it is of grace and bounty and with what unwearied kindness it delights to communicate its blessings to us And what is there that we would see which is comparable to this What can we desire to see but more of this even when we are made perfect in love And what thanks do we owe to God that we see so much It ought to stir up all that is within us to bless his holy name We ought to say every day will I bless thee and praise thy name for ever and ever But for this also we must be beholden to love For it is that which indites all our Hymns and meditates the Divine Praises It puts the songs of joy into our mouth and fills our hearts with thanksgiving Our tongues are tyed without this or we do but babble not speak our Saviours praises It is love that bursts out into such effusions as these O praise the Lord of love who humbled himself do dwell among us Praise him in the beauties of his holiness praise him in his super-excellent wisdom Let all his works praise him who came to us with his hands full of Miracles and every miracle full of mercy O praise him in his almighty and most merciful kindness which made the lame to leap like a Kid and the tongue of the dumb to sing for joy which opened the eyes of the blind to see his wonders and the ears of the deaf to hear the wisdom where by he spake which restored the sick to health and the dead to life which published the Gospel to the poor and instructed the ignorant in the mysteries of the Kingdom of God O praise him before whom the Devils fled and confessed him to be the Lord. Praise him in his incomparable love which thought it not enough to do all this but also gave himself to dye for us Let all Nations praise him who are the purchase of his blood Let them mark every step of his dying love from the time he was betrayed and sold like a slave till he finished his sufferings on the Cross O the greatness of that love which endured such scorn such reproach such a bitter agony and shameful death even for all those who have little sense of this wondrous love But let no Christian soul be insensible how the hands which wrought so many Miracles and the feet which travelled up and down to do men good were cruelly nailed by them to an ignominious Gibbet Let them remember how his head was crowned with thorns and his body cloathed in a fools coat How they spit in his face blinded his eyes and then rudely buffeted him to make them sport O what love was that which made him submit to be mocked and reviled to be accounted worse than a seditious murderer and numbred among the greatest transgressors And above all let it never be forgotten how he sweat in our service as it had been drops of blood and at last bled to death after three hours shame and anguish on the Cross Praised be that incomparable Charity Praised be his inimitable meekness and humilitie Let all the world extol and praise his Lamb-like patience and innocence Let them celebrate his admirable kindness in forgiving such implacable enemies and his intire confidence and faith in God whereby he offered up himself to him and obtained an eternal redemption for us O the wonderful vertue of that sacrifice which hath taken away the sins of the world Praised be the tender mercies of our God which have forgiven us so many trespasses Praised be his mercies which have not only forgiven us but restored us to life and glory again by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead Let us rejoyce and be glad in that great salvation Let us bless the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by that resurrection of his from the dead Let us lift up our heads and look to Heaven our ancient Country for there he is exalted And let us thank our God who hath set him at his own right hand and made him most glorious for ever See how all the Angels welcomed him thither and falling at his feet most humbly worshipped his Majesty See how they all now wait upon him and constantly attend his pleasure And let us worship him too with the devoutest and most lowly reverence Let us praise him in his Sanctuary where he appears before God for us from whence he sends down the gracious influences of his spirit on us and commands his Angels to minister unto us Let us praise him the glorious King of Angels and men Who hath conquered death and triumphed over all the powers of darkness and opening the Kingdom of Heaven to all the faithful hath promised that they shall reign in glory together with him Let all the Angelical Ministers praise him Let the Apostles Prophets and Martyrs praise him Let all those who are departed in the true faith and fear of him praise him And let all the living who partake of the daily fruit of his bounteous love continually praise him Let them praise the name of the Lord for his name alone is excellent his glory is above the Earth and Heaven Let them praise him in the greatness of his Power in the Wisdom of his Counsels in the carefulness of his Providence in the riches the exceeding riches of his Grace in the stedfastness of his word and the faithfulness of all his promises And let them all joyn together and beseech him to come again that he may both accomplish our hopes and perfect his own praises O let him come that we may give him better praises in one body for ever CHAP. XIX More expressions of this devout affection towards our Lords Appearing and the way whereby we may excite them THis is some of the language of Love which wishes every knee would bow to Jesus and every tongue confess that he is the Lord to the glory of God the Father who hath thus highly exalted him For its desires are unlimited and its kindness like the fountain of it is inexhaustible and infinite It is the brightest image of Jesus There is nothing represents him so lively to the world He now appears most in those who love most and who long and wait with pure and ardent desires to see him come in all his glory For they will keep his commandment without spot unrebukeable until his appearing which in his times he will shew who is the blessed and only Potentate the King of kings and Lord of lords who only hath immortality dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto whom no man hath seen nor can see to whom be honour and power everlasting Amen Why then O my soul do we not let this blessed guest be lodged in our heart Or why do we not entertain it so that it may stay with us and we may feel it stirring there in restless motions towards Jesus What
is the cause that we who are made to love should not let our love turn divine and address it most devoutly to him who best deserves the Love of all the world Or what may it be that keeps us from running with the whole current of our affections towards that heavenly Lover who sues so earnestly to us for our hearty love Hath he not loved us enough to make us love him Was he a cold and indifferent Lover that could not touch the heart with a sense of his kindness Was he perfectly frozen and careless in our concerns when the urgent wants of our souls called for his kind and compassionate relief Or did he pretend a great deal of kindness and made long protestations of his love but did just nothing to merit our affection There need no answer to such questions which serve only to reproach and confound our insensibleness and negligence who have nothing to say why we do not love him For so apparent is his love so confessedly great so costly and expensive so tender and obliging that as it had no example nor can be ever exactly imitated so it must needs attract all those and fill them with the greatest love who do not turn away their eyes and their ears and their hearts from this Lord of love Let us but listen a while to him and we shall hear him say was there any love like unto my love What is it that you would have had me done for you more than I have done without your desire to win your love Hath any man greater love than this that he lay down his life for his Friends But what were you for whom I died Herein God commended his love towards you in that while you were yet sinners I dyed for you And what was the purchase I made by that price which I laid down for you Who is it that hath the keys of Hell and death To whom is all power given in Heaven and in Earth Can any but I forgive your sins and open to you the Kingdom of Heaven and restore you to the joys of Paradise nay make you eat of the tree of life in the midst of the Paradise of God Where do you read of any King who at his Coronation gave such royal gifts to men From whom do you expect the Crown of righteousness and an eternal inheritance of which I gave the earnest so long ago Can you think of any thing comparable to the glory of my appearing Or is there any doubt whether I will come or no or whether you shall appear with me in that celestial glory What would you have me do to satisfie and assure you more than I have already done by my Word and by my Blood and by my Angels and by my Holy Spirit which I have sent down from Heaven to bear witness to me and to tell you that I will certainly come again and give you the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world Believe it I will as surely come again as I died and rose from the dead and visibly ascended into Heaven and according to my promise poured out the Holy-Ghost upon my Apostles and inspired them to proclaim this in all tongues and languages that I still live and that because I live you shall live also And is it possible for us to think we hear him speaking to us in this manner as he doth in his blessed Gospel and not be provoked to summon all the powers of our soul to offer up themselves in devout and hearty love to him What hath the dearest friend whom we love with so much passion nay even our tenderest Parents done for us in comparison with this love Or what can the favour of all the Princes on earth should they unite all their powers to love and honour us bestow and heap upon us worthy to be named together with this miraculous love It ought to call us from all vain delights Our minds should continually study to comprehend the breadth and length the depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge Our wills ought to be more passionately bent towards him and grow every day stronger in his love Our memories should be a most faithful Treasury of the manifold tokens of his Love Our tongues and our hearts should never cease to meditate and sing the praises of his wondrous love For if we could speak to him as we may conceive him speaking to us and ask him what he did before the world he would tell us that He loved If we could ask him what moved his Almighty Wisdom to make the world he would tell you that he loved If we could further ask what he hath done ever since he would still say he loved And what brought him down from Heaven if we could ask again to be partaker of our miseries he would tell you again that he loved And could we ask again why he would humble himself so low as to take the form a servant and dye a base servile and ignominious death the death of the Cross he would again tell you that he loved And if you could still go on to ask what moved him to send the Holy Ghost and give such gifts to men you would still receive the same answer because he loved And could you beseech him not to be angry and you would inquire again what he hath been doing since those days and what he now does he would give you no new answer but that he loves And if you should pray him once more to tell you what he loves he would let you know it is nothing but love abundance of love This is the thing he would win by his love This is all that he asks and desires at our hands though he hath obliged us so much For this he solicites and beseeches having set his heart upon it as the fruit of his incomparable love He intreats for this as if it were for his life that we would be at last so sensible of all his kindness as to let him have our unfeigned love For he being Love himself loves nothing else but sincere and hearty love O blessed Jesus should all our hearts then say how much doth thy love differ from ours Love brought thee down from Heaven to us but how few of us and how slowly doth it carry up thither unto thee Love made thee dye the most shameful death but it doth not make us live the most glorious life It made thee endure the sorest pains but alas it doth not make mankind take the pleasure of following thy steps to the greatest happiness It made thee think perpetually on such poor wretches as we are but how seldom are our minds fixed or how small is the number whom love inclines to think upon so glorious a person as thy self It perswaded thee to come to us when there was nothing to call thee but only our great miseries but it doth not bring us all to thee when we are
xvj 17. when he declares the joy he had by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 coming of Stephanas Fortunatus and Achaicus who as Theodoret there notes were the persons that brought the Letter to him from the Church of Corinth In such a manner he believed Christ would come and that he and those Christians he had converted appearing before him it would prove the greatest joy and honour to him to be able to present to that great King such a number of persons who had been perswaded by his Ministry to become his Subjects 1 Thes ij 19. In short this is the word that is used in most other places where we read of the Coming of Christ And presently after that last named iij. 13. he tells us He will come attended with all his Saints and therefore will personally appear and shew himself in that Royal Majesty wherein He now reigns 2. Thus the second Word still more fully informs us which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the REVELATION of Jesus Christ or his discovering himself again to the World by coming out of that high and holy place where He now lives but is not seen So Theophylact expounds the word both upon 1 Cor. i. 7. and 2 Thess i. 7. where he says the Apostle calls the coming of Christ by the name of his Revelation to denote that though He be now with us yet He is hid and then shall be openly discovered Which he borrows from S. Chrysostome whose words * In 1 Cor. i. 7. are these The Apostle indicates that though He be not seen yet He is and is present even now and then will appear or show himself visibly to the world Oecumenius also writes to the same effect and we may still further establish this Truth by considering another word of the same import with this and therefore I shall not mention it distinctly by it self very much used by St. John who exhorts his Disciples to abide in Christ that when 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He shall be made manifest or be shown to the world we may not be ashamed before him at his coming 1 Joh. ii 28. So we translate the word in other places though here it be rendred only appear i. Joh. 31. iij. 21. especially in that remarkable place xxj Joh. 1. where we read how he shewed himself to them at the Sea of Tiberias and that this v. 14. was the third time that He shewed or made himself manifest to them after that He was risen from the dead In the very same visible manner will He once more appear and be as really manifested to raise us from the dead and to give us life as He was manifested in the flesh at first 1 Tim. iij. 16 and again shewed himself after his Crucifixion to be alive from the dead For though our Life be now hid with Christ in God yet when Christ who is our Life shall appear or be manifested then shall we also appear with him in glory iij. Col. 4. Upon which words Theophylact hath this pertinent gloss At his second coming Christ shall be openly manifested and showed to all as God though now he be so hid that it is the thing which is objected against him and a pretence for mens unbelief And to the same purpose Theodoret bids us note how exceeding appositely * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. the Apostle speaks when he saith Christ will then be manifested who now is not seen by Christians nor so much as known by Infidels But then will let no man remain ignorant of him because every eye shall see him and all men be forced to confess that He is the Lord of all 3. For lastly to make this still more evident it is called here in the words I have undertaken to explain and in many other places his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 APPEARING in so clear and illustrious a manner that St. Paul bids us look for it as that blessed Hope of Christian people far more splendid than any thing that hath yet been manifested For it is the glorious Appearing or the appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour ij Tit. 13. Which Epithete is to be carefully observed because it distinguishes this Appearing from a former and teaches us how we are to conceive of it For every body knows who hath any skill in these things that there is at least a double Appearing of Christ spoken of in the Holy Writings One past when he came and sensibly appeared and was manifested in mortal flesh for these two ends to preach the Gospel and to dye for our sins Let the Reader consult the 1 Tim. i. 10. and ix Hebr. 26. This is called the Appearing of Gods Grace ij Tit. 11. which was so manifested at this time that it eclipsed all former discoveries that had been made of it The other is yet to come when the same Lord will as sensibly appear to reward men according to the entertainment they have given his Gospel and show himself as a Royal Priest who hath so perfectly expiated our sins and conquered all our Enemies that He hath nothing then to do but to give complete Salvation to his Servants So you read ix Hebr. 28. that to them who expect him He will appear the second time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make himself be seen appear visibly without sin unto salvation As in the former coming He was seen in our flesh but appeared like a mean person in the form of a servant So in this He will personally appear in our Nature but in greater splendour in the form of a Prince even as the Lord of all the World And therefore in the first verse of this Chapter 2 Tim. iv 1. his KINGDOM and his APPEARING are both put together as things Contemporary And as before there was an Appearance of his Grace so hereafter he is said to appear in his Glory iij. Col. 4. To these two Appearings some add a Third in the middle between them and that was His appearing to destroy Jerusalem and therewith the Persecutors of his Disciples to whom at that time it must be acknowledged He gave a mighty Salvation or Deliverance And the very Truth is then He is said in the Gospel to come xxj Joh. 22. What if I will that he tarry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 till I come And i. Revel 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Behold he cometh Nay in a looser sense of the Word that time is called by S. Matthew his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 xxiv 27 37 39. And by S. Luke the Kingdom of God xxj 31. because then He did exercise one part of his Royal Power in punishing offenders But I do not find that in any place it is called the Revelation or the Appearing of the Lord Jesus For He did not appear in person when he came to destroy Jerusalem as He did at his first coming and will at his next but only virtually in such a desolation as made it apparent that His
word for it Because God the Father Almighty the blessed and only Potentate who authorized Him to make this promise and hath since that raised him from the dead is immortal and hath an indefectible life in himself of his own nature His will as I have said doth not alter and his power cannot be impaired or suffer any decay and therefore He can and will continue and perpetuate the Kingdom He hath given to our blessed Mediator Christ Jesus and keep him in full power and authority till that great day And when the fulness of time is come bring Him again upon the stage of the World if I may so speak and shew Him openly as the great Lord of all whom He hath honoured already with his own high title of KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS xix Revel 16. All this is as easie for Him to do as it was at first to raise him out of his grave and then advance him to the Throne of his Glory where he now sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high And there is the greater reason to believe that He will both perpetuate the Kingdom of Christ to the worlds end and conclude it with the glorious exaltation of all his subjects when he shall appear again it being no more difficult than it was to carry him to heaven because as the Apostle further notes V. HE DWELLS IN LIGHT INACCESSIBLE which no man that is can enter into or approach This signifies the inconceivable brightness of the Divine Majesty both as to His Essence which cannot by us be comprehended and as to the place where He more eminently manifests Himself in an amazing splendor He is the Great King who lives above in the highest Heavens as in His Palace where he represents Himself in a Glory so shining and dazeling called in Scripture his Majesty that it is not for such as we till there be a marvellous change wrought in us to come nigh it Nor is it so beseeming that He should descend Himself from thence in that most Glorious MAJESTY to judg the World and to transform all those who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that better world and the resurrection from the dead And therefore we may be confident our Blessed Saviour who long ago was ordained to be the person will according to his word come as His Commissioner to do it in his stead It is not so agreeable to His state and greatness if I may so express it to come Himself out of His Orb of Light to fetch us to his house and dwelling-place But since He hath appointed a day of recompences we may be sure He will send his Son in the glory of the Father as he tells us ix Luk. 26. that is in a Majesty like that I now spake of and in the glory of his holy Angels who use to attend him to meet us and conduct us safely thither Or we may conceive of this expression after this manner GOD the Father that is the Son and the Holy Ghost is in that high and holy place the Sanctuary above into which no man hath yet entred save only the great High-Priest of our Salvation the Lord Jesus And yet GOD hath made us a promise by him before He went to heaven that we also shall live with Him and be there where He is From whence we may conclude that this great High-Priest will certainly come in his Royal Majesty out of that place into which He is gone to bless us by bringing us to that region of Light and Glory which He himself only as yet inherits and which is not any way accessible but only by his means In whose power we may be satisfied it is to promote us thither being in such favour with the Divine Majesty and sitting at His right hand who inhabits or possesses this glorious place as His own proper Dwelling and therefore can dispose of a Mansion in it to whom He pleases VI. And indeed the Apostle bids us remember which is the last thing that no man hath SEEN GOD nor CAN SEE HIM is capable that is to be in his glorious presence Which signifies partly the same with the former and also may suggest among other things the faithfulness of Him who hath promised to show us this Appearing of Christ Jesus of GOD that is the Father Almighty Who we see here plainly is the person of whom the Apostle hath all this time been speaking as St. Ambrose and St. Chrysostome also if his gloss be well weighed understand him not of our Saviour who hath been seen already and shall be seen again at his second appearing And you know He hath promised to the pure in heart that they shall SEE GOD v. Mat. 8. A favour which in this state no man hath enjoyed or can enjoy as St. Paul here tells us It is not for such as we to see God and therefore there must be a time when according to his faithful promise Christ Jesus shall appear again to change us and put us in such a condition that He may bring us to that sight of Him which no man in this World can have Either we must remain for ever without the sight of Him and then God would not be true who hath said by His Son that we shall see him or we must be carried up from hence unto His heavenly Palace and then our Lord must appear to fit us for it and make us capable of such a blessedness and to transport us thither For how we should otherways be conveyed to a place so much above us but by the coming of our Lord to lift us up and promote us to it we cannot understand Since this is the way that He hath described and our Lord Jesus is to have the honour of doing all the good to his faithful servants which GOD in his infinite goodness designs to bestow upon them This I take to be intimated in these words Whom no man hath seen nor can see which declare still more fully than was said before the super-eminent excellence and perfection of the Divine Nature and the astonishing brightness of his Majesty Which whilst we are here we cannot reach or attain any considerable sight of and therefore Christ Jesus who hath promised we shall see Him will appear again to fit us for conversation with Him And indeed since God hath already fulfilled his promise of the first appearance of His Son and sent Him born of a Woman to bring the glad tydings of Salvation to us by which he did in one sense make us see God that is understand His Mind Counsels and Will i. Joh. 18. and since another promise likewise of his coming to destroy his Crucifiers when every eye he saith should see him i. Rev. 8. that is his power and glory at Gods right hand should be abundantly thereby manifested to the world is punctually and exactly made good What reason have we to doubt of the certainty of his other appearing which is still
behind when we shall behold him personally present with us to bring us nearer into the very presence of God We have the same word passed for it which they had for the other he hath the same Will the same Power the same Empire and Soveraign Dominion And therefore why should we not have the same confidence and expect it with as much and full assurance as Holy men in old times waited for the first Consolation of Israel or pious Christians waited for deliverance from their Adversaries There is so little cause that our Faith should think it self less assured than theirs that we may rather look for this second appearing of our Lord and Saviour with much greater confidence than they could do for the first Because we have the advantage of seeing all those old Prophecies which foretold his Manifestation in our flesh actually fulfilled and the Lord hath shown since that how upright He is and that there is no unrighteousness in Him We may depend not only as the Apostle hath here told us upon His Goodness and perfect Happiness upon his Power upon his absolute Dominion over all Creatures whatsoever upon his Immortality upon his transcendent Glory and Majesty and upon his Faithfulness and Truth but I may add upon the evident Demonstrations he hath already given in the most remarkable instances that His Mercies are sure and that he keepeth Truth for ever xiii Acts 34. cxlvi Psal 6. For this Blessed and only Potentate this King of kings and Lord of lords who only hath immortality dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto whom no man hath seen or can see hath done great things for us already whereof we are glad He hath sent his Son after good men had long expected Him He sent Him to do for them more than they expected 1 Cor. ij 9. He raised him up out of his Grave and made him Lord of all He hath given him power to raise up us to eternal life as appears by the gift of the Holy Ghost which wrought in his Apostles and enabled them to raise the dead and do many other wonders His Judgments also have already been made manifest Revel vi 10. xi 15. xv 4. He hath in part avenged the blood of his servants and the Kingdoms of this world are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. And therefore we may with a stedfast Faith look for another appearing of our Saviour when he will come in person to exercise this power himself wherewith we see he is invested so far as to change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body which then he will show to the world according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself iii. Phil. 20 21. CHAP. V. Containing the Vse we should make of what hath been delivered in the foregoing Chapter I Cannot think fit to pass on to what I further intend without some short Reflexion upon so weighty a subject as this of which I have been treating And therefore let us here pause a while and consider how mightily All this should move us to worship and adore this Blessed Potentate God the Father Almighty to acknowledge with the humblest submission His Supreme Authority to reverence admire and praise His most glorious Perfections who hath given us such a sure ground of faith and hope in Him For so S. Paul here concludes this incomparable description of him to whom be honour and power everlasting Amen Which is not said to exclude the other two Persons in the holy and undivided Trinity from receiving our worship and service no more than the giving eternal glory to our Saviour in the next Epistle 2 Tim. iv 18. and in other places takes it away from the Father but only to remember us of a peculiar prerogative which the Holy Scripture alway ascribes to the Father Almighty of being the Fountain and Beginning of all * So Epiphanius observes that the Scripture shows 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Haeres LXIX Num. 54. and Nazianz Orat xxix p. 489 c. to whom it properly and peculiarly belongs to show this appearing of Jesus Christ And therefore the Apostle invites us from the consideration of His most excellent Majesty and absolute Dominion to acknowledge and confess Him to acknowledge and praise Him First As worthy of all HONOUR worship veneration and service Because Secondly He hath all POWER and authority over us and over all Creatures an independent uncontroulable Power And that Thirdly EVERLASTINGLY to be celebrated not only by us but by all that shall come after us to the worlds end Nay to be praised and magnified by Saints and Angels in Heaven to Eternal Ages To this we should every one of us together with the Apostle most heartily say AMEN Let be so We give our consent unfeignedly to it and wish from the bottom of our souls that all men would honour and submit unto this blessed and only Potentate the King of kings and the Lord of lords What though No man ever saw him Nay what though No man can see Him Yet Glory Honour and Power is to be ascribed to Him because we see his works of Wonder every where The Heavens and the Earth declare the greatness of his glory and from all things that we behold we learn his rich Goodness his infinite Power his immortal Bliss and that He is such a Potentate as the greatest Kings and Princes upon earth nay the highest Thrones and Principalities in Heaven ought to worship and obey with the greatest reverence And much more is this due from us poor and inferior creatures especially since He hath shown Himself so gracious to us in our Saviour the most excellent demonstration of his blessed Nature and mighty Love and hath promised He shall appear once more in greater glory than ever and hath taught us to believe by all the Notions we have of Him that He will never fail to make that promise good And as we ought to Honour God the Father of all so this naturally moves us out of a particular obligation to honour and obey our Lord Jesus Christ as the Person whom this Great Majesty will show in wonderful honour and glory at the great day This is the very reason you must mark wherewith the Apostle backs his Charge to Timothy to keep the Commandment he gave him without spot unrebukable until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ v. 14. because the blessed and only Potentate will certainly in his own time shew the glory wherein He lives by his appearing again in Royal Majesty in the sight of all the World It concerns us therefore as well as it did Timothy to have an exceeding great regard to this most glorious Person whom God will so highly honour and to take care that we behave our selves so as to be unreprovable at that day We must observe His Commandments that is as exactly as we can and
dead shall be CAUGHT UP TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR v. 17. There he will shew himself and not upon this earth Thither they shall be carried up unto him and not he come down hither unto them And if you well observe it the Apostle teaches you to believe that this ascent of the Saints unto him will bein a very glorious manner Just as he comes from Heaven shall they go up thither For St. Paul saith we shall be caught up IN THE CLOUDS as so many triumphal chariots sent to fetch us from this earth and transport us to himself Who when he stood before his Judges to receive his sentence from them thus describes his own coming to judge them xxvj Matth. 64. Hereafter ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the CLOVDS of Heaven Though now that is I am arraigned and condemned by you as if I were the vilest of men you shall one day see that I am the Son of God by whom you shall be judged for with amazement you shall behold me clothed with Divine Majesty and coming as the Vicegerent of the supreme Lord of all to call you to an account For every one knows that clouds are called the Chariot of God civ Psal 3. and therefore his coming in the CLOVDS of Heaven can signifie nothing else but his appearing in the glory and with the Authority of his Father as Lord of the world that hath conquered all his enemies and is come to pronounce the sentence of God upon them In such a splendid manner with the like pomp and state shall we be carried up to him as so many Princes going to wait upon him and to receive the honour he will delight to confer upon us in the sight of all the world Nay it will be part of our honour to be conveighed to him just as Elias yea he himself ascended into Heaven For a Chariot of Fire appeared for the transportation of the one 2 Kings ij 11. and a cloud which is the same received the other out of the Apostles sight i. Act. 9. O blessed Day O happy Appearing doth an heavenly minded Christian often think with himself when a sight of my Saviour will draw me up to him to be where he is O most glorious most beautiful Spectacle when his beams which fall upon me shall make me ascend from this earth as the Vapors do before the rayes of the Sun O the joy that will fill my heart when I shall see those gilded Chariots sent from my Saviour to fetch me unto himself How shall I sing when I am uncooped and let out of this Cage wherein I am now confined to accompany the free people of the air in their heavenly melodies What a pleasure will it be to look behind me as I fly up unto Jesus and see what a poor spot this Earth is of which I shall then have taken my leave for ever O how glad shall I be that I am to return no more to a place so dull so dark and so full of miseries How happy shall I think my self that I am gone quite away from this vile Orb which will not seem then to my exalted soul so big as a pins-head Nay how joyful will it make me to find that I am at last ascended up so high as to have lost the sight of this little Globe and of all the Kingdoms and Empires that it contains O my Gracious Lord pardon me if I be sometime apt to think that thou stayest too long before thou comest to call me up unto those heavenly places This flesh is too unweildly a load when I think of that aerial state It hath made me groan ever since thou madest me believe that thou wilt bestow a lighter garment upon my soul Heretofore indeed I fancied nothing more than a body fresh and plump a tall and proper stature a fair face and beautiful features and I was prone to envy those who dwelt in such fine and goodly Palaces But ever since the time that I heard of going into the air to meet with thee my Lord all the love they excite in my heart makes such habitations seem no better than stately Prisons I have lookt upon my self and sweetest Friends in our most healthy estate and sighed to think that we were in Chains and Fetters Nay the best of these houses I tell them at certain seasons are but painted Sepulchres wherein the mind lies dead and buried It is thou therefore O most blessed Lord who hast made me to wish so earnestly for thine appearing I owe these longings to the discovery which thou hast made to me of another and better world whither thou intendest to transport me And if I have a mind to begin my journey thither presently if I would fain feel my wings so grown that they might be able to bear me up above this earth if my soul sometimes would willingly be released from these chains and have the freedom to leave this flesh and if I wish withal that this flesh may be changed and turned into a kind of spiritual being I must ascribe it unto thee who hast begot these desires in me by telling me of a building of God eternal in the Heavens when this earthly tabernacle is dissolved Thou hast revealed these things to me that I might desire them and who can desire them and not wish withal that he might presently enjoy them Let it not displease thee therefore I beseech thee again O my Dearest Lord if I say sometimes I am weary of being here Do not esteem me impatient if in the agonies and pangs of Love I long to come up higher and get as near as may be to thy self Suffer me to pray thee that these walls of flesh may not long immure me and exclude me from thy face At least open a window for my gasping soul that I may look into the purer air and please my self in the thoughts of the flight which I shall one day take to see thee and enjoy thee in unclouded Bliss VII But there is something beyond all this to draw our affections from all things here and to make us love and long for the coming of our Lord And that is the CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS which the Apostle tells us in this very place shall then be given to all those who are thus piously disposed for it I cannot tell you how much is contained in these two words unless I should make another Treatise little less than this For a CROWN denotes the highest degree of honour and RIGHTEOUSNESS signifies in the holy language not only freedom from all pain and punishment but the enjoyment of the greatest felicity that the most bounteous goodness of God will bestow upon his faithful servants No less than such a glory and happiness as our Lord himself hath received for a reward of his labours For we see Jesus saith the Apostle ij Heb. 9. who was made a little lower than the Angels
that place and state into which we shall be admitted then they call the Highest Heaven the Inner Altar above the Altar the House of God the Seat of Christ the Celestial Kingdom the Heavenly Inheritance the goods of the Kingdom the consummation of glory the reward of immortality the distribution of royal donatives perfect joy the expected reward the end of all good the intire reward of deserts the time of Crowns the kingdom of fruition the perfect participation of good things with other names of the like import which signifie something much beyond what we shall enjoy before our Lords appearing I shall conclude what they say of both these states with the words of St. Austin Tract xlix in his exposition upon St. John All souls saith he when they go out of this world have their different receptions the good have joy and the evil have torment But when there shall be a resurrection the joy of the good shall be more ample and the torment of the bad more grievous The holy Patriarchs are received in peace and so are Prophets Apostles Martyrs and the good Faithful but all these are still in the end to receive that which God hath promised For even the resurrection of the flesh is promised the consumption of death and eternal life with the Angels This we shall all receive together But as for the Rest which is given presently after death every man receives it if he be worthy of it when he departs from hence The Patriarchs received it first afterwards the Prophets and more lately the Apostles and still more lately the holy Martyrs and every day the good Faithful c. And with these more ancient words of Irenaeus who discourses in this manner Since our Lord went away in the midst of the shadow of death to that place where the souls of the dead are and afterward was raised corporally and after his resurrection was taken up into Heaven It is manifest that the souls of his Disciples also for whom the Lord wrought these things shall go into the invisible place appointed to them by God and shall stay there till the Resurrection expecting the Resurrection Afterward receiving their bodies and rising again perfectly that is corporally as our Lord also rose again so they shall come to the sight of God For no Disciple is above his Master but every one that is perfect shall be as his Master As our Lord therefore did not straightway flying from hence depart to Heaven but expecting the time of the Resurrection appointed of the Father which was fore-signified in Jonas after three days rising again was taken up into Heaven even so we also ought to wait with patience the time appointed by God for our Resurrection fore-told by the Prophets and so rising again be taken up as many of us as the Lord shall account worthy of it And whosoever shall be thought worthy of that world as our Lord speaks and of the resurrection of the dead they will be filled no doubt with inconceivable joy to meet so many pious souls and so many Friends who will be all assembled at that time to receive the reward they have so long waited for For if all the Faithful be one body as St. In xi Heb. 40. Chrysostom or the Author of the Commentary on the Hebrews * under his name speaks it will be a greater pleasure to this body to be Crowned all together than if it should be done by parts For the righteous even in this are admirable that they rejoyce in the good of their Brethren as well as their own and therefore this will be according to their hearts desire that they shall be Crowned with their fellow members For it is a great satisfaction to be glorified together Of which since we have so sure an expectation and the just as St. Ambrose speaks in the place fore-mentioned have such a recompense that they shall see the face of God and behold that light which inlightens every man what should we all do from hence forward but as he says put on this resolution and study that our souls may draw near to God that our prayer may draw near to him that our desire may cleave unto him and we may never be separated from him Even while we remain here let us be fast knit to God by meditating by reading by seeking and endeavour to know him as we are able For we know here but in part because all things here are imperfect there in their perfection Here we are little Children there we shall be strong men We see here saith St. Paul as in a glass darkly but there face to face There with open face we shall behold the glory of God which here our souls being involved in flesh and blood and sullied with their spots cannot behold sincere For who saith he can see my face and live How should we since our eyes cannot endure so much as the rayes of the Sun which would put them out if we should fix them on so great a light How can we behold then the shining Countenance of our Creator while we are wrapt up in the rags of this flesh We must stay for so glorious a sight till that happy day when we shall be unclothed or rather clothed upon with the garments of celestial light That 's the time and not till then when he designs to do us the great honour of setting the Crown of righteousness upon our heads Now is the time of toils as he speaks in another place of agonies of combates of conflicts of strife for Victory then is the time of refreshments of crowns of retributions of rewards of resurrection and of the restitution of all things Which ought to make all serious Believers look for that day with carnest longings and lift up their heads above this visible world as men desirous to receive this glorious Diadem In comparison with which the most goodly fillets that ever bound any Imperial brow are not worthy so much as to be named O that glorious Crown purer than the finest Gold is a pious heart inclined to say that Crown of righteousness and of life which my Lord hath so dearly purchased for me with his pretious blood how do I covet it how desirous am I how do I long to be partaker of it My head beats and akes and cannot be at rest till this Crown by his royal hand be set upon it It is in pain till in stead of these clouds wherewith it is surrounded it be incompassed in a circle of purer and brighter thoughts It is sorely oppressed till these vain dreams and frivolous imaginations which gather about it fly away and it be infolded in a wreath of nobler contemplations O how heavy is it till this giddiness of mind wherein I am whirl'd be exchanged for a steady Orb of light wherein my soul I hope one day shall be unmoveably centred I long to have these ashes blown away wherein the sparks of divinity lye raked up
love to thee But yet alas when I think of thy wondrous love I am apt to conclude again that I did amiss to say I was satisfied All this upon better thoughts seems a great deal too little and I am as short me thinks of thy love as if I loved thee not at all For what have I given thee when I have paid thee all my acknowledgements What have I bestowed on thee when I have given thee my self and absolutely offered all my affections to thee What is my heart what are a thousand such hearts as this worth that I should think such a present will be of any esteem with thee If all my life were nothing else but the most affectionate the most cheerful obedience to thee what requital should I have made thee for all thy love to me Alas I have so little ability to do any thing worthy of thee that I have not the skill how to speak as becomes me of my duty to thee What do I talk of acknowledgements to thee That 's as if I could number or value thy favours And it is a worse absurdity to speak of giving thee my affections as if I were not a debtor to thee and of bestowing my heart on thee For that 's as if I had any thing I received not from thee But it is worst of all I am ashamed of it to mention a requital of thy favours for that 's as if they were so small or so few as to admit of any return like a recompense unto thee No No I am nothing at all I have nothing I can do just nothing but what is thine more than mine if it be worth any thing I here most solemnly protest that I think my self indebted to thee for all I have I my self am thine my love is thine my prayers and desires are thine my praises and thanksgivings are thine so is my Faith and my Hope my comforts and my joyes they are all thine I cannot so much as confess my debts and obligations but it is from thee I cannot be sensible of my faults but I contract a new debt to thee That I can so much as see and say I am nothing I owe it unto thee What shall I do therefore How shall I express my self to thee Or in what manner shall I approach thee All that I can think of is only this still to cast down my self in the humblest devotion before thee and all thawed and dissolved with thy love to pour out my heart unto thee saying LORD WORK THINE OWN GOOD PLEASVRE IN ME. Make me what thou thy self best likest and lovest And when thou hast loved and obliged me as much as thou pleasest here compleat thine own benefits and crown them with as great a glory as thine own great love can bestow hereafter CHAP. XX. The Conclusion AND here I think it is best to put a period to this discourse which is already come to a competent length For where can I leave you better than in the arms of our Lord intirely resolved into his will and wishing to be united to him and made one spirit with him as much as he pleases And yet how hard is it to cease to desire that happiness in its utmost perfection How can we chuse but ask him leave at least to repete that wish over again The very thoughts of it make the ravished soul thrust it self with the more ardent affection into the bosom of his love They stir it up to ply him with new petitions that he will draw it more strongly after him and knit it more closely to him that he will inspire it with more of his love and by perfecting his likeness in it inseparably unite it to himself O blessed Jesus surely thou wilt appear I believe in due time thou wilt appear I am fully perswaded thou wilt not fail to make good thy word of coming to fetch us to thy self and making us exceedingly more happy than now in our most inlarged thoughts we can conceive I see me thinks the sky cleave and the day break and the Arch-angel thy Harbinger begin to look forth and thrust his head out of the clouds which makes my heart leap for joy as if it would leave this world and instantly go to meet thee my infinitely Dearer Saviour For what splendor is there in Gold Greg. Nyssen Orat. V. in Beatitud that I should desire it What brightness in pretious stones What ornament in the most sumptuous apparel compared with that Good which our hope in thee supposes and sets before us When thou who reignest over all creatures shalt reveal thy self to mankind sitting most magnificently upon a lofty Throne when innumerable millions of Angels shall be seen about thee and when the Kingdom of Heaven which now is such a secret shall be set wide open before all our eyes O let the thoughts of the Trump of God which shall then sound awaken my soul more powerfully to lift up it self to look for thee and for that glorious sight thou wilt bless us withal at thy appearing O let the faith that is in thy heart grow daily more active and work in me a most vigorous love of thee And let my love be inlarged till this heart be stretched to its utmost capacity and thou the infinite Good still fill and overflow it For I am afraid thou shouldest come and find me unprepared for thee I would not for all the world be found unready to meet thee and unfit for the blessings thou wilt bring along with thee If an heart that desires thee most passionately be of any worth if thou canst have any kind thoughts of a mind that prefers thee and thy love above all other things if to love thine appearing far more than the most glorious condition wherein a man can possibly appear in mortal flesh can find any grace in thine eyes behold then a soul that is able to say through thy great goodness that it most earnestly longs for thee See here an heart that desires to be like thee that had rather dye than displease thee and that will welcome thy coming with more joy than a sick man wearied with the restlessness of a long night doth the morning light or a Traveller doth his much desired home or a Virgin espoused doth her long absent Bridegroom the dearly beloved of her soul It is thou who hast begot in me these longings I have received all thou seest in me from thy gracious hands which have made me and fashioned me and made me unsatisfied in any thing but thee and thy love O let not these pious longings also be unsatisfied Let me not want the pleasures from which I have turned mine eyes away here and those pleasures too which I look for so earnestly and promise my self at thine appearing But let the same reason which moved thee to give me so much incline thee to give me more Let that mighty love which hath wrought in me desires bring me to the enjoyment And after thou hast pleased thy bounty in making me receive as much as thou wilt in this present state let it be thy pleasure to receive me to thee in a better and by giving me all I would have in the sight I expect of thee to leave no desires remaining in me Amen and Amen THE END Books written by the Reverend Dr. Patrick and Printed for Richard Royston at the Angel in Amen-corner 1. THE Christian Sacrifice a Treatise shewing the Necessity End and Manner of receiving the holy Communion together with suitable Prayers and Meditations for every Month in the Year and the Principal Festivals in memory of our Blessed Saviour In Four Parts The Third Edition Corrected in Twelves 2. The Devout Christian instructed how to Pray and give Thanks to God Or a Book of Devotions for Families and particular persons in most of the concerns of Humane life The second Edition in Twelves 3. An Advice to a Friend The second Edition in Twelves 4. The Witnesses to Christianity or The Certainty of our Faith and Hope In a Discourse upon 1 S. John v. 7 8. In two Parts in Octavo new 5. A Sermon Preached before the King on St. Stephen's day Printed by His Majesty's special command in Quarto Angliae Speculum a Glass that flatters not Presented to a Country Congregation at the late Solemn Fast April 24. 1678. In a Parallel between the Kingdom of Israel and England Wherein the whole Nation is desired to behold and consider our Sin and our Danger By a dutiful Son of this Church in Quarto The true Intellectual System of the Universe The first Part wherein all the Reason and Philosophy of Atheism is Confuted and its Impossibility Demonstrated By R. Cudworth D. D. in Folio A Sermon Preached before the King Feb. 10th 1677 8. By Z. Cradock D. D. Preacher to the Honourable Society of Grays-Inn and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty in Quarto XXXI Sermons Preached to the Parishioners of Standford-Rivers in Essex upon several Subjects and Occasions By Charles Gibbes D. D. Rectour of that Church and Prebendary of St. Peter's at Westminster in Quarto new The Jesuits Loyalty manifested in three several Treatises lately written by them against the Oath of Allegiance with a Preface shewing the Pernicious Consequence of their Principles as to Civil Government Also Three other Treatises concerning the Reasons of the Penal Laws viz. I. The Execution of Justice in England not for Religion but for Treason II. Important Considerations by the Secular Priests III. The Jesuits Reasons Unreasonable in Quarto