The INTRODVCTION .

IN the eighth , and some following Verses , are recorded the Sufferings of Paul , and other Apostles and Believers ; they were troubled on every side , perplexed , persecuted , cast down : And this hath been the continual Lot of Gods people ; though some times have been more favourable , yet there is scarce any time in which they have wholly been free from Sufferings . When the rage of Persecution by the Roman Emperours was allayed , and some pleased themselves because the Emperours were turned Christians , Augustine tells them , the Emperours indeed were turned Christians , but the Devil was not turned Christian ; and as long as there is a Devil in Hell , and Wicked men on Earth , all that will live godly in Christ Jesus , shall suffer Persecution . Christ the Head of the Church , whom Bernard calleth the Bridegroom of Bloods * * Sponsus sanguinum . , espoused his Church to himself upon the Bed of his Cross , his Head begirt with a Pillow of Thorns , his body drencht in a bath of his own blood ; and if the head was crowned with thorns , it is unsuitable that the feet should tread upon Roses ; if they called the Master of the house Belzebub , much more those of his houshold . b b Mat. 10.25 . Christ himself drank of the brook in the way , c c Psal. 110.7 . and all his followers must drink of the same cup that he drank of : But though this hath been the Lot of all Believers , yet the dreggs of this cup have been usually prepared for the Dispensers of Gods Word , d d Mat. 20.23 . the Standard-bearers of this bloody band ; as if to Preach , were nothing else but to stir up the rage of men . e e Luther . There is no rank , or sort of men that hath been exposed to so much contempt , and suffering ; If I were ( saith Jerome ) a Basket-maker , or a Garland-weaver , or any low Trade , that would make me sweat for the bread I eat , no man would maligne me , no man would traduce me ; but now I give my self to the study and interpretation of Scripture , now I am a Preacher , a Writer , I am blotted with the obloquies of men .

As long as Christ was working at his Fathers Trade , and was employed , as Justin Martyr expresseth it , in making Beadsteads and Ploughs , f f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . no man opposed him ; but when he was Baptized , and went out to preach the Gospel , presently he is tempted by Satan , and persecuted by wicked men : as long as the Apostles were mending their Nets , and following their fishing trade , none troubled them ; but when of fishers , they were made fishers of men , they are forthwith made a spectacle to the world , and Angels , and men ; and so the Apostle expresseth it , verse 11. We which live , are alwaies delivered to death for Jesus sake ; there were but few of them left alive , but were by the rage of Tyrants put to cruel deaths ; those that survived , though they had not yet resisted unto blood , yet daily expected when they should be offered up as a bloody sacrifice , and were at present under great sufferings : bearing about in their bodies , the dying of the Lord Jesus , ver. 10. But did they hereupon repent of their engaging in the work of the Lord , or sink down under discouragement and dispondency of Spirit ? Nothing less ; ver. 16. for which cause we faint not , * * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . the word signifieth to shrink back ; as cowards in warre ; to sink down as a Porter under an overheavy burden . As one man , by the help of an Engine is able to lift up a heavy weight , which ten or twenty men might in vain attempt by their own strength : so the Apostles went chearfully under that pressure of Affliction , which would have sunk the stoutest spirits , not supported by Divine Grace . For which cause we faint not ; if you would know for what cause , what it was that supported them : there are two causes rendred , one respecting the Corinthians , to whom he writes , that is partly laid down , ver. 12. So then , death worketh in us , but life in you : we dye , that you might live by our death ; we suffer , that you may be strengthned by our sufferings ; and partly , verse 15. All things are for your sakes , all the streights we are put to , turn to your advantage ; if we dye , it is to confirm you by our sufferings ; if God shall deliver us , and restore us again to you , it is for his glory , and your good , that the abundant grace might by the thanksgiving of many , redound to the Glory of God : and that is one cause why he fainted not ; he counted not his life dear to him , so as he might be helpful to their Faith . The other cause respects the Apostles themselves ; their great sufferings made both for their present spiritual good , and for their future happiness .

1. Their present Spiritual Good : The cold Blasts of Persecution beating upon the outward Man , by a Spiritual Antiperistasis , augmented the Heat of Grace within , for which cause we faint not ; for though our outward man perish , yet the inward man is renewed day by day : He was three times beaten with Rods , five times received he forty stripes save one * * 2 Cor. 11.24 , &c. . But as they say the Bear is made fat with blows , and the Ass battens with pricking and beating ; so it was in a spiritual sense with our Apostle , he was once stoned , but † † Per tot lapides petrae conjungitur ●●i . by those stones he was knocked nearer to Christ the corner-stone : he thrice suffered shipwrack , but , like Noah's Ark , was lifted up nearer to Heaven , by those floods of great waters ; he was in Journeyings often , but every time his salvation was nearer than before .

2. Their future happiness , verse 17. Our light affliction , which is but for a moment , worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory . For Affliction , there is Glory ; for light affliction , a weight , an exceeding , a far more exceeding weight : for short affliction , that lasts but for a moment , an eternal weight of Glory . And this it was they had chiefly in their eye : so in this Verse , While we look not at the things which are seen , but at the things which are not seen . Things seen , and not seen , are , I conceive , the same with what elsewhere he calleth things present , and things to come a a 1 Cor. 3.22 . , and things above and things on the earth b b Colos. 3.1 . , and things of the life that now is , and of that which is to come c c 1 Tim. 4.8 . : and so the Apostle explaineth himself in the following words , the things that are seen , are temporal ; but the things that are not seen , are eternal .

The whole Verse falleth under a twofold Consideration .

1. Relative , as they are a Reason why they fainted not under their present troubles ; as Moses chose rather to suffer affliction with the People of God , than to enjoy the pleasures of sin , because he had an eye to the recompence of reward 1 1 Heb. 11.25 , 26. : and our Saviour Christ , for the joy that was set before him , endured the Cross , and despised the shame 2 2 Heb. 12.2 . : so the Apostles having their eye upon things invisible , and eternal , made light of all their present Sufferings and Persecutions .

2. Absolute , and so they shew what the Apostles made their Aim and End : that is implied in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which signifieth to look , as the Archer doth at the Mark he shooteth at . There were some things they made their great business , which was the mark they shot at , the great End they propounded to themselves : and what they were , is first specified , then more fully explained .

First , Specified , and that

1. Negatively , what they look'd not at , things seen 3 3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . , the things of this Life , which are things visible to the eye 4 4 Objecta sensibilia . .

2. Affirmatively , shewing what were those things which they made the matter of their choice , the great objects of their desires and endeavours , things not seen 5 5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . , the things of another Life , which are objects of faith , and not of sense , things not visible to these fleshly eyes , onely apprehended by faith , which is the evidence of things not seen 6 6 Heb. 11.1 . . And that these are meant by things seen , and not seen , the Apostle , secondly , further explaineth , in the following words , the things that are seen , are temporal ; but the things which are not seen , are eternal : which are not onely exegetical , explaining what is meant by things seen , and not seen ; but , as the word [ for ] implies , contain the reason why they aimed at one , and not the other ; the things that are seen , are temporal ; all the visible things of this life ; whether prosperous , as health , liberty , riches , honour , and the like ; or adverse , as sickness , poverty , persecution , death , they are for a while , (u) (u) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . for a short season , so the word is else-where rendred (w) (w) Mat. 13.21 . Heb. 11.35 . ; therfore saith the Apostle , we look not at them , we make them not our aim , we trouble not our selves much about them , they are things of a higher nature we look at , such as neither eye hath seen , nor ear heard of ; and these are such as are durable ; the things which are not seen , are eternal : And here there are two things I shall speak to .

1. That the things not seen , the things of another life , are eternal : Or thus , that the condition of man after this life , is an eternal condition .

2. That That which puts the weight upon things not seen , and rendereth them proper Objects of a Christians aim , and choice , is because they are eternal . I shall speak to these distinctly in the Doctrinal part , and then joyn them together in the Application .

CHAP. I. Of Eternal , Invisible things , the first Argument from God .

I begin with the first :

1. THat the vnseen things of another life , are Eternal ; the condition of man after this life is an eternal condition . After a few daies are spent , we must all enter upon that long day that hath no evening , that infinite duration , that hath no end , that unlimited Eternity , which alwaies hath been , and is , and shall be the same for ever and ever : when man dyes he goeth to his long home , (x) (x) Eccles. 12.5 . the body goeth to the Grave , which the Scripture calls its house , or home ; the Grave is my house , (y) (y) Job 17.13 . All the Kings of the Nations lye every one in his own house , (z) (z) Isa. 14.18 and this is a long home , being to lye there till the Heavens be no more ; (a) (a) Job 14.12 . and Solomon saith , of these daies of darkness in the Grave , that they are many . (b) (b) Eccles. 11.8 . But the soul goeth to a longer home , the home of Eternity , as the Septuagint reads it ; believers go to their home , their Country , their Fathers house : Wicked men go to their home , their own place , as it was said of Judas (c) (c) Acts 1.25 ; both Saints and Sinners , when they go hence , enter upon a new , but never ending condition : whether Death lands them upon the desired haven of rest , and happiness , or casts them upon the black shore of misery , and torment ; whether they be received into Heaven , or doomed to Hell ; whether they rise to the resurrection of Life , or the resurrection of Condemnation , they are equally put into an endless everlasting condition , the one riseth to everlasting life , the other to shame and everlasting contempt . (d) (d) Dan. 12.2 . The latter go away into everlasting punishment , the other into life eternal . (e) (e) Mat. 25. last . The truth of this I shall demonstrate from these following Arguments .

1. From God , it is true , God enjoys all happiness in himself , and can receive no addition thereunto from the creature ; all his happiness is in himself , in the injoymeut of himself , in the contemplation of his own perfection ; he was as happy , before Heaven or Earth , Angels , or Men were made , as he is now , and would be so , were all creatures reduced to their first nothing ; as Seneca divinely , if the world were consumed , all the Angels annihilated , and nature cease to be , yet being left to himself , he enjoyeth all in himself : but though he be in himself God over all , blessed for ever , yet it pleased God , for the manifesting the Glory of his Attributes , to make a world of Creatures , and , among others , Angels and Men , upon whom he imprinted some more conspicuous Characters and Draughts of his own Perfections ; and among others , made them partakers of his own Immortality , that upon them he might manifest the Glory either of his Mercy , or his Wrath. What if God willing to shew his wrath , and make his power known , indured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction ? and that he might make known the glory of his mercy on the vessels of mercy , which he had before prepared unto glory * * Rom. 9.22 , 23. ? To this purpose , though he made both righteous , yet he left both to the freedom of their own will , that if they did well , they might do it out of choice and good-will , not of necessity ; if they did ill , it should be by their own default : And though God was no ways the cause of eithers sin , nor ordained either to punishment without reference to their sin ; yet he foresaw they would abuse their free-will , by sinning against him , and by sin make themselves obnoxious to his wrath ; and accordingly ordained , that those Angels that stood , and those of Mankind that after their Fall would accept of a Mediator , should live eternally with himself in Glory and Happiness . On the other side , that those of the Angels who left their first habitation , and those of the Sons of men who rejected the help of a Mediator , should for ever feel the weight of his displeasure . So that to deny the eternal condition of Man after this Life , is quite repugnant to that great Design of God , whereby he appointed both Angels and Men to be , for ever , either the perpetual Objects of his Free-grace , or the everlasting Monuments of his justly deserved Wrath.

But to improve this Meditation a little further : We read of worlds in Scripture , by which he made the worlds 1 1 Heb. 1.2 . . By faith we understand that the worlds were made by the word of God 2 2 Heb. 11.3 . .

Though some think it is spoken in the plural Number , after the Jewish mode , who used to mention a three-fold , an inferior , a middle , and a superiour World , as Camero observeth : and others conceive , that by Worlds may be meant the Age or World of the Jewish Church under the Law , and the Christian Church in the times of the Gospel , called the World to come 3 3 Heb. 2.5 . : yet I see no cause why by Worlds we may not understand the present World 4 4 Tit. 2.12 . , and the future World ; or , as they are distinguished 5 5 Mat. 12.32 . , this world , and the world to come : this World is but of short continuance ; The fashion of this world passeth away 6 6 1 Cor. 7.31 . ; the World to come is a World without end : this World is like a Comet , that blazeth for a time , and then disappeareth ; the World to come is as a Fixed Star , or rather as the Sun , that faithful Witness in Heaven , that rangeth about the Firmament with a glittering perpetuity : this world is but a Tent or Tabernacle , set up for a time , but e're long to be taken down , the Stakes thereof to be removed , and the Cords broken ; the world to come is a Mansion , or place of abode : In my Fathers house are many Mansions 7 7 John 14.2 . . This World was set up as a Stage for Men to act their Parts on for some few thousands of Years , and then must become Fuel to the Fire ; the world to come is that great lasting Theatre , on which God will eternally display the glory of his several Attributes . Concerning the duration of this World , there is a great dispute , whether there shall be only a renovation , or a total annihilation , at the Day of Judgment : but concerning the world to come , and the Inhabitants of it , Angels and Men , there was never any question made by any sober Orthodox Divine , howsoever the Scripture is most clear for it , (n) (n) Luke 20.34 , 36. The Children of this world marry , and are given in marriage , but they that shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world , and the Resurrection from the dead , neither marry , nor are given in marriage : Neither can they dye any more , for they are equal to the Angels , and are the Children of God , being the Children of the Resurrection . Both these worlds God made to shew the Glory of his Attributes , God hath much glory from this world ; The Heavens declare the Glory of God , and the Firmament sheweth his handy-work (o) (o) Psal. 19.1 . , he hath shewn much of his Power in making ; of his Providence , in sustaining ; of his Wisdom , in governing this world ; but the magnifying of those two great Attributes , his Mercy and his Justice , is chiefly reserved for the world to come ; all those temporal mercies in this life conferred upon men , are but the blessings of the Foot-stool , no way comparable with the blessings of the Throne ; Riches and Honour , the two great things that are so ambitiously pursued by the men of the world , they are but Wisdoms left-handed blessings (q) (q) Prov. 3.6 . , not to be compared with that length of daies , that eternity that is in Wisdomes right-hand , and which all the Children of Wisdom partake of in the life to come . Some report that Joseph in that great Famine , caused a great deal of Chaffe to be cast into the River Nilus , to let the Neighbouring Nations know what plenty of Corn they had in Aegypt : all the good things of this life , are but as Chaffe , which God scattereth abroad in the World , to let men know what a better , and more induring substance he hath provided for his own People : and what is he Chaffe to the Wheat , saith the Lord (r) (r) Jer. 23.28 . ? Seek first the Kingdom of God , and his righteousness , and these things shall be added unto you (s) (s) Mat. 6.33 . . A Metaphor taken from bargainers ; (t) (t) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . those that buy cloth , have usually some over-measure given in ; those that buy fruit , pay nothing for paper and pack-thread ; such are these temporal things in Gods esteem . Luther calls the whole Turkish Empire but a crust which God casts to the Dogs under his Table ; and miserable is that man , that hath no other portion but in these things ; the great mercies God intends for his People are reserved for the life to come , that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace . (u) (u) Ephes. 2.7 .

On the other side , the great Executions of Gods wrath upon wicked men are reserved for another World ; therefore it is called the wrath to come (w) (w) Mat. 3.7 . 1 Thess. 1.10 . ; all the punishments of this life are but as flea-bites , the Father saith (x) (x) Ludicra & risus . but toys and merriments , to future torments ; Nazianzen saith , the Worst temporal punishments are but (y) (y) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . the smoaking of Gods wrath ; and what is the smoak to the fire ? We read , (z) (z) Exod. 9.8 . that Moses , took handfuls of Ashes out of the furnace , and sprinkled them toward Heaven , and they became boils upon man and beast : all those plagues inflicted in this life , are but as a handful of Ashes taken out of the furnace of Gods wrath . The destruction of Sodom with fire and brimstone from Heaven , was the saddest and strangest Judgment that ever was inflicted upon any , yet our Saviour saith , (a) (a) Mat. 11.24 . It shall be more tolerable for Sodom at the day of Judgment ; the Sodomites , though then destroyed , are reserved to a more grievous destruction ; those showers of brimstone , that fell upon Sodom , are but heat drops to those storms of wrath , which shall then , and thenceforth for ever beat upon them : It was the invention of some of the Ancients , that there are three sorts of Thunderbolts in Heaven ; the first to warn , not to hurt ; the second to hurt , but not quite to destroy ; the third to ruine , and lay all waste ; the two first sorts of Thunderbolts God often in this life dischargeth upon wicked Men , but the third and worst is reserved for another life , when all the Artilleries of Heaven are shot off , when all the Fountains of Gods Wrath are broken up , and all the Vials of his Displeasure poured out upon the People of his Curse . By all this it appeareth , that there is but little either of Gods Mercy or Justice shewed in these temporary Rewards and Punishments ; the great Manifestation of these two great Attributes is reserved for the life to come , when God will shew the Riches of his Mercy upon the vessels of mercy afore-prepared unto glory ; and the greatness of his Wrath upon the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction ; and yet even then , and there , in nothing will the greatness of his Mercy and Wrath so much appear , as in the eternity of those Rewards and Punishments then dispensed : So that to deny the eternal State of Man after this Life , is a brutish confining the eternal Decrees , and greatest Workings of God , to the narrow compass of this present World , and in a manner to deny there is any world to come , at least , such as is described in Scripture .

Having proved this from the great Design of God , in making Angels and Men ; I shall further evince it from the Attributes of God , which are eternal , like himself ; The mercy of God is an everlasting mercy 1 1 Psal. 100.5 . , it endureth for ever 2 2 Psal. 136.1 . ; The wrath of God is an abiding wrath 3 3 John 3. last . , therefore called everlasting burnings 4 4 Isa. 33.14 . . Now these Attributes must produce suitable acts ; as mercy is shewed in acts of mercy , and wrath in acts of justice : and these acts must have suitable objects ; for although the immanent acts of God , such as abide in him , of which number are his eternal Decrees , do not necessarily require the praeexistence of any objects , I mean in regard of a present existence 1 1 In esse reali . , but only in regard of the knowledge 2 2 In esse cognito . and foresight of God ; yet his transient acts , or those that pass from him , as rewarding , which is an act of mercy ; and punishing , which is an act of justice ; these necessarily suppose some object upon which they are terminated . Now as there are no Creatures besides Angels and Men , that are capable of merit , or demerit , which might make them capable of rewards , or liable unto punishments ; so there is no Creature else which is immortal , and so capable of eternal happiness , or eternal misery .

And therefore it will follow , that these , I mean Angels and Men , must for ever remain either the perpetual objects of Gods free grace and mercy , or the everlasting monuments of his wrath and displeasure : And therefore the Scripture determines these upon their proper objects , 3 3 Psal. 103.17 . The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting , upon them that fear him : And on the other side , 4 4 John 3. last . He that believeth not the Son , shall not see life , but the wrath of God abideth on him .

CHAP. II. Of the Meritorious Causes , and the Nature of Happiness and Punishment , and the Immortality of Man .

A Second Argument may be taken from the Meritorious Causes both of the Happiness of Heaven , and the Punishments of Hell . 1. The Meritorious Cause of the Happiness in Heaven , is the Merit and Suffering of Christ . The coming of Christ into the world , and suffering for us , that he might thereby free us from the wrath to come , and entitle us to eternal happiness , is that great design which the whole Trinity have been thansacting from all eternity : so Wisdom tells us . (l) (l) Prov. 8.30 , 31. That from everlasting he was as one brought up with the Father , rejoycing always before him : Rejoycing in the habitable part of his earth , and my delights were with the Sons of Men. And to the like purpose the Apostle , (m) (m) 2 Cor. 5.19 . That God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself : Of all those works of God , ad extra , such as concern the creature , this is the most sublime and glorious , ( as one saith excellently ) neither the Creation of all things out of nothing , which was the beginning of the works of God , and put an end to that long Sabbath , that had no beginning ; nor the Resurrection from the dead , and Restoration of all things , the last work that shall go before that everlasting Sabbath , which shall have a beginning but no end ; neither that first , nor this last ; though admirable works , and worthy of the Author , may be compared with this ; It is the master-piece of Gods works , that great work in which he hath broken up all the depths of his mercy , in which he hath displayed all the banners of his Love , and exhibited the largest draughts of his power , wisdom , love , and mercy : The whole Scripture , (n) (n) Jac. Arnac . Incarnation of the Son of God . [ saith Anhalt , who was both a Prince , and Preacher ] is nothing else but the swadling bands of the Child Jesus . All the Types , Ceremonies , Washings , Sacraments , Sacrifices , and whatsoever else we read of under the Law , were but as leaves that promised this great fruit ; as hands in the Margin pointing at ●his truth ; as lines ending in this centre , they all had their accomplishment in this great Mystery , God manifested in the flesh : The Gospel is nothing else than a Declaration of these glad tydings , which is the summe and substance of both Testaments , briefly . If the Scripture be a ring of Gold , which God hath sent his Church as a token of his love , Christ is as the Diamond in this Ring , that chiefly makes it so valuable : if the Scripture be as the field mentioned in the Gospel , Christ is the one pearl of great price hid in it , which the wise-man selleth all he hath to purchase : if the Scripture be a precious box , Christ is the Oyntment contained in it , filling the whole world with a precious savour . But to apply this to the present purpose ; if there be no eternal condition of man after this life , what need was there of Christ coming and suffering ? What other end might God have in that grand design ? No wise man will undertake any great expensive business , but propound some end proportionable to the pains he takes , and the expences he is at ; much less the only wise God : this great work will evince at least , that there is a future condition of man after this life , and I think also the eternity of that condition ; this the Scripture makes the end of his coming (o) (o) John 3.16 . God have his only begotten Son , that whosoever believeth in him , should not perish , but have everlasting life ; The end of his suffering , that they which are called might receive the Promise of an eternal inheritance ; the end of that Power which God gave him , as a reward of his suffering , (p) (p) Heb. 9.15 . Thou hast given him power over all flesh , that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him (q) (q) John 17.2 . .

But if the coming and suffering of Christ considered simply in it self , will not conclude the Eternity of our future condition , it may farther be evinced from this following consideration ; Christ being God as well as Man , his Merits and Sufferings must needs be of infinite worth and value , and so , consequently , meriting an infinite happiness . It would be inconsistent with the wisdom of Christ , in whom are all the treasures of wisdom , to pay an infinite price for a finite purchase ; nothing short of an infinite happiness can bear any suitable proportion with the infinite price Christ paid . Now Man being but a Creature , and so finite , is not able at once to grasp and comprehend an infinite happiness ; though the happiness purchased be objectively infinite , because God , who is infinite , is enjoyed in Heaven , yet it is not infinite in regard of man , whose Nature and Capacities are finite and limited ; and because the happiness enjoyed is not infinite intensively , in regard of the greatness , it must be infinite extensively in regard of the duration and continuance ; what is wanting in the one , is made up in the other : Eternity is put into the scale to make up the weight , otherwise there would be no proportion between the price and the purchase ; which is not to be imagined of God , who doth all things in order , weight , and measure .

2. The like is to be said of Sin , which is the meritorious Cause of the Sufferings in Hell : Sin is objectively infinite , as being committed against an infinite God , and consequently deserving an infinite punishment ; which because it cannot be infinite in regard of intensiveness and greatness , being inflicted upon a finite Creature , therefore it is requisite that it should be infinite in regard of the extensiveness or continuance ; because the punishment the creature can bear , comes short of the demerit of sin ; so , as he cannot pay the whole debt at once , he must lye in Hell till he hath paid the uttermost farthing . And as there is an infiniteness , so there is an eternity in Sin , not onely an objective eternity , as being committed against the eternal God , and consequently demeriting an eternal punishment ; but there is in a sort a further eternity in sin : Gregory saith , there is an infinite eternal malice in sin , so as if wicked men should live eternally , they would sin eternally : and it is but just , that they should never want punishment , who , if they had been suffered , would never have wanted sin . That wicked men do not sin eternally , is only because they are hindred by Death ; should they live for ever , they would sin for ever . What Luther in humility spake of himself , I have no other name than Sinner , Sinner is my name , Sinner is my firname , this is the name by which I shall be always known ; I have sinned , I do sin , I shall sin in infinitum , may be more justly spoken of obdurate sinners , whose hearts are fully set in them to do evil . Let none think , if wicked men were suffered to live longer , they would bethink themselves , and break off their sins by repentance ; the men of the Old World lived many of them eight or nine hundred years , yet they were so far from repentance , that , as the Father saith , they made no other use of that space given them for repentance , than to patronize their wickedness and impiety . The like would be done by other wicked men , if they might live as long , or a far longer time : and in evil , as well as good , God looketh more at the Will , than at the Deed. What lets us ( saith Seneca ) to call Lucius Scilla Tyrant , though he gave over killing , when he had no more enemies to kill ? And what lets him to be a sinner still , who leaveth not sin , till sin leave him ? He that doth not sin because he cannot , doth sin , although he doth not ; that he doth not sin eternally , is onely because he is prevented by death : A Postiller sets it out by this Comparison ; A company of Gamesters , who are resolvedly set down to play , when their candle is burnt out , that they have no longer light , are forced to give over ; whereas if their light had lasted , they would have plaid longer , till perhaps s●me had lost all their money : So it is with wicked men in regard of sin .

Yet further , beside this potential Eternity in sin , whereby men would sin always , if they might live alwaies ; there is a further , an Actual eternity in mens sins ; though Death puts an end to mens lives , yet not to their sins ; Hell is as full of sin , as it is of punishment ; Though the School-men determine , that after this life , men are capable neither of merit nor demerit , and therefore by their sins do not incur a greater measure of punishment , yet they grant that they sin still ; though when the creature is actually under the sentence of Condemnation , the Law ceaseth as to any further punishment , yet there is an obligation to the precept of the Law still ; though man be bound only to the curse of the Law , as he is a sinner , yet he is bound to the precept of the Law , as he is a creature : so that though the demerit of sin ceaseth after death , yet the nature of sin remaineth ; though by sinning they do not incur a higher and greater degree of punishment , yet as they continue sinning , so it is just with God there should be a continuation of the punishment already inflicted .

3. A third Argument may be taken from what the Scripture speaketh of the happiness in Heaven , and the torment in Hell ; both which are described to be incomparably and unconceivably great . In Heaven there is fulness of happiness , In thy presence is fulness of joy ; (u) (u) Psal. 16.11 . though it be not a redundant overflowing fulness , as Christs is , of whose fulness we receive , as well happiness for happiness , as grace for grace ; yet it is the highest fulness the creature is capable of ; being not only a fitting congruous fulness ; as we say a house , well stored , is full of houshold-stuff ; such a fulness as the Saints partake of in this life : But an equal fulness , as when a vessel is full of water , that nothing can be added to it ; and so full it can scarce properly be said to be , if it were fading : and therefore the Psalmist having said , in thy presence is fulness of joy , he adds , and at thy right hand , there are pleasures for evermore .

Again , it is described to be a perfect happiness ; we read of the Spirits of just men made perfect (z) (z) Heb. 12.23 . , perfect in happiness as well as holiness , which perfection excludes all imperfection ; When that which is perfect is come , that which is in part shall be done away (a) (a) 1 Cor. 13.10 . : Though the Saints in heaven have a Negative imperfection , because there are some perfections in God , which being incommunicable , they are not capable of , yet they have no Privative imperfection ; they want nothing which may conduce to their happiness in their kind : whereas if their happiness were not eternal , there were something , nay , the chief thing wanting to the perfection of it .

The Apostle in the verse before the Text , calleth it , a far more exceeding weight of glory . The Arabick Version renders it , It worketh for us a weight of glory , in the most eminent and largest degree , and measure : The Siriack reads it , An infinite glory : Haymo , A greatness of Glory , beyond all bo●nds and measure ; yet none of these reach the height of the Apostles Rhetorick , (c) (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . neither is any translation able to express it ; now thus it could not be , unless it were eternal : therefore that is put into the scale to make up the weight ; a far more exceeding , and eternal weight of glory .

Again , it is described to be a satisfying happiness . I shall be satisfied when I awake , with thy likeness (d) (d) Psal. 17.15 . . They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house (e) (e) Psal. 36 8. ; but satisfie it could not , unless it were eternal ; there is , as in every creature , so in man especially , a twofold desire ; a desire of Perfection , and a desi●● of Perpetuity ; a desire to advance his Being to the highest degree of Perfection and happiness he is capable or ; ●●d a desire to perpetuate this happiness . And 〈◊〉 impossible he should receive full content , till be●● these desires are satisfied ; though in Heaven th● Saints have a present freedom , from all the ev●l that can possibly fall within the compass of their fea●s ; and an actual enjoyment of all the good , that can fall within the compass of their hopes ; yet if they had no assurance of the perpetuity of this , they must needs be restless and unsatisfied .

Yet further , the greatness and perfection of this happiness , must necessarily exclude all such things as are inimical to it ; I shall name only two : Fear ; Perfect love casteth out fear (f) (f) 1 John 4.18 . : and Sorrow ; They shall obtain joy and gladness , and sorrow and sighing shall flee away (g) (g) Isa. 35.10 . , Whereas if this happiness were not eternal , there would be cause for both ; first , the Saints would be in fear of losing this happiness ; and where there is fear , there is Torment , in that fore-named Text ; and this fear must needs be productive of sorrow ; were it not for the eternity of this happiness , it would be hard to say , whether there would be the more joy or sorrow in Heaven ; we may probably think , there might be as much sorrow arising from the fear of their future loss , as there is joy from the apprehension of their present enjoyment , and that there should be either fear , or sorrow in Heaven , is not only contradictory to the fore-named Text , but utterly inconsistent with the blessedness of that estate . In summe , if we Believe what the Scripture speaketh of the greatness of this happiness , we must needs grant it to be eternal ; And this Aquinas maketh Use of , as the strongest Argument to prove the eternity of this happiness .

The like is to be said of the torments of Hell , which could not be so grievous as they are described , if they were not eternal ; were they to last a thousand thousand years , there would be some hopes they would end at last , and this hope will administer some kind of ease , and comfort ; when some thousands of these years were expired , it would be some comfort that there were so many already past , and by so many the fewer yet to come ; and so forward ; the further decreasing of the time would add a proportionable encrease to their hope and comfort ; whereas that Cup of Wrath , the Dregs of which they shall wring out , and drink , is without mixture , * * Psal. 75.8 . without any mixture of hope , ease , comfort , or any thing which might alleviate their misery ; and that which chiefly maketh it uncapable of these , is the eternity of this misery ; it must be indeed confessed , that the Torments of Hell are intensively most grievous : Bernard saith that the least punishment in Hell is more grievous , than if a Child-bearing woman should continue in the most violent pangs and throws a thousand years together , without the least ease or intermission . An ancient writer , mentioned by Discipulus de tempore , goeth much further , affirming , that if all the men which have been from Adams time till this day , and which shall be till the end of the world , and all the Piles of grass in the world , were turned into so many men to ●ugment the number ; and that punishment inflicted in Hell upon any one , were to be divided amongst all ●hese , so as to every one might befall an equal part of that punishment : yet that which would be the portion but of one man , would he far more grievous than all ●he cruel deaths , and exquisite tortures , which have been inflicted upon men ever since the world began : But though they be thus dreadful in themselves , yet that which mainly , and indeed infinitely adds to the greatness of them , is , because they are eternal ; as one said : If Hell were to be indured but a thousand years , methinks I could bear it ; but for ever , that amazeth me . Bellarmine [i] [i] De arte bene moriendi . , out of Barocius , tells of a learned man , who after his death appeared to his friend , complaining that he was adjudged to Hell-Torments , which , ( saith he ) were they to last but a thousand thousand years , I should think it tolerable ; but alas , they are eternal . And as it is the eternity of these sufferings which chiefly maketh them so great : so the greatness of them proveth them to be eternal : otherwise they could not be so great as they are described .

4. A fourth Argument to prove the point , may be taken from man himself , who is [k] [k] 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . an immortal Creature [l] [l] Wisd. 2.23 . , God created man to be immortal , and made him an Image of his own eternity ; though he be not eternal and immortal as God is , who is therefore said only to have immortality [m] [m] 1 Tim. 6.16 . , and therefore Divines distinguish between the eternity of God , and the sempiternity of man ; God is a whole eternity , both backwards and forwards , from everlasting to everlasting ; man's onely a half eternity , forwards , but not backwards : to , not from everlasting . God's is a simple eternity , he can no way cease to be : man's only in some respect , because he may be annihilated by God's power . God's is an uncreated , man 's a created eternity ; God's causal , man's derived : God's independent , being onely from himself : man's dependent and limited : but though he be not eternal as God is , he is truely and properly an immortal Creature . There are two essential parts of man , the soul and the body , and in regard of both these , he is immortal : First , the soul is an immortal substance , and that not only by the grace , and favour of God , as the body of Adam was in the state of innocency , and as the bodies of the Saints shall be at the Resurrection ; but , by its own nature , having no internal principle of corruption , so as it cannot by any thing from within it self cease to be : neither can it be annihilated by any thing from without (r) (r) Math. 10.28 . . Fear not them which kill the body , but are rot able to kill the soul . Gregory observeth , there are three sorts of Created Spirits : the first of those whose dwelling is not with flesh , or in fleshly bodies , they are the Angels ; the Second of those which are wholly immersed in flesh , the souls of beasts , which rise out of the power of the flesh , and perish together with it , the third is of those which inhabit bodies of flesh , but neither rise out of the Power of the flesh , nor dye when the body dyeth : and these are the souls of men ; when the body returneth to the earth , as it was , the Spirit shall return to God who gave it (s) (s) Eccles. 12.7 . . From this immortality of the Soul , we may inferr the eternity of mans future condition . The soul being immortal , it must be immortally happy , or immortally miserable . I shall not stand to enumerate those many arguments that are brought to prove the souls immortality ; but whatsoever Arguments are , or may be used to prove this , they will all undeniably conclude the eternity of mans future estate .

A further proof of it may be taken from the body , which though it be subject to death , yet not to dissolution . Simo Stenius , Professor of the Greek Tongue at Heidelberg , being visited by the Minister , lying upon his Death-bed , amongst other Discourses , the Minister asked him , if he desired with Paul to be dissolved , and to be with Christ ? rendering the word after the vulgar Translation ; he answered with some kind of indignation , that that was not the proper signification of the word (u) (u) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . used by the Apostle , which properly signifies to depart , to be unloosed , not to be dissolved . Death is only a change , not an annihilation ; After a Creature is once in being , it is never wholly annihilated . Birth is a River ( saith ) Heraclytus ) which never drieth up , but is continually supplyed by an accession of fresh waters ; though the Body be subject to death , and after death to a thousand transmutations ; as men cast away at Sea , may be devoured by Fishes , those Fishes after eaten by men ; possibly , some of those men devoured by wild Beasts , those Beasts by Dogs , those Dogs eaten up by Worms , those Worms consumed to dust , that dust scattered upon the Earth ; yet after all these revolutions , and transmutations , there is something remaining , and God is able to make those dispersed pieces of dust , like those scattered bones , Ezek. 37. to come together one to another : take twenty several sorts of seeds , and mingle them together in the same vessel , a skilful Gardiner is able to sever them one from another : mingle the filings of Steel or Iron with so much dust , that the filings are not perceived , yet by the help of the Load-stone you may separate the filings from the dust , according to their first quantity : They say , some exact Chymists are able , out of the same herb , to draw out the several elements by themselves . That men can do this , it is because God teacheth them ; as the Prophet speaketh of the Husbandman (w) (w) Isaiah . 28.26 . , And he that teacheth men knowledge , shall not he know (x) (x) Psalm . 94.10 . ? He that first made man out of nothing , can much more repair him , out of that something yet remaining . Augustine hath a good meditation to this purpose ; Think , ( saith he ) with thy self , how old thou art , whether twenty , or thirty years old , before that time what wast thou ? Where wast thou ? In the Grave whither thou goest , there will be dust , or ashes , or something to be found toward a man , whereas before that time , there was neither dust , nor Ashes , nor any thing to be found towards thy Nativity . God who at first made the body out of nothing , can and will remake it out of something pre-existent ; and when it is thus re-made , it shall be made Immortal , and incorruptible : So the Apostle , * * 1 Cor. 15.42.53 . It is sown in corruption , it shall be raised in incorruption ; This corruptible must put on incorruption ; and this mortal must put on immortality : We read , Levit. 14. If the Plague of Leprosie were in a house , they must scrape the walls , and pull out the stones , and plaister , and put other plaister in the room ; but if the Leprosie brake out again , they must pull down the house with the stones , timber and morter thereof . There is in every man , the fretting Leprosie of sin : In the work of Conversion , God as it were , takes out the Timber , and Stones , and putteth others in their room , while he worketh a thorow change in the soul ; but still the Leprosie of Sin continueth , till at last , God sends Death , which pulleth down the house , with the timber and stones , and thereby takes away both the Leprosie of sin , and that mortality and corruption which sin bringeth : As a Watch , being battered , or clogged with dust , is taken in pieces ; pulled joynt from joynt , and wheel from wheel , to the end it may go better than before ; or , as some goodly Statue of Brass , being defaced , is taken down , pulled in pieces , put into the Fire ; but all this is , that it may be put together again , and made a more goodly work manship : Or , if we arise and go into the Potter's-Field , and behold his workmanship ; is not the Vessel made of Clay , that was marred in the hands of the Potter ? * * Jer. 18.4 . yet he either maketh it the same Vessel , so as nothing is wanting but its former deformity ; or if he pleaseth , a m●re honourable vessel than before ; In like manner , the body being by Adam's sin made liable to Death , and Corruption , God seeth good to take it in pieces by death , that being put together again at the Resurrection , it might be freed from this corruptibleness , and put into an estate of immortality , and incorruption : To what end is the Body made thus immortal , if not to continue in an eternal , immortal condition ?

From all this we conclude , if man be an immortal Creature , both in regard of his Soul , which is immortal in its own Nature , and in regard of his Body , which shall be made Immortal by Gods Power ; his future condition must of necessity be immortal and eternal ; whether he be admitted into Heaven , or doomed to Hell , his condition is eternal and everlasting .