Heaven upon earth, or, The best friend in the worst of times. Delivered in…

all that we can say signifies very little. The man thinks his great work is done, though his hands have been all this while in his bosom; he is far onwards in his Journey to Heaven, though he never set one step out of his own doors; he hath an interest in God, and is very well acquainted with him, and hath an assured confidence of his condition, that he shall be happy, though he have not one drachm of grace. He is a good Churchman, he hath sat at the Lords Table, and the like: But O how many are there which shall see, and know that it is more than possible, to come oft before God, and to complement him much, ⟨p. 290⟩and to sit oft at his Table, and yet not to be any of his peculiar Friends, and special Acquaintance; now it ever you would make any thing of Religion, and be made highly to praise Gods favour, & to be really acquainted with him; you must labour to understand your distance from him, and the unconceivable hazard that you run, while you are in a state of Separation from God; that there is but one step between you, and the state of the Damned; for what would become of you, if God should say to you, this night thy Soul shall be required of you. How easily can God in a moment stop your breath, and send your Soul and Body into that lake that burns for ever & ever? & is it not then time for you to look about you? O this ignorance of our selves, how doth it expose us? (Ar. Epict. l. i. c. 26.) He was not a whit mistaken, who said, That the not knowing of our selves, was one of the chiefest causes of our sin and misery, and that the consideration of the state of the Soul, and the through understanding it's depravedness, was the beginning of Wisdom; for it's weakness being well known, a man will not afterwards trust it in the determination of the greatest things; but man will be desirous to consult that great Oracle, the will of his Maker; and finding his old guide is blind, and hath oft misled him, thereupon he is the readier to be acquainted with such a one, who may direct him in the way to true happiness. If you would therefore be acquainted with God, you must get well acquainted with your selves; you will upon the knowledge of your self be afraid of your self.

all that we can say signifies very little. The man thinks his great work is done, though his hands have been all this while in his bosome; he is far onwards in his Journey to Heaven, though he never set one step out of his own doors; he hath an interest in God, and is very well acquainted with him, and hath an assured confidence of his condition, that he shall be happy, though he have not one drachm of grace. He is a good Churchman, he hath sat at the Lords Table, and the like: But O how many are there which shall see, and know that it is more than possible, to come oft before God, and to complement him much,