comparison that Saint Iohn vseth in describing the ioyes of the kingdome of heauen calling them the Lambes supper Reu. 19 9. but indeed all the delicates in the world are not to be compared to the feasting of a good conscience This the Spouse sheweth in the second of the Canticles Can. 2.5 He brought me into his wineseller Loue was his banner ouer me Lo here the Ambrosian Nectar wherewith Christ Iesus maketh the heart of his spouse glad causing her to cry out Stay me with flagons Ver. 6. and comfort me with apples for I am sicke with loue where the sacred soule is cast into a holy swound being rauished with the vnspeakeable comfort that she enioyes vpon this peace of conscience Indeed these heauenly ioyes and comforts are not tasted of the wicked for how can they see that haue no eyes or those rellish the peace of coÌ„science which want their spirituall tast Yea who is able to expresse the excellencie of this peace nay who is able to conceiue it but those that enioy it Neither indeed are they able for it passeth all vnderstanding Phil. 4.7 In respect of which large excelleÌ„cie of the peace of conscience it may very wel be counted a part of the kingdome of heauen whose ioyes are endlesse and infinite If we consider the fountains also from whence this spirituall peace doth spring wee shall perceiue that our present comfort vpon earth and future consolation to be enioyed hereafter in heauen do both arise and flow from the same heads and fall into the same Ocean of felicitie 1 A iustifying faith yeelds this peace Rom. 5.2 for being iustified by faith wee haue peace towards God through our Lord Iesus Christ And this peace yeelds ioy as it followeth in the next verse and that no small ioy for they that doe truely beleeue in Christ Iesus 1. Pet. 1.8 doe reioyce with ioy vnspeakeable and glorious What could the Apostle haue said more of the ioy which the Saints shall enioy hereafter in the kingdome of heauen then to call it Vnspeakable glorious no maruell for as the first sight of the blind man wherby he saw men walke like trees Mar. 8.28 was the same whereby he saw them to be men a far off though it was at the first more confused so the inchoate ioy and peace of coÌ„science which wee obtaine in this life being vnspeakeable glorious and passing all vnderstanding hath more then a resemblance of that celestiall glorie which shall be imparted more abundantly and perfectly in the life to come 2 The children of God are endued with the spirit of God whereby they receiue the comfortable testimonie of their adoption Rom. 8. the same manumitting spirit doth also yeeld them most heauenly consolation Ioh. 14.16 3. This peace of conscience is the fruite of a holy conuersation as I said before and the Apostle can tell vs of his owne experience for his reioycing is this 2. Cor. 1.12 the testimonie of his conscience that in simplicitie and godly purenesse he hath had his conuersation in the world Besides this there is also an vndoubted Hope which being the first fruites of the spirit doth after a sort put the children of God in possession of the kingdome of heauen So that wheÌ„ they do from the watch tower of a good conscience lift vp this Iacobs staffe or rather this Iacobs ladder Gen. 28.12 of a stedfast hope vnto the heauens and there behold with holy Stephen the glory of God Act. 7. it rauisheth and reioyceth their hearts more then any tongue is able to expresse Thus do the godly in this life tast of the ioyes of heauen the sweetnesse whereof is such that it swalloweth vp all the waues of temporall distresses causing them with Paule and Silas to sing Psalmes in the prison and to say with Dauid Act. 16.25 Psa 94.19 In the middest of all my troubles thy comforts ô Lord haue refreshed my soule Which maruellous effect this peace of conscience could neuer haue in encountering and conquering these infinite earthly calamities were it not of a diuine and heauenly Nature But what haue all the children of God this peace and comfort alike Surely no but according to Zeba Zalmunnaes words As the man is Iud. 8.21 so is his strength it may be said in this case as the man is so is his comfort and ioy For where the life is qualified with a great measure of grace there the heart is replenished with a great measure of ioy Neither are these ioyes alwaies participated alike but as the heauens are sometime bright and sometime obscured so the Sunne of comfort shineth sometimes more brightly sometimes obscurely in the hearts of Gods children So that one while they complaine thus Psal 77. Will the Lord absent himselfe for euer and will hee shew no more fauour and other whiles Psal 35.9 their soule is ioyfull in the Lord and all their bones do say Who is like vnto thee ô Lord yet euen in their greatest distresse Dulciores sunt lachrymae orantâ—uÌ„ quà m gaudia Theatrorum Aug. super Psal 1â—7 the very teares of the godly are sweeter then all the showtes laughters at the Theaters This being the excellencie of the peace of conscience let it be thy care good Christian to obtaine and maintaine it A kinde and comfortable friend is much woorth but who can prize the peace of a quiet conscience Lo it was the best hymne the blessed Angels could sing Luk. 2.14 Glorie be to God in the highest heauens and peace on the earth The best Legacie our Sauiour could leaue to his seruants My peace I leaue with you Iohn 14.27 my peace I giue you The best prayer the Apostle could make for the Thessalonians Now the Lord of peace 2. Thes 3.16 giue you peace alwaies by all means Though there be many that say Psal 4. Who will shew vs any good and haue their minds wholy set vpon their corne their wine and oyle yet the godly haue more true gladnesse from the Lords countenance by a thousand degrees then the worldling hath in all these transitorie trifles Hast thou a good conscience then cherish it it is the greatest blessing vnder heauen Is this peace and comfort of conscience wanting or weake in thee then vse the meanes whereby the same is procured and preserued Labour to obtaine a sound faith a sanctified life Esa 32.17 for the worke of righteousnesse is peace Melchizedec being king of righteousnesse Heb. 7.2 was after that the king of peace get righteousnesse and peace will follow it Psal 85.11 For righteousnesse and peace will kisse each other yea the more thou art conuersant in holinesse of conuersation the more abundant shalt thou be in the comfortable peace of conscience For where righteousnesse flourisheth Psal 72.7 there shall be abundance of peace Behold it will be thy companion both
by day and by night at home and abroad in life and in death yea it will not onely guide thee as Moses did the children of Israel to the celestiall Canaan but as Iosua did will there take vp her habitation with thee for euer And as the starre led the Wise men till they came to Christ Mat. â— and then stood still so shall this light of ioy leade thee to the kingdome of heauen and there stand still in the firmament of thy soule world without end SECT 3. The third steppe to Heauen before the day of iudgement namely Ioy comfort at the day of death THe traueller that hath a long iourney to take though happely hee meete with many delights by the way yet is glad when he cometh within the kenne of his countrie but reioyceth exceedingly when hee hath attained the end of his iourney Behold the waies of righteousnesse are the steps we take in our trauaile the peace of conscience setteth before vs the ioy of the heauenly mansions but the day of death giueth vs fruition thereof and is therefore to be desired of all those that are trauelling the right way to the kingdome of heauen The heauenly bodies are best seene in the euening when the Sunne is set and the heauenly ioyes are most enioyed at the euening of our dayes when the Sunne of our life is set by reason that the soule is then deliuered from a masse of corruptions and both soule and bodie from a mixture of infinite miseries The godly may now especially be said to set foote into heauen in a twofold respect First because they are freed from the calamities of this life the bitternesse whereof doth greatly allay the sweetnesse of the heauenly ioyes Secondly Eccles 12 7 because their soules returning to God do actually possesse those eternall ioyes which the kingdome of heauen doth yeeld 1 Concerning this life what is it but a vale of miserie and what is the fruite thereof Psal 90.10 but labour and sorrow therefore doth the Oracle of heauen rightly pronounce Reu. 14 13. Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord because they cease from their labours The sea-faring man is glad when he meets with a pleasant gale of winde that will bring him to the hauen where he would bee Lo this world is the sea the bodie the shippe the soule the mariner and death the pleasant gale of wind that brings vs into the hauen of eternal blisse This the Apostle insinuates in an elegant Metaphor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. 2.23 when he saith I long to be dissâ—lued and to bee with Christ. When Noah had bin tossed vp and downe in the floud almost a whole yeare was he not glad thinke you of mount Ararat whereupon he rested the Arke So the children of God hauing bene tossed vp and downe the waters of this wicked world peraduenture for many yeares haue they not reason to be glad of the day of death the mount Ararat that giues rest to the beaten barke of their turmoyled soules bodies Is the soule kept in the bodie as it were in a prison Seneca Tully c. and is not the day of death therefore to be desired as the day of deliuerance from imprisonment Surely yes and that makes Simeon to say Lord Luk 2.29 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thou loosest now lettest thou thy seruant depart in peace according to thy word The dayes of man saith Iob are as the dayes of an hireling Iob. 7.2 And as the seruant longeth for the shadow and an hireling looketh for the end of his worke so do the godly looke and long for the euening Sun-set of their age because then the time of labour is past and the day of paiment comes in which causeth theÌ„ to pray Euen so Reu. 22.20 come Lord Iesus 2 As the faithfull are by death deliuered from the miseries of this life which hindred their felicitie so are they by it as it were by a gate led and let into the ioyes of heauen For the soules of the iust when by death they pay the old debt do receiue a new reward of ioy which they shall neuer repay Salomon saith comfortably Pro. 14.32 The righteous hath hope in his death but the Apostle more comfortably We know 2. Cor. 5.1 that if our earthly house of this tabernacle bee destroyed we haue a building giuen of God euen an house not made with hands but eternall in the heauens If the godly dyed doubtfully and with a staggering confidence there were some reason they should suffer a wonderfull conflict and reluctation in death but seeing they commit their soules into the hands of a faithfull Creator 1. Pet. 4.19 and their bodies to the ground with an assured confidence that at the last day they shall with the same eyes behold their Redeemer Iob. 19. who will send his Angels to fetch them and hath promised to glorifie them seeing that being dissolued they shall be with Christ Phil. 1.23 haue the reward of their workes following them to heauen Reu. 14.13 where their time shall bee spent in singing the hymnes of prayses to the harpe of glorie Reu. 5.8.9 haue they not reason to long for death to search for it more then for treasures and to reioyce when they finde it Dauid saith that the death of the Saints is precious in the sight of the Lord. Psa 116.15 And our Sauiour makes the day of death the Saints seede time for that happie haruest wherein the Angels shall be reapers to gather the good corne into the Lords barne the kingdome of heauen For except the wheate corne fall into the ground and dye Ioh. 12.24 it bideth alone but if it dye it bringeth foorth much fruite Seeing now that death is of such singular vse to the godly wee see that to bee a most false position of the Philosopher and an erroneous opinion of many Christians That death is the worst and most terrible thing that can happen to man For albeit that to the wicked it be so yet to the godly it is not to whome if either you respect their freedome from temporall miseries or the fruition of eternall felicitie The day of death is better Eccles 7.3 then the day that they are borne If the house wherein thou dwellest were rotten Cypr. de mortal sect 17. and readie to fall on thy head if the shippe wherein thou art carried leaked very daungerously and like to drowne thee wouldest thou not leaue thy house and desire the shore that might yeeld thee safetie Then maruell not that the godly desire to be freed from the crazed houses and leaking shippes of their mortall bodies and long for the houses hauens of euerlasting securitie What though death be a serpent and sting the wicked griping them at the heart yet to the elect Christ hath vanquished this serpent and plucked out his sting yea deaths sting being sinne
Citizens of heauen meaning indeede that as we are infranchised and incorporated into the heauenly Ierusalem our coÌ„uersation should bee correspondent to this dignitie And of this priuiledge doth he speak very comfortably Ephes 2.6 saying that God hath raised vs vp together made vs sit together in the heauenly places in Christ Iesus So that Gods Saints on earth though they be poore and base in regard of their outward estate yet being faithfull they are heires of grace and haue seates of honour in heauen together with the thrones and dominations and are therefore no more strangers and forrainers Eph. 2.19 but Citizens with the Saints and of the houshold of faith True it is that as yet the childreÌ„ of God on earth do not actually but potentially and mystically enioy these priuiledges yet because of the present comfort and future certainetie thereof they are actually ascribed to them as alreadie obtained When our Sauior meanes to comfort his seruants to banish distrust of Gods prouidence he saith Feare not little flocke Luk. 12. for it is yours Fathers will to giue you a kingdome Loe this kingdome the Lord doth assure to his children in this life by giuing them the earnest of his spirit for the assurance of the same Howbeit 2. Cor. 5.5 as Dauid was annoynted by Samuel a great while before he obtained the Crowne so doth the Lord annoint his children in this life with the oyle of gladnesse but sets not the crowne of glory vpon their heades 2. Tim. 4.8 till the triumphant appearing of Christ Iesus 1. Joh 3.2 Dearely beloued euen now are we the sons of God saith Saint Iohn so that being adopted in Christ Rom. 8.17 and heires annexed with him we haue assurance of that heauenly dignitie which is prepared in the heauenly places for the sons of God Thus the godly in respect of the remission of their sinnes the sanctificatioÌ„ of lâ—fe their vnioÌ„ with God their ingrafting into Christ their Communion with the Saints and other priuiledges of grace and happinesse whereof they are possessed may very well bee said to haue made an entrance and set foot into the kingdome of heauen and to haue a glimpse of that glory which shall shine most resplendently at the great day of reward These things being wisely weighed in the ballance of a sanctified soule yeeld sundrie profitable vses 1. Hereby a man may haue triall of his future estate by duly considering his present condition Is thy hart profane thy faith dead and thy conuersation wicked then may I say to thee as Iehu said to IehoraÌ„ 2. King 9. What hast thou to do with peace what hast thou to do with the kingdome of heauen which belongeth onely to the righteous and hath no roome for the vnrighteous 1. Cor. 6.9 Reu. 21.27 nor entertaineth any vncleane thing But canst thou discerne in thy selfe a sound faith though it be like smoking flâ—xe and an vpright conuersation albeit not free from all infirmitie then may I say to thee as our Sauiour said to Zachaeus Luk. 19.9 This day is saluation come to thy house thou hast set one foote into heauen 2 This may be a motiue to holinesse of life and conuersation Some in the weakenesse or profanenesse of their hearts will bee readie to demaund Mal. 3 14. What profite is it to keepe Gods commandements to walk humbly before the Lord of hostes and behold such a one may here receiue an answer for we see that the godly are in this life interessed in many heauenly priuiledges and shall assuredly in the life to come be partakers of euerlasting happinesse Therfore Saint Peter hauing exhorted men to linke a iustifying faith with sanctified vertues in a golden chaine concludes his exhortation with this reason 2. Pet. 1.5.11 For by this meanes an entring shall be ministred vnto you abundantly into the euerlasting kingdome of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ making the kingdom of Grace the portall to the kingdome of Glorie 3 To a faithfull and a godly man this meditation may minister much cause of true comfort Luk. 10. Reioyce in this saith our Sauiour that your names are written in heauen so let this bee thy comfort my Christian brother that the Almightie hath enrolled thee amongst the holy companie of heauen And herein blesse God for his mercie with the blessed Apostle who considering the greatnesse of his fauour vouchsafed to the Colossians rendreth hearty thanks to God for deliuering them out of the power of darknesse Col. 1.13 and translating them into the kingdome of his deare sonne A man that stands vpon a high and sure rocke laughes to scorne the rough surges of the raging seas and so may a Christian that hath laide this good foundation of a sound faith and a sanctified life safely reioyce against all the surges of troubles and temptations whatsoeuer For though the raine fall Mat. 7.25 and the flouds come and the windes blow and beat vpon this building it shall not fall because it is builded vpon a rocke yea the gates of hell shall not be able to preuaile against it SECT 2. The second steppe to heauen before the day of iudgement namely Peace of conscience AS sorrow of heart and horror of conscience are the vsuall fruites of sinne and iniquitie so is ioy of heart and peace of conscience an ordinarie companion of godlinesse and honestie Gen. 3.8 Adam hauing transgressed and defiled himselfe with sinne when God cals for him doth hide himselfe Abraham a man of a sound faith prompt obedience Gen. 22.1 when the Lord speakes to him answereth chearefully Here am I. Thus we see both parts of the Prouerbe fulfilled Prou. 28.1 The wicked flyeth when none pursueth him but the righteous is bold as a lyon When the heauens are clogged with foggie mists it causeth a sudden darkenesse vpon the face of the earth and when the bodie is oppressed with pale melancholie humors the heart is heauie and the countenance cast downe but the mistes being expelled by the brightnesse of the Sunne all the Horizon laughes for ioy and the pale humors being purged the heart is ioyfull and makes the countenance chearfull So do the mistes and humors of sinne clogge and molest the heart of man but the same being expelled and purged by the bright Sun-shine of righteousnesse the heart is enlarged and reioyceth yea daunceth with ioy as Dauid speaketh Psal 13.5 and the heart being ioyfull maketh a chearefull coâ—ntenance Pro. 15.13 so that the voyce of ioy and gladnesse is heard in the tabernacles of the righteous Psa 118.15 And this ioyfulnesse of hart chearefulnesse of face and gladnesse of tongue do testifie Rom. 14.7 that the kingdome of God is righteousnesse peace and ioy in the holy Ghost Of this fruite doth Salomon speake where he saith Pro. 15.15 That a good conscience is a continuall feast setting it foorth with the same
that tree of life which hath twelue kinds of fruites and beareth fruite euerie moneth and so shall liue for euer to enioy those ioyes that are infinite and permanent and they shall drinke of the Christall water that springs in Paradise being an Ocean without brimme or bottome which can neuer be dryed but floweth with her siluer streames to euerlasting life Ioh. 4 Therefore as Saint Paule saith that the ioyes of heauen are so great that no tongue is able to expresse or vtter them so may I say they are so permanent that no time can consume or end them This Meditation hath three principall vses 1 It may cause vs to beare patiently and take thankefully the crosses and calamities of this life considering that they being short and momentanie 2. Cor. 4.17 do procure vnto vs an euerlasting weight of glorie For who would not indure much miserie to enioy eternall felicitie If we be killed all the day long Psa 44.22 yea if we were tortured all our life long what were that to the endlesse ioy and blisse of the kingdome of heauen God forbid therefore that tribulation or anguish or persecution or famine or nakednesse or perill or sword or any or all the distresses and calamities in the world should cause vs to neglect our euerlasting inheritance Saint Paul hauing shewed that we shall be taken vp by Christ at his second comming 1. Thes 4.17 18. and be with him for euer concludeth thereupon Comfort your selues with these words A coÌ„fort indeed fit to counterpoise a greater miserie then death can yeeld But if the Apostles exhortation perswade not yet should Christs example preuaile with vs Heb. 12.2 Who for the ioy that was set before him endured the crosse despised the sham and is set at the right hand of the throne of God If then either sicknesse or pouertie persecution or any such affliction befall thee doe but thinke with Christ Iesus vpon the eternall glorie that is prepared in the kingdome of heauen and the meditation thereof will be as sugar to sweeten thy calamities 2 Seeing the ioyes of heauen are eternall it is our part with paines and perseuerance to labour for them Balaam was rauished with the ioyes of heauen Num. 23. yet did he not enioy them The Ruler that kneeled to our Sauiour Mar. 10.17 and said Good maister what shall I do to possesse eternall life had a good conceit of this blessednesse but this was his fault that he would not do what hee was commaunded to obtaine it And is not that the fault and folly of most people who though they seeme to be much affected with the ioyes of heauen will not yet take paines to attaine vnto them In them is our Sauiours saying verified Luk. 13.24 Many shall seeke to enter into heauen but shall not be able And why Doubtlesse because they take not paines with perseuerance in well doing And therefore hee bids Striue to enter into it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vsing a Metaphor drawne from Champions who bend all their forces and employ their best indeuors to attaine the price and the trophies of triumph When the spies which Iosua sent to view the land of Canaan returned they said Num. 13.28 Surely the land floweth with milke and honie and here is of the fruite of it neuerthelesse the people be strong that dwell in the land and the cities are walled and exceeding great and moreouer we saw the sons of Anak there Nu. 14.1.2 Thus were the children of Israel discouraged And so fareth it with many in the consideration of the kingdome of heauen They will confesse that it is a place which floweth with the milke and honie of vnspeakable ioy and yeeldeth the excellent fruite of eternall glorie yet because they must contend with many daungers and difficulties they must subdue their corrupt affections Rom. 7.5.23 which are like strong men and conquer the spirituall wickednesses which are in the high places Eph. 6.12 who resemble the Anakims they are dismayed and so do lose the blessed land euen the land of the liuing To such I may say with the children of Dan Iud. 18.9.10 Seeing the land is good and a place that lacketh nothing in the world let vs not sit still and be slouthfull to go and enter to possesse the land yea seeing the kingdome of heauen is a blessed place and lacketh no good thing that the tongue can expresse or heart imagine let vs not be carelesse and negligent in seeking to possâ—sse it which if we be our desire thereunto shall be fruitlesse for excellent things are difficult No paines seeme too great for the attaining of temporall pleasures and dignities which are very short and temporarie yea diuerse of the Philosophers haue exposed themselues not onely to daungers but euen to death it selfe for the attaining of a little vaine transitorie glorie how much more then should wee bâ— willing to spend our paines wit wealth strength yea and life it selfe for the obtaining of those pleasures and that glorie which are without measure and shall neuer haue an end 3 To conclude are the ioyes of heauen so exquisite is the felicitie permanent and the glorie eternall Where then is that audacious man liuing that dares say he hath merited them Ambros in Serm. 16 in Psal 119. yea or the least of them Who is able to match such excellent benefits of saluation with correspondent seruice If any thing were meritorious then were persecutions and afflictions But the Apostle iudgeth Rom. 8.18 that the afflictions of this present time are not worthie of the glorie that shalâ— be reuealed vnto vs and elsewhere he giueth this reason of his iudgement 2. Cor. 4.17 Our afflictions are light the glorie is weightie our afflictions are but for a moment the glorie is eternall In so great a disproportion of value and estimation though there be a most certaine reward of mercie yet where is the recompence that should rise vpon merit Let vs learne therefore to confesse with Iacob I am vnworthie Lord Gen. 32.10 the least of all thy mercies much more of this eternall weight of glorie Let vs cast downe our crownes of glorie at the feet of Christ with the Elders in the ReuelatioÌ„ Reu. 4.10 and say with the blessed Apostle Vnto the God of all grace 1. Pet. 5.10 11. who hath called vs vnto his eternall glorie by Christ Iesus be glorie and dominion for euer and euer Amen FINIS
A THREE-FOLD RESOLVTION verie necessarie to saluation Describing EARTHS VANITIE HELS HORROR HEAVENS FELICITIE PSAL. 107.43 Who so is wise will ponder these things By IOHN DENISON Batchelour in Diuinitie LONDON Printed by Richard Field for Iohn Norton 1608. ⧠To the right worshipfull Sir William Willoughby Knight the best blessings of this life and euerlasting blessednesse in the life to come ALthough right worshipfull my many employments well knowne vnto you might seeme a sufficient remora to my pen yet my desire by all meanes to do good hath more preuailed with me then those lets wherewith I haue conuersed These meditations a testimonie of my desires I make bold to present vnto you to whom if they be worthy of any respect they do belong in many respects as I might sufficiently manifest but that I hold it more expedient to remaine a thankfull silent debter then to become a publicke trumpeter of your priuate fauours If you iudge them worthie vouchsafe them I pray you your patronage if not your pardon at least your acceptance as a token of his thankefull minde who will euer rest Your Worships at commaundment in Christ Iesus I. D. 1 Let heauens powre downe their sweetest influence Let them inrich you with the earths best treasures Let them withall instill truths quintessence Heau'ns ioyes do far surmount all earthly pleasures 2 Let the celestiall powers you guard and guide And countermine when wicked powers conspire Let spotlesse bloud which ran from harmelesse side Quench vnto you the euer burning fire 3 And let the winged Posts voyd of delayes From glorious throne when great Iehoua sendeth Translate your soule when death shal end your daies To that celestiall blisse which neuer endeth To the Reader THe last period and principall Resolution of euery Christian is or should be to glorifie God in the fruition of eternall felicitie Wherein we must remember that remote ends haue subordinate meanes to produce their effects which ought in no case to be neglected And as the sea-man for the getting of his prize must haue care of three principall points first to ballance his ship discreetly secondly to shun the daungerous gulfes of the sea thirdly to get good landing in a safe hauen So euerie Christian that desireth the fruition of true felicitie must first so ballance his affections that they be not ouer-burdened with the loue of this world secondly hee must haue a care to shun the gulfe of hell and eternall destruction thirdly hee must labour to get the kingdome of heauen for his hauen Vpon these pointes good Christian must thy Resolution cast anker if euer thou resolue to be eternally happie Now to helpe forward thy resolution behold here the Worlds vanities deciphered Hels torments displayed and Heauens happines described Meditations in my conceit neuer more fit then in these wretched dayes wherein men are become too great louers of the world haue lost the dread of hell and the desire of heauen The Lord blesse them to thy comfort and saluation And if thou receiue any good by them recompence my paines with thy prayers 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈…〉 last iudgement 〈…〉 2. Society with the diuels the daâ— 3. Eternitie of the hellish torment 〈◊〉 3. Heauens felicitie 1. Before the day of iudgment 1. Sanctimonie of life 2. Peace of conscience 3. Comfort at the day of death 2. At the day of iudgment 1. Ioy at the resurrection 2. Comfort to meet and come before 3. Consolation vpon the sentence 〈◊〉 blessed 3. After the last iudgeâ—â—â—â— 1. Freedome from torments and mâ— 2. Fruition of celestiall glâ—â—â—◠〈…〉 The first part Of the Earths vanitie in generall AS it was in the dayes of Noah and Lot Luke 17.26.29 so shall the coÌ„ming of the sonne of man be saith our blessed Sauiour that Sonne of man For as in those times they did eate and drinke marrie build and plant that is exceedingly prosecute the vaine profites and pleasures of the world till the floud came and destroyed them so shall it be when the Sonne of man shall be reuealed Was the world euer more addicted and deuoted to these vanities then now it is and haue we not therefore iust cause to expect that refining fire 2. Pet. 3.10 which shall burne vp all the corruption vpon the face of the earth Almightie God hath giueÌ„ to men three mansions of a diuerse qualitie first the world wherein they liue 2. the graue wherein they corrupt 3. either heauen wherein they are crowned or hell wherein they are tormented In the world their companion is vanitie in the graue the worme in heauen the Angels and in hell the diuels Yet such is the folly of most men that they would haue perpetuall habitations and euerlasting happines in this vaine world to whoÌ„ Augustines speech is very fit August confess lib. 4. cap. 12. Seeke for that which you seek but not where you seeke it you seeke a blessed life in the region of death alas it is not there What extreme folly is this to seeke felicitie where nothing can be found worthy the affecting and following if all were weyed in the ballance of iudgement and discretion What is the world with the things of the world but enimitie against God euen pitch which defileth birdlime which intangleth and a snare which intrappeth Is not her coate misery her crest iniquitie and her motto vanitie Neither are these adiuncts lesse permanent then eminent both in the entrance continuance and conclusion of this life For we come into the world wailing and weeping we liue in it with toyling and moyling and we leaue it with grieuing and groning Iob. 1.21 Vide Praefa Plin. ad lib. 7. Naked came we out of our mothers wombe and naked must we returne againe Thus both the Orient and Occident the Prologue and the Epilogue of our life is nakednesse And if we view the sundry times places and courses of our life behold they yeeld nothing but vanitie and misery Infancie is weake and feeble youth is rash and dissolute old age froward and doting The pleading places yeeld contention the house cares the countrey labour the Court enuie the sea tempests and pirats the land theeues and robbers Pouertie is despised wealth is enuied wit is distrusted folly is derided yea which is most lamentable vice is aduanced and vertue disgraced Man is by many writers called a little world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not vnfitly in that he is a modell of the miseries of this greater world hauing within him sinne rebelling against him without the world to allure him before Satans snares to intangle him behind a wary conscience to dog him on the right hand prosperitie to inueigle him on the left hand aduersity to vexe him vâ—der his feet the graue open to swallow him and ouer his head the iudgements of God readie to fall vpon him So that a man in this life may verie well be compared to a sea-man in a dangerous and tempestuous nauigation if he
Tirpsi initio who at the birth of any child vsed to sit downe and weepe recounting the calamities that were by it to be encountred but when any one dyed they sported and reioyced rehearsing the miseries from which he was deliuered But what is this to the spirituall calamitie and miserie of sin which is increased by old age and the debts of our transgressions which are augmented by long life It is a worthie question of Ierome Hieron ad Heliador What difference is there betweene him that hath liued ten yeares and him that hath liued a thousand years sauing that when death comes hee that is the oldest goeth to the graue loaden with the greatest burthen of sinnes If a man grow dayly in debt and behind hand we say he hath a good turne when God hath taken him soorth of the world how much more should we thinke him happie who is by death deliuered from running further into the debts of sin Rom. 3.19 whereby he is brought into the Lords danger These euils are great which long life bringeth vpon vs but besides it keepeth good things from vs and vs from good things For we know that whilest we are at home in the body 2. Cor. 5.6 we are absent from the Lord. The desire of long life makes vs forget eternall life and the hope thereof causeth the neglect of our preparation to death for whilest euery one thinks he may liue yet a little longer hee perswades himselfe that hee hath time enough to repent Is not he a foolish souldier that would haue the warres rather prolonged then ended that he may haue the trophees of victorie Now our life being a warfare and the day of our death the day of honour and triumph is there not iust cause that they which haue receiued the first fruite of the spirit Rom. 8. should sigh for their ful and final redemption But this being the vanitie of long life all those world-louers are iustly taxed who like the Israelites would make a Canaan of Aegypt and heauenly mansions of this earthly habitation being loth to forsake it though they be subiect to a thousand inconueniences in it But as those that are much giuen to wine will not stick to drinke the lees so those that loue this world and life too well will rather embrace old age with all the preiudices thereof then leaue it What is there in this life to be desired and if there were any thing yet what is that to the life to come To say the most for long life say that the Lord offereth vs two iewels the one base and temporall the other excellent and eternall is it not extreame folly to preferre the temporall before the eternall And such is the folly of those which preferre long life in this world before eternall life in the world to come But what is it not lawfull to desire long life surely yes with that condition implyed in Dauids prayer Psal 30.9 Shall the dust giue thanks vnto thee If thou desire to glorifie God by liuing long then mayest thou desire it and so doing mayest haue great hope to obtaine it CHAP. 3. SEC 1. A view of those externall vanities which are called the goods of Fortune and first of Nobilitie WHen Dalilah would betray Sampson into the hands of the Philistims Iudg. 16.6 shee intreateth him to tell her wherein his great strength lay knowing that if once the same were weakened hee might easily be vanquished Euery souldier that can approch to the standard or come neare the Generall will preasse hard and aduenture with daunger to encounter them considering that the one being the eye the other the voyce of the armie in their victorie consisteth the glorie of the conquest The like course haue I thought good to take in this spiritual warfare for being to encounter the combined forces of the minde the bodie and of Fortune I first assayed to set vpon the ornaments of the minde afterwards assaulted the armado of the bodie which being like the lockes of Sampson and the Captaine and standard-bearer of the armie thou shalt finde foyled and slaine except thy heart yeeld balme to cure them and their fires quenched vnlesse thy affections send foorth oyle to kindle them And now by Gods grace I will encounter the stragling and vnranged forces of Fortune And first I wil beginne with Nobilitie a meere externall good which happeneth vnto men in their birth onely through their auncestors worthinesse Those that are stict in the decyphering and blazing of gentrie account none noble but such as are remoued a third degree froÌ„ ignobilitie Nam genus proauos quae non fecâ—mus ipsi Viâ—ea nostra voco Ouâ—â— Met. lib. 13. holding absurdly that the auncestors can giue that they haue not and decking fondly the naked and new borne babe with the plumes of his progenitors If descents make nobilitie how cometh it to passe then that many of most ancient families haue lost their generositie by antiquitie whilest wealth the nurse of Nobilitie hath fayled But thus indeed they make Nobilitie like the shippe that brought home the youth of Greece which was peeced with sundrie plankes that at last it had nothing of that matter whereof it was made I haue read a pleasant storie of a great Prince who standing much vpon these vanities was perswaded by one which knew how to fit his humor that his noble pedegree might be deduced from Noahs arke wherewith when he being much affected did wholly addict himselfe to the searching foorth of that his ieaster told him that his endeuour therein would be nothing honourable to him for if you fetch your pedegree from Noahs ark quoth he my selfe and other such simple fellowes as I am who now reuerence you as a god shall prooue your poore kinsmen a worthy reproofe of a proud conceit and a fond enterprise If there be any that stand vpon these tearmes it will not be hard to fetch his originall sixteene hundred yeares beyond the time of the floud euen from Adam but with like inglorious successe for in him through a trecherous rebellion against his God hee shall finde his bloud so stained that all the men and Angels in heauen and earth are not able to restore it If vertue were deriued by propagation as vice is and if parents could as well impart vnto their children their prowesse as their pollution Nobility were an ornament of most honourable respect but seeing that as the deadly hemlocke groweth in the fertile ground and rich ore is digged foorth of the barren soyle so vertuous and honourable children many times proceed from meane parentage and base and ignoble descend from honorable progenitors And seeing that vertue the onely foundation of true Nobilitie is an acquisit and diuinely instilled habit Nobilitas sola est atque vnica virtus there is no reason that noblenesse of birth should be so priced as it is It is not the descent in birth but the liuing vertuously
committed to him against that day being warie in keeping and faithfull in restoring whereas those that depend vpon the applause and opinion of other men are made sometimes great sometimes little Ber. Ser. de nat Io. Bap ferè initio Arist eth li. 5. cap. 5. and sometimes nothing at all and this caused the Philosopher to discard Honour from being Felicitie 1 This is one bad propertie of worldy honour to puffe vp to inflame those that are held in reputation being a notable and daungerous firebrand of pride foorth of which there ariseth a smokie vapour that will scarcely suffer a man to know himselfe For as when Bucephalus was without his furniture any man might ride him but being in his caparison he would suffer no man but Alexander to come on his backe so many there are which in their meane estate were mild but being aduaunced became loftie and imperious When Samuel first spake to Saul of his promoting to the kingdome he speakes basely of himselfe 1. Sam. 9.21 thus Am not I the sonne of Gemini of the smallest Tribe Diuerse of the Caesars at their first entring vpon the Empire saluted their followers with the terme of Fellow souldiers Commilitones Sueton. but ere long both Saul and the Caesars became verie haughtie WheÌ„ Herod was applauded by those flatteâ—ers which cryed at the hearing of his oration The voyce of God Act. 12.12 it lifted vp his heart with a daungerous vaine-glorie that cost him his life What effusion of bloud did the coÌ„tention for honour cause in the broiles betweene Caesar and Pompey And how many lost their liues about the like in the warres betweene the houses of Lancaster and Yorke in our land Yea did not the iealousie of this vain honour moue Herod to murther the infants Euseb lib. 1 cap. 9. Macrob. Saturn lib. 2. cap. 4. not sparing his owne child as the Historians do write that hee might haue slaine our Sauiour 2 As honour inflameth the owner with pride so it kindleth enuie in others For as whilest the doue playeth herselfe in her flying and taketh pleasure in her swiftnesse of wing the hauke seizeth vpon her so whilest men doe content and please themselues with worldly honour enuie which alwaies waiteth vpon honour layeth hold vpon them and many times fetcheth them downe Hee therefore spake truely who called obscuritie the mother of tranquillitie but fame and honour the foundation of danger Dan. 6.3.4 When Daniel was preferred aboue the other rulers and gouernours of Darius those rulers and gouernours sought an occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdome and their malice had bene effectuall against him had not the Almightie hand of God stopped the mouthes of the fierce Lions It was indeed a great honour for Dauid to kill Goliah 1. Sam. 18.9.10 and to be met receiued home with dauncing and singing Dauid hath slaine his ten thousand but the same had like to haue cost Dauid his life For when he fled from Saule to Achish the king of Gath 1. Sam. 21.11.12 thinking there to be safe by being vnknowne the kings seruaÌ„ts said to him Is not this Dauid the king of the land did they not sing vnto him c. Oh how glad would Dauid then haue bene if he had neuer bene partaker of that daungerous honour which would not tolerate his safetie This is no small preiudice yet behold a farre greater inconuenience accompanying honour whilest some seeking to hold their reputation in the world dare not professe or practise those things which may tend to the honour and glorie of Almightie God as those chiefe rulers which durst not confesse Christ for feare of the Pharisies Ioh. 12.42 because they loued the praise of men more then the praise of God 3 Honour and glorie is verie brittle like Archimedes glassie spheare Hath not experience shewed that those whose excellencie mounted vp to heauen Iob. 20.6 and made their nest as high as the Eagle Ier. 49.16 haue bene brought downe So that it wold make a man not considering the slipperinesse of honours ladder to wonder with the Prophet ouer the king of Babel How art thou falne from heauen ô Lucifer Isa 14.12 sonne of the morning and cut downe to the ground thou that didst cast lots vpon the nations What is become of those foure Monarchies of the world which the king of Babylon saw in a vision are they not almost vanished like his dreame and vision of them which hee vtterly forgot Alexanders pompe and solemnitie at Babylon Dan. 2. was wondrous great Q. Curt. lib. 10. when he kept as it were a parliament of the whole world For he lay seuen daies vnburied but not many dayes after he could scarce obtaine the honour of buriall Adonibezec had the glorie of conquest ouer seuentie kings Iudg. 1 7. who hauing their thumbes cut off picked crummes vnder his table yet at last himselfe had the like disgrace to be conquered and to lose his thumbes But that of many others was a most lamentable and memorable spectacle of Zedechiah 2. King 25.6.7 who being a mightie king was taken captiue by the Babylonians arraigned at Riblah saw his children slaine before his face had his eyes pickt out and lastly was led to Babel where he dyed miserably Lo here the inconstancie of worldly dignitie and the mutabilitie of those that enioy honour to shine for a while and presently to be obscured to be aduaunced to honor for a litle space and quickly to be debased to be very rich to day and to morrow to be impouerished Hest 3.1.7.10 now to be with Haman exalted to the highest seate of dignitie and by and by to be hanged Is it not straunge to haue knowne the father a great commander and to see the sonne a base vassall the one to inhabite a stately pallace the other to liue in a poore cottage the one to sit vpon his triumphant throne the other to lye in the dust of desolation But thus it cometh to passe Pro. 27.24 For riches remaine not alway nor the crowne from one generation to another Yet is this more straunge to behold one and the same man brought from the highest pitch of earthly felicitie to the lowest step of extreame miserie 1. Cor. 7.31 Thus doth the fashion of this world passe away and the glorie thereof vanisheth like the vapour of smoake And the Lord of hostes hath decreed this to staine the pride of all glorie Esa 23.9 and to bring to contempt all those that be glorious in the earth Seeing now that the honour ctedite and worship of this world is but a vulgar applause the nurse of pride the firebrand of enuie and the companion of inconstancie good Lord what do men meane so earnestlie to hunt after it Alas who would make any reckoning of this vaine and variable world Who art thou that gloriest in this glassie and windie vanitie What art thou greater
I neuer knew you depart from me you workers of iniquitie And this Depart from me is the first degree of punishment vnto the vngodly being now not in the suburbes but entred within the walles and gates of hell It is indeed but a priuatiue punishment which Diuines do vsually call poena damni but it hath a positiue effect for as the absence of the Sunne causeth darkenesse and the lacke of meat leanenesse so the want of Gods presence bringeth exceeding griefe and heauinesse Psa 16.11 yea as the fulnesse of ioy and pleasure is had by the enioying of his presence so the fulnesse of sorrow and miserie shall possesse the hearts of men by being excluded from the fruition thereof It must needes be a great miserie not to be with him without whom there is no being It is written that when the Arke of God was taken by the Philistims old Eli with griefe fel backward and dyed 1. Sam. 4.18.19 and his daughter in lawe Phineas wife fell on trauelling through sorrow and lost her life If the losse of the Arke which was onely a figure pledge of Gods presence was thus grieuous to them how shall the losse and lack of Gods presence it selfe cause the condemned to trauell with griefe and heauinesse of heart and to wish that they might with Eli and his daughter end their miserie with ending of their liues If a man had bene in some good possibilitie of an earthly kingdome Chrysâ—st ad pop Ant. Hom. 48. and through his owne folly had lost it how do you thinke it would haue grieued him Is there any comparison betweene the meanest mansion in the kingdome of heauen and the greatest Monarchie in the world Now then when a man hauing bene not onely in possibility of this kingdome but euen sure of it if he would haue vsed his indeuour to attaine vnto it shall by his negligence haue lost it will it not vexe and torment him will it not cause him to rate himselfe and say What a beast was I through mine owne folly to lose such a blessed inheritance It was exceeding â—rkesome to Absalon 2. Sam. 14.32 to be banished foorth of his fathers presence so that hee might not behold his face what a hell then shal it be to be banished for euer forth of his presence 2. Cor. 1.3 who is the father of mercie and God of all consolation whose loue to his children is more then Dauids to his sonne Absalon or his brother Ionathan yea greater then the mothers loue to her tender babe Esa 49.15 It was not the least part of Adams punishment that hee was cast out of Paradise and depriued of Gods presence neither is it a small miserie to be excluded forth of the kingdome of heauen and to lose the face and fauour of Almightie God Chrysostome iudgeth it to be much more bitter then the pains of hell yea worse then a thousand hels Super. Mat. Hom. 33. if there were so many howsoeuer it is Ibid. Hom. 28. surely it must needes bee exceeding grieuous We haue a Prouerbe Where the eye seeth not the heart grieues not If the damned soules might not behold the felicitie that they haue lost by their folly their griefe would be the lesse but as the elect shall haue fruition thereof to their perpetuall comfort so the view thereof shall yeeld an euerlasting corrasiue to the coÌ„science of the reprobate The Captaine of the King of Israel would not beleeue that it was possible by any meanes there should bee such a plentie as Elizaeus had promised but the Prophet tels him Behold 2. King 7.2 thou shalt see it with thine eyes but thou shalt not eate thereof As this was added to the punishment of his infidelitie that though he should not tast it yet he should see it so shall it be to the reprobate at the day of iudgement when Christ with all his holy Angels and blessed Saints shall appeare in glory that which the Psalmist hath shall bee fulfilled Psa 112.10 The vngodly shall see it and it shall grieue him he shall gnash with his teeth and consume away the desire of the vngodly shall perish It shall grieue the vngodly to see the Saints of God in glorie and he shall pine away with griefe he shall desire that hee might bee partaker thereof with them but this desire of his shall be fruitelesse according to our Sauiours saying Luk 13.28 There shall bee weeping and gnashing of teeth when they shall see Abraham and Isaac and Iacob and all the Prophets in the kingdome of God and themselues thrust out of doores And what greater disgrace can come to a man then to be thus contemptuously thrust foorth of the blessed society of heauen and to be shut without where shall bee dogges and inchaunters Reu. 22.15 and whoremongers and murtherers Idolaters and whosoeuer loueth or maketh lyes Now shall those that haue denyed Christ before men be denyed before the face of Almightie God and those that haue despised and scorned the societie of the godly shall be scorned and contemned in the presence of men and Angels If the losse of a deare friend be grieuous and the separation of the soule from the bodie exceeding terrible the losse of the fellowship of Saints cannot but bee much more grieuous and the separation both of soule and body from Almightie God must needs be both terrible and intollerable He therefore spake truly who said That the teares of hell are not sufficient to bewaile the losse of heauen Seeing then the losse of Gods presence and the coÌ„forts of heauenly ioyes is so great and grieuous is it not extreame folly in men that will rather incurre this dangerous and dolefull losse then they will lose their smallest profites or trifling pleasures yet such is the folly of most men But wouldst thou escape this misery then thinke vpon the Prophets words 2. Chr. 15.2 The Lord is with you whilest you are with him and if you seek him he wil be found of you but if you forsake him he will forsake you If thou be with God in the kingdome of grace thou shalt be with him in the kingdome of glorie but if thou forsake him in this life he will forsake thee in the life to come Cast me not away from thy presence ô Lord Psal 51.11 and take not thy holy Spirit from me saith Dauid Is this thy prayer behold then if thou grieue not Gods Spirit hee will not take it from thee and except thou cast thy selfe out of Gods presence by infidelity and disobedience hee wil not cast thee foorth It is said of Henoch Gen. 5.24 that he walked with God and it is immediatly added that he was no more seene for God tooke him away so shall it be done to all those that vnfainedly feare God He that walkes with God in holines as Henoch did shall not be excluded from his presence but bee taken vp into
thy soule with the diamond of a deepe meditation and let it not passe thence till it haue wrought and perfected the worke of true repentance in mortifying thy corrupt affections and rectifying thy profane conuersation Otherwise assure thy selfe that if thou wilt not breake off thine iniquities by repentance and make an end of sinning thou shalt surely meet with a correspondent recompence for there shall be no end of thy torments The third part Of the ioyes of Heauen in generall WHEN Cyrus sought to win the hearts of the Persians to him Iustin lib. 1. he caused them to be assembled and to toyle and take great paines in cutting downe a wood and the next day after he feasted them and then demaunded whether they had rather liue as they did that day or the day before and when they all chose as no maruell to liue in mirth and feasting he told them that if they would follow Astyages their life should be as the day of toyling but promised that if they would sticke to him and be his followers it should be like the day of feasting The like is here propounded to thee my Christian brother in these Meditations If thou wilt follow the world and Satan the god of the world behold thou seest there is nothing to be got thereby but infinite toyle in this life and eternall torments in the life to come but if thou wilt take vp our Sauiours crosse and follow him Mat. 19.28 thou shalt surely haue the reward of euerlasting happinesse So that I may say to thee as Moses said to the Israelites Deu. 30.15 Behold I haue set before thee this day Life and good death and euill Onely in this I differ Ioh. 2.10 that as our Sauiour aâ— Cana in Galile reserued the best wine last so haue I first set before thee death and euill and now am to offer thee life and good that if it may be through the view of hels torments the kingdome of heauen may suffer violence Mat. 11. The eye of man is not able to behold the brightnesse of the heauens in a foggie mist neither can the eyes of our vnderstanding pierce thorough the mists of earthly vanities to that exceeding glory which shineth in the heauens If thou belong to the kingdome of God thou shalt in the Treatise following meet with the riches of that inheritance which doth belong to thee so that thou mayest reade it to thy exceeding comfort being the mappe and modell of that heauenly possession and habitation which Christ Iesus hath purchased for thee And if the same affect thee with ioy know this for thy further comfort that all this is infinitely lesse then that celestiall blisse whereof thou shalt one day be partaker CHAP. 1. SECT 1. The first steppe of the godly into heauen before the day of iudgement namely Sanctimonie of life WHilest the children of Israel were yet trauelling in the wildernes the Lord appointed Moses the man of God Deut. 34.1 to goe to the toppe of mount Nebo from whence he shewed him the spacious region of the pleasant laÌ„d of Canaan which afterwards the Israelites shold possesse so deales Almightie God with his seruants euen whilest they are trauelling in the wildernesse of this troublesome world he doth from the high tower of a sanctified speculation shew them an excellent prospect of the celestiall Canaan the kingdome of heauen the fruition and fee-simple whereof he will afterwards bestow vpon them And therefore one saith well Bern. Serm. super Ver. 10. cap. â—0 Sap. The kingdome of heauen is graunted promised shewed and receiued it is graunted in Predestination promised in Vocation shewed in Iustification and receiued in Glorification When Adam was in his innocencie hee had his habitation in the terrestriall Paradise so when the sonnes of Adam are in some measure restored by regeneration to that holinesse which they lost by their fathers fal they do enter into the celestiall Paradise Whereby those visions are fulfilled Reu. 3.12 that New Ierusalem is come downe out of heauen The tabernacle of God is with men and he is their God 21.3 and they are his people and God himselfe is their God with them This will be euident if we consider the heauenly priuiledges wherewith the Saints and seruants of God are indowed euen in this life To let passe the PatriciaÌ„ robes of the blessed Sacraments 1. They obtaine pardon and remission of their sinnes Psa 32.1 Blessed is the man whose iniquities are forgiuen and whose sinnes are couered saith the Prophet Dauid Lo this blessednesse do the children of God obtaine in the remission of their sinnes And to this forgiuing of sin being the foundation of felicitie there is added the giuing of grace for the reformation of their liues for where sinne is pardoned there it is purged so that they are no more strangers from the life of God Eph. 2. but it is their meate and drinke to do the will of their heauenly father their thoughts and meditations are lifted aboue earthly cogitations their words are gracious as becommeth the heauenly citizens and their conuersation holy while they are clothed with the white robes of righteousnesse like the companie of our Sauiours blessed attendants in the kingdome of heauen Reu. 7.9 Thus are they by grace vnited vnto Almightie God obtaine his gracious protection Ioh. 17.22 according to our Sauiours heauenly petition as the Psalmist saith Psal 5.12 For the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Crowne implyeth more then a simple protection as Psal 84.11 1. Pet. 4.14 For thou Lord wilt blesse the righteous and with fauour wilt crowne and compasse him as with a shield So that the Lord doth euen in this life crowne his childreÌ„ with grace and glorie they may boldly come in the presence of God and talke with him in their prayers and they haue the benefite of his Angels attendance Psal 91. 2 Againe as they are vnited vnto God by grace so are they ingrafted into Christ who is the fountain of all heauenly happinesse and can say with the Apostle Gal. 2.20 I liue not any more but Christ liueth in me And a man thus established by faith in Christ may truly bee said to be in heauen as Saint Iohn saith Iohn 5.24 He hath euerlasting life and is alreadie passed from death to life There are many wretches which scorn the godly count their pietie folly Psal 4.2 and turne their glory into shame esteeming â—hem for the most base abiects of the world whereas their condition is most happie for though they be vnder the persecution of wicked Esau yet are they euen then with Iacob in Bethel Gen. 28.17 the house of God and the gate of heauen 3 Hereunto wee may adde the communion of Saints and fellowship with the elect Angels whereof the Apostle speaketh when he saith Phil. 3.20 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We are free
As bodies that haue fewest bad humors are least shaken with agues so those that are freest from sinne though death assault them bitterly are least annoyed by the pains and terror of death Our Sauiour saith Ioh. 16.33 Be of good cheare I haue ouercome the world and I may say Bee of good cheare 2 Cor. 15.16 for Christ hath ouercome death 2 This may be an occasion to mitigate that extreme sorrow which many take vppon the death of their godly friends seeing their death yeeldeth rather cause of coÌ„fort then of sorrow of mirth then of mourning and of reioycing rather then of weeping and lamenting If you loued me you would reioyce saith our Sauiour to his disciples because I said Ioh. 14.28 I goe to the Father so those that loue their friends indeed haue cause to reioyce rather then to mourne for their death because they go to be glorified with their heauenly Father The little child that sees the mother cutting and bruising the sweet and pleasant hearbes and flowers is sorie because hee thinkes they are spoiled but the mother hath a purpose to preserue theÌ„ whereby they are made much better A simple bodie that should see the Gold-smith melting the pure mettals would bee discontent imagining that all were marred whereas the skilfull workeman hath a purpose to cast some excellent peece of plate thereof So wee silly men when the Lord cuts off some of our friends by death like the flower and lets others wither like the greene hearbe and when he melteth them in the fornace of the graue are ouercome with sorrowfull conceipts as though some euill thing were befallen our friendes whereas we should remember that the Lord hath a purpose by this meanes to preserue them and to transforme them into that glorious estate which the Angels enioy in heauen And this reason is first intimated and after plainely expressed by Saint Paule in his dehortation to the Thessalonians I would not brethren haue you ignorant concerning them which are asleepe 1. Thes 4.13 that you sorrow not as others which haue no hope Who would be sorrie to see his friend fall asleepe seeing that thereby he is made lightsome fresh and lustie Now death is to the godly nothing but a sleepe whereby they are refined and refreshed why should we then be offended therewith If thy friend which dieth bee wicked then hast thou iust cause of mourning but if thou knewest him to liue and die in the feare of God howsoeuer nature or affection may haue force to wring teares from thine eyes or sighes from thy heart yet hast thou reason to reioyce and be glad for his happie change as Augustine his example may teach Aug confe lib. 9. v. who bridled the infirmitie of Nature and suppressed his teares at his mothers death though he honoured and loued her dearely thinking it an vnfit thing to celebrate her funerals with weeping and wailing because she had liued religiously and died vertuously 3 To conclude this point me thinkes if there were no farther reason to perswade yet euen this meditation might mooue any one to the practise of godlinesse in that it yeeldeth this heauenly peace of conscience in the time of our life and eternall consolation at the day of our death Oh what a sweete comfort will it be to thee my Christian brother when friends honour wealth dignities and all other comfortes in the world become vaine and faile thee to haue the ioyfull peace of conscience to rest with thee When thou shalt bee able recounting thy sincere care in Gods seruice to pray with good Nehemiah Neh. 13.22 Remember me ô my God concerning this to say with godly Hezechiah vpon his death bed 2. King 20.3 I beseech thee ô Lord remember now how I haue walked before thee in truth and with a perfect hart and haue done that which is good in thy sight and with our blessed Sauiour before his passion Ioh. 17.4 Father I haue glorified thee on earth I haue finished the worke which thou gauest me to doe For then shall the vprght câ—nscience eccho a comfort to thy humble soule and either the Lord wil enlarge the lease of thy life with Hâ—zechiah or glorifie thee in the heauens with his beloued Sonne CHAP. 2. SECT 1. The first steppe into heauen at the day of iudgement namely A blessed Resurrection IF the godly in this life and at the day of their death haue a tast of those heauenly ioyes which cannot be expressed how much more shall they haue in the resurrection when body and soule shall both be reunited and indued with a blessed condition Therefore do the Scriptures describe the excellencie of the resurrection by sundry comfortable metaphors Ioh. 12. 1. Cor 15. Saint Paule compares it to the husbandmans haruest when reaping and receiuing the fruites of his labours his heart reioyceth and so shall it be to the godly for they which sowe in teares at the day of death shall reape in ioy at their resurrection Pro. 19.17 2. Salomon saith hee which hath pittie on the poore lendeth to the Lord and looke what he layeth out it shall bee payed him againe Now men that haue great debts desire earnestly the day of payment and behold our Sauiour calleth the day of resurrection Luk. 14.14 The day of payment because then hee hauing his reward with him Reu. 22.12 will come foorth of euerie ones debt and reward their goodâ—esse with glorie 3. Those that labor must needes haue a time to rest in that so they may be refreshed Our life is nothing but labour our death a sleepe and therefore the Apostle fitly calles the resurâ—ection Act. 3.19 Thâ— time of refreshing being as the gladsome morning to a siâ—ke man Psal 49.14 15. which hath tossed and turned vp and downe wearily all the night long The bird that hath bene kept a great while in a cage will chaunt it merrily when shee commeth foorth into the open aire the prisoner that hath lyen loÌ„g in the duÌ„geon reâ—oyceth exceedingly when he hath obtained libertie so shall the resurrection be ioyfull and comfortable to the godly when they are deliuered from the cage and prison of the graue and restored into the glorious libertie of the sonnes of God Rom. 8.21 There is nothing that doth better râ—semble set foorth the excellencie of the Resurrection then the spring time for as we flourish in our childhood bring foorth fruite in our youth waxe ripe in our old age and wither at our death so wee spring fresh againe at our resurrection The trees in winter being despoiled of their leaues the garden of the flowers and the fields of the grasse do seeme vtterly to perish but when the Spring time comes they all waxe as fresh and flourishing as euer they were so the body which during the winter of many ages is depriued of her beautie and turned to rottennesse doth at the Spring time of the resurrection
day in heauen when they enioy not onely the places beautie and the beholding of Christ his glorie but shall themselues also be glorified Mat. 13.43 and shine as the Sunne in the kingdome of their Father Shall they not be glad to be there and wish themselues euerlasting tabernacles in that glorious mount Sion And this shall assuredly be the condition of the godly at that day For as the Lords glorie reflected vpon Moses Exo. 34.30 made his face to shine when he was vpon the mount so shall the Saints of God become glorious in beholding the glory of God and of Christ 1. Ioh. 3.2 and so shall be like vnto him For as hee shall chaunge our vile bodies Phil. 3.21 that they may be like to his glorious bodie so shall he refine and beautifie the faculties of our soules 1. Co 12.10 that the perfection of grace may concurre with the fruition of glorie And euen as a little water mixed with much wine loseth his owne nature and taketh the tast and colour of the wine as iron put into the fire becomes white and like to the fire his old forme being chaunged and as the ayre perfused with the light of the Sunne is so transformed into the brightnesse thereof that it seemes not so much to be lightened as to be light it selfe so shall euery humane defect and deformitie bee now dissolued and abolished in the Saints of God and they shall bee transformed into the glorious image of Almightie God What tongue is able to expresse or heart conceiue the happinesse of Gods children being thus in glorie They enioy a kingdome Mat. 25. yea and that a glorious kingdome for it is the house of God the kingdome of heauen Tit. 1.2 they obtaine a life and that a blessed life for it can neuer see death they haue the hidden Manna Reu. 2.17 the white stone and the new name written in it They are clothed in the long white robes of honour and dignitie Reu. 7.9 and adorned with the palmes of triumph and victorie They sit vpon the glorious thrones of maiestie Reu. 3.21 and haue set vppon their heads the crownes of eternall glorie 2. Tim. 4.8 When Naomi returned from her peregrination shee said to her old acquaintance Ruth 1.20 Call me not Naomi but call mee Marah for the Almightie hath giuen mee much bitternesse but contrarily may the child of God say when hee returns from the pilgrimage of this world Call mee not Marah but call me Naomi for the Almightie hath giuen me much beautie and blessednesse The honour that Pharo did to Ioseph was very great but yet it was with this exception Gen. 41.40 In the kings throne will I be aboue thee Pharo will sit alone vpon his throne but behold the honour that Christ will do to his seruants when he will also vouchsafe them this dignitie that they shall sit with him vpon his throne for they are heires Rom. 8. yea coheires annexed with Christ who hath promised thus Reu. 3.21 To him that ouercommeth will I graunt to sit with me in my throne euen as I ouercame and do sit with my Father in his throne But here it may peraduenture be demanded whether there be an equalitie or difference of the degrees of blisse and glorie to all the elect in the kingdome of heauen For answer whereunto we must consider that there is a double equalitie to wit Proportionâ— quantitatis of proportion quantitie which ariseth not from the obiect Almighty God who is alwaies the same but from man the subiect who is not in euery particular alike capable of glorie For as the same meate is more delectable to the tast of some then of others the same obiect is better seene by some then by others the same matter better vnderstood of some then of others so the same glorie shineth more brightly into the soules of some then of others Two vessels of a diuerse content may be filled with the same wine yet by reason of their bignesse differ in quantitie of that they containe two mettals of a diuerse kind may be cast into the same fire yet receiue a different heate according to their different nature two men of sundrie statures may be fitted with the same cloth of gold each of them hauing that which is sufficient in proportion though in quantitie they differ so the soules of the godly may be all filled with the same wine of gladnesse be made feruent with the same heate of comfort and clothed with the same robes of glorie yet differ much in respect of their capacitie And according to the measure of grace shall be the measure of glorie 2. Cor. 9.6 for they that sow sparingly shall reape sparingly but they that sow liberally shall reape liberally so that whilest some shine like the brightnesse of the firmament Dan. 12.3 other some shall shine as the starres for euer and euer Yet happie and thrise happie shall that man be who shall be partaker euen of the least degree of heauenly glorie for it infinitly surmounteth all the glorie and dignitie of the world This being the blessed condition of the elect in heauen the meditation thereof should affect vs accordingly First it may make vs despise the vaine and base felicitie of this transitorie life and to count all doung and drosse in respect of those admirable ioyes that are prepared for the godly in the kingdome of heauen It was a hard thing for Abraham to leaue his owne countrie and to trauell as a pilgrime he knew not whither yet the expectation of the heauenly citie wonne his affection from his natiue habitation Heb. 11. so should the sweet consideration of heauenly happinesse weine our harts from the loue of earthly vanities Cic. Tuscu quaest lib. 1. Lactant. instit lib. 3. Cap. 18. It is written of one CleoÌ„brotus that reading Platoes booke of the Immortalitie of the Soule hee was so rauished with the conceipt thereof that hee cast himselfe headlong into the sea It was his sinful error to depriue himselfe of life but his desire of immortalitie may make many Christians ashamed whom neither the expectation of immortalitie glorie or felicitie can estrange from the loue of this vaine world Psal â—4 11 One day in the Lords house is better then a thousand yea surâ—ly one hower in the kingdome of heauen is better then a thousand yeares in the greatest blisse this vaine and wretched world can yeeld Let vs learne therefore to tune our affections to Dauids dittie that we may be able to say of the celestiall tabernacle as he speaketh of the terrestriall Ibid. I had rather be a doore keeper in the house of the Lord then to dwell in the tents of the vngodly 2 It may yeeld comfort to all those that haue liued godly because they shall enioy the comfort of a glorious vision a blessed habitation and the crowne of eternall glorie and
meditations is rather to stirre vp the affections of the godly then to conuerse with the conceipts of any curiously affected August de Genes ad Li er lib. 2. cap. 9. I like his iudgement who holds the disputes about the forme and figure of the heauens to bee vnprofitable and his censure Damasc de Orthodox fid lib. 2. c. 6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. who saith That to search out the substance of them is vnlawfull whereunto if I may adde my owne opinioÌ„ I hold it impossible Farewell theÌ„ to the schoolemens friuolous and fruitlesse discourses about the forme the substance and quantity of the heauens Very glorious things are spoken of thee Psal 87.3 thou citie of God If the Prophet might say so of the terrestriall Ierusalem how much more may it iustly bee said of the celestiall citie which is aboue and the mother of vs all And Saint Iohn indeede hath made a very excellent description of that glorious kingdome Reu. 21. calling it first in generall Reu. 21.11 The holy Ierusalem which had the gloâ—ie of God shining in it and her shining was like a stone most precious as a Iasper stone and cleare as Christall Then in particular he sets downe the forme of it which was very perfect being quadrangular then the quantitie it was large and spacious containing many cubits then the matter and ornaments of it which was pure gold and all manner of precious stones then the adiuncts belonging to it the brightnes of glorie shining therein By which speeches borrowed from things which are most precious in mens estimation Saint Iohn would teach vs to conceiue of those excellencies Ioh. 14.1 which no man indeed is able to value Our Sauiour cals heauen his Fathers house and therefore it must needes be exceeding beautifull and glorious Dan. 4. Nebuchadnetsar spake ambitiously of his Pallace Is not this great Babel which I haue built for the house of the kingdome by the might of my power and for the honour of my maiestie But of the Lords house it may be iustly said Is not that great Bethel which the Lord himselfe hath built for the house of his kingdome the habitations of his Saints and for the honour and ornament of his Maiestie If the heauens which are subiect to vanitie Psal 19.1 do declare the glorie of God what shall the pure and Christall heauens doe when they are changed and refined Hâ—b 1. If the builders of the tabernacle were renowmed as those that had perfected an excellent worke Psal 74.5 how much more excellent shall that tabernacle bee whose maker and builder is Heb. 11.10 God Psal 84.1 Oh how amiable are thy dwelling places ô Lord of hostes Doth the beautie of the temple exceede Dauids conceipt and leaue him to the taske of admiration Oh how admirable amiable and glorious do wee thinke the kingdome of heauen shall bee Reu. 21.22 where the Lord God Almightie and the Lambe are the temple where the king is Veritie the lawes Charitie the honour Equitie the peace Felicitie the life Eternitie as Saint Augustine saith Plutar. in vita Them 2 Themistocles hauing a peece of ground to sell appointed the Cryer to proclaime in the sale thereof that whosoeuer would buy it should haue a good neighbour so although the kindome of heauen be excellent of it selfe yet Almightie God sending foorth his Criers and Ambassadors to offer the same to the world Mat. 3. 2. Cor. 5. hath caused them to adde this in their proclamation That whosoeuer obtaineth it shall haue many good neighbours euen the holy Saints and blessed Angels that which is aboue all he shall behold God Almightie and Christ Iesus the immaculate Lambe of God shining there in most resplendent glorie Reue. 22.4 They shal see his face and his name shall bee in their foreheads This was one of the last requests made by Christ in the behalfe of his Church Father I will that those which thou hast giuen me Ioh. 17.24 be with me euen whâ—re I am that they may behâ—ld my glorie which thou hast giuen me a gracious petition for a blessed habitation and a glorious vision How earnestly did Moses importune the Lord Exo. 33.18 saying I beseech thee shew me thy glorie and it was a singular fauour that the Lord vouchsafed to shew him a glimpse of his glorie which he calleth his backe parts Vers 23. because a man is almost past fight when his backe is turned But behold Christ hath prayed for and the Lord hath promised a more glorious view of him in the life to come 1. Ioh. 3.2 For wee know that when he shall be made manifest we shall see him as he is A man that lookes into the sea cannot see to the bottome and he that lookes vp to the heauens can behold no further then the HorizoÌ„ and so indeed is this vision of Gods Saints bounded in the limites of finitenesse Yet is there as great difference betweene their present and future contemplation of glorie 1. Cor. 13. as betweene looking a man in the face and beholding him in a glasse for then they shall as fully behold the glorie of God as the fraile condition of mankinde may possibly permit When the Queene of Sheba had seene al the honour and magnificence of Salomon shee said with admiration Happie are thy men 1. Kin. 10.8 happie are these thy seruants that stand euer before thee and heare thy wisedome If those were so happie who stood before Salomon to behold and heare his wisedome oh how happie shall they bee who shall stand before Almightie God and our blessed Sauiour to behold and see their glorie Psal 16.11 For in their presence is the fulnesse of ioy and at thâ—ir right hand are pleasures for euermore And this is the cause Psa 42 1.2 that as the Hart brayeth for the riuers of waters so do the soules of the godlie pant after the Lord longing to appeare before his presence The ponderous stone inclineth downeward and lighter substances are carried vpward thus euery thing seeks his center Now the Lord is the Soules Center and like Noahs doue it finds no rest till it returne to him that gaue it Aug. Confes lib. 1. cap. 1 according to Augustines saying O Lord thou hast made vs for thy selfe and our heart is vnquiet till it rest in thy selfe But when the soule of man hath once attained this mercie then can the child of God say Psal 17.15 I will behold thy face in righteousnesse and 〈◊〉 satisfied with it because it yeelds him the fulnesse of comfort and contentation 3 When Christ was transfigured vpoÌ„ the mount wee reade that Peter albeit himselfe was not changed Luk. 9.33 said vnto our Sauiour Iesus maister it is good to be here If Peter spake thus onely vpon the view of Christs transfiguration how much more shall the children of God reioyce at the last