enigmatically but then we shall know him with a perfect cleare Meridian knowledge we shall know him as we are knowne of him and as he is known of the Angels in Heaven The man which was called by the Lord Iesus in a Vision the man which was taken up into the third heaven and saw things not to be uttered hath revealed this unto us in those words 1 Cor. 13.12 Now we see through a glasse darkly but then face to face now I know in part but then shall I know even as I and knowne Aquin. in 2 Cor. 3.18 What is knowledge but assimilatio cognoseentis ad cognitum a making of the subject knowing like to the object which is knowne So by knowing God perfectly we are made perfectly like unto him and being made perfectly like unto him we know him perfectly So the Virgin-Apostle and Prophet of the New Testament divinely argueth saying but wee know that when He shall appeare 1 Iohn 3.2 wee shall be like him for wee shall see him as he is As touching perfection in the will the estate of the Saints in heaven shall farre excell that of Adam in Paradise for he in his innocency there as St. Bernard notes Bern. de gra lib. arb had but an inferiour freedome Posse non peceare a power not to sinne whereas the glorified ones in heaven shall haue a superiour freedome Non posse peccare no power to sinne For they shall alwayes behold God the chiefe good the fountaine of good who maketh all them blessed who so behold him and that blessednes is such as includes all sufficient good and excludes all deficient evill from them that haue it Seeing they are now free Denizens and glorious Citizens of that holy Ierusalem whereof St. Gregorie saith Greg. in sept Psal paen in fine In eam nullus ingreditur impius nullus habitat iniquus nullus intrat immundus None that is ungodly goeth into it none that is unjust dwelleth in it none that is uncleane entreth into it There is no impietie no iniquirie no impuritie no evills no sinnes approach thither for as St. Prosper saith Nec peccata ibi ulla Prosp de vita contempl li. 1. cap. 4. nec peccatores erunt qui ibi fuerint jam peccare non poterint There shall neither be any sinnes nor sinners and they that shall be there shall now haue no power to sinne For they can will nothing but that which is good seeing they be now necessarily good not by any iron necessitie of compulsion or coaction for there is no such thing there but by a golden necessitie of immutabilitie which never altereth never changeth Such shall be the ineffable felicitie of the glorified Saints in heaven being now blessed with Angelicall perfection being made like unto the Angels in heaven God is righteous and therefore blessed wee are now unrighteous and therefore miserable but then being conformed to the image of God we shall be righteous and therefore blessed and consequently free from all miserie both in soule and bodie For whereas Adam had in this also Bern. de Gra. lib. Arb. an inferiour freedome Posse non turbari a power not to be troubled We shall then haue as St. Bernard noteth a superiour freedome a non posse turbari no power to be troubled to suffer any afflictiue misery whatsoever Our soules shall be free from any distemper passion and perturbation Aquin. in 1 Cor. cap. 15. lect 6. Our bodies shall be qualified with foure endowments like to the Sunne First claritie secondly agilitie thirdly subtilitie fourthly impassibilitie But what did I say like to the Sunne nay rather like to the sonne of God for we shall be like him in corporis gloria Ambr. in ca. 6. ad Roman non in divinitatis natura in the glory of his bodie not in the nature of his divinitie saith St. Ambrose For in the resurrection He will change us in a moment then as the Apostle teacheth us Phil. 3.21 He shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like to his glorious body So that we shall be free from all misery as he is free in his bodie Our senses and other faculties shall not be subject to any offence or hurt Our bodies shall no more be exposed to wounds maimes defects no distemper or paine no disease or infirmitie shall annoy them All tarditie and slownes of the mooving facultie shall be taken away for the bodie being now spirituall shall goe without any delay Prosp de vita contemp lib. 1. cap. 11. hindrance or difficultie Quecunque ire voluerit Spiritus angelicae beatitudinis aqualitate perfectus whither soever the Spirit will goe being perfect in equalitie with Angelicall blessednesse as St. Prosper saith Thus where the cause is taken away the effect must needs cease the evill of punishment shall alwayes be absent where the evill of sinne is never present For how is it possible that any miserie should be there where there is perfect charitie without dissimulation or hatred perfect peace without dissension or discord perfect health without languor or infirmitie where there is nothing but eternall happinesse and everlasting felicitie And the reason of all this is given by St. Iohn saying for the Lambe Revel 7.17 which is in the midst of the throne shall feede them and leade them unto living fountaines of waters and God shall wipe away all teares from their eyes CHAP. XXXIIII Of perfection by immortalitie in glorie THe first act of our essence is life without which wee haue no motion or sense no understanding willing or working Hereupon blessednesse which consisteth in act is properly ascribed to life and to that life which is eternall and immortall Many of the old Philosophers held immortalitie of the soule but not of the bodie that was an idle fancie grosse and absurd with them But we know by the Christian veritie and steadfastly beleeue that our bodies in the resurrection shall rise incorruptible and liue ever For although the bodies of reprobates shall me againe and liue ever Quead substantiam vivendi in respect of the substance of life yet quoad qualitatem vivendi in regard of the qualitie of life they being in perpetuall horror and torments are rightly said to perish and die eternally Aug. 〈◊〉 cap. 92. Seeing as St. Augustine saith Vera vita non est nisi ubi faliciter vivitur It is not true life but where there is an happie life Neither may it seeme strange that a body glorified should be immortall seeing the body of Adam in the state of innocency in that earthly Paradise was immortall For as St. Augustine affirmeth that the body of Adam before sinne was both mortall and immortall Aug. in Gen. ad lit lib. 6. cap. 25. mortall quia poterat mori because it had a power to die and immortall quia poter at non mori because it had a power not to die Adam no doubt
the Eagle soaring upon high could say Iohn 1.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Word was made flesh And the trumpet of grace proclaiming the great mysterie of godlinesse beginnes with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God was manifested in the flesh 1 Tim. 3.16 Thus the Sonne of God by nature voluntarily and graciously became the sonne of man that the sonnes of men might in him become the sons of God by grace In this most mysterious worke of Christs in carnation St. Bernard observeth Bern. de consid li. 5. c. 9. that as in GOD there are three persons and one essence so by a most convenient contrarietie there be in Christ three essences and one person Which three essences are his reasonable soule his humane flesh his Deitie Now the two former essences make up the humane nature in Christ for although there be three essences yet are there but two natures And though there be two natures yet is there but one person and not two as Nestorius the hereticke taught Now although the humane nature in Christ be not a person yet is it individually and numerically distinguished from the particular humane nature in Moses and Peter and each other man But it is individnum extraordinarium it is an extraordinarie individuall humane nature which never had any subsistence in it selfe or for it selfe but in divino supposito 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Word in the Sonne of God And it is an extraordinary individuall humane nature because altogether without sinne First without originall sinne which is propagated from Adam by the Father but our Saviour had no such earthly Father and consequently no originall sinne Secondly without actuall sinne in that the humane nature in the first moment of conception was by Hypostaticall union of the Deitie perfectly sanctified made impeccabilis free from any power or possibilitie of sinning Hence by way of excellency he is that sonne of man 2 Cor. 3.28 who knew no sinne Now our blessed Saviour in regard of his two natures was medius inter Deum hominem a meane betwixt God and man as participating of both but a Mediatour in respect of his office of reconciliation and redemption For there is one God and one Mediatour betwixt God and men 1 Tim. 2.5 the man Christ Iesus And it is to be observed that the Apostle saith not God but the man Christ Iesus For God could not die unlesse he had been man But God was made man that he might die for man and so reconcile man unto God Hereupon Fulgent serm de dupl nativ Domini Fulgentius saith Conceptus in utero factus est particeps mortis nostrae being conceived in the wombe he was made partaker of death with us And Saint Augustine to the same purpose saith Aug. in Psal 148. Accepit exte unde moreretur prote He tooke that of thee wherein he might die for thee CHAP. XI Christs Passion SINNE according to St. Iohns description is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Iohn 3.4 a transgression of the Law a privation of righteousnesse commanded therein Now a privation is minimae entitatis sed maximae efficaciae of the least entitie but of the greatest efficacie Which is most true in sinne For what was there in the whole world in heaven or earth that could cause the death of the Son of God or as St. Augustine speakes Vt aeternus moreretur that he who is eternall should die but onely sinne And that not his owne but ours our prophanenesse our crueltie pride luxurie covetousnesse intemperance our lies our oaths our innumerable sinnes All which were made his not by inherence but by imputation And he tooke them all upon him not subjectivè but expiativè not subjectiuely but by way of expiation to satisfie the justice and appease the wrath of his Father for them For by shedding his bloud on the Crosse for our sinnes he cancelled the fearefull bond and put out the hand-writing against us And so as the Apostle testifieth in him haue we redemption through his bloud even the forgiuenesse of our sinnes Ephes 1.7 according to the riches of his grace Our most gracious Saviour in that bitter agonie of his most dolorous passion upon the Crosse might well complaine with Ieremie the sonne of Hilkiah Behold and see Lam. 1.12 if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow And may not all that by faith embrace him crucified on the Crosse most truely say behold and see if there be any loue like unto his loue who so loved us that he laid downe his life for us who so loved us that he gaue himselfe for us Here is loue without measure unparalleled charitie without any example Iohn 15.13 Greater loue hath no man than this that a man lay downe his life for his friends Yea but the loue of Iesus exceeded the loue of men it passed the loue of Damon and Pythias of David and Ionathan it surpassed the loue of women For as the chosen vessell of mercy noteth God commendeth his loue towards us in that while wee were yet sinners Christ dyed for us Rom. 5.8 and in the tenth verse following more emphatically he intimateth that when wee were enemies we were reconciled unto God by the death of his Sonne much more being reconciled wee shall be saved by his life O most wonderfull death O most meritorious work of supenerogation wherein stands our righteousnesse and everlasting salvation O most happie death bringing to man eternall life Mors Christi mors est meae mortis quoniam ille mortuus est ut ego viverem Bernard ad Milit. rempl cap. 11. saith holy Bernard The death of Christ is the death of my death for he dyed that I might live CHAP. XII Christs Resurrection LEt us now passe from the Crosse of our Lord Iesus and walke unto his sepulcher in the garden of Iosseph of Arimathea and see whether his most sacred body be there But loe we haue the voice of an Angell telling us He is not here Math. 28.6 for he is risen Here our blessed Saviours resurrection is proclaimed by an Herald from Heaven by an Angell Whereby we know that he is a perfect Mediatour betwixt God and us tam merito quà m efficaciâ as well by the merit of his passion as by the power and efficacy of his resurrection Satan the Serpent thought he had strangled the fruit of our redemption by procuring that ignominious and shamefull death of Christ on the Crosse supposing to haue kept him under the chaines of darknesse Aug. serm 1. in fest ascens But as St. Augustine writeth Muscipula Diaboli crux Christi esca quâ caperetur mors Christi the Crosse of Christ was the Devills trap the baite whereby he was taken was the death of Christ So the deceiver was deceived the subtile Serpent was beguiled for it was not possible that he should keepe him under death who is the Lord of life John 11.25
crowne meete for your labour Perseverance immediately beginneth to attend on grace the mother of all vertues when it is first infused but is not compleate untill death untill the infusion of finall grace which perfectly extinguisheth all evill concupiscence and is the utter deletion or taking away of all sinne and sinfulnesse As the Crowne on the Kings head giveth an eminent splend our and luster to his royall robes and other 〈◊〉 ornaments so the grace of perseverance is the glorious complement crowne of all other vertues and is an infallible guide to leade us into the kingdome of glorie Therefore our Saviour saith not he that shall begin Math. 24.13 but he that shall endure unto the end shall be saved And to the Angell in the Church of Smyrna he saith Be thou faithfull unto death and I will giue thee a crowne of life Apoc. 2. â—0 We are now in our spirituall course and race we must so runne that we may obtaine wee are now in the combat we must so fight that we may over come Which that we may doe we are to implore and desire by fervent and incessant prayer that God would prevent and follow us with grace all the dayes of our life that so at the end of our dayes we may confidently and comfortably say with the chosen vessell of mercy I have fought a good fight 2 Tim. 4. v. 7 8. I haue finished my course I haue kept the faith Henceforth there is laid up for me a crowne of righteousnesse which the Lord the righteous Iudge shall giue me at that day and not unto me onely but unto them also which loue his appearing CHAP. XXXIII Of perfection in glorie SAint Paul the chosen vessell of mercy and trumpet of grace Rom. 8.30 uniteth and maketh up the golden chaine of our salvation with foure linkes First Predestination secondly Vocation thirdly Iustification fourthly Glorification Where hee expresseth not our sanctification as being included in our glorification according to the exposition of Aquinas Aquin. in cp ad Rom. cap. 8. saying Glorificamur in hac vita per prefectune virturis gratia in futura per exaltationem gloria We are glorified in this life by proficiency of vertue and grace in the life to come by exaltation of glory And indeed grace is glorie inchoate or begun glorie is grace consummate and perfected and our imperfect perfection by grace here is a previous preparing and disposing of us unto that absolute perfection which wee shall haue being cloathed and adorned with the stole of glorie For even in this life wee are freed in part from those foure evills which are maine impediments to our absolute perfection and this freedome is meerely from grace in Christ Iesus The first evill hindering our perfection is error in the understanding from which we are freed in part by the Spirit of grace leading of us into all truth and teaching us all things necessary unto salvation The second evill a let to perfection is sinne in the will from which wee are also partly freed by grace in Christ and that two wayes First Rom. 6.14 from the dominion of it For sinne shall not haue dominion over you because yee are not under the Law but under grace saith the Apostle secondly from the condemnation of sinne seeing Rom. 8.1 there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Iesus which walke not after the flesh but after the Spirit The third evill hindrance of our perfection is misery and afflictions from which by faith and spirituall fortitude we are freed in part that they may not swallow us up that the flouds of great waters the over-flowings of feare and despaire may never prevaile against us never over whelme us In the world you shall haue tribulation but be of good cheare saith Christ I haue overcome the world The last evill letting our perfection is death And from this also we are freed in part by grace not onely from spirituall and eternall death but even from corporall in two respects First from the sting thereof 1 Iohn 1. v. 7. which is sinne 1 Cor. 15.56 for by the bloud of Christ wee are cleansed from all sinne Secondly in regard of dominion for death shall not tyrannize over us for ever for in the resurrection at the sound of the Trumpet 1 Cor. 15.52 wee shall be raised incorruptible and never die any more Whereas the bodies of the unjust shall rise but from corporall to eternall death wherein they shall be ever dying but never dead which moved holy Bernard to cry out Bern. de consid li. 5. ca. 12. Alas saith he quis det illis semel mori ut non moriantur in aternum who might grant them once to die that so they might not die for ever Thus are we freed in part by grace from these foure evill impediments of perfection But in the stare of glorie we shall be wholy and entirely exempted from the in for then shall we be free from all darknesse of error obliquitie of sinne from all of stictive misery and destroying death Yea we shall be free from them after a more excellent mother than Adam was in Paradise in the state of innocency For it pleased the omnipotent goodnesse and wisedome who bringeth light out of darknesse life out of death and good out of evill even by the fall of man to raise him up in Christ to a more eminent and high state of perfection It is true that Adam in his integritie had power not to erre not to sinne not to suffer misery not to die but it is also true that he had power to erre to sinne to suffer misery to die which by wofull experiment he brought into act by disobeying the command of his creator Ever since the poison and contagion of disobedience hath tainted and corrupted all the veines of his rebellious children and miserable posteritie Now in the state of glory in that heavenly Paradise we shall obtaine such a transcendent degree of perfection as that we shall haue no power in our understanding to erre in our will to sinne no power to suffer misery and devouring death In that ineffable glorie wee being perfectly changed into the image of the Lord the knowledge of all things shall be seene of us not by parts but wholly and at once as St. Prosper saith Prosp de vita contemplat li. 1. cap. 6. We shall see all things clearely without error by beholding him who is all truth Now wee see through a glasse darkly that incomprehensible light we behold him now through a three-fold glasse First of the creatures secondly of his workes of justice and mercie thirdly of the holy Scriptures But then we shall see him perfectly clearely face to face with unspeakeable joy and delight and herein confists our essentiall alsufficient blessednesse therefore Philip said unto Christ Lord shew us the Father and it sufficeth Iohn 14.8 Now we know God but imperfectly