expression what will be the Joy of the Beatifical Vision of God in Heaven If now the believing Soul doth so greatly rejoyce in hearing from its Lord and Saviour in preaching and reading of his Word wherein there are such secret Messages of Love sent down from Heaven unto it O what will be the Joy of such a Soul in seeing him and dwelling with him for ever It shall never be said unto the Saints in Heaven what our Lord said unto his Disciples Hitherto you have asked nothing ask and you shall receive that your Joy may be full No the Joys of the Blessed in Heaven are always perfect and full For how can it be otherwise when there is nothing in Heaven but what is Matter of Joy to the Saints They are there in their Father's House come to the Inheritance and Possession of Children in an everlasting glorious Kingdom where they continually behold the Face of God and of the Lamb. The Joys of Heaven far exceed not only all earthly Joys such as the Joy of Marriage the Joy of Harvest but the Joy of Ordinances the Joy of Faith yea the Joy of the Holy Ghost All these Joys are swallowed up in Heaven and are almost as no Joys compared with the Joys thereof for in that holy Place there is nothing to disturb or to diminish the Joys of the Saints for ever O why then do not the People of God more fetch their Joys and Delights from Heaven while they are here This if any thing should comfort their Hearts and support their Spirits under all the Troubles they meet with here for though this World he a Valley of Tears yet in Heaven there will be Fulness of Joy and Rivers of Pleasures of which they may drink as deep and take in as much as their Hearts can hold though enlarged to their utmost capacity Fourthly The Joys of Heaven are permanent and everlasting and this makes it full Consolation indeed When our Lord told his Disciples he was to leave them and to return to Heaven unto his Father their Hearts were filled with Sorrow thereupon what course now doth our Lord take to comfort them Why he tells them John 16.20 Their Sorrow should be turned into Joy But when was this to be Why it was when he should come again and receive them to himself Not that they were to be without comfort until then no for he tells them when he departed he would send the Comforter to them who was to continue with them while they continued in the World But the Fulness and Perfection of their Joy they were to wait for till they come to Heaven and then when he shall come for that end and purpose to receive them to himself their Hearts should rejoyce and their Joy no Man should take from them for at God's right hand there are Pleasures for evermore A Believer hath always cause of Rejoycing in God but by reason of many sharp Trials that God sees good to lay upon his People there are some sad interruptions of his Joy for a time The Joy that the People of God partake of in this Life is like the Joy of the Husbandman in time of Harvest which though it be great for the present yet is it soon over and if he expect to partake of any more of the same nature he must first be at the pains and trouble of a Seeds-time So after the People of God have had their Joys here they again sow in Tears before they receive another crop of Comfort It is in Heaven only that our Joy will be everlasting there is fulness of Joy without any mixture of Sorrow a continual Feast a Joy that is ever in fulness and perfection even as the Fruits are in time of Harvest A Believer shall never sow in Tears there but have a perpetual Joy without weariness because there shall continually arise infinite variety of fresh Delights in God which shall fill the Soul with a continual Festival of Joy for ever Sixthly In Heaven the Saints shall partake of excellent Glory and Honour Heaven is the Palace of the great King of Glory the Presence-Chamber where he unvails himself and manifests his Glory both to Saints and Angels and this indeed is the most glorious Sight in Heaven and that which makes Heaven to be the most glorious Place We read in Acts 6.15 That when Stephen stood before the Councel his Face did shine with an Angelical Brightness This was a glorious Sight to see the Face of a Man to shine as the Face of an Angel But this is nothing compared with that Glory with which the Saints shall shine when they shall stand before the great God of Heaven seeing him face to face The Scripture describing to us this part of the Saints Happiness in Heaven abounds with variety of Expressions that discover the Greatness and Excellency thereof Thus the Saints Glory there is set forth by the Glory of Kings at their Coronation and taking possession of their Kingdoms which is the greatest and highest of all worldly Glory Every Saint in Heaven is a Crowned King having taken possession of a glorious Kingdom prepared for them before the foundations of the world when also they receive a Crown of Glory that fadeth not away Sometimes it is described by the Glory of the Sun Thus our Lord tells us Matth. 13.43 The Righteous shall shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father Sometimes it is compared to the Glory of the Angels who as they excel in strength so do they also excel in Glory all the Princes of the Earth Hence we read the Saints in Heaven shall not only he like unto but equal with the Angels Luke 22.36 Sometimes also this Glory of the Saints is set forth by the Glory of Christ himself who is the Lord of Glory which is the highest pitch of Glory that can be Thus we read that when Christ shall come at the last Day to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in them that believe the Saints also shall then appear with him in Glory Col. 3.4 Shining gloriously by reason of his Glory that he will put upon them for then shall they be made like unto him for ever seeing him as he is so says the Apostle 1 John 3.12 Sometimes the Glory of Heaven is called a weight of Glory so we read 2 Cor. 4.17 An exceeding excessive eternal weight of Glory High Expressions setting forth the Glory of Heaven and almost to an Hyperbole but that Christ and Heaven can never be Hyperbolically expressed Sometimes again this glorious State of Believers is called Eternal Glory 2 Tim 2.10 That they may attain that Salvation that is in Christ with eternal Glory So 1 Pet. 5.10 The God of all Grace who hath called you to his eternal Glory Worldly Honour and Glory is transitory inconstant and vanishing The Fashion of the World passeth away 1 Cor. 7.31 And the Glory of Man says St. Peter is as the Flower of
but the fulness and perfection of that Grace and Holiness the Initials and Beginnings whereof makes the Knowledge and Society of them so desirable here on Earth Now certainly if this be a thing desirable in Heaven as I humbly conceive it is a thing very probable why then it will follow that Satisfaction and Contentment herein shall not be wanting in Heaven for in Heaven there shall be no desire in Holy Souls that are Holy and Regular and in Heaven there shall be none but such that shall be unanswered or unsatisfied But further the Scripture seems enclining this way that the Saints in Heaven shall know one another and that not only those who lived together here on Earth but all those who ever did or shall live upon God's Earth may be known to one another in Heaven When God had created Adam he threw him into a deep sleep and of one of his Ribs which he then took out of him he formed Eve and brings her unto Adam who as soon as he saw her presently knew her and what manner of Creature she was and therefore says of her she is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh and how came Adam by this Knowledge why it was by being filled with the Holy Ghost by which he understood in an extraordinary manner who she was Why now after the same manner say some shall the Saints be renewed by Christ in Heaven and thereby come to know their Godly Friends and Relations yea and all the Saints of God in Heaven much more perfectly than Adam did know Eve So in Luke 16. which some take to be a History others only a Parable if it be a History it is plainly said there of Abraham that he knew Lazarus and of Lazarus that he knew Abraham and yet they lived near two thousand years distance in time one from the other so that they could not know one another on Earth and yet are they said to know one another in Heaven If it be only a Parable yet by it Abraham the Father of the Faithful is represented as one that had Knowledge both of the person and happy condition in which Lazarus was by which some say is represented the Knowledge Saints shall have of one another in Heave We read also Matt. 17.4 that when the three Disciples were with Christ at his Transfiguration there appeared unto him Moses and Elias whom the Apostles knew for they say unto him Let us build here three Tabernacles one for thee one for Moses and one for Elias and yet it is very apparent that the Apostles never saw Moses non Elias in the Flesh Again If the Saints shall not know one another in Heaven why is it made by our Lord a part of the Saints Happiness hereafter that they shall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven Matt. 11. Memory in Heaven shall not be abolished but perfected neither shall our Knowledge there be impared much less extinguished but greatly enlarged and increased In Heaven Saints enjoy every good thing and partake of every good gift that may add to their Joy and Felicity will now the meeting with and knowing of our former near Acquaintance and dear Relations together with all the Glorious Inhabitants of that Heavenly Place tend to the increasing of that Joy and Delight that shall there fill and ravish the Souls of the Blessed surely it will Society being nothing so Comfortable without intimacy of Familiarity and Acquaintance It being thus now it is very probable there shall be a Knowledge in the Saints of one another hereafter Certainly now from all that hath been said and more that might be added we may conclude it highly probable that the Saints in Heaven shall have a distinct Knowledge of one anothers Persons since nothing requisite unto the Happiness of that Blissful place shall or can be wanting to the Inhabitants thereof To conclude this head though a Saint's chief desire to be in Heaven should be and always is that he may see God and that he may be with the Lord Iesus Christ and therefore with his Soul he cries out as the Psalmist He hath none in Heaven but God and with the Apostle I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is best of all yet this may add a little to the quickning of his desires Heaven-ward the consideration of his being admitted into the blessed Society of all the Saints and People of God from the beginning of the World unto the end of it even those who were once the excellent ones of the Earth and now next unto God and Christ are the most Excellent and Delightful Company in Heaven who shall there be particularly and distinctly known beloved and delighted in by him to all Eternity Secondly Another Question is this Whether there shall be different Degrees of Glory in Heaven or not Now in Answer unto this Question I find Holy and Learned Men have different apprehensions some positively affirming it others strongly denying it and both pleading Scripture to maintain their Assertions Those that affirm there shall be different Degrees of Glory in Heaven urge such Scriptures as these in the defence of it Daniel 12.3 where it is said Some shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament and others as the Stars for ever and ever So Matth. 25.28 29. We read that he that received five Talents and made a good improvement of them received a greater Reward than he that received but two though he improved them also So Corinth 15.41 The Apostle tells us That one Star differeth from another Star in Glory and adds withal that So it shall be in the Resurrection of the Dead So in Matt. 5.11 12. our Saviour bids those that were persecuted wrongfully for his Names sake to Rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great should be their Reward in Heaven Those now that are against different Degrees of Glory they urge such Sctiptures as these in the defence of their Opinion Matt. 13.43 where our Lord speaking indefinitely of the Righteous tells us That they shall shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father without mentioning any different Degrees of Glory that some shall partake of more than others So in Luke 20.36 Our Lord speaking concerning the happy State of the Godly after the Resurrection tells us that they shall die no more but shall be equal unto the Angels and how can they in that State of Bliss he equai to the Angeis and yet unequal among themselves So again in that place Matt. 20. where the Labourers in the Vineyard are all said to receive a like Reward though for different Work and Labour for so we read at evening when the Lord of the Vineyard came to reckon with his Servants he gave them every one a Penny making those that camt in at the last hour equal with those that had born the heat and burthen of the day rendring this as a Reason for what he had done
And in 2 Cor. 4.17 Our light Afflictions that are but for a moment work for us a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory Here are great and glorious Expressions that may well raise the Spirits of Christians above all Discouragements let their Afflictions and Sufferings be what they will For here are Afflictions and to balance it here is Glory put in Opposition to it here are light Afflictions and here is a Weight of Glory here is light Afflictions for a moment and here is an eternal Weight of Glory yea here is more for here is a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory It is very observable when the Apostle speaks of Afflictions the People of God may meet with in the World he soon gets over them they are Afflictions says he but they are but light Afflictions and but of short continuance for they last but for a moment But when he comes to speak of the Glory and Happiness of Heaven which he sets in Opposition to them he heaps up one Expression upon another as if he laboured under the want of Words to set forth the greatness of that Happiness he was about to mention and therefore says he there shall be a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory Words they are of such great Importance and Signification that our English Tongue will not reach the Elegancy and Fulness of them O who would not then with Moses chuse to suffer Affliction with the People of God rather than to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin for a Season who with him by an Eye of Faith beholds the eternal Recompence of Reward Thirdly Hast thou O Christian a Right and Title to this heavenly Inheritance live then as one that is an Heir to and Expectant of so great a Happiness Let thy practice O Christian be suitable to thy Profession thy Conversation on Earth unto thy Hopes of Heaven There is a comely Behaviour required of Christians which if they are not careful to observe in their Actings before Men they betray their high and holy Calling and the greatness of their Hopes and Expectations unto scorn and contempt Art thou O Christian an Heir of Heaven Live as such an one The Scripture is frequent in pressing of this Exhortation Sometimes Christians are called upon to live as it becometh Saints Ephes 2.3 To have their Conversations as it becomes the Gospel of Christ Phil. 1.21 To walk as it becomes those that profess Godliness with good Works 1 Tim. 2.10 And sometimes which is very high indeed To walk worthy of God who hath called them to his Kingdom and Glory 1 Thes 2.11 12. Expressions fully comprehensive both of a Christian's Privilege and also of his Duty in the sense of that Privilege and the Apostle in joining these two together seems to intimate to us that no other Words could express the Duty of a Christian to the heighth but what expresseth the heighth and perfection of his Blessedness Now the heighth of a Christian's Blessedness is to enjoy God and to enjoy him there where his Enjoyment shall be most full and most lasting and that is in Heaven which the Apostle here calls his Kingdom and Glory Now upon the Hopes of a Christian's Enjoyment of this great Blessedness the Apostle calls him to the performance of as great a Duty and that is to walk worthy of God who hath called him to his Kingdom and Glory And to how great and glorious things Christians are hereby called to the performance of few understand and fewer live in the practice of And here I cannot but take occasion to shew my detestation of that great Sin which is too frequent in this Age of abominable Licentiousness I mean the Sin of condemning shall I say nay of scoffing and deriding at that which is called Strictness and Preciseness in the Ways of God as if any could be too circumspect in avoiding of Sin too strict in the discharge of his Duty too careful in his Endeavours to serve and please God or could have too much of Grace and Holiness in which a Christian is bound to grow and encrease all his Days as if a Man could be too like unto God in that which is his highest Excellency and Glory I mean his Holiness for he is called a God glorious in Holiness In Heaven there is the greatest exactness that can be for there is Holiness and nothing but Holiness yea there is nothing but Holiness in the utmost Perfection of it And how canst thou then O prophane Sinner who now scoffest at Holiness in the People of God expect to be admitted into that holy Place hereafter Heavenly Hopes and Expectations require a heavenly Conversation which thou art perfectly void of whilst thou art a Derider at Holiness in others Those therefore whose Hopes and Expectations are set upon Heaven must manifest it by a Conversation and Deportment suitable thereunto Now this in the general may imply Two Things Holiness of Conversation and Chearfulness of Conversation First It implies a Holy Conversation the Apostle 2 Pet. 3.11 Speaking unto those who liv'd in expectation of the Glory and Happiness of Heaven What manner of Persons says he ought you to be in all Holy Conversation and Godliness A Holiness even unto Wonder and Admiration should shine forth and adorn the Conversations of those who expect such a blessed Day as this is Christians Hopes are to be like unto Angels in Glory and Happiness and therefore they should now as far as is possible live like Angels in the Flesh in the practice of Holiness In 2. Cor. 7.1 says the Apostle having these Promises what Promises why he tells us in the foregoing Chapter Promises of being the Sons and Daughters of God by Adoption and Regeneration and so come to have a Right and Title to the Heavenly Inheritance in Glory having such Promises as these it becomes us to carry our selves as those that look for such great things by cleansing our selves from all Pollution of Flesh and Spirit perfecting Holiness in the fear of God And most clear is that in 1 John 3.3 where the Apostle having a little before set forth the greatness of God's Love to himself and others an instance whereof he gives us in these words That they should be called the Sons of God which though it be a great Privilege yet is there more to come still something that is great and extraordinary we are looking for though we know not what we shall be for it doth not yet appear yet this we do know That when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is Now follows the Apostle's Inference from all this which should be the Practice of every Christian that hath the same hope that he had of being like unto Christ and of seeing God as he is which is only in Heaven Why he that hath this Hope in him Purifieth himself as God is Pure Dost thou O Christian look for Heaven
and every Month as a Year yea as an Age until that blessed time doth come But O how little of this Holy Longing of Soul after Christ and Heaven is there to be found among Christians now Most of those that call themselves by that Name resting upon Hopes and Probabilities of their interest in that State of Blessedness never seeking to attain unto the Riches of the full Assurance of Hope accompanied with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory But sure I am such a frame of Spirit hath not always been enough to satisfie some Christians in their pursuits after Heaven Oh with what Ravishments of Joy and Delight have I both heard and read some Holy Souls expressing their longing Desires after Christ and Heaven There was a certain Noble Person whom I well knew from under whose own hand writing I Copied out this following Relation concerning her self Being employed in Holy Meditation which was both her daily Practice as also her daily Delight and Solace and Contemplating of the Joys of Heaven and how to secure her Interest in that State of Blessedness she did with great Desire of Soul as her own words are strive to take the Kingdom above with a Holy Violence and to Storm Heaven by importunate Prayer and God was pleased as she adds Blessing his Name to carry her up as it were unto Mount Nebo and from thence to give her a Prospect of the Heavenly Canaan by the sight whereof as one in an Ecstasy of Joy she cried out Lord I would not live here always for I am now convinced it is better for me to die than to live It is therefore O Lord the great Desire of my Soul that as Elias was so I might instantly be taken up into Heaven without returning any more to bid them farewel of my own House or ever seeing the Faces of any Mortal Relations more here on Earth Prayer and Meditation had as her Expression is Associated her Spirit to such Company that I rather thought says she I had a Body too much with me than found a want of it After which shedding plentiful Tears of Joy and the offering up of many Sighs and Groans accompanied with earnest Desires and Longings after Heaven with fervent Prayers to be a partaker of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light she returned from her Devotions Blessing and Praising of God who had so refreshed and comforted her Soul with Divine and Heavenly Consolations There was also a very Eminently Godly Person some of whose Relations are yet living who lying upon his Death-bed there came one to Visit him who told him he hoped it would please God to restore him to his Health again says the good Man to him Do you think to please me with such a Discourse as this know O Friend you are much mistaken in me if you apprehend the thoughts of Life and Health are pleasing to me Alas the World hath quite lost its Excellency in my Judgment it is but a poor contemptible thing in all its Glory compared with the Glory of the invisible World which I now live in the sight of it would be a far more Pleasant and Delightful thing to me if you could tell me for certain that I am no Man for this World long and that before to morrow I should be in Eternity for I do so long to be with Christ that I could be content to be cut in pieces and put to the most exquisite Torments might I but die and be with Christ Death through Grace is nothing to me it hath lost its terribleness and therefore may do its worst I fear it not I can as easily Die as shut my Eyes or turn my head and Sleep yea I long to Die that I may be with Christ come therefore O Lord Jesus come quickly why O why are thy Chariot Wheels so long a coming O says another How cold is thy kindness O Death in being so slow and backward to come and loose a poor tired Prisoner from his Bonds I live a dwindling Life with much Pain and much Love-Sickness for my sweet Lord Jesus O what would I give to have a Bed made for my wearied Soul in my Dear Lord's Bosom I cannot express what pains and delightsome Torments there are in his Love O Fairest among the Children of Men yea thou who art Fairer than all the Children of Men why stayest thou so long The Fire of Love burneth so hot in my heart towards Jesus Christ that neither Hell nor Earth can cast water enough to quench or extinguish it O Time Time how dost thou torment the Souls of those that would be swallowed up in Christ's Love because thou movest so slowly O how am I pained with the Love of Christ he hath left an Arrow in my Heart which hath wounded me that I am swallowed up with desires after him so that I am to be pitied for want of real possession of him my greatest pain is the want of Christ not of his Joys and Comforts but of a nearer Vnion and Communion with him O Heavens move fast O Time run run and hasten the Marriage Day for Love is tormented with delay Hope and Love woven through one another make Christ's absence a Spiritual Torment It is a pain to my Soul to wait for him but Hope that maketh not ashamed but ends in Enjoyment swalloweth up the pain O Lord when wilt thou fold the Heavens together like an old Cloak and Shovel Time and Days out of the way and make ready in haste the Bride for her Husband What do we here but sin and suffer O when shall the Night be gone and the Shadows fly away and the Morning of that long long Day without Clouds or Night dawn The Spirit and the Bride say come O when shall the Lamb's Wife be ready and the Bridegroom say I come also Even so come Lord Jesus come quickly I do not mention these things as if I thought these Holy Pantings and Longings of Soul after God and Heaven were the stated frame which is commonly attained by all Christians much less do I not think that none are truly Godly but such as attain to this frame of Spirit for I believe there are a great Number of Holy Souls that daily go to Heaven without them But yet is it a State that hath been attained by some and may be attained still by others And truly such a Heaven upon Earth as is hereby enjoyed by such Holy Souls should be motive sufficient to excite and provoke Christians to a diligent pursuit hereof the Effect whereof is Joy unspeakable and Glorious To conclude this whole Discourse I have been long in treating concerning the Glorious State of the Saints Happiness in Heaven and much larger than at first I intended but the excellency and deliciousness of the matter herein contained hath drawn out my Meditations to so great a length and the truth of it is in contemplating upon so delightful a Subject it is very hard and difficult when the