four beasts and the elders; and no man could learn that song, but the hundred and forty four thousand, who were redeemed from the earth."

IMPROVEMENT.

1. Will the heavenly hosts praise God for all the displays of his vindictive justice in the punishment of the damned; then we may learn that there is an essential difference between saints and sinners. Sinners often disbelieve and deny this distinction, and it is very difficult to make them see and believe it. They are extremely loath to be convinced, and argue, in their own apprehension, very plausibly against it. They are ready to allow that some men are worse than others, and some are better than others; and this they think they can easily account for, without supposing that any are totally destitute of goodness, and need to have an entirely new heart, in order to become the friends of God. But the Bible represents sinners as totally des titute of the love of God and spirit of Christ, and essentially different from those in whose hearts the love of God has been shed abroad. And this sinners very often undesignedly ac knowledge. They sometimes freely say that they do not think that heaven is such a place as has been described; or that the inhabitants of it say, "Amen, Alleluia," while they see the smoke of the torments of the damned ascend up for ever and ever. They desire and hope to go to heaven, without ever being willing to speak such a language, or to express such feelings in the view of the damned. And is not this saying that their hearts are essentially different from those who feel such a spirit, and are willing to adopt the language of heaven? Good men do adopt the language of heaven before they arrive there. And all, who are conscious that they cannot say, "Amen, Alleluia," may know that they are yet sinners, and essentially differ ent from saints; and altogether unprepared to go with them to heaven, and join with them in praising God, for the displays of his vindictive justice in dooming all unholy creatures to a never ending punishment. They must put away their carnal mind, renounce their selfish feelings, and exercise pure, disinterested, holy love, before they can become real saints and heirs of

heaven.

2. If any sinners think they desire to go to heaven, it is a clear evidence that they are ignorant of heaven and of their own hearts. Sinners generally are ignorant of heaven, and view it as a mere asylum, or a place of refuge from the miseries of the damned, which they dread, and wish by all means to escape. If they might have their choice, they would greatly prefer living in this world always, and never go to heaven; but as

they are

rationally convinced that they must, sooner or later, die and leave this world for ever, so they would rather go to heaven, and not be doomed to take up their final and eternal residence in the regions of darkness, and lie down in eternal sorrow. They feel as Balaam felt, and pray, if they do pray to God, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his." But Balaam afterwards recalled his wish; and so do sinners very often, after they have made the same prayer. How do young and old, in a time of sickness, or some other scene of trouble and distress, call upon God to show mercy and admit them into his family; but as soon as they recover from sickness, or escape from danger, cast off fear, and restrain prayer before God. But sinners, under the awakening and convincing influence of the divine Spirit, are more deeply impressed, and more anxiously concerned to escape the wrath to come; and they imagine they desire, above all things, to go to heaven, and fondly imagine that they are far more willing to be in heaven, than God is to admit them there. But all such persons are greatly mistaken. They have no just idea of heaven, nor of their own hearts. They are not under genuine convictions, and are grossly ignorant of the plague of their own hearts. They are not convinced that they deserve eternal destruction, nor are they willing that God should cast them off for ever; but their hearts rise in sensible opposition to God's amiable and awful vindictive justice and absolute sovereignty. Though they ardently wish to escape hell, yet they will not submit to God's absolute sovereignty to escape it. Though they should be admitted to heaven, their hearts would rise against God and all the heavenly hosts, who praise him for dooming the impenitent to the regions of darkness and despair. Instead of saying, "Amen, Alleluia," they would be speechless, and inwardly curse God and die. If God would give them the best place in heaven, and offer them the whole universe, to fall down and cordially join the heavenly hosts in praising him for punishing any creature eternally, they would reject the offer. They would wish to exchange heaven for any other place. Sinners under genuine convictions have often felt and said they had no desire to go to heaven with their present views and feelings. And so long as any sinner retains his carnal mind, which is enmity against God, he is grossly and dangerously ignorant of heaven and of his own heart, if he thinks he really desires to go to heaven for any other reason than to escape future and eternal punishment; which is a selfish and criminal desire, let it rise ever so high. Awakened sinners are extremely apt to imagine that their strong and ardent desires to go to heaven are really virtuous and acceptable to God. But they are only desirous that

God would submit to them, and sacrifice the good of the universe to deliver them from deserved punishment. The devil had as good a desire, when he said to Christ, "I beseech thee, torment me not." It is of infinite importance that sinners should have a knowledge of heaven, and of their own hearts.

3. If the place and business of heaven be such as they have been described, then sinners may see what is the real and sole difficulty in the way of their going to heaven. They generally plead that they have not power enough to go, though they wish, desire, seek and strive to go. This is their most common, and they think the most forcible plea, when they are driven to make any excuse. But it is totally groundless. The truth is, they are too strong, instead of being too weak. They are stout hearted. They cannot bear the spirit and business of heaven. They know enough to hate heaven and its holy and benevolent inhabitants. And they have strength to avoid walking in the strait and narrow path to heaven; and to walk and even run in the broad road to destruction. It is not true that they have no strength, but that they have no heart, to go to heaven. The way of transgressors is hard. They put forth more strength, more courage, more resolution and more zeal, in travelling the forbidden paths to ruin, than others do in running their Christian race to heaven. If they would seriously, critically and impartially examine the exercises of their own hearts, they would find that Christ has told them what is the real difficulty in the way of their obtaining salvation: "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life."

4. It appears from what has been said, that it is as easy for any to comply with the terms of salvation, as it is to be in heaven, and cordially unite with the heavenly hosts in their enjoyments and employments. When any specify the difficulties they find in embracing the gospel, they mention the hard conditions upon which it offers salvation. They seem to think that they are much higher than they need to be, and such as they cannot perform. But let us examine these terms distinctly, and see whether any that have ever been proposed are more difficult to be complied with, than to be willing to be in heaven, if God would actually take them there. Is supreme love to God a term of salvation? But can any be willing to be in heaven, unless they love God supremely? All the heavenly hosts love God supremely for what he is in himself, perfectly holy, just and good. And none can desire to be united with a holy society, without being united with them in affection. Is love to the decrees of God a term of salvation? But can any desire to be in heaven, where the decrees of God are most visibly carried into effect, and most joyfully admired and adored, without

believing and loving the sovereignty of God in forming and executing his decrees? Do some say that love to a damning God is a term of salvation? But does not a sincere desire to be in heaven necessarily imply a desire to see and adore God in casting the wicked into hell? All the heavenly hosts see, admire and praise God for doing this. Do some say that a willingness to be damned is a term of salvation? But is it any more difficult for any one to be willing to be cast off for ever himself, than to be willing to see others cast off for ever, though he has been nearly and tenderly connected with some of them through life? The holy angels have been willing to see the apostate angels cast off for ever. The spirits of just men have been willing to see those, with whom they had been intimately connected, cast off for ever. The eleven apostles have been willing to see Judas cast off for ever; and no doubt but David has been willing to see Absalom, his darling son, cast, off for ever. Now, if there be nothing more hard or difficult in complying with the terms of salvation than there is in being really willing to be in heaven, then none have the least reason to complain of them; for certainly they cannot complain that God requires them to be willing to be in heaven, in order to his actually admitting them to dwell with him and his holy subjects, in that holy and happy place. The truth is, there is nothing which God requires men to do in this life, in order to go to heaven, that is harder to be done, than to be willing to be in heaven. The difficulty lies not in going, but in being there. A sincere desire to be in heaven will certainly carry any person there. Let no man deceive and destroy himself, by complaining of external difficulties in the way of going to heaven, for they all lie within himself; and nothing but his inwardly saying to God, Depart from me, I desire not the knowledge of thy ways, can shut him out of the kingdom of glory.

5. It appears from what has been said, that lowering the terms of salvation has no tendency to allure men to heaven. Let heaven be properly described, and let natural men really understand wherein its enjoyments and employments consist, and they would not be willing to comply with any terms that could be proposed, in order to obtain admission into it. Let external obedience, common honesty, or common decency, be substituted in the place of supreme love to God, a cordial approbation of his eternal purposes, and unconditional submission to his absolute sovereignty, and men be told that they need not believe and love such doctrines in order to be saved; they would no sooner comply with the lowest, than with the highest terms of salvation, in a clear view of heaven. The experiment of lowering the terms of salvation has often been made. But

what effect has it produced? The effect is well known. It has only made such as were ignorant of their own hearts, think that they desired to go to heaven, and were actually going there, while they possessed their natural heart, which is enmity against God, and totally unfitted them for heaven. This was the case in Christ's day; who told his disciples that except their righteousness exceeded the external righteousness which others had been taught to depend upon, they should in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. It is extremely dangerous for those who preach the gospel, to lower down the terms of salvation so as to please the natural heart. It may allure some to perform the externals of religion, and to enjoy a hope of escaping the wrath to come; but such a false hope is extremely dangerous, and instead of bringing men nearer to the kingdom of heaven, pushes them the fartherest from it, and must be removed in order to embrace the gospel.

6. It appears from what has been said, that a clear, realizing view of heaven, would put every sinner in the world out of doubt in respect to his spiritual state. Sinners often complain of doubts, and say they are troubled with fears. But let them realize the enjoyments and employments of heaven, and their doubts would vanish, and they would sensibly know that the love of God and of heaven is not in them, and that they are totally unfit to be united with saints and angels in glorifying and enjoying God. They would know, that if the gate of heaven were opened to them they would not enter into it. Their selfish hearts would shut them out. How many of the most amiable sinners have been brought to such a knowledge of their hearts, and found by painful experience that their hearts, and nothing but their hearts, were the obstacles in the way of embracing the gospel, and enjoying the happiness of heaven, which it promises to all that love God. Sinners often live upon their doubts, as others do upon their hopes. According to God's usual dispensations of grace, he removes the doubts of sinners, by showing them their hearts; and he shows them their hearts by showing them his true character, and the nature of heavenly enjoyments and employments. Careless sinners, and merely awakened sinners, pay but little attention to the nature of salvation, which they think they really desire. But their desires after mere happiness are unholy and unacceptable to God; and they can never obtain holy happiness without holy desires after holiness. It becomes them to inquire what manner of spirit they are of, and what is the supreme object of their desires, whether holiness, or mere happiness. As soon as they justly determine this point, they will have no doubt that they are in the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity.