Heaven and earth reconciled A sermon preached at Saint Pauls church in Bedford, October.…Heauen and earth reconcil'd A sermon preached at Saint Paules church in Bedford, October.…

Dan. 12.3. They that turn many to Righteousness, shall shine as the Stars, for ever and ever.

Dan. 12.3. They that turne many to Righteousnesse, shall shine as the Starres, for euer and euer.

These words are prophetically spoken, and turn over to us a golden Leaf; whose Ink is Nectar, and the Pen from the wings of Angels: I mean, the matter expressed, is wholly Celestiall: Quis sit finis justorum, et justificantium justos, What shall be the end of the Righteous, and of them that make them so? (Porta patet cael•-procul, Oh procul este profane, I must in some sort open you the everlasting Doors, & show you the King of glory, and your glory in him: Let a holy reverence possess your souls, & say with Jacob the place is fearful, ¹none other, but the House of God, and this is the Gate of Heaven. Suppose that great Prince set on his Throne of universal Judgement, & upon all Creatures that have borne the image of God (summoned before him) having past an irrevocable sentence,² will you hear what shall become of the lust? Open your intellectual sanctified eyes, able (with Steven) to pierce through the curled Clouds, and with meditations r•p't to the third Heavens, behold them, as here described. The We shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament, and they that turn many to Righteousness, shall shine as the Stars for ⟨image 4⟩ever and ever. A lofty metaphor, when the lowest part of it, is not less high then the Firmament, then the Stars. Just men, shall parallel the brightness of the azure Sky; and Ministers shall shine as Stars in it: nay, they shall transcend both, in glory: We shall then see the Firmament and Stars as far below us, as now our humbled mortality thinks them above us: and could they shine as bright as ever their creation left them,