so good a Master in purenesse and newnesse of life that thou mayest be made partaker thereof Psal 37.24 and pray with the Prophet that the Lord would guide thee with his counsell and afterwards receiue thee into his glory Iohn 16.24 Aske and yee shall receiue saith our Sauiour that your ioy may be full And also labour and endeauour to bring as many as thou canst to this glory Dan. 12.3 For they that be wise saith the Prophet Daniel shall shine as the brightnesse of the firmament and they that turne many to righteousnesse as the starres for euer and euer Lift vp your heads O yee heauenly gates and be yee lift vp yee euerlasting doores that the King of glory may bring vs in Psal 24 7. I might much further amplifie and inlarge this matter but the worke growing bigger then I thought it would I forbeare but as Painters when they haue many millions and armies of men to set downe in a small mappe vse onely to draw out some number of heads of men and set them together leauing the whole number of heads and all the other parts and lineaments to the meditation of the beholders euen so am I constrained through aboundance of matter to propound only some general heads and to leaue the amplification of them to your priuate meditations and I hope wise man will not refuse precious Iewels though they bee brought in a plaine and homely receptacle Iude 1.24,25 Now vnto him saith the holy Apostle Saint Iude that is able to keepe you from falling and to preserue you faultlesse before the presence of his glorie with exceeding ioy to the onely wise God our Sauiour bee Glory and Maiestie Dominion and Power now and for euer Amen Psal 72.18,19 Blessed bee the Lord God the God of Israel who only doth wondrous things And blessed be his glorious name for euer and let the whole earth be filled with his glorie Amen Amen To the which most blessed place of glory the Lord bring euery one of our soules at the day of our death and dissolution and that for Iesus Christ his sake to whom with God the Father and God the blessed Spirit three glorious Persons but one immortall God be ascribed all honor and glorie both in heauen and earth this day and euer Amen FINIS An admonition to the Reader ALthough the Printer hath beene very carefull yet hath he sometimes failed not onely in mis-pointing or not pointing omitting or adding sometimes a letter which the Readers iudgement and diligence must helpe but in omission or alteration of words obscuring the sence in some few places which the reader shall doe well to correct before he reade the Booke as they stand here-vnder Page 2. line 5. for causes reade cases p. 9. l. 20. r. consequence for consequently p. 15. l. 11 r. vnhappines for happines p. 22. l. 22. r. Conquerer of all Asia p. 26. l. 28. r. peasant for pleasant p. 70. r. still for skill p. 77. l. 30. r. proclus for produs p. 82. l. 26. r. faltereth for flattereth p. 101. l. 2. r. vnwholesome for wholesome p. 125. l. 5 r. waining for wayings p. 133. l. 10. of the vse of reason p. 146. l. 3. r qualmes for quauers p. ibid. l. 7. r. moderately for immoderately p. 186 l. 4. for hem r. them p. 216. l. 35. for remuneration r. renumeration p. 235. l. 4. put out with you p. ib. l. 36. r. in time of need for of need p. 238. l. 7. r see for so p. ibid. l. 14. r. shall I not p. 270. l. 3. r. winne for shunne p. 284. l. 9. r. bodily for body
to all kinde of sinne and wickednesse but not applyed our selues at all to wisdome godlinesse vertue and true piety Democritus was wont to walke amongst the graues that he might become a right Philosopher for true philosophie saith Plato is the meditation on death and thou which art instructed in the true Christian Philosophie how canst thou behold the bones of the dead but thou must needs fall into this patheticall meditation with thy selfe Behold these legges that haue made so many iourneyes this head which is the receptacle of wisdome remembreth so many things must shortly be as this bare skull and dry bones are I will therefore betimes bid worldly vanities adieu betake my selfe to repentance and newnesse of life and spend the rest of my dayes in the seruice of my God and continuall meditation on my ende As the last day of our life leaueth vs so shall that last day the day of Christs comming finde vs. How good were it therefore before we run into desperate arrerages to cast vp our bils of accompt and the rather because we shall be warned out of our office we know not how soone Luke 16.2 Some Emperors amongst the heathen as bookes say were wont to be crowned ouer the graues and sepulchers of dead men to teach them by the certaine but vnknowne end of their short life to vse their great roomes as men that must one day be as they are whose graues they tread vpon The old Saints who liued in a continuall meditation of their short and vncertaine time were wont alwayes like wise merchants to think of their returne homeward and therfore tooke vp their treasure by bils of payment not where they were but where they would be and meant to make their long aboade that is meant to be for euer And the Philosophers who saw not beyond the clouds of humane reason wheÌ„ they perceiued how much men did decline by course of yeares wast of time were wont to say that the life of a wise man was nothing else but a continuall meditation on death the remembrance whereof made the world which wee for want of this meditation so willingly embrace vile and contemptible vnto them and auayled greatly to guide them in all godlines So a Christian mans life is or should be nothing els but a continuall meditation on death All that is within vs and without vs are so many remembrances of Death all things crye out vnto vs that we must hence Ioh. 8.23 as Christ cryed I am not of this world The apparrell which we weare vpon our backs Ioh. 17.14 the meate disgested and egested and returning to putrefaction the graues shrouding so many corpes vnder our feete time the mother of all things and the changeable state of times euen winter and sommer cold and heat seede time and haruest all doe crie vnto vs that wee shall weare away and dy and corrupt As they who were liuing are now dead and lye in the dust first we wax dry then old then cold then sicke then dead So that euery thing doth serue to put vs in minde that our bodies which wee beare about vs are mortall for even on our table we haue moments of Death for we eate not the creatures till they be dead our garments are either the skinnes or excrements of dead beasts we often follow the dead corps to the graue and often walke ouer their bodies and in Churches Church-yards especially men that doe vse to walke there shall doe well to remember that they treade vpon the dead and others shortly must tread vpon them Moreouer in great Citties wee haue almost euery day Death rung in our eares the deadly bell telleth vs that dust wee are and to dust wee must goe againe To this perhaps the old Oracle hath reference of whom the Philosopher Zeno being desirous to chuse the most honest and best rule for the direction of this life demaunded as the manner then was his opinion therein and receiued this answer That if he would frame the course of his life aright he should vse the commerce society of the dead And the Church-yards which are the howses of Christians and as it were the chambers or beds to sleepe in they are the places to which wee may resort to be put in minde of our mortalitie and future mutability But we Christians haue in stead of commerce and societie with the dead Luk. 16.29 Moses and the Prophets to put vs in minde of our death and if we will not heare them Ezeck 3.7 neither will we be perswaded though one rise from the dead to tell vs of our death Adam knew all the beasts called them by their names but his owne name he forgot Adam of earth What bad memories haue wee that forget our owne names and our selues that we are the sonnes of men corruptible and mortall Proud man I say forgets this sentence that earth is his natiue wombe when he was borne and that being dead the earth is his tombe When we looke to the earth it should put vs in minde that earth we were earth we are and earth we shall be the earth prouides for our necessity and feeds vs with her fruits neither in life nor death doth she forsake vs while we liue she suffers vs to make long furrowes on her back and when we dy her bowels are digged vp and she receiueth vs into her bosome here now a pit is digged seuen or eight foote long and so as it may serue for Alexander the great whom liuing the world could not containe And how loftie soeuer men looke death onely shewes how little their bodies are which so small a peece of earth will containe whom before nothing would content and therein the dead carkasse is content to dwell whom at his comming the wormes doe welcome and the bones of other dead men are constrained to giue place And in this house of obliuion and silence the carcasse being woond in a sheete and bound hand and foote is shut vp though it neede not to haue so great labour bestowed vpon it for it would not run away out of that prison though the hands and feete were loose And now if we doe but consider a little of the tombes of noble men and Princes whose glory and maiestie wee haue seene when they liued here on earth and doe behold the skill and sillie formes and shapes which they now haue shall wee not cry out as men amased Is this that glory that highnesse and excellencie Whether now are the degrees of their waiting seruants gone Wheâ—e are their ornaments and iewels Where is their pompe their delicacy and nicenesse All these things are vanished away like the smoake and nothing is now left but dust horror and rottennesse such is mans body now become yea though it were the body of an Emperor King or Monarch where is now that maiestie that excellencie and authoritie which it had before time when men trembled to behold it
and griefes thou bringest with thee there is none would stoope so low as to take thee vp from the ground Shewing thereby that the life of Kings is more vnhappie then the life of a priuate man He is subiect to claw-backes and flatterers It comming to passe oftentimes saith an ancient Father that Courtiers are found flatterers and hee is seldome without mendicant and begging Fryers about him Prou. 30.15 which are like the Horseleaches two daughters alwayes crying Giue giue As it is true that Saint Cyprian speaks Gods ordinance is not the midwife of iniquity so is it most certaine that men in authoritie by reason of flesh and bloud doe trauell in infirmitie and bring forth escapes And verily as the sinnes of Princes are neuer small so their great sins require a great and high degree of repentance They may doe wrong punish the good and fauour the bad non voluntate nocendi saith Saint Augustine sed necessitate nesciendi not with purpose to doe wrong but because they cannot come to the knowledge of the right Who could better see with his owne eyes and heare with his owne eares then Dauid yet affections sometimes dazeled his eyes and wrong intelligence his eares The wisest Gouernours that in speculation of iustice are admirable in their practise may bee quite transported They that in the Thesis are sharpe in the application are often very dul and greatest men haue greatest by asses to draw them awry Giue me leaue to produce an instance from forreine histories Vpon a time when the Bithynians before Claudius the Emperour cried against one Iunius Clio their late President desiring that now his time was come hee of all men might no more obtaine that place The Emperour not vnderstanding their desire nor hearing distinctly their words for the confused noise of the multitude demanded of those next him what the people said to whom Narcissus a familier or rather an auricular buzze of the Emperours answered like a false Eccho that the people gaue his Excellencie great thankes for their last President which was nothing so and requested to haue him appointed ouer them againe which was wholly contrary to their suite The Emperour meaning well but ill informed to gratifie them as hee thought assigned them their olde President againe And thus was the Emperour abused and the people continued vnder an Oppressor still whereas they had beene eased but for a crooked Interpreter And this aduertiseth what circumspect care the greatest men should haue to passe no matters of great importance rashly as also to cleanse their trains and houses as Dauid vowed Psal 101. but hardly could performe from all priuie slanderers deceitfull persons and lyers Now as for wicked men they alwayes liue in miserie There is no peace saith the Lord vnto the wicked the worme of conscience shal neuer die Esay 48.22 and the light of reason shall neuer be darkened as they haue forsaken God so hath God forsaken them Rom. 1.28 Iude 1.13 Iob 15.20 Isai 57.20 Prou. 13.21 Iude 14.15 and deliuered them vp into a reprobate sence that they might doe such things as be not conuenient for whom the blacknesse of darknesse is reserued The wicked man saith Iob trauaileth with paine all his daies The wicked saith the Prophet are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest whose waters cast vp mire and dirt Euill saith the Wiseman pursueth sinners And Enoch also the seuenth from Adam prophesied of these saying Behold the Lord commeth with ten thousand of his Saints to execute iudgement vpon all and to conuince all that are vngodly amongst them of all their vngodly deeds which they haue vngodly committed and of all their hard speeches which vngodly sinners haue spoken against him But are good men exempted in this life from misery No verily they are as it were in a continuall furnace by reason of crosses and persecutions they sustaine mocks and taunts fetters and imprisoments Who is weake and they are not weake 2. Cor. 11.29 Act. 14.22 Who is offended and they burne not Wee must saith Paul and Barnabas through much tribulation enter into the kingdome of God 1. Cor. 15.19 Therefore the same Apostle saith If in this life onely we haue hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable To conclude with the saying of the Preacher Therefore the misery of man is great vpon him Eccle. 8.6 Ier. 20.18 Iob 5.6.7 And that holy man Iob saith from his owne experience Although affliction commeth not foorth of the dust neither doth trouble spring out of the ground yet man is borne vnto trouble as the sparks flie vpward And Iesus the sonne of Syrach saith Great trauell is created for euery man Eccle. 40.1.2.3.4 and a heauie yoake is vpon the sonnes of Adam from the day that they goe out of their mothers wombe till the day that they returne to the mother of all things Their imagination of things to come the day of death trouble their thoughts and cause feare of heart from him that sitteth on a Throne of glorie vnto him that is humbled in earth and ashes from him that weareth Purple and a Crowne vnto him that is cloathed with a linnen frocke Behold the miseries of mortall man behold their vanitie Thought consumeth them heauinesse harmeth them pensiuenesse possesseth them terrour turmoiles them feare putteth them out of comfort horror doth afflict them affliction doth trouble them trouble doth make them sad and heauie miserie doth humble them and at the last death doth end them How many haue died with a surfet of sorrow By the sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken A sorrowfull minde drieth the bones Therefore Iacob saith to his sonnes Prou. 15.13 Prou. 17.22 Gen. 43.38 If mischiefe befall Beniamin in the way which yee go then shall yee bring downe my gray haires with sorrow to the graue How many haue died with ouermuch feare And for feare of him the keepers saith the Euangelist did shake Matth. 28.4 and became as dead men Sophocles Dyonisius Diagoras and Chilo the Lacedemonian died with immoderate ioy O man very mortall whom ioy it selfe cannot secure from death ioy being the very friend to life For a merry heart saith the Wiseman maketh a cheerefull countenance Prou. 15.13 Prou. 17.22 a ioyfull heart causeth a good health There is but one way and that very narrow by which we came into life but there be infinite and those broad wayes which lye open for Death to inuade vs through euery member of the bodie yea through euery ioynt of the bodie Death hath found out a way to take away our life Wee that are in the last part and end of the world 1. Cor. 10.11 1. Iohn 2.18 Vpon whom as the Apostle saith the ends of the world are come and which is the last time and houre as saith Saint Iohn wee are lesse in our mariage-bed then our fathers were in the cradle The world left being a world when Adam
answered with thankes thou onely hast looked on me with open and true iudging eyes Saint Ambrose saith How far will ye great men stretch your couetise Will ye dwell alone vpon the earth and haue no poore man with you Why put you out your fellow by kinde and challenge to your selfe the possession common by kinde in common to all for high and lowe rich and poore the earth was made Why will ye rich change proper right herein Kinde knoweth not riches that bringeth forth all men poore for we be not got with rich cloathes and borne with gold ne with siluer naked he bringeth them into the world needy of meat and drinke and cloathing naked the earth taketh vs as she naked brought vs hither She cannot close with vs our possession in sepulcher for kinde maketh no difference betweene poore and rich in comming hither ne in going hence All in one manner he bringeth forth and in one manner he closeth in graue Who so will make difference between poore and rich abide till they haue a little while lyen in graue then open looke among dead bones Lam. 4.5 who was rich and who was poore but if it be thus that more cloathes rot with the rich then with the poore and that doth harme to them that are then liuing not profiting them that be dead And it may be that the wormes shall feede more sweetely on the rich Iob. 24.20 then on the poore But thou wilt say saith Saint August I am not such a one as he is God forbid I should be so he is base and beggerly I am high honorable and rich tell me not saith Saint August The ods of your apparell or other externall things but marke ye the qualitie of nature remember the day of your birth and the day of your death There is no difference in the one or the other both weake both miserable for all of all sorts and conditions are made of one mold and one matter of clay and earth whose foundation is in the dust which shal be destroyed before the moth It is true that as there is difference of starres though all made of the same matter and difference of mettals some gold Iob. 4.19 some siluer some lead some tinne but all made of one earth and differences of vessels some gold some siluer 2 Tim. 2.20 some wood some earth and some to honor and some to dishonor but all made of the same mould so are there differences of bodies some more excllent then other and made of purer earth but yet all subiect to corruption as the matter is whereof they are made It being the body then that dyeth and seeth corruption one must dye as well as an other For as great men haue no priuiledge from error nor protection from reproofe for their faults blameable so haue they no priuiledge from Death For all men haue one entrance into the world a like danger in life the same necessity of death respect cannot change nature nor circumstance alter substance a great man is a man a man hath a body and a soule both haue their diseases which greatnesse can neuer diminish but oftentimes augments And therefore in a bodily infirmitie of some noble personages the Phisition takes them in hand not as noble men but as men Physick they must haue although with better attendance more exquisite and costly medicines and skilfuller Doctors then the poorer sort haue Therefore doe they thinke because they liue better and are in better estate and haue better meanes to preserue life then poore men that therefore they shall liue longer and what difference concerning death betweene a noble man and a begger when both goe to one place All goe to one place saith the Preacher all are of dust Eccl. 3.20 and all turne to dust againe When in these acts and scenes of seeming life as at a game at chesse the highest now vpon board may presently be lowest vnder board And the breath in the nostrels of the rich man may as soone be stopped and they as soone turne to the dust as other men Deaths cold impartiall hands are vsed to strike princes and pesants and make both alike Therefore in this respect the case of the rich and poore great and small high and low may be resembled to the play or game at Chesse Heare this therefore all ye people giue eare all yee Inhabitants of the world both low and high Psal 49.1.2 rich and poore together For while the play indureth there is great difference in the men greater respect had to some then to others but whē the Check-mate is giuen play ended then the men are tumbled together and put vp into the bag frō whence they were taken out and the lesser men vppermost many times there being no difference And so it is in this world There is great differēce in men greater respect had to some then to others as it is meet to be but when death cōmeth as surely it will come to all sorts then there will be no such differēce in the graue neither doth Death know any such difference for hee spareth none the yong as well as the old dyeth the Lambes skinne is brought to the market as well as the olde Crones the rich as well as the poore the Prince as wel as the subiect for there is no difference in the mould from the rich Crowne of Kings to the poore beggers crutch from him that sitteth on a Throne of glory vnto him that is humbled in earth and ashes from him that weareth Purple and a Crowne Eccle. 40.3.4 vnto him that is cloathed with a linnen frocke Reu. 20.12 Saint Iohn in his vision in the booke of the Reuelation saw the dead arraigned at the barre of the great Iudge both great and small Matth. 27.33 olde and young In Golgotha are skulls of all sizes saith the Hebrew prouerbe Death attendeth youth behinde vshereth old age and walketh before it and it is hard at hand to all and to all sorts All must grinde to greete Princes are old cold and chillerie Princes as well as others must decay and weare away Againe in this respect they may be resembled to Actors of a Comedy vpon a stage wherein one acteth the part of a prince an other of a Duke another of an Earle another of a Nobleman another of a Gentleman another of a Magistrate another of a Merchant another of a Countreyman another of a seruant euery one acteth a seuerall part And so long as they are vpon the stage so long there is respect according to their parts had one of another but when the Comedy is ended and the stage pulled downe then there is no such respect had amongst them Yea many times he that plaies the basest part is the best man So likewise so long as men doe act sundry parts vpon the stage of this world that is so long as men doe liue in seuerall vocations and callings so long
vnder the burthen therof account that bondage more intollerable and worse subiection then can bee to the most barbarous and cruell tyrant in the world from whose tyrannie hee that should set vs free must needs bee welcome Which death and onely death can doe What great cause haue we then with all willingnesse to embrace death and be greatly comforted when it appproacheth But death doâ—h yet much more for vs then all this for it not onely frees vs from all euills euen sinne but puts vs also into actuall and peaceable possession of all good things and bringeth vs to that good place where if there were any place for any passion we would be offended with Death for not bringing vs thither long before And though the bodie rotte in the graue or bee eaten of wormes or deuoured by beasts or swallowed vp by fishes or burnt to ashes yet that will not be to vs a matter of discomfort not-onely because as wee haue heard before they are at rest and doe sleepe in peace in their beddes till the last day but also if wee doe well consider the ground of all grace as namely our vnion and coniunction with Christ our head it is indeede a spirituall and yet most real coniunction and vnion For we must not imagine that our soules alone are ioyned and vnited to the body or soule of Christ but the whole parson of man both body and soule is vnited and conioyned to whole Christ For we are vnited wholy to whole Christ who is not deuided euen according to both natures 1. Cor. 1.13 1. Cor. 3.21 by which hee is wholy oure but after this good order as first to be vnited to the manhood and then by the manhood vnto the Godhead of Christ And when we are once ioyned and vnited to whole Christ in this mortall life by the bond of the Spirit we shal so abide and remaine eternally ioyned and vnited vnto him And this coniunction and vnion being once truly made can never afterward be dissolued Hence it followes that although the bodie bee seuered from the soule by death yet neither the soule nor body are seuered or sundred from Christ but the very bodie rotting in the graue or howsoeuer else consumed abide still ioyned and vnited vnto Christ and is then as truly a member of Christ as it was before death For looke what was the condition of Christ in death the same or the like is the condition of all his members Now the condition of Christ was this though his body and soule were seuered and sundered for the time the one from the other as farre as heauen and the graue yet neither of them were sundered from the God-head of the Sonne but both did in his Death subsist in his person Euen so though our bodies and soules bee pulled in sunder by naturall or violent death yet neither of them no not the body it selfe shal be pulled or disioyned from Christ the head but by the vertue of this coniunction and vnion shall the dead body howsoeuer it bee wasted and consumed arise at the last day to eternall glory For although the dead bodies of Gods Saints are often mingled with the bodies of beasts foules fishes or other creatures that deuoure them yet as the Goldsmith by his art can feuer mettals and extract one mettall out of another euen so God can and will distinguish these dusts of his Saints at the last day of the glorious resurrection In the winter season the trees remaine without fruit or leaues and being beaten with the winde and weather they appeare to the eye and view of all men as if they were withered and rotten dead trees yet when the spring time comes they become aliue againe and as before doe bring forth their buds blossoms leaues and fruits the reason is because the body grayne and armes of the tree are all ioyned and fastened to the roote where all the sappe and moisture lies in the winter time and from thence by reason of this coniunction it is deriued in the spring to all the parts of the tree Euen so the bodies of men haue their winter also and this iâ— in death in which time they are turned into dust and so remaine for a time dead and rotten Yet in the spring time that is at the last day at the resurrection by meanes of the misticall coniunction and vnion with Christ his diuine quickning vertue shall streame and flow from thence to all the bodies of his elect and chosen members and cause them to liue againe and that to life eternall For the bodies of Gods elect being the members of Christ though they be neuer so much rotten putrified and consumed yet are they still in Gods fauour and in the couenant of grace to which because they haue right being dead they shall not remaine so for euer in their graues but shall arise againe at the last day vnto glory And by reason of this vnion and coniunction with Christ we gaine the prayers of the Saints yet liuing with vs the loue of the Saints glorified before vs the ministrie of Angels working for vs grace in earth and glory in heauen And in Christ our gaine is such as that we shall haue all losses recompenced all wants supplied all curses remoued all crosses sanctified all graces increased all hopes confirmed all promises performed all blessednesse procured Satan conquered death destroyed the graue sweetened corruption abolished sanctification perfected and heauen opened for our happy entrance And as for death it selfe we are to consider that it is chiefely sinne that makes it so terrible vnto vs for in it selfe and by it selfe it is the wages of sinne and the reuenging scourge of the angry God but vnto those that beleeue in Christ it is changed into a most sweete sleepe For although the regenerate those that beleeue in Christ doe as yet carry about the reliques of sinne in their flesh from whence also the bodie is dead that is to say subiect to death Rom. 8.10 for the sinne that dwelleth in it yet the spirit is life for righteousnesse that is because they are iustified from sinne by true faith in Christ and resist the lusts of the flesh through the Spirit therefore that sinne which yet remaineth in the flesh is not imputed vnto them but is couered with the shadow of the grace of God Therefore by death the true and spiritual life of the soule doth not die in them but doth rather begin to which death is constrained to doe as it were the office of a midwife So that now we are deliuered from sinne in Christ that it cannot hurt vs nay it is conuerted to our owne profit and therfore death hauing her strength from sinne is not to bee feared sith sinne the sting of death is ouercome What need wee feare the snake that hath lost her sting shee can only hisse and make a noyse but cannot hurt and therefore wee see that many hauing taken out the sting
heauenly habitation Augustine writing vpon Genesis sayth That the blessed shall haue a three-fold sight of God in heauen To wit they shall first haue a spirituall or they shall see the blessed spirits Angels next a body or corporall sight of the blessed redeemer And thirdly a supernatural or intellectuall sight and a fourth may be added that they shall likewise see the holy Chost For the first their spirites and soules shall behold and see with great comfort and ioy the blessed Angels and Spirites of all the faithfull departed They shall see the bright Court of Angels Math. 18.10 Cherubins Seraphins alwaies beholding the face of our father which is in heauen attending the Dyetie and euer pressing to doe his will faithfully speedily willingly neuer wearie of watching because they are neuer wearie of well-doing They shall see the faire assembly of the Saints of God the Patriarckes Prophets and Apostles Luk. 13.28 with Abraham Isaacke and Iacob in his glorious Kingdome they shall bee tyed vp with them in the bundell of liuing 1 Sam. 25.29 neuer to bee loosed any more As they before them haue done so shall they returne into their rest as into a retiring Campe after the day of battell This is the greatest ioy vpon the first sight And if as Chrysostome sayth to see the Deuill and euill Spirits bee a horrible punishment and a kind of hell then to see good Angels and good Spirites must be a great ioy and the beginning and entrance into heauen Psal 45.1 The second is that corporall and bodily beholding of our Sauiour Iesus Christ standing at the right hand of God the Father 1 Pet. 1.12 and his comfortable face and countenance fayrer then the sonnes of men and whome the very angells desire to behold and whereby in their Spirites the Saintes doe presenly see the naturall and humane bodie of Christ Iesus at the right hand of God the Father from whose glorious sight doth arise a greater measure and degree of comfort and ioy Cant. 3.11 Then come the godly to see in substance that which was spoken of the type by Salomon Math. 12.42 Come foorth O yee daughters of Sion and behold the King Salomon with the Crowne To see then this true Salomon more great then Salomon euen our Redeemer thus standing crowned in glory and haue accesse to him must needes bee a second and higher measure of ioy to the beholders It is sayd when Salomon was crowned 1 Kin 1.40 the people reioiced exceedingly that the earth rent with the sound of thē Oh what ioy and greater ioy is it then to see Christ Iesus thus crowned with glory in Gods Kingdome at home When the Wise-men came a farre iourney seeking Christ anst found him new borne lying most meanely basely in a Cratch amongst the beasts yet did they reioice seeing him in the Cratch and did offer to him Oh how much shall yee reioyce Math. 2.10,12 seeing him that was in the Cratch cloathed with great glory and wearing an immortall Crowne The third sight is that intellectuall and glorious sight supernaturall of Gods essence face to face as Paul nameth it yea God himselfe of so great Maiesty might beauty goodnesse mercy and loue 1. Cor. 13.12 as if a man were filled with all other blessings temporall and eternall and yet without this as Plotin sayth all were but misery and accursednes And this is such a sight in such a manner and after such a measure which notwithstanding shall be infinite as is or can bee possible for the glorified Creatures to beholde the glorious Creator And as the Apostle Saint Peter sayeth to bee made partakers of Gods diuine nature 2 Pet. 1.4 farre beyond that sight of Moyses or Peters when being clogged with mortality they yet did see that was glorious to behold Of this sight of God Iob. 19.23.24,25,26.27 the holy man speaketh in his Booke Oh sayeth he That my wordes were now written O that they were printed in a Booke that they were grauen with an yron penne and layde in the Rocke for euer For I know that my Redeemer liueth and that hee shall stand at the latter day vpon the earth and though after my skin wormes destroy this body yet in my flesh shall I see GOD whom I shall see for my selfe and mine eyes shall behold and not another though my raines be consumed within me Yet this sight shall exceed and goe beyond that of our Forefathers before the fall or that of the Apostle Pauls for it is sayde by him that we shall see him face to face And by the Apostle Peter being made partakers of his diuine nature more then euer man could haue dreamed off then shall the Elect see so◠as they shall bee with him for euer yea and serue him continually in singing praises vnto him Which sight is called the spirituall life not in respect of substance but qualities in so farre that after those sightes the elect shall spiritually liue and that without any naturall or bodily helpes or meanes as in this present transitory life In that Life shall bee no neede of meate drinke light artificiall or naturall Candle Starres Sunne or Moone For God shall bee all in all By which sight and supernaturall knowledge it shall come to passe That Philip. 3,21 these our mortall bodies shall bee like to his glorious body Dan 12,3 and shall shine like the Sunne in the firmament and be made like Angels Fulgentius speaking of this most glorious and supernaturall sight sayth thus In a looking glasse wee may see three different things the glasse our selues and what is neere vs So by the glasse of Gods diuine clearenes wee shall see him our selues Angels and saints beside vs yea we shall see God face to face not as now through the glasse of his word but we shal know him as we are known of his Maiesty As a man standing vpon the shore of the Sea seeth not the bredth or depth of it so the Angels in Heauen and the elect on earth may see God really and yet not comprehend the depth of his greatnes nor the height of his euerlasting essence The fourth sight is that we shall likewise see the Holy Ghost proceeding from them both and breathing vpon our saued soules like a gentle soft ayre vpon a garden and more sweet then all the trees of Incense Againe the Apostle sayeth Now I know in part 1 Cor 13,12 but then shall I know euen as I am knowne The Apostle is bolde here to say that all the knowledge wee haue here is as the knowledge and stuttering of a young child yea that his owne knowledge too was such although he were an Apostle and a principall Apostle and thereby hee insinuateth that our knowledge here is as farre inferiour to the knowledge we shall haue there as the knowledge of a childe that stuttereth and stammereth and yet cannot speake plaine is to the
with whom all things are possible as our Sauiour Christ saith in the Gospell Againe we may roue at the glorious estate of the children of God after death by that high price which was set on theÌ„ Our Sauiour Iesus Christ the Sonne and only Son of God not by adoption but by nature louing and best beloued bought them not with money but with bloud not with the bloud of Goats and Rammes but with his owne bloud and not with the bloud of his head hands or feete but with his owne heart bloud And as he prayed soundly for them himselfe in his last prayer which he made vnto his heauenly Father a little before his suffering as appeareth in the Euangelist Saint Iohn Iohn 17.1 so hath he prised them vnto his friends and children and none can enter into them but by many tribulations Acts 7.59 For we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdome of God They did cost Paul a beheading Peter a crucifying Stephen a stoning millions of Martyrs racking burning torturing tormenting and a thousand other kinds of deathes and our deere Sauiour Christ himselfe a suffering Ought not Christ to haue suffered these things Luke 24.26 and so to enter into his glorie 1. Cor. 10.13 God who is faithfull and true as the Apostle speaketh hath not deceiued his Sonne nor ouer-sold his ioyes vnto his Saints and children and therfore vnspeakable are those ioyes which Christ hath purchased and his children obtained through a world of miseries Againe wee haue a resemblance of these ioyes in Christs transfiguration vpon the Mount Luk. 9.28.29.30.31.32.33 when as the fashion of his countenance was altered and his rayment was white and glistering whereby wee learne what glory our bodies shall haue in the day of the resurrection wheÌ„ as the blessed Apostle Saint Paul telleth vs that as we haue borne the image of the earthly we shall also beare the image of the heauenly 1. Cor. 15.49 and be like the Sonne of God in glory Againe we may make coniecture of these ioyes by reflecting our eyes vpon those innumerable perils which wee haue heere escaped For if such as are deliuered from the dangers of the sea doe wonderfully reioyce when they come safe on shore much greater then is the ioy of those who hauing beene tossed in the waues of this troublesome world troubled with sinnes with Satan with frailties of the flesh with the feare of hell whose dangers saith Gregorie appeare by the multitude of those that perish are now arriued at heauen for their hauen and are wholly freed from all their calamities and miseries And as Saint Augustine wel speaketh the more dangers escaped the more ioyes encreased as the most doubtfull battell maketh the most ioyfull victorie Againe we doe reade in the booke of Hester Hester 6.6.7.8.9.10.11 that when Haman was by King Ahashuerosh willed to speak what shal be done to the maÌ„ whom the King would honor he supposing that the King had no meaning to honor any but himselfe said this Let them bring forth for him royall apparell which the King vseth to weare and the horse that the King vseth to ride on and that the Crowne Royall may be set vpon his head and that his apparell and horse bee deliuered to one of the Kings most noble Princes that they may array the man withall whom the King delighteth to honor and bring him on horse-back thorow the streetes of the Citie and proclaime before him Thus shall it be done to the man whom the King will honor Then the King said to Haman Make haste c. Euen so shall it be done vnto them whom the King of kings and Lord of lords will honor after death First there shal be put vpon them royal apparel Reu. 3.4 5. euen long white roabes which are such as Iesus Christ the King of glory himselfe is described to weare Secondly they shal sit vpon Iesus Christ his owne horse Reu. 19.11 which is said in the booke of the Reuelation to be a white horse for Iohn there saith I saw heauen opened and behold a white horse and hee that sate vpon him was called faithfull and true To him therefore saith the Sonne of God that ouercommeth Reu. 3.21 will I grant to fit with me in my throne euen as I also ouercame and am set on my fathers throne Thirdly the Crowne royall shall bee set vpon their heads Be thou faithfull vnto death saith the Sonne of God and I will giue thee a crowne of life Reu. 2.10 And this is that most excellent glorie which the Saints haue in heauen shadowed out vnto vs by a kingly crowne which of all earthly things is most glorious Fourthly this glorie shal be furthered by the hands of the king of heauens most noble Princes Mat. 24.31 He shall send his Angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather his elect from the foure windes from one end of heauen to the other Fiftly and lastly the Saints shal be entred into the ful fruition of their inheritance with such ioy and triumph in the glorious assembly of all the Saints and holy Angels as the like was neuer seene in the world no not in Ierusalem that day when king Solomon sate downe in his father Dauids throne 1. King 1.40 But all that is nothing comparable to this ioy triumph and glorie of Gods Saints And it shal be as it were proclaimed before them Thus shall it bee done vnto them whom the King of glory will honour And this honour saith the Psalmist Psal 149.9 haue all his Saints There is no king on the earth can produce so ancient right to his Crown as the Christian effectually called can to these ioyes of heauen no maÌ„ on the earth can be acknowledged his fathers heire vpoÌ„ such sufficient warraÌ„t as the godly Christian No freeholder so surely infeoffed in his lands hauing so many confirmations of his right as hath the iustified Christian who vpoÌ„ his gift hath receiued the earnest the pledge the seale and the witnesse of the great king of glorie Wee doe reade in the first booke of the Kings that when the queene of Sheba heard of the fame of Salomon 1. King 10.11 concerning the name of the Lord she came from a very farre Countrey to proue him with hard questions and she communed with him of all that was in her heart and Salomon told her all her questions and there was not any thing hid from the king which he told her not And when shee had seene all Salomons wisedome and the house which he had built and the meat of his table and the siâ—ting of his seruants and the attendance of his ministers and their apparell and his Cup-bearers and his ascent by which he went vp into the house of the Lord. It is there said that there was no more spirit in her And she said to the king it was a true report that I
heard in mine owne land of thine acts and of thy wisedome how bee it I beleeued not the words vntill I came and mine eyes had seene and behold the one halfe was not told mee thy wisedome and prosperitie exceedeth the fame which I haue heard Happy are thy men happy are these thy seruants which stand continually before thee and heare thy wisedome Now if the queene of Sheba could say so much that the one halfe was not told her and that his wisedome and prosperity exceeded the fame which shee before had heard of him then much more may the child of God truly say when he commeth in his owne person to behold a farre greater then Salomon nay Mat. 12.42 not so much as one quarter of the glory and ioyes of heauen was told him and that the glory and ioyes thereof farre exceed the report fame and description which he hath heard For all the ioyes which we haue heard or can heare of when they are put all together they are all but as one poore drop of water to the maine Ocean sea in comparison of the ioyes which the Saints of God shall behold and enioy in their owne persons in the kingdome of glorie For no man knoweth them but such as enioy them according to that which is said in the booke of the Reuelation To him that ouercommeth Reu. 2.17 I will giue to eate of the hidden Manna and will giue him a white stone and in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth sauing bee that receiueth it Let me but shew you now what S. Augustine speaketh of the ioyes of heauen Wee may sooner tell you saith hee what they are not then what they are And hence it is that the euangelical Prophet Esay saith Isay 64.6 That since the beginning of the world men haue not heard nor perceiued by the eare neither hath the eye seene O God besides thee what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him For there we shall see light that passeth all lights which no eye hath seene there wee shall heare a glorious sound or harmonie which passeth all harmonies which no eare hath heard there wee shall smell a most sweet sent and sauour that passeth all sweet sents and sauours which no sense hath smelt there wee shall taste a most pleasant and delightfull taste that passeth all pleasant tastes which no tongue hath tasted and there we shall finde such pleasure and contentment as passeth all contentments and pleasures which no body euer had Nay I can not hold my heart for my ioy yea I cannot hold in my ioy for my heart to thinke vpon this ioy and glorie and to think that I that am now a silly poore worme vpon earth shall hereafter be a glorious Saint in the kingdome of glorie where is not onely true happinesse but perfection of happinesse not sound ioy onely but fulnesse of ioy which are so absolute and strange that neither eye hath seene to wit eye mortall nor eare hath heard 1. Cor. 2.9 that is eare of man hath not heard the like neither can they enter into our heart though all our hearts were as large euery one 1. King 4.29 as the heart of Salomon which God gaue vnto him euen as large as the sand that is on the sea-shore to conceiue and vnderstand them if they were told vs which are reuealed by the spirit and but lisped out by S. Iohn in those earthly similitudes of gates of pearles of walles of iasper Reu 21.18.19.21,22 and of a street whose pauement is gold as we heard before Dan 12.3 But it may be here obiected But in heauen saith the Prophet Daniel they that be wise shall shine as the brightnesse of the firmament and they that turne many vnto righteousnesse shall be as the starres for euer and euer Now the firmament hath not so much light as the starres which lighten it and the starres haue lesse light then the Sun that lightneth them from whence therefore it seemeth that in heauen also there should rather be some want then such fulnesse of heauenly ioyes and glorie I answer though in this condition of our heauenly life there may be degrees of glory In my fathers house saith our Sauiour Christ Iohn 14.2 are many mansions yet there shall be no want of glory some may be like the skie some the starres of the skie yet all shall shine some vessels may hold more some lesse and yet all bee full so one may haue more ioy then another there are sundry measures of more or lesse glory in heauen There is one glory of the Sunne saith the Apostle 1. Cor. 15 41 another of the Moone and another glory of the starres for one starre differeth from another in glory but no measure shal lacke his fulnesse of life and glory there where shall be a measure of ioy heaped vp shaken together pressed downe and running ouer And as Bernard very excellently speaketh Luke 6.38 a measure without measure where we shall be filled with ioy yet being filled wee shall still desire lest our fulnesse procure a loathing and in desiring we shall alwaies be filled lest our desire beget a grieuing neither can God giue more nor man receiue more then we shall there enioy for there we shall be replenished and satisfied with such a fulnesse of life glory and happinesse so as wee shall not bee able to desire or to haue any more euen as vessels cast into the water being so filled with water that they can desire or hold no more and he that hath least shall haue enough The reasons hereof are these Hell is contrarie to heauen In hell there is a fulnesse of torment in heauen therefore there must be a fulnesse and perfection of glory and happinesse Secondly earthly kingdomes and the kings therof haue as great an absolutenesse as earth can affoord and giue them and shal we thinke that heauen which can giue an entire wil giue an impefect crowne of righteousnesse and glorie Wil the kings of the earth dwel in base cottages and not in royal Courts and Pallaces and shall these kings of a far better kingdome want ioy and glorie wheras mortall kings haue so great glorie and power Princes on the earth dwell in royall palaces sometimes of Cedar and Iuorie but they whom the Sonne of God hath made kings and priests vnto God his Father Reu. 1.6 as it is in the booke of the Reuelation shall raigne in a glorious citie and pallace whose twelue gates are twelue pearles Reu. 21.18 whose wall is of Iasper and building of gold and whose streetes shine as cleare glasse So said he that saw all this glorie but darkely or as Moyses saw the land of Canaan in a very short mappe or card afarre off as it doth appeare in the booke of Deuteronomie Deut. 34.1,2.3.4 We see but the outward wall of this heauenly Court and City and yet how glorious is it and
how deckt with stars as with sparkling Diamonds What would wee say if wee could see into it Mat. 17.1 and behold though with Peter Iames and Iohn at a glance or blush superficially the goodly pauement of heauen within whose floore is of gold and wall about it garnished with precious stones Mat. 4.8 And what is a kingdome here where all the kingdomes of the world and the glorie of them were shewed in the twinkling of an eye Luke 4 5. as it is in the Gospel if there were not hope of a better kingdome where all shall be kings and reigne with Christ eternallly And they which here haue reigned as kings vpon the earth shall lose nothing but gaine immeasurably by the change yea kings and queenes which haue beene nursing fathers and nursing mothers to the Church of God as the Prophet speaketh when they come thither Isay 49.23 shall cast away their Crownes as Elias 2. King 2.13 when hee went vp by a whirlewind into heauen let his cloake or mantle fall from him and they shal repent nothing there saue that they came no sooner thither and when they shall compare their earthly and heauenly kingdomes together they shall say as S. Peter said of the mount Mat. 17.4 bonum est esse hic It is good to be here in heauen but for the earth they shall bee as loth to looke backe vnto it as Moyses to goe backe into the land of Egypt For their pallaces shall then seeme prisons their golden chaines golden fetters their crownes crosses and all their earthly honors but burdens and vexations But when they shall looke vpon the face of God they shall say to him with triumph as it is in the Psalme With thee is the well of life Psal 16.11 in thy presence is the fulnesse of ioy and at thy right hand are pleasures for euermore Thirdly if Adams paradise and garden was so delightsome and pleasant how pleasant and glorious is Gods owne seat of his owne residence He spake it with a wondring tongue whose heart could not comprehend so infinite an excellencie in saying as we haue heard before How glorious things are spoken of thee O thou city of God! Psal 87.3 For though in the letter this worthy Prophet spake of that earthly heauen which he confessed to be in the material tabernacle because of Gods presence and the godly exercises of Gods people performed there yet his meaning was vnder the cloud of the phrase to direct Gods children to a higher tabernacle and house of greater glory then that which was earthly and vnder the doome of time Againe saith the blessed Apostle 2. Cor. 3,7,8,9,10,11 If the ministration of death written and ingrauen in the stones was glorious so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance which glory was to bee done away how shall not the ministration of the spirit bee rather glorious For if the ministration of condemnation be glorious much more doth the ministration of righteousnesse exceed in glorie For euen that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect by reason of the glorie that excelleth For if that which was done away was glorious much more that which remaineth is glorious And if the preaching of the Gospel whereby God giueth his quickening spirit working the life of grace in his elect be glorious then much more shall the true professors of the Gospel be made partakers of farre greater glorie in the kingdome of heauen Againe wee doe reade in the first booke of Samuel 1. Sam. 18.23 that when Dauid was perswaded by Saul by the meanes of his seruant to become the Kings sonne in law it is there said by Dauid Seemeth it to you a light thing to be the Kings sonne in law seeing that I am a poore man and lightly esteemed Then if it be accounted a great honor and glory to be a sonne and childe to an earthly King much more honorable and glorious it is to be the sonne and childe of the King of heauen Behold saith Saint Iohn what manner of loue the Father hath bestowed vpon vs 1. Iohn 3.1 that wee should bee called the sonnes of God Which glorie all the tongues of men and Angels as wee haue heard before can in no wise expresse as witnesseth the blessed and glorious Apostle Saint Paul himselfe who was in it 2. Cor. 12.1,2,3,4,5 and saw it and therefore he saith I knew a man in Christ aboue foureteene yeeres agoe whether in the body I cannot tell or whether out of the bodie I cannot tell God knoweth such a one caught vp into the third heauen and heard vnspeakable words which it is not lawfull or possible for a man to vtter So great and infinite are the glory and ioyes of the kingdome of God as they cannot enter into vs and therefore it is appointed that we must enter into them Therefore it is said Matth. 25.21 Well done thou good and faithfull seruant thou hast beene faithfull ouer a few things I will make thee ruler ouer many things enter thou into the ioy of thy Lord. Now if the Queene of Sheba as we heard before pronounced the seruants of King Salomon happie 1. King 10.8 for that they stood continually before him and heard his wisdome then much more happy are the Saints and seruants of God who doe continually with his holy Angels stand and behold the glorious presence of one which is greater then King Salomon Matth. 18.10 euen the God of glory himselfe In which respect Saint Ambrose on his death bed said We are happie in this that we serue so good a Master Yea happie is the people saith the Psalmist that is in such a case Psal 144.15 yea happie is that people whose God is the Lord. Yea blessed and happie are all those which so liue in this world that departing hence they may be assured to come into so glorious a place and presence Wee see by experience when a Country-man hath beene trained vp sometime in the Court he forgetteth his clownish kinde of life and becommeth a Courtier let vs therefore leaue the speeches habite fashion and manners of this wicked world wherein we liue and inure our selues with the customes and course of the Court of heauen let all our thoughts words and communication testifie that in spirit wee are alreadie there Let my minde saith Augustine muse of it let my tongue talke of it let my heart loue it and my whole soule neuer cease to hunger and thirst after it In the meane time till thou come into this glorious place and presence aske of God by heartie and faithfull prayer to giue thee grace entirely and from the bottome of thy heart both to vnderstand and desire the ioyes and glory thereof and so to be affected and rauished with the delight thereof that euer and euery where thou mayest be stirred vp to serue