Fourthly, The Rewards propos’d to Virtue and Piety, by the Christian Religion, do exceedingly tend to animate and heighten Them; whether we consider the Recompences the Gospel propounds in this Life, or those that it promises in the Next. The great present Rewards of Virtue, are, you know, the Approbation of Good Men, and the Applause of a Man’s own Conscience. The First of these is as well attainable by Christian Hero’s, as by any other; for Virtue loses neither its Worth, nor Amiableness, by being Baptiz’d; and thô in some Times and Places lesser Degrees of it may be disregarded, or traduc’d, yet, generally speaking, the greater Degrees of it will either invite, or extort, Mens Esteem. Among the Roman Persecutors, the exemplary Lives and Constancy of the Primitive Christians, brought it to be Proverbially said, That such a Man was a good Man, saving that he was a Christian; and, Soli Christiani mortis contemptores, was usually in Heathen’s Mouths. There are divers Qualities, and those more press’d by the Christian, than any other, Institution, that have in them so much of Native Loveliness, that St. Paul might justly say of them, That he that exercises himself in them, is, generally speaking,¹³ both ceptable to God, and approv’d by Men. Nor did those Virtues that recommended the Great Constantine, whilst he was a Gentile, lose their Lustre, or the Veneration they procured him, when he turn’d Christian, and practis’d them with higher Aims, than that of satisfying Himself, and pleasing his People.

And as for the Reward of a good Conscience, which was able to make Hercules undergo all his Labors; and made all the other Hero’s of the Gentile World; I think, it will not be doubted, but that this inward Recompence is received, not only without any Defalcations, but with great Improvements, by him, whose Virtues flow from Religion. For, to him the Applauses of Conscience may well be more acceptable than all the various sorts of Musick,¹⁴that Solemniz’d the Dedication of Nebuchadnezar’s Golden Image, since in him Conscience does not, as in mere Natural Men, act only the Part of a Domestick Judge, but That of a Delegate from God himself; and its Absolutions are less welcome, as they are Approbations of Reason, than as they are the Pledges of Gods Acceptance, and of that higher Reward that will be consequent to it in the Life to come.

For these Joys, that are plac’d on the other side of the Grave, are much the Noblest part of the Recompence of Virtue, and proportionable Incitements to the Practice of it; and yet, on the account of future Rewards, the Christian has much greater Motives to Heroick Virtue, than the Heathen Moralist, or Philosopher. For, the posthume State of Man is so dim and uncertain, that we find even the greatest Men, among the Heathens, speak very doubtfully, and not without Ifs and Ands, of a future State, and much more of a future Happiness, as may be instanc’d in Socrates, Cyrus, Seneca, and many others; so that they rather seem’d to have Wish’d, or Hop’d, than Believ’d, their future Felicity: And, I fear, that many of them, finding that happy State describ’d chiefly by the Poets, reckon’d it among Poetick Fictions. And those that did, though but waveringly, expect Recompences in the Life to Come, had but poor and mean Idea’s suggested to them of it; the Hopes they were entertain’d with, being of Fortunate Islands and the Elysian Fields, which are not so Transcendent as to make a diffident Man very forward to quit the Gardens of Epicurus, that he has here in Possession, upon the doubtful hopes of other Gardens in Elysium. Whereas, to excite the Christian to an Heroick Degree of Virtue, he is not allow’d to Hope, but Commanded to be intirely Confident of passing out of this World into a Place, to which the Poets Elysium is much more Inferior, than the Possession of a Garden is to That of an Empire. To attempt the Description of that Coelestial Happiness, would be, contrary to my Inclination, to launch out into a Common Place; and were a Work, that if my Haste did not, my Disability would, dissuade me from: And therefore, though it be a State made up of the Confluence of all sort of Things rationally Desireable; yet, having only said in general of all the other Goods that it comprizes, that the Scripture tells us,¹⁵ That Eye has not Seen, nor Ear Heard, nor the Heart of Man Conceiv’d, what God has laid up for them that Fear him: I shall particularly take notice only of those Parts of this Inestimable Reward, that may peculiarly concern my present purpose, by being the chief Things that Heroick Souls are wont to Aspire too; a Good Name, Honour, and Dignity.

To have a Good Name for Good Actions, cannot but be a very desireable Thing, the Applause of Wise and Good Men, being a loud Eccho from without, that, by repeating it, confirms the Approbation given by the Conscience within. But though to do Virtuous and Worthy Actions be the best and likeliest way of acquiring a Good Name, yet ‘tis not a certain one: For, such is the Ignorance, the Malice, or the Enmity of a great many, that no Man is sure to escape being Mis-represented, or Traduc’d; as, we see, that the Sublimity, the Brightness, and the regular Courses of the Stars themselves, could not hinder wanton Poets, or fanciful Astronomers, from giving those Luminous Constellations the Names not only of the Nobler Beasts, as the Lyon, the Eagle, and the Whale; but even of Animals that lie under an ill Name, as the Dog, the Goat, and the Scorpion. And though it be true, that oftentimes Innocency long Clouded, does, like Lightning, break out at last; yet oftentimes too, that happens not till Malice and Envy are Dead, because the maligned Person is so; by which means he does not Live to know he is justified; and many, if not all, of those mis-inform’d Men are Dead and gone for whose good Opinion he was chiefly concern’d. But though the Christian may, as well as any other, be Traduc’d by Calumny, which often serves good Men, (as the Heathen Persecuters did the Martyrs, when they exposed them to the Peoples view, cloath’d in the Skins of Beasts, to make them hideous and hateful;) yet he is justly cheared by the Assurance he has, that there will come a Time when opprest and disfigur’d Innocency shall shine forth and triumph, and his good Name, as well as his Body, shall have a Glorious Resurrection, even in the Sight of his Accusers and Enemies, and of all those whom their Slanders did either prevail with, or startle. For at that great and general Assize, to which there shall be a far greater Confluence,¹⁶than the Assyrian Monarch drew to the Plains of Babylon, the Heroick Disciples of the Apostles will be able to say, upon happier terms than the Apostles themselves did here below, that they are made a¹⁷ Spectacle to God, to Angels and to Men. And in that Illustrious Assembly, of the¹⁸ First Born, whose Names are written in Heaven, being present, the Men, not only of all Nations, but of all Ages too, the Vizards shall be as well taken off, as the Masques; and the formerly traduc’d Saints, being welcom’d with the Title of¹⁹ Good and Faithful Servants, shall solemnly be acquitted by the Sentence, not of a Fallible, or partial, Judge, but of an Infinite and Supreme One,²⁰ That searches the Hearts and Reins, and cannot be Deceiv’d or Brib’d; and, to be sure, that the injur’d Saint shall come off with Honour enough, he shall then be Absolv’d by being Crown’d.

This Celestial Crown comprehending, in the Scripture Dialect, both the remaining Parts of the Christians Reward, Honour and Dignity, or Glory, and Preferment; it will be pertinent to mention some Advantages that giveit an high Preference about the Crowns of Monarchs here below.

And First, Earthly Crowns may somtimes be the Fruits and Recompences of Worth and Virtue, but are not at all the proofs of them. They are usually the Gifts of Nature, and, not unfrequently, of Fortune; and History gives us cause to wish, they were more seldom the Acquists of Crimes. But the Celestial Crowns proclaim, thô not the Merit, the Worth of them that receive them, being never adjudg’d but to Such, whom previous Graces and Virtues have fitted and qualified for²¹ the Inheritance of the Saints in Light.

Besides, as an Earthly Crown may be acquir’d without Merit, so it may be possess’d without Happiness. And if Crimes be made Steps to a Throne, they prove so many Thorns to him that sits on it, who is there a more Illustrious, not a less tormented, Malefactor. The Sublimity of a Throne, as little as the Height of a Scaffold, keeping a Criminal Person from feeling the punishments inflicted on him there. As may appear by the instance²² of Herod Agrippa, whose Throne, and glistering Habit, which Josephus takes notice of, thô they procur’d him not only the Acclamations, but Adorations, of the dazled Multitude, could not protect him from the incens’d Justice of an higher King than he; so that whilst others treated him as a God, he found himself one of the most miserable of Men, and was fain to hasten from a Seat, which occasion’d, but could not protect, his Impiety. But a Coelestial Crown, as it is graciously bestowed for the Supream Recompence of Virtue, and on that account may be called a Crown of Righteousness; so it always proves a Blessing as inseparable from Happiness, as a Thing is from it self. The Crowns of this World, by the very advantage of being Hereditary, shew, that they cannot preserve the Possessors from Death. But the Crown, I speak of, is by the Divine Bestower of it, called,²³ A Crown of Life; and of it, in respect of other Crowns, may be truly said, what Solomon said of Wisdom, in reference to other Goods, That²⁴ the Excellency of it is, that it gives Life to the owner thereof. And though Earthly Crowns be such Transitory Things, that we may observe,²⁵that even the Four great Monarchies of the World were by God represented to Nebuchadnezar, but as parts of a Dream, whereas the Kingdom promis’d to Christians, is called in the Scripture,²⁶ A Kingdom that cannot be moved, as the Believers Crown is, in opposition to those fading Crowns of Lawrel, that adorn’d the Heads of the Roman Conquerors, called an²⁷ unwithering Crown of Glory: As if the Lawrel plac’d on the Christians Head, could grow and flourish in the Wreath, better than it did on the Tree.

But all that I have yet said is Inferior to this last Prerogative of the Coelestial Crown, that it does not only confer a relative Dignity or Preeminence, but an essential Worth and Excellency; as if the Diamonds, which adorn’d that Crown, should impart their own Sparklingness, Transparency, and Incorruptibility, to the Person that wears it. The highest Preferments here below do raise a Man above others, without raising him above himself. By being at the top of a Ladder, a Man comes to an higher Station, but is not really taller than he was; and a Vane, by being plac’d on the top of the highest Steeple, is not from Iron turn’d into Gold or Silver, but remains still of the same base Metal it was, and is but a Weather-Cock, and so the Sport of the Winds. But a Coelestial Crown is always attended with a Personal Improvement, befitting so high a Dignity. The Heavenly Coronation has a Virtue like That of the Unction of Saul, who, upon his being made King, was inabled to²⁸ Prophecy, and was turn’d into an other Man. And the Resemblance holds in this too, that Christ is said, to have made his Redeemed ones, not only (Rev. 1. 6) Kings, but Priests to God and his Father, as if the Kingly Dignity were not enough, unless the Sacred Character of a Priestly Office were added. Congruously to which, St. Peter calls Christians, in general, a²⁹ Royal Priesthood; the Understanding, the Will, the Affections, are all refin’d and elevated; and the very Body itself is transformed into a Spiritual Body. As if the Glorify’d Soul did shine, with an undiminish’d Splendor, through its happily chang’d Mansion. And we may well suppose, that this will be a Bright and Noble Structure, if we remember, that the Angels, who, in their Apparitions to good Men, were wont to be very careful not to frighten them, did yet appear with a Majestick Splendor;³⁰and that Angel that the Apostles saw in our Saviours Sepulchre is represented as a young Man cloathed³¹ in a long white and shining Garment. And we are told by St. Paul, that, in the future State,³² our vile Bodies shall be transform’d into the likeness of his Glorious Body; and how Glorious it is in Heaven, we may guess, by what it was at his Transfiguration here on Earth, during which, the Scripture relates,³³ That his Face did shine as the Sun, and his Raiment was white as the Light. And of Moses and Elias, thô they came to speak to him of his Death, ‘tis added by³⁴ St. Luke, That they also appear’d in Glory. And since our Saviour has assured us, That³⁵ those shall be accounted worthy of that State, shall be like, or equal to the Angels; And that then the (Mat. 13. 43) Righteous shall shine like the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father, who knows, but that the Transfigur’d Soul and Body of some happy Saint may be as Glorious a Sight, as that which appear’d to St. John in the Apocalyps, when he saw an Angel³⁶ standing in the Sun? If it be said, that these are very bold Hyperbolies, I hope the Texts, I have mention’d, will keep them from seeming altogether groundless Conceits. And, when among other excellent Prerogatives, that our Saviour promises the persevering Beleivers, One is,³⁷ That he will give them Power over the Nations, and to Rule them with a Rod of Iron; and the Other, which may well be the last, is exprest in these words. (Rev. 3. 21) To him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me in my Throne, even as I evercame, and am set down with my Father in his Throne. And thô I readily yield, that these Expressions are not to be and literally, taken; yet, when I consider the infinite Power, and Goodness, of God; and that, for ought we know, he may have numberless Dominions, and Setts of Governable Creatures, that we are yet strangers too; I think, God’s Attributes, and Christ’s Expressions, may warrant us to expect amazing things from him that is Able, and has Declar’d himself Willing, to do for us (Eph. 3. 20) above what we can ask, or, in our present State, so much as think. And, at least, that will be allow’d me, which I drive at in this Celebration of our future Happiness, that the Christian Religion, by proposing such inestimable Rewards, presents Beleivers with far higher Motives to Heroick Virtue, than Morality, or Philosophy, can afford other Men.

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Footnotes

1. Tit. III. 4. ↩

2. Revel. XIV. 6. ↩

3. 2 Cor. VII. 1. 1 Thess. V. 22. ↩

4. Matth. V. 20. ↩

5. 2 Pet. III. 18. I. 5. ↩

6. Phil. IV. 8. ↩

7. 1 Pet. II. 22. ↩

8. Mat. XVII. 5. ↩

9. Rom. XIII. 14. ↩

10. John I. 16. ↩

11. Phil. IV. 13. ↩

12. Mat. XIV. 29. ↩

13. Rom. XIV. 18. ↩

14. Dan. III. 7. ↩

15. 1 Cor. II. 9. ↩

16. Dan. III. ↩

17. 1 Cor. IV. 9. ↩

18. Heb. XII. 2, 3. ↩

19. Matt. XXV. 21. ↩

20. Jer. XVII. 10. ↩

21. Col. I. 12. ↩

22. Acts XII. 21. ↩

23. Rev. II. 10. ↩

24. Eccl. VII. 12. ↩

25. Dan. II. ↩

26. Heb. XII. 28. ↩

27. 1 Pet. V. 4. ↩

28. 1 Sam. X. 6. ↩

29. 1 Pet. II. 9. ↩

30. Mark XVI. 5. ↩

31. Luke XXIV. 4. ↩

32. Phil. III. 21. ↩

33. Matt. XVII. 2. ↩

34. Luke IX. 31. ↩

35. Matt. XXII. 30. ↩

36. Rev. XIX. 17. ↩

37. Rev. II. 26, 27 ↩