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But O how different from all this is the Heavenly Kingdom, where all that Live Bleffed with God, have Power without Checks, Honour without Slur, Wealth without Want, and Pleasure without any Pain? Where no Evil fhall befal 'em, nor any Plague come nigh their Dwelling? But God fhall wipe away all Tears from their Eyes, and banish all Grief from their Hearts; and there shall be no more Death, neither forrow nor Crying, neither any more Pain. Rev. 21. 4.

So great alfo is the Power of thefe Heavenly Kings, that they can do whatever they Will; So high their Honour, that all, even Wicked Men, and Devils, who Defpis'd 'em, fhall Admire 'em: And compared with that Honour of God's Saints, all this World's Glory is but a wretched piece of childish Pageantry.

What fhall I fay, what can I fay enough, of their Wealth? O how Rich will they be, to whom God himself shall be All in All! Rich are they in the highest measure that need Nothing, and never Defire any more than they have. For 'tis not the Coffer, but the Mind of the Poffeffor, that indeed makes him Rich. And the Saints above have every thing to their Minds. All that Heaven and Earth have they fhall have. For all things are theirs, 1 Cor. 3. 21. They fhall Inherit all things, Rev. 21. 7. And what can they ever Want, who are

the

the Heirs of God, and joint Heirs with Christ; and reach'd to the perfect Center of their everlasting Reft?

But their Pleasure, What Tongue can utter? What Heart can Conceive? So Pure, fo defecate, fo Full, fo every way Exquifite and Compleat; that even they who fhall for ever Enjoy it, can never, as it deferves, Express it. Yet this will come further to be discours'd, under the Notion of Paradife. Thus the Goods which fhall be. found in common to all the Bleffed in Heaven, are of fuch a Nature and Excellence, that none ever to be found upon Earth are any way meet ever to come here in the Scale of Comparison.

CHAP. VI.

What great Account men make of Earthly Kingdoms,and how much more they ought to Value the Heavenly.

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ET us now obferve a little, with what Ardour and Vehemence men ufe to Covet and thirst after the Kingdoms upon Earth: Tho' they be fo Narrow and Tottering, fo full of Cares, of Dangers and Troubles, (as you have heard: ) That from fuch notorious Folly, we may

grow

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grow fo Confiderate, as to get better Inftru&ted in our duty; and learn to fhew (at leaft) as much Concern, if not a great deal more fervent Longing, for the Kingdom that's Heavenly and Everlasting.

The Ambition of Reigning feems to exceed all the hot Pursuits of whatever things elfe Men are hunting after all the World over. For a Kingdom is not barely one particular Good; but an Aggregate that comprizes all the reft, in Quest of which this World is fo very Keen and eager. Even, the Power, the Honour, the Wealth, the Pleasure, (as aforesaid,) and also that dear Liberty of Living at Will, without Controul, which not only Men, but even the Brutes, fo extremely do covet.

There's the Excellency, and fome Semblance of Divinity, which gives Kings such a Superiority, that they have no Peers; but fit above all, Out-fhine all, and are Admired, and even Adored by all. Hence, the promise of a King, when he would be moft Obliging, (as Abafhuerus to Efther, and Herod to his Herodias,) is to give half his Kingdom. Hence, the Getting or Enlarging of Empire, goes for Reafon fufficient to Vacate Laws, and Violate all that is Sacred. Thus Ninus, Julius Cæfar, Maximinus the Thracian, and Philip the Arabian, all oppreft their Friends and Neighbours; and fome of 'em ruin'd their Benefactors and Mafters. C

Yea,

Yea, this Luft of Reigning has not fpar'd neareft Kindred, Brethren, or Fathers, ftanding in the way: But many (fuch as Athalia, Romulus, Caracalla, Sinochus,) have prefum'd it Apology good enough, to imbrue their hands in the Blood that was next to their Own. And when the Aftrologers told Nero's Mother, That he fhould Reign, but Kill Her; Interimat, dum Imperet, (faid She) Let him be the Butcher, so that he be the Emperor. Poft-poning her Life to his Rule. Thus the Religion of an Oath, which all Nations have ever efteem'd fo Inviolable, as to be strictly kept, tho' pawn'd to an Enemy; Yet has been made Difpenfable,when a Kingdom was the Temptation to break through it. And fo, Tully tells us, Cæfar himself could quote Euripides his Verfes,

That if an Oath must fuffer Force,

Let only Empire be the Cause;
In all things elfe, better or worse,

Adore the Gods, and keep their Laws.

All Ages of the World have been fruitful in Examples to demonftrate, That nothing is fuch a Bait to humane Appetite, as a Kingdom. Tho' all Experience fhews us, That not only Kings do not Reign long, but the Kingdoms themselves have also their Fatal Period. Only the Kingdom of the Saints is that which fhall Abide for ever, and

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of it there fhall be no End. Dan. 2. 44. The God of Heaven fhall fet up a Kingdom, which fhall never be Destroyed; But it shall fand for

ever.

This will be fulfilled at the End of the World: When not only the greater Monarchies, but all the little Principalities too fhall tumble down, and Vanifh away. Only the Kingdom of Chrift and his Saints is indeed Eternal, and of his Kingdom, there fhall be no End, Luke 1. 33.

Now, if a Kingdom fo Slippery and Tranfitory, and that which few do obtain; And when they have Got it, find a great deal of Uneafiness with it, be fo exceffively Lov'd, and fo violently Purfu'd, and above all things Preferr'd, and thought worth the Scrambling for, and Stretching to, even through Sharps, and Wounds, and Seas of Blood; What's the reason that fo very Few are in Love with the Kingdom of Heaven? And that the most are fo Ofcitant and heavy, in feeking after it? When we are affur'd from his Word, who cannot deceive us, That this bleffed Kingdom is Open to all; and without Effusion of Blood, may (in ordinary) be obtained: And beyond all contradiction, it infinitely Excels the greateft, the best, the richest, the Faireft Kingdoms of the World.

Should I bid any one Defpife a Kingdom, and make choice of a fmall Vineyard or Field; who would not count me Abfurd

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