Chapter 32: How Glad Are Sailors When They Make Shore — And Saints No Less When All Their Trials Are Done

How glad are Seamen, when they make the Shore And Saints no less, when all their Danger's o're,

OBSERVATION.

What Joy is there among Sea-men, when at last, after a tedious and dangerous Voyage, they descry Land, and see the desied Haven before them? Then they turn out of their loath'd Cabbins, and come upon open Deck with much joy, Psalm 107:30. Then they are glad, because they be quiet: So he brings them to their desired Haven. Now they can reflect with comfort upon the many dangers they have past, Olim haec meminisse juvabit; It is sweet to recount them.

APPLICATION.

But O, what transcendent Joy, indeed, ravishing, will ove-run the hearts of Saints, when after so many Conflicts, Temptations, and Afflictions, they arrive in glory, and are harbour'd in Heaven, where they shall rest for ever! 2. Thessalonians 1:7. The Scripture says, They shall sing the Song of Moses, and of the Lamb, Revelation 15:3. The Song of Moses was a triumphant Song, composed for the celebration of that glorious Deliverance at the Red Sea. The Saints are now fluctuating upon a troublesome and tempestuous Sea; their hearts sometime ready to sink and die within them, at the apprehension of so many and great dangers and difficulties. Many an hard storm they ride out, and many streights and troubles they here encounter with: But at last they arrive at their desired and long expected Haven, and then Heaven rings and resounds with their joyful acclamations. And how can it be otherwise, when as soon as ever they set foot upon that glorious Shoar, Christ himself meets and receives them with a Come you blessed of my Father? Matth. 25. 34. O joyful voice! O much desired Word? (says Par[•]us) What tribulation would not a man undergo for his Words sake!

Besides, then they are perfectly freed from all evils, whether of sin or suffering, and perfectly filled with all desired good. Now they shall joyn with that great Assembly, in the high praises of God. O what a day will this be! if (says a worthy Divine) Diagoras died away with an excess of Joy, while he enbraced his three Sons that were crowned as Victors in the Olympic Games in one day: And good old Simeon, when he saw Christ but in a body subject to the insirmities of our natures cryed out, Now let your Servant depart in peace; what unspeakable joy will it be to the Saints, to behold Christ in his glory, and see their godly relations also, (to whose conversion, perhaps, they have been instrumental) all crown'd in one day with everlasting Diadems of bliss! And if the stars did (as Ignatius says) make a Quire, as it were, about that star that appear'd at Christ's incarnation, and there be such joy in Heaven at the conversion of a sinner: no wonder then, the Morning-stars sing together, and the Sons of God shout for Joy, when the general Assembly meet in Heaven; O how will the Arches of Heaven ring and eccho, when the high praises of God shall be in the mouth of such a Congregation! then shall the Saints be joyfbl in glory, and sing aloud upon their Beds of everlasting Rest.

REFLECTION.

And is there such a day approaching for the Sons of God indeed! and have I [authority] to call my selfe one of the number! John 1. 12. O then let me not droop at present difficulties, nor hang down my hands when I meet with hardships in the way. O my Soul, what a joyful day will this be! for at present we are tossed upon an Ocean of troubles, fears, temptations; but these will make Heaven the sweeter.

Chear up then, O my Soul, your Salvation is now nearer, than when you first believedsts Romans 13:11. And it will not now be long ere I receive the end of my Faith, 1 Peter 1:9. And then it will be sweet to reflect even upon these hardships in the way. Yet a few days more, and then comes that blessed day you hast so long waited and panted for. Oppose the glory of that day (O my Soul) to your present abasures and sufferings, as blessed Paul did, Ram. 1. 18. And you shalt see how it will shrink them all up to nothing. Oppose the Inheritance you shalt receive in that day, to your losses for Christ now; and see how joyfully it will make you bear them, Hebrews 10:34. Oppose the honor that will be put upon you in that day, to your present reproaches; and see how easiei[•] will make them to you, 1 Cor 4. 5. What condition can I be in, wherein the believing thoughts of this blessed day cannot relieve me?

Am I poor, Here is that which answers Poverty, Jam. 3. 5. Hearken, my beloved Brethren, has not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in Faith, and heirs of the Kingdom?

Am I tempted? Here is relief against that, Revel. 12. 16. Now is come Salvation and strength; for the Accuser of our Brethren is cast down, &c.

Am I deserted? Here is a remedy for that too, Revel. 22. 5. And there shall be no night there, &c. Come then, my Soul, let us enter upon our Inheritance by degrees, and begin the Life of Heaven upon Earth.

THE POEM.

Vvhen Solomon in Isreal first was King,

Heaven's Arches, Earth's Foundations seem'd to ring

Vvith joyful Exclamations! How much more

Vvill Heaven resound, when Saints are come ashore!

How will the ravish'd Souls transported be

At the first glimpse of Christ! Vvhom they shall see

In all his glory; and shall live and move

Like Salamanders, in the fire of love,

A flood of tears convey'd them to the Gate,

Vvhere endless Ioys receiv'd them. Now the date

Of all their Sorrow's out; henceforth they walk

In Robes of Glory. Now there's no more talk

Of fears, temptations, of that snare, or this:

No Serpent in that Paradise does hiss.

No more desertions, troubled thoughts or tears;

Christ's full enjoyment supersedes those fears.

Delights of Princes Courts are all but toys

To these delights, these are transcendent joys,

The joys of Christ himself; and what they are,

An Angel's Tongue would stammer to declare.

Were our Conceptions clear, did their Tongues go

Vnto their Ela, yet the Note's too low.

What! Paint the Son too bright! it cannot be;

Sure Heaven suffers no Hyperbole.

My thoughts are swallowed up, my Muse does does tire

And hang her Wings, Conception soars no higher.

Give me a place among your Children there,

Although I lie with them in Dungeons here.