof, he hath reserved for them the best things till they come to heaven. The great things that God hath reserved for believers in heaven, was that which made those worthies, of whom this world was not worthy, temptation-proof; as you may see in that 10th of the Hebrews, 33d, 34th, 35th, verses, and throughout the 11th chapter of that Epistle. The pleasures, the treasures, the dignities and glories that are reserved for believers in heaven, make them bravely and nobly to resist all those temptations that they meet with from a tempting world or a tempting devil.
Austin blessed God, that his heart and the temptation did not meet together. By the precious things that are reserved for believers in hea- ven, God keeps their hearts and temptations asunder. When Basil was tempted with money and preferment, saith he, Pecuniam da qua 'permaneat ac continuo duret, gloriam quoe semper Jioreat, give me money that may last for ever, and glory that may eternally flourish.1 Satan made a bow of Job's wife, of his rib, as Chrysostom speaks, and shot a tentation by her at Job, thinking to have shot him to the heart, 'Curse God and die;' but Job's sincerity and integrity, and his hopes of immortality and glory, was a breastplate that made him temptation- proof. Ah Christians ! do not you daily find, that the glorious tilings reserved for you in heaven, do mightily arm you against all the tempta- tions that you meet with on earth ? I know you do. But,
1 Basil iii xl. Mariyrs-
1 Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 439
Reason 7. Seventhly, God hath reserved the best things for his people, till they come to heaven, because they are not in this mortal and frail condition able to bear, they are not able to take in the glory that is reserved for them, 2 Cor. iv. 17.1 Glory is such a great, such an exceeding, such an excessive, such an eternal weight, that no mortal is able to bear it. We must have better and larger hearts, and we must have stronger and broader backs, before we shall be capable of bearing that excellent, exceeding, and excelling weight of glory that is reserved in heaven for us. Nay, glory is such a weight, that when the saints shall enter into it, if then the Lord should not put under his everlasting arms and bear them up by his almighty power, it were impossible they should be able to bear it. In this our frail mortal state, we are not able to bear the appearance, the presence, the glory of one angel.
Ah ! how much less then are we able to bear the weight of all that glory that is reserved for us, and of which 1 have given you some glimpses in what I have already said. But,
Reason 8. Eighthly and lastly, The Lord hath reserved the best things for his people till they come to heaven, because while they are in this world they are under age. They are not come to fall age.2 Here saints are in their non-age, but when they come to heaven, then they come to their full age, and then they shall have the inheritance by the Father of mercies freely and fully settled upon them. Children in their non-age are under tutors and governors, but when they come to age, then is the inheritance settled upon them : so here, it is not for us in our non-age, to mount into the clouds, to pierce this fulness of light, to break into this bottomless depth of glory, or to dwell in that unapproach- able brightness.3 This is reserved till we come to full age.
And thus I have given you the reasons why God hath reserved the best and greatest things for his people till they come to heaven. We shall now come to the use and application of this point to our own souls, remembering that close application is the very life and soul of teaching. And as a man doth not attain to health by reading of Galen, or knowing Hippocrates his aphorisms, but by the practical application of them to remove the disease ; so no man will attain to true happiness by hearing, reading, or commending what I have spoke or writ, but by a close application and bringing home of all to his own soul. The opening of a point is the drawing of the bow ; but the application of the point is the hitting of the mark, the white ; and therefore,
(1.) First, If God hath reserved the best things for believers till last, then by the rule of contraries the worst things are reserved for un- believers till last.4" Here wicked men have their heaven, hereafter they shall have their hell. The time of this life is the day of their joy and triumph ; and when this short day is ended, everlasting lamentations, mournings, and woes follow. Luke xvi. 22-25, ' The rich man also died, and was buried ; and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried, and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that
1 The apostle allude th to the Hebrew and Chaldee words, Chabodh and Jahar, which signify both weight and glory.
2 Gal. iv. 1-4 ; Ephes. iv. 10-14. 3 Bernard, Cant. Serm. 38. * Job xxi. 7-22; PjJ. lxxiii. 3-12 compared with the 17th, 18th, 12th, 20th verses ;
110 A STRING OF PBABLS. [1 PETEB I. k
he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things : I >iit now he is comforted, and thou aii tormented.'
Ah sinners ! sinners! thai day is hastening upon you. wherein you shall have punishment without pity, misery without mercy, sorrow without Buccour, pain without pleasure, and torments without end : Ps. xi. 6, 'Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone^ and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.' Ps. exl. 10. • Let horning coals fall upon them: let them be cast into the fire ; into deep pits, that they rise not up again.'
Chrysologus, upon that passage in the Gospel, that the angels carried away poor Lazarus into Abraham's bosom, and hell swallowed up the rich glutton, saith : Ecce fratres, mors pauperis totam vitam divitis vicit, et elatio sola pauperis totam divitis pompam transcendit et fjloriam.1 Behold ! brethren, the very death of the poor man excelleth the whole life of the wicked, and the carrying away only of the poor man transcendeth all the pomp and glory of the rich man.
Charon, in Lncian, requesting Mercurius to shew him Jupiter's palace above, How! says Mercurius, that such a caitiff as thou, whose conver- sation hath been altogether with black shades and impure ghosts, shouldst set thy foot in that pure place of light ? What a dishonour and dero- gation were that to the place !
Ah, sinners ! sinners ! what a dishonour would it be to God, to Christ, to angels, to saints, to heaven, if such wretches as you are should be admitted iuto that royal palace, that heavenly paradise, above.